Sheep Shots

I'll be posting photos and descriptions, etc. for all FOs as I can (and am inclined and they aren't super secret stuff).

This is my first (and likely only) pair of slippers for this year's Heet the Feet for Cheyenne River Reservation.

The pattern can be found at the Seaman's Church Institute website (you'll have to noodle to get to patterns). The pattern is Nola's Knitted Slippers. Two strands of DK weight ack (Paton's Astro and some stuff from Smiley's), size 9 needles. They are a bit small for me, so will likely fit a middle school age child. Using worsted weight (as the pattern directs) will make an "adult medium."

I am stocking up on purchased socks (mostly Fruit of the Loom) and want to buy a couple packs of tube socks at the Mart of K to include in my Heet package.

If cold feet make you sad, consider joining in this campaign.

Labels: heet the feet

Heet the Feet has been put on Temporary Hold











while I complete a special request.

Older Son asked for "something warm" to fit the small daughter (about 1) of one of his colleagues.

And here it is, nearly finished. Just needs the second sleeve finished (should/could happen today), ends woven in, and 6 pretty buttons.

Elizabeth informs me that the pattern is still available for free at Knitting Pure and Simple.

Sadly, the yarn isn't. It's Plymouth Outback Wool. Random hanks might be still "out there," and I have 2 left in this colorway and 1/2 of another in brighter shades. Nice stuff.



We have company this weekend. We're having fun!







And Connie sent me these that I'll be forwarding to Cheyenne River next week when I send my monthly box. Aren't they cute? The little ones are LB Al-Pa-Ka. Probably the last of its kind anywhere in the known universe!

Labels: baby things, current events, heet the feet, mittnz

Monika offered this book on her blog a couple weeks ago, and I won the draw to get it next! It arrived just as we were walkin' out the door, so (now that we are back--did you miss me?) I am just getting around to offering it to the Sheepshots reader base.

It's a good book. It's thought-provoking. And it can be yours! To read, not to keep.

If you'd like a chance to read it, please leave a comment. I'll draw a name over the weekend and keep it moving!

I will warn you, it's not a pattern book, per se, though there are patterns in it. I will be making Oatlion!





And the Tiny Prince got a late Christmas from his own Uncle Cool. It's not a telephone! It's a hammer. For playing with a Noisy Toy.

And he got a new sweater from Mammo who was less than thrilled with the way it turned out. Love the yarn (Adriafil Knit Kol), love the pattern (Cottage Creations Knitted Tunic). Really, really dislike the color! I picked this colorway for its Lack of Pink. What's up with that, anyway?

The yarn is supposed to be a "self-patterning" (as in, like the sock stuff) DK weight. Yeh, well.

But his Momma likes it, and it fits (for now). He wore it to his daddy's graduation (which is why we were on the road).





Feetz, Don't Desert me!

Barbara D. sent me this picture of tiny Feetz Heeters that she will be mailing to Cheyenne River.

If you'd like to see your creations here, send me a picture. If you have a blog and would like the traffic, send me a link.

abmcmanusATverizonDOTnet

Labels: books, FOs, heet the feet, Tiny Prince

I can finally show what has occupied my knitting time this week.

A friend (hi, Marilyn) sent me some lovely wool yarns including 5 balls of (discontinued) wool boucle in an amazing mix of slate, burgundy, and gray that begged to be something warm and cushy.
I figured that there might be enough for a large scarf, or a small shoulder shawl and was pleasantly surprised to find that it went further than I expected.

The finished shawl is about 60" (5') across, not quite huge, but definitely not mini!

The ball band called for size 8 (US) needles. I used 10s for a gauge of about 3 stitches/inch.





Here's a better shot of the yarn and the color (it's accurate on my monitor). After the last end was woven, I threw it around my shoulders. Mmmm, warm!

This one is destined for Cheyenne River Elder Nutrition Center. I thought that I had a photo of the other shawl so that I could do the linky thing now that I have figured out how, but I can't find it. Poop!

The particulars: 525 yards of worsted weight boucle (Cleckheaton Nature Wool Boucle). Size 10 (US) needles. Cast on 3, increase 1 stitch every row (I used k2, yo, knit to the end) until almost all the yarn is used up. Bind off very loosely.

How to get picture to me: Readers who would like to submit photos of their Heet the Feet or Blanket Blitz stuff can email them to me: abmcmanusATverizonDOT net.

Labels: blanket blitz, charity, Cheyenne River, FOs, heet the feet

The winner of the People's Choice Award for Heet the Feet 2008 is Mariella aka Knitting Nonni.

She does lovely stuff and is also the designer of the fabulous garter stitch sideways Mittnz (check out the pattern--link on her sidebar).

Thanks to all the Faithful Readers who voted, and congratulations to Mariella.

Labels: heet the feet

People's Choice voting time!

