We've Passed 1,000 Views!!!!!!!!!!

I know, I know, it sounds like we're lying, but we're not.

We've actually passed 1,000 views (or as some of you call it, hits).

Now, since we passed 1,000 views, we had to celebrate.  You know what we did to celebrate?  KNIT!!

Of course... Knitting Kninjas celebrate success with knitting!

So... here some of the Knitting Kninjas knitting at our knitting party:

KninjaNeedles8 working on a piece for our big upcoming group tag

Knitting Mermaid is working on a piece for that same tag

Knitting Wonder Woman is being helped by KnitMama to knit her very first piece ever which will be displayed at our group tag too

KnitMama is knitting this shared tag that her and KninjaNeedles8 are working on (it will hopefully be done in the next week!)

So... talking about that tag that is being done by both KninjaNeedles8 and KnitMama... here is how it's measuring out:

It measures 10 cms (about 4 inches), not stretched

But stretched (which it will be in it's final location) it's about 14 cms (almost 6 inches)

Hopefully, by tomorrow, we'll be working our next colour.... what do you think?

Yellow!!!!

And... our last piece of news... just yesterday we started our new Facebook page... and in just about 24 hours we already have over 50 fans!!!  So great!  To like our Facebook page, just follow the link in our sidebar (or here it is for a super shortcut - https://www.facebook.com/knittingkninjas).

We're On Faceboook!

We have decided to join Facebook (sorry Twitter, Instagram, Flickr.... and other such social media sites!).

Our Facebook page!

Please... come and like our page so you can be kept up to date with all our posts plus any other wee trinkets of info we might share.

To check it out and like it, just follow the link:

https://www.facebook.com/knittingkninjas

We Need Slogans!!!

At our first meeting, we discussed the label that we would use on our tags.  The purpose of our label is to let people know about our website here when they see a tag.

If people come to our website, they can see pictures of our previous pieces (which unfortunately for right now is just one.... but soon this number will grow!).

Since the whole purpose of yarn bombing our town (and hopefully one day many more places other than Peterborough, ON) is to bring cheer to those who see it, we wanted to include a message on our label.

We talked about a few different options, and in the end decided we would have several slogans and we came up with a few of them.

Here are the ones that we came up with:

Smile, pass it on!
Knit happy!
Make somebody smile today!
Have a nice day!
Smile!
Cheer!
Have fun!

We would love to hear what other slogans our readers can come up with.  The more the merrier.  Please share your ideas in the comments.

Our group is meeting together next week (remember... same time.. same place... March 5th, The Olde Stone, 5:30 - 7:00) and we're planning on having these labels ready to go so our members can get going with getting their tags ready for our big yarn bombing!!

An Act Of Sneakiness

On this cold, but sunny day, KninjaNeedles8 was going to check on her and KnitMama's tag.  The ground was very wet and where it wasn't wet, there was ice.  There was only a few places that there was nothing at all.  She could walk, but it was hard to walk with all the ice.

KninjaNeedles8 stands in the muck outside.

Suddenly, she suddenly saw a jogger out for his run!  She slowed down so that he wouldn't suspect her being up to anything.  Since it was so icy and mucky, she was already having a hard time making her way up the slight hill to the tag.

By the time she got up to check, the jogger was long gone.  KninjaNeedles8 lucked out again... no one suspects her of anything!

The good news.... our tag is still there safe and sound!

And today's tip for those of you heading out to enjoy some sunshine - it might be easier to slide your feet on that ice rather than lifting your feet up to walk.

A New Project

So... for all of you who have come back to check to see where our first big group tag will be... we have something to tell you.  You didn't really think we would tell you where it was, right?  You'll have to wait until after it's been done to find out the details!

KninjaNeedles8 and Knit Mama decided that they wanted to do another cooperative tag before the big group tag that will be coming up.

While driving downtown, they found the perfect location... a nice busy spot where lots of people can use to be cheered up.

The problem: There was no measuring tape in the van.

Today's lesson is how to use a nontraditional tool to measure with.

Our makeshift measuring tool:

This is a deposit envelope from a local Royal Bank that we had in the van.

This envelope was used to see how many times it would wrap around our target.  The answer... 2 and 2/3rds.

We need to be careful while measuring to see how many centimetres that is because...

As you can see... the deposit envelope is smaller than a regular letter envelope.

So.. making sure we used our original envelope, we measured:

With our tool, we measured it to be 22.5 centimetres.

And.. for you American readers... that's 9 inches

Now... time for the math!!

