Mitts!!

I've been tutoring three wonderful kids - two of them for three years! Today was graduation (from elementary school) day!! Woo-hooooo!! I'm so very proud of all them. They are very bright, talented kids and will do great things with their lives. I'm thankful to have a little part in that!!

For "Congratulations" gifts, I made them fingerless mitts. They were a big hit with all three, AND were the envy of all the other kids on the playground!!

Fetching

Plain ol' Mitts

Fetching

Green Coffee Press Cozy

Take some Recycled Wool yarn and dye it with some Recycled Coffee Grounds. Knit it up and add a few Recycled Mismatched Buttons, and TA-DA! Warm coffee!

Unraveling a Mystery

I just can't resist a good mystery. This turns out to be true even in knitting.

If you are not familiar with the mystery knit-along genre, it usually goes something like this: a clue, or portion of the pattern, is released to a group of knitters one at a time. This allows the participants to all work on the same project at the same time, while getting only glimpses of what the finished item will look like until the end...when everyone finishes the mystery together.

Sometimes it can be a real challenge to select the best yarn and notions to compliment the design. Yet, that is also part of the fun. Things don't always go as planned. This can even lead to happy little surprises.

Other times, not so much. My first experience with a mystery knit-along was with a shawl. While the design and my yarn were both wonderful, they just did not work well together. I ended up working only a little over half of the design, then gave up on it. At that time, I decided I would probably not join any more mysteries. I was a bit wary of the unknown.

Then, in October of last year, along came the Mystery Sock from Kirsten of Through the Loops. I jumped back in, and got hooked. The socks were really fun to make, and turned out great. They are knit from my hand-dyed Knit Picks Bare Donegal.

My newest mystery is the Sock Knitters Anonymous January Beaded Mystery Sock. I'm using Cascade Yarns Heritage merino/nylon blend. I love this shade of red. The beads are Toho size 6/0 and I'm applying them with a size 12 crochet hook.

This is Clue #1, the cuff and a portion of the beading on the leg. Clue #2 continues the beaded lace and then moves into ribbing that will end just above the ankle.

What's next? That's the mystery. We'll find out next week!! Better yet, join us! There's nothing better than a good mystery.

A Socktoberfest Mystery!

Autumn just sneaked up on me this year. There I was... having a lovely summer, knitting away...and, WHAM!!! I got hit upside the head with October!

School's back in full swing and I'm continuing my part-time (summer) job as well. This means life is much busier, and now we're counting down to all the October/November family birthdays which just slide right into the holidays. Wheeeeeee!!!

So to kick off the season, I'm participating in Socktoberfest by joining Through The Loops' Mystery Sock Knit-along! I'm using some Knit-Picks Bare Donegal that I kettle dyed into a faded-jeans-shade of blue. I'm enjoying the color, but I'm not yet sure I like the yarn. It's knitting up fine, but I'll have to see how it wears.

Here are a couple of shots of the progress:
Clue One: The Cuff

Clue Two: The Leg

I'm always amazed at how many interpretations there can be of the same pattern. Kirsten's design is simple and elegant. It's set up to work with or without cables. (I've chosen without.) Take a look on Ravelry at all the different versions!

Movies

My favorite pastime (in addition to fibery pursuits) is to watch movies. Especially on a cold, rainy day in the Pacific Northwest...the best thing is a good movie, my knitting and a warm cup of tea. Ahhhhh...

A fun game going around the blogs are Flickr Memes. Here is my Movie Meme...quite fun!

Can you guess the answers? To find out, go here.

1. Favorite movie?
2. Favorite movie genre?
3. Favorite actor?
4. Favorite actress?
5. What movie always makes you cry?
6. What movie have you watched over & over & over?
7. Worst move you ever saw?
8. What was the last movie you watched?
9. Favorite cult movie?
10. Most embarrassing favorite movie?
11. Hottest actor or actress?
12. The actor or actress most people say you remind them of?

Hats in All Sizes

It's been Hat-Making time around here. Following is just a sample.
More to come!!

Very Small
(set for a baby shower gift)
Hat Pattern: here
Socks Pattern: my own
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Delft

Medium
(for an 8-year-old friend)
Hat Pattern: here
Yarn: Mostly Lion Brand Wool-Ease

Extra Large
(for Zak)
Hat Pattern: my own
Yarn: my recycled wool in charcoal with a touch of burgundy

Folk Mitts and Hot Chocolate

I haven't done any colorwork for a while. Playing with bits of my hand-dyed recycled sweater yarns, I came up with these bright and cheerful "Folk Mitts." They are happily keeping my hands warm while I knit up the rest of my Christmas gifts. Check back...I'll post the pattern later.

