hakucho: July 2006

Thursday, July 27, 2006

To be finished

When I was looking through my mother's knitting things I found five knitted ripple strips for a baby afghan. All that needs to be done is for them to be sewn or crocheted together. I plan on completing the blanket and I'll put it away for one of my future grandchildren. My oldest son is almost twenty so when you think of it, it really is not that far fetched. Knowing that their great-grandmother whom they never knew made the blanket will hopefully make it very special for them. Here is a close-up of the pattern:

I'll post again when I finally get around to the completion. My to do list is growing, but I'm sure it won't be long before I finish it.

Even though my mother has been gone now for six years I still miss her terribly. :(

12/27/2010 - Thanks to an anonymous commenter....the mystery pattern is identified: "Envelope Afghan" :) The pattern can also be found on Ravelry as well! If you do a google search you can find lots of other sources as well. What I find interesting is that the reason why it is called envelope afghan is because the pattern had been previously passed from person to person on the back of an envelope. That probably is why I was never able to locate the pattern is my mothers knitting things. I'm going to look one of these days to see if I can find it...when I have some extra time that is :) Thank you Anonymous!! Check out the finished blanket here.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The basic tools to learn how to knit

My grandmother taught me how to knit first with a spool knitter and then on to wooden knitting needles. The spool knitter makes a cord similar to the I-cord. I recently found what I think is the same exact wool variegated yarn leftover that she used to teach me. I found it amidst my mother's knitting paraphernalia. Finding it brought me back in time to when I was about four years old. This was a tremendous gift she gave to me as I have enjoyed knitting all my life. I love knitting thanks to Nana!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is a picture of my grandmother's old cookie jar filled with my favorite recipe for soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. The recipe comes fromCookies and Brownies by Alice Medrich. This is the only recipe I use for chocolate chip cookies. With three growing boys excluding my husband, I have been known to double this recipe. I take a short cut and melt the butter in my microwave as well and use a small ice cream scoop to form the cookies. Needless to say, they do not linger in my kitchen for long. Yum!

Monday, July 24, 2006

What I have been up to lately

I've been busy making more dishcloths. I just love this ball band pattern. Here are some of my latest finished cloths.

I also finished a mint green baby prayer blanket for my church. I am a member of our church's prayer shawl ministry. In addition to prayer shawls we make these baby blankets. When a baby is baptized they give this keepsake to the baby. The pattern is a dishcloth pattern that is made bigger, not big enough for a crib blanket, but a good size for cuddling. A tiny gold cross will be sewn onto one of the corners.

The following is not knitting, but counted cross stitch.

I've been working on this project ( "A Little Girl's Fancy" by Paula Vaughan) off and on since about 1990. I made another smaller picture for my mother by Paula and then I think I got over ambitious and took on this rather large one for myself. Needless to say I put it down and did not pick it up very often. Now two children later I have decided I must finish this and my goal is to do so by the end of the summer. It is done on 32 ct Belfast linen and it is very hard on the old eyes, but my bifocals seem to help. I have been trying to work on it at least an hour a day. Time will tell.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

The button

My modified sophie bag now has a button which I think looks nice. I sewed on a button that I found in my mother's old button box, which is a huge cookie tin with probably a thousand buttons in it, although I have never counted them. Someday....

Here is a close up of the button.

The beginning

I have been wanting to start a blog for a long time, so here it goes...

My love of knitting has been with me my whole life and now I have a place to show off my work. Here are the results of my first felting project. I modified the Sophie pattern to have a flap and I intend to sew a button on to keep it secure. I'll post a picture later with the button.

The top picture is before felting and the picture below is after felting. I used Paton's classic merino. For the flap on one side of the bag I kept knitting with garter stitch, then when I thought the flap was big enough I picked up stitches all around the flap and knitted more rows of garter stitch to finish it off nicely.

The felting process went more smoothly than I could have anticipated. I used a zippered pillow case and washed the bag with hot water with a large load of sheets. Fantastic results. Very soft and no pilling. I will definitely be doing this again! Next time though I think I'll make the sophie bag bigger and perhaps try a different strap style.I'm very happy with the results and I'd like to try and make a bigger bag next -- definitely a must do!

The ball band dishcloth bug has bitten me as well. I've been busy making a bunch. It's a great summer project. I know I'll be posting more about these as well.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

2006 Knitting

Click on thumbnail to view a larger picture.

Mason Dixon Baby Bib of Love
Mason-Dixon Knitting Book
peaches and cream spring meadows

Mason Dixon Baby Bib of Love
Mason-Dixon Knitting Book

peaches and cream shaded pastels

Mason Dixon Baby Bib of Love
Mason-Dixon Knitting Book
Peaches & Cream daisy ombre

Mason Dixon Baby Bib of Love
Mason-Dixon Knitting Book
peaches & cream shaded denim

monthly dishcloth yahoo group
"snowy drops"
Bernat Handcrafter cotton robin egg

Mason Dixon ball band dishcloths
AC Moore mill end yellow
Peaches & cream shaded denim
pattern

Mason Dixon ball band dishcloths
peaches & cream shaded denim
Bernat Handcrafter cotton robin egg

pattern

Curly Purly scarf pattern
Joann's Sensations Rainbow Classic Brushed

Mason Dixon ball band dishcloths
sugar and cream
AC Moore mill end orange
pattern

Mason Dixon ball band dishcloths
sugar and cream
AC Moore mill end orange and yellow
pattern

Mason Dixon ball band dishcloths
sugar and cream
AC Moore mill end yellow
pattern

Mason Dixon ball band dishcloths
sugar and cream
pattern

Stocking Cloth
Lion Cotton- poppy red
emellishment 100% cotton chenille - natural

monthly dishcloth yahoo group
Lion Cotton fuschia

Soap Saver
peaches and cream shaded pastels

Swan Cloth
Sugar & Cream rose pink

Poinsettia Cloth
Mid November's Monthly KAL (yahoo group)
Lion Cotton- poppy red

Mason-Dixon Washcloth
Mason-Dixon Knitting Book
The pattern can also be found here.
100% cotton chenille - natural

Christmas Bell Cloth
AC Moore Cotton mill ends

Baby Genius Burp Cloth Blanket
Inspiration for this pattern came from the
Mason-Dixon Knitting book
Joann's Sensations Rainbow Classic Brushed

Gary the Gobbler (Turkey) Cloth
Peaches & Cream - white

prayer shawl

Lion Brand Homespun - Fushia

Ball Band Toilet Paper Cover

Cotton Mill Ends/ AC Moore

Ball Band Toilet Paper Cover

Sugar & Cream Cotton

Ball Band Toilet Paper Cover

Peaches & Cream Cotton

Garterlac Inspired Felted Bag

my own pattern

Curly Purly scarf pattern

acrylic

pocketbook slippers

acrylic

angel and a bell ornament

acrylic

Swirly Flower Power dishcloth
pattern from Whimsical Knitting
peaches & cream daisy ombre + AC MOORE mill ends orange

Candy Corn Illusion Cloth
peaches & cream white
AC Moore mill end orange & yellow
sugar & cream black

Baby Prayer blankets
mint green Pound of Love
pattern

Log Cabin Dishcloth pattern
peaches & cream cotton
sugar & cream cotton
cotton mill ends from AC Moore

Yellow "swish with a twist" dishcloth pattern
Yellow varigated garterlac dishcloth pattern
Daisy scrubbie pattern

sugar & cream cotton yellow
peaches & cream cotton daisy ombre