Knit the Bridge

It's Pittsburgh. We've got bridges. Lots of them. You might say they're our thing. (You might also swear at them under your breath when trying to get around our city because somehow you're on the wrong side of the river... This still happens to me.)

What's cool is when the iconic, oh-so-necessary-for-transportation bridges become the hallmark of something *else* really cool. Like what's happening right now with Knit the Bridge.

There is a group of amazingly organized, talented, and dedicated knitters who have literally yarn bombed an entire bridge. Don't believe me? Check out these incredible pictures. (From the Allegheny County Facebook page.)

It's appropriate that they've bombed the Warhol Bridge (7th Street Bridge) since Andy Warhol probably would've loved something all-involved, attention-getting and of-the-moment like this.

From Allegheny County's Facebook page:

Knit the Bridge is a grassroots, community-led arts project that brought communities throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania together to create a large-scale, aesthetically stunning, fiberarts installation on Allegheny County's Andy Warhol Bridge, which spans the Allegheny River and connects Downtown Pittsburgh to the North Side.

In conjunction with Fiberart International 2013, the intention of Knit the Bridge is to celebrate the history of Pittsburgh as a city of bridges and steel, as well as our region's thriving, contemporary arts scene. Coming out of the street art and contemporary craft movements, yarn bombing is a bright, beautiful way to celebrate public space. Unlike graffiti, yarn bombing can be done without any damage to historic structures and is temporary and easily removable. 

 Check out the video of the installation here: http://knitthebridge.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/the-bridge-goes-up/

Knitting my first baby blanket

I started on this awhile ago and without any real idea of how long it would take to knit, but I'm finally finished knitting my first baby blanket!


It's for one of my dear friends (a professor of mine from college who I've become close with) who had her baby in February. Sure, I would've liked to have the blanket done for his big debut, but like I said... I had no clear idea of what it would take to knit a crib-sized blanket.

I love it. The blanket is soft, snugly knit, and very textured. There's a seed-stich border and the knit/purl combo in the pattern I used makes knitted squares separated by lines of purls for a nice grid look.

The yarn is machine washable--very baby- and user-friendly thanks to soft knit acrylic and wool Plymouth Yarn.

I washed the blanket when I was done knitting it and cleaning up loose edges. Now I have it all wrapped up for gift giving!

I'm so excited to give my blanket to my friend for her sweet little one!

I'll be adding the blanket to my Knitting tab (at the top of my blog) as my latest accomplishment. :)

Check, check, and check

While searching through old blog entries on Sugarpacket, my old blog, I came across my first post about knitting. In it, I declare that learning to knit was on my Lifelong List of Things to Do...

I listed a few other things I hoped to do:

Yes, look out world, I'm a knitting monster.

I suppose this is a "checkmark" on my Lifelong List of Things To-Do, right up there with getting the nerve to fly in a plane, eat raw fish, and get lasic surgery to be independent of my eyewear...

(I'm not going to comment on the grammar of that excerpt. I'm admittedly ashamed, but grateful that I've grown as a writer!)

Now, about six years and a few months since that post, I can say that I've done all of those things! I flew for the first time in 2008 and by myself last year. I love sushi (just had my first Mexican roll last week—spicy tuna, avocado, and shrimp). And I am now free of eyewear, thanks to my PRK surgery in November!

I guess it's time to add to my list of things to do... Suggestions welcome.