Major Knitter

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Last week our knitting group had a great time kettle dyeing our own yarn at Michelle's house.  

I brought along some sock yarn and decided to make it a dark green (I was shooting for forest green).  Mmmm - looks  good!

There were two gorgeous skeins of blue.  I think this was the peacock blue.

Beautiful blue!

We cooked our yarn outside on camp stoves in pots that were picked up for a pittance at the local Goodwill.  These pots cannot be used for food again, once they're used for dyeing!  That's my green yarn in the orange pot.

Betsy's yarn (the pot on the left above) turned out a lovely orange-chestnut color.

I'm very pleased with the deep rich hue of green I obtained under Michelle's guidance.  I already have a person in mind to receive handknit socks with my very own hand-dyed yarn.  I don't know if this person will appreciate the extra step that goes into this gift, but I know and it feels like it's being given with even more love!  How fun.

How about you?  Do you ever dye your own yarn?

National BSA Scout Executive Plays Carpetball

At last weekend's ConnJam 2012, Bob Mazzuca, the national BSA Scout Executive played a game of carpetball at our Troop's station.

Watching him is Michael Card in the blue vest who masterfully chaired the entire ConnJam event.  It was a great time and the carpetball table now resides in my basement.  Anyone up for a challenge?

Major Knitter Takes Up Slacklining

Sorry I've been so quiet lately.  My knitting mojo disappeared after knitting 1,001 miniature snowmen and wreaking havoc on my body.  OK - it was really only 13 snowmen, but my body could have sworn I knit an entire regiment of two-inch snowmen.  So while giving my knitting muscles a rest, I was very busy with my second biggest passion - Scouting.

This weekend was our triennial ConnJam (Connecticut Jamboree) for our Connecticut Yankee Council at the Orange County fairgrounds.  We had thousands and thousands attend - (I heard numbers like 3,000 overnight campers and upwards of 6,000 during the day) - and everyone was very, very busy.  I was busy with my Troop and Crew - and we also hosted a carpetball station which the fathers and sons made in 2006-2007 when they were in the Cub Scout Pack.  It was a huge hit!  I even learned a new skill at ConnJam where I tried my luck at slacklining  (I admit, I was double dog dared!).  OK - I may or may not be holding the professional's hand from Gibbon Slacklines - but I did manage to balance and even bounce around on the slackline.  It was quite an accomplishment and I had such fun!  More news to come about this great weekend.  I'll post some non-knitting posts for awhile until my knitting mojo reappears.  In the meantime, go try a new skill and report back on it.  If you try slacklining... let me know how it goes!  

P.S. - My friend Jay just sent me THIS LINK.  This guy makes me look lazy!

Second Verse, Same as the First

Well, Wilma is hard at work again.  She had to pick the winner of the Charlene Schurch and Beth Parrott's  The Sock Knitter's Handbook.

But she was much more interested in her nap than picking out winners.

So while she slept, I printed out all the comments/contestants, cut them, crumpled them, and put them in a bowl.

Wilma was familiar with the routine.

She quickly picked a winner.  (I think she figured out that the sooner she picks a piece of paper, the sooner she gets a dog biscuit.)

And the winner is Susie B.  I'll email you separately to coordinate mailing instructions.

Wilma waits patiently for her just reward!

Thanks to everyone who participated.  If you didn't win today, you can still buy the book.  You'll be glad you did!