French Scarf is Finished!

Actually, I'm kind of sad to be finished knitting the French Scarf. It was so fun to knit, and went too fast. But now, I can wear my lovely French Scarf any time I want. It is so warm, but very lightweight and fluffy. And the yarns feel so soft! :)


I love how the different yarns worked together. The colors remind me of a Gala Apple!


Here's a view of how wide the scarf is:


Now, I want to knit another one, because like I said, it's so fun to make!

Until then, I'll just have to keep myself busy with all the other projects I've been knitting.

Beautiful, Frothy, Lightweight French Scarf

I am so in love with this pattern!!
(French Scarf by Ellene Warren)

After just a week, I'm already halfway through!


I started out, with the plan of using these four yarns:


I knit the first section, using the ONline Linie 43 Punta in the darker shade, and the Plassard Flore mohair in orange.


When I ran out of those yarns, I started the next section with the Debbie Bliss "Angel". Unfortunately, that yarn is too thin for this project. It's a kid mohair, so it will have to wait for a lace scarf or something.

After searching through my stash, I found three skeins of Ormo mohair/acrylic blend. It's a variegated yarn, with orange, yellow, and green in the mix. I held it up to the scarf, and it looked like a good match. It's thinner than the Plassard Flore, but not TOO thin. So far, so good.

Planning Miss Marple's "Diddle Dumpling"

As you know, I'm wanting to knit the "Diddle Dumpling" baby sweater, that Miss Marple (played by Joan Hickson) was knitting on "A Caribbean Mystery".



Thanks to a very intelligent person (basicallylois) on Ravelry, we now have the actual knitting pattern at our disposal! :)

So, I've been studying the pattern for about a week now, and I've figured out that I need to use size US 5 knitting needles. (The pattern calls for size 9 Bairnswear needles, which were vintage UK knitting needles.)

The yarn should knit to a gauge of 7 stitches per inch, so that's fingering. I'm sure that Miss Marple would only use 100% pure wool, so that's what I want to use also.

The sweater is a size 1-2 years, so it should fit a toddler. I don't know if I'll ever give it to anyone, though. Maybe it will be a fancy teddy bear sweater, on display in my craft room. Perhaps, I could dress up the bear with a "Miss Marple" style hat and glasses on a chain. :)

So....back to the yarn I need. I want to find the perfect vintage yarn for the sweater. I have quite a few vintage yarns in my stash already, and found one that might work. It's called "Rochelle Sweater and Sock Yarn", and is 100% virgin wool. It's a pretty aqua color, and is the right weight - fingering.



I can't find ANYTHING online about that yarn. I wonder if I have the only two skeins left in the world? Ha!

Tonight, I will cast on and knit a few rows, just to see how the yarn might work for this project. Stay tuned!

A REAL Knitting Mystery

I am a true fan of Agatha Christie mystery novels. I think I've read about 25 of them. Poirot and Miss Marple are both so fun to read about. And I love all the other characters as well.

Speaking of Miss Marple, several years ago, I was watching an Agatha Christie televised movie called "A Caribbean Mystery", and noticed that the cameraman looked over Miss Marple's shoulder to show what she was knitting (a baby cardigan). It showed an actual pattern book, and the name of the pattern was "Diddle Dumpling".


I immediately went searching on the internet to find out if the pattern was real or not. After searching all over the place, I finally gave up. It must not be a real pattern after all. :(

Segue to 2011, and I'm perusing Ravelry, as I do every day. I had recently joined an Agatha Christie Ravelry Group called "Delicious Death", and mentioned the sweater in one of the discussions. The other group members were interested in the sweater as well. In fact, they said that this pattern has been the quest of several knitters for quite a while now.

Great minds can do wonders, especially if we are all tuned in together. Believe it or not, one of us FOUND the pattern!! She watched the episode over and over again, until she was able to figure out the name of the publisher. (Bairnswear) Then, she kept at it until she discovered the actual pattern book that had "Diddle Dumpling" in it. (Bairnswear #107) She even found a lady that sells PDF copies of the book!
http://www.theretroknittingcompany.co.uk/babypattern1.html



We were all SO PLEASED to have the pattern available to knit, so several of us quickly purchased the PDF from Sue at The Retro Knitting Company.

Now, we are doing a knit-along, making the same baby sweater as Miss Marple made. I think we are dedicated fans, don't you? :)

Oddball Charity Blankets

As usual, I've been doing lots of charity knitting. It's always a joy to share my knitted items with people who really appreciate them. :) I have several friends who feel the same way. Over the past 4 years, more than 200 of my knitting friends have been working together to make Oddball Blankets.

