I have been meaning to get a post up for days but I had hoped to have pictures to go with it. Since that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon, I figured I had better just go ahead and post. Hopefully, I will get some pictures next week.
If you have been a part of the knitting community, either in real life or online, for any length of time, you know that knitters are incredibly generous when it comes to charity. Just look at Kristy's Hat Quest for example. Kristy came in to our LYS Hooks & Needles in very early May and mentioned she was going to the Ukraine in September and needed (gasp!) 300 hats for the orphanage she was going to visit. It seemed nearly impossible at the time but between blogging and Ravelry, she already has over 260 hats in hand and more to come! Then, of course, there is the Yarn Harlot's campaign to raise money for Doctors without Borders through her group Tricoteuses Sans Frontières (Knitters without Borders). They have raised nearly half a million dollars since the start of the group! There are many other examples all over the web of knitters raising incredible amounts of money in rides to cure Aids, Breast Cancer Walks, and many other charities.
What you may not know about knitters is how incredibly generous they are among themselves. Of course, if your friend is short of yarn, or needs to borrow a stitch marker, or a darning needle, or someone has a deadline to finish umpty-jillion water bottle cozies, you are going to help out however you can. It's part of the definition of friend, isn't it? Then there are the folks who will willingly help out someone they may have met at their local yarn store. But I am talking about total strangers, who out of the blue, are totally willing to help out a fellow knitter.
You may or may not know that the latest "hot" yarn, at least from what I can see with the Loopy Groupies et al, is Wollmeise. This gorgeous yarn is dyed by Claudia, who lives in Germany. The Loopy Ewe is the only distributor in the US and let me tell you, it is nearly impossible to get your hands on some. Last week, Sheri (proprietress of the Loopy Ewe) posted over 300 skeins for sale at 9 pm CST and it was all sold out in under 5 minutes! Here's a link if you want to see some of the gorgeous colors. (Hmm, looks like you will have to scroll down and search for Wollmeise. Trust me, it's worth the time.)
Anyway, I digress. I have tried multiple times to get my little paws on some Wollmeise. The crazy thing is, I had never even seen it in person but had read so much about it that I knew I just had to have some. However, it seemed as though that was going to be an impossibility. I just don't have time to sit in front of a computer screen for hours, refreshing the page to see exactly when this yarn comes up so I can attempt to get some. Apparently, I was not the only one feeling kind of low after missing out yet again. TracyinMichigan (Ravelry link), who is the "mom" on the F5ing thread of the Loopy Groupies on Ravelry, started a thread to share the Wollmeise love. Wollmeise "virgins" posted their requests for Wollmeise on this thread and would receive a PM if someone wanted to help them out. Long story short, I am now the proud owner of two skeins of gorgeous, luscious Wollmeise! I received my yarn from two different ladies in Colorado who sold it to me for exactly what they paid for it, plus shipping! I eventually found out that between the two of them, they helped out 11 different knitters, none of whom they had ever even heard of before this thread. I know that many other generous knitters did the same thing. Can you believe that? Like I said, knitters are the most generous of folks.
PS Hopefully, I will have pictures of this luscious yarn to post next week. Right now, I need to catch some zzz's. Tomorrow I head up to Oroville to help out a friend who was burned out in the Palermo fires about 6 weeks ago. They just got power yesterday, and we will be hauling stuff to the dump to make room for the new triple wide she hopes to have in place in the not too distant future.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Water Bottles Need Love Too!
Well, maybe not love exactly but ... A friend of mine ran across this picture in my photostream
and found it rather strange. Actually, Keith, there was a very good reason for knitting a water bottle cozy. One of the gals I knit with at the Escalon library every Monday has a daughter who is going to the Netherlands to play in a soccer tournament. Each player is responsible for bringing enough small gifts to exchange with each member of one of the teams they play. Joy's daughter is taking water bottle cozies. They are done in patriotic colors and they keep the bottle from "sweating" all over whatever they are set down upon. That being said, Joy needed to come up with 17 of them! I don't know about you but knitting 17 of anything can get a wee bit monotonous. I told her that if she had some extra yarn, I would be happy to knit up a cover or two. Of course, if you have read much of this blog at all, I very seldom knit anything in plain stockinette or garter. Thus, the lacy water bottle cozy as well as this one based on the Odessa Hat pattern by Grumperina.
