Funkalicious Wrap

While you were all dancing in the new year, the stroke of midnight found me casting on for this drop stitch wrap.
I am officially in love with my steamer. The yarn was soft to begin with and I made it to the size specified, but I wanted to give it more width and so I pinned it to the press board and my steamer went to town on it. Not only did I get the size I wanted, but the thing makes the yarn so much softer and it smells so nice! I even believe it makes the colors pop ever so much.
It is six feet long and about 3 feet wide so it has plenty of wrapablilty. (Spellchecker will have a field day with that one!)
There is a story that goes with this wrap called 'How A Stash Gets Borned.' I shall save that story for another day - like tomorrow. But for now, I am enjoying this latest little creation. I snuggled with it for a little bit and it is now safely enshrined in it's bag ready for someone to claim it - for a price.

What You Do When You're Supposed to Be Cleaning the Bathroom

1. I have cleaning the bathroom and hall on my schedule today.
2. I also have work on my schedule today and I did it.
3. I have a workout on my schedule today - and I did that, too. (Kendall Hogan is one hot dude!)
4. I earned a break after doing the work and the workout and not eating breakfast until noon.

I also have some work I need to do for a concert and church on the schedule and I need to stop at Marilyn's to fix her computer (it doesn't recognize her printer.) Then I have to go off to choir rehearsal. I also have to clean out my car. I could be doing any of that right now instead of being here. But I think it's important to show you the cute legwarmers I was working on instead of doing all the aforementioned things I coulda, shoulda been doing.

I love this color. It's claret from Caron By the Pound (eventually I will run out of the this yarn)
and I am using some Lion Trellis for the ribbon. The first legwarmer was finished on Thanksgiving Day when we were at my sister-in-law's house. I asked my niece to try it on and my sister-in-law pouted a little because I did not ask her to try it on. I have no reason for choosing one over the other; that's just how it happened. The other legwarmer was finished a little while ago and here they are. The pattern came from One Skein.

No, I am not going to clean the bathroom and the hall right now. I have to take a shower and get dressed and get to Marilyn's - I will get to the bathroom and all the other stuff I have to get to. But knitting waits for no one.

Oh Yeah, I Knit

Here are two of the scarves I recently completed. I just wanted to do something easy and mindless and these certainly fit. They were both completed sometime last month. The one on the left is the unixes scarf. Same pattern on both sides - it's kinda long (not nearly as long as my sunset strip scarf which could fit someone seven feet tall) but it works for both sexes.

As does the simple garter stitch scarf on the right. Here's the thing about that scarf. I was using yarn which was donated to our knit group and this yarn is so old it's marked with the Venture store logo. Venture has not been in business since sometime in the early nineties. I pulled out to skeins of green yards and gotta knittin'. It wasn't until I was almost finished when I noticed the greens were two different dye lots and were not the same. I had already started using the second ball -what to do?

I bound off the green on one end, picked up stitches on the other end and so it looks like the scarf is trimmed in one color and the body is knit in the other. - That's right, folks - that's what the price of a college education will get you!

The Purple Afghan

I finished this afghan last month. It took a few weeks to knit and I was having a problem because there had to be a crochet slip stitch done along the 'cross section' of the afghan and it took me a little while to figure it out. But I did figure it out and now Billie (my maid of honor) owns the afghan because she loves the purple. So, while it was probably headed towards the sale - it is in a happy home.
It was made with...oh, you know, Caron by the Pound in lavender, orchid and dark violet. Double strands of each. The pattern is from Classic Quick Knit Throws. It is the autumn one and I have to say though it was relatively quick, it wasn't easy. I think they rate it as intermediate level and I would have to agree.

Alas, I did not finish my afghan in time to medal for Ravelympics. I would have received two more medals had I finished, but it just wasn't to be. I picked up some new clients instead and I've had to put down all things knitting and....work!

In fact, I must leave here and go back to my desk for a few hours of work before I can turn in. Hopefully, I will be in bed by 2!

Purple Quick Knit

Isn't it cute? It looks blue in the photo, but that's just because of the flash. It's my favorite color-purple. The one on the right is without the flash. (I just stick things on Marilyn's head and take pictures. She's so used to it, she just kept on knitting away. I'm not sure if I stuck a pom-pom on the top, though I think one would look really cute.

