From the heart........the S&B girls

Inspiration...........yup, that's how this story started. A few months ago, I watched a local program that highlighted a Manchester, N.H. women who had recently completed assembling a bundle for a soon-to-be-mom, who could use a helping hand. I can't recall exactly how many she had made but, believe me it was in the thousands.I have a group of friends who meet every Tuesday to Stitch or Bitch at their leisure and as I related the story, we thought............We can do at least one gift basket for a new mom in need of a helping hand.

So I bought a large container and thought I'd see what we could do to fill it.

 My friends didn't disappoint me......handmade sweaters,booties,helpful books, onesies,warm mittens for mom.......

 Our oh so talented seamstress Gisele made baby sacks with matching receiving blankets

and of course, matching burp cloths. How cute is that!!!
 Bubble rompers,holiday wear............

                                             a little intro to Minnie Mouse

Newborn hat teething ring handmade washcloths baby shampoo and baby lotion, wipes,gift card from Target for diapers or whatever mom needs Coffee cozy to help keep her morning coffee warm. We all know it will be a while before she can have that coffee in one sitting.

A few more outfits to grow on

not to mention the never enough sleepwear

Now the basket is full............and ready to go.

Of course, can't forget much love from all who participated in giving someone a helping hand.

Tuesday night stitching

Will they ever stop??I hope not.Every week my friends keep bringing in finished projects that just amaze me.Cindy H. makes knitted hats and mittens with donated yarn. These will be sent to needy families in the area.Of course now she also has to make socks for her family........she's in for it now.

New to our group is Jean............she has been working on this sweater for a few months.I think it would be a few years if  it was my project.I can't tell you how gorgeous this is up close and real The colors are so deep  and vibrant. A photo just doesn't do it justice.She is close to being finished so I will try to get her to do a little modeling for us.

This is more my speed...........we have finished a  second blanket for the St Charles children's home.We had planned on doing 2 but, each has been sent home with a child as they leave St Charles.We can't let someone go home without a blankie now can we?For those of you not familiar with our project we started HERE If anyone would like to make a square please do not hesitate to contact me.

Another project that has caught my fancy is the slouchy hat from Brooklyn Tweed........wanting to challenge myself this year I decided to check out there SPRING THAW collection.I wanted something lacy and feminine and I settled on this hat called Ravenfoot

I wasn't sure if the hat was going to have enough slouch so I had Sarah try it on for size. That would be the last time I saw the hat so I guess it met with her approval...........Don't tell....... but. I've made several since then and they are tucked away in my craft stash where only I can find them.......said the hobbit.

knit-along "the barn raising quilt"

Well we finally did it! After knitting pretty much for ourselves,our stitch and bitch group decided it was time to give back. So back it February of this year we decided to do something special for someone else.

I found a knitted quilt made from leftover sock yarn that I thought would be perfect.Each person would knit a square that I would then sew into a blanket.

The squares had a natural curl to them and that's how you join them. A simple running stitch just under the lip connect each one.

Then, crochet around the edge and it's done.

I tried to photograph it from different angles to give you a good idea of how it looks.

I hemmed and hawed about which square should go next to which and finally put them all in a bag and sewed them together as they came out.

Here is the finished quilt. It was four squares by five squares and will be just right for a carriage blanket. I'm very proud of my people, their hearts are always in the right place.

With 12 squares left over it looks like we might be doing this one more time. The carriage blanket will be donated to St Charles running nuns,click here for their story.It's a story worth repeating......................said the hobbit.

Barn raising quilt

It's been awhile since I've spoken of the BARN RAISING QUILT We are still moving on the project and are starting to see it really come together.Look at all these great squares!!!

I've been playing with the colors trying to get a good mix. However it hardly makes a difference how I place them. I love all the combinations.

After much thought,our group decided to make 2 carriage blankets for the RUNNING NUNS

We're moving right along on the second one. After all they need an extra blankie for those really nippy runs in the fall.I'm just starting to sew the seams today,hopefully, I can show you the finished product soon................said the hobbit

THE KNIT-ALONG IS MOVING ALONG!!!!

Wow! Things have been crazy busy around here and I've been struggling to meet all the demands on my time from people that I can't and should not say no to unless I'm on my deathbed. To make matters worst I have tried to post 2 times in the past month only to discover when I pushed the publish button that blogger was in reader mode only till further notice. I hadn't even realized there was a problem. But enough with the excuses, everyone out there is up to their eyeballs in things to do so I just need to get better organized if I want to keep up with this blog.

