Uh Oh! - Guest Post By Knitting Mermaid

I am Knitting Mermaid.  I have been working on a tag for the bench.  Soon we are doing a big group tag.  My piece is pink and purple and dark pink too and there was kind of some lightish purple in it as well.

This is my very first time knitting a tag.  I was having fun knitting my tag.

Friday afternoon, I was knitting my tag on our new couch.  I knit two rows!

But, I had gymnastics and I didn't want to be late so I put down my knitting and left.

I don't know what happened.  My knitting was left safe and sound sitting on the couch.  But... when  KnitMama came to pick me up from gymnastics, she had an awful story to tell me.

KnitMama was vacuuming on the floor in the living room and KnitMama heard an awful noise coming from inside the vacuum.  She immediately stopped the vacuum, but it was too late.  She saw my knitting all tangled up in the vacuum.

Here is my piece stuck in the vacuum

It was even worse.  I had been using cabled needles from an interchangeable set.  Those needles also got vacuumed up.  But since the needles couldn't go around, they snapped off of the cable.

Here is the cable

Here are the Needle Tips

They can no longer be attached

What was going to happen???  Could my knitting be rescued?  What a mess!

Do you think this can be saved?

So KnitMama took the vacuum apart and saved my knitting!  She changed my needles to a different set (which ended up being a bigger size, but that's okay).  I didn't worry because the new needles are my favourite colour and I have used them before.

Here is my saved knitting:

Phew... it wasn't broken forever!

I'm so happy that my knitting wasn't damaged and ruined forever and ever.  Keep your eyes opened for this piece.... I'll be done it soon!  You'll see in on a bench.

An Act Of Sneakiness

On this cold, but sunny day, KninjaNeedles8 was going to check on her and KnitMama's tag.  The ground was very wet and where it wasn't wet, there was ice.  There was only a few places that there was nothing at all.  She could walk, but it was hard to walk with all the ice.

KninjaNeedles8 stands in the muck outside.

Suddenly, she suddenly saw a jogger out for his run!  She slowed down so that he wouldn't suspect her being up to anything.  Since it was so icy and mucky, she was already having a hard time making her way up the slight hill to the tag.

By the time she got up to check, the jogger was long gone.  KninjaNeedles8 lucked out again... no one suspects her of anything!

The good news.... our tag is still there safe and sound!

And today's tip for those of you heading out to enjoy some sunshine - it might be easier to slide your feet on that ice rather than lifting your feet up to walk.

Exciting News!!!!!

If you were interested in seeing our tag in the daylight, you now can:

Have you seen this tag yet?

So, now for our exciting news.  We have our first Knitting Kninjas meeting planned out.  We are going to meet this week for the first time to plan a group tag.

Date: Wednesday, February 12th, 2014
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Where: The Olde Stone

So, if you happen to be in the Peterbororough, ON area and want to join in to become a Knitting Kninja, please feel free to come on out and help to plan our first group tag.  Just don't let anyone know our real identities!

If you don't live near by but want to yarn bomb with us, stayed tuned and we'll let you know how.  You can let us know in the comments that you're interested.

Can't wait to see some Knitting Kninjas on Wednesday!

While you were watching the Superbowl...

Finally, you will now be able to know what our tag looks like up.  Here is the story of our adventurous night.

The Mission:

Tag the stop sign.

The Kninjas:

KninjaNeedles8
KnitMama
Knitting Mermaid
E.C.K.nista

The Roles:

The Lookout (E.C.K.nista)
The Provider of Light (Knitting Mermaid)
The Seamer (KnitMama)

The Organizer/Photographer (KninjaNeedles8)

Our Adventure:

We headed out just about 6:00 p.m., right as everyone was snuggled up at home watching the Superbowl.  The sun had set... we were ready to tag without being seen.

We got to our destination and KnitMama started seaming our tag together as fast as she could.

KnitMama working fast to seam up our tag

Knitting Mermaid shone the flashlight for KnitMama to help her see what she was doing.  It is still very dark at 6:00.

Knitting Mermaid helped to keep our target well light up with the flashlight

E.C.K.nista kept a lookout in all directions to guard us from any passersby.

E.C.K.nista kept a good lookout

We weren't seen until a jogger came by, out for his night run.  He didn't see us... we were lucky!

