KNOW Day Camp 2010

My local chapter of Knit at Night called KNOW (Knit at Night Out West) had its first annual Day Camp about a month ago. I know, I know, but better late than never...

We held it at my house and we packed in 31 great knitters and we all created a "Funky Sock Monkey". As you know, I had made Elliott after my trip to Sock Summit last year. Below are a ton of pictures of all the fun we had - I decided I wanted to post them all so everyone could see. I also received a beautiful potted Tulip and a gift certificate to a LYS as a "thank you gift" and a festive Easter Bunny container filled with Knitting Fuel - Chocolate!

We had lunch brought in and we had great goodie bags that included the yarn for 2 opposite color sock monkeys, the pattern, candy and chocolate, samples of lotion, 2 different sizes of project bags as well as 2 custom-made scratch-off cards. The scratch off were used to give out door prizes. We had 16 door prizes. Which was totally great odds for winning! We also had monkey stitch markers but they were given out at our last KNOW meeting since they just didn't arrive in the mail in time.

I am still working on my Sock Monkey that I started - he still needs 2 arms and his ears and eyes but he is going to make one of my nephews really happy on his birthday! A totally fun day and well worth all the cleaning! lol. I hope we have started a yearly tradition...

Elliott's Christmas Adventures!

Well, better late than never. Elliott got to do a lot of interesting things over the Christmas holidays. One weekend we drove over the Fredericksburg, TX to do a little Christmas shopping and boy is that a great place to do it. We were having that cold spell then so it was actually nippy here in Texas so we all had on jackets - except Elliott, he had fur of course... Here is Elliott and myself meeting Santa. I am not sure what Elliott told Santa he wanted, but I heard something about miniture sports car.

We got to see some fabulous lights in Johnson City, Texas (named for President Lyndon B Johnson's family) called Hill Country Christmas Lights. Elliott ooh'd and ahh'd.

In early December Elliott and I got on a plane for Calgary, AB. Now I have to say, I was really prepared. I got some Cuddl Duds (fancy long-johns for those of us who didn't know), layers of clothes, new knitted mittens, a wool baktus scarf, and a Noro hat and my coat but -22 degrees F is ri-donk-u-lous! Taking a breath while waiting for a taxi was literally painful.

The day we arrived, Edmonton, AB which is further north than Calgary set a record for the COLDEST PLACE ON THE PLANET!!! (I am sure they mean where people are silly enough to try to live). But as the saying goes - I put on my big girl pants and toughed it out. Elliott, the coward, shivered inside my Couch purse. Those Canadians are of hardy stock - here are some Carolers on a pedistrian mall. Do you notice that they have on matching crocheted hats? Love their scarves!



The good news about going to Calgary in the heart of the winter, was I got to stay at one of my favorite hotels - the Fairmont Palliser. It was built next to the Grand Central Railway station in Calgary to allow tourists to have an upscale hotel to stay at before journeying on by train to other locals in Canada. It is such a treat, an old world feel and they have their own line of teas, which I adore and it was so great to have room service in your beautiful room with tea service after donning 17 layers of clothes and giving up all pretense of feminity to brave that kind of cold and snow. Here is a picture of the Christmas tree in the beautiful lobby.
Here is Elliott trying to hide in the decorations of the stairway so he won't have to go outside again. Elliott is essentially a Southern Texas monkey and likes his sunshine and warm weather

On the knitting front, here is a picture of the Baktus scarf I knit for the trip. It is in a lovely tone-on-tone red that I could not pass up. It was on my Christmas list for 2008 and my DH bought it for me and I decided to try this lovely scarf pattern with it. It is sooo flattering and an easy-easy project. I used 2 balls Happy Feet sock yarn with size 3 needles (I think). You start at a small end of the triangle, knit until 1 ball is gone and then start the decreasing side of the triange with the 2nd ball. I did a KBF increase rather than a yarn-over since I didn't want the hole. I am definitely going to make another one of these, maybe with a bit of a lace pattern to it.

