Okay, keep in mind that I am at work and have NO idea how to link or do anything like that in my iPod.
So The Knitterly Hooker had a post today for October’s yarn picture a day contest and I’m totally going for it.
Luckily I took a pic before I left today to send to the lovely lady I am making this for do I am good to go! Join in, follow at #yarnpadc on Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter. Here’s to making it through the month!
Day one – On the Needles – complete!
When I think that I haven’t even gotten to read so many of your blog posts the last few days I have to sit and think…why? Well, my needles are steaming so I guess that means I have been keeping pretty busy!
Also, just before we get to picture-y goodness, I have also:
Okay friends and neighbors, now to the pictures!!!
** THE LINK HAT – LONG STRIPED STOCKING HAT **
THE LINK LIKE HAT!
So I have made two of these in the past week, one for Sheri whose package never arrive on our swap (UPDATE: I just got an email that her package has finally arrived in Germany!! It only took one and a half months – God Bless the United States Postal Service). So now both hats need to be put up on the store.
** BOBBLES AND LACE AND SLOUCHY HAT GOODNESS **
Â
So after starting down the road of super adventurous (and time-consuming) knitting, I needed a quick fix. This hat knit up very quickly and has all sorts of yummy bobbles, lace, ribbing, dimension and super fun stuff. I highly recommend it!
** SWEET AS HONEY RIBBED HAT **
I forgot that I had started making another one of these after the first one – because I gave the first one to a friend. This may be the biggest hurdle in running a business for me, I love giving things away! So when I saw it all lonely at the bottom of my knitting bag I went ahead and finished it.
** THE RUFFLE SCARF FROM HELL – WELL… TWO RUFFLE SCARVES FROM HELL **
Okay, this baby was born from the very sweet gift from a friend. It is Patons Pirouette Yarn and it is pretty when it is finished. Working with it though made me want to punch a wall and pull out my hair. Oh well, the two skeins are gone and I have two scarves to show for it.
I Hate You Ruffle Scarf Yarn….Even Though You Are Beautiful
** MY NEW ADVENTURE IN LACE KNITTING!! **
This has been the project taking up the majority of my time here lately, my very first attempt into lace knitting! I am so excited….like a kid at Christmas. The lace yarn (Patons again) was found at the bottom of my yarn stash so I just dug in. Size 3US circular needles and a nice, simple pattern for a beginner. I cannot wait to finish my precious!
Humble Beginnings
At About 120 Stitches
It Keeps Growing!
Close Up of the Lace. LACE
Alrighty, that about catches me up I think. I need to go work on my store, organize the pages for the Stitch Patterns a week, need to do the stitch patterns for this week and last week, work on my lace….
Sorry, I got distracted there.
Okay, plan B. I am going to knit then I am going to catch up with all my delicious blogging friends. I’ve missed you and cannot wait to see what you’ve been up to!
Â
Hello friends and neighbors. Before I get started I just want to apologize for just now getting back to all your wonderful comments – I fear I am being a bit neglectful of my blog lately. With the unplanned vacation, even more unplanned flood and my Mom and Dad’s 30th anniversary party I am being pulled in a million directions. This being said, as soon as I get this post up I am going to spend some quality time with you and your posts. Just please don’t lose hope, the party is over on the 16th and things should be back to normal by then.
Okay, enough begging for your patience (by the way, pretty please?!). It is time to see what GG has been doing to me these past two weeks. So, with no further adieu we have stitch patterns for week 16 and 17! Enjoy!
♥♥♥♥ Week 16 – Let’s Call it the Picnic Blanket Stitch ♥♥♥♥
Full Size at an Angle.
Something I have noticed about my great-grandmother is that she dealt almost entirely with knit and purl stitches. There are the occasional cables, but not many. I have to say this is giving me a new appreciation of the basics. Now, let’s see about this pattern shall we?
– Needles: Size 5 US (3.75mm)
– Yarn: Bernat 100% Cotton in Coral
–Stitches: (I think, this is guess-work here) Multiple of 5+4 stitches. I also do 2 stitches on each       edge so it’ll lay straight.
The Picnic Blanket Stitch Dishcloth. 
Full Cloth in Monotones. 
Straight On in Sepia. 
Up Tilt Angle. 
Yes…I Blocked a Dishcloth.
This pattern was a bit like playing a knitting detective, which makes me feel (goofily) like a knitting super hero. Goofy? Oh, yes. Definitely. I just wondered if she only knitted it once or she just knew that it had to be a repeat of 6 rows. So many unanswered questions. Anyway, ONWARD!
 ♥♥♥♥ Stitch Pattern Week 17 – The…Morse Code Stitch? ♥♥♥♥
Full On
– Needles – Size 5US (3.75mm)
– Yarn – Bernat 100% Cotton in Coral
– Stitches – Multiple of 10 + 4 stitches  (Totally sure about this one :)) 8 row repeat.