We need to know what 2 and 2/3rds of an envelope will measure.  Shall we add.. subtract.. multiply.. divide...???  What shall we do?

We can add or we can multiply.

KninjaNeedles8 thinks adding is easier:

22.5 cms + 22.5 cms +..???  What is 2/3rds of the 22.5 cms???

KninjaNeedles8's answer is "I don't know!"

This is where we must multiply.  To find out we can multiply 2/3rds by 22.5... the answer is 15 cms.  So now back to our original question.

22.5 cms + 22.5 cms + 15 cms = 60 cms

Our piece needs to be 60 cms around.

To do the full problem using muliplication (KnitMama's idea):

22.5 x 2.67 (the .67 is the same as 2/3rds) = 60 cms (with a tiny rounding)

So... it needs to be 60 cms (that's the same as about 23.5 inches for you Americans).

This is what we decided to do... three colours.. vertical strips.  So, we're just going to knit about 20 cms (slightly stretched) of each colour chosen and then it's ready to go!  KninjaNeedles8 figured that out (and she is correct)... but her math was so crazy to follow that we can't even write it down!!!

So we've cast on 25 stitches in a lovely neon green acrylic yarn (brand unknown) and we've begun our next piece.

Meet The Kninjas

This past Wednesday, the Knitting Kninjas met for the first time as a group.  Since we had it at The Olde Stone, we all had some dinner.  It was delicious.  I had the Best Burger (see on their menu) with french fries and salad.  Mmmmmmm.

The night was exciting... getting to meet lots of  new Knitting Kninjas.  We all felt enthusiastic as we planned our future adventures.

So.. without further ado, introducing some of the Knitting Kninjas:

The Detangler

Knitting Yoshi

TINKerbell

Mother Of Purl

YOMama & Knitty Bitty

Stitchy Mama

Superknitter

Skein Samurai

Winged Warrior

Knitting BlackOps

KnitMama

KninjaNeedles8

Little Knitter

Some other Knitting Kninjas who are planning on being a part of our group but weren't out at our meeting:

Suzume

Knitting Zombie

Knitting Mermaid

Knitting Wonder Woman

E.C.K.nista

And since just last Wednesday, we've heard from more people who would like to be a Knitting Kninja!  The group is open to all so please let us know and join us!

We made many decision... what we wanted to do, how often we would meet, how we're planning on designing our labels... but most importantly, where our first group tag was going to be.

The ball is in motion... our task has begun!

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, March 5th, 2014... same time... same place.  In the meantime, keep knitting.

To find out when and where our first big tag will happen, come back and check out our website soon...

The First Meeting!

The time has come for our first meeting!

Date: TODAY!!!!! (Wednesday, February 12th, 2014)
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Where: The Olde Stone

Be there (if you"re a Knitting Kninja), or be square!

If you have a tagging project started, bring it, if you don't just bring whatever knitting project you're working on (if you have one).

Also... start thinking of you Knitting Kninja name!

Exciting News!!!!!

If you were interested in seeing our tag in the daylight, you now can:

Have you seen this tag yet?

So, now for our exciting news.  We have our first Knitting Kninjas meeting planned out.  We are going to meet this week for the first time to plan a group tag.

Date: Wednesday, February 12th, 2014
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Where: The Olde Stone

So, if you happen to be in the Peterbororough, ON area and want to join in to become a Knitting Kninja, please feel free to come on out and help to plan our first group tag.  Just don't let anyone know our real identities!

If you don't live near by but want to yarn bomb with us, stayed tuned and we'll let you know how.  You can let us know in the comments that you're interested.

Can't wait to see some Knitting Kninjas on Wednesday!

While you were watching the Superbowl...

Finally, you will now be able to know what our tag looks like up.  Here is the story of our adventurous night.

The Mission:

Tag the stop sign.

The Kninjas:

KninjaNeedles8
KnitMama
Knitting Mermaid
E.C.K.nista

The Roles:

The Lookout (E.C.K.nista)
The Provider of Light (Knitting Mermaid)
The Seamer (KnitMama)

The Organizer/Photographer (KninjaNeedles8)

Our Adventure:

We headed out just about 6:00 p.m., right as everyone was snuggled up at home watching the Superbowl.  The sun had set... we were ready to tag without being seen.

We got to our destination and KnitMama started seaming our tag together as fast as she could.

KnitMama working fast to seam up our tag

Knitting Mermaid shone the flashlight for KnitMama to help her see what she was doing.  It is still very dark at 6:00.