To vote for your favorite, send an email to amcmanus@ptd.net with "Heet Vote" in the subject line. In the body of your email, indicate the number of your favorite pair.


Voting closes at midnight EST (gotta allow for Daylight Savings Time) March 12. The socks or slippers that receive the most votes will win a lovely gift package for their maker.

Vote early, but not often. One vote per voter, please.





1
Wild striped tube socks.











2

Basic, but not boring









3

Diagonal ribbing










4

Influenced by Erika Knight

5

Perfect for a boy!














6

Special way to use sock yarn odd balls.

7

Crocheted stripes












8

Cute little stay-on booties

Labels: heet the feet

Heet the Feet

is over for another year. If you sent socks or other Feet Heeters to Cheyenne River Reservation during February, this is your last chance to get in on a drawing for a fabulous prize package that includes patterns, yarn, and chocolate.

To enter, send a photo of your best sock effort to amcmanus@ptd.net by midnight EST tonight!

Photos will be posted and secret ballot People's Choice voting will commence as soon as I can get my act together.

Labels: Cheyenne River, heet the feet

Using the same pattern as the little green and eggplant sweater (but at a slightly larger gauge) I present the latest sweater for the Tiny Prince.

Regular readers will recognize "Tommy," who has been with me a good long time (oh, about 50 years) and will notice that he's no longer able to serve as model for the Tiny Prince's new sweaters.
The sweater is from Knitting Pure and Simple (and I'm too lazy to link). You can Google it if you don't already have the site bookmarked.

The pattern is free. The yarn is Lion Brand Cotton Ease. I used about 1.5 balls of (discontinued) Cherry Red (about 300 yards).





Expect to see most of the TP's stuff on hangers from here on out.

The buttons are tiny clocks (embiggen by clicking, you might be able to tell).

I didn't make button holes (next time), but rather crocheted loops to go around the buttons.





Heet the Feet 2008 is fast drawing to a close.

Are you entering People's Choice?

If you are, send a photo of your "best" slippers, socks, or booties to me: amcmanus@ptd.net . Be sure to get your stuff in the mail by Friday, February 29.

On or about March 1, I will post the photos and call for a vote. Prizes (besides chocolate) include yarn, patterns, and a book.




Here are the socks and slippers I bought for Heet the Feet.

I mailed them today along with some hot chocolate mix (heet the tummy), a couple of Care Bears (heat the heart) and some nice foot lotion (soften and sweeten the feet).







Here's Sparky picking out her favorite pair of Feet Heeters from the ones I made.

These were mailed today, too.

Here's the address:

Cheyenne River Youth Project
P.O. Box 410
Eagle Butte, SD 57625

Labels: baby things, cats, Cheyenne River, heet the feet

Very pink, in fact!

Here is just a tiny bit of the yarn that Mary sent me, all made up into Heet the Feet booties for a tiny baby girl at Cheyenne River Reservation.

They sure are pink!

Pattern (pictured underneath the knitting) is from 101 Knitting-To-Go Projectsfrom House of White Birches. Yarn is a very soft, now-discontinued acrylic/nylon blend (Passport Yarn Company St. Tropez) from Michael's.

Bubblegum has nothing on these.

Labels: baby things, heet the feet

We came back upstairs after watching a night of bad stuff to the sounds of many (dare I say dozens?) of blaring sirens. The Other Half had just taken the trash our and swore he detected a smell of "smoke too strong to be someone's fireplace."

It sounded a lot like they were approaching our 'hood. Then it sounded like they were lost (the sound of circling sirens, ya know?). Then is sorta faded away.

Then the Other Half remembered. League basketball championships. . .

Small town life. Every winning team gets a parade. Even if it's 11 o'clock at night. And even if it's just the team riding on fire trucks and parents waving from the sidewalk.

Afterthought: I just checked the newspaper, and "Our boys" did indeed win the Colonial League Championship.

Unlike the girls' basketball teams which are perennial winners, our high school boys' teams were so terminally bad for so long that this is a nice surprise. (And I had already determined that I would need to rewrite this entry if the town had actually burned to the ground while the firetrucks circled endlessly.)

Way to go, Bulldogs! Keep those wins coming!

The Younger Kid got us a Netflix subscription for Christmas, so we've been exploring a bunch of different genres that we wouldn't couldn't find at our local 48 Hours (in some cases, with very good reason). Many of these movies are so obscure that Netflix is probably the only thing keeping them alive.

One such movie is The Corpse Grinders, an achingly bad B horror movie from the early 70s. The cinematography is reminiscent of the porn of the era (go on, admit you saw some in college) with really bad acting, really bad costuming, really cheap sets, wobbly camera action, no story line. Okay TCG had a story line (silly, unbelievable) but it had all the other features as well. The scary thing is that the producer made a sequel in 2000. (We will not be requesting it!) I can thank Janice for the recommendation, and now you can thank me.

