PURL DIVA*

The Antidote to Valentine's Day: Enit Nelav, The Felted Voodoo Doll

So much for maintaining a little mystery! I became so obsessed with my Mystery Project that I finished it much sooner than I thought I would. Sooooo, let me introduce you to Enit Nelav*, the anti-Valentine's Day Voodoo Doll.

Whether I'm in a relationship or not, I don't like Valentine's Day. It is too commercial, too competitive, and I hate the way the quality of everything (flowers, restaurant meals) goes down while prices go up. I made it clear to DB early on that we didn't have to celebrate Valentine's Day, or if we did, it could be celebrated on another day. (You could say I'm very practical. So practical that I have told DB that I prefer kitchen appliances to jewelry, much to the confusion of his friends.)

So it was this line of thinking that prompted me to create Enit Nelav. If you have any old flames that are haunting you, or if anyone is making your life miserable, Enit Nelav is for you! While others may be out on Valentine's Day eating bad, expensive food and carrying wilty roses, you can stay home and have much more fun sticking pins into your own Enit Nelav! Here's how to make him/her/it.....

Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun, sport weight, plus various bits and bobs of yarn from your stash
Needles: Size 9 US
Notions, etc.: needles - blunt and sharp, stitch-holder, poly-fill.
Gauge: 4 sts/inch in st st (pre-felting)
Stitch pattern: st st

Note 1: This is knit in one piece. You start with the buttocks (as Stephen Covey says, "begin with the end in mind"), knit up the back, increase for the arms, decrease to make the neck and head, then go up and over the top of the head to the front arms and torso, then continue down past the front waist to create two extra-long legs. The piece is then folded at the head, wrong sides facing, then the legs are folded in half, and the bound-off ends of the legs are attached to the cast-on edge of the buttocks.

Note 2: Because items tend to shink more row-wise than stitch-wise when felted, I have compensated for this in the number of stitches and rows. That's why the pre-felted doll will look like it has skinny legs and muscular arms. Don't worry, it will all work out in the wash.

Note 3: During the felting process, the wrong sides will want to merge together. It is OK for the arms and legs to do this, but you may want to insert a piece of smooth colorfast fabric into the torso so it lays flat inside and keeps the fibers apart. Take the fabric out when you are finished with the felting process.

Note 4: This pattern is copyright-protected. That means you cannot pretend it is your own, or receive any financial gain from the design or finished object. This pattern is for your own personal use only. If any of this confuses you, please contact me.

Note 5: While this doll is a voodoo doll, you can create any look you want. The shape can be used for many types of dolls - scary or otherwise.

Note 6: The design of this doll is a complete fabrication of my twisted mind. Any resemblance (e.g., hair color, skin tone, wardrobe, etc.) to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Directions:
CO 20 sts. Work in st st for 6.25 inches. At beginning of next row, CO 15 sts for arm. Work across arm (15 sts) and body (20 sts). Turn work, CO 15 sts for other arm. Work across all 50 sts and work even for 1.5 inches. Bind off 20 sts, then work remaining sts. On next row, bind off 20 sts. You will have the center 10 sts remaining on your needle, with arms flapping on each side. These center 10 sts become the neck and head. Work these 10 sts for 6 inches. On next row, CO 20 sts. Work across arm (20 sts) and neck (10 sts). On next row, CO 20 sts. You should have a total of 50 sts again. Work in st st for 1.5 inches. On next row, bind off 15 sts. Work across remaining 35 sts. On next row, bind off 15 sts. Work remaining 20 sts (the torso) even for 6.25 inches.

You are now ready to add the legs: With RS facing, work across 7 sts. Put these stitches on a stitch holder. Bind off next 6 sts. Work next 7 sts even for 12 inches. Bind off these 7 sts. Go back to the 7 stitches on the holder and work these sts even for 12 inches, so the legs match in length.

Seaming: Fold the object in half lengthwise from the center of the head, with wrong sides facing. Match the arms and torso, and tie the edges together at intervals with contrasting-colored yarn to help you pace your seaming stitches. Fold each of the legs in half, wrong sides facing, and attach each of the bound-off edges of the legs to the cast-on edges of the buttocks (leaving the 6 stitches in the middle for the crotch).

Stitch together all open sides of the doll, EXCEPT for one side of the head. You will need that opening to fill the doll with poly-fill. Remove the contrasting color yarn that you used to pace your seaming stitches.

