Best in Show!

Won Best in Show, and Best Garment this weekend at YarnCon!!!!!!

YarnCon has been around for about 5 years now, and I always enjoy going there.  It seems to get better every year.  This year they added a knitting contest.  There were 5 categories:  Best of Northern Peaks, Best Accessory, Best Garment, Best Handspun, and Best Toy.  I entered 3 of the categories, it was fun to think about what to choose to bring.

As they were photographing the winning entry for Best in Show, I walked up to 5 women holding up my sweater.  I asked if that was a winner, and everyone cheered yes.  They were all surprised when I said that I had knit it!  How fun, normally I have no luck.  Perhaps being rewarded for skill instead of luck is more fit for me.

You can see the Instagram photos here.

I won loads of gifts for both Best Garment, and Best in Show, right now I can’t remember which was for which, but here are my prizes:

Projects bags, kits for tiny toys, the buttons represent a kit that will be mailed to me.  Love the yarn bowl with some Mrs. Crosby’s yarn in it:

And these little pins made with vintage rulers.  I was coveting them at the event, but choose not to purchase one, so I was really happy to see this in the gift bag.

And, I will receive a print copy of this book:

 

Look here if you want to see more of my Polar Bear sweaters, it was knit in 2008 for Ravelympics.  I did it all in 3 weeks, the first being while we were on vacation at the beach. I have always loved this sweater, but it really requires a very very cold day to wear it.

Good Weekend, YarnCon followed a weaving show at the Chicago Weaving School that I attended on Friday with my friend Jane.  Next step is to take classes there and finally learn how to use my Inkle loom.

 

How to give Flowers to a Knitter

Made by my Stitch and Bitch group for a fellow knitter who has been under the weather.  Not sure where I first saw this, but knew I wanted to make one.

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Scrubbies

My mother always had a basket like this full of her crocheted scrubbies.  Whenever anyone visited she would gladly tell them to pick out a few scrubbies.

She would often take them with her to give to her doctors, many asked for another on the return visits.  They are essential cleanup tools in the kitchen, but have been used on the grill, in the workroom, cleaning up bathrooms, and even getting bugs off of windshields (one of her doctors).   Hers were so much better than the ones that we see at craft shows or the farmer’s market (I think that stuffing is a key), something that she loved to point out.  She knew the pattern by heart and could make them quickly without much thought.  It was what she loved to do while watching her favorite baseball team, the Detroit Tigers.

My last Annetta scribes are unfortunately not looking so great.  My sister Diane was making them at the lake this weekend and graciously made one for each of us.  She tried following Mom’s pattern, but missed something.

I think that these are ingenious, they sit in the palm of your hand and get into corners well.  Now, can she replicate this??!!

In memory of Annetta, her scrubby pattern for all of you.

Making of a Star

This star was made by me and the kids about 20+ years ago.  My mother taught us how to make these out of old Christmas cards when we were kids. It was really interesting to see how the graphics have changed from this star to the one we just made.  The more current cards have much more vibrant colors, graphics are more generic, less Christian.

Over this past weekend, Sofia and I made a new star for her.  I have been saving the front of Christmas cards for the past couple of years.  We don’t get as many as previously, not as many people send out cards in general, or they are letters or photos.

First I redrafted the pattern, this should print out to scale.  From top to bottom is 5″

Copy this pattern onto a stiff cardboard or plastic, such as quilting templates. Cut out evenly, I used an xacto knife and straight edge to get it perfect..

Then, with cards that I had been saving up, Sofia first transferred the large 6-sided  template onto a card, and then the diamond shape centered on that.  Using a ball point pen gives a crisp edge which comes in handy when bending back the tabs. You will need 60 cutouts.

Bend back the tabs on all of the 60 cutouts to give 60 diamonds with tabs.  Sometimes the cardstock is too heavy to bend back evenly, I then score them with an xacto knife and straight edge, just don’t cut deep, only a light surface score is necessary.

The first step is to glue 3 diamonds together, 20 sets of these.  Good old Elmer’s glue works the best, and dries clear at the edge if there is a little bit of overspill.  Let them lay flat to dry completely.  The card on the left is from a card my sister Jill sent one year, I can tell from the writing and portions of the note left.

Next fold them up into a point, glue the tabs together and allow to dry completely.  We used large paperclips to hold them together when needed, some of the cardstock is more porous than others.

I glue 5 sets of points together, 3 sections, leaving the last 5 points as singles.

Glue the 3 large sections together.

Add the last points in one at a time.  The very last is the hardest and most tedious.

And a finished star.  Just waiting for glitter glue on all the joints, to hide any mistakes, strengthen the star and add a touch of pizzazz.