You Are On My Mind

I tell you it's an exciting time. So much so I don't know if I can keep up with myself!
I had a brain drizzle - those of you who know me know I can never really come up with a brain storm so a drizzle is about all I can manage. Any way, I have two blogs one here which talks about knitting and other stuff, and designbcb, which tells the story behind some of the things I knit.

Well, I was never really satisfied with the other blog but I didn't want to give it up all together and then along came Handmade News. It's the online news mag where I get to interview artisans about their craft and their work. The powers that be really want this magazine to take off and I must say I would like for it to be successful as well and part of that means marketing and promoting the site, my department, and my artists (yes, I claim them as mine.)

I don't want this blog to turn into a big promotional blog - that wasn't its purpose -you know where I'm going, right?

It was the purpose of designbcb. That blog was created to promote my things and it still can because Handmade News and the artisans are now part of my thing. I love synergy!

So, here's the deal. I am going to use the designbcb site to talk about the handmade movement, Handmade News and my shops. I will keep this blog for its original intention - time spent with you and me and our other crafting friends and seeing how this thing called knitting enhances and shapes our lives. Because it has evolved from two sticks and a string to what we have now. And we love it.

So, hang out over at designbcb and find out about interesting people, places and things. Click the links over to Handmade News and learn a few things about how crafting really does hold the world together and how it can take us those few steps back we need to take so we can move forward more responsibly. I'll see you over there.

Here's my new baby. She's soft and cuddly and green! This is a different version of the scarf I made a few weeks back. It's only 60 inches long but still very soft and will keep someone chill free. This is also the first original piece I've made for the ArtFire shop. I used a different Artistry colorway and the I Love This Yarn both from Hobby Lobby.

Quick knit and fun! Like I said exciting times!

Imagine

It's 80 degrees today, so imagine how it felt going out and photographing a winter scarf. Ah but what a scarf. I must admit I like how it came out. It is a very generous 80 inches so it will keep someone toasty when summer and fall are through this year. It wanted to be made and so I just had to comply.

I did make the matching hat, but I have to redo the photos using one of the girls/boys so it looks like a hat. I liked how it came out as well.

Happy Friday, everyone. Tomorrow is the big day for Sit & Knit as dozens of knitters will gather to make squares that will be used to make lap blankets for Compassionate Care Hospice. We found out a few weeks ago that this hospice is not a central place. Each of the shawls, lapghans, etc. will go into a home with a client. That's good because then it can stay with the family as a keepsake. I still have to pick up the postcards and pull together the goodie bags. We are giving a reusable paper bag with a 10% off dinner coupon and menu from our corporate sponsor, PJ Clarke's restaurant, a bottle of hand lotion from Compassionate Care, a brochure from Pleasant Home and a card from StitchCraft which has a stitch pattern on the front and whom we've donated goods or cash on the back. PJ Clarke's is also providing veggie trays, goat cheese stuff tomatoes and some other eats. And we should have good weather so we can all be on the porch.

There are over 40 people expected which would be up from the number we had last year. I do hope they show. It's a great time and we get to share with each other face to face and not just byte to byte.

I hope to see you all on Monday - and if you're in Chicago, drop on by the Sit & Knit. It's in Oak Park north of the Eisenhower.

Have a great weekend!

Tumbling Dice

We have those moments; don't we? All over Twitter knitters were tweeting about not knowing what project they want to work on. It was like a world wide brain freeze for knitters.

I was in that group. I was dissatisfied with what was on my needles, but I didn't know what else to start. Thought I'd start a shawl, got into a few rows and decided the yarn (worsted weight) was too heavy. I don't use anything less than worsted weight so I moved on. Thought I'd try another bag. That just didn't feel right. There was a bag I had on the needles and put away so I pulled that out. That felt somewhat better and the bag should be finished sometime today but that wasn't enough.

It just happens to us every once in a while. We stall out. We begin to panic because we wonder if we the knitting mojo has decided to go somewhere north, south, east or west of our knitting border into an unknown land and spend his time with folks who are not us who will appreciate him more than we.

But that is just not possible.

Remember I have all that novelty yarn from Hobby Lobby? It's all in the big stash box in the living room. I bought it with the idea of making bags with them but the bracelets haven't arrived yet and I wanted to get into it. So last night during the exciting Cubs game. I cast on and a scant hour or so later, I had this:
It's a scarflette or a muffler and it's all glitzy and soft (even though it is eyelash) and it can be worn like a long scarf or coiled like this.

It was fun to knit and because I used big old size 11 needles, it didn't take that long to knit and do you know my first thought after I was done?

"That was quick. Now what?"
As Linda Ellerby used to say: And so it goes.

The Birth of a Designer

I know, it's been almost a week. What kind of blogger goes without writing to their peeps for almost a week? The kind of blogger who has been working on a project that is taking way longer than expected. Still, I understand that is no excuse and from looking at the pictures, you would want to know why the scarf took a week to make....

and therein lies the lesson. (Get some coffee or tea; this is gonna take a while.)

I feel incredibly blessed to be able to combine writing with knitting. It is something that seems to fit with me since I am either at my computer or have my knitting needles in my hand.
So, I had this idea - several ideas- to combine them both, earn something of a living and be able to enhance the spiritual walk that is a part of my life.

I am working on a book of patterns that have a spiritual basis to them. It involved reading Bible passages and seeing what type of garment those passages inspired. I would read, make a note that said something like: "Prayer shawl: red, orange, burnt orange - colors of the sunset." I had thirteen of these to go with the Bible passages. There were prayer shawls, blankets and afghans.

But I had no designs. No patterns. And I hesitated as I thought about how I was going to go about getting these patterns for my book. Would I hire designers? Would I ask for freebies? Would I purchase patterns outright?

While this was going on, I had the bright idea of opening up the shop on Etsy and trying to sell my items there. I figured I wouldn't specialize in one particular thing because that's the quickest way to boredom for me. No, I would knit items as I do now - pull the first book off the shelf or look at the first item in my Ravelry Que or bookmarked on my computer and start knitting.

(Do you need a drink refill?)

Funny thing happened on the way to stocking my store. The next pattern for me to knit was for a baby blanket. A weird looking baby blanket. I liked the pattern but thought a baby would take one look at it, slap the doctor and go back into the womb.

So I thought: keep the stitches - alter the pattern.
Change the size of the yarn
Change the needles
Increase the size of the blanket
Use different colors - manly colors
Make it a throw.
and that became the Man Cave Throw I've blogged about.

Next, I pulled out a pattern for a baby blanket. I read the pattern and I didn't have enough of the right kind of yarn (no, seriously, I didn't.) But I did have all these skeins of a 'baby yarn' that I brought for another project and didn't like so I started knitting with that and it worked.

Except I had to change the size of the needles because the weight of the yarn was different than the pattern called for.

Which meant I had to calculate the number of stitches I would need to get the size indicated in the pattern.

Except I wanted it to be bigger than the pattern indicated.

And I wanted to use different stitches than the pattern indicated.

Those of you who are very smart have already put this together. I, on the other hand, was still clueless.

I began to work on an afghan. The pattern called for about nine strips: four cabled strips and five strips of a different pattern. I started working on it when, you guessed it, I decided I needed to change what I was knitting.
In the meantime, I was working on the book when I raised the question again of where am I going to get these patterns - and then it hit me - I had just designed two blankets.

I was still dense. I said to myself, "But they don't match any of the descriptions of the items I said I wanted." The voice spoke to me again. "Change the descriptions."

DUH.

So, I placed the two patterns into the book and was feeling pretty good and went back to working on the afghan with all the cables. I decided to completely change the pattern but not until I had knit this strip. And last night, at about midnight, I told myself to go to bed when I looked at the strip pinned to the cable strip and decided to remove it. I took it off, looked at it and thought to myself 'what am I going to do with this?' and I put it around my neck and said, 'Bet I can turn this into a scarf.' and 'Bet I can do a different kind of fringe.'

And I did. Pattern number three. A new item for the shop. A new blog post.

Ain't God alright?

