I'm on to the next critter. This time I decided to knit an owl. So I went on ravelry and found the Cordell the Owl pattern by Knitazoo.
Here's my 99% completed Ollie the Owl. He just needs those really adorable safety eyes to put in the center of his whites and I can declare him finished.
What a hoot!
Secundogeniture found the lost little piggy. So now all six Chichester the Pigs are reunited. The original Chichester was knit in some Red Heart baby soft yarn... so it knit up a little larger than Chichesters II-VI which were knit in Knit Picks Palette.
Awww - it's a Pink Pig Pyramid.
BF and I spent the weekend in Washington, DC. I love driving because it offers me uninterrupted knitting time for at least my share of the time as a passenger. So I brought two projects. My current blanket project and my little Chichester the Pig pattern and project bag.
We were barely on the road when I finished the first Chichester. OK, technically, since I had finished one last week, this one is Chichester II. He liked his perch on the dashboard. Can't you just hear him squealing "Road Trip!"?
By the time we got to DC, I had made two little pigs. Chichester II and III were ready to take on the town.
The pigs' first tourist destination was Marine Barracks 8th and I - located at, where else? 8th and I Streets in Southeast DC. You can *just* make them out above the Marine Corps emblem. I hadn't been to this part of the city in ten years and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it had become.
While waiting for our friend to arrive for dinner, BF snapped this picture of me knitting Chichester IV at an outdoor coffee shop in the newly gentrified neighborhood.
And before you could say "Three Little Piggies" there were a trio of knit porcine critters.
Day Two of our travels found us in Quantico, VA at the National Museum of the Marine Corps where the pigs were excited to test their mettle. Did they have what it takes to be part of The Few, The Proud...
Why yes! Chichesters found that they were actually a part of the museum's history. The answer to this question was: Continental Marines brushed their teeth with toothbrushes made out of course hog hairs attached to wooden handles.
Chichesters Three were happy to discover that lunch at Q-town's authentic Japanese restaurant did not involve pork of any kind. They breathed a collective sigh of relief.
At night, the Three Little Piggies crashed Ethan's shabbat dinner. Fortunately they managed to pose for this picture before going into hiding. No one was the wiser.
Saturday morning, the pigs did some more sightseeing, this time in lovely Old Town Alexandria. The decided to examine this industrial sized coffee roaster at a local coffee shop. Note: While I always love coffee shops with these oversized coffee manufacturing props, but the businesswoman in me just sees wasted table space.
A close up of Pigs at Work.
The pigs explored the Farmer's Market in Old Town. They were humbled to discover that "The Farmer's Market at Alexandria City Hall is thought to be one of the nation's oldest continually operating farmer's markets. Farmers and artists have been selling their products since 1753." Wow! That's "Some Pig!"
Next on their itinerary was a stop a Fibre Space - a Yarn Universe - where they felt right at home in the cashmere and silk.
Without realizing it, we happened upon Miss Babs' trunk show at this LYS - and Miss Babs was kind enough to pose for a picture with us. Awwww. Two skeins of her gorgeous sock yarn may have been purchased as souvenir yarn.
Sometime during the afternoon, Chichester V was born. He made his debut just in time to crash the bar mitzvah. But he couldn't find his name anywhere. Can you?
Chichesters II-V thoroughly enjoyed themselves and posed for this relaxing picture after dancing the hora.
Sunday morning found us visiting friends on their miniature horse farm (the horses were miniature, not the farm) in Maryland. Our hosts were kind enough to pose with Chichesters in front of their purple barn.
P.S. I LOVE the purple barn!
One of the miniature horses (not to be confused with a Shetland pony) was curious as to our arrival and came to see who we were. I'm pretty sure the horse was thinking something like this:
Chichester VI was born on the ride home. He was thrilled to be welcomed home by the rest of the pig pen at our house (minus the original Chichester the Pig, who seems to be MIA).
And after a very exciting three days on the road, the pigs, all nestled in their pen, could only be heard singing their favorite Mother Goose rhyme
If you knew Piggy Sue
then you'd know why I feel blue
Without Piggy, my Piggy Sue
Oh well I love you gal,
I love you Piggy Sue
My apologies to Buddy Holly for corrupting his original lyrics, but with this little knit piggy, how could I not have this song stuck in my head?
You can expect to see a whole pig pen of Piggy Sues coming your way.
And here's a nod to the original song and music legend Buddy Holly.
The boys haven't spent Easter with me in so many years, I nearly forgot how to celebrate. But never fear, I know that you're never too old for an Easter basket.
Even my handknit chickens made their way into the Easter baskets.
Here's hoping you had a very happy Easter!
This year I am reminded of all sorts of Easter celebrations from the past decade that involve some of my favorite things: family recipes and knitting. Here's a look:
We'll start with my Mom's favorite recipe - Uncooked Cookies - that got three mini jelly beans, er, eggs for Birds Nests for Easter.
I try not to make these anymore as I'm the only one who eats them and that's not a good thing!
The original chickens. This was a fabulous craze.
I taught my friend's daughters to knit and they made their own chickens for Easter.
My friend Joanne opted for the Duck craze for Easter.
But Joanne's Dad wanted a chicken.
And of course, there was the mini chicken phase.
And perhaps my favorite of all... My Knitting Peeps!
Here's wishing you a very Happy Easter - no matter how you celebrate.
I made another Wee Wallaby for my American Girl Doll.
I didn't have a full skein of Encore Worsted, so I made the alternative collared version instead of the hoodie.
I'm actually quite happy with the way this worked out. Maybe I'll make a full-sized collared Wallaby for myself.
It's even more fun than a full size Wonderful Wallaby. I finished the adult medium (for my 9-year old niece) and decided it needed a Mini Me version, too. So I quickly began fiddling with the smallest 2-year old pattern to decrease it by 1/3 and came up with the perfect size for my American Girl Doll.
I finished both Wonderful Wallabies, steam blocked them, and rushed off to the Post Office to ship them priority mail so that they might arrive in the midwest by Friday or Saturday. I can't wait to see pictures of Gracie and her doll wearing matching sweaters.
I bought some mini googly eyes today (I just love saying "googly eyes" - don't you?) and knit up two more mini chickens. These are really so much fun.
I also learned something interesting about a chicken's coxcomb. They are red because of blood and were genetically a source of cooling down for the chicken. Interesting, no?
I also googled chicken images and decided to knit mine in the truer colors of the birds. I like yellow and orange, but chickens are not really those colors. So here you have my white, red, black, tan and brown hens.
I think the black chicken is my favorite.
So, there you have it! My chicken clutch is ready for the auction!
Change is Good
