A Blanket for Peachy

Hi Knitters,

Do you remember Peachy's squares from a long time ago? Peachy loves to go to the knitting group with our neighbors which she has done for the last couple of years or more. Over these years she has knitted square after square at the knitting group but I know that she mainly goes for the cookies and hot chocolate and fun with her friends. I can relate to that.

I finally pulled out her squares and rectangles and oblong shapes again as I had promised her I would help pull them together into a blanket of sorts. The squares had been hiding in a bucket in my closet for many months. The shame.
Let me tell you that putting this blanket together wasn't an easy task. The squares had no real rhyme or reason and to get them to form into a blanket took some serious prep work and figuring out. I decided in order to get a little more consistency I would first add two rounds of single crochet around the edges of each square. This helped so much. I wove in all of the ends at this point as well.

After each square had the crochet edging in place I steamed, pulled and stretched it to form a square or really more of a rectangular shape. The squares became so neat and tidy and Peachy was beyond excited about all of the progress. She couldn't believe how good her knitting looked. She is so funny about it like there is no expectation at all. I set out all of the pieces on the kitchen table and I was pretty pleased to see that the funny little squares would actually form a blanket.

Next I set out crocheting the squares together using a slip stitch seam which made a fantastic little decorative ridge. I love the ridges. First I crocheted the horizontal seams together and then the vertical seams together.

Seam, seam, seaming..... You can see the horizontal slip stitch seams (the camera angle makes them look vertical here) and the open vertical seams.
Now I've got the seams finished and running both ways. Peachy used all sorts of yarn for her squares. There is wool, acrylic, blends of all sorts and even a little sparkly yarn thrown in. Some were yarns she picked up at the knitting group and some were from balls she picked out from home, various yarn shops locally and also from shops we visited while on vacation. Her squares tell many stories.
After all of the seams were complete I went on to add three rounds of single crochet around the entire outer edge. This made the blanket really come together.

By the way, crochet makes my hands hurt in the most awful way. I couldn't wait to put the hook down. I don't know what that is all about.
Peachy is thrilled with the outcome of her hard work. She has decided to keep her blanket and now has it proudly displayed on her bed. I don't blame her for keeping the blanket. It took her years to make all of those squares and I think it is sweet that she wants to hang onto her work. Peachy is not a passionate crafter but will join in on occasion and that is why this blanket seems like a monumental achievement for her.

Will she start another? That is yet to be determined.

best, susie

Sunday

Hi Knitters,

We are enjoying a lazy Sunday with no one having to rush off here and there. TC was up to her gathering self. She presented me with a bowl filled with acorns this afternoon. She made the rounds on our block and collected as many whole acorns as she could find. Her favorites are the hairy-capped acorn brand and the double or triple attached sort and when the acorns remain on the branch. She found some of each of these.

TC has also been busy at work on her mosaic tree stump. The theme has become all of the things TC likes. She has enjoyed digging through all the little treasures that I have saved up over the years. It is a bunch of silly stuff for sure.

I have some fun links to share today. Enjoy.

Macaroni Love Story by Heather Ross (click on the squares to see them all).

The Falling Stitches site reviews what's hot on Ravelry. It's fun to look at what's new.

Sweet Georgia, a new sweater out of sock yarn by Jane Richmond.

Jane Richmond's free top-down hat pattern. Way cool.

I want a couch full of these sweet pillows.

I love this sea and beach inspired quilt by Amanda Soule.

A cool knitting blog for you.

I love this video tutorial on simple sewn snack bags. Super slick and easy.

Knitted ice cream? Look right here.

The fall Twist Collective is beyond wonderful. Be sure to check it out.

