Virtual Spring Fair

Hello everyone.

I want to extend an invitation to attend a Virtual Spring Fair.  I plan to visit all the stalls today, but in the midst of my rounds, I decided to upload the information here in case some of you would like to attend as well.

Mum, of Mum’s Simply Living Blog is hosting the Virtual Spring Fair.  Clink the link to find out who is participating and then work your way from one stall to another to see what folks have been busy doing.  Beautiful work!

I was not familiar with Mum’s blog until yesterday.  I found out about the Virtual Fair from Cathy at Still Waters when I stopped by her place to see what she’s been up to.

So, thanks to Cathy for passing on the information about the Fair and to Mum for hosting and to everyone else for their beautiful stalls.  It makes me want to set up a stall myself and join in the fun!

I’m off to check out some more goodies.

Advent Candles Illusion Knit Table Runner

I know it’s St. Patrick’s Day but I just finished knitting an Advent runner for my table and I promised to post the pattern when it was completed.  Besides, because of the design, I will leave it on my table for the remainder of Lent now, too.

Here’s the techno-deal for the day . . . the light was perfect, I set the table with winter greens and everything, took the photos and then my camera died.  I don’t mean died as in the battery needs charging.  I mean died as in there is no way I’m going to get those photos from that camera.  So I asked Goodnight if I could borrow her iPod to use the built-in camera.  She was kind enough to agree.  (Thank you, Honey.) By the time I realized my problem and re-set the table for Advent, the light had changed.  I admit that I rushed the second photo shoot because we were on our way out the door for green bagels!      Oh well, you’ll get the idea.

The photo below shows the four purple candles with their respective yellow flames.  The image is repeated at the opposite end of the runner.  I left the center section a plain white to accommodate the Advent centerpiece of candles and greenery.

The photo below shows the table runner from a different angle.  As one moves about an Illusion/Shadow knit piece, the images come in and out of view.  I love it!

The following photo is an overhead shot of part of the runner: just stripes.

Like I said, I’m leaving the runner on my table for Lent.  I deep-sixed the winter greens and swapped them out for a vase of brown twigs.  Two-season table runner!

If you’d like to knit my Advent Candles Illusion Knit Table Runner, feel free to click the link to download the pdf.

Happy knitting!

A day without knitting . . . .

 . . . almost never happens at my house!

When I woke up early this morning, I decided to get my chore for the day out of the way.  It’s Sunday, so I picked a light chore.  I dusted my knitting book shelf. 

I pulled something off that shelf that I haven’t looked at for a good long time.  Years ago I made a kaleidoscope.  It was a DYI project that I got at a craft store.  In the bottom of the tube there is a container into which one can put items they wish to use for the design of the kaleidoscope.  I put in some knitting items.

I grabbed my camera to see if I could take a photo of the items through the kaleidoscope.  It actually worked rather well – for 4:00 a.m.!

In photo 1, there is a distinctly visible stitch counter and some stitch markers.

 

I turned the barrel of the kaleidoscope a bit and in photo 2, some knitting needle tip protectors come into view.

 

Just another way to get some knitting ‘Ahhhhhh’.

Cabled Braided Necklace

While web-surfing last week, I came across a lovely knitting pattern that I wanted to try.  It’s for a Cabled Braided Necklace.  Click on the link to see a photo of the necklace and to find the directions.  It’s a clever use of cable-knitting with strategically placed yarnovers to make the rest of the piece work.  There are even two foreign-language translations provided for the directions:  French and Italian.  Great photos as well.  The post is from December of 2010, but at that time, I was head-over-heels into the Super Scarf Project for the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl.

I’ve knit the piece twice already.  I reduced the number of repeats, and made bracelets that wrap once around my wrist, rather than the three shown in one of the photos.

For my first bracelet, I used a natural wool as shown in the photos on the link.  When I finished the knitting, I sewed beads in the indentations where the cabled braids intersect.  It’s a fun look.

The bracelet is made by making two separate cabled strips and working them together by weaving the pieces through the holes made by the yarnovers.

The second time I knit a bracelet, I knit the strips in two different colors and got the following Christmas bracelet.  (You know me.  I love Christmas!)  I snapped a quick pic before I dashed off to work this morning.

 

I should really have done it more justice by photographing it with a cup of hot chocolate, pine boughs, snow, or something like that.  But you get the point.  By using two different colors, you can show your team spirit, holiday spirit, or highlight complimentary colors in your clothing.

I’d like to thank Olgajazzy for posting the free pattern.

Happy Knitting

“Do Not Forget”

Shhh. . . I’m in Smalltownville and the house of my youth is still sleeping.

I decided to make the great weekend escape with Goodnight, who can rest and recover here under the cozy quilts and comforters that remain from when I was her age.

We stopped at a small town thrift shop on the way.  It’s one of my favorite shops because there is so much there.  I don’t always purchase something, but perhaps I like to go because I recognize so many old things.

While in the shop, I spotted a nifty caddy to hang over a doorknob: a place to put important things one wouldn’t want to forget as one leaves the house.  I caved in . . . and bought it.  It says “Do Not Forget” on it and has a hole for the doorknob, three pockets for whatever one isn’t supposed to forget, and a clip for something else important, I suppose.

What do I want to put in there?  Hmmm . . . the question is “What don’t I want to forget?”

Pocket #1: Angel

Pocket #2: Officer Friendly

Pocket #3: Mr. Gr8 (my dad)

And on the little clip?  Probably a purse-size pack of tissues for when I remember what’s in pockets #1, #2, and #3?

I’m beginning to understand why the item looked new and never used.

Maybe I should go with a more techno-version of the doorknob caddy.

Pocket #1: Cell phone

Pocket #2: Camcorder

Pocket #3: Charging cords for items in pockets #1 and #2.

Little Clip: Flash drive

A much more practical and necessary use for the caddy is that I should probably wear the darn thing around my neck somehow.

Pocket #1: Eyeglasses (At work, I’ve kept them on my head, around my neck, tucked into the front of my shirt neckline, or in my pocket.  As I pat myself down to feel for where I’ve put them, I must look a lot like a third-base coach giving a signal to a runner.)

Pocket #2: A list of the passwords I need for work: electronic time sheet, electronic pay voucher, college computer network, email, online employee training access, etc.

Pocket #3: Bottle of ginko biloba for memory enhancement

Little Clip: The keys to my car so I can get myself home when the stuff in pockets #1, #2 and #3 exhaust me.

I just thought of another option.  It’s red.  My doorknob caddy is red.  I’ll make it a Christmas gift to my sister!!!  She’ll do something gorgeous with it because she has a better sense of home decor than I do.  She’ll probably hang it on a wall and use the round doorknob hole for a photo frame.

The truth is . . . Goodnight heaved a heavy sigh when I showed it to her.  That means she probably has some great ideas for the empty pockets and the little clip.  Most likely for her HIGH SCHOOL locker next year.  In Pocket #1 she’ll probably hope for the car keys because, “Gram, do you know that I can get my driver’s permit soon?”

Maybe I’ll hold off on giving her the doorknob caddy . . . 

In reality, it will probably turn into this knitter’s perfect companion gadget!  What I didn’t show you yet, is what the backside of the doorknob caddy looks like.

I believe that strap will hold a center-pull skein of wool . . . perfectly!  The back side can face the front while I knit and some clever knitting tools can be tucked into Pockets #1, #2, and #3!!!!   As for the little clip . . . I still need a flash drive for my knitting photos!  

 

Purple Toe

By the title of my post, it sounds like I should be knitting a sock for myself . . . but I’m not.

Something ‘dropped’ from a higher distance than I care to have drop in my house and the object landed on my toe.  The toe broke, but the falling item was spared similar consequences.  I’m not certain it was a fair trade.  If the fallen object had broken, I’d have swept it up, scrubbed the floor and forgotten about the whole event. 

