Is this Another Chicken Joke?

Dear Yarn Stash,

I am sorry for being so bitchy this week. Really I don't hate you. I don't think you are ugly. I don't want to get new yarn to replace you (well....we won't talk about that) I was just having a hard time figuring out what to cast on next. I grabbed that nice skein of Silky Wool and really I tried to start that cowl but it just wasn't happening. So I scoured and scoured ravelry until I found something completely silly that made me smile. And I did use some of your lovely stash. So I think the knitting funk that I was in for a few days has passed. Thank you for putting up with me.

-Sarah


So what knocked me out of this short-lived funk, as I approached the first day of Spring with grey dreary days and temps that kept hovering in the 30s? A Spring Chicken!



He is just adorable, I love him and he brings out the truly silly in me. As I knit him up I could not stop the chicken jokes. I finished his body, I nibbled on him and said "Mmmm...tastes just like chicken". Then I knit up his feet and played imaginary dim sum cart, "Chicken Feet? No thanks, are the pork buns coming around?" I knit up his tail feathers and of course he did a little dance shaking his tail feathers. There were quite a few crossings of the road or in this case the ottoman.

Yeah, there's a chance I may have lost it a little bit but don't worry I am not going to be that crazy lady totally surrounded by stuffed animals. Spring Chicken has an adventure planned for him so stay tuned.

To be continued.....

A Year of Fiber

Did you know that 2009 has been designated International Year of Natural Fibres by the UN? I didn't think so. I learned all about it from my very own fiber farm (I am a shareholder after all) the Martha's Vineyard/Hudson Valley Fiber Farm.

Susan also has some cool links to events going on in conjunction with The Year. Or if you just need a pick-me-up check out the link for one of the cutest lamb faces I've ever seen. Or is it a goat? Reason # 104 why I am not a shepherd I can't tell if it's a goat or a sheep! So I better support those who can......

Birthday Fairies

As is my tradition, I make my niece's birthday presents. Except for when she turned 3. But hell, with 4 out of 5 I am at an 80% handmade gift percentage, not bad. Did I mention I am a bit of a number dork? Anyway...my niece has moved out of the princess phase and into the fairy phase. Really, princesses are so last year.

The girl does not need anymore stuffed animals but since they just re-painted her room I figured she could use some room decor. Growing up I had all sorts of stuff hanging from my ceiling; origami birds, model planes, mobiles and a bunch of other stuff. So I decided to make some fairies to hang from her ceiling. I thought I gave myself a lot of time but A) I never give myself enough time and B) I got sick. So sick in fact that I didn't even have the energy to craft. I had knit up a bunch of small knitted dolls using this pattern.

But at the point I got sick all I had were a bunch of naked dolls. So I pulled an almost all-nighter to sew some outfits and wings for them. No this is not the first time I have seen the wee-hours in order to finish one of her gifts. Adults can handle a late gift but really try explaining to someone under 2 feet tall without feeling horrible.

Naked Dolls


The outfits came out okay, some are cuter than others but they were bald. Really do you realize how frakkin' long it takes to sew hair on a doll? The hair does look like it was done at 3am by someone a bit whacked on decongestant. They are a bit weird looking but I like to think of them as sort of Monet-ish and there are meant to look better from farther away then up close. But most importantly, they were received well and hopefully will keep good watch over her as she sleeps.


The Blue and Green Fairies hang out with my plants.

The Funky Fuschia Fairy gets into my vintage knitting needles.

The Purple Fairy says "Auntie Sarah you really ought to clean your house a bit more...."

A Treat for My Feet

I decided I needed some quick stash-busting knitting after my mittens. I had some leftover yarn from the Icewine Mittens and figured a cute pair of slippers would be just the thing to use it up. So I cast on for this cute Mary Jane slippers, no problems. I knit a whole slipper, no problems. Finish the sole of the second and then, yup, I run out of yarn.

