Christmas in July!

It's always hard to think of Christmas when it's 100 degrees out (darn you, heat wave!!!) but I'm finally planning my Christmas knitting. Some of it is already in progress. It's just sitting here staring at me and mocking me.

I don't knit for many people for gifts, just the ones who are dearest to me and who I know appreciates handcrafted presents. So I made my list and was happy to note that I could use stash yarn for everything but 2 gifts. So for those 2 gifts....I went to Etsy!

The talent of handdyers on Etsy can't be underestimated....

For one present, I found this:

I needed fingering weight yarn and this was such a beautiful but understated colorway, perfect for my friend. I found this on Little Red Bicycle's shop and it's a nylon/superwash merino blend.

The next one is for a friend who is a bit more adventurous with color

It's called Hawkeye (from a line of colors based on the Avengers movie) from GnomeAcres. I had already purchased Sonic Screwdriver yarn and Black Widow yarn from GnomeAcres and LOVE them. Squishy yummy yarn!

There's a new baby coming as well (coworker! not me!) and I have some merino bits left in my stash to make some hats and booties. Looking at making some burp cloths too with my stash of cotton yarn.

I have knitting in the works for me as well but I'll post more on that later.


Currently listening to: Knit Knit Cafe podcast

Firewalkers

I have been seriously MIA and I apologize! Health problems, school and work changes have kept me occupied.

Let's start off with what has been keeping me busy knitting lately. I started The Firewalker Project a while back in order to make lap blankets for chemo patients and patients in the hospital having ostomy surgery. I choose those 2 groups because they are both near and dear to me. The goal was to get people to knit squares and I would sew them together in patchworky blankets. A friend who I met online and her roommate sent me oodles of squares. She really supported my project and helped me out. We met because we both had ostomies but she was dealing with colon cancer and chemo while my disease got caught in the nick of time, before it became cancer. She was funny, sarcastic, witty, intelligent and beautiful. And you'll notice that I'm using past tense to speak about her.....

Becca passed away in March at the age of 31. Since then, I've reconstructed The Firewalker Project to donate handknit and handcrocheted hats and prayer shawls. The first hospital of choice was the one Becca spent a lot of time in. Since then, I've been busy knitting shawls and caps in order to get the box of goodies ready to send. Friends have donated money for yarn and finished items to send as well. I appreciate everyone who has helped with this project.

Ro, Becca's roomie, and I decided to split off The Firewalker Project so there is a Chicago chapter and Ro is going to handle getting everything together for Becca's hospital. The version I started will now focus on IU Health's Cancer Center and Riley Hospital for Children. I made this decision because one of my best friend's just lost his sister to brain cancer and she went to IU Health. I grew up at Riley Hospital because of all my health problems and it makes sense to give back.

If you would like to donate caps and shawls to either project, please email me at bornlostcreations AT gmail DOT com.