Handmade Nation

I recently came across another blog or post on Ravelry about Handmade Nation. It's a documentary film and book combo that will be released later this year (the book) and early next year (the film). The director, Faythe Levine has been traveling across the USA in an effort to interview many DIY crafters about the new craft movement. As a woman who loves to support other female artists and support female-run businesses, I couldn't help but order the t-shirts that Faythe is selling over on Etsy (she also has several different totes, which are prefect for a medium sized project or to use at the grocery store).

Each t-shirt or tote purchased supports the funding of the project. The t-shirt fit is great, as always with American Apparel-based shirts, and the design is fun and funky and will get people to ask about the project. I'm excited for Faythe and can't wait to see the final cut. So, help out if you can and order a shirt or stop by her blog and read about the process of making the film and book. She has a donate button on the blog if you want to support, but aren't into the shirt.

-B

Loving the quick knits

Another finished object...okay so the sudden number of finished objects is more due to the lack of a functioning camera for the last few months. The diamond scarf is finished, only took a few nights of quick knitting...and a few frogging of bad pattern picking (which seems somewhat consistent with all projects lately. I've tried a number of patters with the yarn...and wasn't a fan until I saw the diamond scarf.

Diamond Scarf

Needles: Clover Bamboo US19

Yarn: Twinkle, Chunky Soft, 100% wool.

Didn't get the pattern from Twinkle, just modified one of the stitch patterns from Vogue Stitchionary. Wasn't sure I would be thrilled with 100% wool. But it was soft as can be. We'll see what its like after it finishes blocking. I hadn't intended to block it necessarily, but the edges seemed to be rolling...I'm hoping blocking helps them a bit.

The scaves really are starting to pile up here...maybe I should start giving them away.

-S

Diamonds are a girls best friend

The lack of posts has related to my missing camera charger...so new charger and new camera have lead to some finished objects. And looking at my recent project choices, I seem to be subconciously obsessed with diamonds, not the gem kind, although those would be nice too. We'll start with the FOs.

Short Row Hat


This hat took a number of attempts. Dropped stitches, that were impossible to pick up accurately required several froggings. Too tight of a gauge reuired another frogging. So about five starts later, I have a finished hat, although it might be a little longer than I prefer....or my heads a littl shorter than I would prefer. It's currently drying after its washing. So we'll see how long it takes to dry. So final stats.


Needles: US 8 bamboo clovers
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, #252, about 1.5 skeins
Pattern: Short Row Hat
No changes to the the pattern. I'm hoping the Noro softens up after its washing...it was a little scratchy.

Lady Eleanor



Couldn't really see myself wearing a ful lady eleanor, so I modified it to three starting triangles. I was almost through a full skein using 4 triangles originally and decided the scarf was going to be too cumbersome for anyone to wear as a scarf, so I restarted. there seems to be a theme here. And the stats.
Needles: US8 clover bamboo
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #252
Pattern: Lady Eleanor
And a WIP related to a girl's best friend.

Diamond Scarf




As I'm not typically a fan of chunky yarn for most knitting (for scarves I make an exception), I wasn't excitd to buy the book that went with the yarn I bought. So I finally put one of my Vogue Stitchionary books to use to find a similar pattern. And this is what I came up with...very similar to Twinkle's Big City Knits Diamond Scarf. It seems to be working up very quickly. So hopefully it'll be done here shortly.

Yarn: Twinkle Chunky
Needles: US19 Clover Bamboo straight

There are other WIPs, but those can wait for the time being.


-S

Rockin' Sock Club and Project Spectrum

I am so excited about some new knitting things in my life! First off, I signed up last year for the Rockin's Sock Club from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I had finally gotten to see Socks that Rock last year at Rhinbeck and immediately fell in love with the colorways and the feel of this venerable favorite. When I first started listening to Lime n Violet and reading blogs, I didn't get why people would just buy and buy this yarn. I get it now though! I'm trying to Stashalong and use what I own, but man, the BMFA website sure makes it tough. My pledge is that I have to use at least 4 of the skeins that I have now before buying any new ones. Although, new ones will now be arriving every couple of months. We'll see how that all plays out.

I got my first shipment a week ago, and it was on my birthday! This month's colorway is Dragon Dance and the pattern that goes with it is called Serendipity. As you can see from the photo, we also got some swag this month. Two adorable pins that will definitely adorn one of my knitting project bags.




