Strings and Sealing Wax

New Pet

2009-08-01T17:26:00.000-07:00

We have a new family member.

How can one resist those eyes? We'd gone to the pound "just to find out how one goes about adopting" and "just looking to see what they've got." Famous last words.

The 6-year-old has decided to call her Cinnamon, which I think is appropriate because her coat more resembles her Dachshund ancestors than the Chihuahua ones.

Just think, someone else to knit for! She gets cold in the air conditioning, so I had to try making her a sweater. This is "The Chihuahua Sweater" by Staceyjoy Elkin and it's a free pattern. It's knit in 2 pieces and seamed to form the front leg openings. It was a pretty easy knit and I can see I'll be playing around with the possibilities for a while.

You know, I used to think people who dressed up their pets were nutty. Now I find myself browsing through all those wacky pet costume patterns over at Ravelry! Guess I'm nutty too.

What Mistakes?

2009-07-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

We've been so busy, busy, busy around here lately, but there is something I want to share with you today.

You know, people say the nicest things about my knitting, and I am pleased to get a compliment for my effort, but some people are convinced that I am some paragon of perfection, and that I must never make mistakes because my work is just so ____ (insert adjective here).

I say Hah! I'm always messing up, but have simply learned how to deal with a knitting error by either:

1. Catching it early enough to fix it easily or
2. Being willing to rip it out and redo it or
3. Coming up with some snazzy way to hide it.

Case in point:

Late last night, I was working on a baby cardigan. I had nearly finished the body of the sweater, having only 20 rows or so to go. Of course, I quickly finished that off while watching the news. After I had bound off the hem, but before I had cut the yarn, I looked it over and discovered it wasn't behaving properly.

The hem was curling up and wouldn't lay flat, it was flaring out at the bottom. The garter stitch edge along the hem came out a wee bit wider than the stockinette stitch body. This happens sometimes, but for some reason I had forgotten about the possibility.

This is why many patterns recommend changing to a smaller needle or decreasing the number of stitches by 10% while doing the garter stitch edge of the garment. This particular pattern (Seamless Yoked Sweater by Carol Barenys) doesn't. So, I set the sweater aside for the night in disgust.

In the morning, I ripped out the 8 rows of garter stitch hem. I then re-knit the hem, but on 10% fewer stitches. Now, just because somebody is going to ask about the exact details, that's:

(I'm making the smaller size)
When you have 8 garter ridges on the front band after the 4th buttonhole;
Row 1: (right side row) k4,*k 8, k2tog* across row;
Rows 2-4: knit across row;
Row 5: Knit across row to within last 4 stitches, k 1, YO, k2tog, k 1;
Rows 6-8: Knit across row;
Bind off in purl on the right side.

When the sweater is finished, nobody will know about the mistakes I made and fixed. They won't know how many times I had to rip out a couple rows of this thing because I forgot to knit the garter stitches on the front band during a purl row. They won't see how many times I lost count on the slip stitch pattern and messed it up. Or had to fix stitches that were too tight, or too loose, or just too funky looking. And they certainly won't have a clue about the other weird ideas I tried on this sweater and discarded (ripped out quickly before anyone could see) before deciding on this simple, conservative take on the design.

I have several baby sweaters that I'm working on right now, in varying stages of completion. I will post here when I'm finished with them, but until then you can see photos of them in progress in my projects on Ravelry! .

Happy 4th

2009-07-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

We had an enjoyable Independence Day. Good friends, good food, good times.

As you can see, we had fun with Jello.

We learned a few things too, like don't pour warm gelatin liquid on top of the whipped topping, or you will you end up with floating blue goo on top of your dessert. I chose to disguise it with more whipped topping and a cherry, of course. It was a hit.

But then, that's the magic of the Fourth of July BBQ, everything is a hit. Cook it on the grill and smother it with your favorite brand of bottled BBQ sauce, and it's your own little piece of heaven. They'll even eat their veggies-and like it.

You know, there's always something you forget to buy at the grocery store, and after two follow-up trips to pick up what had been forgotten, I was still missing that vegetable soup mix I usually use for the dip. I'd had enough of traveling in the heat and decided to improvise with whatever I had in the house. Here is the recipe I came up with. Feel free to substitute low-fat or fat-free versions of ingredients.

Spinach Dip

1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed, excess water squeezed out
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
2 cups prepared ranch dressing
1 cup sour cream

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Chill for 30 minutes before serving with chips and crackers or other dippers of your choice.

I used an envelope of ranch dressing mix and followed their directions to prepare the dressing, but you can use bottled ranch, creamy italian, blue cheese or other creamy salad dressing. Also consider adding chopped cucumber, chopped roasted sweet red peppers or other veggies you like to the dip.

...Or maybe I did...

2009-06-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

Wow. Time has sure flown by.

After Mom passed, I just didn't have the heart to knit for a while. It was something I did with her, after all. I do miss her, but it's not as painful anymore. It does ease with time.

I have started knitting again. I've had more time lately and more motivation to do so. A couple of years ago it seemed like everyone was having baby boys, well this year everyone is having baby girls. Strangely enough, the young women in my neighborhood like my knitted gifts. They even make requests. The most popular? The February sweater, in any color except pink.

Here is my latest February sweater, in violet Lion Brand Baby Soft. I managed to finish it a little over a week before the baby was born, and any time a project is finished before the kid outgrows it is a victory in my book.

Can you tell I've been going through all those boxes full of old unfinished projects? Yes indeed.

I visited my local yarns shops this week (for the first time in several months) just to reacquaint myself with their inventories. You know, pet-and-drool. I'm on a fiber diet until I can finish sorting out the stash conglomerate, so I wasn't actually shopping. While I was drooling, I saw a very simple little baby sweater in Araucania Nature Cotton, a one-ball wonder, that I simply must try. It was even in the same color as that orphan ball of Nature Cotton in my stash. The employee and I counted stitches and measured lengths to figure it out, since there was no pattern for her to sell me. Now, that's accommodating.

I'll be sharing that with you soon.

I haven't disappeared.

2008-09-23T05:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have written a blog post. Well, that's not exactly true-it's been a while since I published a post. I have several drafts of posts in this folder that I started to write but never finished. Some things are difficult to write about.

My mother passed away.

I had been living with her and caring for her while she fought cancer the last few years. Now that the battle is over, our lives are changing. Moving, selling the house, sorting out her belongings-all the usual things are keeping us very busy just now.

So, I haven't disappeared. I'm just dealing with one of the more difficult things in life.

WWKIP '08

2008-07-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been much knitting going on around here the last couple of months. The best knitting time comes when the mind is occupied but the hands are free, and lately my hands have been quite busy at other tasks.

I did manage to make it to our local WWKIP '08 event on Saturday June 14 with my Ravelry group. We did a great deal of chatting while knitting, as usual. We sat on the benches in the courtyard, shaded by the trees, listening to the splashing water and every now and then feeling a bit of the mist blown by the wind off the fountain. It was truly lovely.

We interrupt this knitblog for a bit of humor.

2008-05-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

I get such a kick out of these little quizzes. When I see one that catches my eye I simply must click over to see what my results will be. Today I saw the Muppet Quiz on someones blog. I remember the Muppet Show, and I just had to try it out.

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgeable, you are the perfect sidekick.

You're always willing to lend a helping hand.

In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going.

"15 seconds to showtime!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Of course, while you're there at the Blogthings website, you have to try out some of their other quizzes too. Hey, cookies! Everyone loves cookies, let's see which cookie I am, shall we?

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting.

You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Oh, here's an interesting one, let's see what my fridge says about me!

What Your Fridge Says About You

You tend to be a very hedonistic, greedy person. You have trouble saying no to what you want.

You are not careful with your money. In fact, you rarely think about how much you are spending.

You are a very adventurous person. You love to try new things, and you get bored very easily.

You are responsible, together, and mature. You act like an adult, even when you don't feel like it.

You are likely to be married - and very busy.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

ROFL! Now, I would have said that my fridge looks like it belongs to a large family with healthy eating habits (lots of veg) who enjoy variety (different ethnic condiments). Continuing with the topic of food, I gotta know-what spice am I?

You Are Ginger

Like ginger, you are a total shape shifter.

You can be sweet, spicy, mellow, or overpowering.

You are both soothing and unique. You are popular... yet you are often overlooked.

What Spice Are You?

OK, one more for the road.

Your Pirate Name Is...

Lord Fanny La Bouche

What's Your Pirate Name?

In the merry, merry month of May...

2008-05-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

These are the little baby hats and socks I've been working on for the afghans for Afghans May 19 campaign for newborns. As you can see, I still have one matching sock to finish. If I get it finished tonight, I can ship these Priority tomorrow. If not, I will send them in for the next campaign. Probably the latter.

The hats are my Infant Earflap Hats without the earflaps and the socks are Sherie's Simply Sweet Socks. I was playing around with stripes and contrast heels with the brown-and-pink and brown-and-blue color schemes. They were fun to knit, but lately I've been either too tired to knit or simply haven't been in the mood.

Not in the mood? How can that be possible?

Last week my 5-year-old was hit by a car, not 20 feet from our front door, right before our eyes. He is fine, only minor bumps and scrapes, but it scared us all very badly. Hubby, myself and several neighbors standing in the street watched the young woman carelessly and needlessly reverse her car into him, sitting stationary there on his bike. If we hadn't all been shouting at her and gesturing madly, she wouldn't have stopped with the boy and his bike merely wedged under her bumper.

This week I am researching law and ordinance. Apparently the street on which I live is private property, and the authorities on the scene told me they do not enforce traffic laws on private property.

Words cannot describe how I feel about this.

Our Mother's Day barbeque was especially sweet this year. I am grateful that my son and my mother are here to celebrate with me, and I can't ask for anything more.

Nap Time

2008-04-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

I've been knitting for a good long while. My fingers know what to do and I don't have to think about the mechanics of it, the knitting just flows along without my active attention. While watching TV, as a passenger in the car, while waiting just about anywhere, the knitting just seems to happen-almost by itself.

First thing in the morning, last thing at night, it's knitting. Those extreme ends of the day offer some of the purest peace and quiet for just a few more rows. Waiting for that pot of water to boil? Opportunity to knit. Picking up hubbo from work? I can knit in the dark. I keep a sock in my pocket, you know, ready for those moments.

Occasionally life gets very busy and a day or two will go by without knitting, or there will be other creative projects that occupy my time and efforts, but not this time. This month my caregiver role has gotten to be quite heavy. I sleep in 2-hour shifts. The sleep deprivation has turned my short-term memory into swiss cheese. I forget to eat.

I am too tired to knit.

Yes, hard to believe, but true. There is indeed a state of fatigue where you can sit with simple knitting in your hands and be utterly unable to make a stitch (shortly followed by upright-snoring, of course, but you get the idea).

So, I'm sending the child off to the neighbor's so that I can power-nap. I'll catch up with you all later, when I can knit again.

Spring Knitting

2008-04-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

I have some more projects to show you today.

I usually find there's just enough yarn left over after making a baby sweater to make a hat and socks or booties to match, so it seems unnatural to have a sweater all by itself. I'm catching up on these accessories.

On the right is a pair of booties to go with the Lemon Drop Cardigan. This is another free pattern by Carole Barenys, find it at Knitting On The Net and at Carole's Website where she also has a .pdf file. I think this bootie just might stay on. I can't wait to try a pair on my neighbor's newborn when she arrives. Can you imagine how the woman would feel, giving birth and then her neighbor wants to come over and play dress up with her baby all the time! ROFL

Here is a set of hat and socks to go with the Colorful Baby Top I made last month. I posted this photo and information about the yarn I used in my project database at Ravelry! and almost immediately I started getting messages asking about the pattern.

Pattern? I didn't use a pattern. I improvised them based on my experiences knitting baby hats and socks. They were easy to make and I'm so pleased with the way they turned out (so cute!).

So, I am writing up the pattern. I will be talking about pattern variations and sources of creative inspiration too. I'm writing it for beginners, because they have a lot of wonderful creative ability, they just don't know it yet.

Oh, if you haven't signed up to join Ravelry! yet, please go over there right now and do so. You don't know what you're missing. Ravelry is all about searchable databases. The first time you search for a pattern over there...you will thank me.

Here is an unusual small handbag I couldn't resist trying. The pattern is called 'My Ex' and it's a riot! The author held a contest and this was my entry. I have to say, after seeing the other entries, my version isn't bizarre enough to win the prize. You can see them here, under the category "My Ex is Full of Knit Contest Submissions".

My finished bag is about 6" tall and 4" in diameter. I used Shepherd Classic Wool for the face and Patons Classic Wool Merino for the hair, then I ran it twice through the washing machine to get the smoothly felted look on the face. Embellishments are from my personal jewelry collection. Yes, that's really my jewelry and no, it doesn't look like the sort of stuff I'd wear. Not lately, anyway.

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

The kids are ~~done bouncing off the walls and are passed out with candy comas~~ napping, the ham is quietly baking and I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to knit.

Hope your family is having a pleasant holiday!

Colorful Baby Top

2008-03-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month I picked up a copy of Itty-Bitty Nursery. It's full of lovely things, but I just had to try out the Cozy Boatneck Sweater pattern. The colors are so much fun, and I happen to have a supply of suitable wools on hand left over from the other colorful items I've been knitting lately. Here you can see the results of my efforts.

I find it so inspiring that I feel I simply must make baby hats and socks to go with it. I can play with different parts of the design and color combinations on a small scale that way.

The designs would be appropriate for charity items for afghans for Afghans too, and you know how much I love making useful stuff for charity.

The photo at left shows the front of the sweater and the photo at right shows the back. Don't you just love the asymmetrical coloring of the sleeves and the patches?

Yarns are all worsted wools: Patons Classic Wool Merino, Cascade 220 and Plymouth Galway.

I have to admit that I had some trouble with the pattern toward the end. I misread the stripe patterns for the sleeves and had to rip and reknit them. I think it would have been easier for me to follow a chart instead of textual directions. Otherwise, it was a pleasurable and quick knit, as a garter stitch project usually is.

You can download a free sample pattern (Flower Pacifier Clip) from the book in .pdf format here, from the author's website.

Lemon Drop Cardigan

2008-03-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

I've seen quite a few free patterns for baby sweaters that are very popular on the internet and I've always meant to give them a try, but hadn't gotten around to any of them yet.

Until now.

This is the Seamless Yoked Cardigan by Carole Barenys, and you can find the pattern at Knitting On The Net or at Carole's website, where she also has a .pdf file available. I've used Lion Brand Baby Soft yarn in Lemon Drop. Isn't that a delightful name for a color? And it's such a nice one, soft without being too pale.

This is a nice little sweater pattern, with one exception-it doesn't tell you how long to make the sleeves. I referred to the Craft Yarn Council's Standards & Guidelines for Crochet And Knitting to figure it out. I followed the instructions for the smaller size, and gave it 6" sleeves.

Add this to the gift stash!

Artsquares

2008-03-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a collection of dishcloths I've been working on for Larissa's art project. You can read about it here. Using natural undyed worsted-weight cotton yarn, I've made some of my favorites in a 6-inch size.

If you look closely, you'll notice that one of them is bigger than the rest; you can calculate your gauge all you like, but sometimes the item doesn't come out the size you intend. This isn't a problem when it comes to dishcloths, however, they are always useful no matter what size they turn out to be.

The patterns I used for these, starting upper left:

4-Corners Dishcloth; NYD'05 Dishcloth; Simple Weave Dishcloth from Leisure Arts #3122, Nifty Knit Dishcloths; eLoomanator’s Diagonal Dishcloth (available only on Ravelry! at the moment).

The due date for sending in these cloths is March 20, so I will be mailing these tomorrow to be sure they arrive on time.

Update: Here is Larissa's post. She received a total of 132 cloths. How very cool. See them all here (mine are numbers 78 through 81).

Busy February

2008-02-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

It has been a really busy month. With little time to post lately, I have a backlog of finished projects to share. Better get to it then!

On the left is the blue Baby Surprise Jacket I've been working on, all finished with buttons and even a matching hat. This goes into my gift stash-that's my collection of finished items made for the fun of it and not for a particular person. Very handy for those last-minute shower invitations.

On the right is my finished February sweater set. One 140-gram ball of Lion Baby Soft made the sweater, bonnet and socks. How convenient is that?

Both of these sweater patterns are by Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Here is the group of wool baby hats and socks I'm donating to afghans for Afghans this month (photo, left). They are going out in the mail today. It was a lot of fun playing with color combinations and making something useful at the same time. So much more satisfying than swatches, don't you think? See my previous post here for pattern info.

On the right is another wool hat, this one for my youngest. Who can resist those dangling carrots? This pattern is in the book Knit Hats! which I found at my local library.

Finally, here's a group of child-sized washcloths. Once again I used Abigail's 4-Corners dishcloth pattern, altered to make a smaller sized cloth. Following the general procedure in the pattern, I cast on 12 stitches and short-row decreased down to 3 stitches for each quadrant.

I used a combination of ombred and solid colored worsted-weight cotton yarn for these. I picked an ombred yarn to set the color scheme then chose solids accordingly. I just love the stripey goodness!

I know I've done this before. Am I becoming predictable?

Baby Things

2008-02-08T00:32:00.000-08:00

My new neighbor is expecting a baby girl next month, so I'm working on a gift. She is strictly a wash-and-wear person, so I investigated which inexpensive yarns are available at my local chain stores. It's been a long time since I last did any serious shopping for cheap baby yarn and what I found was rather different than the old stand-bys I'd expected.

Most of the things I found were yarns that are soft and drapey (I call them limp). I don't like these yarns, they don't have body and the finished garment looks sloppy. I tried to find good old baby pompadour, but even that has changed; it's thicker and squeakier, no longer that reasonable substitute for wool. In the end I chose to settle for Lion Brand Baby Soft. The colors are nice and the texture is close to what I expected, although I fear it may pill after a few washings. We shall see.

My neighbor is not fond of pink. In fact, she expressed her irritation at her husband for doing a bit of shopping on his own, where he chose several items in pink, the hated color. I tucked that bit of information away and held it close while shopping.

That's why I have chosen to use this lovely pistachio color for my gifts. I've finished a February Sweater (by Elizabeth Zimmermann) and am now working on a bonnet to match. I used US size 3 needles and the sweater turned out a good size. That is, it will fit a typical newborn with the cuffs turned back and will stretch to fit for a few months. It will also fit a larger-than-average newborn as well. It would be a shame for the baby to be born too big to wear that sweater that took a week to make, don't you think?

I also picked up a bit of fabric and some notions to match that green. That's a yard of flannel to make a receiving blanket and a yard of terrycloth to make a hooded towel; some buttons, thread and grosgrain ribbon for finishing. A quick trip through the serger and you have some items she will definitely use, even if she isn't impressed with the handknits.

