Heather's Adventures in Knitting

School Started!!

2010-09-07T09:53:00.000-05:00

School started 3 weeks ago. You would think that I might update my blog a little sooner. What can I say it's been a busy 3 weeks. Especially when I've subbed at least twice a week. I have been getting a little knitting done. I'm working on a cropped striped sweater for Mal. Hopefully she'll like it, if not I know Audrey will wear it.

Here's the mandatory 1st day of school picture. I had to threaten Mal with taking away her phone if she didn't smile.

It's amazing what a threat can make a teenager do. We couldn't take the picture outside because of rain. What kind of first day of school starts out with rain? I'm sure the teachers were wishing for some sun to get the kids out for recess. It eventually brightened up and they were able to go out to second recess.

Our fall will be a little busy this year. Mal is in Cross Country again and has really upped her schedule for babysitting (It's about time she started earning money.). Audrey is playing volleyball, taking piano lessons, and playing in the church bell choir. Miller is playing flag football and just being his regular active self. Plus the nephews are playing football so there goes our Friday nights. (We love watching them play though.)

Breakfast Picnic

2010-07-20T21:42:00.000-05:00

We had our annual breakfast picnic this last weekend. My sister Meriam and her family came up to visit. The kids had a ton of fun. We ate, swam, ate, played, ate, slept, ate, went to church, ate and talked. Food seems to play a large part in our gatherings.

Tiger really liked the meal. He was tired afterwards though. Well I think all of the kids were tired. See for yourself.

We had the standard breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes, fruit salad and cinnamon rolls. Needless to say we were working pretty hard over the grills.

Dad and Tate had a good time talking about wrestling and teaching. It was also a plus to have Kane and Keil with us to eat. They seemed to chow down on the pancakes. They are growing boys.

It was a great weekend and we always have a great time with the Thompsons. Yet on Monday I wasn't very active. It felt like I was hung over from the entire weekend. I definitely had a few naps.

A wedding and western Kansas

2010-07-01T08:37:00.000-05:00

We went to a wonderful wedding last weekend. One of the girls I babysat when I was young got hitched. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding. Luckily, the rain held off and made things a little cooler by bringing in some cool breezes.

Here's Carrie and Tiaan saying their vows. It was a lovely ceremony and there is just something about having the prairie as your backdrop.

Of course Carrie's nephew was at the wedding and we all had to get a little Liam time. He really seemed to like hanging out with Mom. She kept him pretty happy and I think he kept her pretty happy too.

Of course Audrey couldn't say the same thing. She loves babies so much, but they have a tendency to cry for her whenever she holds them.

Crying babies really didn't hold Sugar Booger back. She had a good time at the wedding and tried to get into every picture I took.

Kevin had to be the "creepy" guy at the wedding. I just love when he makes our pictures look so loving and respectable.

Finally I was able to get him to be normal for a few photos. It was tough, but I won the battle.

I really don't try to dress Kevin and Miller alike, it just seems to happen. That's Miller's only dress shirt that still fits and well Kevin has like 4 green striped shirts. (Don't even get me started on all of the striped orange shirts. I've lost count.)

I just love this picture of the kids and Carrie. We had a wonderful time with her family at the wedding.

On our way out to Garden City we noticed a new lake had cropped up between Jetmore and GC. On the way back Kevin decided to check it out. Little did we know it was the opening weekend for Horse Thief Reservoir. It was beautiful and will eventually have camping sites. The kiddos thought it would be great to camp there. I told them this was a little far for us to camp at since we have 3 camping sites within an hour from us. Three and a half hours to go camping is just a little too far for me to travel.

I know people complain that Kansas is just a flat piece of land that you drive through to get from Kansas City to Colorado. Yet I don't think those people have ever really just looked at the beauty of Kansas. How wonderful to see as far as you can. I miss this landscape, we've too many trees in our part of Kansas. I guess in some ways I'm still a western Kansas girl.

How could I not be?

"Summ...Summ...Summer.... Summertime." - The Fresh Prince

2010-06-13T19:28:00.000-05:00

Our summer is off and running. We're at the ball fields 3 days a week with Thursdays giving us a doubleheader. Both Audrey and Miller are playing and having a great time.

We went and saw Caitlin and her uber cute son Liam. He's one of the babies that I made booties for. Here's a picture of the kids and Liam.

It was so wonderful to see such a beautiful, but BIG baby. He made Miller as a baby look small.

Before school ended Malorie had her Night of the Stars and she looked beautiful. This was her Easter dress, but it did a great job for occasion. It took all of the curlers and bending rods to get the curl in her hair. Unfortunately it was raining that evening, so it was really hard for the curls to stay in.

We celebrated Father's Day a little early this summer with the Miller clan. It was a good time, with good food and kids swimming the afternoon away.

There will be more pictures to come as we go along this summer.

Booties, Soccer and the 1940's... What A Post!

2010-05-02T21:57:00.000-05:00

I have 2 friends who are getting ready to have baby boys in the next week and a half. Finding baby boy stuff to knit isn't always easy. Sometimes it gets down right hard. Either it takes way too long to make or it's way to fussy for any respectable mother of a boy to use. Well, I found the boy booties pattern that every baby boy I knit for will now receive.

Forget the baby kimono, the baby bib and never ever do the baby blanket. This is what all the fashionable baby boys are wearing now.

Super Cute Baby Chuck Taylors.

Could anything be cuter and so very little boy but these? I wish I was knitting when I was prego with Miller. He definitely would have had a pair. It even has you make shoe laces. The pattern calls for you to make a felt star patch to go on the top. Yet Kevin in his ever so wise knitting advice suggested that I "just use some white yarn to make the star." It worked. I guess I'll keep him for a little while longer.

The mommies-to-be loved the pair they received. I can't wait to see their little boys in them. Now if I could only come up with a pair of wrestling shoe booties I would be in business. Here's the link to the pattern.

Baby Chucks

Our April was filled with soccer, soccer and a lot more soccer. Yet Miller loved it and the girls didn't seem to mind going to his games. I must say his 3v3 league was a lot more fun to watch than his rec league "mob ball". His 3v3 team won the league tournament. These little guys are super cute and are so excited still about the medal they received for winning.

Yet again too cute!

I can't leave the girls out of this post. One of the schools in town just was place on the National Historical Registry. To celebrate this, the school had a birthday party celebrating the 68th year of the school. During this party they had kids dressed in 40's attire. Well, the girls were asked to dress up and here they are.

1940's cute. Though, Mal wasn't too happy about getting her picture taken. Ha Ha Ha, I won that battle.

C is for cookie . . .

