creamsicle

Lion Brand Pound of Love in Creamsicle.

I know, a baby blanket? Seriously? No there is no news to share, just idle hands.

Once again my friend Paula had a great idea that I just had to try. You know the cotton knitted dishcloth pattern? Well Paula used that pattern and instead of stopping at an 8" dishcloth size she just kept on going, to 32 x 32 baby blanket size. Since that dishcloth pattern is my favorite thing to knit, and since I found this soft yarn with this yummy name - creamsicle - well I just had to try it.

Paula knits very fast and donates a lot of handmade blankets etc. to Project Linus: Mission to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”

Now I on the other hand knit slow and will be doing good to get this done in time for some actual babies to arrive around here.

Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.

I will hurry and get it done and donate it pronto, so as to head off anything of the sort.

painted desert

Another prayer shawl done! 

Love the colors in this one - 

Lion Brand yarn Painted Desert. 

hugs and prayers

the purpose of the prayer shawl is to give comfort to whoever is wearing it

but it just might work - to pray for spring?

this one found a home yesterday with Linda recovering from hip surgery, 

I hope it makes her feel warm and snuggly like a big hug

~pattern Lion Brand

ripple effect

One of my current projects, ripple afghan. A friend asked me if I had finished this yet (she had seen in a few weeks ago just started). I told her this is the thing I work on when I am tired and want to sit and rest. Do you work on more than one thing at a time? Is it attention deficit or multi-tasking?

Thanks to Paula the Quilter for this inspiration and pattern, using all one color Red Heart yarn. Paula, I didn't intend to get the exact same color as you, but this was the one that spoke to me. 

Crochet and quilting, ripple and bow-tie, yep that about sums it up on my couch. What is on your couch?

keep warm

Rapid City, South Dakota

On my recent trip to Rapid City, the Presidential statues on every corner were wearing hats and scarves with a tag, "if you need one take one." I had seen this before in the online knitting community, a quick search found that communities across the country and the world are joining in this movement, knitting scarves to keep folks warm in the winter.

New York Scarves in Trees program

Detroit downtown YMCA

Chase the Chill in central Georgia

London outside the Men's Mission

time to knit

Do you use Ravelry? Yes, by the picture it is all about yarn. You can use Ravelry to find patterns or ideas. Or you could visit with Aunt Sally. 

Aunt Sally came to visit next door. She likes to knit. And talk. She had her knitting needles in hand at all times, while telling stories about their farm in Minnesota. She and husband Bob were making their annual trek across country, stopping in St. Louis at the soybean convention, heading to Orlando to the time share, stopping every night and visiting a different relative along the way. She was busy knitting a scarf when I saw her, she knits all kinds of things, mostly to give away. 

She makes prayer shawls to have on hand, just in case someone needs one. She gave me a prayer shawl pattern, said this is a good pattern to take to meetings and such, as you don't have to think or count, just cast on 60 stitches and knit until it is 60 inches long.

Have you made a prayer shawl?  The idea is to knit/crochet a shawl for someone and to pray for them with each stitch, or think good thoughts, or as Aunt Sally said, "I made one for a catholic friend and threw in a few Hail Marys for good measure."

The shawl pattern is one on the back of a yarn wrapper, and can be found at Lion Brand. Made out of Homespun yarn, cast on 60 stitches, knit 60 rows, I think I can manage that. Oh and to make the fringe, per Sally, just open up the yarn wrapper, it is 13" long and use that to measure your yarn for fringe, a good traveling tip.

Aunt Sally makes lots of socks. She brought a lot on her trip to give out to folks, but at her last stop she unpacked her stash of socks for her niece to pick out a pair and she said, "Oh thanks, Aunt Sally," and took the whole lot to her room. 

I told her I tried to make socks but just didn't have the patience. She gave me this pattern, said, "You can do it." She got it off one of those free tear-off patterns. It is the Bernat Ribbed Ankle Socks, pattern found online at Mary Maxim or through Ravelry.

I will leave the sock making to Aunt Sally, and all of you other sock makers out there.

