Scarf Swap 2013

This was my fourth year taking part in my knitting group's annual Anniversary Scarf Swap (here you can see my scarves from 2010, 2011, and 2012). This year I knit a scrappy scarf using leftovers from my Rainbow Blankie (that still remains unfinished, ugh). I had to knit on this exclusively for about two weeks to get it done in time. The final measurements were approximately 65" by 5", so it was fairly large. I think I cast on somewhere around 450 stitches!

Pattern: Mini Mania Scarf  by Sarah Core (free download on Ravelry!)

Yarn: Various fingering weight scraps, all superwash

Needles: US6 (4mm)

Began: January 2

Completed: January 21

Ravelry Link

In my attempt to appreciate my son's babyhood I snapped this picture on a day when I was (a) exhausted from being up six times the night before and then (b) he wouldn't nap in the afternoon and was up until 4pm! I remind myself that this time is SO fleeting and someday he's going to be a big boy and I will miss this time. 

 

And look how happy he was to be up for 6 hours! They do eventually sleep through the night, right?

And one last thing, I'm tweeting now! Or I will once I have at least one follower :)

You can follow me @andrea_knits.

Great Lakes Fiber Festival

As I stated earlier today, it takes a true fiber lover to be able to rub wool on their face when it's over 85 degrees. My knitting group spent several hours this morning/afternoon at the Great Lakes Fiber Festival in Wooster, Ohio. I didn't have any grand plans to buy yarn but did come away with a few goodies. 

I picked up a skein of tweedy handspun from Hilltop Heritage Farm. It's 300 yards of DK weight, 70% wool and 30% mohair. It has a nice sabley look to it and I think this may become the knitted dog I referred to a couple of posts ago. I also picked up two mini-skeins of yarn in two colors I'm still low on (green and orange) from Ursula's Alcove. At a dollar each, I couldn't resist. A couple of darning needles completed my day's purchases. I know somewhere in this house there are at least half a dozen darning needles all in hiding. Now that I need one, I can't find any. Considering I just used one on Thursday, this is pretty irritating. In my mind I keep singing that Paula Cole song only changing the lyrics to "Where have all the darning needles gone?" I need to graft my I-cord edge together and the needles will come in handy. I feel like I showed a lot of restraint today and while I saw some pretties there, I came away with things I know I'll definitely use. Did anyone else happen to head over there today as well?

Rikke Hat

 I finished a new knit last week all in the name of good, old-fashioned swapping.

This squishy goodness was knit for my knitting-group friend Joanna. She is the knitting group's resident needle crafter, hand-stitching designs on paper to create some really awesome greeting and holiday cards. So of course when she asked if anyone in the group would be willing to exchange some hand knits for cards, I jumped at the chance. Literally. I shouted, "ME!" 

Her request was a nice slouchy hat to go with her black leather jacket (she's so cool).  I was a little worried because Joanna has a smaller head circumference than I do so I was going to have to pray to the knitting gauge gods and hope things turned out alright. Thanks to all the garter stitch in this pattern, the brim is super stretchy and not only does it fit her little noggin well, it actually fits mine pretty good too (because you know I tried it on before I gave it away). Since the pattern calls for a DK weight yarn and we had decided on the Polar Morn colorway of Malabrigo worsted, I cast on fewer stitches on a slightly larger needle than called for.  After the brim, I knit the hat the length called for (9") before starting decreases. I had more than enough yarn, with a tiny ball leftover. 

Because of the in-the-round garter stitch, there is a jog where you switch from knit to purl but I actually don't mind it. It looks more like a seam to me than a messy switch so I didn't freak out about it.  I gave the hat to Joanna at knitting last night and was happy to get a couple quick photos of her wearing it. 

 

 

 I know I say this a lot but I definitely need one for myself! I have a couple great skeins of DK in my stash that I think would make an awesome hat. Or I might have to break down and buy a skein of Malabrigo. How terrible would that be?

You can check out Joanna on her Christmas TV blog or in her Etsy store (if you do, get a look at that squirrel greeting card! So cute!).

Pattern: Rikke Hat by Sarah Young

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Polar Morn (less than a full skein)

Needles: US 5 for brim, US 9 for hat

Began: October 27

Completed: October 29

Ravelry Link

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

Knitting and an Apple

I spent some time with my wonderful knitting group this evening. It has grown and changed (all for the better) since I've been a member. Meeting up with these fun ladies is always a highlight of my week.  Tonight, I mentioned that I didn't have a post planned for today so Mary kindly let me take some pictures of the group for the blog. 

