Simple Knits

Spinning projects

2012-01-16T11:53:00.005-05:00

Spinning seems to be something that doesn't bother my wrist so I've been doing quite a bit of it recently. My wrist is improving but still not 100%. I am currently working on a new crocheted shawl design.

Here's a picture of two batts that I just finished spinning up. Aren't they gorgeous?

These were gifts from my friend Jamie in Missouri. I've been the lucky recipient of some of her carded batts, dyed fiber, and hand dyed yarn. :-)

These batts were 70% merino and 30% silk in some of my favorite colors. She called this colorway Forbidden Love. I had so much fun spinning these up. :-)

Here's what my finished 2 ply yarn looks like. It spun up into a light fingering weight yarn. A rough estimate is 3.4 ounces and approximately 430 yards.

Jamie has recently opened an Etsy shop with her friend Bonnie. You can find their Bon*Fiber shop by clicking HERE. Check out their hand dyed yarn and fiber as well as stitch markers and line keeper magnets. They have some beautiful stuff for sale.

I also recently spun up this 2 ounce bit of dyed Corriedale top. Two ounces and 259 yards of fun!

I've got to design something to use up some of my handspun. Every time I knit with it, I love it and wonder why I don't use it more often for project. The biggest problem is most of things I design require more yardage than I have in my handspun skeins.

Hmm, I will have to dream up some designs for these smaller handspun skeins.

Pirouettes Shawl to knit

2012-01-08T12:58:00.002-05:00

Like a graceful ballerina turning round and round in pirouettes, this crescent shaped shawl turns back and forth with short rows that form the gentle curve in this shawl. No need to wrap and turn your short rows. Just snug up the slipped stitch as you get to it or read the tutorial I've included for another "no wrap" method of dealing with them.

This design shows off yarn with long color runs or will tame those bright variegated colorways that can be hard to work with.

This shawl is one of the results of playing with sideways garter stitch last summer. (Unfortunately, an injury to my right wrist this past fall has really slowed down my knitting (and crocheting) and the pace at which this design was finished. My wrist is much better but still not 100%.)

This quick-to-knit and easy shawl is knit sideways in garter stitch (no purling required). The lace edging is worked as you knit the shawl. When you're done knitting, tuck in the ends and you're good to go! No blocking necessary unless you want to do it.

I used 3 balls of Noro Aya with size 9 (5.5 mm) knitting needles for this shawl (about 450 yards of worsted weight yarn). Finished size was 48" along the neckline x 18" deep at the center back. I didn't block it. Because of the silk and cotton in the yarn I chose, my shawl has stretched quite a bit as I've worn it.

It's gotten a lot of wear since I knit it. I get a lot of compliments on it. It keeps the chill off your shoulders, looks good draped over a coat, and doubles as a hooded scarf if you place the lace edge around your face and wrap the "arms" of the shawl around your neck.

The four page pattern is available as a instant download for $3.99 through my Ravelry pattern store. Click on the link below. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Have fun!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Lil' Hoot

2012-01-03T13:08:00.003-05:00

Knit these cute little owl toys fast with scraps from your yarn basket and a pair of size 7 knitting needles. Finished they measure 2.5” wide x 3” tall.

This is a little something I came up with last year for the Holiday Mystery Gifts group. It's a little owl toy. Stuff or fill it to create beanbags or juggling toys for kids or as cat toys for your favorite feline. Remember to sew the trims on securely so that kids or cats can't pull them off.

The body is knit flat and seamed with invisible garter seaming along one side.

The eyes and beak are crocheted. If you don't know how to crochet, I've included other options for these.

This single page pattern is available as a free download from my Ravelry pattern store. Click on the link below. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Have fun!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

All Paths Lead Home Shawl

2011-12-04T12:50:00.007-05:00

All Paths Lead Home is a slightly asymmetrical triangle shawl.When worn the point in the back is off set to the side. This shawl features a cats paw lace pattern worked in columns. The shawl grows along one edge with each row you knit. It's a simple four row lace pattern.

The pictured shawl was knit with one 100 gram ball of Poems Sock yarn in the Pulsar colorway. The long colorways in this yarn work well with the vertical lace pattern. It would also look good worked in a solid color. Blocked, the sample shawl measured 64" along the top/neckline edge, 40" along the side x 50" along the bind off edge.

You'll need 100 grams (about 462) yards of light fingering or heavy lace weight yarn for this shawl with a size 5 (3.75 mm) circular knitting needle.

The shawl can be made with any weight of yarn with needles one or two sizes larger than recommended on the yarn label. Remember, the amount of yarn you will need will change.

The pattern includes both written instructions and a lace chart.

The 3 page pattern sells for $3.99. To purchase and download this pattern with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry by clicking the link below. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry.

Have fun!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Regency Ruffles to crochet

2011-11-18T13:28:00.004-05:00

Regency Ruffles is a fun and very simple scarf to crochet. It has ruffles and a bit of a twirl. It’s different than most ruffle scarves as it's not made lengthwise. Simply crochet enough rows to make it as long as you like. No blocking needed!

My testers loved this one so much that they are making more for Christmas gifts! LOL!

I made this scarf with 2 skeins of Universal Yarns Classic Shades in grapevine with a size J (6 mm) crochet hook. That's almost 400 yards of worsted weight yarn. My scarf measured flat 7” wide x 35” along the center stitches. When worn it stretched and grew to 46” long.

You can make it with any weight of yarn you want by using a hook big enough to keep the ruffles soft and drapey. It's easy to make it wider too.

The pattern has written instructions and crochet charts. It also includes directions for making a short button around the neck scarf.

The 3 page pattern sells for $2.99. To purchase and download this pattern with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry by clicking the link below. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Have fun!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Two hat patterns to knit

2011-11-15T13:42:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of quickies just in time for holiday knitting.

Both of these hats are based on my Hip to Be Square Hat. I've re-sized it for bulky weight yarn. The hats are knit from the top down starting with a square. These patterns both premiered in the Holiday Mystery Group in October. I knit a bunch of these as gifts last year for friends and family members. They were a real hit! :-)

The 59 Row Hat takes only 59 rows to complete. All you need is one circular knitting needle (no dpns!) in size 10.5 and about 80 yards of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky for one hat. This one is sized to fit adults.

The second one is my Dark Vapors earflap hat for kids. You’ll need the same size circular and yarn as for the adult version because of the earflaps. Hubby dubbed this one Dark Vapors (after Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies).

These patterns sell for $1.50 each. To purchase and download this pattern with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry by clicking the link below. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Have fun!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Where did summer go?

2011-11-05T13:55:00.004-05:00

Summer seems to have zipped by this year. After our long, snowy, cold winter last year and cold spring, I'm not cheering for cold weather to arrive. It was frosty again this morning.

Our garden didn't do so well this year. A cold, wet spring, followed by a very hot summer with periods of drought were very hard on some plants. The only thing that did well was the peppers. Hubby planted about 24 pepper plants this year. No one wanted the extras and he didn't have the heart to kill them. We've had sweet and hot peppers coming out our ears. I froze peppers, cooked with peppers, roasted peppers, dried peppers, and gave them away to anyone who would take them. LOL! The tomatoes didn't ripen until very late even for us, there weren't a lot of them and, oddly enough, there were no green tomatoes to pick before the first frost hit.

Hubby bought me an iPhone as a birthday present. Much better than the range hood he was talking about getting me. LOL! It's a very handy device to have. I'm still learning my way around it.

In August I went to Michigan Fiber Festival and to Stitches Midwest in Chicago on back-to-back weekends. I have so much stash that I didn't buy much yarn or fiber. I had a lot of fun at both events. The bad news is that on the bus trip to Chicago, my iPhone stopped working. It wasn't even a month old! Turns out the SIM card died and had to be replaced. Took me a visit to the Apple Store and the AT&T store to get it fixed the next day.

In mid-September I injured my right wrist in a freak accident. When pulling blue jeans out of the washing machine, they came loose unexpectedly and I banged my right wrist hard on the door rim. OUCH! I bruised it good but didn't break anything. But it also has resulted in tendonitis in that wrist. :-( It's getting slowly better but it sure has put a crimp in my knitting, crocheting, or spinning for almost 2 months now. Knitting is easier but crocheting still puts too much movement in that wrist. I have 2 crochet projects I would like to work on but not until this heals more.

In September, hubby and I again went to A Wool Gathering in Ohio. It's a very nice fiber festival. Even more vendors than last year and the weather was much cooler. Shopping was much more pleasant than during 2010's heat wave. I purchased 2 fleeces from a vendor for a friend of mine. Both looked like really nice fleeces but turned out not-so-nice. This cream colored Shetland (pictured) looks great but turned out to be be full of scurf. Not something you could see until the fleece was washed. This is a spinner's nightmare as these sticky skin cells are almost impossible to remove from the fiber. Dealing with this vendor has been a nightmare.

The end of September I tagged along with hubby to Bloomington, Indiana for a work conference for two and a half days. The drive south was very colorful. I visited the two local yarn shops while I was there and a fleece farm. The weather was much warmer than home which was a real plus.

Hubby went to Philadelphia in October for a conference. I could have tagged along and seriously considered it. We talked about driving out on the weekend before his conference and stopping at Rhinebeck (New York Sheep & Wool) before going on to Philly. Round trip it would have taken about 10 days. Much as I would like to go to Rhinebeck, spending 4-5 days on my own in a city as big as Philadelphia while hubby was in classes didn't sound like fun to me. I had gotten a taste of what this would be like when I tagged along with hubby to Bloomington in September. I was on my own all day while he was in class. Then there was an evening reception we attended. I met a lot of his colleagues and put faces to the names I've heard him talk about. I'm not computer illiterate by any means but I really felt like a fish out of water with these high level computer guys. They clearly didn't know what to say to me either. (And not another spouse in sight either. Sigh.) After a minute or two their conversation would drift back to work and computerese. I finally convinced hubby that I really didn't want to go. I dropped him off at the airport and stayed home with the kitties. :-)

Currently I have two projects in testing--a crocheted scarf and a knitted shawl. Hopefully, my wrist will get back to normal soon so that I can work on more of the ideas I have for new projects.

And if you're wondering about the bathroom project, it's still not complete. The walls have been painted and the door has been hung. That's it. :-(

Seashells Scarf to crochet

2011-10-05T11:14:00.003-05:00

When my friend Chris saw this scarf she said it looks like seashells. It does, and it's a perfect name for this scarf.

Crochet this fun and curvy scarf of alternating seashells in one color, variegated yarn, yarn with long color runs, or alternate 2 colors. It is a very easy scarf to crochet.

No short rows involved and no blocking required!

The pattern contains both written instructions and a crochet symbol chart. My scarf measured 5” wide x 63” long. I used about 300 yards of Joanns Sensations Breeze yarn and a size H (5 mm) crochet hook. This is a light worsted or DK weight yarn.

Don't have any of this yarn? Don't worry. You can use any yarn you have in your stash just by changing the hook size to suit your yarn. Remember, you want a drapey, not stiff fabric so you may want to go up a hook size or two. Options are given in the pattern for making the scarf longer, wider, or working a larger curve.

This 2 page pdf pattern sells for $2.00. To purchase and download this pattern with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Have fun!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Smile Shawlette to knit

2011-09-20T11:08:00.009-05:00

Smile Shawlette is so easy it will make you smile. It’s a top down, garter stitch (no purl!), half circle shawl.

You may remember seeing pictures of some of these I knit as Christmas gifts last year. Those were knit in synthetic yarns and were not blocked. I've added a new version to the pattern that is knit in wool and blocked. The blocked version also includes a simple pointy border. You must block the shawl to get the points!

The pattern contains written directions for these shawls:

1) A blocked version in light fingering weight wool or even a heavier laceweight yarn (375-400 yards) on size 7 needles. It has a pointy border and must be blocked! Blocked size: 51" along the top x 23" long.

2) An unblocked smaller version in Red Heart Shimmer (280 yards) on size 8 needles (pink) that was 32" x 14" and,

3) An unblocked version in Patons Lace (498 yards) on size 6 needles (black/white) that was 40" x 16".

4) General instructions that let you make any size shawl you want with whatever yarn and needles you choose. Block or don't block depending on the yarn you use and the size shawl you want.

These make fun and easy gifts!

The 3 page pattern sells for only $1.00. All sales of this pattern will be donated to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana.

To purchase and download this pattern with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Enjoy!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

On the bus to Stitches Midwest

2011-08-25T10:58:00.002-05:00

My LYS is sponsoring a bus trip to Stitches Midwest in Chicago on Saturday, August 27. I love to go to Stitches market! It's the biggest yarn shop under one roof for 3 days. If you can't find it here at one of the vendors booths, it probably doesn't exist. :-) You can shop until you drop, rest, and shop some more. My stash is so big that I try not to buy too much. That said, I never go home empty handed. LOL!

I feel a little awkward saying this but people have told me that would like to meet the designer. (Me? Really?) If that's your wish, look for a short, silver haired woman, wearing a Ravelry button and a Simple Knits badge. (There are a few pictures of me here on my blog. I don't post many as I don't think I've very photogenic.) If I'm not shopping, you'll probably find me sitting and knitting (or crocheting) with my friends at the tables near the food vendors.

Just in case someone finds me, I've printed up a limited amount of discount cards to give out that can be redeemed for a free pattern with the purchase of two from my Ravelry pattern store. :-)

Happy shopping!

Lotus Buds Shawl to crochet

2011-08-14T12:25:00.007-05:00

Lotus Buds is an easy-to-crochet shawl worked from the top down. It is constructed in ray/wedges that create a generous half circle shawl that wraps around and stays in place. The body of the shawl features an easy repeat that evolves into a beautiful leaf and lace motif at the border points.

You'll need 600-650 yards of fingering/sock weight yarn and a size G (4 mm) crochet hook for this project. (Though you could make it with whatever weight of yarn you choose by changing the hook size.) Use one color or choose a second color for the border like I did. The 4 page pattern includes both written instructions plus crochet charts for the body and the lace border.

The pictured shawl was made with Miss Babs Bamboo Baby fingering weight yarn (a wool, bamboo, and nylon blend) in purple and green. The blocked size of this shawl is 54" along the neckline x 26" long x 115" along the bottom edge.

The 4 page pattern sells for $3.99. To purchase and download this pattern with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Enjoy!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Canyon Sunset Shawl to knit

2011-08-02T11:00:00.006-05:00

Canyon Sunset is my newest knit shawl design. It's composed of 3 triangles -- one more than the usual triangle shawl. This makes is stay in place better and gives a nice straight line across the back.

The horizontal lace is a simple repeat set between textured ridges that ends in a lace border. The design looks great in solid colors or shows off long color runs that could break up larger lace motifs. The pictured shawl was knit with 1 ball of Zauberball sock in the rainbow or tropical fish colorway. Blocked, it measures 40" along the neckline x 15" deep at the center back x 80" along the bottom edge. If you want a larger shawl, simply knit more repeats before adding the border.

You'll need 400 yards of light fingering weight or heavier laceweight yarn and size 4 (3.5 mm) knitting needles for this project. Or substitute 400 yards of heavier fingering/sock weight yarn on size 6 needles, 575 yards of sport, DK, or a light worsted weight with size 7 or 8 needles, or about 600 yards of worsted weight with size 9 needles. Make an even larger shawl by knitting more repeats before adding the border.

If you want a regular 2 triangle shawl, it's easy to modify the directions for this type of shawl. Just work 2 triangles instead of 3.

The 4 page pattern contains written instructions and lace charts. It sells for $3.99.

To purchase and download this pattern with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Enjoy!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Dream Weaver Baby Set

2011-07-20T12:21:00.008-05:00

The Dream Weaver Baby Set contains patterns for a baby blanket and a matching hat and bib. The same reversible stitch pattern is used in all 3 items. It's an easy to knit woven ribbon stitch. I published the baby blanket pattern earlier this year. I've created a bib and hat that has been added to the pattern. (The thought has crossed my mind that this would make a fun baby cardi too. :-) )

The blanket has a garter stitch border around the body of the blanket. You'll need about 500 yards of worsted weight yarn and size 8 (5 mm) knitting needles for the baby blanket. I used Lion Brand Pound of Love in blue for mine. Mine measured 27" x 27" unblocked. (I include instructions on how to make it bigger if you like.) The blanket includes written instructions and a stitch chart.

