Knitting Feeds

I'm delighted to report my Herlacyn Breeze afghan is finished. Blocking worked its usual magic, so stitches have relaxed, small bumps have disappeared, seams are straighter, and the borders lay flat.



Worked in Cotton Fleece (Brown Sheep), this version features a cool gradient with six shades ranging from rich purple to mint green set against a neutral off-white background. The colors are arranged on the diagonal from the lower left to upper right, and they were worked in this order:

• Left strip: Sugar Plum, Lapis, Caribbean Sea, Hawaiian Sky
• Center strip: Lapis, Caribbean Sea, Hawaiian Sky, Light Sage
• Right strip: Caribbean Sea, Hawaiian Sky, Light Sage, Mint

From the beginning, Herlacyn was designed as a stashbusting opportunity, using scraps and partials leftover from other projects such as Lucben Tidepool, Valere Summer Rainbow and Valere Vivid Rainbow. 

Herlacyn BreezePattern: Coming soon!
Yarn: Cotton Fleece (Brown Sheep)
Needles: US 8 (5.5 mm)
Size: Small / baby
Dimensions: 27 x 35 ins
Yardage: ~670 yards
Twisted stitches create a subtle texture on the front and an interesting texture on the back, while the colored triangles almost appear appliqued rather than worked as part of the fabric.

Much like its sibling Herlacyn Heatwave, Breeze has fantastic drape. It's also the ideal weight for chilly weather, so it will be perfect as we transition into fall, when a soft, light lapghan is welcome on a cool morning.
This project lingered way too long in its almost-done state, so it's exceptionally satisfying to finally have it completed. With one long-standing WIP now officially a finished object, it's time ot tackle the others skulking in the background!

Looking for the pattern? It's with the tech editor for a final review, so it's coming soon!

I had planned to write you a big long letter today and do so many Karmic Balancing Gifts (I still will just after) and show you lots of knitting and then today was packing day for the Rally and several things that were supposed to be fast were slow and a few things that were supposed to be easy were hard, and now it’s past bedtime and I have to get up while it’s still dark to start riding my bike to Montreal and I’m just now eating dinner and…

Let’s talk about hard things instead. I believe in doing hard things. (Betcha figured that out already.)  I think that if you are privileged enough to be able to choose to do a hard thing or not,  choosing to do it has real rewards that can change the way you see the world, the way your brain works, and the kind of happiness you (eventually) have. I think challenge is good for you. I do not think this about hard things that you do not choose.

I know a woman who has HIV as a result of being raped during a genocide in her country of origin.  I know another who thought she was in a monogamous relationship, and wasn’t. I know another one who has two HIV positive kids because she’s a refugee from a country where access to healthcare and medicine that can prevent mums from passing HIV onto their babies isn’t affordable, accessible or frankly, possible. I know HIV+ addicts and people with really bad luck and some who are sex workers because they ran right the hell out of choices at all. They are doing some really goddamn hard stuff, and they didn’t choose it, didn’t have the privilege to work against it, and the day that I tell them that I think the hardship they’ve endured was good for them is frankly, the day I open a (*&^%$ing moth farm.

The Bike Rally has something called “the big meeting.” We have all the participants there, and we talk to them about everything they need to know, and build the community they’ll need to get through this thing, and I had to give a speech. I talked quite a bit about how choosing to do hard things can make you happy – if they’d have been knitters I would have talked to them about that feeling as you take the pins out of a lace shawl that you really, really worked hard on, one that was a challenge. That part of you that feels the growth of a little self esteem as a result of the proof that you pulled it off – you know that one? Without using a knitting metaphor (which was really hard, let me tell you) I pointed out that the Rally can give you that feeling.  I also asked the Steering Committee to share their reasons for why they do this. They do a ton of work to make this happen over a year, and I thought people might like to know why they do it.  They gave lots of reasons. There’s 24 of them, and there were 24 reasons.  Some of them ride in remembrance of someone else, some ride because others can’t. Some ride because it’s the lace shawl thing, some ride because they love the community, some ride because they feel like they need to give a voice to someone who doesn’t have one.

At the end, I gave my reason, and I’m going to share it with you here.  Several of you have written to me very sweetly, because you are kind right down to your roots, and asked why on earth I am doing something that clearly hasn’t made me superficially happy this year (I cop to that) and that’s obviously really, really hard. I haven’t known quite what to say, but I do now.

