Rainbows

‘Crochet a Rainbow’, Sarah London’s project to help flood victims in Australia and now the earthquake/tsunami victims in Japan is in full swing. I’d call her endeavor a true labor of love. When I first read Sarah’s post asking for help with creating colorful crochet granny squares to make up blankets, I knew I wanted to participate. I’ve been busy with hook and yarn, all the while thinking of those so many miles away, hopeful to bring some measure of comfort. I brought out my stash yarn and put together colorful combinations using dk weight acrylic.  While working on this project I would visualize a multi- colored granny square crossing the sky like Hailey’s comet with a rainbow tail trailing behind it creating a bridge from creator to recipient. Being a mere mortal, I’m sending my squares via regular means, royal mail. If you’d like to participate or learn more about this amazing project, there is a group on Ravelry to share information, a group on flickr to share photographs and regular updates available on Sarah’s blog, click on the sidebar rainbow!  Thank you Sarah for all your hard work.

Splashy

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I’m obsessed with the pattern Splashy, a Crochet Flower scarf from the book ‘Crochet in Color’ by Kathy Merrick. I knew immediately upon viewing the photos that I wanted to make this scarf. I love the recommended Noro silk garden yarn because of its wonderful color changes and large selection of color combination choices. I chose to go with the Noro silk garden sock yarn with its smaller gauge to create the flowers.  I have to tell ya that I enjoyed every minute of working on this project as it kept me engaged with the addition of each new flower. So magical...  Who can resist color transitions, as they are tons of fun and the join as you go feature of this pattern reduces the amount of sewing in of loose ends. I used size 3.5mm crochet hook, 2 skeins of color no. 256 yarn and the finished dimensions are 60x14. Modifications to the pattern include; choice of yarn (sock), addition of 1 column of the large flower and 1 column of the smaller one. What really helped me along with this project was having a favorite TV series marathon running in the background.  I will always connect the show ‘Brothers and Sisters’ with the making of this project as I got thru four seasons of this much loved show.  So a bit of math is required to give you an idea of how long it took me to put this scarf together, lets see, 4 seasons, 24 episodes each at 40 minutes per = about 64 hours of hook to the yarn time. Now that’s a handy way to measure a time commitment. Both project and show receive a 5 star rating!

White Swan Scarf

© Fox SearchLight Films

One of my favorite parts of the movie, The Black Swan, was watching for the white scarf that Natalie Portman wore in numerous scenes.  I mean I was obsessed with it, I kept waiting with anticipation for her to wear it again and again so I could try to figure out what yarn and stitch pattern it could possibly have been made with.  I was determined to find out, as I wanted to make one just like it.

One day while I was checking-in on twitter, I noticed that Interweave news had tweeted about a version of the pattern being available for free (music to my ears) on the Knitting daily site.  It is created by designer; KT Baldassaro. Woo Hoo!

© Kt Baldassaro

It is also available on Ravelry.

I purchased the Feza ‘Festival’ yarn from Heavenly Hues and when it arrived, I immediately went to work on whipping one up.  I just love the soft flowy look!  Fast fun knit with size 11 needles.  Bamboo works best.

So soft!

Lovely Leela

One of my favorite pit stops while attending Stitches west this year was visiting the Malabrigo yarns booth.  The entire length of the back wall was full of luscious yarns to be viewed and petted! Oh yes, I’ll admit I’m in love with Malabrigo yarns, especially the Silky merino, in every color.

It is my go-to yarn for mitts, hats and scarves. I just finished knitting these fingerless gloves and I have to tell ya, they are so cozy soft!  The pattern I used here is Leela by designer Zehava Jacobs and can be found on Ravelry. Modifications to the pattern; I knit from the cuff up in lieu of the fingers down and I added a thumb gusset. 

my OWOH giveaway gift

I won a wonderful gift by participating in the One World One Heart blog hopping event.

I received this beautiful necklace from Lone at Flowermouse Design. It traveled all the way from Mandal Norway to Southern California and arrived safely and in perfect shape….Sweet!  Thank you Lone….

If you get a chance, pop on over to Flowermouse Design and have a look around at all of Lone’s beautiful artwork.

Calm Cowl = Cozy

I found a wonderful pattern named Calm Cowl created by designer Suzana Davidovic

It is a free download on Ravelry (set up an account to view)  no worries membership is also free!

This project crocheted up really quick.

I used (2) skeins of Malabrigo Silky merino in blackberry and size J hook.

I shortened up the center section to 12 rows to achieve the 6x52 dimension desired to create a double wrap cowl.

This yarn is so unbelievably soft!  Great for wearing close to the neck.

Perfect for those chilly early morning walks. 

Stitches n me…

I just wanted to share a bit about my experience attending this years Stitches West event. I have to admit; it was a bit overwhelming to be in the company of so many knitters, designers and teachers all in one place.

I participated in a couple of classes

I walked the market place several times

And I was wowed at every turn…

First up, Estonian stitches.  Meriket Saarniit taught the class and although I had a hard time keeping up, as I did a bit of frogging along the way, I was happy with the results I achieved using her demonstrated techniques.  I was especially pleased with the doubled yarn 2-color cast-on that I learned.  It is so pretty and refined looking.

Next up, Style with a twist taught by Barry Klein of Trendsetter yarns fame.  What a fun class.  Barry set up a yarn filled table, let us pick 3 different skeins that we wanted to work with (heaven) and using just a few basic stitches, taught us how to achieve a variety of results by letting the yarn do all the work to create a truly custom looking fabric. A magical transformation, so simple and yet so beautiful.

Next on the schedule was a visit to the market place.  I had reviewed the vendors’ list, decided which ones I wanted to visit and pretty much stayed the course.

Never Not Knitting, was on the top of my list, and it didn’t disappoint.  It was such fun to see Alana’s finished pieces on display, as they are all so magnificent.  I purchased her Cream and Sugar Cowl pattern.  Lisa, of Becoming Art yarns, shared the booth and was on hand to help me select one of her hand painted yarns to compliment the pattern.  I love the feel and color of the Machote Sock in the color way “Allspice” that I chose.  I can’t wait until I can get started on this new project.

I also had the pleasure of spending time in the Sanguine Gryphon booth.  Honestly, I wanted every yarn on display!  I was able to touch and view all the gorgeous color ways, and decision-making became almost impossible! I picked up a skein of Bugga in the color Lubber Grasshopper (don’t you just love the name?) that I plan to make a hat with.

I had hoped to purchase their pattern “kitty hawk” (mitts/hat) but it had already sold out.   No worries, I can get a copy from the website.  Yes, there was so much more to see and do but I ran out of time. I must make plans to attend again next year, right?  All and all I really enjoyed my trip to the bay area, knitting with like-minded yarnies and learning a few new things from the greatest of teachers!