Yes, I am one of those

Have you ever seen those knitting books and think to yourself, now who on earth would be crazy enough to buy that book and make anything from it?

Like the book "Hot water bottle cozies."  I mean, that's that's screaming crazy knitter.

I made one for myself a couple of years ago. I love it, I must say. So much so that I made one for a friend. She is going through chemo and one of her side effects is that she is intolerant to cold. Which is kind of a problem in February here in the midwest.

So I made her a fleece blanket. And a hot water bottle cozy. I hope she likes it.

Here it is, blocking the entrelac part before I added on the ribbing "collar."  I put my finished one next to it to make sure I blocked it out to the right size.

I love the entrelac with the noro kureyon.  Very fast, satisfying project.

A new toy for me!

Got a Brother sewing machine from my husband, SIL, & MIL for Christmas. They must love me so (no pun intended)! Here are my first two projects. Done a little backwards: did not iron the fat quarters prior to sewing because I was too excited to stitch something together. The tote (my 2nd stitching project) was made for my daughter -- she loves Hello Kitty. The pink/brown project bag was the first thing I sewed together to break in my new sewing machine. And I admit: I hoard grograin ribbon that's used on gifts & packages. Now I finally have a use for them. For my next project: a simple accessory bag with a zipper closure. When that's done, I'll post it. Wish me luck!

Recycled yarn

Made for E's school auction, which features recycled items.  I had this yarn from the Prairie Crossing yarn store's closing sale and thought it would be perfect.

From the label:  Rowan Purelife Revive is made from used garments which have been selected according to the silk, cotton and viscose content. These are then carded to make regenerated fiber, which is then spun into this beautiful, high quality yarn, which gives life to new hand knitting designs.

Fiber content: 36% recycled silk; 36% recycled cotton; 28% recycled viscose (rayon)

It's not the softest scarf, but it's definitely not scratchy or stiff either.  I really liked the drape after washing it and the heathery shades are awesome.  It's not quite as in-your-face as this photo might suggest - it's more blue-gray-heather.  Hope it sells!

my new hangup

Need:  a way to display/store jewelry

Materials:  Burlap coffee bean bag, free with coffee purchase at local shop

     Open back frame, Michaels

     Powerful stapler

     Buttons collected from all over  (see my poppy button?  paris!)

I'm loving this!  A great way to display buttons too.  Got the idea as I was searching etsy for something similar.

Yarn Bombing / Guerrilla Crochet

I just saw these images included on a list of the 106 of the most beloved Street Art Photos – Year 2011 and couldn't resist sharing:

You can see more here: http://www.streetartutopia.com/?p=3554

blast from the past

one of my first projects.  unearthed at my brother's house - i made this for his son when he was born ... so that would have been summer of 2003.  this may have even happened before i took up knitting again.

yikes!

this was before i knew there was a concept of choosing colors so that they go with each other, rather than colors that i liked individually.  the red is really more of a dark red than the picture suggests.  which probably makes it even more unforgivable.

i do not remember making this blanket.  but i do remember picking out the yarn.  i think it may have been the first time i ventured into a real yarn store and picked real yarn.  i believe the blue heathery yarn might be an alpaca yarn.  too bad my skills/eye/taste did not live up to it, because by itself it really is quite lovely.

she showed me another blanket that i allegedly made.  i didn't take a picture because i really don't remember making it at all.  it's miles of white triple crochet with a couple of stripes of light blue.  it's made with about my level of skill back then.  i feel like i would remember working with that much white acrylic.   but maybe i have blocked it out.

A fabrication from 2011 Stitches

Here is the finished product from my purchases from Stitches Midwest. This was actually completed in early Oct. '11 for a friend. Cascade 220 knitted up easily and felted perfectly. Purse handles are from http://www.cindysbuttoncompany.com A big thanks to Mel, Pat, and Margaret for yarn & color suggestions.