Well, that’s about all for me tonight folks. Now it is time to catch up with my blogging family – make sure you guys haven’t been up to any shenanigans! One more thing to leave on tonight though…Have you ever tried to get a good picture of you knitting only to be foiled by the light? Well, taking a pair of knitting needles, a hair tie and a pocket light stabbed into the couch might work! Think I am kidding? Well, at least the couch is old! 🙂
Knitting Needles, a Hair Tie and a Pocket Light stabbed into the Couch.
Sitting here with my Sweet Tea and contemplating how to go about all this information, I have come to conclusions that I will do it in quick bursts. Otherwise I am going to be here all night and bore you to tears with a post resembling an epic tome.
So let’s get to the goodies!
˜ The Sweet As Honey Hat ˜
Frannie in the Bar
This is where the Sweet As Honey Hat got placed today to my utter amusement, there is nothing quite like seeing a Styrofoam head in your liquor cabinet. Also, Gloria and I have named her Frannie – in case you are curious the male head is Stu and the dressmaker dummy is Beverly. That’s just how we roll in the Folk Household.
The slouchy beehive hat was so much fun to work up with super shiny aqua yarn, this hat is begging me to wear it, although I know I can not. It should be posted on the Etsy store within the week, as soon as I get the okay from the designer on Ravelry.
˜ I Am Making Socks…..No Really….I AM TOO!! ˜
This is a very condensed version of the conversations T and I had this morning as I pulled out size 2 needles and very, very fine yarn. I know it was out of concern that he questioned my choice of knitting but I will sooner eat my fingers off than deem them worthless.
Before the accident I was one of those super scary-fast knitters, and I could handle any size or any type of needle with ease. I took it for granted of course, now with a hand that is absolutely stubborn I have to go much slower and it still turns purple when overused. I remind myself to laugh at this, as if I had consumed forbidden candy from Willy Wonka’s Factory instead of intense swelling – otherwise I would pull my hair out.
The process is slow but I will keep all of you updated on the progress. I am really quite excited!
Cast On – CHECK!
Finish Cuff Ribbing – CHECK!
Sidebar: I may be sending out desperate requests at some point. So far I have frogged one row, and dropped….oh dear me….14 stitches. This is something I haven’t done in years, I actually had to go on Knitting Help’s website to figure out how to use a crochet hook to fix my goofs. I remain undeterred.
˜ Knitting Bucket List & Facing Reality ˜
A long time ago (this morning) I thought I was a pretty advanced knitter, until I sat down and thought about it. I have mastered the basics and even some of the higher skills, but there are so many things I have not done that keep me from claiming what is rightfully mine…damn it.
There are only so many times I can complain about my hand before it gets annoying, so I will just skip it. Anyway, a lack of confidence has kept me from trying the more advanced techniques and skills that I am now currently lusting after, thus starting a pair of socks that scare me more than a centipede in my shower. So here is my “by the end of 2013” to-learn/try bucket list:
Okay, HUMONGOUS list of things to learn knitting wise but I am ready to branch out from my comfort zone. I am going to need to return to those things occasionally to retain my sanity anyway. I just feel like life is too short to say I haven’t tried all I can try.
RECOMMENDATIONS ARE LOVELY IF YOU CARE TO SHARE!
˜ My Mom and Dad’s 30th Wedding Anniversary ˜
Here is the a few pics of the progress thus far. There is way more going on but this is what I have stopped and taken pics of – more to come!
First Trail Vase…Needs Work.
I currently have around 60 stems done and the pom-poms are very easy to make. Another 40 and I should be done.
** Thank You for Hanging In There…How About Some Pictures? **
Truthfully I should have spread this out a bit but I wanted to share it all so badly, plus my mind is busting with all sorts of new things I want to write about. Thanks for hanging in there friends and neighbors, until tomorrow!
Geez, the weekend has already seemed to have gotten away from me! I meant to post these lovelies yesterday, instead I got to spend a glorious day with Gloria and T. Nothing is a better than losing yourself – and time – surrounded by your two favorite people. We played Scrabble, ate pizza, watched movies, painted our nails (not T of course) and just reveled in each others company. It was an excellent Saturday!
So on to the photos! T and I took a very long walk in one of the parks around town, my Canon and I hindering our process of calling real exercise despite the 5 miles under our belts. It was so relaxing, very reminiscent of the cabin in the woods, and I came home with loads of photos. I hope you enjoy!
Hello Babies!
Who doesn’t love a little fuzzy baby ducky? I am trying something new here today – if you cannot tell. I have admittedly admitted that I am not a talented photographer, but I do know what I am doing with messing around with saturation and hues. So showing completely unedited photographs is a bit….terrifying. If I have learned anything in the past few weeks, it’s that the community that I write for won’t mind – if anything I am going to get some very constructive feedback.
