Inspiration: Chicken Run

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I don’t know what you’ve been doing since the holidays, but we’ve been hanging out at home, eating the last of the Christmas cookies and watching old favorite movies.  (If you were wondering, What About Bob? and Galaxy Quest are still delightful.  And, after watching Die Hard, I discovered that apparently I have a fear of elevator shafts. Who knew?)

Do you remember Chicken Run?  It was one of my favorites when I was a kid, but my husband had never seen it!  We had to fix that.chicken-runAnd, it totally holds up!  I mean, it’s claymation chickens doing The Great Escape, how could it not be great?  It’s exciting!  Sweet!  Full of knitting!

What’s that?  You don’t believe me?  You don’t think that chickens knit?  Well, let me prove you wrong.

Chickens wear sneaky balaclavas (and not-so-sneaky balaclavas) when they are sneaking around, making secret escape plans.balaclavasAdd a pompom to this one, and you could make an adorable chicken-balaclava for your favorite kid.

Elf Pixie Ribbed Balaclava by Agnese Iskrovail_570xn-857359661_hovs_small1Ginger, the heroine of the movie and chicken escape mastermind, always wears a very cute little green hat.  It’s a rolled-brim beanie with two little I-cord nubbins on top.gingerI’d totally rock a Ginger Hat, too!

Ginger’s Hat by Becky Veverka37215300_8b600e4c0a_m1And, of course, the lovable (and loveably daffy) Babs is a character that every knitter can identify with.  With her constantly clicking needles and ever-present knitting, she might be one of the most accurate depictions of knitters I’ve seen on TV.  She’s always got something on her needles, especially when she’s trying to hold it together in the face of certain death.  (I don’t face certain death often, but if I did, I’d totally want my knitting with me.)babsMake yourself a flock of tiny chickens in honor of Babs, Ginger and the rest of the gang.

#29 Tiny Chickens by Anna HrachovecPIRATES- Amanda Vines BLAZERS U6-Rick BarrettHave you seen Chicken Run lately?  What old favorite movies do you love to revisit?

Bears in the Air!

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It’s time.

(OK, actually I had meant to take these guys to the post office before Christmas… but the post office at Christmas should be avoided at all costs, so I procrastinated like a champ.)

It’s time for my bears to get all packed up and head up north, then to be sent out to all the corners of the world to meet up with their kids.

I’ve managed to finish 11 bears this year, all with leftover yarn and sweet little (grumpy) faces made out of felt.  I’ve tied the little tags onto their wrists, and they’re packed up snug to fly to Mother Bear HQ in Minnesota.img_4480Once they get there, I’ll keep my eye out on their photo gallery to see if I can spot these little guys when they finally get where they’re going.img_4493Now I have to find another box and start making more bears for next year!

What to do? What to do?

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My lovely husband is very good at Christmas.  This year, he made me a personalized advent calendar, full of beautiful yarn and tiny bottles of booze (peppermint schnapps for my hot cocoa?  Don’t mind if I do!)

For four days, I received Madeline Tosh Unicorn Tails in blue, copper, green and purple (otherwise known as Costeau, Glazed Pecan, Jade and Flashdance).  img_4510Have you ever knit with Madeline Tosh?  Their yarn bases are all lovely, but the colors are what make their yarns sing.  I mean look at these totally gorgeous, saturated semi-solid colorways- they practically glow!  I’ve got a full-sized skein of Tosh Merino Light in an intense cobalt blue that I haven’t been able to bring myself to use- it’s too beautiful.img_4518But, here’s the issue:  Unicorn tails are itty bitty.  Each skein is only about 50 yards long, which makes them a great “tester” size, but if you want to make a project with them, it’ll take a little planning.  I’ve got 4 skeins, so I’ve got 200 yards of fingering weight wool in 4 different colors.  What  can I make with this yarn?  Or, do I need to go buy more (oh darn)?

