Moon Tea

Some finished things

Mr. Robot (on the right) said farewell to his favorite F.O...  Miss Robot was mailed to my old college room mate, who liked my original robot.  So I made her one!

Note to reader: see how the stitches in his orange square "screen" look stretched and weird? That's all because I used cheap acrylic yarn instead of the recommended Lamb's Pride! It just doesn't respond well to being stuffed and stretched like a wool yarn would. 

Doesn't she look perky?

Pattern: 'Robot' from Jess Hutchison's Unusal Toys for You to Knit and Enjoy.

Yarn: The last of my cheap acrylic Caron Wintuck in Periwinkle, Orange, and Grey (good riddance).  Pink parts made out of Brown Sheep Naturespun worsted in Peruvian Pink.

Needles: Size 8 straights and DPN's.

Comments: My seaming is getting better! This robot looks so much better than the first.  Practice, practice.

And this is the rustic-looking, tweedy, basic hat for Joe intended for the Sierras (but modeled in the hot central valley of California):

 

Pattern: My faithful, multi-purpose basic hat pattern:  Ann Norling's Head Huggers, pattern #55.

Yarn: 1 skein plus a teeny bit more Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed.

Needles:  Size 8 Clover bamboo circs. (as usual)

Comments:  Ann Norling's hat pattern is sized a little large, so I made Joe the hat sized for a teen/woman, and added about an inch to the length.  There's plenty of stretch in these hats, and they need to fit somewhat tight as they will stretch over time. 

It has proven its worth at keeping heads warm...he immediately ripped it off his head after the shot was taken! A little silk and a pinch of cashmere in this wool blend go a long way.  He's worn it three times since then though, now that we've been feeling fall in the air around here. 

Color me Rogue & Charitable knitting

     Thank you everyone for helping me decide what yarn to use for Rogue!  You have no idea how many hours I wasted pouring over online color cards, knitblogs, and yarn shops.  Thank you SavannaChik, too, for your brilliant (and obvious) suggestion to order a small sample ball of the Emerald Black Water Abbey.  It came...and I'm sooo glad I didn't order this color!

Here it is (Note to self: Improve photography skills...sorry for the blurriness):

It's *teal* not green! It's very beautiful I have to say, but definitely not what Iwas looking for.  On their website the color appeared more forest-green.  I want to use their yarn for a project in the future, however.  For a wool, it's very light weight, and the colors are stunning and rustic -- yet modern.  Go see for yourself.

     Just about everybody who commented liked the Burgundy Jaeger Shetland Aran, and now I do too...a lot.  This yarn is soft.  I think it's going to make a gorgeous Rogue.

The actual color of this yarn is deeper and has a bit more purple in it. 

The Peace Fleece Antarctica White that I decided against for Rogue will be used for BPT.  That way, in cardigan form, other colors can be worn against my skin instead of just the unflattering off-white.

     So I finished this scarf a few weeks ago, during a long drive into the Sierras where my boyfriend and I camped.  It was a quick knit and I like the interesting results.

Pattern: Forsa from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton, Book two.

Yarn: Approx. 3 skeins Noro Kureyon #115

Needles: Really long size 9 circulars (the scarf is knit length-wise, side to side).

Comments: I love this pattern for a scarf, with rib on the ends and at the edges.  It really displays the Noro.  Unfortunately the pattern is written wrong! I should have caught this and I'm embarassed: The middle section is supposed to be knit garter stitch, but the pattern has you knit it in stockinette stitch.  The scarf curls in because of it (of course)...drat! I thought the ribbing would somehow make it lay straight.  Hopefully some blocking will get it to straighten out a little.

     This scarf will be the first of several things I'm hoping to knit this fall and winter for charity.  I ordered several inexpensive yarns from Elann.com for making hats and scarves, and I culled some things from my stash.  Besides this pile I have more yarn set aside to be knit up for charity.

They will be made into baby, children, women, and men's size hats and scarves.  I plan on donating to local homeless shelters and especially Take To The Hills, a charity I stumbled across that really inspired me to make things to give away.  These folks drive donated goods into the Sierra Madre hills, which are in Mexico.  It gets extremely cold up there and the people are poor.  The volunteers drive for hours on terrible roads to take things to these people...I'm thinking a warm, colorful Noro scarf and hat would be very appreciated!

Hungry after reading this rather long post? Here, have a muffin.

This Strawberry Muffin recipe is delicious if you're a muffin fan like me.