Felting: Throw the doll in a hot-water wash cycle with abrasive garments (jeans, towels etc.). After the wash cycle, pull at the doll to work it into shape if necessary. My Enit Nelav only went through one cycle, but you may want to put yours through twice to get rid of stitch definition.

With scrap yarn, embroider a face onto the doll's head. I went for the primitive look, but you may want to do something fancy. Stuff the doll with poly-fill. With needle and matching thread, sew up the side of the doll's head.

Now let your imagination run wild, adding hair, amulets, clothing, chicken bones, etc. If you add a loin cloth as I did, be prepared for when everyone lifts it up to peer underneath. People are human. What can I say?

If you are into needle-felting, you could have lots of fun embellishing this doll!

Once you are finished, stick pins into your doll as you think horrible thoughts about whoever may be tormenting you.

If you see any mistakes or would like to suggest any improvements, send me an email!

*(Enit Nelav is Valen tine spelled backwards)

What the Heck Is That?

Below is a mystery project I am currently working on. I am making it up as I go along. The identity of this project, and the pattern, will be revealed on Valentine's Day....

(It's good to maintain a little mystery, no?)

All For An Excellent Cause

Melissa W., dyer/spinner of Loose Ends Yarn, has offered to donate proceeds from the sale of the next four skeins of Loose Ends Yarn to Safe Passage. As many of you know, Safe Passage is an organization that works with the poorest children working in the Guatemala City garbage dump, improving their lives through education. The founder of this organization, Hanley Denning, died in a car accident earlier this month.

I was planning to have a sale on Peace Fleece, but Melissa's offer has inspired me to do something different. Rather than discounting the Peace Fleece, I will donate 20% from sales of Peace Fleece from now to the end of this month to Safe Passage.

That way, sales of Loose Ends and Peace Fleece will he helping TWO worthy causes. (If you are not familiar with the story behind Peace Fleece, click HERE.

It is going to be very cold this weekend. What better way to spend it than to curl up with Loose Ends and/or Peace Fleece? The yarn will keep you warm, as will the knowledge that you have done a good deed.

Friends and FOs Update

Do you remember when Mary taught the Football Widows how to do the basic brioche? Since then, Mary has moved on to brioche-in-the-round and two-color-brioche. You could say she is a little obsessed! If you have ever seen patterns for circular brioche stitch, you would understand that conquering it is no small feat!

Since benefiting from Mary's basic brioche tutorial, some of the Football Widows have used that stitch to create neckwarmers. Carmen busted some stash to complete hers (sorry, no pic!), and Laurie O. just finished hers using the "wildcard" J. Knits Softee Alpaca I ordered in the "Kansas" colorway.

Also in FO news, Suzanne finished her first hat! She's rather tenacious when it comes to advancing her knitting skills: she bypassed the newbie-knitter's standard garter stitch scarf and moved directly to a ribbed scarf. And immediately after finishing that, she moved on to circular knitting and handling DPNs. She even had the confidence to tweak the basic hat pattern I created, a formula-based pattern that can be used for any gauge yarn, and any size head (free with yarn purchase). Here's the finished hat, which she made with Loose Ends:

We love the button accent!

And Lois came in to show me the cable hat she finished for her daughter...

She made it out of Sheep Shop Yarn, which I refer to as my "still waters run deep" yarn. Customers have a favorable first impression of this yarn, but then once they take it home and knit it up, they rave about it. It isn't itchy. It has wonderful loft. The colors are rich. And the quality of the fiber is amazing.

Yesterday Laurie S. came in to show me her latest FO, a crocheted shawl that includes Loose Ends, Peace Fleece, and Lorna's Laces. I love the way the various colors worked out. Laurie has asked for more Loose Ends. Melissa is spinning as fast as she can!

New Knit On The Block: Claudia Hand Painted Yarns

I'm happy to announce that Purl Diva is now carrying Claudia Hand Painted Yarns! Check out the lovely colorways on Claudia's website.

I've got some silk lace "teasers" at the counter, and after giving them little pats, many customers have already succumbed. Here's a little sample of the fingering-weight wool and lace-weight silk yarns...

The Little Blue Fish-Mitten

Last week a woman called and asked if I carried Lamb's Pride in blue. "Yes..." I said, "...but which color blue would you like? I have five different shades."

She said "Just...blue...I'll be in to see what you have."

