Preparing for Squam

A week from today I will be at Squam, probably eating breakfast (something I never do at home) and wondering how my first class is going to go.

I am in such a tizzy right now I haven't been able to pull myself together to pack or even think about what I need. For a while I pretended it was because I didn't know what the weather would be like, but I think my brain just isn't working right. But I could make other preparations.

For one thing, there was the Squam garden a few people are planning. It's a yarn bombing they will be doing at the Rockywold-Deephaven Camp site. They invited people to send flowers and other "gardeny" type things to them and they would be pulling it all together.

I finally put to use a pattern I bought back when the tsunami hit Japan. (Every disaster now, people will donate profits from their patterns when you buy.) It's for some crocheted cherry blossoms. The pattern had them very artfully displaced on a bare branch and they looked beautiful. Mine are a little more prosaic, but in part because I wanted them to be bigger to fit the larger woody context.

In three sessions, I was able to make 12 of them:

The original pattern called for a different colour for the first round (the centre), but I just couldn't get myself up for all those extra ends to weave in.

I think they're pretty cute in one colour anyway.

I used bits of extra sock yarn and some raveled sweater yarn I had around. I varied the size by using the yarn single, double or tripled (with navaho plying) and changing the hook size to suit.

The flowers are extra clever because you make a little loop on the back of them so they are easy to mount on twig branches, hair bands, elastics, anything really. My niece was visiting while I was working on them and she was doing some crochet, so I passed the pattern on to her. I am looking forward to seeing what she will do with it!

And then I thought I was done my crafty preparations for Squam. I had my lace coat done. I mailed my flowers off to be incorporated into the project. But then...

I had a little necklace I wore sometimes made from little letter beads strung on a leather thong. Usually it spelled out my name. For a while it was "Bonus Mom." I pulled it out yesterday and wore it, and it occurred to me that it would be a handy thing to wear at Squam. It would be like a name tag, but crafty and (dare I hope) a little cool. But it needed one addition:

I added a second strand and spelled out my Ravelry name. You see this all the time on crafty blogs and in the crafting world--you give your Ravelry name like you might normally give out your email. Except it's not just a way for people to contact you, it's the way they know you on the site. Your posts, your projects are all identified with that name. So I thought it would be perfect for Squam.

A bonus of adding the strand is that I redid the clasp and fixed two things: the lobster claw was on the wrong side so I used to have to do it with my left hand, and the necklace was just a touch too short and constricted my neck.

Add a smile:

and I figure I am all ready to be meet some strangers and make some new friends. :)

Here Kittie Kittie

Look what I found on the post when I visited Red Purl tonight! I think it's great fabulous!!

That's some amazing popcorn stitching there.

Knitfitti and Yarn Bombing

Thursday evening I stopped by the Red Purl to shoot the breeze. What I walked up to was people adorning the lampposts in front of the store with knit and crochet strips.

Apparently the owner of the store next door, 'Cross the Street Collectibles, started the project as part of the "Arts in Motion" day the town was having today (Saturday).

Amy and Mary Ann climbed aboard and two lampposts were being decorated.

Here's the post in front of 'Cross the Street:

They really got a lot of strips up!!

The post Red Purl was doing was not nearly so amply decorated, so I decided to climb aboard myself. By the time I left Saturday, we had a lot more on the pole:

The bottom strip is a big piece of pop-corn yarn in bright red. It's very fun!!

Below is a closeup of a few of the higher strips:

From the bottom:
*the pink/white and yellow/black strips were there when I got there
*the pale green was a crocheted strip I made Friday night/Saturday morning
*a strip of granny squares I stitched together Friday night. I made two of them--quickest strips ever because the granny squares were donated to me with some yarn at some point; I just had to sew them together
*the orange/pink strip was started by Mary Ann, worked on by some customers with time to kill, and finished by me so I could put it up. It was very curly on the edges (as stocking stitch likes to do), so I soaked it before sewing it on, and basically wet blocked it on the pole!
*the "right half" of the blue strip was donated to me by a girl on the sidewalk (her mother made it) as I was sewing some other strips on. It wasn't big enough, so I took some blue cotton I had with me, and added to it.
*and I crocheted the top strip from some red cotton in my bag while I was sitting around at Red Purl this morning (waiting for the appearance of some cupcakes I knew were in the back!)

There's lots of room on the pole still. If you want to knit a strip, or sew together some bits and pieces (like those gauge swatches you don't know what to do with), feel free! Make it 16-17 inches (when slightly stretched). Bring it to 2nd street and sew it on the pole.

When these poles are full, they want to do the two across the street, so there's plenty of room! Join in!

While I was making things for display on 2nd street, I went ahead a made something I've been thinking of for a long time. Amy has a beautiful knocker on her door in the shape of a hand. Well, a bare hand (or wrist) is like blasphemy to a knitter! So I knit it a little wrister out of some lovely Lorna's Laces shepherd.

Amy appreciated the item and we both had the thought that we need to make the knocker some seasonal wristers!


PS: Check out my favourite yarn bombing projects:
1. the bus
2. the phone booth