Knitting for Gift Giving

12 days to go until Christmas and the knitted gifts are coming along quite nicely.


First up is the felted clog from the fiber trends pattern. Knit out of Cascade 220, color number 9454. These are going to the sister-in-law but I also purchased some more Cascade 220 in color number 9413 (a mixture of green and black) last night at the Sip N Knit Pajama Party to make my own pair this winter.


Next, finished just this morning, is the Funshine outfit for Bitty Baby. Niece Sierra is a fan of both American Girl and Care Bears so we attempted to meld the 2 together and I must say I am very happy with the results. I used the hoodie pattern I designed for the American Girl doll and used one size down for needles, shortened the arms and it fit. I also modified the front to include the signature Care Bear belly white and then came back later with duplicate stitch for the sun. Skirt is a simple tube with a rib waist and picot edge and socks are from the wonderful sock pattern designed by Judy Gibson.

Back to the needles, still have a couple of projects to finish.

Knit Night

Yesterday was Knit Night but I didn't go because it looked like this out my kitchen door.


I was good though and sat down during the regularly scheduled knitting time and finished the doll pants I had been working on. No picture yet though, sorry.

I can share this picture though.


This is a reversible headband to match the winter coat I purchased last year. I have been meaning to try this since I took my double knitting class. It is made using a black yarn and a self striping sock yarn. Pattern is my own. I prefer the black side myself so that is how I have been wearing it.

Side tripping

As I type this my shawl pattern lays next to the keyboard and looks back at me accusingly because I have pretty much ignored it over the last week or so. I got side tracked turning this fiber which is the result of my first dyeing attempt


into this single


and then plying that single with my first spinning which I did about 1 year ago


into 170 yards of this

which I am thinking will soon become a pair of mittens to go with my brown coat. We will return to the shawl pattern as soon as we admit to the error we made which means I need to go back about 10 rows in the already completed portion, rework and then continue on.

Battle of the Forsythia

I am still working away at the shawl pattern. Made fairly good progress today since I lacked ambition to do much else. Used it all up yesterday on the forsythia bushes. Or, more accurately, in ripping out the forsythia bushes. Several years ago I planted 3 twigs. I have spent countless hours trimming and trying to control the resulting jungle. Yesterday I hauled out 4 wheel barrows full. I am now down to the original 3 twigs which are currently 4 inch stumps that will require the use of the axe. Once that is done I will need to diligently watch this area over the next couple of growing seasons to make sure I get any remaining roots before they can take hold. If all goes well, I will reward myself with some Rose of Sharon bushes next spring. Pretty flowers and low maintenance.

Diligently Writing

I have been diligently writing up the pattern for my journey shawl. I am not sure how others do this but my method is to track what I do as I knit the item, then write up what I think I did and finally create the item again from the written pattern. This method has worked fine for me up until now because the items I have written patterns for have been small. The shawl is a slightly larger task though. But I am making progress. I am through the shoulder increases and half way to the end of the side cables. Once I get to the bottom lace I will be home free since then I can knit it anywhere as the pattern get repetitive at that point. My goal is mid-November to have it ready to go in the Etsy shop.

Recent Projects

Finished a couple of projects recently. First was a swap busting project. I took the yarn leftover from the shawl I was test knitting and made a capelet following the Chanson en Crochet pattern. I had to finish without the picot edging around the neck because of lack of yarn at the end but I like how it turned out even without this.



Project number 2 was new yarn purchased for the Monday night sock group at Sip N Knit in Ithaca. Cary provided us with her new pattern to test knit. I really enjoyed this pattern and may even be converted into a sometime sock knitter. It was much more enjoyable than the first pair of socks I made. Probably because of the heavier yarn which was used. If you look closely you may just be able to make out the coffee cup pattern which runs just below the ribbing on the sock. Hard to see in the variegated yarn I chose but some of the other yarn combinations being used have shown the pattern off beautifully.