About 45 minutes later, a gentleman came in carrying a tiny mitten. The mitten was bright blue, looked crocheted and slightly felted, and was somewhat fish-shaped. The man said his wife had been the one who had called earlier about the blue yarn, and that his grandson wanted mittens in a similar color. We tried to find a comparable hue of blue, but I didn't have the right shade in worsted weight. However, I did have it in bulky so I asked "Do you think your wife can adapt the pattern and make it in bulky yarn?"

The man responded, "She's not making the mittens. I am. I made this mitten using a craft called nalbinding."

I hate it when I am inadvertently sexist, so I started backpedaling, mumbling something about assuming that since his wife was the one who called...blah blah blah.

Then I said, "Wait, what did you say you did to make that mitten?"

"Nalbinding."

"What's that?"

He gave me a brief summary of the nalbinding craft. There's some great information on the craft HERE and HERE.

Turns out this gentleman is an expert on the craft, and gives lessons. I got his info before he left. If you are interested in taking a class, let me know and I will see what I can arrange!.

So Simple, So Clever

Click HERE for a great idea. I wish I had thought of that when I was riding the NY subway every day...

(Thanks Mom!)

Friends and FOs Update

I have many new FOs to share with you....

Elizabeth finished her very first sweater! She mixed two colors of Feza to make the Knitting Pure and Simple "Baby Pullover". I am assuming this is intended for a baby girl, but given Elizabeth's penchant for all things pink, it is quite possible that she would have made it this color even if the recipient were a boy!

Holly came in to use the gift certificate her brother gave her for Christmas. (Her brother wanted to buy her a TV or a VCR, but she steered him toward yarn.) While she was here, she showed me the felted bag she had made out of Berroco Medley. As you can see, this yarn does interesting things when it is felted - it creates a combination of slubs and brightly colored dots. Not surprisingly, Holly gets LOTS of compliments on it. Doesn't it look like Monet's gardens at Giverny?

Margaret came in with her daughter Abbie to show me the scarf she made for Abbie. The scarf is long and luxurious, and Abbie, it is the perfect color! ;-)

Meghan brought in a scarf she made for the Knit Your Bit/Scarves for WWI Veterans campaign. In true stash busting fashion, she made it out of some local wool she had on hand. This is the first scarf completed for our current charity compaign, and if they are all like this, there are going to be some very lucky veterans out there!

Tammy came in to show me the Knitting Pure and Simple "Bulky Bolero" she made out of Ego Tweed. She converted it into a cardigan by making it longer and adding buttons. I think she did a great job working the sleeves so the color changes would be consistent on each side.

Like Tammy, many others are creating personalized versions of this bolero pattern, including yours truly. I made a longer version in Misti alpaca, ignoring the decreases for shaping, and using ties instead of the single button. You can see it here:

Melissa also used Misti Alpaca to make her version, which you can see here.

I know of at least two others who are knitting - and close to finishing - the non-bolero bolero out of Lorna's Laces. Stay tuned....

And last (and maybe least), I made another lace scarf out of GGH Soft Kid (one of the new additions to the Purl Diva inventory....)

With two scarves and one sweater finished, I am getting closer to being able to start a spankin' new project. I vowed in December that I would not start any new projects until I finished, or frogged, my WIPs. This is causing me great pain, but I am persevering.

A Year Ago Today...

Warning! I am going to be nauseatingly sentimental with this post! I can't help it. Today is the one-year anniversary of Loki's arrival Chez Ellen. (Click here to read about her arrival.)

In honor of this occasion, I wrote a little poem.

Ode to Loki

Oh! My little Loki!
You are so very sweet.
I love your bobbly ears
And the freckles on your feet.

Your kibble breath I could do without,
Same goes for barks and jumps,
But when your chin is on my knee
I'm carried from The Grumps.

To think two others gave you up
Makes this noggin of mine spin.
But then I think if they hadn't,
How less happy I'd have been.

I know someday you'll leave me
And you'll be sorely missed.
Please know I'm eternally grateful,
For my speckle-pawed optimist.

Loki says, "Here I am on a pedestal, right where I belong."

The Kitchener Stitch Mystery

Years ago, for some reason I mentioned the kitchener stitch to my father. Being a historical fact junkie, he asked me if the stitch was named after Lord Kitchener of WW I fame. I couldn't imagine why it would have been named after some dude in the military, so I scrunched up my face, rolled my eyes, and said "I doubt it, Dad!"

Flash forward to last week when my friend Lisa found this link while doing research for one of the classes she teaches.

So, while the verdict is still out on the true origin of the kitchener stitch name, maybe my father wasn't so far off after all...