It hasn’t worked that way with the broken toe.  You know how it goes . . . . . throbs like crazy, keeps you awake, looks worse as it heals, makes you wince a bit when you put on your shoes (that you should have had on when the object fell) and generally makes you feel like a brave wimp inside.

Maybe I should make myself some socks with purple toes.

As a knitter, I have one question:  Should I take my sock off at the yarn shop so I can match the color perfectly? 

Just kidding.  I think I have a pretty good idea of what shades of black, blue and purple wool to buy.

 

Flower Exchange

Unbeknownst to both of us, Goodnight and I each worked on separate flower projects as gifts to surprise the other.

She made me a paper flower.

I made her a wool knit flower.*

Both flowers brightened our day – in the making and then in the giving.

GN’s paper flower gift to me is hanging on the wall in the living room where I have reserved a frame for her art.  My wool knit flower gift to GN got attached to an ear warmer I made to match a scarf I made for her a few weeks ago.

   

Cheery flower gifts at a time when winter is rearing is frosty head!

*I found the knit flower pattern here, though I used five petals instead of six.  Thank you to Miss Crafty Fingers for posting the pattern.

Toasty Feet

For me, knitting can be a very practical skill sometimes.

I decided I wanted to add some warmth to the soles of my feet, so I knitted up some bulky wool (one skein each in three different colors) washed it, shrunk it, and made cheery inserts for my boots.  Since I only cut what I needed, I have a lot of felt left for when I need replacements.

 

 The felt is fairly thick, so there’s a nice warm layer between my feet and the pavement when I have to walk down the street to our annex this afternoon.

Baby All-in-One – finished on time, but it was close!

As I promised yesterday, I completed the baby knitting I was working on so I could donate it at church today.  It was a close finish, though.  I sewed the last button on at 7:30 this morning and the service Goodnight and I attended began at 8:30.  Luckily, we live close to the church, otherwise I may have had to ask GN to drive while I sewed on buttons.

NOT  YET!!!  She is only fourteen.

I hadn’t intended for the baby all-in-one to resemble something that I knit last fall for someone in Indianapolis.  I just wanted to use up the last remnants of my Super Scarf yarn.  But my knitting needles ‘told’ me what to do and once I began knitting, I caught myself laughing out loud as I recognized a familiar . . . um . . . friend.  The one I donated to church this morning was a LOT smaller and didn’t require nearly  quarter million stitches.  The photo on the right is of Blue, the mascot of the Indianapolis Colts.

    

With the above baby all-in-one, I have used up all the blue and white yarn I purchased for the Super Scarf Project!!!  

The fun thing is that I have a tree day weekend and that means two more days off – to knit!  What shall it be??

Happy Sunday!  Happy knitting!

Winter Retirement Internship!

Goodnight is back to school . . . and I’m not!  That means two things: 1) she’s heading off to school with FABULOUS lunches in ramekins – like the Shepherd’s Pie she has for today; 2) I’m on my Winter Retirement Internship.

It’s a short one – only four days – from the time she heads out the door until the time she hops off the school bus.   But I will take what I can get!

I still do my ‘chore and a drawer’ housekeeping everyday and during my retirement internships, they take a little longer because I save the bigger chores for when I have more time. 

I’m working on a knitting project that has sections, if you will, and I’m reading an interesting book. So today is going to look like this:

I already did my shore and a drawer.

Knit a section.

Read a chapter.

Knit a section.

Read a chapter.

Knit a section.

Read a chapter.

Go to a movie.

Write my annual letter to a dear friend.

By the time I finish my letter to my friend, GN will be hopping off the bus.  I’m going to take that teen to the park for an after school, outdoor skate.  She skates, I watch, take photos,  and pretend I’m out there with her (with younger knees and hips!)

My Winter Retirement Internship schedule won’t look the same every day this week.  I’ll finish knitting the sections before the end of the week and I have a picknit planned for one day.  I checked a textbook with DVD out of the college library before we left for semester break so I can learn something new!  I saved textbook/DVD project for this week.  Once I begin, I’ll be holed up with my laptop, a notebook and working my way through the entire book!

But . . .  not today!

Did I already say YIPPEE?