Wool-Aid

Found a great charity group on Ravelry that specifically focuses on wool items for children.  Wool-Aid sends most of their items internationally and focuses on wool, which provides the most warmth.  They take items for children of all ages.

Here is my first package to send to them, which includes a lot of items that I made years ago that had to intended recipients.

Moorish Mosaic, finally!

Almost immediately after it was published, I bought yarn for Lisa Naskrent's Moorish Mosaic Afghan.  Eleven months later, it is finally finished!

The only modification I made was to skip the triangle motifs intended to fill in the sides in favor of doing a few extra rounds for the border.  I love this pattern!

 Ravelry linky

Project Linus - Reverse Mitered Block

My Stitch'n Club at Nationwide is starting blanket project to benefit Project Linus.  To help everyone get started, I wanted to find a couple simple patterns that could be easily used with any yarn and any gauge.  For the crocheters, it's the Corner Stripe Square by JudyK.  For the knitters, I wanted a mitered block pattern but most of the ones I was finding started with a large number of stitches for the cast on, then decrease to a point.  I wanted to work in the reverse direction to make it really simple to get the proper size.  While this is probably not an original idea, I have searched for this pattern and could not find it anywhere.  It is similar to this pattern by Ari Whitlow, but without the yarn-overs.

Enjoy!  I will add pictures soon!

Pattern
cast on 3

row 1: kfb, pm, kfb, k1
row 2: sl 1, k across
row 3: sl 1, k to 1 st before marker, kfb, sl m, kfb, k across

repeat rows 2 and 3 to desired size, ending on row 3, bind off

Notes
kfb - knit into the front and back of the stitch
pm - place marker
sl - slip
sl m - slip marker

Stash Update

April 1st is Flash Your Stash day, so here is my annual picture (only a day late)!



To be fair, this includes WIPs as well (see the 4 crocheted blankets along the right side of the photo?).

When I started keeping track of my stash and actual usage in 2009, I had a little over 44,000 yards in my home.  A few months later, I peaked at over 46,000 yards.  Today, I have just under 30,000 yards and lots of plans.  Maybe under 20,000 by the end of the year?

Magic Carpet Blanket

I am so excited!  I have another pattern being published in the Spring 2011 Interweave Crochet, which is due out closer to the end of the month.  They've shared their preview here.

The pattern will be available for download on the Interweave website at some point, if you don't get the magazine.

And now that it's public I can share my pictures!



And one of the girls playing on it while I was taking a break from the seaming:

Pay it Forward 2011

You may have seen this posted on Facebook some time after the new year: 

Pay it forward 2011: I promise to send something handmade or homemade to the first five people to leave a comment here. To be eligible, you must also post this in your status, offering the same thing to five other people. The rules are that it must be hand made by you and it must be sent out sometime during 2011. Ready set GO!

Well, I decided to jump on the wagon and joined on in.  I have to make for Jen, Lissa, Erin, and Amy.  The fifth person never reposted, so I'm taking him off the list.

So, what do you make for two sorority sisters, a former coworker, and someone who is a member of your knitting club?  Dishcloths?  Hats?  Scarves?

New Year, well, a little late

I think I wrote a New Year’s resolution last year, and obviously it didn’t hold. It is yet to been whether this year will be different, but here’s to giving it a go.

I am committed to two things for this year. The first is to design more, and share the things I have designed. I have two patterns that I intend to share as soon as I can get them written up. One is a crocheted hat that features spirals rounding from the top all the way down into he ribbing. The second is for a 12 inch block I designed for my last round of NYOBE on Ravelry.

The second goal is to continue to knit from the stash. While the last couple years of stash-down have really gotten me far, I still have far more than I need. I’ve come to realize that it’s pretty wasteful to purchase yarn, hold on to it for 3-4 years, then sell it at a loss because I no longer want to use it. Doesn’t it make more sense to make a purchase and start up with the yarn while you still remember why you bought it? That’s my goal.

Here’s a picture of the stash as of mid-January.



I’ve actually sold off 35 balls through Ravelry’s ISO/Destashing Board. I’ve also made some purchases from those very same boards, but the net is a decrease. I’m hoping to show another picture at the end of the month with some real progress.