Knit Picks Shimmer - Easy Scarf for a Gift

This lovely scarf was made with Shimmer, which Knit Picks doesn't have any more.  The next best is Diadem, which is the same silk/baby alpaca fiber mix.  The resulting textile is amazing; totally non-itchy and it reflects light a bit, too.  It's a joy to work with.  I tripled the yarn and used size 9US needles.  I love the slight color change!

This is a really simple pattern, just a K1 P1 rib.  I think it came out quite pretty.  The fact that it's all ribbing means it's stretchy & a little thicker, too.  Perfect for a scarf.  

I like the pattern & the yarn so much I'm making myself one, too; this time with a K2 P2 rib.  I'm only doubling the yarn and using US10 needles for a little different look. Also quite pretty, if I do say so myself. I'm about halfway through it now.

We are having a nice long winter here in DC, so I may get some use out of this scarf this year, rather than having to wait until next winter.  

Hallowe'en Fun!

 Happy Hallowe'en! 

This is a quick & relatively easy project.  I wish I had time to do one for everyone at work!  

I found the pattern on knitpicks.com...

A Hallowe'en Knitting Guess What!

Look at this photo & see if you can guess what I'm knitting. It's for the roommate to wear to work. It's just part of the project...

I just finished the test version, which took about 1 hour of knitting, & when he tried it on he laughed out loud! I suspect his students will, too. I'll update this post in the next week or so & then you'll find out if you are correct or not.

Why the Hall of Shame Must Be Demolished

Yep, that's a yurt!  Our hotel room for 2 nites in Mongolia.

In my last post I mentioned that I have a few things I want to work on, which is my motivation for finishing up/dealing with my Hall of Shame UFOs.  


It started when I decided I needed felted wool dryer balls which I discovered on DIYDelRay.com.  Here's the how to if you think you need some, too.  Of course I didn't want to buy any wool, so I put a request on Freecycle.org for used wool sweaters or yarn.  A friendly neighbor gave me  4 sweaters & a wool blanket.  Everything has holes & is rather the worse for wear, so no qualms about re-using the items (as opposed to wearing them).  The dryer balls took very little of this freecycle wool stash, so now I have lots left.  And I want to finally try felting.  


I have been interested in felting ever since we spent a couple of nights in a yurt in Mongolia.  Those people know how to felt!  The felt is 5-6" thick, too, on these easy-to-move water- & wind-resistant portable houses.  


And I've thought about it & even bought patterns, but never actually tried it.  And since my winter slippers are worn out and I haven't seen any new ones I want, I believe this may be the time.  


I found this amazing mitten pattern (from Heritage Fibre Publications) on Ravelry.  Don't they look warm!?  And these cute little elf shoes, recommended by a friend (a co-worker is having a baby boy next month).  Oh, and these slippers, with amazing color work.  


Part of the UFO completion process will be to demolish a few patterns I should never have tried (I know what fits well & looks good--but did that stop me?!).  You can try to guess which 2 of last week's posts will be unsewn...I'll let you know next post!  

Hipsters vs. Old People: How to Tell the Difference

Or is there one?!  This is so true it hurts!

This is from a site called gag9.com

If you're wondering, yes I am sewing (mostly unsewing) and trying to decide whether or not to re-cut the bodice (I always buy an extra 1/2 yard for mistakes & mind changes!).  Fortunately for me winter hasn't arrived...yet!

Bella models the W. African fabric quilt; knitted socks

You may have seen the list of items I've made (I've made more, but don't necessarily have pics, or haven't put them up); this in particular, a tablecloth & 2 small quilts I made of fabric we bought in Ghana & Burkina Faso.

Well, it's winter here now (cold & rainy tonight), and Bella is staying warm by avoiding the hard wood floors and the leather love seat!

And here are some nice warm wool socks from back in the late 1980s when I was knitting socks a lot.  They're the Roommate's.  They haven't been worn that much (wool doesn't look good at all when you live in the Middle East!), so they're 20+ yrs old but in great shape...I can never make the same thing twice, hence the mis-match.

Do you love the bedspread pictured above?  It's a print from India.

Other stuff I've made: Sweater for friends' new baby girl!

Okay, this beautiful girl is 9 months now.  But I made this right after she was born & thought I'd made it plenty big enough.  But, it fit her when she was only 3-4 months old.  Which shows you how much I know about babies!  It's cotton & I could not get the neck to be the right size (I can't remember which book I got this from--something from the library).  So I just made a neck opening and crocheted buttons to close it.  The trim on the edge is also crocheted.

Other stuff I've made: Sweater for the Roommate

Here's a sweater I made for the roommate for Xmas 2009.   He has another I made 20+ yrs ago & it was too loose when it was finished, is rather ridiculous now.  I may unravel it & do something else with the yarn.  Anyway, we met at a college radio station, hence the gadgets on his sweater (see detail).  He loves it & gets lots of compliments on it.  It's fun to make stuff for him, because he will wear it.  I also like having a roommate to dress up.

BTW, I've just added a tag cloud to the blog (near the bottom) & have started trying to standardize the labels (tags) I add so with any luck these posts will be searchable.  Let me know if you think I'm missing any useful tags or if you think I've mis-tagged something.  I'm a librarian, so tagging is my life!!