Oh yes, sometimes the recipient is less than thrilled with the dorky, home-made stuff. In this case, I know she will love them because she misses her late grandmother who used to make all those wonderful things for the babies in the family. It will be a delightful surprise when I deliver the goods and she discovers that I am one of the crafty people who actually knows how to knit!

Woolies For Winter

2008-01-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

I have finished knitting the scarf I was working on, and am about half done weaving in the ends (see photo, left). You can read about the details here. That's the part that gets put off regularly around here, the seaming and weaving in of ends. Who knows when it will actually be ready to wear?

The same goes for this little Baby Surprise Jacket knitted in Patons Classic Wool Merino in a solid and a marled denim blue color (see photo, right). It's waiting for seams and buttons. I am debating whether to add a collar or a simple I-cord edge. It needs that touch of the darker solid color around the neck to make it look complete.

I have managed to accumulate a tidy little pile of things to donate to afghans for Afghans this month. They were seamless and didn't have nearly so many ends to weave in, so they got finished in short order.

In the photo at left: 3 baby Folk Art hats that I've already blogged about here, and 3 pair of solid colored socks (to go with the Folk Art Hats). I used the free Blossom Knitwear pattern for these.

In the photo at right: A striped hat that I made following the free Scrap-Happy Celebration Hat pattern, but altered it to make it baby-sized. Also a pair of striped socks to match the hat, applying the same method of striping from the hat pattern to the Blossom socks mentioned above. I'll have to play around with more color combinations with this pattern.

I understand that the sets of hats and socks will be separated for shipment to Afghanistan, and that it doesn't matter if the items match or not, but I like to make matching sets. If I were making these for a local charity, a friend or for a neighbor I would make a matched set. That's just the way I roll.

One more project to share today:

These purple socks are finally done. I started them back in November and suffered second sock syndrome for a while. I had thought I might try using some wooly nylon reinforcement in the heels and toes, but couldn't find a suitable color. As it turns out, the Socka is a little thicker than the Regia and feels more durable. We'll see what happens after I wear them for a while.

Folk Art Hats

2008-01-05T15:25:00.000-08:00

Yup, I'm knitting more of those baby hats and socks for afghans for Afghans.

You know, it's a lot of fun playing around with color and pattern combinations, and a baby hat makes a great test swatch. This batch of hats are based on the free pattern Folk Art For Your Head, which is an adult sized hat. I've made changes, of course.

Basically, I followed my pattern for Infant Earflap Hats for the shape of it. I prefer a fold-up cuff to the rolled brim of the Folk Art hat because it allows the hat to grow with the baby. It's also warmer.

I had to fudge the stripe pattern to make it fit onto a smaller hat. Here's the row counts for what I did:

Color 1- k1p1 rib 10 rounds, k 2 rounds.
Color 2- k 8 rounds.
Color 3- k 1 round, p 1 round.
Color 4 and 5- *c4 k2, c5 k2* across, 4 rounds.
Color 6- k 1 round, p 2 rounds.
Color 7- k 5 rounds.
Color 2- k 7 rounds, at the same time begin decreasing on alternate rounds (starting with *k6, k2tog* across) on 5th round.
Color 1- Continue decreases and complete hat with this color.

Year in Review

2008-01-01T17:16:00.000-08:00

What did I do this last year? Why, lots of stuff of course. Most of it is on my weblog, so I can review it when I like. Here's a tally of it all:

I sewed 1 handbag and 1 crib sized quilt top.

Yes, I know I didn't blog about the quilting. I was too busy, and had packed it away before I resumed my blogging. I made a bunch of quilt blocks too, but didn't get them sewed together.

The pink quilt top I have pulled back out, hoping to finish, and am able to photograph it, so there you go.

I knitted 2 tea cozies. I never thought I'd make a tea cozy, but that was before I had children and interruptions that left my pot full of cold tea.

I value my rare moments of peace with a cup of tea, although most often I'm not drinking proper tea. As Poirot would say, it's a tisane.

26 dishcloths, scrubbies and bath mitts. Can you imagine such a thing? If you had suggested to me last January that I would make a couple dozen dishcloths this year, I would have laughed.

I found a pattern I really enjoyed knitting and ended up making lots of these for gifts. Who knew?

8 pair of socks. That's 5 pair of adult socks and 3 pair of child's socks.

I discovered that both my mother and my youngest son greatly admire handknit socks and can't wait for me to knit them another pair.

Sorry, guys, I am going to finish my purple socks first.

And speaking of socks,

7 pair of baby socks and 7 baby hats for charity. These went to afghans for Afghans.

17 afghan squares for charity. These went to Oliver's Blanket project, hoping he will be able to get some much-needed new equipment.

5 hats for holiday gifts. 4 adult sized and 1 toddler sized, for family living in colder climates.

Trying out different patterns, some I loved, some not so much. The fit varies a lot from designer to designer.

I prefer to make my hats snug-fitting so they don't blow away in gusty winter winds.

I knit One pair of mittens in wool for the boy to wear when we go to the mountains to visit the snow. Who can resist a pair of buggy mitts?

1 doll's outfit. A sweater and leggings in a premie baby size just fits the doll my mother made years ago to teach the children how to hold new baby siblings.

Last, but not least, the sweaters.

3 little sweaters for babies and children. A seed stitch coat for my cousin's 1-year-old. An aran style cardigan for the 4-year-old.

A simple Baby Surprise Jacket with a matching Baby Beret for a future baby shower.

That's the list of finished projects for the year. I wonder what the coming year will bring?

Long, Colorful Scarf

2007-12-28T11:52:00.000-08:00

Now that the holiday knitting is over, I'm taking time to make a list of all the delicious things I would like to knit next. I find it so amusing because the list is so long that I doubt I will ever knit them all. But still, it's fun to think about knitting all that stuff.

I'm not thinking about all those knits idly, oh no, I am working on projects while I'm thinking about other projects to come, of course. And what better time to start next year's gift knitting than now, hm?

On the left you can see what I'm working on today, a version of Joel's Scarf from The Knitting Experience Book 1: The Knit Stitch. Sally Melville was inspired by the Doctor Who Scarf when she designed it, giving it her own colors and stripe pattern to suit her own aesthetics. I wholeheartedly approve. I always did love the idea of a very long striped scarf, but never felt the need to make an exact replica of any of the originals.

This scarf I'm making for my eldest son, who loves to wear unusual accessories. He has grown to expect a gift hat from me each year, the wackier the better. I hate to disappoint him. I guess I'll have to make a hat to go with the scarf, won't I?

I've had to substitute some of the colors in the scarf. Some of the colors have been discontinued and some simply aren't available at my local shop. As for the rest, well, I really didn't like that Patons olive green at all. So, here's what I'm using:

Patons Classic Wool Merino in leaf green, old gold, royal purple and paprika.
Lion Wool in cadet blue and dark teal.
Cascade 220 Heathers in rust.

I like the way these colors play off one another. The feeling is cheerful without being too bright or garish. I also like the fact that you can almost knit this in the dark. It's a great tv knitting project, yards of garter stitch, easy peasy.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

These were the last of the knitted holiday gifts. I finished them yesterday, wrapped them up and sent them off with the rest of the booty to be delivered on Christmas Eve.

3 washcloths for boys in brightly colored stripes that make them easy to find in the laundry. Their mother hopes that when they have their own garter-stitch goodness they will leave her dishcloths alone. We will see.

I am taking a break from knitting today. I'm going to spend some time planning and deciding what I want to knit next. I want to make some more baby hats and socks for afghans for Afghans, finish the second half of my plum socks and start a cardigan for myself. There are dozens of other things that have caught my eye, and it helps to at least make a list to remind me of these delightful knits waiting to be made. I'll work on that later this evening.

Just now, I'm finishing up dinner preparations. We're having a simple meal, some of it prepared ahead of time and reheated, some of it made fresh this afternoon, but none of it was complicated. Roast turkey with gravy, stuffing, cranberry orange sauce, crudites, sparkling cider and panettone for dessert. For my eldest son, it's all about the stuffing.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day with your families.

Yet More Holiday Knitting

2007-12-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

The holiday knitting continues between batches of cookies and loads of dishes and laundry, with Christmas carols playing in the background. Sometimes peaceful, sometimes crazy stressful, such is family life.

On the left you see a little hat I made as a gift for my cousin, who will be celebrating her first birthday next month. It was a very quick knit, made from super bulky yarn. You can make this hat while watching tv in an evening. Yes, even you! The pattern is Omly's Action Baby Hat and you can find it here. I don't have any circulars or double points in the proper size for this yarn, so I used straight needles, knit it flat and seamed it up the back.

On the right is a little group of kid's play kitchen accessories, 2 'dishcloths' and a pretend 'oven mitt'. Or, they can be a set of bathtime accessories for your favorite toddler. Either way, the kids just love the squishy texture of garter stitch and if you give them these, they will leave your dishcloths alone. Maybe.

Inexpensive worsted weight cotton yarn is all you need to make them. The mitt pattern is in the previous post here, and the dishcloth is Abigail's 4-Corners dishcloth here. I made changes to her pattern to make it smaller, I cast on 12 stitches, then short-row decreased down to 3 stitches for each quadrant. If you cast on about 8 stitches, you get a great coaster.

You still have time to knit a couple of little projects like these for last-minute gifts, so get busy!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Child's Mitt Pattern

2007-12-21T21:58:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is the pattern for the bath mitts I made for my 4-year-old. They have been knitted flat in garter stitch in one piece and are seamed along the outer edge of the hand and inner edge of the thumb. They are designed to fit a preschool aged child loosely, which makes it easier for them to put them on by themselves.

Materials:
You will need 1 ball of worsted weight cotton yarn, a pair of size 7 US/4.5 mm needles, a tapestry needle and a stitch holder or a bit of contrasting yarn to hold thumb stitches.

Stitches used:
Garter stitch = knit every row.
M1 = increase a stitch by knitting into the front and the back of the next stitch, or using your favorite method.
K2tog = decrease by knitting 2 stitches together.

Cuff:
Cast on 30 stitches. Knit 16 rows in garter stitch (8 ribs).

Row 17: Knit 14 stitches, m1, knit 2, m1, knit 14; 32 stitches.
Row 18: Knit across row.
Row 18: Knit 14, m1, knit 4, m1, knit 14; 34 stitches.
Row 19: Knit.
Row 20: Knit 14, m1, knit 6, m1, knit 14; 36 stitches.
Row 21: Knit.
Row 22: Knit 14, m1, knit 8, m1, knit 14; 38 stitches.
Row 23: Knit 14, place the next 10 stitches onto a holder, cast on 2 stitches, knit 14 making sure to not leave a gap (see photo right); 30 stitches on needle.

Knit 24 more rows in garter stitch (12 ribs). Your mitt should look like the photo at left.

Row 48: *K2tog, knit 3* repeat between *'s across row; 24 stitches.
Row 49: Knit.
Row 50: *K2tog, knit 2* across; 18 stitches.
Row 51: Knit.
Row 52: *K2tog, knit 1* across; 12 stitches.
Row 53: Knit.
Row 54: *K2tog* across; 6 stitches.
Cut yarn leaving a 10"/25cm tail, thread the end onto a tapestry needle and draw the yarn through the remaining stitches and pull up tightly. Fasten off. It should now look like the photo at right.

Thumb:
Put the thumb gusset stitches back on the needle, as shown.

Row 1: Cast on 2 stitches onto right-hand needle, knit the 10 stitches from left needle, cast on 2 stitches; 14 stitches.

Knit 14 rows (7 ribs).

Row 16: *K2tog* across; 7 stitches.

Cut yarn leaving a 6"/15cm tail, thread the end onto tapestry needle and draw yarn through remaining 7 stitches. Pull up tightly and fasten off. It should look like the photos at left and right. The knitting is done, now it's time to sew up.

Finishing:If you're new at sewing up garter stitch using mattress stitch, Knitty has a great article with lots of photos that shows you how.

I recommend that you start sewing up the longer seam of the outer palm first. This stabilizes the mitt and seems to make it easier to work on the more fiddly thumb.

Start sewing up the thumb by seaming the length of the thumb seam, and finish by grafting those extra 4 thumb stitches to the 2 cast on palm stitches they match up with, smoothing and pulling up any little holes you come across. Weave in ends and you're done.

Want to put a ruffle on the cuff for a feminine touch? I embellished this mitt with a simple crocheted edge.

Round 1: 2 Single crochet in each cast-on stitch around the cuff, slip stitch in first stitch to join, chain 2.
Round 2: Double crochet in each single crochet around the cuff, slip stitch to top of chain, fasten off. Weave in ends.

More Holiday Knitting

2007-12-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

This is the latest batch of holiday knitting, cotton dishcloths and scrubbies to be sent along with cookies and such to relatives out-of-town.

These darlings have all been made with free patterns available on the web: Abigail's 4-Corners dishcloth (the 3 cloths made with ombred yarns) and Tribbles (the 3 little round scrubbies) are my favorites, Bernat's Knit Eyelet and Simple Ridge Dishcloths (green cloth in the center) and Eloomanator's Diagonal Knit Dishcloth (green cloth on the left), which is only available on Ravelry right now.

I've also made a pair of these child-sized bath mitts in Lion Cotton. I think they will make a great gift for the 4-year-old. He can use them in the bath, of course, but he can also use them for imaginative play. He likes to pretend he's an Iron chef and I believe he will use these as oven mitts in his play kitchen. It will be interesting to see what else his imagination will make of them.

I will post the pattern for these soon.

Edit: Pattern posted here.

Baking Frenzy

2007-12-11T00:15:00.000-08:00

I have a few more pieces of holiday knitting completed, but I'm in the middle of my annual holiday baking frenzy right now. I'm too busy to photograph the new knits and blog about them today, but I will do so soon.

In the mean time, I thought you might enjoy a quick photo of the contents of one of the tins I've been filling with cookies to ship to friends and family far away. These are quick and easy cookies to make, simple drop cookies for the most part, without decoration because I just don't have time this year for fussy stuff.

The contents are, moving clockwise beginning upper left: Chai-Spiced Cookies from Pillsbury Classic Cookbook #320 (This year's Holiday Cookies book), Strawberry Drops made from a cake mix, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from the oatmeal box, and Surprise Chocolate Bites from Better Homes and Gardens Easy Baking magazine.

I must go, I have more cookies to bake, and a mountain of washing up to do.

Paying it Forward

2007-12-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

I signed up for "Paying it Forward" on Kat's blog.

I felt no hesitation whatsoever over signing up for this, I make handmade gifts all the time. I'm always trying out new patterns, ideas and different media. This should be a breeze.

The guidelines:

"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

Want to participate? Be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post and make the same promise on your own blog.

Holiday Knitting

2007-12-04T23:54:00.000-08:00

I managed to squeeze another 3 squares for Oliver's blanket into the mail to Kay before the deadline. That makes a total of 17. Those squares were fun to make, especially the miters because each one was done in a different color, no two alike.

Every now and then my family would hear me chuckle over my knitting for no apparent reason. They don't know how much it amused me to think about Kay and company arranging those hundreds and hundreds of squares. That's going to be some sewup party.

I have dug in to my holiday gift knitting with the same gusto as my charity knitting. I have just finished my 4th adult-sized hat for various undisclosed relatives. Undisclosed because one never knows when they will decide to visit the blog and I am big on keeping gifts a surprise.

I will share the patterns, however. The 2 'Ribbed Caps' (photo upper left) are from Vogue Knitting On The Go Caps & Hats Two. The cap on the right was made without a pattern, cast on 80 stitches and knit until you run out of yarn basically. The self-striping effect of Noro Kureyon provides all the interest in these hats.

The pink hat on the left is the '11th Hour Hat' from Nevermore Knits. Yes, she posted the pattern yesterday, I must be one of the first people to try it out. I started the hat early this morning and finished late tonight. It was fast tv knitting, I want to tell you. I'll definitely be using this pattern again.

I got my Ravelry invite! You can find me there by the name Ariliss. What a fun place to go play!

Shipping the Charity Knitting

2007-11-27T18:12:00.000-08:00

I've been to the post office today to ship my charity knits. It was hard for the 4-year-old to let them go, he had the idea that they were all for him, but then, he tends to think everything is for him anyway.

The totals: 14 4" squares of sock yarn on their way to Kay for Oliver's blanket project and 7 sets of baby hats and socks on their way to afghans for Afghans. I tied each set of hat and socks together in its own little bundle so that they wouldn't 'lose' each other in transit.

The baby hats and socks made such a lovely little rainbow, I just had to share the photo here. They were so cute that I just wanted to keep making more, and I will, after I get my holiday knitting done. For now, I just wanted to get these little darlings shipped in time for the deadline.

So, back to that purple sock I was working on. It's nearly done, but it doesn't seem as interesting as those darling little baby hats, does it?

Top-Down Baby Hat

2007-11-24T14:54:00.000-08:00

I had a small amount of some leftover Noro that wasn't enough to make an item by itself, but if I added a bit of a matching solid colored yarn it would make a baby hat. I didn't know how much area the Noro would cover. If I started knitting at the cuff, it would make a narrow stripe of varied color, leaving most of the hat a boring solid color. I wanted to make the most of the special yarn, so I decided to knit the hat upside-down. I started at the top of the crown with a few stitches and increased as I worked my way down to the brim. It worked very well! Here are the details so that you can try it too.

Top-Down Baby Hat

You will need a small bit of leftover Noro Kureyon (or other worsted-weight self-striping yarn) between 6g and 10g, and some matching solid worsted weight yarn. My completed sample hats all weigh 28g and use Patons Classic Merino Wool as the solid.

You will also need a set of 4 or 5 size 7US/4.5mm double-pointed needles, one needle 2 or 3 sizes larger for binding off, a tapestry needle to weave in the ends, a tape measure and a pair of scissors or other cutting device. If you don't have size 7 needles, use size 6 or 8. For this project, precise gauge isn't important.

Using Noro, cast on 8 stitches, leaving a 4-inch/10cm tail.

Row 1: Increase by knitting in the front and the back (KFB) of every stitch; 16 stitches. Arrange stitches on 3 needles in the following manner: 6 stitches on the first needle, 4 stitches on the second needle, 6 stitches on the 3rd needle. Join, without twisting the work, and begin knitting in the round. Edit: Or use the Emily Ocker Circular Cast-On, here.

Rnd 2: Knit.
Rnd 3: *Knit 1 stitch, KFB in next stitch* repeat between *'s across row; 24 stitches.
Rnd 4: Knit.
Rnd 5: *Knit 2 stitches, KFB in next stitch* across row; 32 stitches.
Rnd 6: Knit.
Rnd 7: *Knit 3 stitches, KFB in next stitch* across row; 40 stitches.
Rnd 8: Knit.
Rnd 9: *Knit 4 stitches, KFB in next stitch* across row; 48 stitches.
Rnd 10: Knit.
Rnd 11: *Knit 5 stitches, KFB in next stitch* across row; 56 stitches.
Rnd 10: Knit.
Rnd 11: *Knit 6 stitches, KFB in next stitch* across row; 64 stitches.
Rnd 12: Mark this row with a bit of yarn tied around the first stitch. Knit across the row.