Braided Sealing Wax Mittens

Hey! I'm a designer! Here is my first design as a knitter. I have made this a free download on Ravelry. You can also download the .pdf below.

I wanted a pair of really warm Mittens to match a bright red coat I have. I had just gone on a trip in November to Ann Arbor, MI where I bought the perfect shade of tone-on-tone Malabrigo Twist in an awesome red with orange undertones to match my coat in a colorway called Sealing Wax. So even though I live in Katy, TX, near Houston, I had a trip to Calgary, AB, Canada planned for mid-December so I needed some warm mittens. I looked and looked for just the right pattern that used worsted weight yarn and had some kind of cabling. I couldn’t find anything that was just right. So I decided to design a pair of my own called the Braided Sealing Wax Mittens.

I have very long thin fingers and always need a women’s large glove but I had several others who wear a women’s large that have thicker hands and/or fingers try the Great size on and they fit very well. Wee fits a large child or youth or small woman’s hands, Middling fits most women and a small man’s hands, Great fits a large women’s hands or a men’s Middling hand. You could probably go up a needle size for a men’s large or use one size larger needle with instructions for the next smallest size down to have a less dense mitten.

I like a nice defined cable and a densely knit mitten to be extra warm. I used a braid that is 9 stitches wide for the cabling so you don’t have to worry about mirror-imaging. Using size 4 needles and framing the braid with 3 stitches of purl on each side really makes the braid pop. I also used a twisted ribbing that is slightly reminiscent of small braids themselves.


You can get a .pdf of the pattern here: download now. Please let me know if you download the pattern and and make them up. I would love to see your own Braided Sealing Wax Mittens!

Oh Baby!

Is there something in the water or what? I have made soooo many baby afghans this past year. Here are few examples:


One of my DH's cousins had a grandbaby, Ameris, so I decided to do a darling afghan called Crochet Bunny Filet afghan. I used some stash yarn, Simply Soft, in a soft lavendar with a "K" hook and I reversed the Filet, so the spaces were solid and vice versa to make it more solid. Also, so that those cute little baby toes wouldn't poke through all the time...


Then my DH has a business friend who had their first child. They had a little boy and since the dad is a Baylor graduate, my DH wanted me to make something in Baylor colors. So I found this pattern called All Season Baby Throw. It goes super fast. I made it with I Love This Yarn, mainly because that is the washable WW yarn that you can get in the widest range of colors and with trying to match Baylor's colors that came in handy.

That pattern went so fast, that when my Mama asked me to make an afghan for a Church friend's new Grandson, I dug out some more stash yarn, Simply Soft and made this one up in some happy boy colors. She asked for this one with a really short deadline, so I told her she didn't get to pick the pattern, lol.
She really likes the Lyn's Round Ripple pattern and usually wants me to make that one.

But the real reason I make all of these is below. Look at these cuties with their custom hand-made afghans (and a matching sweater)...

Where's Elliott??

Hi! My name is Elliott and I thought you would like a little background about me. I was born in Portland, OR at Sock Summit. I was lovingly knitted by my adopted Mama, Bethel, out of Blue Moon Socks that Rock Heavyweight (DK) yarn from this pattern using a size 5 circular needle. I was born blind, like most puppies and kittens, and didn't open my eyes until I got to my new home, in Katy, TX.

I have already had some great adventures. Here I am at the Famous Eskimo Joe's in Stillwater, OK before the big game between Oklahoma State and Georgia. I ate a ton of Cheese Fries there and lost my voice rooting on the Cowboys to a 24 - 10 victory. Go Pokes!




Then a few weeks later, I got to travel to sunny L.A. Here I am with a co-worker of my Mama, Dr. Tom Woods, who let us in to the President's Club at LAX for some relaxing snacks and adult beverages before our loooong flight back to Houston, TX.

Thanks Tom!

Shalom Samuel!

