A Quickie

Wow. This was a quick project! I had an urge on Saturday to knit, but couldn't get the oomph going to work on a UFO. I have bags and bags of NP's (new projects) in the guest room, and this one was chosen. I had purchased this kit in NYC at School Products back in 2002 or 2003. The pattern is the Butterfly Scarf and Hat published by Karabella, and the materials were 1 ball of Karabella Aurora 8 (color 13) and 3 balls of Karabella Butterfly (color 75.) It was completed by Sunday night. I believe I will donate it to our knitting guild for the fall/winter charity project. It was a little weird to be knitting a frou-frou scarf again, but the Butterfly yarn was so soft and cuddly that I had to stop every now and then and rub it on my face! Held with the Aurora yarn for the wide band of the hat, it makes a soft, warm covering for the ears. I wonder if it will ever be cold enough again here to need it!?!

Where, oh where, has it gone?

No fancy excuses. No lame excuses. No excuses.

I haven't blogged in a long, long time.

I haven't knit in a long, long time.

I am ready to post a new blog and do some knitting, but there is no guarantee when the NEXT new blog will appear and how much I will get completed!! Like many others, I am tempted by all the goodies in Ravelry, but I haven't even visited that website in a long while....

So, what have I been doing? Obviously, not much knitting! I do have projects in all the places I haunt...








The Car (for lunch breaks and unexpected appointments)

The Office (not much progress since June)

My Chair (for TV viewing or just staring)

Well, here it is almost November. I have 2 months left to complete all the projects I had planned for 2007. Will I finish them? Probably not. Am I concerned about my lack of commitment? Definitely not. Am I still a knitter? Definitely yes.

Santa's Surgery

Santa's smile surgery actually took place several weeks ago, but it was not as successful as I had hoped. So what does the perfect smile look like anyway?

The first stage of the surgery involved performing a modified kitchener stitch to join the stitches where the red intarsia-ed stitches had been. Of course, the original beard yarn was no longer in the stash, so the next-next-next best match was used.

The second (and final) stage was using the duplicate stitch to give life to Santa's laugh.

Why is he smiling when it is apparent he has a horrible cold in his big swollen red nose?

Preparation for Knitting Surgery

I'm still contemplating Santa's facial surgery. Unfortunately, the pink yarn for his face and yummy angora yarn for his beard are no longer in my stash. I was watching a program a few nights ago about surgeons realigning a young child's face that was misshapen from birth. It is absolutely astonishing what doctors can do nowadays! This reconstructive surgery was not just for cosmetic purposes- he was able to reenter life as a "normal" boy. He still doesn't look "perfect," whatever that is, but he is happy. I've been so worried that I would not be able to fix Santa's face (yes, I tend toward perfectionism) but the show last night humbled me. Even Harrison Ford has a wonderfully crooked smile!

As I was rambling through my stash, I found some glitzy yarn that I was planning to use for another Christmas project. Aha! I'll just pick up the dropped stitches with it and add a few duplicate stitches on other parts of the beard to tie it all together! Then, I'll embroider some sort of wonderfully crooked smile!

I'm still a bit scared to start the surgery, so I decided to start the other project with a portion of the stash yarn. More later.

One hug completed

The Waterfall prayer shawl for my friend has been completed. Since I had started it when we we all together at her beachhouse in May, I sent a strand of yarn to each of the girls with a request to carry it around with them for a few days, hug it, and pray. When the yarn was returned, I used it as the fringe. Now, we have all had a part in the making of this shawl, so it is full of hugs and prayers and comfort for our friend. She had surgery yesterday. One of the other girls and I will drive down to visit her in a few weeks and enfold her in the shawl. Unfortunately, she is still facing more chemo. The color makes me smile. I hope it will do the same for her! We have known each other since first grade, and not only do we share the same name, we also spell it the same way! (This was very confusing to me as a six year old!)

