Alpaca Tales

Its cold, and the day light hours are shorter and shorter. What is one to do when one has an hour free unexpectedly? That's right, drift into a yarn store and fondle the alpaca. Spot a lovely cowl on one of the sales associates and run to the bank to get the $ just as they try to lock the doors for the night. (nice try, but can't keep me away from my alpacas!) Got the vague idea of how its done, remember Aryn said 96 stitches, but not much else... and lets cast on. I CO 96 st and joined to knit in the round. *5 rows stockinette and five rows of reverse stockinette* 5 times in color A, and 5 times in color B.
Change to color C and *5 rows stockinette and five rows of reverse stockinette* 4 times. now do one more repeat of just 5 rows stockinette.
BO with size US9 to prevent pulling.
Pull on and indulge in the cloud…..

This is a lovely mindless pattern, you could (just saying...) even knit this at a party and have a holiday drink with it, that's how easy it is!

Luxury Cowl / Hood- (kind off)

Needles Addi circs US 8 / 5.0 mm

Yarn Cascade Yarns Eco Duo,

(70% Undyed Baby Alpaca / 30% Undyed Merino Wool)

3 different colorways.

Red Scarf Project

Its simple, they need more scarves!

The Red Scarf season is upon us. Your wonderful handmade creation will be sent in a Valentine’s Day Care Package to a foster youth student enrolled in college or trade school. The OFA will take scarves from September 1-December 15, 2009. Approximately 3,500 scarves are needed. They have only about half right now, so get your needles clicking!

Some free unisex patterns here.

The mailing address is:
Orphan Foundation of America
The Red Scarf Project
21351 Gentry Drive
Sterling, VA 20166

Don't forget to include a fun note.

Scarf Size: Approximately 60" long and 5" to 8" wide. Scarves should be long enough to be wrapped around the neck, with tails long enough to be tied in the front.

Style: Think unisex collegiate. Ask yourself if your son, brother, and/or husband would enjoy receiving the scarf. Fringes are optional. Your scarf should drape and tie easily.

Yarn: Preferably DK, double fingering-weight, worsted weight, or light bully yarns. No laceweight, super-chunky, or mohair yarns as there are many people who find mohair too itchy. The yarn should be soft.

Color: Red! However, this could mean burgundy, cherry, russet, red stripes with other colors, or multicolor hues including red. Other unisex colors, including black, navy, teal, olive or gold are also welcome.

Finished and tagged: Yarn ends should be securely sewn in. For a personal touch, attach a tag saying "Handmade for You" with your first name, city, and group affiliation, if any. Donors have also included washing instructions, messages of encouragement, gift cards, burger bucks, books of stamps, etc.

Child rainbow scarf
Noro Silk Garden Sock
Addi US 4

Soon

Autumn winds
always drift me into yarn shops!

Frogged

Gothic Leaf stole by Sivia Harding. Sorry Sivia, my heart was just not in it. This is part of my effort of cleaning knitting house and getting back to my projects. This one had to go.

Signature - Superwash Sock Yarn by Brooklyn Handspun will be put to some other use soon.

Desperatly seeking mojo

Can a bunch of Rowan magz and some alpaca save this knitter's mojo? This knitter here, sure hopes so. please share- how do you find your mojo back?

Eye Candy Friday

Its been a very very very rainy spring/summer. Will I ever get to wear those sun dresses I got at the street fair? But until than, lets have fun in the rain!

Committed to commuting by bike!

Does not need yarn, buys it anyway...

How can I resist? Got to stop clicking on the forum thread "new yarns" in the Knitty City group on Ravelry.............................

Colinette Jitterbug from knitty city
colorway- mint chocolate,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

colorway- banwy

Manhattanhenge

Manhattanhenge
On Saturday, May 30th this year, one of only two occasions when the Sun sets in exact alignment with the Manhattan grid, fully illuminating every single cross-street for the last fifteen minutes of daylight. The other day is Sunday, July 12th. These two days give you a photogenic view with half the Sun above and half the Sun below the horizon—on the grid. The day after May 30th (Sunday, May 31), and the day before July 12 (Saturday, July 11) will also give you Manhattanhenge moments, but instead you will see the entire ball of the Sun on the horizon—on the grid. Here, looking East. The San Remo on the West Side, and the Carlyle on the East Side, with Central Park in the middle. Manhattan is grand!

I have been knitting, honest......

....... but not as obsessively as in the Fall. I have been reading and enjoying photography as well, and guess what, there is no way for me to do it all. (although, some of my cyber friends seem to do it).
This is going to be, when it grows up, a log cabin blanket, with the square color sequences originally determined by a random sequence generator. Its fun. I picked 7 sequences, for my 7 colors of this alpaca. 9 down, another 40 or so to go?

Needle US 3 / 3.25 mm

Yarn Sajama Alpaca, 7 colors, un-dyed.

Eye Candy Friday

On my way to work, and on my way home.
Riding a bike to work through Central Park- Priceless!

Some FO!

