The blog post from hell...

...in which I catch up on nearly 18 months of craft blogging.

Okay. I've got a lot of knitting posts to catch up on. I'm going to post lots of little pictures. If you want to see something more clearly, click on the photo and you'll be taken to the photo on Flickr. If you want the crafty details (pattern, yarn, etc.), click on the link in the description to go to my page on Ravelry.

***

I managed not to get a good final photo of this. It's a ruffly neck scarf I made for my sister's birthday (August 2011). I had intended it to be for Christmas 2010, but I didn't get it done. Then there was a shawl I was going to make for my sister's birthday (2011). Didn't get that done on time either, so she got the scarf for her birthday in 2011 and the shawl for the 2012 birthday .



It's actually a very richly colored yarn:



***

The beaded lace shawl that was supposed to be for my sister's 2011 birthday was done in time for August 2012, along with a copper-colored shawl pin (by Twisted Sisters Jewelry):





***

There were two of these. I made one in Cascade Yarns Cotton Rich DK which is not, surprisingly, an all-cotton yarn; the yarn has 36 percent nylon, which can be too scratchy for a baby. Thus, I made a second version, using Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic (100% cotton). The mom wound up with one frameable, one usable. (Too tiny to see here: the design is owls, which was going to be a theme in Leena's pink room.)



The two washcloths and this Baby Surprise Jacket went to coworker Jessica, who was expecting baby Leena Rosemary.



***

One charity project I knitted for was Hats for Sailors (that's the Facebook page), knitting hats in machine-washable natural fibers (wool preferred, cotton okay, synthetics like nylon or acrylic not allowed). These hats to go U.S. sailors on ships posted in colder climates. Since the sailors are at sea rather than on land, camouflage is not a requirement. I can't remember how many hats we had in 2011; in 2012, we're trying for 600 hats. This was my first hat, for the 2011 season.



This year, I've knitted two hats for the 2012 season. They both use the same easy pattern; each hat takes about 110 yards of worsted weight wool (in this case, Cascade 220 Superwash).



***

I also knitted a hat as a 2011 Secret Santa project at work. My coworker specified the yarn color.



***

I've been knitting snoods, mostly for charity auctions. A snood, in this instance, is a long tube of fabric designed to cover a greyhound's thin ears when the dog is outside in colder climates than usually seen in North Georgia. So far, though, I've kept my first snood; it matches a special collar:



Other snoods have made it to auctions and brought in funds for greyhound rescue groups this year. Snood one ($64—two bidders got into a bidding war in this auction, and the price doubled in the last few minutes), two ($30), three ($30), and four ($40—a much richer color than the photograph shows).





***

A friend at work needed an emergency baby present for a friend. I had a Baby Surprise Jacket I'd started eons earlier. It was all done except the seaming and buttons. I finished that and gave Trina the sweater for her friend in return for a donation to PetSmart's Pet Charities fund.



***

That was the last Baby Surprise Jacket I've knitted (to date). I've found a new baby sweater pattern that I really like, and I've made four this year: Ruby's, Ryan's, Stormy's, and Sydney's, which had a matching baby afghan.

Ruby:


Ryan:


Stormy:


Sydney:


The afghan is one of only two crocheted projects I've made this year. No photos of the whole thing, but it measured 31" x 44" (79cm x 112cm):



***

The other crocheted project was a doily—just keeping my hand in:



***

I knitted a few cotton dishcloths. I want to get a batch of them that I can package together and donate to an auction. Maybe there'll be two bundles: one houndish, one Whovian.

Blue Greyhound Dishcloth



Leaf Lace Washcloth (much prettier than it photographs)



Tardis Dishcloth (You'll have to take my word for this one until I get a better photograph)



***

And a friend's parents lost everything they owned in a March fire. A bunch of us wanted the parents to have something handmade, with a little love in it, so we volunteered to knit them an afghan, with each person knitting one square. Some of the volunteers eventually ran into trouble getting their squares done, so I filled in on a couple of extra. I think I've done enough cables to last me for a while.





***

I have six projects in the works (photos and info at another time): five are shawls, and one is another greyhound snood (it's my mindless knitting). I've also bought yarn to make myself a sweater and a shawl (You didn't think these five shawls were for me, did you?) and yarn to make a sweater for Silver.

And now that I've caught up on nearly 18 months of craft blogging and no longer have the blog-post-from-hell hanging over my head, maybe I can keep up with sensible posts.