Busy, Busy Yarny Months

First, I did miss the monthly "Cooking From History" post, because while I planned to do it, I got very busy with work and deadlines and didn't take the time to cook.  So I am going to double up either this month or next, and in the meantime you can read about someone else's cooking adventure here.

I participated in both the opening reception and the meet-the-artists talks (and following potluck) for the Paper Possibilities 2017 exhibit, and really like how my entries are exhibited:

The colours of the hanging piece really pop against
the colours of the wall.

I've also been working madly on the annual Knitting for Grads at orphanages in Kazahkstan by the Mittens for Akkol knitters, adding a number of from-stash scarves and hats to the shipment in addition to what I committed to make for various graduates:

Extra grad set - a sweater I made for me but didn't wear,
added hat and scarf.  Yes, the body is entrelac.

This boy asked for red, and the "mom" making his accessories asked if I
would add a bit of blue because she added some, so I added a bit.

Closeup of the stitches - crocheted with knitted ribbing

Several people thought of doing "RAAM" from Berroco -
here's mine, in Patons Classic Wool red.  Not a great photo.

At the end, I did have one failure, when it was clear that I would not finish the final sweater.  However, I found one online that the store promised to ship by deadline, and it arrived in time, so - whew!  I saw a lot of cute sweaters but they need to be all-wool (or other animal fiber - mine include wool-alpaca or wool-mohair blends) and those are in slim supply this time of year.  I'll finish the other sweater eventually, and either a grad next year will want the colour and be about the right size, or it will be an extra.

Now I am enjoying knitting for me.  I joined a KAL (Knit A-Long) and am doing two shawls: one following the pattern except in a lighter yarn with a smaller-sized needle, partly because the finished shawl looks huge and I am not.  I am using stash yarn, of course, and happily found one by the hosting yarn company in a really pretty blue:


The other uses some yarn of theirs in three colours (the third will be in Section 4) and some from another company in a very pretty silver, and follows the pattern except for making a closed spine.  I'd envisioned using these yarns to make a shawl to wear to summer concerts in the park, with stripes of reflective yarn to add safety when I walk home from the bus at night.

The KAL is up to Section 3 of the pattern and a lot of people are knitting ahead.  I made sure to get a photo after each stage.  After this I'll get back to finishing some WIP/UFO shawls.

I'm also doing a couple of "idiot scarves" (plain garter stitch in non-plain yarns) to donate to a collection or other for shelters.  These are handy carry-around items.  I finished one this weekend - they do go fast! - and it is pretty long, almost seven feet!  I'm going to do more with the yarn and now I know I can make them wider; this one is about 5½" but thick (I used the yarn doubled) so it should be plenty warm for someone.  More using up of stash, in addition to what I am donating to charity and selling on eBay.

I do have one baby blanket to finish, but the baby isn't born yet so I have ..... about three weeks.  I guess I should get that one started, eh?

Some yarny things I've created recently

I'll catch up on where I have been lo, these many months that the blog has been dormant, but as a quick kickstart back into blogging, I'll post a few photos of items I have made.  For some reason, this post doesn't look like what I created - there shouldn't be a big blank area, and the pictures should be more neatly organized!  Sorry about that.  Obviously, I'm out of practice.

First, the annual collection for Mittens for Akkol's annual collection of items for graduates of the two orphanages in Kazahkstan.  One set of grads were known and asked for specifics; for the other orphanage we had just genders and had to guess what they might like.

The two "known" grads for whom I made items - one boy wanted a white and spring green set, for which I crocheted a scarf, and the other wanted a white sweater (but he was OK with off-white) and black accessories.  Someone else volunteered for the accessories, I just knit the pullover.

Wrist-to-wrist yoke, vertical body.

Very slightly green in the white, an ancient fingering wool used tripled.

Sweaters are usually the last things for which people sign up, so I tend to make a lot of those.  This year, I got to make a few sets, which I enjoy because the accessories are more portable.

Handdyed multi from Fiberlady and Patons Classic Wool in
'Lemongrass' - mittens are the Siena Mittens from Knitscene
and the hat is  a variation of the knitpicks 'Garter Stripe' hat.

Scraps of Lopi from another project.

Patons Colorwull, Lion Brand Fisherman, and various other yarns.
Knit mittens and hat, crocheted scarf.

Patons Classic Wool in 'Shades of Gray' with some of the related
greys and black solid for the scarf.  Knit mittens and hat, crocheted
scarf and sweater (knit neck and wrist ribbings on the sweater).

Mostly Lion Brand Fisherman yarn used double,
with some oddballs added for accents.