The Special Olympic Scarf - Completed

So, the yarn arrived on December 4 and I started working on it that evening after we came from dinner. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning - watching something on the t and v and crocheting the scarf. I didn't finish it before falling asleep so I got up and got to it right after reading my bible passage and taking care of some other business.

So here it is. And it is going to make it's way to the Special Olympics this very day. I decided to do some Fibannoci striping and some fringe. I think this is a very nice idea someone had to do these scarves for the athletes and others on the Special Olympic team. It speaks to being an individual and a part of a team. And there are folks on Ravelry who have made 6 or more! WOW!!

I don't know if they have the opening ceremonies televised or not, but if I had known this project existed during the Olympics - this would have been my Ravelympic project. As it is, I'm really honored to be able to contribute.

Special Olympics Scarf Project

The Special Olympic Scarf Project! I saw this when I was on the knitters-warehouse website. I often go there to look at yarn I will never buy. I wanted to make sure it was more than just a way for Coats and Clark to get us to buy more yarn so I googled it and found that it is a legit project and they have over 1000 scarves already and are looking to get about 5000 for the athletes, sponsors and dignitaries.

Now, you know I will use almost any reason to buy some yarn, but I remember a long time ago being a volunteer for the Special Olympics and really enjoying the day and this is something that is tugging at me.

The rules are quite simple:
Use delft blue and white yarn by Coats and Clark
make the scarf approx. 41/2 by 50
crochet or knit any pattern you choose
include a note to the athlete but don't include contact info on the note
send off the scarf so it is received by January 15 to:

2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Scarf Project
3150 W. Main Street
Boise, ID 83702

Use the link above to find out all the official info.

If you buy the super saver size, those two skeins will be enough to make two, maybe three scarves and depending on where you buy it, it's less than $10. This is right up the old alley in so many ways.

So, will I do it? I think I must. I have the knitting-warehouse screen up on another window and I am looking at the yarn. I am going to order it on line because I know they have it in stock as opposed to going store to store (besides, there's snow on the ground out there! My workout today will be to shovel to the car and clean it off!)

I am going to order the yarn and put my projects aside and knit up some scarves and send it to kids who have a great deal of heart and spirit and can add a little of mine to the pile. If you decide do it, send me a photo of your FO or a link to your blog with it and we can have a parade of scarves!

A New Scarf for the Old HB

So, the HB wanted a plain, black scarf. No special stitches, no patterns, I couldn't even add just a touch of brown. A plain, black scarf.

I didn't want to knit that.

So, I crocheted it instead. I haven't done much crochet lately and there was a time I prefered crochet to knitting. I'm crocheting one of the wips and decided I would crochet his scarf. I just finished a few moments ago while watching Pride and Prejudice on my DVR. (Along with some episodes of Knitty Gritty and Needle Arts Studio.) He hasn't seen it yet. I will leave it on his chair so he will see it in a few hours when he wakes up. And he'll need it. Winter has begun in Chi-town and it's a little nippy out there at 4:30 in the morning when he leaves.

So, this is all single crochet (except for one row of double crochet I threw in just to be obstinate.) Used all of the skein of "I Love This Yarn" from Hobby Lobby. I do love this yarn. It's cushy and soft. And knit up pretty cleanly - though I did run into a knot where they joined some yarn. No big deal, it got lost in the scarf somewhere.

He told me he would probably find his scarf after I made this one. No matter, I told him he would have an option between the black scarf and the black scarf.

What a nice wife he has. And the stash is one skein lighter.
Y'all know I'm gearing up to go shopping, right?

What Goes Around

The H-B has been bumbling around for a few days grumbling because he cannot find his winter scarf. It was there one moment and gone the next and he doesn't know where he put it. It's not in his car. It's not in my car. It's not at his mom's condo. It's lost.

After a few days of this, I spoke up (well, the fun was gone for me so I had to move on)
"Would you like me to make you a scarf?" (While thinking - you have a wife who knits, you could have had a scarf an hour after you lost the first one.)

"Did you make the last one?" (Hmmm, couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, but I think not, just surly.)

