And then I Lost my Needles on the I-95

When we last left this soap opera, Anita was trying to do the work of 12 inch circulars with 18 inch. Knittin Kitten suggested two circs (thanks for the tip! I need more info though - how is that done? Do 18 inchers work?). As I was driving down the I-95 between North and South Carolina, trying to figure out how to do the 2 circs deal, my needles flew out the window.

Sigh.

Bottom line, if you see a pair of 2.75mm on the highway, they are yours to keep.

So after much begging and pleading, Ross drove me to a fabulous yarn store in Myrtle Beach. Its called Knit 'n' Purl. Here's a blog that talks about Phyllis and her crew. She doesn't have a website. Basically, you keep driving until you're sure you're lost - then you're almost there.

Phyllis, said, "Anita, you can do the dpn".

"I can't." I said

"You're doing it." she said. "The first row is the worst".

"Like "the first cut is the deepest"?" I asked.

Phyllis doesn't know Cat Stevens. That's okay.

So here are the results. This is a picture of my boy's foot, along with the yarn. I'm sure in 20 years he'll be explaining to the shrink about the day his mama (yes I'm in Georgia) made him wear girl socks. Right now we're in Savannah, and can't drive any further (thanks Tropical Storm Fay), so I have lots of time to knit.

Socks and the Sea

Right now, I'm sitting in a hotel room in NagsHead, North Carolina. I can hear the surf from my room, and its totally soothing. Before I left Ottawa, I bought some Fleece Artist yarn to make some socks. I know I should stick with what I know for the Innu project (hats and blankets) and leave the more complicated stuff to the experts, but its sooo tempting when you see the Fleece Artist stuff. The plan was to go with the two needle sock pattern, but I saw Fleece Artist's pattern using circular needles and I got a little cocky.





Here's a picture of the socks I'm making:

Note to self: when they say 12 inch circulars, they don't mean 18 inch, they mean 12 inch. Bottom line: I am stretching and stretching and stretching the 64 stitches to make it fit around 18 inches, and it won't fit.

Not pretty. I can't convince my family to take a break from our holidays to go on a yarn store hunt - imagine that.

So I'm frogging and going to go back to the 2 needle pattern.

Gotta walk before you run.

Check out the Size of the ...Needles on that Girl

The knit-out was a huge success.
Good weather - check
Lots of knitters - check
Free yarn, free patterns - check
Horse and piggy smell - double-check


One down is a pic of Jeanine - she's been my pal since last year - she's one of the first ones to send us stuff for the project. Jeanine makes me laugh. She had a hobby farm in Southern Ontario and kept sheep that she sheared, then she washed the fleece (wrecking her washing machine, I think), then spun it, then knit it. I told her they sell it already spun at the yarn store nowadays. Heh heh. Apparently I'm not funny. Anyways, this is JT spinning up yarn from her baby (well sheep-baby), Aubergine.


Plus there's a lady with massive....needles. I had to laugh.

We were there to spread the word about the project, and the Guild promised to help - yay, Ottawa knitters.

Wool-Tyme in Ottawa is in!

We've got a new drop-off point in Ottawa - its Wool-Tyme. They have loads of great stuff - a warning: you won't be able to resist buying as you drop off.

Check out these over the knee socks by Kureyon - Wool-Tyme sells the yarn - I still think when you knit and it comes out stripey, there's some kind of magic involved.

While we're on the topic, I've found my first sock pattern - I'm overwhelmed by the dpn's - how can two hands knit with four needles? But this is a pattern that I found (shout out to all the Ravelarians who gave me advice.

What do you think? Is it a good pattern for a virgin sock knitter?

I'm going to start on it, just after the knit-out, I think (August 3rd, experimental farm, Ottawa) - I'm hoping to get a few strips going there, and then to strong-arm my mommy into helping me turn them into a blanket.

See you soon!

ab

Ravelcrack

So I went into Knit-Knackers this week - that's our newest yarn store partner in Ottawa. I asked Sarita, the owner of the store - "how do I get the word out to knitters about our project?". One word:

Ravelry.

Okay, I started using it 48 hours ago, and I've been on six times already. I foresee a big big problem. How can I resist when I sign in, and there are already 1400 knitters online?

Big

Big

Problem.

Shortest Post Ever

Just to let everyone know, the Knit Cafe is again partnering with us in Toronto - so you can drop off your items there, or Nathalie-Roze, or at Sew Be It or Knitomatic. Thanks, Ivana, Nathalie-Roze, Dilys and Haley, you amazing women!

We're Stripping on August 3rd

Well, actually we're knitting strips. On Sunday, August 3rd, we're going to be at the Central Experimental Farm, as part of the Ottawa Knitter's Guild Knit-in. The event runs from noon to 4:30 pm, and we'll have a little table and chairs set up, so come by and say hi.

You can even bring items to donate to the event, and I will gratefully accept them. We're going to start a bunch of strips, and keep on knitting until 4:30. I'm hoping that we'll have enough strips to assemble into a blanket, which I will do over my holidays.

By the way, Knitomatic, Nathalie-Roze and Sew Be It in T.O. just sent me messages lettng me know that they are in for another year. Thanks guys!

One more note: the stores mentioned that they are receiving items in the mail. Love to hear that we've got people sending in stuff remotely, but it would be great if you could send it to us directly. Here's the address:

The Warm Hands Network
240 First Avenue
Ottawa Ontario
K1S 2G6

Okay, I admit it, I'm watching Hairspray for the first time as I'm updating the blog. Some major classic lines, starting with: "Hair can't just hang there like a dead thing on your cheeks". I think I need a beehive hairdo.

Bye for now,

Anita