the knitting buzz

more puppets

Rainy days make the perfect time to create puppets out of one-of-a-kind socks and mittens. 

At my house, the matching sock and/or mitten can get lost or damaged or suffer from SSS (second sock syndrome) or I guess it could be SMS (for second mitten syndrome).  All the same, these lovely cast offs are the perfect base for some rainy day fun.

Our puppet creations are pretty motley looking.  

They were created from scrapes, pieces and odds & ends......you would be surprised what you can come up with.  All you need is a darning needle, scissors and some fabric glue. Voila!  Puppets!

And they don't look any better close-up. Right?

However unconventional looking these seem.......... they created hours of enjoyment to create and.... later starred in multiple puppet shows. Our puppets had many different voices, danced and sang.  Punch and Judy had nothing on our motley crew.

It was hilarious!

puppets

Yesterday, I found a stray one-of-a-kind-mitten.  It was a test mitten that I didn't care for the shaping, so it never had a mate.

Upon finding it, it made me laugh and I wondered why I hadn't thrown it away.  Then it occured to me....

 

THIS ISN'T A STRAY MITTEN.........IT'S A PUPPET.

Xander loves crafts and he loved the idea of turning the one-of-a-kind mitten into a puppet.  So he picked out the hair and selected some leftover eyes from the monster making and before you know it.....

We created a PUPPET!

Its a fun way to use up odds and ends, scrapes,  buttons, bows and even some silk flowers......to create the craziest puppets ever.  The crazier the better is my motto.

Our puppet is the first of many.  I am pretty sure I can find some single socks and perhaps some other mittens.  

We will have a very fun & unique puppet show.  We'll be sure to send out invitations.

Aside from turning our trash into treasures......

Puppets are also a very useful way to get kids to tell you whats on there mind.....they can talk thru the puppet when there words or feeling are difficult to express.   Of course, this can work for adults too.

Puppets are fun to use when reading and acting out a story.

We can't wait to make more puppets.

Happy Puppet-ing! 

fan socks

My very best friend is a die-hard Steelers fan.  I'm talking wearing the jersey, t-shirt or sweatshirt boasting the Steelers insignia in black and gold and any other game gear that may be available on game day.....including sometimes pants, crocs with Steelers jibitz and the "terrible towel".  I'm not making this up......I promise.

On a side-note....(but related)

While at Stitches Midwest, I couldn't wait to meet Miss Babs and get some of her beautiful hand-dyed yarns.  I was focused on getting a couple hanks of fingering weight and a couple hanks of laceweight.

So I asked my dear sweet Steelers fan friend, if there was a colorway of fingering weight that she liked and I would knit her a pair of socks for Christmas.  And to my surprise, she found this colorway of Miss Babs Windsor Hand-Painted Sock yarn in colorway "black & gold".  Who knew???

  

My initial reaction was OOFDAH and somewhat dreaded knitting it. (Sorry Miss Babs, your yarns are spectacular).  Yet I knew this seemed to be the perfect colorway for my fanatical dear friend and would complete the head-to-toe tribute.

Inititally I wasn't really sure how they would knit up.  I must admit I was imagining a version of clown barf.

Instead, they are knitting up more like an optical illusion.  Miss Babs, YOU are brilliant!  I apologize for having any doubt. 

Since this is my toteable or mindless project, they may take awhile.  I hope the second sock performs similarly to the first.....fingers crossed.  More later....

This is the first of my holiday knitting. I have decided to knit far less than last year..... Don't get me wrong, I love giving hand-knitgifts (especially to those who relish them as well) but, I find deadline knitting very stressful. I really believe less stress is better for all involved.

Lastly, another RANDOM photo to share with you.......

 
 

Happy Knitting!



are you ready for some football?

The start of the 2011 NFL Football Season is less than a week away. 

Its time to get your knitting/crochet projects ready for your Sunday & Monday night routine (and sometimes Thursday).  If you are lucky enough to live in a fanatic football household you know better than anyone that this can be some SERIOUS (sometimes uninterrupted) knitting time. 

 
If you don't consider your self lucky enough..... you may just not be looking at it from your knitting vantage point.

 

I believe there are THREE Styles of Football Knitting.  

The first style is the ADVOCATE.  This is the individual that love and lives for football, but still has the sensibility that its time that can also be productive for their other love.....knitting.  The Advocates choose projects that do not require them to look up. Self patterning yarn or hand-dyed yarns are favorites. Garter stitch scarves and stockinette socks are both good project choices.

Then there are the CONTENDERS.  This is the person that enjoys spending time with friends and family watching their favorite teams. They may not watch all day, but they are able to intermittently knit and watch, watch and knit. The Contenders choose projects that are moderately challenging to enable them to enjoy both the knitting and football experience. Many times the Contender will take this opportunity to work on projects in their teams colors.

And lastly, there are the PRETENDERS. You will know them when you see them. This is the person that only looks at football season as a time to knit without interruption.  They are happy to hang out with the Advocates because it means free knitting time from 11am till 9pm. The Pretenders choose more complicated projects like intricate lace, cables, fairile or gansey's. 

 

So it all starts this Thursday night, September 8th. Are you ready for some Football.....(knitting)?????