2010-04-13T20:18:00.000-05:00

Today was the annual Junior League Luncheon. Since I'm a member I have to make cookies for the event. (Luckily, we have out-sourced the making of the chicken salad. I'll gladly pay for someone else to make that much chicken salad.) Each member has to make 7 dozen cookies for the event.

These little orange semi-circles were a big hit at the luncheon. Of course this is just the start of what they looked like.

Here's how they turned out. Little slices of oranges.

It's amazing what a little orange food coloring and orange flavored frosting and a bamboo skewer can do. I was really proud of these little bite-sized cookies. They were very good and very easy to make.

This next little one is a cookie I came up with a few years ago for the luncheon. It's a mint chocolate cookie. Tastes like a thin mint, without all the chocolate or Girl Scout packaging.

Here's the lonely little green mint cookie. Setting there all alone. No one to play with, not a single other cookie in sight.

But add a little chocolate ganache to our little green cookie friend and see what we come up with.

Lots of green mint chocolate cookies.

Lots and lots of green mint chocolate cookies. It's like an army of little imposter Girl Scouts lined up ready to be oohed and ahhed by little old ladies who want to have a tea party.

And I had to have at least one more type of cookie to take to the luncheon. My momma didn't raise any slackers when it came time to bake for any event. (Even Nancy has Mom make something when she needs a baked good.) These little things are Almond Snowdrops.

They maybe called Snowdrop cookies, but they look more like Snowballs. Kevin had a few right after they came out of the oven.

"These are great warm, can't you serve them straight from the oven?"

Yeah, Kevin and we will pass out the hot towels right after we serve these. I think he just wanted me to make more so he could eat this batch.

In the end I took 146 cookies that were taken to the luncheon. Of course some had to be taste tested before they were Junior League Luncheon ready, but Kevin and the kids are always ready to take one for the team.

Easter Outfits . . .

2010-04-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not too sure how much longer the kids will let me take a group photo. Each year it gets tougher and tougher for them. I think they always look wonderful, but they are getting too cool for this kind of photo.

This was a photo from the first day of school in August of 2008. See Miller isn't too happy to have his picture taken.

First day of school this year. Malorie looks so excited to have her picture taken. I think I may have a theme with her. Of course Audrey is always smiling in every photo.

Malorie was complaining about being cold this morning. Audrey is wanting to smile, but knows we will be taking another photo because of Malorie's complaining. Miller is just looking up thinking what kind of sisters do I have.

And here is the final picture.

Great smile on Miller - check.

Smirk on Malorie's face - check.

Audrey showing her natural self - check.

Maybe next year I can get a decent photo of the kids all smiling.

I"ve been called out....

2010-03-23T19:22:00.002-05:00

My friend Tanya checked out my website at Malorie's urging. She checked it out and was surprised on how little content I had put in lately. And needless to say it's horrible. I've been so bad about blogging on knitting, life and everything else. So now I'm going to try to be better.

On the knitting front I've finished a super cute pair of baby booties and will start on another pair here soon. The mommy-to-be loved them. She cried when she received my mom's quilt and my baby booties. (Hormones had something to do with it I'm sure.)

After the booties I might start working with T-shirt yarn again. God knows we have a ton of T-shirts that need to be recycled.

Soon I will have pictures of the booties up and a link to the super cute pattern.

And now I've updated my blog Tanya. So there!

One slipper down, another one to go.

2009-10-26T12:49:00.001-05:00

I'm almost finished with Miller's slippers for Christmas. It has taken me looking at several patterns, but I finally came up with my own. It's been kind of hard seeing if the slipper fits and him not figuring out it's for him. I have started telling him that they are for the church sale. I've even pulled a foot out from under his covers to see if the size is correct. This is somewhat worrisome, that kid didn't even move a muscle when I pulled on his leg. I hope no one tries breaking in, he wouldn't flinch.

I'm planning on slippers for Audrey, but am not totally for sure with the whole idea. Frankly I'm getting tired of the Magic Cast-On. I may make some wrist warmers for her. That's going to be what I make for Malorie also. Her feet are growing so fast that I can't even keep up with slippers for her. Thursday at basketball the coaches measured her and she was 5'0". She then proceeded to brag about it at home. "I've only got 6 more inches until I'm as tall as you, Mommy." Hate to break it to her, but she's not gonna get there. I won't allow even if she could. I'm not ready for her to get any bigger. I'll start slipping coffee into her orange juice. She'll never know the difference.

Work on Halloween costumes will be easy this year. Audrey wants to be a rock star and Miller wants to be a punk. I think he only wants this because he is under the assumption that only punks have spiked hair. He really wants his hair spiked up. (You can so tell he lives in a household of mainly women. He cares about his hair.) So for their costumes I just have to pull together a few items we have around the house and we will be done. I think this will be the cheapest costume year ever! Why couldn't the kids want to be something so easy and cheap when we were always broke.

Can't I get anything done?

2009-09-20T19:59:00.007-05:00

Oh my, 6 months and no blogging. Horrible just, horrible. We did have a busy end of the school year and a summer that just flew by, but 6 months. OUCH! I've been working on very few projects. Nothing seems to hold my interest in knitting. I think I may start on some slippers for the kids at Christmas, but won't completely guarantee it will happen.

This is the yarn I can 't seem to figure out a pattern for. It's sock yarn, but I just don't want to knit socks out of it. I like the colorway and the self striping of the yarn. No single pattern is calling to me. I did the above with at cast-on of 38 on my favorite size 6 needles. Super easy pattern of k1, *yo, k2tog* 8 times, k4, *ssk, yo*, 8 times, k1. But I didn't like the lie of the end, so I ripped it out. I may start this over again, but stockinette the first 2 rows and then start with the pattern again.

I am working on a sweater for myself, but it is taking me a while to work on it. I am modifying it somewhat. This is the pattern, http://mamallamaknits.com/cardi4.pdf. It is a cropped cardigan, but I want to make it full length. This is the short version. Now imagine mine with a long torso and sleeves. Plus it will be blue.

Now I need to get working on something and actually finish it. I'm so tired of starting things, ripping them out and starting again. I need some closure.

Knitting, Surfing, Blogging, Folding... My Life in a Nutshell

2009-03-11T08:38:00.003-05:00

Slowly but surely I'm finishing the baby sweater. Nothing seems to be keeping me interested in my knitting. Maybe it's spring fever, or that I haven't finished anything since Kevin's cowl. I might just have to do a little itty-bitty project to actually finish something.

I've been checking out some different blogs and now I am totally enamoured with The Pioneer Woman. If only I could live like this in the country, homeschooling my kids (But that would totally hinder the education and development of my kids! I know my strengths and I just couldn't get MY kids to do lessons with me.) and cook the yummy stuff she does.

