Maryland Sheep and Wool

Every year I look forward to the incredible Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  It always falls at such an ideal time: the weekend between my birthday and Mother's Day.

One of the things we always love to watch is the sheep shearing demonstration.  This gentleman kept the feisty Scottish Blackface remarkably calm...





...and, using hand shearers, took off the coat in one beautifully big piece:



Of course, sheep demonstrations are a pretty small part of the festival for me. I go for the fiber off the hoof. My stash has gotten ridiculous in the last few years so I promised myself I would not buy a lot of new yarn. I went with one booth in mind: Seacolors.



And from this booth came my only significant purchase. I bought enough yarn for a sweater for myself, in very muted colors (which actually are pretty colorful for me):



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One of the coolest things is seeing blog friends. I'm pretty sure I saw the Fiddlin' Fool and young Jamie from Two Sock Knitters. I also saw, I think, Anne Hanson from Knitspot, accompanied by the gorgeous model for her Hypoteneuse stole.  And best of all?  While David was waiting for me, sitting on the floor of the main hall knitting squares for the knitted quilt our family is making, Shani recognized him from the pictures on this blog and asked him if he was David!

Interlude: A Knitted Quilt

The amazing group of homeschoolers with whom we attended farm camp has done many projects together. The most recent is this lovely pieced afghan or blanket--made up of 6-inch garter stitch squares made by the children and their parents. (My family had a blast making squares during this season's Snowpocalypse.) Many of the squares were knit from hand spun yarn, and several were hand dyed as well. What a lovely project to work on together!

We auctioned off the quilt to raise money for Haiti Projects, a multi-pronged non-profit working in Fond des Blancs, Haiti. Some of its projects are a craft cooperative that provides work and much needed cash for women, a tuition program to help poor families send their children to school, a family health care clinic which offers planning services to those who wish to control their family's size, a community library to encourage reading skills among local citizens, and a micro-lending program to help farmers borrow money for tools and animal raising.

In 10 days, our homeschooling group sold 143 raffle tickets, raising $1,430 for Haiti Projects!

While we were thrilled that a local kindergarten teacher received the quilt, we were sorry to see it go, too. It has inspired my family to try making our own blanket. The squares have just begun. More details soon!

Handmade Holidays, pt 2

(continued from this earlier post)

I was sneaky and knit a couple of items without my son or partner catching me:

For David, a subtly striped scarf:



And for our son, this playful death-mask balaclava which he doesn't want me to block:





David knitted this beautiful scarf for my mother:



And our 10yo son designed, cross-stiched, and sewed up this needle case for his Grandmama:





Together, my son and I learned to sew while making tank-top reusable bags, which we gave as gifts:

Handmade Holidays, pt 1

For several years, my family has made a point to give predominantly handmade gifts to our families. I usually give mostly handknits and supplement with a few home-canned jams and pickles.

This year I made my brother a hat (one of the hardest things I've ever knit, including the elaborate lace shawls and cabled sweaters). Here it is modeled by my husband:





My father, an academic who usually gets shorted on the knits with just a hat or scarf, received this lap blanket to keep in his study:





And both my mother and mother-in-law received knitted beaded necklaces. Mom got a topaz-colored necklace which I though might look good with the colors she tends to wear:



My MIL's necklace, packaged here in a little sewn felt glasses case, was black with shiny highlights from the beads:





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All of the recipients were wonderful in their responses. I love to give knitted gifts to people who act like they genuinely appreciate them!

At times I have given to other folks who have either looked disappointed that they were being given something homemade, or "complimented" me by saying the knitting "almost looks storebought!" (One of my least favorite comments ever was when someone told me that the sweater I was knitting for David looked like it could be from Land's End.)

How did your own handmade gifts go over?

Tomorrow I'll post pics of the little surprise gifts I knit for my partner David and our son. I'll also show you what the two of them created this season to give!

Don't Peek, if you expect to get a present from me...

Green Bean over at Green Phone Booth is way ahead of me when it comes to getting her holiday handknits ready to present. Check out her adorable presents and the excellent rhyme she's concocted to keep us entertained and inspired.

Me? Everything is still in the works. Nothing is finished. And that is where you can join me--in holiday crafting, in medias res, and in a complete panic.

First up is a present for my mother-in-law, a delicate woman who loves sparkly things and is one of the most appreciative recipients of handknits I know. For the last three years, I've knitted her incredibly detailed shawls with silk and beads. This year, I figured she needed something different. When I saw the pattern for the Scallop-Edge Beaded Necklace in 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders,I knew it would be perfect for her.



What I did not expect it that it would only take a few hours to make! I immediately whipped up one for my own mother:



Of course, neither of these necklaces have clasps sewn on yet...

My mother has gotten some fairly labor-intensive knitting presents for the past three years but both my father and brother have gotten the shorter end of the stick. They've gotten simple scarves and the like. This year I'm determined to use the time I've got on making up a little bit of the difference.

For Dad, I've made a Hemlock Ring Blanket from designer Jared Flood at Brooklyn Tweed. While the knitting is finished, it is very much unfinished. I can't imagine that this lumpy blob will turn into the lovely blanket of the pattern--but I am always amazed by the magic of wet-blocking wool. I'll keep you posted.



For my brother, who I do hope has taken the instructions above and has not continued reading, I'm making perhaps the most complicated thing I've ever made--although I certainly did not realize that when I started it! I won't give away what it is, just in case (unless you are on Ravelry). But it involves two lines of provisional cast-ons, colorwork ribbing combined with cabling without a needle, picking up stitches in the round, grafting, and a bazillion kinds of increases and decreases. Here's what it looked like this morning, after at least three aborted attempts following utter failures:



I have a little thing finished (except for sewing in the ends) for my partner David. Can I actually keep it a surprise until the holidays? (I assume he did not heed the instructions in the title since he never gets anything handknit by me now that he can do his own beautiful knitting.)

