Knitting

Fritillary Socks MKAL

March 24, 2024March 23, 2024 annbh3562 Comments

With only a trio of socks to my credit and having sworn off this particular article of clothing 1,258 days ago, a new mystery knit-along (MKAL) has piqued my interest. The five clues that will evolve into the first sock will be released April 1 (no fooling) through April 13. Then I get to do all the work again to make the pair, hopefully, finishing in time for the second sock party just days into May.

Fritillaries, a flowering herbaceous perennial with bell-shaped blossoms, inspired this new knitting pattern. Whether the design will capture the delicate checked petals is yet to be discovered but the pre-clue notes promise cables – my favorite stitch.

Happy knitting!

Graphic credit: © Marie Greene

Knitting

Knit for Food Knit-a-Thon Today

March 23, 2024 annbh356Leave a comment

graphic for knit for food marathon with a banana, steam rising from a bowl, a peanut butter jar, bread, apple and a ball of yarn with knitting needles

The beauty of retirement is the flexibility to decide whether to knit or swiffer the living room floor; to knit or reorganize the kitchen utensil drawer. I framed my task list weeks ago when I registered for today’s Knit for Food Knit-a-Thon. As part of Marie Greene’s team, I will join her and 6,000 others knitting through the day. There are Zoom links connecting knitters, crocheters, and crafters for this 12-hour marathon that will raise funds and awareness for food insecurity. The money will be equally divided among Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and Meals on Wheels.

Graphic credit: © Marie Greene

Knitting

Knit for Food Knit-a-thon

February 23, 2024February 19, 2024 annbh3563 Comments

I know what I will be doing a month from today on March 23 – KNITTING!

Inspired by Knit Camp leader, Marie Greene, I will join thousands of knitters and crafters in the Knit for Food Knit-a-thon 2024. A day, that Marie describes, when “we can turn skeins of yarn into meals on tables, hope in hearts, and smiles on faces.”

This knit-a-thon is a 12-hour marathon to raise funds and awareness for food insecurity. The event planners promise “100% of funds raised will be equally divided between Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and Meals on Wheels” and they have a track record validating their claim. The previous three knit-a-thons, 2021-2023, raised $877,571!

Even if you are not a knitter, every craft-lover can participate because what is not to love about a day spent working with your favorite medium AND raising money for such a meaningful cause. So join me in participating and donating to Knit for Food Knit-a-thon.

More information about the knit-a-thon recipients:

Feeding America – our own Channel One Food Bank is a partner
World Central Kitchen
Meals on Wheels
No Kid Hungary

Knitting

Knit Camp celebrating 5!

January 13, 2024January 15, 2024 annbh3563 Comments

two straw baskets holding balls of aqua and cream yarn

Not only is five Marie Greene’s favorite number (Who knew people had favorite numbers? Do you?) but this year marks the fifth anniversary of Knit Camp and I have been a member for nearly every month.

There is both joy and practicality in this small online knitting community. There is a custom app without all the noise and political rhetoric of the big social media platforms. I receive 12-15 free patterns each year, as well as easy-to-follow stitchery tutorials. There are knit-alongs (KAL) that include both a Winter Sweater Workshop and the 4-day sweater marathon in July; an exclusive Fall Mystery Shawl event in October; and, not to be forgotten, the annual Knit Camp at the Coast 3-day virtual retreat.

This winter’s “sweater” is the newly designed Taos Valley Poncho which I am not knitting but I am thoroughly enjoying the weekly online courses that range from an intro to New Mexico textiles, to how to steep white pine coffee, to learning the tuck-stitch. While a multi-toned poncho may not grace my wardrobe, I ordered yarn for the Knit Camp Anniversary Afghan. This is dubbed a 12-month celebration in stitches and will consist of a series of blocks – one design per month; each knit twice (for double the fun) in alternating colors. However, the yarn is simply taking too long to arrive, so my patience is thin as I check the front porch every day.

So much fun and friendship too. Happy knitting!

_{Graphic credit: © Marie Greene}

Knitting

The Tuesday Night Wrap

November 15, 2023 annbh3563 Comments

handknit lace scarf in two-toned gold yarn draped on a wooden hanger

A mystery knit-along (MKAL) requires confidence in the designer that your time and (more importantly) your precious yarn will not be wasted. As I was very pleased with my version of The Aquarelle Shawl (an April 2022 MKAL), I cast on The Tuesday Night Wrap the very afternoon the first clue dropped.

The early details alerted the 100s knitting along that the pattern would be released in four parts, create a rectangular wrap in two sizes (either scarf or larger shawl), and require two different yarns (one fingering and the other a lace weight mohair) best if undertaken in complimentary colors. With Miss Marple serving as the pattern inspiration, lace work was a must as her character is always adorned in lace – lace collars, lace gloves, even lace wound in her hair.

With finished dimensions of 16 inches by 67 inches, this scarf is wider than I would normally feature. Although the softness of this lovely merino fingering yarn, hand-dyed by Heather Best at Sew Happy Jane, will wrap nicely for squishy, cuddly warmth.

Librarian’s bibliographic note: Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s popular knitting sleuth, was introduced to readers in a short story published in 1927 and entitled: The Tuesday Night Club.

Knitting

… and it starts today!

