Cleaning my Copic Markers

My husband has a saying:  A clean car is a happy car and a happy car runs better.  Applying the same philosophy to copic makers, I spent part of the day today cleaning my markers. 

As you read this, please allow this disclaimer to sink into your mind.  I am not a copic marker expert.  I am a beginner.  My advice is not worth the paper towels I used to blot the rubbing alcohol I used when I cleaned the markers.  

I used two sources to design my procedure today.  The first was Sandy Alnock's session in the Copics for Card Makers class (onlineclasses.com).  The second was from a YouTube video on the Copic in the Classroom channel.  

Why clean them?  They were icky, that's why.  All the ink that gathers in the lid and around the nib can prevent the lids from sealing well.  And, well, they look so much prettier when they are clean.

How did I clean them?  Sandy recommended using colorless blender solution.  I don't have any of that, so I followed Colleen Shann's procedure pretty closely.  I soaked the lids in 91% rubbing alcohol for a few moments in a disposable Dixie cup while I cleaned the gray plastic area around the nib with an alcohol swab.  Once that area was clean, I dried it with a paper towel.  This is where my method differed from Colleen's. She recommended a cotton ball.  I used the swab, and was very careful to keep it away from the nib. My understanding is that you don't want rubbing alcohol or fibers to touch the nib.  I would be a Bad Thing.

Once the lid had soaked long enough, I used a Q-tip to clean it, and then the other end of the Q-tip to dry the inside of the lid.  I used a papertowel to dry the outside of the lid.  If there was any ink on the body of the marker, I wiped it away with the swab.  I made sure the cap was dry before I recapped the marker (important), and then it was finished.  

Clean markers are happy markers, and I hope happy markers color better.

Christmas Cards

I have done some knitting lately, but haven't posted about it.  I will, even though it will be late.  I like having all of the projects in one place.

In the meantime, I've been card making.  I decided that I wanted to see if I could make our Christmas cards this year.  I kept it fun by playing with supplies (it should be fun, shouldn't it!?), working on several different designs.  When the time came to replicate them, I just made 4-6 of each one. 

We needed about 60 cards, and I had great fun making them.  The designs are saved on Flickr.  For those who are interested, go take a look.  I apologize that they are scans, but I haven't brought my love of photography together yet with card making. 

Ten I Am Sentences

I enjoy the Carole Knits blog.  Each Tuesday she has a blog starter called 10 on Tuesday.  I rarely participate, but the one today caught my imagination, and since the knitting blog is back up and running, I thought I would give it a try.

Carole suggests that the blogger write 10 sentences that start with the words I am.

• I am ... knitting two scarves, a pair of socks, and a shawl that may never get done.
• I am ... tired.   It's after 10:00, and at that time of night, my eyes start to get heavy.
• I am ... anxiously awaiting the movie Monument Men.  It looks like it will be good.
• I am .. not ashamed to say that the movie Frozen is one of my favorites this season.  I just loved it, and I would love to see it again.
• I am ... reading a book about team building and then will have to move to one that I need to read for church.  I would rather be reading a Nora Roberts book.
• I am ... learning how to use Photoshop.  I just finished a book about Lightroom.  After I finish Photoshop, I'm moving on to Illustrator.  As you may be able to tell...
• I am ... a new subscriber to Adobe Creative Cloud.  So fun to have access to all of these programs.
• I am ... the owner of a new iPad Air, which I am loving.  I did own an iPad 2.
• I am ... hoping to buy a Kindle Kindle Paperwhite, but the 3G version is backordered.
• I am ... a tech geek, and I don't care who knows it.

Return to Blogging

It's January of 2014, and it has been 15 months since I posted last.  My poor knitting blog.  I really
like having it, and I enjoy looking back at it, but I don't seem to find the time to keep it updated.

So, we'll try again.  I have several projects to add and to update. I will probably backdate them, but don't be fooled; they were just added.

It's been cold here, although today is like a spring day.  It you don't like the weather, stick around a while.  It will change.  Today is in the 60s; we were at -3 earlier in the week.

So, on to knit blogging.

Jenny's Scarf

Earlier this year, in the summer, I knitted a scarf.  As I was planning Christmas gifts this month, I decided to give it to my sister-in-law, who is also a knitter.  I also gave her a couple of scarf knitting patterns, some Knitpicks needles and two skeins of yarn similar to what I knit the scarf with.  I also found a yarn bowl that I included in her gifts.

Jenny's scarf was knit as follows:

Yarn:  Cascade 220 Paints, in a blue / purple colorway (#9959) called Plumtastic.  I used two skeins. I purchased the yarn from WEBS - I'm not sure if it is available any longer or not.  Good color; I like it.