New Desk

My sister was hitting garage sales last week and found me the perfect desk. Since my husband has taken over the office for his work I have been relegated to a corner of the dining room on an old tv table that came with our house and a chair we used to use in the kitchen. There was barely enough room to set my laptop on the table and the height of the table did not correspond with the chair. My new desk fits well in my home and in the tiny corner I have carved out for myself. I doubt I will get any more done but at least I look good while sitting at my desk.

Harvest almost complete

Fall is here in full swing and hubby and I have been harvesting and preserving in every free moment. The final big push happened this weekend when we added 15 quarts of salsa and 11 jars of pizza sauce to the spaghetti sauce, stewed tomatoes, grape jam and myriad jars of other items that can be found on the basement shelves. It gives me a good feeling to walk into the basement and select a jar from the shelf or an item from the freezer to set on my table which was grown in my garden and prepared in my kitchen. The final batch of grapes have been cleaned, smashed and is currently draining in the kitchen. The juice will become jam sometime in the next couple of days and I will again have time to devote to my other hobbies.

An update on the cotton...
The plants continue to flower and produce pods. All the rain we have gotten in the last couple of weeks seem to have encouraged a new flowering season. The things I have read say I should be plucking off the flowers so the plant can concentrate on the bolls but they are too pretty so I will be happy with less cotton and enjoy the flowers while I can. We covered the plants once a couple of weeks ago when we got a scattered frost. Other than that they are still doing well and I am waiting patiently for my first boll to pop open and share its soft bounty with me.

Blocked and ready to go

The wrap has been blocked and is ready to be sent off. All I will have left is this picture and the pleasure of having made something I am proud of.

Trains and Buses

Recently took the train to Chicago with my daughters for a long weekend and then a bus to Nashville, Indiana with my mom and sister for a girls outing. The results of these excursions where my hands were free to knit is that the wrap I am test knitting for Alpaca with a Twist is almost complete. I have about 1/2 of the last side to edge and then I can block it. The yarn is almost a burnt orange instead of the red it appears to be in the picture. A beautiful fall color. The pattern is by Sharon Winsauer and is easy enough to memorize (after a couple false starts on my part) once you get going and difficult enough to keep your interest. It is not yet available on their website but probably will be shortly.

Rainy Weekend

A rainy weekend at the cottage with friends had kids out dodging raindrops, husbands having a grand time as the fish were biting and wives sitting in the quiet of the cabin and enjoying the peace. Lots of gossiping and, in my case, knitting was done. Finished the shawl and I am very happy with the results. I wasn't sure about my edging when I started it but I love it on the finished project. Next on the list is writing up the pattern.

I have started a wrap for Alpaca with a Twist. Pictures will be shared next time maybe.

Abundance of Summer

Wow, been almost a month since my last post. Too many things to do in the summer so computer time is taking a hit. Things I have accomplished in the last month...

Finished first pass of a new pattern for the etsy shop. Here is how it turned out. I have some changes I want to try on the next one before the pattern is ready for publishing.

Read the final book in the Harry Potter series. I really enjoyed the ending. I will say no more in case any of you are still working on it.

Garden produce is everywhere. I have been distributing zucchini and cucumbers at the office. Canning of the beans and pickles is done for the year. I started freezing beets and peppers this evening. Sweet corn is almost ready. Husband has started digging up the red potatoes. Noticed my first orange tomato tonight so we are getting close to salsa, spaghetti, soup and pizza sauce time. Half of the onions have been dried and stored. Waiting patiently for the first cantalope to be ready for picking.


Finished spinning my purple fleece and made my first 2 ply. Still need to wash it to set the twist.


Cotton plants are flowering. I saw my first flowers on them last night and they are lovely in my opinion. Color seems to vary from light pink to deep rose on the same plant. Not sure if this is an indication of how long the flower has been opened or just the way it is. I will have to keep an eye on them for the next couple of days and see what I can learn.


