Jane Austen Swap -- Incoming

I had said earlier that some of the Jane Austen packages were really random, so once mine went out and I began to wait for my incoming package, I started getting nervous. I knew how much trouble I'd had finding good Jane Austen stuff, and I had confessed that I didn't really like some of the more obvious Jane Austen items.  My spoiler ended up doing an awesome job though.

Tons of purple packages:

Pride and Prejudice  note cards:

Chocolate, loose citrus tea, a tea ball with a beaded fob, and recipe cards:

Exquisite scissors with a beautiful fob and mohair-blend yarn:

One of my favorite things was this shawlette, made of Jade Sapphire cashmere and silk. I've hardly taken it off since I got it, wearing it like a bandanna around my neck:

The last item, my spoiler considered a failed project. She had bought the fabric to make a reticule for me. Since she couldn't quite pull it off, she sent the uncut fabric. What she didn't know is that I had just returned from JoAnn Fabrics, where I had bought the exact same fabric for myself.  It's like she stalked me so well that she knew what I was going to want even before I knew myself.

Mind blown.

A Scarf Pattern for Your Pup

For one of my craft-it-forward projects for this year, I opted to knit Sir Riley Brown here a scarf.

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease (basically, you want something washable) (For a toy dog, you could work in fingering weight yarn, adjusting needle size as needed).
Needles: 8-10 straights and DPNs in the same size
Notions: 2 stitch holders, yarn needle
Gauge: doesn't really matter

• Cast on 10 stitches and work in 2x2 rib for approximately 3" (you do not want the scarf too long as it could trip the dog). 
• kf&b into each stitch. Using a stitch holder and a DPN at the same time, transfer the first stitch onto the DPN and the next onto the holder. Continue to alternate between them until you have transferred all of the stitches. When you are done, half your stitches will be on a holder, and half on a DPN. You can return to your straights at this point if you prefer.
• Working only from the DPN, return to your 2x2 stitch pattern and work a flap approximately as long as the scarf is wide. Eventually, you will be rejoining your flaps into a tube for the scarf to fit through. You don't want it so wide that the scarf will slip out, but you don't want it so narrow that the scarf gets bunched up. You will probably knit between 8-12 rows.
• Place the flap stitches onto stitch holder #2 and return the stitches on holder #1 onto a DPN or straight needle. Work the same number of rows as you did for your first flap.
• Holding both flaps together, you will work your stitches back down to 10 stitches on one needle.  Put your needle into the first stitch on the front needle and straight through into the first stitch on the back needle. Knit them off of the left hand needles and 2 stitches have become 1. Repeat across the row. Don't worry about sticking to your stitch pattern in this row; just use the knit stitch.
• Return  to your 2x2 stitch pattern  and knit the scarf long enough to go comfortably around your dog's neck.
• Measure the length from your cast-on row to the far end of the flaps. Continue knitting that much longer, which will give you enough length to fit through the tube and allow the scarf ends to roughly match in length.
• Cast-off in pattern.
• Weave in the ends and add fringe.

Note: I am sure I am not the only one to come up with this pattern, but I can truthfully say that I am not yet aware of any similar patterns. I was inspired by the 2 items: a fleece scarf a friend made for her dog and the neck-warmers my great-grandmother used to wear.  If you knit this, I'd love to see a photo of your pup in your finished scarf.

Jane Austen Swap -- Outgoing

I struggled with this one more than I expected. I wanted to send Jane Austen Knits, but it cost $15, half of the swap budget.  It also seemed harder to find theme items than I would have guessed. I wasn't the only one, apparently. There were some truly rando swap boxes this time.

Instead, I sent a copy of Piecework's historic knitting issue, a selection of trashy romance novels, and a JA quote book. I can always count on our art museum to have some great gifts like this little quote book.

I had my genius friend Suzanne craft some stitch markers, and also included shortbread, a JA bookmark, vintage hankies, and a miniature watercolor set.

I couldn't decide what Jane Austen yarn might be like either, so I went with a color palette that seemed appropriate. My hand-crafted item was this amigurumi doll, with whom I totally fell in love. I don't really do toys, but I could imagine her setting up residence in my craft room.

Dots

The bits and bobs of life have piled up, and I had forgotten how useful dots are to clearing them out of my head. I have ambitions to say more about each of them, but shall fall back on that important axiom of "better done than perfect":

• I finished all of my craft-it-forward projects for 2014 (some neckbows, a dishcloth, some punched paper, a scarf) and decided to pick up a few more reciprocal swaps. At the moment, I am making my fourth attempt at Calorimetry, each time taking out anywhere from 8-16 stitches. I don't see how the designer ever managed to make it with 120 stitches--it's massive in width and height. I'm down to 88 now and think this one will work. Finally. Please god.

• I have been obsessed for some reason with a mystery dishcloth KAL. I've done every one since August and have been stocking up on solid-colored, cotton yarn. I don't even use knitted dishcloths, so my obsession makes no sense. Still, last night we got invited to a last-minute birthday party, and I was able to grab two cloths as a small gift. 