I just love that swirl pattern and it is so amazingly easy to do.
The hat is naturally going to Kristy's Hat Quest. The last I heard, Kristy now has 177 hats in hand. I received 3 more on Monday to go along with the Odessa hat and the group in Santa Fe, NM has at least 21 hats ready to ship on August 1 with more coming in all the time. The new goal is 400 hats so that once each child at the orphanage receives a hat, there will still be some available for new children arriving long after Kristy makes her way back home. The generousity of knitters is just amazing!
and found it rather strange. Actually, Keith, there was a very good reason for knitting a water bottle cozy. One of the gals I knit with at the Escalon library every Monday has a daughter who is going to the Netherlands to play in a soccer tournament. Each player is responsible for bringing enough small gifts to exchange with each member of one of the teams they play. Joy's daughter is taking water bottle cozies. They are done in patriotic colors and they keep the bottle from "sweating" all over whatever they are set down upon. That being said, Joy needed to come up with 17 of them! I don't know about you but knitting 17 of anything can get a wee bit monotonous. I told her that if she had some extra yarn, I would be happy to knit up a cover or two. Of course, if you have read much of this blog at all, I very seldom knit anything in plain stockinette or garter. Thus, the lacy water bottle cozy as well as this one based on the Odessa Hat pattern by Grumperina.
I just love that swirl pattern and it is so amazingly easy to do.
The hat is naturally going to Kristy's Hat Quest. The last I heard, Kristy now has 177 hats in hand. I received 3 more on Monday to go along with the Odessa hat and the group in Santa Fe, NM has at least 21 hats ready to ship on August 1 with more coming in all the time. The new goal is 400 hats so that once each child at the orphanage receives a hat, there will still be some available for new children arriving long after Kristy makes her way back home. The generousity of knitters is just amazing!
Friday, June 20, 2008
I finally finished! ....(clue #2)
Well, it's not much but it is some progress. Sooo, I am only 5 clues behind (Moni posted clue 7 today). Oh, yes, guess I should mention that I am talking about the Slow Bee Mystery Shawl. I don't yet have a picture of it as it is rather difficult to lay out but I may try and get one this weekend. I am not sure why they call this a Slow Bee Shawl. I figured they would be small clues for those of us whose life interferes with our knitting but .... Last night it took me nearly an hour to knit just 3 rows! And those were rows without beads. At the end of clue 2, there are already 347 stitches per row and this increases by 12 every 4th row! I am scared to figure out what the count is for the end of clue 7 and I am hearing rumors that there are 12 clues in all! Oh lordy, what have I got myself into? On a positive note, it is going to be absolutely stunning when it is done. I am using a pale gray laceweight (might be cobweb, actually) by Lane Borgosesia and putting on clear, silver lined beads. They look like little raindrops suspended in the shawl.
Although I have not been making much progress on my shawl, I have been busy. Not only did I take my mule packing course, but I helped out at another combined driving event this past weekend and I have been making lots of hats! Can't remember how many I have finished exactly but I think I have given Kristy eight already with two more ready to go after I show them off to my Monday knitting group. Here are some pictures of the last ones.
This hat is called Foliage. It is done with bulky weight yarn on size 10 needles and only uses about 80 yards. I really like it although it is naturally much too warm to wear here in California. Terrible picture of me but I wanted to show you what the lace looks like when it is stretched out.
How do you like my two versions of the Fake Isle hat? Hat #2 is the negative of Hat #1. Number two is now finished but I don't have a photo yet. I used Cascade Yarns for these hats: Cascade Heathers in a light mauve and Cascade Paints for the darker color. Both skeins had 220 yards on them and I still have tons left of each. Will have to figure out what new pattern I can make with these yarns.
