Operation Mother Bear is Go!

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It’s here! It’s here!  My pattern showed up in the mail, and I’m dropping all my Christmas knitting to start on my first bear!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFor my $5 donation, I received a beautiful (and heartbreaking) pamphlet on the Mother Bear project (can a pamphlet be heartbreaking?), my very own copy of the knit-in-the-round pattern, and an adorable tag for me to sign and tie around my finished teddy’s wrist.

Upon examination, the pattern looks well-written and straightforward, and I’m raring to get started!

I dug through my stash, and found some nice heathered merino (leftover from designing my Human Beans) in lovely mahogany, evergreen and grassy green shades.  It’s super soft, and pretty strong-perfect for a stuffed animal.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHave you gotten to start on your Mother Bears yet?  Did you order your pattern?  It’s not too late!

Charmed Giveaway!

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It’s Giveaway Day!  The most wonderful day of the year!  Woo Hoo!

So, to catch you up, if you weren’t paying attention:  Last week, Knit Picks’ new collection Charmed: Whimsical Knitted Accessories launched, featuring 23 adorable patterns!

32752[1]And (more importantly) featuring two of my patterns! Choose Your Own Adventure Mitts and Ride the Rails Scarf.

51956220_2_medium[2]51974220_7_medium[1]Also, featuring this important cat-themed hat.  Too cute for words.

51976220_3[1]10 of you folks entered the drawing, and that means instead of going to some online number generator, or printing out a million little slips of paper, I get to bust out my favorite 10-sided die!

(What? you don’t have a selection of oddly-shaped dice among your knitting supplies?  How do you make random stripe patterns?)

I gave it a roll, and…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFogKnits!  You’re the winner of a copy of Charmed!  I’ll send you an email, so be on the lookout!

If you aren’t lucky-duck FogKnits, and want your own copy of this freaking adorable pattern collection, head on over to Knit Picks (it’s actually on sale right now!).

Rain, Rain, Don’t Go Away!

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OK.  Fair warning.  I’m going to complain about something that I probably shouldn’t.  If you want to skip this post, I totally understand.

That being said, here goes:

It needs to rain more.

I know, I know!  I live in Seattle, and I’m complaining because the weather’s been too nice?  Give me a break!

Summer started extra early this year, and it has been sunny and warm for months.  We had a few blissful weeks of rain and clouds, but now it’s back to being summery- I even had the windows open yesterday!  I thought I lived in Seattle, and not Los Angeles!

Where is my rain?  Where are my clouds?  Where are my days spent curled up beneath an afghan, watching the rain drip through the cherry tree outside my window, a cup of tea on the end table and a half-finished sweater in my lap?  Where is my rain!

Maybe there’s some kind of knitter’s rain dance I can do?

I could make this gorgeous shawl in lovely rainy colors.

Color Affection by Veera Välimäkicolor-affection-2_small_best_fit[1]

I could knit up these socks with their raindrops, waves and cloud patterns.

Water Cycle Socks by Tami Sheifferdscn0958_medium2_small[1]

Or, if worst comes to worst, I could always just make my own raincloud.

Rainycloud by Anna Hrachovec483379646_e95e3b0597_z[1]

How’s the weather in your neck of the woods?

Pattern: Ride the Rails

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What?  Another new pattern?!  (I said I had two patterns in the new Knit Picks collection… did you catch that?)32752[1]This one is  awesome, too (if I say so myself).

My Ride the Rails Scarf is a double-sided scarf, complete with three-color colorwork and knit with sock yarn on teeny tiny needles.  So, I’d say it is slightly more “tricksy” than my usual patterns.

51974220_7_medium[1]But, as much of an undertaking as it may be to make one of these scarves, the finished product is totally worth it.  The double-layer knitting makes the scarf lovely and warm, the gauge makes the scarf feel totally luxurious, and the three colors can be customized to match your favorite winter coat.

51974220_10_medium2[1]Get your copy of the collection from KnitPicks!

Or, reply to Wednesday’s post to enter into the drawing for a free copy of the book!

Pattern: Choose Your Own Adventure Mitts!

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It’s new pattern day!

(Actually, it’s new patternS day!)

I’ve got two brand-spanking-new patterns in the new, ridiculously adorable collection from Knit Picks: 32752[1]It’s a collection of two dozen insanely cute whimsical knitted accessories. Want a hat with a cat chasing a ball of yarn that’s actually a pompom?  They have it.  Want cap adorned with tiny french men?  They’ve got it.  Want cute, customizable mittens?

Of course you do.  Let me tell you all about my pattern.

51956220_15_medium2[1]These little guys are my new favorite!  My “Choose Your Own Adventure Mitts!”

They are simple, striped mittens that are 100% customizable.  Want thin or thick stripes?  Want long mittens?  Want short fingerless gloves?  These guys are for you!

51956220_2_medium[2]

And, since they’re knit in super-soft sock yarn, they’re not only comfy and soft, but also super hard-wearing!  (Which is great, since you’ll want to wear them every day.)

Want to get a copy of Charmed: Whimsical Knitted Accessories?  Grab yourself a copy of the collection here!

Or, want to win a copy?  Comment below with a description of your favorite knitted accessory!

Mother Bears On the Needles!