Needles:  US Size 7

Pattern:  I used the Yarn Harlot's one row scarf pattern that I like so well, 38 stitches across.

Polar Bears

How about a couple of polar bears?  I knit these just for the fun of it.

Yarn:  Merino Style DK bare from Knitpicks and Wool of the Andes in coal.  I think after knitting the two bears, I have enough yarn left to knit another cub.

Needles:  US 7 interchangeables and double pointed needles

Pattern:  Polly the Polar Bear and her cub by Nicole A Davis.  I bought it from Knitpicks.  I didn't make any changes to the pattern except to go down a needle size (I think).  The pattern is clear and easy to follow.

It is strange to knit all the pieces because apart from each other, they don't really look like a bear, but once you sew them together, it starts to look more like a bear.  It isn't necessary to do a great job wiht th esewing because the felting hides all.

Felting:  I felted the polar bears in the washing machine.  Before each one was completely felted, I pulled it out, stuffed it, added the eyes and the nose and sewed the back end shut.  I then finished felting them.  The pattern has clear instructions regarding assembly and felting.

I enjoyed this pattern.  I finished the cub in one evening - quick and easy to knit.

Benny's Blanket

A couple of years ago, I knitted the Pickets Baby Blanket, for the baby of a member of our church.  This year, the family was blessed with a new addition, a little boy named Benny.  I knit another baby blanket.  This time it was the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting.

I chose this pattern because I liked the look of the blocks.  I picked the colors because I didn't want to knit the normal baby blue blanket, but wanted something with a stronger look.  Once I finished it, I decide it reminded me of the legos my kids used to play with.

Yarn:  Knitpicks Shine Worsted

• Serrano (red) - 4 skeins
• French Blue - 5 skeins
• Dandelion (yellow) - 3 skeins
• Macaw (green) - 3 skeins
• Black - 2 skeins

Keep in mind that I always over-order yarn.  The numbers above are the number of skeins I ordered - it was more than enough.

Needles

I used a US #4 interchangeable needle from Knitpicks.  This is smaller than what the pattern calls for, but I always go down a needle size.

Pattern

The pattern is Moderne Baby Blanket from the book Mason-Dixon Knitting. Since the yarn I used was not the one from the pattern, I had to alter the number of stitches and rows to adjust the size.  Once I established the first garter stitch count for the first block, I was able to just proportionally adjust the row count for all of the other blocks.  The proportion was 14/28/42.

I also added black rows between the blocks.  I was inspired by this blanket on Ravelry.  Instead of picking up stitches with the next color, I picked up stitches with the black.  I then knit a row side row with the black, and then I started with the next color.

This was only a problem on the portions of the blanket that are intarsia. The first time that happened, I added two black stitches between two colors.  It's between the large yellow and red blocks.  The stripe is too wide.  The next time I used 1 stitch of black, which worked better.  This was the first time I have done intarsia, and I have to say that I didn't really like it.  It worked OK, and I did the twisty thing (twist the two yarns together) which prevented holes, but it slowed my knitting down too much.
 
Knitting Time:
I started in the middle of August of 2013 and finished in the middle of November of the same year.

Thoughts
The pattern was fine, and I would recommend it.  The yarn choice was good, too. The blanket was very soft and drapey.

Georgetown Farrow Rib

Another finished object.  Yippee.  This is another scarf, knit in the movies.  In the summer, I have more opportunities to go to movies, and I love to take simple knitting with me.  Scarves fit the bill!

Yarn: I brought the yarn in Alexandria at Fibre Space.  It's from Neighborhood Fiber Co., and I love love love this yarn.  It is a superwash merino, worsted weight.  The colorway is Georgetown -- all of their hand-dyed yarns are named after neighborhoods in the D.C. area.  When we were in Fibre Space, I gravitated toward this yarn.  I didn't buy it at first, because it was ANOTHER blue yarn -- I buy so much blue yarn.  But the color called to me, and we went back to the store, and I bought it.  Very glad.  It has this great weight and drape.  Love it. 

Needles: Size US 7, Knitpicks aluminum interchangeable circular needles.

Pattern: This is a farrow rib scarf, based on the advice of Lara Schmidt. Click that link -- it's a simple three stitch repeat, the same on both rows. It makes the scarf easy to knit and reversible.

All the scarves I've made, and this is the first time I've added fringe. 

End of Chart 3

This is a terrible picture.  We're on vacation.  I wanted to catch the shawl between charts 3 and 4, so I took the picture late at night in the hotel room.  This is the only one that is not too blurry.