September 14, 2023September 27, 2023 annbh356Leave a comment

round knit camp at the coast retreat badge 2023

From seed beads to bookmark looms to intentionally pooling hand-dyed colors, all will be revealed during Knit Camp at the Coast. In May, when I registered for this 4th annual retreat, September was on the far horizon. I had just planted the Yukon Gold potatoes (now harvested) and the teal Ewe Betcha shawl (the second in a trio of summer projects) was just off my needles.

Through the magic of Zoom, this virtual retreat brings knitters together with artists willing to share their enthusiasm and unique techniques. While certainly instructive all is not studious tedium. There will are WIP (work-in-progress) break-out sessions, thematic recipes, and a toast or two – whether the beverage of choice is a cocktail or a mocktail.

Happy knitting!

Graphic credit: © Marie Greene

Knitting

If knitting was like baseball

September 3, 2023 annbh3564 Comments

hand knit triangular shawl with a cream colored star and orange accents

… the game would be tied 3 Scarves – 3 Shawls. An earlier decision to skip a summer sweater knit-along (KAL) did not result in a knitting hiatus but rather a steady flow of smaller projects, just perfect for gifts and silent auction donations.

Having worried I would be overwhelmed when I committed to two fingering skeins each month from the Happy Hand Dyed Yarn Club, multiple skeins of Heather Best’s rich color combos have gone directly from mailbox to needles. The purple and white shawl with a whimsical bobble edge was a Knit Camp mystery KAL pattern which paired one of the April skeins with stashed yarn. The deep teal was the second in the April showers yarn offering, again mixed with a lovely merino silk blend. Heather’s dye pots yielded totally different hues for August (reminiscent of a large scoop vanilla bean ice cream served in an old-fashioned waffle cone on a hot day) and these were transformed into Martina Behm’s Half Norwegian. My zigzag choice for Sommer Camp.

Knitting

Getting Ziggy

August 7, 2023August 27, 2023 annbh3563 Comments

While zigzags are not required, they are the theme for the 2023 Sommer Camp hosted by Martina Behm. This annual event begins today and provides the perfect opportunity to mix up my knitting repertoire as I have been stuck on repeat. My camp project will be Martina’s Half Norwegian; a new shawl pattern designed specifically for seafaring participants of a knitting craft cruise to Norway where she was the featured instructor.

Since the pattern requires contrasting colors, I’ll be able to use two of my stashed combo skeins from the Hand Dyed Happy Yarn Club. Plus, Sommer Camp will be an ideal bridge from summer fun with Swiss cousins speaking Schweizerdeutsch (Swiss German) while waiting for September’s Knit Camp at the Coast 2023 with Marie Greene.

Photo credit: Martina Behm

Knitting

Tempted but not this summer

May 24, 2023 annbh3561 Comment

lemon slices graphically represented on each side of a announcement for lemon spritz summer knit along

handknit gray sweater hanging on white background with note that reads Foxtrot 2019

modeling handknit teal sweater with white accents and holding a Fleetwood Mac album cover

handknit gold sweater folded on marble background with note that reads Fireworks 2021

folded light green sweater with navy blue accents on yoke and note that reads Coastal Grandma 2022

Step back to a May (nearly June) day one year ago, or two, or three, or four years and you would find me studying pattern release notes and making yarn and color choices for Marie Greene’s annual 4-day sweater knit-along (KAL) but not this summer. Instead, with July’s arrival, I will observe rather than participate in this summer’s KAL since I have a full task list as the co-lead of the church building team.

After spending several years in discernment, in what now feels like it was a leisurely drive on a blue-line road, it is like we are in the F1 pit lane prepping for 78 fast laps on the streets of Monaco. As May began, we purchased 40 wooded acres of urban wilderness, engaged the architects, performed soil borings and tested for Decorah Edge. In just weeks, we will begin listening sessions when we will dream of all this building might represent and then move into conceptual and schematic designs before breaking ground in September 2024 and dedicating a new building in September 2025.

With weekly planning meetings, frequent discussions with the architects, and writing regular eNews updates intended to keep member congregants and friends informed and engaged, the 4-day sweater KAL, just doesn’t gel with my mindset. But my needles will not be still as yarn for a summer silk shawl and two scarves are tucked in the rattan basket by my TV room chair.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

A Sheep Story: MKAL

March 22, 2023 annbh3561 Comment

two skeins of yarn with aqua varigated tones on the left and peachy colored on the right

Who doesn’t love a mystery? Whether on paper or film? Puzzle or yarn? As a reader, channeling one’s own powers of detection against the author’s controlled revelation of details which may or may not be clues leading to the discovery of whodunit. As a knitter, reveling in a new stitch and then trying to deduce where the design will go next.

Despite our Minnesota days feeling nothing like spring, it is nearly time for Marie Greene’s spring mystery knit-along (MKAL). Her new pattern will be revealed in four clues, over 10 days, April 3-13. The advance teaser alerted MKAL participants that this will be a triangular shawl in two contrasting colors, knit from top-center down, incorporate texture and special design elements, and the accompanying story will feature the adventures of one rambunctious sheep – hence the title of the MKAL and the shawl – A Sheep Story.

The March surprises in my Sew Happy Jane Hand Dyed Happy Yarn Club subscription could combine nicely for a lovely A Sheep Story mystery shawl. But, my April box arrives on Friday, so I will make my final decision with two new skeins in hand.