Hat Recap

Today I did some more organizing of the hats for my Hat KAL/CAL. Over the last couple weeks, more hats have been pouring in.

One day I arrived went to the post office to check the PO Box and came home with this.

Lots of great hats inside to donate!

Today I went and picked up three more hats from the post office. The current hat count continues to blow me away.

I've done some final tallies in the Ravelry group. If you mailed me hats, please check the list to make sure you see your name. I will be using that list to draw winners for prizes at the end of this week!

Thank you again to everyone for all their help for this chemo cap collection. It makes me so happy to see hand-knitters, crocheters and machine knitters all coming together for a great cause. :) 

Sockupied, Fall 2015

When Amy Palmer, editor of Sockupied and Knitscene, asked me if I would like a review copy of the Fall issue of Sockupied, I jumped at the chance! I loved the Spring one and was very curious to see what the this issue had in store for me.

 

This issues contains six patterns, with the photo shoot taking place at The Loopy Ewe (one of my favorite online yarn shops. Hooray!). Once again, I was not disappointed with this digital magazine. The whole thing is great, but here are some of my favorite parts....

I enjoyed the Eye on Design Feature with Debbie O'Neill. She talks of her "epic yarn stash" and her love of texture and lace in sock patterns. Her top-down socks, A Walk In the Woods, do a fantastic job of combining texture and lace. I want them!

I'm also intrigued by Mone Dräger's Checkers Socks. They are also worked from the top-down and you work in the round and back and forth, but in a different way than a regular  sock. I think they would be a fun challenge.

And then we get to Jennifer Raymond's Electrostatic Lines Socks. Jennifer definitely knows how to come up with interesting sock patterns (I talked to her about her Karner Butterfly Socks in the last issue here). 

Not only are these toe-up socks so beautiful, but Jennifer also provides good information on how to get socks to fit your calf perfectly. As a lady with beefy calves, I appreciate this information!

The other sock patterns are lovely too! They include patterns for beginner sock knitters, cables and more. And, if you love the history of knitting, you'll definitely want to check out Donna Druchunas' feature on socks from the Russian Empire. So interesting.

You can get your copy of Sockupied from the Interweave Store. If you love socks, you definitely need it!

Disclaimer: I received this issue of Sockupied for free in order to review it. My review is 100% my honest opinion. I did not receive any payment for this review nor did I agree to publish a positive review. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
Photos courtesy of  Sockupied/Harper Point Photography.

FO Friday: Andromeda Peplum Vest

I finally finished it! Just shy of 5 months after I started it, here's my Andromeda Peplum Vest:

I am so in love with this piece. The whole reason I wanted to learn to crochet was so I could make super lacy stuff like this. I'm glad I kept at the crocheting over the last couple of years so I could get here.

I made a few minor changes to the pattern. I attached the bottom part to the top part (instead of the belt holding them together) and I added a little length to the bottom as well. I stitched this in Shalimar Breathless DK, one of my very favorite yarns!

The pattern comes from Doris Chan's Convertible Crochet. There are so many beautiful patterns in the book. I will definitely be making something from the book soon. I'm thinking maybe a Titan Top.

Have you finished anything lately? :)

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday: Cross Stitch Edition

Finished Clue 1 of A Very Merry Christmas Town from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. Looking forward to the next installment next week!

Castine Pi Shawl

Happy Monday! You now can get my pi shawl pattern originally seen in Love of Knitting magazine as an individual pattern on Ravelry. I've renamed it from "Pi Shawl" to "Castine."

Castine

$6.50

This shawl uses two balls of Done Roving's Frolicking Feet Transitions. The first ball you knit from the center out and the second ball from the outside in. It makes for some lovely and interesting color transitions.

I love a good pi shawl. You can wear it different ways and it's sure to keep you nice and warm. I've been known to use a pi shawl as a blanket in a pinch too.

Castine

$6.50

My Castine is knit in the Coastal Cruisin' colorway. With lots of Frolicking Feet Transitions colors to choose from, I look forward to seeing a rainbow of Castine shawls popping up on Ravelry soon! :)

The One Where the Knitters and Crocheters Make Me Cry

Last year at Stitches Midwest, I donated around 60 hats to Halos of Hope for cancer patients around the country. I was so proud of how the knitters and crocheters came together for a good cause. It gave me all the feelings.

This year at Stitches Midwest, people dropped off hats to Erin.Lane Bags, Buffalo Wool Co., and Sun Valley Fibers for me to donate to the cancer center where my dad was treated. The Interknit Machine Knitters Guild, a local guild that has a booth at Stitches each year, spent some of their weekend making hats for me too. Sandy here helped me in getting everything set up with the booth collection. She also had been picking up hats from different events throughout the year and brought them to Stitches for me.

Hats are still coming from people who live far away and joined up with my hat KAL/CAL on Ravelry.

Today I sat down and took in what we've accomplished so far.

Sunday afternoon, as I drove home Stitches Midwest, I might have shed a tear. The outpouring of love and stitches from people I don't even know is incredible. My dad wanted to be able to give back to the Cancer Treatment Center of America in some way. I'm beyond thrilled that everyone has come together to be able to do that for him. I was trying to get 150 hats. So far, I have this....

Thank you!