This was going to be my entry hat for Ravelympics, but decided I needed to design my own - pray for me friends, I still have four strips to complete in five days to earn my afghan marathon medal. It's going to be a photo finish!

This is almost the same as the other quick knit hat except I used a different stitch. It's a knock off from Quick Knit - Cool Accessories. It's probably Caron By the Pound because I don't have any other yarn in purple. Well, I think I have some Hobby Lobby yarn in purple, but I haven't knit with it yet.
Check out the archive for the info on the hat!

Ravelympians Unite!

It's almost time for the Ravelympics to begin. I am entered into three events: hat dash, scarf stroke, and afghan marathon. Oops, make that four, I am also in the design discus since I'm designing all the things I am making.

Tomorrow is also a StitchCraft session so I will be knitting with friends at the church. I already have the designs in mind. I will need to cast on during the opening ceremonies and complete them all within the next 2.5 weeks. That shouldn't be too hard. If I stay up late this evening and finish the scarf I'm working on now. (The added incentive is that when I finish the scarf, the set will be complete and they will go from my house to Marilyn's house where all the completed items are stored!) Less stuff in my house - more stuff in her house; that's my definition of fair. (Hey, I store the yarn at my house and trust me, there's a boat load of that as well.)

Good luck to all the Ravelympians and to all the Olympians as well. I hate the United States has silenced our athletes about other things going on in the world - it's not just sports; it's sportmanship and that goes beyond the playing field. I think we should let our athletes be all around people and not just players.

But I'll watch the track and field and the other events because i love the games and the sports!

The Prayer Shawl - The Travis Wrap

I wish I didn't need to make this prayer wrap. A very dear friend of mine lost his son in an auto accident. I didn't know what to do for him. I've never seen him so vulnerable with hints of being lost. I told him how sorry I was and later as I was sitting and knitting, I remembered I started a knit group that had as one of it's missions to provide shawls for those who have suffered a loss. Though we have only given shawls to those who have lost loved ones in war; there was no reason not to give my friend a shawl to honor the life of his son.

I started knitting it and I worried it wasn't the right color because I started out with just the cream color. I took it out and added the purple. I didn't like the pattern stitch so I did my own. I love the generous size of it. It wraps around me and is very comforting so I am hoping he and members of his family find comfort in it as well.

The fringe was added at random - three to each tassel - some are all cream, some all purple; most a combination. I finished this while watching The Color Purple at 4 in the morning. My husband came downstairs to go to work, saw me wrapped in it and said "Very nice." I took it to church so the knit group could see it and they all thought is was great. One of the pastors walked in the parlor and he blessed it so it is now on the way to my friend. It will arrive at his home before he returns so it will be waiting for him.

It's the least I can do.

The Trouble With Prayer Shawls

We sent out nine prayer shawls today as part of our work with Prayer Shawls 4 Fallen Soldiers. The last time we sent out the informational letters, we got no response. We received a letter after the shawls were delivered and you can find it on the blog in the January archives.

It was great to get that letter, but there's only one problem with doing this ministry - you never how to, or when to, smile. I mean the reason anyone gets these particular shawls is because they've lost a loved one. They are not injured, they are not missing - they are gone.

In our efforts to make sense of it and to show a heartfelt love and support, we send a prayer shawl to a family we most do not know hoping they will take our offer of love and not feel as if we are intruding on their own personal and private struggle.

We train ourselves to believe that what we do is a right thing. We train ourselves never to expect to hear from a family member and if we do, we prepare ourselves to hear a family member voice displeasure. From the batch of letters I recently sent out, I received three phone calls.

There was a mother who told me about her son and how he had gotten an apartment not far from the Chicago beaches and he loved living there.

Then there was a call from a mom who appreciated the program and looked forward to getting the shawl and wanted to change the address we had.

Then there was the call from the father who appreciated what we do and wanted us to know the child he lost was his only son. He also said there were three boys lost in his very small town and he wanted to make sure I got the name of one of the men he saw just the other day. He gave me the name - I did recognize it, and when I looked it up, I discovered we sent the letter to his ex-wife. Looking over the entire list, I saw there were several soldiers with divorced parents. Fathers and mothers lost their child and that doesn't change because the marriage didn't last. So, we pulled out more prayer shawls to send one to each parent.

