Sheep Shots

Tomorrow, we are off to see the Tiny Prince. It's been a long time since January, and nice as they are, photos, even when they come in batches of 30, simply are not enough.


Of course, I have been knitting. And I've sent some stuff southward. But this will travel with me.

Pinguoin calls it a "frog suit" which confused the heck out of me. I've always called them "bubble suits" (which I guess the French would find equally amusing) or "rompers."

A friend clued me in by telling me that the French term for an "all-in-one" is grenouille or "frog" because a baby flailing around on his/her back looks a bit frog-like.

Okay. I'll buy it.

Meanwhile, I think the frog suit is going to fit for about 20 seconds. The Tiny Prince is growing like a weed. He is still skinny as a rail, but is in the 90th percentile for height.

Pattern is from Pinguoin Spring/Summer Layette (#151). I got it and the yarn (On Line Linie 121 Summertime) at elann.com.




Also traveling with us is a bitty hoodie.

This is the one the Tiny Prince requested when he visited Mammo's stash back in January.

Pattern is Lillie's Little Sweater (Cottage Creations) in Knit One Crochet Two 2nd Time Cotton. I bought the pattern direct from Carol Anderson and the yarn from Webs.

Buttons are ladybugs. I think I got them at Michael's.

I will be off-line for a couple days, but will return with photos and stories and other good stuff.

Labels: baby things

Lizzyk8 sent me a photo of eight more completed Wristrz.

Rumor has it that teen sre more likely to warm their hands with something like these (especially with a pair of "magic gloves" under them) than they are with Mittnz.

So, where are you in your own Mittn knittn? I have finished 6 pairs and have plans to take lots of Mittn wool with me when I venture on vacation later this month.

Labels: mittnz

June let me know that she has finished the compsulsory segment of Mittnz 2008 with these 8 pairs of brightly colored loomed and knitted Mittnz! (See, there's more than one way to skin a cat--assuming that you'd want to do that!)

She is planning to make more, and like you, has at least 18 weeks to churn them out.

Whadda ya say? Can you get on the bandwagon. Little kids are counting on you!

Labels: mittnz

Lizzy has sent me a photo of another batch of 8 pairs of Mittnz.

If this personal challenge keeps up on Native Support, there will be no cold hands in SD this winter!

Labels: mittnz

I have 3 50 gram balls of Red and Yellow Sock It To Me! sock weight yarn. I am using it double to make the Bear Claw Blanket that Veronik Avery designed for the Spring 2005 Interweave Knits.

See this?

It weighs 3 grams (give or take).






It's in the middle there on that motif (mitered squares, interlocked into a facsimile of the traditional Bear Claw quilt block). That's just the beginning, but bear with me, please.

Each of those bigger red blocks is equal in area to 4 of the 3 gram blocks , therefore, a big red block should take about 12 grams of yarn.

Still along for the ride?

After the 4 big blocks are knat (4 x 12 = 48 grams), there are 4 little triangle shapes knat onto each big square (also 4 white triangles and a 3 gram square, but the white isn't an issue. I bought it by the bag).



Here's what the whole block looks like all knat up.

Okay, this one is reversed colors, but you can get an idea. Note that careful weighing after each big square was added indicated the use of closer to 9 grams rather than 12. Can we all say "rounding error?" Sure, we can.

So, of each color, I need (for the sake of argument) 10 grams X 4 + 3 grams X 2 (for the 4 little triangles) X 4 (for the 4 "paws" in each block) or 64 grams of red for each motif, (128 total) plus 3 grams X 2 (for the centers of the reversed color blocks), or a total of 134 grams each of red and yellow, though if you read on, you will see thatyellow is not an issue. Only red is.



So, why, when I finished the big red squares (and the little red center squares) and threw (gently) the remaining red yarn on the scale, was I seeing 103 grams of yarn remaining when clearly, I wasn't half finished with the red and equally clearly, half of my yarn was knat. Because as clearly as the sun rises in the east, 3 X 50 = 200.

(I feel so foolish!)

That yellow yarn? That 13 gram wad is what's left after all the yellow bits are finished.

Feel free to talk about me. Math major. Math coach. Yeh, right.