And then just a moment later, a pizza man in his car came to deliver some pizza a few doors down... but we lucked out again and he didn't notice us either.

Our other obstacle: the weather.  It wasn't wet, it wasn't snowing... but it was cold!  KninjaNeedles8 didn't bring her mittens, so her fingers were freezing in the cold air.  She thinks she almost got frost bite.  We had to complete this mission in a hurry before anyone got seriously injured!  She also kept falling down in the deep snow banks... such deep snow banks!

KnitMama had a pair of hand knit (of course) fingerless mitts.  This allowed her to seam it together without her hands being cold but being able to still use her fingers.  KninjaNeedles8 wants a pair of these... and she also wants a balaclava (that fits her) to keep her face disguised and warm.

KnitMama's fingerless mitts.. for any interested knitters, this the Fetching pattern from knitty.com

Working fast, KnitMama seamed up our project.

Working fast so we weren't caught

Almost done:

Knitting Mermaid, KninjaNeedles8 and KnitMama... a family that tags together, stays together, right?

So now... what you've all been waiting for.  The final piece all put up in it's home!

Looks good, doesn't it?

Before we left the location, KninjaNeedles8 took a moment to admire our groups effort.  The beginning of her dream come true.

A job well done!  But... maybe it was a bad idea to stop and admire it...she fell in the deep snow banks again!

P.S. When she arrived home, KninjaNeedles8 warmed up her fingers under some warm water from the sink... so do not worry... no fingers were injured in the making of this tag!

It's almost completed!

And now presenting, the tag:

Here is the knitted tag before our yarn bombing

But we're going to leave you hanging again and wait until our next post to show you... (has anyone seen this tag out in it's new home yet?).  Until next time.

Getting Prepared

Since the last blog post, we cast on our first project.

Yarn:

Lion's Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick Yarn in grass colour.

Needles:

9 mm (size 13 US) straight needles.  We chose bigger needles so it would knit up quicker

At first, we cast on 20 stitches... but that was too big.  Next, we tried 17... still too big.  Finally, 14 was the perfect amount.

KninjaNeedles8 and KnitMama took turns knitting some rows.

KninjaNeedles8 working on the tag in disguise

KnitMama getting in a row

While we were working away on that, KninjaNeedles8 made a checklist.  It wasn't a grocery checklist, it wasn't a camping checklist... it was a TAGGING checklist!

As the knitting went on, we gathered up everything on the list.  Hopefully we didn't forget anything (please let us know in the comments if you think we need to add more to this list).

All of our supplies (minus the final piece)... and yes... our scissors do match our bag!

We needed to make a label for our tag!  This was so other people can view the website that you are on right now and know that there are Kninjas that Knit just to bring them cheer (and to have fun!).  We just made up a quick label, but we have plans to make better ones in the future tags (please share with us any ideas you have for our labels).  This is what we made:

We laminated our label so would not get wrecked in the harsh Canadian weather... it also won't rip.

We wanted to spice up our tag with something special.  We talked about buttons down the back, we talked about weaving ribbons through it, but finally we settled on one button placed in the middle (tied on with a ribbon).

Our piece is done, we know you want to see it... but... we will leave you hanging.  You better check in for the next post to see the final piece.

The First Project Is Underway!

We wanted to get started... so two of us decided to go ahead and do a smaller yarn bombing tag before we finally get together as a full group.

KninjaNeedles8 reading for tips

With some quick reading in Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain, some good tips were given to get us started.

Here was our plan of action.

1. Decide on first yarn bombing location.  Here is not a sad looking stop sign, but not a happy looking stop sign... instead, it's a plain looking stop sign.  It needed decoration!

2.  Using our handy tools, we measured our location.

Knitting Kninjas need to take risks, KninjaNeedles8 is exposing her hands to the elements to get her measurements.

3. The final step for now is to pick the yarn we will use for this project.

Between three choices of yarn, KninjaNeedles8 decided on this green yarn which she preferred more than the other two.

This will be a joint project between two of us... a mother and daughter Knitting Kninja team!

Before we go cast on, the lesson of the day:

Stop sign poles measure 18 cms around.

And just so all you American readers understand, that's about the same as 7 inches.

Now we must go and cast on our tag!