And here's one more gift ready. It's a simple beanie for Zak. He likes things plain...no designs, no bright colors. So to make him a hat that he will actually wear, I had to reel myself in. But I don't like to get bored, either. To satisfy both of us, I whipped him up a "Hot Chocolate" beanie with my hand-dyed recycled sweater wool in dark brown and black. The color changes are very subtle and not even noticeable unless you're up close and personal!

Busy Relaxing

That's what I did this weekend. I had a very relaxing time, but also got a lot accomplished. In addition to the necessary chores of housework, laundry, shopping, etc., I had plenty of time to create. I love it when things work out that way.

Summer Berry Hat - Lion Cotton


It's a Hot Summer Bag - Paton's Merino
(pre-felting, embellishing)
All except Black are hand-dyed with Kool-Aid
(Lemonade, Orange, Cherry)


Lion Wool (Winter White) hand-dyed with Wilton Teal


Donegal Irish Wool (recycled) hand-dyed with Wilton Violet

Ta-Daaaa!!

Tidepools

First, a big thank you to Larissa for including me in the test knitting for her upcoming book. It was great fun to have even the tiniest part in it. After having a peek at a few of the zillions of things that have gone into the book, I am so looking forward to seeing the finished product!!

On top of that, I was one of the lucky recipients of a skein of Blue Moon Socks That Rock yarn! The colorway, Tidepool, was designed especially for Larissa to compliment her color theme for the book. It's so special. I wanted to make sure what it becomes is equally great.

I tried at least four different sock patterns, and each of them "pooled" the colors way more than I could tolerate. I don't mind some pooling. In fact, I like the effect on lots of things. However, I was getting ALL the purple on one side of the sock... yechh...

Finally, I was able to get more of the effect I wanted with a "wavy" stitch... plus I like the puns!

With apologies to the Yarn Harlot, I took an action shot of my sock at Urgent Care this week. My allergies and asthma got way out of control. I'm new to this asthma thing, and I ended up going in for a breathing treatment. (I'm okay now.) But my Tidepools kept me company while waiting. (The lighting in the clinic sure washes out the color. No wonder EVERYONE there looks sick!)

More to follow....

Woo-Hoo Moo!

My Moo Cards just arrived! Available through Flickr, they are smaller than a standard business card. By having photos of some of my work printed on one side and my contact information on the other, they will be perfect as tags and for general advertising.

T-Shirt "Yarn"

I've been playing with "Calamari Knitting" (and crochet) as shown in the Mason Dixon Knitting book. I love the idea of using old T-Shirts for knitting and crochet, but the double strand of fabric makes a very thick "yarn," precluding its use for most items. While it is wonderful for a cushy bathroom rug, I would not want to wear it.

Instead, I have been cutting the torso of my worn shirts into single long strips.

After trimming off the hem, I cut a 1/2" to 5/8" continuous strip (around and around and around...) up to the arm pits. As I wind the resulting "yarn" into a ball, I slightly stretch the strip. This causes it to roll back on itself (it's stockinette stitch), and make a more rounded yarn (rather than a flat ribbon). Depending on the width of the strip, the yarn is a bulky-weight gauge that can be knit or crocheted into a dense cotton fabric.

And the sleeves??? They certainly could be used to make something else fun (patches? pockets? bag linings?). I like to use the soft cotton for cleaning cloths. No waste!!

Feelin' Swappy!

What a great day! I received these beautiful stitch markers from my swap partner, Melissa. The swap is through Get Stitchy!, a great online forum for knitters, crocheters, and other fiber enthusiasts. I love the blue and silver...one of my favorite combinations.

And here are the ones I made for her. I really liked working with the green glass beads and the silver wires. These are not my first markers, but I do have very limited experience making them. Each time, I learn a little more... especially about making the wire loops. Below is my first attempt at a row counter. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I'll need to make one for myself now!

V-Stitch Shawl update

The main body of the shawl is now complete and being blocked. I am still consider multiple options for finishing...fringe, beads, edging... I decided to wait and see how it drapes after it's blocked and dry... to be continued.

Oh, and the little colors peeking through are happy flowers on my sheets! I love them!

A few more to rip apart...

Today was the "orange tag sale" at my nearby thrift store. I picked up three more lovelies to rip apart for yarn.

The top sweater is an American Eagle Outfitters wool with an occasional stripe of a metallic green. Since it looks and feels new, I'm guessing it was a Christmas gift that didn't go over very well. Their loss is my gain...it will make great hats and/or bags.

The middle layer is a yummy angora/wool blend. I'm thinking baby hats or ...?

The dark sweater on the bottom is a cotton Talbot's turtleneck. It is also near-new. It's bound for glory as "vegan" hats for sale at Tina's gallery.

