Hats for MC

So my more recent projects have involved knitting (and crocheting) hats for a friend of mine's daughter who is being treated for cancer.  She lost her hair and as such needed hats.  I knitted several for her and I tried to pick patterns that were a little more complex just so I'd learn something as well as giving her something pretty to wear.

So here is http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/koolhaas:

 

Here is http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/womens-peaked-cap:

 

 

 

Here is http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tebe-slouch:

 

 

 

Here is http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/anemone-hats:
 

 

Contrary to Popular Belief

No I'm not dead.  Its been another roller coaster year! everything crazy that can happen to me certainly does happen.  So I'm just going to tuck in the crazy and think about what I've learned in knitting this past year.  Last year was neck pain and baby knitting.  This year has been "not so much." 

Again, I managed to start more than I finished.  I bought more than I could ever in a thousand years knit-up. I did finish alot of stuff though.

So let's just catch-up with the baby stuff:

For my niece Lexi's son, Ryan:


Here is his Knitted blanket, hat and the quilt I made:



So my other niece had a son also, named Jackson, here is his knits and quilt:

There's more but I'll stop with that for now because I'm going to be a Gramma!  Well, a step-gramma anyway but still, there's much to knit and sew!

LKW

Nightmarish Meshies

So its been 15 months since I wrote anything meaningful in this blog.  The last real "learning" experience I shared was that I was able to just grab some yarn and needles and make something without instructions or patterns or worrying about it. I have found that to be a very satisfying thing to do especially since I tend to buy yarn on the fly because its pretty and then realize that I really don't have a use for the yarn itself or I don't have enough to complete a project.  Sometimes I do buy enough to make something with, usually I'm thinking, "Oooh, sweater."  Forgetting that making a sweater is a long and arduous prospect for me. Even when I couldn't knit because of the neck thing, I still bought yarn...oodles and oodles of yarn...to make me "feel" better.

I do keep up with everything I make on my Ravelry account. I made many more of the frilly scarves from the crocheted specialty yarns that are popular now.  It took a while but I did get past the nightmarishness of the meshie yarns.  I still find them to be tedious but everyone loves the frilly scarves, including me so I continue to make more of them.

I keep trying to come up with ways to make it easier to knit them.  First, I started with unbundling the entire ball into a plastic project bucket. Then I pulled the mesh apart inch by miserable inch so that the top binding is available and opened up.  This is an "OK" process, its not fun for me though it does work to a degree. The yarn is still pretty wide so it ends up twisting over my working yarn finger such that I can't grab the little opening to knit into. I use this method when I really don't want to do a more effective method.

This is the "bucket" method:

I guess the most effective method is that I unravel and then pick up onto a spare (or two) 14" straight knitting needle.  I just take every other opening and load it onto the spare needle.  This is time consuming but makes for a little more fun in the knitting process.  I just hold the third needle in my left hand along with the working left needle and pull from it as I work.

This is the "spare needle" method:

Of course, the most ineffective method is the "straight off the ball" method.  Geeze, what a nightmare and of course, the first time I tried this I pulled the center out like I usually do with any yarn...very, very bad move.  Pulling from the center causes it to twist up until as mentioned above, it has to be dumped into a bucket and unspun it. The directions on the ball band clearly state not to pull from the center.  I really don't like to read instructions as I have mentioned in earlier blogs.

One of the shorter frillies I gave to my second cousin who is 8 years old for Christmas.  She really loved it and so did her grandmother (my aunt).  So my Aunt sends me two skeins of this stuff and wants two scarves made out of it.  I've finished one and still have the second to do.  They actually don't take all that long, they are just not that fun to make. This really shows that I'm a process knitter and not a product knitter.  It is great that these turn out so well and look so nice but I would not want to be knitting for the product all the time. The product is good but it really is secondary for me.

Just this past week I bought two more balls of Sashay yarn.  The manufacturers are really making some nice frilly yarns.  I guess I'll make myself two of these. How I overcome the effects of the nightmarish meshie is that I knit something fun in-between that I really like so that I don't get peeved.

