Little Owls and Red Fox

Hi Knitters,

I have the last bunch of home photos of the Woodland Forest Animals that are currently in the issue, Knit Simple Holiday 2010, that is on the stands right now.

Click here for the Ravelry project page for more information!
The Little Owls pattern is so fun. The owl is small, about 5 inches tall and 3 inches wide.
The owls are made out of Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Cotton, one of my all-time faves.
Included in the magazine is a tutorial on making and putting the little owl together. It is very well done, step by step! I love the way these little owl parts look.
I made three versions of the same pattern, a two-toned owl, a simple fair-isle owl and a striped version.
What a fun and quick project!
Red Fox was the final project I made for Knit Simple. There aren't too many fox patterns out there so I was excited to whip up this little guy.
Click here for the Ravelry project page for Red Fox to see more details!
Red Fox is about 5 inches tall and a little over 4 inches long from front to back and about 2 1/1 inches wide.
I love the way his feet look like little brown boots.

The whole Woodland Friends feature has been so much fun. I love seeing the finished toys popping up on Ravelry already. They are all fast knits. Click here to check out all of the projects for this issue on Ravlery.

Next up? I am planning a very fun and different type of giveaway. I have so many giveaways lined up that I've got to get going on them soon or they will take me over!

Have a good Wednesday.

best, susie

Campus Knitting

Hi Knitters,

Miss Molly (my son's girlfriend) has finished yet another hat. This time she made a hat for her dad. She knits in between her studies, work and fun. I can't even say how much I love her newfound interest in knitting. She is already onto her next project, another scarf.
It turned out so great. She learned the purl stitch and completed all of the decreasing for the top of the hat on her own, even mastering double-pointed needles. She just jumps right in. I love these photos they sent me of the new hat. We made up the pattern together specifically to fit her dad's head but you can see that it fits Molly and...
...it fits my son's head as well. We like our hats long in this neck of the woods so our ears are generously covered. It gets cold here. Molly made the hat out of Spud & Chloë Sweater in the Turtle colorway using one skein with a little leftover. It is such a good, rich green. I am half tempted to write this simple pattern up as a free pattern on my Spud says! blog. It's a good and versatile hat. Molly's dad loves his new hat and has already been wearing it I hear. What a good and fun thing.

You can see the campus at the UW-Madison in the background of these shots. It has been a beautiful fall here in Madison, all pleasantly warm and sunny. Here is another fun knitting feature taking place on campus:

A professor from the textile department came to the Madison Knitters Guild last month to get people to help knit garter stitch scarves for covering a bus stop shelter on State Street. She got a great response. I didn't get to see the work of art in person but I heard it was fantastic.

Another Madison-related topic is the Knitcircus giveaway I hosted on the Itty-Bitty Knits forum on Ravelry. I've randomly selected two winners.

Winner #1: Ravelry ID: flowerpot2

Flowerpot2 has won the Knitcircus Gift Issue pattern collection!

Winner #2: Ravelry ID: JaimeK

JaimeK has won a year subscription to Knitcircus!

Congratulations to both winners. I need your email addresses to forward on to Jaala Spiro so she can send you your prizes. You can email me or send me a pm on Ravelry with your information.

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Happy Monday!

best, susie

BT to the MKG and more...

I threw this photo in as an afterthought as a friend just sent it to me. That's my son on the left during his cross country meet last weekend. It is such a great sport and fun to watch. He is the first of our kids to join cross country so it has been interesting and new. I thought you might enjoy seeing him run. I love high school sports. The kids are so inspiring.

Now to the real post as intended....
Hi Knitters,

I have a fun giveaway at the end the post so be sure to check it out.

Last Monday night I attended the Madison Knitters Guild. I am a new member just this fall. The guest speaker was Jared Flood. Some may know him better as Brooklyn Tweed. I met him briefly before the meeting started which was nice. I have been following his blog for years so it was wonderful to see him in person.

The Madison Knitters Guild is one of the largest in the country. There are about 550 member with over 300 attending every meeting. The current space is too small so it is usually standing room only. This meeting was no exception. I am sure Jared had to be surprised at the size of the crowd. It is a pretty amazing sight. He said he was forewarned by the Chicago Knitting Guild about the MKG. He also said to me that he had heard about the voracious Madison knitting scene. I love that.

The woman in the orange overalls (photo above) is Elizabeth Wellenstein. She brought her hot off the presses release of Around the World Knitted Socks which she translated from German to English for Interweave Press. It is a beautiful book of intricate and colorful socks. I looked kind of over her shoulder at her book as she sat behind me and leafed through the pages. Congratulations to Elizabeth for her accomplishment.
Jared started speaking and commented about the size of the group. It is a little overwhelming up on that stage but I have to say it is the warmest, funniest group around. It is a group that loves to laugh and have fun. Jared received a very warm welcome. There were many wearing his designs in the crowd.
He had slides that showcased his exquisite photography. He showed photos of his travels, buildings, locations and knitting. Do you recognize that hat in the photo? It's a pretty famous one. Click here to see.
Finally, he shared the back story of his brand new yarn line called Shelter. It is a heathery woolen spun yarn in beautiful autumnal shades. There are 17 colors available right now and he shared how the yarn is dyed before it is spun, not dipped after it is spun. Jared began working on his American made wool about a year ago so he is feeling quite proud of its recent release.
He has a pattern line to support his new yarn and he brought a few samples to share.
I love the mittens. Yes, those are good.
This scarf has interesting texture.
I especially love this shawl. Jared has a newly updated site where you can find out more about him and purchase his patterns and yarn. Click here to go to his site, Brooklyn Tweed.
Okay, this is a switch in topics and a fun one at that! The new issue of Knitcircus is up and it is a special gift issue which I always enjoy. The founder, Jaala Spiro, has offered a wonderful giveaway for me to host. I am running this giveaway in a slightly different way.