The project started in the Knitting Help Forum back in February of 2007, when I posted about an idea I had. I really loved talking to all my friends in the Knitting Help Forum online, and wished that I could see them all face to face. I thought that one way we could "connect" would be to work on a project together. So, I grabbed some knitting needles and started a blanket by casting on 200 stitches.



The next day, I posted about my idea in the forum, and everyone was interested! I showed them a photo of the blanket I had started, and by the end of the day, I had several knitters signed up to knit more sections on the blanket. It was a WILDFIRE! All of a sudden, MORE knitters signed up. I had to start four more blankets, so there would be spots available for everyone that wanted to participate.

Our blankets travelled from one knitter to the next, with the original knitting needles still attached. All each knitter had to do was choose a similar yarn, and knit a 3 inch section of the blanket, then mail it to the next person. Some of us added little gifts to give to the next knitter. It was a very special way for us all to connect with each other. We wrote about our time with the blanket in a little journal, and also posted about it in the forum, and on our knitting blogs.

The large blankets were very exciting, but took a very long time to complete. So, we decided to make smaller versions for babies in hospitals. They are really fun to make. The baby blankets each get a name, so they are easy to follow online. They finish up quickly, and in the end they are given to charity.

Our baby blankets are now being knit by people all over the United States and Canada. At one time, there were some Oddball Blankets being created in England and Australia as well. I haven't heard any more of them for the past two years, so I don't know if they are still going or not. One thing we've added with the Oddball Baby Blankets is a touch of crochet. Each of our baby blankets looks so much better with a crochet border. So, we've added a "Crochet Border Patrol" to our list of workers.




You'll find some Oddball Blanket groups on Ravelry: Oddball Charity Knitters, and Western Canada Oddball Blanket Society. There is also a group there that knits 100% WOOL Oddball Blankets: Wool-Aid

Our exciting project has been fun and has been a benefit to charity as well.

Today, I am packing up a box of two of our larger blankets, and mailing them to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota - the poorest spot in the US. The unemployment rate is 90% and the teen suicide rate is four times the national average. Basics such as running water, heat and food are scarce for many residents let alone jobs and health care. I've heard that they really appreciate handmade blankets, so I'm very happy to send our blankets their way.

Here are the blankets I'm sending to them:

Oddball Blanket #1


Oddball Blanket #4


Those blankets are two of the ones I started back in February of 2007. Now, it's four years later, and our blankets are finally ready to go to charity. It took a long time, and a lot of love. We should all be proud of the work we did. :)

I've already mailed one of our blankets to another Native American reservation in California. And I'm working on finishing up two more blankets as well. It's a joy to finish them up and see them finally going to charity.

Our projects are a joy to create, but expensive to mail. If you want to help out, but can't knit or crochet, you are more than welcome to help out with postage. You can donate by clicking the Paypal button on this blog, or by sending stamps to any of our Oddball Knitters. We appreciate any help you can give. :)

www.knittinghelp.com/forum

Pretty Vintage Baby Sweater Pattern

Back in June of 2006, I was out browsing in an antique shop, and I came across this nice vintage Woman's Day magazine from July, 1957:


Of course, I HAD to buy it, because it had a nice article about Grace Kelly knitting a sweet baby cardigan for her new little baby girl, Princess Caroline. :)



Such a sweet story, and a lovely baby sweater knitting pattern as well!

Here's the story:


and here's the pattern:


I haven't tried knitting the sweater myself yet, but I will!

Warm Wool Sweater

Recently, I knit a wool sweater for charity on the Bernat Blog. When I finished the sweater, I put it in the trunk of my car, so I could mail it when I'm out teaching.

Well, I've been sick lately, going to the doctor a lot, and only able to teach piano lessons occasionally. So, I haven't made it to the post office yet.

The other night, I was at choir practice at church, and it was a chilly night. I didn't have my jacket with me, but remembered the thick wool sweater in my trunk. So, I took it out, and tried it on. It fit!



And gosh, was it warm and comfy!

I was SO tempted to keep it for myself, but my conscience reminded me that this sweater is for a very cold person in Mongolia. They certainly need it more than I do. I have plenty more jackets and sweaters to keep me warm.

So, it's back in the trunk now, ready to be mailed. At least I enjoyed wearing it once!