What a Week!

Posted on October 5, 2007 | Comments Off on What a Week!

I am so glad it is Friday morning. This means there is only one working day left in the week.
Work this week has been a bit busy to say the least. As an RN my shifts can go from super quiet to super busy in less time than a heart beat. Most of my days have had that happen to myself or my partner since the weekend.Thankfully the nurses where I work are a tight knit group who support each other not only in words but in actions.

I placed an order on Monday with Elmore -Pisgah, which happens to be one of my favorite yarn sources. It was a huge order to say the least, but my husband and son encouraged me to do so saying it is time to spend some money on myself for once. The Customer Service lady with whom I spoke said my order would be worked on that day. From past experience I figured my order would arrive late this week, just in time for my weekend off.  Wednesday morning there was a very loud knock at the front door. It was the UPS driver who runs the route in our neighborhood. The parcels he had with him were from Elmore-Pisgah.

To say I was excited was an understatement. I spent the  remainder of my morning going through the boxes. The cones of yarn were counted, admired and sorted by color families. Several of the colors are new to me. It will be fun to play with them. The packages containing the Specials   which had patterns in them  were opened and the patterns read. They look fun and interesting. Some of the yarns they contain are new to me. I have never used Country Cotton Cabled Yarn before. Using it to make the items in this package will be an experiment.  I will definitely order from this company again.

I have only made one dishcloth this week. Three more are on the needles. One of them is the Peas and Carrots Scrubby Cloth.  The other two are a cloth of my own design. One of my goals is to post a picture of the first one this weekend. Another goal for the weekend is to post pictures and the pattern for the cloth I designed.

This has been an interesting week.


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Weekend Mornings

Posted on September 29, 2007 | Comments Off on Weekend Mornings

It is Saturday morning. Weekend mornings are my favorite time of the week. My household is asleep.   They are traditionally my quiet time.  I can do what I want with no interruptions unless our dog wakes up and needs to go out.   By now I have been awake for almost an hour and a half. Outside the neighborhood is slowly coming to life. I can hear the activity on the main road a block away.The sun is well on its way to rising and waking the world. It is shining over my back from an open space between the curtains. There is a gentle crispness in the air that announces the changing of the season from Summer to Fall. It is beautiful. My house is quiet except for the sounds of the refrigerator/freezer running and the clicking of the keyboard as I type. It is peaceful and refreshing. There is time for prayer and  reflection. 

Some mornings I take time for a cup of tea; read a book or knit or crochet. Not so today.Today, as I do on many weekends, I have chosen to use this precious time doing an assortment of tasks on the computer.A favorite site has been explored for knitting patterns with which I am not familiar. Some have been added to my list of Things to Make.I have checked the dashboard on one of my blogs. There are no comments to answer. Email has been checked. There are no messages requiring my immediate attention.  A new widget has been added to this site and has been considered for another blog. I will wait a while before making the final decision about adding it.

In a few minutes I will take a break from the computer to check on the laundry. Then I will take time to work on one of my blogs. It is one of my favorite things to do. My readers and users depend on it being current to meet their needs. It is also part of my way to return a bit of what I have received from the  community of  fiber artists  who so greatly enrich my world.

By the time my family awakens I will have been refreshed.

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Coasters

Posted on September 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Coasters

It has been coaster knitting time in my house for the past week. We have a wooded kitchen table that sometimes lives a hard life. My family is quite loud in their protesting when a protective tablecloth is placed on it. The compromise to this situation is that coasters will be put under glasses, cups and bowls. Serving dishes will have mats, such as dishcloths or potholders, under them.

My part of the compromise is to provide  an ample supply of the coasters and mats in assorted colors and sizes.  Inspired by this site  and this one, I made these coasters.

Tealcoasters1
These are made from Peaches n Creme Teal Ombre.

CoastertrioaI used Peaches ‘n Creme Aztec Ombre for the top cloth and Sugar ‘n Cream in Patio Pinks.   

Rnbwbrtcoastersb
These are made from Sugar’Cream Rainbow Bright.

The pattern I used was a modified version of Grandma’s Favorite:

Using size #7 ( 4.5 mm ) Bamboo needles:

  • cast on 3 or 4  sts
  • knit across the first row
  • increase by knitting in front and in back of the first stitch of the row, knitting across the rest of the row
  • did this until 30 sts on needle
  • The next row : knit to last 2 sts, then knit 2 tog.
  • continued decreasing until 3 or 4 sts. on needle and bound off.