I guess I should go and fold some clothes. The poor kids are without socks and had to dig for them today.

Busy Times, Busy Times

2009-02-28T20:23:00.008-06:00

Ooooo, I've been a bad, bad blogger! December was the last time I blogged. Horrible, just horrible. I've done a little knitting, but it seems we've been extra busy at the Unruh house. Between basketball practices and games, my volleyball games, short trips to watch wrestling and volunteer meetings and church there hasn't been a ton of time to blog.

I did finish Kevin's cowl on our way to Colorado to ski. It was super easy. I didn't have a pattern. Just size 10 circs and chunky yarn. Kevin loved it. He said it was really warm and he is even wearing it on the train when it is cold. Here Kevin and Miller are at the slopes with Kevin keeping his neck warm and stylish. The hat isn't my work. Those Nike people make a good ski cap for Kevin's bald head and he really likes it.

Right now I'm working on another baby item. The Mason-Dixon Baby Kimono is getting done again along with a pair of booties for my friend Susie who just had a baby girl. These babies keep cropping up out of nowhere. It makes me wonder where they come from!

Just Rambling

2008-12-18T20:36:00.003-06:00

Kevin's mittens are done. He seems to like them. Now he wants me to knit him a cowl. The weather has been so cold here, especially the wind. He said that a scarf is too long but something to pull up around his neck would be perfect. I'll get it started as soon as I get some Christmas cookies and gifts made.

I think it is kind of funny that now he wants me to knit him things. He used to make fun of it, but he now is reaping the benefits of my needles.

Kolby is staying with us and is wearing his sub socks every night. He says they are the warmest socks to lounge around in. The other day I purposely dug my own knitted socks from the laundry to make my toes warm up.

I'm subbing tomorrow so hopefully I can get a start on Kevin's cowl. But with the weather, we may not have school. Hmmm, to make money or cookies. I'm not quite sure what I which I want to do.

A Month Gone And No Blogging

2008-12-02T17:53:00.003-06:00

Shame, shame on me. The whole month of November came and went with not a single blog update from me. But a very productive knitting month for me. I finished Kolby's monster green sub socks! He really liked them.

I made Calorimetry for Malorie and myself. It's a great head band that really does keep your ears warm and your hair up! This only took about 2 days to do. Super easy, with old stash to be used.

I took Kevin to the yarn store on Saturday and have started making him some convertible mittens. I'm just taking a plain old mitten pattern and rearranging it to a convertible mitten pattern. I made Kevin pick the yarn. He was really surprised at all he had to choose from. (Again another male who has no idea how much yarn there is out there!) The really good thing was it was a sale day at the store and I got 10% off. WooHoo!!!

I finished baby booties and a pair of mittens for the Bazaar at church. No one purchased them, so I'm going to donate them to a local charity who needs mittens for kids this winter.

Also on the yarn front, Malorie used yarn to make the solar system. She did so well with her work she got an A+ on it. It was very cute and portrayed the planets fairly accurately. (We went through a lot of my left overs.)

Hopefully I'll get more blogging done for this month. We are going to Colorado after Christmas so maybe I'll get some massive knitting done then.

Progress on the Socks and Malorie to the LYS

2008-10-26T13:52:00.005-05:00

I'm taking Malorie to a beginning knitting class today. She has expressed an interest in learning to knit, but I have a hard time teaching it. So when I got the LYS flier for classes last week and the class was being offered, I jumped on it. I'm going to go with her. I'm trying to spend time with just her. It gets hard to do, but I'm working on it.

I have one of Kolby's "submarine" socks done. I use the submarine term because these are the absolutely longest socks I've knitted and it looks like a green sub. I'm doing a little bit of other knitting right now. I need to take a break from the socks and church is getting ready for its Fall Bazaar that raises money for mission groups. I figured I could knit up some booties, a scarf and maybe a few dishcloths. This knitting will get rid of the Red Heart yarn my neighbor's mother gave me. Plus I'll get away from the socks long enough to appreciate them again when I knit on them again.

I've been knitting when I'm subbing or watching Miller's soccer games, but I've been up to a little sewing too. Miller wanted to be Yoda for Halloween and Jodi's nephew need a donut costume so the machine has been out and roaring to life again.

Well it's off to the LYS with Malorie. I'll take pix to show you how she does.

Why are people amazed by knitting?

2008-09-18T11:28:00.003-05:00

I've started Kolby's sock request. I went to the LYS to get some sock yarn that was blue and yellow and couldn't find any. So.., I called Kolby. They're going to be his socks, so he should choose the yarn. Well, he drove up to the store came inside and was a little astounded by how much yarn there was to choose from. He decided on an electric green. It's not neon, but it's very vibrant.

I've been taking these socks everywhere. I want to get them done, but I'm still working on the toe of the first sock. This is not good since I doing toe-up socks! His size 12 feet are a little bigger than my kids, so I wasn't quite prepared to do so many wrap and turns.

Sorry for that detour into my wrap and turn obsession, anyway people seem amazed that I knit. On Sunday I took my knitting to the girl's volleyball games to do between long waits for each game. I had three people amazed that I knit and that they remembered their grandma doing it. (WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK ONLY OLD LADIES KNIT?) Then on Monday I was at my women's league volleyball game and took out my knitting to work for the hour long wait for our next games. Again more people were amazed that I knit. I think so were surprised that I did any craft work at all. Then when I told the recreation tech who was in charge of the volleyball games that night that I blog about my knitting I thought he was going to laugh himself into a heart attack. He couldn't believe that I knitted, but also that I blogged about it. Oh, if he even Googled knitting blogs he would be severely in shock on the amount of them! I mean look at the link about 790,000 hits from Google!!! That's not even taking into effect the people who blog about their knitting but it's not their primary subject!

Well I'm off to sub this afternoon and I'll take my socks with me. The kids think it's a hoot to see me work with all those needles and it gives me something to do while they are in music class!

Baby Sweater Down, Socks To Go

2008-09-01T14:20:00.004-05:00

I finished baby Jentri's sweater and booties. The pattern is Helena from Knitty. I did change it a bit. The pattern called for 6 repeats of the arrow pattern, but after about 3 repeats are started thinking (which is a scary thing for me to do) the sweater would be way too long for Jentri. Her momma isn't the tallest person in the world. If she gets any height, it's gonna have to come from daddy!

The booties pattern is from Saartje's knits. I had to knit 4 of these little guys. Each time my sizing was off. Finally I knitted two that actually were close in size. It drives me crazy how my gauge can switch from one size to another depending on the day that I'm knitting.