I'm sure all knitters say this but I think my knitting group is the best. 

 And finally, I have a tiny finished project that I made at the end of August. My friend Deb was having a not-so-ideal time as a first-year teacher so I thought what better gift to give a teacher than an apple (and knitted, no less)? I got the idea from Alana (she always has great ideas) and whipped this cutie up with some DK weight Noro Maiko.

I omitted the finger hole and instead of adding pellets to weigh it down (those puppies are $8 a bag and I only needed about an ounce!) I added about thirty cents worth of pennies and fiber fill to create a fun little paper weight.

Pattern: Finger Foods by Susan B. Anderson

Yarn: Noro Maiko, Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton (stem), Wollmeise (leaf)

Needles: US3

Began: August 30

Completed: September 3

Ravelry Link

Water Lilies Socks

Last night was my knitting group's annual Birthday Swap. It's our biggest swap of the year, where we celebrate everyone's birthday at once (I'm positive I heard more than once last night someone ask, "when's your birthday" followed by "today"). My recipient was Chantal (Chauntal? She's a tricky one) who mentioned that she'd love a pair of handknit socks since she's only learning to make socks herself. So, in addition to some skeins of Collinette (you know, to make socks with) and Malabrigo (just for the love of it) I made her a pair of socks.

I think she actually squeed when she opened her package. That's like music to a knitter's ears. 

The yarn for these is ThreadBear Fiber Arts Black Dog Hand Dyed Sock Yarn. There was no colorway listed on the label but the yarn reminded me of a Monet painting; gorgeous hues albeit a bit muddled. I believe the Michigan yarn shop where the owner would dye these skeins up has since closed. Either way, I received this yarn as a gift through a swap two years ago. I've been saving it for something special and this was it.

The socks were done cuff down, where I worked about 8 rows of stockinette before doing a yarn over/knit two together combo, then another 8 rows before picking up stitches and knitting the top of the cuff down to create the picots. I love me a good picot. 

They fit the recipient perfectly (thank goodness) and I have more than enough to knit a second pair for myself (because I'm greedy like that).

Yarn: Black Dog Hand Dyed Sock Yarn (100% superwash Merino)

Needles: Leg and foot US1, heel and toe US0

Began: August 24

Completed: September 4

Ravelry Link

How to Celebrate a Knitaversary?

By going yarn bombing, of course!  Let me start by saying, I totally forgot that today was my two year knitaversary (it's not something I pencil in on my calendar, you know?). I kind of remembered it was sometime in September and just happened to check my blog for this time last year and sure enough, it's today. The yarn bombing was just happenstance.

 

My knitting group decided some time ago that we needed a good old-fashioned yarn bombing. There are a lot of details involved with finding a place to do such a thing (especially if you want to get permission first) and it all lead to this weekend. This weekend Akron has an event called Art in the Square and of course, what better time to yarn bomb than when a place will be filled with artisans and those who love handmade goods?

In the wee hours of the morning (7am feels wee on a weekend) we headed to Highland Square to cover some stuff in yarn. There were yarn balls (made from wrapping yarn around balloons then covering with glue and letting them dry), yarn chains, pom-poms(pons?), and lamp post cozies.

My lamp post cozy was made from a strip of crocheted fabric that I sort of re-purposed.  I've been very busy with school starting that my goal of knitting or crocheting a lamp post cozy fell to the wayside. Luckily, I had a huge piece of crocheted fabric from a time when I thought it was a fun idea to crochet a Snuggie out of Red Heart Super Saver (obviously, that was a time long ago). I measured its width (4 feet) and since I needed a strip that would be approximately 7 feet long by 1 foot wide, I measured to about 13" and cut a strip off the bottom. I intended to crochet on another three feet but lost interest somewhere around the additional 6". I think it ended up about 4 1/2 feet long. 

My lamp post cozy is the purple and blue one here in the foreground.

Overall, it was a lot of fun. I'm wondering how the balls held up as it's been sweltering here. I think the whole event turned out much better than I anticipated, although I wasn't really sure what to expect. I think this may become an annual event which means of course next year's will be even better!