I had a great opportunity last week to widen my cultural horizons as well as celebrate a very special time with a co-worker of my DH. I attended a bris for Samuel who was exactly 8 days old (which is completely the right age for a bris). DH was unfortunately unable to go due to work but since I had already planned to go and wanted to see the baby and give our gifts, I decided to go anyway. I am so glad I did.

Samuel's grandparents are originally from South Africa and were so welcoming as hosts in their home. The rabbi explained the significance of all the rituals and prayers which was so great for me and a few of the others who are not Jewish. As a Christian (of the Southern Baptist persuasion), I was very familiar with the Old Testament laws but had never attended any Jewish ceremonies before.

Samuel was a complete doll and unlike his mama, he slept through the entire process. I met his lovely aunts and other family and friends. I do have to report that Samuel's daddy is a baby hog! He and his Mama are very lucky to have such a good Daddy.

I can say without a doubt that the Jewish families and the Southern Baptists have a lot in common when it comes to the amount of food they put out for a gathering. Yum!



I made Samuel a Round Ripple afghan in some fun boy colors using Caron Simply Soft. I also included a really cute Froggie soap and a little white washcloth made from CottonTots that has 2 little baby feet on it. You can just see the toes in the picture below.




I recently made another Round Ripple afghan in white and pastel pink for a co-worker of my Mama's who is doing her nursery in Paris colors, white, pale pink, and black. How cute would that be. Mama just WOULD NOT let me put a small black border on this afghan but I DID try! I used the I LOVE THIS YARN from Hobby Lobby but I have to say I think I still prefer the Caron Simply Soft. Although, the I LOVE THIS YARN comes in a lot more colors.

Big Fish Stories and Other Yarn Tales...

I found this awesome pattern for a silly FISH HAT through www.Ravelry.com and knew I had to make it. Now, I realize I might be a bit shall we say "mature" for a hat of this type unless I was going snow skiing in the near future, which I'm not, so that made for some difficulties...who would get the hat...I knew I was definitely making it, but needed a good recipient.

My nephew, Mini-Max came to mind. He is the right age, about 3rd grade with a whimsical sense of humor who would appreciate the "ONE who DIDN'T get AWAY"! I think, my freshman niece may be wearing it as often as my nephew, such is it's appeal. I made it up in Caron Simply Soft in a nice manly navy with an olive green for fishy-ness. Totally the funniest fun hat I have seen in a long time. Here is a just woke up Mini-Max (his grandpa is the big Max)modeling his new "Catch".




I also had a friend who had a little girl after 2 boys so I decided she needed some serious GIRL-power Gifts. Here is Lyn's Round Ripple afghan in a cool brite pink and orange with white.

I also found a cool pattern for a little sweater, called the Hexagon Baby Jacket. I made all these with Caron Simply Soft so they can be washed and dryed - important for new babies. The jacket is very clever and super fast. It is basically 2 Hexagon granny-squares sewn together, but don't get excited, that's the only sewing required and then crochet on the trim. It is a bit of a take on Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ) that is so popular in the knitting world. The pattern shows a cute little guy in the jacket in what I think is Green Bay Packer colors so this can be a very masculine jacket as well. It says about 3 - 6mo. but I made it to pattern and I think it is running a bit big but I haven't tried it on the baby yet. You could use dk or sport yarn and a smaller hook to size it down or a bigger hook or more rounds on the hexagons to make a bigger jacket. I love the orange flower buttons that tie into the afghan. It's the little details that make a project!

In the festive mode, I also came across a cute pattern for St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun Candy Dish hats. Since I have a "bit" of Irish heritage and I just get sucked in by these quickie cutie projects I decided to make a few. You are supposed to fill them with chocolate coins but I was in a rush and couldn't find any so I filled them with plastic gold coins I found at Michael's instead. I made the 1st one like the pattern with DC (double crochets) but since I wasn't going to starch them, I decided to do the others substituting 2 rows of SC (single crochets) for each row of DC. I think they are a bit sturdier. I experimented with the amigurami method of not joining the rounds but wasn't as happy with the color changes as when I joined the rows with a slip-stitch. I used Simply Soft for the black and Plymouth Encore for the green that was in my stash. It's not that easy to find Kelly green yarn unless you have a DS who loves the Celtic Soccer team! lol

The Big Easy

It's not often you get to take a trip to New Orleans and stay in the French Quarter, eat some great Cajun food, and have some family time too in the month of December, but I got to do just that. DH and DD joined me on the second day of the USAEE (USA Energy Economists) Conference (yes, I AM just that geeky).

