Wee Block Wednesday

It has been a long time since I have done a Wee Block Wednesday. I really put the sock blankie aside for a while (that is the beauty of that project…no deadlines).  I have started working on it again.  It now 58 has squares (only 57 are pictured…I did another one last night).

Here is a summary of the new ones:

1. This is the yarn from my Raphael Monkeys.

2. This is the yarn from my Reducio Pal. She dyed it herself and won an award on the socks she knitted with it.

3. This is the yarn that I got from my Sock Yarn from Stash Swap Pal.  I traded the rest of the yarn in the Easter one skein swap.

4. This is some of the yarn I got in the Easter one skein swap.

5. This is yarn from one of the swaps from the BlankieMania group. I am not sure what it is.

6. This is also yarn from a swap from the Blankie Mania group. I am not sure what it is.

7. This another yarn from a swap from the Blankie Mania group. I am not sure what it is.

I am going to be adding a random bigger square in there. I wasn’t going to add any bigger squares at all, but I have a yarn that demands it.  Who am I to go against the will of a yarn?

 

Christmas is a time for sharing and knitting

 Christmas is for sharing, so LB and I did some sharing.  We put our yarn scraps out for the birds.  LB loved hanging the scraps out. He was even more excited when a bird came and took one shortly after hanging them.

I got to do a little knitting today too.  I have been working on my Raphael Monkeys.  They are coming along nicely. I am almost to the heel on the second sock. I should have them done fairly soon.  I can’t wait to wear them. DH has been wearing the socks I knitted for him, and I have been jealous.

I also got to knit another square on my blankie. It is a big milestone!  My blankie now has 50 squares!!  Here is what 50 squares looks like!

Here are some close ups with the explanation of the individual blocks.

 The pastel block on the far left, top row and all of the second row blocks that are visible are scraps from swaps and my Sock Yarn from Stash Pal.  The yellow and pink block  and the purple/teal/tan block are from my SP12 pal.  The purple/teal/tan block is Happy Feet.  The yellow and pink is Regia. The block at the left edge, third row (out of this picture, see photo to the right and down) is from the same Regia scraps.  It looks so different, I was able to put it really close.   The lavendar-grey block is Sundara yarn in Lenten Rose.  The color variations don’t photograph very well, but it is really pretty yarn!

The second photo shows the close up of the other Regia square.  It also has a square with a duplicate.  The green and blue square in the third row and the pink and red square in the second row (see photo above…almost all the way to the right of that photo) are from the same small skein.  The brown square in the second row is from my monkey socks.  It is not machine washable (it has some silk content). I really debated adding it to the blanket.  Ultimately I decided that I wanted it in the blanket so much that I am willing to handwash the thing (I envision washing it in my tub).

Well, now Christmas is nearly over. I am a bit sad that I didn’t get to give more hand knitted gifts.  This year, I am going to try to knit things all year and set them aside.  The end of the year is a bad time to try to cram it all in. We will see how it goes.  Over the next week or so I am going to set up a plan with little goals for the year. It will make it easier to actually do such a thing.

I hope everyone had a really Merry Christmas!

 

From the mailbag!

The mail lady has been very good to me lately! I got a card the other day from my Secret Pal. It had a picture of a gnome inside. The gnome is Gnitgnome! He is cute. My pal says that she will send pictures of the little fellow throughout the swap to give me clues as to her identity. In this picture, Gnitgnome appears to be in front of a cow pasture! LB and I are going to put them in an album.

I also got the yarn from the June Yarn Ball Swap from the Blankiemania group. The scraps are so wonderful! I can’t wait to get a chance a knit up some squares!

Today, I got my package from the second round of the Reducio Swap. It had a cute little sock made of handspun. So pretty! There was also a mini crochet scarf inspired by Luna. I will probably use it as a bookmark! Luna would have been proud to wear it! The package also included some sock yarn scraps for my blankie!! I think that is so special! My pal will always be a part of that blankie! I love that thought!

 

Wee Block Wednesday

There are some new squares to talk about! First, I have finished the first two rows and have started on the third! The lone third row square (the yellow on the far right) is Louet Gems (not sure of the colorway). It is a pretty, soft yellow. I got the yarn in the May BlankieMania yarn ball swap.

Here is a close up of the new blocks in the first and second row of the blanket. The very dark square on the far right (top row) is from the May yarn ball swap, as well. It is dark blue (almost black) with a bit of lighter navy. It is really soft. I am not sure what the yarn is. The rest (except the gold block) are from the Sunshine Yarns mini-skeins. The gold block is the one that was unattached in the previous post.