For now though, I think I am done with hats for a while. I really need to make some progress on my shawl and I am still waiting for Jen to send back the sample I sent her of the Marvelous Mitts so I can make the second one in time for the Stanislaus County Fair. I finished the first Ankle Biter sock and need to get to the second one before second sock syndrome sets in. I am putting it off at the moment since the sock uses the same needles as the Marvellous Mitt and I reaaallly don't need to be buying any more needles!
I guess that's all for now. This Sunday, I will be trekking over to Lavender Hollow Farm in Escalon and meeting some of my knitting friends for tea and scones followed by knitting under the "Chicken Tree". No, there are no chickens roosting in it now but I guess they used to. It is a lovely big fruitless mulberry kind of tree whose outer branches hang down to the ground leaving a lovely shaded alcove underneath. The folks at Lavender Hollow have furnished this with chairs and a couple of love seats and we have reserved it for the knitters on Sunday afternoon. Ummm, lovely location, good friends, knitting and fantabulous lavender lemonade! What could be better?
ETA: Woo hoo! I have finished the first 5 rows of Clue 3 already. The rows go so much quicker when it is straight knitting with no beads. The only problem is I have to get up in about 6 hours to go to work and I haven't been to sleep yet. I'm blaming it on the heat. It has nothing to do with the knitting .... really.
Although I have not been making much progress on my shawl, I have been busy. Not only did I take my mule packing course, but I helped out at another combined driving event this past weekend and I have been making lots of hats! Can't remember how many I have finished exactly but I think I have given Kristy eight already with two more ready to go after I show them off to my Monday knitting group. Here are some pictures of the last ones.
This hat is called Foliage. It is done with bulky weight yarn on size 10 needles and only uses about 80 yards. I really like it although it is naturally much too warm to wear here in California. Terrible picture of me but I wanted to show you what the lace looks like when it is stretched out.
How do you like my two versions of the Fake Isle hat? Hat #2 is the negative of Hat #1. Number two is now finished but I don't have a photo yet. I used Cascade Yarns for these hats: Cascade Heathers in a light mauve and Cascade Paints for the darker color. Both skeins had 220 yards on them and I still have tons left of each. Will have to figure out what new pattern I can make with these yarns.
For now though, I think I am done with hats for a while. I really need to make some progress on my shawl and I am still waiting for Jen to send back the sample I sent her of the Marvelous Mitts so I can make the second one in time for the Stanislaus County Fair. I finished the first Ankle Biter sock and need to get to the second one before second sock syndrome sets in. I am putting it off at the moment since the sock uses the same needles as the Marvellous Mitt and I reaaallly don't need to be buying any more needles!
I guess that's all for now. This Sunday, I will be trekking over to Lavender Hollow Farm in Escalon and meeting some of my knitting friends for tea and scones followed by knitting under the "Chicken Tree". No, there are no chickens roosting in it now but I guess they used to. It is a lovely big fruitless mulberry kind of tree whose outer branches hang down to the ground leaving a lovely shaded alcove underneath. The folks at Lavender Hollow have furnished this with chairs and a couple of love seats and we have reserved it for the knitters on Sunday afternoon. Ummm, lovely location, good friends, knitting and fantabulous lavender lemonade! What could be better?
ETA: Woo hoo! I have finished the first 5 rows of Clue 3 already. The rows go so much quicker when it is straight knitting with no beads. The only problem is I have to get up in about 6 hours to go to work and I haven't been to sleep yet. I'm blaming it on the heat. It has nothing to do with the knitting .... really.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Mystery Yarn
I bought some yarn a couple of weeks ago that I do not know very much about other than the fact that it is soft and very beautiful. Here is a picture of the two skeins that I purchased.
Isn't it gorgeous? I do have to admit that I do know a little about the yarn, just not the yardage or what might be blended with the main fiber. Can't remember, did I tell you about the Packing Class I was taking? as in mule packing? like in the old westerns? Anyway, it was a great class and, while I did not get to go on a trail ride with a pack string since I no longer own a horse, I can tie a pretty mean box hitch! Anyway, one of the classes was about dealing with other folks we might find on the trail. We had a backpacker talk to us about his perception of horses on the trail and then we met this fine fellow.