The first set, which were the Rainbow Bright coasters were made with 3 stitches cast on. I chose to use  four stitches for the other coasters because it looked nicer that way to me.
They measure approximately 4 3/4 inches square before washing. They have not been washed yet so the final measurement is not known.
I weighed them on the kitchen scale this morning and learned that one coaster weighs 0.4 ounces. Five coasters weigh 2.2 ounces.

This is not the most interesting or challenging bit of knitting I have ever done. It is meeting the need my household has for coasters quickly and easily. 

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Early Morning Writings

Posted on September 24, 2007 | Comments Off on Early Morning Writings

It is hard to imagine that I am up and awake at this hour. Normally I prefer to be in bed asleep long before now. It has been a busy few days since my last post here.
The new washing machine  was delivered on Thursday, Sept. 20 at the time it was scheduled to do so. It works wonderfully. There has been a lot of laundry done this weekend thanks in part to its presence in our home. That combined with my Fall Cleaning mood has meant a very busy weekend. The house has been de-cluttered so much that it has been worth the time and effort.

I have been struggling with the lack of progress on the gift for my friend who lost her child this past summer. The crocheting is easy. The hard part of the process is that when I work on it, I sense her sorrow and pain. This might sound totally crazy to some people, but it is the truth. Of course, she is in my prayers daily, but she is even more so when I am making her gift. At this time, it is only 1/4 of the completed. My goal is to have it completely made and ready to give to her by the middle of October. It will just take a bit of self discipline to do so.

I have spent my knitting time in the past few days  making coasters and dishcloths. I find these to be wonderfully relaxing items to make. I will post pictures of them later this week.

My treat to myself for the past two days has been lots of computer time. It has mostly come in the form of adding  patterns to Dish and  Wash  Cloth Mania. Last year I promised to have an ample supply of Holiday related links to patterns listed on the site. Hopefully there are plenty this year.

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Interesting Day

Posted on September 19, 2007 | Comments Off on Interesting Day

Today started out like a normal work day. I did a few things around the house; did some knitting and crocheting and spent time homeschooling. In the middle of those things, I did a few loads of laundry. That is typical. At least it was until I went downstairs to see if uniforms were ready to be put on an extra rinse cycle. The washing machine had stopped in the middle of the wash cycle and would not restart. I checked to make sure it was properly plugged in, which it was. I tried to start in on different cycles with no success. By that time I was worried. All of my uniforms were wet, dirty and soapy.

I did the best things I knew to do. I checked the checking account balance; figured out what could be spent to replace or repair the machine and called my husband at work for his thoughts on the subject.  The conclusion of our conversation was that I would ask my boss for the day off if possible and then check on the price of repairing this machine. If repairs were not cost effective then I would go buy a new washing machine.

My boss responded by giving me the day off. Now for the fun part of my day. I called a local appliance dealer with the reputation of honesty and integrity. Based on the symptoms the washer was displaying he said it sounded like the motor was going bad. This was not good news. He said the estimated replacement cost is about $175. This was worse news. It was clearly not cost effective to repair a machine that already had other problems besides that. It was time to do some shopping. The result is that a new washing machine will arrive here in the morning.

A check of Laura Spradlin’s site last evening provided a wonderful surprise update on the Rebuilding Greensburg Block by Block Project. Take a look here if you are interested. Words fail at this point. :)

I have been busy and having fun with fibers in the past few days.

Dworbla
This is a Darrell Waltrip Cloth made with Bernat Summerset. I enjoy using this pattern with variegated yarns because it shows off the colors well. It also works up quickly and easily. Despite all of the patterns readily available, this is one of my favorites.

Kbbdishclothbycathywald_3

This cloth is one I have never made before. It is called KBB Dishcloth by Cathy Waldie. I made it using Sugar’n Cream Twists in the color Denim Twists. It was started on 4.5 mm needles. Somehow in the middle of making it I started using one 4.5mm needle and one 4.25 needle. That was the result of knitting at the kitchen table with several needles handy and not paying attention to what I was doing. In spite of that, the cloth came out looking fairly well.  This is one of those patterns well worth using again and again in a variety of yarns.

Some time was spent this morning working on part of the gift for a friend at work. It is not progressing as quickly as I wish it were. One of the issues is that I am finding it a bit difficult to switch from using the natural fibers in the dishcloths to the acrylic fibers being used for this project. Could it be my taste in yarns is changing?

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Places I Visit

Posted on September 16, 2007 | Comments Off on Places I Visit

These are some of my favorite places to visit. Most of them are fiber related. They are loosely placed in categories and are in no particular order. When you see some of them in my list of links it is because I want to make sure they are seen. Edited as of Dec. 24, 2020: Some of these sites have not been updated in quite a while, but they are being left here simply because I like them here.

