For a Good Cause

Knitting is a gift to be used for good, not evil. (not sure how you would use it for evil, but it sounded good.) Here are two good reasons to knit:

Reason #1: Food and Friends, an organization that helps those suffering from HIV and AIDS, has launched its Second Annual Knitting Project. They have a goal of providing a hand-made scarf to every one of their clients. A message from a staff member read, "The dream last year was to offer each of our clients a hand-made scarf...just to have them have something soft and warm that would remind them that someone else really cares for them." They didn't quite make the goal of a scarf for everyone, but they are trying again this year. They even made labels that said, "Made with Care by a friend of Food & Friends." I am planning to participate! It would make me feel so good to help keep someone warm.

Reason #2: The owner of My Threaded Bliss in Tennessee has launched The Great Pink Ribbon Project. She is asking people to knit (or crochet) a small pink ribbon and send it to the store, where it will be sold - all of the proceeds will go to breast cancer research. What an easy way to help!

Knitters: good peeps.

Look before you Leap

I am not the kind of knitter who looks before she leaps. I often plunge right into a project, only to discover that some item is needed that I don't already own, or that a pattern involves a technique that I have not learned. In this case, I began on a pair of socks, the pattern for which is taken from Knitting on the Road , and have only just realized that I may not have enough yarn to complete the project. See how far I've gotten in this lovely cabled sock pattern:






This is quite possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever knit, and I am loath to rip it out. My mom suggested that perhaps such a lovely handpainted yarn does not need cabling and fancy patterns. However, I am undaunted. I think these socks will be a work of art! So, it's off to Woolwinders to see if more of this yarn can be had.

Stay tuned...

My First Felting Project

I am no longer a felting virgin! I made my first purse this weekend and felted it last night. Here's what it looked like before:






And after!





I guess it doesn't look that different in the pictures, but it did shrink! Really! I am so proud. :) I still have to sew on the button and cut a slit for the buttonhole, but other than that I think she's finished. My only question from this first felting experience is, how felted is f-e-l-t-e-d? It looks and feels pretty dense, but my bag's final dimensions are larger than what the pattern called for. For the sake of experimentation, I *might* pop it in the washer again, just to see if it shrinks any more.

Last week's knitting group at Savory was really fun. Sadly, I have no fun pictures like Lauren, because although I had brought my camera, I was too shy to take any pictures. Maybe next time. As an extra-added bonus, one of the women there suggested a book which I read and heartily recommend: Patty Jane's House of Curl. It's beautifully written; author Lorna Landvik has such good instincts that you laugh, cry or cringe right along with the characters. Plus, it's hilarious! A must-read, go get it!

My good friend M. got engaged! I am so excited and happy for her. This occasion might call for knit-gifting...maybe something from the Summer edition of Knitty? That might be fun!