His name is Rubicon and he is a 3 yr old male llama. His owner, Lora Crawford, brought him along to tell us about using llamas as pack animals. Rubicon has never been out as a pack animal but he did condescend to wear his training saddle to show us how it fit.
Notice the mini van behind him? That is how he travels. I had the privilege of playing with Ruby while Lora answered numerous questions from the class and when it was time for him to go home, I got to load him. Just took him to the open door, told him to get in and voila! Up he stepped, bending his head down low and he was set. He travels in the back with no problems at all. Lora had just got back from a show in southern California the day before and they went in the mini van. Would love to see the looks they get on the highway.
Finally, I just have to show you his beautiful face. Don't you just love those eyebrows? That is Bernadette in the picture with him. She was a classmate of mine and it is her camera that provided these pictures.
Oh yeah, this post started out to be about the yarn, didn't it? Well, a couple of days after meeting Lora and Rubicon, I travelled down to her ranch in Turlock. Lora has 40 llamas there! The little guys who were 6 months old were just adorable! Anyway, each year she shears her llamas and sends the fleece off to a co-op who then combines the colors with fleeces from other llama ranches and spins it up. Then, after paying many dollars, she gets the yarn back in equal proportions to the amount of fleece she sent. Unfortunately, she doesn't know anything about yarn. She thinks it might be combined with another fiber to give it more elasticity but she doesn't know what and she doesn't know how much yardage is in a skein. Oh well, it will be an adventure to knit with it and see what I come up with. And, after all, we do want to support our local farmers, don't we?
Isn't it gorgeous? I do have to admit that I do know a little about the yarn, just not the yardage or what might be blended with the main fiber. Can't remember, did I tell you about the Packing Class I was taking? as in mule packing? like in the old westerns? Anyway, it was a great class and, while I did not get to go on a trail ride with a pack string since I no longer own a horse, I can tie a pretty mean box hitch! Anyway, one of the classes was about dealing with other folks we might find on the trail. We had a backpacker talk to us about his perception of horses on the trail and then we met this fine fellow.
His name is Rubicon and he is a 3 yr old male llama. His owner, Lora Crawford, brought him along to tell us about using llamas as pack animals. Rubicon has never been out as a pack animal but he did condescend to wear his training saddle to show us how it fit.
Notice the mini van behind him? That is how he travels. I had the privilege of playing with Ruby while Lora answered numerous questions from the class and when it was time for him to go home, I got to load him. Just took him to the open door, told him to get in and voila! Up he stepped, bending his head down low and he was set. He travels in the back with no problems at all. Lora had just got back from a show in southern California the day before and they went in the mini van. Would love to see the looks they get on the highway.
Finally, I just have to show you his beautiful face. Don't you just love those eyebrows? That is Bernadette in the picture with him. She was a classmate of mine and it is her camera that provided these pictures.
Oh yeah, this post started out to be about the yarn, didn't it? Well, a couple of days after meeting Lora and Rubicon, I travelled down to her ranch in Turlock. Lora has 40 llamas there! The little guys who were 6 months old were just adorable! Anyway, each year she shears her llamas and sends the fleece off to a co-op who then combines the colors with fleeces from other llama ranches and spins it up. Then, after paying many dollars, she gets the yarn back in equal proportions to the amount of fleece she sent. Unfortunately, she doesn't know anything about yarn. She thinks it might be combined with another fiber to give it more elasticity but she doesn't know what and she doesn't know how much yardage is in a skein. Oh well, it will be an adventure to knit with it and see what I come up with. And, after all, we do want to support our local farmers, don't we?
Saturday, May 31, 2008
And the winner is .... !
This is about to be the world's shortest blogpost since I have been up 22 hours already but I did promise to do the drawing on May 31 so here goes. After entering all the comment leavers (is that a word?) into a spreadsheet and using a random number generator plucked randomly off the web, the winner is .... Danielle!!! also known on her blog as GrannyDani. Danielle, please drop me a line at stlwatrs "at" hotmail "dot" com. You know the drill, replace the words in parentheses with the appropriate symbols. You now have your choice of either Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Muskat mercerized cotton or a skein of Lane Borgosesia Cashwool. Let me know which one you want and how we can connect and I will be glad to get that out to you.