Finally, this years fun project has been eating up a considerable amount of time. We have had a flower bed next to a wall on the barn hill for about 15 years. It's main purpose is to hold the cement wall which holds the dirt on the hill. Maintaining and weeding of this area has become impossible so my husband suggested converting it into the water feature I had been hinting at for a couple of years. It only took us about a week to start digging in. Lots of shoveling and rock arranging later this is where we are currently at. Still working out the kinks on the pump which the water can also flow through and pour into the bucket and we will probably be doing some more digging to increase the size and depth of the bottom pool so it is deep enough to house fish. Those modifications and some more plantings to disguise the mechanics of it and I think we will have this one conquered. Next year, we are talking about a covered bridge.

Update on the cotton and knitting projects

I had a request from Jean about my cotton growing venture today so I thought I would provide some more information for her and an update for anyone else who is interested. Along with a quick note on the knitting projects.

Cotton status, as of today, I still have 4 of the original 10 cotton plants which went outdoors (3 green cotton plants and 1 white). The plants are approximately 12 inches tall and appear to be getting some type of seed in the center just below the top leaves. I tried to get a picture of this but it got too fuzzy when I zoomed in. So I have only included an overall picture of the plant.


In the knitting arena I currently have 3 projects I am actively working on.

My Journey Shawl grew considerably during the Maine vacation but I wasn't happy with some parts of the pattern. Originally, I was going to continue on and just do another one using what I had learned with this one but last night I changed my mind. So I ripped out (is this what people refer to as frogging???) about 4 inches of the shawl, back to the part of the pattern I was not happy with. I have now started back in finishing out the cables and converting over to a simple lace pattern but this time I have included a border to separate the cables from the lace and will hopefully not make quite so many errors on the lace portion.

Another project is a rambling rows cardigan for myself from yarn I recycled from a sweater I had made my husband when we were dating (approximately 17 years ago). He wore it rarely and was getting rid of it. I always loved the yarn so I took the sweater apart and am making one for myself. I have completed the back and am working on the front right side currently. Pictures will be provided someday.

Final project is a double knit hot pad in a yellow and green check pattern. I made one for my sister-in-law last fall which she really enjoys so I started another to place in the etsy shop if I ever finish it.

Now, more cotton details for those who are interested. Everyone else may want to stop reading now unless you are having trouble with insomnia, then by all means continue.

March 12, 2007 - received 3 varieties of cotton seeds (white, red and green) from mail order
March 15, 2007 - planted seeds in 4 inch peet pots filled with Miracle Grow potting soil. 12 (6 white, 3 red, 3 green) pots were placed in bay window with an eastern exposure. Remaining 3 pots (1 of each type) were placed at a western exposure window. Watering was done as needed to keep the pots moist.

Late May, 5 white, 2 red and 3 green pots had sprouted. All 3 in western exposure sprouted and 7 in Eastern exposure. Plants varied from just a couple leaves to up to 5 leaves. Placed on screened in back porch to harden off in preparation for planting outdoors. Continued to water as needed.

June 2, approximately 11 weeks after starting the plants, they were transferred outside to a full sun location on the corner of the property. Soil in the outside location is just regular dirt (I added nothing special to improve it) although, it is some of the better soil we have on the property since we have a lot of clay which is like growing in rocks. For the first 3 weeks, I watered pretty much daily unless I got help from Mother Nature. Since then it has been just as needed. I lost all but 4 plants usually to the sun burning them off but one was killed by an over-helpful husband, I still have 1 white and 3 green plants. In hind site I shouldn't have planted some of the smaller plants out until they got 4 or 5 leaves on them.

Hope that helps Jean. If you or anyone else has more questions let me know.

