Rambling About Lots of Nothing

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

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

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

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

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!!!

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!!

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.