You Are My Sunshine

Sharon at the Three Irish Girls has done it again. . .She has made this amazing colorway, available through March 15th, dyed to order on 9 amazing yarn bases. And what it represents. . .also amazing. She is donating 20% of the sale price to SHARE, which is a non-profit that helps parents who have lost children and are grieving. Near and dear to my heart after losing my son Samuel in 2006 and having a miscarriage in 2009 I can't thank her enough for being willing to do this for us again. By us, I mean the wonderful women in the Healing After Pregnancy Loss group on Ravelry. We approached her last year and she came up with "Glimpse". You can read more about it here.
We asked her again this year and she came up with "You Are My Sunshine."

You can order some for your own stash, to knit for someone you know who has had a loss, simply to support SHARE and what they stand for, or even send the yarn to someone who needs some yarny comfort. Losses happen. They stink. They aren't the way things were supposed to be. But I love that this colorway also represents hope. . .and a little bit of sunshine. And that it recognizes that our babies, if they lived for moments or days or months. . .that they were and are a little bit of sunshine and we are thankful for them all the same.

Knitting Podcasts?!?! What's the big deal?

So what's the big deal with knitting podcasts? If you're  not a knitter, then the answer is, they aren't a big deal. . .but if you are into the fiber arts at all, if they aren't a big deal, they probably should be. There are many many knitting and fiber arts podcasts. I was taught about podcasts by Jodi and Kirsten from my local knitting group. They insisted that I would love them if I gave it a try. Of course, like any sensible person who feels like their life might already be taken up by a hobby, I had to drag my feet a little bit, or at least pretend to :). . .but not for long. On the right hand side of the blog you will now see an extensive list of video podcasts. These are the ones I watch. There are more.  . .some I've watched and don't follow religiously. . .others that I have yet to discover, but these are the ones that I look forward to every week. There are lists of them on iTunes. . .and some that are audio podcasts and not video podcasts. But I like the ones best where I can SEE the pretties, not just hear about them. And it's probably a good thing I've set that as a limit for myself. Do you see that list? Do you see how long it is? I don't even want to see how long it would get if I added audio podcasts in there too! Now here comes the warning -

WARNING: Podcasts are seriously enabling when it comes to yarn and fiber. You might just find yourself falling for things like this:

 Boho Knitter Chic Masham Fiber dyed in the Hot Thai colorway.

Or this:

Three Waters Farm Polwarth/Silk Roving in Radicchio

Or maybe some of this:

Widdershin Woolworks Shetland Fiber dyed in the Avalon colorway

Or some of the following yarns from Three Ewes Twisted in Fiber:

 Scooby Doo dyed on Ewephoric Sock yarn

When Pigs Fly dyed on Ram Worsted. . .

Yup. Watching podcasts needs to come with a warning, but also a clear message - If you're into knitting and fiber, you will learn a lot this way. . .about books, needles, yarns, fibers, projects, and lots about the fiber world and going-ons. . .and if you try them, you might just like them :)

PS - And you win things like this pattern: Patty the Pillow Pony which I won from the Knitabulls podcast! (see the link over there ----->)

Finish it or Frog it February

So I started watching podcasts last month at the insistence of a couple of friends from my local knitting group. One of the podcasters, Knitting Blooms, is doing a Finish it or Frog it February. . .so in addition to the few things I had already planned to knit this month, I have also gone back to some old projects that have been on the  needles for far too long. So far this month, I have finished a wide variety of projects. . .some of which I have already mentioned.

For starters, I turned this:

Into this: 

Yeah. I frogged them. I didn't love the yarn and quite honestly, it had been so long since I had worked on them that I couldn't remember what pattern I had used or what edits I had made and they weren't going to fit. . .so off the needles they came :)

Then I finished these for the Silk Challenge for the Loopy Ewe. If you haven't visited the Loopy Ewe, they have great yarn at great prices. . .and you can link through the link on the upper right hand corner up there. . .

And I finished my Susanna IC Mystery Shawl. It didn't block out as nicely as if it had been in lace weight, but I like the final product.

I also finished my West End Scarf. I call it West End of Octopus' Garden because it is done (primarily) in a lovely coloway dyed by Three Irish Girls called Octopus' Garden.  This took awhile. But it is done! And I love it :) It had been on the needles for far too long and it's great to have it finished and around my neck.

I did a couple of easy knits. These are Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloths done in a linen and cotton blend yarn from Knitpicks. Nice and sturdy and soft.

And finally, just today, I finished my Autumn Saroyan. It had also been on the needles for FAR TOO LONG. But it's done and getting blocked and I am happy to say that it feels nice to clear off the list. :) 

It has been a very productive month and there are still several days left!

Too many KAL's or what?!?

Well. . .I'm addicted. To KAL's.(KAL = Knit ALong) Sometimes I just like saying I'll do them even if I don't. But most of the time, I finish them.Sometimes I finish because there are prizes, but mostly I just like the encouragement from the other people involved to keep going. . .I did this for a recent KAL: (The Anadara by Allison Janocha)

And I'm almost done with this one: (The Susanna IC January Mystery KAL)

And I didn't even know much about it, but now I have started knitting for the Mittens for me Mystery KAL by Laura Linneman, which isn't far enough yet for a picture. . .but I'm using yarn with silk in it. . .that's always good, right?

I'm also working, slowly, on a cool bag (The Fulfillment Bag by Trisha Paetsch) that is also not all that far completed yet. . .but it has two color knitting (fair isle) and looks really really cool so far :)

Yeah. Lots of KAL's. Too many? Nah. There is no such thing :) 

Some Funny YouTube Videos for Knitters

This could be me :)

And this one is hysterical. . .:) :)

Exciting news!

I am getting two patterns publish early this summer by Three Irish Girls, so be on the watch for those. I won a $25 gift certificate to The Loopy Ewe because of the last summer camp loopy drawing, which was not done until a couple of days ago . . .AND I ended up winning $300 for taking 3rd place for my sweater! Thanks to everyone who voted. . .

Lately, I've  been working on shawls. . .check out my projects on Ravelry. My user name is AmyKenagy.

Here are a couple of teaser photos. This is the Anadara shawl by Allison Janocha.