Samhain Swap

I participated in a Samhain Swap on Ravelry last month. I just realized that I forgot to post about it. I got a great swap partner (check her out here) and she was fun to stalk.

Ursa also had me as a swap partner and here is a picture of the great yarn and super cute stitch markers she sent me...

She also sent me a pattern for mittens that I'm dying to share but I can't until after giftmas. I've already knit them and they are fabulous! I can't wait to gift them!

So thanks Ursa! I'm loving the fall colours of the the yarn you sent. Now to find the perfect projects!

Elephant Swap

Hi everyone, after a bit of a blogging break I thought I'd come back and show you some of the things I made for the Itty Bitty Group's latest swap.

Remember Elmer? I made him back in March and he guards my wine glasses for me. When Mel told us that our next swap started with the letter E (she's been working us through the alphabet Itty Bitty style) I just knew I'd get a chance to finish my second Elefante that I started back in the spring.

I named this one Edie and planned to use the last of my Cotton Ease in cream, blue and green. Because I finished the toy before I knew who my swap partner would be, I decided to skip the safety eyes (not safe for babies) and just embroider them on. Other than that, she looks much like Elmer...

She suffered a run in with burs on our photo shoot. I felt a bit bad but she had so much fun tight-rope walking and sniffing mushrooms...

Along with the Elephant theme I knit some washcloths, very cute pattern called the Peanut Cloth by Elaine Fitzpatrick.

And some fingerless mitts that turned out so well, I think I may make them again and again.












When I found out my swap partner was Julie (Tanknit on Ravelry) I was super excited! She had sent me a very sweet RAK (random acts of kindness) package early in the year and I've thought of her often. I was happy to be able to spoil her a bit and put together a package that would make her smile.

I love the Itty Bitty swaps and although I'm missing the next one (the christmas one too!), I'll be sure to get back on board next year with letter F (hopefully some froggy fun)!

Sweet Stuff

Well I've been a busy girl lately. While I've read and kept up with the blogs I follow, I've been a bit lazy about posting on mine. Sorry about that.

Last week we had some lovely weather and things finally started to leaf out. My apple tree has turned green, the raspberries are looking wonderful and the tulips were blooming. Unfortunately we've also had some crazy winds and said tulips lost their petals in a hurry.

I took the warm weather as a sign to get out in the garden and plant some seeds. I got 6 rows of potatoes in and a few rows of lettuce and herbs like parsley and dill. I also threw (literally) some wildflower seeds in my front flower bed and planted some rows of sunflowers and hollyhocks.

The birds have busy fighting over nesting sites and lady birds and my friend saw an Oriole in her yard. So along with bird seed we have a few cut up oranges out to tempt them.

B has cut the lawn twice now and it is green green green! I love it! He rigged up a Kayak transporter to throw in my trunk. I can easily strap the yak to it and pull it to the water. I'm pretty excited to try it out. He also made some racks on the ceiling of the garage to store the yaks out of the way. They look pretty impressive I think. I'm glad he had time to putz around and make me stuff!

I've been admiring the Johnny Jump Ups that have jumped all over my yard. Here they are in my lower bed, but they also live in my lawn and next to the driveway, under the trees, and probably in a few more spots I haven't discovered yet.

In knitting news I've been busy putting the finishing touches on the latest swap in the Itty Bitty group on Ravelry. It's a cupcake theme and let me tell you, there are lots of things out there in consumer land that work perfectly for this swap! I had a hard time not putting things in the package. I knew it was going a long way away and I really wanted to make it special so I tried to keep the items high quality. I bought some goodies and some cupcake making do-hickies.

I also bought some local yarn. I went to Golden Willow (because I know she stocks items from around here) and bought some alpaca from Balgonie and some from Bolivia (not a close neighbor of ours but a really pretty gray alpaca!) and I bought some hand dyed yarn from doglover. I've bought her yarn before and I love the kettle dyed effect she gets. Really pretty stuff. I hope my swap partner likes it too!

I also added the knitted elements that make the swaps so much fun. I made the Cupcake Hat in the Itty Bitty Nursery book by Susan B Anderson. Actually I made 2. I'll tell you why after my partner gets the package. I also made the Cupcake Pincushion, also by Susan B Anderson. It's a free pattern on the Spud & Chloe website so check it out.