It is February, it is cold, it is time to get out the yarn and whip up a few things, I think I will make a prayer shawl for a dear friend in need of prayers. What are you making?

amazing

This is amazing. 

First of all the yarn is named Amazing.

Second of all the cowl pattern is free.

Third of all the yarn is on clearance. 

So I just had to make this!

Amazing yarn by Lion Brand, soft with beautiful colors. Regular $8.29/skein, this color, Constellation is on clearance HERE - 3 skeins for $6.22 (regularly $24.87), the pattern took just over one skein, so this project cost about $2.

Thermal Cowl pattern free HERE at Lion Brand yarn.

Teddi the model likes it, sitting on the stool by the kitchen wall quilt :)

on the needles

My teddy bear models helped me out during my December knitting frenzy. 

Finally I can show what projects I have been working on for Christmas!

DIY

So you receive a 'homemade' gift from a relative. What is the first thing that pops into your mind? The pink bunny suit on A Christmas Story?

Did your Aunt Clara or your grandmother make you homemade things? Did you like them? Or just pull them out when she was coming over to visit, just to keep the peace?

My mother used to make things for the grandkids, mostly sewing. She loved doing it, picking out the fabric and patterns, she was very proud of all her creations. But she was very sensitive and you better show some appreciation for the gifts. 

My girls would receive a cardboard box shipped from grandma, they knew it was from her before seeing the label, the smell of cigarette smoke permeated the box. After opening it (sometimes outside) and running everything through the laundry, the girls always liked what they got. She would sew labels in the clothes like this:

Ok, I too am guilty. I am a granma and like to make things for the grandkids. Homemade Things. Which is interesting, thinking back to growing up and only having homemade things, I longed for store-bought stuff. And speaking of ancient times, my mom taught herself and me to knit when I was about 8 years old, my dad was stationed in Korea and we had a lot of time. I remember sitting on the couch in our house near Fort Bragg, NC, knitting little rectangles that would turn in to Barbie clothes. So there is the history lesson, now back to the present...

Since I am batchin' it here at home until Christmas, I have a lot of time on my hands, so I have been knitting and crocheting things for the grandkids, again. I know they probably already have too many scarves, but I just like to do it. Sure, by the time you buy the yarn and put in the hours you could buy the item at the store (or several of them). So why do we do it?  It is relaxing, it produces an end product (unlike playing solitaire or internet surfing), and just today I read this article:

Mayo Clinic Reports That Knitting May Reduce Alzheimer'sRisk by 30-50%

I am multi-tasking - keeping up with my reading by listening to audio books and podcasts while knitting, and I just listened to the new Garth Brooks album. I don't knit well enough to do it while watching TV.

To get inspired to knit, I read books by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who shares her funny views on life and knitting and is known as the Yarn Harlot (her blog). The owner of our local yarn store calls her "the Erma Bombeck of knitting."

"A half finished shawl left on the coffee table isn't a mess; it's an object of art." ~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

For inspiration I turn to the plethora of online resources like Ravelry or Pinterest.

If when reading the pattern and confusion reigns, you no longer have to pull out the old dusty knitting books, just Google it, pick one of the many online videos and watch and learn. Just this week I learned how to make a Magic loop and how to long tail cast on. Yes, there is a knitting language to learn. 

So these days when I am not working at my real job, I will be working on gifts made of yarn. And surfing the internet for new ideas. Like these labels:

And I strive to dispell the dread and fear of receiving a handmade item and having to keep it forever 'because granma made it'. Please do not pack these things away for that only reason. Get it out, give it away, use it to wash the car or line the dog bed, get some use out of it. No, I won't get my feelings hurt, once I give it to you it is yours to do with as you want. So to that end, I am thinking of including an instruction card with any future gifts, what do you think:

does your crazy granny

really like to knit

are you tired of homemade 
gifts that don't fit

donate to the homeless

pass them on, give them away

she won't remember

what she gave you anyway

granny style

wintertime project 

cleaning out the yarn tote 

granny style 

age appropriate activity 

don't you think?

yarn bombing

Knitting Relay in Helsinki

Yarn bombing? What is that? According to Wikipedia:  A type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fiber rather than paint or chalk - now a worldwide phenomenon, it originated in Texas.

