The rise of Peacock Sugar Bunny

Down at the pub with our good friends Chris and Kari one night, I had the sudden and compelling urge to offer to make Chris a hat. It may had something to do with the number of beers I'd had or the fact it was 10F outside at the time. After much consultation on color, fit and feel, we decided on David's Hat using Knit Picks Yarn:

But what this doesn't show you is the peacock Sugarbunny on the inside! Knit Picks brought out a new soft and oh-so-lovely yarn called - Sugarbunny. Peacock is the name of their beautiful blue color. I think I am going to have to make one for me! And yes, Chris likes the hat.

Oscar Oscar!

Last weekend is officially a blur. Dinners with friends, film directors' symposiums, hair dresser and nail appointments, revisiting my favorite cafes and of course, attending the Oscars. Oh and almost being run over by George Clooney. :) But more about that later.


After knitting like a mad woman for a week, I manage to get enough done on my shawl to make it wearable. I would have still like to have it another 10ins longer, however slow knitters with time management issues can't be choosers. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The pattern is Meandering Vines Shawl by Susanna IC and was worked in Rowan Kid Haze for the slight halo effect. 

The actual event was a lot of exhilarated craziness and fun. The red carpet is divided into two sections. The front section near the cameras is for the movie stars and glitterati. Behind a velvet rope is the lane for everyone else. And that is where my friend, Mary Anne and I, were making our way towards the theater. At one point, I stopped to talk to my friend Mary Anne and tried to get a look at the latest movie star who had just arrived (I think it was Gweneth Paltrow). When Mary Anne suddenly remarked in slight alarm "Oh, watch out, there is George Clooney. He's jumped the rope!". I turn around in time to see a blur of grey hair go rushing past me on his way to the stands behind me. Shaking hands with people in the bleachers, George Clooney then endeared himself to the 200 or so people present by talking to and then kissing on the cheek of the older lady waiting patiently on the red carpet in her wheel chair. A collective "Awww!" went up from everyone around him. Good job Mr. Clooney. :)

Now I'm back home and it's back to reality. At noon last Saturday I was attending the Oscar nominated foreign language film directors' symposium. Today at midday, I was deworming llamas and shoveling llama poop. I love me life! :) 

One tick on the bucket list

Sometime last year I got the idea that I was going to attack my fear of lace. So, in true me style, I dove headlong into something way bigger than I intended. Encouraged by my knit night tribe, I started and completed Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante. My project here. This gave me the courage and know-how to attempt something that I considered to be a lot harder - Haruni, by Emily Ross. In internet and social media speak, this pattern went VIRAL. Over 5000 knitters have taken on the challenge and completed their own Harunis. These are only the ones that have ravelry accounts. Who knows how many undocumented Harunis there are out there. 

I started mine before all of my Christmas knitting. I put it down for three weeks while I got the Christmas knitting out of the way. So, now I give you, my green Haruni:

I tend not to keep what I knit. So, in keeping to form, my green Haruni is now winging it's way to my sister in Australia. I hope she likes it.

And the award goes to...

I've been asked to go with a friend to the Oscars at the end of February. The first thing I thought of was "What can I knit for it? Do I have time?" and "Is there anything in my stash that would suit?"

The eventual answers to these questions were:

1. Meandering Vines Shawl
2. If I can decide a color and start this very second, then maybe.
3. No. After much research and three intense trips to yarn stores in two counties, I ended up with Rowan Kidsilk Haze, held double and in a gorgeous pink/purple color. 

After swatching on US8's and US9's, I decided to add a horizontal repeat (12 stitches) and go with US8's. I am almost 4 vertical repeats in and am really happy with this way it's turning out. I just have to ditch the rest of my life for the next month and knit like a woman possessed. With two small children, a hubby and lots of animals, this isn't going to happen. So, we will see how it goes.

Here is the link to the project on Ravelry.  From there, you can watch my progress (or lack there of). You'll need a ravelry account to do so.

2011 Play It Forward Summary

Happy new year everyone! I went to ground for a couple of months after releasing the Platypus blanket into the world. I managed to complete the 5 projects I had promised to people for my "play it forward" self-imposed assignment. To recap, the "Play it forward" project: 
I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment here. They must in turn post this (on facebook) and send something they make to the first five people who comment on their status. What you make is completely up to you. Handmade by you and sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011!

Although the choice of project for each person was completely in my hands, I did set a few of my own guidelines: 

1. All five projects would be knitted. 
2. I would not use the same pattern twice. 
3. They had to be patterns that I had never completed before.
4. I could get ideas of what the person wanted (ie give a list of 5 items, they chose three and I would choose one). 
5. I could ask the person what neighborhood of the color wheel they felt the most happy in.
6. Try and use "test knit patterns" if appropriate. 
7. Only use yarn from my stash.  My stash is pretty healthy, so this wasn't hard at all.  

So, here is what I came up with:

"Gilly Weed" hat for Jane, in Australia. This was a test knit for a Sarah Woodbury and was easy and fun.

Saroyan for Margaret. just up the road!  I LOVED making this. It was really fast and using one of my favorite yarns (Ultra Alpaca by Berroco), it was something I will make again and again.

"Gretel" for Deborah in Australia. I made this from a worsted alpaca skein that I was given from the UK. I wish I could find more of the yarn. The hat came out a little bigger than I had hoped, however I think it was still a nice fit. Good pattern, good yarn. 

"Fire Pio Covers" for Brandi here in Colorado. This was a made up design with help from Jessy Henderson’s “Flame On” hat for the flame design. Fire poi - A regular favourite of fire twirlers/dancers. Poi is a Maori word and the art of spinning poi originally comes from New Zealand, though can be found throughout the world today. Fire Poi are made of a ball of kevlar wick on the end of a chain that is swung around the body. Usually twirled in pairs, they create a beautiful circular fire trail about the fire dancer.

You use covers on your fire poi to stop the kevlar wick part of the poi from putting soot everywhere while you’re practicing. They were greatly appreciated. 

"Elbow Length Fingerless Gloves" for Pixie in Colorado. The fifth project I forgot to take a photo of before I sent them... DOH! Rookie mistake! :) Lengthened them to the elbow and ribbed them all the way to the fingers. I also extended the cables all the way to the elbows. I made them from yarn we received in goodie backs at a Colorado Rockies baseball game a couple of years ago. The annual "stitch and pitch" was sponsored that year by Zealana yarns. I highly recommend their possum wool blends.

I loved taking on this project and I am planning on doing the same this year. I called for people to sign up on my facebook page and currently have three takers. Let the planning begin! :)