eat! craft! live!

:: photo friday :: two batches

blankets

Some of you may know that some friends of friends lost two of their beautiful daughters in a house fire a few weeks ago. I cannot imagine going through such loss and I know that simple knitted items can't possibly make up for it. But! My friend forwarded me this message about knitting and/or crocheting blanket squares for them and it would be such a lovely gesture. She said that the goal is to gather enough squares to make a blanket for each of the 6 remaining family members. Here's the message:

Handspun with Heart · A Portland, Maine nonprofit dedicated to fundraising and community building through fiber arts · [email protected] · Facebook: Handspun with Heart · (207) 332-6217

Patchwork blanket project for family in Maine
Please deliver or mail your squares by May 7, 2011

A family in Maine lost two of their children in a house fire in March 2011. We are collecting knitted and crocheted squares to be assembled into a blanket or blankets. Squares need to be delivered or postmarked by May 7, 2011. Questions? Email us at [email protected] or call us (207) 332-6217. Like us on Facebook for updates: Handspun with Heart. Please spread the word—thank you!

Making Squares
1. Choose a color or colors of yarn that suggest healing, peace, love, respect. Wool or acrylic, commercial or handspun, are all fine.
2. Knit or crochet one or more 5.5 inch squares in any pattern of your choosing. Finished dimensions need to be 5.5 inches square. A basic knitting pattern is included below if you need it. Have fun!
3. Send your finished square(s) by May 7 to Handspun with Heart, c/o JVW, 37 Westminster Ave, Portland, Maine 04103. You can also hand-deliver — place in bag on front porch marked “Patchwork Blanket Project.”

Assembly
Assembly will occur Saturday, May 14, 2011 starting at 10 a.m. If we receive enough squares we will make more than one blanket. We need volunteers to help with assembly--experience helpful but not necessary!

If you would like to volunteer please RSVP:
[email protected] / (207) 332-6217. We could use a few people with experience assembling this sort of blanket!

Easy Knitted Square pattern
You can use any pattern you enjoy so long as the finished dimensions are 5.5 inches square. Here is a basic knitted garter stitch square pattern as a starting place if you need it. Choose colors that suggest healing, peace, love, respect.

Materials: worsted weight wool or acrylic yarn; size 7 (US) needles, or needles needed to obtain gauge
Gauge: 3.5 stitches / inch
Pattern: Cast on 20 stitches. Knit every row for 38 rows or 5.5 inches. Bind off loosely.

Alternate for heavy worsted weight: Cast on 18 stitches. Knit every row for 34 rows or 5.5 inches and bind off loosely.

About Handspun with Heart: Handspun with Heart is a nonprofit fiber arts organization based in Portland, Maine, dedicated to the betterment of the planet by fundraising for local and international charities and building community through fiber arts activities. Like us on Facebook: Handspun with Heart. Email: [email protected] / (207) 332-6217

'tis the season

'Tis the season to give and to get. And to eat lots of pie... So in honor of this wonderful and difficult time in this particularly wonderful and difficult year (at least for me...and I know many of you too...) I will be donating a portion of the proceeds from all sales in my shop this month to a local charity.

Yarny goodness that benefits you, me and a whole host of other people too! What could be better? Happy holidays everyone.

shoppity shop

Just a reminder that today you can get 15% off any order from my shop with coupon code THANKYOUTURKEY.

Also! Lulu is having a sale as well and I promised I would pass along any Lulu sale info as I got it... They are doing 25% off any order today with code CYBER305. (How generous!) So pop over and grab a calendar while the price lasts!

Cyber Monday!

I'm getting in the "spirit" of the...uh...shopping season...with a Cyber Monday sale over at the wee shop. Use coupon code THANKYOUTURKEY to get 15% off your order! The code is good from now until I wake up Tuesday morning...so get yer shop on!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Ours was a blast - good food, fun family and a baby full of pureed squash. Nothing better.

Back Cove Scarf

I am pleased to announce...my very first design! It's a super easy reversible, cabled scarf that knits up remarkably fast, considering how loooong it is. In between cable rows are rows and rows of fairly mindless 2x2 ribbing, which makes it good for zoning out and watching TV or knitting on the bus. (Until it gets long and unwieldy, that is...) The only trick is keeping track of how many rows you've knit.

It's named after the cove a few blocks from my house. One of my very favorite things about living here is that a five minute walk brings me straight to the ocean! The cove fills up and empties almost completely like clockwork. The cables in this scarf get gradually closer together, like ripples on the surface of the sea, the closer you get to the middle then reverse position, leaving a small swath of plain ribbing in the middle. I like how every time I pick it up, I will know where the middle of the scarf is. Also, the way the ribbing and cables come together, it forms a little nest to snuggle your cold winter face into. Aaah...

I used nearly 4 skeins of Quince and Co. Puffin, which is such a delightfully squishy, chunky single-ply yarn. (I have a serious thing for single-ply yarns...shhh...) It's bulk lends a serious squish factor to this scarf - I could sit here all day and squeeze it!

And now for the pattern...

Back Cove Scarf

Grab the pdf here

Abbreviations:
K - knit
P - purl
C16B - Slip 8 stitches to cable needle, hold in back of work, [K2, P2] twice, [K2, P2] stitches from cable needle
C16F - Slip 8 stitches to cable needle, hold in front of work, [K2, P2] twice, [K2, P2] stitches from cable needle

Pattern:
Cast on 32 stitches.
[K2, P2] to end, slipping first stitch of each row knitwise. (Do not slip first stitch of cable rows.)
Repeat for total of 18 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 18 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 16 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 16 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 14 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 14 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 12 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 12 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 10 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 10 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 17 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 10 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 10 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 12 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 12 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 14 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 14 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 16 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 16 rows.
C16B, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 18 rows.
C16F, [K2, P2] to end.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 18 rows.
Bind off in pattern.

:: photo friday :: sneak peek

Four posts in as many days! Keep your pants on, I'm sure it won't become a habit...

:: photo friday :: coming soon

lido west wrap

As promised, here's some "new" knitting!

Started at the beginning of July...2009...and finished just under a year later - my Lido West Wrap! It was a relaxing and fun knit, something I'd come back to whenever I was in between other projects. The lace work was simple enough that I could remember it even after putting it down for a month or two, which was fantastic. And the yarn was so soft that it was a delight to knit!

I modified the pattern slightly, decreasing to 4 repeats across of the main lace pattern instead of 5, making it a longer and narrower wrap. I have a thing about wraps that are too short and I was afraid of running out of yarn if I tried to make it as wide as the pattern recommended and still tried to get extra length out of it. (And it's a good thing I bound off when I did - this is all the yarn that was left!) Anyway, this one is perfect and I've cuddled under it already. Cool summer evenings in Maine sometimes call for a little something around the shoulders. (And it also makes a delightful nursing cover-up on cooler days...)

Details:
Pattern: Lido West Wrap by Stephanie Pajonas
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Aran Silky Merino
Needles: US 7 - 4.5 mm
See mine on Ravelry

:: photo friday :: new knitting

It only took a year...but I finished this project. I'll share soon! (Don't mind the sad basil in the background...)