Modeling Session

What do grandmas like?
A toddler who blows kisses and gives hugs--
Knitting--
An appreciative audience (my daughter)--
A success story combining all of the above:
Tah-dah!  I give you the "Rose Tunic":

Even the pants match!  Knitted from the same yarn in April 2009 (before she was born).
Ravelry link.
Tunic knitted three times (with much teeth gnashing) between May 2010 and January 2011.
Ravelry link.
Matching shoes!

Toddler modeling:  Few opportunities for still shots.  My best one of the outfit was out of focus.  Was it the photographer or the subject that moved? My guess is that the camera can't focus fast enough when the moment occurs.  Oh, well...

1,001 Items!

Other ways of reducing is to be on the "yarn diet".  Lots of my recent projects have been exclusively from my stash.  Here's Elsebeth Lavold's Cable Cotton purchased September 3, 2009 in Albuquerque at Village Wool.

Girly Cardigan by Mission Falls

Most yarn I buy with a project in mind, and if it isn't started immediately, it often languishes in my stash until... an imminent project arises. See my CONTEST PIECES which are all from stashed yarn. And contest prizes will contain yarn!  Win-Win!!

Ravelry Link: HERE to Celinas-Mor

1,000 Items

The sofa bed is gone! And a small shelf, and many quite a few books. Video cassettes I sorted through 'ruthlessly' last Fall, but somehow they have been living in the trunk of my car. I don't use the trunk much. Today is their day.

While the rage is to be independent of possessions, I really don't see the point. Sometimes (yes, sometimes, only) I feel a little guilty looking in my closets and seeing items that my daughter will never want, and things that others would enjoy or use. And many of these fanatics think that 100 items is to strive for. ???? I call that crazy. I take more than 100 things in my luggage! I have more than 100 stashed yarns (not counting multiples of each yarn).

Do these shelves need a sorting? I think so too. However, the truth is, I just finished and took about 60 books off of it.

My daughter, the striving minimalist, is visiting. She's my cheerleader! When asked she says, "I don't want anything! (except a MacBook Air...)" I think she was a little surprised when I picked up the phone and asked ARC to drop by and pick up the sofa bed. The books are a drop off at the back door of the public library. How easy is that?

BET YOU CAN'T DO JUST ONE THING!

So why now? It started with a mural that was painted by my teen, ca. 1998. It's on a long wall in her bedroom. Every time she comes home, she offers to paint over it, and this time, I decided it's time. So, how do you do that?

1. Get rid of the 2-ton sofa bed in front of it.

2. Clean where the sofa bed was.

3. Move a bookshelf so that there's room to move the sofa bed through the doorway.

4. Unload everything on the bookshelf. (It was mightily stuck in the carpet.)

5. Clean the shelves, dust the books, and clean behind the shelves.

6. Sort through all the books.

7. Replace the books, and box up the ones that are not wanted.

8. Take a picture, and realize... what's the diff?

9. And of course, buy lots of Primer.

Spoiler Alert!

If you are thinking of entering my contests, you might want to think about the following information:
My mittens are not alike.  And for the contest, I intend to have a matching pair.

On the left, I REALLY wanted to use my garnstudio Alpaca.  It's lovely soft.  Then I got this far and was disappointed in the definition of the cupcakes.  Assuming that it's because the "garn" is fuzzy, I decided to try a second mitten with the lovely Valley Yarns Superwash DK.  Although the second one isn't "miles" better than the first, I'm going to continue with it.  The color is lighter, and it has a crisper look to it.  We agreed that if you told someone they are cupcakes, it would be obvious, but otherwise, they are colorful.

 Detail of the rejected mitten:  The bottom (first row of cherries) was knitted with a fluffy, eyelash type of red, and it stuck through the whole row as I carried it behind the other stitches.  It was surprising!  I never thought of that.  I thought it would be perfect for the splash of cherry, but, alas.

I have 12 more days to finish my projects, YOU have 3 more days to enter my contests!
NOTE: The deadline to enter has been extended to Sunday at midnight (MST or GMT+7).

Too soon

So I posted pictures of the crazy hat, and then was convinced it needed more.  My daughter started the chant:  POM POMS POM POMS POM POMS...
So I tried my hand, and I must say, she was right!
What I thought was a cute hat is now the cutest ever!!

Can't see the pompoms in the top photo?  Because there were none...  Just added;  now we need all new photos.

By the way:  Don't forget to vote in the contest.  I've decided (er, maybe it's my daughter, looking at my stash, decided) I should include a skein or two of unnamed yarn with all prizes.  Hmmm.  You know you might get lucky!  Check out my stash at Ravelry.  Wish list prizes are accepted.  Deadline is ... extended to Sunday, midnight.

Crazy Hat for Toddler

A couple of things motivate me:
#1, a request from my daughter
#2, my stash
#3, a pattern that I ogle over for years
With that combination, one evening last week, I gathered my thoughts, and my materials (during TV ads - oh, I probably missed a few minutes of whatever I was 'watching') and came up with a fun hat for my toddler.

Pattern: Multicolored Merry-go-round - Hat by Juliette Liétar;  Yarn: Valley Superwash DK by Valley Yarns DK / 8 ply 100% Merino 137 yards, used DOUBLED for main color.  Contrasting colors are "various". Size US 8 needles.

It's very stretchy, so much that I was able to put it on.  If it's too sloppy for my toddler, I'll add ear flaps and ties.  I knitted the figures on straight needles and continued the upper part on circular. I hope hope hope it will be accepted (by the toddler).
NOTE:  This project has not interfered with the contest... unless earflaps become a necessity.

Time with a Toddler

For the next few weeks, a toddler will be living at my house!  How much knitting do you think I'll get done by March 16?  I have three things that I would 'like' to get done by that date. And by 'like' I mean I intend to send them off with their recipients that day.  Is this craziness?  If you would like a prize of your own, I'm running a contest!  I have 3 lovely tea towels from around the world that I will send to those who guess correctly the stage of each project on March 16th.
Contest #1:  The Mittens.  Cupcake Convertible Mittens as seen on Ravelry. (All links are to Ravelry.)  This is using the colorwork from the cupcake mittens and with the knitting pattern Broad Street.  Here's what they (er, only the first one) look(s) like today:

First mitten up to stitches being held for thumb

Contest #2:  The Scarf.  A double-knitted scarf with Kauni.  This is going to be tricky, but guess how long it will be by March 16.  (I don't know myself, yet!)

4-1/2 inches long

Contest #3:  Hat.  Newly started (last night), this is knitted flat as a head band and then a knitted disc top.  Pattern:  Braid & Bobble Hat.  The theme for all of these is the purple color and (in my demented knitter's mind) intended as a set with different patterns and yarns.

Shows 2 of 10 repeats for the headband.

Contest rules:  You must make your guess-timates by midnight Friday, March 4th, and the closest to correct wins!  There will be three winners, one in each contest, even if I have to have a run-off in case of ties. (Unless NO ONE enters.)
Good luck!