Having a Ball

The first spheres I knitted for Rachel's Knit Cents LAL were from the book Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas. The pattern is called Baby's First Ball. Ok, I got a little carried away and finally stopped at 10. This is potato chip knitting at its finest. The first 5 or so were made with remnants from my wool stash. It was fun using up every bit of wool of a particular skein until I realized I needed something to sew the hole up with after felting. (I forgot that the end piece would felt also. Knock on head.) Noro Kureyon makes the best colors but some of the best felting wool is plain. Dark wool tends to felt more quickly than light wool. Why? I have no idea. Maybe a spinner can tell me.









I like the looks of the colors in one of the big salad bowls hand turned by my dad.





Billiards, anyone?

Learning experience: In the photo with two green and purple balls: the ball on the left was knitted with alternating segments of Noro Kureyon and Cascade 220. (green). The ball on the right was made only with Cascade 220. These were knit on the same needles and run through the same wash together. Since the Noro did not felt as quickly as the Cascade, the blended ball is nearly twice the size of the Cascade ball. These two balls went with my friend Carol for her little grandson in California.

There are many lovely balls, but I'm partial to the colors in this one.

Behold an Angel

Preemie Cardigan by Carol Barenys is a free pattern that came in very handy when my friend, Heather, was expecting her baby a few weeks early. I knit the 4-5 lb size and the baby was 5 lb 4 oz at birth. It is a perfect fit with just a bit of growing room. The wool is Lamb's Pride Superwash. The cotton bunny is from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding. The bag fabric is Moda's Hopscotch, a 1920's reproduction line. I used fusible web and plain white fabric to fix the bunny label on the bag. I used a fabric pen to write the the new baby's name.

I've been using embroidery floss (6 strands) to sew on buttons. I want to make sure these buttons don't become loose and become and endangerment to Baby. The blue toothpick is holding the button away from the knitting so there is space to wrap the floss around it to make a shank. I also use small buttons on the reverse side to keep the knitting from pulling.

Button bands are my nemesis. One feature of this sweater that I really like is the painless knit-as-you-go button band. The sweater construction is top down in one piece.

At first I used white button thread (top button) but thought of the idea of using floss to match the buttons a little better. I took the white thread buttons out.

Isn't this the picture of an angel? He is so beautiful!

They Call it Puppy Love

This little guy surely one of the cutest knitted toys I've ever made. You will find my Ravelry notes here. The pattern, Wrap-Me-Up Puppy by Susan B. Anderson is from her book Itty-Bitty Toys.


Although I recommended this book earlier in my blog I can heartily validate that recommendation now that I have knitted one of the toys. Susan is one of the best pattern writers around. The directions are clear and she confirms the number of stitches at the end of all rows where there are increases or decreases, and sometimes in-between. A novice knitter could probably knit this toy with just a little help. Usually when I finish knitting a toy I can think of several ways I could have changed the pattern to make it easier and sometimes I do that as I knit. With Puppy I made no modifications to the pattern. I have to say that is extremely unusual for me. The only result I was unsatisfied with was that despite my best attempts, the back legs extend at different angles, a trait you cannot see in my photos. I was so certain I was sewing them on in an identical fashion, but apparently not. On the positive side, a child will not care about that detail. I am planning on this toy to be my second drop for The Toy Society. I'll wait for him to tell me where he wants to go.

My first drop for The Toy Society is on their blog for March 14, 2010. #991.

In addition to the clarity of instruction what I love most about the patterns in the book is that each pattern has a creative twist to it. Most are interactive in a special way. I think any child would love wrapping this puppy up in his cozy blanket, don't you?

My First Drop for The Toy Society!

This morning I browsed around the children's department of our public library. Finally I left Kitty in a chair at the back of the room. There were quite a few people there but no one seemed to be paying any attention to me. It's really fun to think of places to leave toys and to imagine a child having a magical moment finding one.

