WWKIP Day

A few years ago (Thank You Annie H!) a friend & I went to our very first WWKIP, World Wide Knit In Public Day. We had no idea what it was, but being beginner knitters... it had the word 'knitting' in it so we were game!  We dressed up her Thing 4 (who is not a baby anymore!) and headed out! Wow!

Knitters, crocheters, spinners and more! All in a park.........outside....... gasp! In public! AND they all were not Grannies! There were even kids knitting!

I know, I know. Knitting is a world wide craze right now, but for me it started out as something Grandma's did and maybe a few hippies here and there! I was impressed by the people I saw just sitting around, laughing and playing with yarn!

The people that hosted the WWKIP in Pacific Grove, CA were amazing! They had  demonstrations on just about everything you could do with fiber!  Spinning, crocheting and of course knitting. I think there was even someone tatting. 

It was an awful lot of fun for Annie & I. In fact we were so inspired that for the next few weeks, all we did was play with yarn! 

The whole day was either a good thing; A) I now have a lifelong hobby, or B) a bad thing. I now have a lifelong obsession! 

I really think that this day was the spark I needed (ha!) to really start knitting. I'd been taught as a kid (which I hated!), picked it up again when I was a brand new parent and didn't do anything at all until faced with a truck trip across the country to a whole new life!  I think that's where my budding obsession turned into a full blown problem.......

I tried to start small. I made a sweater for my son, a hat for Thing 4, then it all went to heck really fast........ now I'm hooked. I'm not sure if I have a problem... YET... but I'm willing to keep knitting (and spinning and buying yarn and fleece) until I figure it out.........

              I think the first step is just admitting you have a problem........

Well!!!!  In order to encourage a few more knitters, crocheters, spinners and plain ol' yarnies........... I'm thinking (seriously) about hosting a KIP here in Virginia! I put it out on FB this morning and had some response so I'm going to put some more feelers out & see what happens!

Just a little background info on WWKIP -

World Wide Knit in Public Day was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes. It began as a way for knitters to come together and enjoy the company of other knitter's.

It's pretty easy to become a solitary knitter and sink into your work without thinking about all the other knitters out there. I could stay home for days on end and do nothing but knit! 

 How unlucky to spend an entire lifetime without ever knowing your neighbors and how especially sad if you didn't know your neighbor knits!  WWKIP is a specific day to get out of your house and go to a local event (with your knitting in tow) just for you and people like you. Who knows you might even bump into your neighbor! Consider this a spark, to ignite a fire; getting all of the closeted knitters out into fresh air and just to hang out and have fun!

The KIP we went to in California sure ignited a spark for Annie & I so I'm hoping that this will do that for someone else.

I haven't picked a specific site or date for a KIP. I'm thinking the 2nd Saturday in June here on Fort Belvoir. 

I have a while to figure it all out because it's not until June!   WWKIP Day is actually an entire week set aside in June. This year it is June 9-17th and there are events all over the world during that time. So I have a while yet....... but just wanted to get the buzz going..........

here is the LINK to the website!!!

Merrily I knit Along....

Knit along... knit along... Merrily I knit along.... all the way to Christmas! ~ Please sing that last line to the tune Row, Row Your Boat.......


I know I said that yesterday was my last post for the year, but I started the Gap-tastic Cowl Pattern yesterday morning and I'm zipping right along! I just had to show you the progress!
It's such a change to work on size 13 needles and with bulky yarn that I'm just amazed at how fast it's going! Hint... if you want a quick project to make for yourself or your... try this! I have a friend that may be getting something like this for her birthday next year...........

I couldn't find the yarn recommended in the pattern. I made a quick trip over to M's (you know... the craft store...) rather than going all the way over to my favorite yarn shop! The store did have Lion Brand Wool-Ease but not in Chunky. They only had Thick & Quick. The Thick & Quick is really nice stuff; nice & smooth and would knit up super duper fast... but... it was $7.99. Gasp.  I needed 3 skeins & for a GIL (girlfriend in law) that's a lot. Considering the amount of effort I just made driving to the store to get blue yarn (her favorite color) and by spending the next couple of days knitting her a present....... OMG did I just sound like Scrooge? Yikes........

I think I may be okay here because her favorite color is blue & this yarn I bought is a nice blue.  Yes.. I am a yarn snob.......

It's soft and has some texture..... what's not to love? AND it was on sale for $2.99 each. Yay!

It even has a lovely name.. Ocean Tide..... just saying that makes me feel better about it. Until I pick up my needles and then I'm not so happy. It catches on my tips. A lot. I've split stitches and it's a bit frustrating to work with. BUT I like how it's looking. I really do.
Oh, I know... I'm sounding a bit (a lot?) Scroogey, but........ I'm just hoping I get this done & wrapped before Christmas morning... I think she'll love it!
I learned from my last few things I've made in the round.....
*When I cast on, I use markers every 20 stitches I cast on for reference points! Makes counting easier for one thing! I leave them on after I make sure I have the right amount when I'm ready to knit!  I then just follow the pattern (in this case it's Seed Stitch) and if I mess up along the way, I just have to go back to the last marker. As I knit around, each marker is my check point.  IF I get to the next marker and my pattern isn't right, I only have to mess around with 20 stitches to make sure I'm in the right  pattern!  I especially learned my lesson doing the Jacques Cousteau Hat ~ crazy K3, P2 pattern anyway!
So that's it... I'm officially done for the year! I will post pictures of this when I get home from Michigan and having a wonderful Christmas with my family!