The baby hat is knit with about 60 yards of worsted weight yarn and size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles for a newborn to 3 month size. (Use size 8 needles for a 3-6 month size). The hat is knit from the bottom up in the round with either double points or circulars. The hat is closed at the top with a 3 needle bind off. The stitch pattern makes the top corners of the hat fold into ears (or horns). I used Lion Brand Pound of Love for the hat.

My bib was knit with Lily Sugar 'n Cream worsted weight yarn and pair of size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles. You'll need about 50 yards for the bib (less than a ball). It's knit in one piece from the bottom up, ending with the strap. After you're done, find a button that fits the buttonholes in the adjustable strap and sew it in place on the bib. The bib measures 6.75" wide x 6.5" tall (not including the strap).

The 3 page pattern contains the blanket, hat, and bib and sells for $2.99.

To purchase and download this pattern with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Enjoy!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Loopy & Yo Yo Kitchen Set

2011-07-17T11:40:00.003-05:00

You may remember these from a post earlier in the year. These projects are ones I made as Christmas gifts for friends and family last year. They made nice gifts, especially paired with a little something extra, and were easy on the budget.

Loopy is an easy-to-knit textured dish towel. The stitch repeat is very easy to remember and knit. The name comes from a corner loop you can use to hang it up to dry and keep it handy in the kitchen. You can add a button if you'd like to button it around a handle. Or there are instructions for adding a tie to the top that you can use to tie the towel up to dry. Instructions for the loop and the tie include both knit and crochet directions.

A 10" x 12" towel can be knit from one ball of Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn (about 95 yards) with a pair of size 8 (5 mm) knitting needles. For a dishcloth, knit a few less repeats.

Yo Yo's are very simple scrubbies to knit in garter stitch from scraps of leftover cotton or other worsted weight yarns. They measure about 3.75". Raid your scrap basket for 20-25 yards lengths of worsted weight yarn and grab a pair of size 8 knitting needles and cast on. I've included a photo tutorial on how to finish these so you don't get confused. They're constructed differently than any other round scrubby pattern that I've seen. An added bonus: If you knit these out of softer yarns, they will make nice facial scrubbies or makeup remover pads that you can wash and reuse.

Any of these items will make nice and inexpensive gifts. Pair them with a pump bottle of hand soap, a bar of soap, some lotion, etc. for an even more special gift.

The two page pattern sells for only 99 cents!

To purchase and download this pattern with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Enjoy!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Three New Shawls - 2 knit, 1 crochet

2011-07-08T14:16:00.004-05:00

Here's what I've been up to for the last couple of months. The pictures I'm showing here are the shawls laid out flat so you can see their shape. You can view pictures of them being worn on their pattern pages in my Ravelry store.

The red shawl is called Three of Hearts. It's a top down shawl that is more than a half circle. My sample was knit with Knit Picks Gloss DK (though this yarn is thicker than a typical DK and much more of a true worsted weight yarn). You'll need about 550-600 yards of worsted weight for this shawl and a circular needle size 9 for the body and size 10.5 for the ruffle. The pattern also includes a 4 heart no-ruffle version. My blocked shawl measures 52" along the neckline edge and 18" long. (You'll need 400-450 yards of fingering/sock weight and a needles in 6 and 8 for a smaller version of the shawl.) My testers were having trouble hanging on to their shawls as every female who saw it wanted to take it home with them. LOL! The pattern includes written instructions and lace charts for the heart panel and the border lace. The 4 page pattern sells for $3.99.

The blue one is called Over the Moon. This is a fast and easy shawlette to knit. (Make it into a larger shawl by knitting more repeats.) I wanted something that would show off those beautiful sock/fingering weight skeins of yarn that we all buy and don't want to use them for socks. I knit this one with one skein of Fleece Artist Nova Sock. You'll need 350 yards of sock/fingering weight yarn and a size 6 (4 mm) circular knitting needle. Blocked it measures 30" along the neck and 10" long. I've included options for a DK or worsted weight version. You'll need 400 yards of DK yarn with size 8 needles for a 40" neckline x 12" deep shawl or 450 yards of worsted weight with size 9 needles for a 45" neckline x 15" deep shawl. This is a pattern you will make again and again. The 2 page pattern with written instructions and a lace chart for the simple lace border is only $2.99.

The pink and green shawl is a crocheted shawl is called Cat Walk. The stitch pattern emulates a knitted cats paw pattern. This top down, three triangle shawl gives more coverage than a two triangle shawl. You'll need 600 yards of fingering/sock weight yarn and a size G (4 mm) crochet hook for this project. (Make a smaller one with 450 yards of fingering/sock yarn that measures 46" neckline x 18" long x 75" along bottom edge.) My sample was made with Zauberball sock yarn and measures 56" along the neckline x 18.5" long x 92" along the bottom edge. This 3 page pattern includes written instructions and a professionally drawn crochet chart. This pattern sells for $2.99.

To purchase a download of any of these patterns with a Paypal payment, please visit my pattern store on Ravelry. You can view my store page even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Enjoy!

Simple Knits pattern store click here

Does anyone read blogs anymore?

2011-05-16T11:29:00.002-05:00

I'm wondering how many people still read blogs? I seldom have the time anymore.

With the advent of Ravelry on the scene and all the new electronic ways to stay in touch, I'm wondering if the time has come to close down my blog.

One of the reasons I have held onto my blog is for non-Ravelry members to have access to my designs. That is no longer true. Recently, Casey has made designers store pages visible to non-members and allow anyone to purchase pattern downloads. Here's a direct link to my Simple Knits pattern store on Ravelry:

Simple Knits Store click here

I maintain a Simply SimpleKnits group on Ravelry where I post notices about my new designs at the time I add them to the Ravelry pattern database for sale or download. Finding time to post about them on my blog is getting harder to do. I have a couple of new designs that I have not been added to my blog.

When I began my blog in December 2006, Ravelry did not exist. As of today it has 1,367,433 registered members. That's incredible! It's also a testament to what Casey & Co. have created free of charge for all knitters and crocheters (spinners, quilters, etc.). The pattern and yarn databases alone are wonderful! If you're making a certain design you can see what others finished projects look like, she how it works up in different yarns, or what modifications or problems people have had with the pattern. I love to browse my designs to see what people have made from them. Or ask permission to use a photo of their finished objects on the pattern page for that design.

There are forums for almost anything you might be interested in. I know that some people had issues with not nice people on Ravelry forums. Sadly, this happens in Yahoo groups or even in groups that meet in real life. Ravelry does have strict community guidelines and they do ban people who cause trouble. Spammers are kept out of the site. They rely on members to report when there are problems that need to be addressed.

For Simple Knits fans, the benefits of joining this online community are:

1) If you have a question or problem with a pattern, you can easily get in touch with me through a PM or by posting in my SSK group.

2) If a revised copy of the pattern becomes available, you will receive it.

3) If you friend me, you'll see what I'm currently working on that might become future designs.

4) You could help test new designs for me or other designers on the Free Pattern Test group on Ravelry.

So comments please, on how valuable my blog is to you and if you think I should shut it down.

Jade Dew Stole & Scarf to crochet

2011-04-21T13:47:00.004-05:00

Jade Dew is a graceful leaf patterned stole to crochet. I named it after a Japanese tea leaf. It is dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

You’ll need 200 grams of fingering weight yarn and a size G (4 mm) hook for make the stole version. I used Knit Picks Palette in Clover green for my 25" wide x 66" long stole. (Instructions are included for making it wider and longer.)

Only two stitches -- dc and ch -- are used in this pattern though some stitch placement is a bit unusual. The chart will help you if you are confused by any of the written instructions. A two row border is worked around the outside edge of the stole. The pattern has line-by-line instructions and has a crochet symbol chart.

A bonus scarf pattern is also included. You'll need about 250 yards of fingering/sock weight yarn to make it. The pink and green scarf was made with Zauberball sock yarn. It's about 1/4 the width of the stole but the same length.

I really love how this turned out. I hope you do too. :-)

All profits of pattern sales through April 30 will be donated to the Mercy Corp for Japanese disaster relief. A payment of $77.00 was sent on May 3, 2011. Thanks everyone for contributing to this.

Click the Buy Now button below to purchase this pattern for $2.99 with a Paypal payment. You'll receive a link to download a pdf of the pattern. Enjoy!

Duffle-Upagus Bag to crochet

2011-04-04T11:46:00.004-05:00

A friend's fabric duffle bag inspired me to create a felted version to crochet. This roomy bag is crocheted in the round from the bottom up without any seams. The top closes with a drawstring run through a row of eyelets near the top of the bag. A shoulder carrying strap is attached as you make the strap.

Create a unique felted bag with your worsted weight wool scraps or use one or more colors of your favorite felting wool. My sample was made with 12 oz of assorted worsted weight wool yarns (about 750 yards) and a size K (6.5 mm) crochet hook.

The bag stands 12" tall and 30" around.

The pattern has been tested with Cascade 200, Patons Classic Wool, and Plymouth Boku. If you use another brand, you may wish to felt a swatch before you begin and make any necessary adjustments.

One of my Ravelry testers, Vikki, gave the bag it's name. Thanks, Vikki!

Click the Buy Now button below to purchase this pattern for $1.99 with a Paypal payment. You'll receive a link to download a pdf of the pattern. Enjoy!

Bathroom Update

2011-03-21T10:42:00.003-05:00

Well, there's not much to report as you can see. The half bathroom has now been torn up for 2.5 months. Sigh...it always takes so long to finish house projects. In his defense, hubby spent a lot of his free time moving snow this winter after he destroyed the bathroom. I've kidded him if he doesn't finish it soon that I will turn it into a closet. LOL!

Thank goodness spring is finally here. The last pile of snow in our yard finally melted yesterday. Woo-hoo! Last night a surprise thunder and lightning storm moved through with one bolt hitting not far from us. A fire truck rumbled by soon after it hit. Our weather forecasters are giving a possibility of snow showers later in the week. Ah, changeable spring weather in Michiana! LOL!

Spring is inspiring me to get my studio and my yarn stash tidied up. After a marathon sort yesterday, things look much better in there. I am appalled though at how much new yarn I have accumulated. I have to post a destash notice on the ISO/Destash Yarn board on Ravelry this week so that some of this unwanted yarn can find new homes.

I digress. Back to the bathroom. The drywall work was finished some time ago. Hubby primed the walls two weeks ago. On Saturday, he began painting the walls yellow. The color is a little brighter than I expected. It's more like glow-in-the-dark yellow. Whatever this paint is it almost stunk us out of the house with fumes. My nose and eyes were burning. I closed the bedroom door to try to contain the smell and keep it out of the rest of the house. Didn't work too well. Thankfully it warmed up enough Saturday that we could keep the windows open most of the day to air things out. By evening the smell was still quite potent in the house. I hung a curtain over the bathroom doorway, lit a candle to try to dispel some of the odor, and moved our HEPA air cleaner in there. It helped but it was still too stinky to sleep in our bedroom next to the bathroom on Saturday night. I moved to the couch for the night. You could still smell faint paint fumes by Sunday night. I did sleep in my own bed last night though I got up with a stuffy nose and a headache this morning. I am so sensitive to this stuff. :( Being allergic and sensitive is a pain in the you know what.

Hubby wanted to put another coat of paint on the walls and ceiling yesterday. I vetoed that idea! I suggested that we go back to the paint store and buy the low VOC paint in the same (or a less bright) yellow. He's agreed to that. So no painting until we get the new paint. Hubby didn't put up much of a fight. He didn't like the paint fumes either.

I've been knitting socks. Several pairs of mine have thin spots under the ball of the foot and the heels. Too big a patch to darn. I tried felting some wool over the thin spots but it didn't work too well. Might work better if you dampen the wool before you try this. I'm considering unraveling the good parts of the socks and reusing it for something else.

There are several crocheted shawls on the drawing board. One in particular has been crocheted and ripped a number of times. I've finally put it into time out and started something new. The new project is turning out very nice.

I have a crocheted felt bag in the works. Testers are currently working on it. I hope to release it next week.

Head bands, coasters and a scarf to knit

2011-03-09T13:03:00.006-05:00

Here are the last 3 patterns that I donated for use in the 2010 Holiday Mystery Group. These are all patterns that are available as free downloads on Ravelry.

First up is the Twinkle Coaster. These star coasters are a take on the vintage circle dishcloths. They’re fast to knit on two size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles using short row wedges. It’s easy, I promise! Knit 7 points, cast off, and sew the edge together to form a star. A picture tutorial is given for sewing the short seam. Twinkle measures 4.5” across from point to point. Knit them with leftovers from other projects or make a bunch from one ball of worsted weight cotton yarn (about 15 yards per coaster). Knit piles of these for gifts or donate them to charity fundraisers.

Rambling Rows is a narrow scarf that hugs the neck. This scarf is worked in garter stitch and shaped using short rows (no wraps!). This shows off the long color runs in some yarns. Wrap the scarf around your neck and secure it with a pin. You can make it with 100-150 yards of Aran weight yarn and a pair of size 9 (5.5 mm) knitting needles. I used Lion Brand Amazing (red) and Trendsetter Tonalita (green) for the two pictured scarves. Finished scarf sizes are: Tonalita - 36” outside edge x 22” inside edge x 5” wide (100 yards) and Amazing - 43” outside edge x 35” inside edge x 5” wide (150 yards)
Heady Stuff is a trio of three simple headbands to knit. 1) A bulky weight garter stitch ski band that is seamed (in pink) and 2) a bulky weight ribbed ear warmer knit in the round (in red). Both are knit on size 10 (6 mm) knitting needles. 3) A tie on style headband is made with worsted weight yarn on size 9 (5.5 mm) knitting needles. Use up your odd skeins and scrap yarn for these projects. Add texture by combining 2-3 strands of different weights to create your own bulky weight yarn. Have fun using up your scraps!

Click on the underlined pattern title above to go to Ravelry for a free pdf download. Have fun and enjoy!

Diamond Romance Cowls to crochet

2011-03-04T14:18:00.003-05:00

Diamond Romance is a set of 2 cowls and 1 scarf made with the crocheted lace motif. (You may recognize the lace pattern from my crocheted Flying Diamonds Shawl.) This pattern contains instructions for a short turtleneck style cowl, a taller cowl that covers your head and ears, and a long tubular scarf that is long enough to wrap around both your head and neck (or add a twist to it for a mobius/infinity look).

You’ll need a size G (4 mm) crochet hook and some fingering/sock weight yarn. For the short cowl 220 yards, 400 yards for the tall cowl, or 500 yards for the long scarf. A solid color yarn or one with long color runs would work well for this design. A fuzzy yarn or mohair would be a good choice too.

The pattern contains complete written instructions plus a crochet for the lace pattern. You get all three styles for $2.99.

Click the Buy Now button below to purchase both these patterns for $2.99 with a Paypal payment. You'll receive a link to download a pdf of the pattern. Enjoy!

Mugglers -- Mug Rug and Wrap to crochet

2011-02-24T11:33:00.003-05:00

Keep your mugs snug and cozy with these two quick and easy to make crochet projects--a square mug rug to catch spills and a wrap to keep your mug and beverage hot. You'll need scraps of Lily Sugar 'n Cream (worsted weight dishcloth cotton) and a size H (5 mm) crochet hook. Raid your scrap basket for the 16-30 yards needed for each project. You'll also need a button for the mug wrap. A button with a shank works well for this project. The mug rug measures 4" x 4". The mug wrap is 9" x 3.25". Here's a picture with the wrap on a mug and another laying it out flat.

Wrap up a set of these with a mug. Tuck in some candy, a packet of hot chocolate, some cookies, etc. as a thoughtful and inexpensive gift for someone.