It felt good talking to each parent; knowing what we did was appreciated and how they felt assured that we did not forget their children in an unpopular conflict, They were happy to share bits and memories of their children's lives with me and I was touched and happy to hear them. I feel full and blessed to be able to contribute and to want to give something even though I still don't understand how we got here - it's important, but not at that exact moment when a parent is talking about the child with all the memories made. It's those times when it's more important to do the good and right thing. It's the time to listen.

Still don't know when to smile.

Knitting One Project at a Time

Here's the thing: I used to have up to seven knitting projects going at one time. I would alternate them every day. Then one day, I thought I was driving myself crazy. So I changed my chaotic way and went down to one project at a time and I think I've probably been that way for the better part of a year.

Every once in a while I would put down a project to whip off a quick prayer shawl because we needed one at church or a hospital would contact us saying they needed more preemie hats, but as a rule, I was doing just one project at a time.

At the moment, I am working on some squares for an afghan I designed and I have the itch to begin another project. I find there may be several reasons for this:

1. We have a sale coming in November and I am always worried about not having enough items to sell.

2. My next 10 projects are full sized afghans (I don't work on more than one, but I know what they are) and I am a bit afraid of never leaving the afghan world if I don't get through these next ten projects.

3. I have a ton of yarn but I always have the urge to buy more. However, my house already resembles a LYS so I have to use it up before I can satisfy the gnawing urge to order more.

4. I'm stalling because the colors I chose for my design is not as stunning as I thought, but I have to carry it through. (None of the photos in this post is the square - under wraps it is.)

5. The squares will take a bit of time to complete and I have the attention span the size of a newborn gnat.

Now, I personally believe there's a little bit of all those reasons in the itch I have, but the last two are probably the most true with reason three a strong next in line.
So, will I start a new project? Not today. But I have solved the problem by putting a new item in my schedule: "New project" Yep, it's an actual part of my schedule like my workout and cleaning the kitchen. My weekly schedule takes about 10 days to get through so I suspect I will start the next afghan around Tuesday or so. I believe I can happily alternate between two projects and by the time I get around to that entry in my schedule again, one of them will probably be very close to completion and I will be ready to begin again - because hope springs eternal.

What's New

OK, so it's been about eleven days since my last entry. I actually have completed two more projects in that time. I've done a prayer shawl and I just completed a hat and scarf project. I've taken the pics of them and they are on the laptop computer. I just haven't gotten around to writing and posting.

I suppose life has been in the way...which really isn't an excuse at all. I haven't thought about the postings and when I have; i haven't thought enough to get up and write about the knitting I've been doing.

And I've been doing the knitting. The truth is, I had begun to design my own afghan making my first pattern and I didn't like how it turned out. That's when I moved on to the prayer shawl and the hat and scarf. But, I looked in my books, 200 Knitted Blocks and Knitting Out of Africa and I came up with something.

I didn't think I was ready to tackle the sweater in the Africa book, but it did include the pattern for a square I could make and I was thinking about how to do the design. I know that same square is the 200 book so I leafed through it and came up with a design I really liked. I looked all through the book again to make sure I wasn't stealing a design and I wasn't. I started work on the afghan last night using the yarn I have left over from the Sit & Knit. It will take a total of 56 squares. Of course, if it comes out right, I will have made a major breakthrough.

Wish me luck!

The Knitter's Restaurant -Color Block Afghan

It seems like it took forever for this afghan to be done and when i finally laid it out - it's huge! This is draped over the dog's cubby hole with more to spare!

This was a very simple design and was a way to use up a whole bunch of yarn! This is mostly done in Caron By the Pound, but there's a few Red Heart and Herschnerr's in there somewhere.

Basically, it's six strips of seven blocks in a stockinette rib of 46 rows per color; 33 stitches per strip. I used the cream as the main color then just placed about seven other colors in a tote bag and pulled them out at random. I used size 8 needles.

It's fluffy, soft and warm. It is certainly colorful. It reminds me of the Twister game - though this would be very hard to play it on!

If you need to follow a pattern; the one which inspired this afghan is here.
It uses only three colors and is way smaller, but is a nice, novice pattern that produces a very nice result. You can follow it to the letter, of course, or just get crazy and do your own thing!