At this point your hat should look something like the photo at right. Yes, there's a hole in the middle, but that's alright, you'll close that up when the hat's all done.

Continue knitting every row on 64 stitches, changing to your solid color when you run out of Noro, until the work measures 3.5 inches/9cm in length from the marked row.

Start working K1P1 ribbing for the cuff (or K2P2, or garter stitch) and continue until cuff is 1.5 inches/4cm long. Bind off with larger needle and cut yarn leaving a 4-inch/10cm tail. Remove yarn marker. Using tapestry needle, weave in the tail from the cast-off edge.

Edit: If you have used the Emily Ocker Cast-On, disregard the next section and simply weave in the yarn tail from the crown of the hat.

Thread the tail at the crown of the hat onto the tapestry needle. Run the needle through the 8 stitches on the cast-on edge (see photo at left) and pull through gently, and run the needle through stitches a second time.

Pull up yarn, gathering up the cast-on edge until it closes completely. Weave in the end.

If you want, you can add earflaps to it. See my pattern here to find out how.

Now all you have left to do is to make a pair of simple 24-stitch socks to match. Some patterns can be found here and here. These patterns make the same basic sock, the only difference is the stitch used for the leg and the heel flap.

Knitting Holiday

2007-11-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving at our place, it was imperfect but absolutely delightful, just like the cherry pie. I hope my U.S. readers all had a pleasant holiday as well. One of the unexpected pleasures was the chance to knit while others napped.

As for the Canadians, well, we all know you had a fine time last month. "Firstest with the mostest" as my grandmother would say. Don't rub it in.

The downside is that the Christmas season is officially open and the materialistic feeding frenzy has really begun. Let's all try to resist that impulse to buy, buy, buy! that the manufacturers have paid so much to have hammered into our brains through the medium of television, hm?

Lately I've been spending my time making baby hats and socks to donate to afghans for Afghans. Yes, I have done this before, and I'm doing it again. I'm knitting as many as I can before the deadline, which is December 3rd. There's a Knit-And-Crochet-Along too.

I'm using my Infant Earflap Hat pattern without the earflaps. This makes a simple toque with a fold-up cuff that allows for growth room. When my babies outgrew their hats, it was never a case of the hat being too tight, the hat would be too short and no longer cover their ears. Giving a little extra height to the hat is a good idea.

I had very small amounts of leftover Noro Kureyon in my stash that I used to good effect in some of these hats. I really like the way they turned out, these are my favorites so far. I will tell you how I made them in my next post.

Won't you join us and make a set this weekend? Whether you make them for charity, your favorite little one, or for a future baby shower, these are very fun to make. You can come up with an excuse to make some, can't you?

The Atrocity

2007-11-19T08:42:00.000-08:00

There is a story in my family about the time Grandma had her house 'done' by an interior decorator. The living room was formal, low-slung and the furniture was all white and gold-except for one tall wing chair upholstered in a green/black toile. It was the one piece that kept things from being too matchy-matchy as we would say today. The decorator called it The Atrocity, and stressed that every room needed one.

I am taking a cue from this design philosophy and including an Atrocity in my shipment of afghan squares to Kay for the Oliver's Blanket fund raiser. This one square does not match in any way the others I've made, but I know that other knitters have made brightly colored squares to go with it. I've also made a set of mitered squares, just because. Kay should have fun working with these.

Knitting For Boys

2007-11-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

For a while now, in between socks, I've been knitting little 4-inch squares from leftover sock yarn for Oliver's benefit. Michaela has organized a little fund-raiser in the U.K., and Kay is helping out by collecting squares here in the U.S. (You can click on the names to read more about it).

My effort has been going slowly. Coming down with this head cold hasn't helped much either. I still manage to put in at least an hour of knitting in the morning and another hour in the evening. When I feel up to it, I grab odd moments of knitting when I can. I hope to contribute at least a dozen afghan squares before the end of the month.

I've just finished sewing the spots on this pair of Buggy Mitts for my little boy. He said he wanted lady bug mittens, but when he saw me grab a square of black felt off the shelf to make the dots he insisted he wanted bright colors instead.

You can find the pattern here. I have added a few rows of length to this pair to fit my son's long, tapered fingers.

He says he wants me to make him a pair of bumble bee mittens next!

Mom's Sock Blowout

2007-11-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

The sock was whole and in good condition when she put it on this morning, but somewhere between breakfast and the Carol Duvall Show the heel blew up.

Fortunately it doesn't take long to reknit a heel. Cut out the old one, insert needles into the live stitches, knit the heel flap and turn the heel, weave the seam and you're done.

Apparently I didn't use reinforcement yarn when I made that pair of socks. Regia sock yarn doesn't come with any. I made sure to include some reinforcement when I reknit the heel.

This is the first of a purple pair of socks I'm making for myself using the Basic Ribbed Socks pattern from Vogue Knitting On The Go: Socks Two. I made the child's size for my youngest and they turned out so well that I decided to make a pair for myself.

The yarn I'm using is Socka and it doesn't come with reinforcement yarn. After what happened to Mom's Regia sock after such a short time, I think I'd better not omit reinforcement of some sort. It's going to be difficult to find a matching color nylon thread or yarn. I've been reading about others experiments with wooly nylon and think I'll try weaving some in from the wrong side.

Kid Knitting

2007-10-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

I've made another pair of socks for the 4-year-old. He appreciates them so much and demonstrates such enthusiasm for my efforts that it motivates me to knit more for him.

This pair was knitted from the Basic Ribbed Socks pattern in the little book Vogue Knitting On The Go: Socks Two, altering only the foot length to about .5 inch longer than the child's actual foot measurement for growth room. The yarn is Lang Jawoll superwash. I did not use the included reinforcement yarn for heels or toes this time because I simply forgot about it. It's ok, he will probably outgrow them before he has a chance to wear them out anyway.

I have finally finished the child's red sweater I started a year ago. Fortunately I had chosen to knit it 2 sizes larger than he was actually wearing at the time. Losing track of the project in storage for several months hasn't been the disaster it might have been, as it turns out it's the perfect size for him now with a bit of room for him to grow.

The cardigan was meant to have a hood, but the child didn't like it when it was finished. I removed the hood, ripped it out and knit a simple ribbed collar instead. He liked this version much better.

To review the project, the pattern was the Stephane Jacket from Annie Blatt Creation Magazine #1 and the yarn was Schachenmayr Nomotta Extra 100% superwash wool, a DK weight yarn.

I did make a few alterations to the pattern. I adjusted the stitch and row count to match my gauge, and I added extra length to the body and sleeves to fit my child (who tends to be tall and slender) and for growth room, which at his age seems to be confined to height only. I made sure this added length was in full pattern repeats so that the design would still look balanced.

Socks and Doll Clothes

2007-10-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

I've finished the pair of Araucania socks for my mother. In the photo at left, you can see where I ran out of matching reinforcing yarn just before turning the heel. (Click on the photo to see a larger version)

The difference in color is subtle enough that you can only really see it up close, as in the photo at right.

Mom just loves them, and is so happy to be able to switch off between the 2 pair of handknit socks I've made for her.

I couldn't let the 4-year-old feel left out, of course, so I made him a quick pair of thick socks in some leftover worsted yarn (Patons Classic Wool) to wear around the house as slippers.

I also made a little outfit for the baby doll with some of that grab bag yarn. I don't know what the yarn is, but it feels like a cotton and synthetic blend. The pattern comes from an old Patons booklet of doll clothes. The doll itself was made by my mother from a pattern by Judi Ward called Bare Baby, and you can find it here. It is rather lifelike, and all the kids just love to hold 'the baby'.

Socks

2007-10-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

I had a stack of half-made socks waiting for my attention for so long that I had forgotten they existed. Has that ever happened to you? Well, it happens to me with alarming regularity. So, as I say, I found this group of guilt-inducing projects and pounced on them, right ferociously I might add. Now they are Finished Objects and will never threaten my peace of mind again.

And with hands properly limbered up from sock knitting, I dug in and whipped up a pair for the 4-year-old with some of the leftovers. He is very happy about this and loves his new socks. He is looking forward to more sock booty, just as soon as possible if you please, thank you very much.

I find that the boy has some difficulty putting on his own socks if they have ribbing at the top. He is at an age where he simply must do everything By HimSelf, and so I have made his socks with the garter stitch cuff to make things easier for him.

After seeing the colorful sock yarn additions to the stash, my mother has requested another pair of socks. Which I have dutifully started knitting. I have one finished and am working on the second.

Which brings me to a dilemma. Halfway through the heel on this second sock I have realized that I am going to run out of reinforcement yarn long before I reach the toe. I have more reinforcement yarn in my stash that doesn't quite match but comes rather close.

The yarn that I'm using for toes and heels on this pair of socks is from my stash, purchased in 1990 and the yarn is hard to find anymore. I could do as Elizabeth Zimmermann suggests and use quilting thread as reinforcement, it would be easy to match the color, but the texture would not be the same.

The texture is important to Mom, and she agrees that using the off-color reinforcing yarn from stash to finish the sock is a good idea. She then went on to suggest ripping out the toe on the first sock and reknitting it with the off-color companion yarn in order to make it match the second sock.

I gave her The Look.

Yarn Peep Show

2007-10-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

My local yarn shop recently had a drawing for a hefty gift certificate. To my immense surprise I won that drawing. See what I chose to spend that gift certificate on!

In the photo at left, Rowan Felted Tweed in Bilberry. Delicious rich purple that just happens to match my new fall outfit. I want to make a simple chanel-style jacket with this. Mmmmmm. Yummy.

So of course while I was there picking out my prize I found the grab bags in the back of the shop, and the new sock yarns.

I just couldn't resist the one grab bag of wild pinks and purples (photo at right). The one color range that is in such short supply in my stash. The colors I need for handknits for the little girls in my family! Just look at all the little hats and mittens and wee handbags-to-be in there!

Doesn't that just bring out the Barbie-girl in you to see all that pink-and-fuschia? (Insert sound bite of little girls squealing here)

Then the sock yarn... Oh my, it's a new shipment of Araucania hand-dyed sock yarn, so new it hadn't even been priced yet. Wow, first pick of skeins right out of the box!

On the left, some tie-dye colors that the 4-year-old fell in love with. These will become socks and more socks. On the right, shades of bittersweet and rose with a hint of aqua that I just had to have. This will be saved for a special project that even I haven't figured out yet.

So much for the stash-only diet.

Sausage and Potato Soup

2007-09-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

The weather has cooled substantially, inviting thoughts of warm, filling soups and stews. While grocery shopping I noticed Basque sausages were on special at the meat counter and I simply couldn't resist. At home I started throwing things into the pot until it all 'looked right' and by golly, it turned out so perfectly good I didn't even need to correct the seasoning at the end. So here I share with you my own version of Basque Sausage and Potato Soup.

1 lb. uncooked Basque Sausages, cut into bite-sized bits
6 large potatoes, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 cups chicken broth
water as needed

In a 6-quart dutch oven heat olive oil over a medium flame and add potatoes, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking too badly. When the potatoes start to color a little add the sausage. When the sausage is mostly cooked add onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan as much as you can. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, celery salt, thyme and enough water to cover everything with liquid. Put a lid on the pot and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serve with some crusty bread or over hot cooked rice.

Note: If you can't find Basque sausages where you live, just substitute your favorite sausage.

Finished Projects

2007-09-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

The blue socks for Mom are finished. She is happy, they fit her perfectly. There's nothing quite so comfortable as a pair of handknit socks.

I didn't manage to knit them in public in any exciting places. Maybe I'll be more fortunate with the next pair.

During the hot summer months, knit woolens are something we make for loved ones who live Up North in cooler climates. Now that the weather is cooler we are enjoying being able to think about wearing socks and sweaters ourselves without fear of heat stroke. I do love autumn.

I've also finished the fuschia Baby Surprise Jacket. It needs buttons and embellishment. I'm thinking about crocheted flowers for this one.

I found a great beret pattern to go with the jacket in the Debbie Bliss Simply Baby book. It's just too cute, you have to try it. I found the book at my local library.

Still Knitting

2007-09-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still knitting these 4-corners dishcloths. While I have run out of brown and turquoise, I haven't yet run out of cotton yarn entirely. Some of the cloths I've made have already been given away as gifts.

The photo at right shows the back of one of the striped cloths so that you can see how it looks when you carry the yarns along the edge of the knitting.

Dishcloths aren't the only things I'm working on.

Here are the blue socks I've been working on for my Mom. The contrasting heel is finished and I'm about to start the instep on the second sock.

I don't know what it is about socks, but it always feels like they take forever to knit. This pair have been to assorted waiting rooms and to my local yarn shop, much more interesting places to visit than my laundry room.

Lately I've been noticing a lot of people making Baby Surprise Jackets. I've never actually made one, though I have been a long-time admirer of Elizabeth Zimmerman. I've been meaning to make one, and there's no time like the present to start one.

I've chosen some Patons Astra in 08728 Hot Fuchsia, which has been discontinued. I'm debating whether or not to play with stripes on this one. I'm leaning toward making this first effort in a solid color, and then playing with stripey goodness in the future. This color makes enough of a statement all by itself.

Those Addictive Dishcloths

2007-09-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

I've continued to play around with Abigail's 4-Corners Dishcloth pattern. In the photo at left are some simple stripe patterns in solid colored cottons. As you can see, the gifts I'm making for weddings this month are in the brown/turquoise color scheme. It's a fun and stylish combination, and even if it isn't quite the newlyweds intended kitchen decorating scheme, they're 'warshrags' for heaven's sake, they're meant to be used up!

The stripes are so much fun to play with, just carry the yarn along the edge of the cloth and wrap yarns neatly on alternate rows to keep things tidy.

Stripes are wonderful, but there are other design possibilities to be explored with this pattern.

Simply change color for each quadrant and you have a 4-patch square (see photo left). Further, change color after decreasing and before increasing and you get contrasting triangles. Combine the two for different quilty results (see photo right).

What's next, you may ask? Why, all sorts of Gee's Bend-inspired dishcloths, of course. This could take a while.

More Dishcloths

2007-08-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

I've taken a break from the sock knitting to work on some dishcloths. There are 2 weddings coming up next month and I like to include a little something handmade with my gifts.

I had been browsing around and found a pattern I just had to try and I must say that I love it. It looks wonderful in a space dyed yarn as well as a solid, but I think it's especially nice using both solid and ombre yarns in a 2-row stripe pattern.

Based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Square Baby Blanket, the basic pattern is here. Another one of those garter stitch items that are so versatile.

More Granny Squares

2007-08-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

I now have enough granny squares to make a small blanket, just the right size for a pre-schooler to play on or nap under. I've started putting the blocks together to see how the mix of large and small squares will look. The sample (see photo, left) is still too small to decide yet, so I will continue adding to it.

The yarn I'm using is left over from a baby sweater I started knitting 3 years ago. After knitting the fronts, back and part of one of the sleeves (see photo, above right) I discovered that it had been designed as a short and wide garment that would not fit my tall and slim son. In order to fix it I would need to remove the bottom ribbing, add another row of diamonds to the argyle pattern, and put the ribbing back on. The boy outgrew it before I got around to fixing it. So I have decided to turn the sweater into a vest and save it for a future gift-giving occasion.

Here you can see my current portable knitting project (see photo, left). I'm knitting some socks for Mom, in her favorite color. I expect to take them along with me to doctor's appointments, the park, riding in the car with my hubby and maybe the bowling alley. So far the most exotic place they've been to is the laundry room.

The yarn I'm using? It's some Regia sock yarn I picked up way back in 1998. I think I bought the needles at the same time too.

Summer Days

2007-07-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

These hot summer days just leave me feeling drained. At the end of the day I don't have a lot of knitting energy or enthusiasm. I still want to work through my stash, however.

One solution for me is to make afghan squares. Sometimes I like to knit them, sometimes I like to crochet them. This week I'm crocheting granny squares.

I have a lot of colors in my stash, but no black to use for that neutral background that is so traditional in granny square afghans. I do have some very neutral taupe brown though, and that is what I'm using. We'll see how it turns out.

What we do have enthusiasm around here for is barbeque. It doesn't matter what it is, there's probably a way it can be cooked on the barbeque. We have a lot of fun trying to find ways to bbq most anything. Why not? It doesn't heat up the kitchen.

Here's a simple recipe that we enjoy whenever we can get really fresh corn on the cob.

Corn Roasted on the Barbie

6 ears of corn, shucked and cleaned
2 Tablespoons melted butter or olive oil
salt and pepper
aluminum foil
optional: a few teaspoons of minced fresh herbs like parsley, basil, dill or mint.

Pull off 6 squares of aluminum foil to wrap the ears of corn. Lay an ear of corn diagonally across one square of foil. Rub the corn with butter or oil until it is well coated. Sprinkle the corn with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with herbs if desired. Wrap the foil around the corn making sure it's completely covered. Repeat with remaining ears of corn.

Place the foil wrapped corn packets on your barbeque grill over medium coals and close the lid. Turn the packets every 5 minutes or so to prevent scorching. Check them after about 20 minutes for doneness. If you begin to smell cooking corn, it's probably done. The corn usually darkens in color when it's ready.

Simple Tea Cozy

2007-07-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I like to sit down, relax and have a cup of tea. Unfortunately, just when I am relaxing seems to be the time for domestic disasters to occur. I'm sure most mothers have experienced this phenomenon. The end result is a cold pot of tea.

Since I cannot seem to have an uninterrupted teatime, I truly needed a tea cozy to help keep my pot of tea warm long enough to actually drink it. So I went a-googling for a pattern that I might like. I found several patterns, but none that I really loved. Ah well, I knew I would find one later, and didn't give it much thought for a few weeks.

This morning I paused near a box full of yarn that I'd been sorting through the day before. On top was a lovely ball of Berroco Medley. Thick and thin and full of lots of colors, I had just loved it and bought it a couple of years ago without a clue what to do with it but certain that 'it would come to me'. It's mostly wool, so it's insulating. I suddenly knew that this was The Yarn for the tea cozy. I grabbed the yarn, a pair of needles and set to it.

First, I measured my teapot. It's about 7 inches tall including the knob on the lid and about 7" in diameter. I knit a good sized swatch and figured out what dimensions of knitted fabric I would need to cover it. The yarn makes a powerful statement all by itself, so I don't need any fancy stitch textures because they'd just get lost. When in doubt, go with garter stitch. Here's the pattern I made up, just this morning. Enjoy!

Yarn: Berroco Medley, 1 ball; 75% wool, 15% acrylic, 10% nylon, 73 yds/67 m (used the whole ball, minus 3 yds). Gauge 14 stitches x 22 rows in stockinette using size 10 US/6 mm needles.