These designs are worked in Tunisian (afghan stitch) crochet. This type of crochet creates a denser fabric than regular crochet stitches. You don't need a Tunisian hook for this project. It is small enough for a regular crochet hook. The instructions are written out. A basic understanding Tunisian crochet might be helpful.

Click the Buy Now button below to purchase both these patterns for $1.50 with a Paypal payment. You'll receive a link to download a pdf of the pattern. Have fun!

Stone Soup Throw to knit

2011-02-21T14:04:00.004-05:00

In the spirit of stone soup--to create something from nothing--gather up yarn from your scrap basket, donations from your friends, or swap scraps to knit this throw. I used about 40 ounces of worsted weight yarn scraps for my 47" x 57" throw. It didn't come close to cleaning out all the scrap yarn I have. LOL! It certainly kept me and my lap warm as I knit it during one cold winter month last year. My husband loves this blanket. :)

You'll need a pair of size 9 (5.5 mm) knitting needles for this project. I found that two double points worked well for the small amount of stitches in each strip.

The easy-to-memorize, simple textured pattern has very few purl stitches. Knit each strip in a different color, use scraps, or do a planned block layout. Two block versions and six planned layouts are included in the pattern.

Here's a closer look at the stitch pattern used in this throw.

Join the strips as you knit for easy finishing and no sewing! Just remember to tuck in all the yarn tails as you finish each strip. Click on this link to see view a photo tutorial on how to do the join-as-you-go method I used for this throw.

Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern for $1.99 with a Paypal payment. You'll receive a link to download a pdf of the pattern. Have fun!

Cozy Shoulders Wrap to knit

2011-02-19T16:47:00.004-05:00

Cozy Shoulders is a cozy little wrap that hugs your shoulders to keep them warm. Cast on and knit it sideways from point to point in garter stitch increasing on only one edge as you go. Then work a series of short rows (no wraps!) that give a curved shape to the wrap. For a wider wrap, work more short rows in the center. Decrease down on the other end to match the beginning.

Garter stitch gives this wrap a nice dense fabric. Finished mine measured 36” along the top edge x 15.5” deep at the center back. The points form a V-neckline in front and is long enough to overlap and pin.

This sample was knit on size 10.5 (6.5 mm) knitting needles with about 350 yards of worsted weight yarn. Bernat Aspen Soft Ombres in Violet Meadow was used in the pictured wrap.

Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern for $1.99 with a Paypal payment. You'll receive a link to download a pdf of the pattern. Have fun!

Three bag patterns - 2 crochet & 1 knit

2011-02-15T13:27:00.008-05:00

Today, I'm posting 3 free patterns for bags. Green Grocer and Swirl Beach Bag are crocheted and the Hobo Bag is knit. The patterns are posted as free downloads on Ravelry. Click the bolded pattern names below to download a free copy of each pattern from Ravelry. Have fun with these!

Green Grocer is an eco-friendly market bag to crochet in an easy lace mesh pattern. The bag is crocheted from the bottom up in one piece. No seams! The handles are crocheted I-cord (instructions included) that are made with doubled yarn for strength. Roll it up and tuck it in your purse or car for quick trips to the store for a few items. I made mine with less than two skeins of Red Heart Eco-Ways in green (210 yards) and a size H (5 mm) crochet hook. Unstretched my bag was 17" high and 34" around. Click the bolded pattern name above to download a free copy of this pattern from Ravelry.

Swirl Beach Bag is a small drawstring bag that will hold a small project or tote a wet bathing suit home from the beach. It’s made in one piece from the bottom up in an easy swirl pattern. The top has a shell stitch border. Crochet a drawstring and thread it through the top edge. The drawstring closes the bag and forms the handle. It’s easy to make the bag larger if you like. I used 2 skeins Lily Sugar 'n Cream yarn and a size I (5 mm) crochet hook. My bag measured 10" tall by 20" around. Click the bolded pattern name above to download a free copy of this pattern from Ravelry.

Hobo Bag is a slouchy bag. It is knit using short rows to give it a curved edge. (A tutorial for preventing holes in short rows is included in the pattern.) The bag is knit sideways in one piece starting with the strap. An optional tab and button closure and lining instructions are included. The sample wasn’t felted but if you knit it in wool you can felt it to make a smaller bag. I made my bag with 1 skein of Hobby Lobby's I Love This Ombre in Hot Stripe (350 yards) with size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles. Laid flat it measures 17" wide x 10" high at the center. Click the bolded pattern name above to download a free copy of this pattern from Ravelry.

A herd of turtles to crochet!

2011-02-10T13:44:00.004-05:00

Several years ago, my friend Jamie designed a turtle washcloth pattern as part of a baby shower gift. She never wrote up a pattern for the cloth even though I begged her to do so. It's so cute! I finally asked and she gave me permission to write up my own version of the cloth. The matching coaster was my idea. :)

Have fun crocheting Nerdle (cloth) and baby (coaster) using two colors of cotton dishcloth cotton and a little black yarn for the eyes. These are quick and easy to make with leftover yarn or planned colors. You'll need about 15 yards per coaster and 25 per cloth and a size G (4 mm) crochet hook. The cloth measures 8" across and the coasters 4.5" I got 5 coasters and 1 cloth from a ball of Sugar 'n Cream and leftovers of a second color. I used Lily Sugar n’ Cream in Hot Green and Summer Splash. You’ll also need a little black yarn for the eyes. The pattern has written instructions and the head, tail, and feet for both patterns are also charted.

Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern for $1.50 with a Paypal payment. You'll receive a link to download a pdf of the pattern. Have fun!

And the snow keeps on going

2011-02-07T15:32:00.004-05:00

And the snow keeps on going just like the Energizer bunny. :( We're approaching 100 inches for the season and we've got a long ways to go before winter is over. At this point, we've blown by the usual snowfall we get for the season and have reached the 5th snowiest season since records have been kept. The roads have been so bad that I haven't gone out much.

Here's what the Weather Channel's Local on the 8s showed last Wednesday. This is such a rare occurrence that I had to take a picture. The weather canceled my knitting group's Wednesday night meeting too. I don't like it when that happens. I love my knitting group!

We did get a lot of snow and wind, though thankfully, not as bad as it could have been. It did close the schools and shut down most things for almost 2 days.

My benchmark for bad weather is the blizzard of 1978. I still have vivid memories of that late January storm. {Shudder}} I was almost two years out of college and working for a book publisher. The storm totally shut down the area for days. It takes a lot of snow to do that. The Civil Defense declared an emergency and told everyone to stay at home (or be fined). By the end of the storm, 6 feet and higher drifts totally blocked the back door of our house and the front door you could barely open enough to stand on the porch. Then a drift rose up higher than my head. My dad somehow managed to throw himself through the snow around to the back of the house and the garage. He got a shovel and uncovered the back door. My car was parked outside and was buried so deep in snow that you couldn't even see where it was.

When my dad opened the big garage door, all you could see was a wall of white. You could barely see over the snow drifts. It took several days to dig out the driveway and to the street even with the help of my dad's snow blower. The biggest problem was where to put the snow from the driveway when there was so much already on the ground. (We had a foot of snow on the ground BEFORE the blizzard began.) My dad's snow blower had a hard time throwing the snow higher than the snow level. That first pass down the drive
was the hardest. My mom and I used snow shovels to knock the higher snow down so my dad could blow it out of the way. Then we knocked down some more. We inched along like this to clear the drive.

Our street wasn't plowed for days. The snow was too deep for a normal snow plow. Nobody went anywhere until the roads were cleared unless it was by snowmobile or sled. My hometown hired local contractors to use their heavy equipment (front loaders, graders, etc.) to clear the streets. They used a front loader to clear a single lane down the middle of my street. For weeks, driving around town was like driving through tunnels. In downtown South Bend, there was a huge hole where they had torn down a lot of buildings. They dumped a lot of the snow into that hole (where the Marriott Hotel is now located). The local radio station ran a contest to guess when the last of the snow would melt in the big hole. It was sometime in April before that happened.

I am so ready to move on to spring and leave winter's cold and snow behind me. We're looking ahead to gardening season. We placed our seed orders this week from Bakers Creek and Jung.

It's been so cold that I've pulled out my heavy parka, mittens, and cowl scarf. The cowl scarf is a knitted one that I made several years ago. I like cowls because they keep both your head and neck warm and can be pulled down around your neck like a turtleneck when you go inside. This set me wondering if I could design a crocheted lace cowl. I'm playing with ideas for one using the lace pattern from my Flying Diamonds shawl. I've completed a shortie one, am working on tall one that covers head and neck, and am considering doing an infinity/mobius version too. The pattern is partially written and charted. I'm thinking about names for the pattern.

Bathroom update: Progress is being made very slowly on our half bath. Drywall repair has finally been completed. The next step will be priming and painting the walls. Maybe next weekend. If we don't get a break from the snow, it might not happen even then. Hubby has been kept busy keeping the driveway clear and raking snow off the roof. There's a lot of snow (and weight) on the roof.

Cedar Lake Shawl to crochet

2011-02-02T15:33:00.002-05:00

Here's another crocheted shawl I came up with recently. It took about 2 weeks and lots of crocheting and ripping before I finally got the effect that I wanted.

Cedar Lake is a top down triangle shawl. It uses simple sc, hdc, dc, and ch stitches.

The design features two sizes of trees in the body of the shawl and ends with a row of large cedars along the bottom edge. A picot border adds the finishing touch to the shawl. The five page pattern includes both written instructions and crochet charts in the pattern. It's rated as advanced beginner.

I crocheted the shawl above using 3 balls of Knit Picks Palette (about 600 yards) and size G (4 mm) crochet hook. Any fingering/sock weight yarn would work. It would also look good in a laceweight yarn. Though with a thinner yarn you will have to work more row repeats before you add the border. You must block this shawl to open up the lace pattern.

Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern for $2.99 with a Paypal payment. You'll receive a link to download a pdf of the pattern. Have fun!

Dream Weaver Baby Blanket

2011-01-24T15:41:00.003-05:00

Looking for an easy and fast to knit baby blanket that looks spectacular? How about this one?

When I saw this stitch in a stitch dictionary I knew I had to make it into a baby blanket. :)

Dream Weaver is a reversible baby blanket knit in a woven ribbon pattern with a garter stitch border. The pattern repeat is easy to knit and easy to remember.

You'll need about 500 yards of worsted weight yarn and size 7 (4.5 mm) and 8 (5 mm) knitting needles for this project. I used Lion Brand Pound of Love in blue for mine. It measured 27" x 27". (I include instructions on how to make it bigger if you want a bigger blanket.)

This stitch pattern draws in a bit on the sides. I compensated for that by knitting the beginning and ending border with a smaller size needle than I used for the body of the blanket.

Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern for $1.99 with a Paypal payment. You'll receive a link to download a pdf of the pattern. Have fun!

Kitty Cuddler & Pet Snuggler

2011-01-24T15:06:00.006-05:00

The Kitty Cuddler is a comfy bed to crochet for your favorite feline. I used a total of 5 oz (about 300 yards) of acrylic worsted weight yarn and a size H (5 mm) hook for the bed. You'll need a main color for the bottom and 3 or more contrasting colors for the sides. The bottom is worked as a hexagon and the sides in an interlocking stitch. Crochet the sides twice as tall as you want the finished cuddler to be and fold them down to form a tube. You can stuff the tube with an old T-shirt, polar fleece, or quilt batting if you like. Mine measured 15" across and 2" tall with the sides folded down. It is sized for kittens and small cats. You can easily enlarge it by working more rows on the bottom before you begin the sides. The pattern is a free download on Ravelry. Click the bolded pattern name above to download a copy of this free pattern.

The Pet Snuggler is a pet bed knit using 3 strands of acrylic worsted weight yarn (or one strand of bulky) on size 11 (8 mm) circular knitting needles. (10 oz/about 530 yards of worsted weight or 176 yards of bulky weight.) Begin by knitting a garter stitch square. Pick up stitches around the edge of the square. Join and knit the sides in the round. End with a little ribbing or I-cord. The bed should fit a cat or a little dog. Make the bottom bigger for a larger bed. I tried to get Solitaire to sit down in the bed for a picture. She wouldn't cooperate. So here's one of her standing up in the bed. She's a timid little beastie even at the ripe old age of 17! Click the bolded pattern name above to download a free copy of this pattern from Ravelry.

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-13T12:08:00.005-05:00

Snow, snow, and more snow is all we've been getting lately. That doesn't make us special. They said on TV last night that 49 out of 50 U.S. states have snow on the ground (even Hawaii!). I feel for places that aren't used to snow/ice and don't have the equipment to deal with it. It's bad enough here where it is our usual wintertime condition.

Our normal snowfall is about 68" for the season. We were just a few inches short of that figure by last weekend and before more snow fell this week. We will no doubt have record January snowfall.

Less than 2 weeks ago there was no snow on the ground and the roads were clear. Since then we've been hit by record snowfall and lots of lake effect snow. If you're not familiar with lake effect snow you're lucky. A cold wind coming across warmer lake water can dump massive amounts of snow on the unlucky recipients. I live east and south of Lake Michigan. When the wind is from the right direction as it has been lately we get SNOW!

South Bend, just east of me, received almost 40 inches of snow over the past weekend. Most of that was actually received within a 24 hour period. We had 18" on the ground by Saturday afternoon. It takes that much snow to really slow traffic down and close schools and churches here.

We've had some welcome sunshine this week that has melted the roads a bit. Though every time they start to get bare tire tracks it snows again. :( As you might expect, I'm not leaving the house much. Such is January in this part of the world.

On top of the snow, temperatures have been below average. Our normal daytime high is about 32 degrees or right at the freezing mark. We're lucky if the daytime high gets into the 20s and our night time lows have been in the teens or single digits. Even in the house bundled up with wool socks, long sleeves, a wool shawl, and fingerless mitts, I am not truly warm unless I am snuggled into bed or in a hot shower. This time of year our bed is made up with flannel sheets and a down comforter. Heavenly warmth! Getting out of bed in the morning and leaving all that heat is not an easy thing to do.

Over the holiday break, hubby began a new remodeling project. Our half bathroom is now an empty room. Destruction has occurred and shopping has been done for a new pedestal sink, faucets, and a dual flush toilet. (That was before the snow started again.) The paint and wall cabinets we already had on hand. The plumber has been here to put in new shut off valves for the water, move the sink pipe for the new sink, and install a new toilet flange where the toilet goes. He'll come back and install the sink and toilet after we get the wall repaired, the walls painted, and the flooring installed. It's always this has to happen before this can be done type of scenario. And nothing has happened in a week mostly due to all the snow we've received. Hubby's free time has gone to keeping the driveway clear so we can get out of our drive. If the snow doesn't take a break soon, I don't when the bathroom will be finished. Thank goodness, we do have a second bathroom!

On the design front, I have a new crocheted lace shawl that is currently in testing. I hope to have it available before the end of January.

I'm also in the process of revising and uploading all 19 patterns I donated to the Holiday Mystery Group in 2010. The Quinto Beret, Double Diamonds Scarf, and the Archer scarf have already debuted here on my blog from HMG. I've posted several more patterns to Ravelry but haven't blogged about them yet. New freebies on Ravelry are: Heady Stuff (headbands/earwarmers), Green Grocer Bag (crochet), Hobo Bag, a Kitty Cuddler (crochet), and a Pet Snuggler. Two that are up for sale are the Dream Weaver Baby Blanket and Nerdle the Turtle cloth and coaster set (crochet). There's a few more to come as I have time to finalize them. I'll post descriptions, pictures, and links here on my blog soon.

As I promised in an earlier post, I can show you a picture of the gifts I knit for family and friends. The men got striped hats made from my Hip to Be Square hat pattern and a solar flashlight. I revised my hat pattern for Lion Brand Chunky yarn and bigger needles (not the worsted weight it's written for). I called them my 58 row hats. (grin) They knit up really fast! In the lower left corner, are two helmet style hats in blue and rust. Those were for my nephews. I used the same hat pattern bur resized it for smaller heads and with an ear flap that goes all the way around of the back of the hat. This can be flipped up if not in use. Much less fiddly than knitting little earflaps on either side of the hat.

The pink and blue half circle scarf/shawlettes were for my nieces. They were each made with one ball of Red Heart Shimmer using Pi shaping. I made a larger version in black/white for my hairdresser using one ball of Patons Lace. I love how these turned out!

The upper part of the picture shows all the hanging dishtowels and scrubbies that I made for the ladies. Paired with a bottle of scented pump soap, they made a nice, but inexpensive, gift. You could add a button to the dishtowel if you like. I crocheted a loop for hanging it up. The scrubbies may look like other ones you've seen but the construction is different than any that I've tried out in the past.

Let me know if you'd like to see me post any of these patterns. (grin)

A busy season

2010-12-18T15:22:00.008-05:00

Sorry, I haven't posted in some time. Things are busy here as usual. Does it ever slow down enough to catch your breath anymore? I don't think so.

My fingers have been flying knitting Christmas goodies for friends and family. No pictures yet until they have been distributed. I want them to be a surprise for the recipients.

Here's a picture I took recently of Pookie (left) and Boo (right). Do you see how much larger Pookie is than Boo? Our vet sure noticed. When we took him in for his checkup, the scale showed he had gained 1-1/2 pounds over the past year. He's too heavy and at risk for developing kitty diabetes. Our vet told us to put him on a diet. The dry food he (and Boo) now eat is high protein, low carb, and contains little if any grain. Boo loved the new food. Pookie was very vocal about how much he disliked it. (We suspect he was addicted to the corn based dry food and also may have had an allergy to it.) He complained loudly that we were starving him. Don't worry, he wasn't. He gets some canned food each day. We also caught him eating the dry food when he thought no one was watching. LOL! He likes it now and has trimmed down a bit and is much more active. The vet should be pleased with him.

The Holiday Mystery Group is winding down for the 2010 season. Nineteen of my patterns were part of this year's fun. They were a variety of knit and crochet designs ranging from small to large. You'll some of these designs posted in the near future. I've already begun to work on designs for 2011. :)

On a sad note, I report that Threadbear in Lansing, Michigan closed near the end of September. It was my favorite yarn shop to visit. I heard about this sometime in October through postings on Ravelry. I was shocked! Evidently, Rob, the owner had had financial problems for the past couple of years. In 2008 or 2009, the shop had been seized for non payment of a loan. The loan was repaid and the shop reopened. This year he was months behind on rent when the landlord took him to court. The court seized the shop ten days after judgment and the contents were sold to pay the landlord. (Leaving TB employees with no jobs). ;( There's even more to this sad story. Any designers or companies who had models on loan in the shop or were otherwise owed money for teaching classes or for yarn or patterns did not get their merchandise back and/or will not be paid. The same goes for customers who had gift certificates, held vouchers from the recent customer yarn garage sale held at the shop, or those who had placed special orders that had been paid for in advance. Count me amongst those hurt by this shop closing. Not only did I have a $30 gift certificate, I also have an unpaid bill for patterns ordered shortly before the shop closed. :(

In early November a new yarn shop opened in Lansing called Sticks & Strings. The owners are Sabrina (a former Threadbear employee) and her friend Kathy. You'll find their yarn shop at 1107 N. Washington Avenue in Lansing. I highly encourage a trip to their delightful yarn shop. Tell them Simple Knits sent you. :)

Quinto Beret & Double Diamonds Scarf

2010-11-30T12:29:00.008-05:00

Quinto is a quick-to-knit beret for adults, featuring 5 leaf lace motifs at the crown. Here's a picture of the top of the beret so you can see the leaf pattern and another one of me modeling the beret. Cast on with dpns (or two circs) to start for an I-cord stem and knit down. Increases are concealed in the lace pattern. Change to a circular needle as the stitch count increases. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid in red for my beret. It will take about 120-140 yards of worsted weight yarn on size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles (dpns and circular). Block your beret over a dinner plate to open up the lace and create a sharp edge or leave it unblocked. The pattern has written instructions and a lace chart.

Download the Quinto Beret pattern for $1.99 with a Paypal payment by clicking the "Buy Now" button below.

Double Diamonds Scarf is a garter stitch lace scarf. Garter stitch lace is fast to knit. Once it's blocked, it's hard to tell the difference from stockinette lace. This scarf is a great way to try out lace knitting. I created this pattern to use in my intro to lace knitting class. My sample scarf was knit with one skein of Malabrigo Silky Merino in the Pink Panther colorway. My scarf blocked to 7” x 51”. You'll need 150 yards of a DK or light worsted weight yarn and a pair of size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles. Use 200 yards if you want a longer scarf. The pattern includes written instructions and a lace chart.

Download a copy of the Double Diamonds Scarf pattern for $1.99 with a Paypal payment by clicking the "Buy Now" button below.

S-N-O-W!!

2010-11-06T15:19:00.004-05:00

This is the view from the sunroom this morning. Yep, it's our first measurable snowfall of the season. Temps dropped into the mid 20's last night. There were reports on the late news of frozen and icy overpasses and roads. Also pictures of high school football teams slipping and sliding around as they attempted to play. :)

It's late afternoon as I write this and it's warmed up into the 40s and the snow has completely disappeared. By mid-week they're predicting we could hit 60 degrees again. We're roller coastering our way to winter. That's ok, the past couple of years it has gotten really cold in October and never warmed up much until spring. A more gradual coasting into colder weather is much easier to take than going from 6o down to freezing and staying there.

I have pulled out my wool socks to wear and am wearing the two sweaters I've made lately. Taking a break from lace for the moment. Though I have ideas for a few new projects one of these days. :)

You've seen the crocheted Bella Donna Cardi that I translated. I had a little yarn leftover so I added a bit of a sleeve to it. I will make it again with longer sleeves. It's gotten too cold to wear this short sleeve version.

The second sweater I've finished is Liesl by Isoda Teague. Haven't had a chance to get someone to take a pic of me wearing it so you'll have to settle for this awful one. It's not easy trying to take a picture of yourself. :) It also points out that I still need to lose some weight. Sigh, and the holidays are coming. :(

Liesl is an easy sweater to knit in a feather and fan lace. It's knit on big needles with worsted weight yarn (up to chunky). Mine was knit with 576 yards of Aran weight yarn on size 10.75 mm needles I got from Knit Picks. For this sweater, you cast on at the top neckline and knit down. Cast off and cast on again to leave openings for the sleeves. Pick up stitches around the armholes for the sleeves. When you're done knitting, there are no seams to sew. Only a few yarns tails to darn in. I love this sweater and will definitely knit it again. The next time I will add the buttonholes. It's my fault for not reading all the instructions before I began knitting. The buttonhole directions are not in the line-by-line instructions so I didn't see them. They're in a call out box to one side. This I think is not a good way to handle this. I checked on Ravelry and I'm not the only one who missed them. I've also made a note to decrease needle sizes as I the sleeves get longer. They're a little wide at the elbow and don't want to fit inside coat sleeves.

Someone asked for a closer look at the sweater. Here's a picture of it on the blocking board. You can see the lace pattern in it.

The third sweater is still in progress---a crocheted Pinwheel Sweater by Amy Depew. This pattern is more of a recipe for a sweater and not detailed instructions. That's great though since you can make it with any weight of yarn you like. I'm using a size G crochet hook and over 1,000 yards of fingering weight handspun from my stash in various shades of blues, pinks, and purples. The sweater starts as a circle at the middle back and is worked in the round. You leave openings for the sleeves as the circle gets larger. After finishing a few rounds after the sleeve openings, I've started on the sleeves. I'm not sure I'll have enough yarn so I want to add any contrasting colors at the outside edge of the body of the sweater and the sleeves. Worse case scenario, I will be spinning a little more yarn to finish this. It would take a long time to knit a pinwheel sweater like this. I'll post pictures of it when I get it finished.

I'm getting the urge to knit some thicker winter socks to wear around the house or inside boots. They'll be toe up and start with a rectangle at the toe. (Much easier to do than most toe up starts.) And I'm thinking about using a short row garter stitch heel. I have a skein of Yarn Bee Snowflake from Hobby Lobby that I may use. It's rated as a DK weight yarn. I bought the yarn on sale because I liked the color. I do not like the strand of thin bumpy, scratchy thread they've plied with it. Ruins a very nice yarn in my opinion. I'm nutty, so I pulled the thread out of it in short sections and cut it off. I now how a nice ball of machine washable wool yarn for thick socks. Now to figure out what size needles to use and how many stitches I need to cast on to start them. :)

Archer Scarf

2010-11-04T14:30:00.003-05:00

Here's my newest pattern -- the Archer Scarf.

This is a garter stitch scarf that's completely reversible --- no right or wrong sides. It's an easy and fast project to knit! The pattern contains full written instructions and a lace chart.

I knit this sample scarf with size 9 (5.5 mm) knitting needles and a ball of Trendsetter Tonalita Fusion. The long color runs in this yarn really show off this easy lace design.

With one ball (109 yards) of worsted weight, my blocked scarf measured 6" wide x 46" long. If you want a longer scarf, use 150-200 yards of yarn. Want a wider scarf, add a few more stitches on each side of the lace design.

I've been thinking that this would look great as a stole or a cowl too. :)

Knit it in light or bright colors for women and teens or dark and masculine colorways for guys. Yes, this lace pattern is subtle enough that some men would be happy to wear it.

Intro price for this pattern is $1.99 with a Paypal payment. Click the button below to pay for the pattern and get a link to download it.

Sad endings

2010-10-29T15:04:00.002-05:00

The past two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster to say the least. Not much in the way of knitting or crocheting has been happening either.

On Oct. 18, I heard that one of my uncles was in the hospital. He was comatose and not expected to survive. My uncle Gene suffered from Alzheimers. He was married to my mom's sister, who was caring for her husband at home. That's a difficult thing to take on with an Alzheimer patient. My uncle recently developed shingles in his mouth and throat. (I've never heard of anyone having them develop there before!) It certainly sounds painful. :( He was taken to the hospital when he could no longer eat or drink. I suspect he was having trouble breathing too.

Meanwhile, by Thursday of that week, I was all packed and ready to leave town at a moments notice with my parents for his funeral. That was the night my husband received a phone call that changed everything. My BIL called with the news that their eldest brother had been found dead in his apartment. Neighbors had noticed when newspapers began piling up and no one had seen him for days. Worried, they called the police. The police broke into his apartment when no one answered the door. They found my BIL dead on the floor of his apartment. The coroner's report set his time of death as Oct. 18 from natural causes.

Chris kept to himself. My husband tells me that at the age of 12, his brother developed a very high fever for a couple of days (maybe measles?). This would have been about 1960.

I am old enough to remember measles running through all the kids in our neighborhood about that time. We have vaccines for childhood diseases like this now. Then we didn't. We forget that measles and other childhood diseases were/are very dangerous diseases. They can kill or cause harm to whoever has them. I have memories of our doctor making a house call when my brother's and I got the measles. And yes, doctors did make house calls back in the day.

I digress. After that fever, Chris was never the same. I met him a few times when I was first dating my husband. I can't say that I really knew him. We had dinner at his parent's house every week. Chris was always there. (He had moved back in with them and was living in their basement.) Chris wouldn't look at me or talk to me even after we had been introduced. I had forgotten until my husband reminded me, that when Chris wanted to ask me something, he would ask someone else to do it for him. Odd. He was a skinny little guy but I've never seen anyone able to eat as much as he could. He ate his dinner and then, once everyone else was finished, he polished off all the leftovers. I don't know where he put it all!

The sudden, unexpectedness of his death has really thrown everyone for a loop.

On Saturday, my uncle passed away.

On Sunday, hubby, I and other family members cleaned out Chris's 3rd floor walkup apartment. It was a very sobering and somewhat disturbing experience that has haunted me for days. It was hard to see the reclusive way he chose to live--apart from any contact with his family or anyone else. We still have the daunting task of sorting through all of his papers to discover what still needs to be dealt with or people notified.

My uncle's funeral was on Tuesday in southern Illinois. I feel guilty for not going with my folks to his funeral. Unfortunately, I can't be in two places at once. And going with them would have meant leaving my husband to deal with his loss alone. Sigh...a no-win situation no matter what I did.

The wild, windy, and unsettling, weather we've had most of the week provided an appropriate counterpoint to the events that have been unfolding.

Chris's funeral was yesterday. It was a difficult day. :( My husband, FIL, and my BIL's are having a rough time dealing with this sudden and unexpected loss. At the service, I cried for both my uncle and Chris--both men living with mental impairments whose lives had been cut short. Hug your loved ones while you still can.

Today, I am sad and tired. I'm hoping for a restful and uneventful weekend. We all could use it.

I'm slated to teach two lace knitting classes next weekend at a local yarn shop. These were scheduled months ago. Only one person has enrolled so far and tomorrow is the deadline to register. At this point, I'm hoping the classes are cancelled. I really could use a break.

Bag it Up! - a felted bag pattern

2010-10-18T14:25:00.011-05:00

Bag it Up! is a felted tote bag pattern I designed for the Holiday Mystery Gifts group in 2009. Yes, the name is a little silly. I couldn't come up with anything that I liked better even with suggestions made by friends and others.

This is an easy bag to knit from the bottom up with no seams. Knit a bottom rectangle, pick up stitches around it, and knit the sides. The handles are knit in as you bind off the top of the bag and the ends are joined with a three needle bind off. Tuck in the yarn tails and felt it to create a very durable bag.

This one was made with 2 balls of Patons Classic Merino (one ball in Leaf Green and one in Forest) on size 10 (6 mm) 16" circulars. Don't you love how the variegated colorway made a unique pattern as it was knit? You never know how variegated yarn will pool or pattern as you knit it in the round.

If you'd rather have a solid color bag, only use one color of yarn.

If you have any leftover yarn, knit a pocket and sew it inside the bag like I did. Instructions are included for the pocket.

My felted bag is 11" tall (not including handles) and 32" around. It's a nice size bag that will easily hold your latest knitting project. (I gifted this one to a knitting friend, Anita, as a farewell gift before she moved to another state.)

Click here if you'd like to download the free pattern from Ravelry.

Bella Donna Cardi to crochet

2010-10-02T13:30:00.011-05:00

As a crocheter, I've been intrigued by the Bella Donna Cardi pattern on Ravelry. It's a beautiful shell stitch sweater pattern available only in Danish. I finally broke down and translated it so I could make it. I love this sweater! I used less than 5 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in Wisteria (about 1,000 yds for the L/XL size). This yarn is rated as a fingering weight though it's a bit heavier than that. I'll be making another one in wool. It would be easy to customize by adding sleeves or give more tummy coverage by working more increases under the arm.

I contacted Laila Gerster, the designer of Bella Donna, and she has kindly given me permission to post my English translation here on my blog. Thanks, Laila!

The L/XL size is first and the S/M comes after. If you find any errors or have any questions, please leave a comment or contact me on Ravelry. Have fun!

Bella Donna Cardi
by Laila Gerster
translated by Vicki Mikulak

This pattern has negative ease at the bust of 3-4".

Size: L/XL: for bust 40 - 43"

Materials:
S/875 - XL/1258 yds fingering/sock weight yarn
Crochet hook G/4 mm
3 buttons
Split ring or locking stitch markers

Key:
ch = chain sc = sc dc = dc
Shell = 2 dc, ch1, 2 dc in the same stitch or worked in ch1 of shell in previous row

Gauge: 5 shells = 4.25" Make a swatch of 7 shells x 2 rows skipping 3 ch between shells. Adjust your hook size up or down as needed.

Neckband:
Chain 126 + 1 turning chain, turn.
Row 1: Ch1, sc across (126 sc), turn. (127 sts)
Rows 2-6: Ch1, sc to end of row.

The yoke grows to prepare for the armholes. You’ll add dc between shells and increase into these dc on following rows. Always work a shell into the ch1 of a previous shell and dc(s) into the center stitch of the previous row.

