Monday, November 06, 2006

Tilli Tomas, Cereal and Coloring?

Hi Knitters!

This is my youngest daughter, my budding artist. She dreams of crafts and colors all day long. I eat it up! The top of her name poem says "m is for makes crafts." She is dear to my heart.

She is wearing a scarf I finished recently. It is made from 2 skeins of Tilli Tomas Disco Lights. I used US size 8 needles to create a basket weave stitch. The drape on this scarf is incredible. I absolutely love the finished result.

Scarf pattern:

Cast on 40 stitches.
Row 1: (k5, p5) repeat to the end of the row
Rows 2-6: repeat row 1
Row 7: (p5, k5) repeat to the end of the row
Rows 8-12: repeat row 7

Continue repeating rows 1-12 until you reach the desired length, and bind off.

My scarf is 74 inches, 8 inches wide, knit at 5 stitches per inch. I have bought this yarn at both kpixie and purl. The basket weave is the perfect stitch to show off the natural beauty of this yarn. Tilli Tomas is beautiful, rich, drapey silk, run with sequins, beads or crystals. Check it out when you get a chance!

best, susie

Braided Mischief at Knitting for Noggins


Hi Knitters!

This scarf is from Scarf Style and is called "braided mischief" by Teva Durham. I used US size 10.5 needles with a double strand of Elsbeth Lavold's silky wool in ivory. I love this cabled pattern and it is so easy to memorize. With one repeat, you will have it down. I didn't add the tabs at the edges as I like it as it is.

I started this scarf when I was coming home from Little Rock, Arkansas where I was the guest host for the Knitting for Noggins charity knitting event. Boy, did I have a great time down there. You should check out the website for this charity hat knitting drive. It is at www.archildrens.org and it is under Knitting for Noggins. There you will find free hat patterns, photos from the knit-a-thon, and there is even a webcast of me speaking at the event. Really, I was so impressed with this event. The woman running everything, Robin Armstrong, was so kind, and she did a super job raising 1,400 hats in just one day. They already had 5,000 hats sent to the organization, which is a children's hospital, and their goal is to raise 10,000 hats. I don't know the current number they are up to, but I am sure it is high.

I created a free pattern, amongst other people, for a helicopter hat. It is a great hat, but the photo doesn't show the helicopter feature very well. You will just have to trust me and make it anyway!

The Knitting Tree event last week in Madison was terrific. The turn out was good, and we had a wonderful time chatting about the book and knitting in general. Thanks to everyone who came, both new and old friends, I appreciate it. This is a treat of a shop, which was recently featured in a new book about Wisconsin with a photo spread. I can't remember the name of that book, but I will find it. Please patronize this shop if you are in town, and you will be pleased with the wonderful staff and wide selection of beautiful yarns.

best, susie