Moving on to Chart 4.

Ten Things Blue

One of the blogs I regularly read is Carole Knits.  She routinely does a Ten on Tuesday post.  This week's post intrigued me, probably because I had just taken this picture.  She posted Ten Things that are your Favorite Color:

My favorite color is blue, and here are ten blue things:

1. The ocean, at least last night.  A storm was coming in at twilight, and it turned everything a beautiful shade of blue.  I don't know the couple walking on the beach, but I thought it made for a romantic image.
2. Yarn.  As Carole says, yarn comes in all colors, but blue is my favorite, especially when mixed with purple and green.
3. My little iPod nano.  I love this little piece of technology when I'm at the beach -- listening to lots of podcasts and books.
4. The cover on my phone -- Yep, blue.
5. My current "movie" scarf project -- that's the project I take with me to movies, so that I can knit while I watch.  The current one is knit from a yarn by an independent yarn dyer in Maryland called Neighborhood Fiber Co.  The colors are named after Washington neighborhoods -- this one is Georgetown.  Great color; great yarn (top left in this picture)
6. Our minivan -- blue, yes.
7. Vacation sky -- it has been sunny and almost cloudless -- except for last night's storm.
8. A bathroom that doesn't yet exist -- We are in the middle of planning a bathroom remodel, and I'm hoping for blue walls.
9. Shawl -- I brought one with me to the beach to use in the room.  It's this one.
10. Our dishes -- the set of dishes we use everyday is Fiestaware in a dark blue -- a West Virginia Company.

End of Chart 2

Peacock Feathers Shawl at end of Chart 2. 
Yellow line is lifeline at the end of Chart 1A.

Thoughts about Peacock Feathers

I'm moving along with my Peacock Feathers shawl. It isn't fast knitting, but it is moving along. A few things I've noticed:

The yarn I'm using is stored on a cone. I like it! It's such tiny yarn (see the single strange coming off the cone?) that I'm sure it would be a horrible mess without the cone. It is disconcerting to knit with what feels like thread, though.

In a previous post, I mentioned that I had finished Chart 1, and that I was going to try to make myself put a lifeline in. I did install the lifeline -- after Chart 1, and then a second one after Chart 1A. I am so very grateful that I did! On the fifth row of Chart 2, I noticed that I had dropped a stitch and the drop had made a giant mistake. It's laceweight with lots of yarnovers. No way I could work my way back to fix it, so I just frogged back to the lifeline and reknit the rows. It was more than easier -- it made fixing the mistake possible. Otherwise, I probably would have had to restart from scratch. I'll keep using lifelines, at least between each chart, and maybe more often when the rows get longer. (See the yellow lifeline in the picture? End of Chart 1A -- that's the very lifeline that saved the shawl.)

I love to read charts. I much prefer charts to written out instructions, but I have never had to reverse direction of decreases while working the chart backwards. It's not too bad, really. I have gotten used to it. To keep myself straight, I printed out the charts (I bought the downloadable version of the pattern) and took them to my Office Supply store to have them laminated. I am using a piece of painter's tape to keep my place on the chart as I knit each row. I used a Sharpie to mark the direction of the symbol for the knit two together decrease -- on the right of the chart for the normal direction and on the left of the chart to remind me as I go backwards. That's saving me lots of grief.

It is also a cool aspect to this pattern -- so far -- that the row number equals the stitch count to the halfway point of the shawl. So row 61 has 61 stitches to the halfway point and then 61 more stitches for the rest of the row. I think of each row in two halves, so it makes counting my stitches for accuracy easy. And believe me, I count stitches at the end of each row -- also made simple by the use of stitch markers.

It's not an easy knit, but the designer has kept it from being frustrating by very excellent instructions and charts. It makes doing something difficult a fun challenge rather than an impossible task.

Peacock Feathers, Chart 1

Moving along on the Peacock Feathers Shawl -- Chart 1 is complete.  And, wonder of wonders, the stitch count is correct.

Now if I can just convince myself to add a lifeline.

Summer Knitting

On my other blog, I sometimes use a blog post starter from RevGalBlogPals called Friday Five.  Each Friday there is a set of five questions posted that readers can answer in their blogs.  This week's question:

Please tell us five things you are doing this Summer.  Bonus? One thing you're not doing, but WANT to be doing.