Place a marker in the center back shell on Row 7 [or place markers before and after the center section so you don’t have to count the repeats]. Repeat instructions inside [brackets] as noted.

Use the written instructions below for Row 7 and then go to Row 8 of the Yoke Chart or continue with the written directions for your size.

Yoke:
Row 7: Turn, ch3 (equals 1 dc), dc in dc, skip 1, [shell, skip 1, dc, skip 1, shell, skip 3] repeat 7x. (Place marker) Shell, skip 3, shell (center back shell), skip 3, shell, (Place marker) [skip 3, shell, skip 1, dc, skip 1, shell] 7x, skip 1, dc in last 2 ch. (31 shells)

Row 8: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell (in ch1 space of shell below), dc in dc, shell] 7x. 3 Shells. [Shell, dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 9: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, dc in dc, shell, dc between shells] 7x. Shell, dc between shells, shell, dc between shells, shell. [Dc between shells, shell, dc in dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 10: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, dc in dc] 14x. Shell, dc, shell, dc, shell. [Dc, shell] 14x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 11: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 2dc in dc, shell, dc in dc] 7x. Shell, 2dc in dc, shell, 2dc in dc, shell. [dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 7x. Dc in last 2 sts.

Row 12: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 2dc (in center of 2dc), shell, dc in dc] 7x. Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell. [Dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 13: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc in dc] 7x. Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell. [2dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 14: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 2dc] 14x. Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell. [2dc, shell] 14x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 15: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 3dc in center of 2dc, shell, 2dc] 7x. Shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell. [2dc, shell, 3dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 16: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 3dc in center of 3dc, shell, 2dc] 7x. Shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell. [2dc, shell, 3dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 17: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc between 2dc] 7x. Shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell. [3dc, shell, 3dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 18: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 3dc] 14x. Shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell. [3dc, shell] 14x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 19: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 4dc in center of 3dc, shell, 3dc] 7x. Shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell. [3dc, shell, 4dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 20: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 4dc in center of 4dc, shell, 3dc] 7x, Shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell. [3dc, shell, 4dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 21: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc in center of 3dc] 7x, Shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell. [4dc, shell] 14x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 22: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, shell in center of 4dc, shell, shell in center of 4dc] 7x, Shell 5x. [4 shells] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 23: Turn, ch3, dc, shell in center of every shell across the row, dc in last 2 sts.

If the yoke is too short, repeat the last row. (61 shells) Remove markers.

Body & Underarm:
In this section you will divide the yoke for the armholes. Place markers between shells [8 shells (right front), 14 shells (armhole), 17 shells (back), 14 shells (armhole), 8 shells (left front)] before you begin Row 27.

When you get to the underarm, ch15, turn. Work 14 sc back over the chain. Join to a corner of a shell with a slip stitch. Turn; work 15 sc back to other side and catch with a slip stitch before continuing across the row.

Make the sweater smaller/larger at the underarm by changing the number of shells you start with. I used 4 but 3-5 is fine. Start with 4 dc or less in each shell.

Row 27: 2dc, 8 shells, skip 14 shells (armhole), ch15 for underarm (work 2 rows of sc in this chain as given above). Continue across the back for 17 shells, skip 14 shells (armhole), ch15 for underarm (work 2 rows of sc in this chain as before). End with 8 shells (front), 2 dc.

Row 28: Work even but at both underarms—skip 1 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 1 sc.

Work even until cardi is long enough. I did 21 rows of shells after the armhole.
Go to the finishing instructions.

Size S/M - for bust 34" - 38"

Neckband:
Chain 123 + 1 turning chain, turn.
Row 1: Ch1, sc across (123 sc), turn. (124 sts)
Rows 2-6: Ch1, sc across.

The yoke grows to prepare for the armholes. You’ll add dc between shells and increase into these dc on following rows. Always work a shell into the ch1 of a previous shell and dc(s) into the center stitch of the previous row.

Place a marker in the center back shell on Row 7 [or place markers before and after the center section so you don’t have to count the repeats]. Repeat instructions inside [brackets] as noted.

Use the written instructions below for Row 7 and then go to Row 8 of the Yoke Chart or continue with the written directions for your size.

Yoke:
Row 7: Turn, ch3 (equals 1 dc), dc, [dc, skip 1, shell, skip 1, dc, dc, skip 1, shell, skip 1] repeat 6x. (Place marker) Dc, skip 1, shell, skip 1, 2dc in next ch, skip 1, shell (center back), skip 1, 2dc in next ch, skip 1, shell. (Place marker) [Skip 1, shell, skip 1, dc, dc, skip 1, shell, skip 1, dc] 6x, dc in last 2 chs. (27 shells)

Row 8: Turn, ch3, dc, [dc in dc, shell, 2dc (between 2dc in previous row), shell] 6x. Dc in dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, dc. [Shell, 2dc, shell, dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 9: Turn, ch3, dc, [dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 6x. Dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, dc. [Shell, 2dc, shell, dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 10: Turn, ch3, dc, [2dc in dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 6x. 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc. [Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 11: Turn, ch3, dc, [2dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 6x. 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc. [Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 12: Turn, ch3, dc, [2dc, shell, 3dc in 2dc, shell] 6x. Then: 2dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 2dc. [Shell, 3dc, shell, 2dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 13: Turn, ch3, dc, [2dc, shell, 3dc, shell]6x. 2dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 2dc. [Shell, 3dc, shell, 2dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 14: Turn, ch3, dc, [3dc in 2dc, shell, 3dc, shell] 6x. 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc. [Shell, 3dc] 12x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 15: Turn, ch3, dc, [3dc, shell] 12x. 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc. [Shell, 3dc] 12x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 16: Turn, ch3, dc, [3dc, shell, 4dc in 3dc, shell] 6x. 3dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 3dc. [Shell, 4dc, shell, 3dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 17: Turn, ch3, dc, [3dc, shell, 4dc, shell] 6x. 3dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 3dc. [Shell, 4dc, shell, 3dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 18: Turn, ch3, dc, [4dc in 3dc, shell, 4dc, shell] 6x. 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc. [Shell, 4dc] 12x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 19: Turn, ch3, dc, [4dc, shell, shell in 4dc, shell] 6x. 4dc, 5 shells, 4dc. [3 shells, 4dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 20: Turn, ch3, dc, [4dc, 3 shells] 6x. 4dc, 4 shells, 4dc. [3 shells, 4dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 21: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell (in 4dc), 3 shells] 6x. 5 shells. [4 shells] 6x, dc in last 2 sts. (55 shells)

If the yoke is too short, repeat the last row. (61 shells) Remove markers.

Body & Underarm:
In this section you will divide the yoke for the armholes. Place markers between shells [7 shells (right front), 13 shells (armhole), 15 shells (back), 13 shells (armhole), 7 shells (left front)] before you begin Row 27.

When you get to the underarm, ch11, turn. Work 10 sc back over the chain. Join to a corner of a shell with a slip stitch. Turn; work 10 sc back to other side and catch with a slip stitch before continuing across the row.

Make the sweater smaller/larger at the underarm by changing the number of shells you start with. I used 4 but 3-5 is fine. Start with 4 dc or less in each shell.

Row 22: 2dc, 7 shells, skip 13 shells (armhole), ch10 for underarm (work 2 rows of sc in this chain as directed above). Then continue across the back for 15 shells, skip 13 shells (armhole), ch10 for underarm (work 2 rows of sc in this chain as before). Then 7 shells (front), 2 dc.

Row 23: Work even but at both underarms—skip 1 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 1 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 1 sc.

Remove markers. Work even until cardi is long enough. I did 21 rows after the armhole.
Go to Finishing Instructions.

Finishing instructions for all sizes:

Bottom Ruffle:
Row 1: Add 1 dc between shells in this row.
Row 2: Work even.
Row 3: Work shells even; in every 1dc between shells work 2dc.
Row 4: Work even. (Make the 2dc between the 2dc in the previous row.)
Row 5: Work shells even; in every 2dc between shells work 3dc. Do not cut yarn!

Now you will continue up the front to make the left front band, then across the bottom, and finish with the right front band and buttonholes.

Left Front Band:
From the bottom edge of the left front band: Ch1, work 2 sc in every row end along the front edge. Work 5 more rows of sc to complete the band. You’ll end at the bottom edge after the 5th row. In the bottom corner work 3 sc. Continue across the bottom edge working sc in each dc and ch1 space. (I used a slip stitch across the bottom for a softer look.) At the bottom corner, work 3 sc.

Right Front Band & Buttonholes:
Continue up the right front band working 2 sc in every row end. Turn; work 1 more row of sc.

Stop! Count 25 sts down from neck edge. Place marker here for the 1st buttonhole.

Buttonhole Row: Turn, ch1, sc to marker, ch3, skip 3 sc (buttonhole), 6 sc, ch3, skip 3 sc (buttonhole), 6 sc, ch3, skip 3 sc (buttonhole), 4 sc.

On next row work 3 sc in each ch3 space. Then work 1 more row of sc.
Cut yarn; pull thru out of the last loop. Weave in all yarn ends. Sew buttons in place.

© July 2009 Laila Gerster All rights reserved.
Translation by Vicki Mikulak - September 2010

Click on the Yoke Chart below to enlarge or print.

A Wool Gathering

2010-09-19T11:45:00.008-05:00

Hubby and I drove to southern Ohio for A Wool Gathering fiber festival in Yellow Springs (near Dayton). It was a surprisingly sunny and hot day with temps nearing 90 degrees as we arrived at the festival about 2:30 pm. It was packed! We were lucky to find a parking place by the Inn. Those who parked out farther could ride a free trolley from the outlying parking lots.

Most of the vendors were set up inside 3 huge tents on the ground. Interspersed around them were many smaller tents. It was hot outside and uncomfortably hot inside the tents. Though still had a great time shopping vendors I've never seen at other fiber festivals I've been to in the past. I came home with lots of goodies and business cards in case I want to get anything else. :)

Young's Jersey Dairy Farm is the location of the festival. Their cheese and ice cream shop was so busy that the line went out the door. Thankfully, you could buy a cup of ice cream from a booth outside. Hubby and I sampled the vanilla and it was very good but melting fast. It helped us cool off a bit.

We saw a sword fight between two members of a group that dress up in medieval costumes. Sorry, I can't remember their name. I loved their outfits thought they were definitely too heavy to wear on such a hot day.

There were activities for the kids. Two tents were set up where kids could turn a crank to make their own jump rope. Someone was driving a vehicle that looked like a plane at the front and end with little trailers linked behind it. The kids were having a good time! A batting cage nearby was busy with people hitting baseballs.

I was severely tempted to buy a small Shetland fleece at one booth. There were several mills at the festival where I could have dropped it off for processing. Wooly Knob and Ohio Valley Fibers were both there. I resisted the temptation to buy that much wool. They had a tent set up where you could watch them shearing sheep.

Here's a picture of my booty from the festival. A t-shirt for hubby, some Cashmere laceweight, a skein of superwash merino laceweight, 3 skeins of fingering weight, plus spinning fiber in natural and bits and pieces of colored. I bought Falkland, Cormo, BFL, merino, and Corriedale.

Here are links to the vendors:
(BTW, just checked some of these and they don't work. I don't understand vendors who give you a card with a website and it doesn't work.)

Cashmere laceweight - Stitch Sisterz
Hand dyed superwash merino laceweight - Carriage House Woolens
Grab bags of fiber - Happy Hands Yarn
Undyed Falkland - Bullens Wullens
Undyed Cormo - Wooly Knob Fiber Mill

It was a very long day. We left home about 9 am and didn't get back until 10:30 pm. Too many hours spent in a car in one day! I did get some knitting done on a baby blanket I've been working on.

Bagatelle - a tiny felted bag

2010-09-07T14:53:00.007-05:00

Bagatelle is a little tote bag that I knit with leftover feltable wool. Felted it stands 7.5" tall (not including handles) and 16" around.

I used about 130 yards of Patons Classic Wool in the Regency colorway with a pair of size 10 (6 mm) 16" circular knitting needles. (Any worsted weight feltable yarn will work.) The bag is knit from the bottom up starting with a garter stitch rectangle for the bottom. The sides are picked up around the rectangle and then it's knit in the round. The handles are formed by binding off and casting on stitches along the top edge. The stockinette handles roll to form tubular handles when felted. No seams to sew! It's very simple to upsize.

This is a free pattern. If you're a member of Ravelry, you can click HERE to download a copy of the pattern. Have fun!

P.S. This pattern was part of the Holiday Mystery Gifts Along (knit & crochet) for the 2009 season. I'm donating some new patterns to this year's group. If you want to find out, you'll have to click HMG to join the fun. LOL! The 2010 season starts on Saturday, September 18th!

Celestial Trio

2010-08-31T14:31:00.005-05:00

Three variations on a simple theme--a shawlette/scarf and two shawls--all constructed with pi shaping that ends in a lace border. Easy to knit and addictive! Knit one in every color. Easy to adapt for different weights of yarn. Written instructions for all three are included in the pattern including a lace chart for the border.

I came up with the idea for the shawlette/scarf as a pattern for the goody bags at my knitting group's annual retreat. I paired the pattern with a ball of Knit Picks Palette yarn. Yes, it only takes 231 yards of fingering/sock weight yarn to knit it! The pictured shawlette was knit in Celestial Blue on size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles. This is a nice little wrap to throw around your shoulders to keep the chill off in air conditioned rooms or restaurants or over your winter coat for a flash of color.

I had so much fun knitting the scarf version that I decided to upsize it to a shawl. So came about version #2 that uses 630 yards of fingering/sock weight yarn. This is a very full shawl that comes down to my elbows. I used Knit Picks Palette in Golden Heather for the main body of the shawl and Sweet Potato for the lace border.

Then I wondered what would happen if I omitted the front edge increases. Thus came about version #3, an almost half circle shawl. I used 440 yards of rainbow merino yarn that I had spun some time back. It was waiting for the perfect project and this one was it! I love how it turned out!

The pattern price is $4.99. To order the pattern with a Paypal payment, click the link below. You will receive a download link for a pdf file after you make your payment. Have fun and see if you can stop at just one! LOL!

Name That Bag!

2010-08-27T13:23:00.003-05:00

This is a bag pattern that I donated for use in the Holiday Mystery Gifts group in 2009. I'm ready to post the pattern as a freebie but I don't care for the pattern name. I called it Bag it Up! for HMG last year. It's pretty boring.

Want to take a go at giving it a better name? Post a comment with your name suggestion either here on my blog or in the naming thread on my Simply Simple Knits group on Ravelry. If I use the name you suggest, I'll gift you a copy of any of my patterns.

This is a felted tote bag that is knit in the round from the bottom up. The handles are knit in as you bind off the top edge. There's even instructions for knitting a pocket to sew to the inside of the tote. I used a variegated yarn for the sides of the bag. Isn't it cool the pattern it made?

The garden is beginning to wind down for the season. It's been an odd year for the garden. First wet, then hot and dry. Our sweet corn didn't do very well. The ears were small and not well filled out. At least the raccoons didn't get it this year! LOL! Cucumbers and summer squash plants have died due to bug damage. The beans are about done. Potatoes are dying which means we can dig some at any time. Winter squash is setting fruit. Oh, and tomatoes are coming in great guns. I've been busy freezing things for the winter. The only time you can go outside to pick anything is in the middle of the day when it's sunny or the mosquitoes eat you alive!

My knitting group held it's 2nd annual retreat on August 7th at the University of Notre Dame. We had a great time. One of our members taught a Fair Isle knitting class for us. I put together goody bags with the help of some of the members of our group. It was a fun and relaxing day for all who attended.