I used plain ol' Peaches and Cream yarn for both. I love this colorway and it seems so perfect for a baby. The best part about the yarn is that it is cotton which is a great fiber to have with little ones. It's soft, durable and is easy to wash.

Now I've got to get started on my Christmas knitting. Socks, hats and hairbands. These things should go pretty easy. I've got to do stripes on the socks, so I'll be adding something new to my abilities. Last night I was looking for the booties pattern and found a headband pattern that I think the girls will like. We are going skiing at Christmas time, so I figured this would be a great stocking stuffer for the girls. I may even make one for me.

I'm seeing red, I'm seeing red!! Help!

2008-08-13T18:41:00.006-05:00

I need to stay knitting on my baby items, but the tomatoes keep coming. Kevin's grandparents have been sending us tomatoes. I not complaining too much, but 3 Wal-Mart size bags every 4 days is a little overboard. I've made salsa, Italian seasoned tomatoes and even just canned tomatoes. I'm kinda getting sick of the color of red. I know that it will be great in February when I want to make some spaghetti sauce and I can go to the pantry and pull out a can of tomatoes. I'm just over tomatoed! (I wonder if the New England Journal of Medicine has ever done a case study? If not, do you think they would pay me to show the side effects of tomato processing at home?)

See all the RED. Wouldn't you be a little sick of the color after 4 hours of canning?

School starts a week from yesterday and I can honestly say I think I'm ready for it. Granted Miller will be in Kindergarten all day and this will be the first time in 9 years that I haven't had a kid home during the school year. I plan on substitute teaching some more this year, which benefits my knitting. I can always knit when the kids are at recess, lunch, PE or Music. When I went to enroll Audrey and Miller, the principal of the 2nd-3rd grade school asked me if I had all my sub paperwork in. When I said yes he snatched me to sub on the 1st Friday of the school year. I think I 'll start on my nephew's socks for my subbing project. Socks are so easy to take places to knit and it amazes people that you use 4 needles. It kind of looks like a torture device. (Sometimes I think it is!)

Shawl, socks, baby stuff and kids

2008-08-04T18:46:00.004-05:00

Shawn's prayer shawl is done. It didn't take too long, but I just had a hard time getting into the groove about doing it. I used a pattern from Jennifer Worick's book Getting Started Knitting. I had done it earlier when I was working on prayer shawls for church. This one turned out much better than the first. I was more confident when I clipped the stitches and adding fringe helped give it a more complete look. I packed it up and will send it first thing in the morning.

I'm going to continue on Jentri's stuff now. Hopefully, I'll get it done before she turns 15! Then I'm going to get started on my nephew's Christmas stuff. My oldest nephew saw a pair of Miller's socks and now he wants some. Who would think that a 17-year-old would want something like that. He even put in a color request.

I thought I'd add a pix of the kids. I took this a couple days after Malorie got back from camp. She had a great time and I think her siblings were definitely ready to see her again. Malorie brought back the stuffed animals Audrey and Miller are holding.

Messenger Bag

2008-07-17T20:06:00.007-05:00

I've finished Audrey's messenger bag. I was a little worried that it would be too small, but I was able to fit Kevin's old lap top in it and close it with buttons. So that means it will work for school. Kevin even liked it, which surprised me since he could usually care less about what I knit. It took about 15 T-shirts, 2 buttons and almost 3 weeks to do, but here it is.....

Notice Audrey's sophisticated model stance. She's so into fashion and art that it scares me sometimes. The bag is a little long on the strap, but in her optimism Audrey said it was perfect. And of course little brother has to get into the picture too. Audrey was a little irritated that Miller was in the shot, so I had to upload it. (Being the one who controls the blog is soooo powerful.)

I'm still working on baby items and will try to find another prayer shawl pattern to make for Shawn's rabbi. Tomorrow I go to pick up Malorie from summer camp, so I won't get much knitting done. It's a 4 hour drive there and back.

The Start of July and I'm Off to the Knitting Races

2008-07-06T21:40:00.009-05:00

We survived the 4th of July. I ate too much, drank too much, and we did too many fireworks! It was a fun time.

I even finished knitting Audrey's school bag. It's made out of T-Shirts cut into 1 inch strips and knotted together to make one continuous fiber. (Many thanks to my husband, father and nephews in their donations of T-shirts.) I made a pattern and every thing for this bag. I kept track of how many rows I had and what size needles I used (US 15) and how many Bind offs and Cast ons I needed during the making. I am still working on the strap, but that will only take me an hour to finish. (I think I'll do it while I wait for the kids at Junior Golf.)

Here's the preblocking pictures.

I'm not sure on how the bag will block since it's 100% cotton I will really need to stretch it out. And the weight is incredible. I thought using 10 T-shirts wouldn't make it that heavy, but boy is it sturdy fabric. If you can't tell by the shape of the bag it's going to be a messenger bag. I'm not sure if it will be large enough for her school work, but she can use it for other things. I am going to block it tomorrow and then sew it up next week.

I've also worked on some adorable stuff for my friend Kristy's baby girl Jentri Jane Phipps. I've finished one piece but I'm still working on another. By the way Kristy, the items are for Jentri as she gets older about 6+ months. Knitted stuff in the summer is a bummer for babies.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2008-06-27T21:46:00.003-05:00

Daddy's 71st birthday
Originally uploaded by heatherunruh

Here's Mom and Dad celebrating Dad's 71st birthday. We had Dad's favorites of chicken fried steak, fried potatoes with gravy, wilted spinach salad, and angel food cake with chocolate whip cream frosting. Everything was delicious and we had a good time.

Rambling About Lots of Nothing

2008-06-16T18:51:00.005-05:00

Last week was kind of a difficult week. Our computer went down on Sunday and didn't get back up until yesterday. So it's been tough to check out the blog. I was afraid that Kevin was going to pitch fits because of the computer, but he was very calm about the whole thing. It seems as though he has to check the train boards every hour to make sure he isn't going to be called to work any time soon. Fortunately the Geek Squad was able to save all our pix that were on the hard drive before the Dell Tech Guys had me wipe out the hard drive. I definitely plan on buying a memory stick to back up the computer now!

Meriam ended up having a little boy, Tiger Zevyn Wallace Thompson was born on Tuesday, June 10. He is so cute and has so much black hair. (Meriam says it was the same with Hogan and Jadyn. Now neither of them have black hair.)

I still haven't started working on Audrey's bag yet. I need to get T-shirts and start cutting them into 1 inch strips. Once that is done I'll start knotting the strips together and then I can knit them.

