And to Think...They Are Going To Pay Me For This!

After much discussion and a few false starts...they have asked me to do a teen knitting program at the library. The tricky bit was that, for the first time, we are asking the teens to bring their own supplies. Normally, when doing crafts, we provide the materials...however, in the current economy...well, there have been budget cuts. I am very excited about the program, but a little apprehensive. Though I have taught a lot of people how to knit, including teaching classes to my residents in the dorm, this is the first "official" class that I have given for strangers. (It is a lot easier to teach people I know, or to teach one on one. Fingers Crossed!)

The teens will be making their own scarves. I am going to just do a simple 4" garter stitch scarf. They will cast on however many stitches that the ball band suggests for gauge. I will show them/help them cast on, and then set them free. Since it is a one time 2 hour workshop, there is NO WAY that they will finish in the time allotted. This is where it gets cool.

I have filmed myself casting on, knitting, and casting off as three separate videos. I am uploading these to youTube (and here), and will then put the URLs on the instruction sheet. The young adult librarian will also link to them from the library's teen and mySpace pages. Who said knitters couldn't be tech-savvy?

Taking Orders

I had a party a little over a week ago after church on Sunday night. All of the young people, and some not as young people, came over to play games and eat food. It was a holiday weekend, so none of the kids had school the next day.

As we were all sitting around on the sectional and couches chatting, I pulled out my always-near-to-hand current knitting project. (If I remember correctly it was the 2 row Noro Stripe Scarf.) All of a sudden one of the guys, BigOne, piped up that if I wanted I could make him a scarf.

"Oh really?"
"Yeah. I'll even let you make me an orange one!"
"Construction Cone orange?"
"Yep."
"And you'll wear this?"
"Yep."

The next thing I knew requests were flying at me from all of the guys in the room. It seems that, while I have been very good about giving the gals birthday handknits, the guys were feeling neglected. I ended up grabbing a small legal pad and writing down names and projects on a handy little list. By the time I got through everyone, BigOne had changed his choice from an orange scarf to a more manly ski cap. In fact, most of the requests were for ski caps in VERY blah colors: black, blue, grey, etc. At least ski caps are fast!

Anyone else have an order?

Rock Your Socks Off Storytime

I did a pajama time family story hour last night at one of the other library branches. I got to pick any theme I wanted, so I chose...SOCKS!!!

It was a LOT of fun. The program included:

New Socks by Bob Shea

Smitten by David Gordon

Where's My Sock by Joyce Dunbar

"Black Socks" (One of my favorite Girl Scout songs.)

An insanely long time dancing around like crazy people to "At the Hop"

And a flannel board that I did for a poem about socks that I found online.

I wore my crazy Sesame Street Socks and let all of the kids take their shoes off.

We even played a game where they had to put things in order from sheep to sock:

A stuffed sheep

Wool Roving

A Skein of Yarn

A partially knitted sock still on the needles

A finished sock

Some moms nearly had apoplectic fits as their children messed with the needles of the sock-in-progress. I quickly reassured them that it had been knit for demo only, and was not an actual project I was working on. (How crazy are they to think that I would actually let 3 year olds unravel an actual sock sock? Silly non-knitters!)

Happy New Year!

I rang in the New Year with all my friends from church. We threw a big party at the house. (And by "we," I really mean "they." With "they" being my foster family.)

I spent the evening doing all the things I love the most:
-Laughing and playing games with my friends. (We played Risk.)
-Getting hugs from the small folk.
-Snacking
-Knitting.

Yes, that is correct. It is quite possible to play Risk while working on a 2 row striped Noro scarf.

Was I mocked? Yes. Did I care? No.

Two last things:

1. It is astonishing to note how quickly people can become acclimated to your knitting in their presence. The guys: Broseph, Matador, and JoNo didn't even blink when I pulled out my needles.

2. Ark crawled into my lap part way through the evening and asked me if I was knitting a sock. Now, I realize that a 16 inch length of striped Noro scarf looks NOTHING like a sock...but every time I babysit Ark and his little brother Fish I bring a sock to work on. (They love watching me try it on, and giggle when my toes peep out the ends.) So, in Ark's little 4 year old mind needles and yarn=socks in progress...no matter what the project looks like!

Second Hat Syndrome

There is a baby board book that I absolutely adore. It is called Urban Babies Wear Black. When I found out that my hairstylist was expecting, I knew I just had to buy it for her. Since I have spent a lot of time knitting in her salon's waiting area, and in her chair, I knew she also needed a hand knit baby gift. Inspired by the book itself, I decided to make a black baby beanie. (Generally speaking, baby knits are pastels or brights...it was actually quite difficult to find nice cushy soft dk yarn in black!)

There was just one hitch...as there always is with my knitting attempts...Hairstylist was having twins! That meant 2 baby hats, because while I could and do expect them to share one copy of the book, I couldn't very well expect them to share one hat!

