Now I knit my ABCs - F is for Felting!

Felting felting felting - it's so in fashion right now! What for years we tried to avoid when laundering our wearable wools - is now all the rage!

Just a year ago you had to scour the stores and internet to find felting instructions, patterns and/or books.

And then, without much warning, there was an explosion of of matted materials. Pamphlets (especially of the complimentary variety) were always out of stock, companies have started marketing yarn specifically for felting, and now, there are a plethora of books with patterns and "how tos".

I've been "hooked" on felting ever since I washed up my first swatch (which "turned into" a soup trivet) and "hat" (which "turned into" a bowl).

Bonus recap of conversation back to car after Stitch n' Pitch...

(Phils win! Phils win!)

Sally: I've always really liked sports, but I don't have any one favorite team.
HillHippie: Yeah, but, don't you kinda think that Chase Utley is your boyfriend?
Girlfiend: If I weren't married I'd totally make out with Chase Utley
Madgirl: Does being married matter? Do you really think that Boyfiend would mind so much? I kinda see him being all "that sucks, but, was he cool; did you tell him about me?". Hey, where are my keys?




Thanks to the Ladies for the pic.

Stitch and Pitch - Philly style

tonight is the Philadelphia Phillies Stitch and Pitch event. 3 fellow knitters and I are heading out to the ballpark tonight to watch the Phillies battle the Cincinnati Reds and knit the night away.

I haven't chosen a project to bring along yet - something fun I think - and easy to transport. hmmmm.

Now I knit my ABCs - E is for eyelash

I love eyelash yarn - as an accent or alone, I think it makes a great fabric.

Eyelash can be a chunky weight (can be knitted alone) or carrying weight novelty yarn. The "eyelashes" are strands of thread (yarn, ribbon, etc) that hang down from the central cord and, when knitted, create a "fur" affect. Short, long, dense, sparse, the eyelash is a fun addition to any funky project.

It knits up so quickly and while it can be a little tricky to work with, it's very forgiving. I can remember the first time I used the yarn - it was turquoise and i was making a small boa for Katie - I was flabbergasted at the results - I've been hooked ever since.

Wizard Craft!

Here's the Hufflepuff scarf -


So now I'm knitting a Gryffindor one, as I said in the craft shop - because I want to.

I'm assisting in the decoration of my church for their vacation bible school - the theme, believe it or not is Harry Potter - so I knitted up a cap for Dumbledore this past weekend - I'm moderately pleased with it - we'll see.

Just one more change...

to the Harry Potter inspired scarf - it's now Hufflepuff.

Look, I had the yarn, it was the right gauge (the "Ravenclaw" yarn turned out to be 2 different gauges), the right colors - AND - I have kin in western central PA - so, it can be a steelers scarf when I'm finished.

It's a painfully tedious knit - all stockingette - in the round - row after row after row. Right now it looks like a long bumble bee tube. At about 4 stripes I was tempted to bind it off, add some straps and call it a halloween costume - but I knitted on.

I think it's going to take more yarn that the pattern called for - hopefully I'll have enough!

I still have my lovely gold wool (I used a blend for the "Huffleelers" project) - so if I get some scarlet - I may try to make another - we'll see....

pictures soon.

So, I was thinking that I might change my

house allegiance for the whole Harry Potter scarf thing. See, I have blue and gray (silver) yarn already - so I could make a Ravenclaw scarf without having to purchase any additional yarn - and, I could, theoretically, still use such a scarf as a PSU accessory.

We'll see, maybe I'll do both....

Boucle Beauty

Finished the B is for Boucle scarf...

Now I knit my ABCs - D is for Dumbledore?

So you may know (or not) that I do a bit of blogging about Harry Potter. I'm a big fan of the books and movies and, as this is the biggest Potter summer, evah, I'm chronicling some of the happenings over at The Hogwarts Herald.

So, over at HH we're (okay, I'm) planning a Potter Party to celebrate the release of the final Potter installment Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I've been posting different planning techniques and scheduling. One aspect of the planning is crafting (not the dark arts through!) -

So I've decided that I'm going to knit a Harry Potter house scarf. It will be burgundy and gold. I have the gold - I just have to find some burgundy.....

Yes, there are photos to be taken...

I haven't taken any pix of the alphabetic projects - they're lovely, and warrant some face time - but I just have been able to schedule a photo shoot with them!

Project Cotton is going to take longer than a week - and I'm probably not going to post any photos until it is complete (it's a gift) - but Project Boucle is beautiful!

Now I knit my ABCs - C is for Cotton

I love knitting with cotton - I know that it goes wonky when it gets wet - and it can stretch out into strange shapes - but it's, basically, a washable natural fiber, that you can use to make just about any project. I've used cotton yarn to make: dishcloths (shock?); baby bibs; baby blankets; children's sweaters; bath mitts; hats; coasters; trivets/hotpads; and, so on.



My most current cotton project, however, has been giving me fits. I really like the yarn - Knit Picks Crayon, is a 100% Pima (stands for "Pain In My Ankle") Cotton, DK Weight, Machine washable yarn that comes in 128 yard/50 gram skeins. The project is "knit in the round" - and, even on the wooden needles, now that I have switched to the dpns - the yarn just keeps slipping off and, subsequently, dropping stitches. ARRRGGGGHHH. I need to use "point protectors" to keep the stitches from sliding.

But I'm hopeful -

I'm the IT girl!