That's it for today. I hope you are all well.

best, susie

More from the Knitting Buddies

Hi Knitters,

I have to share a little more of the knitting storm taking place around these parts. The Collector finished the Sailboat Hat from Itty-Bitty Hats. She did all of the decreasing for the point and the I-cord for the knot on top. I helped her a bit with the sailboat applique. She is so thrilled with this hat. It is already gone off as a charity donation.
Our knitting neighbor whipped up this college-themed hat for her sister who headed off to the UW-Whitewater. She lovingly made this for her before she left and her sister just loved it. She is already adapting patterns, changing sizes and piecing patterns together with ease.
Here are four of the neighbor-sisters in my living room. Aren't they wonderful? I love having them around. I love the way the oldest sister tied her hat up tight under her chin. Apparently she wore her new hat to a pool party later that afternoon and it has been hot around here. That's love. They are going to miss their college-bound sister.
I had many people ask about the rainbow sock yarn. It is Opal Feelings #1701. I believe that it is discontinued but you could probably still find it if you searched around on Ravelry. Maybe? I don't know anything more about it or where to get it. I've had this ball sitting around for at least a couple of years. I am glad it got put to good use.Here is the blanket the girls brought home from the knitting group last weekend. The theme is pink if you couldn't guess. The squares are both knit and crochet and are all donated from the knitting group members. The girls are now working on a single crochet border on all of the squares and then they will stitch them together. My favorite part of this was watching them lay out the squares, piecing them together like a big puzzle. They came up with a good sized blanket. I'll take a photo when they finish. TC is loving the crochet which is new for her.
This is Miss Molly's second hat. She went for a simple boy hat. Miss Molly learned how to decrease for the top, use double-pointed needles and how to make an I-cord for the top-knot. She is on a roll.
I can't believe how quickly she caught on to the whole knitting thing. She now has another baby hat almost to the decrease rounds and I started her on a bulky weight garter stitch scarf out of Spud & Chloë Outer in Soapstone. She will need that warm scarf while walking to her classes on campus this fall and winter. It will be beyond cold for certain.

Her joy about her knitting success is contagious to say the least. She has fallen for it.
The Easy Top-Down Raglan Knitalong is in full swing. Here is TC's Stripey Raglan that I am working on. It is turning out so great. I love working in stripes and haven't done much of it lately. I am almost done with the body as you can see. It has been so much fun.

The busy knitting days continue on....

best, susie

Morning, Noon and Night

Hi Knitters,

The knitting frenzy is continuing right on over here. The Collector wakes up early in the morning and starts her knitting....
... and continues right on into the late night. Things to note in this photo: TC wearing the original Chocolate Blues bonnet from Itty-Bitty Hats (they dug out my collection of hats from the book), the finished sock on our neighbor's leg, and how closely TC snuggles in next to her knitting buddy on the couch when there is plenty of room to spread out. Our neighbor is the most patient of the patient, thank goodness. TC practically sits on her. When they are knitting together they say, "We are one," and hold up their pinky fingers to touch. Then they laugh. Life is good.

That is another friend/neighbor-sister sketching in our huge coffee table sketchbook. These neighbor friends have a family of six girls so my girls are lucky to have them nearby. They have had more fun together over the years.

I stumbled up to bed at 11pm and left the knitters in my living room. They put me to shame. I have let TC live it up a little as school starts soon. I will be so sad when school starts.
I finished the Eclipse Hat for Peachy while sitting with the knitting girls. She loves it. Peachy has been knitting, too, as she started a lovely little baby hat of her own. She is on high school swim team right now and doesn't have much time between practice and sleeping. She joins in when she can.
This is one easy hat. I think I have enough yarn for another.
TC has learned how to purl, stitch in a fleece lining with needle and thread, use double-pointed needles and she is currently doing the single crochet. She lined her pumpkin hat with a pumpkin colored fleece.
She is so proud of her creations. What is better than that?
She made a modified football themed hat.
TC donated 6 hats to the Elizabeth House last Saturday. She was so excited to attend the knitting group she goes to with our neighbors to hand over her hats. She made 3 boy hats and 3 girl hats just to be fair and square. Elizabeth House is a place where mothers who are having a rough time can stay for awhile and receive support, classes and a general boost to get back on track. TC can't believe how lucky she is to get to give her hats to actual babies. I love that she has no problem giving away her creations like that. There is no thought to it at all.
She walks around with her knitting setting it down everywhere she goes. That's our piano bench that has to be cleared off in order to play. She has a hat and a pair of booties on the needles right now. Her fingers are always flying. She has taken to wearing yarn around her ankle, too. You can see it a little in the shot above.
Our sweet neighbor has finished one sock and has not taken her one sock off since she finished it days ago. I see her walking down the sidewalk in her Birki's with the one sock on, the other foot is bare. I can't stop smiling about it. She is on her second heel already so it won't be long until that toe comes around.
Who wouldn't wear that one sock all of the time? I would. And how's that for a first sock? Pretty impressive in my eyes. This girl is a smart cookie and a natural born knitter. I tell her something and she remembers and immediately knows what to do. I don't even write anything down for her. It is incredible to see.