Why do I do this? Quite frankly, it is my overwhelming belief that someone has to. Given our current political climate – given the pain and hurt of so many people around us, people who are seemingly invisible to the world around them – or visible in the worst possible way, those experiencing stigma, shame, discrimination, poverty… all the consequences of HIV/AIDS that occurs if they are unsupported practically and emotionally – when they are outside of a community – doesn’t somebody have to? Given a system where we know what we know about happiness and health, that it grows and thrives in a place where all that is minimized and choices and opportunities to do hard work and choose challenge are maximized – and given that we all have the power to change not just the world but the very lives of people who live in it…to make them happier, to make ourselves happier… doesn’t somebody have to, and doesn’t it have to be someone with the ability, luck and privilege to do it? I have a pretty beautiful life.  Shouldn’t it be me?

This has been a very hard thing.  It’s probably going to get a little harder, over the next few days… and I want you to know that as I’ve struggled, I’ve been so touched by the generosity you’ve shown me that has made every sacrifice worth it. I am grateful for you, everything you do, every donation, comment, email….  every action you take that proves that you want to live in a world that’s decent and kind and generous and a little bit more fair… I reflect on it often. You all are amazing. I am grateful when I think of you, I know PWA is grateful for you. You increase the amount of happiness in the world.

PS.  We took these pictures of us, Team Knit, a few weeks ago when we were all together and doing what we do – knitting and being friends. (Also we are fairly good at cocktails.) I haven’t had many opportunities to say it, but I want to do it here – I am so grateful to Cam, Ken and Pato for having my back this whole time.  This was harder than I thought it would be, and the real help they’ve been over the last year is more than I can say.  Cam’s been an amazing emotional support animal and a very good listener,  Ken’s always got my back when it comes to the details and covering me with the family, and Pato, he’s such a workhorse. Do you know he took my stuff to packing day for me today so that I could take the subway and get there before everyone to do my work? Thoughtful and practical.  I’m sorry for all of it guys. You’ve only got to get me through six more days and then maybe I’ll be less crazy.  I love you.

PPS.  You have already done so much to support us – we are all fantastically, wonderfully above our goals. I do have a few quiet hopes that are as yet unrealized, and if you’d like to give any of us a push in absolutely destroying those goals, I’d love it, and overachieving is what knitters do best. We remain (along with all of you) Team Knit, and we’ll catch you on the other side.

Stephanie

Ken

Cameron

Pato

www.knittedbliss.com

Original Pattern: Soldotna Crop  Knitter Extraordinaire: Dominique (Ravelry Profile) Mods: Lengthened the sleeves, body, and added the charts to the hem and cuffs while stashbusting! Details and lot sof great photos can be found in her project page, here. What Makes This Awesome: I am always really excited about a knit that helps tame a

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Well hello there... Yarn-Nomadic Yarns in the colorway, Honeydukes. I can honestly say, I am trying to do better about getting back into blogging. That being said, I give myself permission to forgive myself if I miss a Sunday here or there. It is not like I am not thinking... Andi

Turns out, there's nothing quite so potent as making a public promise to finish a few WIPs to prompt some action. It also helps that like a parent waving a lollipop in front of a wayward toddler, my reward for keeping that promise is the opportunity to cast on the rainbow shawl I've been craving. 

This week, I buckled down and wove in the last of the ends on my Herlacyn Breeze. It's soaking now in preparation for blocking, which I hope to tackle this evening.



Dazzling progress? No, but for a project that's been stalled for far too long, it's a start, and I'll take it.

Looking for the pattern? It's in my tech editor's capable hands, so it should be ready for release soon.

1. Just now, when I went to log into the blog so that I could write to you, it denied me entry three times.  Right before I was about to flip out almost completely, I realized I was misspelling my name. That right there sums up my current state, I think.  Seventeen days until the Bike Rally’s over.

