My Interview in the New Infinite Field Magazine

I was interviewed by Synolve Craft, the editor of the Infinite Field magazine, about my passion for knitting. Take a look at the February edition, which is absolutely lovely. My interview is the last story in that issue.


http://theinfinitefieldmagazine.com/current-issue/

Snowed In But Still Knitting!

Here in the Mid-Atlantic we were slammed by a huge snowstorm yesterday. I don't watch TV, so I'm not sure exactly how many inches we got, but I'm thinking we got around 24." I'm thankful that we were all safe at home, but now we're actually snowed in as I live on a secondary road, which does not seem to be a priority for the plows. . .

It made me think back to my childhood days when I lived through the Blizzard of '78. In that storm the snow drifts were so high they completely covered our front door. In order for my dad to get out of the house he had to climb out of a second-story window (in my bedroom) which was right above the roof over the front porch. He climbed out on to the roof, slid down the roof and on to the snow below. I was afraid as I watched the top of his head disappear that the snow would swallow him up.

But, of course he was fine and he set to digging out our front door and then our cars. We were out of school for two weeks. It was lots of fun for me because I was a little kid then.

So, yesterday we watched movies and I finished up some of my writing work and I got a bit of knitting done on my Totally Autumn blanket that was in knitty.com a few issues back.






I've never been much of a blanket knitter beyond making baby blankets, but earlier this winter our furnace broke down and we had no heat for a few days. That caused me to scramble around to find every blanket I could. That little experience inspired me to get some Fisherman's wool and knit a blanket. It's now getting so big that I usually work on it in bed where I can spread it out, or when I'm watching a movie.

Since we'll probably stuck in this house again today, I'm going to make a hat from some of my newbie hand spun yarn. I've been saving this precious yarn because it's the first yarn I made when I got my wheel, but I think it's time to use it. This yarn is a hot mess of thick and thin because I was just getting the hang of spinning. I will hold two strands together to make a heavy worsted, not quite bulky weight yarn. Take a look, but please don't laugh:

I know that my spinning skills will improve with time. For now I will enjoy the fruits of my labor and knit myself a hat made with yarn I made myself!

Crafters Unite for Haiti Relief

I am so proud of the way my fellow crafters have joined forces to raise money for our sisters and brothers in Haiti who have been devastated by last week's earthquake.

I've collected some links for ways that we as crafters can help the relief effort in Haiti.

Crafters for Haiti Relief:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6404143&page=19
A bunch of etsy.com artists have joined together and are donating a portion of their proceeds for Haitian relief.

The Indie Fixx blog is running a silent auction where 100% of proceeds will go to Haitian relief:
http://indiefixx.com/2010/01/14/haiti-relief-fundraiser/

Ravelry.com, one of my fave knitting websites ever, has a growing selection of items where a portion of proceeds go to Hatian relief. Look for the little 'help for Haiti' tag.

http://www.ravelry.com

Finally, here is CNN's handy list of ways to help Haiti now:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/

So, do what you can and keep Haiti in your prayers.

A Shout-Out to My Swap-Bot Peeps!

I'm a member of Swap-bot.com, a website where creative, crafty people get together and swap stuff that we make. Since I'm a knitter I usually swap knitted items, but I also enjoy making ATCs and Dottee dolls and swapping them with people all over the world.

I'm currently in a Blogger followers swap. So we all agree to visit each others blogs, follow them and leave a nice comment. Last night I visited about 20 of the most fabulous blogs and found a few gems that I may never have found otherwise.

So, I know this is a bit late, but "Hi!" to all my swap-bot people. ;-)

Inspiration from Shirley Paden

I am a knitter who loves cables and lace, so I've been a fan of Shirley Paden's for many years. Today I was thrilled to see her upcoming book being highlighted on Interweave's Knitting Daily email message.

Here's a quick video that gives you an insight into some of the designs from her book and her overall approach to design:








This book comes out on February 15th and I'm looking forward to grabbing a copy to add to my vast collection of knitting books. I will publish a review once I've gotten my hands on a copy.

500 Tiny Hats for Infant Mortality Awareness!

I spoke to Claudia Booker of DC Birthing Hands on Wednesday to find out how the hat project is going. She was leaving one birth and was on her way to another, but she told me that she has received 500 hats so far. She did mention that many of them were far too big for the tiny newborns whose heads are often the size of an orange, so she is going to donate the bigger hats to the local childrens hospital.

Here are the hats that I have completed so far:



You all were so generous in knitting up these little hats to warm the heads of our tiniest neighbors. I plan to continue to knit these hats because she is giving them to the new mothers when their babies are born.

I want to thank everyone who participated in the contest. When we figure out who the winner is, I will post it here.

Infant Mortality Awareness Project Update

I've been talking up the contest to encourage my readers to knit up a bunch of baby caps for the 'Heads Up on Infant Mortality' project. The goal of this project is to raise awareness about the high infant mortality rate in this country. The hats will be presented at a special event and there will be one hat for each newborn who died last year. The caps will then be donated to new moms for their new babies.

Two generous Ravelers, Michelle and Katharine have kicked in with a generous donation of two skeins of everyone's favorite Cascade 220 in purple and pink, and a skein of recycled silk. Here is a picture from the color card:


I have knit ten baby caps so far and my friend Claire has crocheted ten caps, but she is not participating in the contest. I just want to remind everyone that the project deadline is looming. The hats need to be delivered to Birthing Hands of DC by Friday, September 18th, so if you are working on some hats and want to take part in the contest, please send them in and let me know how many you made.