Vacation in Maine

Maine was beautiful. We took off on Saturday morning and by Sunday evening we had made it to Portland, Maine (driving, of course, with 4 kids). Maine reminded me a lot of the upper peninsula of Michigan only on a grander scale. The hills and mountains are higher, the rocks are bigger and the water is colder. The kids had a wonderful time climbing on rocks and daring the waves as they came in one the tide. Most of the time the waves won.

We did lots of hiking through Acadia trying to burn off the energy of 4 kids cooped up in a car for too long. Most days it worked and we didn't leave any of them behind in Maine so it was a good vacation. Here is the gang on one of the trails and another shot of a rock they all thought looked like an 'L' which is a joke with the neighbor - L stands for Loser and we will have to get this one framed for the Big M.


If anyone has thought about visiting Maine I would say go for it. We all had lots of fun. On the way home we stopped at several locations including Step Falls in Newry Maine


Toured Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory in Vermont and also the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. Lots of fun.

When I got home I had a package waiting for me. It was the 2008 knitting calendar. I had submitted one of my patterns and they included it in next year's calendar. Guess I can now say I have been published.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, it has been almost 2 weeks since I posted and this one isn't going to be much of a post but at least I can say I am still here.

Working on a design for the journey shawl. Hope to have a picture or two to share in the next week or so since I will have lots of knitting time in the car in the near future.

Garden is growing like a banshee and the cotton plants are looking very good. I still have 4 plants, 3 are green cotton and 1 is standard white. All of them have doubled in size since we got the thunderstorms earlier in the week. Joe at work says they love the nitrogen in the rain. Don't know if he is right but they certainly like something about God's watering over mine. That's ok, I prefer God do the watering as well :o) .

Hubby has been gone for the last week working on a cottage for a friend so I have had to keep the home fire burning on my own. Thankfully he is back.

Getting ready for vacation now, probably won't post again until we get back. Check back in a couple of weeks, I hope to have some awesome pictures to share from Maine.

Let the Journey begin

Last night was the second official meeting of the Journey to a Shawl group at Sip N Knit and the first I was able to attend. Journey to a Shawl was an adventure I heard about through Maple and Cary. If you would like to learn more about the Journey click here. Originally I was going to make the shawl from yarn I purchased some time ago and I have even started that shawl as mentioned in a previous post. But the more I thought about what this is suppose to be...a journey, trying something new, expanding ourselves together...I decided that I should at least try the spinning part of the journey. So last night I took along my spinning wheel instead of my knitting. When I purchased my wheel Alisa threw in the roving and spinning you see at the base of the wheel. It is a beautiful shade of purple which is one of my favorite colors as attested to by the blue purple tiles and purples walls in the background of the picture. She had spun everything you see and decided it wasn't the hobby for her. My plans are to finish spinning the roving and then using my spinning and whatever I need of Alisa's to knit the shawl. This is definitely not lace weight yarn so I am also studying some shawl patterns to get the general idea and then I will come up with something I hope will work with the yarn I have.
On other subjects, I have 3 cotton plants doing really well and 3 others I am hopeful will make it. I lost a couple of them within the first days of being moved outside and yesterday my husband accidentally uprooted one while he was weeding. Luckily it was one of the questionable ones although my last red one that was still hanging in there. He quickly replanted it but the odds are not in it's favor.

Summer vacation has begun for the kids and boredom is looming for them. I need to get the chores list done for them as well as the summer olympic games. And for anyone who is curious about the summer olympics, this is a boredom chaser we started 2 summers ago. Each year we come up with silly games/contests the kids do during the day and then record their progress. Hubby and I try to make sure we note the events recorded through out the week and praise the progress. I will even do up award certificates at the end of summer. Amazingly, each child usually receives the same number of awards. Previous years events have included # of free throws made out of 100, best golf score using the miniature golf course we created in the back yard using empty frosting cups, number of puzzle pieces placed, pages and books read, etc. It is a fun way to get the kids to keep in practice with their sports, keep them reading or just stop boredom.