Thank you everyone for not only leaving comments on my blog but for doing such a good job on the Hat Quest. We already have over 70 hats!! We are going to make the goal for sure. That is just too cool!
G'night for now. More to report soon, just need to get some pics for the post.
Thank you everyone for not only leaving comments on my blog but for doing such a good job on the Hat Quest. We already have over 70 hats!! We are going to make the goal for sure. That is just too cool!
G'night for now. More to report soon, just need to get some pics for the post.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Finally back online!
Isn't it amazing how addictive the online community is? I was without a modem from Thursday till Tuesday and it made me nuts! How was I supposed to check up on the progress on Kristy's Hat Quest on Ravelry? Who posted a comment on my blog to enter the drawing? What was the Yarn Harlot up to? I am pretty sure I used to have a life once upon a time. When did I find time to watch TV? read books? clean house? (well, I never was much good at that one) I do still find time to talk to my daughter but that is mostly on the computer since she is in New Jersey. Who would ever have thought that we could communicate so easily with people all over the world who come together to discuss a common interest and help out friends in need? It is truly amazing!
I have slowed down somewhat on my hat knitting. Number 7 is just about in the bag and I am taking a short break to work on my true love, lace! Finally finished Clue 1 of the Slow Bee Mystery Shawl. I have no idea why it is called Slow Bee since the clues come out once a week and there is no hope in h--- that I can keep up but it is oh, so gorgeous. Don't yet have any pictures as I don't have a long enough cable on my circular needles to be able to spread it out but if you go take a look at the Ravelry group Slow Bee Mystery you can see some of the projects being shared there. I am doing mine in Lane Borgosesia Cashwool in a pale grey with silver lined beads. It is going to be stunning! I am just going to have to figure out somewhere posh to show it off. LOL
Have some other fun stuff I was doing yesterday but I hope to be able to get a picture or two to go with it so I will leave that for a later post. In the meantime, here are some of the hats I have done for Kristy's Hat Quest so far.
A simple 3 x 2 rib done on size 10 1/2 needles. I think the yarn is Teseo by di Ve. (I am so bad about keeping track of basic stuff like that.)
This purple and white yarn was part of a stash inherited by a friend of mine. She offered it to me and I decided to make a basketweave hat out of it. Just made the pattern up as I went along. If I remember correctly, it started out as k6,p6 for 6 rows and then reversed. Isn't it funny how the whole look of the striping changes when there are less stitches in the round?
I cheated on this one. This is a hat I knitted up last year just to try out the stitch. Once again, my memory isn't so good but I am pretty sure it is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Watch Cap in the Prime Rib or Brioche stitch. Amazingly(if I followed the directions) there are only 36 stitches cast on for this hat!
Last picture for now. I have no idea where I got this yarn or why since it is certainly not my normal cup of tea. However, it makes for a pretty cute hat! Colorful, at least.
Happy knitting all and don't forget to enter the drawing for the Mountain Colors Bearfoot or Muskat cotton by leaving a comment before May 30. I will draw on May 31, hopefully before I head off to an afternoon wedding. Talk to you soon.
I have slowed down somewhat on my hat knitting. Number 7 is just about in the bag and I am taking a short break to work on my true love, lace! Finally finished Clue 1 of the Slow Bee Mystery Shawl. I have no idea why it is called Slow Bee since the clues come out once a week and there is no hope in h--- that I can keep up but it is oh, so gorgeous. Don't yet have any pictures as I don't have a long enough cable on my circular needles to be able to spread it out but if you go take a look at the Ravelry group Slow Bee Mystery you can see some of the projects being shared there. I am doing mine in Lane Borgosesia Cashwool in a pale grey with silver lined beads. It is going to be stunning! I am just going to have to figure out somewhere posh to show it off. LOL
Have some other fun stuff I was doing yesterday but I hope to be able to get a picture or two to go with it so I will leave that for a later post. In the meantime, here are some of the hats I have done for Kristy's Hat Quest so far.
