K is for...

Kippah. A Kippah, also known as a yarmulke, is a head covering worn by Jewish men and occasionally women. This K has a lot of meaning for me, not for religious reasons but for family ones because kippot are also a connection to the generations that came before. In this case, K is the start of a really big project too.

It's customary for the family celebrating an event to provide kippot for the attendees. Usually they are satin or leather although I recently saw some nifty eco-friendly ones made of recycled materials. Since they have the relevant names and dates printed on the inside, they make nice remembreances of the event. These kippot were made by my grandmother, Shirley. The burgundy and silver were for my Bat Mitzvah, the teal and gold were for my sister's and the black with white and green accents were for my brother's Bar Mitzvah.(My kippah collection is missing so I thank my brother and sister for these pictures)

My grandmother also made these kippot in hunter green and white for my wedding. I'm not sure how many she made for the earlier events but I know that she made 80 for my wedding because I have her notes. You can see the index card sticking out from under the kippah and it shows her running tally of the amount finished. On the other side of the card are her notes on the pattern and the yarn she was using.

These notes were part of my grandmother's cache of knitting and crochet supplies that I inherited about 11 years ago. I was thrilled to get them even though I had no clue how to knit or crochet at the time. I dreamed of continuing the tradition but it was years before I picked up her needles. Needles - not hooks. The knitting came first.

Over the next few years, I grew to love knitting although my experience with crochet remained limited to edgings. My dad watched me knit and we often discussed my grandmother's influence and I knew that my dad loved that I was carrying on her legacy. As time went on we talked a lot about the kippot and how I wanted to use her tools and pattern to carry on the tradition. My dad loved that and really encouraged me. He had long since stopped practicing any religion but those kippot were a big deal for him.

This brings us to the present and for the past seven months I've been trying to develop the necessary skills and decipher the pattern so that I could carry out an ambitious plan. I want to make all of the kippot for my daughter's upcoming Bat Mitzvah. There, I said it. Now I'm really committed. OMG, what am I getting myself into?

I started by learning to crochet because I couldn't find a knit version of my grandmother's pattern. Believe me I tried to figure out how to knit them up but the open star was a problem. I watched videos on the internet and read many versions of the instructions. It wasn't pretty. I also consulted Linda Hurt at Springwater Fiber Workshop because there were stitches I couldn't figure out at all. My grandmother used terms that I couldn't find on the internet but with Linda's help I figured it all out.

Then came the yarn. As if making a large number of items using an unfamiliar technique wasn't challenging enough - I decided to dye the yarn myself. You may recognize my first attempt - the blue and white yarn above. I showed it to you months ago when I thought it would be the one I used for this project. It's a wool/silk winding and I loved the look of it. I tried it out with the pattern and after 2 test kippot (seen above) I realized that it just wasn't right. The yarn didn't have the right drape and the results were thick and stiff. Because I know nothing about crochet I spent the next few months agonizing over a better choice.

I finally settled on silk because if you're going to attempt a crazy project that's way beyond you - why not go for broke? I contacted Diane at Woven Gems and she was really helpful. She sent me samples and I tested them out and in the end I guessed. I ordered up a bunch of yarn and hoped for the best. At left you can see the result. I dyed up 2/3 of it and left the rest natural. I used a few different shades of blue Cushings dye and got a yarn that is softly variegated with colors that go from nearly navy blue to a sky blue with occasional shots of aqua. These pictures show the first two kippot in the sun so that you can see the silk's lustre and on a dark background so that you can see the colors. It's a good thing that I love this yarn so much because it'll be my constant companion for the next few months. My goal is 80 so I've got a lot of crochet ahead of me. Thankfully my mom had agreed to sew in all of the labels. I think that might send me right over the edge.


For anyone who read this whole, long, post, I thank you. It really means a lot to me.

Wishbone Socks

Believe it or not, I finished another pair of socks last week. These are the Wishbone Socks by Nancy Bush (Rav link) that appeared in the March/April issue of Piecework. I don't usually get that magazine but I bought that issue after seeing these socks on a blog somewhere.


I wanted to love this project but it bored me to tears. The yarn, Elann Sock I t to Me 4 Ply, is fine but unexciting. I think that I'm just so used to the variegateds and the semi-solids that a true solid just seems flat. There is nothing wrong with the yarn though and for about $3 a ball (2 balls per pair) it's very reasonable. I haven't washed them yet but they feel nice on my feet and I expect that they'll wear very well.


The pattern is fine too. It worked out perfectly and the socks look very nice. They're just not exciting. You know what I mean? I found the pattern repetitive and just blah. I want to say that all-over patterns are the problem but I don't think that's is because there are several that I'm drawn to. I really wish I could figure out what it was about this pattern that made me feel so bored but I haven't been able to pinpoint it yet. Thankfully, the other stuff I'm working on right now is much more fun.

Today I'm home with Stinkerbelle because she's sick. The sun is shining and there are lot's of projects calling my name. I'm thinking that what she needs most right now is sleep. That would provide one very productive day for me but I don't see it happening. I think the stomache bug she's got is on it's way out already. Good for her but not so much for my knitting.

Happy Habitrail*

Stinkerbelle and I went shopping on Saturday. We hit a certain home improvement store where we walked up and down the aisles chanting "shower, pipe, cedar, spigot, tile" over and over again. It may have sounded crazy but it worked and we remembered everything including a whack of cedar planking that is still in my car making it smell like a hamster cage. Hence the title of this post. We also went to N*rdstrom because it was bonus time for a certain cosmetic company and I am a sheep.

Somehow I found myself wandering through the women's clothes and this dress just jumped out and grabbed me. It's a real departure for me because it's not black and white but I put it on and felt really good so I bought it. such an impulse but not frivolous because I already know 2 events that I'll wear it to. The only catch is that the events are Bar/Bat Mitzvah's and I'll need to cover my shoulders but it turns out that I had the perfect solution in my stash already. One lovely skein of Fino alpaca/silk lace yarn from Alpaca With a Twist. Look at how well it matches! I spent last night looking through my books and Ravelry and I think that I found the perfect pattern for it but I want to add beads to it so I need to hit the craft store briefly before I cast on. My recent track record with deadline knitting isn't great so wish me luck.


I was so happy that we got all of our shopping done on Saturday because it left Sunday for fun stuff. Hubbo's sister was in town because her husband was the music director for a gala production of The Civil War on Sunday night to benefit Ford's Theatre. We went into DC to meet her and we spent the beautiful, sunny, afternoon walking around town. We stopped in the sculpture garden of the National Gallery where we sat around the fountain for a while.


Stinkerbelle really experienced the fountain a bit more closely. No diving allowed!


We continued on to the Israel at 60 celebration on the National Mall. It was packed and we ran into so many people we knew. It seemed like every time we turned around we saw a familiar face.


They had lots of stuff to see and do. We got crafty with a little mosaic work with pretty colored glass tiles. It was like a color by numbers with glass tiles.


It was part of a much larger project where we each tiled a small square that fit into a much larger whole that will be displayed somewhere... I'd tell you where but I missed that detail. Oooops!


What did you do?

* You must remember the Habitrail, that wonderful system of plastic tubes and wheels for hamseters and gerbils to play in.