Wednesday, February 22, 2012
WIP Wednesday
YIKES! I had good intentions...really, I did! I actually have two finished objects to post about. But...I do not have pictures yet. I do have a bag with three lovely skeins of yarn peeking out at me begging for me to finish another doll sweater and start the next. I have a circular needle sitting on the round glass table with nothing on it (looking sad, oh so sad). As for me, I'm sitting with my feet up for the first time in days and well, I'm going to play Words With Friends with my bf. Silly, I know, but I need a break and tonight that's what I need even more than knitting (can you believe it?). Cheers!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
WIP Wednesday
Hello, again!!
Here we are on another hump day and I've barely made any progress. Of course, I am trying not to mope or make excuses...but I do have a good one. You see, I take a medication and... I'm blessed. This year I found a medicine to take away my migraines. Unfortunately, when I started it and when I change doses it also takes away feeling in my extremities and my mental acuity and other things for about two weeks. It's a challenge, but worth it. Needless to say, I haven't knit much for the past week. I did, however, manage to pick up three things and considering it took me quite a while to get the tiny needles moving again I consider this quite an accomplishment. So, here goes:
I finished the back of the Valentine's Day doll sweater and seamed the top of the sleeves. This means all that remains is to seam the underneath of the sleeves, weave in any ends and add some of the Cha Cha trim at the neck and cuffs.
I cast off the blue sock last time and included it in the picture this time. I need to fold over and sew the cuff so it has a clean picot edge. I took some time on Monday night and cast on the mate. I actually cast on at least three times, truth be told. Got it right finally...or close enough.
Last, but not least, I made progress on the pink and yellow sock's mate. That is the one that sits in my keyboard tray as I work at home. I have a laptop so that tray isn't used for anything but a financial book and yarn (WIPs). You won't tell anyone, right? ;)
How was your week?
Here we are on another hump day and I've barely made any progress. Of course, I am trying not to mope or make excuses...but I do have a good one. You see, I take a medication and... I'm blessed. This year I found a medicine to take away my migraines. Unfortunately, when I started it and when I change doses it also takes away feeling in my extremities and my mental acuity and other things for about two weeks. It's a challenge, but worth it. Needless to say, I haven't knit much for the past week. I did, however, manage to pick up three things and considering it took me quite a while to get the tiny needles moving again I consider this quite an accomplishment. So, here goes:
I finished the back of the Valentine's Day doll sweater and seamed the top of the sleeves. This means all that remains is to seam the underneath of the sleeves, weave in any ends and add some of the Cha Cha trim at the neck and cuffs.
I cast off the blue sock last time and included it in the picture this time. I need to fold over and sew the cuff so it has a clean picot edge. I took some time on Monday night and cast on the mate. I actually cast on at least three times, truth be told. Got it right finally...or close enough.
Last, but not least, I made progress on the pink and yellow sock's mate. That is the one that sits in my keyboard tray as I work at home. I have a laptop so that tray isn't used for anything but a financial book and yarn (WIPs). You won't tell anyone, right? ;)
How was your week?
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
WIP Wednesday
Ok, I know it is cliche to do this but I really do think I need a recurring post theme or I'm not going to get my butt in gear to keep posting on a regular basis. I love to write I just need to do it.
Let's start at the top and go clockwise, shall we? This is a skein of Lion Brand Homespun sitting next to a pile of the simple fingerless mitts I mentioned in a previous post. I've waited to seam them as Alex is so curious about how on earth a rectangle becomes something that can be worn as a mitt. I tried explaining it, but as we all know, some things just need to be seen to be understood. Needless to say, I haven't taken the time to sit with her and show so I have at least three pair waiting to be sewn. The mitt that is on the needle in this picture was later torn out as I realized the cable I was trying wasn't coming out as planned because I'm a dingbat. Still learning about cabling afterall. *sigh* At least these are quick and I frogged and restarted and finished the mitt all on Friday night while my girls were at the bounce house for an hour. All is well and I've cast on for its mate. The color may or may not come through well on your screen but in person it is a rich coral and these are actually being made for a co-worker who is just a tiny young woman who is always shivering in the office. She was sick for at least two weeks recently and I though this might be a nice thing for her to come in to one day. Can't hurt, right?
Next up is what was supposed to be the Valentine's Day doll sweater. That's one ball of Paton's Cha Cha in a bright red and one of Lion Suede in a bright red. I wasn't sure I'd have enough of the suede to do the whole sweater so I added stripes of the Cha Cha and will add it to the collar and cuffs as well. So far so good, but it isn't making it to Cher in time for this Valentine's Day. Sorry! :(
Next up are what were to be Summer socks for my girls. We were at the local yarn store (Spin A Yarn) and I let the girls pick out what colors they'd like. I spent many a day knitting row after row on the tiny needles as the girls played in my parents' yard or rode bikes or scooters. Still, I did not finish. Carebear's are the pink and yellow and one is complete. The picture shows the beginning of the second one. LexiLoo's first is pictured and is now off the needles but its mate has yet to be cast on (I think...better check on that actually). I'm hoping to have these done for their March birthdays. Wish me luck!
I was stressed and well, as knitters I'm sure we can all relate to the call of a yarn shop within walking distance. One of my favorite bosses stopped by my desk in the morning, rubbing his hands together making comment that there was no heat in his office. Oh really? Well, he is one of my favorites and has even passed along knitting and sewing supplies from his deceased wife. I think he deserves some fingerless mitts to warm those hands, don't you? Of course they must be made of some great wool, and of course I had a lunch break to wander to the store. Hunter green and ivory and I've charted a pattern for our company name and...oy! I'm using this pattern from Mary Keenan at Hugs for Your Head so I can get the basic stitch count and the length. I've never done a twisted rib and find it so soothing.