Measure your teapot from the bottom up to the place where the top edge of the spout meets the pot. (see photo, above left) We'll call this the 'spout measurement', and mine is about 4.5".

Starting at the bottom of the cozy, cast on 42 stitches.

Working in garter stitch (knit every row) knit 5 rows.

Row 6: *Knit 2, increase in next stitch by knitting into the front and back* repeat across row; 56 stitches.

Row 7: Knit across.

Continue working in garter stitch until the piece measures your 'spout measurement' in length (or 4.5 inches for most teapots). At this point you'll make an opening for the spout, something like a buttonhole.

Separation row: Knit 24 stitches, bind off the next 8 stitches loosely, knit the remaining 24 stitches.
Rejoining row: Knit 24 stitches, cast on 8 stitches, knit the remaining 24 stitches; 56 stitches.

Knit 2 more rows.

First decrease row: *Knit 2, decrease by knitting the next 2 stitches together* repeat across the row; 42 stitches.

Knit 5 more rows.

Second decrease row: *Knit 1, knit 2 stitches together* repeat across the row; 28 stitches.

Knit 5 more rows.

Third decrease row: *Knit 2 stitches together* repeat across the row; 14 stitches.

Knit 1 more row.

Last decrease row: *knit 2 stitches together* repeat 6 times; 7 stitches. Cut yarn and draw it through all the stitches, pull tightly and fasten off the top of the cozy.

Fold the cozy in half, sides together, and sew a partial seam at upper and lower edges, leaving an opening for the teapot handle to poke through. Try the cozy on your teapot for seam placement, or sew 2 inches at bottom edge and 3 inches at the top like mine.

I also have a smaller teapot. It measures about 5.5" in diameter and 4" tall and the shape is a little different. I thought I'd try out the pattern in worsted weight yarn to see if it fit, and to give you an example of what the cozy looks like knit in a smooth yarn.

Yarn: Red Heart worsted, size 8 US needles. I cast on and knit the same as for the larger teapot, until the piece measured 3" in length. I finished the cozy the same way as for the larger pot.

Sewing the cozy together was similar, I sewed 1" at the bottom edge and 2.5" at the top.

It fits a little snugly, but it works. I like the modern smoothness of it. I want to play around with it, make stripes or geometric shapes on it, make it modular, attach embellishments and crocheted flowers to it. You know, explore the potential of it. Maybe you'd like to play with it too. If you do, I'd love to see a snapshot.

Recycled Placemat Purse

2007-06-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

I was browsing my local thrift shop and came across a lovely placemat-unfortunately there was only one on the shelf. What can you do with just one placemat? Well, I really liked that placemat and I knew I could come up with a project for it, so I bought it.

Here is what I did with it. This bag measures about 9"x 3" x 6" with handles folded down. It was easy and I thought others would like to try making their own recycled placemat bag. Here's what you need:

1 placemat with fringed sides.
2 pieces of lining fabric, one cut to 2"x 10", and another piece cut the same size as the placemat.
1 pair purchased purse handles.

Fold your placemat, right sides and short fringed edges together, and sew the 2 unfringed sides together using 1/2" seam allowance (see photo, left). You now have a flat pouch. Open this pouch up, forming a bag bottom, and sew diagonally across the corner about 1.5" away from the point (see photo, right). Repeat these 2 steps with the larger piece of lining fabric. Fold down 1/2" seam allowance along top edge of lining to the wrong side and press.

Fold 2"x 10" strip of lining fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together, and sew along the length using 1/2" seam allowance (see photo left). Turn the strip right-side-out (use a chopstick or safety pin to help the process along) and press it flat.

Cut the strip into 4 equal pieces. Fold one piece in half over the ring at the end of one of the purse handles and sew in place on the upper edge of the bag, about 1" in from the corner. Repeat with 3 other strips, anchoring the purse handles to the bag (see photo, right). Tuck lining into place inside the bag and either hand whipstitch or machine topstitch around upper edge to finish.

Finished Coat

2007-06-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished the little seed-stitch coat. In the end I chose to put a simple collar on it because there wasn't enough yarn left to knit a hood. I think it is probably better this way, we don't have much need for hoods in this warm climate anyway.

After sewing the coat together I looked at it for a while and decided that it needed something. A simple little trim to help define the edges, I thought. I looked through the yarn stash for coordinating colors and previewed their effect by laying a single or double strand of the yarn along the edge of the front band. The one I thought looked best was Lion Brand Homespun color 322 Baroque (that's a lovely shade of purple). One row of single crochet around all the edges did the trick. I even had matching buttons in my button stash.

I think this was a very successful stash-only project.

Too Hot to Knit

2007-06-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

It may not technically be summer yet, but the summer weather has certainly arrived. We've had our first triple-digit temperatures of the year during the previous week. Father's day was not quite as hot, but it was hot enough to banish everyone to the swimming pool for the afternoon.

It's too hot to knit. Or, rather, it's too hot to try to figure out solutions to knitterly problems. Swimming in the pool seems like a much more attractive way to spend my time at the moment.

Here is my progress on the seed stitch coat. I've worked matching pieces for the back and sleeves, and sewn the back pieces together and the shoulder seams. Next: Sew on the sleeves, and face the challenge of the hood.

I started with 2 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun for this project, and there is approximately a sleeve's worth of yarn left, with several small scraps in the pink transition color. It simply isn't enough for the hood as written in the pattern, but it may be enough if I work the hood in a different way. I'll knit and reknit and see what I can do. If all else fails, I'll put a simple collar on it and call it good.

Once it cools down a bit, that is.

Sales Everywhere

2007-06-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I couldn't resist the Memorial Day sales. It seemed like every store that carried any kind of crafting supplies was having a big sale last weekend. I took the opportunity to stock up on some novelty yarns. They are so handy for embellishing many types of projects. I plan to use these for trimmimg knitwear, quilts and scrapbook pages.

I resisted the urge to buy staple yarns; that is, the main yarns I use for the body of the garment or other knitted/crocheted objects. I have enough of these to keep me busy for years. And since I have a large stock of yarns just waiting to be used, I decided to start a new project using yarns I have on hand.

I have a little cousin who is just a few months old. The many baby shower gifts our rather large family contributed should keep her well clothed for a while, but she is growing rapidly and will most likely be in need of more goodies come winter. I did some calculations, based on her birth weight and current rate of growth, and made a good estimate of the size she will most likely be wearing by that time. I checked my yarn supply and discovered that I have a limited selection of girly colors. I want the garment to be washable, so Lion Brand Homespun it is. Then I searched through my books for an appropriate pattern.

This little seed-stitch coat is from Bouton d'Or layette book 14, model 72, and it has a gauge very close to what I get with the Homespun on size 10 US needles (6mm, or 4 UK). The book is still available at the Bouton d'Or website.

The yarn that I have chosen is very different from the yarn the pattern calls for. The sample is knit in Laika, a solid colored bulky weight wool that would have nice elasticity for ribbed edges. I am using Lion Brand Homespun, color 315 Tudor, which produces a broad color stripe and doesn't have enough elasticity for a good ribbed front band in my opinion. I will need to make changes to the pattern to allow for these differences. It will require patience and a good amount of unknitting I'm sure.

I have made good progress so far. I started by finding a color change in the yarn that I could easily identify and repeat from piece to piece. I followed the directions and knit the back. I don't like the striping on the back at all, but I wanted to see what the fronts would look like before ripping it out. I then knit the right front, adding extra stitches for the front band to be knit along with the front because I liked the firm edge I was getting in seed stitch. I had to calculate button placement and work buttonholes into the piece as I went along. I knit the left front to match.

I like the patterning on the fronts. I want the back to match the fronts, so I will knit it in 2 pieces and seam it down the center. This should be fairly easy to do since seed stitch can be sewn together in a similar way to garter stitch and leave a smooth seam.

Next I will work out the sleeves and hood. I can tell I will be doing a lot of testing, unknitting and reknitting for these parts of the coat. The width of these pieces are different and therefore make a different color pattern. I have to decide where to start these different yarn color change locations. I also now have less yarn to work with and therefore fewer color ranges to choose from, which will give me fewer options.

After that, I have to decide how I want to finish the coat. The pattern uses some novelty eyelash yarn as trimming around the edges and some little butterflies attached here and there for interest. I know that I will be doing something different because these trims can be hazardous for children under 3, but I don't know what yet. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Pattern Book Review

2007-05-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned before, I collect the Bouton d'Or layette pattern books and I was looking forward to seeing this year's new book. Last year's book was absolutely fantastic, with 8 knitted soft toys and a wide variety of great-looking garments to knit and crochet for babies and children up to age 10. I love these books. In my opinion, if you only have one layette book, it should be one of these. So, naturally, I had great expectations.

I was in a very great hurry the day I stopped by my local yarn shop in between errands to see if they had the new book yet. When I found it had finally arrived, I quickly paid for the book, grabbed it up and dashed out the door. I didn't look at it until after I returned home.

The quality of the patterns is all that I have come to expect from Bouton d'Or, wonderful designs with fine details, a mixture of classic styles and fun, trendy pieces. A good variety of items to choose from to suit many tastes, great for gifts. There are some new non-traditional color combinations here as well, some that I like and some that I don't, but they encourage you to try new things.

Here are some of the models that I would like to try:

#39 is such a great looking little dress that I just have to make one.

Sweater #27 has a cute car theme that my little boy would just love, but I am not fond of the color scheme. I'll choose different colors for this one.

Sometimes I find that the yarns I have to work with are too close together in color and don't give enough contrast for some of my favorite designs. #11 is a very attractive way to solve that problem and still end up with a classic garment with wide appeal.

#34 is a little tunic top with puffed sleeves that would be perfect for summer wear. There's even a pattern for matching bloomers.

There's a crocheted afghan that promises to be a quick project for last-minute gifts. The photos of #12 aren't very clear, so the finished look will be something of a surprise.

This cardigan, #19, is gorgeous. I just love working with color patterns. During my first browse through the pages of this book I thought to myself, "Hmm, I may knit this one first." After a more detailed inspection, I have changed my mind. While I would like to knit this design at some point, it will have to wait for a while. This is the most difficult pattern in the book and is worked using more than 2 colors per row, and in some places up to 6 colors are used in a single row. I simply don't have much time or concentration to work on a pattern this complicated right now.

This book has great things in it, but I have to admit to feeling a bit disappointed. The layette books that Bouton d'Or has published the last several years were thicker, each containing between 70 and 80 patterns for children from infancy to age 10 or 12 years. This new version offers about half that number-37 designs for ages 0 to 6 years.

Bouton d'Or has a lower price on the cover for this smaller booklet, 6 Euros compared to last years 9 Euros. It's just too bad that my local yarn shop isn't paying attention to it. They are charging the same $20 price as the previous issues.

Spring Cleaning

2007-05-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

I really must apologize to my readers for neglecting my blog. Some think I've abandoned it and moved on to other things. After all, we see it happen so often in blogland. I assure you that isn't the case. The reason I haven't been posting for the last few months is simply that I haven't had the time to do much in the way of knitting or other crafts. The sharing of these creative projects is the sole reason for this blog's existence.

The reason for my lack of free time? My mother was diagnosed with cancer and I have been quite busy helping to care for her during chemotherapy and the other assorted indignities of modern medicine. I won't go into details, that isn't the purpose of this blog, but suffice it to say that it has been a rather life-altering experience.

Now that things are a bit less hectic, I hope to resume my blogging activities.

We seem to have caught the spring cleaning bug at my house. Most of our free time is being spent on sprucing up the exterior of our home. I don't know about you, but I think that nothing improves a home more than a fresh coat of paint and a few pots of flowers.

We are painting the house a bright, clean white. Simple, uncomplicated and always a good choice in a hot climate, it has brightened up the feel of our covered patio already with the reflected light it provides. The trim will be in earthy brown and tan tones to help offset that almost artificial looking appearance of the bright white base color. I must say it's a real improvement over the dull rose pink color chosen by the previous owner.

The one drawback to my paint color choice is that the house no longer provides a contrasting background for some of the flowering plants in the landscape.

The 2 most prevalent flowers in the yard are confederate jasmine and white lantana. I could rip them out and replant, I suppose, but I'd rather not do that; the jasmine perfumes the air all around the house, and the lantana blooms profusely and repeatedly year-round, all without attracting bees or wasps to our yard. That's an important consideration if you have an allergy to stings, or are concerned about africanized bees in your area.

I think I'd rather add more flowers in brighter colors to the existing plantings. I don't think there is such a thing as too many flowers in the yard, do you?

Spring Already

2007-03-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

My goodness, how time gets away from one! It's been over a month since my last post. I must apologize to my readers for neglecting the blog. Because, by golly, I do have readers-between 1500 and 2000 a week! I never expected so many people to take an interest in my little website. Since I started this blog in January of 2005 there have been over 100,000 visitors, can you imagine? Boggles the mind, I tell ya.

Every now and then I get an email from a reader asking where they might find one of the pattern books I have used and mentioned on the blog. Several of these pattern books are out of print and no longer available at the local yarn shop (unless the shopowner really stocks up on their favorite brand of books). There are places where one can find these items. Ebay is probably the most well-known place to go to find almost anything you might be looking for. An internet search will reveal many other places to look, depending on what specific item you're looking for. There are businesses that specialize in used knitting and crochet patterns; some of them advertise in magazines and others may be found in the link sections of knitting websites, such as About.com or Knitting Pattern Central. I have spent time looking at the vintage pattern books at some of these sites and been pleasantly surprised to discover several of my mother's really old books listed.

If you aren't looking for a specific book, you can usually find a lot of great patterns at thrift shops, garage sales, library sales and Salvation Army/Goodwill/St Vincent de Paul stores. If you are looking for a particular item, however, you will need to Google it. Many used pattern merchants can be emailed with your wish list and they will do their best to find the items you want-sometimes these merchants are well-connected and know where to find items quickly.

If you're looking for out-of-print Bouton d'Or books, you may find more success if you can speak French and seek out French websites.

The new Bouton d'Or layette book is due to come out this month. I can't wait to see it. I hope it will offer more patterns for boys than the last 2 books did. You can browse the current layette books at the official Bouton d'Or and Anny Blatt websites.

Afghanalong

2007-01-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

Larissa has a new knit-along for you to join, but you must hurry, the deadline for signups is January 20.

The new project is afghan squares for possible inclusion in a special afghan in her upcoming book Knitalong. Any squares not used in the sample afghan will be donated to Warm Up America. I love an opportunty to try out a new pattern, especially when it's free and for a good cause. Sign up here!

6 Weird Things About Me

2007-01-17T23:40:00.000-08:00

Egads, I've been tagged!

Carole has tagged me (and several other unsuspecting souls) for the 6 Weird Things About Me meme.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

Hmmm. One of the things I've learned in this world is that weird is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes we do things that seem to make perfect sense to us, but others find a bit odd. So, I will share some of my quirks with you here.

1. I alphabetize my spices.

This seems to me like a reasonable thing to do, but I have been told that it's the hallmark of the neat freak. Well, if you can count your spices with one hand, that may be true, but I have 54 jars to keep track of.

2. I don't consume caffeine.

My doctor thinks this is a reasonable thing for everyone to do, but you tell that to the grocer.

3. The space that my craft supplies occupies is 10 times larger than the space my wardrobe occupies.

This is a common problem among crafters not shared by the rest of the population.

4. I like to wear wacky earrings.

I once overheard a friend of one of the teenagers, "What is your mom wearing on her ears, fishing lures?"

5. I make wheezing and squeaking sounds when I laugh really hard.

This may be genetic.

6. I actually like anchovies, but dislike peppermint.

Now, the 6 people I've chosen to tag with this meme:

1. Kelli at AfricanKelli
2. Finny at Finny Knits
3. Michelle at Lighthouse Designs
4. Elisabeth at Curls and Purls NYC
5. Missy at Knit Wit
6. Joleen at Love, Joleen

Hot Artichoke Dip

2007-01-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

I found a recipe in a magazine for a warm dip to serve during the holidays that I wanted to try. It looked like a promising recipe, but it turned out to be rather disappointing. "There's something missing" one family member said, "It's a little bit too bland" said another. So I experimented until we found a version that was satisfactory. I share it with you here and wish you a Happy New Year!

Hot Artichoke Dip

1 leek, washed well and chopped
1 Tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 4-oz. jars sliced pimientos, drained
1 cup mayonnaise (not fat free, or it will be runny)
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350°F. In skillet, cook leek in butter or olive oil until tender. Remove from heat. Stir in artichoke hearts, pimientos, mayonnaise, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, Italian salad dressing mix, pepper and 1 Tablespoon of the parsley.

Spread mixture into a 9" pie plate or casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese and 1 Tablespoon parsley.

Bake 20 minutes or until heated through. (You may microwave the dip instead for about 6-8 minutes at 70% power, turning the dish halfway through if you don't have a turntable.)

Serve with vegetable dippers and torn bread.

Holiday Activities

2006-12-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

It's always busy this time of year, so many things to do. Whether baking, decorating or shopping in preparation for get-togethers with friends and family, our to-do lists are full.

I am trying to simplify my life (and my list) to make more room for just enjoying time with family. I have a houseful of family members staying from out of town this year and it is tempting to over-schedule myself trying to make everything 'perfect'. I am resisting by scaling things down a bit. For instance, I chose a small tabletop tree instead of the traditional 6-footer because it takes much less time for the group to decorate and is more enjoyable for the folks with shorter attention spans.

I am also taking fewer shopping trips and choosing more enjoyable places to visit. I refuse to participate in the frenzy that has become all too common at popular retail stores with mega sales that encourage people to push and shove and fight over this bargain or that. Instead, I take my family to responsible stores like my local scrapbooking shop. A creative bunch, they hosted a 'Make and Take' event that even the 3-year-old could enjoy. Hubby and teenagers all had fun with foam stamps and acrylic paint decorating little canvas bags that we plan to use as gift bags.

This effort has paid off. I've had much more time to spend with my loved ones, and I've even had time to knit a bit in the evenings. Here is my new fair-isle wheel tam. I have decided to follow Mary Rowe's lead and give it a title- Snowflakes.

The pattern is my own, but it is inspired by the work of many people. I have studied books, magazine articles and examples on the internet. Some good books on the topic - Knitted Tams by Mary Rowe, Traditional Fair Isle Knitting by Sheila McGregor, 45 Fine and Fanciful Hats to Knit by Anna Zilboorg and 1000 Great Knitting Motifs by Luise Roberts.

Find the pattern here.

Snowflakes Tam Pattern

2006-12-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

This is Snowflakes, my fair-isle wheel patterned tam. It will fit most small to medium sized adult heads. It is my own design and I'm sharing it with you here. If you want to learn more about making these lovely hats you can see my list of reference books in this post.

This is not a beginner's project, I would call it intermediate level. It involves 2-color knitting in the round using tiny size 1 US/2.25mm and size 3 US/3.25mm circular and double pointed needles. The challenge is to keep your tension even throughout.

