Going Batt-y

I've been watching the Gritty Knits group pretty closely on Ravelry because I'm the moderator and all the amazing batts people have been making are so inspiring that yesterday when I was over at a friends' house. (A friend who has a drum carder, she's a great friend to have. Hah!)
I dragged along some fiber to be carded into some lovely batts.

Earlier this year I attended a sheep shearing day at a friends' farm and came home with two lovely little Shetland fleeces. I only washed one but it turned out so lovely, if a little bit full of VM. Shetland is like that. They like to roll around in hay and such. Anyway, I separated this lovely little fleece into baggies based on color and hand carded a little of it but mostly just ignored it. Until yesterday. I dragged all of the baggies out and stuck them in my bag and headed over to this lovely friend's house.


This is the result of my work over there. I call them Surprise Batts because they have a little bit of a surprise. I made one normal batt then carded up a batt for her of some Blue BFL waiting around. Then, without cleaning off the carder, I started up with the Shetland again. That means, there's little bits of blue in this lovely grey and I added some Purple Flash Angelina so I ended up with something that looks completely normal and ordinary from the outside but very interesting if you look closer. I made 2 two-ounce batts so I'm greatly looking forward to spinning it up into some wonderful two-ply sock yarn. I just need to clean off a couple of bobbins first.

I may not be an "official" member of that group but I did share these lovely batts with them so they could see what I was inspired to do.

Well, now I'm off to keep knitting on my Camp Loopy Project. I have one sock finished and the second on the needles. I think I should have plenty of time to finish them, well, as long as I keep working on them.

Monkeying Around

Last week was my nephew's first birthday. I decided it would be fun to make him a little something. A stuffed animal came to mind and so I set out to find something to crochet. I found this really adorable monkey pattern. They call him Monkey so I thought it would be perfect. I dug some acrylic out of the stash. It's been in there for awhile for a reason.

The monkey is made is a bunch of pieces so I got started and quickly whipped them all up.

I just love the pre-assembly pictures. It looks like a monkey massacre. Cracks me up every time. Then I started assembling. I have to say I found the assembly difficult. Sewing things on (and getting them exact and straight) with just a few fingers inside made it a real challenge. Many of my pieces ended up a little bit wonky but that adds to the little guy's charm. I used Safety Eyes to keep them from being a choking hazard but the other features are sewn on with black yarn. Here I present:

Monkey with Bananas

He does have a tail, it makes him sit up very well. I added the belly button and I'm so glad I did. My little nephew was beeping his belly button before we even left! He turned out very cute. I got to give him to my nephew and I guess he loves him. He snuggled him up that night and when he got up he wouldn't get out of his crib without him. I guess he's a hit!

I also finished my first project for Camp Loopy and it's blocking now.
What's next?

Mmmm, purpley. Wait and see.

Camp Loopy

Recently I sort of lost my mind and decided to join up with Camp Loopy. Camp Loopy is a series of knit-alongs for the summer, coordinated and announced on Sheri at the Loopy Ewe's blog. The Loopy Ewe is an amazing company and I really love them and their customer service. I just seem have underestimated how much I actually have going on. Yes, again.

The first project was a two-color shawl or scarf. I chose Daybreak and ordered up the pattern right away, then I went ahead and ordered two skeins of Fleece Artist (linked to the Loopy Ewe) I was a little later than everyone else getting started but I'm coming along.

As you can see, I was well into the striped section here and now I'm actually into the solid edging section. A few rows from done with it actually.

That's good because the deadline to finish is July 15. It's coming up fast.

I'm hoping to get done pretty quick here and get my pictures posted because I already have the yarn picked out for project 2 and I'm getting very excited to get going on it. Of course I can't start until July 15 though. I am combining project 2 with my Self-Imposed sock club so I will be using other yarn than what's planned in order to make it a Camp Loopy project.

Meandering Through the Summer

I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged. I have been knitting away but keep forgetting to come check in and let you know I'm alive. Well, here I am. Alive and kicking.
As proof, I offer you my feet. In socks of course.

Here are my completed June socks. I love them so much I wish I could wear them now even though it's much too hot for socks right now. The pattern is Meander and the yarn is Mountain Colors Crazyfoot (The colorway is Apple Green and boy is it ever).
I bought this yarn last year while on a knitting retreat in Duluth with my AMAZING knitting group. We took a class together and spent a night in a hotel, staying up spinning and knitting. That's when I finished my Nightingale socks, with my lovely knitters around me. We of course had to foray into the wilds of the Duluth Yarn stores and I found this lovely green skein of yarn and knew it had to be mine. I thought the tight twist and subtle shading would lend itself very well to almost any pattern and so, I was very excited when I settled on Meander for this lovely yarn. I loved the knit, well, except for that part where I had to reknit a whole leg and heel because it was too small but my love of the pattern and yarn almost made me forget about that.

I crossed the cables on the feet in opposite directions so they will lean toward each other when worn. No one would probably notice it but me, but I love that they are mirrors now.

I finished them before June was done and found myself not reaching for July's socks immediately. Why?

Well, I joined Camp Loopy and this month's (well, starting July 15) goal is socks or mittens with cables. I thought, since Husbeast and I are busy with our play that I should keep my sanity and combine July's sock with the Loopy project. I found a pattern in my queue ready for Self-Imposed sock club that has cables and ordered new yarn (what a stretch, I know!) I'm currently waiting for it to arrive and knitting furiously on my first Camp Loopy project in the hopes of getting done on time. What is it?

You'll just have to wait and see.