City folk moving to the country - like Green Acres without Eva Gabor!
Hooray! There are only twelve months left until we are on the farm! In celebration, every month something new will be on sale at the shop. To kick things off, everything is 20% off for the month of June!
Had your eye on roving?
I Caught Fire
Or maybe you’ve been dreaming about lace…
Soul Mining
Or feeling a little dirty…
Naked Goat Soap
It’s all on sale!
Such a silly little friend
Minimal seaming means this funny felted friend with his floppy arms and legs can be finished in a few hours. Feet and hands are knit flat with I-cord arms and legs; the body is started flat, then joined in the round.
35 grams (<100 yards) Turtle Cove Erratics or any worsted weight yarn suitable for felting
Size US 10 (6.0 mm) double pointed needles, or size to obtain gauge
Stuffing (polyfill)
Tapestry needle
3 stitch markers
14 stitches = 4”; 19 rows = 4”
* Gauge is not terribly important in this project; knit bigger for a bigger bunny (which will need more yarn) or knit smaller for a smaller bunny. Gauge should be loose enough to felt easily.
k – knit
p – purl
kf&b – knit into the front and then into the back of one stitch; an increase stitch
k2tog – knit two stitches together; a decrease stitch
I-cord – to knit I-cord: knit all stitches in the row. Slide the work to the other end of the needle and turn the needle so the right side faces you again. Pull the yarn across the back of the stitches and knit the stitches again. Continue knitting and sliding, pulling the yarn across the back of the work, until the I-cord is the desired length.
Using dpns and your favorite cast on method, cast on 4 stitches *Do not join in the round!
Knitting back and forth (flat):
Row 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 – purl all stitches
Row 2 – kf&b all stitches (8 stitches)
Row 4 – kf&b all stitches (16 stitches)
Row 6 – knit all stitches
Row 8 – k2tog all stitches (8 stitches)
Row 10 – k2tog all stitches (4 stitches)
Row 11-25 – begin I-cord legs; knit 15 rows of I-cord
Place stitches on waste yarn
Using dpns and your favorite cast on method, cast on 4 stitches *Do not join in the round!
Knitting back and forth (flat):
Row 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 (ws) – purl all stitches
Row 2 (rs) – kf&b all stitches (8 stitches)
Row 4 – kf&b all stitches (16 stitches)
Row 6 – knit all stitches
Row 8 – k2tog all stitches (8 stitches)
Row 10 – k2tog all stitches (4 stitches)
Row 11-20 – begin I-cord arms; knit 10 rows of I-cord
Place stitches on waste yarn
Using your favorite cast on method, cast on 8 stitches *Do not join in the round!
Knitting back and forth (flat):
Row 1 (ws) – purl all stitches
Row 2 (rs) – kf&b all stitches (16 stitches)
Repeat rows 1 & 2 one time (32 stitches)
Divide stitches onto three needles and join in the round, being careful not to twist stitches. Mark the beginning of the round.
Before connecting the legs, mentally number the stitches in the I-cord. Stitch number 1 and stitch number 4 are the “beginning” and “end” of the I-cord tube, marked by the waste yarn.
Round 1 – knit 11, *knit next body stitch and stitch number 3 from first leg together, knit next body stitch and stitch number 4 from first leg together, knit 6*, repeat from * with stitches from second leg, knit 5
Round 2 – knit 11, *knit next body stitch and stitch number 2 from first leg together, knit next body stitch and stitch number 1 from first leg together, knit 6*, repeat from * with stitches from second leg, knit 5
Round 1 – knit 10, place marker, kf&b 12 times, place marker, knit 10 (44 stitches)
Rounds 2-5 – knit
Round 6 – knit to first marker, k2tog, knit to two stitches before second maker, k2tog, knit to end (42 stitches)
Round 7 – knit
Repeat rounds 6 and 7 six times, removing decrease stitch markers on last decrease round (32 stitches)
As for the legs:
Round 1 – knit 11, *knit next body stitch and stitch number 3 from first arm together, knit next body stitch and stitch number 4 from first arm together, knit 6*, repeat from * with stitches from second arm, knit 5
Round 2 – knit 11, *knit next body stitch and stitch number 2 from first arm together, knit next body stitch and stitch number 1 from arm leg together, knit 6*, repeat from * with stitches from second arm, knit 5
Round 1 – knit
Round 2 – k2tog all stitches (16 st)
Round 3 – knit
Round 4 – *k2, k2tog, repeat from * to end (12 st)
Round 5 – knit
Round 1 – kf&b all stitches (24 st)
Rounds 2-3 – knit
Round 4 – k5, kf&b, k12, kf&b, k5 (26 st)
Round 5 and all odd rows – knit
Round 6 – k5, k2tog, k12, k2tog, k5 (24 st)
Round 8 – *k2, k2tog, repeat from * to end (18 st)
Round 10 – *k1, k2tog, repeat from * to end (12 st)
Round 12 – k2tog all stitches (6 st)
Break yarn and draw tightly through all stitches.