Today being Friday is my day off and I'm going to spend it taking Mr. Man to story time at the library and maybe the ice cream parlour. I know I'll be checking the post office for parcels (I'm expecting 3!) and of course knitting! I have a few projects that are really close to being finished.

Happy Friday! :)

FO - Swap Bunny

Well here he is! This little guy doesn't have a name yet. I always like to name the toys I make but I'm not keeping him, he's destined for warmer climes. I hope my Easter Swap partner picks a good one, and loves him up!

I sure had fun making him. This is a Susan B. Anderson pattern that was published in the Knit Simple Holiday Edition last year. I made the owl a few months ago, but he was also destined as a gift. I really need to start knitting some of these woodland critters for myself! They're just so adorable.

I love taking pictures of toys outside. The light is so much better than in the house (although I'm pretty lucky to have some super huge windows and great natural light inside too). I also love outside for it's stunning backgrounds.

Except maybe today.

Today is -15C and that's cold! Like stupid-winter-is-no-where-near-over cold. The snow isn't melting and my poor bunny friend froze his paws off. I think that's why his whiskers are droopy. But that's just a theory.

Apple Swap

Now that my swap partner has received her package I thought I'd share the knitting I did.

Mel, our amazing swap organizer, had us do a swap centered around Apples. We had to knit the Apple Hat, the apple from Finger Foods (a great pattern set found in Itty Bitty Toys),  and the Apple Washcloth. These are all Susan B. Anderson patterns and a joy to knit.

The Apple Hat was a super easy little hat to knit. I love this one for a  newborn. It's so cute! I knit mine to fit a 1-2yr old as per my swap partner's request. It fit Mr. Man (he has a little head) but I couldn't get a picture of him with it on.

I did the stem differently than the pattern stated. Instead of changing to brown to do the i-cord, I stayed with the Spud and Chloe Sweater in Grass and wrapped it with a bit of leftover Spud and Chloe Sweater in Rootbeer. I was able to wrap the top of the stem a bit more to look like an apple stem. I think it worked, I just hope it survives a toddler.

I also adjusted the leaf. I found the one in the pattern too small. This is what I did...

Leaf pattern
CO 3
Row 1 - k1, yo, k1, yo, k1.
Row 2 and all even rows - purl
Row 3 - k2, yo, k1, yo, k2
Row 5 - k3, yo, k1, yo, k3
Row 7 - k1, ssk, k3, k2tog, k1
Row 9 - k1, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1
Row 11 - ssk, k1, k2tog
Row 12 - p1, p2tog, slip 1st purl st over
cut yarn and purl thru last st.

Isn't this Finger Food Apple hilarious? I have to admit this set of patterns I skipped over many times. I just never really thought finger food puppets were something I wanted to knit. After making this apple I've completely changed my mind! Mr. Man likes playing with the one I got in my swap package from Raelynne, so now I may have to knit the rest.

And this last pattern was the one I had the most problems with. This cloth calls for chenille which I've never knit with and I really wanted to use stash yarn in this swap (I did with all three projects). So I used good old dishcloth cotton. The green trim is Mission Falls cotton, a nubbly yarn that I inherited from someone.

Now my crochet skills are not great and when I tried to do the chain edging the nubbly bits just looked uneven. I really try for a polished look for my knits and for the most part I can achieve that but this cloth about did me in. I left it for so long in a partially finished state. Then one night I had an idea. I would crochet around the edge of the entire apple and chain a leaf onto the cloth. I started over and knit the entire cloth in one color. I'm still not super pleased with the edging but it's done and gone now. Hopefully Tara (my swap partner) just uses it!

I try to include in all my swap packages: some yarn, patterns, goodies, a book or two, something Canadian, and a card. This time I made some dried apples and put in a jar of Crab Apple Jelly that I made last fall. I hope Tara likes all the stuff in there!

I had such a fun time creating the package and receiving one from Raelynne! I'd post about it, but she's done a series of posts on her blog about all the great stuff so I'll just encourage you read her posts. Fabulous stuff!

Happy weekend everyone!