Nov. ATC Swap At The Grind

Nov. 21 was the regular ATC Vancouver Swap and was also the 10th anniversary. We decided this year's special swap would be houses and they could be from matchbox size to ATC size. These are the 8 I managed to complete in time for the swap.

This is my Freedom House, made with printers cleanup paper and a bit of beads.

Corrugated Cottage is made from corrugated cardboard and the paper pealed from one surface is used for the roof. The walls are white washed with acrylic paint and the roof done with red and some white highlights.
One of my "Cozy House or House Cozy?" houses. I knit 3 houses and used embossed printers cleanup paper for the roof.
These little books with recycled pizza box covers were the little gift inside the house boxes.

The collection of houses I received in trade for my houses.

Queen of Heart Journal Page

Queen of Heart Journal Page
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Judy, one of the byhandartists members proposed a challenge to do a project on the theme of Queen of Hearts so I did a page in my journal. I used fired brick Distress Ink to colour the page, found a vintage Queen of Hearts playing card image on-line, and inked the edges with Memento rich cocoa ink. I ran the image through the Xyron and added Sugar Beads. The frame is the piece left from the Watercolour Card I did a couple of weeks ago. The words "Queen of" and "heart" are Quietfire Design stamps rubber stamped with Blazing Red StazOn ink on thick cardstock, cut and attached with double sided tape. The lace along the bottom of the page is a piece of edging I knit from red no. 10 cotton and 2.25mm needles.

Finished - What's On My Needles

Finished - What's On My Needles
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Hooray, they are done, the spa washcloths I showed you a few days ago are off the needles, they turned out nice. They are a little smaller than I would like, but that is easily fixed by casting on more stitches at the beginning, I think 4 more stitches might do. These ones measure 7 inches down the centre panel not including the hanging loop and 5 inches on the sides. This is an enjoyable pattern to knit, I will be doing more. I used Bernat cotton, but I think the linen would be even more elegant.

Knit Spa Washcloth

Knit Spa Washcloth
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This washcloth I finished in time to give to my son for Christmas and just grabbed it back long enough for a photo before he starts using it. This one has 4 different tree images knitted in, too bad they don't show up as well with this yarn as they would have with plain colour yarn. This was knit with Bernat cotton and 4.50 mm needles. It takes a bit of concentration, but is not too difficult a pattern to knit, the next time I do this it will be with a plain colour yarn. This pattern was offered to the members of holidaymysterygiftknitalong Yahoo group in 2008 and now can be purchased from the designer at Knitwits Alley

What's On My Needles

What's On My Needles
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Well lots of other projects are on various needles, I always have several things on the go so I can choose whether I want a simple or challenging project. For now I'll show you this project.
I started this work in progress a few days ago and am getting close to done. These spa washcloths are a pattern by Tina Hilton adapted from Jill Wilcott Y2Knit pattern. I am knitting 2 at a time with my treasured ebony needles. This is knit with Bernat worsted weight cotton on 5.oo mm needles. They should be done soon, as long as I can continue to avoid getting the yarns tangled.

Knit Scarf

Knit Scarf
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This scarf is knit with a very rustic thick and thin yarn, not what I would usually pick, but it seemed to call to me this time. I knit most of it in 2 days, then took about 2 weeks to finish the last bit off, so it would be a quick knit if I stayed focused. I knit this on 12mm. needles and used approx. 2 and one third 50gr balls of yarn and measure 5.5 in by 57 in long.

Knit Gem Scarf

Knit Gem Scarf
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I started the little scarf on Wed and finished it yesterday. This little triangular scarf measures approx. 8 inches and the point and approx 32 inches at the slightly curved long edge. This was knit with Red Heart Kiss in Gem colour on 9mm needles.