Hello....... Hello....... Are you there?

 It has been a long while since I sat down at the computer to post on this here blog. Time and commitments seem to take over life sometimes which is what has been happening around here. I'm still plugging away at schooling with one class a semester. There is an end in sight. Just not for another year.

I've been knitting. I know that is a shocker. Knitting is what gets me through reading textbooks, watching videos for school and just relaxing when I have a few minutes. I have so many WIPs that I am slowly working my way through. I'm tired of having so many projects on the go and have decided it is time to finish some of them.

This hat is one that I completed last February but didn't get the pompom on it until just this past Sunday. I really like how the pompom turned out---the hat also. But to me the pompom really makes the hat.

Make it a great day and include some knitting.

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.

Two Christmas Shawl/Scarves

I can't find where I saved the rest of the pictures of the ear-flap hats I did for the boys for Christmas, so instead you get the shawls or scarves I did for the girls. The shawls were all done with hand spun yarn. I don't remember all of the patterns, maybe I should get organized with where I put all that information. I do know that the light colored one is a lacy baktus. I did put beads along the increase edge, but didn't get a picture of those.


I don't remember which pattern I used on the darker shawl/scarf, but hope the daughter it was sent for enjoys it. I haven't heard from her whether she likes it or not. I have heard from one of the other girls saying she really likes her's. You get pictures of the others in the not too distant future.

I have really enjoyed having the past two weeks off of work. I have gotten some yarn plied (pictures to come), I've worked on spinning up some fiber that has been on the Hitchiker since October, I'm finishing up some knitting projects and just today I've gotten all my hand spun sweaters washed. I have really gotten my fiber fix during the past ten days!

I'll leave you with a picture of two of the hats in action. These two hats have gotten a lot of use lately!

Happy knitting and spinning.

Two, Three, Four

These are more of the ear-flap hats I made the boys for Christmas. The variegated blue and pink hat went to Corb. His favorite color used to be pink.

The blue with variegated blue was made originally for Corb, but when I found out that Gareth would be with us during Christmas it ended up being wrapped for him. I didn't want him to miss out on Christmas presents when I had the ability to make something for him also.

The fourth hat was sent to Justin or Riley, I can't remember for sure. It's kind of bright! The variegated colors in this hat were from an Easter egg dye experiment. I tend to think it was sent to Riley, because if I remember right this yarn was from the sheep of one of his high school teachers.

Boys, if I have the hats labeled wrong let me know.

I have three more hats to show you. I made seven for gifts this past Christmas.

Today I was able to spend some time at the spinning wheels. I have some singles just about plied. I'll have a new skein soon!

Happy knitting and spinning.

One of Seven

I thought I would share one of the seven hats I made for this past Christmas. The older boys in my life all received an ear-flap hat for Christmas. This is the hat that went to Erik, I believe (it was either Erik or Ben). All of them, but one, were made with wool mostly hand spun or partially hand spun.

This week I get to enjoy quite a bit of spinning and knitting time. That's what I get when vacation time takes over. I'm looking forward to knit night tonight and maybe finishing a project or two this week.

Happy knitting and spinning.

One boy loves his hat

Just a quick post to let you know I knit another pair of fingerless mitts for ES's step-mom, who will be here today while I am at work. I didn't think to get a picture until after I had wrapped them. Maybe ES will get a picture of her modeling them when she opens them.

I stopped at one of my Nursery kids house last night. His older sister says he loves his hat. His mom said that he put it on at lunch on Christmas and left it on the rest of the day. It is also the first thing he grabs when he knows its time to go outside. Boy if that doesn't make my day! I could make more with that kind of response.

I was reading Norma's post this morning and it has made me want to get more in shape. I have decided that this year I will find a bit of time to take a daily walk. At least that much to start with. If I write it here I might be more willing to do my walk.

Last night I bound off the body of the Mr Greenjeans sweater. Now onto the sleeves, but that may not be until next week. Tonight is a dinner for ES from his co-workers at the site, telling him good-bye. Tomorrow is dinner here for a group of friends which we have been meaning to do for four years. And Saturday night is a come and say good-bye for our neighborhood, church, and family friends. ES leaves one week from today!

