Play ball!
Well, OK. Not quite yet. I am going to talk about Stitch N’ Pitch later in this blog post. But before I do, let’s take a look at some of the other things that have been happening in my knitting world. I’m glad that you’ve decided to come along for the ride.
The Fiber Seed Preemie Hat KAL/CAL
Friends, here is something that is simply amazing to me. I am really excited that my Scrappy Sock Yarn Preemie Hat is one of the featured patterns in The Fiber Seed Preemie Hat KAL/CAL, which runs from May 8 – May 23!
Lindsay is the owner and dyer at The Fiber Seed and is hosting a preemie hat KAL/CAL for hats made with her yarn. I discovered The Fiber Seed yarn at my LYS last year, and absolutely love it. The Seedlings she offers are the perfect size for knitting up some preemie hats, and the yarn is so soft, squishy, and colorful. A few weeks ago, Lindsay contacted me about running a preemie hat KAL/CAL with her yarn and featuring my pattern, along with a featured crochet pattern. I was immediately on board and am looking forward to seeing all the preemie hats that are created as part of the effort.
All the action for the KAL/CAL is happening on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook with the #tfspreemiehatkal hashtag. You will also want to check out The Fiber Seed Revelry Group (see the chatter and FO threads).
COUPON CODE: To celebrate Lindsay’s first KAL/CAL, especially since it’s for a cause so very close to my heart, I’m offering a coupon code good for $1 off the pattern price. You can find that code along with all of the KAL/CAL details in the latest edition of The Fiber Seed newsletter.
Happy Preemie Hat knitting and crocheting!
Recently On My Needles
My recent knitting has focused on finishing my socks and working on my 2 sock yarn scrap projects.
Blue Box Exploding Socks
I absolutely love these socks! The yarn is vibrant, soft, and squishy. The pattern is basic enough to be able to knit without really thinking, but provides a nice textured look to make it kinda fancy. Plus, since the pattern has the properties of ribbing, it’s quite stretchy, which ensures a great fit. Finally, I incorporated the Fish Lips Kiss Heel (or as I hashtag it on Instagram: #🐠👄😚👠 — let’s make this hashtag a think, OK?), which I absolutely love. Over the weekend, I did the heel on the 2nd sock and it was wonderful. Typically, I would never recommend knitting when you’re tired or distracted, but I really wanted to make sure I was done with the heel before the Stitch N’ Pitch game, so I stayed up late Friday night working on it. Between the hours of 11:00pm and 1:00am, I was knitting away on that heel, and it came out wonderfully. The technique is easy to follow and hard to mess up.
I took the sock to the baseball game on Saturday, and got a lot of knitting accomplished — I’m about 1/3 of the way down the foot now! I expect that I’ll be completing this sock in the next week or so. I’m already trying to decide what the next sock I cast on will be.
Ravelry Project Page: Blue Box Exploding Socks
Pattern: Strie Socks, Top Down by Lara Neel (incorporating Fish Lips Kiss Heel by Sox Therapist)
Yarn Used: Nerd Girl Yarns Bounce & Stomp in Blue box exploding
Scrappy Sock Yarn Blanket
My scrappy sock yarn blanket is up to 47 squares now. Bit by bit, I’m getting there. I’m definitely on the “multiple years to completion” path, and I’m totally OK with that. This is a completely no-stress project for me. I knit on it as much as I want for as long as I want, then put it away for however long I want to put it away. I don’t have a solid idea of what I want the final size to be. Sure, I’d love it to be large enough to cover the bed, but if I get completely burned out on knitting it, I can just stop at pretty much any time. The blanket is getting large enough now that it’s not nearly as portable as it used to be. I suspect that I’ll be able to carry it around for another dozen or so squares, then I’ll need to retire it to the house for knitting at home.
So far, I don’t have any repeated squares in the blanket. I’m going to try to make the entire thing without repeats. There are going to be hundreds and hundreds of squares, so I’ll be heavily dependent on mini-skein swaps and gifts to make sure I have enough diversity in the yarn to accomplish that. The great news is that I have a decent pile of minis that I’ve recently received in swaps and as gifts, so I’ll be in business for a while. And if I run out of minis, it’s pretty easy to find a mini swap on Ravelry.