Communications Breakdown

Well, it has been a while since I wrote in this blog.  I have learned so much these past 10 months its will be a trick to get it all written down.  I didn't really knit from January through May because I was found to have a herniated disc in my neck.  I wanted to knit, believe me but I really couldn't look down comfortably and my right arm would go numb periodically or hurt like the very devil.  I couldn't even enjoy reading which is, of course, my second love.  I couldn't sleep lying down which is tiring to say the least.

Once I started knitting again it was like falling in love all over again.  So I will do some installments on what all has been learned.  I will be listing all the baby stuff I've made.  Good grief I have knitted me some baby stuff.  And there's still more to do.

Until I get my picture loaded and my stuff together, I'll just say, its good to be back, its good to feel good.

LKWs

Pain in the Neck

So I was not able to knit for 4 days.  I had a serious pain in the neck...a pinched nerve. Ouch. It has been miserable, I couldn't read, I couldn't knit, I couldn't enjoy my usual comforts like my bed.  I've been sleeping in a recliner now for 5 days.  I am on an anti-inflammatory but still can't lay down in my bed at night.  I did knit for about an hour last night.  That was nice.

I am in my planning stages for my auld lang whine.  I am working on my lists of stuff to knit up this year.  At Christmas, my youngest niece was not opening the gift I gave her and her comment was that she'd just see what everyone else got because they all got the same thing in different colors.  So needless to say, she will never, ever get what the other girls get ever, ever, ever again.  Maybe that was her plan. So with that in mind, I can knit just about 33% more for the other girls.  I am good with that!

Also, to my wonderful amazement, my oldest niece is having a baby next year. I can concentrate on knitting for the new "girl" (or boy) instead of the cranky teen aged girl. And, even more wonderful, my husband has a niece that is due for a baby about the same time this year.  Jeepers, I better get to knittin'. To top that off, both of these babies to be have daddies that are going to Iraq in February. So my nieces will become moms without their husbands there to be with them.  That is a bummer to say the least.

I have also renewed my desire to knit for charity.  I have so much excess yarn I could make hats and mitts and scarves and whatevers...but again, I have visions of all the work I can do while I sit here with my pain in the neck!

As I mentioned in my last little bloggity-blah-blah-blah, I have 22 items on the needles that require attention. I have in fact listed them and prioritized them by percentage of doneness. I would prefer percentage of funness but well, I just like to knit.  Maybe I can get some pictures on here so that all this boring chit-chat will be less annoying (to me) and more enjoyable (for you).

I am back! almost...

Auld Lang Whine

I have been madly reworking my yarn room, commonly known at my house as "the Pit."  I make my kids clean up their rooms so they thought I should clean up mine.  What is it with kids today?  They act like they have minds of their own or something.  When I was a kid, I would never have told my mother what she should do even if she was wrong!  Oh, well, they were right and my room needed a refresh.

So I've been reorganizing and preparing my knitting new year's resolutions.  The "Auld Lang Whine" as I like to call it.  I realized I've put at least (there may be other lurking in hidden places) 22 projects on the needles that are yet to be completed. I am now in the process of prioritizing them. My goal is to either complete these or frog them.  Just make a decision and go with it.  That's list one.

List two will be to assess the yarn that is designated for a project and write those down, prioritize and set them aside until I finish at least 3 from list one before starting a list two project.  You might say, "Lori, that's just crazy."  Well, I've never been accused of being a bastion of mental health. 

There may be a third list of non-designated items.  This would be an arduous task even for someone who doesn't have ADD.  That list is a kind of "pie in the sky" list. But I am a dreamer and I love to dream about all the possibilities I could have with all that non-designated yarn... /snap.

Ignore me while I argue amongst myselves:
      Left brain: "Don't worry about it..."
      Right brain: "Chump!"

I crack me up sometimes.