"No, but does it matter? Do you think it was lost because it might or might not have been homemade?" (Definately sarcastic)

"No." (Grumble, grumble. Open closet door for the umpteenth time, close closet door with no scarf)

"So, would you like me to make you a scarf?'

"Yeah, why not?'

"Would you like another black one?"

"Yes."

"I will check and see what black yarn I have in my stash."

"There's some in that box."

That box? "You mean in the box of yarn you're making me give away? I'm pretty sure I have more black yarn that won't turn me into a false advertiser. Would you like a scarf or a cowl?"

"A scarf."

Man, how I wish I didn't have those other skeins of black yarn in the upstairs stash. I could have turned that into a legitimate reason to shop.

When Is An Afghan Not An Afghan - con't

Remember a while back I knit all these squares to make an afghan and when I started to pull it together, it didn't work? I made two of those squares into a pillow, but I still have plenty of squares left and now some of them have become this kiddie scarf! There are still enough squares to make a matching hat and possibly mittens.

But here is the Take A Ribbing scarf from "Getting Started Knitting" I couldn't tell you how many colors are in it, but it's made from the Herschnerr's Chunky weight yarn which is really yummy to me. (I wouldn't know what to do with yarn that actually cost more than $7 a skein!) It's a nice yarn with lots of colors (obviously) and very lush. It's the shipping charges that kills the buzz for me. I wait until they have free shipping which they do a couple of times a year and then I buy a bunch of it.

If I get the chance, I will try and whip up a hat or mittens to go with it but the scarf will go on sale at the bazaar next month.

Project Updates

So, you see the weird hat. I tried this thing on and I thought my head was going to topple over. The knot makes it so heavy; but I swear, it looks just like the photo in the patten. I may have to take the knot out and do a weave through or something. I can't sell or give it away - it could hurt someone!
The scarf is folded-4 times. I had someone 5'7 drape this over their shoulders and it still reached the ground. They could fold it over their neck several times which made it very warm. It's the Sunset Strip scarf. Someone wanted to know if it was a pastor's stole and I had to laugh because I had the idea the StitchCraft group should make one and give to the three pastors in our church. I still may look up some stoles on line for inspiration and do one in stockinette stitch then duplicate stitch the symbols in. Of course, I will let you know if that should come about.

Does she really have 5 projects going? Yes, she does. Don't know what she was thinking, but there you are. And for all the projects I have going and all the yarn it takes. My house still looks like Yarn Warehouse, LTD. It breeds in the dark when I'm not looking. And it will never end.

Oh Yeah, I Knit

Here are two of the scarves I recently completed. I just wanted to do something easy and mindless and these certainly fit. They were both completed sometime last month. The one on the left is the unixes scarf. Same pattern on both sides - it's kinda long (not nearly as long as my sunset strip scarf which could fit someone seven feet tall) but it works for both sexes.

As does the simple garter stitch scarf on the right. Here's the thing about that scarf. I was using yarn which was donated to our knit group and this yarn is so old it's marked with the Venture store logo. Venture has not been in business since sometime in the early nineties. I pulled out to skeins of green yards and gotta knittin'. It wasn't until I was almost finished when I noticed the greens were two different dye lots and were not the same. I had already started using the second ball -what to do?

I bound off the green on one end, picked up stitches on the other end and so it looks like the scarf is trimmed in one color and the body is knit in the other. - That's right, folks - that's what the price of a college education will get you!

Olympic Hat & Scarf

Here they are! My Olympic Hat & Scarf.

These were items entered into the Ravelympics! I have Cai, the afghan left to complete.
So, these were made mostly with Caron by the Pound, but the ring colors were made with yarn that was donated by someone. And I still dig the Pom-Pom on the hat. (Thanks to my hubby for being willing to model the hat!)

The scarf is mostly stockinette and it's folded and pinned to take out the curl. It's over about five feet long (I think). These will be available at the November Bazaar (sold separately).

Quick Knit Scarf

Well, I'm just a knitting fool since the Ravelympics started. I still have the olympic scarf and the cai afghan to go, but this was almost done so i thought it would be best to go ahead and finish it up.

