Charity Projects

These are items that go out into the world to unknown recipients. The Yarn Garden supports charity knitting projects from time to time. One was the Red Scarf Project which I participated in. [See January 23rd entry.] I also joined in knitting helmet liners for our troops in the Middle East. The liners had to meet military color requirements. The military issue kevlar helmets don’t have warm wool liners and our service people are exposed to winds and bitter cold during the winter months. Riding in open trucks and humvees, they often encounter sub-zero wind chills. The helmets were sent to the troops for Christmas 2006.

Knitting With Velcro

Lace knitting is my new passion and I love the way the little dots and slashes in the chart result in beautiful patterns if they are followed in the knitted piece. I’ve been making small swatches of sample heirloom patterns, mostly from the book by Mary Schiffman.

Having gotten my “lace legs,” I decided to try a scarf. I picked a fairly “easy” pattern called Crest o’ the Wave. Digging in my stash, I found a skein of lace weight thread in a variegated hand-painted blue. Perfect! But oh…there is a down side. Needles are small. Size one. Lace weight yarn is similar to thread. Or as one of my knitting pals compares it…just like dental floss!

This particular fiber is Kid Silk Haze which is 75% mohair and 25% silk. The mohair is like a million tiny fish hooks and grabs onto itself and won’t let go. This yarn is unforgiving and does not unravel or pick out or unstitch. So no mistakes. And, as my mother used to say, “you have to hold your mouth just right.” Nevertheless I persevered and kept going, thinking I would have a scarf by the time I came to the end of the yarn.

I got to the end and I do not have a scarf. It barely goes around my neck. So it will take another skein (@$15) to complete the standard scarf length. Otherwise, it is just a very large sample of a simple stitch and a blue fiber. So much for using up the stash.

My friend Hazel has taken pity on me and given me some new wool and silk to work with. Minus the mohair, I might add. I will try again. This time with a Fern Leaf pattern. Watch this spot for updates.

The Forty-Five Dollar Socks

My friend gave me a pattern that was published by a yarn company. Had I bought that brand of yarn (Opal) I would not be in this mess. But instead I purchased a hank of Koigu in an awesome color. I naively thought I could knit two socks with one skein. Wrong!

I realized I would need another skein so I went back to purchase a second skein and the store was out of the color. Then, after I turned the heel, I realized I wouldn’t even finish one sock with one skein so I would need a total of…THREE.

The owner of Yarnin’ Around in Gresham found two skeins at a store in Ashland and kindly ordered them for me. I reimbursed her plus shipping and handling. First skein = $12.25. Two more @13.00 = $26.00. Shipping = $7.00. TOTAL = $45.25.

I will finish these and wear them every day for the rest of my life.

Giant Granny

As I may have mentioned, I can’t read crochet patterns and I don’t know one stitch from another. But I can make a Granny Square. If I don’t think about it. Once I get going, I can’t stop or I’ll forget what I’m doing and I won’t be able to start again. So instead of an afghan made of lots of squares sewn together, I have one GIANT Granny Square. Pretty cool, though?

Yarn Yoga Challenge Swatch

Here is the pattern for the Challenge Swatch due February 19, 2007. The challenge is there is no photo so you won’t know if you are doing it correctly or not. Good Luck!!!!

Tweeded Mock Ribbing

Cast on a multiple of two stitches using size 8, 9 or 10 needles and any worsted weight yarn.

Row 1: *wyib sl 1 purlwise, k1, yo, psso: Repeat from * to end of row.
Row 2: purl

Secret Code:
(If you don’t understand this…check out a stitch dictionary or look in Stitch ‘n Bitch for directions.)

wyib: with yarn in back
sl 1 purlwise: slip stitch as if to purl but don’t
yo: yarn over
psso: pass slip stitch over

Circle of One

Here are some comments on knitting from my book, Down Home Musings. This is the still-not-finished afghan I mention.

Today is cool…a faux Fall day. There’s a nice breeze here on the porch, and I am sittin’ and knittin’ and enjoying the peaceful morning. When I stay still I have some avian visitors. Louie and Winkie are the pair of cardinals that make their home here, and they come to the feeder several times a day. Knitting is a quiet activity and does not seem to disturb them. In the spring, I leave scraps of colorful yarn out for them to put in their nest. (That little spot of day-glo orange helps me locate the nest among the branches.)

You might think that knitting is an “old lady” thing to do. I am an old lady…but actually I have been knitting since I was a small child. My Aunt Clara used to come from her home in Chicago to visit us each summer and she always had her knitting with her. She gave me my first pair of needles and started me on a craft that has provided me hours of pleasure.

I love the feeling of soft yarn sliding through my fingers, the joy of watching the stitches come off the needle and become a garment, the sense of accomplishment when I am finished. The rhythm of knitting soothes my soul and settles me down when I am over-whelmed by life and its responsibilities. There is always a project in the basket beside my chair and I can pick it up and knit for a few minutes or an hour or an afternoon. It’s portable and goes with me when I travel (although I can no longer take the needles on the airplane).

I do other fiber work as well. Crocheting, needlepoint, weaving. But knitting remains my stalwart best friend. It has brought me hours of entertainment and satisfaction, and I hope the things I have made have been useful to those who received them. I tried to organize a group here in town to meet at the library and knit shawls for cancer patients or blankets for the homeless. No one was interested. “Too busy.” “Too hot.” “Better things to do.” “Don’t know how.” “Not in a rocking chair yet!”

So I am my own “circle of one” here on my porch. I feel a sense of communion with other women elsewhere who enjoy this craft, and I am grateful for the happiness it provides me. I sent a shawl to my friend in Maine who has terminal cancer. She says it gives her comfort and she thinks of me when she wraps herself in it. Today I am working on a multi-colored striped afghan to use up some scrap yarn I found when I cleaned out my storeroom. It will be a bright spot next winter and remind of these days on the porch. Maybe help me find my own nest.

Bag Lady in Training

This photo speaks for itself. This is Skye Louise the little kitten adopted from the Shelter last November. She is growing into a beautiful cat with an engaging personality. She loves to steal my knitting needles. Do you think I should make her a bed?