We went to a fabulous restaurant on Bourbon Street called the Red Fish Grill. Here is the yummy wedge salad with pecans and blue cheese - almost too pretty to eat.
I followed that up with shrimp creole.
My dinner mates, DD and DH ordered a pecan-crusted fish (it seems they take that crusting seriously in the French Quarter!)
If you know me, you know I am all about the dessert. It seems a lot of restauants in New Orleans have what is called a fixed menu of several courses and ours had 3 courses and the last course was bread pudding. I am not a huge fan of bread pudding but the waitress said we could upgrade to a chocolate bread pudding that was really good. I'm always game for chocolate so I ordered that. Here it is.
It was simply de-vine!! I could not quit making those yum noises all the way through the dessert and the vanilla bean ice creme made it even more heavenly. I have to stop talking about it now, I am making myself hungry!

We got to shop and tour the French Quarter several evenings and on Saturday as well. The architecture was beautiful and here is a beautiful garden in the area as well.


We even enjoyed some musicians jamming on Bourbon Street. It was un-seasonably cold but maybe that kept the crowds away. Some of the bars, etc. looked fun and we posed in front of some of the funny signs.
Cheyenne said with the clubs, music, cigars, and other "sins" that New Orleans was like a grown man's Disneyland...lol

Of course there were some pretty racy clubs and posters too but overall it was pretty tame probably because of the cold, but there are always a few perverts looking to give away some beads...



We also had beignets (a yummy French pastry like a donut but way way better) and chicory coffee (ok, DD had the coffee, I had milk and DH had a Sprite) and the powdered sugar with the beignets was so thick, DD had to make herself a sugar mustache!





We also got the opportunity to take a tour on Saturday to see the Lower 9th ward and some other neighborhoods that were really hard hit by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Living in the Houston area, we are very familiar with a lot of the evacuees from New Orleans and all along the gulf coast. Some of the homes are being rebuilt with help from charitable organizations sponsored by Brad Pitt. We were really hopeful that we might see him on the tour since we were visiting some of his projects (especially DD, I have to admit I used that as incentive to get her to come to New Orleans) but no such luck.

We toured a model home that is in a neighborhood that is trying to build back "green". It was really cool and we actually got some good ideas for future building projects of our own (such as collecting rain water to use for flushing toilets). Here is DD and DH in the really airy and nice bedroom.

As former renters and later landlords of affordable housing in Oklahoma and Missouri, we were appauled by two things. One, how expensive the new "green" homes were in these areas - not what we would call affordable and also by the fact that so few homes were rebuilt. It appears that there are several governing agencies and they all want to "preserve" the historical neighborhood and its shotgun houses. So that make it very expensive to repair such heavily damaged houses and impossible to just tear the worst ones down and rebuild a basic affordable home in its place. Some organizations are buying properties from those who do not want to come back, getting lots of donations to restore or rebuild and then selling them at a profit. What a racket... As usual, the little guy gets the short end of the deal.

Well, on to some FIBER content. Here are a couple of dishrags that I made. The pattern is called Chinese Waves and I used a self-striping cotton that together makes a really thick dishcloth. A fun pattern and easy to do.

The third project is a Starburst hot-pad that is three-dimentional. I liked how this project looked in the pattern and I liked how it looked when I got done but I am not super pleased with my color choices and how they looked together. I made it to match some dishclothes I had made for my MIL but the variegated yarn has such a small amount of yellow it doesn't blend as well as I had hoped. She really liked it though, now I just need to convince her to actually use it and not just hang it up for "pretty"!