Wool....In summer?

Most people don't think about wearing or using wool to create clothing during the hot summer months. But if you've spent time in your Local Yarn Shop, I'm sure you've seen many books written by talented authors with Summer Fun Wear.

Talent is abundant in the ETSY Knitting Team members. Check out some of the great items I found today. From shawls to bears and broaches, there is something for everyone to purchase as we celebrate this week's theme, Summer Fun Wear.

Cinco De Mayo Knitted Jewelry

When it comes to summer knits, knitters and wearers alike know that a little bit of yarn can go a long way. As I've perused EtsyKnittersTeam shops, I've seen itty-bitty bits of yarn being whipped up into some truly gorgeous creations. On this Two-for-Tuesday, see if you can find these items - a knitted thong (!) and knitted sandals.

But before you go hunting, here are two must-haves in summer knitting - jewelry in honor of Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo Cotton Crochet Necklace by Bubolina

Cinco de Mayo Fiber Art Lariat by Ohmay Designs

Summer Fun Wear...

A new week, a new theme... This week: "Summer Fun Wear", bringing you various designs from the Etsy Knitters Street Team to wear for summer.

What prompted this week's theme? Well, last week I finished a new pattern for a Corset-Laced Halter Top for summer and I posted it in my etsy shop: Fuzzy Bunny Knits . It's been so popular! Everyone is looking forward to summer and getting ready for their summer wardrobe. This pattern is so easy you can make one in every color and have an entire wardrobe!

Here it is:
What have the other Etsy Knitters been up to?? Well.. they have some fabulous options for summer as well.

Fiberworks is offering this delicate, Taupe Lace Scarf, knit in 100% baby alpaca. It would be lovely wrapped as a big bow or draped to show off the lace work and would work well dressed up for business with a suit or draped over a cocktail dress for evening. Isn't it gorgeous?


And Lindercella has created this Hot Pink Summer Wave Scarf that is just amazing! 60" long in 100% acrylic, this summer weight scarf is perfect for day or night time wear.


And what about these cute little wrist warmers perfect for spring and summer? Hand knit in a very soft silk/wool blend yarn hand dyed by Norske.


To finish with some fun... I couldn't resist including these great knitters "Knit Love" notecards by LocalGringos. I own a set of these notecards and I absolutely love them! From her "kNotes for kNitters© series of collages", ruminations on the theme of kNitting in particular, and Fiber Arts in general, a profession of "Knit Love".

These notecards are a collage design, hand & digitally colored, and are the third in LocalGringos' series honoring knitters past, craft connected-ness, and the Art of Knitting "handed" down from one pair of hands to the next. You've got to love them!!


Well, that's my offerings for today... I look forward to seeing what other fabulous Summer Fun Wear is posted throughout the week! Happy Knitting!

We have a Winner!

The Banner Poll has ended and we have a winner: the Yarn Basket banner.

The votes were running close for a bit...

Now you'll see the blog go through a few more changes. Now that we have a 'look' that we've decided on, we will build the blog from there. Watch us over the next few weeks to see!

Redbud Tree and Etsy Knitters

My favorite tree in my garden this time of year is an Eastern Redbud tree. Like almost all the plants in my garden, it was planted by the previous owner. In this particular case, it was a gift from her son Henry to replace a beloved oak tree that had died.



The rest of the year, its green leaves and short stature allows it to blend into the garden unnoticed. One almost forgets it is there. I am always pleasantly surprised when it blooms.



In honor of its Spring beauty, I picked out items handmade by Etsy Knitters that featured purple blossoms in their designs.

Spring is in the air

My garden is bursting with blossoms, bumble bees and hummingbirds. This time of year is one of my favorite. Today's post continues with the theme of the week...Garden.
While visiting ETSY Knitters sites I've found postings with photos that have been taken outdoors. With all this spring activity outdoors, take your needles outside and knit a bit. Enjoy your day!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

Look at all the talented "Mary's" we have at EtsyKnitters!!!

Running Neck and Neck...

Only 2 days left to vote!!!

And the we still have a tie... between "Yarn Basket" and "Stockinette" banners.

If you haven't taken time to vote, please do! Voting ends on Friday, 25th and the winner will be announced on Saturday.

Fruit of Our Labor

Happy Earth Day!

I humbly submit the first of my occasional "Two-for-Tuesday" entries - as a long-time knitting novice on a fairly recent and very steep learning curve.  

My passion for knitting blossomed late last fall and carried me through the winter as my gardens slept.  But now that warmer and greener days are upon us, knitting is beginning compete with my other passion - gardening.  So I've worked a compromise by which I rake, dig, plant, mulch, water and weed in the garden until I'm too sore to move and then I sit down to knit.  Problem solved!

I love this week's theme and I had a great time scouring our EtsyKnittersTeam shops to find something great to show you.  As it turns out there are so many great things, and I found myself thinking two isn't enough.  But there are many more chances to show you more later.  So here they are -

The cap is by BurryBabies and calls to mind the fact that my parents called me pumpkin head until I was 3 because I had - well, a big head - and I was bald.  More than you needed to know, I'm sure.  The adorable basket with fruit and veggies is from LilBritKnits.  Be sure to check out theirs and other EtsyKnitters shops, and come back and visit us here often!

Have a great and "fruitful" day!  (Sorry, couldn't help myself) 

Lindercella

Gardening on the mind...

This week's theme, chosen by Knitted Gems, is "Garden." What a perfect theme for the weather we are having here in Maine this week! We are finally seeing the last few piles of snow melt off and we even experienced a 75 degree day this past week. Such a relief from the difficult winter we had!

I've been looking at my small flower bed, thinking how much it needs my attention. When I spotted this item "The Vegetable Garden Hip Pouch" from The Spinning Hand, I thought, "What a great idea!"

"This is one of my first designs, from when I was still mainly a cross-stitcher and had just begun to discover the possibilities of knitting. A good, strong yarn in garter stitch lends itself well to embroidery, especially in earthy tones of Paternayan wool. A young lady might decide to use this bag as a carrying case for Peter Rabbit or the Velveteen Rabbit. It’s also fresh enough for those of us who are a wee bit older than that." ~ the Spinning Hand

She learned to knit in 2001, from her great-aunt, but didn't learn to purl until 2003! Since then she's been quite addicted to knitting. You can tell from all the beautiful items in her shop that she has certainly learned her craft. Take a moment to visit The Spinning Hand !

Banner #5 & Time for the Poll

Banner #5: "Blue" Today is the last day of our rotating banner game!

I've listed the poll on the side bar under the Flickr slideshow. Please take a moment to vote for your favorite banner from this week.


Banner #1: "Yarn basket"
Banner #2: "Red yarn"
Banner #3: "Stockinette"

Banner #4: "Funkadelic"

Banner #5: "Blue"

Don't Forget the Baby Bunnies!

With the week's theme of Fuzzy Bunnies, one can't forget those little sweeties who get to wear and play with these great items!

Take a look at some of the wonderful items the EtsyKnitters Street Team has for those little darlings in our lives.


Such talent and so many FUN things!!! Check 'em out!

Banner #4

Thursday: Banner #4 - " Funkadelic "

A Knitty Thursday

This week's theme of Fuzzy Bunny Knits has presented a challange; a good challange. It has required me to look at more than half of the ETSY Knitting Team stores to choose today's showcased items. Some are Fuzzy and some are Knitty, unfortuantely all the Bunnies have been taken by previous bloggers.

Such a talented group of knitters we have in this group. I was amazed how we come not only from the USA but all over the world. Knitting is truly a universal language. No matter where you travel you will see someone knitting. Even if you don't speak the language, you can share the love of fiber, knitting and projects. It is truly an unspoken language. We are all connected by the tread of knitting. Today, sit a knit a bit and think about what a wonderful community we are creating here at the ETSYKnitting Team. Knit on!

Banner #3

Today's banner- # 3 - "Stockinette"

Fuzzy Theme continued

Fuzzy Bunny Knits kicked off the week with a Fuzzy Bunnies for Spring theme. Rather than search for more bunnies, I chose to cut the theme up into individual words and just focus on 'fuzzy'.

After knitting a mohair stole for my Aunt, I have soft spot for fuzzy yarns. The mohair was wonderful to work with, so long as I never had to rip stitches out. After ripping one row out, I vowed to leave all futures errors in place. Even if somebody stared at the stole for an hour, I'd be willing to bet a hundred dollars s/he wouldn't find the errors. The fuzzy yarn hid them like needles in a haystack. Plus, the stole was incredibly warm and kept my legs toasty during the winter nights I knit on it.

So, without further ado, below are six Fuzzy items handmade by members of the Etsy Knitters Street Team.



1. Snow in Spring knitted Headband by Adripratt

2. Black Fuzzy knit scarf by Jen Wolf Studio

3. Bold and Sassy - Basketweave Collection Neck Wear by Ohmay Designs

4. Sunshine Shawl by Knitting Guru

5. Hello Gawgeous Scarf by Lovely Day Designs

6. Easter Egg Skinny Scarf by Knitting Bag

Banner #2

Tuesday- Banner # 2 - "Red yarn"

New Week, New Theme...

Monday Madness is upon us and we're launching a new format and new look here at the Etsy Knitters Street Team blog. Each week you will see several posts geared toward a specific theme set for that week. Each author will highlight items from various Etsy knitter team members.

Launching the new look, there are new banners to choose from. Throughout this week, I will be posting the different banners as the header of the blog. On Friday, we will ask the members to vote for their favorite new look. So, please check back each day to see a new banner and on Friday to vote in the poll.

Today's new look is Banner #1 - The Yarn Basket

Now, moving on to this week's theme -- Fuzzy Bunnies for SPRING !!!

I hopped along the bunny trail, looking for various bunnies to share with you... all week we will have bunny stories, bunny knits, new colors for spring looks and more...

Here are the fabulous new bunnies I chose to showcase today:

(Having Etsy mini difficulties-- I'm working on it)

From right to left:

1. Sassy the Bunny Crochet Pattern PDF by Sherri Crochets
2. Fingerpuppet Rabbit by The Nutty Knitter
3. Crochet Amigurumi Easter Bunny with egg by PSBBdesigns
4. Fairy Moss Scarf by Knitting Bag
5. Easter Bunny Pattern PDF by Knittingmette
6. Egg hats by Norske

Please take a moment to check out these bunnies and bunny inspiring items...

And don't forget to stop in each day to keep up with bunnies and spring and our Banner poll...

Happy TBL Thursday

Today is Through Back Loop Thursday!

The EtsyKnitters team meet in the Etsy Forums each Thursday to show off newly created items as well as old favorites.

Here is a brief glimpse of what the knitters have been up to.



1. Land and Sea iPod or MPS Arm Pockets by Ohmay Designs

2. Blackberry/Anything Bag by Blazing Needles

3. Hand Knitted Childs Shopping Basket style bag by Lil Brit Knits Etc

4. Hand Knit Bright Pink Summer Scarf by Kreative Knits

5. Baby's Blue Circular Sunburst Blanket by Tyger Lily

6. Slouchy Azalea Hat by Lindercella

7. Cinco De Mayo, Fiesta Necklace by Bubolina

Tavia

A Gnome Hat for Baby

Donning this hat, bless your baby with the good attributes of a gnome: kindness, intelligence, and creativity. The design of this hat is as practical as it is whimsical. It will keep a baby’s entire head and ears warm and dry.

From start to finish, this gnome hat was handmade. The fiber batt was purchased from Loop, an Etsy store specializing in hand-carded batts. The batt, titled Midnight Magic, was a combination of corriedale wool, bamboo and glitz. Tavia then spun the Midnight Magic with malachite green bamboo. Finally, the yarn was plied with slate blue cotton thread. Thus, the yarn is a mix of bright blue, seafoam blue, and aqua with hints of black as well as blue-green sparkles.

The hand spun yarn was then hand knit by Tavia into a fun gnome design to fit a four to twelve month-old baby.

The result is a truly unique, one-of-a-kind baby hat.