Ravelry Project Page: Scrappy Sock Yarn Blanket
Pattern: Knitted Patchwork Recipe by Martine Ellis
Yarn Used: Sock yarn scraps
Beekeeper’s Quilt (Hexipuffs)
I’ve continued to make progress on my hexipuff knitting, too. I’m about at the point where my mitered square blanket is too large to be portable knitting, so I suspect that these hexipuffs will be my go-to knitting for portability and a short attention span. I’ve got a pile of yarn ready to become hexipuffs, and I’ve benchmarked a few activities that are good for knitting them: a typical hour-long TV show is good for knitting 1 complete hexipuff, a conference call (depending on my level of participation in the call) is good for anywhere between 0 and 1 hexipuffs, and a baseball game is good for about 1.5 hexipuffs.
Ravelry Project Page: the beekeeper’s quilt
Pattern: the beekeeper’s quilt by tiny owl knits
Yarn Used: Sock yarn scraps
Stitch N’ Pitch: 2016 Durham Bulls Edition
This is the third year I’ve been able to attend the Stitch N’ Pitch even at a Durham Bulls baseball game. As was the case the past 2 years (check out my write-ups from 2014 and 2015), it was a lot of fun!
In addition to being Stitch N’ Pitch night, it was also Star Wars night! The team had a tribute to Han Solo, including having the entire team dressed in jerseys that looked like Han’s signature shirt and vest. Princess Leia and Chewbacca where in attendance as well. The Bulls pulled out a win in extra innings. All in all, it made for a great evening at the ballpark.
For those of you not familiar with Stitch N’ Pitch, it is a program sponsored by TNNA that combines two of the greatest things on earth: baseball and NeedleArts. Here’s how TNNA puts it:
Stitch N’ Pitch brings together two American traditions — Baseball and the NeedleArts. Come to a ball game and knit, crochet, embroider, cross-stitch and needlepoint. Sit among friends, family and colleagues and cheer on your favorite Baseball Team.
This event is for ANYONE who has an interest in the perfect double play — NeedleArts and Baseball; beginners, intermediate and experts are all welcome.
The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA) and your Baseball Team are providing fun giveaways and surprises that are included with special Stitch N’ Pitch game tickets.
This year, there were about 200 tickets in the Stitch N’ Pitch block, and it was really great to be surrounded by other knitters and crocheters along the first base side enjoying the game. As in previous years, every Stitch N’ Pitch ticket came with a goodie bag — filled with coupons for local yarn shops and other businesses, Burt’s Bees (they’re headquartered locally) lip balm, and some knitting patterns, books, and/or magazines. It’s always fun going through the gift bag.
Throughout the game, the organizers had raffle giveaways. The giveaways were bags that were donated by local businesses. Most of them were donated by yarn shops and were yarn related. The Bulls even donated a team autographed ball.
As was the case last year, I was greatly helped in my Stitch N’ Pitch experience by the fact that I have a YarnIt. This yarn sphere is great for holding my yarn while I knit, and the base fits perfectly in the cup holder. It makes it so much easier to wrangle my sock knitting in public.
It was a perfect night for baseball. Everyone had a great time. The Bulls won. The Star Wars theme was a blast. And I managed to complete a couple of inches on my socks. Who could ask for anything more? I’m already looking forward to next year!
If you want to find more about the Durham Stitch N Pitch, check out their Facebook page!
Upcoming KALs and Events
In addition to in The Fiber Seed Preemie Hat KAL/CAL that I mentioned earlier, there are a couple of other KALs with which I’ll be associated in the coming months. I’ll be writing more about them in future blog posts, but here’s a quick teaser, in case you want to start getting your ducks lined up to participate. The first KAL is the Down Cellar Studio Splash Pad Party, which runs from June 1-31. Joey and I are the official Pool Boys for the KAL. It’s going to be fun. The second is the Actually Knitting Pal Kal 2016, which runs from June 15 – September 15. Check out the links for more info.
In a couple of weeks, I’ll be heading up to DC to attend a couple of Susan B. Anderson workshops at the Fibre Space in Alexandria, VA. I’m signed up for the shawl design and egg to owl classes. If you’re planning on being at the workshops, please say “hi.” Next month, I’m planning on attending the TNNA Summer Show in Washington, DC. I’m already making plans to meet up with a handful of people throughout the weekend. If you’ll be there, get in touch, and we can meet up, too.
Did you attend a Stitch N’ Pitch event this year? Drop a note in the comments and let me know what yours was like.
Until next time, keep on knitting for the ones you love!
-greg
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