Come Sit And Have Some Tea

I think it's important to have tea parties regularly. Not formal affairs, just the casual everyday sort. It's one of the simple pleasures in life. Here is an example of the Friday Tea the toddler and I enjoyed this week.

We had a simple snack with a Chinese theme: green tea, crab shumai and almond cookies. For those unfamiliar with shumai, it is a little tidbit made of meat wrapped in a thin bit of dough that is cooked by steaming. They are available pre-made in the freezer case at asian markets. Quick to fix, they take 3 minutes in the microwave, and we just adore them. Very like a savory sort of bonbon, really, it is tempting to eat them in large quantities.

I've completed a total of 3 earflap hats and 3 matching pair of socks for afghans for Afghans this week. They were very quick to knit, and it gives a feeling of satisfaction to have a workbasket full of finished objects.

As promised, I will be posting the pattern for the Infant Earflap Hats later today. If you're like me, you like to have a little variety to break up the monotony of knitting the same thing over and over again, and I've tried to provide that in this pattern. There are 2 different cuff variations, one ribbed and one in garter stitch, and 3 different decrease patterns and finishes for the crown. You may also make the hat without earflaps.

To make the matching socks, use this pattern as written for the ribbed ankle cuffs, or substitute garter stitch for the ribbing to match the garter cuff hat.

My surprise for my Needle Exchange Pal is safely on its way to her, and in fact it may have arrived already. I hope she likes it!

How did I choose what to send? I started with a visit to my LYS (local yarn shop) to see what might inspire me. I found this lovely ball of Online Linie 131 Fantasy in shades of blue and gold. Nothing inspires like a ball of novelty yarn!

Needles came next, in the size recommended on the ball band. I like to use Brittany needles, they feel so good to knit with, and they are easy to decorate with beads. Oh-so-soft feltable wool in pastel mint matches perfectly.

Next: Run all over town looking for beads and findings.

I had a very good time playing with the beads!

I decorated the needles, then made stitch markers and even a pair of earrings to match. What a fun color scheme to work with!

I wish I could be there to see her open the package!

Red Hat and Bootie Set

I've completed the red hat and bootie set. This is my March-Red item for Project Spectrum, but also an item to donate to the afghans for Afghans Wool Hats and Socks for Newborns Project.
I was going to use this hat pattern with some minor changes, but I ended up making so many changes that I just gave up and wrote my own pattern for a newborn earflap hat. I really wanted the design of the hat to go with those socks. I will be making more hats and socks for the newborn project to test variations in my pattern before posting it. It took about 4 hours to make this hat, and it's a prototype, so it promises to be a quick-to-make pattern.

It's time again to flash the stash. I did it last year, I gotta do it again this year. So that means I gotta unpack the stash so I can flash it. Can you think of a better way to motivate yourself to organize your house?

Man, I got work to do.

Project Spectrum - Red

The Project Spectrum color for March is red, so I went searching for things in my box-filled home to cluster together for a photo to celebrate the color. Yay, I managed to find a few beads!

What in the world to do for this project? I don't have very much free time right now, and I still haven't unpacked my yarn. What can I do that will be quick to make and use yarn that I can get to?

I received an email message from Knitzilla! about one of the afghans for Afghans projects, they are collecting newborn hats and booties for International Midwife Assistance participants to take with them to Bamiyan.

Hmmm, hats and booties are quick to make and don't take much yarn, so it would be easier to find something appropriate in the stash pile. I decided that this would make a good Project Spectrum activity.

There is only one important requirement; the hats and booties must be made from wool or another warm natural fiber, like alpaca or cashmere. Luckily for me, the second box I opened contained some leftover wool yarn from fairisle hats I made the December before last for holiday gifts.

I have one bootie finished and am working on its mate. I'm using this pattern from Blossom Knitwear, but I'm using size 6US/4.25mm needles to help tighten up my stitches. I plan on using a modified version of this pattern for the hat. You can find links to these and many other free patterns on the afghans for Afghans website.

The Virtuoso Gloves

I have some new baby houseplants to play around with. For now, I'll transplant them into indoor pots and let them lounge around the house. Later in the spring they will be moved outdoors to a shady patio. We'll see how well they tolerate the summer heat; the ones that can't take it can go back in the house, the others can stay outdoors year-round in this warm climate.

I haven't had a chance to knit anything during the last week, but I did find an example of someone else's knitting to share.

This is a pair of toddler sized woolen gloves knit in Guatemala. I am a knitter, so you know I've turned them inside out and inspected them thoroughly. These little darlings are fairisle gloves knit in the round and the yarn is woven in while it's knit (that means there are no loops of yarn carried along the back of the work for tiny fingers to get caught in) and there is not a loose stitch anywhere.

See what I mean? The yarn is very fine, and worked at about 7 stitches to the inch. I admire this fine workmanship. Maybe with a lot of practice I can emulate it someday. But today? I still have problems with uneven tension when working fairisle socks in the round.

Aren't these some great little gloves?

My youngest just loves them. He practices putting them on and taking them off, which he can do easily since there are no yarn loops to catch his little fingers on. He adores the colors. But most of all, he rejoices in the the knowledge that they are his and his alone and that he doesn't have to share them.

Another Fun Quiz

I found this quiz while reading blogs and just had to try it out. Quizzes are so much fun and you never really know what sort of answer you'll get.

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Personally, I enjoyed Paris much more than London, but that may be because I was only in London for a day. Hardly seems fair to judge a city on what amounts to an afternoon's visit.

It's Juju...

but the toddler insists it isn't bad.

My youngest son showed only a passing interest in the doll while I was knitting it, which means that he only came by to check on my progress 2 or 3 times while I worked. I knit a lot and he is used to it, so it had no real novelty to capture his interest other than fitting the stitch markers onto the stitch holders and learning to open and close the holders (and the usual toddler fascination with the properties of sticks and the cutting of yarn). This is the way of things; Mom knits, he wants to play with the tools but has no real interest in the finished product unless it was specifically made for him. Until now.

Just as I was stuffing the doll through the top of its head, the toddler came along and investigated this new thing that I was doing. He played with the loose fiberfill, helped stuff some into the doll, and then watched while I closed up the top of the doll's head. His attention began to wander as I drew up the cord that defines the head and forms the neck of the doll, but once I'd tied it off and set it down on the table he zeroed in on it.

"It's a little boy!" he cried and grabbed up the doll, claiming it for his own. "What his name?" he asked. I told him,"It's Bad Juju." He replied, "It not Bad Juju, it Good Juju." And so it is.

He may eventually let me put a face on it, but for now he is content with the 'amish' version of the doll.

If you're interested in what the doll was originally intended to be, you can read that story at the Bad Juju Knitalong.

Thar's Yarn in Them Boxes!

I was catching up with my email, which had been neglected during the move, and I took a good look at my sitemeter report, which I frequently neglect to read. I had how many visits??? I can't believe I've had 35,000 visits to my website! That's in one year. Absolutely unbelievable.

I continue to unpack when I can. You know how it goes, you open a box and take a good look at its contents, make a face, and close it back up because you have no idea how you're going to sort this collection of junk or where in the world you'll put it. Now and then I get to open a happy box like this one. I still have to close it up for now, but there's no doubt about what to do with it. It gets set aside in that pile of yarn boxes over there in the corner for now until I get enough space cleared to put up the shelves. Oh yes, the craft room is the staging area where all the boxes were piled in the move. It's great incentive to get everything unpacked and put away, because I don't get a craft room until then.