Time Marches On

When I was young, I would stay up every New Year's Eve and wait for the "ball" to drop on New York City (re-run for central time, of course).  It would bring in the new year with fabulous promise,  opportunity and hope.  It was refreshing and invigorating and all the positive things I would think as I looked forward to my life, renewed with the new year. Somewhere along the way, I lost that hopefulness.  Now if its 10:00, I go to bed, even on New Year's night. Sadly, I am no longer excited by time marching on. I've come to realize that my life has been going no where for a long time.

I went to church on Sunday (twice) and listened to the sermon (twice) but I definitely needed to hear it (twice). I think I tend to think of my life as a failure but only because I've listened to a lot of negative criticism.  The sermon talked about all the little things we do everyday that are accomplishments and praises that we don't really even think about; that we forget about. The little joys should be brought into the forefront of our lives and the disappointments should left behind.

I woke up this morning thinking about how knitting has helped me to be more hopeful and joyful all year round. I think about the people I love all year because it takes me all year to to get it all knitted. In my own peculiar way, that's my praise.  I get to do what I really like and seem to have a modest talent for and I get to show the people that I love that I love them and think about them all year.

Once again, I am loathe to come up with those unattainable new year's resolutions.  But I have discovered that those resolutions do a couple of things, first, they get one off of one's proverbial duff and move one in a positive direction. This past year, I have gained even more weight, allowed more disappointment to soak up my already shallow pool of hope and choked down additional negativity from certain members of my family.

I have become "silent" again.

I had promised myself after my last divorce 8 years ago that it wouldn't happen again but here I am, silent and disappointed. I learned a long time ago that if you're not willing to do something about "it" (whatever "it" is) then shut up.

So I will make some new year's resolutions this year.  I need to lose weight, get off my bottom and go do something. I will definitely look for the accomplishments and joys in everyday life and I will write them down (as suggested in the sermon) so that I can reclaim the joy that each day will bring.

I hope your new year is full of hope, opportunity and joy.  I wish this for myself as well.

Woolies

Saturday Morning I finally received my 2011 share from the Jacobs reward farm.  I was very excited.  Although I thought I was getting a bag full of Jacob sheep wool, I actually received several things: Gulf coast sheet roving, 4 oz.; Texas Grown ginned cotton, 8 oz.; Alpaca Roving, 16 oz.; A small baggie of locally raised Mohair Locks.  All of it is quite lovely but I was expecting some tri-colored Jacob's wool. 

So now comes the hard part, working it all up into something that I can knit.  My friend, that is also a shareholder in the fiber farm is planning to spin hers into something wonderful. I need to do that too.  I also have several other baggies of roving that really should be spun as well.  And dyed, possibly?  I guess it will take a while to work up my nerve. Unlike many things that I've been interested in, I can't seem to just jump right in.  That's usually what I'm good at with a "whatever happens happens" attitude.

The other fiber I have is a small bag of tri-colored Jacob, about 16 oz of Perendale-Romney carded wool and 8 oz of Grey Norwegian roving. 

I also bought a hand spun skein of Blue Faces Leicester.  Wow, so soft and beautiful.  It is what I'm going to use as the "goal" for my spinning (someday, we can hope). Its in the freezer right now.  Since I didn't know where it had been and for how long, I thought I take no chances on bringing home a moth infestation.  My yarn stash thanks me.

My Second Year

So I've completed my second year of knitting, yay!!!  It has been more of challenge than the first year.  Probably because I know enough to be dangerous now. And "dangerous" is my middle name!  What can I say, I am game to try just about anything.  Dangerous = Clueless with an Attitude.

Tons of great projects: some were really successful and some, well, in the words of my dear husband, looked like brains.  All in all I have had more confidence and more satisfaction with my knitting but also the frustration seems to paralyze me (which it didn't in the first year).  I think that comes from trying to re-think something that I've run out of talent to think upon!