Oral Surgery

The tree is decorated and ready to slide down the chimney, but ole St Nick still looks a little glum- matter of fact, he is toothless/mouthless at this point. I don't know why I did the eyes, nose, and mouth intarsia-style and just didn't knit them in the background color and do duplicate stitch for the features. Live and learn. I guess I just wanted to prove to myself that I could change colors for just a few stitches and make it look neat. It did look neat, but it was not a happy smile.

I will ponder Santa's reconstructive surgery for the next day or two. Don't worry- he's not in any pain. I haven't decided if his eyes and nose need help- I'll just have to see how this first surgery turns out!!

Christmas in July

Merry Christmas!!! Why do people talk about "Christmas in July" when Christmas is actually 6 months from June 25? Maybe it's because when July rolls around, there is less than 6 months until Christmas. Maybe it's beacause when the heat rolls in and the thunder rolls over we begin to think of the cooler days of December. Maybe it's because there are 2 syllables in "Christmas" and "July" and it rolls of the tongue in a more melodious manner than "Christmas in June." Maybe.....oh well.

In the past 35 or so years, I have knit more Christmas stockings than I could count on all my fingers and toes and then some. Most were made for Church bazaars using old but fun patterns. There were more orders than could possibly be filled back then, when more people were doing crewel work, cross stitch, and needlepoint than knitting. Eventually I made stockings for my four grandsons using patterns picked out by their Moms. In cleaning out a box, I found this almost completed vintage stocking and wondered why I never finished sewing it together.

Now I know. Santa looks sad. The tree looks bare.

Searching through my other treasure stashes, I found all these mini-decorations that were destined to go somewhere. So much for Manifest Destiny! I plan to use these to decorate the tree before Santa stuffs it down the chimney.

I think his smile needs adjusting, too. He looks like he is bearing a heavy load on his shoulders and in his heart. I must cheer up this so-called jolly guy!

Emergency Knitting

Since I finished my June project and there are still 1 1/2 days until I have to chose a July project, I decided to panic and try to work on some emergency prayer shawls. I have just about completed one for a friend who is newly diagnosed with cancer. This is the Waterfall yarn that bowled me over a couple of months ago.
My sister-in-law is being treated for endocarditis and is still not feeling well at all. This next yarn is Homespun Cotton Candy and should fit right in with her love of all things pink. I am adding a special touch (literally) to each of these shawls and will write about that laterBeing a bit paranoid about being stuck somewhere with nothing to knit, I always try to keep a project nearby everyday. The Waterfall shawl is currently at home, the Cotton Candy shawl is in my car (no, I do not knit while driving, but I do knit sometimes after I've been through the drive-thru on a lunch break,) and the Baroque shawl is at the office. This is the non-emergency one that will be donated to the church where the Knitting Guild meets. In reality, the pink one and this one will probably trade places, since I need to finish the one for my SIL asap. As soon as the Waterfall one is complete, I'll work on hers at home, too.

Now there are only 2 more colorways of Homespun left in my stash. Hooray!!! I probably have enough leftovers to make a "Joseph" shawl...

Please accept my excuses for not posting (computer down, I was down,) apologies for photos (camera good, editing not,) and laments for for projects (boring, boring, boring.)

Now that that is out of the way, I am pleased to announce that my June bags are finished! I completed 3 of them, and added those to the 3 I completed last fall.

Since I have already apologized for the photo, I will say only a little more. Believe it or not, there are 3 purple (not 1,) 1 black, 1 brown, and 1 blue (not 3.) Sometimes a picture is worth less than a thousand words...all is not as it appears!!! Suffice it to say that they are all lovely and happy. All were knit with Cascade 220 and bits and pieces of fru-fru.

I left the pattern at home, but it is just a basic bag pattern: garter stitch bottom, pick up stitches in the round, do some increases, add I-cord handles. I doubled the Cascade 220 and used size 11 needles (16 inch.) When I added the fru-fru, I dropped one of the strands of wool. I like the bags to be sturdy, so they stay in the washing machine for a full heavy dirt wash cycle. Also, I add a kettle or two of boiling water.

I found some Lamb's Pride wool in my stash that I may make into a final bag. I am determined to finish projects for which I already have yarn, but I am getting a little bored. I need something new, exciting, and challenging. I think it is time to start a lace shawl...

Weekend wonder

Amazing- I finished the brown purse and started the black one! I do love this pattern, not only for the ease and speed but also for the finished product. I have both before felting and after felting photos: I tend to over-felt my bags on purpose. I know it makes them smaller, but it also makes them sturdier. I haven't decided yet if I will add a magnetic closure to it. I may make the straps a little longer on the black one. I've just about finished the body and should get at least one of the I-cord straps finished tonight.

There is enough non-designated wool for at least one more bag. I already have 2 other finished handbags in the closet, so I should have at least 5 to donate to the Alleluia Sale in the fall.

No June bugs so far...

June's project is making great progress. I have almost finished knitting the brown bag and have found more Cascade 220 in the closet. Working on dark colors is not as bothersome in the spring/summer as it is in the winter. To get joy for my eyes, all I have to do is look outside! So far, I have remembered to water the flowers I planted in the pots on the deck, but the rest of the yard may soon be the color of this pocketbook....

It should be finished, felted, and fabulous by Monday!

Our monthly Sit 'n Knit is tomorrow at Barnes and Noble, so I plan to get started on a black bag. I think there is a little more wool in the closet, so I may be able to finish at least three bags this month. I do have plans for projects that will involve learning new techniques, but my life is so complicated right now that I'm happy just knitting simple projects.

Just Because It's June

Just because it's June and June is a between-the-knuckles short month is no reason to think I can just squeak by and pull a quick project out of the bag to satisfy my monthly goal. June is bustin' out all over, and I'd better get busy!!!!

Speaking of the bag, I think that is what I will do: I will knit as many handbags as I can, using up my stash of Cascade 220 and some fru-fru sparkly yarns. I have made several handbags from a generic pattern and given them to my church for the annual Alleluia Sale. I'm writing this post at the office, and most of my pictures are on the computer at home, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow. I do have a photo of the yarn for the first bag I will start:

I am working a part-time job at the library in the circulation department and will take this project with me to work on during my break times so I won't give in to snacks! The new job is wonderful. At several points in my life I had considered getting an MLS degree, but I never followed through. Now I'm actually working at a library!! I've noticed that many of my knitting friends are also avid readers. I cannot read while I knit (or knit while I read) but when my fingers get achy I read and when my fingers get itchy I knit!!

Now it's time for my fingers to work on a spreadsheet here at job #1, but they're really itchin' to knit......

Eulogy

I think that you will never see

A flower knit by little ole me.

I may try for hours and hours

But only God can make the flowers.

So...

They're out of the stash

Into the trash

And out the door

Forevermore!

May May Be a Maybe

May's project may or may not be completed...ever. It may be one of those rare "it's just not worth the time and effort to finish something that is artsy but relatively useless" objects. Knitting for me is mostly a practical useable or wearable art form. I know there are plenty of patterns out there for knitted "objects d'art" -but I prefer the real thing when it comes to fruit and flowers. I don't know what possessed me to buy the kits. They must have been purchased in the dead of winter!!! Anyway, I felted the second flower yesterday and have gotten this far on the third flower.

I thought this flower was going to be my favorite, but the instructions are not very clear and neither is my brain. I may just leave the flower growing up to God.

Charity Day in the Mountains

What a delightful way to spend a gorgeous Saturday in May! About 16 ladies from our local Knitting Guild gathered inside (when it was cold) then outside on the deck and screened porch (after it warmed up) of a gracious member's home on the side of a mountain in North Carolina. As the second of our 3 charity projects for the year, we concentrated on knitting chemo caps for both women and men. We had a number of patterns available, as well as yarn donated by a local manufacturer. It is restful for the eyes to look up from knitting every now and then, but when this is the view, it is hard to get back to knitting!


After a few hours of chatting, laughing, knitting, and eating pizza, we made a mass exodus down the mountain to the LYS. After all, cap knitting does not take much time, and we needed new projects! This is a photo of some of the caps I have finished recently. Most of the patterns are found here and here and most of the caps were knit in the round with Caron Simply Soft (leftover from the rainbow prayer shawl.)

The end of the rainbow

What was intended to be a giant stash buster ended up needing more additional yarn purchases than I thought! Now, I have to think of projects to use up the new stash. Knitting is the Never-Ending Story....

Project: Rainbow Prayer Shawl

Specs:
Caron Simply Soft: red, mango, lemonade, berry blue, limelight, iris, and violet
Fun Fur: red, mango print, tangerine, mexicana, bright yellow, soft yellow, lime, bright blue, indigo, and violet (plus a few odds and ends)
Needles: Size 13
Cast on 147 stitches
Pattern: K3P3
12-14 rows per color

I hang my head in shame- I did not do a real swatch before I started out on this journey. The shawl is much longer than need be, but in this case, better too long than too short!

Finished dimensions: approx 26 x 80
The wearer will be enfolded totally by a rainbow of love.

I am thrilled with the results. It feels so light and airy and happy. It smiles. I smile.

Flower Power

I still can't get my Mom's ring over my knuckle, but at least my finger has unjammed enough to start knitting! I finished this tulip last night- it still needs to be felted. (The white ribbon is to keep a hole in the stem so I can thread some wire for stability through it later.)

Two more weeks and one more flower- there's hope for the timely finish of another monthly UFCO...

Edisto girls

I am blessed to have amazing circles of friends-"make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold." I have church friends, neighborhood friends, knitting friends, college friends, and an incredible group of friends I have known since elementary school. My group of friends from school has managed to get together many times over the years, even though we are spread through 3 states. We have gathered at each others homes, in the mountains, and most recently at the beach. This time there were only seven of us- one friend from Virginia could not get down here. We are all celebrating (!?!) turning 60 this year, and had a wonderful birthday bash. Trips down Memory Lane, stories of current joys and sorrows, and dreams of the future filled our days and nights, along with beachwalking, bike riding, eating, and napping. Before we left, we had an amazing prayer circle on the porch. To know these girls as not only friends but sisters in Christ is an incredible gift.


I spent more time packing knitting projects than clothes! I did get several inches completed on the Waterfall prayer shawl, but an unfortunate incident involving me, the bicycle I was riding, and a fence left me with 2 skinned knees, a fat lip, a jammed finger, and a badly bruised ego. And no more knitting while chatting!



Then, to add insult to injury, I was splattered by a seagull while we were standing on the beach watching a wedding in the distance!

All in all, though, it was a wonderful weekend.

May Flowers

At some point last year I purchased these kits because

• I liked them


• I thought that once I used the yarn provided, I could use bits of wool from my stash to make a veritable flower garden

Obviously, only one of the three flowers has bloomed. May is a good month to fertilize and water (ie felt) these other seeds into their full glory.

Tomorrow I am going to the beach with seven of my friends from elementary school. The problem is not what clothes to pack but what knitting projects to pack!

another attempt

OK. Here is another attempt to link to a previous post. I think it works! My day is complete...I have learned something new!

April Angst Away

This is how much yarn was left from my April Angst UFO. (Okay, the link does not work. I'm still figuring out how to link to a previous post in my own blog...see entry on April 23rd.) I was getting a little antsy and wondering if there was enough for the final repeat, the border, and the bind off.

There was, and I did finish this UFO within the "scheduled" month! I'm still not overly fond of it, but it is done.


Specs:
1 skein Euroflax sport weight linen- 100 grams
color "neptune"
size 5 needles
Moss Grid Towel pattern from MDK

I do not know why I was so down on this particular project.

1. It is not gift-worthy.
2. Blue is not my favorite color, although I do have some blue in my kitchen, where the towel will live and be useful.
3. The pattern was relatively easy to memorize, but I think patterns of just knits and purls are relatively boring. I am not a mathematician, but I'm reminded of the binary system. Lots can be done with it, mathematically and artistically, but it is just 0 and 1. Just knit and purl. I prefer to have some ssk's and k2togs thrown in for a little variety...
4. I may be about to enter a knitting slump...

Tomorrow is a new month, and I am excited about May's UFO. The picture is really cool!

I saw a rainbow

Driving back from lunch yesterday, I saw a rainbow. There were a few clouds floating around, but the sky was mostly clear and sunny. Actually, it was only part of a rainbow's arc- it looked like a horizontal prism in the sky. I wish I had stopped to take a photo! It was a bizarre but beautiful sight. I know there must have been droplets of water somewhere up there, but I did not bother to try to figure out the details of how it came to be. It just was, and I enjoyed it! It definitely reminded me of an almost finished project...

I did it myself!

What a wonderful way to spend a gorgeous Saturday morning:



in the mountains
outside
at a yarn shop
with friends
playing with colors
learning a new technique

After donning aprons and gloves, we placed our wool on plastic wrap and chose our colors. I wish I could have been inside everyone's brain to see how they envisioned their yarn. Here is a photo of 2 skeins in progress- one still in the painting stage, and one being wrapped for the final setting of the colors.

Personally, my vision and my finished product could not have been further apart. I did not even take any "in progress photos" of my attempts. There was supposed to be a whole lot more yellow, but the blue and the green wicked through it. Once I took it home, unwrapped it, rinsed it out, and hung it to dry, I was pleased. I know it will not knit up the way I had hoped, but I could be in for another pleasant surprise.!

Waterfalls

In the 4 or 5 years that I have been knitting prayer shawls, I've found myself under the spell of 40% off coupons and/or sales of Homespun at Michael's and Hobby Lobby. Even though I grow weary of the pattern and do not like the way the yarn frays on the ends, I continue to be an "in the box" knitter and stick with the original pattern and yarn suggestion for the prayer shawls. Of course, I have used other yarns and other patterns (very creatively, I may add...I'm working on an unusual one now.) I always seem to come back to the K3P3 Homespun. The "March Prayers" shawl I finished recently (Homespun "Olive," 63 stitches, size 13 circs, fringed) was in process for over 6 months. Granted, most of the knitting was done in the office, but when our Knitting Guild was given the challenge of finishing 40 shawls by the end of the year, I realized I had to get one finished and another started. My Homespun stash has enough for 5 shawls. I reached in, pulled out a skein of yarn, and as soon as I had cast on the stitches, I was mesmerized by the color. I was enthralled. I could bury my eyes in it forever. When I looked at the name of the color, I realized why: "Waterfall."

I have this thing for waterfalls. When I was considering names for a blog (see first blog entry- I haven't figured out how to do a link to my own stuff), one of the final contenders was "Moonlight and Waterfalls" (even though that doesn't have anything to do with knitting, it has much to do with me.) Moonlight fascinates me, the way it can light up the evening just by reflecting the sunlight. I know the moon phases in and out, but so do I. I remember being with Daddy on the beach, dancing in the moonbeams and wondering about where the moonpath on the ocean would lead. Waterfalls are all about joy and journeys. Again, Daddy was my mountains and waterfalls inspiration. (I love you too, Mom!) Waterfalls took on a new meaning after I read "Hinds' Feet on High Places" by Hannah Hurnard. It's an allegory of Christian journey. I need to read it again, but what I remember most is Much-Afraid realizing the joy of self-giving as each droplet plunged with joyful abandon into the unknown, yet knowing that the Shepherd was with and in each drop along its journey, through all the obstacles and still waters.

Enough theological reflection. It's time to knit!

April Angst

I am not overly fond of the color.

I am not overly fond of the pattern.

I am not overly fond of the yarn itself.

I am going to finish this moss grid hand towel from MDK in April.

I am going to be fond of the finished project...I might even like it!

March Prayers

Our local Knitting Guild meets monthly in the fellowship hall of a church. For the past several years, we have knit Prayer Shawls for their pastoral care ministry. The goal this year to to have presented them with 40 shawls by the end of December. For about 6 months, I have been working a a shawl at the office. It is amazing how, when the stacks of paper get too high, I can open my knitting bag and find peace. The peace is not just for me...it goes right into each stitch of the shawl. The phone may ring and the emails pile up, but just knitting a row or two (or three of four) gets my mind clear as to what is really important. I decided that I needed to finish this shawl for my March project. There is still way too much Homespun in my stash! I am working on another one at homethat is supposed to use up all my fun fur stash, but I'll save that never-ending story for another day!



And so, the shawl.

February Feet, part trois

And finally, a patterned sock!

Having found my way through using the various "tools" of knitting (ie 1 circular, 2 circulars, and dpns) I decided to incorporate a real pattern into my socks. The supposed "2 on 1" socks from Friday's blog did involve a pattern, but it was basically just fancy ribbing. This time, I went for a lacier pattern.

The specs: 2 balls Fortissima Colori Socka Disco

set of size 3 dpns

pattern: Peaks n Valleys (from Knit Socks By Betsy McCarthy)

This was a very easy pattern to memorize. Socks are such a good take-along project that I did not want to be dealing with having to take-along the pattern, too. From this project, I learned that multi-colored yarns and patterns can sometimes compete with each other. These socks would have looked just as happy knit in the stockinette stitch. Next time I use a pattern, it will be with a solid color so I can see the details better! I do love the socks (I'm still working on figuring out how to take better pictures so the colors are more true.) I wish I had taken a close-up of the pattern in the finished sock. You can see it started in the first picture.

When I finished these socks (the end of March) I thought I was going to have to put them away until next fall. I had already painted my toenails in anticipation of sandal weather- we had several days the first week in April of 80 degree weather. But April fooled us all and is living up to its name as the "cruelest month." I, for one, am just as happy still to be wearing my socks and sweaters!

I now have a week's worth of winter socks. I do have a bit more sock yarn in my stash, but most are dark colors. Maybe I should check out my LYS for some summer weight/color sock yarns...cold feet can happen in July, too!

February Feet, part deux

Golly, I still have quite a bit to lean about editing, spacing, photography, and remembering to spell check! I have no idea why there was so much emptiness at the bottom of yesterday's post...

Anyway, here is UFO sock #2. Apparently, I did not honor it by taking a solo picture as a UFO. It is the sock on the top.

The specs:

2 balls Moda Dea Sassy Stripes "Crayon"

2 Addi's- size 3

generic sock pattern

I took a class in this technique on the back porch of a friend's mountain house last summer. I probably spent too much time gazing off into the amazing view. I would put a picture of the view here, but I am still a privacy freak and don't want to give anything away. Also, I do not have her permission! (I think she would say yes, as long as I don't show any faces...just mountains.)

I enjoyed learning this technique, and obviously put it to good use when I changed the "2-on-1" socks, detailed in yesterday's post, to "1-on-2." This style of knitting is safe and relatively easy. If I had been using 2 circulars instead of 5 dpn's while knitting on my son's deck Easter weekend, I would not have had to re-align my stitches on 4 dpn's when I dropped a needle perfectly between the boards. However, for some reason I just like the "feel" of all those itty bitty wooden needles in my hands. This photo of the finished socks was taken on the deck in my backyard- I do not allow dpns out there! I learn fast! I also learned that I prefer taking pictures outside...

Since I am not online at home, "February Feet, part trois" will have to wait until Monday.

Peace-