Preemies

I've been crocheting alot of preemie things lately. Here are a few of the things I've done. The pattern for the preemie hats is really easy and you can find it here. The pattern for the preemie afghan is also really easy and the pattern for it is here. I really much prefer knitting, but these things go so fast.

I've also been enamored with dolls lately. I bought this pretty doll the other day on sale for $5.00.

I have several other porcelain dolls too and one day I'm going to take pictures of all of them and put them in a journal or scrapbook.

I've also been into reading stories about dolls. Here are two of the books I read this season. These books were written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor.

Sweet Treat

This is not knitting related, although I guess it could be if I wanted to have a knit-in at my house and serve some of these wonderful treats. I was on my way home from work and I couldn't resist the urge to stop at the bakery and get some of these scrumptious looking petit fours. They are so pretty decorated with Christmas flowers. They are almost too pretty to eat. But not quite.

Felted Hat Finished

Actually, it's been finished for awhile. I know I've been woefully negligent of my blog lately. I just haven't seemed to have the time to post as often as I would like. Anyway, here's a picture of my finished hat. I really enjoyed knitting it, and it felted nicely. It was nice to have that experience of felting. After reading about so many who have felted successfully and unsuccessfully, I was a little afraid to try it on my own. Finally, one day I just got tired of putting if off and decided to felt it, come what may. It turned out fine, and was a great learning experience.


Last week I was off from work the whole week with a nasty cold/flu bug. Today is my first day back at work. A friend had given me a crochet pattern for an afghan that she was making. It looked pretty easy and relaxing and not too taxing on my brain. I had some yarn and I didn't really feel like doing anything else, so I just sat in my recliner while watching TV with Eddie and worked on this afghan. It's turning out really pretty and I already know that I'm going to love it. It's almost big enough to cover my whole body, and I still have a few more rows to go on it.


My friend loaned the book to me that has the pattern in it, but I can't remember the title. It's a book by Leisure Arts, and it's Quick Crochet Afghans, or something like that. I normally don't crochet that much anymore because I love knitting so much, but this pattern was so easy that I couldn't put it down. And did I mention how fast it went? It was a breeze. Before I knew it I had almost an entire afghan finished. If I had been knitting it, I think it would have taken alot longer and been in danger of becoming a UFO. That's why I usually knit small projects like socks and scarves. The afghan was a great thing to do while recuperating from a cold. It's really hard for me to go to bed when I'm sick unless I have the nausea type sickness. So, when I stay up I can't just sit and watch TV with nothing in my hands to do. I just can't do it. I have to have something in my hands that I can do like knitting, sewing, or crocheting, and this afghan just fit the bill.

Felted Hat

Last year a woman in my knitting guild gave us all a pattern that she had that is similar to the Fiber Trends Felted Hat pattern. I made it and then I put it away and never felted it. I kept putting it off because I couldn't find a bowl anywhere to block it on that I thought would be similar to the size of my head. I really wanted to felt the hat, but was afraid, I guess.

Anyway, last Sunday I decided that I was going to felt that hat no matter what. In the meantime I had been reading about how to felt, and I had bought a cotton pillowcase cover to put the hat in, since I didn't want all those fibers to get into my washing machine motor. I put the hat into the pillowcase cover, set the water to hot and put my washing machine on the lowest water setting. I put an old pair of blue jeans in there with it and let it fill up with water and agitate. To begin with I checked about every 5 minutes. When it seemed obvious it was going to take much longer than that, I started checking about every 10 minutes. It ended up taking about 45 minutes for the hat to felt and shrink to what I thought would be the right size. I then shaped it on the bowl I had found, and noticed that the edges were turning up but were floppy. So, I rolled up some washcloths and put them inside the brim of the hat all the way around. It looks like the shape I want, so I've been letting it sit that way for several days. I'll probably take it all off this weekend and see how it shapes out. It looks pretty good right now, so I'll see how it looks this weekend and if it holds it shape. I will try to take a photo of the block in progress and post it within the next couple of days.

