Heels and Toes

Today I spent some time learning some new techniques for knitting sock heels and toes. Donna Druchunas has spent quite a lot of time researching knitting traditions in Lithuania. I can't wait for her book! I learned tons and have some samples to photograph and post. But I'm worn out...commuting is hard work.

Haute Knits

Showing up in fashion, knitters know how easy these would be to create...if you wanted to.

via Outsapop Trashion

Beer Squirrels

I've been wanting to make these for awhile, but I hadn't gotten around to trying to make a pattern. Fortunately, Jessica Correa did the work for me. Using her free pattern on Ravelry, I got started with these little fellows. They need to be washable, so I used Red Heart "Soft" in Toast and Red Heart "Fur Sure" in Camel. (I don't expect them to go through the washing machine, though.)

D&J Hobby in Campbell used to be my go-to store for googly eyes, but while I found 8mm sew on eyes, they are really phasing out the craft side of the store and moving towards radio controlled models. Affordable Treasures in Los Gatos is a good source, or I may just have to buy online.

About the squirrels, I made four so that you can have a few friends over for drinks, and everyone gets a cozy. There is plenty of the body yarn left over, there's almost 200 yards in a ball. I used small amounts of Cascade 220 Superwash for teeth and tongues.

There were lots of fiddly bits to knit. I knit the ears, teeth, and tongues directly on the body, but knitted the arms and tails separately, then sewed on. The pattern calls for a few different needle sizes, but I used just two: US 7 for everything except the tails, and US 13 for the tails (the long pile of the "Fur Sure" made it very difficult to use anything smaller).

Squirrel Beer Cozies

More Photos of the Hammock Quilt

Well, although the weather is cooperative, the hammock is put away for another year. But the hammock quilt is ready! Final dimensions: 54" x 56" [approximately].

It seems like there was a majority of the middle aqua tones. This is mostly random; I did "cheat" and try to mix up the colors and prints in each long strip. But I just stitched the long strips together willy-nilly. Here's a close up of the mix of patterns and colors, which shows off the wrinkles in high relief.

And here's a shot of the back. Yes, the strips are crooked. They are just applied to the surface of the darker fabric. I am super-lazy! Anything worth doing is worth doing fast just to get it done. I really rushed on cutting and sewing the backing. It was the home stretch and I could see the finish line.

I'm debating quilting along the long strips. And then would I use the light aqua thread or coral thread? Or a mixture? See, it gets all difficult.

Beer Squirrels

They're coming along nicely! Currently they all have bodies and ears. Now for tongues and teeth, then tails and eyes.

Four Squirrels, one still without ears, one modeling on the bottle