2. I finished my back-to-backs, doing the second of them by myself, which was a bit of an extra challenge.  I am a collaborative person by nature and being out there alone is a bit of a head trip. I do okay for the first few hours, then about halfway through I start wondering why I’m alone and start making up reasons. At about the 60km mark, I’ve decided all my friends are jerks – that’s why I’m alone.  At the 70km mark I’ve forgiven them, and at 80km I realize that it’s not them, it’s me.  I am a horrible terrible person who has failed to invest in any meaningful relationships in a way that wants to make people be with me. I am alone because that is what I deserve. Then, at 90 or 100km I get home, step off the bike and instantly have my self-esteem and equilibrium restored. Maybe it’s the heat.

3. The other thing about cycling alone is that the urge to take an Uber can get pretty strong.

4. I finished my July socks yesterday, with days to spare – making these ones plain was a great idea on my part, I get to finish a pair even though my knitting time’s largely being drunk up by a bike.

Yarn is Must Stash Yarn’s Polka Dot Afro Circus, and my love affair with her Must Match Skeins remains pure as the driven snow. Pattern’s my own Good Plain Sock from Knitting Rules – no modifications at all, except that I did snip out about a metre of the yarn to make the heel stripe fall where it did.

4. I also finished the tiny pom-pom cowl, though there’s no pattern to report on that one.
Yarn is one skein of The Artful Ewe Kid Silk Lace, with two tiny balls of Habu’s Mini Pom Shiro.

Like I said, I don’t really have a pattern, using instead the “cast on a bunch and knit for a while” technique.  Using a 4.5mm needle, I cast on about 140 stitches using two strands of the hair of the mo, purled a round, and then knit for a while,  varying between the yarn held double, the yarn held single and the yarn held with the fetching mini pom-poms, knitting along as pleased me entirely until the whole tube was about 35cm long.

Then I purled a round with the yarn held double, and bound off.  (How’s that for a pattern,  two sentences.)   It used up most of the mohair, and almost two little balls of the poms, and if I had more of that yarn I would still be knitting with Tiny Pom-Poms because they are a pretty spectacularly cheerful spot to park your needles.  It is impossible to be unhappy with a strand of itty bitty spheres of fuzz rolling nearby, I swear it.

5. I am on my way to in Montréal (I started this post this morning when I thought I could get it done before I left, but I ran out of time, so here it is, being posted from my hotel room where i’m about to fall over like a tree.) The Road Support crew for the Rally has scouted the first five days of maps, but I’m checking day six, since a) Montréal is far b) most of it has to be checked by bike, not car. c) I’m the one who has to lead everyone on the final approach, and I don’t want to be the jerk who hasn’t memorized it.  Today I did the first half, but at least 50km isn’t far enough to trigger low self-esteem, so it absolutely could have been worse. Tomorrow’s calling for rain – cross your needles, I dodged it today.

6. Also I am knitting in this hotel room.

Still working on the Peace of Wild Things Shawl. Yarn is still Berroco Ultra Wool fine. Still digging the combo.

7. Karmic balancing gifts? You betcha. Team Knit is still trying to make it to our fundraising goals. I want to thank you all for getting us as close as we are – it’s your gifts that make all this work worth it.  How hard I’m working, your donations – that’s what’s going to determine how many people PWA is able to serve next year, and I can’t thank you enough.  It absolutely makes up for how wet I got today. If you’d like to throw a little something our way, Team Knit is:

Me

Ken

Cameron

Pato

Kat writes to us with a beautiful gift, The Scrubland Collection, and she’ll be sending the set of patterns along  to three lucky knitters… Margo G,  Jackie U. and Bethany P.

All three tops feature simple, bottom-up construction, knit in two pieces and seamed, so that the projects are portable until it’s time for finishing. (I am very fond of the Thistle one, and appreciate that there’s a pretty great range of sizes.)

Nancy, sweetie that she is, went into her stash and found four gifts that are ready for karmic rehoming.  First, 2 skeins of a 50-50 wool-mohair, Hebridean/Mohair in deep purple heather (I know it doesn’t look too purple here, but Nancy wouldn’t lie) and Nancy will be sending that to Stephanie W.

Next, 1 hank of 50-50 Tencel-Wool, 2 oz, fiber to spin, a pretty colour called Taos, from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks.  Nancy says the purple thing is happening here too, we’ll have to trust Jackie D to tell us how much purple there is when she gets it.