I answered that question on my other blog, but I thought I could come up with a knitting answer, too:

1. Finish the pair of Pomatomus socks.  I have one done, and half of the leg of the other one done
2. Knit the peacock feathers shawl.  I have it started -- about 20 rows, but it starts with 3 stitches, so 20 rows is nothing.  This monster takes concentration.
3. I'm sure I'll be knitting some scarves.  I hope to go to lots of summer movies, and I like to take movie knitting with me.
4. Clean up my stash and get it organized.
5. Read Principles of Knitting, which I just bought for Kindle.
6. Catch up on my Interweave Knits magazines (also on my iPad).  I'm still reading the spring one.
7. Knit a red scarf for the Red Scarf Project.  I'll combine that with #3.
8. Knit a pair of socks from Knit Sock Love (I think that's it's name).  It's a Cookie A book.
9. Visit at least a couple of Local Yarn Stores (which will have to be out of town -- we don't have any here).
10. Wash and block my son's Mitred Square blanket before he goes back to school.

So that's 10 - I knew I could do this for knitting!

One thing I won't be doing that I would like to be doing?  Knitting more!

Currently on the needles

I'm halfway through another pair of socks -- maybe more than halfway, since I have one sock completed and one leg halfway finished.  I'm using the Dragonfly Djini sock yarn I bought in Alexandria with the Cookie A pattern, Potamtomus socks, which was published on Knitty. The pattern is named after a genus of fish, and it does resemble fish scales.

It's a great pattern, so good that I haven't suffered from second sock syndrome at all.  I would be all steam ahead, except that something else is looming.

I bought the Peacock Feathers Shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting.  I'm planning on using Jaggerspun yarn, Zephyr in the Peacock colorway.  I've knitted the gauge suggested in the pattern using US size 3 needles.  This is, once again, smaller than the suggested needle size -- I knit looser than the usual knitter.    I had to order circular needles to begin the project.  My handy dandy interchangables from Knitpicks doesn't go smaller than size US 4. 

So, this new project may distract me from the Potamtomus socks.  Maybe I'll be able to work on them both at the same time?

Virginia Scarf by way of Uruguay

One of the yarns I bought in Alexandria was a Manos del Uruguay in a deep green.  It's an unplied yarn.  I bought to hanks of it, each of them 219 yards.  I knit a scarf with it.

Pattern:  Yarn Harlot's One Row scarf -- my "go to" scarf.  I love this pattern.  It usually creates an interesting play of color, although this time, not as much.   This one is 34 stitches wide (instead of my usual 38) because the yarn is thicker than my usual worsted.

Needles:  I just finished this scarf this weekend, and I can't remember if I used size 7 or 8.  We'll say 7.

Yarn:  Manos del Uruguay Maxima, 2 hanks 100 g with 42 grams left over.  I'm hoping to use that to make something to match the scarf.  Or at least to trim something to match the scarf.  Hat?  Mittens?

DC Yarn

During my younger son's spring break, we went to Washington, D.C.  When we planned the trip, the assumed we would be arriving earlier than the peak for the Cherry Blossoms, but because of our odd weather in early 2012, the peak was early, and we hit it exactly.  It was a beautiful trip!  We had a gorgeous day to walk around and enjoy the trees.

We stayed in Alexandria, and I found Fibre Space, a lovely yarn store.  Above is the yarn I bought.  Starting in top left, and going clockwise:

1. This is a beautiful yarn that I skipped the first time (yes, I visited the store twice), and then went back for.  It is dyed by a local company -- Neighborhood Fiber Co.  It is the colorway Georgetown and is a rich, deep blue.  It is a superwash merino, worsted weight.
2. The next yarn is a sock yarn by Dragonfly Fibers.  It's bright greens and dark blues -- beautiful colors.  It is called Djinni Sock in the colorway Weather Girl. 
3. The next yarn appealed to me solely because of its color, which is a warm, heathery teal, edging toward blue.  It's Berroco Vintage DK, half acrylic, 40% wool and 10% nylon. 
4. The next image is of a set of needles I bought.  I can't remember the brand now, but each size is a different color.  These are US size 4 DPN.  Pretty. 
5. The last yarn is Manos del Uruguay Maxima, an extrafine merino wool, kettle dyed, worsted weight. It's a blend of deep greens.

Great yarn store.

Where have those socks been?

Have you seen on the Yarn Harlot's blog how her sock in progress will travel with her, seeing the sights?  Famous people have held the sock in progress -- famous scenes have been photographed with the sock.

My latest finished socks didn't meet anyone famous,but they are foreign born, and they did enjoy a relaxing few days on a beach.

These socks began their lives at a resort in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic during one of the most relaxing few days I have ever spent.  It was a work trip for Steve, fun for me -- and I did nothing but sit by the pool or beach, read, listen to audio books and knit.