Last Friday I went to Michigan Fiber Fest in Allegan, Michigan. It was scorching hot that day. Got there about 15 minutes after they opened and it looked like a lot of other people had had the same idea as I had to arrive early. By the time I reached the last building I was dripping sweat. Didn't stop me from buying some Pygora combed top, merino, silk hankies, and Polworth wool before I was finished shopping. :) The booth owner where I bought the Pygora was shocked when I told her I was allergic to alpaca. She said but it's billed as hypoallergenic. It's not. I know a lot of people who are allergic to it. She told me that Pygora (from a goat) is a hair fiber like alpaca. I have my fingers crossed that the Pygora doesn't bother me the way that alpaca does.

I'll tease you by saying that I've got another free bag pattern and a new shawl pattern that I need to blog about. Both patterns are already up on Ravelry. If you're a member of Ravelry, you can see all my patterns by clicking HERE. You must be signed in to view it. Casey is working on making our design pages visible outside of Ravelry.

Lydia's Star

2010-08-09T09:37:00.004-05:00

Back in the spring, I stumbled across a pattern for a vintage circular shawl in a very old publication. No picture but the description of a star and leaf pattern intrigued me enough to find some yarn and cast on. The instructions were surprisingly easy to understand and update to modern knitting terminology. I finished the shawl after several weeks. It is gorgeous! I may well be the first person to knit this design in over 100 years! (That really appeals to the history major in me. LOL!) It would be a real shame to lose this piece of our knitting heritage. So I have taken the time to write and chart the shawl pattern for others to use.

First off, I've given the pattern a new name---Lydia's Star. I'm dedicating this pattern to my niece’s grandmother, Lydia, who passed away this summer after a long battle with cancer. A donation will be made in Lydia's name to the American Cancer Society for each pattern sold.

The original shawl pattern cryptically titled “A Handsome Round Shawl Knitted in Star Pattern and Leaves” is from Weldon’s Practical Knitter (1895) had no picture of the shawl. I've adapted and updated the vintage pattern for use by modern knitters. The 6 page pattern contains updated instructions, errors have been corrected, vague instructions clarified, missing instructions added, the pattern totally charted, and a lace edging added. The original shawl ended with a just few plain knit and purl rounds. I felt that such a beautiful shawl deserved something a little more special than that.

I used 1500 yards of fingering weight yarn (Jaggerspun Maine Line 2/8) on size 4 (3.5 mm) needles to knit this shawl. My finished shawl measured 52” across at the center but could have been blocked even larger. I didn't have a space large enough to block it as much as I would have liked.

I hope you enjoy knitting this shawl as much as I did.

The pattern price is $3.99---a portion of which will be donated to the American Cancer Society. To order the pattern with a Paypal payment, click the link below. You will receive a download link for a pdf file after you make your payment. Have fun!

Soar - a shawl to crochet

2010-07-29T14:27:00.006-05:00

I have another new shawl design for crocheters. This one I call Soar. It's an asymmetrical, wing shaped shawl that really showcases yarns with long color runs such as Zauberball and Noro. This started out as a more typically shaped shawl until I realized that it was growing wider way faster than it was getting longer. And I was running out of yarn. So I decided to make half a shawl and see what happened. I liked it! :)

I've been asked me how do you wear this shawl? Here are a few ways that I can suggest. My Ravelry testers came up with even more. A friend told me she would wear it as a hip wrap. The shape lends itself to being worn in lots of ways.
Crochet has a reputation for using lots more yarn for a project than knitting. This is one design that breaks that rule. I used a 459 yard/100 gram ball of Zauberball sock yarn in the Fuchenbeet colorway and a size H (5 mm) hook for this shawl. The shawl measures about 43" along the curved top edge, 66" along the bottom curved edge, and 35" deep along the side long edge.

The magic of this shawl is an easy two row stitch repeat containing nothing but dc, sc, and ch stitches. If your were to look at a close up of the lace, it looks like a flower or a cats paw lace pattern in knitting. (BTW, a friend challenged me to come up with a knitted version of this. I'm working on it. LOL!)

The three page Soar pattern includes full written instructions and a crochet chart. Print the first two pages out on the front and back of a letter sized sheet of paper and fold it into a little brochure that you can tuck into your project bag. The chart prints out on another sheet of paper.

The introductory price for the pattern pdf is $1.99. To order the pattern with a Paypal payment, click the link below. You will receive a download link for a pdf file after you make your payment. Have fun!

Wisconsin and stormy skies

2010-07-29T13:32:00.007-05:00

Hubby and I took a weekend trip to Wisconsin recently to visit my cousin, Debra and her hubby Jeff. We've been wanting to do this for some time. The drive up was uneventful except for some unexpected traffic south of Madison, Wisconsin on the interstate. Black River Falls, where my cousin lives, was having a festival so we had to come in the back way. More scenic but showing signs of storms that had rolled through the area earlier in the week.

They live out in the country where they have several acres of land. To get to their road you have to drive down a gravel road that runs through a farm bearing an Organic Valley logo. There's an Amish farm across the road from their house.

Their house is more spacious than it looks from the outside. The first floor has a mudroom, 4 bedrooms, a large family room, dining room, and a big kitchen/dining area. The odd thing is there is only one bathroom in the house. The previous owners added on as they needed more space but neglected to add a second bath. The lower floor has a 2 car garage, plus 2 large and 2 smaller rooms. My house would fit easily inside of theirs.

Not long after we arrived, we got in the car again to visit the local brewery. Sand Creek Brewery was giving free tours during the festival. We got a behind the scenes tour and a history lesson on the family that owned the brewery and what other uses the building had been used for over it's life. (You can check out the link to the brewery to read about it's history. It was very interesting.) It was very hot the day we visited so a trip to the cooler in the basement was very refreshing. It was so cold down there that you could see your breath. :) Hubby sampled their Oscar's Chocolate Oatmeal Stout and said it was very good. The brewery is hosting an Oktoberfest on October 2nd if you're in the area. We're told they have beer, food, music, and arts and crafts. Sounds like fun to me!

We had a good time while we were there but it seemed like we had just gotten there when it was time to head back home on Sunday afternoon. We had barely gotten onto the interstate when we began to run into heavy traffic. The closer we got to the Dells and Madison, the heavier the traffic became. It's weird to see big city/Chicago type of traffic in the middle of nowhere. Stop and go or creep and crawl is no fun driving. By the time we got to Madison, the 4 lane interstate looked more like a parking lot than a highway. I convinced hubby to get off the interstate and take another highway going south. I seemed to remember reading something on the web about Chicago people clogging the interstate from Madison to Chicago on Sunday afternoons. I must say that all the license plates we were seeing were Illinois plates and not Wisconsin. The locals must know to avoid the road on Sundays.

Knowing that there was Cubs game Sunday night in Chicago, hubby decided to go west and south of Chicago before we headed east. It was nice to get out all the traffic and see farms and open spaces again. I was surprised on I-88 when we started seeing these all over the place. Yes, hundreds of wind turbines turning in the breeze and generating electricity dotted the landscape for miles along the roadway.

I was glad when we finally pulled into our driveway. Nice trip but way too much time in the car for 2 days.

Our summer started out wet, then we went through a dry period. Lately, it's been very hot and stormy. When Chicago and Milwaukee got flooded with rain last weekend, we got a fair bit ourselves. So much so that there was some water in the basement again. Hubby and I woke up early on Saturday morning to our weather radio going off warning of another severe thunderstorm headed our way with 70 mph winds and heavy rain. Even though hubby had been home sick with some bug since Thursday, he was out in our front yard digging our drainage area deeper to keep the water draining down from the street from coming toward the house and going into the basement. We only need this extra drainage when we get dumped with large amounts of rain. The ground was already saturated from several days of rain. We really need to come up with a better drainage solution for heavy rains like this.

After all that effort, the storm broke up before it got to us. We did get more rain before the front moved through our area. In the evening, another line of storms moved south of us. Inside the house, I noticed the rosy colored light coming in through the windows. I grabbed my camera and went outside to see what was going on. Here's what the sky and clouds looked like. Very odd!

After all the rain, our zucchini and squash plants have been producing like crazy. The bad thing is the squash bugs are doing their thing so I doubt the plants will be around much longer. I detest squash bugs!

The first tiny tomatoes are turning red, peppers are setting, the corn is tasseling and beginning to set ears, and green beans are almost big enough to pick. Yum! I've cleaned out my freezer and am busy freezing produce for the winter. It's cheaper and better than store bought and I know exactly what's in it and what's not (no GMOs, no pesticides, no herbicides, no made made chemicals of any sort). You can't get better than fresh picked from the garden. Second best is visiting the local farmers market. I do that too for things that we don't grow.

Streak of Lighting Shawl - a crochet design

2010-07-14T11:32:00.005-05:00

Introducing the shawl design I was working on that June night as the police searched my yard for fleeing suspects. I hope you like this crochet design. :)

Streak of Lightning is a top down triangle shawl to crochet. The simple two row body repeat is easy to remember and fast as lightning to crochet. I've added a beautiful border for a special touch of elegance. Here's a close up of the border.

You'll need 600-700 yards of a fingering/sock weight yarn and a size G (4 mm) crochet hook. I used less than 3 balls of Sensations Bamboo & Ewe for my red shawl. (Yarn available at Joann Fabrics & Crafts or joann.com.) The bamboo in this yarn gives my shawl a wonderful drape. My blocked shawl measures 73” x 35.”

This is a shawl pattern you can make again and again with any weight of yarn you desire. (Several of my testers made it with lace weight. Their shawls are gorgeous!) The design is also very easy to make smaller or larger.

The three page pattern includes full written instructions and a crochet chart. Print the first two pages out on the front and back of a letter sized sheet of paper and fold it into a little brochure that you can tuck into your project bag. The chart prints out on another sheet of paper.

The introductory price for the pattern pdf is $1.99. To order the pattern with a Paypal payment, click the link below. You will receive a download link for a pdf file after you make your payment. Have fun!

Dancing Stars Stole

2010-06-26T11:09:00.002-05:00

Dancing Stars is a filet crochet stole. Playful stars dance across the surface of the stole that ends with a ribbon border. Worked only in simple double crochet and chain stitches, this 115 row stole works up quickly with about 900 yards of fingering/sock yarn and a size G (4 mm) hook. The pictured stole was made with less than 4 balls of Knit Picks Palette in Calypso Heather. Yarn cost for this project is under $9!

The blocked size of this stole is 25” x 63”. It's an intermediate pattern that requires a basic knowledge of filet crochet and filet charts. There are no row-by-row instructions with this pattern. Filet crochet is easily worked from charts.

This 4 page pattern includes basic written instructions and a filet crochet chart. Print the pattern out on the front and back of two letter sized sheets of paper and fold it in half to make a booklet that's easy to tuck into your project bag.

The introductory price for the pattern pdf is $1.99. To order the pattern with a Paypal payment, click the link below. You will receive a download link for a pdf file after you make your payment. Have fun!

This kind of excitement I don't need!

2010-06-20T16:20:00.007-05:00

June has been a wild month so far. I can do without this kind of excitement.

The night of June 11th, I didn’t get much sleep. I was up late working on a new crocheted shawl. I had finally figured out what I wanted to do for the border and was looking forward to working on it without any distractions.

That's when I heard sirens coming from all directions and the number of police cars in the neighborhood. Two were parked at the intersection near my house. Another was parked with their lights shining across the yards several house south of mine. At this point, I'm wondering what the heck is going on?

I see lights everywhere, men on foot with flashlights and dogs walking around my house and my neighbors yards. It’s really weird to have cops crawling all over your backyard in the middle of the night. I cracked the window and softly asked the officers what was going on. They said they were searching for suspects who had bailed out of their vehicle. Yikes! Now I was totally freaked out! What kind of suspects were they dealing with? Did they have guns? Was I scared? Yes!

Unable to sit down, I peeked out of darkened windows to see what was going on. They searched my yard several times looking under, behind, and in every nook and cranny. Over an hour later, the searchers and dogs on foot left. The police car blocking the road at the corner remained and the one parked south of us still had it's headlights shining across the back of our neighbors yard to the south. The lights were to see if the suspects tried to flee the area. I sat down and tried to concentrate enough to work on the shawl border. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to sleep if I went to bed.

Sometime after 3 am, the last police car left with its lights flashing but no siren.

I finished the shawl before I crawled into bed about 4 am.

I checked the local news websites the next day for information about what happened. Two men driving a Cadillac were reported for breaking into cars parked at a local motels. These men fled in their car with the police in pursuit. They ditched their car a couple of houses away from mine and headed off on foot. The news story stated that they caught one of the suspects hiding behind a neighbor's house. Not mine but nearby. The other suspect was still at large.

Then this past Friday night, June 18, we had a very strong storm system move through. The forecast was for storms. Our temp hit about 90 degrees and thunderstorm watches were put out early in the afternoon. When I saw the big bow echo on the radar bearing down on Chicago and heading in our direction, I knew it was going to be a wild evening.

Hubby came home early because it was so hot. I’m glad he did. The local weather forecasters said we could get hammered with hurricane force winds as the storm front passed through our area. For once they were right. Wind gusts in the area were clocked at up to 90 mph.

The storm reached us at 6:45 pm EDT. As the skies darkened, the wind picked up, and the rain came down in sheets sideways. Trees twisted in the wind. We heard/felt a loud thud. What was that? I retreated to the basement.

Our electricity bounced on and off for about 5 minutes as the first blast of the storm rolled through. Not a good sign. I had my fingers crossed that it wouldn't stay off. Watching our thermometer, I saw the temperature drop from 85 degrees to 69 in 10 minutes. After the winds settled down, the thunder and lighting began and it continued to rain for another hour.

After the first wave went through, hubby and I went outside to check the damage. Lots of small branches down in our yard. The big tree behind our garden that was struck by lightning several years ago took a beating. About half the tree came down in the wind. We heard/felt the thud when it hit the ground. The branches shattered when they hit the ground. Here are some pictures I took right after the storm when it was getting dark.

Our garden took a beating. Plants and wire cages blown down. One hill of squash flattened. I walked through the garden setting things up. The ground squished under my feet. It was saturated with water. We could use a good week without any rain. They forecasting more on Monday. A second line of not-as-strong storms passed through about 11 pm dropping more rain on us.

Power was knocked out to about 80,000 in our area and is still out. In one small town nearby, the entire town lost their electricity. We consider ourselves lucky to still have power. About 300 repair crews have been called in to repair downed lines and poles.

On Saturday morning, we went to help a friend move. On the way to her house we saw several uprooted trees and lots of big branches and leaves down everywhere. We stopped at a filling station for gas. They only had no regular left, only premium. They were the only gas station in that area that had power. They were swamped with customers. As we came back through in the afternoon, they had were out of gas.

Several of our friends helping with the move were told they probably won’t get their power back on until Monday (or even late Tuesday night). Since we have an extra freezer in our basement, we offered freezer space to our friends whose power was out. Two took us up on the offer. I'm glad we could help. We've lost our electricity enough to know how difficult it is and worrying about the cost of losing a freezer full of food doesn't help.

My wish is for clear skies, no more rain for a week, and power being restored to everyone faster than the estimates. Oh, and a little boredom might be nice. :)

Bad blogger!

2010-06-10T14:01:00.005-05:00

Sorry everyone, I know I've been MIA. I keep meaning to blog.

My mom is doing ok. She's going through physical therapy for her right arm and hand. Her PT session have already been extended twice, which tells you that it's not going as well as it could. Her hand is still swollen but looks much better than it did several weeks ago. I'm not having to go over to their house as often to help with things. That's good!

The fiber frolic at my house for my knitting group on May 1st was a lot of fun. I didn't get much time to sit down. Everyone wanted to see my design studio and drool over my wall of yarn. :) Next time I want more time to sit down to talk and play with everyone. Sorry there are no pictures. Everyone was having such a good time that nobody, including me, remembered to take any pictures. LOL!

