Swatchless

A few years ago I went on a mitten making spree.  I found a lot of Moda Dea Caché yarn [now discontinued] on sale at Michael’s Craft Store, and fell in love with the glitter.  This glittery wool is NOTHING like knitting with copper scrubbies!  The wool/acrylic blend has a thin metallic thread running through it.  The metallic thread is probably just a shiny plastic thread–it breaks easily, and bends easily, and isn’t scratchy.

I think I made 5 pairs of these mittens…I used a very simple pattern because the glitz of the yarn would detract from anything I could attempt to do.  Ribbing slows me down, so these mittens were knit in stockinette stitch from the cuff to the finger tips.  I made sure the cuff was nice and long, because we get so much snow, and there’s nothing worse than snow down your sleeves when cleaning off your car, or making snowballs.

The mittens were distributed amongst friends and co-workers for Christmas.  They loved them, and wore them, and oohed and ahhed over the glitter.  Over the years I’ve seen the mitts come to work on various hands.  This winter, one pair ended up on a very unexpected pair of hands.

My colleague’s son has taken a liking to her mittens.  It’s an unlikely choice for a university student….he said he likes the feel of them.  The boy has good taste, this wool is very comfy!  They are also pretty unique–I bet not many of his buddies have such sparkly mittens.

He likes them so much that he will “reserve” them the night before by putting his keys on them.  It makes me laugh!  I don’t think my colleague will get these back any time soon!

I think that I should go stash diving for some more glittery yarn….I wonder if I have enough to make her a replacement pair.

The kingyo mittens that I mailed to my good buddy in Japan arrived safe and sound.  This is a picture of her with the mittens and a hamaya–a “demon breaking arrow” bought at shrines for New Year to ward off bad luck and bring good fortune.  I think she loves the mittens.  She told me that she cried when she opened the package!  I wish all knitters have such a thankful friend to knit for.

(Photo credit: Papa-Pea)

My friend and I have had many adventures together in Canada and in Japan.  I helped her learn English, introduced her to my family, and took her swimming in the lake!  She hosted me for several days in Japan, showed me around her hometown, welcomed me into her family, and together we suffered through an exhilarating all-night-climb of Mt. Fuji in the summer of 2007.  In the summer, it is difficult to see the mountain clearly due to the rapidly forming clouds.  It is such a shy mountain!

Mount Fuji Dec.2009 (photo credit: Papa-Pea)

Her dad woke up very early in the morning this winter, and took these lovely photos to show me that the mountain that took so long to climb really does exist.  It’s hard to imagine that I was once standing on that very crater…

Me and my friend at the top of Mt. Fuji Aug.2007 (photo credit. Papa-Pea)

Here’s another thing that’s hard to imagine…a Coke machine at the top of Mt. Fuji!

Coke Machine on Mt. Fuji Aug.2007

Where’s the craziest place you’ve mailed your knitting?

It seems like Christmas was ages ago.  Trees are now being thrown out, decorations have been carefully put away, and gifts are now being put to good use.

This year I was surprised and very happy to receive this beautiful ornament made by Candra.  I’ve examined the construction, and it appears to be a glass ball ornament, painted to represent the globe, suspended from a pair of painted chopstick knitting needles.  The world is decorated with “Knit The World” written in many languages.  Such a thoughtful, handmade gift will be treasured for years to come.

This ornament came with a gorgeous skein of Cascade 220 hand-dyed to a shade of pale green, and a story of a chance encounter in Wool-Tyme when Candra and I were both there, secretly buying gifts for each other at the same time.  We both recently had a good giggle when we realized what went on that day.

Did you get any great knitting gifts?

I am enjoying my new knitting journal given to me by a colleague.  Between the covers of the notebook are sheets of paper/graph paper, and reference materials that are proving very useful for sketching my new pattern ideas, and keeping track of my current projects.

A used copy of the book, Glorious Colour by Kaffe Fassett, has been a good resource for interesting colour combinations.  I’m sure I’ll continue to flip through it from time to time when looking for design inspiration.

