mary makes merry

FO Info

Thanks for the comments, Elizabeth and Lynette!! The "big" squares (which are really only about an inch wide and tall) were knit on 5s. The book suggested 6s, so I started with 7s, but that was way too big. I really enjoyed knitting with the wire, though it certainly took some getting used to. The hardest part was getting the wire to come off the "hank" properly. That was a big pain. But if I could figure that out, I'd honestly love to knit a cuff bracelet out of this stuff!

I started knitting the crepe-paper crown out of Alterknits yesterday.  I was enjoying it and did about two or three rows when a stitch in the row below the current row ripped. End of knitting with crepe paper, at least for the time being. But I'd like to try it again and make a crown for Ellie. I was using the leftover spring-green crepe paper from her first birthday party a few weeks ago.

In the realm of knitting with yarn, the bearish creature now has two legs, and I bought stuffing for him/her last night.

FO

Last week I bought Alterknits by Leigh Radford. Today I made this:

The big squares are knit with 28-gauge sterling silver wire. I don't know when and where I'll wear this, but I sure do love it.

Sunday steals

The bearish piece has a head and a leg and a half, all connected to his torso. I'm thinking of leaving off the ears and face, a la the shop model in the knitting shop (Arcadia) -- one of the sister/owners noted that he looked like a Keith Haring creation, which appeals. Ellie liked it, too. We'll see. Let's work on arms, first.

In lieu of my own photos, here's a link to two things that caught my eye in today's New York Times. Light-hearted, non-political things. Find the "Pulse" Slide Show (in the Sunday Styles section) and check out the good-deed-doing knit flowers, then the needles with lights in them for knitting in movie theaters!

http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2006/04/23/fashion/index.html?8dpc

In the spring a young mom's fancy

guiltily turns to thoughts of blog. It was a sad thing in my life, but during the whole winter I couldn't figure out how to make time for knitting. I think I've made some progress in that regard. In January or February I did manage to knit Ellie a cougar-type creature from the pattern in Zen and the Art of Knitting by Bernadette Murphy. Super-simple, super-fast pattern that allows for only two legs, but hey, it was knitting. Here's his face (very blurry when blown up):

Istuffed it with some yarn that I knew I'd never use. I also have the body and two sleeves complete on a pullover in All Seasons Cotton for her -- it needs assembling and collaring. Now I'm working on a big bear-like creature in Blue Sky Alpaca bulky. It's on 15s. Am also finishing a black sock for Clark on 2 1/2s. Ah, knitting! I didn't know what I had till it was gone.

(Incidentally, I'm not a particularly young mom and am actually rather ancient, as these things go. Just so you know I know!)