Pattern:  Once again, the Yarn Harlot's pattern:  A good, plain sock from Knitting Rules.  I cast on 68 instead of 64 and used a smaller needle size than specified.  Other than that, no changes.

Yarn:  Berroco Sox in colorway Liverpool.  This is a self-striping yarn, so it was fun to watch the colors appear.  The socks are not exactly alike -- off by just a couple of stripes.

Needles:  US size 1 (2.25 mm).  I like this size for socks.

I finished the first sock on the plane on the way home -- knit in four days.

Hat, finished and Scarf, interrupted

I bought the book 60 Quick Knits from my "local" yarn storn in Lexington (two hours away).  It's sixty patterns knit with Cascade 220.  I thought it would provide a helpful reference for patterns using standard worsted wool - scarves, hats, and mittens.

I have knit Twisted Toque hat:

Yarn:  Black Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks. 

Needles:  US size 7.  I started with double pointed needles, but switched to two circulars, and found that much easier and faster.

Pattern:  Twisted Toque in 60 Quick Knits

I blocked the hat on a bowl, and I think it's blocked too large.  I think I need to reblock it smaller.

I also started the Ruffled Scarf from the same book, using Knitpicks sugarbunny yarn in a pale blue.  I like the ruffled boarded, but the scarf body rolls.  And the yarn is very hairy.  I'm not sure I'll finish it. We'll see.

Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf

I'm still knitting! This project was finished in time to give as a Christmas gift to my mom.

Steve and I were in Asheville, North Carolina, and we went to Yarn Paradise, a great yarn store.  I've posted about this trip before.

In the middle of one of the rooms of the store was a round table on which sat a large basket of Koigu yarn and several examples of this scarf.  The sales clerk showed me that pattern and helped me to choose the yarns.

Pattern:  Koigu Linen Stitch scarf by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.  I bought it and the yarn I used to knit the scarf in November of 2010 while Steve and I were visiting Asheville, North Carolina.  The store is Yarn Paradise.

Yarn:  One skein each of Claudia Handpainted yarn in Plumicious, Koigu KPPPM 581, and Koigu KPPPM  470.

Needles:  U.S. 6 (4.0mm)

Timing:  I started the scarf in February of 2011 and finished it in December of 2011.

The fabric created by the linen stitch is very different from regular knitting.  It has an almost woven feel.  Great pattern, and I love the result.

Deep Water Socks

My Deep Water Socks are so named because of the Knitpicks yarn I chose for them.  They took a long time to knit -- from April 2011 to February 2012 -- not because of their difficulty, but just because of my time devoted to them.
Yarn:  Knitpicks Stroll Tonal in the Deep Water color.  It's a blend of blues and purples, and it appeals to me both because of its color and its name.
Pattern:  The Yarn Harlot's sock recipe from the book Knitting Rules. 

Pattern changes:  I cast on 72 stitches instead of 60 and reduced the needle size down to a US 1 so that the fabric is thicker than the Emmaus socks.  I changed the heel to a short row heel from the Rockin Socks pattern from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  I had trouble with the heel the first time I did it, but the second time was better.  I'm not sure I would use this heel again -- might not be my favorite.

Needle:  US 1, DPN, Harmony.

I finished these socks on the plan to the Dominican Republic and grafted the toe in our hotel room.

Alaskan Scarf

When we were in Alaska, I bought several yarns.  Two of them were from Rabbit Run.   I used them to start a scarf, which I talked about in this post.  You can actually see the colors better in the picture associated with that post.  The scarf is finished now.

Yarn:  Rabbit Ridge Columbia Worsted Weight Wool in Wildberry and in Water.  The two colorways are almost the same except that that wildberry has raspberry in it in addition to the blues and greens.

Needle:  US Size 7

Pattern:  No real pattern -- just a 2 x 2 rib of stripes two rows wide.  It doesn't look striped since the yarn is so close to being the same.  I think it's 42 stitches wide.

It has been one of my movie scarves -- I would grab it when I was going to the movies to have something to knit in the dark.  I like how this turned out.

Snow People

Two on the right were gifts for friends; two on the left stayed with us.

In progress

I was looking through my email when I found a pattern from Knitpicks that intrigued me. I ended up knitting five of these little snow people. I kept two, haven't quiet finished two, and gave two away as a Christmas gift.


Hats and scarves

Pattern: Knitpicks Lumpy, Rosy and Slim by Melissa Burt.  I haven't made Lumpy, but I have made the other two.    I followed the pattern as written except that I used a smaller needle (just because I knit loosely.  I have found on Ravelry that many people who knit them haven't felted them, but I much prefer them to be felted.  I've included a picture for comparison.  The felting just makes them look much more like snow -- more professional the finished (in my opinion).   I felted them by hand in the bathroom sink. 