This will be placed in the completed project bag and held until the November craft sale.

Knitter's Restaurant - Drawstring Bag

Information for the Sit & Knit is here.

Ok, so here's this cute drawstring bag from Vicki Square's Folk Bags

I used Bernat Chunky yarn (discontinued - I got four huge skeins for $3 each) and size ten needles. The handles are a bit long, but I still think the bag will have great use. I don't know yet if I will ask Lois to line it. I don't think it would hurt to have it lined, but it is a thick basket stitch so it might not need it. I don't think it will stretch out much.

You'll enjoy learning the stitch (knitting in the second stitch on the needle and before removing it, knitting in the first stitch and then removing the first and second at the same time. You do the same thing on the purl side - except you purl, of course.)

You will get the stockinette curl, but since it creates such a thick, stiff fabric, the curl is on the cast on edge and is very easy to deal with.

I must say I am glad the project is over and though it only took about four days. It wasn't the easiest project to work on. First, the stitch pattern itself makes a stiff fabric. I cast on and started out using my bamboo needles (I don't have size 10 rosewoods) and the yarn was so stiff on the needles, I had to move to metal and even then it took some time for the fabric to loosen.
Second, I have, as I know I have stated before, man hands, and it wasn't the most comfortable stitch for my hands.

However, there were some fun parts of the project. I am glad to make a bag - which I don't often do. Second, the I-cords were fun and very quickly made and I like weaving them through the bag. It was fun to do something like that which was new.

The bag will be placed in the completed project bag until November at the next Bazaar. (Did I tell you how well we did at the sale last week? We sold almost $500 worth of items - a very good day!)

The Thick & Quick Cable Comfort Afghan

Information about the Sit & Knit is here.

This lapghan is headed to the May 3 United Methodist Women Bazaar and Bake Sale.

Because I didn't learn my lesson the last time I made an afghan with Thick & Quick, I decided to make another one. I had these eight balls of Lion Brand Thick & Quick yarn and nothing to do with them so in the hunt for my latest project, I came across the pattern for this one. No, I grant you, the pattern on the website is a solid color. But I didn't have nine balls of one color, I had eight balls of three different colors. So I decided to do it anyway. All I had to do was buy one ball in the fisherman and I was set. As it turns out, I didn't need nine balls. I used only seven. I had a pumpkin and a cranberry left over (but I think that was because Marilyn gave me the extra ball of cranberry she had from a project she was doing.)

In any case, it's very soft and plush, and the cables were very easy to do. (You only cable in one row out of an 18 row pattern) and I have this HUGE cable needle that I love. For this project, I used the hook cable needle and the bow needle - I preferred the hook needle - the yarn is so thick and the hook held on to it better than the bow.

I still have a thing or two to learn about stitching, but it will come. The final lapghan is about 48 inches square. It's not blocked, nor is it likely to be because that will make for a very heavy lapghan, but it is machine washable, so it will be bigger once that's done.

And remember...don't be thrown by cables - it's nothing more than knitting stitches out of order (on purpose!)

A Shawl from Vogue

Information and registration for the Sit & Knit can be found here.

Knitting on the Go is a great little book from Vogue for making shawls - that's all it has (it even has a crocheted shawl)

This shawl, (sun splattered in the photo) is one of the shawls in the book. It's made with size 8 needles, worsted weight yarn (Caron by the Pound, of course) and it took a few days to make.

It will get softer and somewhat bigger when i block it and it will probably be donated to a church member who is house bound or in the hospital. This is a very easy pattern for beginners because it's stockinette stitch with two yarn overs on the right side row. Not a decrease in sight.

For the Love of Yarn Baby Blanket

Information and registration forms for the Sit & Knit are here.

So, I guess it took me a little less than a week to make the little blankie. Considering it has all those cables, I guess that's not such a bad time.
This little cutie came from the For The Love of Yarn website. It's not yet blocked and the yarn, Caron By The Pound in jonquil, says that no blocking is needed.
While I'm famous for not blocking, this item could actually benefit from it because the ribs between the cables are a little poofy and can stand to be flattened a little.

It took about half (or 8 oz.) to make it using size seven circulars. It's incredibly soft and the color is very intense. Put this in the stroller and you'll be able to spot the baby from down the block!

