Scarves for a Good Cause

Sure there are plenty of projects to work on right now, especially with the holidays coming up, but here's one easy charity project to keep in mind--and the deadline isn't until February for many states!

The Special Olympics USA Scarf Project collects handmade scarves and presents them as gifts for the Special Olympics Athletes.

Every year the project picks the official yarn colors and Red Heart puts the yarn on sale for about a dollar off the regular price. The colors this year are:

Red Heart Super Saver 387 Soft Navy

Red Heart Super Saver 319 Cherry Red

Red Heart Soft 4604 Navy

Red Heart Soft 9925 Really Red

Red Heart also supplies free crochet and knit patterns, but you can use any pattern you like as long as it's between 54" and 60" long, and approximately 6" wide.

Each state that elects to participate asks for a certain number of scarves. So if your local center reaches their goal, you can send your scarves to another state who needs them.

I was sad to find out California isn't one of the states that chose to participate in the program, so I'm sending mine to Colorado :)

Ravelry Rocks

One of the best web resources for fiber crafters, Ravelry.com is my favorite place for all sorts of crochet and knit information.

Sweet Eleanor Scarf

Patterns: Rather than scour dozens of sites, you can go straight to the Patterns section of Ravelry and search for what you need. The results range from brand name patterns to user created and submitted patterns.

Some are free and some will cost you, but you can sort your search by whether you want to pay for a pattern.


Yarns: Sure you can find some great new colors and textures by browsing around the listings in the Yarns section, but if you're thinking about putting down cash on a few pricey skeins, knowing how the yarn is going to perform is even more valuable.

Just click on the Comments tab at the top of a yarn's page and find out what other people think about: how the yarn washes, if it pills or splits when you work with it, and even how the quality of the brand has changed over the years.

Noro Kureyon

Also, if you're thinking about buying a yarn through the internet, getting an idea of the texture and weight from someone other that the seller is extremely helpful.

Oh, and if you just bought a bunch of yarn on sale because you simply couldn't pass up the price, just look up the yarn on Ravelry and click the Pattern Ideas tab. You'll find dozens of ways to make use of your new stash.

Forums: Ask questions and get answers on everything from patterns and techniques to trade shows and tools. The Ravelry community is really what makes this site awesome.

Groups: Looking for a little more human interaction? Ravelry is tied to fiber artists groups all over the world. From Albania to Wales, you'll find groups of crocheters, knitters, and spinners--you can even add your own.

Ravelry Wall Art

Shop: Support Ravelry by purchasing fun stuff from their Mini-Mart. Or buy yarns, patterns and anything else for fiber arts from fellow Ravelers in the Marketplace.

My Notebook: The online library that helps you keep track of your stash, tools, books, patterns you're working on and those you want to work on, and everything else.

Now all I need is a Ravelry mobile app, and rumor has it there's something in the works :)

Photo Studio in a Box

Finally opened up my photo lighting kit and made efforts to set it up and take photos of my beanies last night.

The Square Perfect SP500 Platinum Photo Studio in a Box I bought on sale from amazon.com is awesome. It's everything a hobby photographer could ask for: two lights on adjustable stands, a large light diffusion tent, alight reflector, backgrounds, and a camera tripod. Everything comes in a big, snazzy looking carrying case with a padded interior and padded dividers.

The equipment setup was easy, but I realized immediately I hadn't given myself enough room for adjustments. A small desk is not enough surface space to set up the tent, the lights, and the tripod. The lights are small-ish for tabletop use, so I just rigged them up on a couple bar stools for the time being.

The tripod can stand on the ground, but I thought it was kind of unwieldy for my little digital point-and-shoot, so I used my GorillaPod on the tabletop instead.

Next step: Photo composition. Trying to figure out how to make a beanie on a white mannequin head look more interesting :)

Discovering New Color Palettes

Spent the weekend working on my giant granny square blanket. It's taking a little longer than I estimated, but I'm enjoying the exercise.

Meanwhile I'm contemplating color combinations for the next blanket. I have several sites I like to check out for popular color combos and playing with new colors.

COLOURlovers is a global community of creatives who share palettes, patterns, and more.

Kuler always has some great palettes to inspire you.

Kuler is a web app for generating color schemes and checking out other people's palettes.


Pictaculous generates color palettes from photos you upload to the site.

The next step is finding yarns in these colors! To be honest, I'm often limited by the yarn that's available to me at the time I'm inspired to make a project. I think I may look into an iPhone app that helps me generate color palettes while I'm standing in the local yarn store.

By the way, with regards to the giant granny square blanket: can anyone tell me how to keep all four sides lined up parallel? Right now my outer squares look like they are turning by at least 5 to 10 degrees from the center square... I'm going to end up with a spiral if I keep going at this rate.

Cumulus Beanie Pattern Redux

"Cumulus" beanie in peach.

Finally figured out the pattern I made up for my Cumulus Beanie. I'm not sure I got it exactly right because increasing a cluster stitch can get a little complicated.

However, the beanie fits well and looks how I wanted it to, so as far as I'm concerned it's mission accomplished.

Now I get to try writing out the pattern. It will be the first pattern I've ever written and I'm not sure I can get it to the point where I could share it with other crafters and have them understand it, but I shall do my best.

I guess this is the learning process when it comes to designing your own pieces. Next time I'm going to write everything down as I go--even if it only makes sense to me ;)

A good gift pattern

What qualifies as a good gift pattern? For me it depends on how many different versions of the same pattern can I make by changing colors. Also, how many different people do I know will actually enjoy getting the finished product for a gift?

My work so far on the Granny Square Blanket

For example, scarves and beanies are great go-to's because guys and girls of every age and inclination can wear scarves and beanies--as long as they don't live in a tropical climate year-round.

In my search for gift projects this year, I've stumbled across a couple patterns that may work depending on how long they take to complete. I'm doing tests now.

The first is a Giant Granny Square blanket that The Purl Bee posted. It's one giant granny square that is just an ever increasing rainbow of fuzzy goodness. I can watch my favorite SyFy shows and work this blanket at the same time.

Everyone needs an extra blanket: to curl up on the sofa with, take to a picnic in the park or at the beach, add an extra layer to the bed, or even use when company comes to stay the night.

So far I'm estimating 18 hours or less to finish one blanket. I may not make blankets for everyone, but I think I can crank a few out by Christmas :)

Love Love Love Amigurumi

This post was inspired by the Star Wars amigurumi created by fellow Etsy shop owner lucyravenscar.

I've only completed one amigurumi--a cat, surprise surprise--and I gave it to a friend of mine.

Does this qualify as a possible holiday craft? Amigurumi personalized for all my friends and family? Elephants, dogs, dolphins, turtles... doesn't everyone have a favorite animal?

Or a favorite movie for that matter? I've seen Amigurumi for The Exorcist, Despicable Me, Harry Potter, Batman, Alice in Wonderland--and the list goes on.

Here are a few sites I've found that have great amigurumi patterns. Fun, cute and quick (for the most part)!

Great Amigurumi
Free Amigurumi Patterns
Ana Paula's Amigurumi
Ami List
This Web Design School page gives you links to 50 free amigurumi patterns.

And of course you can always go to Ravelry and search for amigurumi patterns.

:)