I will be going home for Christmas, so I made a hair appointment for while I am there. (Hairstylist is the sweetest person in the world, she is actually coming into the shop the day after Christmas just for me! I do not deserve her! Although, granted, I do travel hundreds of miles so that she can still do my hair, so some accommodation can be expected.) I plan on giving her the baby gift then as a part-congratulations-part-Christmas present.

I ordered the book online and it has already been delivered to parents' house. I have even finished one hat. It is adorable. But I just can't seem to get around to finishing the second hat. It is worse than socks. When I knit socks I either use exciting yarn or do a fun stitch pattern. The hat is a plain, and boring, 2x2 rib, and it is solid black. I did cast on the second hat, and I even knit most of it. I am actually all the way to the decreases. I just can't get motivated. I have cast on three scarves and a sock since starting this hat, and I am running out of time.

Here's hoping for motivation or a miracle in which the hat knits itself!

COMPLETED!

My frequent buyer card is, as of 10:23 this morning, full! I now get $25 toward my next purchase! (And there is no minimum purchase amount. If I buy $26 worth of yarn, I only have to contribute $1 and the buyer card!)

Now, what to buy?

Does this mean I can finally give in and buy the hand-painted beaded silk that is over $50 a skein? (Pros: I will stop coveting and drooling every time I walk into the shop. Cons: I will still have to spend over $25 for the one skein which is not large enough to do anything with.)

Should I use it toward finally buying the yarn for the Abotanicity sweater I have been planning? (Pros: The sweater calls for a lot of sock yarn, and this would be a useful savings. Cons: The shop doesn't have enough of any one color way to make the sweater and I am not sure I can use the buyer card on special orders.)

Should I be practical and use it for needles or notions? (Pros: They have gorgeous Lantern Moon needles and Addi Turbos that are pricey. Cons: I already have a zillion needles and don't really need anymore.)

ARGH!!!! TOO MANY DECISIONS!!!!

I think it best if I just think on it for a while. Wouldn't want to do anything rash...the stash is already full of rash decisions!

Blood and Shadows

I really liked the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer, and I had been looking forward to the release of the Twilight Movie for over a year. I made arrangements to go to see it with B1, Jester, and Pizza at the midnight showing weeks before it came out. And, as I usually do, I spent a lot of time pondering what I would wear. I wanted something appropriately festive...black and/or red. But, at the same time, I did not want anything "costumey" since I don't want to be one of those fans. So, being me, I decided on jeans, a long sleeved black shirt, and...a hand-knit Twilight inspired scarf. The only problem...I did not have a hand-knit Twilight inspired scarf. Still, it was over a month until the movie, which should have been plenty of time for me to make one.

I went to my LYS (Knit This, Purl That) and bought some beautiful variegated red, black, and grey wool yarn. It had some uninspiring name like color #something or other, I lost the ball band so don't remember what it was, or even what brand. I immediately renamed the yarn and the scarf "Blood and Shadows!" But, I didn't want to make just any old scarf, this was for an EVENT. It called for zip, zest, and zeitgeist. Since I have always gotten a lot of compliments on my meandering mohair scarf, I thought I would go with something like that.

After bemoaning the fact that all of my knitting books are in storage, I decided to bite the bullet and do an original design. It was only a scarf...how hard could it be? I had just made a set of coasters for the Sister, and so had mitered squares on the brain. I came up with a design that was a series of interlocked mitered squares, cast on, and merrily began knitting. Now the pattern itself was fairly easy. The only fidgety bits were when I had to cast on at the end of the rows to increase again for the next square.

There was one teensy little issue. My beautiful yarn was sock yarn, and I like really long scarves. It takes me long enough to knit socks, let alone a whole chain of socks. The scarf took forever. It was a black hole of time and effort. No matter how long I sat there and knit, it did not get any longer. Weeks passed and it still was nowhere near finished. (Confession...I worked simultaneously on another project, namely the berets and a sock, and grad school was really work intensive this quarter.) Needless to say, the scarf was NOT finished by the movie.

So, instead of wearing it TO the movie...I knit on it AT the movie. I had many hours of waiting for the film to actually start, first in line and then in the theater. Pizza thought it was hilarious that I was actually knitting, and Jester took a picture.

Once the movie was over, the rush/need/desire to finish Blood and Shadows waned considerably. If it weren't for the fact that I had to stay home from work sick one day, and have been spending a lot of time on the phone (lets hear it for hands-free that lets you chat and knit!), it still might not be done! I did finish it though, and personally think that it is quite lovely. I actually got it done in time to wear it to Berkeley's going away/graduation party. It is one of my favorites, so will not be given away...and it has good memories associated with it (the movie and the party). Not to mention the fact that everytime I wear it I think of Edward and all his wonderful vampire-ness!