Sit & Knit - Pattern 3 - Squares

Information and registration for the Sit & Knit can be found here.

Make squares to be sewn together
You may use whatever stitch pattern you like (I do caution against doing an open weave kind of pattern however, these afghans will get plenty of use and need to be practical.)

The squares should be about 10 inches, eh, square of course. Do not leave a tail, please knit or weave them in. We will have folks doing nothing but sewing them together to make afghans and blankets. You may bring some already done as long as they are the required size. Most of these in the photo will be going over to the Sit & Knit to get the seamers started.

It would be nice if we can get a few hundred squares done (is that a lot?!) each blanket will be about 60" square so will need 60 squares for each one.

It is ambitious - but what's a Heaven for?

Sit & Knit - Pattern 1 - The Preemie Hat

Information and registration for Pleasant Home/UMW Sit & Knit are here.

Thanks to Stitches From the Heart for this pattern that I saw on Knitty Gritty. This is the pattern we will use to create the preemie hats to be donated to hospitals with neo-natal centers.

You will need size 6 needles and worsted weight yarn. Visit the website for the actual pattern. These hats work up fairly quickly. (I did one while sitting in a meeting - don't tell anyone!) You can also do them on dpn's and avoid the seaming.

The Soho Scarf - Exquisite Little Knits

So I've made another scarf. That's ok. Scarves are good for the craft sale and they are good for donations. Scarves serve many purposes.

This scarf was done in my favorite yarn, Caron By The Pound, knit on size eight circular needles. I think it took two days to knit. What makes this scarf so much fun is that it is made of three panels; two are vertical and the one in middle is horizontal and it is knit all in one piece. The technique involves adding on stitches, binding off, and picking up stitches. The reason it's on circular needles is because it requires two hundred stitches. It is a reversible scarf though one side has a little more texture than the other.

You can find the complete pattern in Exquisite Little Knits by Iris Schreier & Laurie J. Kimmelstiel.

I would love to see this yarn done with self striping yarn, as opposed to variegated yarn. I would love to see what the yarn does when it moves the horizontal to the vertical strip and back again.

UMW & Pleasant Home First Sit & Knit May 31, 2008

The StitchCraft Circle of First United Methodist Church of Oak Park and Pleasant Home announces their first Sit & Kit to take place May 31, 2008 at Pleasant Home (on the corners of Pleasant and Home in Oak Park)

The all day event is the launch of the circle's Head2Toe Project.
Registration form and information are here.

The Head2Toe Project is an intiative to give assistance to area hospitals and agencies by providing handcrafted items.

At first, the idea was for people to donate a new pair of socks for a child or adult and StitchCraft would create a hat and scarf to go with and then donate them to ChildServ. Well, ChildServ never answered our phone calls or emails, but we were enthusiastic about the idea so we revampled it and here we are at the Sit & Knit.

More information will be coming in other posts including the patterns we will be using, information on Pleasant Home (it's beautiful!) and the organizations we hope to help!

Stay Tuned!

The Debbie Macomber Scarf - almost

So, after the nine day afghan (that took 20 days) I needed to do something simple. The next book on the shelf was Knit With Debbie Macomber. The first pattern in the book is a pattern for making seven variations of a scarf. A scarf! Now that is simple, indeed. So, I thought I would make her scarf - only different. This scarf is headed for the Head2Toe Project. We're planning a Sit & Knit in May! Watch for more info.

The pattern called for chunky weight yarn - so far so good. I now have a bunch of chunky weight yarn in the stash. But I didn't have the speckled kind the first pattern called for, but the second one was a solid color.

I had a solid color!! It's Lion Brand Jiffy. I used it to make my brother in law's scarf for Christmas as well as the Nomad Hat/Scarf I made for myself. I still had a lot of it left over; certainly enough to make a scarf.

The pattern called for size 13 needles. Well, I used size 10 because that's the one the yarn suggested. I have nothing against size 13 needles - it just didn't feel right for the yarn- and since it's a scarf, gauge doesn't really matter much.

The pattern called for 17 stitches - that was a little narrow for me (probably because I used smaller needles) so I cast on 21 and that seemed just right.

The pattern said to make it 62 inches or the desired length. I chose the desired length. There was no fringe in the pattern - I felt like adding fringe.

Other than that, I followed the pattern to the letter!