Pre-felting Hedgehog

Seriously, I have no way to express to you how utterly obsessed I have become with this hedgehog. I flew through the body.

Next thing I knew the rest of the body was done was well and an afternoon was gone. The short rows were super addictive.

Good thing I have a friend who is willing to lend me use of her top-loading washing machine. I appreciate our front loader's efficiency generally, but for felting hers is much better.

A Confession

I have a confession to make. I bought eyelash yarn, something I had never done before, not even during the height of the novelty yarn crazy.


Why? Because I was suddenly struck with a desperate need to make felted hedgehogs... I have had the Fiber Trends pattern to do this in my pattern stash for years. (Ahem, approximately 2005?) It even sat patiently in my Ravelry queue for years. Then this month, it was a need that could not be denied, and the only thing that sat in my way was a complete and utter lack of appropriate novelty yarn. Problem solved!

Zig Zag Gaming Lap Blanket

Have I mentioned that I have a fantastic gaming group I play with several times a month? I do! After several instances of finding that my given project was not mindless enough to focus on the fantastic story line, I finally came up with the idea of a dedicated gaming project.

It is nothing fancy, but it is helping me get through my giant bag of sock yarn scraps. It is just interesting enough to be fun, but straight forward enough that I can forget what my hands are doing and just enjoy the game.

Jayne Mitts

Apparently it is time to clean out my Ravelry page. Last year I knit a pair of finger-less gloves for my housemate, that I wanted to make into a pair of convertible mittens. I had this whole great plan, where I would make the mitten-y part out of red yarn to make it coordinate with the Jayne hat I had made her.

Pattern: Magical Mittens by Jo Calvert

Size: S/M

Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Solids in yellow and terracotta

Needles: US 8 - 5.0 mm

I took several tries to make the right size. In the end I wasn't thrilled with the fit, but it was ok. I think that was a result of the heaviness of the yarn I used.

Since she moved out in October though and took these with her, I am going to give up on hope that I will put the mitten tops on these. So I am changing them from hibernating to finished on my Ravelry project page. Look it is like finishing something. Sort of!

Stained Glass Hat II

Um, this hat may have been finished since October... I am a bad blogger. When I got this yarn I immediately knew what I wanted to make with it. Way back in in 2006 I made a double knit hat from koigu that made me think of stained glass. I loved that hat, but it was a tiny bit shallower than I would have liked. When I made that hat, double knitting was a brand new technique for me, so it seemed only fitting that I stretch myself with this version as well.

So with this fantastic yarn in hand, I set off to make a replacement, this time in fair-isle. I have made two fair-isle projects so far, a baby mitten in 2008 (yes just one) and a fair-isle bag in 2007 (ahem, that I may have never lined and may still live in my mending basic). So yes finishing something fair-isle!

Pattern: Mini Mochi Fair Isle Hat by Sandi Rosner
Size: Small
Yarn: Regia Cotton & Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball
Needles: US 3 - 3.25 mm

The Zauberball is souvenir yarn from our trip to Europe this year. Specifically we had picked it up in Germany on a day that I wandered the local farmer's market with Salvbard. Happy memories, keeping my head warm this winter.

Scarf Color Decision Help

So I recently got a new coat, in a very different color than my old one. I also have been in search for a knitting project for myself. The result? Clearly I need a new scarf for myself. After a quick dig through the stash these were the three that wandered downstairs for a look.

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Here is one shot with each side by side and wound into balls to mix the colors more. Note that the two on the ends both have tencel in them so they have a bit of shine to to them, especially in natural light although not quite as much as it seems here.


Three very different choices. Let me know your thoughts. I think I already have leanings, but I am curious what other people will think.

Monster Mash

This weekend was the Arisia debrief, where the volunteers and staff get together to discuss what worked and what didn't at the past year's convention. In honor of that (and since my work as Arisia staff has seriously slowed my blogging in recent months) I thought I would share a few pictures of one crafty programming item at Arisia '12, the Monster Mash.

Mimi Noyes, the fantastic lady who runs this event brings bags and bags of stuffed animals. Then attendees hack them apart and sew them back together again like Dr. Frankenstein.


The carnage was really incredible. There was stuffing and stuffed-animal parts everywhere!

The results were amazing, like this bird-cow-turtle-something else I can't identify monster. (Sadly I did not have time to stay and make a monster, as I was running around putting out metaphoric fires, but all the creations I saw looked fantastic.)