Hat #2 Finished ~

Yes, the second special hat flew off my needles, partially because the pattern is so great, and partially because it is a wee hat that will be given to a special kiddo in Detroit.

I'll be casting on Hat #3 soon!

Camping Hat ~

One of the best parts of camping by the river is all the knitting time! For me this is a relaxing time to sit by the river, or in the river and knit knit knit.

I made great progress on the second of my special school hats, the perfect size project for river knitting!

Mum's Christmas Socks ~

Time for another Christmas cast on! This one is a pair of alpaca socks for my mum. She can't wear wool next to her skin, so alpaca is a perfect yarn choice for her. She is always cold as well, even in the summer, so alpaca is also good for keeping her toes warm!

These socks will be a fun knit, and my main knitting during our upcoming camping weekends!

Wild West Knitting ~

For those of you that have not seen this amazing artist, Suzanne Tidwell, at work, you really should try to see one of her fabulous installations. They are magical in color and texture and location.

I have seen several in our area, and even was able to help with the knitting on one of them here, here and here. This one I only viewed on her Facebook page and wished I could see it "in the wild" as it is truly spectacular in its color and location. Check out other pictures of this installation at The Resort at Paws Up in Montana. Major Creative Kudos to Suzanne!  Keep up the great inspiration!

Secret Knitting ~

Ah, this sparkle scarf is looking good!  A great blend of yarn and pattern, plus these lovely Signature needles are a joy to knit with!

Looking forward to more secret knitting on this project while family is gone!

Yak Reward ~

After spending yesterday in a wonderful slog of pattern interpretation and fighting a bit with intarsia, I decided that today would be about rewards. Since I slogged through the "stuck" part of the Christmas Stocking, a reward for my hard work was needed.

Enter the yak blend fiber that we found at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Dye Day at the Barn sale...yes, starting to spin this delightful bump of softness is just the perfect reward for slogging through intarsia. This fiber is so soft and buttery that I may not stop until I am done.... my family is away for a week, so who would know if I didn't sleep?

Special hats ~ Special kids ~

I cast on my first of several hats for some special kids.  Detroit Achievement Academy has approximately 90 kids that need warm wool hats and mittens this winter. The school has kindergarten, first, second and third grades.

One of their teachers is my niece. She told me how rough their winter was last year and asked me if there was a way that I could knit hats and mittens for her class of 20 third graders. Once I talked to some others in our wonderful Eastside Stitchers group on Ravelry, they said we should try to knit hats and mittens for the entire school - for now, we are starting with the 3rd graders.

Their school colors are navy and white so we are keeping to these colors so all the kids feel that they are all getting equitable knitwear. It is cold and snowy in Detroit. The kids play outside a lot, plus walk to and from school. All wool/alpaca is preferred, as acrylic isn’t as warm. I’m not worried about superwash as I don’t think there will be much washing of hats/mittens.  This first hat happens to be superwash, as I have this yarn in my stash.

Holiday slog ~

When one is stuck with one's knitting, one needs a slog with one's knitting friends.  This is wisdom for all of us knitters, as we all get stuck in our projects.

Jitteryknitter and I picked today for our slog - she was weaving a lovely sparkle scarf and I was trying to get past the snowflake pattern in the Christmas stocking.  We had a great slogging day and made lots of progress on both of our projects....however did not finish either of them.... need more slogging time!!!

Sparkle Cast On ~

With family out of town this week, it is time for serious and secret Christmas knitting! For those of us that knit holiday gifts, we know it is difficult to surprise members of our family with knitted items as knitting that special gift takes more time than a secret trip to the mall to purchase an item and hide it in a bag until it can be wrapped.

So, I cast on a super sparkle-y scarf today for a super sparkle girl that I dearly love!  Let's see how fast I can knit this so it can be done by Christmas, plus keep it secret!