The Heron.
Okay, I got a little (a lot) carried away taking pictures of the Heron – but he is so pretty! The edited photo at the top really brought out his natural coloring, the rest of the photos seem a bit dull in comparison. However I promised myself to show the good and the not so good here today.
The Water Tower.
I only took one photo, so edited it is!
Bird in Flight. I love how confused the other bird looks.
I love the bird feeder, I know it is not from the park but I could not resist sharing!
Manly Duck…Just Relaxing.
Running at our approach.
The male ducks stayed together, never even approaching the females or the babies. I thought it was odd. Men, can’t live with them – can never try to understand what they’re thinking.
Fuzzy Focus. I like how it turned out.
I really like the ducks in the background with the plant leaves in focus. It seemed to be a very happy accident.
Both of these are edited, but not as much as you would think. The only think I did was to sharpen the focus and put a frame on it. All the rest of it was me remembering how to properly use my camera. It will take time and my hands will shake, but I will love every moment of it!
Look Who I Found Again!
I’ve probably overloaded you with photos today. I really hope you enjoyed them!
This week my blogging plans are as follows:
Have a wonderful Father’s Day friends and neighbors and I look forward to hearing from all of you again ASAP!
Beware friends and neighbors, there is about the be a full on attack from the Panic Monster….
This is Why You Don’t Buy Cheap Needles
Now, I know this may have happened to many of you out there, but this has never happened to me. I am sitting, drinking my coffee and working a round of particularly demanding cables when BOOM! there goes my needle off the cord. Stitches are flying, cables are unraveling and my mind has just jumped into OCD Panic Monster mode.
Serves you right for buying cheap needles Rachel. This wouldn’t have happened with nicer needles. How are you planning on fixing your epic failure here? Hmm…you probably don’t know how to. Best to just frog the whole hat and start over, you’ll never figure it out.
– Panic Monster
So, sitting here I am faced with a dilemma, do I try to figure out how to get the stitches back on the needled or do I frog? Well, first I needed to pace the house a bit to calm down…then do the dishes…then clean the bath tub… After doing so I managed to save all the stitches in the goofiest fashion ever.
Needles and Cords Held Together…sans Harmony.
After saving the stitches and ensuring they were back on the needles/cord correctly I felt pretty good about myself.
Then came my next problem.
The needles I was using were a size 3, and I don’t have another pair of size 3 needles. Usually the idea – even in this situation – of going out to buy new needles would have been delightful, but there has been a stop put on:
So…cannot afford to buy new needles, big deal right? Well, yes. It is a big deal. It makes me feel so small knowing that I cannot afford to buy something so simple as a new pair of needles to fix my project. I was so enjoying doing this hat and now the only way to finish it is to put it on a pair of size 4 needles and pray that you cannot tell the difference in the gauge. I am crestfallen, 28 years old and I cannot afford to buy a new pair of needles.
Back on the Needles. Just on the Wrong Size.
I keep reminding myself that this is bullshit (pardon my language), and temporary. I don’t have cancer, no one has died, and money isn’t everything. I’ve never even really considered it a big thing – but then we’ve always both had jobs. I just wish the store would sell something or I could get a part-time job where I could bring in some extra money. I feel like I am letting my husband down, and it is a wicked bad feeling. I just never expected to be financially responsible for so many people (my niece (kinda), my mother and father in law, my husband and myself…and Max).
GET A GRIP RACHEL!
Okay…I’m back. So the hat is on bigger needles, the world will continue to turn and I am strung so tightly that gauge shouldn’t be an issue ;). So, I will hopefully finish this hat today so I can post about it tomorrow with the new stitch pattern. Until then, please enjoy the newest bird that has come to visit our feeder.
Footloose and Fancy Free Bird. Lucky Bastard! (Again, sorry about the language).
Today is a big day! My 50th post and a new award to show off from a blogger I greatly admire. There is a bit of guilt since I haven’t posted since Sunday – my father-in-law has re-injured his hip and we spent the majority of the past few days in a hospital where the internet is a big no-no. But my fellow bloggers, and their trials and tribulations, have never been far from my mind. Did the frogging turn out ok? Did the sweat block the way you hoped? How is your Mom doing? Is your son’s first strep throat on the mend? If you are reading this, you know who you are.
50 posts ago I never imagined being a part of a community, let alone one that I cared so dearly for. Online communication is rumored to be stale, sterile and removing us from one another – I wholeheartedly disagree. I have been repeatedly gifted with kindness, calming words and encouragement from all over the globe. I am a very, very lucky girl.
So I humbly dedicate my 50th post to all the bloggers out there who encouraged me, helped me and showed unparalleled kindness to myself and others.