But much is still left to knit. On top of my brother's present, my 10 yo son has requested I make him the balaclava-like Black Prince Hood for Hanukkah. I have something in mind to knit for an additional little present for my mother (one of these?).

Wish me luck!

I'm looking forward to seeing all the handmade gifts folks come up with for the season!

Fair Isle in Unfair Times

One of my husband's friends recently lost his mother. When she died, she left quite a bit of wool and knitting--including a large in-process colorwork sweater intended for him.



The friend sent it home with David for me to look at--and I'm pretty sure it is a worsted-weight Norwegian-style sweater planned to be a cardigan. There is no yarn with the project, and no pattern.





The sleeves are finished with the exception of stitching the facings under...



...and the body is finished up to the top--but it needs to be steeked, the neck and edge stitches picked up, etc.



It would mean a great deal to David's friend to have the sweater finished.

Does anyone recognize the pattern, by any chance? Might anyone know what the yarn is?

I'd love suggestions about how to proceed. Any ideas?

YARNIVAL!

Welcome to the February 15, 2007 edition of YARNIVAL. Today we have a Valentine's Day issue, chock full of blogs and posts for you to drool over.

Passion

Rebecca presents In My Classroom posted at Knitting Bandages for Lepers. Rebecca has a passion for teaching. You won't believe how important fiber becomes to one of her students in this incredible post.

Karen shows us how she is Building a Social Conscience over at Karen Shanley. Nothing is more powerful than sharing love. Here it happens in many ways.

Christy shares Family Knitting to the Tune of Green, posted at Neither Hip Nor Funky. The stitches and echoes from generations gone by are knit into our own lives.

The Rules

Sarah presents A Grand Unified Field Theory of Stash posted at Bella Knitting. In this hilarious post we learn what to do when Y(arn) does not equal DH.

Hillary gives some rules to the muggles in How to Receive a Hand Knit posted at Knitting4Shirley.

Potboilers

Chris presents A Dickens of a Christmas, posted at Spinneret. Midnight visitations help Scrooge learn to love his UFOs, his stash, and his craft. Be sure not to miss his gift to Tiny Tim!

Nigel starts a mystery novel, The Slip of the Stitch, posted at good-natured ribbing. In it, a hard-boiled detective gets a glimpse inside a woman's knitting bag and from her yarn gains insight into her personality.

Jackie hosts the Louet vs. Lendrum Smackdown over at Yarnish. Jane Austin and Charlotte Bronte go, um, head to head!

Perfecting Our Technique

First there was Kinsey. Then there was Doctor Ruth. Now, we have many sources for new tricks:

Kristi presents How to Use a Nostepinne posted at Fiber Fool. Sometimes a nostepinne is just a nostepinne. But what is a nostepinne? Learn how to make a center-pull ball without the crank in this excellent tutorial. Then, keep one in your luggage (or night stand?) for those times you just can't wait to go from skein to cast-on.

Trillian42 teaches us a new method of knitting Log Cabin style posted at Katydid Knits. Maximize your pleasure by learning this cool trick to avoid having to pick up all those stitches.

Carole tells us how to follow a cable chart the easy way in this post found on Carole Knits. Cross my heart: You will love this idea.

Abigaill presents The Thumb Trick posted at A Kitten Knits. This handy lesson shows us an easy way to keep the thumb on hold while we knit the rest of our mittens.

Crankygrrrrrl teaches us the k1p1 invisible bind-off, posted at crankygrrrrrl, a stretchy bind off especially useful for toe-up socks.

Mary gives us Issy Does Moscow... posted at Virgin Wool, a video demonstration of the Russian Join--a technique to avoid having to weave in all those ends after you finish a project.

Playing Around

Miss T presents How I Became a Knitter posted at Miss T's Mystery House of Yarn & Horrors, in which Miss T shows us that sometimes it is the element of risk which draws us in.

Rhonda asks, "Is there a camera looking into my house?" posted at Home of the StitchingNut. A voyeur seems to be looking in a lot of our living rooms, seeing not just how we spend our evenings but what part yarn plays in our decorating.

Micki Unravels the truth at a thing for string, testing exactly how much yarn knitting and crochet really takes. Does the conventional wisdom hold up?

The Fruits of Our Love

Check out Sue's love-ly finished project, the Urchin Shawl posted at Snail Spirals. She designed it, wrote the chart, knitted it (quite a feat in itself), and dyed it. This calls for celebrating!

Elspeth proves that diamonds are a girls best friend as she models her finished Irish Diamond Shawl posted at Wry Punster. Beautiful knitting, beautiful model, and beautiful photography.

Liz Knits presents My first sock! (or is it?) posted at liz knits. You never forget your first. Or maybe you do, if it doesn't really count.

Carole puts her latest FO to good use.

Kirsten presents Is it the book or the knitting? posted at Through The Loops! When you're taking pictures of your finished objects, you never know what may show up!

Knit Two Together

Lolly presents Living Happily posted at Lolly Knitting Around. Kris has us all cheering for him from the moment we see that high-school kiss. But just wait until you see how perfect his anniversary presents are!

Liz K. presents the beautiful Mr S.'s Arms posted at Crossroad Knits, saying, "We've all suffered through the sleeves. I decided to spent some time thinking about the sleeves final destination, my husband's arms."



That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Yarnival, to be hosted by NotScarlett, using the carnival submission form. If you haven't read the earlier issues, check out the first first two issues hosted by Eve of Needle Exchange and the subsequent issues hosted on January One, Fricknits, and CaroleKnits.