Knitting bobbins are another thing that I’m thanking Santa for.  These will save me hours of frustrating untangling time when I’m knitting with several colours.  Contrast colours are wound onto the bobbins, and can hang inside/behind the work-in-progress until they are used.  Anything that saves me time and frustration is very welcome!

What knitting toys did Santa bring you?

Secret #1:  The picture from yesterday was the beginning of a rather fun and interesting project that continued on most of the night until the wee hours of the morning. The end result is this hat based on the pattern [Ravelink] by Margaret Sharp.

C.L. wearing her new robotics hat

It is one of a series of robot hats (with various ridiculous modifications) that I have made for the mentors of team 2809.

new mentors in robot hats

The hats started out very simple

Then came the BIG pompom (made by Opti)

The antenna…

The headband…

And now….a hat with EARS!!! They stand up because they are knit with one strand of yarn and one strand of copper harvested from a pot scrubbie.

If you are interested in some structural stability in your knitting, this technique may help you. The results are strong, and flexible, and they sparkle as the copper catches the light.

Unwind the scrubbie.  They  have a loop of metal keeping them together.

You’ll then have a knitted tube of copper

which can be unraveled pretty easily

and can be knit together with yarn to form features for your hat.

Ears are knit in the round with increases every so often. The ears are then incorporated into the knitting of the body of the hat. They could also be sewn on after the hat is complete.

Why are we all wearing robotic hats?

Secret #2:  Today was the kickoff for the FIRST robotics competition “Breakaway”. Team 2809 met to watch the webcast in the morning, and brainstorm for ideas and strategies for playing the new game.

We had a fun day coming up with plans, and learning the rules of the game.  It’s like soccer, with towers, speed bumps and lots of balls.

Mo, with 10 soccer balls

Over the next 6 weeks we will meet 6 days a week to plan, prototype, draw, manufacture, assemble, program, and test a robot to play this new game.  Follow along with the fun at the k-botics blog.  We’d love to hear your comments, and words of encouragement!

simulating the game in the gym

We will compete in March, and again in April.  Maybe I’ll have a few more hats knit by then.

What is the strangest material you’ve knit with?

I’m so glad it is Friday.  I’m going to stay up and knit tonight.

I am working on a secret project that might be revealed tomorrow.

Here’s a sneak peek.

Any guesses?

With this milestone came another cake (Thanks Mom!).

After 2000 visitors, there was a vote for the crazy topic (taken from search requests) that I should try to explain.

By a very slight margin, the winner is

“How to Spin Milkweed”

followed closely by

“How to Make a Hat with Copper Scrubbies”.

I will do my best to explain both topics in the days to come.  I happen to have a bag of copper scrubbies, and a bag of milkweed fluff around here somewhere…(doesn’t everyone?)

Did you buy your red mitten pattern yet?  This is where the $5 pattern cost is going….to support the Penguins Can Fly swim team.

I had the pleasure today of going to the YMCA to watch the Penguins Can Fly swim team in action, and boy….do they swim fast!   When they are all swimming in the water, it is impossible to distinguish which swimmers are disabled, and which are not.  The wonderful thing about this swim team is that they celebrate the ABILITY of each and every swimmer.  “They are kids, being kids, having fun and working hard” said Vicki Keith, their coach and mentor.

YMCA Penguins and coaches

Photo Credit: Hippo

Lap after lap they swam while I chatted with Vicki. She told me about the team, and how some of the swimmers are preparing for the Ontario Parasport Games which will take place in Kingston on Jan 22nd – 24th.  The swimming events will be at RMC on the 23rd.  If you are in the area, stop by, cheer for the Penguins at the pool, and catch a game of wheel chair basketball or wheel chair rugby in the gym.  Vicki said that wheel chair rugby is something that everyone should see once in their lives!  I’m planning on going.  I’ll be the one knitting in the crowd.

Here's B. a penguin, and excellent mitten model

The Penguins were pleased to hear about the money being raised for their program.  So far 84 mitten patterns have been sold, earning them $420!  Thanks to you generous knitters, more YMCA Penguins will be learning to fly here in Kingston.

