kudos for rachel

Super kudos, not just regular ones, to Rachel Goodgal (who, by the way, IS a good gal), for her knitting related Girl Scouts Gold Award. She's a local girl, from Wyckoff, NJ, who's project was to generate lots of knitted caps and blankets for Valley Hospital newborns and at the same time, encourage her local community members to knit as a relaxing and productive hobby. She taught Brownies and Jr. Girl Scouts to knit (and some have continued meeting with a knitting group that meets at a local library) and she led a workshop of senior citizens at the Christian Health Care Center, inWyckoff. She had meetings with both groups for several months. As a result, over 90 caps and blankets were created for the preemies.

Rachel was valedictorian of Ramapo High School in 2009 and a National AP and Merit Scholar.

I don't know her personally, but she sounds like a delightful young woman.

great tips

I'm a pod cast freak, and in addition to listening to some serious stuff, I like to listen to BlackBerry and various fiber art 'casts. The last yarncraft podcast I heard, included some great tips from Lily Chin. She has 2 new books that are full of her tips for knitting, as well a crochet. I have implemented one of the knitting tips already. I don't know why I didn't think of it.

When swatching, to permanently record what needle size was used, Lily suggested YOK2TOG-ing for the number of your needle size! How smart is that??? So, you have your swatch of some yarn you're using again. All you have to do is count the holes created by the YOK2TOG-ing and you know. Just great!

Christmas count down

Well, I've been counting down to Christmas since January 25th. I'm a Christmas person, that's just how it is and has always been. We're at 18 days. I have tons to do and probably won't post more until after Christmas. I will be taking pictures of everything I have knitted, as they get wrapped etc. I still have a few projects to make, but if I work on them in my down time, I should be okay.

Aside from weaving in ends and sewing on buttons, I have 1 project in progress and am swatching for another. The project I'm swatching for will result in at least 1 and perhaps 2 of a particular item. There is an optional set of projects I would like to finish but they are not absolutely necessary, so I'll work on those last. Last year, Christmas blew by me, as we were still recovering from our August move. I love this time of year and want to drink it in. It's always over too quickly. When I finish the few blog posts I'm making today, I will do some long desired decorating before I go to work.

Have a beautiful celebration of Chanukah and Christmas and I wish you lots of creative expression in 2010.

less than 4 months until Christmas!

On Tuesday, when I was teaching some guitar students, I mentioned to all of them, that we were 4 months from Christmas. Some of them are school age students and they don't want summer to be over, but hearing that Christmas is right around the corner seemed to lift their spirits.

I'm happy to report that I am on track, project-wise. I have nearly 5 knitted gifts complete and I'm keeping an open mind about some of the remaining planned gifts. My mind is WIDE open because I used a $5 Borders Reward to pick up VK, and I must admit that now, I'm thinking about hats. The whole Fall 2009 edition is lovely.

early review of knitpicks zephyr options

My 2 pair of Zephyr Acrylic Options interchangeable knitting needle tips arrived last week. They're a little strange looking but they're light weight and I doubt that they will hold cold the way nickle ones do. I have to say, I'm skeptical about their "staying power." The threaded collar into which the threaded pin on the end of the cables to which these tips attach, is affixed in the same way the Harmony Wood Options interchangeable knitting needle tips were. I didn't have a good experience with those, as much as I wanted to. I have nearly finished the 1st project for which I'm using the new tips. So far, I'm neutral. I don't love them yet, but they function just fine. I need to spend a little more time with them.

new zephyr needles from knitpicks

I have been getting emails about KnitPick's new acrylic Options tips, which are called Zephyr. I have and use Options circular needles 95% of the time. I only occasionally use Pony Pearl straights to teach someone to knit, test a stitch or other atypical use for which I have a yen to or feel compelled to knit with straights.

My original KnitPicks Options purchase was a full set of Harmony Wood needles. They are beautiful and delightful to knit with. The problem is that the metal collar that holds the screw that the cable locks onto, unattaches. KnitPicks is always accommodating and replaces tips that have come apart, but after it occurred too many times, I returned the Harmony Wood set and exchanged it for the Nickel set. Not as lovely to look at, but not a wimper of a problem with them.

On close examination of the connectors on the Zephyrs, they appear to be the same as the Harmony Woods. I'm probably going to try a set or 2 of Zephyr tips and hope the adhesive bonds more permanently to the acrylic than it did to wood. I know I can return them if they don't live up to my expectations.

Christmas is less than 6 months away

On June 25th the "task" alarm rang on my BlackBerry. The little window read, "Make Christmas Crafting List." I was in the throes of the last "regular" week of my teaching schedule, but spent a few days trying to be realistic, yet thoughtful; economical, yet not cheap; reasonable, yet not slothful. So, I came up with a list of the gifts I plan to knit, crochet and sew as Christmas presents. For the most part I will make the gifts I give. I did pick up some small books on clearance for particular people, who I hope will enjoy them.

I have a prototype of something I have not previously made, almost finished. I have a little swatching to do and then I can begin. The projects I have planned are interesting but not extremely complex. If I hold to a schedule and don't get "lost" over the summer, I think I will actually get to enjoy the autumn and winter, rather than stressing over not-yet-completed work.