Finally, two beautiful six-pack gradients of fingering/sock weight mini-skeins, 75% Superwash Merino / 25% Nylon (552 yards and 120g per pack) from River’s Edge Fiber Arts.  One six-pack is in a colour-way called “Old Fashioned Roses”, and the other is unnamed, but Nancy has named it “Mountain Sunset”.  Margo G and Jen G will have to work out who gets which one!

Duffy – aka the Duchess of Dyepots has two beautiful skeins to give away, Laird Fingering in the color Jabberwocky (though she’s willing to wiggle on the colourway if Kay L really wants her to.)

Suzanne has two beautiful skeins of Louet wet spun flax that she’ll be sending along to Terry M.  (I love this yarn.  Suzanne must be a good person to let it go, and Terry must be awesome for the universe to assign it to her.)

OzKnitter has a nice gift – a free sock pattern for ten knitters! Good luck choosing to Chani S, Kathleen C, Carol S, Barbara W, Mary S, Curran M, Eileen M, Karrie S, Rosie G, and Robin T.

I am rather feeling the Queues one.

Finally, Rhonda (who lives in one of my favourite places in the world) has a skein of Tosh Lace (in the rather fabulous colour geranium) that she’s sending along to Cheryl B.

Thanks for your help all! Wish me luck with tomorrow’s riding/driving. I am going the heck to sleep.

www.knittedbliss.com

My Favourite Articles and Links This Week 5 ways to bring more fun to your life. Ideas for hosting a summer dinner party without breaking the bank. Because going broke just to have friends over is no fun for anyone. France has made it a law that grocery stores have to donate edible food instead

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I’m really excited to be taking part in the upcoming TWIST Fibre Festival, which is next month in a lovely, forest-filled area of Quebec August 14-18th. It’s the largest fibre festival in Canada, and while I’ve been in that part of the country before (it’s stunning) I’ve never been to the festival before… so I’m

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Original Pattern: Good Morning Rooster Knitter Extraordinaire: Ria (Ravelry profile) Mods: Changed the rooster pattern to match her speckled chickens! Eliminated the rooster details like the picot edging on the neck feathers, and some of the shaping Great details on the mods to get that speckled chicken vibe can be found on her project page,

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Hello there, loves! The weekend is almost over, actually over for those of you outside the U.S.. I hope your days were great ones filled with calm and knitting. Mine was for sure a lovely relaxing time. As you can see above I am starting on my second Harry Potter... Andi

Under most circumstances, I'm a semi-monogamous knitter who prefers to limit the number of fiber projects active at any given time. My rules, such as they are, are pretty simple. I strive to have no more than three projects on the needles, ensure one is small and portable to grab and go, and focus and finish before launching a new project.

Lately, I've been ignoring these guidelines, and not only is it driving me crazy, it's time for a reality check. Last fall, I started a simple little cowl that should have been a fast finish, but I allowed myself to get distracted. There it sits, waiting for just a bit of time and attention to bring it to completion. 

To complicate matters, I have another cowl and the better part of a full shawl sitting on the needles. I don't have a good overview shot, so we'll have to make-do with a picture of the swatch. 



All would be well if that was my full project lineup, but it's not. There are three afghans in various WIP stages. Herlacyn Breeze is off the needles, but there are still a few ends to weave before it can be blocked.



The Ohio Star afghan is seamed and ready for a border.


A third, unnamed afghan is also more than half done, but it's currently in timeout while I think about whether or not I like the overall effect.


That's a total of six active projects, or twice as many as my ideal max. Nonetheless, I'm still itching to cast on another shawl and start putting this silky rainbow yarn to good use. 
With all that in mind, let's make a deal. I'm going to stiffen my spine, do the grownup thing, and focus on turning these WIPs into finished objects. Once at least two of them are finished (or frogged), I can succumb to tempation and cast on the rainbow shawl. What do you think, does that sound fair?

I was up early this morning – I hadn’t really planned on blogging today, but I’m trying to be more connected and less siloed in this work, so when anxiety got me up a bit earlier than I planned, I came to you. I’ve been waking up really early the last little bit.  I wake up and then lie there, and start to turn a thousand problems and ideas over in my head and then realize I can’t get back to sleep, and then figure I’m wasting time two ways, by not sleeping and not working, and figure that if I can’t do one I should do the other.  (I also spend time wondering if  being sure that people are having fun without me, and giving myself stern talkings to about bitterness, choices I have made, and the inappropriateness of developing feelings of the former in relation to the latter and working on being a better person. This morning looking at instagram I was briefly bitter that I wasn’t on the vacation of a person I’ve never even met. That’s stress trying to screw my scene again. I’m not having it, and besides yachts don’t look that fun anyway.)