• I saw Franklin Habit speak on Weldon's Practical Needlework. It wasn't quite what I had hoped for, but it was an enjoyable evening.

• I've committed to do a bit of charity knitting (bibs or hats for an orphanage in China) and am considering a charity sock monkey KAL as well.

• I did a KISS (keep it simple) valentine swap, which called for a card and a project only.  I opted to make a crocheted heart dishcloth, but now am beating myself up when I see all the creative projects coming in. My swap idea board is here if you are looking for a quick valentine project.

• I got this very cool project bag all the way from Canada.  The fabric is sort of a poly-blend twill with a really nice hand, and I love how it isn't all pinky-pinky. I asked for the pattern, but my partner just winged it, she said.

• Speaking of pinky-pinky, I made this project bag for a book club attendance prize. As a teacher, I can be quite punitive about attendance and preparation, but for grown-ups whom I can't grade, I'm a firm believer in bribes. Pattern by mairuru. She does hers by hand, but by leaving room for seam allowances, I was able to do this one by machine.

• I finished and mailed my Jane Austen swap, which I'll save for another post. I also finished reading Sense and Sensibility for the first time.

• In spite of my tendencies towards quicky projects, I decided to sign up for a Celestarium KAL. It's a beaded pi shawl with the beading laid out as a star map of the Northern Hemisphere. Ambitious, but some knitters have taken it father and used different sized beads to indicate order of magnitude and knitting in a band for the milky way. Simply following the pattern shall be enough for me. I've ordered my yarn, picked out my beads, and it all gets started on March 1.

• I sold a knitted cap online, so I've got a little paypal funds to play with. I bought this hat pattern, which I fell in love with on Pinterest.

• I caned my panniers last night and had to rope LB into the task. It was a royal pain in the butt, but today if the house ever warms up, I hope to finish the waistband and be done. This chemise (third down) is up next as soon as I get paid and can buy the pattern and linen.

• I spontaneously decided that Steu's nosework trainer needed a snood for her standard poodle. She'd posted a photo of him after the groomers, and he just looked so magical and snowy white that I knew he needed a unicorn snood. Steu helped model.

• And here is the beautiful recipient, looking like the magical creature he truly is. The trainer comped me a free class as a thank you, so crafting it forward was wonderful all around.

Garden of Live Flowers Swap -- Incoming

I almost didn't sign up for this swap, but I'm really glad I did. The theme was Garden of Live Flowers/Looking-Glass Insects, which isn't one of my favorite sections of the Alice books. My partner did a wonderful job with it though.

First, she filled the box with flowers and attached some of those little bugs that blow up in a glass of water. For some reason, the very morning the package arrived, I had wished for some of these. Really.

Everything was wrapped in tissue paper in my favorite color combination, mardi gras, and look how many packages there are.

For knitterly goodness, there was a magnetic pattern board, which I've already put to use, flowered stitch markers, and ... HELLO!!!! ... Madelinetosh sock yarn. I'm totally open to suggestions on what to make with it, as I've been looking all day and am somewhat stumped. It's got lots of lovely olive shades in it. My partner had asked me to suggest a yarn, and I said to trust her instincts. Didn't she do great?

Then there were some other lovely goodies.

As far as handmades, there were four! First was a tote bag

a bread-and-butterfly scissors holder

a flowered pin cushion in Mardi Gras colors

and best of all, she designed this amazing tape measure cover. First, look at Tenniel's image of the snapdragonfly.

Now, check this out:

Sooooo cool!

Jabberwocky Swap--Outgoing

The Alice in Wonderland swap group I have joined has been fairly specific in its swaps. Rather than a generic Alice swap, the group narrowly focuses on particular parts of the novels. This time we did "Jabberwocky," which appears in Through the Looking-Glass.

For my swap, I looked at the two Jabberwocky sections of the novel. First, Alice sees the entire poem. Later, in talking to Humpty Dumpty, she tells him the first stanza so that he can explicate it, which he does quite badly, like so many pedants.

I knew all along I wanted to send some kind of portmanteau, since "Jabberwocky" contains so many portmanteau words. I thought about buying something, but then it occurred to me that I could craft something just as well, plus a crafted item would ship more easily than an actual suitcase. My spoilee said she liked Tenniel's image of the hero in chain mail.

So, I made this bag out of poptops, using this tutorial.

I made the base more square and added a boxed lining with a snap closure.

I do love the way this came out and may just have to make one for myself once my hands recover from essentally crocheting metal.

Next, I splurged and got a Dyeabolical limited edition sock club. It had great Jabberwocky swag, so part of my work was done for me.

The yarn colorway was even called Jabberwocky and is just gorgeous.

From the rest of the poem, I got some needles to represent the vorpal sword (my spoiler did the same) and ordered a few items from Jabberwocky Farm, which sells goats' milk bath salts and soaps.

Finally, I wrapped it all up in tissue

and added some backwards labels, since Alice reads the poem in the looking-glass.