♥ The WordPress Family Award ♥
The WordPress Family Award.
What is better than knowing you are part of a close-knit community? I am stealing the line from Knitting with Heart, the lovely blogger that has given me this award today. It still comes as a surprise that I have been awarded anything, even after 50 posts. I love reading knitting with heart’s blog – I love reading all your blogs! Knitting with heart has shown her caring nature, superb talent and ability to enchant every reader with every post. I owe you a debt of gratitude – reading your blog opened up my eyes to writing about things other than just knitting, and the fact that you consider me a part of your Online Family brings more than a little mist to these weary eyes.
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
RICHARD BACH
Thank you. Thank you so much to all the bloggers that have made me a better – and stronger – individual. Since I can only link to 10 of you this is an incredibly difficult decision to make. I will do my best.
knitrun4sanity ♥ knittingsarah ♥ lollyknits ♥ Pretty Little Things in a Box ♥ A World Created ♥ throughacrackedlens ♥ B.G. Bowers  ♥ Creatively Carolyn ♥ curlsandq ♥ The War in My Brain ♥
If you choose to pass on this award, here are the rules:
1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your WordPress experience and family.
4. Let your 10 Family members know you have awarded them.
5. That is it. Just please pick 10 people who have taken you as a friend, and spread the love.
To my WordPress family – we are what we make, and because of that we are stronger than we ever knew!
Â
Well, polldaddy and I had a serious conversation about it turns out that The Library Series is what you guys really want to see! So this weekend, I am going to clean my shelves (without moving any books, no matter how embarrassing it may be) and get then all photographed, edited, and eagerly awaiting your reaction.
Until then, I thought I would share some of the things my Canon and my iPod and I have been looking at. I hope you enjoy and all have a truly wonderful weekend!
Bird on Fence
Inner Peace
Fireside
Hello Squirrel!
Stupid Bug
Bird on Rooftop
Bird on Feeder
Angry Bird on Feeder
Tree Bark Up Close and Personal
I Love My Camera, Look at this Bug!
Bug on My French Doors
Peace of Mind in Sunlight
Mmm….The dirt under my nails, my hair swelling from the heat, the sweet – oh so sweet – breeze that cools off the day. Fantastic!
It has been a good day so far, the hubby and I have been buzzing around the house with a new purpose – to clean/repair/improve every inch of the house and the garden. Within our budgetary means, which means anything we can do for free.
We have both been a little, preoccupied. Him not having a job is obviously already taking its toll, he’s like a hummingbird on crack. We will get through this no doubt, but I just wish I could ease the stress lines that are appearing on his face. It’ll be good for us to be together and working in the house, refreshing even. We can take our time, enjoy what we have and realized that we have more than enough in our lives.
I feel like I should be knitting, should be working on my Etsy store, should be blogging, should be taking photos, should be reading on how to….you know what? Never mind. In the here and now, I am happy just the way I am. I am going to drink my iced tea with lemonade and relax with a nice fiction book in all it’s purposeless splendor.
Just for fun (despite the Panic Monster’s fear of humiliation) here are some photos I’ve recently taken. Enjoy your weekend everyone, I will try to be more organized come Monday!
One Pink Rose.
Sky at Sunrise
Before the Storm
Flowers in Focus
Full Moon at Sunrise
Golden Flowers
Full Moon at 4am
Magical Sunrise
Rosebud
Water on Flowers
Hungry for Bird Feed
Bird in Tree
Dragonfly? Alien? Hmm…
Stupid Luck I Got This
Water Collected
Last week I had this very sudden, very overwhelming urge to knit for fall. It seems quite silly considering it is still spring here in the Buckeye State, but all I could think about was cuddly sweaters, tailgating, hot chocolate and my OSU Buckeyes. So I went through my yarn stash, which happens to be full of fall colors, and found the scarlet and gray that screamed “Football Season!” as loudly as possible and casted on.
Thankfully this time I remembered to take pictures of my progress, just to see how the hat came to life. If it worked, fantastic! I would always have these to look back on and take gauge measurements on. If it didn’t, I would be able to see where the mistake was.
There was no need to worry however, the hat turned out fantastic! I had taken a pattern I have written about before (the Etta Hat) and heavily augmented it to fit the yarn I was using and the color changes that would be necessary. I still would never call this my own pattern, but I believe this is a step in the right direction. Sitting down with graph paper and rewriting to fit my needs was a bit scary at first, but I am thrilled with the results!
So with a successful hat cleaned, blocked and photographed I was feeling pretty good about myself. Then I started to stare at the hat, my Panic Monster going “Well, it certainly is GRAY isn’t it?”. I started to worry that there wasn’t enough color, not to mention an overwhelming (it isn’t really, but the Panic Monster thought there was) amount of gray. I checked the yardage I had left, figured if I prayed to the knitting gods there might just (barley) be enough for another hat. I was off and running, casting on hat number two with more red than gray.