My husband doesn't read my blog although he says he does, but his support of my knitting really makes it that much more fun and relaxing. When we're getting ready to watch a movie or NASCAR racing, he'll say, "Hurry and go get your knitting!" He really knows me and cares about what I care about.  Gee, he's really great! /smile

So I finished a 100th project during this past year.  The wonderful lace shawl.  The thing I didn't mention when I blogged about it was that I had to tear out the lace portion multiple times and thankfully, I had used a life line every 4 to 6 rows.  What a save(s). I have pictures of the many un-knits and re-knits.

Lately, I've thrown together a few non-pattern items, granted they are mostly rectangles and you would hope someone who has been knitting a little while would know how to make garter stitch rectangles. I've started to really embrace the garter stitch.  When I first started knitting I was all about the stockinette but now, I'm a more versatile knitter. /laugh

Brown woolly hat and scarf.  This is a craft store yarn wool blend (Vitner) and it is so soft and so washable! Fantastic!  Also when I first started I was a little more of a yarn snob but no longer, again, I've changed. I started this scarf in order to teach a friend of mine to knit.  I seemed to have some yarn left over so I started the hat but then in order to finish said hat, I had to buy another skein.  Poor me...

Another little left over scarf includes the yarns from my niece's hat and mitts from Christmas.  Three strands and I used US19 (15mm) needles, CO 10 and garter stitch until the yarn is gone. She was the only one of my nieces that sent me a picture of her wearing the hat and sent me a "thanks, aunt Lori" so she gets a little something extra in her Christmas box! this thing took me a total of three hours!!!  Talk about EASY. I can't wait to make some more!



Happy Knitting, friends!

Cabling

So after the brain-cabled hat, I decided for something a little more delicate for a cable project.  I must say, I did a pretty good job.  I was all about concentrating on what I was doing so that I wouldn't have a second disappointment.  I think the yarn I chose was not the best choice for this hat but at least it doesn't look like brains. It actually looks like the picture in Knit Noro except this yarn is varigated and the Noro is striping.

I started to make some matching mitts but I miscalculated the number of cast-on stitches so by the time I got to the hand section, they were enormous.  I frogged them immediately.

I've also been busy with some other knitting.  I made my husband a wash cloth.  He doesn't like presents so I just knitted and put it on his side of the counter in the bathroom.  I wanted him to see it so I set it on his cell phone.  He thought it was something to put the cell phone in. I guess it was the "Packaging." I used one of my handy girlscout knots on the knitted rope "ribbon" which confuses everyone I give it to. 

In order to try to use up some yarn, I made this next scarf with several still undone in the closet. I just wanted to make something with this Regatta yarn.  The colors are so interesting to me. I'll need to make a hat to go with it which totally usurps my plan to get rid of yarn because I'll have to buy more.  Maybe there is no such thinkg as using up yarn...maybe that's a myth.



And Now a Word About Cables

I'm not sure what that "word" is except maybe...ooh. And I don't mean that in a good way. I mean it like "wow, learn to read cable instructions before embarking on anything containing them!"

Sadly, my husband said the hat looked like brains.

So a C6F, C6B means something different than what I have here.  I actually don't think its completely horrid but I did get some really unpleasant looks from my family. Maybe it is horrid.  The picture looks better than the hat in reality.

I'm still learning, that is the bright side.  I feel really good about making a project with cables even if it does look like brains.

Baby Cardigan-again-again

I've finished the baby cardigan.  It is so sweet and soft and cuddly...mmmmm. I wish I had one for myself.  A great big, soft cardi to snuggle up in.  Babies are so lucky.  I know the baby I made this one for will be blessed as I know he will be loved! Matching hat too!

Now the buttons, well, I just couldn't find a button I liked that was the right color.  And strange as it seems, I really don't care for specialty buttons like little duckies but these matched so darn well. 

Happy Mother's Day to all.  It is truly a privledge to be someone's mom and to be loved by one!

