pockets for africa

dear friends,

there were questions about my plains shawl, the one i posted about last week, so i thought it best to 

answer them here, if it helps anyone, that would be great.

1. 'how did you find a needle long enough?'  i used a 38" circular needle, which held the one thousand

one hundred and fifty two stitches, just. if i made one again, a larger length would probably be a good 

investment for the hands. that many stitches bunched together can hurt.

2. 'did you make a mistake? and have to go back?'  no, luckily. and here's why. for all the rows up to

the lace portion, one stitch marker (to mark the beginning of the row) was all that was needed. and you only  have to pay attention on the increase and faux increase rows then, when the gull pattern began, i placed a marker every third repeat. the gull stitch is a seven stitch repeat, so every twenty one stitches a marker went on the needle. it quickly became clear that i wouldn't have enough markers. i only have about a dozen. so i went to a craft store and bought a few packages of jump rings. i needed fifty five total. the not so good thing  about this was, the fifty five markers were like adding fifty five more stitches and i really did wish for a longer needle then! 

3. 'are you crazy?' hee hee, i hope not. 

we have confirmed we will be visiting a himba village, while on our safari to namibia next month. it's necessary to have a guide take you, for language, cultural reasons, to bridge the gap. i'm so thrilled, it's been a long time dream. so i've begun making something to bring, to give. i started with the necklaces i showed a couple posts ago, but tired of working with itty bitty string and size zero needles. i need something a little quicker. so these pockets were born.

the himba of namibia

 i have a plan to add something small to each, a trinket, buttons, sea glass...

animals. african ones would be good.

i truly feel one the best parts of visiting other countries, is bringing gifts to share. because of the wonder of blogging, in 2009, we met african blog friends and the orphans of kazungula in botswana. i knit thirty five little hats (it can get very cold there), for these babies.  you can read about this here. 

now while i knit, i'm picturing more smiling faces i can't wait to meet.

~

if you would like to make a pocket i would love to bring it with me to deliver to the lovely himba.
there is still time (if you hurry). one pocket only takes about an hour. depending on what weight yarn
you use. there really is no pattern, but for those that would like to follow what i've made here are
my notes:

using worsted weight yarn and size 8 double point needles
cast on 26 stitches
divide on three needles, 8, 8, 9
join to knit in the round
knit 3"
knit 2 together all the way around
knit one row
using tail pull through 13 stitches.
crochet approx. 34" chain, attach to each side and single crochet
around edge.

if you'd rather knit this on two needles as a sort of rectangle and stitch it up, that would be great too.
no need to leave out the non dpn folk.

we're leaving in nineteen days. just to let you know (hee hee, i've been counting down
reminding everyone around me, sorry)  email me at:  lorix5@hotmail.com for my address, if you'd like to send one. i know it's a small thing, these pockets, but in many ways, it's a large thing indeed.

joining with ginny a bit early this week, happy yarn along!

cover girls

i mean, cover girls and pups. hee hee. i took head shots of my daughter yesterday and owen wanted in too. after getting the required photos, we tried on and played with some beautiful linen scarves that are hand dyed and sewn by my friend karen. she had hoped for some feedback on these. my daughter and i both love them, the colors are gorgeous and the weights perfect for a california summer.

the top photo is a recent cover of chucks (well done honey!), i thought you might like to see. remember when we went to this beautiful place for photos?  the model is my daughter in love, braving the snow cold sierra mountain water. it's standup paddler magazine, the spring 2012 issue for any interested stand up paddling enthusiasts.

and the other astonishing photo (2nd down) is of my youngest who lives in nyc. she was passing by a silvery glass wall and the photographer asked her to swing her hair. only in manhattan.

the winner of the sea glass, necklace and abalone shells is jules of a crafty little nest! please email

me your address jules and i'll send these right off to you. thank you all for entering and sharing your stories of giving. i loved reading every one. and thank you also for the kindest words on my plains shawl post, they were deeply appreciated.