Materials: Fine wool yarn that knits to a gauge of 28 stitches=4"/10cm. It must be wool or it will not block to shape. I used GGH Merino Soft, Lane Borgosesia Merino Extra Fine, and Le Fibre Nobili Tajmahal. You will need one 50 gm ball each of 5 colors or leftover yarns in the following amounts-

24 grams white
8 grams green
12 grams blue
4 grams pale blue
4 grams lavender

You will also need one stitch marker or small loop of contrasting yarn and 16"/40cm circular needles in size 1 US/2.5mm and size 3 US/3.25mm and a set of 4 double pointed needles in size 3 US/3.25mm or whatever size you need to knit your yarn to gauge.

Directions: Using size 1/2.5mm circular needle and blue yarn, cast on 134 stitches for ribbing. Join, being careful not to twist stitches, place stitch marker on needle to mark beginning of row, and work 1x1 ribbing (knit one, purl one) until tube measures 1"/2.5cm, or about 11 rounds.

Increase round: Switch to size 3 US/3.25mm circular needles. Knit 3, increase by knitting into the front and back of next stitch, *Knit 4, increase in next stitch* repeat between *'s around ending Knit 3, increase in next stitch. 168 stitches.

Brim: Knit every round following the chart at left for color placement. Read the chart from bottom to top, from right to left, the way that you knit the piece. The chart is repeated 7 times around the hat. Continue moving the stitch marker to keep track of beginning of round.

Crown: Starting on row 36 of the chart, you will begin making double decreases every second round to shape the crown of the hat, represented by the single column of stitches. (The chart makes a stair-step to represent the stitches decreased out of the crown.) The center stitch of the decrease is prominent and decorative, and is performed in this manner-slip 2 stitches as if to knit 2 together, knit the next stitch, pass the 2 slipped stitches over the stitch you've just knitted. You will want to keep your stitch marker at the edge of the decrease line.

Continue working, decreasing 14 stitches every other round, changing to double pointed needles when this becomes necessary. Draw yarn through last 14 stitches and pull tightly. Weave in yarn ends.

Finishing: At this point, the tam will look like the photo at left. It will seem a little small to fit an adult, but it will be a little larger after blocking.

To block the hat, wet it well and roll it up in a towel to remove excess water without wringing or twisting the hat out of shape. Gently stretch the hat over a dinner plate and pat it into place. See the photos at the top of the page to see what it should look like. Allow it to dry completely, which will take a day or two.

The photo at right is what the finished hat looks like, modeled by one of my teens.

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T12:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving morning. I want to share with you all my recipe for a simple yet elegant pastry I like to make for my family for holidays or special occasions.

Please note, this is not a low-fat recipe, that's why I only make it for special occasions.

Cheese Filled Pastry

1/2 package frozen prepared Phyllo dough
1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese or neufchatel
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or flavoring of your choice)
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350f/175c. Brush a baking sheet with melted butter and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the filling ingredients until smooth.

Open the package of phyllo dough and cover the stack of sheets with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out and breaking while you work. Working on a clean and dry board or counter top, carefully lay a sheet of dough on the dry surface and brush it with melted butter. Lay another sheet on top of the first and brush with butter. Continue until you have 8 layers assembled.
Spoon the filling along one short edge of the rectangle of dough and start rolling it, tucking the edges under to seal the ends, brushing with butter to make the dough stick together.
Place 2 more sheets of dough on work surface and place the rolled pastry on top of it diagonally, brush with butter and wrap the dough around it envelope style to seal the pastry.

Place the rolled pastry on the buttered baking sheet. Brush the pastry with butter one last time, sprinkle with a little sugar and bake it until well browned, about 30 minutes.

Serves 4-6.

Pumpkin Largesse

2006-10-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

I received a request to see a photo of our haul of pumpkins from our multiple visits to the pumpkin patch. So, here you go Carol, a glimpse of our pumpkin largesse.

Yes, strictly speaking there are more than just pumpkins in that pile. The pumpkin merchants were selling squash of many types and referring to them all as different kinds of pumpkins. For the entertainment value perhaps. More likely to make the children demand more produce for the holiday.

In addition to the usual orange varieties, we chose the nearly red 'Cinderella Pumpkin', the white 'ghost pumpkin', striped 'tiger pumpkin' and crooked 'bent pumpkin'. You may recognize acorn, sweet dumpling, butternut and carnival squash. Some yams were added to the pile for good measure.

Here is a baby brag book that I have been working on. It is made from cardstock tags measuring 4"x6" and decorated with patterned scrapbook papers, stickers and ribbons. The booklet is held together with a clip ring that has ribbons tied to it, so the recipient can make more tags to add to it if she wishes.

I made this mini scrapbook as a gift to accompany the yellow baby layette that I recently finished.

It was a lot of fun to make. I plan on making more of these.

I made simple cupcakes for our upcoming neighborhood Halloween party. You know, easy stuff; cake mix, frosting in a tub, packaged sprinkles.

Never try to make just one batch of any baked good and send it off somewhere else, your family members will stage a revolt or a mutiny or somesuch.

So, of course, I made a second batch for the family. I have made the cupcakes even more 'special' by using different types of sprinkles. The party cakes only use one kind of sprinkles, and are therefore inferior. It has nothing to do with running out of sprinkles for our home cakes, going to the store and finding out they had run out of the kind I had used previously and having to choose another type, oh no. It is so that the 3-year-old can taste his cupcakes with different flavored sprinkles. Oh yes, I'm sticking with that story, you bet.

Pumpkins and Dresses

2006-10-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

It is time for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.

Actually, I think we will be making a few trips this year. The pre-schooler is now old enough to enjoy the entertainments offered by the pumpkin purveyors and he wants to go back again and again. I have a feeling we will have more pumpkins in the house than we'll know what to do with.

I have continued to work on the red cardigan. I've completed the knitting and about one half of the sewing up. Lately I have been too distracted to finish it. Instead I have been working on my prayer shawl. It is simple and repetitive and does not require concentration, and it is something that I can pick up and put down easily while in waiting rooms.

I finally have a photo to show you of the simple sundresses I made this summer for my friend's wedding. They were cool and comfortable for her to wear in the Las Vegas heat.

I apologize for their wrinkled condition. The photo was obtained stealthily by her mother and myself. The dresses were hurriedly pulled out of a moving box, laid on the floor for this photo, repacked and out the door again and into the truck.

I hope that I will get a better photo to post at a later date.

BBQ and a Hooded Cardigan

2006-09-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

We had a pleasant time over the Labor Day weekend. Like many folks, we had a barbeque with friends and family. We don't do fancy BBQ like you see on the Food Network; we stick to simple, familiar foods that everyone likes, and prepare plenty of it.

Here's a collage photo of some of the offerings at our place this year.

Marinated steaks and chicken, hot dogs and assorted vegetables were grilled. We have had great success with mushrooms, bell pepper and zucchini threaded onto skewers before cooking. Baked potatoes, coleslaw, fresh melons and assorted buns and rolls filled out the menu.

This feast didn't take a lot of time to prepare. We purchased steaks and chicken from the grocery store meat counter that were already marinated and ready to throw on the grill. While the guys hovered around the BBQ, I cut up melons and baked potatoes in the microwave. I even had time to start a new project.

It's the end of summer, so I decided to make a sweater for the 3-year-old for the cooler weather of fall and winter. The Stephanie jacket from Anny Blatt Creation magazine #1 is just perfect. It's an aran-style hooded cardigan that I fell in love with at first sight. In fact, it's that one pattern that convinced me to purchase the book.

A side note here: Anny Blatt and Bouton d'Or books have great designs, but their pattern instructions are not always as detailed as I would like them to be. I am an experienced knitter, so I have no difficulty figuring out the bits they've left out of the pattern, but I chafe at the necessity of having to figure it out when I've paid a princely sum for a pattern book which should include all the information one needs to recreate the garment.

If you are not an advanced knitter, you may have difficulty following some of the patterns in these books. I recommend that you make sure you have an experienced knitter that you can ask for assistance, whether a friend or your local shop owner, your first time using one of these patterns.

In the photo on the left is the beginning of the back of the sweater. In the photo on the right is my progress after a full week. The sweater back, left front and right front pieces are completed.

As you can see, my youngest has chosen a lovely watermelon red for his sweater. This is Schachenmayr Nomotta Extra 100% superwash wool. 22 stitches x 30 rows = 4 inches/10cm on #5US/3.75mm needles. I like the yarn so far, it has a nice texture and it doesn't split very easily while knitting.

Teal Layette

2006-08-30T00:46:00.000-07:00

I was at my local yarn shop recently and was looking through the selection of baby pattern books. There are quite a lot of them to look at I must say. My favorites are the French ones, Pingouin, Anny Blatt and Bouton d'Or. Sometimes I find a nice English or German one.

This time I found a Pingouin that I didn't already have and squealed with delight. The ladies in the shop are used to this behavior and shared my pleasure with knowing smiles.

After finishing with the patterns I moved on to the sale bins. 40% off is not to be ignored. I found quite a bit of Sirdar Rio in nice soft colors. It's 60% cotton and 40% acrylic, making it a good choice for summer or multi-seasonal garments. So I stocked up.

This is the specific pattern that interested me in this Pingouin book. The long sleeve pullover A and the pants B in the photo at left. It's a simple classic outfit suitable for either gender. I like the stitch pattern on the pullover and the color is divine. I found some Rio in just that shade, so wanted to try it out.

There is one problem with the pattern-I don't like the 2x2 ribbing they used with the 2x4 garter rib stitch of the body of the sweater. To me, it doesn't look like it's in keeping with the design. I also don't like the little rolled edges, they just have a tendency to collect baby drool. So I changed it to single rib.

So here is the finished product. I do like the single rib much better with the pattern stitch. Sirdar Rio has nice stitch definition and it doesn't split easily while knitting.

Because the yarn is cotton rich, it also doesn't have a lot of elasticity. This made the waistband a little too loose. I have installed a drawstring for the time being, but may use some elastic thread to pull it up properly around the waist in future.

This is one of the things that may happen when substituting yarns in patterns. Cotton doesn't behave the same way as wool, which doesn't behave exactly the same way as synthetics. To make things more confusing, different yarns of the same fiber will behave differently too. I find baby clothes are a good way to experiment with yarns to discover just what kind of fabric they will make before I decide to make an adult sized garment.

Edit: This newborn-sized outfit used 4 balls of Sirdar Rio.

Yellow Layette Finished

2006-08-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

I've finished sewing up this little newborn-sized top that I made from Plymouth DreamBaby DK. I used the pattern for the Marnes pullover from Bouton d'Or Layette & Junior book #13. I didn't need to make any adjustments for gauge.

It is the last piece of the yellow layette I've been working on. I originally intended to make a layette using yellow and white DreamBaby and multicolored Hobby yarns. I started with the jacket in Hobby last June and the pants and hat in Dreambaby last October. Now that I have made more pieces I have decided not to combine the two in one layette. The yarns somehow don't look right together when they are knitted up. I will simplify things and keep to the yellow and white Dreambaby in this layette.

Here is the complete set, including a little zip bag with a spare button, a bit of yarn for repairs, and a ball band with laundering instructions.

I will include several other items when I wrap this up because I will be giving it to a close relative and I want it to be a very special gift.

Edit: This newborn-sized layette used 5 balls of yellow and one ball of white DreamBaby DK. Great yardage!

The Sewing-up Basket

2006-08-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

My sewing-up basket is getting full. I have a bit of catching up to do. I have been spending a lot of time away from home lately. While I'm out and about I find it quite easy to knit things, but not so easy to sew them up.

So, the basket fills.

What you can see on the top layer are 2 baby sweaters. One short-sleeved in white with yellow stripes in Plymouth DreamBaby DK, and one teal long-sleeved pullover in Sirdar Rio.

Also in the basket are this bonnet and booties in Patons Classic Wool. I want to embellish this little set but haven't decided how I want to go about it quite yet.

Perhaps I will add a crocheted edge to them, just a little something to dress them up a bit. Maybe I will choose a bolder look and add some crocheted flowers and colorful edging to them. There are so many options to choose from that it's hard to decide.

Here are some pieces that have made it out of the basket and are now finished.

This is the Malicorne Jacket from Bouton d'Or's Layette & Junior book number 13. I've knit it in Plymouth's DreamBaby DK and adjusted the pattern for differences in gauge.

The baby socks are the same easy baby sock pattern that I have been using from Blossom Knitwear, adjusted to my gauge by using 28 stitches instead of 24.

Finished Wedding Set

2006-08-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of the completed wedding set I was 'drafted' to make a few months ago. The wedding is today, so I can post about it without spoiling the surprise. The set is lovely and the recipient will cherish it. I do need to critique the pattern, however.

This set is crocheted with size 10 cotton thread using the pattern from the March/April 1998 issue of Quick & Easy Crochet magazine. There is an error in the pattern, but the publisher does not maintain a webpage for corrections.

The example in the magazine is crocheted with blue and white ombred thread and I have to say that it looks better than a solid color does. The reason for this is that the 3 pieces don't really look like they are part of a set. That is to say, they don't have a strong design element that is repeated in each item, such as using the same stitch pattern consistently in all 3 pieces. Using an ombred thread makes them look more like a matched set.

I feel compelled to improve upon this pattern and design a set of my own. I don't know why. It must be the little voice in the back of my mind telling me that I can do a better job of it. It may just be the challenge of it. I don't know, but I suspect I may end up posting a thread crocheted wedding set on my blog.

More Waiting Room Knitting

2006-08-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

I really do recommend knitting while you wait (or crochet, embroidery, hand sewing etc.) because you don't feel your time has been wasted when you can see that you have made progress on a tangible project.

Just think how much of my time would have been wasted these last few weeks if it weren't for these lovely projects I've been working on?

There is a baby shower coming up in a few months and a family member let me know about it well in advance so that I may have plenty of time to knit. Wasn't that kind and thoughtful of her? The rewards are great for those who give the crafters in the family plenty of time to prepare. I don't know about you, but I know I'd rather get a full layette, lovingly handmade by my Aunt, than a quick pair of booties and package of diapers. I'm just saying.

So, here is yet another pair of those quick baby booties. I've made so many of them that I've memorized the pattern. It's really handy to be able to grab nothing more than a small ball of yarn, a set of needles and a pair of snips or nail clippers and keep them in your handbag to knit while you wait, wherever, whenever.

There's also a short-sleeved top in white with yellow stripes that is waiting to be sewed up and a yellow cardigan to match with a pretty stitch texture. The colors are so bright and cheerful and gender neutral, I know she'll just love them.

Portable Knitting

2006-06-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a bit of 'waiting room knitting' I did this week. Small projects like this pair of baby socks can fit in a pocket or handbag and are great for those times when you're waiting. Most appointments give plenty of knitting time, but I've managed to knit a bit in places you wouldn't normally expect, like standing in line at the bank, the dry cleaners, the cable company or the pharmacy.

This kind of public knitting seems to invite comment too. The most common is, "Is that knitting?" which can be a great conversation starter.

The free pattern for these socks can be found here. This pair knitted in Patons Classic Merino Wool, but any worsted weight yarn will do.

Projects Finished and New

2006-06-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

All the time that I am working on my projects I am getting new ideas for things I'd like to try. That's not to say that I can't stay focused on one project; I just find that when I am using that creative problem solving part of my brain for one project, I get more than just the ideas needed for that item. Related ideas just sort of tumble out too. Creative multitasking. I thoroughly enjoy each item I work on, but sometimes one of those related ideas is so interesting that I just have to investigate it before I lose the inspiration. This is how the WIP pile grows.

I have finished some projects and in the course of finishing them have started more. Of course.

Here is the finished Noro Kureyon bag I have been working on. It's based on the Booga Bag, with added flap and handle strap. It's perfect for my toddler son's toys. It's roomy, easy to carry, and the flap helps hold stuff in the bag yet is easy for him to open and close.

I had thought about adding some sort of closure, perhaps a magnetic button, to help hold his toys inside the bag, but decided against it. It's best to keep things simple for kids.

This little group of worsted weight yarns are destined to become matching hat and mittens. I love these pansy colors, but haven't decided on a pattern just yet. I have narrowed it down to a few different choices, but haven't found the 'perfect' one.

I have several projects like this one waiting to be started. Yarns with great promise just needing an equally great pattern. Often I know what sort of garment or accessory I want to make but not exactly what design.

Other projects I have planned out completely but am not working on them just now for one reason or another. For instance, I am planning a pair of Bazaar Socks (pattern here). I am in the process of knitting gauge swatches and deciding how I want to knit them to get my size. I am taking a break from it because I scraped my knuckles and find it painful to work on them right now.

In fact, with these gritched knuckles, I am avoiding knitting altogether. Until they have healed I will take advantage of the opportunity to do other creative things.

I purchased some new sewing patterns to play around with. With the beginning of hot summer weather comes the desire to wear cool summer dresses. And as long as I'm sewing summer dresses, I should sew a little something for fall as well. Since I have the sewing machine out and all. The prospect of making some new pieces for my wardrobe is so appealing. You know, the kind of thing that makes you feel great when you wear it just because you love the fabric.

Oh, I can sew? Well, maybe while I'm sewing dresses anyway, I can help my neighbor who is having some trouble with a sundress?

You see where this leads.

I am helping a friend with a simple sheath dress for an informal wedding. Yes, I volunteered to make a wedding dress. Because it's what you do for a dear friend when you know how to sew well, enjoy sewing and see such a project as simple and uncomplicated. Since I already have the sewing machine out and all.

We'll see how reality compares to the estimate.

Guatemalan Gloves

2006-06-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

I found this pair of gloves in a tiny shop that sells imported South American handcrafts. They're bright and colorful, a delight for children, but only a knitter can truly appreciate the level of workmanship evident in these gloves. This is not a beginner's project, but rather a strong intermediate one due to the fiddly nature of stranded knitting in the round on such a small scale. If you are new to sock or mitten making, I recommend trying a solid colored pair in aran or chunky weight yarn first. In these instructions, I will be substituting duplicate stitch for the intarsia-in-the-round technique used in the original.

One set of instructions covers all sizes from toddler to adult. Sizing is achieved by using yarn of different weights or needles of different sizes with one exception-the finger lengths are given for size 2 years [all other sizes]. If you want the gloves to be a specific size, you must be precise with your gauge. These gloves are made with 14 colors of yarn, but you can certainly make them with fewer colors. My samples use between 3 and 9 colors each. This is an excellent project for using leftover bits of yarn. Yarn weights given are approximate, taken from my samples and my kitchen scale.

