Knitting and Wall-E

I finished another piece for the Knitters for Obama, but this time it's part of another KFO project:



Project Name: South Dakota Square (50-State Afghan)
Designer: Rhonda White
Pattern Source: http://www.knittingknonsense.com/people_places.html
Yarn: Vanna's Choice
Yarn Source: Another KFO knitter
Date Started: 7/5/08
Date Completed: 7/12/08

Comments: This is my contribution to the 50-State Afghan, which is going to be a prize in a fundraising drawing by the Knitters for Obama group on Ravelry. There are a ton of fantastic prizes, so if you're so inclined, the details are here.

I've also finished the first of my Leyburn socks:



and here's the side, heel view:



This pattern isn't super stretchy, but it fits me perfectly. You increase once you start the legs since you have the pattern stitch all the way around, but it also made it much wider than the foot, so I was a little worried it would be too big and droopy. But my thick calves came in handy - it fits exactly as I would want it to fit.

I finally got to see the movie that's been raved about so much, too:



Everyone else has probably already seen it, so I won't get into too much detail, but a quick synopsis - Wall-E is that adorable robot. He seems to be alone on Earth (except for his indestructible pet cockroach) after it's been abandoned by us human after we trashed the place like a rockstar in a hotel room. He's eventually joined by another robot, Eve, and they end up both joining the humans on their endless vacation. I absolutely adored this movie. It's funny, sad, exciting, wise, everything you want in a film. It's absolutely gorgeous. The animation is so detailed and beautiful that there were times where I completely forgot it was animated. I really wanted to get into Wall-E's "room" and look through all the little bins of things he had found and saved. Even though Wall-E never says a word and is a machine, you could completely read his every thought and emotion (and he definitely had both). If you haven't seen this yet, please do. I really think it's a movie that's begging to be seen on the big screen so you could truly appreciate the beauty of the animation.

Thank you Elizabeth!!

I participated in the Special Swap this go around and got my package this week from the awesome Elizabeth. I'm a little late reporting this great package because I forgot to tell Elizabeth my new address, so I had to wait for the box to be forwarded from my old office. It was well worth the wait, though! The theme this time was "Sweets" and this group of gifts was indeed sweet!



From the top left, there's a spindle and some fiber to get me started (apparently Elizbeth doesn't think I buy enough yarn - I've gotta start on the fiber too), a couple of cookbooks that look amazing - some cupcakes and muffins and all chocolate recipes, and next and winding back down, a jackpot of candy - I seriously think my eyes sprang out of my head like you see on cartoons when I opened the box and saw all that candy (it's pathetic, really, that an almost 40 year old woman would be that excited by candy), I ate one of those Reese's as soon as I took the picture, in between the Twix and Mounds you can see some beautiful earrings and stitch markers that Elizabeth made just for me - love them!, on the middle left, there's an adorable cupcake magnet (which will be gracing my cubicle shortly) and a nice magnetic notepad. And the creme de la creme on the bottom left is a skein of Sundara sock yarn. You know you want a better look at that beauty.



I've never seen Sundara in person, but I now know why it's so popular. It's a really soft, lovely yarn and the picture does not adequately capture the rich, bold colors of that green colorway. It's gorgeous and I love it!! I loved all of the fun ribbons that everything was tied up in too - I'll be reusing those ribbons on my cards, too, Elizabeth. Thanks again for such a fantastic package - everything was perfect.

I also wanted to let everyone know about a project The Yarnery is doing. Here are the details:

The Yarnery is very excited to let you know about The Promise Blanket project. We are asking anyone and everyone to knit a square made of fingering weight superwash sock yarn and send it to us. Then we will sew the squares together into at least one blanket (more if you’re generous) to auction off for charity.
The charity we have chosen is the Women’s Advocates, Inc., which provides shelter and resources for women and their children who are victims of domestic violence. Something that shouldn’t exist, but sadly does. Domestic violence affects too many families and if the proceeds from our project can help even one woman start anew we’ve made a step in the right direction.

Inspired by Socks In The Cities and Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larissa Brown and John Martin Brown, we are hoping to create a beautiful blanket knit by people near and far. We will display the blanket(s) in our store and online and hold the auction on Saturday, August 16, 2008. The auction will be open to knitters and non-knitters, with all of the money going to the Women’s Advocates, Inc.

If you would like additional information about the Yarnery, the blanket, or the Women’s Advocate visit yarnery.com for links. If you have any questions please email me at sitckal@gmail.com.

We would appreciate your help in any of the following ways:


*A 7 ½ square made of sock yarn (the Knitalong book has a pattern - you can find it in our store or at the library).

*Donate any of your left over fingering weight sock yarn to The Yarnery, 840 Grande Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105

*Mention our project with a link on your website, blog, store, class, etc.

*If you are in the Twin Cities, MN area please join us at The Yarnery on July 20, 2008 from 6:30 - 8:00pm for an “old-fashioned” sewing bee to seam the blanket together.

Thank you for your support and good will.

I knit my square, and I hope you'll all do the same: