CHRISTmas is coming!

Christmas is coming and the best way one can get in the mood this early, even though the stores have been decorated since August, is to make some Christmas stockings!

These are my first two attempts... not really, actually my first three attempts, my second sock was frogged! ...

first time with fairisle, heels, and socks! Even though these are about 3 inches long and no one can wear them, they sure are cute!!!

Now wouldn't a whole tree done in these be cute? And wouldn't hiding money in them for gifts be fun if there were about 100 on a tree?

HHHHhhhhmmmmmmmm!

This little wool (alpaca and cashmere) sweater is for Mason Buddy! Thought he would look quite dashing in a warm, cozy sweater! The buttons are modes of transportation (click the picture for a larger view!) and are really cute!

Now that I am in the Christmas spirit, I just have to tell someone

i started and finished my Christmas shopping today! ; )

and all before Thanksgiving!

Finally made something!

At the Comfy Cozy meeting in August, Nancy gave us a pattern for scarves that would hug the neck a bit better for the homeless. It looked a bit difficult, but I decided to try it anyway. I really did not know how to increase on the first stitch - none of my books mentioned it as an option, and my computer was off - so I faked it! Sue helped me out after the fact, so I will know next time! But, if you don't look too closely - my fake stitches aren't so bad!

Here is Britt, the lovely model, showing you how wonderful this scarf is on a day that is 79 degrees! Let's hope that it will work in 20 below! Thanks, Britt, for your willingness!















This can be doubled, like below, or worn open:














Oh, and one more thing... my knitting 10 minutes a day turned into a dishcloth. This is not blocked since it will be scrubbing sunny-side-up eggs off a plate! Britt always tells her beetle, "I love you!" right before she locks the car. The car then says, "BeeBeep!"


















Britt says that means, "I love you, too!"

All Done. . . onto the next project!

Finished sweater! Well, now how cute is that?

Baby Surprise Jacket!!!

Today I finished the Elizabeth Zimmerman baby sweater! This is how it looks while knitting it on circular needles. It was great fun because as it is knit you can see how it will lay as a sweater - okay, maybe YOU can't!








So, if you flop the thing over, maybe you can!

















I left for Jo Anne Fabrics early this morning on a mission for the cutest buttons ever! Well, I had already decided that the cutest buttons ever were going to be Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit buttons since the colors of the sweater are in his outfit! YES, I remember what he was wearing - I did tell all of you about chamomile tea, right? That was thanks to Peter Rabbit's mom! Anyway, I found these! Made for me!


















The sweater is in the process of being blocked - see the pins?


(The buttons are just sitting on the sweater - not sewn in as of yet. LOVE THEM!)



But you can get a good idea from this.










You really can't know how exciting this is...to take yarn, make a fabric, and have it come out SOMETHING!

Way more gratifying than the knitting machine, though I would love to have that out, too!


BTW, my surgery has been rescheduled for August 13th, so more chemo caps, baby hats,







and maybe one more of these?

Steven's togue...Do you want one, Ashley?

I made the togue for Steven - the same pattern as my first one. This one is a finer strand wool on smaller needles. I have plenty of wool to make another one - if you would want a matching one, Ashley.

Just let me know!

BTW, it is was great to work with - it heated up nicely on my lap, and then it gave off a slight fragrance... Tom thought it was the scent of the store, and it could well be! Very nice!

SQUARE KNITTING NEEDLES!

When Tom and I were in Boulder, I asked the man at the information desk on Pearl Street where the yarn shop was. I thought that I remembered reading in one of the knitting books that there was one in Boulder, so on a fluke, I thought it was worth a try. Well, he knew! He said that the shop used to be on Pearl Street but had moved farther down Broadway.

To my surprise, dad said that we would go find it. We did! WOW, that was a knit shop... It was called Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins, Inc. The shop was about 25 times the size of Yarnia (the local shop that just opened in our neighborhood). They had everything! If I knew more about yarn, I could have probably come away with a wish list - or enough yarn to make eating for the rest of the week impossible!

I asked to see their needles, I figured that is a more permanent piece of a knitter's collection than yarn would be, so she showed me these! Let me tell you, they are great, although a bit costly. I checked the internet and found the price I paid to be the same as the online price at other stores.

I used them on our trip to make this scarf... there is no difference in the shape of the stitches as yarn will not hold a square shape after being dropped off the needle, but there is ONE huge difference that makes the cost balance out. I am always dropping my needles. NO, not stitches, NEEDLES! But, with these, you can grasp them better - less dropping. On this scarf, I think I only dropped the needles twice, quite amazing for knitting in the car, at the pool, and with the girls jumping around! So, even though the owner of Yarnia said that she thought they were a gimmick, I don't think so!

BTW, they are BEAUTIFUL! And, being a kinesthetic person, I love how they feel in my hands!

Learning New Things and Discovering OTHERS

Looking for a cast on method that is used for a hat - that I did wrong the first time - I came across this knitting site...


may want to give this touching story a read!




Just give the title of this post a click, and off you go!

Graduation, visits, and knitting!

Heather, Matt, Hannah girl, and Mason buddy were here for two weeks, and it was wonderful to have them. Heather and I were both itching to do some fiber arts... loose definition...I finally talked her into doing a chemo cap! Here is her first one, child size! She did a great job, and I thank her for it - since the recipient can't! I frogged a really wide scarf in favor of a skinny one... did this one on chunky needles, so I guess you could say this one was not a cheating scarf!
The best news... Brittannie is now an OSU alum! She had pre-commencement on Saturday, and she was an Award of Merit winner! Here she is with the poster that was on display throughout the ceremony! Britt was one of 205 who graduated from the School of Allied Medical Professions, and only nine were chosen for this award!!!
Brittannie and her dear friend, Laura, will be living off campus together while they both pursue their masters in Occupational Therapy. Britt will continue to work in the hospitals as a registered respiratory therapist - - because of the responsibility, I feel like that should have been capitalized!