not your grandma's knitting from Mashable.com

yarn bombing dot com

I do good to finish a project, much less have the time to do anything extra like this, but if YOU have any extra granny squares in your yarn stash, get them out and decorate the trees!

sampler

My mom taught me to knit, maybe we learned at the same time, as she was teaching herself to knit from a book when we lived at Fort Bragg, NC. My dad was stationed in Korea for 13 months, so we had a lot of time on our hands. I was in the 3rd grade. I remember sitting on the couch knitting, making squares or rectangles and turning them into clothes for Barbie.

knitting sampler

Later when my dad retired we moved to remote Fannin County, Georgia, rural Appalachia, very scenic but also very isolated. With a long winter ahead, I found this pattern for a sampler afghan, got some yarn and started to make my first blanket. Every square was a different pattern, a great way to learn new stitches and to not get bored with such a big project. I used two different shades of blue for the squares and added black borders around each one. I think my mom was skeptical about such a daunting task, but with nothing else to do, stuck out in the middle of nowhere, I did it! It was the perfect project for a teenage girl (age 13 or 14) who loved to spend hours in her room, I remember sitting on my bed with the chenille bedspread, listening to the latest tunes on the radio.  

I found this picture online, it looks just like mine (except for the fringe). Photo credit - posted with permission of Anne Hanson from knitspot.com. This afghan was made by Anne's grandmother in the 1950s and is featured in the book My Grandmother's Knitting. Thanks again Anne for the picture, it is just like I remember it (mine), which brought back lots of memories.

Like other priceless heirlooms, unfortunately I lost this blanket when I stored it in the basement in a cardboard box… ruined beyond repair with the ravages of water and mold and critters and time… a lesson learned the hard way, now I own stock in Rubbermaid Totes.

Which brings me to why I remembered this story, I just finished reading Free Range Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I didn't really set out to find a book about knitting, but I kept seeing it and it had such good reviews, I decided to try it. Not so much about knitting as about a knitter and funny stories about life, had me laughing out loud a few times! Like the picture she paints of her getting off the elevator not knowing that her ball of yarn had slipped out of her pocket until the door closes, the look on her face as she is left holding her knitting project that is attached to that yarn, her eyes watching the elevator numbers climb as her yarn gets taut. And how she shocked the folks on the bus when she tried on the sock she was making, "a toeless sock with a spiky crown of deadly looking needles stuck in it." But my favorite part is the series of letters with the Customer Service department at Winterwool, Inc., regarding an unfinished project and discontinued yarn. The correspondence starts out cordially with "Dear Stephanie - Thank you for your inquiry" and then deteriorates rapidly, finally ending in "Madam - Please stop calling me, and for the love of God, walk away from the sweater. It's just not worth it."

I like to buy yarn in person so I can see how it feels. But you can shop online, like at Lion Brand Yarn. On their web-site recently I was looking at a free pattern and the options for download. Listed were: Save, e-mail, help, print, download, Pin it, braillers. The braillers buttons says: "This pattern is designed for use with Duxbury Braille software and similar products." I found this very interesting. I can understand reading the pattern in braille, but how would one actually knit blindly with dangerous pointy needles? Wow, I am once again counting my blessings.

At this point in time, I have been knitting away on dishcloths, it has kind of gotten out of hand, the stack is getting bigger. They are fun to make, and I am giving some away, saving some to go with another project that I am supposed to be working on. But it is time to think about Christmas gifts now, I wonder what to make? Scarves are pretty quick and easy, but I think the girls {granddaughters} probably are cringing about now if they are reading this - another scarf? What I really need to do is teach all of them to knit, maybe one of them will make a sampler afghan like their old granma did when she was a teenager!