As it turns out there was 5″ of red and (oh my!) 2″ of gray left to finish the hat. I just made it and I am aware of just how lucky I am that I did. I loved the new hat, it had more warmth to it with the scarlet framing the face. Then I started to stare at these two hats and I was perplexed, which one did I really like better? I loved how both the hats turned out and liked them both for different reasons. The hat with more gray seemed to be more akin to most OSU athletic colors and the red was warmer with that beautiful red framing the face and popping out with the lace. Stupid Panic Monster, I like both!
So I am going to leave it up to you friends and neighbors to tell me which one you think is better, if you would like to share that it. Do you like more red in the hat, or do you like more gray? I would love to hear from you, your input and influence is making me a better knitter!
Red? or Gray? YOU CHOOSE!!
So I am going to leave it up to you friends and neighbors to tell me which one you think is better, if you would like to share that it. Do you like more red in the hat, or do you like more gray? I would love to hear from you, your input and influence is making me a better knitter!
And yes, I am paying homage to House of Leaves here by changing the colors on the post, I was feeling puckish!
I feel as if I have been quite neglectful of my blog here recently. Since the little setback with my hand I’ve lost a bit of my knitting confidence, afraid that I’ll make a mistake on something simple and feel utterly lost on how to proceed. Luckily I did this weeks stitch pattern on the 12th, so here it is friends and neighbors – The Chevron Stitch!
The Chevron Stitch
I’ve gotta tell you, GG really gave it to me when I found this pattern. She called it the Triangles Stitch (no help there) and the instructions….I thought I would rather curl up and die than try to figure this out. Once I figured it out, which admittedly took way to much time, I was on a roll. It is a simple, dimensional and textural stitch, and now that I know what is going on I think I want to try to work with it in another way.
*Please forgive me in advance if there are any errors in my typing, I am going at this using the hunt and peck method to avoid straining my hand. I am normally a decent editor, but after a while I get tired of finding all these stupid mistakes caused by my misbehaving appendage.
 * * So GG, What Torture Awaits Us This Week? * *Â
My notebook on how to discern crazy.
r1 k1 p7k1 –Â Row 1: K1; *P7, K1; rep. from * till end (okay, not to bad so far, she even gave me a space between row and pattern. I doesn’t last but hey!, I will take what I can get)
r2 p1 k7p1 way –Â Row 2: P1; *K7, P1; rep from * till end of row (what does way mean? all they way? way to go? I am way laughing at you? I think it’s the latter.)
3 k2 p5k3 – Â Row 3: K2; *P5, K3; rep. from * till last rep., P5, K2. (We’ve given up the niceties of putting “r” in front of the row, I am sensing a deterioration! Not to mention that the last repeats of the rows are not as written, I am filling in the gaps here.)Â
4 p2k5p3 – Row 4: P2; *K5, P3; rep from * till last rep.. K5, P2. (Okay, now we’ve almost given up on spaces. Luckily the pattern was obviously starting to take shape, so an intuitive leap wasn’t that far)
5 k3p3x5 – Row 5: K3; *P3, K5; rep from * till last rep., P3, K3 (I am sure the “x” was a “k” at some point or another, or maybe she just got tired of writing down the letter “k”? Your guess is as good as mine.
6p3k3p5 – Row 6: P3; *K3, P5; rep. from * till last rep., K3, P3 (All right, GG is getting really, really tired of writing this pattern. Even her handwriting is starting to take a nosedive, she just wants to knit people!)
7k4p1k7 – Row 7: K4; *P1, K7; rep. from * till last rep., P1, K4 (Almost there, hang strong!)
8p417 – Row 8: P4 *K1, P7; rep. from *till last rep., K1, P4 (While I am sure she understood this jumble of numbers (and if you think about it, it does follow a pattern) but how on earth could she share this with anyone?)
* * THIS IS ABOUT TO GET REALLY FUNNY, PREPARE YOURSELVES * *
R9 to16. work beg sets backwards. (Umm…SERIOUSLY! This was how that pattern ended, with a cryptic instruction so insane the CIA couldn’t crack it. Thank goodness for the internet.)
* * WIP it Baby, WIP it All Night…ALL NIGHT! * *Â
There was no WIP Wednesday this week due to my hand, but here is a run down of what’s currently on my needles.
* * Photos For Fun * *Â
I may not be knitting all that I would like to, but that hasn’t kept me away from taking photos and playing with filters. These are some truly bad photos I admit, my hands are shaky and my positioning is for crap. This will not deter me however, I love taking a walk and just snapping away. Enjoy!
So here we are friends and neighbors, at the end of a labor of love post. I hope you’ve enjoyed what you’ve seen and read. As always insight in welcome and I hope to hear from you soon!