Abbreviations:
DPN = Double Pointed Needle
P = Purl
Sl = Slip stitch as if to purl
* = Repeat instructions between asterisks as instructed.
Inc = Increase
Rep = Repeat
St = Stitch
Sts = Stitches
Rnd = Round

1. For size 2 years you will need small amounts of sock/fingering weight yarn to total about 14 grams, one set each of size 1US/2.25mm DPNs and size 2US/2.75mm DPNs or size needed to match gauge. Gauge: 30 stitches = 4"/10cm in stockinette stitch on larger needles. Original knit in shetland type yarn measures 2.5"/6.4cm wide at cuff and 5.5"/14cm long.

2. For size 3-4 years you will need small amounts of sock/fingering weight yarn to total about 18 grams, one set each of size 2US/2.75mm DPNs and size 3US/3.25mm DPNs or size needed to match gauge. Gauge: 28 stitches = 4"/10cm in stockinette stitch on larger needles. Sample knit in Regia and Lang Jawoll sock yarns measures 2.75"/7cm wide at cuff and 6.25"/16cm long.

3. For size 6-8 years you will need small amounts of DK/sport weight yarn to total about 36 grams, one set each of size 4US/3.5mm DPNs and size 5US/3.75mm DPNs or size needed to match gauge. Gauge: stitches = 4"/10cm in stockinette stitch on larger needles. Sample knit in Knit One Crochet Too's Creme Brulee DK measures 3.25"/8.25cm wide at cuff and 7.25"/18.4cm long.

4. For size 10-12 years you will need small amounts of worsted weight yarn to total about 52 grams, one set each of size 6US/4.0mm DPNs and size 7US/4.5mm DPNs or size needed to match gauge. Gauge: 20 stitches = 4"/10cm in stockinette stitch on larger needles. Sample knit in Patons Classic Wool measures 3.75"/9.5cm wide at cuff and 9"/23cm long.

5. For ladies size small/medium you will need small amounts of aran weight yarn to total about 56 grams, one set each of size 8 DPNs and size 9 DPNs or size needed to match gauge. Gauge: 16 stitches = 4"/10cm in stockinette stitch on larger needles. Sample knit in Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool measures 4.25"/11cm wide at cuff and 10"/25.5cm long.

For all sizes you will also need a tapestry needle and small scissors.

The chart at left shows placement of the colors used and shaping of the gloves. Read this chart starting at the bottom right as you work.

List of the 14 glove colors in the order they are used:
Color A = yellow
Color B = purple
Color C = black
Color D = medium red
Color E = medium blue
Color F = light pink
Color G = dark green
Color H = orange
Color I = dark blue
Color J = white
Color K = medium green
Color L = dark pink
Color M = dark red
Color N = pale yellow

Casting On
Because the first knitted round is a different color than the cast-on round, I will call the cast-on round the first round for the purposes of following the chart. The joining actually takes place at the beginning of the second round after the cast-on, or what I call round 3.

Row 1:(Becomes round 1 after joining) Using the knitting-on method and the smaller size needles, cast on 36 stitches using 2 DPNs and color A. Move the stitches to the opposite end of the needle, so that the end with the short tail is close to the tip of the needle.

Row 2: (See photo left, becomes round 2 after joining) Using color B, p the first 12 stitches onto what we will call needle 1, p the next 12 stitches onto needle 2, p the last 12 stitches onto needle 3.

Round 3: (See photo right) Join the work into a round without twisting stitches and knit all stitches in this round.

Round 4: With color A, purl around.
Round 5: Knit around.
Round 6-23: Change to larger size needles and purl each round, following chart for color placement.
Round 24: P around, increasing 3 stitches positioned as shown in the chart; 39 stitches.

Begin Thumb Gusset
(This section is worked in solid black. The color motifs are duplicate stitched on the back after the glove is finished.)
Round 25: With color C, inc in the first 2 sts, p rem sts; 41 sts.
Round 26: P
Round 27: Inc in 1st and 4th sts, p rem sts; 43 sts.
Round 28: P
Round 29: Inc in 1st and 6th sts, p rem sts; 45 sts.
Round 30: P
Round 31: Inc in 1st and 8th sts, p rem sts; 47 sts.
Round 32: P
Round 33: Place first 10 sts onto a short scrap length of yarn to be worked later, p the 11th st and pull snugly to close the gap, p the rem sts; 37 sts. Change to color G.
Round 34-39: P each rnd, following chart for color placement.

Fingers
The fingers are worked using a technique that allows you to make a tube while working flat using 2 needles. Since these tubes are only 9 or 10 stitches around, this is easier than trying to work in the round with 3 or 4 stitches on each DPN.

Before you can actually work the stitches for the fingers, they need to be set up and transferred to a different needle. You can do this two different ways; 1) transfer them directly to the new needle from the current needles, or 2) take the stitches off the current needles onto a scrap of yarn before transferring each finger's stitches before working the finger. If you are experienced and comfortable using DPN's, I recommend the first method. If you aren't as comfortable keeping track of many needles poking out all over the place, I recommend the second method.

Start transferring stitches from the current needles or from yarn holder by slipping the stitches onto your working needle as if to purl them.

On the chart you can see a row of colors just above the rest of the glove. This represents the placement of each finger's stitches in relation to the body of the glove. You will work from right to left, index finger to little finger.

First or Index Finger
You should have 11 sts on needle 1, 13 sts on needle 2 and 13 sts on needle 3. You want the sts divided in 2 groups now, so slip 8 sts from needle 2 to needle 1 and the remaining 5 sts from needle 2 to needle 3; this makes 19 sts on needle 1 (front needle) and 18 sts on needle 3 (back needle).

Holding your work as shown in photo at left, slip one st from the back needle (needle 3), slip one st from the front needle (needle 1), slip one from back needle, slip one from front needle (see photo right), continue in this manner until you have 9 stitches on needle. Slide the sts to the other end of the needle so that you can start working at the beginning of rnd position.
Row 1: With color I, sl 1, *p 1, sl 1* repeat to end of row. Turn.
Row 2: *p 1, sl 1* rep until last st, inc in last st; 10 sts, 1 rnd completed. Turn.
Row 3: Sl 2, *p 1, sl 1* rep to end. Turn.
Row 4: *P 1, sl 1* rep to end. 2 rnds completed. Turn.
Row 5: *P 1, sl 1* rep to end. Turn.
Row 6: *P 1, sl 1* rep to end. 3 rnds completed. Turn.

Repeat Rows 5 and 6 until finger is 24[30]rows/12[15]rnds long. Cut yarn 6-8 inches long, thread onto tapestry needle and thread it through the first st, and every alternate st across row, turn and rep on other side to draw yarn through all sts around. Pull up tightly to close fingertip, fasten off and weave in the end.

Second or Middle Finger
Sl 1 st from front needle, 1 from back needle, 1 from front needle, 1 from back needle, and so on until you have 10 sts on the needle. Slide the sts to the other end of the needle.

Row 1: With color J, *p 1, sl 1* rep to end of row. Turn.
Row 2: *P 1, sl 1* rep to end of row. 1 rnd completed. Turn.

Repeat Row 2 until finger is 30[36]rows/15[18]rnds long. Cut yarn and draw through stitches and pull tightly to close fingertip.

Third or Ring Finger
Sl 1 st from front needle, 1 st from back needle, 1 from front needle, 1 nfrom back needle, and so on until you have 9 sts on the needle. Slide the sts to the other end of the needle.

Row 1: With color F, p 1, *sl 1, p 1* rep across row. Turn.
Row 2: Slip 1, *p 1, sl 1* rep across row. 1 rnd completed. Turn.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until finger is 24[30]rows/12[15]rnds long. Cut yarn and draw through sts and pull tightly to close fingertip.

Fourth or Little Finger
Sl 1 st from front needle, 1 st from back needle, 1 from front needle, 1 from back needle, and so on until you have 9 sts on the needle. Slide the sts to the other end of the needle.

Row 1: With color K, p 1, *sl 1, p 1* rep across row. Turn.
Row 2: Sl 1, *p 1, sl 1* rep across row. 1 rnd completed. Turn.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until finger is 22[26]rows/11[13]rnds long. Cut yarn and draw through sts and pull tightly to close fingertip.

Thumb
Pick up stitches from the yarn holder in the same manner as the finger stitches, slipping one stitch from front half of yarn loop, slipping one stitch from back half of loop, alternating back and forth until you have 10 stitches on the needle.

Row 1: *P 1, sl 1* repeat across row. Turn.
Row 2: *P 1, sl 1* repeat across row. One rnd completed. Turn.

Rep rows 1 and 2 until thumb is 20[23]rows/10[13]rnds long. Cut yarn and draw through sts and pull tightly to close thumbtip.

Make another glove to match.

Finishing
These gloves were made using a yarn very similar to a shetland wool. It is fine, a little fuzzy, has very little stretch and has a tendency to stick to itself the way a feltable wool does. The knitter has chosen to tie the yarn ends in knots and cut them short whenever possible, rather than weaving them in. This works well in the small version, the knots are very small and disappear into the knit fabric. If you use a superwash wool or other yarn that doesn't cling to itself readily, like cotton, synthetic or other smooth fibers, you will probably want to weave in the ends.

There are little holes left in between the fingers and thumb that need to be closed up during the weaving-in process. The photos below show one way to do this.

Step 1: With yarn end from base of second finger threaded on tapestry needle, catch stitches at base of first finger. Step 2: Catch stitches at base of second finger. Step 3: Pull up snugly to close gap. Weave in the end, reinforcing closure. Repeat in same manner until all fingers and thumb holes are closed.

Using duplicate stitch and colors M and N, add the large motifs to the wide black band on the back of the gloves, following chart for placement. The chart shows the left glove, you will want to mirror the design for the right glove.

Softie for BackTack3 has Landed

2006-06-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you, Niki and I have been emailing back and forth furiously trying to figure out where this box went to. It should have arrived on Wednesday; after all, Priority Mail shouldn't take more than 3 days to get to its destination within the US. We had begun to fear the worst, that the package had been lost.

Thankfully, it has arrived safely. Who knows where it was misdirected before coming here, but we are so very glad that it is here now. We must open it immediately!

Ta-Da! Here's the cutie!

Front view on the left, rear view on the right.

This Wee Bunny has little button eyes and his nose and mouth are embroidered. In his hands he holds a cluster of felt daisies with lime green button centers and forest green chenille stems. He is wearing an emerald green scarf: knitted accessories! I love it!

His tail is made from loops of pinked black twill fabric fastened in place with a fun spiral-design button. See photo, left.

On the bottom, out of sight when he's sitting upright, is my initial A. See photo, right.

Here you see all the contents of the package. There's wonderful ginger-ginseng tisane that I just can't wait to try. There are chocolate and ginger shortbread cookies, oh my. Ah, there's an Art Bar, Swiss dark chocolate...quite liquid, I'm afraid, but it will be most delicious once it's had a chance to firm up a bit in the fridge.

Chocolate always survives ;-)

It has been a perfectly lovely day!

BackTack 3 Softie

2006-06-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

Here are my gifties for Jess, my swap buddy for BackTack 3. They have arrived safely at their destination, so I can now show you the details. I know you want the details!

I checked with Jess and found that her favorite color is orange, so chose that as my accent color for this project. Anything in your favorite color is going to make you feel good, so when I make a gift for someone, I try to use their favorite color whenever possible.

So, this is my little creation, Jesster Kitty. A performer never really travels light, so she has an entourage of sorts. With some of the leftover fabrics I made a knitting needle roll to match. Some cute note cards fill in nicely. Can you believe I fit it all into one of those small Priority Mailers?

Here is the needle roll. The outside on the left, the inside on the right.

I used standard cotton calico prints for the cover and double-faced cotton flannel for the lining and pockets. This makes a rather thick and padded roll that provides a nice amount of cushioning to protect knitting needles. It is large enough to comfortably hold longer needles but can be folded to a smaller size for shorter needles too. I hope she finds it useful.

Do you think I should post the pattern? Let's do a poll and find out! It will be interesting to see what you think. Find the poll over in the right-hand sidebar.

BT3 and Project Spectrum

2006-06-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

What is this? It's a hint of the softie I sent to Jess. I don't want to spoil the surprise for her, so I will wait until I get confirmation from her that it has arrived safely before I post the full spread.

I don't know about other folks, but I just love surprises. For me, the surprise is more important than the giftie every time.

I chose to create my own pattern for this softie. Since it is my own original work, I may decide to post the pattern. If anyone's interested, that is. We'll see after I put up the full set of photos.

I can show you what I made for the Project Spectrum Postcard Swap. A celebration of green for May.

I didn't get as many green things finished this month as I had hoped. Of course, the kitchen plumbing blowing up like it did put a real damper on my crafting time. But all in all, it's been a pretty productive month.

June brings the color blue. That deserves a post all its own.

A Little Break

2006-06-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

I needed a little break from glove knitting. Now, I did my best to make it interesting. I used different yarns. I challenged myself to use only the yarns I had in my stash. I even reduced the number of colors while still trying to create an attractive glove. See my brown version at left, using only 3 colors, for those with more conservative tastes in their outerwear.

It's been a lot of fun. But it is also a bit repetitive. Must...knit...something...else...

I really like the cover project from Creative Knitting Magazine May 2006. A simple top with a little bit of texture. Sleeveless, but the drop shoulder creates a little cap sleeve effect. The design is nice enough to wear alone in a casual workplace or under a jacket in a more formal one. The perfect summer top.

I bought some Knitting Fever King Tut cotton in soft green 8580 last summer to make a simple top for myself but hadn't chosen a pattern yet. When I saw this magazine I thought I'd found the perfect pattern.

Alas, I am one skein short of the yardage requirements for this top, and it's too late to find the same dye lot. That's ok, it gives me an excuse to buy more yarn. The search for the perfect cotton yarn with which to make this top should take me to every yarn shop within 100 miles. How fun!

Meanwhile, what to do with the King Tut?

I found a great free pattern at Garnstudio that I do have enough yarn for. I think I like it even better than the previous pattern. It calls for 2 strands of yarn, one cotton and one alpaca, but the gauge of the combined yarns is fairly close to my worsted weight cotton. So, I got out the calculator and converted the pattern to my slightly-finer gauge.

Here you see the beginnings of my top after knitting one skein. The lacy edge will need blocking to lie flat, but the sheen of the yarn sets it off well. I'm excited to see how it turns out. I just might knit this pattern again. There's a matching cardigan pattern too, so maybe a twinset? We'll see how it goes.

A Lot of Gloves

2006-05-31T08:32:00.000-07:00

I've been oh so busy the last couple of weeks. We have new kitchen plumbing at my house, and my mother has had some remodeling done in her house. In between home improvement projects there has been some crafting going on too. Want to see some of the latest fiber-related things?

I have been perfecting the pattern for the Guatemalan-style gloves. See the pile of gloves in many sizes? I want to be sure that the pattern I post will be accurate, so I'm making many prototypes. When I'm finished with them, they will be given as gifts to friends and family who live in colder climates than I do or they will be donated to Dulaan, afghans for Afghans or another worthy charity. They're made of wool so that they will be nice and warm to wear.

I've been playing with hand dying some Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool. On the left, some balls of undyed yarn next to hanks of dyed yarn. On the right, a close up of the dyed yarn to show the gentle variations in the color.

I'd heard about using hair coloring to dye locks of wool or mohair for making realistic doll hair and thought I'd try it on yarn. That's l'Oreal Excellence shade number 5 medium brown used full strength for the dark color and diluted for the lighter shade.

I think I'll try other ways of dying yarn. The texture of the hair coloring is too thick to give good coverage and it needs to be worked into the yarn quite a lot before the yarn strand is completely saturated. After a lot of kneading of the yarn the end result is still uneven. When I dye yarn, I want the 'delightful variations' to be deliberate and controlled as much as possible, and repeatable.

I've knit the Noro Kureyon bag and it's ready to felt in the washing machine. The Toddler wanted a bag with a flap on it to hold in his treasures. I've used the Booga Bag directions to make the body of the bag up to round 60 and improvised from there. I worked the upper rim of the bag and the edges of the flap in garter stitch for non-roll firmness. I haven't decided what sort of handle or strap to use yet, the child may want to make a packpack out of it. I will wait to see what size and shape the bag becomes after felting before deciding.

Pattern Testing

2006-05-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

I am making progress with my copy of the Guatemalan gloves.

After very close examination of the originals, I found that they had been made inside-out, that is, they had been purled in the round. I had read about this method being used by knitters in South America but hadn't seen it until now. I'd never done it this way before but decided to give it a try. I might learn something useful in the process.

So far so good. It may be unfamiliar, but it's not a bad way to knit a glove. There have been some surprise benefits. Because the stranded work yarn is being carried on the outside of the glove, it's easier to avoid carrying the yarn too snugly. It naturally seems to carry itself loosely along the work. Also, if you are purling everything, it is easier to use two-needle-tubular-knitting to work those tiny fingers. When using the knit stitch to flat tubular knit, you have to pass the yarn forward and back between stitches; you don't have to do this when using the purl stitch. Who knew?

I am also making progress on my BackTack3 project. I have been testing some patterns for softies in muslin to help me decide which one I want to use. The bunny on the right is the right size and full of cuteness, but he's much too slender for the design treatment I want to use. The Toddler likes it though and I will dress it up for him to play with. The plump body on the left is better, but not quite right. It needs some adjustments before I can start the final piece.

Celebrate Green

2006-05-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

This month's color for Project Spectrum is green. Here are some of the supplies I've gathered for projects this month.

In the foreground I have a selection of green cardstock and an inkpad in shades of green to use for my post card for this month's swap. In the background are some green fabrics, mostly batiks, to make some froggy bean bags. At left are some green sock yarns for various projects, including the toddler gloves.

I plan on spending time in herb gardens this month in order to properly celebrate all the different green plants that we take for granted, especially the culinary and aromatic ones.

Parent's Note: The inkpad, a Versacolor, is a water-based pigment ink that actually cleans up with soap and water when fresh. Yes, even out of the carpet! It washed right off the boy's hands and out of my berber carpet. It's toddler proof!

Here is a recap of the finished items for March and April. I was so very busy that I didn't make a proper post last month for Project Spectrum, so I'll just have to add it in now.

Red and pink were the colors for March, so I made baby hats and booties for afghans for Afghans in both colors.

Yellow and orange were the colors for April. I made multicolored hats that included yellow in them and a pair of yellow gloves. My orange striped socks were a bit late, overlapping into May, but I'll call it close enough.

I've been enjoying the flowers blooming everywhere now that spring has come. I particularly enjoy visiting the garden centers to see all the lovelies. Common flowers in bloom in my area the last couple of months: Lantana, geranium, roses, daylilies. I know, the rest of the country won't be seeing these until June, but here in sunny California we have them nearly year-round.

Finished Socks

2006-05-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

The orange striped socks are finished. Yay!

They fit me well, I'm so pleased. I had feared that I would have to rip and reknit them several times as others have reported doing in order to get a good fit. I am fortunate to have chosen a pattern that fit my feet reasonably well. I only had to rip out and reknit my first ribbed cuff.