Gentleman's Fancy Knee-High Socks
Addi US 1½ / 2.5 mm
Trekking (XXL) 110
The toe:
Had to finish the knee highs with some yarn from the basket. I should have thought ahead, and done the heel with the dark color, it would have been a classic, but hey... Nickerjac Sock Yarn left over from the Sidewinders sock. I made only one cause the pattern was not great, but I love the yarn!

Striped Scarf. Bamboo and bits of alpaca scarf kit from la droguerie Paris. Finally! I received from my brother who lives in Paris, the second skein of bamboo I ran out of! I LOVE the colors and it feels like a dream, but I wish I made it wider.
US 2

The Tale of the Mittens

Once upon a time a knitter wanted some mittens. She excited her knitting friends to have a mitten exchange, but she almost backed out... Lucky for us she did not, and thus Annie of sit n knit NYC organized the Secret Quickie Mitten Exchange, and more than 30 of us participated. The person I knit for, now can be revealed, is Ann Marie. I had a list of her likes and dislikes. The Herringbone pattern was one of her choices. Of course none of the yarn I have at home was "just right" so I HAD to by the Heather sisters by Cascade 220. The pattern was fun to knit and easy to follow. Knit one at a time on two Addi circs, US 6.

The Mittens Exchange party was great fun, and tremendous success!!! I found out that while I was busy knitting away, Amy, was- OMG even busier and knit these!!!! For me! I LOVE my mittens. They are so warm and soft, like a secret hideaway.
I think everybody was happy. There were lots of gorgeous mittens. I was delighted to see when I walked in, that Ann Marie's scarf, which she wove herself from yarn she basically remade, matched in color!

The following excellent photos are courtesy Tatyana.

A Beanie with a message

May The Force Be With You. Another hat with a message for my son. He'll wear it if its malabrigo inside next to his ears and the forehead. I find hats without a second layer around the ears to be too drafty in the NYC winter. I think I got the chart for the letters from Hello Yarn. The hat pattern is generic. To get the inner part, you do a provisional CO and join when the outside matches the inside in length. The only problem now, I need another mindless project for 24 and Lost.....
Malabrigo, Kureyon, Addi circ US7. Knitting from stash=Priceless!

The Mittens are ready.........

But you can't see them yet...........

Wrapped in a Wrapsack. Its a line of reusable gift bags, that makes the case for Earth-friendly wrapping alternatives. Each sack comes with its own tracking number. Register your sack online and instruct the recipient to regift it. Then see where it travels.

Quickie Mitten Swap

SnK NYC organized a Quickie Mitten Swap ( thanks Anne-Marie!!) and I started my mittens, but, I can't show them to you. hahaha! The Quickie Mitten Swap Party is Saturday February 28, and until that time- my lips are sealed, I mean, my needles are crossed, I mean, I don't knit and tell.....

What I can show you is the yarn- lovely colors that make this project fun to knit. Introducing the Heathers. The Cascade 220 sisters.

Happy Valentine's Day!

And guess what! MaryMary nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger! Wow, thanks. She also listed 2 very Kreative knitters I visit often (hilde and garngamen nominated) So I am nominating the following creative knitters and fiber artists:
cosymakes
Hello Yarn
tiennie knits
sock prØn
Riihivilla, Dyeing with natural dyes.
KRAWUGGL
ZebraKnits

And here is the award: Copy and paste to your blogs knitters!

Knee Highs for my boots

I needed a pair of knee highs for my wellies. I wanted a color and "feel" that would match, and I found Opal's Harry Potter in Hedwig, but one skein was not enough so I shopped my scarps and got some creative solutions. Knit two at once on 2 Addi US1 circ, this process took a while. The yarn is fun to watch transition, so it was not a hardship..... for the foot I used a bit of Austerman Step left over from socks I knit for a friend in 06. I think it works! Now the only question remains whether to wear it up or folded down?

Magic Ball leg warmers

When my friend Elena was visiting over the holidays, I gave her my striped leg warmers to keep. (She was cold.) That meant I needed to knit another pair. (Ya'!) In came lots of scraps I had all over the knitting baskets area, which I have been saving for the past lots of years. You got some Noro, some Malabrigo, some of my own hand-spun, some unknown variegated from long ago, and some Cascade 220 leftovers. Generally, worsted weight. I made the 2 magic balls by diving each scraps into 2, by using my scale. It was a good way to do this, with the exception of my hand-spun, when some of the same weight proved to be very different yardage. Oh well, its just magic ball. CO 54 stitches per leg warmer, on 2 Addi US 6 circs, (on 6 cause I wanted it more dense) K1P1 rib, and went for it. Fun and warm. Used it today during the brief snow we had. it will be great to block the up-your-leg draft when I ride my bike.

A cowl a day keeps the wind away.....

Well, maybe not one a day, but started the year right with Thermis (Ravelry link). Wonderful, easy pattern. The yarn, Tosh Worsted, is lovely to work with, but it is really a DK, so it is a bit more slouchy, but hey, its a cowl! Knit with Addi, US 6. Used only 72gr. This pattern lends itself for a hat, which seems to be wanting to pop on the needles with some malabrigo, from stash!

And speaking of Malabrigo, Knitty City had a 3 year anniversary today, and here is the cake! Many more to come we hope!