Drumroll please….Here comes Stitch Pattern Week 9! The Linen Stitch!
The Linen Stitch
This week has seemed ridiculous, it just won’t slow down! I feel a tad bit guilty doing the Linen Stitch because I use this all the time. With a little Sugar and Cream yarn this makes the perfect face cloth! I probably have a dozen of these in my bathroom closet and use them everyday. I love the idea of being able to use something I make on a daily basis, I also love that the things that I make will always outlast anything that I can buy in a big box store. These are so simple to knit up and they never die! If they start to look a little grungy I just put them in with the cleaning rags and they get to live another life. They are also excellent for polishing silver, don’t ask me why…just one of the great things about knitted stitches!
Alright GG, it’ll be a quick on today won’t it?
co odd – Cast on any number of Odd Stitches (Aces!)
r1 cor k then  sl yth k, rep – Row 1: (RS) K1 *Sl1 wyif, K1; rep from * to end of row. (I think the yarn towards heart (yth) is really starting to grow on me.)
r2wrg k p  then slp away k rep til end k – Row 2: (WS) K1, P1 *Sl1 wyib, K1; rep from * to last stitch, K1 (The wrg caught me a little off guard but like I said, I know this stitch backward and forward. I wonder if other women she knitted with wrote patterns like this?)
 *   * * * * * * * * * * *  *
– Expanding the Store –
I have spent the majority of my day so far right here, in front of my computer feeling my shoulders slowly inch towards my ears. I have added more items to my Etsy store and although they are items I fully back on every front, they are…dull. Dish cloths friends and neighbors, I am selling  dish cloths. I want to say that I know that these little babies will last forever, they are so strong and resilient to anything. Anyone who has every knitted with Sugar and Cream knows that it won’t die. I even reenforced the edges to ensure that the corners were double knitted just so the chance of them unraveling will never…ever happen. But who will buy these? My Panic Monster keeps telling that this too boring to try sell, even if the product is incredibly well made. My great grandmother mades these more than 20 years ago and they are still around, I hold myself to the incredibly high standards she set. That nagging fear of failure is still tapping on my shoulder, insisting to be be heard.
So what do you do when you’re stressed out about knitting? Stress out about photos instead!
So what’s going on friends and neighbors? What do you think about the success/failure of selling/buying certain items of Etsy and do you think if you’re a knitter you’d look at it differently?
Hello Wednesday, I cannot believe you are here already! This week seems to have sprouted wings and flown away from me a bit. So many things to do and so very little time. The needles are busy here in the Buckeye State on all sorts of goodies. As I am sitting here in my knitting/reading chair and looking at the profuse amount of yarn around me I am a bit terrified, how did I end up with so many things on the needles at once? Let’s see if I cannot break it down a bit:
Too many things going at once? Nope, don’t think so. When it comes to knitting I am like a swinger – married to knit but will knit anything….anytime and anywhere! 🙂
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
-Good Examples-
As the weather warms and summer approaches that means more time for me and the munchkin. My brother works at Muirfield and the summer’s are so busy that I get to have her all to myself, where as in the winter I have to share her more than I would like. As she has gotten older and developed more of a personality and we have grown closer, she seems more and more adult every time I see her. In the back of my mind though, as we spend this time together I worry I am a bad example.
Due to a series of unfortunate events (putting it lightly) I am not where I thought I would be at 28. When I lost functionality in my hand I just quit writing, taking photos and expanding these things that used to be concrete dreams. I gave up a bit – okay, a lot – and it has been through knitting, my husband and the munchkin that I am slowly getting back to where I want to be. This doesn’t erase the fact that I am still not there, and since Gloria’s mother is not in the picture I want to be a strong female role model for the munchkin. Am I cut out for that?
Mental illness makes me goofy. My OCD panic monster has given me noticeable quirks that have always been accepted by the munchkin, but is seeing them bad for her? I try to get her to read as much and as often as possible (without being pushy), but do I know what is the best things for her to read? She spends time in our library at home, but have I filled the shelves with the best possible things for her to read?
We play Scrabble, we read, we talk about writing, we watch movies, we giggle….we do cool aunt stuff. I just want her to know how proud of her I am, and I want to be someone she can look up to.
So friends and neighbors…how do you set a good example for the people in your life you love? Any advice is good advice in my book.
* * * *
-Finding My Way Back-
I am trying to get back to my photography roots, trying to remember my dreams. Have a look!
* * * *
Perhaps white was not the best yarn color to try to photograph, but live and learn and play with photo editors! So with no further adieu, I humbly present Week 7’s Stitch Pattern!
Hello Week 7!