Knitting IS magical! When you think that the materials (cotton string/yarn) for this toy cost less than two dollars, well, that is a lot of pleasure on both sides for a small amount of money. I forgot to write on the label that Kitty is machine washable cotton in case it is loved for a long time.

Signs of Spring

Robins are back! Yea for Turdis migratorius! I also heard the call of the Redwing Blackbird this morning on my walk. These are sure signs that spring is not too far away, even in the unpredictable Midwestern plains.

See how Bob's Fair Isle Vest is coming along? I have one more OXO and two peeries at the top. One of those peeries is NOT done in the round. I'm a little nervous about that. I'll have to practice my knitting back backwards technique. It's only for 7 rows so I should be able to cope. Then I will cut the steeks and begin the borders for the armholes, v-neck, and the bottom ribbing. I cast on provisionally so I could tinker with the length as the last step of the project.

Yesterday I went to the library to select books and to make my first Toy Society drop. My plan was to leave the knitted cat on a shelf in the children's department. For some strange reason I got cold feet and left without The Drop. There were quite a few children in there plus two clerks shelving books. So I didn't think I would get away with placing the toy and photographing it without being noticed. I might try again today. Meanwhile, I'm about half-way through Wrap-me-up Puppy by Susan B Anderson.

A Blissful Knitting Weekend

I spent a good deal of my weekend sitting on the sunporch with my knitting while watching Ken Burns documentaries and keeping track of the wildlife in our woods. The film on Lewis and Clark was about 2 and a half hours long. I love Ken Burns' films and lucky for me, most of them are freebies on Netflix. All my other Saturdays in February have been busy so it was a special treat to have one with less busyness.

My current project is the only UFO in my possession: The Fair Isle Vest for Bob that I started last year. By spring 2009 it was getting to be a chore so I deliberately put it away, naively believing that I would remember what all my bits of yarn markers and safety pins meant. Once I got my bearings it started to move along nicely. It seems that my trusty subconscious has been working away on this for the past 9 months. I am less a slave to the pattern as it comes more intuitively now. Which is not to say I haven't had my share of frogging; but I quickly caught up each time and knew it was for the best.

Back in January I helped Sarah finish a UFO, the Jane Austen dress from Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. Sarah finished knitting the top last year. Sewing the skirt had become a roadblock for her. Since my basement had turned into Sewing Central for my quilt projects, it was natural for me to finish it for her. I can't wait to see Lily wearing it! At the bottom of the skirt I made welts with the extra fabric, just in case Lily still likes the dress after a few growth spurts. Sarah can take out the welt stitching to lengthen the dress.

During my walks I've been catching up on podcast listening. Chrissy, host of The Manic Purl podcast, has her finger on the pulse of the knitting world. In a recent podcast she shared information about The Toy Society. This movement began as a street project experiment in Australia and is spreading across the world. Basically, the participants leave handmade toys (not necessarily knitted) in random places for children to find and keep. I love the idea! In fact, I already have a knitted toy just waiting to be dropped.

Monkey Goes to California

Monkey is heading to California. My friend, Carol, and her husband are first-time grandparents! Yea! I'm so happy for them. Their little grandson came a bit early. There is a history of sock monkeys in their family so when I saw this pattern I knew I had to make it for their little fellow.

The pattern is from Susan Anderson's new book, "Itty-Bitty Toys". I made him from the sock yarn leftovers from Carmen Banana. I followed the pattern except that I added the scarf. His neck looked kind of naked. Even though he is heading to southern California, he is, after all, an Illinois native.

Monkey has his own bag to travel in. The fabric is from Moda. The sock monkeys on the fabric are in beach attire. They are hilarious!

Until I knitted the hair and then embroidered the face, he didn't have much personality. Suddenly, he had a lot of character. That curly hair is a pain to knit, but it was worth it.

Carol likes him and his traveling bag. She even put on a monkey hat for the photoshoot. She is going to stay for a whole month, cuddling her new little grandson and pampering his mom and dad. That is just fantastic!