Off to check on the garden and cotton and then spend some time studying the shawl patterns.

Growing cotton in Michigan

About 9 months ago I got an opportunity to buy a used Louet spinning wheel which I jumped at the chance to purchase. Spinning wheels are one of those things that have fascinated me since I was a small child. Through the Middle of the Mitten group I have also met wonderful ladies through whom I can purchase wool, alpaca and angora roving for spinning but even with these sources I wanted to have my own source of spinning material. I thought about rabbits or a goat but my husband wasn't keen on the idea and I admit I don't really have time to take care of animals. So I found a used copy of the book 'A Weaver's Garden' by Rita Buchanan which tells how to grow many plants for fiber. Flax and hemp are mentioned as being very easy to grow in Northern climates but the preparation of the plant for spinning was somewhat involved, not to mention growing hemp (or marijuana) is illegal and I don't think they would allow my wheel or needles inside the cell with me.

So my next choice was cotton. But I live in Michigan, definitely not cotton growing country but
nothing ventured, nothing gained so off I went to investigate using my trust worthy tool, Google. I found an article by Nev Sweeney describing small scale cotton growing. He described how he had broken several rules of cotton growing but was still successful in his endeavor. With Nev in my corner I found a source for cotton seeds at www.earthlyseed.com (Google again), purchased some peat pots and potting soil and away I went.

Placed the planted seeds on the windowsill about mid March.
It took 2 - 3 weeks for the first little guys to poke their heads out.

At about 10 weeks after planting, I moved the plants from the windowsill to the screened in back porch to prepare them for the fluctuations in Michigan's weather and at 11 weeks I moved them to the selected location in the yard.



Like a hen with her chicks I have been checking them at least daily making sure that they are doing ok and nothing is disturbing their growth. If all goes well I will have 3 kinds of cotton to play with by September, a standard white variety - Upland, a green cotton and Nankeen - a red cotton. Gotta go check on my babies now.

Knitting from the stash

I learned to knit one afternoon at my cousin's house when I was about 8 years old. For the next year or so I could randomly be found messing with the set of needles and yarn my mom had in her collection of hobbies tried and set aside box. Back then I remember casting on by just putting loops on the needle, made for a really loose edge. In 3rd grade I joined the local 4H group. That first year I made 2 pairs of slippers and a hat, mittens and scarf set. The following year I made 2 sweaters, one for myself and one for my little sister. I was well and truly addicted. This afternoon I will work with the 4H group I currently lead and beg them to concentrate on their projects. Most of them will not have picked up the needles since last week when we met last. I have to remind myself that they are learning and not everyone will be as obsessive as I was back then. But I digress...

Once I started babysitting and earning money I began spending that money on yarn. Through high school and college I haunted places like Michael's and Frank's, both of which had much larger selections of yarn than the local Meijer's or Kmart. Anytime there was something on clearance that I liked I picked it up without having any idea of what I would do with it. This habit along with the leftovers from countless afghans has lead to a fairly large stash of yarn which I am currently attempting to work my way through. Much of the stash is used for the doll clothes in my etsy shop but some of the larger quantities I have put to use for bigger projects. A couple of years ago I made a poncho for myself.

My latest stash project (pictured here as it is blocked) is from the 'Saity' pattern at knitty.com. The blue/gray color is from the stash. It is an acrylic yarn called Angorel which was purchased approximately 20 years ago. The navy blue sides are washable Iceland purchased from Threadbear in Lansing. I am pretty happy with the final results. Just have to find some fun buttons, thinking navy blue, to finish it off and I will have a new coat for the fall.

Friendship Sweaters

Thanks to Maple's order for 2 sweaters for her granddaughter's I finally finished writing the hoodie pattern. I usually have to make 3 or 4 sweaters before I am ready to write the pattern. Yesterday I blocked the sweaters and then wrote up the pattern. I am currently working one more sweater from the pattern instead of from my chicken scratchings to make sure I wrote it correctly. Then it will be off to my etsy shop with the pattern.

