Woolythyme

Blog-iversary!!! and a little giveaway (NOT a bear) to celebrate!

 

 

I took a class once with Anna Zilboorg.  What an amazing character!  The class was on strip knitting, and as many weekend classes will do....this one had us making a teddy bear sized sweater.    Our assignment was to bring a bear and multiple colors of the same weight yarn.  Things went pretty well in the beginning, although I think I was the only one in the class with DK weight yarn (the directions might have specified worsted (!) but I had more colors of DK) so I was forced to knit like a whirling dervish to keep pace.  Also, Ted E. Bear was a bit paunchier than his peers in the class, so his sweater needed to be a tad bigger;  it was a good choice-- the dk weight was far more flattering than the worsted would have been. Things were progressing well until the end of class.   All those loose ends!  So, I'm working on tucking them in--when Anna declared she never tucks in loose ends.  No one sees them, no one cares.  (no one cares???  really?)  It was break time---everyone was breaking but me....I just had to take care of those ends.  I HAD TO.  Anna came over, complimented me on the sweater (like she did to everyone) and declared it beautifully finished.....teddy bears really didn't care about those ends.  

Ted E. Bear cared---(and he told her so).  

I'll come back to Ted in a minute......

Can you believe I've been merrily blogging for a year??  A YEAR????  What started as a little personal knitting journal has turned in to a venue where I've met some of the most remarkable, creative, intelligent people..... who truly have made my world a better place.  I cook better (healthier), I take better pictures, I'm inspired to try new things---from all of you who have hopped into this little space and welcomed me into yours.  The one thing that you all haven't been able to do, though, is improve my sewing skills.  I still stink at it.

So, of course, this is what I've chosen to give in my give-away.  #1 Daughter found this fabric---I couldn't resist!!

 Yep.....that's the Lorax and friends----KNITTING!!!  I had to make SOMETHING out of this!!!  Sewing machine is dragged out of the closet.....maybe if I really really stay focused, my Japanese knot bag will turn out PERFECTLY.  (I've made a bunch of these----they are just the thing for small projects-on-the-go---mine all look sort of jimmy-wonked, but I still love them.)  I used to think that it was my machine's fault.  It is a BASIC one---it sews a straight line (does go backwards) and zigzags.  No fancy stitches, no blind hemming, no buttonholes, no serging, no computerized anything.  (Let's be honest, here--I make jammies for me and the grands, aprons, tote bags, that's about it.---I don't NEED fancy stitches, blind hemming, buttonholesl --oh maybe, but I can do those by hand-- or serging.  The problem is most definitely a user problem, not a machine one!)  Anyway, I patiently stitched my giveaway gift, and it's as poorly constructed as all the others I've made in the past.  (I did give #1Daughter the first one with the Lorax knitting upside down; that I could fix!)

BUT...even though it isn't perfect, believe me----your socks (or mittens or hat) really, truly won't care.

 

Even Ted E. Bear says so.  And he cares about everything.*

 

(*He's very politcal, too, as you may have noticed, and has collected pins from family and friends for years.  I think the only one that came from me was the Earth Day one!!!  He and I don't talk politics.)

So if you would like to be entered for this very usable, but not perfect knitting pouch---and I bet I might find some goodies to go in it!!--just leave a message below!!!  I'll choose a winner August 14th (my official 1st blogging day).

Yarn along...and WIP Wednesday...and a giveaway!!!!!

I've been on a finishing kick...digging out things that have gone to the depths of the stash and trying to find the love for them that I obviously once had when I enthusiastically began them.  On my last dive into the black hole of the stash projects, look what I found!!!

Five (5!!!) felted, stuffed snowmen!!  I thought all they needed were their faces, arms, and hats and scarves.  (See the finished one in the back?)  WOW.  I'm on it.  Dragged out the beads, the embellishments, and....... the directions. 

I think I know why I quit.  According to those directions, you need to put the arms on BEFORE stuffing.  oops  Most likely, when I figured this out last year, I had run out of time to undo and be fiddly with this finishing stuff.  (So much easier to just toss in the closet!)

But, this time I was listening to a good audio book (The House of Silk, a modern rendition of a Sherlock Holmes story), and I had a free afternoon--so out came all the snowmen guts.  As long as they were disemboweled, I decided to stuff them with  polypellets to give them a bit more stability, weight, and flexibility, and any time I can figure out TWO reasons for undoing something, I consider this very much a win-win!!  Can you see? They're happier already!

THEN, to makes things even better---when I dug out the bag of alpaca (Frog Tree sportweight) that I use to make them, there was a baggie in the bottom that had three hats, already felted!  

 So we all got to listen to Sherlock together.

Let it snow!

(I know I'm new to this blogging community, but you all have made me feel so much a part of it, I want to say thank you by offering up one of these snowmen to a lucky reader.  Just leave a comment--by next Wednesday--Dec. 7--and either the Candyman or Jay-Bob will pull the lucky winner's name.  Good luck!  Please note:  these are NOT toys; they are stuffed with polypellets and the arms are strung beads on wires--all choking hazards should the snowman come apart!!!)

 

Joining Ginny for Yarn Along and Tami for WIP Wednesday.