Favorite Sites

Bev’s Journeys
Crochet@Craft Gossip
For Me & Mimi
Hakucho

Knit and Pray
Knitting Fla
Lolly Knitting Around
Mason Dixon Knitting
Melissa Sue’s Craft Corner
Midwest Knit Girl
Owl Haven
Sue’s Crochet and Knitting
The One and Only
Yarn Harlot

Crochet Places
Chained Links
Crochet Cabana
Crochet I-Cord
Crochet Pattern Central
My Picot

Knitting

Free-Knitting-Pattern.com
Illustrated Knitting techniques
Knit Slip Knit

Knit Pro
Knitting Fool
Knitting Help
Knitting Pattern Central
Knitting Stitch Patterns
Knitting with Two Circular Needles
Let Me ExplaiKnit
Needle Sizes

Purple Kitty.com
Vintage Knitting Patterns and Instructions

Knitting History
Knitting for The Red Cross

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Posted on September 15, 2007 | Comments Off on

Changing the home of this blog has been and is a bigger job than I realized. While I want to customize this location to resemble the old home in some ways, I do not want to completely duplicate it. It is still not finished, but I am getting there. It might take a few more days only because there is life off the computer and this blog.

Today is the day of the Seaming Party for Building Greensburg Block by Block. I wish I was there rather than here in St. Louis. My husband and I discussed the possibility of my going and decided it was too expensive considering the price of gas and the other factors involved. So instead I am keeping Laura and the project in my prayers today that all will go well. 

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Working Hard

Posted on September 12, 2007 | Comments Off on Working Hard

I have been working hard to switch this blog from one Host to another. The other host was quite fine, but I outgrew it in terms of what I wanted to do with this blog.
This is a test post and will most likely be deleted in the next couple of days.

Grandmasfavs2
After struggling with photo placement in the past week, adding this picture has been easy. My concern is how the custom features will look once this is published.

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Photos to Flickr

Posted on September 10, 2007 | Comments Off on Photos to Flickr

I took the time yesterday to weave in loose ends on a lot of cloths. It feels good to have them ready to be used.

This morning I organized the photos on my hard drive and loaded some of them to Flickr. There is now a Flickr Widget on the side bar here. There are pictures of finished cloths as well as some WIP’s and other FO’s.

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Dishcloths

Posted on August 29, 2007 | 3 comments

As some of you may know, one of my other blogs is Dish and Wash Cloth Mania. While I was sitting here this morning adding links to some of the pages and generally updating the site, I came across this article: Lots of Cloths by Cathy at Wishing I was Knitting at the Lake.

Thank you for writing it. :)

I read the article a couple of times to take in all that she says. First of all, she offers an interesting variation on an old dishcloth pattern. It sounds like an idea well worth the try. It has been added to my list of “Patterns to Try”.

Secondly, is that she expressed a lot of how I feel about making dishcloths and the arts of Knitting and Crocheting. As a teenager I secretly wanted to be an artist. On the talent end of it I was a bit short to say the least. Because of some eyesight issues, not only do I literally see the world differently than most people, but I do not have some hand/eye co-ordination skills. For me this means that I know what I want to write or draw and how I want it to look, but cannot make it happen on paper or canvas.

This is where my hooks and needles come into play. When I pick them up I can do almost anything I choose. I can change the color of a pattern. The size can be changed either by adding a border, adding or taking away a multiple of stitches, or changing the number or rows made. I can use different stitch combinations than what the original pattern suggests. Did you ever try a garter stitch top instead of a ribbed top on a pair of socks? Did you ever uses a 1×1 rib instead of a 2×2 rib in a pattern? I can also use more than one strand of yarn to make an item. Did you ever take a ‘new to you’ pattern from a stitch dictionary and use it in a scarf or dishcloth? Did you ever combine 100% cotton knitting worsted yarn with #10 crochet thread in a dishcloth? How about crocheting or knitting with large hooks or needles? Have you ever used a yarn other than that called for in a pattern? ( Be especially careful with this one. A gauge swatch could be a life saver with it. ) Have you ever tried making up a stitch pattern? Have you ever made an item using a Cro-Hook or the Tunisian stitch? These are some of the ideas that come to my mind to try.

Hats, scarves, mittens, baby bibs, afghans, doilies, dish and wash cloths and other items become unique creations when these things are done. It is amazing to see a simple scarf pattern look different by using different sizes and colors of yarn. My imagination can and does run wild with ideas. The possibilities are endless. Now all I want is more hours in my life to turn my ideas into reality.

Maybe I really am an artist.

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