vests for charity - done!

The Patons Back to Basics book is one of 3 books with a great collection of basic sweaters to knit. This particular issue uses sport weight yarn - the other two use dk and bulky weight respectively. I just finished making the vests from this particular book:

... to donate to Warm Hands Network. It's the same vest, made 3 different ways: buttoned up, round neck collar or v-neck. These particular ones were made in the 4 year old size. A really great, fun, easy knit!

learning something new

This is my very first attempt at Tunisian crochet:

I made a set of 3 of this washcloth pattern, skipping the 'fancy' border and only doing 2 rows of singe crochet. (This pattern, btw, comes along with a great tutorial - it was very handy!) The Tunisian crochet part by itself looks very cool, I debated adding a border but it curls like crazy, and the added crochet along the sides straightens it out.

It was very fun to do, and pardon the pun - but I'm totally hooked! I can't wait to do another project!

the apple of my eye...

My family - for as long as I can remember - has always made wine at home. It is a big hobby of my brother's and my dad's, and was my grandfather's as well. My husband, knowing that it's being done but was never really exposed to it, thought it was interesting that my family did this. 

Him being more of a beer drinker than wine, a few years ago he was gifted a beer making kit, and has made a few batches with great success. 

Last Christmas, to take his home brewing a step further, I bought him a brew-your-own hard cider kit, because he talked about how he used to have hard cider when he was visiting his family in Northern Ireland when he was younger. I think this particular hobby picked up better than making his own beer, and he has since made a handful of batches.

This month is both Father's Day (June 21) in Canada and his birthday (June 28th) - so to extend his new hobby a bit further, I bought him a few more home-brewing cider things, plus I made him these lovely dishcloths to clean up his fermentation equipment with:

The pattern is Fresh Knit Apple/Bar Mop - it's another mosaic dishcloth pattern. I had so much fun learning the mosaic knitting technique from making the St Patrick's Day ones, I was eager to make some more! 

The texture of these on the picture side is so waffley, it's very neat to feel and I'm sure will be very scrubby to work with! I can't wait to make more of these, I can totally see myself making them for Christmas!

basic crocheted dishcloths

I'm usually good at starting and finishing a project without starting a lot of other projects at the same time - but not always. As my son's sweater is still a WIP, and I haven't yet finished the 3 vests I'm making to donate (although what's left to finish them is minimal) - I started a couple dishcloths for my husband for his birthday/Father's Day (which I'll share later, when they're done!) and yesterday, I started crocheting some basic dishcloths.

My mom's coming to visit tomorrow, and she's heading out to visit friends - two couples - next week. These are long time family friends, and I've known them literally my entire life. It's for them that I'm making a set of dishcloths each.

The green dishcloth is a basic single crochet dishcloth. The brown & white one is also single crochet, but every 3rd row alternates between a double crochet and a chain, to make a bit of a lace effect. These are a very quick make and can each be made in about an hour or so.

charity progress

I've not been blogging this month because I've so many projects on the go - between a sweater for my own kiddo, 3 vests I'm working on for a charity donation... and life, of course, that gets in the way of knitting. 

Now that it's warm out, it's so much easier to spend time outside. We fortunately live right next to a park, so we don't have far to go when we take kiddo for a walk. He's at an age now where he can walk almost on his own, so we can go without the stroller. Even though we frequented that park that summer, because he wasn't really walking he mainly stuck to the swings - but now that he can climb, he's got so much more of that park to discover!

Remember, a few months ago I posted about collecting dishcloths to donate to my local food bank? Well, there's a magnificent amount of progress:

What you see here is 21 completed bundles of 3 dishcloths, all sorts of different patterns. I was able to bundle similar colours together, it just worked out that way, despite each bundle being made up from donations from different people. That way, those who choose a bundle can pick one that's of colour interest to them.

The plan was to make the donation today, but since there are some envelopes with donations still in transit, the donation will be made next Saturday. I'm really hoping to get up to 25 completed bundles (for the sake of somewhat rounded numbers) but honestly, I'm elated to have this many already, and for the short time I've been collecting.

Final progress to be posted soon!

a neon sweater...

Well, for now I'm all dishclothed out. I've quite a few done as stocking stuffer gifts for Christmas 2015 (with still more to do, but I've got time) and birthday dishcloths done too, which is one less stress. I've put my huge stash of dishcloth cotton aside for now, and working on something wooly!

Recently, Knit Picks had a "free shipping to Canada" sale, so I stocked up on some very funky coloured Swish Worsted Brights (and a few skeins of Swish Worsted in solid colours too) to make some sweaters for kiddo. He's a tall 2.5 year old, so I'm making mainly size 4 sweaters, which will hopefully last for at least 2 winters.

The first one I've cast on is this one:

The pattern is Mörgæsir/Penguins - a sweater that's originally knit in aran weight yarn, but I'm amending it a bit to fit my worsted tension. The colours you see here are sour apple (green), razzleberry (blue) and highlighter yellow (yellow). The penguins will likely be worked in the solid black and white Swish. 

I absolutely love these neon colours! Once I'm done this sweater, I'm likely going to cast on "Fimma" Lopapeysa, which I'm going to have to also adjust from aran to worsted tension.

you scrub me right 'round baby, right 'round!

One of the easiest (and quickest!) projects to make are spiral scrubbies - and they're also a delightful way to use up small bits and scraps of yarn! If you don't know how to crochet, or need practice improving your hooking skills, this project is the most ideal. It's all just a few rows of single crochet, then sewn together to make a funky swirly shape!

Pre-sewn:

Post-sewing:

I crocheted a loop at the top of each scrubbie long enough to hang off the tap to dry. These were each such a quick project, I was able to complete all four within one day!

These were requested by a coworker of my husband's - I made him dishcloths on request before, but he specifically wanted scrubbies. He did request two, and that was how many I planned to make initially - but I had all these scraps variegated cotton yarn (and a shoebox full of partial cotton skeins!) that I decided to use up all the variegated yarn mixed with solid yarn, and came up with four. An excellent stash buster!