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I can’t get the Mother Bear Project out of my head.  The stories of little kids with next to nothing positive in their lives just break my heart, and I can’t stop thinking about them.Mother_Bear_in_Liberia_1_medium2[1]So, I took the plunge and ordered my pattern!  The patterns are available for $5 (proceeds go to running the charity and helping with shipping and handling), and is mailed to your house via snail mail.

size

I’m itching to pull out my scrap yarn and get to work on a whole army of bears!

But here’s the thing- I’m only one person, so even if I do nothing but knit teddy bears from now until the end of time, I won’t be able to make that much of a difference.

You guys, however, are more than one person!

So, I propose that this year for the holidays, everyone who reads On the Needles knits a teddy bear or two!  We can make it into a big On the Needles knitalong!  I’ll post updates about my bears, and whoever wants to play along at home can send in pictures of their bears, and we can all share our projects!

What do you say?  Want to join in?  How many bears do you think we can make before New Year’s?  20? 50? 100?!

Mama Bear

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve already got Christmas on the brain.  I’ve been cranking through lots of projects… that I can’t talk about here because family members read my blog (lame!  Not really, but it does throw a cramp in my blogging this time of year).

But when I do a lot of targeted, purpose-driven, knitting sometimes I get a little burnt out.  I can start to feel like I’m “manufacturing” projects, not actually knitting.  Sometimes I want to just make something fun- like a stuffed animal.

And, you know, if it’s a stuffed animal for a good cause, that’s even better!

So, imagine my excitement when I found this amazing teddy bear-making project (or rather, re-found… I had read about it before, but totally forgot about it).283434_220092554695040_4064929_n[1]The Mother Bear Project  makes adorable, one-of-a-kind, hand-made teddy bears and then distributes them across Africa to children whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS.  Could you ask for a better cause?lesotho1[1]I went over to their website, and saw that they have patterns for the same bear, both knitted and crocheted, worked flat and in the round.  bear_about[1]The best part (other than that whole helping-children-in-need thing) is that the pattern is so simple, it just begs to be embellished.  Take a look on Ravelry to see everyone’s take on the basic Mother Bear.  There are bows and dresses, overalls and striped shirts,  and teddies of every color of the rainbow!Mother_Bear_in_Liberia_1_medium2[1]This project is just inspiring!

Have you ever taken part in a big group-knitting project like this?

Funfetti-Projects!

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It’s taken months to finish spinning my Funfetti yarn. Now it will take me months to find the perfect pattern.

Part of the problem is that the yarn has fairly long runs of color- not long enough to be considered self-striping, but not short enough to be considered variegated.  I have to be careful with the pattern I pick, or the colors might start to pool weirdly.

For example, if I pick a shawl or scarf that’s knit longways, the colors will be all spread out and more muddled toghether:

HorizontalLots of shawls are knit this way, like The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief by Orange Flower Yarn.

20_00-_leagues_shawl_2_small_best_fit[1]Or, if I knit it shortways, the colors might pool against themselves, making a kind-of-striped look:

VerticalScarves tend to be knit this way, like Baktus Scarf by Strikkelise.

DSCN3515_small[1]Or, of course I could pick a shawl that is knit both longways and shortways, like the French Cancan by Mademoiselle C.  (The body of this shawl is knit longways, while the edging is knit shortways.)

DSC_8833_small_best_fit[1]But, if I’m being honest, my Funfetti Yarn will probably just sit on my shelf, being pretty for a good year or so.  But it’s a fun thing to think about!

What would you make with my Funfetti Yarn?

Funfetti Yarn

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From time-to-time I like to stretch my fiber-arts legs and try out something other than knitting (heresy, I know!).  Sometimes, I roll out the ol’ spinning wheel and, well, take it for a spin.

This time, I impulse-purchased a big bag of bright white roving, and little tufts in a dozen bright rainbow colors.  I couldn’t tell you what kind of fiber I bought, because, well, it’s taken me more than four months to finish this skein, and any notes or labels I might have had when I purchased the wool are long gone.

I spun the roving into singles with alternating long white stripes and short-ish (about 3 feet long) sections of random color.   Then, last week, I finally plied the yarn into more than 250 yards of squishy 2-ply loveliness.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOK, it’s not perfect…  I did my best to keep the yarn an even aran-ish weight, but with the weeks-long breaks between bouts of spinning, and my less-than-stellar spinning skills, the yarn ended up with a bit of a thick-and-thin consistency.  And my first attempt at 2-ply yarn left it with less-than-perfect evenness.  Oh well!  It gives the yarn character, right? Right?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADespite it’s quirks, I’m happy with this yarn… now I just have to figure out what to make with it.  (Or maybe I should just keep it to look at.)

Have you ever tried spinning?  How did it turn out?

What’s On Your Needles?

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It’s been a blue moon since I’ve checked in with you on what you guys are making, and I think it’s time for me to change that!

My friend Jenny just finished this darling little baby sweater!  (We picked out the buttons together when we visited Bainbridge Island last month.)  It’s a fantastic Halloween-y mix of purple green and black, with tiny silvery-gray mother-of-pearl buttons.image_medium2[1]Adorable, right?  I’m so glad Jenny sent me a picture of the finished project, because her visit to Seattle ended before she got to finish the sweater.

She used the Sunnyside pattern by Tanis Lavallee, which comes in two adorable versions-featuring cables and garter stitch or zig-zag lace and darling picot edging.

5617340260_185f264cd1_z[1]Too cute!

So, what are you working on?  I’d love to see!  And, if you want to send along photos, they might end up on the blog (with your permission, of course!)