So, here I am, and I’m sitting on my front steps with my knitting and my coffee and my cycling shoes, looking at my garden, feeling happy that it doesn’t seem to be as scorching as yesterday and getting ready to start my back to backs.

(This is just a quick scarf/cowl thing – I had a knitting emergency on my way to the cottage when I realized I was going to finish my cowl and didn’t have something else to knit, so I grabbed a needle and a ball of yarn that didn’t need winding and when I got there, I let Megan pick the pattern.  She chose the Peace of Wild Things shawl, and the yarn is Berroco’s Ultra Wool Fine, in Denim. One ball does it.This is a super fast knit – even with my current knitting-time drought it’s coming together.)

Now, until I became the Chair of the Rally, there wasn’t a ton about it that gave me the willies anymore. There are parts of it that I don’t enjoy – like the hills or the heat (or the rain or the spiders) but after a few years of doing the thing there were two things I know about the stuff that’s not fun. First, I can do it, because I’ve done it before, and second, because I’ve done it before I know exactly how much it’s going to suck.  I take a lot of deep breaths. Now, since I became the Chair, there’s a lot that gives me the willies. As a rider, rain sucks. As the Chair, the thought leaves me going over the disaster preparedness plan a 46th time. As I rider, I don’t like lugging my bins around – as the chair, I’m aware that the Rustlers team of volunteers move bins 7600 times (that’s the actual number) during the rally and I worry that someone will forget to latch the back of a truck. As a rider, I worried about getting lost. As the Chair, I worry there will be a mistake on a map and we’ll lose 250 riders. You see what I mean.

From this point of view, my training has seemed like the least of my problems, and I haven’t been out there as much as I could have been, and now today I start my back-to-backs.  Back-to-backs are two rides longer than 90km that you need to complete on two consecutive days – back-to-back.  The general feeling is that if you can do that, you can do the Rally, and every year I get a real case of the willies leading up to getting it done. I hate it. I hate that you don’t know if you can do it until you do – I hate that one of the rides is always ridiculously difficult (that’s today) and this year,  I hate that I wasn’t able to start my back-to-backs yesterday with a group of riders because I was at a training session for the crew.  (Don’t get that part wrong, I begrudge the crew nothing, I just wish I could clone myself sometimes.)  It means that tomorrow I have to do my second long ride without the support of a big team.

Today I’ve got Ken, and we’ll ride (get this) 114km (that’s 71 miles, for my American friends) and if I survive, tomorrow I’ll ride 90, hopefully with Cameron. (Team Knit all has different pressures, schedules and neurosis. We’re each handling our back-to-backs differently. Except Pato, who is young, confident, and not worried at all. I cannot wait for him to turn 30 so I can say HOW ARE YOUR KNEES NOW PATO.)

My map is printed (though Ken has GPS I do not trust it) and I froze water in my bottles last night because it’s a million degrees still, I’ve pumped my tires, I put on sunscreen, I have my phone charged and money for lunch.  I’m ready I think, and I’m looking forward to the feeling I’ll have tomorrow when it’s done and I’ve proved I’m physically ready.

Day one of the Back-to-Backs… bring it.

I am trudging along here – still looking forward (rather desperately) to the day (28 days) from now when the Bike Rally is finished and things shift around here.  I am not even sure what I will do that day, though I’ve reached a phase of hopefulness where I start piling knitting projects up around the house so I can look at them as I walk by. I can only imagine that August 17th is a day that the Wild Knitting Rumpus will begin, assuming I am conscious.  Between now and then I’m trying to get all this done without completely compromising my sanity, family or what’s left of my relationships. (I have given up on the house, but have adopted AlisonH’s tip for floor cleaning from the comments on the last post, so things are better there.)  Last week some friends invited us up to their cottage, and my love for the Canadian wilds being what it is, I managed to find a way to get myself up there on short notice for three glorious days.  (Joe,  Megan and Elliot managed to stay up there longer, but I jumped on the train bright and early on Thursday for a series of Bike Rally Meetings that couldn’t be missed. You can only imagine the bitterness I felt leaving that kid behind in one of my favourite places.)