This scarf goes with the hat (that's Marilyn modeling it). They're both made with Red Heart yarn on size 9 needles. The hat was modified from a pattern found in Quick Knit - Cool Accessories and the scarf was made up from a stitch I found in a stitch dictionary and thought it would make a great scarf. and so it does.

this cute little set will be sold at the November Bazaar - come on by and buy it!

Ravelympians Unite!

It's almost time for the Ravelympics to begin. I am entered into three events: hat dash, scarf stroke, and afghan marathon. Oops, make that four, I am also in the design discus since I'm designing all the things I am making.

Tomorrow is also a StitchCraft session so I will be knitting with friends at the church. I already have the designs in mind. I will need to cast on during the opening ceremonies and complete them all within the next 2.5 weeks. That shouldn't be too hard. If I stay up late this evening and finish the scarf I'm working on now. (The added incentive is that when I finish the scarf, the set will be complete and they will go from my house to Marilyn's house where all the completed items are stored!) Less stuff in my house - more stuff in her house; that's my definition of fair. (Hey, I store the yarn at my house and trust me, there's a boat load of that as well.)

Good luck to all the Ravelympians and to all the Olympians as well. I hate the United States has silenced our athletes about other things going on in the world - it's not just sports; it's sportmanship and that goes beyond the playing field. I think we should let our athletes be all around people and not just players.

But I'll watch the track and field and the other events because i love the games and the sports!

Cutsie Hat & Scarf

Sometimes you just get distracted. It's true! You do a project, take the photo and say: 'I need to get this on the blog!' and then life intervenes.

I made this hat and scarf sometime in June. I know, I know, I track my projects by my blog posts...but I refer back to that life intervenes thing. I was doing other things. Like work. Work can mess up a perfectly good day.

I got the pattern out of a magazine - I don't remember which one mebbe Creative Knitting? Interweave? Geez, I really don't remember. It was pretty darn easy and of course, the yarn is Caron By The Pound in jonquil. I really do have other yarn - I just have a lot of Caron By the Pound. (Though I must admit, I may have found a new love in worsted weight yarn that's an even better value than CBTP - I have yet to knit with it so I will let you know what happens!)

I can't remember a thing about this project. I think it went fast. I don't remember the size of the needles or anything..I'm telling you, this is life's fault. I can tell you it's sitting in the inventory getting ready for the fall sale in November. If I run across the pattern again, I will fill you in on the particulars.

The Soho Scarf - Exquisite Little Knits

So I've made another scarf. That's ok. Scarves are good for the craft sale and they are good for donations. Scarves serve many purposes.

This scarf was done in my favorite yarn, Caron By The Pound, knit on size eight circular needles. I think it took two days to knit. What makes this scarf so much fun is that it is made of three panels; two are vertical and the one in middle is horizontal and it is knit all in one piece. The technique involves adding on stitches, binding off, and picking up stitches. The reason it's on circular needles is because it requires two hundred stitches. It is a reversible scarf though one side has a little more texture than the other.

You can find the complete pattern in Exquisite Little Knits by Iris Schreier & Laurie J. Kimmelstiel.

I would love to see this yarn done with self striping yarn, as opposed to variegated yarn. I would love to see what the yarn does when it moves the horizontal to the vertical strip and back again.

The Debbie Macomber Scarf - almost

So, after the nine day afghan (that took 20 days) I needed to do something simple. The next book on the shelf was Knit With Debbie Macomber. The first pattern in the book is a pattern for making seven variations of a scarf. A scarf! Now that is simple, indeed. So, I thought I would make her scarf - only different. This scarf is headed for the Head2Toe Project. We're planning a Sit & Knit in May! Watch for more info.

The pattern called for chunky weight yarn - so far so good. I now have a bunch of chunky weight yarn in the stash. But I didn't have the speckled kind the first pattern called for, but the second one was a solid color.

I had a solid color!! It's Lion Brand Jiffy. I used it to make my brother in law's scarf for Christmas as well as the Nomad Hat/Scarf I made for myself. I still had a lot of it left over; certainly enough to make a scarf.