"Teach someone to knit and they're warm for life." ~Selma Moss-Ward
(from a story written for Lion Brand yarns)

~photo credit: Pitcher of Knitting Needles used with permission of Country Living

busy work

keeping busy

with granma stuff

knitting and sewing

in between working

for a living, I am

practicing for retirement

getting my fiber fix

in 2 ounce batches

of soft cotton yarn

keeps my hands busy

away from keyboard and snacks

and housework 

I love this cattywampus dishcloth pattern, it is so much fun to make. By now I should have a big stack of these, but I keep giving them away!


knitted dishcloth

Size 7 or 8 needles

Cast on 3 stitches and knit one row. Increase one stitch at the center of each row until you have 7 stitches. 

Next rows: K3, YO, knit across. Repeat until you have 45-50 stitches on the needle.

Next rows: K2, K2tog, YO, K2tog, knit across until you only have 7 stitches remaining.

Decrease on stitch at the center of each row until you have 4 st.

Cut yarn and pull the tail through those 4 st with a crochet hook.

Split yarn and pull half through another st and tie the 2 ends in a double knot. Weave in ends.

pattern thanks to Wanda Henson of Exuberant Color

doing the dishes

Cotton dishcloths - hand made, crochet or knit. Using cotton yarn, which is cool to work with in the hot summer months, a quick summer project, fast to complete, fun to make, a good way to learn/practice new patterns.

But would you use one? I am thinking - NO way, I can't imagine getting this all dirty...

They seem to be very popular among the crafters out there. A search on the website of Lion brand yarn has 76 free patterns, click HERE.

But what am I going to do with these? A give-away is in their future.

big heart

I am knitting little things in pink…

No, not that. Or her either, no new babies or grandbabies on the way. No, not that either - no greatgrandbabies!

Carrie looked at me (with that one eyebrow arched) and said, "Seriously, mom, now you are making teddy bear clothes?"

Carrie is my monitor of all things grandma. While shopping she steers me away from grandma purses and clothes. She critiques my decorating style - OK, Mom too much grandma stuff in here, let's lose some of the quilts and bears. I ask her advice on what the teenagers like. I trust Carrie to always tell it like it is!

But back to knitting.

I just read how Julia Roberts knits while making a movie - between scenes she is knitting away. On the set of her new movie with Tom Hanks, he played a prank on her:

Julia would knit on the set–scarves, hats. One morning, Tom thought it would be hilarious if everyone was doing it. So she walked on set and saw 50 people knitting.

Ok, back to why I am knitting.

In December my granddaughters lost a special friend and I thought maybe they would like something to remember her by - so I came up with an idea of a breast cancer teddy bear - lord knows we have enough teddy bears around here to share.



So, I converted some of the bears around my house - made them breast-cancer-pink sweaters and a BIG heart (just like Robin's). My embroidery is a little rusty, but you get the idea.



I don't know if the girls really want one or not, maybe they are just humoring their old granma, but it keeps me busy. You know what they say about idle hands… no, I don't remember either, but I think it is bad.



Hey, me and Julia Roberts have something in common, us Georgia girls have to stick together!

chain reaction

Getting started on next year's Christmas presents, I think all the granddaughters need a cuddly afghan to keep warm. We will see how many I get made before the weather changes and it is too warm to hold this in my lap.

The cold weather apparently brings out the granma mode - crocheting, knitting, sewing, quilting... hey just doin' my job here!

knit one

Just passing the winter time, anyone need a scarf?

daily dose of fiber

Why is it when the season changes and we head toward winter, we want to bring out the yarn and make something? Is it the pending gift-giving season that prompts this, or the deep down internal instinct to feather the nest for cold weather?

Whatever the reason, it is comforting to feel the fiber, to make something soft, creation is good for the soul. Of course the local yarn shop is loving this seasonal change also!

Fringe benefits - keeping my hands busy keeps me from eating junk while watching TV. Now if I could just exercise too... I know I am not coordinated enough to walk and knit at the same time, but what about sitting on a stationary bike?

And, no I can't say what it is I am making, it might be a gift for you!

one stitch at a time

Wandering round the yarn shop this one jumped out - pure cotton, named Ty Dy.

The colors and name remind me of my first tie-dyed t-shirt I made in Ms. Curtacci's art class in high school. Memories of fun times are being woven into this one, one stitch at a time.




Ty Dy yarn
Mistake rib pattern
tie dye memories