In April, my niece had a birthday party to celebrate her son's first birthday. Her grandmother Lydia was there. She had been suffering from cancer for several years and had just gotten out of the hospital. Down to about 80 pounds, she was a shadow of her former self. She told me she was waiting for more biopsy results, admitted she was tired of fighting, and that it didn’t matter what the test results were. Sigh...I knew she wouldn’t be with us much longer. Even as bad as Lydia felt, she still asked about my mom. She knew about my mom’s fall and surgery. She told me that the cards my mom had sent her over the years had helped. "Your mom has a good heart." :) She asked when my mom's birthday was in May so that she could send her a birthday card. (She didn't live long enough to do this.) That day I was wearing my recently complted Painted Mountain shawl. Lydia admired it so I took it off, placed it around her shoulders, and told her it was hers. She smiled and said “Really?” I was happy that this small gift made her smile and feel better for a while. She was still thanking me as I left the party. Lydia died on May 6, 2010. Her funeral was a hard one to attend. Her daughter told me how touched she was that I had gifted the shawl to her mom and asked if I wanted it back. "No," I said, "keep it for the memories." She said she would send me a picture of her mom wearing the shawl. I hope she does.
Hubby was on vacation for two weeks. We got most of our vegetable garden planted. It's been a real struggle between hot temps and lots of rain. One day we had over 3.5" of rain! I've put some mulch down but the weeds are starting to come up big time. Need to get some cages and protection around somethings to keep the critters out. I've already seen deer tracks in the garden.

Here's a picture of a pair of Mallard ducks that have been visiting our yard. I cleaned out the small pond in our backyard and they've been swimming in it. Boo and Pookie keep watch when they're around and try to stalk them. Those geese are too smart to let a cat near them. I laugh when their prey flies off to safety. (Thanks Angie for letting me know these are ducks not geese. Hubby is always telling me they are geese. :) )

Lots of new projects in the works. Some knit and some crochet. A crocheted stole is out for testing. My testers should be done with it by June 19th. There are several more that need testing, others that need written up (including a round star and leaf shawl I translated from a pattern in Weldon's Practical Needlework from 1895). There never seems to be enough time in the day to do everything I have to do and things I want to do.

BTW, I'm moderating all comments for the moments. A spammer keeps trying to post unwanted stuff on my blog. You can still post comments though it may be awhile before I approve them and they show up.

Yarn shop sneak peek!

2010-05-13T11:52:00.012-05:00

Last night, my knitting group was treated to a sneak peek at a yarn shop being opened by one of Frog Pond member's, Arv.

The Yarn Gourmet is located at 2915 Mishawaka Avenue in South Bend, Indiana. (Click the shop name to read her blog.) The shop is scheduled to open for business at 10 am on Wednesday, May 19th.

Here's a peek at the front door (nice logo!) and the window display. I took this picture as it was getting dark outside. It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped it would.

Malabrigo, Berroco, Crystal Palace, Brown Sheep, Zauberball, and Trekking are some of the yarn and brands that have arrived so far. Orders have been placed for lots more goodies with deliveries trickling in every day. I can't wait to go back when she's fully stocked and I can spend some $$$. LOL!

Arv showed me the awesome vintage button collection she has. She's thinking of setting up a display with them and allowing knitters to purchase them to use for their projects. Good buttons can be hard to find.

Doesn't this look like an inviting place to sit and knit? And isn't the stenciling on the walls great? Arv painted it herself.

She's asked me to teach some knitting classes for her this fall. I'm agreeable. :) It will probably be a lace or shawl class of some sort. I'm open to suggestions. {Grin}

I'm mulling over the idea of designing some patterns using the yarns she is going to carry. If I do, these patterns could be offered free with purchase of the yarn to make the item. I'll have to see what I can come up with.

See the double doors in the back on the left? Behind those doors is as much space as is in the front of the shop. Lots of room for expansion and class rooms!

The Yarn Gourmet is open:

Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday
10 am - 5 pm
Thursday 10 am - 7 pm
Saturday 9 am - 3 pm
Closed Sunday & Monday

If you live in the area or will be visiting, be sure to stop by!

Glorious Morning Shawl pattern to crochet!

2010-05-06T13:21:00.005-05:00

Here's another design for crocheters!

Glorious Morning is a top down crocheted triangle shawl pattern. The lace design starts at the top as a seed, changes to a sprout, and ends with a Morning Glory border. Crochet it with a 600 yards of fingering/sock weight yarn and a size G (4 mm) crochet hook.

I made this sample from 3 skeins of JL Yarns Vinca sock yarn. I like how the Morning Glory border is the same color as Morning Glories. : ) The colors in the yarn make it a bit hard to see the lace pattern. I've grayed out a copy of the picture below so you can see it better. (Or check the Ravelry pattern page for two shawls made with Knit Picks Palette in solid colors.)

This 4 page pattern includes full written instructions and a hand drawn crochet chart. Print the pattern out on the front and back of two letter sized sheets of paper and fold it in half to make a booklet that's easy to tuck into your project bag.

The cost for the pattern pdf is $2.99. (The introductory price is over.) To order the pattern with a Paypal payment, click the link below. You will receive a download link for a pdf file after you make your payment. Thanks!

Woo-hoo!

2010-04-29T10:49:00.007-05:00

My Flying Diamonds crochet shawl pattern has been very popular with crocheters. So much so that they've made it #4 on Ravelry's new and popular list of crochet patterns. Woo-hoo! (See the screen shot?) Someone told me last night at knit night that it had also been featured in Ravelry's newsletter. :) I'll have to see if I can track it down.

I'm pleased as punch that crocheters like this new pattern. Flying Diamonds came about after I read many posts from crocheters for patterns that look more like their knitted counterparts. Could I, I wondered, translate a knitted triangle shawl to a crocheted one. It was a little tricky but after much crocheting, ripping, and some not-so-nice words, I succeeded! The second crocheted shawl pattern, Glorious Morning, wasn't far behind. Several crochet designers having seen pictures of this new shawl design on my Ravelry project page and have emailed me asking if they could test it for me. I'm very flattered but...wouldn't that be like inviting a fox into a hen house?

BTW, my testers should be finished with Glorious Morning very soon. I hope to have it ready to roll out sometime next week.

My mom is doing better. She found out last week that as well as breaking her elbow, she had also cracked a bone in her leg. The doctor told her that the bones are still in place and that it should heal by itself in a couple of weeks. I'm glad she didn't need a cast on her leg too. So, not only is her right arm out of action, she also is having trouble walking on her right leg because it hurts.

Yesterday, she went back to have the staples removed from her elbow surgery. After x-raying it, the surgeon said that everything was healing well and she might only be in a cast for 2 more weeks! Yippee! That's good news! I was afraid it would be another month. The cast they put on her arm this time is smaller. The first one went from her armpit down to her knuckles. She might get it off in time for her birthday in May. : )

My knitting group is coming over on Saturday for a fiber frolic! I'm so excited! Until we built the sun room last fall, I never had the space to have them all together in one room. I've been frantically cleaning my house this week to get ready for it. Today, I went to the grocery store for food after I decided what I'm making. Everyone else brings a dish or something to share. We sit, knit, spin, crochet, talk, and eat all afternoon. I'm digging out some yarn and books for the swap/sell table and a few door prizes to give out. I hope everyone has a good time. : )

Painted Mountain Shawl to Crochet

2010-04-20T13:28:00.002-05:00

Here's the latest in a line of crocheted shawl designs I've been working on. This is a simple half circle shawl worked in wedges from the neck down.

It made a small shoulder shawl that measured 51" x 22". It's easy to make this shawl bigger by just working a few more rows before you add the Mountain Peaks edging.

I used one ball of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn (462 yards) and a size 6 (4 mm) hook to crochet this.

This design holds up well to yarns with long color runs like Noro, Mini Mochi, Kauni, and others. Though it also looks good crocheted with a single color or crocheted in about any weight of yarn.

Like to get a copy of it? You know the drill. Click the button below to pay $1.99 with Paypal and get a link to download the pattern. Have fun!

April, April, go away!

2010-04-16T12:31:00.003-05:00

For some reason April isn't a good month for me. I will be so glad when this one is over.
they say that things come in threes. If so, I've had enough already.

1) Hubby and I have both been suffering from bad allergy/sinus problems due to everything blooming at once. It's like having a head cold without the germs. Not pleasant.

2) I've been to visit the chiropractor twice for my neck and back.

3) My mom fell and broke her elbow on Monday. She had surgery yesterday to repair the break. The surgeon used wire and two large pins to put things back together. I saw the x-rays and it looks pretty scary! She's home and beginning the healing process.

My second visit to my chiropractor was just this morning. After sitting in waiting room chairs all day yesterday, it did my back in. It feels better after treatment today though it will take a day or so to settle down.

I am worn out and need a break. Hubby keeps reminding me that the laundry is piling up. I know! I know! I've reminded him that he's just as capable of loading a washer and doing laundry as I am. But you know how men are about doing household chores. I'm not worried, unless all those dirty clothes grow legs and walk off, they aren't going anywhere. LOL!

Right now I need a nap and some quiet time to knit and recharge my batteries. Tomorrow will be soon enough to worry about other things.

Hip to Be Square Hat

2010-04-11T16:35:00.002-05:00

Hip to Be Square is my newest design. Inspiration for this hat came from my socks. I can hear you all saying "What?!"

I knit my socks toe up starting with a small rectangle and picking stitches up around it to avoid all the frustrating and fiddly increases that other toe up socks have. One day I thought what if I knit a hat from the top down with a square? A somewhat nutty idea but this hat is the result. : )

This hat is a snug fitting beanie style. A 16” size 7 (4.5 mm) circular and a ball of worsted weight yarn are all you need to get started. No double points required!

Start with a square, pick up stitches around the edges of the square, and knit in the round. Easy, peasy!

Sized from kids to adults, it is easy to resize (smaller or larger). I give you tips on how to do this in the pattern.

This hat could become your favorite “go-to” hat pattern. It's easy to remember and the sides are a blank canvas where you can add your favorite stitches, color designs, etc.

The blue hat in the picture was knit with Patons Classic Wool. It was knit by one of my test knitters, Karen Sylvestre, and modeled by her daughter, Danielle. (Thanks, Karen!)

The pattern costs only $1.99.To order the pattern with a Paypal payment, click the link below. You will receive a download link for a pdf file after you make your payment. Thanks!

Spring snowflakes

2010-04-08T14:32:00.004-05:00

This spring so far has been warmer than usual. A front came through last night and changed that, dropping us back into the 30s today. A little while ago, a flurry of big wet snowflakes came pelting down for just a few minutes before it turned to rain. Boo and Pookie were outside. When I went to check on them, Boo came running inside with huge snowflakes on his back. He didn't like it!

We've gotten up to 80 degrees recently. Unheard of for this early in the season. My daffodils have come and gone. Here's a picture of one of them. The warmth has brought all the trees out in bloom and lots of flowers and shrubs are starting to leaf and bloom. For seasonal allergies sufferers, this is not good. Both hubby and I are having sinus/allergy problems. It's almost like having a cold. Allergy pills are just not cutting it.

My head is not a happy camper. Weepy eyes, dripping sinuses, and an occasional cough. It's beginning to turn into congestion. Not good. I'm trying to finalize a crocheted shawl pattern after my testers finished with it. It will have to wait as my brain is too fuzzy to manage it. I finished another crocheted shawl Tuesday. I haven't even begun to type up the pattern yet from my notes. People who have seen it are already asking to test it for me. They must like it. :)

I found a pattern for a vintage circular shawl in a very old publication. No picture but the description of a star and leaf pattern intrigued me enough to find some yarn and cast on. It looks like a lump on the needles. It's very possible that no one has knitted this design for over 100 years! The instructions were surprising easy to understand and update to modern knitting terminology. I'm happy with how it's working up so far. I'm at the halfway point on it. Each round is over 400 stitches. It takes awhile to knit around. If it turns out a nice as I think it will, I'll post the pattern for others to try.

More designs in the works. A few should be ready to release as soon as I get to feeling better. Hope you're having a wonderful spring!

Two new cat toys -- Bun Bun & Kitty Tweets

2010-03-30T13:12:00.007-05:00

Here are two new kitty toys to make. Bun Bun is knit and Kitty Tweets is crocheted. Both are great ways to use up scrap yarn.

Bun Bun is an easy-to-knit little bunny toy. One of my test knitters said her husband took the first one she made for her kitties. He called it his Minimalist Bunny. LOL! The distinctive bunny ears and powder puff tail make it recognizable.

Knit it on size 8 (5 mm) straights with about 12 yards of worsted weight yarn. Then invisibly seam it down the front using garter stitch grafting. (Don’t be afraid, it's easy and there’s a tutorial.) Stuff and sew the bottom closed to use it as a cat toy or leave it open and stuff with a candy egg or wrapped candies for an Easter basket treat. (Run the yarn tails through the bottom edge to make a drawstring to keep the candy inside.) Bun Bun is 4” high. All proceeds from pattern sales will be donated to Pet Refuge (www.petrefuge.com).

Kitty Tweets are cute little birdies you can crochet up fast for your kitties to play with! Using a size H hook and about 12 yards of worsted weight yarn, you can whip one up in a flash. The finished toy is about 4” wide x 2” high. A great project for scrap yarn. Stuff these with polyfill and a little catnip as you add the border.

These patterns are formatted as fold up brochures when printed on both sides of a sheet of paper.

Kitty Tweets is available as a free download on Ravelry. Click HERE to find the pattern.

Bun Bun's pattern price is $1.99. Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern with a Paypal payment and receive a link to download a pdf file.

A Leafy Hug Shawl

2010-03-26T13:59:00.006-05:00

I knit this powder blue shawl in January after seeing the Travelling Woman Shawl. The yarn is Lornas Laces Shepherd Sport. The shaping intrigued me so much that I decided to try my hand at designing a similar shawlette as a special gift. Though it's a beautiful shawl, I really didn't like how the lace looked at the front edges of the shawl from the steep increases that shape it. (Orchard Hill was my solution to that design dilemma.) However, so many people have asked me to write up the pattern for this shawl, I decided I would.

May I introduce A Leafy Hug Shawl. The dark purple shawl in the second picture was knit by one of my test knitters, Maria Hart. (Thanks, Maria!) She used 4o0 yards of Monarch Sock yarn from Fly Designs in purple. This is a beautiful superwash merino sport weight yarn. I've enlarged this shawl a little from my original shawl.

This leaf bordered shoulder shawlette begins at the neck with a plain stockinette section and changes to a beautiful leaf lace border. Increases are worked on both right and wrong side rows that cause the top of the shawl to grow quickly. Knit in sportweight yarn, this shawl blocked to 62” wide along the neckline and 20” long at the center back.

The pattern includes both written and charted instructions. You'll need a size 7 (4.5 mm) circular knitting needle and about 400 yards of sport weight yarn to knit it. The heavier yarn and larger needle size make it a fast knit!

The introductory price for this pattern is $3.99. Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern with a Paypal payment and receive a link to download a pdf file.

Runes Stole

2010-03-23T11:29:00.007-05:00

The Runes Stoles is an easy but striking lace design to knit in garter stitch. (Psst…you can knit it in stockinette too!) Use size 7 (4.5 mm) needles and about 700 yards of fingering weight yarn. The blocked size of this stole is 23” x 85”.

My friend Janet test knit this pattern for me. That's her photo of the completed stole. Don't you think it turned out great? I do! Thanks, Janet!

The 8-page pattern includes both a lace chart and complete line-by-line written instructions. Knit with three balls of Knit Picks Palette, the yarn cost to knit this stole is only $5.97!

The Runes Stoles is the stole version of the Homeward Bound scarf.

The price for this pattern is $2.99. Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern with a Paypal payment and receive a link to download a pdf file.

Using Easter Egg Dyes on Wool Yarn

2010-03-22T13:36:00.004-05:00

Easter is coming and so are those clearance sales on Easter Egg dye. Wanna try your hand at dyeing some yarn with it? I'm no expert but I will share some instructions I put together for a dyeing workshop I did with my knitting group several years ago.

Knit Picks Bare yarns are very inexpensive and great for dyeing experiments.

