Fair Isle deux ~

I finished the second Fair Isle hat for the church bazaar this week, out of stash Manos. Very good use of stash leftovers, and I think the colors worked out well.

Instead of adding a third color, I stuck with the two blues, and it worked out well....

only four more weeks until the church bazaar....not sure if I'll get all my projects done in time!!

Day of service ~

As September 11th nears, I am hopeful that many in American are choosing to put some time into community service, charity work and neighborhood building to honor those that died in the events of September 11, 2001.

I am choosing to knit for charity all day, making hats for our church bazaar, all proceeds going to mission work. Using stash yarn, it will be a great day of service and knitting and stash busting. I'll let you know how many I'm able to knit this weekend!

Holiday bazaar time ~

Although it is just May on the calendar, we are getting ready for the holiday bazaar in November. I've knit a few hats already, plus I did these beading projects today. The first are snowflake necklaces, with the snowflake being a scrabble tile...



These "badge necklaces" are for name tags.... These two are prototypes to test out the badge holder.



I'd hoped to knit today, but didn't......rats......
~~~~

Bazaar Times ~

Time for our church bazaar, and here are the knit hats that I donated.


The total this year was four hats, as I kept knitting for our family instead of the church. The kids & I did bake 10+ dozen hockey puck cookies (yum!) and did some awesome beading of necklaces & bracelets to donate as well....(here are the bracelets made by sweet E ~ beautiful, eh!!)

I do hope the sale goes well! P.S. our church made $11,000+ at the bazaar this weekend! That's $11,000+ for mission work! The sale went really well ~ Bravo!

Strawberry delighted ~

Note: As you read this, I'm having a blast at the Sock Summit....I'll report on the action later...

Since the Strawberry hat was my last project on the river last weekend, I started with this one for our next river weekend.

Another beautiful weekend of 100 degree weather, and we were ever-so-happy in the cool breeze and cooler waters of the river.

The Strawberry hat takes shape...

Gotta love the top, so cute with the leaves and stem!

Another Strawberry hat for our church bazaar this fall! Hurrah!

Doing my part ~

As part of the historic inauguration, I purchased some great yarn for two reasons: for the sluggish economy; and to use the yarn for charity knitting (knitting bazaar hats for church) ~ both aims of the new President, as he wants to improve the economy and he wants us all to help in our community doing some bit of community service. So, given I found a sale on this wonderful yarn (1/2 price plus free shipping) I decided it was the Right Thing To Do to celebrate the inauguration!
The yarn is Cascade Cloud and sooooo soft and beautiful!!! It arrived today, so I am casting on a Fair Isle hat!

Tally for 2008 ~ on to 2009!

Before I mentioned my 2009 New Year's Resolutions, I should have mentioned my knitting tally for 2008. For a few years now, I have kept a knitting journal with the names of my projects, and the finishing date. Some projects include the Cast On date, but most have only the Cast-off date. With this journal I keep track of how many projects I begin and finish in one year. Many projects are small ~ like hats for the church bazaar, and a few are big. Several are always hold overs from the previous year. One of my 2008 New Year's Knitting Resolutions was to finish all the projects from 2007, and I did complete them all, except the frogging of the mitered corner project.

For comparison, here is my 2007 Knitting Tally:
1. Projects Cast On in 2007: 34
2. Projects Cast off & complete:
a) From before 2007: 4
b) From 2007: 29

Total Completed in 2007: 33
(six projects still on needles on 1/1/08)

Here is my 2008 Knitting Tally:
1. Projects Cast On in 2008: 42
2. Projects Cast off & complete
a) From 2007: 6
b) From 2008: 38
Total Completed in 2008: 44
~ four projects still on needles 1/1/09: #12 Jitterbug socks; #13 Tofutsies socks; #14 Central Park Hoodie; and #15 lavender ribbon tank top (note: it appears my startitis of June/July of projects 12 ~ 15 shows I do not finish projects "for me" as quickly as those I knit for others!)