The pattern called for size 13 needles. Well, I used size 10 because that's the one the yarn suggested. I have nothing against size 13 needles - it just didn't feel right for the yarn- and since it's a scarf, gauge doesn't really matter much.

The pattern called for 17 stitches - that was a little narrow for me (probably because I used smaller needles) so I cast on 21 and that seemed just right.

The pattern said to make it 62 inches or the desired length. I chose the desired length. There was no fringe in the pattern - I felt like adding fringe.

Other than that, I followed the pattern to the letter!

The Nomad Hat and Scarf

So, you would think that being in Chicago and being a knitter, I would have all manner of hats and scarves.
WRONG! It occurred to me during this recent and early cold snap, I had neither hat nor scarf. I have made plenty of them and they have sold very well at our bi-annual sales, but like the cobbler whose kids have no shoes; I, a knitter, had no hat and scarf.

Until today.

I decided Thursday evening that I would make myself a hat, a scarf, and some mittens (I don't have those, either.) Friday morning I went in search of a pattern for each and had already decided on a pattern for a scarf when I pulled out a copy of Interweave Knits I received from a book distributor and inside was this photo of a hat AND scarf all knit into one.

I decided to make it. Fresh off the needles and onto the light fixture that's about the size of my head is my version of the Nomad Hat and Scarf designed by fellow blogger Kat Coyle. It is now very early Sunday morning and it is a warm accessory.

I used 2 1/2 skeins of Lion Brand Jiffy in wine with size 10.5, 11 & 13 straight needles and it knit really fast. I did make some changes to the pattern. I couldn't get the hang of the cast on so I cast on my way and closed the hole at the top. (It's knitted from the top down) and the gauge was a little different so I had the length the pattern calls for before all the rows were completed, but I like a nice, long scarf, so I did the number of rows (about 140) for each side to make super long ear flaps, lastly, my bind off was a little wonky so I picked up the stitches for the ear flap scarf along the bind off edge to hide that flaw. The result is this really awesome scarf that falls about a foot and half more than you see in the photo. It almost makes me wish for colder weather...almost.

The Head2Toe Project

So, this idea has been floating around my head for months and I've decided just to plunge right in and take some of my knitting friends with me.

The Head2Toe Project is meant to provide head to toe comfort to kids in foster care. Here are the steps as they play out in my mind:

1. Ask members of a congregation or organization to provide a pair of socks (sizes from infant to adult)
2. Knit groups would knit scarves and hats. (Again from infant to adult).
   
3. Send knitted items to one place for tagging and sorting.
4. We would match up one hat, one scarf, and one pair of socks.
   
5. We would send off these sets to ChildServ or ChildServ designated agencies to distribute to kids in their care.

Worsted weight yarn - recommend Caron By The Pound a little of that goes a long way!
Gender neutral colors
Gender neutral design
There would be a designated time for items to be sent in so we can distribute at Christmas and again at Valentine's Day.

I've already contacted ChildServ to see if we can work with them and I am in the process of contacting knit groups in churches to see if they would like to participate.

I would like to have a knit & sit to kick it off in the fall of 2008. - This is called planning ahead and the website should go up as soon as I have participating organizations. I just wanted to put it in the atmosphere and see how it sounded to 'say it out loud.'

If you might be interested in the Head2Toe Project, leave a comment and I will keep you posted on our progress.

Seed Stitch Scarf

This is a very nubby, textured stitch and is great for a guy's scarf. It's a simple 4 row pattern:

Cast on an even number of stitches.

Rows 1 & 2: K2, P2. Repeat to end of the row.
Rows 3& 4: P2, K2. Repeat to end of the row.

I slip the first stitch of every row to create an even edge, but not slipping them makes a textured edge which also works.

This scarf is a gift for our choir director. What you don't see are the four gift cards attached to corners.


For this project, I used size 10 bamboo needles and Caron By The Pound yarn. It's a yarn that's very inexpensive, but knits up very nicely. I use it a majority of the time with great results. It is my worsted weight yarn of choice.