I'm really excited about the hat and I hope it holds its shape and fits my head. Several of the women in my knitting guild had brought the ones they had made and they were really nice. They were all similar to the picture above, which is the picture from the pattern from Fiber Trends.

Socks Finished

I finally finished my Opal socks. I'm really pleased with the way they came out. They don't match, but they are snuggly and warm. I started another pair in a darker green with a different type of sock yarn, but I had to stop knitting on the socks to work on Christmas gifts for awhile. I have several different things I'm working on for Christmas gifts. Some are embroidered things, and some are cross stitch and some are knitted things. I'm almost finished with the embroidered and cross stitch items and I'll be glad so I can get back to knitting. I used to be really into cross stitch, but now that I've been knitting for so long, I find cross stitch to be tedious and nerve racking. Knitting is much more relaxing to me. I see a laying to rest, so to speak, of my cross stitching sometime in the near future. Unless it's really small things like Christmas ornaments or something like that.

I was in Dollar General over the weekend and I found this little guy for $1.00.


Eddie saw it and said, "What's that?" I said, "It's a little sheep I found at Dollar General." I said, "You know, knitting??? Sheep???" He said, "Oh." I think he got it.

Socks

I haven't been posting for awhile, and I've been working on several different projects for Christmas and other things. I must have ADD because I seem to go from one thing to the next alot. Right now it's socks. I'm in the mood for knitting socks. I've finished one sock and I'm over halfway finished with the second sock in this pair. I am loving this sock yarn. It's Opal Lollipop sock yarn and the color is 1010. I love the way the color stripes evolve as I'm knitting.

I love Opal sock yarns, but none of my local yarn stores carry that brand, so I have to order them over the Internet. You can go to this site and see almost all the shades available in this yarn. I especially love the Lollipop, Brazil, and I just ordered some yarn in Petticoat and Fish in the Rain Forest Collection. I really wanted to order some more, but I already have quite a stash from some sock yarn that I have bought at my LYS. They have a pretty good selection of self-striping yarns, but I wish they would start selling Opal. I know there are some other good ones out there and I would love to try them sometime.

Yarn Shop "Frequent Buyer Card"

Reading Willa's blog entry prompted me to let off some steam about my LYS's "frequent buyer card".

I understand her frustration about the frequent buyer card. My LYS has one too. I didn't know about it until one day when I was in the shop and the lady who was checking me out asked me if I had one. I didn't, so she gave me one and punched it for my purchases that day. Later on, I read in their newsletter that they charge $1 for the card, but I didn't have my receipt from that day, so I didn't know if they had charged me for the card or not. The card attaches to my key ring and has 10 places on it where it can be punched. Every time I make a $25 purchase they punch it and when it's full, I get $25 credit. So, that basically means that I have to spend $250 to get $25 in free merchandise.

The next time I went in I bought some things that didn't quite come to $25, but did once the tax was added. I was informed that it had to be $25 "before" tax. Another time I went in and bought some sale items and was told it didn't apply to "sale items". Another time I bought a kit that was $55 before tax, and I was on my lunch break and in a hurry, and realized later that I forgot to ask them to punch my card. I took my ticket back and explained to them and they said that they don't punch "after the fact" and said, "See it says it right here on the back of the card."

Now that's just wrong. I don't care if you forgot to ask them to punch it, and you have to ask them (because they "never" remember to do it on their own), but as long as you have your receipt I don't understand why they can't punch it after the fact. It's not like I stole the merchandise from them.

I soon realized that they are not going to really give anything away free that they don't have to. They are in it for the money, after all. I'm considering just taking the card back and telling them to keep it because it's not going to help me any since it has so many stipulations attached to it. If I had another yarn shop that I could go to, I probably would, but since I don't, I don't want to become the bad customer.

Idiosyncrasies

id•i•o•syn•cra•sy - a structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group. Write down 5 of your own idiosyncrasies, then if you wish, tag 5 people.

Chie tagged me to write down 5 of my idiosyncrasies. I know about 2 or 3 so far, and I'll add some more later.

1. I love to read and become very absorbed in the story. I become annoyed when someone interrupts me when I'm reading.

2. I value my privacy and tend to retreat to myself and zone out for reading or knitting or other needlework, especially when I'm stressed.