Labels: fair entry, silliness

Kathy F finished 8 pairs, and then, for good measure, she made 3 more.

So, with 11 (edited to add) more pairs on top of the 21 she already reported, Kathy is a really strong member of the Overachievers R Us Club.

In case you were getting any ideas about starting an Underachievers group, you can just forget it right now! There are still more than 19 Knittn Weeks left until Mailn Week.

If you make 1 Mittn a week, you still can finish 8 pairs (that's 16 Mittnz).

So, get inspired and get knittn.

That is all.

Labels: mittnz

I finished up this car hat last night and thought, "That one's pretty good." So I'll pop it in with the completed fair entries until something better comes along.

Eventually, I'll mail it to Ship Support.

(I guess I should finish it off first, though.)

Labels: fair entry, ship support

These are for Peaceable Kingdom from whence cometh the most recent fosterdog.

Better look quick, because he goes to an adoption fair on Saturday. All clean and pretty and smelling less beagle-y. Beetle's hoping to find a Forever Family.

Particulars: two strands of worsted weight ack scraps and odd balls. Size 10.5 needles.


Directions: Cast on some stitches. Knit some rows. Bind off. Pick up on an edge (same colors or different ones). Knit some more rows. Bind off, repeat on all the edges. Do it again until it's as big as you need. (12' square is the minimum for cage cozies like these. Most rescue orgs can use that size on up to baby blanket (40") size. Make a call and check.

Donate to your local animal rescue.

That is all.

Labels: cats, charity, dogs

Labels: mittnz

I started a scarf with Noro Silk Garden (colors 72 and 245, if anyone cares). Followed the instructions that I found on Brooklyn Tweed's blog. Followed it to the letter except that I used two balls of each color (Jared also used 4 balls total, but two of one color, one each of 2 others) .

I cast on 39 stitches and ribbed 1X1 until my eyes crossed and my ears were bleeding and I ran completely out of one of the colors.

I was left with 11 grams (of 200 I started with) and a scarf that is a hair under 6" X 90", looks like stockinette, and doesn't roll.





Allow me, please, to critique the Noro. The color changes are what kept me from poking myself right on through the eyeball with the business end of my size 7 circular needle.

The 18 ends I wove in (yes, 10 more than I would have had if the skeins had been sans knots) tell me that there was a bit of a problem with the yarn. I understand the issue of knots. Truly, I do. But seriously, dudes, this is not cheap yarn. There isn't a whole lot of yardage. (I figure I knat up 400 yards or thereabouts) and to encounter 5 knots along the way??

The 4 balls came from two different shops, perhaps 3000 miles apart. It's not like there was a Grand Knot Conspiracy brewing!

Or maybe there was. Alert Homeland Insecurity!






Not a lot of Vegetatitve Material. Loverly, loverly colors ranging through the gray family and brown and several shades of green with just a touch of purple.

I think I might be in love.

I also think that I might be making several more of these in different colors.

After I finish all the Fair Knitting that I have stretching in front of me.

Christmas will come again this year. I have it on good authority.









Have a better look at some of the colors.

And the stitch pattern. I love the way the ribbing closes up to give the stockinette stitch appearance.













And as soon as the scarf was off my 7s, I cast on a pair of wrister for the Mittnz Challenge.

I can give a recipe for these, if you are interested in making your own.

1) Find a mitten pattern that you like (I used the Warm Woolies pattern; it's knit flat).

2) Get the proper yarn (LB Landscapes) and needles (10) and cast on.

3) Follow the pattern until you are past the thumb gusset increases.

4) Instead of completing the thumb, loosely bind off the thumb stitches (yes, right there in the middle of the row!) and finish knitting across.

5) When I purled back, I picked up one stitch in the area where the thumb isn't. You don't have to do this, but it will prevent a hole (maybe--since I didn't try it the other way, I don't know that there would have been a hole. Let's assume so, 'k?)

6) Knit a row or 2 plain (stockinette) then switch to ribbing (the same as on the cuff) until you are nearly out of half of the yarn (if you make both mitts at once, this won't be an issue, plus, there's no second mitt syndrome to deal with).

7) Bind off loosely in ribbing, weave in the ends.

8) All done. Or make another (see #6).

You're welcome.

Labels: big people clothes, mittnz