Next on the doll pattern agenda may be a dress or sundress. Ideas are still percolating.

I also saw the cutest sweater at the wedding last week that I am thinking about making for myself or my girls. It might make a perfect first pattern to submit to knitty.

Now I am off to work on sewing up the sweater I am making for myself. Pictures to share in a day or so hopefully.

Creative Wrapping 101

I picked up a gift certificate for my parents for their 45th wedding anniversary. We are heading over to my sister's house for a family get together in honor of the folks in about an hour. So...I was looking around trying to come up with a way to wrap the certificate. Certificates are great to give and get but they are kinda boring when it comes to the whole gift opening/surprise thing.
Looked through the stash of gift bags and ran across this short little cream colored guy that reminded me of a vase. Thought of the lilacs (which my dad likes) that are growing in various locations in the yard. Now I just needed a vase that travels.
Cottage cheese container, tissue paper and a ribbon and we had it. Put water in the container, place cover on container to prevent splashing, insert flowers into slits cut into cover, wrap with tissue paper held in place with ribbon. More tissue paper in the bag to hold the container and flower steady, insert card and gift certificate in back behind flowers and presto...a nicely wrapped gift certificate. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Stop the world and let me off

Some weeks are crazier than others and this one is shaping up to be one of the craziest in recent history. Since I last posted here my days have been insanely full but this is the norm for May (and why it is one of my least favorite months). Why does everyone schedule events in May? Since last Thursday I have attended the school picnic and served sno-cones for 3 hours, gotten my son and daughter to their soccer games, attended a wedding, did the mom day things for both moms, gotten the other daughter home from track practice, met to plan the girl scout Chicago trip, taken minutes at a 2 hour plus parent school council meeting, went to the girl scout bridging ceremony and worked my 40 hour a week job. We still have a track meet at which I have to work concessions, a couple of soccer and track practices and a 45th anniversary party for my parents to get through. Hopefully Sunday stays open because my oldest desperately needs a new pair of skateboard shoes. We are presently using duct tape to keep them together.
Luckily, I have found a small amount of time to knit. While visiting on Mom's day I finished one of the two american girl doll sweaters ordered by Maple. Picture is not the best since I took it last night during the storm (poor lighting) but this one is peach and the blue yarn next to it is in process of becoming the next one. If things go well tonight at the track meet, I should get home by 8pm so that will leave about an hour in my day to get some more knitting in. Hoping to finish and get them blocked and ready to go by the weekend.

I also managed to get the onions in the garden last night before the rain. Dave got some lettuce and radishes in a couple of night ago and the tomato and pepper plants have been purchased and are residing in the garage presently. Sunday may be the day to finish putting in the garden as well as going shoe shopping and lets not forget that the house is a mess, gotta fit in some house cleaning. Time to head to work.

Elbows and Arms

Yesterday started out like a normal Thursday, get up, go to work, find something to do productive. Then the phone rang and off to get x-rays we go. Megan, our 12 year old, had taken a spill at school that her elbow had not appreciated. So I called the doctor for an x-ray appointment and I called Dave who went and got Megan and met me at the doctors and then we filled out forms and waited. There was no swelling or bleeding so we were pretty sure we just had a bad bruise or hyper extension but better safe than sorry given last fall when Molly sent us through the adventure of 2 broken arms.

X-rays appeared fine (although the radiologist still needs to look at them). Megan is still babying the arm so we will see how today goes and then decide what to do about soccer this weekend.


Then, since it was a beautiful day and nothing pressing was happening at work I got a free afternoon once I dropped Megan back at school. Came home, grabbed some lunch, transplanted some rasberries that were coming up in the cardinal bush hedge and then went through the yarn stash looking for possible colors for the hoodies Maple has commissioned.