I will tell you that knitting this was a delight – a little confounding do to my dearly departed GG’s handwriting- but once you get past that it seemed to knit itself. When I started taking pictures of the dishcloth with my iPod, they were horrible! No joke, it was like the image just disappeared in the picture, which gave me the opportunity to play with both Instagram and Vintique . I haven’t done much editing with these applications, but playing around with them last night was a blast. Whether it was successful or not, I shall let you decide.
To be honest, I am feeling the Epic Fail with theses. On the plus side, I was introduced to all the fun filters and sophisticated things that can be accomplished with an iPod; something I foolishly used (until just recently) to listen to music and check the weather. Silly me!
With the filters on my iPod not giving me what I wanted, I pulled out my trusty Canon and decided to go old school – if you can consider digital photography and Photoshop to be old school that is. I was pleased with the result;, this could be because of the abject failure of the first attempt but hey, I am still learning! Most people who work in hospitals aren’t well versed in the fine art of making their pictures not suck. Or maybe that is hopeful thinking! Anywho, here are the shots from the Canon.
Much Better!
So GG, what did you have in store for us this week eh? Well, once again there was no name to the pattern, no punctuation, and a very odd Cast On number. Well Week 7, you haven’t disappointed me!
co38 – Cast On 38 Sts. (Feeling Pretty Good)(Why yes, I am a smart a**!)
R1 correct, kall- Row 1: (RS) Knit all Sts. (Seriously, sometimes when I read these patterns I think of the movie Nell and her secret language!)
r2,pall – Row 2: Purl all Sts. (Nice, nice)
r3 p2 k1 end – Row 3: P2, K1 to end of row (This would have been simple, but there are 38 sts and that definitely is a multiple of 3! Eh, don’t fight it Rachel, just see what happens).
r4 k2 p1 end- Row 3: K2, P1 to end of row (Well at least we are being consistent with the whole incorrect number of stitches dealio. Again Rach, just breath in through your nose and out through your mouth).
rep to end, fin. – Repeat Rows 1-4 to desired length, BO loosely. (Dear God, Please let this work out ok!)
Well, it ended up working out better than ok! The pattern was almost spa like in its interwoven bumps and ridges. I would even go so far as to say it felt luxurious! With this in mind, I got on Ravelry and started my scavenger hunt for dishcloths and facecloths for something similar. The closest I found was from Anne Mancine listed under Spa Day Facecloth, which was the same pattern, just outlined with a seed stitch border. What I found a bit confusing though was that the pattern contained a Copyright – how is this possible? GG wrote the pattern (or more likely copied it down from a magazine or a book) circa 1968. Thus I remain confounded by the whole Copyright thingamajigger. Well, it is something new to add to the every compounding list of things to learn.
Thank you again bloggers for all your support and encouragement. Feel free to leave comments, questions or insights….your knowledge is priceless. OH, and Max says Hiya:)
Hiya Bloggers!
Boy howdy I am late on getting this posted, I hope that my tardiness can be excused. I, like the rest of the country, was attached at the hip to any news media I could get my hands on, watching in baffled dismay at the horrific events of this past week. But with my mind set at ease, or as much at ease as it can be knowing that monsters are real, it is time to get back to it.
So I present this weeks stitch pattern!
Open Pillar Work Stitch Pattern – Week 5.
Side Bar: Gotta love photo editing by the way. With Photoshop’s magic it refined the details of the stitches themselves, fixed the color saturation, eliminated unwanted shadows and made a fancy schmancy border.!
As per-usual I had to consult a few stitch dictionaries to find out what this patterns true name was – Pillar Open Work was my winner – because my dear great grandmother called it lazy cables. This pattern was just a continuation of two repeating rows but making it was stupid simple and the result was very pretty. Had I to do it again (and I probably will) I think I will go down a needles size though. So, with no further adieu, here is my great grandmothers scrawl vs. the “correct” way to read this pattern.
-51sts across n – Cast on 51 sts.Â
-5 kp across – Knit 5 rows K1,P1 across for seed st. pattern (and yes, I thought kp was some funky knitting term that surpassed my years of knowledge, all 10 of them vs. her 70).
-pt. r1 right; k then yarn towards heart down, sl, 2k, left over right by 2, rep till 1, k – Row 1: (RS) K1 *yo, sl.1, K2, peso the two knit sts. over: rep From * to last st., K1 Â (Come ON GG, really? How did you follow this pattern! Well….she seemed to have no trouble. I rescind my judgement).
-r2 p – Row 2: (WS) P. (Thank the Lord above! A notation that required absolutely no cursing!)
-fin as b – Knit 4 Rows in K1,P1 Seed St. Bind off in Same Fashion (Again, no cursing! Finally a break that resulted in absolutely NO FROGGING!)