The Sunshine Yarns blocks are all from the Twist and Soft yarns. The pink, brown, and white block is called Neopolitan. The brightly colored yarn with pinks, purples, yellows, blues, and greens is called Wildflowers. The green and brown block is Graffiti Green. The blue-purple and white block is Violets. The green and blue block is Algae. The blue, white, and brown block is Tundra. I think that Neopolitan and Tundra are my favorite (although I also love Wildflowers). I may have to get some full sized skeins of those! I like all the colorways, but those are my favorite (I think they would make really nice knits for babies, kids, or adults).

 

Wee Block Wednesday

It’s Wednesday and there are new wee blocks to talk about!! The new blocks are all from the May BlankieMania scrap swap. The grey and black block (btwn the red and peach ones) is Regia of some kind (the label tucked in the ball said “Regia?? Colorway??”). It was nice to work with once I got all the decreases lined up! It made a nice pattern. I have enough for two or three more blocks (or maybe some other wee tiny things).

The blue and white block is Opal (also a mystery colorway). It was not too soft to work with, but the block is very soft. It was kind of fun because of the patterning. I really like it. It reminds me of winter. I also have enough for many more blocks or wee tiny things (I am thinking little boy booties would be cute in this colorway).

The other two blocks (the yellow and green) are random, unidentified yarns. The yellow is what I used for the beak of the owl. I have not connected the yellow block yet, and will probably wait. I have a lot of solids in a group, so I will probably save this for a bit. I have some new verigated yarns that I will use in between. I got a mini-skein set from Sunshine Yarns! The picture isn’t great, but the yarns are! There are 60-70 yds per mini-skein. Perfect for my love of wee tiny knits!! They are so soft. I can’t wait for them to become blocks (and other wee tiny things)!

 

Swappy stuff and tiny knits (of course)

I love swaps. I really love them. I haven’t joined too many, though…well, not until now. I am doing another round of the Wee Tiny Sock Swap (Summer Fun is the theme). I did my sock last night. It is made from Plymouth Sockotta. I think it looks like a summer sky!

I opened up Round 2 of the Reducio Sock swap. I had to use two angels for the last round, so I made a few small changes to prevent the problem I had last time (I hope). Only one person is still waiting for her package, but I know it was sent on Friday. I know she is taken care of! There is also another change. This time there will be two knitted mini-items (one sock and one mini-item of the knitter’s choice). One must be in house colors and the other in a “character inspired” color (not necessarily a HP specific yarn…any yarn that reminds the knitter of a character). It should be lots of fun!

I sent each of the angels a little something special. I also sent one of the swappers something special (she managed to have the two flakers as her upstream and her downstream…no package and no thank you). For the first angel, I sent a bit of chocolate, some Soak, and two mini-skeins of yarn in Ravenclaw colors (the Trekking). For the other angel, I sent chocolate, some owl stitch markers, and an owl I made (more on that in a minute). For the swapper who really needed a bit of extra spoiling, I also sent owl stitch markers.

About the owl, I designed him myself. I looked at about a million patterns, but didn’t really love any of them. I decided to wing it (no pun intended…who am I kidding? Of course it was intended). It came out so cute. I also think that without the beak and eyes, it looks a bit like a snitch (done in the right color it would…maybe with wings that are a bit bigger)!It is about an inch and a half tall. I love it! Of course, that may be because it is tiny and I do have a thing for knitting tiny things! I will post how I made him in another post (tomorrow or Thursday).

I also joined three more swaps. The SP12 swap (as evidenced by the questionnaire post) is one. The other is the Sock Yarn From Your Stash swap! Both should be fun! I will post more about those as they get started! I also joined another scrap swap on the Blankie Mania group! I am going to be winding little yarn balls over the next few days to swap!

In other exciting news, I got the latest installment (spoiler pics) of the Harry Potter Sock Yarn Club! It is fantastic! I am deciding what to knit with it. I am probably going to use it in the next Reducio Swap!

 

Wee Block Wednesday

I realize that there has not been a Wee Block Wednesday since the first one. The reason…I have been out of scraps for wee blocks! Yesterday, I got the scraps from the BlankieMania scrap swap for May!
The dark green is actually a ball I sent in. The two blue/black/grey balls in front are Regia Stretch in the same colorway that I am doing DH’s big old socks in. I am going to trade those three in the June swap. Other than that, these are all new. The yellow in the middle (the one with a pink slip of paper peeking out) is Louet Gems. The grey colored yarn next to is Regia in an unknown colorway. The rest are unidentified, mystery yarns! I will have to do some research to figure out what they are (oh the horror…time on Ravelry..I just can’t bear it)!

As you can see, the orange sherbet colored yarn has already made it into a wee block. The grey is on it’s way. It actually was nearly a whole block when I realized that the decreases weren’t lined up in the center (I was a little too tired last night). I had to frog back to the first decrease and start over. I should finish it (and maybe one or two more) tonight.

Total block count: 16 (and a piece of one)