Obviously it’ll be something striped, or at least something with blocks of color.  Maybe some mittens?  A headband? Maybe a hat, if I’m careful?

What would you do with these little guys?

New Year’s Resolutions

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Happy New Year (yesterday), everybody!

Hope you’re all having a nice, hangover-free morning.  Did you make your New Year’s Resolutions yet?

No, not the “Loose 10 pounds,” “Watch less TV,” and “Eat fewer sweets” kind of resolutions.  Those are boring.

I want to know about your knitting/crafting resolutions!

Here’s mine:

  1. I want to spend more time knitting just for fun.  I have a tendency to take on too many assignments (design work, gifts for other people… you know, “work knitting”), and I prioritize that over the knitting I do just for fun.  I don’t want to burn myself out, so I need to make sure I’m still having fun. (And maybe I’ll throw in a couple non-knitting craft projects, too!)IMG_0652
  2.  I want to keep making my bears!  I love their stupid little faces, and they’re the perfect in-between project.  I did 11 this year, let’s see if I can do 12 next year-one each month.img_3934
  3.  I want to spend more time sketching.  If get an idea, I want to make a point of writing it down and making sure I keep it.  I sketch out some of my ideas, but not all of them.  I think it’s a good idea that I just don’t follow through on enough.  IMG_3268

Do you have any knitting/crafting resolutions for this year?  Are you going to tackle that beautiful shawl that you’ve had your eye on?  Are you finally going to learn lace knitting?  Or, are you resolved to simply sit down every day and knit?

Christmas Post-Mortem: Another sweater

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Guess what?!

I made another sweater.

I know, I’m a masochist.  (Or, maybe I really like making sweaters.)

This one was for my dad.  He’s a pretty classy guy- he wears a suit to work and if you see him in a sweater, it’s more likely he’d wear a thin, understated merino one from Nordstrom than something I’d knit (I do lean toward cables and bright colors, after all).

But he hasn’t gotten a sweater from me yet!  We can’t let that stand!

So, I got a big pile of Knit Picks’ Swish in Cobblestone, and broke out the “Knits for Everybody” book.  (I love a top-down raglan.)  I started making the sweater just as written- all stockinette all the time- but the smallish gauge and the simple pattern made me feel like I was knitting at a glacial pace.

So, I decided to add a little interest.

Stripes were out (Dad’s not a stripes guy), but I thought I could do a little texture.  I didn’t want to add any cables, since those can mess up your gauge, and I had already started knitting.

A little poking around on Ravelry, and I found Flaxsc-flax-08_medium1I liked the garter band down the sleeves (garter is my favorite).  So, I carefully ripped back a few stitches at either shoulder and re-knit them in garter.  And, because I love to embellish, I added garter panels down both sides of the body, too.img_4407The sweater turned out pretty well, and (I think) pretty classy, which is not something I usually strive for.

(Ollie thinks so, too)

img_4398Have you ever “fancied up” a pattern as you were working on it?  How did that go?

Christmas Post-Mortem: A sweater

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Hey guys, guess what.

I made a sweater!

(Surprise!… I guess.  I make a lot of sweaters.)

This one was made for my father-in-law.

Last spring, he asked me to make him a sweater, and I have trouble saying no (or maybe I just like having an excuse to make another sweater).  So, I asked him exactly what he wanted.  After all, if I’m going to put all the work into a project like this, I wanted the finished project to be something he’d wear, after all.  We talked about cables vs. stripes, crew necks vs. V-necks, yoked sweaters vs. raglans.  We talked about ease and fit.

And then my husband brought out a sweater I had made for him years and years ago.  It was a Ben sweater, knit in forest-green Berroco Vintage.

My father-in-law took one look at that sweater and said, “That.  That’s the sweater I want.  Except… can I have it in gray?”