I check the Knitpicks site and of course the color was not going to be back in stock until mid-March. Well that seems like an awful long wait for a quick knit. So I check out ravelry to see if anyone has that colorway to trade. Nope. I post a note on the destash boards, no luck. Then I look at Knitpicks again and surprise! the color is back in stock. But we're talking about a $2 ball of yarn and it seems silly to pay more for shipping than stuff so clearly I need to buy more stuff! I start throwing things into my shopping cart; yarn, cables for my interchangables...

Wait! This is crazy I am trying to thin out the leftovers from my stash not add just to save on shipping with things I don't love or need! So I revisit the stash, find some Mission Falls 1824, also in purple, from the time I frogged that poncho. Really I should have left my knit poncho wearing days to the ones my grandma made me when I was a kid. Ah, the 70's......

So now do I frog the slipper and a half I already made or just throw them into the abyss of Knitting Projects Gone Wrong? Neither, I did the blasphemous and threw them away. Gasp! Throw yarn away!?! Yes, I did. In my quest for order and simplicity in my home I could see no point in holding on to them. They were not worth the effort or the end-results to salvage the yarn so they had an "unfortunate accident" and met their maker. "Unfortunate accident" is the euphemism I use to describe the fate of items that end up in the dumpster. I have been given enough random stuff from my folks that needed trashing over the years that I needed a euphemism. Before you go thinking I am ungrateful brat it was more like "We don't care what you do with it but we want it out of our house" type stuff.

So with first slippers gone, I restarted and whipped out these super-cute slippers. I just love applied i-cord it makes edges look so finished. I may have to make another set in cotton for the summer. Let me go look at the stash to see if I have enough....

The Stranded Mittens Strike Again

I decided that since I got a new red coat this winter and I knit Porom in white then I needed new mittens to match. I chose the Anatolian Mittens from the book Folk Mittens that I knit in KnitPicks Telemark. I have to say that I love the way they came out and they are one of the favorite things that I have knit to date. Check out how I actually managed to keep the pattern continuity on the thumb. I am quite impressed with myself.


Of course as I was working on the thumbs this past week we had a warm spell that drove the temps into the 50s. These are amazingly warm mittens the stranding makes them doubly thick and I thought for a moment that they would have to wait until next year to be worn. But this is Boston and winter won't really be over for quite a while and the mittens have already been out for a spin.

I Knit Socks!!!

At this moment, some of my friends are doing happy dances at the thought that I may have finally broken my long-standing well, stand against knitting socks. But aha! I don't think these really count. But now we no longer have to worry about Soggy's feet getting chilly and him catching a cold.

And now for a gratuitous adorable niece shot.

Ice, Ice Baby

I have been a bad blogger. It has been a rough winter so far here in Boston. According to the local news station last night we already have gotten more snow so far than the yearly average and then they had to say "and winter is only half over!" I should never watch local news and stick with The Weather Channel. The snow is bad enough but this year we have had some serious cold stretches so when it's over 35 it feels down-right balmy. And as I write this there are large puddles of slush that are icing over and are sure to make for a treacherous walk to the T tomorrow morning.
Between the weather and the economic climate I think I have a touch of the January blues. I am a natural-born homebody so my inclination to stay home and curl up is pretty strong. But I am knitting away. I am working on the Anatolian Mittens from Folk Mittens. They are coming along quickly so at least I will be facing the cold in style.

I have also been asked to do a very special project. See the situation is this - Soggy's feet are cold. Therefore Soggy needs slippers and Auntie Sarah is a sucker when it comes to her niece . Some of you have seen Soggy before . His feet are not filled so I am not sure what size they are but they can probably be into stuffed into a sock ornament. I may have even said that I would make him a hat and scarf too. I mean really, do we want him getting sick?

Oh, did I even mention that I treated myself to a share from the Hudson Valley Fiber Farm for my birthday a few months back? So when I feel those January blues creeping in I go to their new and improved website and check out my sheep and goats. The Lambcam isn't up yet but there are some sweet photos that make me happy. I think my favs right now are Martha and Nan.