Again, these were knit to the Leaf Socks pattern in the Socks book from Vogue Knitting. It has a chart for making a striped pattern in the sock, but since my yarn already had a striped pattern built into it I knit the leg and foot plain. I left off the embroidered leaves.

This made a simple-to-knit anklet with contrasting cuff, heel and toe. There's enough striped/fairisle yarn left over from the 100-gram ball to make another pair. Maybe I'll make them with fushia pink heels and toes?

Colorful Knitting

2006-05-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

I'm knitting myself a pair of socks.

Yes, I'm actually knitting something for myself, can you believe it? I have been feeling a need for something colorful. Must be spring fever.

I'm using the Leaf Socks pattern from the Vogue Knitting Socks book, but without the embroidery or stripe pattern; the yarn has enough pattern to it as it is. I am using a solid color for the ribbing, heel and toe of the sock because I think that a sock made with heavily patterned yarn looks better that way. But then, I seem to think that all socks need contrasting heels and toes anyway.

The three year old wants me to make him a bag so that he can carry his toys around with him wherever he goes. Not just any bag, he wants one made from Noro Kureyon in a rainbow of colors.

How does a toddler become such a yarn snob? Easily-toddlers don't pay any attention to price or fiber content, they only care about how the yarn looks and feels. In this instance, it was the most delightfully colorful yarn in the shop. He can pick out a ball of Noro from 20 feet away. Which just goes to show that the child spends far more time in yarn shops than his peers.

I was asked via email about the jester cap that I made a while back. I haven't found the hat yet, it's hiding in a box somewhere in the storage room. I will find the cap or make another, either way I'll be posting the pattern soon.

One of my neighbors is planning a wedding. Several other neighbors are planning to gift her with some items that they feel are necessary to the whole endeavor. These conspirators have approached me, pattern book in hand, as the One Most Likely To Finish A Crocheted Project On Time. I have been drafted to make a lovely crocheted wedding set that includes the ring bearer's pillow, flower girl's basket and bride's garter. I was so happy that I wasn't drafted to do all the floral arrangements this time that I heartily agreed to break out the tiny hooks. I will post my progress at regular intervals.

Another request this week: to make a soft toy froggy for a child. I must have a pattern somewhere. You know I do. Or my mother does. She'll have dozens I'm sure. I'll google it too, just to be sure I have several to choose from. Do you have a favorite froggy pattern? Tell me about it if you do!

Toddler Mittens

2006-05-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here's another pair of mittens, this time sized for a toddler. I was using Elizabeth Durand's pattern for making children's mittens, but needed a slightly smaller size than her instructions covered. So I changed the pattern a little. I used a yarn with a gauge of 22 stitches=4"/10cm, which makes a mitten to fit a 2-year-old, worsted yarn at 20 stitches=4"/10cm will make a mitten to fit a 3 year old.

Here's what I did:

First, I printed Elizabeth's pattern and made some notes in the margin about the changes I wanted to make. You will want to do this too.

I cast on 24 stitches and made knit 1 purl 1 ribbing for 20 rounds. On the first round of stockinette stitch I increased 4 stitches evenly spaced-28 stitches. Knit 3 rounds. Made the thumb gusset as directed, worked until there were 8 stitches between the stitch markers. After removing thumb stitches to a holder, I worked 12 rounds even. I changed the shaping of the mitten tip a bit:
K 1, K2tog, ssk, K 10, K2tog, ssk, K9.
K 1 round.
K2tog, ssk, K8, K2tog, ssk, K8.
K 1 round, stopping at the last stitch. K this stitch together with first stitch of next round to make -->
K2tog, ssk, K6, K2tog, ssk, K6.
K 1 round, stopping at the last stitch. K this stitch together with first stitch of next round to make -->
K2tog, ssk, K4, K2tog, ssk, K 4.
K1 round.
I wove this together with kitchener stitch the same as for a sock toe.
On the thumb I picked up 8 stitches from the holder and followed her directions, knitting 10 thumb stitches for 8 rounds, k2tog around, breaking off and pulling the yarn through the 5 remaining stitches and pulling up tightly.
Weave in the ends and you're done!

Basic Mittens and Another Hat

2006-04-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

I've just finished these mittens. The pattern is from Elizabeth Durand and it can be found at the afghans for Afghans website here. I've followed the directions for the larger size mitten using 2 different yarns; the pink has a gauge of 20 stitches to 4"/10cm and the blue is 22 stitches to 4"/10cm. You see the difference in size such a small difference in gauge can make.

No, it wasn't a mistake on my part, I did it deliberately. I wanted to use up some yarn in my stash and make a smaller pair of mittens with the slightly finer yarn. I hoped that by following the pattern for the larger size with the smaller yarn they would turn out to be just the size I needed them to be-and they did. Yay!

Here is the last of the children's hats I'm making for now. This one is for Ryan, the little cutie. As before, I followed the basic pattern for the Child's Patterned Hat and substituted a new chart. Here it is if you'd like to use it to make one of your own.

I've made these hats in wool for warmth in cold climates, and they will certainly be warm with that double layer of worsted weight yarn. A solid colored hat is faster to make, but won't you consider making patterned hats for your next charity project? The children who receive the fruits of your labor will appreciate them all the more for the cheerful colors they contain!

A Finished Layette and Some BackTack Fabric

2006-04-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

The Pebbles layette has been finished, wrapped and delivered to the baby shower. I'm pleased with the way it turned out. The details: Pattern from Pingouin 149 layette book. The models are from the set called Amandine's room, number 10 trousers, 11 pull-on hat and 12 raglan cardigan. These are all simple garter stitch baby garments. I used a dk weight yarn instead of fingering weight, so I used my calculator to translate the pattern to my gauge. Yarn is Kraemer Yarns Little Lehigh Pebbles.

I was shopping for those blue heart-shaped buttons for the garter stitch baby jacket when I saw these fat quarters sitting in the basket over at Beverly's. I grabbed them up of course. This is exactly the sort of thing that I need for my BackTack3 project. I don't know what I will be making for Finny just yet, but these pieces of fabric do inspire ideas, don't you think?

Live and Learn

2006-04-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

I may have found all the boxes containing my stash of yarn, but I have not found all the boxes of unfinished projects. Half of the projects listed over there in the sidebar are hiding somewhere in the piles of boxes in my back room. That's okay, I will deal with them when I find them.

Meanwhile, I am going through the projects I have found. I'm looking them over and deciding whether or not I will actually finish them.

The prayer shawl is one that I will finish. The mitered baby afghan is another project that I will finish, as soon as I decide how I want to do the borders. That red baby coat, however, is a problem.

As much as I enjoyed knitting the Manoir Coat (from Bouton d'Or layette and junior book #13) it simply isn't working out well in the yarn that I chose to use. The shawl collar needs to be blocked into shape on the finished garment, and the cheap dollar store acrylic yarn that I tested the pattern with just won't do the job. This pattern will need to be reknit in a nice quality wool yarn if I want a successful garment.

My purpose in using the cheapo yarn was to test the pattern for any potential errors in the pattern or quirks in the garment, and that purpose has been served. I learned a lot from this one. Most importantly, I learned just how bad that cheap acrylic yarn from the dollar store really is. I wouldn't donate this stuff to charity, it's that awful. I mean, Red Heart is a quality product, this stuff isn't. So...

DON'T BUY THE DOLLAR STORE YARN!

It's only good for practicing, not for knitting anything you want to actually use. It seems ok at first, but by the time you finish the object you will regret it.

On The Ball Winder

2006-04-13T00:22:00.000-07:00

I spent some time the other day winding yarn from hanks to balls. I have had a few hanks sitting in the stash waiting for me to figure out what I wanted to do with them before winding them up for use. Some of them have been waiting a long time. Here you see some lovely Tahki Donegal Tweed in several colors that I purchased...um...sometime in the early 90's. Lovingly stored in plastic bags with chunks of cedar, the yarn is just as beautiful as the day I bought it. I will be knitting with it soon.

Also wound, some Tahki Cotton Classic and some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in shades of pink to make some afghan squares for Grace.

This is what I'm working on right now, some garter stitch garments for an upcoming baby shower. I like the yarn, which is a new arrival at my LYS, it is a cotton and acrylic blend that has a nice drape to it. Very reasonably priced, it has small flecks of color in it, very subtle. Kraemer Yarns, Little Lehigh Pebbles 45% cotton 55% acrylic color Baby Powder.

Warming Grace with Squares for a Blankie

2006-04-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

We're knitting afghan squares again. This time we're making a blankie for little Grace, to take with her to chemo treatments. Extra squares will be made up into blankies for other pediatric cancer patients. Lets inundate them with squares! So many that they'll have enough to make a dozen blankies! Go to the site and sign up, quick, deadline to get them in is April 30th!

Imps, Hats, Hoods and Stash Dregs

2006-04-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

Life is full of unexpected happenings, especially when there is a little one in the house. I never know what I will find my little guy doing next.

Apparently the clothes dryer is a thing of fascination. Did you know that little toy cars roll amazingly well in the drum? This is what the boy was telling me excitedly, voice muffled while his head was out of view inside the dryer compartment. Another Kodak moment.

How will I keep the little imp out of that dryer?

The baby hats and socks I've knitted for afghans for Afghans are finished and ready to ship.

The socks are tied to the hat and tucked inside of it to keep the sets together. The hats and sock sets are then put inside a ziplock storage bag to keep them safe and clean during shipping. You never know what will happen to that box on its way to its destination.

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful comments I've been getting, I really appreciate the feedback! I also received an anonymous comment this week asking for a way to add a hood to the striped baby cardigan. I have added the directions for making the hood at the end of the posting for that pattern here. I'm happy to know that people are finding my patterns useful.

I did find the rest of my yarn stash today. There was a box of yarn hiding in the back closet where only fabric and scrapbooking paper should have been. The errant yarn has been safely tucked away in baskets on the shelves. You can hardly notice the difference, it just looks like a slightly fuller shelf unit now.

More Hats for Kids

2006-04-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

I've made some more hats over the weekend. These are for some neighbor children whose family is relocating to a colder climate than we have here in California. These soft woolen caps will surely help to keep them warm.

For James (photo left) a hat in primary colors of white, blue, black, red and yellow. Very colorful and difficult to lose in the snow, I hope.

For Bailey (photo right) a hat in the same white, blue, red and yellow of the first cap, but with pink instead of black in the mix.

It reminds me of an Easter egg in its color and patterns.

I hope she likes the softer effect of this colorway and finds the hat as easy to find in the snow as her brother's cap.

Here are the charts for the colorwork in the hats (the boy's hat on the left and the girl's hat on the right) in case you want to make your own version.

Knit in worsted weight wool, I proceeded the same as for the Child's Patterned Hat, substituting these charts for the one posted in that pattern.

I plan to make some mittens to match these hats. Their hands need to be kept warm too.

Flashing The Stash

2006-04-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

I managed to get my stash unpacked and put away neatly on this set of shelves. I have a nagging feeling that I'm missing some yarn, however. I know I should have some lopi and some other baby yarns that I haven't found yet. No matter, there's still room on the shelves for a few more bags of yarn.

You can see more than just a yarn collection in this photo, there's a basket collection too. I think baskets and yarn are meant to go together, don't you? Just like peanut butter and jelly. I love the textures of yarn, of baskets, of all textiles really. But we are not going to get into the topic of other textile stashes today.

I've taken close-ups and added captions showing what types of yarn are in each basket. Click on each photo to see a larger view. I've used zipper bags to protect the protein fibers (wool and silk) from any insects that may wander in, and to keep larger numbers of balls or skeins together. I prefer the 2-gallon size storage bags from the grocery store, which I have only been able to find in the store brand. My mother would love to use them, but finds the zipper too difficult to work; perhaps in the future I will be able to find them with the separate zipper device, then they would be easier to use.

This shelf unit measures 58" wide, 15" deep and 74" tall. That's about 1.47m, .38m, and 1.88m respectively. With the baskets sitting on the top shelves, it reaches right up to the ceiling.

Looking at this pile-o-yarn, I realize that it is mostly intended for knitting things for other people. I was thinking about knitting a cardigan for myself, but don't have the yarn for it. With all this yarn, how is it that I don't have enough for a cardigan??

Are You Knitting With Toothpicks?

2006-03-27T17:40:00.000-08:00

You never know what people will say to you when you are knitting in public. The reactions people have to your activity can be most entertaining. I brought my knitting along to a birthday party in a public place the other day and was asked with some puzzlement if I was knitting with toothpicks?! I was knitting a sock on size 2 needles and had to agree with a grin, "Those look a lot like toothpicks, don't they?"

What I was doing was 'warming up my fingers' by knitting a pair of socks before attempting these tiny gloves. I don't knit with sock yarn every day, so it helps me to practice getting an even tension on a simple tube before getting fiddly with the fingers of a glove.

And what's with the tiny glove? I'm trying to work out the pattern for the Guatemalan toddler gloves of course. I will post the pattern for these when I have figured out all the details like sizing; this pair will fit a 1-year-old, which isn't terribly practical.

Felted Tote Bag

2006-03-25T21:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a roomy handbag to knit using 2 strands of worsted weight wool. Make sure your yarn is not superwash wool or a natural white color or it will not felt.

I used Cascade 220 and a 30"/76cm size 11US/8mm circular needle for this bag; 2 skeins green, 1 skein blue, 1 skein sand and a small bit of leftover black. Also, 4 stitch markers, one to mark end-of-row and 3 to mark the position of increases. I used a red marker and 3 blue markers, and will refer to them by these colors in these directions. Gauge is not very important for this bag, and the exact size will vary with the yarn and needle size used. (If you choose to make the alternate handle, you will need a size K/6.5mm or L/8mm crochet hook)

Begin with the bottom of the bag.
With two strands of main color (green) cast on 20 stitches. Working back and forth to make a flat piece of knitting, work stockinette stitch for 60 rows. (Knit one row, purl the next row)
With knit side facing you, place blue marker on right hand needle and pick up 27 stitches along the long side of the knitted rectangle; place another blue marker and pick up 20 stitches along the cast-on edge; place another blue marker and pick up 27 stitches along the other long edge of the piece, place red marker.

Work the sides of the bag.
Begin knitting in the round. Following the chart at left for color stripe placement (or design of your choice), knit 55 rounds of stockinette stitch (knit every round) continuing to use two strands of yarn; at the same time increasing 4 stitches every 4 rounds placed as follows:
Increase Round: Slip red marker, increase in first stitch by knitting into the front and back of the stitch, knit to 1 stitch before first blue marker, increase in this stitch, slip blue marker, knit to second blue marker, slip marker, increase in next stitch, knit to 1 stitch before third blue marker, increase in this stitch, slip marker, knit to red marker.

Round 56: Change to main color and knit all stitches.
Round 57: Purl all stitches.
Round 58: Knit.
Round 59: Purl.
Round 60: Knit.
Bind off all stitches. Weave in ends.

This is what you should have. Laying flat like this, it measures about 24"/61cm wide and 17"/43cm long.

Make the handles.
Using 2 strands of yarn, cast on 5 stitches and work back and forth in garter stitch (knit every row) until the strap measures about 6'/2m long. Bind off.

Or, if you're in a hurry like I was, you can crochet an alternate handle:
Using a double strand of yarn and a size K/8mm crochet hook, make a chain about 6 feet (approx 2 meters) long.
Row 1: Starting in second chain from hook, single crochet in each loop of chain. Chain one, turn.
Row 2: Single crochet in each single crochet. Cut yarn and pull thru loop to fasten off.

The handle strap will be cut to length after felting.

Time to felt it.
Now throw the bag and the handle strap in the washing machine with a bit of detergent and a pair of jeans or other durable low-lint laundry items. Use the settings for high agitation, low water level, hot water wash and cold rinse. You will probably need to do this at least 2 times, depending on the machine.

This is what it looks like after felting. My bag now measures about 21"/53cm wide by 12"/30cm tall after 2 wash cycles. Most of the stitch definition is gone and it has a uniformly fuzzy look to it. The fabric has a nice thickness and stiffness to it, enough to hold its shape while in use without stretching.

It has shrunk a little bit more in height than in width. Different yarns shrink differently when felted, so the proportions of your bag may not be exactly the same as mine.

The handle strap has shrunk to about 4'/3.25m long, but after tugging on it and stretching it out as much as it will go it ended up at about 5'/2.5m long.

Smooth the bag into a boxy shape and allow it to air dry over a box or basket of the right size to fit the bag bottom if possible to prevent creases.

Hang the handle strap over your shower curtain rod to dry.

Drying takes several hours. I left mine to dry overnight.

When the pieces are dry it's time to assemble the bag.
Take the long bag handle strap and trim the ends to make them square and even. Fold the strap in half to find the center and cut it in half. Now you should have 2 handle straps of the same size.

If you have made crocheted handles, you will notice that they curve. That's because the chain shrinks more than the single crochet does. This is ok, and it actually helps to pre-shape your handles for you.

Now decide where you want your handles to be attached. You will want to use the vertical line of increases as your guide for placing the ends of the handles, but how far they overlap the top edge of the bag is up to you. The shorter the overlap, the longer the finished handle. The longer the overlap, the shorter the handle and the more support for carrying heavy objects. In the photo at left I show 2 possible ways to attach the handles.

Once you decide exact placement of the handles, you will want to sew them in place. You may use matching yarn and a tapestry needle to do the job or you may prefer to use a sewing machine for strength and durability. I used a sewing machine and matching sewing thread to sew the handles on my bag.

Once the handles are attached, the bag is complete. Enjoy!

Child's Patterned Hat

2006-03-22T10:40:00.000-08:00

After knitting so many infant hats for charity last week, I had to make a hat for my 3-year-old. He had informed me that I'd made all 'his' baby hats too small for him and that I needed to make them bigger. He needed a new hat. He lost his toque when we visited Lowe's last week, and it never showed up in the lost and found bin.

First, I measured his head: it's 19"/48cm around and the hat must be at least 7"/18cm tall in order to cover his ears well. I am getting a gauge of about 5 stitches to the inch with worsted weight wool(about 20 stitches to 4"/10cm), so that would be about 95 stitches. Make that 96 and you have a number divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8-that means more choices of motifs. I don't need a really dense fabric here in the warmer climate of California, so a size 7 circular needle is fine. Add in a size 6 for the ribbing and a set of double pointed needles for closing the crown. I used the same basic procedure that I used in the baby hats.

Cast on 96 stitches on a 16"/40cm size 6US/4mm circular needle.
Join without twisting the stitches to begin knitting in the round.
Work knit one purl one ribbing until piece measures 1.25"/3cm.

Change to a 16"/40cm size 7US/4.5mm needle and begin knitting stockinette stitch (knit every round) until the hat measures 6"/15cm long, including ribbing; at the same time, begin working color patterns from the chart or those of your own choice.

