The Golden Iris

Back in May, the very kind folks over at Cephalopod Yarns started up a collection of wooly things to benefit Afghans for Afghans . They promised a $32 store credit to anyone who sent in something for a4A's current campaign (a hat, mittens, socks). I had been hoping to send in some items to a4A anyway (because my gosh there's a lot of worsted weight wool just laying around) so I took the opportunity. I knit up two hats - one with a geometric color pattern, one with stripes - and promptly forgot to photograph them. Good job, me! You'll just have to use your imagination instead of looking at a picture. In return, my store credit turned into this lovely skein of Bugga ! Bugga! in Ivory Cone Snail Even for two hats, I feel like I got far more than I deserved here. I love the color (yellow and cream and pinky-tan and brown spots! - a very unusual choice for me) and of course MCN is just lovely stuff. So - a big thank you to Sarah and the crew at Cephalopod for drawing ...

I have been affected. Afflicted. Infected. Whatever you want to call it, I've now officially joined the 5,000+ people who've knit Color Affection . I think half my knitting group has made one, for starters. Into the three-color section! I thought, "ugh, all that garter stitch." I thought, "ugh, all those long rows." I thought, "haven't I been doing enough boring knitting already?" And then I spent Sunday at Stitches Midwest wearing one and it was snuggly and pretty and had curly little tails and - well, ok, let's be honest, I had already set aside three skeins of yarn just in case . So without a major deadline currently over my head, I am cranking away at endless garter stitch. [Details on yarn are on my Ravelry page here .] The brown and linen-grey aren't that exciting, but I love the pink added in at the end. And instead of transitioning directly from the three-stripe section to the final color, I am considering working ...

I spent the past week in Chicago to join forces with Miss Babs and work Stitches Midwest (and, also very importantly, to see my mom). Stitches is always a ton of hard work - and an equal amount of fun. Babs has put together a great team of people to work with. We hustle like crazy and haul giant heavy boxes around like they're nothing. And of course it's great to be surrounded by all the beautiful colors and happy yarn people all week! Part of the booth at Stitches Color Affection has been an incredibly popular pattern and why not? it's easy to knit, snuggly, and eats up three skeins of sock yarn! Miss Babs and the crew put together sets of three colors... picking two colors that go together is pretty easy, but adding that third color to bring it all together can be pretty tough. No one person loves all these sets... but as the weekend went on I became convinced that there was one for everyone.  Color Affection sets At first I thought "oh my gosh all...

Brighton is a long infinity cowl that’s perfect for that skein of variegated sock yarn you just couldn’t live without. Brighton cowl It seems to happen to everyone. I fall in love with variegated sock yarn at the drop of a hat. It’s even worse when I learn the color will never be dyed again. And some of it is just too pretty to put on my feet! A cowl is the perfect way to show it off. Brighton features an open, easy-to-work star stitch that breaks up color pooling, and the cowl gains structure from blocks of garter stitch and a faux i-cord edging. Don’t like the cowl thing? Work an extra section of garter stitch at the end and make it into a long scarf. Wrapped once And the stats: Finished measurements:  8” wide and 58” long after blocking. Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply , (400 yds per 4 oz; 100% Superwash Merino wool, shown in Malachite), 1 skein. Needles:  Size 6 US (4mm) straight or circular. Notions: Tapestry needle. Gauge: 21 sts and 28 rows = 4” in Sta...

I don't know why I feel compelled to knit summer sweaters, but I just finished a couple. Maybe I'll even wear them. Here's some photos from a silly photo shoot we had. Buttercup Back when I was at the yarn shop, I saw a lot of nice Buttercups come and go. So I picked up some Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy (seriously, this is the best warm-weather yarn out there, and a bargain at the same time) and got started. It's actually not as flattering as I would have hoped, but whatever. It's green! And airy! And super-duper fast. I probably should have bought another ball of yarn and made it longer, but... it's all done now. Big thanks go out to Abigail for putting some of the last rows on it at knitting one night when she ran out of knitting and I (as usual) had three projects in my bag. Homa This is Homa (yeah, there may have been a lot of laughing going on when the photos were taken) which is surprisingly way more flattering than Buttercup. It's a top-...

This post has been a long time coming. Last year I knit a reversible baby blanket for my friend Amanda's little baby Hazel. The first blanket was screaming hot pink (perfect for Amanda) but I had a terrible time photographing it. So Miss Babs and I teamed up to make another sample, this time in a beautiful spring green. The yarn is   Yowza , a lovely superwash merino in big 8 oz. skeins, and the color is called Spring Lettuce. It seems like everything I make is in this shade of green, but ... I can't help it, I love it so much. Marquise baby blanket The blanket is called Marquise because of diamond pattern reminds me of a marquise-cut diamond. It's just knits and purls, is completely reversible, and works up quickly into a thick and cushy blanket on big needles. (The pattern is given both as written directions and as a chart). You can get your copy here on Ravelry for $6... All snuggled up! Next week I'll be heading to the Chicago area for Stitche...