3. I don't handle stress well, especially when it involves illness and/or death.

4. My dad passed away in 1993 and I'm still not over it. I probably never will be, I've just learned to live with it.

5. I don't have too many friends, but the ones I do have I'm very loyal to and I expect the same from them. That also goes for my husband and family.

6. I love animals and it really bothers me when they are mistreated.

Now that I've started this I can think of more than 5, but I better not post them all here because it could go on and on. I didn't realize I had so many.

Pet Afghan

Isn't this cute? I think I might make one for my cat Heckle. The pattern is here.

Latifa Progress So Far

I decided to post some pictures of my progress on the Latifa scarf. I have to say that I'm really, really enjoying knitting this scarf. I guess it must be because it's such a cool pattern and so easy to do. I love mindless knitting and lots of color and this pattern definitely fits the bill.

I've also just tried the new feature that Blogger has for adding images. It's great! Much easier than Hello. I'm so happy now that it's going to be so much easier for me to post pictures now.

Now that I've seen these pictures I feel like my digital camera definitely did do these colors justice. I really love this scarf. I'm afraid I'm going to have to be selfish and keep this one for myself.

The scarf kit came with 2 skeins of Koigu KPPPM in Color P114, Dye Lot 82, and 1 skein each of Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold in colors 21 (Blue), 20 (Green), 31 (Rust), and 26 (Pink). It's all handpainted, I think, and the colors are really rich and pure looking. I love them. There is one slight difference between the pattern on Knitty.com and the pattern that the yarn store sold with the kit. The difference is that the pattern from the yarn store says that when you are knitting with one color, you knit 36 rows (or 18 ridges), before you begin the next color. I think the pattern from Knitty says to knit until you have either 15 or 16 ridges. I like the 18 ridges better because it shows more of each color block.

Latifa Scarf

I finally broke down and bought a scarf kit at my LYS for the Latifa Scarf. The kit was pricey and I debated about it and decided, what the heck and bought it last week. I love it! It is so beautiful, and I'm really enjoying working on it. It makes me want to make some more, but with a less expensive yarn. As soon as I can make a picture that I can live with, I'll post one. I took one over the weekend with my digital camera, but I didn't think the pictures did the colors of the yarn justice. When I finish this scarf, I'm going to start thinking about making hats and scarves for Christmas gifts.

Shawlette Continued ...

I went this past Saturday and bought the ribbon yarn for the shawlette. After I got home with it I decided I didn't like it because it has alternating sections in it where the yarn is a solid ribbon, then another section where the yarn is sort of split into two smaller sections. It's hard to describe, but when knitting with it, I was having trouble seeing where I had knit the solid part of the ribbon and where I was knitting the split part. It was a headache. So, I just sort of put it aside. Then last night I went to my knitting guild meeting and got some fresh ideas for yarn to use for the shawlette. One person told me that our LYS was going to be getting in some Aurora yarn and it's 750 yds on a ball or cone for around $8 or so. She had already made a shawlette in this yarn and it was gorgeous. The price is much less than what I paid for the yarn that I don't even like. Someone else also said that the shawlette could be made from the Tartelette yarn. I happened to remember that I had bought several skeins of that awhile back for a shell that I never got around to making, so I decided to use that to make the shawlette. I started it last night and I love knitting with it, and I think it's going to be really soft. In the meantime, I'm waiting for some of the Aurora to come in at my LYS. I'm thinking maybe shawlettes for Christmas gifts.

I'll probably use that other yarn for some scarves or something like that. I hope to have a picture soon of the shawlette that I'm working on.

Shawlette

I was in my LYS the other day and saw a pretty shawlette that was on display. I asked one of the ladies there and she said it was a pattern that someone made up and it's not for sale and doesn't have a copyright on it, so I think I'm safe in repeating it here.. They give you a copy of the pattern when you buy the yarn to make the shawlette. I decided I'm going to make it in a soft ribbon yarn in a pretty rainbow color. The yarn is called Laines Du Nord Ombre.