Happy Holidays to you!

Christmas is Right Around the Corner!

Christmas is only five (5) days away! Whoop! AND I'm going to be driving for almost two of those days.... so why in the world am I starting another new Christmas project?
What?! Am I nuts? What was I thinking?
Apparently I wasn't.........
Why is it that when I have time to knit, I can't find anything I want to do. Like way back in November when I was struggling to start something..........
Now that I'm running out of time I suddenly have found lots of things that yeah! Oh! I could make that! It won't take long! I can start now!
I suddenly have a pile of yarn on my table and am furiously matching needles and yarns to patterns and... and... and.... and...... that's only on one cup of coffee. Oh my.
I want to make a cowl for GIL (Girlfriend in Law) but then if I do that I need to make something for DIL (daughter in law) and then there is her two kids.... and.... and.... uh oh.
Maybe I should just start small?
Okay... I'll start there! I'm going to make GIL the cowl and go from there.... start small, think big I guess!

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gap-tastic-cowl. Sorry about the blurry picture... I tried to make it big enough so you could see it, but... just click on the link!    It's my favorite price for patterns.... FREE!
AND it's made with chunky yarn and using Size 13 needles. Should be a fast knit. Keeping my fingers crossed.. oh wait! No I'm not! Can't knit like that!!

Maybe I am a little nuts for starting this 5 days before Christmas and knowing I will be driving and won't be able to knit for some of that!
Well..... there never is a dull moment here in my head so I'm off to get some chunky yarn and then to knit, knit, knit before I drive, drive, drive!  Hmmm...... I wonder if I held two strands of medium weight yarn together that would be bulky and I wouldn't have to go to the store.... yeah.... ONLY 1 cup of coffee this morning...........
I'm off and running now so on that note.... I won't be posting until after Christmas because I'm heading NORTH! We have no Internet and no cable and hopefully we will have snow! Lots of time to start on projects for next year! Aaaaarrrrggghhhhh............

Merry Christmas to all!

Safe travels if you're heading out!

Another Thing to Check off the List!

You know how Santa has a list and he checks it twice? Well... me too! Imagine that huh?
I have a list of things I need to get done. Things I want to get done, and actually, a list of MUST get done. Guess which list wins?   Yep. That one. The non-existent one. The list I tend to ignore. Sigh.
Well........ I made a list of Christmas presents I MUST get done..... it would just be bad (bad, bad) form to show up Christmas morning with no present for the Paternal Parental Unit (Dad). I would feel bad.  I'm pretty sure PPU would be okay with it, but how nice would that be? Yeah... not happening!
I'm done with the rest of the family. Been done for a while now, but for some reason I just kept putting off Dad's present until the last minute. Yeah.. I know Christmas is still six days away, but...... believe me, it's last minute for me! I'm not normally this comfortable waiting this long to get something done.
I usually obsess and tend to freak out if I'm not done weeks ahead of time. Um... yeah....
*insert drum roll here please* I'M DONE! I finished PPU's present! Yay! Six days to spare! Go me!
I actually made him a neck warmer a couple of weeks ago and then last week decided to make a hat for him as well. I picked a pretty easy pattern ~ just time consuming and with a different rib pattern than what I normally use so it took a bit longer. My friend RW whipped this hat out in a lot less time than I did, but hey! I'm done!!

I like how the top swirls in and the knit 3, purl 2 ribbing makes it super warm & kinda sproingy! It stretches & then bounces right back!

It even looks like the one that RW made... kind of......

The Boy decided to pop it on his head to get it all "warmed" up for PPU! He had to give it a test run to make sure it was good enough!

HERE is a link to the pattern and here is a picture of RW's (just because I think they are so awesome!)

So thanks again RW!! You were right... it was a really easy pattern and the results are pretty awesome! Can't wait to post a picture of PPU wearing his hat........... but now I gotta wait for 6 more days!  ~Which may give me more time to work on the rest of that list...............

