Simple Hat

 I was asked in September if I would help in making some hats and/or scarves for some missionaries serving in our area.  I ended up making two scarves and two hats.  They were my "in car" knitting projects for a couple of months.  I gave the last hat to the Sister collecting the items about two weeks ago, but had to take a picture first of this hat.  I love how the top of the hat turned out!  The first picture is truer to the actual color, but the bottom picture shows the crown of the hat.  This was a simple two by two ribbing knit for about nine inches and then I did the decreases.  I wrote everything down before giving the hat away and I'm hoping I can replicate how I did everything.  Only time will tell.

Top of hat.

I have two baby afghans I've been working on.  One should be at the first granddaughter's house this week.  When I have confirmation that they have received the afghan I will post a picture.  I think it turned out cute.  The second afghan is almost finished also and when that one is at the second granddaughter's I will show pictures of it.

Christmas knitting has commenced.  I am hoping I will get it done in time.  I am not knitting something for everyone in the family this year.  They will all get something homemade, just not knitting.

Off to get some more knitting done.  Happy knitting and spinning.

Ten On Tuesday

Ten on Tuesdays

Carole says the Ten on Tuesday topic this week is 10 Things on my Mind Right Now.  That shouldn't be too hard.

1.  There are only 54 days left in this year!!  How did that happen?

2.  I really need to get the baby gift for E and A's new baby sent.  Our first grand-daughter is now two months old and I haven't even sent her gift yet.  It is already to go.  I just have to put it in a box and take it to the post office.

3.  I really should get back into blogging.  I have so many projects finished or in progress that I could talk about.

4.  I'm really glad I voted this morning and didn't wait until on the way home tonight.  Traffic was really crappy tonight.

5.  I'm not really ready for cold weather.  Although it is nice to wear all my hand-knit sweaters.  I have two I want to make right now, but those will have to wait until 'have-to' knitting is complete.

6.  I wish there was less clutter in our house.  One goal for next year--clear the clutter in the house.

7.  Isn't it true that there is always job stuff to worry about.

8.  I sure wish I could find more time at the spinning wheels right now.  There is so much fiber to be spun and it's all fun to spin.

9.   Seven Tuesdays from today it is Christmas day.

10.  Pictures, pictures.  I need to clear the memory card on the camera.

11.  I'm glad I get to take walks with the handsome man in the picture below.

Taking a walk across the new bridge to see how much water Sandy left us with.

Family Time

The past few months have just flown by!  I really need to get back into this blogging idea.

In July, Jim and I were able to spend a few days with just about all the children and grandchildren.  We were missing one daughter, who was in Spain at that time, and in this picture we are missing one son-in-law, who was setting up another camera.  We had lots of fun playing, but now it is back to reality and life as we know it now.

There has been some spinning, knitting and planning for Christmas gifts.  There are two new grandbabies on the way, due in the next six weeks, for which some knitting must be done.  I'm only halfway thru knitting an afghan, no sweaters or anything else yet.  There have been lots of yarn purchased for said baby projects though.

Well, I must get ready for work.  Happy knitting and spinning.

Western Done

I made the Western vest, out of this booklet, for a shop sample. I really liked the pattern, but it took me about six weeks to finish it. Granted there were other projects completed in that time, but still--six weeks! I can see this pattern being used with some hand-spun I have sitting around here sometime in the future.

Happy knitting and spinning.

Easter Dyes

A week ago Jim said he wanted to do something fun for date night. After he picked me up from work, we went home and dyed Easter eggs. We haven't dyed eggs since we moved here to Virginia and it was kind of a fun thing to do.

When we were finished dying the eggs, Jim wanted to throw the dyes out. I told him he couldn't! I don't know what you do with your left over egg dyes, but at my house wool is found and placed in those lovely liquid solutions.

Jim had picked the vibrant colors on the Paas box and the eggs, plus the wool turned out really nice.

The colors on the back two rows are from the original dye. Didn't they turn out lovely, or they would be if I had taken a picture in the daylight. The three rovings on the front rung are from the second batch. They are not nearly as bright, but I am quite pleased with them and I exhausted all the dye.


Now to see if I can figure out how I want to spin it! Happy knitting and spinning.

Last Year's Christmas Pillowcases

I decided to make pillowcases for the grandchildren for Christmas each year. These are the ones that were given to them for Christmas 2011. The pillowcases were a fun project that I hope they will use throughout the year and remember grandma while they use them.

I need to watch for Christmas prints as soon as they are available, so that I can make each one out of a different fabric/print. One family has three little ones and I don't want duplicate prints sent there.

This would be a fun project for birthday parties, baby showers, different holidays, and who knows what else. Have you done anything like this before? What would you give a custom pillowcase for?

Next time some knitting content. Happy knitting and spinning.

First FO of 2012

A week ago tomorrow Jim and I flew out to Washington state to visit with Ri. We then took Ri with us and went down to Oregon to visit M and B and their little one, JP. JP is nine months old yesterday and I haven't meet him in person until this past Saturday. It was good to visit a couple of our children in their own environments and to get out of town for a few days.

The first project into my carry-on was this scarf which I had started in November, then put aside until Christmas knitting was over with. I was determined to finish it and give it to one of the kids. Ri called dibs, so he got it. The pattern is the one row scarf pattern by the Yarn Harlot. I completed the scarf about an hour before dropping Ri off at the Ferry so he could complete his trip home.

Ri and M have put in requests for socks sometime this year. Don't know when that will be done, but it might just be Christmas 2012.

Well, off to get some more knitting and spinning done before returning to work next Monday.

Happy knitting and spinning.