I am going to go ahead and call it a day with this post. I ranted and raved my last two and the lack of readers gave me the distinct notion that maybe I should stick to what I am good at. Not that I care, the people who did read gave amazing feedback and I don’t write to get people to read my blog, that is just a fantastic bonus. I write because you think harder when you write, or at least more specifically and the act is therapeutic. Hopefully given time the caliber of my writing will improve to include a wider audience. If not…well, I still love what I am  doing so f$*k it. 🙂
Sleep well, I will be here knitting all the while.
For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath to see a picture of a stitch pattern, today is your lucky day!
Coral Knot Stitch? Sure LOOKS like it to me!
For non knitters, feel free to skip to the second portion of this post. For you knitters out there, I would like to share to with you how my GG wrote this pattern circa 1942 – verbatim . My translation of this antique pattern will be boldly italicized for emphasis, and sheer goofiness.
Cst on 44 sts. –Â Cast on 44 stitches (so far so good)
-Base: Knit 4 rows all knitting – Â Knit 4 Rows Garter Stitch (Good, good. I’m following you).
*Begin Pattern – Begin Pattern (ok, so I’m feeling like a bit of a smart ass here, you’ll see why)
R1-k2sts,k1st, marry k2sts through,k1sts. – Row 1: K2, K1 *K2tog* Â continue till last st., K1. (The “marrying” of two stitches came down to some sort of combination stitch so that wasn’t too painful, only slightly complexing)
R2-k1sts, kbottom up but NOT below through, k1sts – Row 2: K1, *K into strand between* continue till end, K1 (It took a stitch dictionary to figure out that knitting from the “bottom but NOT below” had to mean that something was going on in the middle. There was a bit of frogging going on in this pattern before I gave up and used the book, but it was worth it)
R3k – Row 3: Knit
R4 Frontknit – Row 4: Purl (What is front knitting? Well, as she was taught you pulled the yarn “close to your heart” and knitting toward the body. This I found in her own personal notes on a pair of gloves that she knitted in 1972).
End of true confessions!
But not the end of the post!
High Definition of Pattern.
Picture of pattern with changes in saturation, and a frame because why not?!
What fun it is to delve into the minds of other people’s shorthand! I have some absolutely hysterical patterns written by her and I hope to share that, after all she is my history and you should learn from history. Unfortunately none of the scraps of paper and scrawl are able to get a good scan without some editing finesse, and thus comes part duex of my post:
Photo Editing for Blogs and Genealogy Documents
I don’t want to get into this into too much depth now, but 4 years ago I had a pretty severe injury to my hand that has left me as an arthritic knitter with only my thumb and pointer finger on my right, and dominate hand, fully functional. I had to learn to write again, use utensils and of course knit (but that’s for another day). It has also taken away a great deal of my ability to stabilize a camera while shooting. I lust after my ability to take a good photo again, to be able to hold the behemoth camera in my hand and get the shot in frame and not fuzzy. Relearning will take time, just as everything else has taken time, but good LORD it’s frustrating!
Getting back to my point, I am trying to use several different photo editing tools to try to restore my pictures to something I wouldn’t be ashamed to show other people, especially when there is so much talent evident in the blogging world. Â A friend of mine, a student majoring photography here at CSCC in Ohio gave me two different applications to try out; Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 and Adobe Photoshop & Premiere Elements 11. Now, I have used some photo editing in my day, but really I just preferred to let the pictures I was taking talk for themselves, plus I like the darkroom which isn’t really conducive with computer re-imaging. Plus I am old and stubborn and at 28 very set in my ways.
So now I am inundated with information on how to use this software correctly and confidently, neither emotion I am feeling at this particular time. The layout and format seems simple until you want to get more in-depth the your image, then I am out of my ballpark laughing at myself so hard I am nearly apoplectic. Clearly the photographs above have been edited, simply; change the saturation, bring up contrast, sharpen, and add a frame because now I can do that and damn it, that makes me happy.
So now, in addition to my Blog Envy I can add Photoshop Envy (always in capital letters in my head) to the list. Life would be boring with challenges I guess, they make you feel alive and remind you that you should never stop trying to learn new things. They can also make you want a hole to open up in the ground and swallow you whole. I prefer the former but relate to the latter.
For Crafters Who Can Do It with Their Eyes Closed.
Another way to express a love of working with wool.
Follow Louise and her projects
Knitting for sanity
A little place for all My things Crochet
Knits all night, sleeps all day...
more than just knits and purls
(and crochets, and stitches, and is otherwise generally crafty)
Tales of the Knitterly Hooker
Create & Enjoy
A Blog for Vampire Knits and Once Upon A Knit
eat up some crafty goodness with this creative mama
The adventure of NikkiM
My crafty creations corner
Creating and designing all while getting by
Knitting is: a craft, an art form, a way of life.
Random thoughts about life, the universe and knitting.
Crafting, Cooking, Photography and Life!
All Night Knits 