The girls came home from the church knitting group with a batch of knitted and crocheted donated squares to make up a blanket. They are now spread out on my living room floor. They are working on putting the blanket together with crochet edgings and seams. I'll share photos of this later. It is too good to be true.

The knitting girls have made the end of my summer just about the best thing ever. Having their company is a blessing I don't take for granted.

best, susie

Good Golly

Hi Knitters,

Miss Molly is so proud of her first hat. I taught her to knit one night when I had a gaggle of girls sitting in my living room knitting. She decided to join in. I quickly grabbed some needles and let her pick out her hat color. She caught on incredibly fast and worked on it non-stop, even knitting in bed. I love that. With all of her hard work she finished it up in a short couple of days.

Isn't she cute? She is pretty pleased with the result of her first project.
I added the ears for her and found some brown silk ribbon to top it off. The yarn is Blue Sky Worsted Cotton in the color called Aloe. I think the color of the ribbon and the yarn together are so sophisticated. The pattern is the Bunny Tail hat in Itty-Bitty Hats.
It's so fun to see success on the first try. I immediately cast on her second hat and she is off!

There has been so much crazy all day and late night knitting around here. I have a group of girls sitting in my living room chatting away and knitting at all hours of the day these past few days. I keep saying I have my own knitting group meeting daily at my house. It is really fun and I am not sure what exactly spurred on the flurry of knitting but I'll take it!

I'll be back shortly to share the rest of the success! These girls are on knitting fire.

best, susie

Knit Explosion

Hi Knitters,

We've got a knitting explosion of sorts over here lately. Loads and loads of knitting has been going on over the last few days. Yesterday I found myself surrounded by girls and their knitting. TC has been going nuts with her hat knitting. Our neighbor has been going crazy on her sock knitting. My son's girlfriend learned to knit last night. I started her on a baby hat. Boy, did she catch on fast. I keep giving away my addi turbo circs and my dpns so I will need to replace all of those very soon. I give away yarn, too. I have too much anyway and I just love to see these young girls knitting away. It gives me great joy.

I am doing a ton of knitting and I have been loving the good company. Okay, above is the stripe-y top-down raglan I am knitting for TC over on the Spud says! blog. I am having a huge raglan knitalong over there. Please join me over at Spud says! to join in or to follow along. It is very casual. We are off to a great start. I have the first 2 parts of the custom fit "recipe" posted so far.

Click here for the Spud says! blog.

Click here for the Ravelry Top-Down Knitalong Project Page.
Here is the chair in my living room right now. I know, it's a mess. I am cleaning it up today. Even I can't take it. You can't see the entire scene of books, knitting magazines, needles, pencils, calculators, post-its, yarn labels, glasses, yarn scraps, scissors, yarn bags, etc. It is bad.

The tweedy hat is the Bella's Eclipse Hat (free pattern) that I am working up for Peachy. She is very excited about it and closely watching my progress.

Now for a TC knitting update. Over the last four days (not kidding) she has knitted three hats and has a fourth hat on the needles. Something has lit a fire under her and I like it. The hat above is knit in a Crystal Palace Yarn called Puffin. It is an stretchy tape-like yarn that has a super soft suede-like feeling to it. TC loves it and asked me to make a flower to add. I knitted that little flower up in a jiffy and stitched it on. It's a very sweet and tiny newborn-size hat.