Pictured above is my first color choice (in pink) and what I am making (in green). I wasn't sure how much yarn it was going to take and the pink was not enough. I have 2 arms, a front and back but no hood. Guess that one will be finished and posted in the etsy store and we go back to the stash for a larger quantity.

A man and his remote

Don't get between a man and his remote! Our youngest showed his temper earlier today by throwing the remote. We recently applied parental limits on the cable so that the kids would have to go outside or do something else besides watch cartoons. Apparently, Travis was upset when his time was up so he threw the remote and busted it. Like all current technology, using the cable without a remote is not an easy thing. Well, Dad got home, discovered the broken remote and went off the deep end (hmmm wonder where Travis gets his temper from?).

Anyways, Travis (and the other kids by default) are now all banned from the cable. Travis is also banned from the computer. Dave's blood pressure should go down in about an hour and I have disappeared to the computer since conflict and me have never gotten along.

I left Dave with the suggestion that we bring the other cable box from the basement up to the living room TV (has a working remote but of course they are not interchangeable remotes) and we move the living room cable box to the bedroom. This provides me with a few more options of things to watch when the neighbors are over for sports and I disappear with my knitting into the bedroom. Getting up to change the channel doesn't bother me. I remember when TV used to be black and white and someone had to hold the antenna to get the picture to come in correctly.

Kids are now off to bed so it is probably save to go pick up my knitting and relax. I am about to start the collar...the end is near.

Shawl Knitting Begins

I made the trip north today after work to join some lovely ladies in an evening of knitting. These ladies have been meeting every Monday night since last fall, conquering a new sock pattern each month. I haven't been able to join them up until now since my Mondays have been committed to parent school council meetings or the 4H knitting group. But today the stars aligned (in other words, no 4H because no school, records day and no meeting) so my evening was free and, the best part, they have decided to do shawls for the summer and I have had pattern (Point D'Esprit Shawl from Aurora Yarns) and yarn (100% Alpaca from Drops) sitting here for months waiting for me to start. A sign from the heavens... me thinks.

So off I traipsed to Sip N Knit in Ithaca for knitting and socializing. If you are ever in the area I recommend a stop as it is a lovely yarn shop and they serve very tasty sandwiches, soup and slushies. (They also have coffees but I don't have the taste buds for that particular beverage, everyone else seems to enjoy it though.) Did a little socializing, a little knitting (progress pictured along with pattern picture of what it will be when done) and generally relaxed for a couple of hours. Just the way every Monday should end.

Haim on Fire

It took me all day but I finished my entry for the etsy Haim on Fire contest. Not thrilled with the final product but my girls think it is cool. Just the fact that I knit something that looked completely different from one side to the other has them completely baffled.

For me, I need lots more practice on both double knitting and intarsia before I will be happy with the final results but I will say that creating it was fun and it will hopefully increase the traffic to my etsy shop.

Now, back to the spring jacket I am making for myself from my stash. Will hopefully have pictures of that to share by the end of the week.

A New Hobby

Welcome to my new hobby, blogging. Time I started figuring out what this blogging is all about. If nothing else, it will give me something to look back on to figure out what I did last week since the memory isn't what it used to be.

Eventually, once I figure this all out, I will be sharing pictures of what is currently on my needles, recent patterns created for my daughters collection of dolls, how my garden grows and the progress of my current adventure, cotton growing.

Best day of this week was Wednesday. I took a vacation day and treated myself to a Lucy Neatby class. It was such fun and the day flew by. Lucy shared lots of tips and tricks for double knitting. This is a technique I have been playing with recently when I made a hot pad/trivet for my sister in law. She wanted a hot pad big enough to set a cake pan on and pampered chef no longer carries theirs. So last time I was in the yarn shop I picked up some wool and away we went. Some basic double knitting and a little bit of felting and we had a hot pad made to order. Mailed it off to her a couple of days ago. Still waiting to hear from her but hopefully she will like it.