2009 New Year's Knitting Resolutions

2009 New Year's Knitting Resolutions ~ The list begins here (and may continue to grow!):

Category: Learn Something New
1. Cable Felted Bag ~ Louet pattern





2. Cable Hat ~ Fiber Trends

3. Nuppie & Braid hat (with the new cast on) ~
4. Mitered corner project ~ perhaps from Domino Knitting book




Category: Share your love with others
1. Ten (at least) hats for church bazaar
2. Hats for Michigan Christmas gifts

Category: Knit what you love
1. Summer top ~ Classic Elite Premier Cotton blend (Ella Rae pattern, perhaps?)
2. Finish all 2008 knitting projects (decadence cardigan, purple tank top, tofutsies & jitterbugs)
3. Add to this list!!!!

2008 Knitting Resolutions Completed ~

My 2008 New Year's Knitting Resolutions and some pictures to remember... (the Resolutions list has been in the blog side bar, but will be replaced with the 2009 Knitting Resolutions soon):

1. Begin cardigan out of Decadence Knit Picks ~ began Central Park Hoodie
2. Try project using mitered corners again ~ from Domino Knitting ~ tried this, but frogged it ~ on list again for 2009
3. Make more than 7 hats for church bazaar ~ knitted 13 hats in 2008 - 11 plus 2 special order 'squiggle' hats
4. Learn brioche stitch & do a project ~"Husky Pride" hat
5. Finish Philosopher's Wool Fair Isle sweater ~ complete
6. Finish all unfinished objects from 2007;
(1) bag ~ sari silk
(2) socks ~ Dye Studios deep cherry wool
(3) beaded bag~ Koigu
(4) socks ~ Urban gypze wool

Instant Gratification ~

Wow ~ knit a hat in a day! How wonderful it feels to have such an accomplishment ~ especially during the holidays! The hat is done, and it was fun to knit ~ as baby hats are pretty fast and feel like instant gratification when they are complete!

Who Knew?

Of all the sweet hats I donated to the bazaar, I get two special orders for Squiggle hats. Who knew that Squiggle would be so popular? Who knew that Squiggle would be the Come Back Kid of novelty yarns? Who knew that I would need to BUY MORE Squiggle ~ but I really did not want to buy more Squiggle, as I would rather buy Frog Tree Alpaca or Cloud Nine or Mirasol or just about any natural fiber.... instead of Squiggle.....

Thankfully, I did not pay cash for the Squiggle, but traded coffee for it ~ and somehow I feel better about that.....

P.S. Here is rockin10 daughter modeling Special Order Squiggle Hat #1 that I finished today at a marvelous Yarn Yoga today (more news on that later)

Delivering Bazaar Hats ~

My 11 knitted hats were donated to our church bazaar today. I have high hopes that they will all find great homes, and that they will keep wonderful heads warm with all the love and care that I knit into each one. Here are some pictures of little ones, before they went to the church. If you see them out in the world, please give them my regards.

The Cat on the Hat ~

Another great camping trip and four hats to bring home. My 13 year old daughter, who will now be called rockin13 on this blog, took these great pictures of my hats, our garden and our cat. All the yarn used is from my stash, so they are all "free" with added time and love to create them. I know they will be loved at the November Church Bazaar. Shadow, our cat, sure loves the hats ~ doesn't she look great in red?!

Knitting Bazaar Hats ~

Another weekend of delightful knitting in the river! I've ended up with three baby hats for our church's November Holiday Bazaar (why does that word look like it is spelled wrong? I've even checked it!). The middle hat is a pink "Squiggle" hat ~ very fun and oh-so-cute on babies! The hat on the left is a pink stripe version with Cascade Fixation bulky, and the hat on the right is a blue Cascade Fixation bulky variation. There is a 4th hat almost done, also out of Cascade Fixation bulky. All the hats are made with Stash Yarn ~ an extra bonus for me in my stash reduction activities! I try to knit 10 hats each year for our church Holiday Bazaar, and this is a good start for a great cause.

My 13 year old daughter is credited with the hat photos. Too bad it was raining today, or we would have had another "Chickens with Hats" picture to share! My other daughter turned 10 years old yesterday ~ very exciting, indeed ( could have said, "How Bazaar"!)

Here are some of last year's bazaar hats!