I will randomly select 2 winners in a few days.

1 winner will receive the Knitcircus Gifts issue pattern collection.

1 winner will receive a subscription to Knitcircus.

To celebrate the Itty-Bitty Knits group on Ravelry surpassing the 2,000 members mark I am hosting the giveaway over there. To enter you need to leave a happy comment on the forum thread AND you need to be a member of the Itty-Bitty Knits group! Please only enter once and do not leave a comment on this blog post or email me to enter.

Click here to enter by leaving a comment on the forum thread on Ravelry!

Good luck if you enter! It's a wonderful prize offering. Thanks to Jaala!

best, susie

Hedgehog to Squirrel Reversible

Hi Knitters,

I want to be sure to share my personal photos of another toy of mine in the Knit Simple Holiday 2010 issue. The photos in the magazine are wonderful but they don't really show how the squirrel reverses or flips into a hedgehog or the other way around.
The squirrel to hedgehog toy is made in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran on size 6 double-pointed needles at 5 stitches per inch. I love the bushy tail made from three pom-poms.
I made a couple sweet acorns to loop on the squirrel's arms, too.
I think it always helps to see all angles of a toy.
The toy is 5 1/2 inches tall and about 3 inches wide. It is a small one.
The best part is that the hedgehog is tucked right up inside the body of the squirrel. You just flip the squirrel inside out and you get....
a cute little hedgehog. I used this same idea for an entire chapter in Itty-Bitty Toys called, Reversibles. I made a bunch of reversible toys for that book that are really fun. By the way, Itty-Bitty Toys has just gone into its 3rd printing so that is exciting.
I was really pleased that the squirrel with the big tail actually fit inside the hedgehog! The bodies of the animals are very stretchy and accommodating.
There are purl ridges on the head and body that are then chained with a crochet hook for added texture but you wouldn't have to add that part. It is optional.
See, there's that squirrel in there waiting...
to be on the outside again. Kids, teens and adults alike love the reversible toys so it makes a fun gift for any age.

Click here for the Ravelry project page for Hedgehog to Squirrel!

Click here for the Ravelry page for the entire Knit Simple Holiday 2010!

Click here for the Knit Simple Holiday 2010 project preview!

That's all for this fine Monday morning. I am going to the Madison Knitters Guild tonight to see Jared Flood. He has a new yarn line that was just released called, Shelter. I am definitely going to have to get some of this yarn to play around with.

It should be a fun night! I'll tell you all about it and I'll try to remember my camera this time.

best, susie

Two New Patterns!

Hi Knitters,

I finally have my Summer Camp Cloth Series 2 up and available! I am pretty excited about this grouping. These beautifully crafted cloths make a lovely gift set for anyone in your life. The cloths are named after places in beautiful Northern Wisconsin.

Click here for the Summer Camp Cloth Series 2 pattern for purchase in my Ravelry Pattern Shop!

Click here for my online shop to purchase the Summer Camp Cloth Series 2 pattern! Remember if you order through my online shop I personally send out all pdf patterns via email with as an attachment. Please be patient as I try to get all orders sent as quickly as possible.
Here is some information you might like to know about this next installment of cloths:

Finished measurements:

All 4 of the cloths measure as squares between 7 ¼ and 8-inches

Needles: US size 5 or size to obtain gauge

Gauge: 5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch (exact gauge is not necessary, just measure to make a square)

Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton (100% organically grown cotton; 65 grams/150 yards), 1 skein each in Glacier #301, Clay #31, Birch #30 and Sprout #303

Materials:

Yarn needle

Scissors

Tape Measure or ruler

Click here to see the information for the Summer Camp Cloth Series 1!

The second pattern is one that TC helped design. This sweet little baby hat is called the Chunky Mochi Baby Hat and it is a really quick knit for sizes 0-6 months. The hat only takes one skein of the Chunky Mochi (48 yards) and is knit up at 3.5 stitches per inch on size 9 needles. You can whip this up in no time at all and have an adorable baby gift at the ready.

Click here for the Ravelry link and to purchase the pattern in my pattern shop on Ravelry!

Click here to purchase the pattern in my online shop! The pattern is sent by me via email as an attached pdf.

Oh, and if you are interested here is the link for my Ravelry pattern shop in general.

Thanks! If you order I hope you enjoy these fun and new little knits.

best, susie

An Apple a Day

Hi Knitters,

An apple picking trip was taken a week or so ago. This is one of my favorite fall rituals. We will go back to get pumpkins soon. Here are some highlights.
The polka band was grand but the baby dancing on the side was the BEST. We watched that baby dance for a long time. It was awesome.
The colors and shapes are too good to be true.
TC pulled out her special apple cardigan. Love that.
Don't you love a big pile of sticks? I do. These sticks were bundled up with twine for fire wood at $5 a bunch.
I love the colors of Indian corn but I also love the handwritten cardboard sign.
Pumpkins with warts.... and a goat with a toupee made the day memorable.

There was a lot of apple tasting along the way. I mean a lot. My husband takes the lead in this activity. He always acts like he is checking for flavor and texture, like it is a science. Funny.

I love TC's bun so much:) It's so good.
It was a warm fall day and unfortunately Peachy had to miss this outing as she had a swim team activity the same day. We missed her but she will be there for pumpkin picking.
The trees were bursting.
I'd love to know her thoughts.
We filled two large bags with an assortment of types of apples. I have been making cinnamon baked applesauce and apple crisp ever since. Literally, almost every other day I have been peeling and baking apples in some manner or other. I have even been giving applesauce away.
Technique is everything.
Lovely.

best, susie