I also started ripping on a sweater I thrifted some time ago. I was not able to get a decent shot of it because Ashes insisted on "helping." She was not about to be moved out of the one sunny spot in the house. As soon as I picked her up and placed the sweater on the floor to photograph, she was right back over there! I called, I coaxed, I hissed, I cajoled, and as you can see... she ignored! So this is the best shot of a Gap wool tweed I could get. Thanks, Ashes. At least you're comfortable!

Yay! A new toy!

Don't you love new toys? I do! Today I received my new swift. I was so excited when I arrived home and it was waiting for me. As soon as I set it up, we both got to work. Now, I have mixed reviews.

While it really is just fine... turns well, no rough edges, is the right size, etc..., I'm now realizing I should have ordered a different style.

My old swift had a hand crank, my new one does not. The handle breaking off my old swift is what prompted the ordering of a new swift. Now it seems that finding one with a handle would have been my top priority. But dork that I am sometimes, I didn't even look for that. So, I am just going to have to build up my arm/shoulder muscles and spin it myself!

The light blue yarn on the swift is being recovered from a wool/silk thrifted sweater. More about that later.

More Recycling...

I recently thrifted this sweater. It's a soft denim blue 50% wool / 50% silk long-sleeved tunic. While I liked the sweater and all its cables, it's just too long and ill-fitting.

Here, you see the left sleeve has already been frogged into a nice sized ball. The yarn is a great three - ply that measures 12 wraps per inch.

As I played with the recovered yarn, it "told" me it wants to be a cozy shawl in its next life. So I've been experimenting with different stitches. As of right now, it looks like a "V-stitch" is working out really well. Next will be the search for the right edging.

More new goodies...I just added these to my library. I easily drool over any of Nicky Epstein's books, and I've been coveting the Mason Dixon book for a long time. They just had to come home with me. Yippee!

Sisters Hat

Here's today's design. And it's available FREE here.

It's made from my "dyeing mistake." Thanks to the encouragement of others, the yarn has been resurrected into yet another hat. Thanks, all!

Score!

Lookie what I found today for half-price at Goodwill!

The top layer is 2-1/2 yards of cotton fabric in green and oatmeal. I have been looking for the right green to use as a lining for another recycled sweater bag I'm working on. Perfect! Plus there is plenty for another project.

Second is an Old Navy Collection mohair blend sweater in a natural white. I am imagining it is destined to greatness as a scarf/shawl in its next life.

And last in this stack is a wool Gap sweater in a pale green. It's very nice as is, but I decided it will be happier in another form...maybe hats? An added bonus is the cute little button on its back.

I also snapped up a bag with four balls of unlabeled yarn in a natural oatmeal color. I'm never sure about these sealed bags, but since it was only $1.99, I decided it was worth the risk. At home it passed the burn test for wool and weighed out at over 16 ounces! Lots of options for this one. Yipppeee! I love good thrifting days!

any excuse....

Those who know me, also know that it doesn't take much of an excuse for me to go yarn shopping. So, yesterday, when a real excuse came up, who was I to argue?!

My little dog, Latte was overdue for a "do." Because it would be about three hours until pick-up time at the groomer's, and I hate wasted trips, I decided I would check out a few of the LYSs in Portland. Several new ones have sprung up since I lived in Portland, so I narrowed it down to three that I had not yet visited. I had a few different projects in mind. So, in order to keep my budget under control, I vowed I would only buy for those projects on this trip.

My first stop was The Naked Sheep. The shop was comfortable, well-lit, clean and full of a great selection of colors and types of yarns. Cheri was friendly and knowledgeable. She didn't carry the exact yarn I was looking for today, but I will definitely be back.

Next on the itinerary was Close Knit. As I walked in, I spied Leigh Radford teaching a class. I wished I had brought my One Skein book to get autographed! This shop has goodies stashed in every nook and cranny. In fact, it was so full, it was hard to navigate without running into someone or something. I found myself becoming overwhelmed with all the input. I did find the silk I was hunting for project number one! Yippee. And, yes, I will be back here, too!

Last stop was Mabel's Cafe. This shop offers a wide array of coffee, tea, edibles and yarn. There was a sprinkling of individuals and small groups at the tables near the front who were visiting, noshing and knitting. There was also a raucous class going on. They were having great fun, but they were so loud, that the other folks in the shop were having to shout over them. Since I was already on sensory overload, I had to make this visit fairly short. I found two skeins that will work for projects two and three, and then skedaddled out. I will be back to Mable's when I have time to sit and knit and no headache to start.

So, arriving back home with yarn, photos and a "poodly" poodle, I determined my afternoon was well spent...and no excuses necessary.