Knitting Mermaid helped to keep our target well light up with the flashlight

E.C.K.nista kept a lookout in all directions to guard us from any passersby.

E.C.K.nista kept a good lookout

We weren't seen until a jogger came by, out for his night run.  He didn't see us... we were lucky!

And then just a moment later, a pizza man in his car came to deliver some pizza a few doors down... but we lucked out again and he didn't notice us either.

Our other obstacle: the weather.  It wasn't wet, it wasn't snowing... but it was cold!  KninjaNeedles8 didn't bring her mittens, so her fingers were freezing in the cold air.  She thinks she almost got frost bite.  We had to complete this mission in a hurry before anyone got seriously injured!  She also kept falling down in the deep snow banks... such deep snow banks!

KnitMama had a pair of hand knit (of course) fingerless mitts.  This allowed her to seam it together without her hands being cold but being able to still use her fingers.  KninjaNeedles8 wants a pair of these... and she also wants a balaclava (that fits her) to keep her face disguised and warm.

KnitMama's fingerless mitts.. for any interested knitters, this the Fetching pattern from knitty.com

Working fast, KnitMama seamed up our project.

Working fast so we weren't caught

Almost done:

Knitting Mermaid, KninjaNeedles8 and KnitMama... a family that tags together, stays together, right?

So now... what you've all been waiting for.  The final piece all put up in it's home!

Looks good, doesn't it?

Before we left the location, KninjaNeedles8 took a moment to admire our groups effort.  The beginning of her dream come true.

A job well done!  But... maybe it was a bad idea to stop and admire it...she fell in the deep snow banks again!

P.S. When she arrived home, KninjaNeedles8 warmed up her fingers under some warm water from the sink... so do not worry... no fingers were injured in the making of this tag!

It's almost completed!

And now presenting, the tag:

Here is the knitted tag before our yarn bombing

But we're going to leave you hanging again and wait until our next post to show you... (has anyone seen this tag out in it's new home yet?).  Until next time.

Getting Prepared

Since the last blog post, we cast on our first project.

Yarn:

Lion's Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick Yarn in grass colour.

Needles:

9 mm (size 13 US) straight needles.  We chose bigger needles so it would knit up quicker

At first, we cast on 20 stitches... but that was too big.  Next, we tried 17... still too big.  Finally, 14 was the perfect amount.

KninjaNeedles8 and KnitMama took turns knitting some rows.

KninjaNeedles8 working on the tag in disguise

KnitMama getting in a row

While we were working away on that, KninjaNeedles8 made a checklist.  It wasn't a grocery checklist, it wasn't a camping checklist... it was a TAGGING checklist!

As the knitting went on, we gathered up everything on the list.  Hopefully we didn't forget anything (please let us know in the comments if you think we need to add more to this list).

All of our supplies (minus the final piece)... and yes... our scissors do match our bag!

We needed to make a label for our tag!  This was so other people can view the website that you are on right now and know that there are Kninjas that Knit just to bring them cheer (and to have fun!).  We just made up a quick label, but we have plans to make better ones in the future tags (please share with us any ideas you have for our labels).  This is what we made:

We laminated our label so would not get wrecked in the harsh Canadian weather... it also won't rip.

We wanted to spice up our tag with something special.  We talked about buttons down the back, we talked about weaving ribbons through it, but finally we settled on one button placed in the middle (tied on with a ribbon).

Our piece is done, we know you want to see it... but... we will leave you hanging.  You better check in for the next post to see the final piece.

The First Project Is Underway!

We wanted to get started... so two of us decided to go ahead and do a smaller yarn bombing tag before we finally get together as a full group.

KninjaNeedles8 reading for tips

With some quick reading in Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain, some good tips were given to get us started.

Here was our plan of action.

1. Decide on first yarn bombing location.  Here is not a sad looking stop sign, but not a happy looking stop sign... instead, it's a plain looking stop sign.  It needed decoration!

2.  Using our handy tools, we measured our location.

Knitting Kninjas need to take risks, KninjaNeedles8 is exposing her hands to the elements to get her measurements.

3. The final step for now is to pick the yarn we will use for this project.

Between three choices of yarn, KninjaNeedles8 decided on this green yarn which she preferred more than the other two.

This will be a joint project between two of us... a mother and daughter Knitting Kninja team!

Before we go cast on, the lesson of the day:

Stop sign poles measure 18 cms around.

And just so all you American readers understand, that's about the same as 7 inches.

Now we must go and cast on our tag!