Sharing the Warmth: How Sweet It Was!

Back in November, I corralled a bunch of my local friends to come and choose fabulous hand knits for their very own. After a few years of knitting my way through my mother's unfinished projects and vast stash of yarn, I was finally ready to release these gifts into the universe so others could share in the bounty. I also reserved a few choice knits for family members and mailed off some pieces to old family friends.

All told, I had completed well more than two dozen hats and two dozen scarves. (Read more about this in The Finisher.) I donated scads more hats and scarves to Ithaca charities, along with several throws to the Cancer Resource Center.

Among friends, I asked only for a picture of themselves each wearing their choices. Not everyone sent in pictures, but I amassed quite a few! Doesn't everyone look wonderful?! My mom's love and care has rippled out beyond her imagining.

Wondering what's next on the agenda?
Here's my current, still large, stash!

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The Joys of Scrap-Yarn Knitting

Every knitter accumulates leftover yarn from projects. It would be a shame to waste beautiful, high-quality wool and other fibers. Over the years, these leftover balls and scraps grow into sizable stashes, especially when you inherit yarn from other knitters. So some knitters like me turn to scrap-yarn knitting. It's a fun, creative, and liberating process. You can let go of the rules and play, using only the most basic of patterns. Here's my first project, a scrap-yarn cardigan, circa 2009. Same sweater different scarf, as shown with my friend Becky. The 1985 book that riveted me. It was in the window of Homespun Boutique on the Ithaca Commons. From the richly textured stitches forming that sweater, I moved on to more color play after learning new techniques from Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably when they visited Cornell and led a weekend workshop. Kaffe's work caught my eye in the early 1980s, and the story of how this Big Sur, California...

Colorful Scrap Yarn Pillow

Knitting colorful throw pillows is another wonderful way to use leftover, stashed yarn. This pillow uses more than a dozen worsted-weight yarns saved from more than ten years of knitting. It has been in the works off and on since last winter, and I finished it last weekend. The design is my own. The neutral browns in the foreground help the bright palette of mostly autumn colors pop, with beige vertical lines to add geometric structure along with the diamond pattern. As a finishing touch: tassels! Just for fun, it's reversible. Sorting the stash into yarn weights and colors. Knitting gets underway. It gets messy before it gets beautiful. The finished pillow--except for the... Tassels!

My Affair with Martin Storey

First time experiences are so often memorable -- and not just the big moments, but small-scale triumphs as well, like roasting a turkey, fixing the sink, rolling out a a pie crust, or repairing a bicycle tire. Rowan Softknit Cotton As a child you leave these matters to the grown-ups and as a teen you start building some basic skills. But if you sew you still might leave those difficult buttonholes to your Mom. Or you might delegate the use of the power drill to your brother, defer to your Dad on the fallen bookshelf, or ask your sister to wire your sound system. "Killarney" by Martin Storey And that only covers the household. Let's take sports and recreation. Whether child or adult, you may learn to ride a bike, swim the backstroke, ace an overhead tennis serve, ski parallel, paddle a kayak or master a back walkover--all of which I've loved. Rowan Big Wool cowl But who can say what is the tipping point that leads you to step up to the ...

Knitting & Purling

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