Yarn:  Knitpicks Palette in various colors -- white, black, garnet heather, and marine heather.  I also picked up an orange, green and yellow to finish off the last two I'm making.  Those two, when finished, will sport my boys school colors.

Unfelted on left; felted on right

Needles:  US 2.5 (3.0mm) DPN

Felting each one took about 10 minutes, and as the felting came to an end I could feel the object shrink and could see the stitches disappear.

I made their noses out of orange polymer clay with a hole in one end to sew it on.  The clasps on the capes are also handmade with jewelry wire.

Fun pattern -- enjoyed it.

Red Scarf Project 2011

For the second year in a row, I have knit a scarf for the Red Scarf Project of Foster Care to Success.  These scarves are packed in care packages and sent to students in college or trade school who have "grown out of" foster care.  The packages are sent for Valentines' Day (which explains why all of the scarves are red).

Here are the details about the scarf:

Pattern:  The Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf Pattern.  I use this "pattern" all of the time.  It is so easy and creates a great textured, reversible, non-rolling scarf.  I love how the colors in overdyed yarn run through fabric knit using this stitch pattern.  This scarf is 38 stitches across.

Yarn:  I wanted something worsted weight, wool and washable, so I chose Swish tonal from Knitpicks.  It is in the Gypsy colorway.

Needles:  Size US 7.

I haven't gotten a good picture of this scarf.  The lighting in my office isn't doing it justice, and I'm ready to mail it away.

Ongoing Projects

Rabbit Run Scarf

Even though I haven't posted in a while, I'm still knitting.  I have at least two finished objects I need to photograph and post; I'm hoping to do that soon. 

In the meantime, I am knitting, but I haven't landed on the next "big thing."  I'm working on finishing some projects that I started previously while I wait for inspiration to strike. 

One Emmaus Lanyard

The image to the right is a scarf I'm working on.  It's 2 x 2 ribbing with alternating two row stripes of a pair of yarns I picked up in Alaska.  More details are in this post, but the two yarns are by Rabbit Run, in the water and wildberry colorways.  Wildberry looks a lot like water, but includes a cranberry color along with the water colors.  Because the two yarns have much in common, the scarf doesn't look striped, but blends very well.  It's the project I pick up when I don't have anything else to knit, or when I need a movie knitting project.  Eventually, it will get finished.

The next two pictures are of some lanyards I knit to be used by my Emmaus Community for pilgrim's crosses.  About 30 or so are required for each walk.  The gentleman who used to knit them worked on them all year round, knitting away.  He died, so the community has picked up his ministry. 


Twelve Lanyards

They are made using Red Heart yarn, Mexicana colorway, with a French (or spool) knitter.  Even my husband picked up the needles for this one.  We each knit 12 of them.  For pattern information, just google Emmaus lanyard.  It is simply a 24 inch long i-cord.
I tried knitting one with double pointed needles, but the result was not as neat as with the spool knitter.  These were quiet a distraction for a while, taking me away from my other knitting.
Soon, I'll post about this year's Red Scarf Project and the hat I just finished.

Mitered Cross Blanket

It's finally finished and has been delivered to his dorm room.  Meet my Mitered Cross Blanket.  It is probably the biggest thing I have ever knit by size.  Maybe something I've done has had more stitches, but I'm positive nothing has measured this large.

We moved our son to college a couple of weekends ago, and I packed this blanket in a care package with snacks and supplies, along with a letter, explaining about the blanket.

The details

Yarn:  I used all Knitpicks yarn -- Chroma and Wool of the Andes (WotA)  .G is a freshman at West Virginia Wesleyan College. The school colors are orange and black; that dictated the colors of the blanket.

• Chroma in Smoothie.  I used more less than one skein to make 3 squares
• WotA in Coal.  I used 3 skeins to make 4 squares and to do the edging iCord
• WotA in Orange.  I used two skeins to make four squares and had almost none left.
• WotA in Cobblestone Heather.  I used two skeins to make four squares. 
• WotA in Dove Heather.  I think I used 19 skeins as the background color for 15 squares and 6 half squares.

Needles: US Size 6 Knitpicks options needles.  I used both the nickel plated and harmony interchangable needles, depending on my mood.  For the icord, I used nickle plated dpn.

