Little Bunny Foo Foo

Little Bunny Foo Foo, hopping through the forest, scooping up the field mice and bopping them on the head. . .

Two years ago, I decided to join the insanity at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival by lining up at The Fold to buy some Socks That Rock yarn. Sure, you can buy it online, but I thought it would be fun to see lots of colorways in person. The thing is, there was such a crush of people in the booth, that I got overwhelmed and completely forgot to look for the one color I knew I wanted to see – Little Bunny Foo Foo. (Really, how could you not love a yarn called Little Bunny Foo Foo?) So while I was in line waiting to pay, I saw someone holding a skein, and asked her to pass one out to me. The woman behind me saw the yarn being passed over, and told me that she had used a skein of the same colorway to knit Monkey socks, and that she was really pleased with them. So I made a mental note to check out the Monkey pattern for this yarn.

I seem to buy sock yarn a lot faster than I knit it, though. So finally, nearly two years later, I pulled out my Little Bunny Foo Foo, printed out the pattern, and started on my socks. Monkey turned out to be a great pattern to knit – more interesting than simple ribbing, but not so complicated as to require my full attention.



This is my first completed pair of lace socks (let’s not speak of the other pair, 75% finished, languishing among my UFOs). The design is pretty, but simple enough for a lace novice.



I’m still not sure that I’m ever going to be a big fan of lace knitted in multi-colored yarn, but I do like my Little Bunny Foo Foo Socks.

And that name is going to make me smile every time I wear them.

Happy Valentine's Day

Pattern: Heart Sachet, by Vicki Sever for Interweave
Yarn: Koigu premium merino
Needles: size 1, bamboo DPNs
Made for Valentine's Day for my mother.

This pattern was a bit of a challenge to get started on, mainly because I have no three-dimensional spatial sense whatsover. But after the first couple of squares were done, it was fairly easy to see how all of the pieces fit together. After square 1, all the subsequent squares are attached by picking up stitches from earlier squares -- the only seaming required is to close up the top. The sachet is filled with lavender, and smells wonderful. I really like the cute, tiny i-cord for the hanging loop.

Happy Valentine's Day!

O'Keeffe

Several years ago, I stayed at a house in Provence that had a little field of poppies out front, and I’ve loved these bright and cheery red flowers ever since. When I decided to knit a bag with a floral design, the poppy came immediately to mind. Once this bag was finished, it reminded me of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings of oriental poppies, and so I named it in her honor -- the O'Keeffe.


Because I'd only designed one pattern of my own previously, I decided to experiment with this design by making a smaller version first -- that way, I'd have spent less money on yarn if I decided I didn't like it. I did like it, though, and that experiment gave me the idea of enlarging the bag by simply knitting the larger version with two strands of yarn held together. As a result, the large bag knits up just as quickly as the smaller one, and the extra yarn gives it the extra body you need for a large tote.



For the yarn, I turned to Ella Rae Classic, which has a gorgeous array of colors in a basic worsted weight yarn. The background color is "eggplant" -- a really versatile almost-gray shade of purple. It functions as a neutral, but with a more lively color than a pure gray. It sets off the red flower and green leaf beautifully. The red leather handles are from Grayson E -- expensive, but worth it for a special project.


The bag is knit all in one piece -- starting at the bottom of the stem as seen in the picture above, then wrapping around to the other side, ending with the poppy blossom. After knitting this long rectangle, I picked up stitches for the sides, knit them at right angles to the main section, and then seamed the bag together and felted it.

Would you like to make an O'Keeffe of your own? I've posted the pattern online, and added it to the Ravelry pattern database. Let me know if you make one -- I want to see pictures!