The pattern is basically this:

You need 230 yards of the yarn, which would be approximately 3 balls of 75 yd Laines Du Nord Ombre. Size 17 knitting needles.

Loosely cast on 30 stitches
Knit in garter stitch (knit every row) increasing one stitch at the end of each row until you have 120-130 stitches. Bind off loosely. Crochet a decorative edge if desired.

The one on display had a crochet edging that was in a fuzzy type yarn that contrasted with the color of the shawlette. The shawlette was a variegated rainbow color. It is a really easy pattern and should be fun to make. I can't wait to get started. I'm going to the yarn shop to buy the yarn after work.

Stressed

I'm really stressed right now about my mom. A couple of weeks ago she found out she has an aortic aneurysm. It's not real large, but it's 4.5 cm. Today they are doing an arteriorgram and next week some other preliminary testing to see what they can do about it. Hopefully they can do the stint procedure and it will be a short recovery time.

I always stress when something happens to one of my parents. I lost my dad 12 years ago and I guess I have anxiety about losing my mom too. I know it's hard, but it's life and it's something we all have to deal with at one time or another.

I have been crocheting the Between Meal Doily using the pattern that Chie used to make hers. The pattern can be found at free patterns. It's a really easy pattern and is pretty repetitious once I get the pattern established for a row. It's almost as calming as knitting, but I think right now I need some mindless knitting. I don't know what to make except maybe a chemo hat, or a scarf. Something that is all garter stitch and will put me in a calming, meditative state. It really does help me to have some repetitious, mindless knitting when I'm stressed. It helps me to relax.

Triangle Shawl Finished!

I finally finished my triangle shawl that I have been working on off and on for about 2 years. Joy, joy! I don't know why I lost interest in it, but I'm really glad I picked it back up again and finished it. I just love it and now I'm inspired to make another one. This time I'm going to stick with it and finish it. I used LionBrand Homespun, and really like the colors that evolved. The only thing I didn't like and was time consuming was having to tie knots in the ends of the fringe because Homespun tends to fray so badly. I hope it holds up.

I read somewhere that instead of using the yarn for fringe on one of these, someone used some ribbon for the fringe. That sounds pretty. I might do that next time. That tying the knots was really, really boring and time consuming.

Triangle Shawl

I've been at loose ends lately, not really finding anything that I want to work on. Yesterday I found a shawl that I had started last year and, for some reason, lost interest and just sort of put it back. I'm over halfway finished, so I've decided I'm going to finish it. You can see the pattern at Triangle Shawl. It's a Lion Brand pattern using Lion Brand Homespun. It's really easy to do. Mostly mindless knitting, which seems to be what I need right now. Too many distractions to try and knit a complicated pattern. One of my coworkers brought in a beautiful Lion Brand Homespun project that she is working on. Its pattern is here. It's called Pretty Poncho and she chose an offwhite color to make it in. I would like to use that same color and make a shawl out of it instead of a poncho. The poncho has a hood and I'm not sure if I want that on a poncho. I could maybe still make the poncho, just have an opening for the head without the hood.

I'll have to see how I feel when I finish the Triangle Shawl.

iPod Sock Pattern

This is really ctue. I don't have an iPod, but here is a cute iPod Sock Pattern that can be knitted to protect your iPod. It makes me want to get an iPod.

Rainbow Scarf

Rainbow Scarf

I still haven't figured out how to do this on my home computer, but I took a quick picture this morning of the scarf I made for my 3 year old niece. My boss had bought some of this same yarn and made one for her granddaughter. She had an extra skein of it left and gave it to me. It didn't have the label on it, so I don't know the brand name. I do know where it is at my LYS and I enjoyed working with it so much, I might go back and get some more in another color. This was a fun scarf. I used size 13 knitting needles, cast on 10 and just knit every row until I used up all of my skein, leaving enough to bind off.