xxx lori (twenty two more days. :)

plains shawl

i think i have one photo for each month this took me to make!  hee hee, only kidding, though this elizabeth zimmerman pi shawl did take quite a long time. i questioned continuing with it when i reached the increase round and i would be doubling five hundred seventy six stitches. it was a bit of a wrestling match to work my way around one thousand one hundred and fifty two stitches on the needle (for several inches). it was also kind of decide as you go project, not sure about the color choices or repeats. i ended up on a first name basis with leanne at beaverslide dry goods, i needed to reorder three separate times to finish! i ended up using one hank of the grey, one of green, and four of the blue. i would have liked do to make at least two more repeats of the gull pattern (it's the lace portion at the outside end) but i couldn't bring myself to do it. just the thought of the eight stitch knitted on border was enough to look forward to being done. that took days (and days) too. thank you to my love for taking these photos for me, my husband is an outdoor adventure photographer, and i think these kinds of photos are a little out of his comfort zone, but he is a lovely good sport. isn't it a gorgeous morning here? we had rain all through the night and woke to this.

i'm so happy, it's lovely and cozy, the beaverslide is soft and warm and after a soak and block, it has bloomed beautifully. this shawl is more than anything i've ever done, a labor of love. it came with me all last year, and soothed my hands and heart as i knit on it while sitting beside my mothers bed. it was one of the last things she touched before she passed.

when i stitch

i stitch with bliss

and with every stitch

there went

a kiss.

dedicated to my mom, sylvia

plains shawl ~

designer ~ elizabeth zimmerman

beaverslide dry goods wool~ here

colors used, woodsmoke heather, lichen frost and huckleberry heather

ravelry notes here (updated soon)

joining with ginny and the lovely yarn alongers here

p.s. reading only maps, itinerary's, travel guides. twenty five more days. :)
p.p.s. i am so sorry i forgot about a small giveaway i am having, i'll leave it open
till sunday! go here if you'd like to enter.

first class

dear friends, well, the hoped for wool has not arrived (yet), so a new sweater has been cast on. it's being made with wool from my stash, which is now officially quite low. (yipee!, knit shop here i come!) the pi shawl wool may not have been found in my mail box this week, but a few other surprises were (other non mailbox surprises too!)...

 

this book, 'my heart wanders' by pia jane bijkerk, arrived from england, after winning annie of knitsofactos giveaway. the lush, gorgeous, dreamy photography combined with pia's poetic style of writing, makes this a book to get lost in and treasure. thank you so much annie. i'm just thrilled. (i won the wool wooden block too, see photos below).

~

a red winged blackbird flew into our tree! i heard him first before seeing him (feeling a bit like jack black in the big year! hee hee, he could identify every bird just by it's sound!) but if you've heard the red winged blackbird you know the song it sings is very distinctive. it was the first time we've had one here. this blackbird sang just a few choruses and was off!

come back soon!

~

another package arrived. my helpers are holding up this adorable hand knit purse for you to see. made by my friend emily, this small, charming purse put a lump in my throat. i haven't had a gift of a handknit since i was a child.

and look! emily has cleverly sewn a tiny bit of fabric to the inside, to keep the hand made stitch markers she added from falling out. it's at home now in my knitting basket, i couldn't be more touched.

i read that she missed the beach, this is for you dear emily. thank you so much.

~

putting out woolly scraps each spring for our bird friends. i haven't spotted any yarn cozy nests yet,
but it's something to hope for.

maybe this is one bird's way of saying thank you. :)

~

this is owen. my well mannered puppy (hmmm). last week chuck was gone for work, so it was just owen and i. he apparently felt i wasn't giving him enough undivided attention, because one day, while i was chatting on the phone, i turned around to find bits of green fluff all over the place. his bed had been ransacked. when i sighed and said, oh owen. he gave me this look. (the i'm cute and you still love me look?) hee hee.

when chuck is gone it's easier to stay on my nutrition diet. here i made a small yam topped with avocado, they are falling off the trees by the hundreds right now! and lightly steamed broccoli. i've added a little dressing too, it has extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tamari, lemon juice, garlic and water , blended for a minute. with chuck gone there was also more time for knitting. (the reason the shawl in my previous post finished up so quickly!)

