Done and done!

Allright, I have two finished objects (FO's) to show today!

First, to tie in with the last post, I am done with my portion of the Second Oddball Charity blanket. I did the butterfly pattern from the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Vol 1.
The yarn I used is Caron Simply Soft Tweed in Autum Red on the size 7 circular needle that came with the blanket.
Here's my summary:
-- The Good: It was really easy and fun and went pretty quickly while I was watching movies with Oscar to take his mind off his hurting teeth. I love how the slipped stitches transform into such convincing butterflies! And I really like the color combination of the butterflies in the red sunset with Dangles' ocean blue and Shaneh's sandy beach. :)
-- The Bad: I went a little over my allotment of 3 inches because I wanted two rows of stockinette below between and above each row of butterflies. The other thing that did was to make me run out of yarn one row before I was completely done! Argh! How good that I had bought two skeins, but how awkward for the next person to have yarn ends dangling from both ends of my portion! So I decided to weave in the ends on the yarn joint and only leave the true end piece dangling. I really should have left out the two stockinette rows between the butterflies, though!
-- The Ugly (at least potentially): The pattern ended up bunching quite a bit! I'm sure part of it is because there are 300 stitches bunched on 32" of needle, but I'm just hoping that it will smooth out with the next sections knit on top of it. :(
Also the stitches on the right edge of each butterfly turned out very loose and I couldn't get them tighter because I had to leave the slipped stitches very loose. No idea how I could have fixed or avoided this problem...

Obviously this pattern is not reversible. However, I have to say that the back side looks much better than say, the back side of a cable panel. It just gives these indentations on the reverse stockinette, which kind of make a neat geometric pattern. It bunches a bit, too, though!

Anyways, I sent this off to the next person, AnreeAce in Oregon yesterday. I also included some sock yarn for her in a gorgeous blue and purple handdyed colorway. I found it at the Weaving Works when I met Dangles to receive the blanket so it is kind of tied into the project. I also included some stitchmarkers that I made with little purple flowers on them (forgot to take a picture, though). Some Ghirardelli caramel chocolate squares and a Mini Burt's Bees Hand Kit rounded out the package. The postal service says it should arrive by tomorrow, before the long weekend! Yippee!

This was so fun to contribute to! What a beautiful thing we are making for some person in need of the snuggly hug of a handmade blanket. It is so nice to see this taking shape. And what a great way to get to know some more knitters!
I can't wait for Oddball #4 to get to me, plus I will get to hand that one off to the next knitter right in my area! It's great to know that I'll be involved in this for a while!

In other knitting news I finished knitting the two halves for my ISE 4 scarf.
It was another running-out-of-yarn-just-2-rows-before-the-end experience. I don't know what it is with that lately... Luckily I had a second skein here, too (for a scarf for my mom), but it was a different dyelot and so now there's a small lighter section in the middle of the scarf. Yuk!
I guess that will be my humility mistake. -- Someone posted on the ISE4 blog that she made a mistake in her scarf and whether she should rip it out or leave it as a sign of authenticity or wabi sabi. Many people commented and some talked about how the Amish (and the Navajo?) usually include a "mistake" in their works on purpose because only God makes perfect things. I liked that idea and Neko_Loco's scarf is gorgeous! Anyways I decided to leave the lighter section. I hope it won't make my pal cringe everytime she sees it!

Then it sat for a couple of days while I gathered courage to attempt grafting the halves together (and knitting on the oddball blanket). - This was my first time using Kitchener stitch. It went okay, but it sure would have been nice to have practiced it before, with this yarn. It looks okay, actually, but not perfect.

Finally, I went to block the scarf. Washed the new blocking wires I had bought, prepped the couch with towels and more towels and set to work. I pinned it to the towels stretching it out, and then misted it well with warm water, blotting with a dish towel to evenly get it damp but not wet-wet. Then it sat overnight and the next day.
It's amazing how much difference blocking makes, just compare the before and after pics!

Here's the glamor shot:

Looks pretty nice, I think. Actually, I think this is the nicest thing I have ever made so far!
I really, really hope my pal will like it, too! I'd take it back and make something else for her if she doesn't... LOL

I wrapped it all up, included some other goodies and off to the post office it went yesterday. Should also arrive by tomorrow, hopefully!

I'm kind of in a finishing mood now. I want to finally get through the Tempest Wrap. Just a couple more inches of stockinette and I can graft and block (both with so much more confidence now!) and then attach the ribbed edging.

And after that it's on to SOCKS!!! I have Silver's Tutorial printed out and the yarn and needles to start. I'm excited!

Have a great long weekend everyone!

Knitters are wonderful people

A while ago the online knitting bug stung me and started an addiction... I signed up not only for the International Scarf Exchange 4, but also for contributing to some Oddball Charity Blankets that Shandeh from the Knitting Help Forum started. She came up with the idea to start a blanket for the first couple of inches, then send it on to others who would each add another three inches, creating an oddball blanket that is to be donated to charity. The idea caught on in a big way and there are actually four blankets being added to around the country by now, we even have a blanket tracker now! I am signed up for blankets #2 and #4.

I am the third knitter on blanket #2 and last Thursday it was hand-delivered to me by the previous knitter, Dangles, from Canada. She was on a weekend trip with her family and passing through Seattle. Yippee!
It was wonderful to put a face to another KH knitter and to see who else was contributing to this blanket. What a great project that brings knitters together for a good cause!
Thanks Shandeh!

I had great fun meeting Dangles, her very patient husband and their two adorable kids. Their daughter is almost three and very outgoing and friendly and their son (9 months) is cute as can be and he was very flirty with me. We met up for some yarn shopping at the Weaving Works' Mothers' Day Sale and then had dinner together. It was a great experience! Hopefully I can meet them again sometime, they only live a couple of hours away!

Plus, I got to take home more than just the blanket!
Dangles included some great goodies for me: a beautiful and very sweet card (can you see all the details? The cake stand has silver wire, the cupcake forms are pleated paper, and the vase and flower are so pretty!), some Earl Grey tea (love it!) to have while I knit my portion of the blanket, a locally made and very pretty stitchmarker from Steveson, BC , and --- Sock Yarn!!! It is Lana Grossa's Meilenweit in Bosco (so soft and such great colors, I want to bathe in this!). She knew that socks are next on my list to try out with Silver's Tutorial, so this is perfect! And the colors are so yummy, she interperted my favorites exactly! I will have to save this yarn for the second pair, though, so that I'm sure I won't screw up.
Thank you Dangles!