In the past, I have been using bamboo or wooden circular needles alot for my knitting because there is less strain on my wrists than using metal or plastic knitting needles. My problem lately with the circulars is that I usually have to buy a longer circular because the yarn store is either out of the shorter size, or they don't carry them at all. I buy the shorter ones because it's much easier to work with than fighting the longer ones. You have that plastic circular thing that just plain gets in the way and is cumbersome. When I have bought straight needles before, I have only been able to find either the metal or plastic in the really long ones and those really put too much strain on my wrists. I don't have carpel tunnel, but I could feel the discomfort using the long straights.

When I bought my needles for the scarf, I noticed that my LYS had the size that I needed in bamboo that looked to be about 9" in length. I decided to try them and I love them! They are super light and it hardly feels like I'm holding needles at all. I would love to go back and see if I can find some more sizes in this length. I would love to find one in a size 15 since I knit alot of scarves with this size needle.

I just happened to already have a size 8 in bamboo that are about 9" long and that's what I"m using to knit the Branching Out scarf. I started it at lunch yesterday and knit the first 10 rows. My hubby and I had someplace we had to go last night, so I went home last night and started knitting on the 11th row thinking that I could get a quick row in before we had to leave. I was also half watching TV at the time and half knitting. Needless to say, I messed up row 11 and after trying to frog to where I made my mistake, I just said to heck with it and frogged it all out. So, this morning I cast on again and got my first 5 rows in garter stitch done. I'll probably work on it some more this weekend. I may not have time to do very much this weekend since it's Mother's Day weekend and we have plans or both Saturday and Sunday. Just from what I knitted yesterday I could see the pattern for the Branching Out scarf evolving and it was very exciting. I can't wait to try it gain and this time pay attention. This may be one of those projects that I just have to find a quiet place and do since I can't seem to do two things at once. Or rather following a pattern like that while watching TV or trying to talk to someone. The pattern is not hard at all, you just have to pay attention to what you are doing.

Branching Out

I have been having some trouble posting pictures to my blog using my home computer. I thought at first it was the Hello software I am using, but after using it today at work with no problem (see my Journal), I realize it's my computer at home. We have dial up and it is painfully slow. I'm going to try again tonight because I want to post a picture of a cute scarf I made for my 3 year old niece.

After seeing Cara's Branching Out Scarf I decided to try one myself. The pattern is available from Knitty. The pattern calls for using Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool yarn, but I decided that, until I know what I'm doing, I would just use some cheaper yarn. Just for practice I'm using Caron's Simply Soft Baby Sport yarn in a soft lavender and size 8 straight knitting needles. I started it at lunch today, and I knitted the first ten rows. I can begin to see the pattern forming and it's really exciting. Instead of following the chart, I'm using the written instructions. I find that I do better reading the instructions than following charts becuase I'm always losing my place. Using the written instructions, I can just mark off each row as I finish it. I think it's going to be pretty easy, providing I don't get too distracted while knitting it and lose my place.

I said that the Caron yarn is cheap. What I mean is that it is a little cheaper in price, but I thought it would do well for practice. It's a good yarn for baby sweaters, and soft scarves. I'm not sure how it will behave for this Branching Out scarf, but since it's a practice scarf, it won't really matter. And, who knows, it might turn out to be a nice scarf.

Relieved

I thought since I had written in my last post about my husband not feeling well, that I should elaborate on that a little more. Last week, he had to have a colonoscopy, but everything is fine, thankfully. It was a little stressful for a few weeks before because he was having a problem that made the test necessary. It was nothing serious and nothing that can't be taken care of easily. I won't go into details because I think there is such a thing as too much information sometimes in medical things.

Last weekend we went to our wonderful Spring Creek Retreat. It was beautiful there, even though it was cold and raining. I got some great pictures and I'm in the process of trying to set up an account in Photobucket and hope to be able to post pictures as soon as I get it set up and figured out. I really miss being able to post pictures. That's one of the things I love about blogging is being able to share my photos, and one of the things I enjoy on others' blogs too.

While we were at Spring Creek I knitted a small scarf for my 3 year old niece. It's really colorful and I think she will like it. Again, I'll post pictures when I get set up to do it again. I have still been a little restless lately, not being able to stick with one thing. I have been going from knitting, to quilting, to cross stitching. It's bizarre and I don't know what's causing it. Maybe I can settle down soon.