Kevin and I leave for Colorado on Thursday. I am sure I'll figure out something to knit while we are in the car. I actually like to knit in the car. It gives me something to do while I'm singing to the radio and Kevin' driving. Kevin always complains that I never pay attention to him while I read in the car, so knitting at least gives me something while I listen to him and his wonderful sports talk radio.

Baby Kimono Done

2008-06-07T12:27:00.004-05:00

My sister is going to have a baby in 3 days. I have really felt the rush on this piece. Everyday the kids have been asking, "How many more days until Aunt Meriam has her baby?" This question kept me on the knitting push. So much that on Thursday I had to take an Aleve, to keep my neck from cramping up. Well, if Meriam is looking she now needs to leave the page. NO PEAKING MERIAM! You'll get to see it in 3 days.

Here's the pictures . . .

The pattern is from Mason-Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne. I had been looking all over the Internet for something to knit and I came across a knit-a-long with this pattern. So I went to my local library and checked to see if they had the book. Unfortunately they didn't, but the wonderful Inter-library Loan system my library belongs to did. Within a day of asking for it I was called letting me know it was in. This is such a great book. I think I'm going to have to purchase it. I love almost everything they have done in it.

The only change I made in it was buttons instead of ties. I know that you should not do buttons, because of the choking risk, but I am very secure that my buttons will not come off. My 8th grade home-ec teacher made sure in class that our buttons could stay on no matter the amount of tugging on them. The seams required mattress stitching. Usually I just whip stitch the seams, but this time I did the right thing and seamed them according to the pattern. I think if I practiced some more I would be pleased with it, but it'll do.

The yarn was Peaches and Cream 100 % cotton. I've knitted the kids some socks with this type of yarn. I like working with it. When I bought the yarn for the baby's kimono, Wal-Mart had a huge cone of Peaces and Cream that I had to buy. I don't know what I'll do with it, maybe a new bathmat for the downstairs bathroom, or maybe a bunch of washcloths. The yarn will let me know what to do with it when I'm ready.

My next project is inspired by the Mason-Dixon ladies. Audrey wants a messenger bag for school, so I'm going to take old T-shirts and make them into yarn that I can knit up. The book talks about using T-shirts to make a rag rug. (I plan on doing one of these also.) I figured it would make a durable bag that is easily washable and soft. My nephews have tons of shirts they never wear so I'm going to raid them to make my yarn.

1 Pair Down, Baby Items To Go

2008-05-20T17:56:00.005-05:00

A pair of socks are done. Miller's socks came out super easy and cute. Fortunately the kids prefer ankle socks so I don't have to knit much leg up. I did the patented toe-up sock with the magic cast-on method. These are the best ways to do socks! Now Miller wants another pair of slippers. This kid loves wearing my knitting creations. Too bad his dad won't pick out something for me to knit him.

I went to the prayer shawl meeting last week and I just can't believe how beautiful the work was. I'm going to add pictures to the blog so the beauty can be admired. I thinking I'm needing to get to work on something for my sister's baby which is due next month. The only thing is they don't find out what the baby is until it's out. (Here's an idea Meriam, find out so I can make something color specific!) So I guess I'll have to go with a green or yellow item. I'm going to check out some sites to figure out what to make. After I do the baby thing, I'll get started on the girls' socks. Audrey had said something about making her a school bag like Malorie's, but I'm not sure if that's really what she wants.

I'm Starting Sock Knitting Up Again

2008-05-11T18:04:00.004-05:00

I've started knitting socks again. I don't know if it is because the weather is getting warmer or if I have done such big projects that a little one is kind of nice to do. The other day at Malorie's DARE graduation I found myself pulling my knitting out of my new bag and knitting while listening to the DARE officer and essay winners speak.

On Tuesday the church is having a blessing over all the prayer shawls we made. I'm going to go and check out all the great work everyone in the group did. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to praying for the people who receive my shawls. I'll take pictures and post them to show all the different shawls made.

I've added a link for my family so they can check out the kids' videos I've done of their recent choir performances. I figured it would be a whole lot easier to put them on this page than to make another blog just for them. The video is a little blurry, but you can really hear Malorie belt out her song.

Hallelujah I Finished The Prayer Shawl

2008-04-26T21:38:00.009-05:00

I finished it!

Praise the Lord!!!

I've been working on it for about a month, trying to find the right pattern to do. Once I did, I finished it in 2 weeks. Tonight I worked in bated breath. Would dropping stitches do what I wanted it to do? I had heard from the pattern designer, "No pressure on the shawl! It's a fun technique to try. It's so counter-intuitive: Knitting something up only to drop stitches at the end. Are you kidding me? But it's so fun to see things unravel but not come undone. Have fun with it." - Jennifer Worick. That was some what reassuring, but I still was a little worried, but when it came out I was so happy with my results.

Here is the before and after shots. The shawl measured out to 9 inches before dropping the stitches. I had a fairly even gauge for my garter stitch. (This is not always the case.)

And now the full length after shot. It increased between 4 to 5 inches. I really loved the way it came out. I used my iron to give it a quick steam blocking. The unraveled stitches were a little wavy and the steam took care of that. (Pardon my messy work table. I really need to recover it!)

Malorie, who has been sick today, watched me as I finished up the unraveling part. "That looks pretty cool," said the stuffed up, feverish 11-year-old. I consider this a really impressive comment, since she is turning preteen on me and I am getting kind of dorky to her. Tomorrow, I'm going to start work on my new bag. I can already feel the excitement of cutting through fabric and fusing!! I'll post another shot of the shawl once it has blocked and is ready to be modeled.

Only 14 More Inches To Go!!!

2008-04-22T20:42:00.003-05:00

That's right, only 14 more inches! Now if I would just pull out my shawl and just finish it. I mean really all it would take is 7 inches in 2 days.

This weekend I knitted on our way to Emporia to check out golf clubs for Malorie. I mean really, a 2 hour drive there and a 2 hour drive back to buy golf clubs for an 11 year-old? Well, my DH wanted to go to this golf shop, he works with the owner, so off we went. I know the trip was to get Malorie clubs, but why did Kevin have to get a new wood? I'm beginning to wonder if the trip wasn't more for him than her. Yet, Malorie has gone out with Kevin the last 2 out of 3 days to the driving range to hit balls.

I couldn't believe it when the author of the pattern, Jennifer Worick, posted a comment on my blog. Wow, I was so surprised. Now I feel pressure to make sure it looks really good. At least my gauge is staying the same throughout the project. I went to her blog and what a fun blog. You can check it out here. I wish I could be as devoted as that to blogging.

Well, I'd best get back to the needles, this project isn't going to get done on its own and I really want my new bag!!!

That's My Plan And I'm Sticking To It!!