I got a little paranoid about whether or not the purse was classy enough, but my spoiler definitely liked it, wore it out, and got a ton of compliments.

Next swap: Garden of Live Flowers (I am open to suggestions)

Jabberwocky swap -- incoming

This post is long overdue, and I apologize to my partner. How awful for her to have to spent so much time crafting and not to have me post the photos in a timely manner. I did get them up on Ravelry right away, so I can at least plead that in my defense.

The theme of this round-robin swap was based on the Lewis Carroll poem "Jabberwocky." You know? That's kind of a toughie, but my partner came through.

First, look at all the prezzies! For me! Each one was labeled with a passage from “Jabberwocky.”

Because I am a giant Alice dork and have the poem memorized, I decided to open them in the order the labeled text appears in the poem.

Giant. Alice. Dork.

I started with “Twas brillig,” which contained the Dover edition of Jabberwocky. I have two shelves of Alice books, but didn’t own this edition.

At this point, had my memory failed, I could have checked this edition for the order of quotes, but I forged on. The next label read “Beware the Jabberwock.” I love how my spoiler used Tenniel’s images.

Look at this gorgeous scarf. Everything about it is jabberwockish, from the color, to the coppery beads, to the scaly lace motif, to the texture. Plus? She designed it.

I mean just look at it up close. Aren’t you jealous?

Next up came the “vorpal sword.” You may notice that I got excited and accidentally started to rip open the package before photographing it. I couldn’t help myself.

I adore Brittany needles and actually have a complete set except (and my spoiler had no way of knowing this) I had lost one of this size. I can take these to reenactments (you over there, crabbing about the fact that period needles had a bead on the end--just shut up, will ya?) and I love the smooth birch finish. Also, as an armpit tucker, I appreciate how long these needles are.

Next up came the “snicker snack.” You may notice that I was so excited by now that all pretense of decorum and self-control had flown out the window and I ripped open the package without even bothering to photograph first.

This package, “Oh fabjous day” looks like I didn’t rip it open, again forgetting to photograph, but I am afraid that what you see is an artful rearranging of shredded tissue paper.

It contained this beautiful needle-felted project bag from Frabjuous Fibers.

At this point, I got ahold of myself and managed to photograph “calooh, callay” before opening it, partly because I at least knew that it contained yarn.

Again from Frabjous Fibers, this yarn is so pretty. I am familiar with some of their yarns, but I hadn’t seen this one before. In fact, it wasn't even up on Rav last I checked. It's made from "peace silk," which means the caterpillars aren't killed in the process of harvesting the cocoons.

Finally were a few bonus goodies, thoughtfully selected to spoil me.

There were two knitting notepads, which I actually really needed for up in my craft room. I was always searching about for something to jot a note on and now I have it. There was also this great book of vintage knitting patterns, and I’ve already favorited about 7 of them. My particular favorite is a 1930s lacey bed jacket with a maribu feather trim. Really.

There was also this WPI tool made especially for me. It will help me to figure out the gauge of some of the handspuns I’ve accumulated, and I’ve already attached it to my notions bag.

Yay for my spoiler!

Cheshire Cat Swap -- Incoming

When I signed up for a new Alice in Wonderland swap group, I was kind of nervous. Frankly, they're pretty bad about posting photos and thank yous, and it didn't look like they were sticklers for deadlines.

It turned out just fine though--I got a great partner, new to the group also: lovely degree of chattiness, easy to spoil, and she did a great job spoiling me too. Here's what I got:

I need to remember to decorate my boxes more often; it's such a nice touch.


I cannot believe how much she fit inside. The box was practically bursting.


Many of the items were labelled with Alice-inspired tags.


My spoiler said she was inspired by Alice’s journey through the woods where she encountered the Cheshire cat, which metaphorically spoke to the two of us--we both live on the Mississippi River but many hundreds of miles apart--and included a ton of travel brochures and postcards.


There were lots of woodland-inspired and whimsical goodies. Steu's teacher's little boy is very sick right now, so I might send some of these in a care package for him.


My spoiler included purse findings as well as Alice-themed lotion and perfume. I don't usually use lotions, but I've put this one next to my chair and have been slathering it on. Love it.


It took me a few days to realize that what I thought were charms were stitch markers. My spoiler worked in a bead store for many years, so her hand-eye coordination to make the tiny little beaded bonus charms blows my mind.


She enclosed an Alice book and a beautiful print on handmade paper to add to my Alice ephemera collection.


The yarn was just gorgeous! A skein of Malabrigo worsted and an exquisite, luminous light blue handspun. I can’t wait to knit with it. I like how they go together, but they're different weights, I think.



Finally, there was just the most amazing shawl, Skewed. It’s in one of my favorite colors, heathered lilac. I didn’t even have to change clothes to model it. I love its asymmetry and the alpaca is lusciously soft.


Didn't she do an amazing job? I am so impressed with how well she considered the theme. I feel well and truly spoiled.