Have you ever started a project, only to have it become something completely different?  My plan was to make mittens, but the wool had another opinion all together!

That mitten must have been knit and re-knit about 3 times while I played with colours–stripes, squares and different fiddly patterns.  It turns out that fiddly patterns lose their charm when knitted in bulky weight yarn.  Bulky yarn also leaves you with fewer stitches to play with.  The wool decided that it wanted to have a bold, but interesting pattern like this!  This pattern had been calling out to me for a while from my Ravelry queue, but I hadn’t ever tried it.

Image from Ravelry.com mittens not knit in bulky yarn!

With ideas swirling in my brain, I cast on (for the 4th time).  Things were going great!  The pattern was working!  The wool was speaking to me….but I wasn’t really listening yet.  I wasn’t listening when it screamed out “STOP!!!  You need to decrease for the fingers now”  I was too busy watching kids play basketball….

Luckily the game ended when it did.

I tried on my “mitten” and marveled at the lovely tumbling blocks, but noticed that it was already so much longer than my hand.  It’s like when you are a little kid, and you try on a grown up sweater, and the sleeves hang down to your knees so you can’t use your hands well.  Not the best quality for a mitten.

I marked carefully where I was going to start my decreases, and I ripped back. (but I still wasn’t listening!)

Decreasing and maintaining the pattern is a trick and a half, but I did it.  I was so proud of myself.  I finished the mitten, kitchener stitch and all…and tried it on.

Have you ever had one of those days?  I tried on this mitten and it was about an inch too short.  In my great haste to fix my previous error, I had ripped back way too far.

After a deep breath and lots of counting to ten, I undid the grafted fingertips, and ripped the mitten back again.

This time I was listening when it called out “I don’t want to be a mitten….I want to be an arm warmer!”

Hmmm…..arm warmers…..Why didn’t I think of that?!

Yarn:  Cadena an alpaca/wool blend from Knit Picks.  It feels so lovely, it is easy to knit (and also to rip out!)…thankfully progress is made really fast because it is a bulky weight.

Sock Wars V is starting soon, and I’m in.

“What’s Sock Wars?” you may ask.  Don’t feel bad–I didn’t know about it until one of the Knitter’s Anonymous sent me to the website, but I wish I had heard earlier!  It sounds awesome. I feel safe telling everyone about it now, since you can no longer sign up and become my competition.

A dossier will be emailed to me soon.  It will contain the official sock wars pattern, and my target’s information. I will then knit them a pair of socks, and mail it to them to “kill” them.  Someone will also be knitting me a pair of socks to try to “kill” me before I get my “killing” done.

When you are “killed” (by receiving a pair of knit socks in the mail) you are out, and you have to send your socks-in-progress and your dossier to the knitter that “killed” you.  That knitter will then try to finish those socks before getting “killed” themself.  The process continues until there is one knitter still standing!

I think that going to the mail box will become a lot more exciting!  I don’t remember getting hand knit socks that I didn’t make myself.  Even if/when I “die” I’ll at least get a pair of new socks out of the deal!  If I live until the end, I get a LOT of sock yarn….hmmm….stash enhancement….my resolution is that I’m not going to buy more yarn–I didn’t say ANYTHING about not winning it…

The “killing” begins on January 15th.  Stay tuned for more updates.

In the mean time, I’ll be heading to the stash to find a suitable sock yarn.  There’s gotta be something good in there somewhere!!

A while back, I signed up for a pay it forward challenge.  Someone has pledged to make me something, provided I promise to make something for three other people, who will each make things for three other people.  Eventually a lot of people will be receiving hand made gifts!

My first pay it forward envelope is in the mail!

I love the idea of paying it forward–doing something nice for others, and trusting that they too will continue the chain of niceness.  I enjoy the change of perspective–not thinking about what you’ll get, but what you can give.  My envelopes contain knitting….but that is not the only way to pay it forward.  Bake someone cookies, shovel someone’s driveway, give a kind word, share a smile….there are endless possibilities.

How will you pay it forward today?