Happy knitting & spinning.

Completed Hats

I thought I only had twelve hats to finish. This was when I thought I was done. Two weeks ago we got three new kids in Nursery. That made my total 15. Yesterday I recounted and recounted. I needed 16 hats for Christmas.





Well, they are mostly done. I give you eight girl hats.








And eight boy hats. The blue one in the lower right is at the point where the decreases are halfway done. ES says he could tell I was getting tired of doing them, because I had gone to solid color hats, no stripes or designs.

I have also been doing some spinning. I am now plying the white I spun. I have three and a half bobbins of it. I have also been washing a batch or two of raw fleeces every other day or so. I am working on a brown fleece which I hope turns out pretty good.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Spinning Accomplished

Remember the twelve hats I have been making for my Nursery kids? Well, we had three new kids last week so my total is now 15 hats. I am about three inches into #14. I should be done with all of them by the end of this weekend and then I can move onto Christmas knitting. I thought I had a picture of the completed hats on my camera, but I cannot find it so you will get pictures next time.

I have also been busy spinning. This past week I have spun five and a half bobbins of this champagne color, I have plied all the bobbins, and have spun two and a half bobbins of white. I don't have very much of the white left to spin and then it will be onto the dark brown. I have started looking for a pattern to use, haven't found one yet. I know about what I want and maybe I will have to improvise. To spin while on the computer has been very advantageous to me in the amount I have increased my spinning. Thankfully, the Hitchiker makes it all possible, because of it's ability to fit under the computer desk.

Today I have to work so will not get much done until tonight. Happy knitting & spinning.

I have seven hats done. I am working on the eighth hat and have four more to go. The one I am working on now is pink with green stripes. I should have C try on these hats and see if they fit him. If they do, they will fit the kids in the class.

Last night I worked on my toe-up Railroad Rib sock. I got the heel turned and I am ready to knit up the cuff. I hope I remember how I did this sock when I get to the second sock! I did take some notes, but I'm not sure they are enough.

Meg brought us surprises to the Driggs retreat. She brought some wonderful yarn that we were able to chose from. The blue is Alpaca with a Twist. I had just seen a pattern not long ago that I liked that used this yarn. I had never seen it before and wondered what it was like. The green is Keltic by Berroco. There is enough that I am going to do some fingerless mitts and I think a beanie for one of the kids, as in children not nursery kids, for Christmas. I really love the colors in both skeins.


Here is my stash from Mountain Knits Yarn in Driggs. There seems to be a reoccurring color in all the new fiber. I wonder why? The green/blue combination on the top left and the green/pink right underneath are both Fleece Artist. I had never seen this yarn either, but hear of it in other blogs. It will be fun to use these two skeins. The green/pink/blue at the left bottom is some Lorna's Lace in the Somerset color-way. I bought some Lorna's Lace last year in Driggs and haven't used it yet. This one will probably sit in the stash for a while also before getting used. The green on the right top is some Noro in a cotton/silk combination. I have about 400 yards of this. The red/golds/browns on the bottom right is some Mountain Colors in the Gold Rush color. I r-e-a-l-l-y like this color. You all know I'm a "fall" person though. Right?

Well, that takes care of the Driggs weekend. This Saturday, as in tomorrow, is the Spinners in Pocatello. I get to have two fiber weekends in a row. Yeepee!

Happy knitting& spinning.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! The boys and ES drew faces on my orange nails. It was fun to see the reaction of some of my customers today, when they realized there were faces gazing back at them. I even had a couple of people notice as we were just talking and they asked to see them. I didn't dress up for work, because of other commitments today, so this was the best I could think of for some Halloween fun. I think the thumb face is actually my favorite. It's a little hard to see in the picture.

I have been busy working on some knit hats for my Nursery kids for Christmas. I am 1/4 of the way done with the hats. There are 12 kids in the class and each hat will be the same pattern but
different colors. I have a couple of girls that are P-I-N-K girls, so will have fun doing some pink stuff. My boys don't care for pink too much except for C. He will wear pink occasionally.

Well, off to answer the door.

Happy knitting & spinning!