Major Knitter

Finishing Friday - Adorable Dozen

I forgot to post a picture of the dozen Scout mini socks I made for our District Dinner this past week. Our Venturing Crew is new and trying to purchase our Crew flag. It’s a little pricey… so I offered to knit the socks and let the teenagers sell them. We sold all twelve at the dinner… and got orders for more than twenty more. In one night, we raised enough for our flag! I’m so thrilled.

And at this dinner, I was honored with the Pomperaug District Award of Merit for all my work within the District, especially with our family fundraising campaign.  Of course, I accomplished this with the help of all the Scouts, families, leaders and presenters who have helped me with our Friends of Scouting efforts over the past few years.

Here I am with my friends and District Key Three - Bill, Jonathan and Scott.  We are so fortunate to have such great volunteers who are passionate about Scouting.  You know how much I love it - and it's fabulous to be surrounded by others who are equally committed.

Who Knew Knittin' Was Scientific?

My friend Dave, who works at the Discovery Museum, sent me this great video on YouTube (sorry, I can't figure out how to embed the link - so click on the YouTube link)

Don't you just love the way he says "knittin"?

Thanks Dave!

Wilma on Wednesday

Wilma has no lack of confidence issues.  In fact, she may actually have issues with an overabundance of confidence.  She's found a new bed of late... and I'm not talking one of her many doggy beds.

And she stays in bed long after I've left. 

I think it's safe to say that I've given up complete control over my house and home.  Wilma rules the roost.  

I think perhaps she always has.

January Swap

Kathy B organized a wonderful January swap to wash away the winter blues.  She came up with a theme based on the Chinese New Year's Year of the Dragon.  You were supposed to swap just four things with your buddy - sock yarn, your favorite lotion or hand cream to soften that scaly winter dry skin, a pattern and something about a dragon.  I was paired up with Helen who is stationed in Germany.  I got the BEST gift ever.

Helen snuck in not one, but two of her favorite hand creams - Neutrogena's Hand Cream - which is also a favorite of mine!  There is some amazing Wollmeise... and guess what?  It's called Drachenblut.  Now I don't speak any German, but I think that means Dragon Blood.  How cool is that?  There's also a very cute key chain fob with a pig on it!  This girl from Iowa may or may not have a cute little collection of pigs including one oversized one that is sometimes seen wearing a Santa hat.  Helen is so thoughtful that she even sent her gift in the most adorable decorative box with some aromatic tea and four Drops sock patterns for me to pick and choose my favorite.  Which one should I use for my Wollmeise?  

Hey!  What happened to the German chocolates?  I swear there was a package of the most delicious hand crafted chocolates.  They didn't seem to last long enough to be photographed.

Thanks Helen!  You were more than generous and you certainly made my winter a whole lot brighter!  I hope you liked your gift, too.

Saturday Skating

This afternoon we went skating at the Rink at Longshore so the Scouts could earn the Skating Merit Badge.

We did all the book work (first aid, safety, etiquette, etc) during the past two weekly meetings.  All that was left was the actual skating.  We had varying levels of skating skills - but no matter if the Scouts were beginners or advanced, they all learned something new.

My friend Cyndy and I had a great time.  Unfortunately, we both discovered that we're no longer teenagers.  This was so much easier 30 some years ago...

Congratulations to the six boys who came out to earn this merit badge.  You did a great job!

 

Resurrected!

You probably thought you'd never see it, but here it is. I picked up the Faery Ring this week to finally make some progress.  I intended to sew the button band at my Wednesday knitting group.  The button band starts at the bottom right hand of the sweater, goes up along the body, completely around the hood, and down the left hand side of the sweater.  It's knit and folded over and sewn, so that's some serious sewing to do.  

 

You can see where I managed to sew about 4 inches of the button band.  Now only 94 inches to go (OK - I exaggerate).  Unfortunately, I didn't bring any extra yarn with me, so instead I knit the lattice cable strip for the cuff.

Since this size pattern didn't have any instructions for the sleeves, I'm winging it.  I also decided that without a pattern, it would be easier for me to knit the sleeves from the top down, in the round, so that once I'm done, I'm done.  No sewing.  You know how much I HATE sewing!  But this creative process means that there will most definitly be some bumps in the road.  My first attempt at the knit-on cuff was a disaster.

 

Look at the perpendicular join to the sleeve.  It's horrendous!  This cuff is getting ripped out!

I think this will work.  I think I can do it.  I just hope I'll have some quiet time to sit at home in front of the TV and work on this.  It's getting too big to be portable!

 

Fundraiser Socks

Our Venturing Crew needs to buy our flag.  They're not cheap.  So since I'm ALWAYS knitting anyway, I thought I'd shift focus on the mini Scout socks to be a fundraiser for our new Crew flag.

During the ski weekend I knit up the four different Scout socks - Tiger Cub, Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Venturing

I got orders for 16 more miniature socks - for Troops and also in favorite school/team colors.  This will help us get halfway to our goal.  I'm really excited about this!  

If you'd like to order some, please let me know.  Each miniature sock is $10 and is approximately 3.5 inches tall from toe to cuff.