I Never Promised You an Organic Garden

2011 has been a great year for Loops of Love.  We recently did an inventory of all the items made in 2011, and it was quite an impressive number of items.  In case you aren’t aware, Loops of Love is a charitable knitting and crochetting group I started in cooperation with Richmond Church of the Brethren and Unwind Yarn Shop.  We meet the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month from 5 to 7pm at the yarn shop, and we donate handmade items to a number of local organization including: Birth-t0-Five, Salvation Army, YWCA, Genesis Women’s Shelter, Reid Babies, and Nobel Women’s Circle.

Photo Copyright Jim Hair

Our tally of donated goods for the first half of 2011 is:

Baby Hats: 33
Kids Hats: 23
Adult Hats: 15
Baby Blankets: 19
Chemo Caps: 7
Washcloths: 10
Mittens:3
Baby Sweater: 1
Scarfs: 9
Booties: 7
Slippers: 1
Shaw : 1

A big thank you is in order to all the people who show up every week to knit or crochet, all the people who don’t attend but donate completed items, all the people who donate yarn and needles, and especially Unwind Yarn Shop for hosting us each week.

I can’t wait to see how much stuff we create in the rest of 2011.

When I was blogging more regularly, I did a good job of reporting my knitting accomplishments.  However, during the eight months I was not blogging, I have completed a number of project that haven’t been accounted for.

Lest anyone fear that I have given up or slowed down on my knitting, here is what I’ve gotten done in the past eight month, give or take a few projects even I have forgotten about.

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I just finished a felted mittens class at Unwind Yarn Shop, and I am ecstatic about how my mittens turned out! This was not my first attempt at mittens, but it was definitely my first successful attempt.  The class was a lot of fun, and the pattern (Snow Country Felted Mittens) was really easy to follow.  I even felt confident wielding the 4 double point needles by the end of the class.

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I recently completed yet another in my recent string of knitting projects and while it didn’t turn out how I hoped, I am pleased enough with the end result that I wanted to share.

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I had a once in life time experience when it come to knitting.  I started a scarf for my husband a year & 1/2 ago using gorgeous bamboo yarn I got from Unwind Yarn Shop.  I made the mistake of letting my non-knitting husband pick out the pattern so it turned out to be a little more complicated that I intended.  It requires my undivided attention so I haven’t worked on it much.  Sunday night I picked the scarf back up and after doing some math realized I would not have enough yarn to finish.

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Very Exciting News: I have finished my first hand knitted wool sweater.  I started this in February, and I just finished sewing up the sleeves at 9:30pm this evening.  I still need to take the time to block it, but it is totally wearable at this moment.  For all you non-knitters, blocking is dousing a completed project in water and pinning it out into the final shape you want.  This helps to work out uneven stitches, ensure proper length and width, and generally improves the final look of your project.

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If anyone in the Richmond, Indiana area is looking for something fun to do this weekend, the Richmond Fall Festival is the place to go.  The Festival combines several festivals into a single weekend of fun.  There will be a plethora of events going on throughout Richmond most of which are free and family friendly.

The events begin Friday afternoon and run through Sunday, and free parking will be provided downtown and at Earlham College with shuttle service.  Activities include but are not limited to:

• Karaoke
• Free showing of Gene Autry’s film “South of the Border”
• Free pony rides
• Art & Music Festival downtown, including book sellers row, great food, arts & crafts, and booths from local artisans including Unwind Yarn Shop
• Free Rock concert downtown featuring Soul Marrow Transplant
• Heritage festival at the Wayne County Historical Museum
• Tours of the Gennett Mansion
• Walk of Fame induction ceremony
• Community Orchestra concert
• Cope Environmental Center Fall Gala
• and much much more.

For a full schedule of events visit the Waynet website or download the pdf from Richmond Fall Festival.com

It promises to be a great weekend and Matt and I will definitely attend.

As I finish  knitting projects (most recently a baby sweater and set of  wash cloths), I record my new projects in Ravelry.  Ravelry is a perfect union of two of my strongest areas of interest: knitting and the internet.  It is an online community for knitters and crocheters that goes way beyond social networking. Ravelry allows its users to post and track projects, search patterns, store information about stashed yarn, search forums, keep a list of needles owned, join groups, see what others are making, comment on other users’ projects, and much much more.

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As I have mentioned in past blog posts, I have recently become obsessed with knitting.  I am currently working on no less than 6 projects simultaneously and have a growing stash of knitting needles and yarn.  I knit while watching tv, in church, at meetings, hanging out with friends, in the car, and on planes.  I knit gifts, household items, clothing, etc.

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