Pattern:  Mitered Cross blanket for Japan by Kay Gardiner of Mason-Dixon Knitting.  Here's the Ravelry link, and here is a link to April in Mason-Dixon Knitting.  If you scroll down, you'll see Kay's blanket and a link to buy the pattern -- proceeds go to Japanese Earthquake relief.  I love that buying the pattern benefits others, and I hope when I told that to my son, it said something to him about serving others and its importance.  My son is over six feet tall, so I added two rows of squares to the blanket for a total of 15 squares in six rows.  I did the icord in a contrasting color (coal).  I liked the look it gave the blanket -- it just seemed right for G.  I added a yarn over to the icord repeats -- knit-knit-yarn over-knit through back loop, and then I passed the yarn over over the final knit two together through back loop. Somehow the yarn over covered the stripe.   By the way, go buy the pattern -- even if you don't plan to make the blanket.  It's a good thing to do.

I stitched a cross (Faith), an anchor (hope) and a heart (love) in the corner.   ¹³

And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.  (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Size:  I thought I was making a 6 foot by 3 foot blanket.  It turned out to be 8 feet by 3 feet, 3 inches.  I have no idea how it ended up so long, but he'll have lots of room to snuggle in this behemoth.

Final thoughts -- This is a great pattern that is interesting enough to knit for a long time (3 months) but simple enough to not be frustrating.  I enjoyed the knitting.  It was a great project to carry me through the transition of my son's high school graduation and his summer before college.  I was able to knit my love into something warm to leave with him at school -- something that left an important message about caring for others.  Something that told him how much he is loved.

He texted his dad a picture of his newly lofted bed today.  Check out what's up there -- the blanket.  Cool.

Tools for knitting

What's in your knitting tool bag?  I carry a small tool bag in my knitting bag -- I've tried to make sure it has any kind of tool I might need as I knit.  I emptied it out and tool a picture of it so that you can see it.
Contents:

• Three dpn -- bamboo.  I'm not sure what size, but I keep them in there to pick up stitches or serve as a cable needle.
• Two crochet hooks -- bamboo.  They are part of a set of hooks I have.  They are in the bag because I labor under the illusion that I can use them to pick up stitches when I drop them, or when I let them drop to fix mistakes.  In reality, I don't find them very helpful, very often. 
• Blue ink pen -- I read somewhere to keep one in my tool bag, so I do, but it doesn't get much use.  It's a Zebra brand pen, though -- I love Zebra pens.
• Tape measure -- it's from Lantern Moon, and looks like a lady bug.  I had one that looked like a sheep, but our dog ate it (or a large piece of it).
• Metal box filled with ephemera.  I decorated it with a sheep on the lid, which has since worn off.  I keep thinking I'll repaint it, but I've never gotten around to it. 
• Four small plastic boxes of plastic red and blue stitch markers.  I use them sometimes, and I like having them in lots of different sizes.  They are so inexpensive, that if I lose one, I don't care.  My husband might care, because he is always finding them.
• End caps for the Options cables when I remove the needles
• Safety pins
• Those things you put on the ends of needles so the stitches don't fall off -- what are those called?  These are green and small, for sock needles.
• Green plastic box with Knitpicks cable connectors and several of the small tools used to tighten the needles to the cables for their Options line.  Love those needles!
• Blue box with handmade decorative stitch markers -- more about those later.  The two plastic boxes, which I really like, came from the Container Store.
• Chibi storage tube with needles for weaving in ends.  I'm not sure why the point is bent; I guess it helps with the end weaving.
• My favorite tool -- a pair of Gingher scissors.  Back when I cross stitched instead of knit, I found these at a Cross Stitch store.  They were expensive, but I thought they were beautiful (I still do).  I didn't buy them, but just mentioned them to Steve.  After that, for some gift event, he gave them to me.  How's that for a wonderful guy?  The scissors are probably older than my kids -- maybe not quite, but close.  They are black, with very pointy tips.  To this day, I only cut thread with them -- nothing else.  Amazingly, they are still sharp, and I still know where they are!

I found the bag itself at the Counting House, a Cross Stitch store at Pawley's Island in South Carolina. It's the cradle of Cross Stitch in the United States, but has since closed. Great store; sad to see it leave. I bought the fish-bead charm that is the zipper pull on the bag at the gift store in the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery in Juneau, Alaska. Odd place to find it, but I liked it.

So, how about stitch markers. Do you make them? I do. I used to make the one with the danglely charms. I used them, but now I like the ones at the top of the picture.  They don't dangle, and just seem to behave themselves better.  All I do to make them is to split a jump ring, place a small bead at the join, return the ring to its proper position, using a little gorilla glue to hold the bead in place over the join.  They work great, and the bead prevents the join in the ring from catching on the yarn.