So, I knit up another Ben, this time in gray.img_3860I love the cable/texture pattern.  It’s a fun, easy knit that packs a big punch.  And it’s crazy warm, perfect for Northern Illinois winters.img_3854Unfortunately, I forgot to take a big “finished project” picture before I wrapped it up, but needless to say, it’s a pretty great sweater.

Have you ever re-knit a pattern for multiple people?

Christmas Post-Mortem: A hat

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Christmas is done!  Hope you had a nice weekend.  We played lots of board games, and ate lots of cookies.  A pretty great time, if I say so myself.

But here’s the fun part!  Now I get to show off the gifts I’ve been working on over the last few months!

Let’s start with this cool hat I made for my brother-in-law!img_4099I knit with a very cool “intarsia in the round” technique that I learned at this year’s Knit Fit.  Basically, you cast on and do the brim just like normal (in the round).  Then, as you knit the top (multi-colored) part of the hat, you use really long short rows and wrap-and-turns to work the intarsia without messing up the order of your yarn.  So, you’re effectively knitting back and forth at the same time you are creating a tube that looks like it was knit in the round.  Super clever!

And, it’s got this cool top (which looks better when it’s worn):img_4102It’s dead simple to make.  You knit all the way to the top of the hat without any shaping (making it extra-long), then you seam the top to make the whole thing flat, then take the corners and sew them together.

Cool, right?

What did you make for Christmas?

It’s Time

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I’m all about pulling an all-nighter to finish a last-minute project before it’s due.  (After all, I once did the edging on an afghan in the car as we drove to my friend’s wedding.  It was finished about a half hour before the reception.  That was a stressful day.)

But, sometimes you just have to throw up your hands, pour yourself a glass of eggnog and say “uncle.”  And, I think the day before Christmas Eve counts as one of those times.

You’ve given it your all, and it’s not like you will never finish Aunt Sally’s hat or Grandpa Joe’s socks.  You’ll just finish them in January.  No biggie.

So, wrap up your WIPs, needles and all, and print out these tags that I’ve made just for you:

Christmas Gift Coloring Page

Break out your colored pencils or markers (or glitter glue, I’m not going to limit you), and decorate the tag to show your recipient how amazing their sweater is going to be… when it’s finished.

img_4413Then get yourself that second cup of eggnog and take a break in front of the tree.  You’ve earned it!

And, of course, Merry Christmas!

Give me a K!

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Give me an N!

Give me an I!

Give me a T!

What’s that spell?

Knit!

What are we going to do?

Knit!

img_4420I’ve got my pom-poms out, and I’m cheering you on (sure, they’re not cheerleader pompoms, but you get the idea)!  You can do it!  You’ve got 4 days left (5, if you do your gift exchange in the evening) for your Christmas knitting!  And you’ve got this!img_4433Knit! Purl! Yarn over!  Drink that extra cup of coffee so you can stay up to “just finish this section.”  Your boss won’t mind if you’re a little late for work, I’m sure they’d understand you just had to get to the cuff.  And, remember that red lights and grocery store lines are really just wasted time, unless you bring your knitting with you.

I believe in you!

Bears (Almost) in the Air

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I’ve got bears coming out of my ears over here!

I spent the weekend finishing up about one million bears.  (OK, it was 4 bears, and I’m not totally done yet.  A few of them still need faces.)

I  was up to my elbows in stuffing, and my couch is covered in little bits of leftover yarn from weaving in all those ends.img_4455That’s the problem with knitting up a bunch of bears at once to “finish later.”  It seems like a great idea as the bears pile up.  But, then you have to spend six hours stuffing and seaming, which I do not love doing.

And this morning I’m putting on faces.  Cute little faces with bits of felt and embroidery floss.  I’m dozens of bears in, and I still can’t figure out how to make a non-grumpy bear.  Oh well, what can you do?  They’re still pretty cute.img_4438When these guys are finished, I think my bear box will be full and ready to send off.  I’ll be sad to see them go, but happy knowing they’re going to be well appreciated.

Have you been making any bears? I’d love to see yours, too!