I need to touch base on my knit-along. Have you forgotten. Just go here for a reminder and leave a comment if you want to join in the fun. The square is made up of 4 rows that you repeat till you have a 7x7 square. It can be done on 4 needles changing to a circular if you feel it's too many stitches. I used double pointed needles and marked my first stitch with a little safety pin See it there on the left hand side?

Hard to believe this will be a square when you finish. Looks like a flower doesn't it? This one is done with leftovers as are most of the squares.

I cast off the stitches on one needle here so you can see the corner and how it appears seemingly out of nowhere.

New squares keep coming in and I've given much thought to where it should be sent. I decided to make the afghan into as many stroller blankets as possible and donate them to my town's Running Nuns. That's right I said Running Nuns We have an orphanage in this town that takes in children while there families try to rebuild their lives. They are a young active and motivated group of nuns that you can see on a daily basis running through our city streets always pushing a carriage and accompanied by a dozen or so runners that the nuns have in"training" for things to come. Although this could be a most trying and difficult time,when you see them out there running and smiling and oh so focused on the task at hand, you just want to do something.It is for that reason that I've decided to make the mini-quilt to cover the little one in the strollers so they can sit back and enjoy the ride even when the weather is a bit more brisk. So take a minute to read their story and send me a square so we can help continue the good work......said the hobbit

Let's knit a Quilt

Well here it is February and I promised to keep you up dated on the progress we make on the BARN RAISING QUILT. What!!! You've forgotten!!! That's ok, just check out the past blog here.

Want to join in the fun? All you need is some leftover fingering yarn and about an hour of your time to be part of this quilt. The plan is to get as many squares as possible by Sept 1st , then we'll assemble what we have and give away a quilt, anywhere from carriage size to twin bed size. Of course I'd be tickled if we get the larger size done but, we'll see.

This is the most difficult part of making a square. It's started from the center and worked outward ,so, keeping every needle in it's place can be a little trying,but, once you've gone past this point it's all eezy peezy.

A little patience to start and then knowing how to knit a stitch and add a stitch and you could be part of this project. What do you think? come and join in the fun.

Here's what we've gotten so far and it's really starting to take on it's own personality.Don't have time? I've made no final decision as to where to donate the quilt. Have any thoughts on the subject? What would you do............................said the hobbit

January goals!!

Out of time again!! What happened here? I made my list for January and it's now February 1st. Did I get everything done? No. But not to worry I'm happy with the way the month turned out just the same. I made these fingerless gloves and managed to have several request for the holidays.Once Christmas was over I was surprised to have several more people looking for them,so, I wanted to get at least 3 pairs done this month and I did.

The pair above is from last year and the 2 below are new for 2011. Where's the other pair? Sold and delivered.

Then there's the Christmas garland I wanted to make in January. I went through several sessions of "I could do this or maybe that" You know how that is.

I think I got a good idea of what I want to do now and have started the project. It's on the top of the list for February.............honest. I got Jiggy started on his diet,finished the little sweaters and made that Christmas card list. Still working on a new ornament,nothing ready to show anyone yet. Of course,don't forget about the barn raising quilt I'll be talking more about that later.

Well today is coming to an end and I don't have my list done for February.How about you.Did you make a list? How do you motivate yourself to get things done?I'm feeling like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. I'm late,I'm late........................said the hobbit

Something new at stitch and bitch

Ok ,so life is crazy in this corner of the world. What's new? Although I'm short on time, my little brain is still in gear so here we go with a new project. Do any of you have this book?

It's Larissa Brown's Knitalong. I've had it for a few years now,always planning to do one of her projects. It's just filled with ideas of things you can do as a group to make the process more fun and enjoyable. We've been getting together for 4 years now and have geared most of our knitting to making our Christmas presents. It's been great but I thought we should take it a step further. How about making something for someone we don't even know? Giving is such an important part of Christmas and wouldn't it be nice to do for someone we don't even know?

This is the project we decided on. It's called the Barn Raising Quilt and the idea is to get as many knitters from all over to make the squares and then assemble them randomly to create a quilt that can never be duplicated. I would love for everyone to make a square. Yes that means you too. The book is available from Amazon or I'm sure you could get it from the library. I would be so excited if we got enough squares to make at least one quilt.

The girls at S&B have already gotten on the band wagon and are hard at work to make this possible.

The material used is leftover fingering yarn that we used for socks. That's right! This whole project can be made using up those bits and pieces that are too small to use on another pair of socks yet too precious to throw away.

I'm hoping we can create the most colorful quilt yet. E-mail me if you have any questions. The project will be on going till about September. Remember more is better so ask your friends too. Who knows? Maybe we can get 2 quilts done.Be still my heart.............said the hobbit