Pick up and knit 4 stitches on one side of the head (along decrease row)
Knit 15 rows stockinette stitch (1.5 inches)
Row 16 (rs) – k2tog twice
Row 17 – purl
Row 18 – k2tog, break yarn and draw through stitch
Repeat on other side for second ear
Put a small amount of polyfill in each hand and foot; seam edges together. Loosely stuff the head and body; seam bottom closed. Weave in all ends.
Place Funny Bunny in a lingerie bag or pillowcase and throw in the washing machine on hot wash/high agitation. Check every five minutes until the stitches are obscured.
Gently mold the bunny into a pear shape with a round head and set to dry. He is generally dry within 24 hours.
Spoiler: Bubba is fine now! In fact, he hasn’t even slowed down…
Warning: There is a graphic, stomach turning picture after the break…
The Dreaded Portal
Bubba passed yet another childhood milestone last week: he broke both bones in his left forearm. I’ll tell the story in his words:
My dad and my brother were playing zombie tag and I was sitting on the fort, just enjoying the night. My brother ran up to the fort, which was home base, and yelled.
It startled me and I fell backwards. As I was falling, I thought, “Hmm, do I want to break my arm or do I want to break my neck?”
I am sorry for the pity party the other day. Normally when the shit hits the fan, I just put my head down and do what needs to be done to fix it. But this time… That was just the proverbial straw.
But honestly, I wouldn’t be dreaming of a farm if I was afraid of a little hard work. We’ll just work harder over the next year, start a little smaller than we had planned, and get a little creative about how things get done.
Thank you for all the emails and comment! I’m trying to respond to each one, but I’m slow. If you haven’t heard from me yet, it’s not for lack of appreciation!
Congratulations on those million dollar bonuses! You must be so proud. I mean, really, not many people on the planet can say they earned bonuses for depleting other people’s life savings.
I do realize you are not entirely to blame for the loss of my nest egg - you just lost most of it.
Now here we are six months later. Instead of confidently planning on a farm loan with a 20% down payment, I will be lucky to have 10% down for an impossible to find loan, whereas you could just write a check to cover the whole thing.
Again, congratulations.
Sincerely,
Eryn, who is still dreaming of the farm, but not sure how to make it a reality.
I think I’m being stalked by a movie…
It all started when I was browsing Netflix. Red Dawn popped up as a recommended movie. Now, twenty years ago I *loved* that movie, but I haven’t thought of it since then. I was briefly nostalgic, remembering all the apocalyptic WW3 movies I used to love, and then I promptly forgot about it.
A day or two later, I stumbled across the Bloggess. Oh. My. God. How have I missed her until now? Of course, the first post I see is about how she and her minions made WOLVERINES!! the top trend on twitter. Hmmm, I think, another Red Dawn reference; that’s weird…
I didn’t get frightened until someone sent me to the National Review’s list of the Best Conservative Movies. I admit that at first I thought that the list was a joke, but it appears that a couple of my favorite movies are truly conservative. Somehow I never thought 300’s ultra violence meshed with conservative guidelines, and silly me, I always thought Gattaca was about using your innate abilities to fight back against the ruling elite… Then I started to get very scared: I saw that Red Dawn comes in at #15 on the list.
Three times is no longer just a coincidence; Red Dawn is definitely stalking me. Soon I expect to see visions of paratroopers outside my windows, peeking in on me in my pjs. At this point I don’t know if I should avoid the movie at all cost, or if I should add it to my Netflix queue.
I do know that I am scared. If someone shouts “Wolverines!” at me in the grocery store, I’ll probably run away, gibbering in terror.
If you were trying to hit the site and only got a strange error message, good news: it’s all fixed!
I’d be lying if I said I understood SQL - thank god for tech support!
Poor Bug… He’s been waiting so patiently for me to knit his sweater. I started this sweater for him waaaaay back in June 2008. He picked out the colors himself - blue and green are his favorites. He wanted that hoodie with stripes and a zipper up to his nose.
I knit and I knit and I knit on that sweater, measuring out stripes of green and blue, taking careful notes so I could repeat the stripes perfectly on the front and the back. I carried that sweater everywhere, knitting on breaks, in line at the bank, in movie theaters. My boy was going to get his sweater! Everything was great until I was almost at the end of the second sleeve, then disaster struck! I ran out of yarn.
Insert wailing and gnashing of teeth here.
I hopped on the internet to find more Rowan Cashsoft, and I managed to find one of the colors I was looking for!
Cheers!
As soon as it arrived I grabbed Bug’s Hoodie, so excited to finally finish it… The dyelots didn’t match (of course).
Wah-wa-wahhh
I shoved that hoodie in the WIP basket and ignored it for months. Bug would ask every so often in his soft little voice, “Mom, when will you finish my sweater?”
Heart breaks.
Finally, just after Christmas, I pulled that sweater back out. I had a plan! I would redo both sleeves and hide the different dye lots within the stripes of blue! It was genius! Already mentally patting myself on my back, I had Bug try on his sweater so I could perfectly map out the new sleeves. It was too small.
Arrrgh!
Bug’s heart was broken. His sweater, which he couldn’t even wear yet, was too small. The world was ending, a life of happiness was now impossible, nothing good can ever happen again…
I don’t know where he gets this flair for melodrama.
Since I already had a huge gauge swatch, I made some measurements, did some quick math, and cast on for a top down raglan sweater. I’m knitting straight from the old pieces of the sweater, unraveling as I go.
Bug's Hoodie
The only take off from the traditional top down raglan is that I used a provisional cast on. I plan on taking those stitches back up to knit the hood.
In the interest of making the best use of the yarn I have, I’ve simplified the stripe pattern. The original lot of green yarn is for the top (yoke and hood); next will be a huge band of blue across the chest and arms, and then cuffs and the final few inches of the sweater will be the green with the new dyelot.
It’s knitting up very quickly - yay! Bug deserves a sweater before next June….
Take a moment and read the latest at the Fashion Incubator. I’ve linked directly to Kathleen Fasanella’s measured response to Representative Schakowsky’s histrionic letter in which the Congresswoman lambastes Ms. Fasanella for her opposition to the CPSIA.
Representative Schakowsky’s arguments reflect the circular logic and frantic reasoning that many supporters of the CPSIA use. It is utterly disingenuous, and frankly reprehensible, when CPSIA supporters use the shock and grief of children’s deaths to support this badly written law. Ms. Fasanella’s letter is a perfect example of how to calmly react to those accusations. Of course we want to protect children from contaminated toys! However, the CPSIA is not the way to do it, and in the cases Rep. Schakowsky referenced, the CPSIA would not have made a difference.
Please continue talking to your legislators. When you contact your Senators and Representatives, refer to Ms. Fasanella’s letter for excellent talking points. Urge them to support S 374 and its equivalent in the House.
We may have been given a brief stay in the certification requirements of the CPSIA, but that doesn’t mean the fight is over. Those twelve months will zoom by, and without taking action now, we’ll find ourselves in the same situation we were one month ago.
Other recent articles on the CPSIA:
Change.org - Ideas for Change in America
To the wonderful gentlemen who danced the Dark Morris Dance for Terry Pratchett one lonely night in Chicago:
Thank you.