I was directed to this cute pattern and I am giving serious thought to changing the colors and making it for The Tiny Prince of Wails. Discuss. He's a baby for lord's sake! Babies can wear stuff like this no matter what the gender! (Navy, red, white, maybe light blue. I dunno. No pink.--Pink makes me break out in hives.)

I gathered all my Heet the Feet donations into one corner of my "office/studio" this morning for a glamor shot. The big box is the socks and slippers I have purchased, mostly at places like the Dollar Tree where Fruit of the Loom socks with an MSRP of $5 for 2 pairs are 2 pairs for a buck.

The smaller (emptier) box is the slippers I have knit. Clearly, I need to get busy!

My plan is to mail the last week of the month.

For those of you coming late to this Challenge, the goal of Heet the Feet is to provide warm Feet Heeters (socks, slippers, etc. to the Lakota Sioux kids (and adults) living on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota (where it is very, very cold. If you are interested in helping with handmade or purchased Heeters, start knitting (or crocheting) and plan to send me a picture of your Very Best Effort. A People Choice Award hangs in the balance. Very Cool Purchased Socks are eligible. After all, it's People's Choice.

If you'd like to join Native American Support you are very welcome.



And on another knitting note, here are the first (of I hope many) Hugs From Home that I have knit for Ship Support this month.

Lest anyone think I added the pattern because I am cheapfrugal and was running out of yarn, I present the leftovers from each of the hats. There might be slippers!


It's snowing here in eastern Pennsylvania, USA. I have friends in the Southern Hemisphere where it is summer. I wonder how they would feel about houseguest(s).

Labels: baby things, charity, Cheyenne River, heet the feet, movies, ship support, small towns

Gentle reminder that February is Knit and Send month for Heet the Feet!

All of you are welcome to knit and mail socks, slippers, booties, tights, sneakers, boots, etc. to Cheyenne River Reservation this month, and I sure hope that you will.

There will be a People's Choice Award awarded right here at the beginning of March.

Here's how to get your chance to win a fabulous fiber-related prize package:

1) make or buy at least one really great pair of feet heeters
2) take a picture
3) email the picture to: amcmanus@ptd.net
4) mail the feet heeters to
Cheyenne River Youth Project
P.O. Box 410
Eagle Butte, SD 57625
before the deadline (February 29)

On or about March 1, I will post all of the pictures here and call for a vote. Picture with the most votes gets the prize.

Any questions?

Labels: heet the feet

Blog readers responded so remarkably to the Mittnz Challenge that I thought I'd offer the opportunity to Do A Good Thing during the winter.

The Native American Support group will be having it's annual Heet the Feet (is there an echo in here?) blitz during February. Another member is organizing this effort.

The idea is to provide new slippers, booties, socks, tights, pantyhose etc. in quantity to keep feet warm. They are also sending gently used shoes and boots. Socks, slippers, and booties can be handmade or purchased.

There will be prizes! There will be prizes for members of the group who send their stuff between February 1 and 29 (so join the group to get in on these) for one random Member Who Mailed, for the Person Sending the Largest Number of Handmade Socks, Slippers, and/or Booties, and ::drumroll:: People's Choice Award for the cutest/coolest/most wonderful pair.

Since I know that not everyone who reads here wants to join Yet Another Group, how 'bout we do the People's Choice thing here, too?

Blog Readers will have a chance at Yet Another Fabulous Prize?

Here are the rules:

1) Knit or buy foot covers for the Reservation, now through the end of February.

2) Send me a photo of your Very Best Pair of Foot Covers. They can be hand made or purchased, but only one entry per person, so photograph the cutest, or wildest, or funniest, or funnest. (Send to the photo to amcmanus@ptd.net with Heet The Feet Entry in the subject line.)

3) Mail that pair (and any others you've made or bought) to the Reservation by February 29. I'd love to hear how many (total) you send (and any other warm things you might choose to send). Only socks, slippers, booties will be judged for this Challenge, though.

On March 1 (or thereabouts) I will post the pictures and call for People's Choice votes right here at Sheep Shots.

A fabulous fiber-related prize will be awarded to the sock/slipper/bootie knitter/crocheter who garners the most votes. Note: you can enter a picture of ones you've bought, or ones you've made, but only one picture per person.


If you're not inclined to make them, all the stores have piles of slippersocks on clearance now that Christmas is over.

I found these cuties at the grocery store yesterday for a dollar!

The bear heads are stuffed. There are skid-proof dots on the bottoms. They'll delight someone and keep her (assuming here) feet toasty.

So, what can you find and mail? What can you knit and mail?

(The moccasin at the top of this entry is my second pair. I really am loving this stashbuster!)

Labels: charity, heet the feet, kid things