Red Scarf Project + a pattern!

Have you heard about the Red Scarf Project? Organized by the Orphan Foundation of America, the Red Scarf Project puts handknit and crocheted red scarves into care packages for orphans in college and vocational schools across the country. They ask for the scarves to be unisex, and, obviously, red, since they are sent out to students on Valentine's Day. I think this is such a nice idea! Even though I only lived an hour from my family when I was in college, I remember getting so many wonderful care packages from them on holidays, or sometimes just for no reason. My mom always knew when I needed a pick me up, a little motivational message, or a Dunkin' Donuts gift card. I even recall her once sending me fresh, homemade banana bread as a surprise, which we laughed about because it wasn't so fresh when I finally made it to the post office to pick it up!


But since scarves don't spoil, you can send one to OFA between September 1 - December 15th and they will see that it gets to a college student who needs a little hand made love. The address is on their site as well as free patterns, yarn suggestions (washable, no lace preferred) and ideas for other goodies to include in your care package.


The scarf pictured here is one that made from Berroco Peruvia in a double moss stitch. It was very easy and fun to make. Here's how:

cast on a multiple of 4 sts + 2 (so 18, 22, 46, whatever you like!)
Row 1: *k2, p2, rep from * to last 2 sts, k2.
Row 2: *p2, k2, rep from * to last 2 sts, p2.
Row 3: repeat row 2.
Row 4: repeat row 1.
repeat all 4 rows for the length of your scarf!!

Land of Enchantment.

A few weeks ago, Nick and I moved 292 miles north from Las Cruces to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We are really happy to be here -- Santa Fe is an amazing city with so many things to do (something we often noted the lack of when we lived in Las Cruces). But this morning when I read Abby Powell's roadtrip post on her blog Abby Try Again, I felt this sudden longing for the land we left behind. The landscape, the sunshine, and the incredible food make this city where I spent a year and a half of my life a very memorable place!



More polaroids of Las Cruces and Old Mesilla can be found on my flickr...
I'm off to explore Santa Fe!

Back in Black

I'm constantly taking in inspiration from from around the web -- knitters, artists, designers, photographers, etc -- and I started a new tumblr blog to reflect that. I am not sure yet how good I will be at keeping up with it, but there is just so much brilliance and beauty out there, I wanted somewhere to collect it and share it with others. This blog will be dedicated to my own creations, like these projects I knit recently with black yarn. I loved working with the yarn and know I will wear them a lot, but both projects were difficult to photograph, so I don't have many images.

Side Slip Cloche by Laura Irwin
from the book Boutique Knits.

The yarn I used was Plymouth Yarn Mulberry Merino, which was given to me from my friend Stacie for my birthday. It's soft and fuzzy and makes a hat that's warm and cozy, but not too heavy.

Wedge by Norah Gaughan

I knit Wedge with 4 skeins of Queensland Collection Leche yarn. It's a fun pattern, lots of garter stitch and a little bit of short row working to make it interesting and give it some shape. I love the movement of the fabric, like waves. The scarf looks so much more complex than it is. Norah is such a brilliant designer!