So girlfiend tagged me for a meme as an apology for not going to knitting. I did go to knitting; but it's okay, because I got the update on the planning status for the Rox High class of 1987 reunion (they've had a major setback!).

Here are the rules:

Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

8 things about me? HEY! WAKE UP!

1. I started this list by first typing in the numbers and punctuation (more time to think);
2. I'm, apparently, squeamish about typing the word "period" as I wrote "punctuation" instead;
3. I, apparently, don't know how to spell the word "squeamish" - thankfully Blingo does;
4. I use Blingo as my search engine - I love prizes;
5. I can't count the number of times I have won prizes on the radio - I'm all about being "the" caller;
6. My broadcast acting debut and swan song was as a child, on PBS radio, as The Velveteen Rabbit. I had one line;
7. Growing up, my next door neighbor (backyard neighbor, actually) had a pet rabbit named "Bosco";
8. I know the theme song to the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" - "everybody needs good neighbours..."

so, here's where I fall off the wagon - I'm not going to "tag" anyone - mostly because just about all of the bloggers i know have already been tagged - check out some of their responses.

This is why I have such bad luck - it started in grade school with that darn chain letter...

You say it's your birthday!

Well, it's Charlie's birthday too!




Ahh, the first of many birthday cakes to come!

Now I knit my ABCs - B is for Boucle

Derived from the French Boucler - "to curl," Boucle (Boo-clay) yarn is typically made up of 3 strands of yarn with one strand being looser that the others, creating a curled or bumpy effect. Both the yarn and the fabric created from the yarn use the term.

Boucle yarn, usually, knits up quickly (unless you have some unraveling issues), and fluffy. It's beautiful on it's own, but can also be "jazzed up" with a carrying yarn, such as an eyelash.

Lorna's Laces Grace. A mohair blend boucle. Worsted weight/ size 8 needles. Care: Hand wash and dry flat.

I got 2 skeins (again) of Iris Garden - another scarf - going to alternate in some "stripes" of plum colored eyelash - for an even more dramatic look.

This hand dyed yarn is a work of art -

As seen on Hogwarts Herald

Charmed Knits by Alison Hansel is a collection of Potter inspired knitting projects. The book includes 30 patterns, including: the "Weasley Sweater"; house scarves, mittens, hats and socks; and, robes, toys and other decorations inspired by the Harry Potter books and movies.





However, as the description on Amazon says, there are thousands (literally) of patterns and ideas for Potter projects on the internet - some for sale, some for free.

Photos from Knitpicks.com - where you can order the book and yarn to cordinate with the projects. The book is also available on Amazon.com.

Amy and Kate at Super Nanny's Birthday

Gave Super Nanny (who is now a Super Puzzle Book Editor) a bag full of (to be dyed) yarn for her birthday. Also present at the festivities were the ever lovely Amy and Katie.

Now I knit my ABCs - A is for Alpaca

Araucania Atacama Alpaca, to be exact. This is color 501 - pinks and roses.

The yarn is hand dyed - resulting in awesome color variations. There are no dye lots - so it is recommended that you buy enough yarn to complete your project and do the "skein switch" (switch out different skeins every 4 - 6 rows) to avoid drastic color variations. The fiber content is 100% Chilean alpaca and comes in 50 g/110 yard skeins. The weight is worsted (light worsted I'd say) with a gauge of 18 sts/4" using needle #7US. For care hand wash and dry flat.

I got 2 skeins and I'm defiantly ignoring the skein switch recommendations (mostly because I hate weaving in more than I hate the idea of color inconsistencies).

I'm knitting a scarf - I started with a variation on the seed stitch - which probably has a "name" - I just don't know it. I've added a pretty intense cable series (over 24 stitches) - it's knitting up quickly, although it's becoming more and more obvious to me that all knitting needles need to be made of wood - the aluminum is just too slippery for this yarn.

Because it sounds like FUN!

I'm adapting a concept I saw over at kidsdish. Kelly is making her way through the alphabet and featuring a "letter related" recipe/food each week. This week, C is for Cheese. YUM!

So I thought that it would be fun to also go through the alphabet, but to search out (and knit!) some new yarns. ANY excuse to get more yarn is a good one - I'm still "thinkin" about my method - I don't want to end up with a bunch of short scarves - or do I? hmmm,

Interestingly, when I told Kelly that I was pilfering her idea her response was "that's okay, I didn't invent the alphabet." Thanks for clearing that up - and thanks for the cool idea!

I've been a bit distracted

with getting ready for the PSU Spring Scrimmage. We do a big tailgate with lots of yummy food - so that's been taking some time.

I've been working on a new project (no pictures yet) - but I didn't have the correct size dpns - so I put it down for a while. It would seem that this project is jinxed - I've ordered 2 sets of the needles (size 10) online - and neither set has arrived yet (ordered 1 and 2 weeks ago) AND a friend stopped by a Michaels the other day to get them for me... and they only had size 6 dpns. What's up with that???

It's an interesting pattern and I'm looking forward to completing it - I just need some help from the universe...

Not knitting - but lovely all the same...

The coffee/fellowship (or, as I often say, happy) hour at Church for Easter was pseudo "potluck" - in that everyone (who wanted to) was asked to bring something for folks to nosh on after the service(s). (Never ones to pass up an opportunity to express ourselves culinarily) Suzanne made egg shaped cupcakes and frosted them with lovely pastel shades of icing and I helped by stylishly decorating them with an

assortment of easter candies and festive sprinkles. The resulting confections were stunning (and pretty darn yummy too!).