So, here goes my Works-in-Progress post. I actually took this photo on Friday last week, but since then I've done very little so there's not much change.
I laid out all my works on the round glass table in my living room. You can barely see the cool sculptural base, but it's there.
Let's start at the top and go clockwise, shall we? This is a skein of Lion Brand Homespun sitting next to a pile of the simple fingerless mitts I mentioned in a previous post. I've waited to seam them as Alex is so curious about how on earth a rectangle becomes something that can be worn as a mitt. I tried explaining it, but as we all know, some things just need to be seen to be understood. Needless to say, I haven't taken the time to sit with her and show so I have at least three pair waiting to be sewn. The mitt that is on the needle in this picture was later torn out as I realized the cable I was trying wasn't coming out as planned because I'm a dingbat. Still learning about cabling afterall. *sigh* At least these are quick and I frogged and restarted and finished the mitt all on Friday night while my girls were at the bounce house for an hour. All is well and I've cast on for its mate. The color may or may not come through well on your screen but in person it is a rich coral and these are actually being made for a co-worker who is just a tiny young woman who is always shivering in the office. She was sick for at least two weeks recently and I though this might be a nice thing for her to come in to one day. Can't hurt, right?
Next up is what was supposed to be the Valentine's Day doll sweater. That's one ball of Paton's Cha Cha in a bright red and one of Lion Suede in a bright red. I wasn't sure I'd have enough of the suede to do the whole sweater so I added stripes of the Cha Cha and will add it to the collar and cuffs as well. So far so good, but it isn't making it to Cher in time for this Valentine's Day. Sorry! :(
This rainbow colored puff ball is yet another fantastic doll sweater made from Paton's Cha Cha. This stuff is the most incredibly soft yarn to work with. Its sad that it is discontinued. Cher was kind enough to buy out her source and send me a box full of different colors so this is just one of many that will be popping up as works-in-progress and finished items. Yummy yarn to work with and this color does the striping all by itself!
Next up is another doll sweater in one of my favorite yarns, Caron's Simply Soft Eco. You may remember that I adore Simply Soft in all its colors but the Eco brand is even more a favorite as I'm kind of a hippie chic and this speaks to that side of my personality. This cornflower blue sweater is one of my "signature" sweaters that I've got a little dress to match and will pack away for a Fall/Winter launch on my Etsy shop.
Next up are what were to be Summer socks for my girls. We were at the local yarn store (Spin A Yarn) and I let the girls pick out what colors they'd like. I spent many a day knitting row after row on the tiny needles as the girls played in my parents' yard or rode bikes or scooters. Still, I did not finish. Carebear's are the pink and yellow and one is complete. The picture shows the beginning of the second one. LexiLoo's first is pictured and is now off the needles but its mate has yet to be cast on (I think...better check on that actually). I'm hoping to have these done for their March birthdays. Wish me luck!
I was stressed and well, as knitters I'm sure we can all relate to the call of a yarn shop within walking distance. One of my favorite bosses stopped by my desk in the morning, rubbing his hands together making comment that there was no heat in his office. Oh really? Well, he is one of my favorites and has even passed along knitting and sewing supplies from his deceased wife. I think he deserves some fingerless mitts to warm those hands, don't you? Of course they must be made of some great wool, and of course I had a lunch break to wander to the store. Hunter green and ivory and I've charted a pattern for our company name and...oy! I'm using this pattern from Mary Keenan at Hugs for Your Head so I can get the basic stitch count and the length. I've never done a twisted rib and find it so soothing.
Last, but not least, is the hat I'm working on for me. This is the Rainbow Boucle Patterns yarn that was given to me by Alex and Spike as a Christmas gift. I've struggled a bit with it as cables don't appear, nor do some simple knit/purl patterns. So, I'm just knitting along in the round and thinking it may be a very long toboggan type hat when I'm done, which will be quite some time from now as I have an ever growing "to do" list that piles in ahead of this one. Still, it is there and waiting patiently with one of my favorite markers on it.
Friday, February 3, 2012
FO 2012: Lucky 7 Napkins
I was on a roll one afternoon and pulled out a pile of unfinished objects. In the Summer and Fall I set my girls to work cutting out napkins. I can't recall now what blog I read this on, but I remember thinking that this would be a perfect way to merge my "green" mindset and let my girls begin crafting. I grabbed two 12.5" squares and tons of fabric a friend had passed down to me and set them to work tracing and cutting. It didn't matter if the lines showed through or the cuts weren't straight. The girls cut then I folded, ironed, and sewed the four sides. Voila! We had napkins.
They loved it and so did I. However, those little ones can do their part a bunch quicker than Mom can. So, I have a pile left to be sewn and with our expanding blended family I've found we need more sewn or we can't use them. So, when I was working on doll clothes one weekend I pulled a few of these out and sewed seven more super quick.
These turn out smaller than most store-bought cloth napkins would be, but they work just fine for our family. We love to be able to pick random patterns. No need to match. I know this may not work for all families, but it seems to just "fit" us. :)
They loved it and so did I. However, those little ones can do their part a bunch quicker than Mom can. So, I have a pile left to be sewn and with our expanding blended family I've found we need more sewn or we can't use them. So, when I was working on doll clothes one weekend I pulled a few of these out and sewed seven more super quick.
These turn out smaller than most store-bought cloth napkins would be, but they work just fine for our family. We love to be able to pick random patterns. No need to match. I know this may not work for all families, but it seems to just "fit" us. :)
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