She made this one out of some pink heathered Encore that we bought at Stitchers Crossing. She finished it late one night. When I came downstairs in the morning I found the hat on the hat stand and sitting on my chair. I couldn't stop smiling. What a sweet way to wake up.
This last completed hat is made out of one ball (48 yards) of Crystal Palace Chunky Mochi in the Baby Face colorway. TC is so crazy about this hat. She just loves this yarn and this hat. She made this entire hat in a couple of hours at most, start to finish.

I am seeing if TC would like to put out a mini-collection of her own baby hat patterns (with my help of course). She already has another hat on the needles so maybe when that one is done we'll pull together her body of work in pattern form. She says she just might be interested. Wouldn't that be fun? We'll see where the wind takes her...
Lastly, I have some new cloth designs going for the next installment of the Summer Camp Series. The next set is all based on a simple rib pattern with variations. Isn't that the best blue ever? It is sort of like a fresh burst of cool air. The color is called Glacier. Perfection. That is the Blue Sky Skinny Cotton.

That's it for now.

best, susie

Stitched by Hand

Hi Knitters,

I always laugh about the things I didn't think of before having four kids. Things like trying to keep groceries in the house, massive amounts of laundry, the number of forms you will be filling out (especially at the beginning of the school year) and the number of basic appointments you will be in charge of making, keeping track of and then taking the kids to. In the past few weeks I have had about a half-dozen doctor appointments and five dentist appointments.

All of this pain and suffering is far outweighed by everything positive having a larger family brings to our life. But still. I know this is magnified by the fact that I am not good at keeping a calendar. I'm just not. I try my best. I only messed up on one appointment this summer by showing up a little late and that's not too bad for me.

The point of this silly saga is that I started the hand-stitched head scarf kit from Purl to have a tiny project to tote along with me to some of these appointments last week. The instructions are in here: Alabama Stitch Book. I had so much fun with this little project that I am thinking about ordering this bag kit. I want it to have longer handles though. What do you think?
The knots are part of the design which I love. I always enjoy that handmade, not so perfect, element to anything I make or that someone else makes. The knots add such a richness and element of whimsy. After I stitched around the stenciled on pattern I had to start cutting away. This made me hesitate a little. Cutting is so permanent.
Guess what? I loved the cutting out part. I know it isn't perfect but who cares. I really got into it and discovered that this is one addicting project. I didn't want it to end and immediately started to think about what else I could make using the reverse applique technique.
I am sure you have already guessed who is now the owner of the head scarf. Um, yeah. I cut out the last applique and there she stood ready to put it on. Fantastic.

(We are making something for TC's fairy garden. We saved a stump from our tree removal last year. She is going to mosaic the top of the stump to make a little and colorful seat to place in her garden area. She sanded and primed the seat. Next she will place the tiles with mastic, then grout and seal. I'll keep you posted. TC is into it!)
TC absolutely LOVES the Alabama Stitch bandana. I mean truly loves.
Take it away little one. It's yours.

best, susie

Noteworthy News

Hi Knitters,

I have some things to share that are noteworthy!

First off, please jump over to Ve's blog and check out the video interview that I did through Skype. There is a major Spud & Chloë giveaway going on over there, too. Don't miss out.

Click here to see the interview and enter the giveaway! Just scroll down a little bit to see the videos and the giveaway information.

Be sure to check out the new fall issue of Knit Circus. The patterns are better than ever and there is a feature article on Amanda Soule of Soule Mama. It is a wonderful issue, can't say enough good things about it. Really, just look at that cover shot. It's adorable.

The creator of Knit Circus is a hardworking Madison mom who is lovely and fun. I admire Jaala so much for her dedication and I'd love to see her knitting venture do well. Mwah! to Jaala Spiro.

On another topic, I opened a Ravelry pattern shop to sell my online patterns. I am pretty excited about this. This is another easy way to purchase and store my online patterns! My original shop is staying open as well so you can still order over there.

Here is the link to my brand new Ravelry Pattern Store! I will get a link up on my sidebar for this shop and you don't have to be a member to order through Ravelry.