2008-04-12T09:12:00.008-05:00

Where did the month of March go? I feel horrible for not blogging. I had a lot go on last month, so I guess blogging took a back seat. My knitting didn't fall too far behind. I finished my first prayer shawl and a pair of cargo pants for my friend Jodi's brand new nephew. His Aunt Jodi thought they were super cute, but he had a growth spurt and didn't fit them. I plan on making a pair for my sister's new baby when the baby comes in June. The first prayer shawl that I made was from the pattern Wisp. I did this same pattern for my sister, but this time I kept out the button holes and buttons.

I have started my next prayer shawl, but it is really slow going. It's all garter stitch, so I'm really getting tired of it. I checked out a Knitting book at the Library and found a pattern called Fast Favorite Wrap. It's from the book Getting Started Knitting by Jennifer Worick. The pattern has you work garter stitch for 52 inches then when it's time to bind off you drop so many stitches to create open ladder work. I did a test gauge and it turned out fairly nice, now I just need to finish it by the end of the month.

My incentive for finishing the prayer shawl is making this bag. I figured once I finished the bag, it would be big enough for me to take my knitting with me. (See it all comes back around to knitting!) I bought the material and pattern with an April Fool's Day sale at Hancocks of Paducah. It was 20% off all items. I love this fabric store and get stuff from them often.

I've got my plan and now I just need to stick to it. Fortunately I've been booked to substitute teach during this month, so I'll have some extra time to work on the shawl.

Scarf, Shawl and Mittens oh my!

2008-02-16T16:43:00.006-06:00

Finally I have finished Nancy's birthday scarf. It was just 29 days past her birthday, but it is finished. I didn't take a pix of it. I plan on trying to catch Nancy with it on and then post it.

I am working on a prayer shawl for church. Our church is planning on making 20 prayer shawls to take to our district conference. I tried the knit 3, purl 3 pattern for the shawl. It didn't hold my attention for too long. So I decided to knit the Wisp pattern again. I have made a few modifications to the pattern. I'm not adding buttons to it, therefore the need to make a button hole every 5 rows is not necessary. This pattern goes so quickly and I am truly enjoying just thinking and praying for the person who will use it.

I also whipped up some mittens for Miller. He had lost one of his waterproof mittens and his gloves weren't cutting it. The total time for the mittens was about 3 days. It was so easy to do while I was substitute teaching. During recess, I'd whip them out and start knitting on them. They were a great small project to take. I may have to do some socks for my subbing days so I have something small to take instead of my huge prayer shawl.

Audrey's fixation with purple continues

2008-01-11T15:13:00.001-06:00

For about the last year and a half I have promised Audrey that I would paint her room. Well, we finally got the paint on the day after Christmas. (DH had a Lowes gift card to spend.) We take her to the paint section, and she tells us she wants a purple room with red polka dots. Just so you know she has green carpet that is really ugly, so I wasn't so sure about purple with red dots on the wall. She was adamant that she have purple walls. She chose a color called Grapalicious. At least we talked her out of the red polka dots.

As you know from my blog I'm a bit of a procrastinator, so I just started painting today. My kid has color sense. I was still a little worried about the purple with the green carpet, but I painted the accent wall in the dressing room of her room. I was amazed how well it warmed up the room. It looks great. DH came in and was amazed on how just painting that one wall made such a difference to the room. I should have taken pictures of before and after, but hindsight is always 20/20. Her bedroom has two walls that are mostly windows, so I have decided to do her entire room in the purple. It's a bright room and can handle a strong color. When she gets home from school today she will be so psyched!

Now I just have to paint the bedroom, find fabric for curtains and duvet covers and sew those right up. What have I gotten myself into.

The first blog of the New Year

2008-01-06T19:16:00.001-06:00

Okay I am trying to keep my resolution for the New Year. It maybe 6 days into the New Year, but at least I'm blogging! I finally got the kids to pose for their socks picture. It was an adventure trying to find all the socks. Miller and Malorie's were easy to find. I had washed them earlier so I knew where they were. Audrey's not so much. I had to search under her bed and did find it, but was so grossed out that I'm going to have to wash in Clorox tonight with all the germs under that bed. Plus I could only find one, that's why I just had the kids show a single sock.

This sock adventure started out as Audrey wanting a pair of socks. So I decided to make a pair for her. Well my math isn't the greatest and I messed up on the math formula for the Universal Toe-Up pattern. So that pair became Miller's, then I did another pair in a really cute pink and purple, but again I was off on my math. That became Audrey's friend Maceyn's pair. Then I did Malorie's and finally I did Audrey's. I can definitely tell how much more comfortable I became with the pattern by the time I got to my last pair.

I'm still working on my sister's scarf. Slowly but surely I'll get it done!

How many "Our Fathers" and "Hail Marys" do I owe for not blogging?

2007-12-27T22:17:00.001-06:00

Oooooooooooooooooohhhhh, I've been so bad about not blogging. Nothing like going 3 months without putting some info on what I've been knitting.

Well, I've given up on the Skinny Scarf. It was just too much for me to comprehend doing. So now my sister is getting a skinny garter stitched scarf. I love the look of the Skinny Scarf, but I'm just not into 400 stitches per row.

But I've done some projects on the side. I knitted the kids some great lounge around socks out of Sugar and Spice yarn. All cotton, super comfy and very bright, lime green. I used a great toe-up pattern by Amy Swenson. The directions were fairly easy and now I can make toe up socks without looking at a pattern, unless I want a fancy stitch. I also had to get a quick scarf out to my friend Jodi's little girl and some mittens for her son. I had never made mittens before, but they were so easy with the pattern I found. I think that I may make some for myself. Jodi's daughter got a pair of the toe-up socks too, I had made them for Audrey, but they were too small for her and pink so Miller couldn't wear them.

In January I will start on my first prayer shawl. My church is doing them for the Annual conference of our denomination. I have to knit 2, but the pattern is super easy and quite relaxing, that I don't think it will take me much time to do it.

I'll post a picture of the kids in their lime green socks. My New Year's resolution is to be better about my blogging. Maybe I'll add more than just knitting to my blog.

After a month off I guess I'll knit again

2007-09-17T08:32:00.001-05:00

It's been a month since I posted. I feel so bad about not doing it, but I haven' t been knitting either in that time. I've finally started The Skinny Scarf. I've just casted on 400 stitches. It seemed to take forever. Now I just need to knit it. It is only 20 rows.

We just started school and I think with all the time consuming stuff the kids are doing I just don't think about knitting. I am thinking about doing some Christmas knitting after I finish this scarf. I think I'll be knitting some more scarfs, they're easy and quick. Great gifts to make and give.

I need to start something, but what?????