Sometimes I'm so Smart....

and sometimes I'm not. Just wish I would have thought of this about three hours and two rip-outs ago. Grrrrr.
When I cast on a new project, I usually always (usually) add markers every 20 stitches or so. Just so that way I have an easier way of counting when I'm casting on large amounts. This hat I'm making calls for 140 stitches to be cast on so what do I do? Don't add markers. I thought I could just whip it out and not worry. Um yeah.... that was one rip-out, do-over aggravating moment. I did however add stitch markers the next time I cast on. Yay! See? I'm not beyond teaching myself something new!
The pattern next has me ribbing. Knit, purl, knit and purl all the way around. Easy enough right? Yeah....that's what I thought too. It's a different sequence than what I just finished......... I just made the neck warmer using K2, P2 ribbing over 180 stitches so I started out doing what I was supposed to do ~which is K3, P2 but then somewhere along the way I flipped back to the K2, P2. AND I took out those handy little stitch markers along the way.  Which was my second & biggest mistake.
I'm knitting along, knitting some, purling some and thinking I'm doing great.... then I get to the end and I end up on a knit and knot a purl. Oh crap! I did something wrong. Crap, crap, crap!
I had to pull it all out..... rip out number two.
This time when I cast on.... I added the stitch markers every 20 stitches and then when I began my ribbing... I LEFT THEM! Woohoo! Now as I'm knitting and purling (trying really hard to pay attention to the pattern...) I can keep track of where I am and IF (as if) I make a mistake.... I only have to undo a few stitches! Yay!
So far so good.......... I've only gotten a few rows done but I'm in pattern and I'm not twisted.... well.... my hat isn't!

I'm leaving the markers in at every 20 stitches. This way IF I mess up I have reference points and won't have to undo the whole flippin' thing!

I marked the beginning of the round with a different marker than all the rest... thinking ahead this time!

This is what I'm shooting for!

I Better Get a Knit On!

I finally figured out what I'm making my Dad for Christmas! I've made him the neck warmer (yeah... about that... the whole HD logo on the front didn't quite work out so it's plain black!) and to go with it, I'm adding a hat. Not just any old hat, a Jacques Cousteau hat (It's the bottom one in the pic). It's not overly complicated. It's a simple ribbed hat but the decreases make an interesting pattern at the top and it will be just enough to NOT be boring! It has to have some hope of being done in the next 11 days!

A new friend of mine (Thanks RW)  has made this hat & she's made it look absolutely fabulous using Cotton Supreme Batik in the Early Autumn Colorway.   I know it was purchased over at Nature's Yarns, Inc. in Fairfax a couple of months ago, but maybe it's still there? It's really pretty.

I'm going boring. I'm working on a time crunch; Christmas is only 11 days away! I've finished the neck warmer and to make it simple I'm going to match that to this hat. That means plain black, washable wool.
My Dad is kind of a plain guy (ha!) and it definitely needs to be washable! Cascade 220 Super wash should definitely do the trick!

The pattern is available HERE

This is what I'm hoping to end up with... except in black of course! I love this hat! Reminds me of watching Jacques Cousteau on television (black & white, no cable) when I was a kid... with my Dad.
So I'm off to get my knit on and hopefully finish this before I drive home to Michigan~ eek! Next week!

Necessary Knitting

December 10th & 11th Weekend Forecast........
The forecast for this weekend shows a glaringly busy day on Saturday, somewhat slower, with glittery wrapping paper all over the place on Sunday and then a final burst of the big goodbye late Sunday afternoon.
Big is heading out to a country far, far away (and it's not in fairy tale land) so we needed to have our family Christmas  before he went.... it's important for us to be a family all year long, but especially during the holidays when we are so far from home and when one of us will be gone.
It's kind of nice having Christmas early ~ now Boy and I get to enjoy everything without the frenzy of all the holiday jazz that seems to happen! We now get to enjoy the rest of the season totally laying low and having fun with his new stuff!
The only problem is with our weekend plan......... my needles and yarn don't seem to be showing up in the forecast for the next two days. Bummer. That may be the only thing that might keep me sane. Or at least send me in the right direction.
I admit it... knitting isn't probably as important as I seem to be making it. It's not as necessary as it was - I don't have to knit socks and undies  to stay warm, but it seems kind of necessary in my scheme of things!  If I don't knit..... will my family survive?  Will I become stressed that my family becomes a story on the front of the Post?  It is of course NOT all about me.... I'm doing this for them!
While we all knit for different reasons, I think you may agree with me here! If I need to stay sane in a sea of chaos.... well...... I must (MUST) have yarn.
It's soothing and calming for starters. It's even kind of centering.   I have to focus on the thing right in front of me and my ability to complete it (without making a huge mess of it!) I get to withdraw a little bit from whatever is happening around me and focus on just that one thing!   I can be separate (a bit) from the 101 things happening at once around here. It's not escapism... it's sanity creeping in! Slow down! Take a minute! Chill out!
I've progressed to where I can knit AND carry on a conversation AND watch television. Ultimate multi-tasking! Go me! But I also get to just slow down and relax and make something. I can knit, center myself and still look like I'm part of the mess in the living room!
So I'm off to enjoy the weekend (at home) and while the boy's are plugged into that new video game, I think I will make a hat! A necessary thing to keep Big's ears warm while he is gone but also a necessary thing to keep me sane in the chaos!
Happy Knitting ~ Happy Christmas (early for us!)