Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Knitting (for) Animals

First of all, the bears. (Or "Da bears!" as I always thought of them, in my best SNL-inspired, Great Lakes accent.)

Vi and I finally completed their outfits. We made a cardigan for each (from the book Minnies).

Blondie is a girl, so she got a cute jumper (also from Minnies).

And Big Bear is a boy, so he got little pants (designed by me as I was knitting them).


I am so proud of these pants. Look how freaking adorable they are! (And don't look at my mom hiding behind the bear to hold him up.) Let me tell you, it got pretty X-rated as I was sewing up the center crotch gusset to the bear's then crotch-less chaps, but the teasing I endured was well worth the finished product! (They totally remind me of the pants Cindy made for Leo. Remember? These pants.)


In other animal knitting news, Irene finished her elephant! She's been working on this guy for a while, and he's made almost entirely out of scrap yarn! (Well, I'm not sure if you can count a skein or two of stashed Noro as "scrap yarn," but the rest of it was constructed entirely of scraps, so whatever!)



He's a pretty big elephant, too. Irene named him Horton. Here she is showing him off, to demonstrate both scale (his) and skill (hers).


And wouldn't you know that elephants travel in packs? Almost the very next day, Betsy brought in her finished elephant, along with her daughter Roxy for posing purposes. Roxy named her elephant Peanut (and fittingly, Peanut is made out of Blue Sky Dyed Cotton in color Circus Peanut--coincidence?)


You can find the elephant pattern in the book Toys to Knit. If you would like to make your own stuffed animal, check out the Knit Nook class starting on Sunday, March 30 here.





Monday, March 10, 2008

Congrats, Whitney and Ross!



Picture pilfered from the Anvil Hall Wedding Cam. Gotta love technology!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Watch Whitney's Wedding!

Whitney and Ross are getting married in Scotland tomorrow morning, 8:30 am EST (1:30 pm Scotland time). If you would like to watch, go to the sight below:

http://www.gretna-bride.co.uk/webcam/

If you can't access the link, try the venue's website:

www.anvilhall.com

Congratulations, Whitney and Ross!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

A New Online Knitting Mag!

I'm always amazed that we survived without the internet. How did we get directions before? Or pay bills? Before the internet, was it just not possible to check if the actor in the movie we rented is the same one from that episode of Who's the Boss? I inexplicably remember from childhood?

Thankfully, I've never had to know knitting without the internet. Blogs, thousands of free patterns, and of course, online knitting magazines, have helped shaped my knitting. Maybe it's not Magknits or Knitty (yet), but MetaPostModernKnitting is a hip new site with some stylish free patterns. Here's hoping it sticks.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Crocheters try to save the world!


Can crocheting the Great Barrier Reef help save it? Two Austrialian sisters think so. Margaret Wertheim is a scientist. Christine Wertheim is an artist. The sisters have collaborated on a project (referred to as the environmental version of the AIDS Quilt) to raise awareness about how global warming is destroying the Great Barrier Reef. Read about their efforts here.