A simple 3 x 2 rib done on size 10 1/2 needles. I think the yarn is Teseo by di Ve. (I am so bad about keeping track of basic stuff like that.)
This purple and white yarn was part of a stash inherited by a friend of mine. She offered it to me and I decided to make a basketweave hat out of it. Just made the pattern up as I went along. If I remember correctly, it started out as k6,p6 for 6 rows and then reversed. Isn't it funny how the whole look of the striping changes when there are less stitches in the round?
I cheated on this one. This is a hat I knitted up last year just to try out the stitch. Once again, my memory isn't so good but I am pretty sure it is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Watch Cap in the Prime Rib or Brioche stitch. Amazingly(if I followed the directions) there are only 36 stitches cast on for this hat!
Last picture for now. I have no idea where I got this yarn or why since it is certainly not my normal cup of tea. However, it makes for a pretty cute hat! Colorful, at least.
Happy knitting all and don't forget to enter the drawing for the Mountain Colors Bearfoot or Muskat cotton by leaving a comment before May 30. I will draw on May 31, hopefully before I head off to an afternoon wedding. Talk to you soon.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
The Quest is On!!
Wow, where does the time go? I cannot believe how much has happened since my last post just two short weeks ago. Remember me mentioning Kristy's plan to take hats to a Ukrainian orphanage? Well,things are spreading like wildfire. The quest is officially now called Kristy's Hat Quest on Ravelry and we are getting new members all the time. The group has only been up a few days and already we have members from all over the world. Most of these people have never heard of Kristy (or me for that matter) and yet they are stepping up to the plate and helping out with this great cause. There is a yarn shop in Maine that has a group of knitters gathering hats, a knitter in Norway who is sending a boxful and a loom knitter in England who is planning on sending some hats. Hooks & Needles Yarn Shop in Oakdale is the official yarn store of the quest and Kaylee is offering discounts on yarn or shipping depending on whether or not you are local to the shop. Kristy's friend RC is sponsoring a contest which will give you one entry for each hat you donate and that drawing will be in September some time. In the meantime, I figured I should get in on the action so ... for all of you who are knitting for the Hat Quest, leave a comment here on the blog letting me know you are doing so and I will have a random drawing on May 31 to determine a winner. The winner will have their choice of either a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot
or 550 yds of Muskat,
a mercerized cotton in fingering weight. I realize neither of these yarns is a hat yarn but I am using all my hat yarn up at the moment. I hope this small token of my appreciation will make someone happy.
For those of you who might be wondering: the Marvellous Mitt had a chat with Stephanie's travelling sock while we were at the Maker Faire.
It decided that maybe flying isn't so bad after all. Last week, it winged its way to New Jersey for Jen to try on. We don't want a repeat of the sock debacle! Everything is copasetic so the Mitt will hopefully be on its way home soon. I will knit up a mate for it and, before they travel back to New Jersey, they are going to be my very first ever fair entry! I have already entered them in the Stanislaus County Fair Home Arts division so now I have to get them done! Nothing like a deadline to give you incentive. It will be fun to see how they are received.
or 550 yds of Muskat,
a mercerized cotton in fingering weight. I realize neither of these yarns is a hat yarn but I am using all my hat yarn up at the moment. I hope this small token of my appreciation will make someone happy.
For those of you who might be wondering: the Marvellous Mitt had a chat with Stephanie's travelling sock while we were at the Maker Faire.
It decided that maybe flying isn't so bad after all. Last week, it winged its way to New Jersey for Jen to try on. We don't want a repeat of the sock debacle! Everything is copasetic so the Mitt will hopefully be on its way home soon. I will knit up a mate for it and, before they travel back to New Jersey, they are going to be my very first ever fair entry! I have already entered them in the Stanislaus County Fair Home Arts division so now I have to get them done! Nothing like a deadline to give you incentive. It will be fun to see how they are received.
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