Christmas at Sea: Finished Scarf and Bonus Hat

I finished that scarf for Christmas at Sea that I mentioned in the last post, and I had enough yarn left over to do a hat also. I think they make a nice set.

Windy Knitty is collecting 8 x 8-inch squares to make blankets for victims of the Oklahoma tornadoes, so I plan to knock one out this weekend. I grew up in the Tornado Alley of central Illinois, so I know how terrifying a tornado is. We never had major damage to our house (just minor roof damage caused by falling tree limbs), and no one in my family was ever hurt, but I've spent many a summer afternoon huddled in a basement waiting for the storm to pass overhead. I can only imagine what it's like to have your house torn apart or a loved one killed, and I'm sure the folks there will appreciate any gesture of sympathy and solidarity. Anyway, I have plenty of suitable yarn on hand. The only difficult choice is whether to do a solid square or something with checks or stripes. 

Miscellaneous Items

While looking for something else, I found some solid green sock yarn in the stash. The ball band is long gone, so I have no idea who the manufacturer is.

The yarn was really nice to knit with. It has a hard twist so it doesn't split easily. Yes, these socks are boring, but they'l be very comfy for next winter.

Onto the next charity project: a lady at church donated money so that our knitting group could buy yarn to make items for Christmas at Sea. I chose Plymouth Encore worsted weight. The color is supposed to be olive heather, but I think it has a decided bluish tint to it. It's very pretty, in any case. I'm using the mariner's scarf pattern posted on the Christmas at Sea site.

It's a very easy basket-weave pattern. It's the same on both sides (mirror image, actually), so there's no wrong side, which is important for scarves.

That's it for right now. I also found an old sweater in the stash that I started ages ago. Once the weather gets really hot and I have to turn on the AC, that's when I'll pull that one out and finally finish it...just as long as no more friends announce pregnancies and I have to knit baby stuff again.

More Baby Stuff

Remember those baby bibs I posted last time? I finished the burp cloths to go with them.

If I can sing my own praises, I think I picked some good color combos. That mint green with the navy is especially pretty, and you can't go wrong with denim blue and cream.Of course, my favorite is the teal with yellow; my school colors were green and gold, so I have a particular fondness for that color combo.

I still need to buy buttons for the bibs and sew them on, and I should probably wash all these items to remove the cat fur and extra dye from the yarn, but otherwise, this is ready to go. However, I'll probably wait until after the baby is born to mail these to the parents. I admit to being a little superstitious in this regard. It feels like tempting fate to give parents baby presents ahead of time.

My knitting queue is strangely empty at this point. I have nothing in particular in mind to work on at the moment. We might have a charity project at church, though, so that might be what I do next.

Yarn Con 2013

I went to Chicago Yarn Con yesterday and came home with 2 more skeins of yarn I don't need.

The one on the right is Knitting Goddess Silk in Sangria. The one on the left is Silk n Beads (they don't have a link to it on the web site) in Dark Cocoa. I have no idea what I'm going to make yet. They're going into the stash while I make baby bibs and burp cloths for a friend who's expecting her first child soon.

I need to weave in the ends on the yellow one and buy buttons, but the bibs are pretty much done. I always enjoy making them. They're quick and easy and the colors of that Peaches and Creme yarn are always so cheerful and fun.

I Egged My Own House

Lynette wanted to see what my plans were for all those Easter eggs. Here's the answer:

There are eggs in place of my welcome sign.

There are eggs hanging from my little shelf/mirror thingy in the living room.

And finally, the piece de resistance, there are eggs on the wreath hanger on my front door.

It may be cold outside, but in my apartment, spring has sprung. Happy Easter!

Knitted Easter Eggs: Third Batch

What I did over the weekend:

Now I have an even dozen. I'm going to do a few more as gifts. They're quick and lots of fun to make.

Knitted Easter Eggs: Second Batch

I really have nothing to say about these except that they please me immensely, especially the Little Red Hen one at the upper left.

I've already started making another one and hope to have a full dozen done before the weekend is over. I have a cold and it's raining, so aside from a possible field trip to get sushi with Lynette and Monica, I plan to stay at home this weekend and knit.

Oh, I bought some wool batting from Purl Soho, and it works MUCH better than the polyester fiberfill batting I was using before. I haven't measured it (because I don't have a digital scale), but my perception is that I'm using less because it's loftier and fills up the eggs better. They're also more smooshy and less rigid than the ones filled with polyester fiberfill. Finally, it's just nicer to work with. The polyester stuff is really scratchy on the fingers when you pull it apart. I mean, I'm glad I had the polyester fiberfill on hand, left over from a long-abandoned project, but I don't plan to buy it ever again. The wool has completely spoiled me now.