hand knit orange socks!

Over the past few weeks I did some wound dressing care for a friend and in gratitude she knit me some socks!

joy--third Sunday of advent

18 inches square. Made from cut 2 inch (finished 1 1/2 inches) squares of batik fabrics, quilted in a grid.

Last week I brokered a connection between one friend with a new daughter-in-law and a desire to have a hand-knit Christmas stocking to match the rest of her family's stockings, and a friend who is a master knitter who agreed to the task.
The first friend asked me why the second would do this, and I said, "She is a farm girl from South Dakota. She heard of a need and took care of it."

In gratitude to my knitting friend, I finished up this little quilt for her, made with leftovers from my niece's wedding quilt. Quite appropriately it is in the color of advent, purple, and today's third Sunday color of pink for joy.

It gives me joy to have these two friends who don't know each other. The first welcoming in the stranger to her family, the second sharing her gifts with a stranger. A lesson here.

bridal shower preparations

I will be hosting a shower for Andy's niece next weekend. I knitted colorful dishcloths for her and made some for favors. My neighbor found the label on Pinterest for me!

the extent of my creativity

It is another busy semester and I've discovered that when I do have time to sew, my creativity is nowhere to be found. So, bindings and knitted dishcloths it is until the class load eases up in November.

dishcloths

Dish Cloths--How I make them.
One 3 ounce skein of Lily's Sugar 'n Cream variegated cotton yarn will yield 2 dish cloths. You can make these any size you wish, my mom likes me to make them bigger for her, but with this size I know I will get two out of the skein.
Cast on 4 stitches.
Knit 2-3 rows, knitting up the tail of the cast on as I go.
I always slip the first stitch of a row over onto the needle making a smoother edge. I count this as my first knit stitch. There may be knitters language that explains it, but I don't know it.
So, back to the cast on and initial rows.
Knit two, yarn over, knit to the end of the row.
Keep doing this until there are 53 stitches on your needle.
Knit one, knit two together, yarn over, knit two together, knit to the end of the row.
When you are down to 6 stitches, knit one, knit two together, knit two together, knit one.
Now you will have four stitches on the needle.
Knit 2-3 rows, bind off, weave in just one end because you knit in the first end at the beginning.
I am all for efficiency.
I especially like to knit up the leftovers for our use.

not much quilting going on

I have spent too much time away from sewing--I hope to have a little time today. I remember when the children were little, I would do "magazine quilting" because the real thing wasn't happening. Now, I do "blog quilting", reading and getting inspired for future events.

I made this Patience Corner quilt in 2000. Every block has a different green and neutral. The closeups are of my favorite neutrals--on the left some kittens and on the right, tiny images of Saturn on a Japanese fabric.
The neutrals are cut 2 1/2 inch squares, the greens cut 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 by 3 1/2, making the finished block 6 inches square.

Knitting, being portable, is getting some play here. Our church knitting group (I never make the meetings) is making red scarves to include in Christmas stocking for teens at risk or refugee families. Crazy Aunt Purl recommended this yarn--Licorice, from Joann. It is 100% wool, $5.99 for 3.5 ounces. I am using 2 skeins (bought with coupons), 20 stitches on #11 needles, garter stitch. It really is pretty, and the wool knits beautifully.

the usual suspects

I belong to a group of wonderful women called "Tuesday Knitters". Our children were in preschool together, and we would get together on Tuesdays to knit. Time has past, children grew, and we now gather yearly on Super Bowl Sunday.
I am a very basic knitter, with it used more as a calming/distracting activity than a chance to showcase amazing skills. My usual output is dishcloths, for crying out loud. But, rearranging a cupboard today brought out this lineup. I loved making gnomes. These are all well played with. I think the ZZ Top guy on the left is one of the first ones I made. I'm sure I made over 50 of them, giving as gifts and to a school shop.
I have lots of bits of yarn around, in small quantities. Time to make more gnomes.

princess and the pea

We have been preparing for a bridal shower Saturday for my nephew's fiance. I had a goal of knitting 7 dishcloths--6 are done and #7 is one baseball practice away from being finished.
I love how colorful they are. Together they remind me of the many layers in my favorite childhood story "the Princess and the Pea", probably not the most progressive story out there for little girls, but it had great illustrations of quilts and mattresses.

So, I have been knitting at baseball, fencing, tennis, while blinded at an eye exam, and two, count them two mamogram sessions in 5 days. The report was good, but I was knitting furiously between takes at the call back.
An odd look comes over people's faces when they ask what I am making, and I reply "dishcloth". A bit of pity that this is a waste of time. But, in the time they have been watching a practice, I have watched a practice, PLUS come out with 1/3 of a dishcloth!

shawl ministry

Women from my church have a knitting group that has a shawl ministry. This spring we made shawls for women struggling with life issues and at risk of incarceration.
I am a very basic knitter, but it was good to add mine to the pile of beautiful shawls.