Here is the link to my original online pattern shop!

Thanks so much for all of the Summer Camp Cloths pattern purchases. I am overwhelmed by the love. Thank you.
What do I do when I am under a bit of stress? Start a new project of course! I've had this kit for awhile but only pulled it out yesterday.

Here is the link for the kit! You have to own the book for directions.

Here is the link for the book, Alabama Stitch Book!
I love to hand-stitch so this is the perfect little project for me. You stitch around all of the stenciled shapes using the running stitch and with a sturdy brown button/craft thread held doubled. The knots are on the right side and are a part of the design which makes it even easier. When your stitching is complete you take a sharp and pointy pair of embroidery scissors and cut the inside of the stencil away leaving a small border inside of the stitching. Simple as that. It is called reverse applique.
Isn't it wonderful? Purl has the yellow version in kit form as well but I like the contrast of the blue and white. TC already has dibs on this project. She loves a good head scarf. She keeps standing next to me to watch while I stitch. I'll give you a progress report on this one when I am done. It is going to be fast.

What I really want to stitch is the swing skirt! It gives me a chill every time I see it. Must. Make. I will order a custom kit at some point very soon. The entire Alabama Chanin site is wonderful and inspiring. Don't miss it.

Click here to see the skirt and kit!
Okay, one last thing. I am starting an Easy Top-Down Raglan Knitalong on Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 on Spud says! I'd love for you to join in if you have any interest in knitting a sweater for yourself or for someone near and dear.

Click here to see the first informational post about materials for the knitalong!
That old TC grabbed my sweater fresh off the needles and threw it on. I am not making it up. I hadn't even blocked it yet and had barely snipped the last woven in end. It looks so good on her, although big, that I made her pose for a few photos. The sweater is sized for an adult. For the knitalong I am making another version in TC-size. I will measure as I go. She is an average 11-year-old size.

Here is the Ravelry project page link for the Easy Top-Down Raglan Knitalong.

There isn't an official sign-up or anything. It is all casual and fun. I have already heard from loads of knitters who are joining in to knit their first sweater with us. What an honor.

The biggest news is that I have a special guest expert lined up. It is the one and only top-down sweater queen, Wendy Bernard of Knit and Tonic and Custom Knits fame!!! I am so excited about this. In fact right now she is in Denver filming a top-down sweater instructional video for Interweave. How about that? She is going to help answer questions and give tips and tricks along the way.

best, susie

Summer Camp Cloth Series Pattern!

Hi Knitters,

I am so excited to offer the first installment of the Summer Camp Cloth Series as a pdf pattern available for purchase in my online pattern shop, Shop Susan B. Anderson.

The cloths are worked up in Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton. This is a beautiful, crisp cotton that will wear well with hard or light use. Skinny Cotton is 100% organically grown cotton which is always appealing. The set is squishy and gorgeous and a bit luxe.

The cloths are worked on US size 5 needles at 5 stitches per inch. Exact gauge is not hugely important for the cloths just be sure to measure the width of your cloth so you can make a square with the length if that is what you are intending to do.

The cloths measure to be squares between 7 1/4 to 8-inches. This is such a perfect size. The set or even one or two cloths make a wonderful homey but sophisticated handmade gift.
Click here to see photos of all 4 of the squares. The pattern includes photos of the right and wrong side of each of the cloths.
4 patterns in one! Hooray!

If you are interested in purchasing the Summer Camp Cloth Series please note that I personally send out all orders from my online pattern shop via email. All patterns are sent as downloadable pdf files. At times there is a slight delay because of this personal service but I always try to be as speedy as possible. Please be patient.

Click here to purchase the Summer Camp Cloth Series pattern for $5.00!

Here is a general link for my online pattern shop! My son made the shop for me so it is a little quirky but I love it because he created it. The View Cart is a little difficult to see but becomes highlighted when you click on it. The View Cart button is in the upper right hand corner.

Have fun with your cloths!

best, susie

p.s. I already have 3 orders and I haven't even finished posting this yet. You are the best! Thank you.