Off the Farm

So wow, it has been a significant time since I wrote in my blog.  I'm sure I've lost all two of the readers I had. I have been knitting and reading.  Usually if I'm off the farm for a period its because some book(s) has called me away.  But I seem to have been reading and reading and reading lately.  I've read all three of The Hunger Games books, the first three books of A Song of Ice and Fire (Games of Thrones series) and am about 1/3 of the way through the Fall of Giants. I am not sure when my reading appetite returned but I just can't put the books down!

I have done some knitting, I have the dress for a girl turning one started and a baby hat with matching sweater and the front panel of a sweater.  I just need to get back in the swing of things.  I've lost direction.  I understand that there's is yet another baby to knit for so maybe I can get back on track!

Nightmare on Yarn St-Part I

Well it has been a while since I wrote in the blog.  I have been so busy but not too busy to knit. I've tried the new specialty yarn for making frilly scarves.  I've tried 4 of the 8 types I've bought.  At first I thought I had made a huge mistake buying all this specialty yarn.  I just couldn't knit it!!!  It was a yarn nightmare!  But needless to say I figured them out...for the most part.  I just had to turn into Freddie Kruger of the Knitting World, Grrrrr.

Two have become pretty nice scarves. One is still in process but coming along nicely. The fourth was nearly impossible to work with but I'm sure I'll get it figured out (Grrr, again). 

Katia Ribbon:

 Ronda Pirouette:

 Katia Triana:

I also tried a shawl that's not quite complete but made on size 35mm needles.  Its pretty and I think I'll like it once the crochet edging is done on it. Somehow, I've managed to lose the tag that came with it.  It is just a collage of about (if I counted right) 12 different mostly non-yarns, if that makes sense.  Its ribbon, string (albeit fancy string), Boucle yarn, sequin stranded together on thread, etc. 

I've also got babies to think about.  One baby will be "one" at the end of the month.  So she needs something special.  I bought some really nice red yarn for a sweater or dress but I haven't much time to get to it. 

Baby Cashmerino:

Then a lovely girl at my church is expecting but I don't expect very soon, I have a few months before the baby showers begin. there will also be a sweater to go with the hat. :)

New baby hat:

I still have three scarves I've cast on in the process of teaching people to knit and I always joke with them that they are challenged to finish theirs before I finish mine.  So far they've all beaten me, HA!  Not much of a challenge, am I? I also haven't worked on these much.  I work on them when I want to watch TV which is usually only during NASCAR!

My sweet husband bought me some sock yarn one day and I cast that on right away so he knows how much I appreciate the gift.  I thought I'd try out The Yarn Harlot's "A Good Plain Sock."I've actually been working on these most of the week.  Still, I haven't made it to the heels yet.

So here's me with toooooo many irons in the fire as per usual.  But enjoying myself so much, also as per usual! I've knitted some other stuff too but I think I'll save those for a "cameo" appearance at the homeless shelter!

My 100th Project

I have completed my 100th Project: The Olympia Shawl.  Learning to knit has been a wonderful journey for me.  I have tried tons of different yarns and methods and patterns and....and....and, etc.  On this shawl alone, I have knitted, unknitted, reknitted, and even a small moment where I thought this would end up in the trash but alas, here it is.  I can't think of anything else to say except...Ta-da!

Yarn Shopping

Yesterday, my favorite yarn shop had a 50% off sale.  A friend of mine and I went trekking across the reservoir to Plano, Texas to shop at the Woolie Ewe.  We spent about an hour and a half there.  I was like a kid in a candy store. 

My friend is a new knitter and hadn't been to the Woolie Ewe before and she looked like I did the first time I went.  You can see that "I don't know what to look at first..." glint in her eye but she managed make some fantastic selections of beautiful yarn to make fingerless mitts with.

Our plan was to purchase yarn to make mitts from the new Antje Gillingham book, Knitting Circles Around Mittens and More.  This is exactly what she did:  she bought several yarns to make mitts out of the new book.  Me, on the other hand, I bought mitts yarn, and scarf yarns and a couple of yarns I don't even know what to do with.  I had a blast but as usual my focus is mediocre at best!

