Camp Loopy 2 - Ready to Knit

Tonight I wound both skeins of yarn and, as you can see, I had a little help frrom my housemate. He is fixated with the electric winder and finally found the courage to come up to "reach out and touch" something. It only lasted a couple tries before he backed up to a safer watching distance.

Then I prepped my Loopy bag with needles, pattern, yarn and my CL2012 badge. I am ready to cast on tomorrow, June 27th.

Tonight I learned that this project for camp will be knit with groups divided by weight, yarn weight - don't get too excited, and I will be knitting with the Lightning Bugs. I am so excited!

Now back to firewatching and working on a giraffe. Until next time, Happy Knitting~!

Another Monkey Done

This monkey was knit for my neighbor who loves orange and all things cute. I named him Creamsicle because of his colors.

He is knit from the Jerry the Musical Monkey pattern by Rebecca Danger out of Caron  Simply Soft yarn. This one I used safety eyes and just used polyfil to stuff him.

TWW - Hot, Fire, Smoky

Not much good to say about this weekend except, the orange monkey is done, and the giraffe is on the needles. Sounds like I am knitting a zoo. There is a great title for a movie: I Knit A Zoo, or has that been done?

The picture is a great one from the CBS website. The fire west of Colorado Springs is about 10 airmiles from my house. That is too close to CSprings. The weather forecast is not good and it looks like several more days of extreme fire danger. Just hoping for the best.

Camp Loopy Update: Paddle Down

Finished!  I had planned a great photo shoot of this one at the Garden of the Gods, however now it is closed and the smoke is too thick to make it pretty.

So, this is the best I could do under the conditions. It was a very fun knit and I may consider doing another one in the future. Last time: the pattern is Summer in the City by Ilga Leja knit in Malabrigo Arroyo (sportweight) in Candombe.

I hope all the Camp Loopy canoers have enjoyed a fun month of knitting and is ready for the next challenge. Until next time, Happy Knitting to All~!

TWW - Father, Fire and Hot

Spent the weekend celebrating Father's Day on Saturday with a yummy meal and family. Sunday a fire started about ten miles from them so went up to get the irreplaceable family pictures and mememtos as well as make sure they are ready to leave if need be.

Added: Monday, went back up to finish getting some driveables now that the fire is eight miles away with no containment. Lots of fire fighters and equipment working hard but the hot and windy weather is hampering progress. Folks are ready to leave and we are watching the news closely.

It is going too be a long summer at this rate.

Camp Loopy - Planning for the Second Session

The 2nd Camp Project was announced yesterday late afternoon and the "store" opened with the Monday Sneak Up.

So, armed with the requirement of 800 yards and at least one color of your country's flag, I went looking for a pattern on Ravelry. The following list is what I considered for this project: Pleated Vest by Pickle Jar Creations, Daybreak, Square Peg, Iced, Coin Lace, Every Way Wrap, Bay of Fundy Wrap, and Thin Ice.

The way I researched this was to go choose a keyword - shawl - and define the search with 750-900 yard requirements. Then I sifted through to find the ones that were 800+ yards. From the selections above I chose the Bay of Fundy Wrap by Shireen Nadir. (the picture is from the detail page of the pattern - go see the rest, they are beautiful)

Once I had chosen the pattern I went to The Loopy Ewe and began searching yarns to find fingering weight in a color from my flag. I ruled out white right away, it is not a color that I will wear, so I was left with red and blue. Thank goodness, Sheri said that for this project "blue is blue" and does not have to be a perfect pantone match for the flag.

After an hour of picking and discarding I ordered the last two skeins of Dream in Color Smooshy in Deep Sea Flower. I think it will be fabulous and the wrap will work great for evenings out in the mountains, maybe even on a camping trip.

Well, back to finish the first camp project so I am ready to start this one on June 27th. Until then, happy knitting~!

TWW - Alligator, Twined, Progress

This weekend was filled with knitting as usual. Progress report: The 1st Camp Loopy project is getting closer to the end.

Then I played with an "alligator" at the folks house to help cut up firewood. The alligator is a Black and Decker tool that is safer than a chainsaw. We got the job done in a couple hours with time leftover to hunt down wasp nests and get rid of them.

I attended the first session of the Twined knitting class at Green Valley Weavers. We learned a very cool cast on and how to knit and purl with twining and a couple of the decorative stitches. Then we decided on the project to knit - mittens, and went home to do homework for next week. More on this to come. Until then, happy pre-summer knitting~!

Camp Loopy - Paddling to the Finish

I am paddling past row 76 on the med/large version of the full size poncho of Summer in the City. No picture of my work because it is just a lump of very pretty yarn. It is a good thing I am in the canoe and not in the tent.

Giraffe

The next critter for my needles is a giraffe for a first grandchild of a co-worker. The new mother is doing the nursery in brown and pink with giraffes. I chose chocolate and pink to do this giraffe for the newcomer.

The pattern is by Susan Anderson and comes from her book, Itty Bitty Toys. She also has a class on Craftsy just for this knit.

I will be getting to use my pom-pom makers for this project. I think it will be too cute. More on progress as the summer moves forward~!

TWW - Productive, Bones and Bear

The weekend went by in a whirl. I was up every morning before the sun and busy. I got all the house chores done, car serviced, hair cut, and visited the folks for a brief clean up project, plus I knitted like a fiend.


While all this was going on I was watching episodes of Bones in between. I am into the last episodes of Season 6 and hope that there is one more season at least to be added to Netflix Streaming. I do so want them to end up together.


The project at the folks was to restack some siding that had been sitting for at least a year on sawhorses until one of our neighborhood bears decided that they wanted to tryout fot the Olympic gymnastic team in the balance beam event. I suspect that bear may still be running cross county after the racket it made falling over.


My brother showed up to help do the heavy lifting part. Now the pile is closer to the ground and rewrapped burrito style with the tarp. It also created a much larger driveway to the back of the house so mom can get in and out easier. All and all, a fast and fruitful project. 

Camp Loopy - Still Paddling

Now that the monkey has left the canoe, I am back to paddling for Camp Loopy. I cast on the med/large version of Summer in the City poncho yesterday. It is a much easier knit since I am using Knit Pick nickel needles for the beginning of this one versus the Bryspun acrylics I started the test capelet on.

Easier means faster knitting. As of this AM it is into the 30th row with high hopes to be past the final row of the capelet. That was as far as I got on the test knit.

Update: 8:00 p.m. (nearly bedtime) I am knitting row 39 and will be ready tomorrow AM to go to the next level of this pattern. It is a really fun knit. I foresee another one of these in my future. Until next time, keep paddling (and knitting)~!

'Lil Monkey - Some Assembly Required

I knit Jerry the Monkey by Rebecca Danger for a co-worker who just welcomed her first little one into the world. He has already earned the nickname little monkey and I thought this is the perfect time to knit him a buddy.

The first part was knit on Monday and the rest over the rest of the evenings this week. It is a fast knit out of worsted weight, Lion Brand Wool Ease, and all the parts are ready for assembly. I will be doing the modification of embroidered eyes instead of the plastic safety eyes because it is for a baby. Otherwise he was knit to pattern.

He is now assembled and ready for gifting. I am going to knit one for a friend, and already have the tail done. These are really cute and fast. I want to try one out of sock yarn soon to see how cute he will be.