2007-08-22T16:31:00.001-05:00

I really haven't started any knitting, since finishing the Wisp. I made some slippers for Miller, but those really don't count. It took me 2 days to do and each day I knitted only a mere hour or hour and a half. I did learn how to do the Magic Cast-On. What a wonderful way to do a toe up sock. Literally, one of the easiest cast ons I've ever tried!

I want to knit The Skinny Scarf, but casting on 400 stitches is daunting. I need to buckle down and get something on the needles, or I'll start snacking again at night, something I really don't want to do!

On the Malorie's backpack front, she has gotten a ton of complements on it at school. She really does like it. I guess Audrey will be asking for one soon. I really don't want to knit that pattern again. The funny thing is that I found a drawstring backpack pattern just this week and I wasn't even looking for one. It took me forever to find something for what a knitted Malorie and even then I had to adjust it. Just my luck!

Oops, I made a change

2007-08-16T11:15:00.001-05:00

Okay I know I said I was going to knit the Little Arrowhead stole in my last blog, but things change and I found a pattern that better showcased the yarn. I found this pattern from the Knitty web site. The pattern is Wisp. When I first saw it I wasn't very impressed by it, but later on I when I looked again I realized it was perfect for the yarn. It was super easy to knit and I memorized the pattern fairly quickly. Here's a close-up of the stitched and buttons for Wisp.

Malorie is modeling the piece for me. It's a little too big for her now, but I made it for my sister in Nevada and in about 2 more years Malorie will be as big as her aunt! What I like about this piece is it's variations. It can be a poncho, cowl, scarf and a hood. The pattern shows how to do all these options. I knitted it a little shorter than the finished length the pattern has it at 50 inches after blocking, and mine is 44 inches. It blocked quickly and I am very proud of the piece. Now, I'll mail it and hopefully it will brighten my sister's day!!

Stoles and soapboxes

2007-08-08T07:54:00.000-05:00

I've finally started my next project. I'm making the Arrowhead Stole from Interweave Knits. It knits up fairly quickly and only has 4 rows to memorize. I'm using my Aarlan Venice for it. I think that it will knit up quickly. It all ready shows the interesting color variants in the yarn with just 8 rows. The scary thing for me is that I'm laying in bed last night realizing that the arrow point will only go one way. Then I start thinking, it would look a whole lot better if you could make the arrow points switch in the middle of the stole. I figured if I reverse the row pattern I should get the arrow pattern facing the other way. Is this a sign that I'm getting too involved in my knitting? I keep wanting to change patterns that are perfectly fine.

I showed some relatives Malorie's backpack. They really liked it and were impressed that I took so much time to make a backpack that will be dirty by the end of the year. If they only knew that it took me just about 2 weeks and the joy of making something outweighs the practically of a piece.(Which by the way, a backpack is a pretty useful piece. IMHO) Not everything that you knit must be a cashmere, alpaca, mohair sweater that will only see the light of day once a month, if even that much. Thank you for letting me ramble about knitting for the masses and I'll get off my soapbox now.

The BAG is finished

2007-08-02T12:39:00.000-05:00

I'm done with Malorie's school bag. It didn't take me too long to finish, even with the modifications that were made. It went from a messenger bag to a drawstring back pack. The SUPERNEWBIE support board at Knitty helped me so much with making the drawstring holes. I didn't think that I'd have to ask how to make holes, but I did. Malorie is pleased with the results and has already used it. She said it worked great. I lined the bag with some fabric that I had and it should last her for at least this school year.

Now, I'm still figuring out what to do next with my 3 skeins of Aarlan yarn. I googled it last night and found out that the yarn is from the 80's. So it'll be my first time knitting with "vintage" yarn.

My first foray into design (sort of)

2007-07-26T07:52:00.000-05:00

I'm still working on Malorie's school bag, but I'm tweaking the design. The pattern calls for a lot of extra knitting to make it a messenger bag, so I decided to cut back on one of the repeats and turn it into a drawstring bag. Malorie likes the idea and now I'll have enough yarn to finish it. I'm about three-quarters of the way done. I have about 15 days to finish it, which should be enough time. I've been knitting away at swimming lessons. It's a great place to knit, the kids are getting worn out and I can knit without any at home distractions.

I've started cables and I am surviving

2007-07-14T19:24:00.001-05:00

Cable knitting has always scared me. I couldn't understand how to hold stitches back and work around them. Even watching episodes of Knitty Gritty still couldn't encourage me. But I found a pattern for Malorie's bag and it has cables. The Sweater Bag uses cables, but now that I've done socks I'm not so scared. What's the worst thing that will happen? That's right, I'll have to rip it out. No big deal, I've had to do it already. I'm getting fairly good at not losing stitches when I am frogging. I think I should be able to finish this project by the end of the month. It moves along fairly quickly. I'm using some really old Red Heart yarn (from my neighbor, see last post). It's not what the pattern calls for, but it's what I've got and I fairly close to gauge.

Monkeys done and now onto the next project

2007-07-10T11:19:00.000-05:00

Okay, I have finally finished the Monkey socks! The second sock looks a whole lot better than the first one I did. My tension is better and my stitches are neater. When I blocked the socks you could tell the difference in size. There's about an eighth of an inch in size difference. That's okay though, I'm still going to wear them. At least I can say I've knitted socks. I think I may do some more later on, but for right now I need to get started on Malorie's school bag. School is just a month away (YEAH!!) and I found some yarn that I think will work for her bag.

My wonderful neighbor asked me the other day if I needed anything from garage sales. She loves to go look through other people's junk. I told her not really, but if she found any yarn, I would take it. Well 2 days ago she comes over with 3 grocery bags full of yarn. Granted most of it is synthetic, but there were 3 beautiful gray skeins of a wool/mohair mix. (I can't wait to use those beauties!) She had gone to visit her mother in assisted living and told her about the neighbor girl who is knitting. Her mother had her pull out the bags of yarn. She gave me all of it for free. I don't know where I'll use it all, but most of it is really quite nice. Malorie saw the yarn and picked out what she wanted from these bags to make her school bag. The only problem is that the yarn won't felt, but I think I can work around that. I guess I'll take a little from various bag patterns and put them together. The worst I can do is rip, rip and rip.

EEE, OOO, EEE (My monkey impression)

2007-07-02T08:09:00.000-05:00

I'm almost done with my monkeys. Too bad they don't look as nice as everyone else's I see on the Internet. I just don't know if it is my yarn choice or my gauge. (That ugly "G" word rears it's ugly head again.) I'm starting to think about what next to knit. I need to make Malorie's bag, but I'm just not really feeling the urge to do it. Maybe I'll be inspired to do it once I've blocked the socks. These have been a great summer knit. I don't have tons of heavy fabric laying on me while I knit. I think that's why I'm dreading the bag. Next time I blog I'll have the socks done and pix up for viewing.

