Utopia hat - finally finished

I'm not sure why this got set aside for so long. It only took a couple of hours to finish once I picked it up again. It's a free pattern available on at Smariek Knits. It's in Lamb's Pride Worsted (color M-26 Medieval Red) which made a great weight fabric that's just thick enough to be warm, but not too heavy, has good stretch and is relatively soft and not too scratchy.

Upcycled Blanket

I've been wanting a nice heavy-weight wool blanket and haven't been able to find one to buy. I thought about knitting & felting one, but only had to look at the long-unfinished Babette sitting in a sorry pile in the corner to realize that wasn't happening in this lifetime. About this time one of my daughter's friends returned a lovely striped sweater she'd borrowed & kindly machine washed & dried before returning. Not knowing any 6-month olds in need of a heavily felted sweater I tossed it on my worktable hoping for an inspirational idea to appear. I got the idea to turn it into a patchwork sweater & got to work scouring the house for outgrown or holey sweaters. I got all those felted & realized that I'd be needing a whole lot of sweaters. I hit the local thrift shops. But this being SoCal, wool sweaters were hard to come by. I turned to ebay next, and had great luck - never spending more than about $6 (with freight) for a sweater. I played around a while and came up with a wide zigzag stitch on my sewing machine that allowed me to butt two pieces together. That way the blanket would be double sided with no thick seams. I've been using it for a few months now and it's exactly what I wanted - thick, heavy & very warm.

I've compiled a list of average blanket sizes to use in designing your afghans and blankets.

Noro Stripe Long Ribbed Fingerless Gloves

Design 19 from the book Designer Mini Knits. My fascination with striping Noro yarns continues...

Noro Kureyon Striped Scarf

Finally finished this Noro stripe scarf. I've had the how-to notes scribbled on a scrap of paper on my desk that I uncovered during my end of year cleaning. It came from a 2007 post on the Brooklyntweed blog.

When I finally got around to it, it couldn't have been quicker or easier. And it's far more interesting & complicated looking than it actually is.

I used 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon - one each in color 90 & 220.

Using US7 needles I cast on 39 stitches using cable cast on & slipped the first stitch of each row as if to purl. IN 1 x 1 rib I just went until I didn't have any yarn left. Ended up being 7" by about 75". A great length with the right proportions.

 I finished a second scarf using the same technique - this time in Noro Silk Garden, colors 279 & 267.

November ATCs

Postage Stamp ATC's

Freeform Crochet Round Robin: Round 14

Made for Atie Holmes.

Make it with a map ATCs

Atcs Watercolour/ Drawing inks(October)

October Sender's Choice ATC

From One Image ATC's

For this swap-bot swap the hostess sent out an image to every participant to use in three different cards. I printed the image onto both transparency & card stock for different effects.

From One Stamp ATCs

Knit/Crochet Inspiration: Jean Paul Gaultier

What an amazing dress. Corkscrews for sleeves. Part of some Granny's bedspread on the sides, the detail of arches on the shoulder, and then what looks like a bow on the booty...How does someone come up with this?

Paisley Crochet Motif Patterns

CROCHET MOTIF PATTERN: APOSTROPHE (first step of a paisley)

Begin with a sliding loop. Chain 9. 1 sc in 2nd chain from hook. 1 sc in next chain. 1 hdc in each of next 2 chains. 1 dc in each of next 2 chains. 1htr in next chain. 10 tr in next chain (the sliding loop). Now, going back up on the other side: 1 htr, then 2 dc, the 2 hdc, then 1 sc, then ss in the top stitch. Tie off.

The motifs above were made with a variety of yarns, all using an "F" hook. Sizes vary from 3 1/2 x 1 7/8 (variegated chenille - the really dark one at the top) to 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 (smallest blue one). Click on the image - I've uploaded them in a giant format so you can see all the details.

This a great motif to incorporate in freeform pieces because it is very flexible & conforms to different shapes. It can also form the basis of a paisley shape by adding additional rounds and decreasing on one side to pull the top around.

Freeform Crochet Round Robin: Round 13

Made for Perry Lowell.

Freeform Crochet Round Robin: Round 12

Scrumble for Kerri Lincoln. All her note said in her preferences field was "Give me FIRE". Hope this is hot enough...

4 new scrumbles for the Freeform Crochet Round Robin

the latest pieces finished for the Freeform Crochet Round Robin. 11 finished. 10 to go.

ATC's for the 'Wide Parameters' swap

ATC's made with objects I've received from different swaps. The card on the right features a watercolor painting and quote of J. Kornfield that I received from Marian Sinn. The card on the left includes a photo, ATC back & lace trim swatch from various swaps.

Completely different - the card on the right is inspired by a Jung quote. The card on the right is on a beautiful back sent to me in a swap.

New inspiration - Clare Tough

From LondonFashionWeek.com: "She uses knit in a thoroughly innovative and modern way. Natural and synthetic yarns are often combined to create unusual textures. Metallic rings or snippets of leather and suede are worked into a patchwork of different surfaces. Her shapes and colour blends are surprising. Inevitably the majority of Tough’s designs are hand-knitted."

Crocheted Hats for 'Knit One, Save One' campaign

I made these 3 crocheted hats using cotton yarn I hand-dyed. I didn't use a pattern - just made it up as I went along, something I really love about crocheting. It was a great project to keep in the car & pick up where ever I was and work without having to keep track of what I had done or where I was in the pattern.

Save the Children is sponsoring a 'Knit One, Save One' campaign where you can knit or crochet a newborn infant hat which will be sent to babies in developing countries and a note to the President-elect of the US indicating the importance of this issue.

Info from them:

Due to the overwhelming success of this campaign, Save the Children and Warm Up America are re-launching this effort in a campaign called KNIT ONE, SAVE ONE (www.savethechildren.org/knitonesaveone). This campaign is a grassroots initiative asking knitters and crocheters to make a cap to help warm newborn babies around the world. In 2008, we are hoping to double our previous impact by engaging 50,000 knitters and crocheters to make 500,000 caps!

Each year 2 million children die the day they are born. In total, over 9 million children — one every three seconds — die annually from preventable causes. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths take place in the developing world. One in every six children in sub-Saharan Africa still fails to reach his or her fifth birthday. Many parents even resist naming a baby during the first six weeks of life because they fear the child will not survive a reality utterly unthinkable in the United States.

Knit One, Save One offers an opportunity for crafters to use their time and creativity to make a difference in the lives of a newborn and family. In addition, anyone can take action beyond making a cap to take part in the larger effort to reduce newborn and child mortality.

• You can write a letter to the President-elect calling for increased support and resources for child health initiatives. You can host an event to raise awareness of the challenges that babies face and to make caps with friends, family and community members.
• You can also donate to You can also donate to the Better Beginnings for Babies Kit which contains items to improve hygiene at delivery and promote proper care of newborns. This kit will be paired with a hand-made cap, knitted or crocheted by one of our caring participants in the Knit One, Save One campaign.

Mothers shouldn’t face the uncertainty of a baby’s survival when known, readily available, costefficient solutions exist.
Please join us in this exciting campaign.

Your cap can save a life, your voice can help us save millions more!