~

here is another giveaway win, from annie and fee. in the giveaway you were asked to say one word describing something you were passionate about. now i'm passionate about this block too, it's so sweet.

and very popular here already

thank you again annie and fee, i love it, it's perfect. for your own personalized block visit fee and her shop, chipper nelly here.

~

 

and then! another parcel! these little lambs, from my friend gesche, all the way from germany. hand knitted, made with hand spun wool. oh my goodness. gesche sent this mama and baby lamb along with other easter surprises.

i love my lambs. LOVE them. they are so beautifully made. and hand knit! did i already say that? for me! oh my goodness, twice in one week, i feel truly blessed. welcome to my home little lambs, i hope you'll be very happy here!

~

this is abby. abby is my youngest home schooled knitting student. at six years of age she learned to knit.

but knitting is only one of abby's many talents. she likes to draw and cut and create in three dimension. she can make anything, only limited by her imagination (which is limitless!). can you see what she made here? she made me!

she made me knitting! can you see the detail?  i love my pink polka dot dress and red shoes. and the big smile. but look closer. in my hands are two toothpicks, with knitting on them!! she made a bag, draped over my arm, with a ball of 'wool' in it.

this could be the cutest thing i've ever seen!

ah goodness gracious. thank you miss abby. i was recently invited to a tea party to abby's house, where i met abby's younger sister maddy, a future knitter, at five, she already can't wait to learn! abby and maddy's mama is a lovely student of mine too.

~

and this came too. yes, it's a good thing chuck wasn't home this week, he would have had a good time teasing me about all the packages on the doorstep. this was ordered though. i learned about the super salve company on camillas blog. it only arrived yesterday, but first impression, LOVE. i'm quite sure these will be new favorites. there is a wonderful giveaway here. and the supersalve company is here.

this isn't the red winged black bird again, it's teje's quilted bird! she sent this tiny quilt to live here with me. i think it's the sweetest little quilt i've ever seen. teje said she hoped it might inspire me to quilt too. i think she may be right, looking at her lovely stitches is incredibly inspiring.

looking at home already i think. love the way this little bird is standing in the trees, looking at the flowers, with the sky above.

and on the back, a whole new look. a shy bird, maybe there is a nest in the leafy green? not in the photo is the grecian sea glass she sent too. thank you teje for the lovely surprises that i love. i'm so happy to have this beautiful handmade treasure!

~

i receive so much, i want to give. so a giveaway is next! the only thing better than finding a surprise in the post box is sending one. to enter this giveaway (see below) you don't need to add me as a follower, or like me on face book. it's not necessary to tweet about it or come back here to tell me you did. what i would love is this: once, when i was young, a stranger gave me something i had admired, something she was wearing. it was a necklace with a tiny gold charm. it looked so pretty on her, i told her. she smiled so and thanked me, and then, she took the necklace off and put it in my palm. she held my hand in hers and said to me, she wanted me to have this now, but i must do one thing. i must pay it forward and give to others too. that was almost thirty years ago, but i can hear those words and remember how i felt. such joy and amazement at pure giving. what i would love is to hear your story of giving or receiving, was there one special moment that stands out for you?

 

 i'm giving away one teeny knitted necklace, with pieces of sea glass.

and a nested set of california abalone shells (they are so tiny and cute! the smallest measures one and a half inch and the largest three.)

the necklace slips over your head, and you can change the colors whenever you like, i'll make sure all the pieces fit just right. i'm making these to take to africa. for those i'm filling with buttons and sea glass and any other tiny treasures i can find. something like this is easy to fit in a carry on and is fun to share!

i have a lot of sea glass. here it is poured out, it's hard to tell how much there really is, but i measured this at a foot across and three and a half feet long. if you'd like a necklace with sea glass and the abalone shells, let me know. i'll choose a name on wednesday april eleven, this coming week!

thank you for bearing with me in this extra long post! and thank you again, annie, fee, emily, gesche, abby and teje. what a blessing. happy easter everyone.

 xox lori