Project Spectrum and Knitting

I have been knitting.  I've just been knitting on the same thing each time I knit, and I haven't taken the time to take images of it in progress.

The Mitered Cross blanket is finished and is currently blocking.  I'll post a complete set of information for it this week, once I take its picture.

I'm also behind with my Project Spectrum posts.  The blanket doesn't fit with June's, July's or August's colors.  Instead, here's a green picture, taken the other day.  When I get some time, I'll try to put together a collage of cruise pictures -- lots of blues.

Speaking of blue, I've changed the blog template.  What do you think?  I downloaded the template from btemplates.com -- I've never done that before.  I've always just used internal blogs from Blogger.  This morning, though, I looked at my knitting blog, and just didn't like it!  I looked at replacements for the template among the ones offered by blogger, and nothing said "Choose me."  Instead, I googled free Blogger templates, and found some recommendations for safe sites to use to download a new template.  The ones on btemplates.com are rated by users, which was reassuring.  I followed the instructions on the website, and it worked perfectly.  I did have to go in and work a little with my gadgets, but it was time those were refreshed, anyway. 

Back soon with knitting.

Mitered Crosses

So what am I working on?  I worked my way through one Deep Water sock, finishing it.  I started the next one, but got distracted by another project.

I purchased the Mitered Cross pattern from Kay at Mason Dixon knitting.  I have been thinking about knitting something for my older son as he begins college.  I like the idea that the revenue from the pattern goes to Japan relief, because it says something about service that I want him to know.  I like that the pattern is crosses, because it says something about faith that I want him to know.  I chose colors that will match his knew college's school colors (orange and black).  I like that it is knit by his mom, because that says something about love that I want him to know. 

Mitered Crosses

So, my current project is Mitered Crosses.  I'm planning on making it longer than in the pattern, because he is a long kid.  So far, I have six squares completed.  Rather than the Noro called for in the pattern, I'm using Knitpicks Chromo and four colors of Wool of the Andes.  The two yarns seem to knit to the same gauge. 

I'm just glad I don't have to seem them together.  I'm hoping the method Kay uses to form the blanket is better than the one I used for the baby blanket!

Project Spectrum 2011 -- Red

Just in the nick of time for Project Spectrum - Red.

I took these pictures one afternoon at Stonewall Resort.  As I took them, I was thinking about Project Spectrum and how odd it was to see such a red tree on a day in May when everything around me was green.  Scarlet maple is beautiful, though.

Works in Progress

Right now I have two projects on the needles that are still WIP and not UFO.

I started the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf from Churchmouse Yarns.  I'm using two skeins of Koigu Yarn and one of Claudia's Handpainted yarn.  All of those yarns are from Yarn Paradise in Asheville and can be seen in this post.  The person who was helping me at the yarn store pointed the pattern out for me and helped me pick the colors.  I might be about halfway through -- it is knit horizontally.

 I have also started another pair of socks.  This pair is knit with Knitpicks Stroll Tonal Yarn in Deep Waters.  I am using a pattern from Socks That Rock, but, having learned lessons from the Emmaus Rainbow socks, went down in needle size to US size 1 and cast on 72 stitches.  The pattern calls for 60, but that didn't seem to be enough.  I love the color of the yarn, and I like this fabric much better.

See the mouse in the last picture?  She's knitting.  I bought her at Yankee Candle.  It seemed appropriate to include her in a post that talks about Churchmouse yarns.

Emmaus Rainbow Socks

Steve was an ALD on an Emmaus walk in March and at the end of March, beginning of April, I served as an LDIT.  I knew that I would be serving in the background on Steve's walk (which would mean some sitting time) and that my position of a lay director in training meant that I would be observing the entire three day walk.  It sounded like a portable knitting project would be ideal.

I decided on socks, and picked up my recently purchased Knitpicks Felici in Rainbow -- socks were off and running (excuse the pun).  I started them the day the men's walk started and finished them the day the women's walk ended (a little more than two weeks).

Rainbow seemed appropriate since it is one of the symbols associated with an Emmaus Walk.

Pattern:  The Yarn Harlot's "Good Plain Sock" from her book Knitting Rules (that's a Ravelry link).

Needles:  I used double pointed, US size 1.5.  I felt the entire time I was knitting that the needles were too large for the yarn and the fabric was too loosely knit.  I didn't change.  I'll probably regret that, but the socks are very soft.

Yarn:  Two skeins of Knitpicks Felici Rainbow.  I worked with the yarn so that I started at the same point of each skein in the color changes.  The socks are almost identical.