At this festive season of the year . . .

We've always loved that line from Dickens' A Christmas Carol . . . "At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time." Although it was written in 1843, not much has changed.

The long-awaited CoCo's Cap for Kids and Adults

While individually, it may be difficult for us to make a difference, collectively there's a lot we can do. We just received an email from a group that's close to our heart, Afghans for Afghans. It's a group of volunteers who send hand-knitted garments to the women and children of Afghanistan where the climate is harsh, and conditions difficult. More than warmth, these knitted items offer the assurance that someone cares.

Afghans for Afghans just received the opportunity to send over several cartons of knitted hats, mittens and socks for ages 5 to adult. The deadline is mid-January, and we are happy to find we have a cap all made and ready to send. We just need to pop it in an envelope and lick a stamp.

Now, why, you may ask do we have a cap all knitted up? Well, a very long time ago we received a request for directions for making a larger version of Coco's (Baby) Cap. We worked on it. We really did. AND we made progress. However, other things got in the way, and we didn't actually get the cap pattern written up into a pattern. This morning, we had the bright idea that we'd just post what we have. It's a little . . . uh, rough! . . . but it's really not rocket science to knit up a cap. All the info is there. It's just not pretty.

Our 'notes' would confound even one of those Navajo code breakers!

So, in the interest of sharing, and in the hope that someone else will knit up a cap for a child halfway around the world, here it is: Coco's Cap For Kids and Adults. One slight caveat: We're the only ones who have knitted this pattern. No one else has tested it, so if you find a mistake please let us know.

The crown . . . Pretty, right?

The details about the current campaign at Afghans for Afghans can be found HERE including the address for mailing your knitting. You must be sure to use mostly wool (not acrylic). The Afghan women know how to care for wool.

From the conclusion of  A Christmas Carol  . . ."He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him."

May your heart laugh!

Worksssss in Progess Wednesday

We all know about Grandma Coco's attention span. It's pretty short. She's been making herself crazy with deadlined projects and now that they're completed, she's back on track with many irons in many fires....just the way she likes things.

So, on this particular Wednesday, she's working on the following:

SOCKS! Of course. These are specially made for a very sweet man who went out of his way recently to see that we got to a wonderful yarn store in a city that isn't our home. New socks seem like a small price to pay for such gallantry. The only problem is that he says he has 'hot feet' and, by that, we believe he means his feet feel hot in socks, NOT that, you know, he thinks he has George Clooneyesque feet or anything weird like that. We don't know if he's ever worn a pair of hand knit wool socks before. Maybe he'll just be blown away by the luxury that is in store for him. Maybe not. We're knitting these out of Ariquipa , which is 65% superwash wool, 20% alpaca and 15% nylon. It is soft, soft and the yarn is fine so the socks won't be bulky (which we think might be an issue). We've knit with Ariquipa before and we love it. These socks have lots of stretch. They are ribbed with an alternating twisted stitch that looks like a cable.

DOUBLE KNITTING!. We're working away on kid- and adult-sized versions of Coco's Cap. Along the way, we got interested in other types of double knitting....corrugated ribbing, for example, and the brioche stitch. It's a long and winding (and exciting!) road we're on. And we haven't got a deadline. :)

BEADS!!! Another micro macrame beaded bracelet. This one we're just winging. Because it's fun.

A spooky Haunted Houses postcard in the mail from Pat!

POSTCARDS!! We finished some postcards this week for trading but we won't show them because we don't want to spoil the surprise for our recipients but here's one we received in the mail from Pat. Thank you, Pat! Scary stuff!

And that, in a nutshell, is what we're up to on this grey final Wednesday in October. Pop on over to The Needle and Thread Network to see what some other Canadian fibre artists are up to.

New beginnings and one loose end

We've been finishing so many projects lately that if we're going to show Works in Progress for the weekly check-in at the Needle and Thread Network, we're going to have to start some new ones. Fortunately, that's never a problem.

We're thinking ahead to the holiday season so we've got socks on the needles.....

For this pair we've chosen the same yarn that we're using for the Papa Bear Sampler Scarf but in a different colourway. It's Elann.com Sock It To Me Dankai, Colour 62, Raku Glaze. There's quite a bit of brown in this blend. Very soft, very long colour changes. We love it.  It seems very similar to the Lang Jawoll Mystery we just had such success with. 72 stitches on 2.75 mm bamboo double points. Cuff down (as usual). We have a recipient in mind but it's a secret. Now, after the ribbing, what pattern stitch should we choose???

A second pair of socks for one of the kids who actually likes and wears our socks. He's an ice fisherman so we make him thick, warm and sturdy socks. We're using 2 strands of yarn at once. One strand of Elann.com's Sock It To Me Soft Focus Colour 68, Water Lilies. And one strand of Elann.com's, Sock It To Me 4-ply in a dark grey which we bought a while ago. We like to combine 2 strands of yarn. You just never know what you'll end up with. In this case, we're hoping the stripes will be muted by the grey. 56 stitches on 3.5 mm double points.

Funny thing about the 2 balls of Sock It To Me. They're both superwash and were purchased at the same time. In fact, you can still buy them but they're very different yarns. The Dankai is soft. We mean really soft. The Soft Focus, not so much. The Dankai was produced in Turkey and the Soft Focus in Italy.

We'll just pick up these 2 sock projects and work a few rounds on one and a few rounds on the other when we're watching TV and before you know it we'll have socks.

 What else? Oh, yeah. Remember Coco's Cap? The little cap we designed for preemies and newborns? A little while ago Dowager left a comment asking if we'd ever made Coco's Caps in larger sizes. Dowager was thinking that cap would be cute for older kids and adults. We think so, too.

So....this is a gauge swatch. The first step on the path to a working pattern. We'll keep you updated on our progress.







Yesterday, was one of those glorious late summer days in the Kingdom of Coco. We don't like to brag but here's a peek at our view from the deck.

The sumac's beginning to turn red. It was still and warm and the leaves on the trees are beginning to colour and get crispy so that when the wind does stir, they rustle. Grandma Coco sat on the deck, knitting in hand and enjoyed a cold beverage with Mr. Coco. And here was our charming and most lady-like companion. She's an indoor-only kitty but she does like to lie on the deck (and never seems to think about venturing further afield).

"Why? Where would I do?" she asks.


Finally, as promised...... the one loose end.... the giveaway.....




 Heather!

 

We hope you'll enjoy Norman's Blankie.

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