Knitting Passion

She is feeeneeshed!

I got it all felted yesterday - and called Lessa down to get her picture taken with it.

Lessa is a happy girl - well, she WAS - until I reminded her that the bag was going to be a gift for Christmas. Heh. Do you KNOW what she did?

don’t get ahead of me now

Yup . . . she snuck that puppy right outta the house!

Happy nightmares, daughter of mine, happy nightmares. Hahahaha.

Sent my entry pics off to Karin Slaughter for the contest. Fingers are all crossed and everything, because I lurve me some pressies - and those are some pretty neat ones, I must say.

I did strongly consider trying to get the hat knitted as well, but I just don’t think I have it in me - may still try - we’ll see.

Have yourself a lovely Friday, everyone!

karin slaughter, knitting, knitted bag, felted bag, watching rachael ray, watching survivor, big brother craze, karin slaughter knitting contest, jeffrey dahmer bag

Is it hot in here - or is it just me?

Seems Alabama - where 451’s servers live - is undergoing some terrific heat wave. As a result, said servers took a big dump yesterday and the evening before. As a result, you, my faithful few, could not enjoy the latest WIP. (work in progress)

But, today, albeit quite slow, the servers seem to be accepting my wit and wisdom, so I will share said WIP with all of you - anything to entice Ms. Lessa (of Watching Survivor, Watching Rachael Ray and Big Brother Craze fame). After all, the WIP is going to be her Christmas gift. (Yes, the plan is to make her wait until then - hahahaha)

She at least has to wait until after it is entered in (and has won - hahahaha) the contest at Karin Slaughter’s.

shown before felting, of course.

and a closeup.

knitted bags, felted bags, knitting, karin slaughter, contest, mystery writer

Don’t know about those of you in the “lower 48″ states or outside of the U.S., but we in Alaska are gearing up for school to resume in a couple of weeks.

I’m a Gramma.

I’m a Gramma of SIX school-aged younguns and ONE pre-schooler.

I love each and every one of those little dickens(es?) and would do anything I could to help out their families to make sure they have everything they need for school. And, it isn’t easy sometimes - especially as my girls have had “things” going on in their lives over the past two years.

Grandpa and I did some school supply shopping last week - and I finished it up Sunday. And, then came today . . . when I took my daughters and the GIRLS shopping. My grandma called it “pogey” shopping, but I’m not sure where the name comes from, or why. To my sister and me - it was the wonder of walking through downtown Columbus Ohio and finding treasures at second hand stores like sally’s and veterans and others.

There is nothing wrong with hand me downs - consider them reruns in various materials.

We went to a cluttered (is there any other?) second hand store today - and the GIRLS squealed and tittered as they pulled things off the racks and piled them up in a chair near the dressing rooms. There was more squealing and tittering as they began to try on and either discard or accept various pieces we had found.

An hour and a half later the girls were sated and I was exhausted.

I had a class to attend so I split up with them at that time while the mamas went on with them to another shop and spent nearly as much as I had spent in the first shop.

Tonight hubby and I purchased new underwear for three of the younguns - we didn’t have sizes for the other four. We are almost there!

But, you might be asking yourselves, but where does knitting come into play in all this?

Aha! Well, several sweaters were duly chosen and taken home today . . . but a quick check of knitty.com found this piece! Is this not the cutest thing? I think our new teenager (the Girl turned 13 Saturday! Happy birthday gorlie!) needs this piece. MUST add it to my need to knit list. (featured in the fall 2005 issue)

knitting, back to school, knitty, grandchildren, sweater

I’ve never used a knitting machine - and, while I think this video is fun (the music can be annoying so you might want to turn down your speakers), I think I like the old fashioned way of making my socks. Nevertheless, enjoy:

So - what did you think? Are you ready to rush out and purchase a knitting machine? Or are you content to do up your socks the old fashioned way?

Yeah, me, too.

knitting, knitting machine, socks, you tube, fun

Yesterday I mentioned Shelly at This Eclectic Life’s goal of having enough crocheted granny squares to make an afghan for every camper at Camp Sanguinity next year.

She gives a pattern for a simple granny square on her site, but any square can be used - as long as it is a 6 inch square. So, choose your yarn and your crochet hook wisely and work on it until you get it the right size.

There is also a link to Thorne’s World - an entry giving links to and showing pictures of thirteen different squares - easy to harder. I rather like the heart one myself.

Shelly would also like you to tie a card to each square with your name and location so that when the afghans are assembled and received by the children they will know how many hands cared enough to swaddle them with love.

Send envelopes with squares to:

Shelly Kneupper Tucker
P.O. Box 2241
Denton, TX 76202

If you have a boxful, contact Shelly from her website for another, alternate, address.

So - what do you think I might be doing this weekend?

How about you?

Allrighty then!

crochet, 6 inch squares, afghans, granny squares, eclectic life, thorne’s world, big hearts

afghans for kids with cancer
——————————–

Yup, one more time.

Shelly Kneupper Tucker wants to make a difference - this time in crocheted granny squares. She’s looking for people with big hearts to help her reach her goal.

The project is similar to the one I highlighted for the Virginia Tech survivors and victims’ families. Read about it first - and then keep an eye on the updates page, too.

The recipients of these blankets will be children with horrific diseases (cancers and blood disorders). They will be summer camp attendees. The goal and hope is to have one for each and every child who attends Camp Sanguinity (what a great name!) in summer 2008.

Do you want to help? Polish up those crochet hooks and dig out those many, many (MANY) leftover balls of yarn - and start whipping them up.

May God bless your hands, your time, and your peapicking little hearts (as “Tennessee” Ernie Ford used to say).

This is actually NOT local to me - or, I guess I should say, it IS local, but 150+ miles away. That is pretty local in Alaska terminology.

I have tried to find the Knitting Grounds on my last two trips to Anchorage, but forgot to print out the map and missed it both times. Remedied that Tuesday when I took hubby up for a consultation for his upcoming cataract surgery.

We found the shop - and found that we were about 15 minutes early for opening time (noon), so we rolled down the car windows and waited. Actually, I pulled out a Karin Slaughter book to read while hubby got out to stretch his legs and walk about.

At noon on the dot Zaynab, the owner, pulled into the lot and opened the front door to welcome us. We were the only car in the lot at the time. Within 5 mintues it looked like this:

Zaynab and I chatted for a bit while I wandered in delight around the shop. She gave me permission to take pictures inside.



This is a quilt hanging behind the counter - in the lower left corner that is a felted bag - there are a lot of felted bags around the store - each showcases yarns or patterns and accessories. Several sport ribbons won at either the Alaska State Fair or other such competition.

The shop is in a warehouse - so the ceiling are quite high - the lighting was not at full strength when I took the pictures (they are the kind that have to warm up - if you accidentally turn them off they take 10 minutes or so to come back on - you know the type I mean?)

The articles on display have been knitted by customers and class members.

If you ever make it to Anchorage, be sure to stop by the Knitting Grounds - and let Zaynab know that you read about her here.

Oh - and of COURSE I picked up some sock yarn - TOFUtsies - which is a natural yarn - 50% superwash wool, 25% soysilk fibers, 22.5% cotton, and 2.5% chitin (shrimp and crab shells!) It works up beautifully, too. I’m excited about knitting this up soon. (we all know “soon” right? That’s the “13th month”, the “8th” day, etc.)

local yarn shop, anchorage, knitting grounds, alaska