We spent the few days I was able to be there swimming,  trying to convince Elliot to  go in the lake (he was fine by the end, but resistance was initially high) and l tried to write to you, but I had to use nap time for Rally Business, and usually if he’s awake and we’re together, Elliot says “Gammy?” every 12 seconds, and I am helpless not to answer him.  I wanted to write and say that despite the state of my life (and improved status of the kitchen floor) I did finish my June Socks, and I had a good enough time knitting them that I’d happily start the pair over.

Pattern is Paragon Socks, Yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply in Cardamom.

They look fussier than they are to knit, which is something I like a lot in a pair of socks, and the pattern itself was memorizable – though not until the last repeat of the second sock, in my case, but if your head isn’t full of Bike Rally you might have more room for storing that.)

I’d tell you I loved the yarn too- but that should be obvious by now, since I think it’s turned up on the blog about three times in the last year or so.  Great stuff.

I’ve got the next pair of socks on the needles, but they’re just plain self-striping, because I see how things are this month and wanted to make it a little easier on myself.  (I can see now that this would have been a good month to investigate the perplexing world of hand knit ankle socks, but it’s too late now.) I finished the mini-pom-pom neck thing too, so I’ll get some pictures of that, and look! While I was walking around another pair of socks fell off the needles.

Yarn is Cozy Knitter’s “Celebrate the Night” (I think. I’ve misplaced the ball band again, which isn’t surprising since I can’t even remember when I started these, never mind anything else about them.)

Absolutely no pattern whatsoever, I just banged them out. Top down,  round and round, 2.25mm needles, 68 stitches, German short row heels over half the stitches, and my standard toe. (My standard toe probably isn’t yours because I’m opposed to the pointiness, we can talk about it another time.)

Into the long range planning box for them- it’s actually not looking too shabby in there, I remember the last time I did the Self-imposed-sock-of-the-month-club it was an easy Christmas, I was so far ahead. It’s a lovely thing to think about, since I’m so far behind on everything else right now.

Speaking of behind -let’s get some Karmic Balancing gifts done, because you all are amazing.  Team Knit is still inching towards their goals, and it’s you all we have to thank for it.  I  hope we’re going to make it. If you’re wondering what’s going on here read this:  and Team Knit this year is Me, Ken, Cameron and Pato. Please help us spread the word.

First, a wonderful gift from Tanja Luescher, she’s a designer who’s always one of the first in my inbox with an offer to help. We’ve never met, but I think she’s pretty great.)

Tanja is offering 10 ebooks (20 really, but we’ll do another 10 anther time) Kathryn, Sonja, Rita, Karen, Janis, Sarah, Susanna, Cara, Jessica, and Kelly can all choose between Stories of Inspiration, Selfstriping, Hubby needs Socks, The Cat Collection OR you these lucky knitters can create their own ebook of any 7 patterns.  Thanks all. (And I am going to buy the socks one. I think I found the perfect pair.)

Michele wrote and said that she has three gorgeous gifts that need new homes – thanks Michele! Violets by Mary Scott Huff – the entire kit. (Michele loves this a lot, but is a realist about it’s future with her. I hope that Barbara M loves it and has time. 1 skein (1000 yards) of Tanis Fiber Arts pink label lace weight – variegated graphite is the colourway. Michele found out she’s not a fan of laceweight – so off it goes to Tamara G. 2 skeins (420 yards each) of Tanis Fiber Arts red label cashmere/silk twist – mauve blossoms. (Michele didn’t say why these need rehoming, so I assume it’s straight-up crazy generosity.)  Good news Sarah H, these are winging your way!

Mary E Rose is another designer, and Mary’s written to say that she’d like to give away a free pattern to TEN knitters.  I spent some time with her portfolio, and Smocked Leaves and The White Queen’s Shawl are two I’m putting in my queue.

Good luck choosing to  Lesley E, Brooke S, Wendy N, Dari T, Amanda G, Christine E, Nancy S, Kathy F, Sam M, and Cathy W. There’s a lot of amazing patterns there.

Christina has these three beautiful skeins of Titus (in Coal) to give away.  (What a neat yarn, 50% Wensleydale, 20% BFL, and 30% alpaca – most of that from the UK.)