Now, I'm not a red person by any stretch of the imagination. You know how yesterday was Wear Red Day to support Women's Heart Health. Yeah, only one at work not wearing red. I don't own red. I have strawberry blonde hair, fair skin, and green eyes. I look a tad jaundice when I wear red. Hence, no red clothes. But, soon I will have red on my feet! Part of why I, and many others, have joined sock clubs is to get out of our "comfort zones." For me, I will be learning new techniques and exploring new colors. Luckily, the reds and pinks in this month's colorway also fit perfectly into Project Spectrum.

This year, Project Spectrum has been set up as such:

FEBRUARY / MARCH - FIRE - orange, red, pink

APRIL / MAY - EARTH - green, brown, metallics

JUNE / JULY - AIR - gray, white, yellow

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER - WATER - blue, black, purple

Lolly has encouraged folks to explore the Project through many venues. This month, I will be knitting my Dargon Dance socks and exploring the Project Spectrum diet that Bella Knitting posted about yesterday. I'll have to think through what my goals are in order to participate in this interpretation of Project Spectrum and post them later next week. I am anxious to see what people post on the Flickr group as well. It should be inspiring and enjoyable in all of its forms.

Scarf

I was in Tokyo in December and saw this super soft yarn (still trying to figure out what the make up of it is, since my japanese is pretty poor, wool and something). and couldn't resist getting it. Of course with my luck they only had 2 balls of it left, but i took it anyway. I was going to make a cable hat with it, but found that it didn't stretch very well, or maybe too well, either way, the hat very loose and didn't hold its shape very well, plus I somehow lost a stitch in the cable and had to take the whole thing out to fix it. So I decided on a scarf instead, after trying a couple of different patterns, i settled on this one. it's basically just k2tog, yo* but I think it turned out pretty nice. it's a little on the short side, but I think it'll be ok. Now back to figuring out what to do next.

- E

Heirloom Afghan Update and My So Called Scarf

I have been slowly piecing together an heirloom afghan over the past few months. I've only got two squares done, but my KAL within and KAL project over on Stashalong is to get a third one done in February. Here are the two squares so far. Both patterns can be found in the 60 Easy to Knit Pattern Stitches book from Leisure Arts. Both squares have been made using the Babe yarn from The Fibre Company and on size 7 straight bamboo needles. The first one is the Hourglass Eyelets pattern in the Lemon colorway.

The next square is the Double Parallelogram pattern and is in the Babe Green colorway.



I enjoyed making both, and picked up some single crochet skills for the borders.

I also finished My So Called Scarf over the Christmas vacation. I looooooove this colorway, #113 in Manos del Uruguay, and have already worn it out and received compliments. I was unsure of the Manos when it was in the skein and it felt a little itchy, but it was a dream to knit with and I look forward to working with it again. Here is a detail picture and two pictures of it folded in half. I used both skeins in full and love the length.













I'll be back tomorrow with another update and much SQUEEEEing over my Rockin' Sock Club first shipment.

-B

Baby Bibs and Burp Cloths

My hands have been knitting furiously, but work has been so crazy this month that I have not had time to blog. I have so much to share that I am going to piece it out into three entries over the next few days. Today, I am proud to share the stashbusting projects that I created for my friend who is expecting in March. We went to her shower yesterday and the gifts were met with the squeals of excitement that handmade gifts bring. I was very proud to answer, "Yes, I made those," when people asked at the shower. I love giving away my handmade efforts because it spreads smiles and happiness when I do. Here is a picture of the two baby bibs and burp cloths, and then each on its own with the pattern and yarn details.



Next, is the Baby Genius Burp Cloth from Mason Dixon Knitting. I use Lily Sugar n Cream for all of these items, as well as a size 6 bamboo straight needle set. This colorway is Summer Splash. An easy two or three night knit that will be made over and over again.




Next up is the Baby Bib o' Love. This pattern is also found in the Mason Dixon book.

Finally, we have the same patterns, but the colorway this time is Denim.

I loved making these items! I learned how to make a buttonhole, and learned how to sew on a button. I can know mend DH's shirts at home instead of sending them to the cleaners every time a button falls off. Tomorrow, I'll be back with updates on the Heirloom Afghan and the My So Called Scarf. Both were finished awhile back, but my camera went wonky and is now up and running.

-B