Straying Off the Path

I have a finished object to share, but I must confess that it isn't one of the many, many UFOs that was shown littering my craft room floor. This is a project I started after that photo was taken. Yes, I strayed off the path a little bit by starting another project, but I did finish it in record time, so it hasn't held up my progress too much.

It is knit from Socks that Rock Lightweight in the colorway Mossay. This beautiful yarn was gifted to me by the wonderful and talented Jaqi last fall. I knew as soon as I saw this yarn, what pattern I wanted to knit it into.

I knit the Multnomah pattern the first time with Madelinetosh in Toasted Pecan and named it Amber Waves. Although I wear it any time of year, it has come to be thought of as my autumn shawl. This is now my spring version in a lush green. (Jaqi knows I’m a sucker for green!)

I was having a hard time deciding on a name for this beautiful shawl until I was inspired during the photo shoot. I have always loved Sassafras trees… and just look at the way the green of the yarn matches the leaves.

So now it's back to the UFOs. Oh, and by the way, I'll spare you more photos of it for now, but I've been working a lot on the Dr. Who Scarf!

Dr. Who and some whimsy crochet.

I believe the last time I posted about the Dr. Who Scarf that I'm making, it was about a foot long. That was back in January. I haven't really given much attention to the scarf for a while (much to one young man's dismay) and yet as I look at it now, I have made some progress on it. It is now a little bit longer than 3 feet.

The large basket of yarn was temporarily put into hiding- out of the way of the living space. Since things have quieted down around here, it's been brought out again and is residing in the dining room where I will see it everyday and be inspired to knit up a few rows here and there. Let's see if the scarf grows a little faster now.

I must say, I don't really mind having it hang out here... the colors coordinate nicely with my living room/dining room decor! (See the placemats in the next photo.)

Although I've got several projects on the knitting needles right now, I've been distracted lately by a serious crocheting jag. I suddenly had the need to crochet some quick items that would give me some instant gratification and add a bit of whimsy to my life, as well as a smile to my face.

I shared with you the start of the bacon and eggs pillow. It's almost finished:

I just need to attach the eggs and purchase a pillow form or stuffing and stitch up the side. I'm not sure which one of my bacon loving family members I'm going to give it to, but I'm sure that when the others see it there will be some equity issues and I'll have to make a couple more!

Here's a project I've been wanting to do for a long time. They are the mugs that you can get a craft stores with the inserts for kids to color. I made crocheted inserts. I made them to hang from hooks near the water cooler in our house.

This set is crocheted in the colors of our everyday dishes, but I plan to knit or crochet more inserts to coordinate with the various holidays and seasons.

I can't wait to knit some cabled ones in deep red, green, gold, and blue for Christmas time. Now I just need to get the perfect thing to hang them from, I envision a small shelf with hooks beneath it.

As I was slowly packing away the winter decorations over the past few weeks (snowmen get left out long after the Christmas decorations are put away), I was struck with the need to make something in red for the Valentine's Day season. Just a little something to add some red to the table.

I had it on the kitchen table for a few weeks (making me smile) and now it's moved to the coffee table where it has overstayed it's welcome, but I don't have anything in shamrock green to replace it with yet!

That's all the sharing for today. See you soon with some finished knitted projects.

Oatmeal Knitting

Not long ago I mentioned in a post that I was asked by a certain young man to knit the Dr. Who Scarf. The yarn it takes to make it looks like enough to make an afghan really!

The scarf is done in all garter stitch. I call this "oatmeal knitting". It's like comfort food. Knitting without following a pattern, or needing to count or think is comforting.

Of course, knitting this much garter stitch can become so monotonous that you want to put the needles through your eyes. That's why I have decided to work on this project when I need something mindless to knit.

I'll knit it while I'm watching TV (and I mean really watching, not just listening and not looking up). I'll knit it when I'm in the car in the dark (as a passenger of course). I'll knit it when I only have time to pick it up for a moment or two (and I don't have time to figure out where I left off in a pattern). I'll knit it when I'm under the weather (and I don't have the concentration for anything else).

I've got 100 rows done already. I should be done in no time!