KNITSTER

Well, while it doesn’t seem like the Knitsters are doing much, this is far from the truth. We’re all just busy ladies, that’s all! But, we still manage to get some knitting and other creative activities done when we can, for sure. I’ve not only been knitting, but learning how to sew, and trying to get some sewing time in. Proof of that is in my sewing blog. But that’s another thing– we’re here because of our first love, namely knitting!

I’ve been working for a while on this one, and I’m happy to say that it’s done! It’s another one of those labors of love for my son. I had gotten the Charmed Knits book a while ago, and due to his love of Harry Potter movies (he’s not quite ready for the books), Drew had looked in the book, and proclaimed he wanted two things from it– a cloak, and an owl. The pattern in the book is for Errol, which is the Weasley’s owl and so he’s a little rumpled, but the pattern advised that if you switched to white yarns, then you could make a Hedwig. Well, naturally, Drew wanted a Hedwig, so a Hedwig it was.

It took me a while only because while it’s not a hard pattern, I had to pay attention to details. I also started making one part completely wrong (made it way too big), but fortunately the part I had to remake was small, and then it went by quickly. I also acquired a new skill, which was making i-cords. Hadn’t done that before. It wasn’t that hard, other than I think using synthetic yarn made it a little difficult to manage. Still, it came out less than perfect. I had to improvise a bit. The assembly directions were dreadful. They didn’t even say how to attach the talons and, well, so much of how they were assembling it didn’t make sense. Like, they wanted you to attach things AFTER you stuffed and closed off parts, which made no sense. Having made teddy bears before, it’s much easier to add things before they are stuffed than after.

Anyway, what’s most important is the Drew LOVES his Hedwig. He was very excited and has been carrying it around today, and I suspect he’ll bring it to bed with him too tonight.

So, without furter ado, here’s Hedwig!

In the meantime, I need to figure out the next project I’m going to work on. I thought of doing The Mystic Shawl next, but I’m not sure. I’m definitely going to start it soon, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to start that. I think I need to put the chart together first so I can read it better. I’ve also purchased some special yarn that I’d like to use for a quick and easy project but I’m not sure what to do with it. Here’s the yarn:
Zen Yarn Garden Sea Sock in ‘Anna Grace’ colorway, in front of a photo of Anna Grace herself!

This yarn is sock yarn made of a sea cell blend, and I’ve wanted to use that kind of yarn for a while. I ordered it from Sonny and Shear which is owned by Kris, the Knitting Wannabe. I met Kris on one of my listservs as she is the parent of a little girl who has the same speech disorder as Drew does, namely Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Anna Grace, her daughter, has been working very hard in therapy, and recently was released from intense therapy. AG still has to work on pragmatics, like Drew does, but she’s done very well due to early intervention and the efforts of her mom. In celebration, her mom commissioned some special hand-dyed yarn, and this is one of those skeins called the “Anna Grace” in honor of the event. How could I NOT buy a skein of something so wonderful to commemorate a special event like that, especially in light of the fact that AG and Drew work so hard in speech for the same disorder? I love the colors too– they are so ME, or at least the colors I love. So, like I said, I don’t know what to do with it yet, and I would’ve gotten two of them if it weren’t so expensive (yes, I could see JC’s face at me buying 2 skeins of yarn for $50), so I can either make a pair of socks, or…..what? I have to think about that. If you would like to support a mom who has her own web business supplying really nice yarn, roving, and knitting supplies, who also has an apraxic kid (who, if you read her blog, is quite the Southern belle personality), I highly recommend visiting Sonny and Shear. She has some great stuff there.

Until the next project….

Posted on July 12th, 2008 by Dani
Filed under: Finished Objects, Patterns, Photos, Projects