Go Bucks!

Good luck in the upcoming future... 10 days until they start dissecting cadavors for anatomy class!

The Lost Dream

When we were young, yes, I can remember back that far, we had a book called The Lost Dream. It was about a little boy, Michel, who could not find his dream upon waking. He looked all over for his dream, to no avail. Finally, his grandma told him that he had to see the Keeper of the Dreams.

The illustrations in the book looked like this yarn art that I made when I was trying to see where the end of the skein was.

I am sure that there are other ways to do this - but coming to the end of the skein is such a joy that I just had to spend a bit more time appreciating it!

Memories!

I have been reading every knitting book at the library for the last couple of weeks, many of them are sold on Amazon or stocked on the shelves at Borders. But there is something about frequenting the library that just does it for me! One book, Knitting for Peace, is really pretty amazing! The author, Betty Christiansen, describes people who have taken their fiber crafts to a new level with charity work. Quite inspiring... check out some of these websites! I have hit all these links - and as of today, they work!

Matt and Heather... do you think it would be fun to go see this farm? http://www.peacefleece.com/ The knitting needles are super wonderful... good conversation starters!

Around the world:
http://www.snowcabingoods.com/ knitted goods from Bosnia and Herzegovina
http://www.fiberandcraft.org/ supports Rwanda knitters
http://www.kenanaknitters.com/ supports women in Njoro, Kenya
http://www.lanternmoon.com/ baskets by Vietnamese crafters provide economic independence

And at home:
http://www.shawlministry.com/ comfort those who need hugged
http://www.warmupamerica.com/ for people who are homeless
http://www.h4ha.org/ for our homeless animal friends at shelters

These are cancer/cure charities:
http://www.knitforhercure.com/
http://www.chemocaps.com/

Sites for children's charities:
http://www.carewear.org/
http://www.stitchesfromtheheart.org/
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/

Okay, if that doesn't make you want to pick up your hooks, needles, or looms...





please, check your pulse!

Come On Summer!

Happy Birthday, MOM! Thought you'd need trip to the lake, so here you go! Can't take you to Capri for real, but isn't it the thought that counts?

Now that the snow is gone, the grass is green, and the trees are in bloom, this girl is counting down till summer. Carol at school is the official "count down girl," and she said that there are only 12 more days with kids!



Sometime this summer I have to have my wrist operated on...between trips to the lake, Chicago, Colorado, and Maine. But since the doctor cannot fit me in for a while, I will be able to knit a bunch of summer weight hats and chemo caps! This is one of my first hats... finally made the scarf to go with it. This will go in the homeless donation pile... white probably being a dumb color choice on my part!




These are the warmer hats that I will probably hold back and donate when the temperature drops again. Until then, I will just keep knitting...

Fun Fur Hat for Cancer Centers

Okay, here is my first fun fur hat. I made this one on the green round loom. I think if I use a long loom, I can decrease the number of stitches at the crown. This would be more like the ones my knitting friends make on their needles. The downfall would be that I would have to sew the two sides together rather than just pull the stitches through the tail. I am up for the challenge!

Did you notice how thin this "yarn" is? I hesitate to call it yarn since it is more like thread!

Hats look better with heads in them!

Now that the grandbabies have received their Easter presents... I can post the pictures of the hats that I made them! Not bad for number 2 and number 3 hats! The only thing that would be cuter would be a Hannah Girl in it!






And there she is!







Mason's first hat (you can see it in the corner) was way too small. So I made a bigger one, and I am sure glad that I did! Now, isn't he cute? Mommy looks pretty cute herself!







Wonder where the cutie is for this hat... have to put it up later since I forgot to take a picture!

Beginner's Luck?

Okay, so this is how it is! Church has a "Comfy Cozies" knitting group that meets once a month. They make chemo caps, hats and scarves for people who are homeless, and baby layettes. Sounds good! Learn to knit and give to charity! What a nice gift of time... except my knitting is "wobbly." Yes, that's a good word to describe it. One row has 20 and the next 34! Now how does that happen? (Everyone says, "Bad yarn!" That's it! Blame something or someone else.) NO, the fault is mine... bad knitting!


So, with a little more persistence and a trip to buy "good yarn," I discovered the oh-so-easy-what-was-I-thinking method of knitting! LOOMS, aka knitting without needles! That reminds me that I have a knitting machine in the basement... guess who is going to dust off those needles and pound out some afghans to match the baby hats?







Would you say that is cheating for charity?




These are the itsy bitsy baby hats that I hope go to the newborns and preemies in the hospital!





Books Are Fun has a kit that has the loom, yarn, and a really nice book of patterns and directions in their line-up this spring. I used that set to make this scarf. Easy, except for getting the yarn out of knots! Took longer to do that than "knit" the scarf! The loom needs to be put together, though, and some pegs are a bit difficult to get in where the two halves of the looms go together. But gentle taps with a hammer evened the pegs up nicely! (I wore this scarf for the whole 25 hours our power was out last week! Guess I am keeping this one!)

But, don't start doing this! It's totally addictive... really, don't do it! Check out this funky scarf I made...

. . . I have to go knit!