Wool and polyester, 4 different kinds of cashmere silk aran, 100% extra fine merino, and something with silk ribbons hanging out of it. You can see I had kind of a pink/red and blue/gray theme going yesterday.  With one exception, the AIR fall color yarn lurking in the back.

So we headed to lunch and then back to her place to cast on.  After we got there, I realized I had brought the wrong bag of stuff so I couldn't start my new mitts.  I got her started but being me, I was thinking of how I cast on the mitts instead of following the instructions... Consequently, I had her knitting the first row instead of K2, P2 ribbing.  Eeep!  So my teaching skills were seriously lacking but I made up for it last night and taught two other friends how to knit ; )

Whenever I screw up like that I always think of the old saying that "errors are part of baseball" and well, same for knitting, too. I make errors quite often with my "cursed mitt" and I'm OK with that, unfortunately, I've been known to spread that to my innocent students. Someday I'll have to share with you how I compare my life to being a 2nd base baseball player on a minor league team with a cursed mitt....but I'll save that for one of those days when I feel philosophical.  In the mean time...Good yarn hunting to you all!

Back on Track

So I did finally finish something and get back on my list.  So far so good!  Knitters repentance, I guess. Here is the finished comfort shawl.  I'd planned to drape this around me when I'm chilly, like on Saturday mornings when its cold.  Except it was 74F on Friday and well, I may not get much use out of this thing.  But its pretty and it is my colors.

Comfort Shawl:

I made another pair of Mitts.  My stepmom called after Christmas and ordered two pairs (like I'm some kind of online store, lol).  She said, "I need a pair that matches my hat....and a pair I can smoke in."  So, OK, here is a pair for her to wear outside to smoke in. The ones to match the hat next month, I think, if I don't get ahead of myself which I am wont to do!!!

High Meadow Mitts:

Lastly, I tried felting, which to my surprise went remarkably well.  I guess i didn't realize how easy it is to felt something.  I did follow the instructions and if you've read any of my posts I am not necessarily a "reader" of instructions.  I'd say I am more of a"viewer" of instructions.  If it has nice, instructive pictures then I'm all set!

Felted Needle Bowl

Before felting:

 After felting:

Strangely enough, they take a whole lotta yarn!!!!  But I'll have to make more since I have more needles to store.  Also, I think I need to make it a tad taller.

A friend of mine said I should add the pattern links to my posts.  So if you'll notice above, I've linked to my Ravelry page.  So if there is a pattern that I've purchased, bought, borrowed, or drawn upon, it will take you there.  If I've come up with it myself or heavily modified it, I usually will put this in the notes or if not, just ask, I'll share with you what I've done.

The January Effect

Time again to think about the coming year and all the great patterns and yarn there are to knit out out in the world. For some reason, and I really can't say why, January makes me want to plan.  I call this "The January Effect."

Even as a fairly new knitter, I can grasp with my rational mind how planning and knitting do not co-exist on the same plane.  This is plain to anyone who understands the difference between the creative and the organized.  I understand that some people are both creative and organized and frankly, I can be one or the other but not both at once. 

So this year, I've resisted.  I do know there will be Christmas to plan at some point, but I did not sit down and write it all out...not yet.  And I guess it's kinda hard to think about all the new stuff and plan it out when my 2011 list of "big" projects looms large. So here's the old list, the 2011 list that now becomes the 2012 list that I refuse to write, except here it is (I just said that!):

11 Joseph's Sweater:

10 Country Weekend Sweater:

9 Big Cable Wrap:

8 Mixed Media Sweater:

7 Paton's 4-strand blanket: 

6 Black-Jack Socks:

5 Bourbon Sweater:

4 Water Color Shawl:

3 Sweet Shawl (this is going to need a little re-work, I think the last few rows look wrong, drat!):

2 Olympia Shawl (this was taken during a severe corrective action, over 900 stitches had to be removed and re-knitted):

1 The Comfort Shawl (just one more skein to finish this!):