Sock Update

2007-06-21T07:52:00.000-05:00

Well I'm up to the toe on my Monkey Socks. I just have to finish the toe and I'll have one sock done. They are turning out pretty well. Though when I look at others Monkeys they seem to be tighter. I guess I am a loose knitter. My husband came home the other day and saw me knitting with 5 needles and thought that I had a small torture device in my hands. (If he only knew that ripping out stitches is torture.)

I've been looking for patterns for a messenger bag for Malorie. I think I found one, now I just have to finish these socks and find some money to buy the Lambs Pride Wool to felt. I wish yarn didn't cost so much. (I wish I would have picked up a hobby that isn't so pricey.)

Pictures of the Purple Shrug

2007-06-12T22:04:00.000-05:00

Here's Audrey in her brand new shrug. She likes it. (At least for right now she does.) It was a fairly easy pattern. It just took forever for me to be motivated to finish it. Now I'm off on my Monkey socks and have the first one two-thirds done. I need to start looking for bag patterns. Malorie wants a new book bag for school and she wants me to knit it. That means if Malorie wants one, Audrey will too. I'll need to slip something in for DH between projects. He was watching me knit my socks and thought they looked interesting. Maybe I'll give in and make him a pair. Only if he doesn't complain about my knitting and everyone growing out of what I make.

The Wicked Shrug is Finished!!!!!

2007-06-05T13:31:00.001-05:00

The purple shrug is done!!! It's on my blocking table right now, so it will fit Audrey better. The picture is of the shrug before I sewed the seams. It was on it's first blocking and now I'm blocking it for Audrey to wear. Now I'm ready to start my monkey socks. If they turn out good, I'll give them to my sister. If they are crappy they will become mine.

Wishing Upon a Star

2007-05-21T22:11:00.000-05:00

Heather's Wish List
1. Ohh, I wish I would finish Audrey's shrug! I'm finally working on the second sleeve, but it is taking forever. My DH is going to be gone for the next 3 weeks for work training and I think that I should have it done by then. No, I will have it done!
2. I've all ready bought yarn for my next project, Monkey from Knitty.com. It's a beautiful sock pattern and the yarn I purchased will look great with it. Now I'll just have to learn how to master 4 needles at one time. I just really want to get started on them.
3. I need to keep up my blog a little better. I hope I can do that with summer coming on the and the kids being home all day long. Maybe I could get one of my daughters to type my thoughts while I knit. ( I maybe onto something there. The spelling wouldn't be the greatest though.)
4. That I knitted faster so I could do all the projects that I want to do. My list of items keeps getting longer and longer. So much to knit and so little time!

All I need is just one skein

2007-05-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

I've got most of Audrey's shrug done. But I just need one more skein of Moda Dea Dream to finish it up. I got it on sale in Manhattan at Hobby Lobby, but since that is a 45 minute trip and gas is up to $3.09 a gallon I think I can wait. I asked my sister to check out the Hobby Lobby store in Salina, which is 20 minutes away. Hopefully she can find it and bring it to me tonight. I really want to get this shrug done. I've been itching to do another project. The funny thing about this shrug was I should have been able to do it with 4 skeins, which I have. I guess I knit a little to loose. UGH, gauge is such a cruel mistress!

High ho, high ho, it's off to the yarn store I plan to go ...

2007-05-03T14:17:00.000-05:00

I think it's time to go the yarn store here. I've been thinking about knitting a pair of socks and I would like to check out what yarn is available. The yarn store here, is great and such a wonderful place even if it is only open 3 days a week. I can get my fix filled in at least one of those days. Slowly but surely Audrey's shrug is coming together. I have about 7 more inches to go before I can start the second sleeve. I plan on having this bit of knitting done by the end of next week. I guess I'd better get going on it.

Why Bother

2007-04-30T09:41:00.000-05:00

I've got one sleeve made on Audrey's shrug. Just 13 inches of stockinette and another sleeve I'll be done. It seems like this project is taking forever. Then my husband asks me, "You put all this work into the sweater and she'll out grow it in a year. Why bother?" Some times I do wonder why I bother, but then I start feeling the urge to cast on a few stitches and then I see a cute pattern on Knitty.com and I just have to start doing something again.
I think I've hit a plateau in this piece. Maybe if I keep working on it, I push through. I just can't stand to have more than one project on the needles at a time!

Miller's hoodie

2007-04-27T11:11:00.000-05:00

Here's a photo of my son in his sweater that I knitted him about 4 months ago. It was fairly easy and he loved the camo yarn. The pattern is from Lion Brand Yarn. Here's the link to it http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/kkctq-sweatshirt.html?noImages=

AARRGGHHH!! I hate ripping out!

2007-04-25T07:53:00.001-05:00

Last night I was working on the shrug for Audrey and as I'm going I notice I've dropped a stitch. No biggie, I'll just pick it back up. I've done it before and have gotten fairly good a fixing my mistakes. Well it's this horrible yarn again that keeps giving me fits. I tried to weave my mistake back in with the stitches and the yarn just keeps slipping and not working well. I ended up frogging the whole thing and starting over at 9 o'clock last night.

Just a little warning, Moda Dea Dream yarn maybe soft, but it is the absolute worst to work with! My husband told me just to get some new yarn and do the shrug. The thing is I want to get rid of this yarn and I know once I get it knitted up it will look great!

I think my next project will be something super easy. Maybe a bath mat or something with some easy squeezy yarn!

Falling In and Out of Yarn.

2007-04-21T07:54:00.000-05:00

Right now I'm working on a shrug for my youngest daughter. It is super cute, but I hate the yarn. I loved the yarn when I purchased it. It felt so soft and it was on sale. Two wonderful things for yarn to have! The only problem, the yarn is so soft it's slippery. I have started and ripped out 2 other projects I started with this yarn. Finally, I found the shrug pattern and the yarn seems to behave itself, or maybe I'm used to it. I guess I just had to find the right pattern for the yarn. Now if I can just force myself to finish it!

Just starting out

2007-04-19T09:47:00.000-05:00

Wow, I've never tried to blog before. But decided that if I wanted feedback on my knitting I'd better create one. Bear with me as I try out this whole thing. It make me a little nervous. But here's a picture of the ponco I knitted for my daughter. I used an old poncho pattern and changed it in a few places and added a trim to it. It is a basic knit & purl with a knit and wrap for the lacey work. I have made it before for my daughter and a niece. Let me know what you think.

Heather