 

What will you be working on...... a  garter stitch scarf, or a ribbed hat in your teams colors, or a sweater or a lace shawl?

Happy Knitting and enjoy the game.

 

 
 How's that for random?  =-) 

 

chicago blizzard 2011

Luckily for me, I have spent most of the blizzard indoors, snug and cozy.  I have some pictures to share as the storm progressed from last night to this morning.

This is the beginning of the storm around 3pm, yesterday afternoon.  Traffic is already rather lean for the Loop.

 

Before going to bed, I noticed that the snow was accumulating & drifting on my balcony.  This became the measure shot for the rest of the pictures.  Check out the chair on the edge of the balcony. There had been a lot of lightening and thunder that seemed quite close, (the news called it thunder snow).   Doesn't the night sky has an eerie cast to it?  Normally, I can easily see the Sears, I mean Willis Tower from my living room.....but not tonight, everything was white. And oh... did I mention the 54 mph winds....it was quite a night!

 

 

At 6:30am, the morning sky still has the eerie cast to it and noticibly more snow and it was still snowing.

 
Still snowing......

 
 

 

 

 

 

It just around lunchtime and guess what......its still snowing......

It was a great morning to get some knitting time in, played some wii and had some yummy oatmeal.  

More later.....

 

updates & next goal

Last Friday, I had given myself a goal of completing 1 to 2 hand knit Christmas gifts by December 1. Even though I'm a day late on the report, I 'm pleased to report, that I got 1 1/2 gifts completed.  

 

I must admit that I did push myself more than I had been and I'm glad I did. Its like a game. Its the Goal Game.

So....since this worked for me. I am confident in announcing a new goal of completing 1 to 1 1/2 hand knitted gifts by Monday, December 6th. This may be a bigger challenge than the last one since I am working every day except Sunday.

updates on the race

The Great Blanket Race is rounding a corner and the all three afghans are moving closer toward the halfway mark. 

 

Katie's Retro Crochet Afghan (above) - she is finishing up her 10th hank out of 23 hanks or 43.5% complete.

 
My Retro Crochet Afghan (above) - I have completed 9 hanks out of 19 hanks or 47.4% complete.

 

My Teal Blue Knitted Afghan ( above)  - I have just started my 4th hank out of 11 hanks or 36.4% complete.

 

I am actually pleased with how both of my blankets are progressing..... I know without the race its likely that I could  have been gotten distracted by other projects.  I  know how I roll. I really appreciate Katie being such a good sport in being apart of my race.

I will most likely update our stats at the end of the week.

Here's to the power of focus.

 

 

vital stats

The Great Blanket Race is alive and strong. and much to my surprise and inner glee, Katie was totally into the race idea and will probably give me a royal kicking. This will be seriously more fun than racing myself.

We're on! 

So here's how the blankets are stacking up......almost sounds like something from the "Princess and the Pea", with blankets instead of mattresses of course.

 
Katie's Retro Blanket  - She is working on her 8.5 hank of 23 and is 37% complete. Katie is not confined to a certain number of hanks and is making a proper afghan that is wider and longer. This gives me a fighting chance.  =)

 
My Retro Blanket, I'm working on my 8th hank of 19 and 42% complete.  I know that once Katie sees these stats, I'm toast..... she can be quite competitive.

 
My Teal Blue Blanket - I'm working on the 3rd hank of 11 and 27% complete.

 

Not too shabby. 

Stay tuned, I will report the latest stats after we get some weekend knitting and crocheting in.

 

 

 

the great blanket race reception

The Great Blanket Race was my "plan" to complete not one, but 2 two afghans, in a shortened amount of time. Self motivation or a method to rationalize knitting/crocheting and buying yarn for 2 afghans, we all have our devices.

My plan was to use Katie's progress on her blanket, not expecting her to be remotely interested in my race, as a guide for my own progress.

Well.....I mentioned it to her and she is all in. She loved the idea  and did I mention, she can be very competative....yikes....she is going to give me a run, that's for certain.  Actually, I think this will be tons of fun.  Race on!

I will post pictures and progress tomorrow.

 

so blue

A very quick update! 

I have decided to put my other smaller,  blue projects on hold for the moment, so I can be at my competitive best in The Great Blanket Race. They may re-emerge, but for now they are on a "back burner".

And did I mention that I frogged one three times....OK ...so the truth is out.

Stay tuned for updated stats on The Great Blanket Race. =)

the great blanket race

Knitting or crocheting an afghan/blanket I have always avoided because of the time commitment and the amount of yarn reqired. 

With that being said, now that I have started two afghans at the same time (this sounds even crazier as I'm typing it), I decided to have some fun with it and measure the race in hanks or skeins.  I am going to race myself and race Katie too (she may not be game to this) but I'm going to gauge it like this to keep me going and to get these projects on my completed list.

 

So here are the stats to date:

 

Katie's Retro Crochet Blanket  working on hank 7 of 19* skein project -   36% complete 

My Retro Crochet Blanket working on hank 7 of 19 skein project - 36% complete

My Teal Blue Knit Blanket working on hank 2 of  11 hank project - 9% complete

 

*Katie wasn't sure at the time how many hanks she had but will confirm in the next update.

 And they're off!

 

Feel free to jiin in our/my fun and we can keep track together