        

For the sweaters, I made up the patterns based upon measurements.  At this point, my hands and brain have "go to" patterns for mittens, hats, and scarves, so that mostly autopiloted.  I've put links where specific patterns were used.  Even the white sweater was mostly designed on the fly.  I was not going to do a very complicated pattern, partly due to time limitations, but also didn't want to do an absolutely plain white sweater, so this is my compromise.  And yes, the cables on the sleeves twist in two different directions, that was a deliberate design choice.

I also created a number of scarves for the Knit Your Bit collection at DFW Fiber Fest.  The scarves will go to veterans, and they asked us to use mostly neutral colours as there are more male recipients than female.  These photos show just a few of the ones I made, mostly in plain stitches (garter stitch quite often, or a 1dc 1sc crochet stitch) with interesting yarns.

Lion Brand Kool Wool (left) and Wool-Ease (right)

Lion Brand Tweed Stripes.

  

Loops and Threads "Charisma" in Ashes and Woodland.

Anne Geddes Baby yarn from Red Heart, doubled.

Grey and blue Caron Simply Soft held together, with accents
of Lion Brand Wool-Ease left over from other scarves.

Lion Brand Wool-Ease in the
KYB Mistake Stitch pattern.

Top Scarf is Red Heart Super Saver, left over from another project.
Bottom Scarf is Lion Brand Vanna's Choice 'Woods Print' with
some stripes of Wool Ease in 'Forest Green Heather'.

           


































Lastly, my grandmother snuggled under her birthday blanket, knit from a new Bernat yarn called "Home Bundle" which is available only at Joann's.  It goes through four different yarns, so there's very little work involved, but the end result is soft and warm and light, and she loves it!  Since my grandmother is always cold, blankets are an appreciated gift, even for her May birthday, and even though she lives in Florida.

The teddy bear was a gift for her birthday also, which my grandmother had to spend in hospital because her gallbladder has been giving her grief.  Hence, the rather medical-looking surroundings.  My grandmother is itching to get home, and should be soon!

Go-Go Dancing and Knitting and Crocheting Things

It may actually surprise a few readers that I did NOT do these at the same time!  Last night - so just barely into August - I went to a party at a local venue.  Theme was "Deep Blue Rendezvous" and part of the inspiration was The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, so one of the costume suggestions was light blue clothing and a red watchcap.  I told a friend I would lend one to him, then realized I needed one for me.

And of course, far be it for me to have a plain red watchcap:

That's based upon the Trilobite pattern, but with a repeat of three instead of four.  It took less time to knit than you might think, at least once I got the cast-on number right.  Most of it was knit on Saturday, finishing about 6:00pm.

We had a LOT of fun dancing to The Aquatudes, which turns out to be one of four surf bands in Connecticut.  Fun stuff!  There were DJs in another room and after The Aquatudes finished, we danced there.  Typical of a lot of the parties I've been to here, whether you have a partner or not is fairly irrelevant. There was a Poseidon, a sailor, several persons in swim gear (including an inflatable stingray that was passed around), and lots of people in red knit caps, including the friend at right who's also wearing one of mine.  Several members of a local burlesque troupe mingled, often dancing on boxes of flashing lights like go-go dancers, and when the hour waned and the crowd thinned, I was pulled up on a box for a bit.  Yep, that would be my new thing for August, and completely unplanned by me - go-go dancing.  Even, go-go dancing with members of a burlesque troupe!

Of course, that was not my only knitting.  I finished a cotton top I'd started a couple months back, just in time to wear to brunch today.  Not entirely happy with it so it may head to the thrift store after a wash, but I want to wear it because this group saw me knitting on it at previous brunches.  I didn't get it done sooner because I've been sidetracked by mostly charity knitting and crocheting, such as these items, which I wrote about on the charity's blog, especially about the yarn in one of the singleton hats:

Eighteen wool yarn and sock yarn baby hats ready to mail.

Easy crocheted caps with earflaps for warmth and ties to stay on.

These five hats came from two balls of Patons Classic Wool.
The center one is a favourite pattern of mine from KnitPicks.

"Onesie" hats, unlike any of the others, mostly doubled yarn.

Pairs of hats - same yarn used, although the center one is a
different pattern, not the standard watchcap.

The crocheted hats pattern is a Lion Brand one, and the hat in the centre of the picture of pairs is based upon a Lion Brand pattern but done in a single weight of sock yarn.  The others are two or three strands together - three of sock yarn, or one sock yarn plus a DK or sportweight wool - in a basic watchcap pattern on 56 or 64 stitches.


Do you remember back in May when I knit four black-and-grey sweaters for boys in orphanages in Kazahkstan?  I now have photos of the delivery.  Only three of the boys wore their gifts when posing for the camera: