Mandalas and EZ Surprise Jacket

While cruising one day, I learned that the North Dakota Museum of Art is creating a mandala of knitted (and crocheted and woven) scarves! They are accepting donations of yarns, 8" by 7' long, that will be distributed to shelters in Grand Forks after the exhibit. How cool is that? TWO rounds of karma -- good art and good deed!

A seven foot scarf can get a little tedious. To help show me that I was indeed making progress, I'd add a string or marker on the edge of the scarf each morning as I began knitting.

To keep myself going, I would make it a point to knit at least a row in the morning before going to work. Since it is mindless knitting, I took it to work and knit during breaks/lunch/whenever I could steal a stitch or two. When I finally got to the last foot of the first scarf, I tied on a little gold bell to remind me that I only had one more foot to knit.

It worked! I finished the first one and almost immediately cast on for the second scarf, which I finished rather quickly. I'm now on my third.



Both scarves: Noro.
Green = Kochoran (the clumps of angora make this yarn so appealing!)
Bright multicolor= Kureyon (two different colorways; used my stash)


I also got the chance to try out Elizabeth Zimmerman's Surprise (baby) Jacket. Knit all in one piece, this knitting was all-consuming, painful, and totally worth it once it was finished. I'm seriously thinking of doing another one. One of the bloggers on the EZ KAL wrote that she wished she'd knitted hers in a variegated yarn, so that's what I did. Details follow. I still need to sew the two shoulder seams and add buttons. The recipient is Charley, who was due Feb. 2 but decided to come during our ice and sleet storm last Friday night, January 12th.


Happy Birthday, Charley!