Those three beauties will be making their way to Lisa H. Lisa and Christina, thank you!

Terry’s got two skeins of Knitpicks Hawthorne Fingering in Burnside that she’d rather inexplicably like to give up. (Must be just that she’s nice.)

That’s more than 600m of amazing that will be making it’s way to Julie A.

But wait there’s more! Brooke’s got two skeins of Three Irish Girls Yarn ‘Adore’ sock yarn, in the ‘Everlasting Gobstopper’ colourway, making it’s way from her house to Josephine P’s. I hope it makes her happy.

Still on the sock yarn train, Linda H has two ever so pretty ones – Sweet Skein o-Mine, in the colourway St. Andrew’s Summer – headed to Cathy A. Thanks both!

That’s it for today, a whole whack of gifts done, and I’ve emailed the 27 lucky winners, and the generosity in my inbox overfloweth.  There’s much more to come.  For now, I’m off to look over about 7 spreadsheets that contain more details about a small moving city of cyclists than anyone could ever hope to memorize, and hope to drill enough parts of it into my head to get this thing off the ground. Oh. I also have to figure out the cutlery.  Who knew?

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My Favourite Articles and Links This Week Oh my gosh- did you hear about Finland’s heavy metal knitting championship?! You have to see this. I just heard about an amazing website that helps you figure out all the ways you can get from Point A to Point B– flights, trains, buses, cars. With estimated costs

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Happy Monday! Sorry there will be no post this weekend. I am neck deep in a couple sample knits that are on a very tight deadline. So many fun things are going on and I can't wait to share them with you this Sunday! xo Andi Andi

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Original Pattern: Marisol the Knitted Mouse Knitter Extraordinaire: Sara (Ravelry Profile) Mods: Using the toy mouse pattern as a starting point, Sara made this adorable knitted bat stuffie! Details can be found on her project page, here. What Makes This Awesome: Lila adores bats, and when your kid loves something, it becomes pretty special for

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Happy Sunday! How was your weekend? Did you get some time off for the 4th of July? I did and while I could not bear to go out into the scalding sun to celebrate, it was nice to just relax. Of course knitting happened, maybe a little too much knitting,... Andi

We've had so much rain lately, I can't recall the last time we had a clear, sunny day. To combat the gloom, I've been gradually winding the rainbow yarn. 

The rich, saturated shades are the perfect antidote, and the touch of silk imparts a sheen that's especially appealing when the skies are gray.
This yarn is destined to become a shawl or wrap or cowl or some combination thereof, so while I wound, I took the opportunity to play a bit with color options. The assortment above features five colors (no magenta), for example, while the others feature six. 

I freely confess I lingered over the caking process, partly to simply wallow in this soothing task and partly to think through some issues I'm having with one of the designs I'm working on. Now that all the yarn is wound, I'm chomping at the bit and eager to cast on, but hopefully cooler heads will prevail. Several projects either on the needles or in the final finishing stages could in a relatively short period of time go from WIPs to FOs, if I could simply muster the discipline to make it happen.

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My Favourite Articles and Links This Week This knitted light installation is spectacular. 7 tricks for a perfectly packed suitcase. Because I bet most of us have a trip or two coming up this summer, right? 5 ways to strengthen your creativity while at work. This is a great list! Perfect for countering those it’s-gorgeous-outside-but-i’m-stuck-at-work

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It's a busy week in North America. Monday, our neighbors to the north celebrated Canada Day, and today, Americans are celebrating Independence Day. 

In the US, red, white and blue are the unofficial colors of summer, so through the years, I've managed to build a rather substantial collection of coasters and cloths suitable for these occasions.

It's been quite awhile since I've added to this collection, so this seemed like a good time to rectify that oversight, plus the prospect of a quick FO was difficult to resist. The simple color-block heart from several years ago has always been a favorite, so I knit another to keep it company, using the Sweet Hearts & Soft Spots pattern. 


Has my guage radically changed? Did I grab the wrong needle size? Was the yarn simply feeling quixotic?
I truly couldn't say, but there's no denying the new heart (foreground) is noticeably larger than its siblings. And that's okay. A tiny touch of rebellion seems perfectly appropriate for Independence Day.