Begin decreasing using a guideline of 8 stitches evenly distributed every 2 rounds 11 times. (I decreased 16 stitches about every 4 rounds 5 times and 8 stitches every 2 rounds once to make it fit in between the pattern rounds of color motifs) You want to place your decreases so that they don't interfere in the color design. So, work decreases until you have 8 stitches left, changing to short double pointed size 7US/4.5mm needles when needed. K2tog across round. Make I-cord using remaining 4 stitches until the cord is about an inch long. Cut the yarn and thread it through the stitches with a tapestry needle to fasten it off. Weave in all the ends.

This hat fits my toddler with extra room on top for growth. It stretches and can be worn by older children and teens. It even stretches to fit me a little snugly. This would make a great charity knitting project. Enjoy!

P.S. more charts to use for this hat here and here.

Needle Exchange Arrives

2006-03-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

I have to show you what my Needle Exchange Pal sent to me. She sent me the greatest stuff!

The first thing I saw when I opened the box was the huge bag of Hershey's Kisses. Mmmm, chocolate. Chocolate enough for weeks to come, chocolate to share if I feel like it. Chocolate is always a good thing. The next thing I found in the box was that cute little pouch. It was lumpy, there was something inside! I opened it to find... a beautiful circular needle of hand carved horn from Nepal! Wow! The final item in the box was a gorgeous hank of hand-dyed Patagonia Nature Cotton-in purple, my favorite color.

Isn't this the very picture of knitterly happiness? A hank of yarn, a set of needles and chocolate. What more could you want?

Thank you Amy for these delights!

Infant Earflap Hat

2006-03-19T22:02:00.000-08:00

Here is my pattern for a newborn size hat with earflaps. By newborn size, I mean the hat is designed to fit a 13" to 15" head (33-38cm). You may make this hat without earflaps if you wish; I designed the pattern to meet the requirements of afghans for Afghans guidelines for their newborn hat and sock project. It has a fold-up cuff that can be unfolded as the baby grows. The pattern for the top-down version of the hat can be found here. To see a photo of Sarah's beautiful fairisle version visit here.

In the photo above left, you see from left to right a blue hat, a green hat and a red hat. Where there are variations in the pattern, I will use colored text to show the differences in the directions for each hat as shown. You may of course mix and match the design variations to suit yourself. The blue hat has a garter stitch cuff, a serpentine decrease design and a smooth top. The green hat has a ribbed cuff, a square decrease pattern and a short tail on the top. The red hat has a ribbed cuff, a spiral decrease pattern and a loop on top that may be used for hanging.

The hats take a little less than 50 grams of worsted weight yarn to make up. I used leftover wool yarn for my samples, Nature Spun worsted and Patons Classic Wool. The yarn ball bands recommend a size 7US/4.5mm needle, but I used a size 6US/4mm because I wanted the hats to be a little bit more densely knit for warmth. There isn't very much difference between the two needle sizes, so use the size that suits you. I recommend using a set of 4 or 5 double pointed needles (DPNs) and a 11.5"/29cm circular needle in your chosen size. At the very minimum you will need a set of DPNs to make the hat as directed.

Abbreviations and techniques:
Rnd=round
K2tog=knit 2 stitches together.
ssk=slip the next 2 stitches as if to knit, put left needle in front of stitches and knit.

How to make I-Cord:
Using 2 DPNs, CO 4 stitches (or use the remaining 3 or 4 stitches after decreasing in this pattern). Knit all stitches. Next Row: Instead of turning the work around to work back on the wrong side, slide all stitches to the other end of the needle, switch the needle back to your left hand, bring the yarn around the back of the work, and start knitting the stitches again. Repeat this row to form I-cord. After a few rows, the work will begin to form a tube.

Knitty Magazine has great articles on Increasing and Decreasing, Picking up Stitches and Weaving in Ends.

Begin by knitting the cuff.

Cuff 1: Ribbed cuff used on red and green hats.
Cast on 64 stitches using circular needle.
Join into a round without twisting stitches and begin working knit 1 purl 1 ribbing.
Work ribbing until it measures 1.5"/4cm

Cuff 2: Garter stitch cuff used on blue hat.
Cast on 64 stitches using circular or DPN needle.
Work the piece flat, knitting every row until the cuff measures 1.5"/4cm
Join into a round without twisting the stitches and continue the hat working in the round.

Next, work the body of the hat.
Work stockinette stitch (knit every round) until the hat measures 5"/13cm long including the cuff.

Now work the decreases.
All 3 hats are decreased 8 stitches every other round 7 times, the difference is where the decreases are placed and whether they lean to the left or the right. Change from circular needles to DPNs when necessary.

Decrease pattern 1: Spiral, used on red hat.
Rnd 1: *Knit 6, k2tog* repeat from * to * across round; 56 stitches.
Rnd 2: Knit all stitches.
Rnd 3: *Knit 5, k2tog* repeat; 48 stitches.
Rnd 4: Knit.
Rnd 5: *Knit 4, k2tog* repeat; 40 stitches.
Rnd 6: Knit.
Rnd 7: *Knit 3, k2tog* repeat; 32 stitches.
Rnd 8: Knit.
Rnd 9: *Knit 2, k2tog* repeat; 24 stitches.
Rnd 10: Knit.
Rnd 11: *Knit 1, k2tog* repeat; 16 stitches.
Rnd 12: Knit.
Rnd 13: *k2tog* repeat; 8 stitches.

Decrease pattern 2: Square, used on green hat.
Rnd 1: Knit 6, *k2tog, ssk, knit 12* 3 times, k2tog, ssk, knit 6; 56 stitches.
Rnd 2: Knit.
Rnd 3: Knit 5, *k2tog, ssk, knit 10* 3 times, k2tog, ssk, knit 5; 48 stitches.
Rnd 4: Knit.
Rnd 5: Knit 4, *k2tog, ssk, knit 8* 3 times, k2tog, ssk, knit 4; 40 stitches.
Rnd 6: Knit.
Rnd 7: Knit 3, *k2tog, ssk, knit 6* 3 times, k2tog, ssk, knit 3; 32 stitches.
Rnd 8: Knit.
Rnd 9: Knit 2, *k2tog, ssk, knit 4* 3 times, k2tog, ssk, knit 2; 24 stitches.
Rnd 10: Knit.
Rnd 11: Knit 1, *k2tog, ssk, knit 2* 3 times, k2tog, ssk, knit 1; 16 stitches.
Rnd 12: Knit.
Rnd 13: *k2tog, ssk* across rnd; 8 stitches.

Decrease pattern 3: used on blue hat.
Rnd 1: Knit 3, *k2tog, knit 6* 7 times, k2tog, knit 3; 56 stitches.
Rnd 2: Knit.
Rnd 3: Knit 3, *ssk, knit 5* 7 times, ssk, knit 2; 48 stitches.
Rnd 4: Knit.
Rnd 5: Knit 2, *k2tog, knit 4* 7 times, k2tog, knit 2; 40 stitches.
Rnd 6: Knit.
Rnd 7: Knit 2, *ssk, knit 3* 7 times, ssk, knit 1; 32 stitches.
Rnd 8: Knit.
Rnd 9: Knit 1, *k2tog, knit 2* 7 times, k2tog, knit 1; 24 stitches.
Rnd 10: Knit.
Rnd 11: Knit 1, *ssk, knit 1* 7 times, ssk; 16 stitches.
Rnd 12: Knit.
Rnd 13: *K2tog* across rnd; 8 stitches.

Finishing the top.

Top treatment 1: Loop on red hat.
Rnd 14: *k2tog* across rnd; 4 stitches.
Make I-Cord on remaining 4 stitches until it measures 4"/10cm long.
Cut yarn about 4"/10cm long, draw yarn through all stitches to fasten off. Sew the end of the cord to the base of the hat to make a loop.

Top treatment 2: Short tail on green hat.
Rnd 14: *k2tog* across rnd; 4 stitches.
Make I-Cord on remaining stitches until it measures 1"/2.5cm long.
Cut yarn about 3"/8cm long, draw yarn through all stitches to fasten off.

Top treatment 3: Smooth top on blue hat.
Cut yarn at about 3"/8cm long. Draw yarn through the remaining 8 stitches, pull tightly and fasten off.

At Last, The Earflaps
In this step you'll be picking up 12 stitches along the edge of the cuff and then knitting them to form the earflap and tie cord. These earflaps are spaced evenly apart on the two sides of the hat. You may wish to use the decrease lines to help position them neatly.

Place the hat in front of you upside-down with the cuff folded down so that you can just see the edge of the interior of the hat, as shown in the photos.

Edit: You will be picking up stitches along the folded edge of the cuff, where you changed from rib stitches to plain stockinette.

Earflap 1: Used on red and green hats.
Pick up 12 stitches along the edge of the cuff, as shown.
Row 1: Purl 1, knit 1, purl 8, knit 1, purl 1.
Row 2: Knit 1, purl 1, knit 8, purl 1, knit 1.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the flap is 11 rows long.
Row 12: Knit 1, purl 1, k2tog, knit 4, ssk, purl 1, knit 1; 10 stitches.
Row 13: Purl 1, knit 1, purl 6, knit 1, purl 1.
Row 14: Knit 1, purl 1, k2tog, knit 2, ssk, purl 1, knit 1. 8 stitches.
Row 15: Purl 1, knit 1, purl 4, knit 1, purl 1.
Row 16: Knit 1, purl 1, k2tog, ssk, purl 1, knit 1; 6 stitches.
Row 17: Purl 1, knit 1, purl 2, knit 1, purl 1.
Row 18: *K2tog* 3 times; 3 stitches.
Continue working the remaining 3 stitches as I-Cord until the cord measures 6"/15cm.
Cut yarn about 3"/8cm long. Draw yarn through all stitches and fasten off.

Repeat for second earflap. Weave in all ends.

Earflap 2: Used on blue hat.
Pick up 12 stitches along the edge of the cuff, as shown.
Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: Knit.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the flap is 11 rows long.
Row 12: Knit 1, k2tog, knit 6, ssk, knit 1; 10 stitches.
Row 13: Knit.
Row 14: Knit 1, k2tog, knit 4, ssk, knit 1. 8 stitches.
Row 15: Knit.
Row 16: Knit 1, k2tog, knit 2, ssk, knit 1; 6 stitches.
Row 17: Knit.
Row 18: *K2tog* 3 times; 3 stitches.
Continue working the remaining 3 stitches as I-Cord until the cord measures 6"/15cm.
Cut yarn about 3"/8cm long. Draw yarn through all stitches and fasten off.

Repeat for second earflap. Weave in all ends.

Come Sit And Have Some Tea

2006-03-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

I think it's important to have tea parties regularly. Not formal affairs, just the casual everyday sort. It's one of the simple pleasures in life. Here is an example of the Friday Tea the toddler and I enjoyed this week.

We had a simple snack with a Chinese theme: green tea, crab shumai and almond cookies. For those unfamiliar with shumai, it is a little tidbit made of meat wrapped in a thin bit of dough that is cooked by steaming. They are available pre-made in the freezer case at asian markets. Quick to fix, they take 3 minutes in the microwave, and we just adore them. Very like a savory sort of bonbon, really, it is tempting to eat them in large quantities.

I've completed a total of 3 earflap hats and 3 matching pair of socks for afghans for Afghans this week. They were very quick to knit, and it gives a feeling of satisfaction to have a workbasket full of finished objects.

As promised, I will be posting the pattern for the Infant Earflap Hats later today. If you're like me, you like to have a little variety to break up the monotony of knitting the same thing over and over again, and I've tried to provide that in this pattern. There are 2 different cuff variations, one ribbed and one in garter stitch, and 3 different decrease patterns and finishes for the crown. You may also make the hat without earflaps.

To make the matching socks, use this pattern as written for the ribbed ankle cuffs, or substitute garter stitch for the ribbing to match the garter cuff hat.

My surprise for my Needle Exchange Pal is safely on its way to her, and in fact it may have arrived already. I hope she likes it!

How did I choose what to send? I started with a visit to my LYS (local yarn shop) to see what might inspire me. I found this lovely ball of Online Linie 131 Fantasy in shades of blue and gold. Nothing inspires like a ball of novelty yarn!

Needles came next, in the size recommended on the ball band. I like to use Brittany needles, they feel so good to knit with, and they are easy to decorate with beads. Oh-so-soft feltable wool in pastel mint matches perfectly.

Next: Run all over town looking for beads and findings.

I had a very good time playing with the beads!

I decorated the needles, then made stitch markers and even a pair of earrings to match. What a fun color scheme to work with!

I wish I could be there to see her open the package!

Red Hat and Bootie Set

2006-03-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

I've completed the red hat and bootie set. This is my March-Red item for Project Spectrum, but also an item to donate to the afghans for Afghans Wool Hats and Socks for Newborns Project.
I was going to use this hat pattern with some minor changes, but I ended up making so many changes that I just gave up and wrote my own pattern for a newborn earflap hat. I really wanted the design of the hat to go with those socks. I will be making more hats and socks for the newborn project to test variations in my pattern before posting it. It took about 4 hours to make this hat, and it's a prototype, so it promises to be a quick-to-make pattern.

It's time again to flash the stash. I did it last year, I gotta do it again this year. So that means I gotta unpack the stash so I can flash it. Can you think of a better way to motivate yourself to organize your house?

Man, I got work to do.

Project Spectrum - Red

2006-03-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

The Project Spectrum color for March is red, so I went searching for things in my box-filled home to cluster together for a photo to celebrate the color. Yay, I managed to find a few beads!

What in the world to do for this project? I don't have very much free time right now, and I still haven't unpacked my yarn. What can I do that will be quick to make and use yarn that I can get to?

I received an email message from Knitzilla! about one of the afghans for Afghans projects, they are collecting newborn hats and booties for International Midwife Assistance participants to take with them to Bamiyan.

Hmmm, hats and booties are quick to make and don't take much yarn, so it would be easier to find something appropriate in the stash pile. I decided that this would make a good Project Spectrum activity.

There is only one important requirement; the hats and booties must be made from wool or another warm natural fiber, like alpaca or cashmere. Luckily for me, the second box I opened contained some leftover wool yarn from fairisle hats I made the December before last for holiday gifts.

I have one bootie finished and am working on its mate. I'm using this pattern from Blossom Knitwear, but I'm using size 6US/4.25mm needles to help tighten up my stitches. I plan on using a modified version of this pattern for the hat. You can find links to these and many other free patterns on the afghans for Afghans website.

The Virtuoso Gloves

2006-03-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

I have some new baby houseplants to play around with. For now, I'll transplant them into indoor pots and let them lounge around the house. Later in the spring they will be moved outdoors to a shady patio. We'll see how well they tolerate the summer heat; the ones that can't take it can go back in the house, the others can stay outdoors year-round in this warm climate.

I haven't had a chance to knit anything during the last week, but I did find an example of someone else's knitting to share.

This is a pair of toddler sized woolen gloves knit in Guatemala. I am a knitter, so you know I've turned them inside out and inspected them thoroughly. These little darlings are fairisle gloves knit in the round and the yarn is woven in while it's knit (that means there are no loops of yarn carried along the back of the work for tiny fingers to get caught in) and there is not a loose stitch anywhere.

See what I mean? The yarn is very fine, and worked at about 7 stitches to the inch. I admire this fine workmanship. Maybe with a lot of practice I can emulate it someday. But today? I still have problems with uneven tension when working fairisle socks in the round.

Aren't these some great little gloves?

My youngest just loves them. He practices putting them on and taking them off, which he can do easily since there are no yarn loops to catch his little fingers on. He adores the colors. But most of all, he rejoices in the the knowledge that they are his and his alone and that he doesn't have to share them.

Another Fun Quiz

2006-03-08T22:16:00.000-08:00

I found this quiz while reading blogs and just had to try it out. Quizzes are so much fun and you never really know what sort of answer you'll get.

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern.
A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.
A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything.
No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Personally, I enjoyed Paris much more than London, but that may be because I was only in London for a day. Hardly seems fair to judge a city on what amounts to an afternoon's visit.

It's Juju...

2006-02-25T09:43:00.000-08:00

but the toddler insists it isn't bad.

My youngest son showed only a passing interest in the doll while I was knitting it, which means that he only came by to check on my progress 2 or 3 times while I worked. I knit a lot and he is used to it, so it had no real novelty to capture his interest other than fitting the stitch markers onto the stitch holders and learning to open and close the holders (and the usual toddler fascination with the properties of sticks and the cutting of yarn). This is the way of things; Mom knits, he wants to play with the tools but has no real interest in the finished product unless it was specifically made for him. Until now.

Just as I was stuffing the doll through the top of its head, the toddler came along and investigated this new thing that I was doing. He played with the loose fiberfill, helped stuff some into the doll, and then watched while I closed up the top of the doll's head. His attention began to wander as I drew up the cord that defines the head and forms the neck of the doll, but once I'd tied it off and set it down on the table he zeroed in on it.

"It's a little boy!" he cried and grabbed up the doll, claiming it for his own. "What his name?" he asked. I told him,"It's Bad Juju." He replied, "It not Bad Juju, it Good Juju." And so it is.

He may eventually let me put a face on it, but for now he is content with the 'amish' version of the doll.

If you're interested in what the doll was originally intended to be, you can read that story at the Bad Juju Knitalong.

Thar's Yarn in Them Boxes!

2006-02-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

I was catching up with my email, which had been neglected during the move, and I took a good look at my sitemeter report, which I frequently neglect to read. I had how many visits??? I can't believe I've had 35,000 visits to my website! That's in one year. Absolutely unbelievable.

I continue to unpack when I can. You know how it goes, you open a box and take a good look at its contents, make a face, and close it back up because you have no idea how you're going to sort this collection of junk or where in the world you'll put it. Now and then I get to open a happy box like this one. I still have to close it up for now, but there's no doubt about what to do with it. It gets set aside in that pile of yarn boxes over there in the corner for now until I get enough space cleared to put up the shelves. Oh yes, the craft room is the staging area where all the boxes were piled in the move. It's great incentive to get everything unpacked and put away, because I don't get a craft room until then.

Playing Catch-up

2006-02-19T06:11:00.000-08:00

It's the most amazing and amusing thing to hear a toddler trying to say,"Happy Valentine's Day Mommy!"

My youngest gave me this lovely pink azalea for Valentine's Day (with some help from his Daddy). It will make a nice addition to the garden-to-be. He has requested that I include a fountain in the garden, since he so adores playing in the water. How can I refuse?

...And a patch of lawn for him to play on, a big sandbox to dig in, some fruits and vegetables to eat, a play structure...

It's time again for the Gimme Some Needles Exchange. For my assigned swap buddy: You may look at my previous answers to the questionnaire here, or you may surprise me. As for me, I intend to surprise.

I am just itching to knit something. I haven't done any knitting at all during this move and now it's like I'm having withdrawals. Now, if I can just find enough of my knitting supplies to actually start something...ooh, wait, here's some kitchen cotton, now where are those needles...