Supplies:
Wool yarn or roving (Animal fibers or silk. No cotton or acrylic.)
Old clothes, a shirt, or apron to protect your clothes.
Plastic silverware for stirring colors
Plastic wrap
Ziploc gallon size bags or clear plastic or glass containers
White vinegar
Cups to hold mixed dye
Vinyl gloves (or you'll have dyed fingers for days!)
Easter Egg dye tablets
Squirt bottles
Boiling water
Paper towels for cleanup
Newspapers to cover surfaces

Fill a sink with enough warm water to cover your yarn. Mix in a good splash of white vinegar before adding your yarn. Soak yarn for about 10 minutes until there are no dry spots. (Don't add vinegar if the color you want to use will split. See note below about mixing colors that split.) Drain the yarn after it's been soaked. Do not wring or twist. A plastic colander works great to drain the yarn or squeeze it gently to remove excess moisture.

While you're waiting for the yarn to soak, mix the colors you want to use. I usually mix my dyes in glass jars or mugs that I can put through the dishwasher. Put each color in a different cup. Boil some water and pour it over the dye tablets. Stir to get all the dye to dissolve. Now you're ready to pour, splatter, paint, or squirt the dye onto the yarn. :)

For one color:
Place yarn inside a Ziploc bag or clear container of some sort. Add pre-mixed dye to bag along with enough liquid to cover yarn. You may need to turn the bag later to get the color evenly through the yarn.

Painting:
Lay yarn out on plastic wrap and pour, squirt, dot, or paint on different colored dyes as desired. Leave 1" between colors or they will bleed together. Turn the yarn and do the other side if you want good coverage. Wrap plastic around yarn; place inside a clear plastic bag.

Tie dye:
Wrap bits of plastic wrap around sections of the yarn and tie tightly or rubber band off to keep the dye from hitting there. Dye as desired. You can add water to bag or not as desired. Adding water will mute the color.

Roving or fiber: Wrap in bridal tulle to stabilize while coloring and draining.

Seal bag (or container); set in sun to cook.
A temp of 165-180 degrees will set dye. (Temps at boiling or above will felt your wool.) About 90 minutes on a hot, sunny day should do it. You can put a test piece of yarn in the bag to use to check to see if color is set. (If it isn’t set you’ll wash all the color out.)

Not a sunny day?
You can also set the dye in a microwave, crockpot, etc. Watch that you don’t felt your fiber in the microwave by getting it too hot. Be careful not to melt the plastic. It might be better to place your yarn in a glass container instead. In the microwave, I added some water to the yarn, covered it with a lid, and cooked it for 5 minutes until it was very hot. You may want to check every minute or so to make sure you don't damage the yarn.)

Let the yarn cool down before you rinse it. Remember, agitation and hot water will felt wool! Rinse the cooled yarn in tepid to cool water. The color shouldn’t bleed (or not very much) if the color is set. (You can check to see if your dye is set before you rinse it. Pull a few strands out far enough that you can immerse them in water. If the color doesn’t bleed, you’re ready to rinse.) Hang to dry.

A Note About Easter Egg Dyes:
Read the package instructions. Some colors split if you add vinegar to the dye. Be aware of this fact unless you don't mind what color(s) you get. If you're using non-vinegar dyes, don't presoak your yarn in vinegar. Add the dye to your wet yarn and let it cook for awhile before you add some vinegar. Adding the acid at this stage, should stop the color from splitting.

You can't always tell what color a dye tablet is just by looking at it. If you want to find out without mixing then all up, here's what you can do. Dampen a paper towel. Take a dye tablet and touch it lightly to the paper towel to see what color it is.

Mixing Colors:
Add more water to lighten or mute a color.
1 tablet + 1 ounce yarn = bright color.

Primary colors: red, blue, yellow (can’t be mixed from other colors)
Secondary colors: orange, purple, green and other colors can be mixed.

Mix your dye tablets up first and then use them to form other colors using this chart as a guide.

To get this color, mix together these colors:
Apricot - 2 parts orange + 1 part yellow
Aqua - 5 parts blue + 1 part green
Blue Violet - blue + small amount of red
Brown - red + green
Chartreuse - 2 parts yellow + 1 part green
Coral - 3 parts pink + 2 parts yellow
Lavender - 5 parts pink + 1 part violet
Marigold - 3 parts yellow + 1 part orange
Orange - yellow + red
Peach - yellow + pink
Purple - red + blue (can be a tricky color to achieve)
Red Violet - red + small amount of blue
Teal - 9 parts blue + ½ part yellow
Yellow Green - green + yellow

A cat tale :)

2010-03-17T15:26:00.006-05:00

I should never leave balls of red yarn laying around. Pookie loves red and he can't resist the lure of balls of yarn. (You'd think I never make him any toys but I do!)

This is what I saw this morning when I went into the living room. See the red yarn on the floor? There's more but I couldn't get it all in one picture. Pookie stole a ball of yarn off the end table in the upper right hand corner of the picture. He then proceeded to roll it all over the living room, around the tables, into the kitchen, and finally down the stairs to the basement before it all unrolled. He lost interest in it once it wasn't a ball anymore. :)

This yarn was from some that I rescued several weeks ago. I had a huge box and grocery bag of acrylic yarn in the basement that, at one time, I was going to knit into cage cozies for Pet Refuge. That was before certain ancient kitties decided to do something bad to the yarn. (Believe me, they lose their minds when they get really old.) The yarn had been sitting on a shelf downstairs because I am too frugal to throw away that much yarn and didn't have a clue how to save it.

I spotted it on the shelf several weeks ago and got the nutty idea to wash it in the washing machine. I stuffed three zippered laundry bags full of yarn balls. So full that I thought they couldn't possibly move around. Oh, oh, you can see what's coming, can't you?

I put the bags into my front loading washer along with detergent, Oxyclean, cat enzyme cleaner, and a shot of white vinegar for good measure. Set the machine on hot water and let it run. When the buzzer went off, I opened the door and went "Oh, no!" One of the bags had burst open and I had a huge yarn blob. A little of the yarn in the other two bags that hadn't come unzipped was in knots too. The balls of yarn were dripping wet. Any more bright ideas?

Most people would probably have given up and thrown the whole mess away. Not me. LOL!

I couldn't put this mess through another spin cycle to remove more water (and create even more knots). It was also too wet to put in the dryer. If I had been crazy enough to do that it would have turned into one huge tangle! LOL!

I cut the tangled blobs off the remaining yarn balls. Squeezed them to remove as much water as I could. Laid them out on some wire shelving in our family room near our wood pellet stove to dry. After 24 hours, the tangled blobs were dry but the balls were still wet. Now what?

The yarn balls really needed to be skeined and hung up to dry. I couldn't use my wooden swift for the job as all that water would wreck it. What would work instead? Hmm, how about using the end of the counter in the kitchen? It was about the right length for a skein and the water couldn't hurt it. Took me a couple of hours to wind 25 balls into skeins and tie them up. Wet yarn is a little hard on the hands too. Now instead of a bunch of wet balls of yarn, I had a big pile of dripping skeins of yarn. Now what?

Where could I hang these up to drip and dry? I had visions of hanging it in the trees. But it was freezing outside and snowing. That limited my options to inside the house. How about the bathroom over the tub? That'll work. I have an extra shower rod that I've used to hang my dyeing experiments to dry over the tub. Found some extra shower curtain rings and put them over the rod before mounting it over the bathtub. I hung some of the skeins with the rings and tied the rest to the rod. Left them there overnight to drip. The next morning I moved them to the family room where they finished drying in another day.

With all the yarn that I rescued, I have enough to make a couple more scrap yarn blankets. The balls of yarn on the end table were from the last yarn blob that I had untangled and forgotten to put away.

And if you're wondering, yes, washing the yarn got rid of all the dirt and kitties cooties. :)

Flying Diamonds Shawl to crochet!

2010-03-12T13:56:00.007-05:00

Introducing the Flying Diamonds Shawl. This is a beautiful diamond lace patterned triangle shawl to crochet. From a distance it looks a lot like a knitted lace shawl. It is crocheted from the neck down like traditional knitted shawls.

You'll need about 650 yards of sock or fingering weight yarn and a size G hook for the shawl. Mine measured 62” wide x 31” long once I blocked it. I used almost 3 skeins of JL Yarns Vinca yarn for the pictured shawl. It's a wool and nylon blend with long color runs. The yarn also has a softer twist which gives the shawl great drape. I didn't have a model available so here it is draped over a lamp shade.

Flying Diamonds is fast and easy to crochet using double crochet and chain stitches. The border contains a few treble and half double crochet stitches. Here's a close up of the lace pattern and the edging.

As of August 10, 2010, the pattern contains a crochet chart for the body and the border.

The pattern costs $2.99 with a Paypal payment. Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern and receive a link to download the pdf file.

Have fun!

Mailbox roadkill

2010-03-04T15:05:00.007-05:00

It's been sunny for the past 4 days. Yippee! This winter seems to have been so long. The weatherman says we had snow on the ground all but 3 days this winter. The days have all been so dark, dreary, and overcast too. I feel like I'm emerging from a cave into the sunshine again.

Here's Pookie outside walking along the south side of our patio room. Can you see the emerging spring flowers along the edge? At the very bottom of the picture you'll see a little purple. Here's what it is! It's some purple crocuses starting to bloom!

Several Saturdays ago someone killed our mailbox. I had a big black rural mailbox out by the road. It was a present from my mom. A woman driving a Yukon SUV ran it over. I was looking out the office window at the time and wondered why our mailbox went flying down the road! It took me a minute to figure out what had just happened.

I went out to retrieve the mail since it had just been delivered a few minutes before. The wooden post the mailbox had been mounted to was broken off at ground level and the mailbox was laying halfway across the yard with some of the mail scattered in the snow. (Here are pictures before and after. Hubby had already taken the battered mailbox away.)

I picked the mail up out of the snow and headed back to the house shaking my head and muttering when a vehicle pulled into our driveway. A lady got out and said she mowed down our mailbox. At least she had the integrity to come back and own up to what's she had done. For some reason she felt the need to pick up the mailbox and the wooden post and put them back where they originally were. LOL!

She apologized and said she was reaching for something in her purse when she drifted off the road and hit the mailbox. (Answering a cell phone?) After talking for a few minutes, she gave me her name and phone number and said she would pay to replace our mailbox. The only damage to her SUV was a small crease and black mark on the front bumper and a loose parking light. If she'd been driving something smaller, hitting the mailbox would have done a lot more damage to her vehicle.

Problem #1:
The ground is frozen and there is no way to put up another wooden post to hold a mailbox. That meant we had to shop for a metal mailbox stand mounted on a concrete base. It took two stores before we found one and that only after I asked if they had any. They were outside the exit door where you only saw them on the way out of the store. Go figure!

Problem #2:
The mailbox and stand was too heavy for either of us to lift. (Hubby was less than a month out from hernia surgery at this point.) And it wasn't going to fit in the car either. We asked our next door neighbor if he would go pick it up with his truck and put it in place. He was nice enough to do this for us on Monday. We have good neighbors. :)

I called the lady who hit the mailbox and gave her the replacement cost. I also asked her how her husband reacted when she told him she had damaged their SUV. She said he was upset for about 10 minutes but was glad she wasn't hurt. She said she would mail me a check. The check did arrive by the end of the week. (There are still some honest and decent people left in the world.) Thankfully by the time it arrived we had a mailbox to receive it. LOL!

Hubby said it was lucky that neither of us was at the mailbox getting the mail when she drove by. There could have been more than the mailbox damaged. :( I've had a few close calls from people who seem to find it amusing to speed and drive as close as they can to me as I retrieve the mail.

The one bad thing is the mailbox we now have is tiny and won't hold much. I'll have to wait for nicer weather before we can replace it with another big mailbox.

Blossom Coasters

2010-02-24T12:35:00.005-05:00

Blossom Coasters is the third pattern in my flower series. The Blossom Facecloth and Blossom Rug are the other two. I'm actually thinking about designing a Blossom baby blanket. :)

These cute flower coasters take less than an hour to knit. Knit them in cotton or make them in wool and felt them. It’s a perfect project for scrap yarn. The peachy and greens ones are made from Lily Sugar 'n Cream worsted weight cotton. The pink variegated one was knit in Galway Paint, a feltable wool. Your coasters will be smaller if you knit them in wool and felt them.

Each 5" coaster uses about 21 yards of worsted weight yarn on size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles. You'll need a pair of straight needles for the petals and a set of double points to use as you decrease to the center of the flower. The petals are cast on and knit in a row, then you join in the round to knit the center.

When you purchase the Blossom Coaster pattern you will receive two patterns--the coaster pattern and the Blossom Facecloth pattern!

The pattern prints on both sides of a sheet of paper. Fold it in half to form a little booklet that you can tuck in your knitting bag.

Click on the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern with a $1.99 Paypal payment. You will get a link to download a pdf copy of these patterns.

Diamonds Are Wild Scarf

2010-02-19T13:39:00.002-05:00

Diamonds are Wild is a graceful lace scarf that is a fast knit in garter stitch. Using garter stitch makes it completely reversible--no right or wrong side!

The pattern includes complete written instructions, a lace chart, and a stockinette stitch option. You'll need 220 yards of lace weight yarn and a pair of size 5 (3.75 mm) knitting needles to knit the scarf.

The pictured scarf was knit with 220 yards of Knit Picks Gloss Lace in Mango on size 5 (3.75 mm) knitting needles. It measured 6" wide x 61" long. I gifted this one to a friend of mine. She loves it!

You may also knit the scarf in fingering weight yarn using size 6 knitting needles and omit a few pattern repeats for the same length scarf.

The pattern prints on both sides of a sheet of paper. Fold it in half to form a little booklet that you can tuck in your knitting bag.

Click on the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern with a $1.99 Paypal payment. You will get a download link to download a pdf copy of the pattern.

Guppies! - a pattern

2010-02-17T10:51:00.004-05:00

Guppies is a seriously fast and easy scarf to crochet. They are worked in a row from nose to tail, one after another. All you need to make them is a size H crochet hook and some worsted weight yarn. You'll need about 18-20 yards per guppie or 200 yards for a scarf of 10 guppies. Make it fun by using novelty yarns, scraps, etc. Here's a picture of what the guppies look like.

I had to call it Guppies because of how fast the fish fly off your hook!

This is a free pattern. You can download the pdf pattern from Ravelry by clicking here on GUPPIES! The pattern prints out on both sides of a sheet of paper. It folds up into a small brochure that you can tuck into your project bag. And it's easy to save a copy to your computer in case you lose the printed copy.

I hope you like it!

Block & Windows Scarf pattern

2010-02-11T13:54:00.004-05:00

I call this one Blocks & Windows because of the filled blocks and open windows in the pattern. This is filet crochet and is easy to do. It also works up fast!

The pictured scarf was crocheted with lace weight yarn and a size G (4 mm) crochet hook. It takes about 250 yards of lace weight yarn for a scarf that is 62" x 7" (blocked size). It works up well in fingering weight too.

Begin with one block and increase by steps. Work even in pattern before decreasing back down to one block at the other end.

Learn how to add stitches at both ends of the same row. (I had to learn how to do this for this scarf even though I've been crocheting for many years! LOL!) A crochet symbol chart of the pattern is included to help you understand how the design works or if you have trouble visualizing the written instructions. (Writing crochet instructions is more challenging than knitted ones are! I have some great testers who help me insure that the instructions are clear and accurate.)

Make a stole from of this design by adding more steps to make it wider. You'll need about 750-800 yards of laceweight to do this.

The pattern is formatted as a brochure printed sideways and on both sides of a letter sized sheet of paper. Print both sides and fold it half to tuck into your project bag.

The pattern is available for a Paypal payment of $1.99. Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern and receive a link to download the pdf file.

The Orchard Hill Shawl

2010-02-10T12:36:00.007-05:00

The Orchard Hill Shawl is a graceful leaf bordered shawl that blocks to a half circle shape. The pattern is written for a dk weight yarn (408 yards) but has options to knit the shawl in a worsted weight (320 yards) or fingering weight (550 yards). The 6 page pattern includes full written instructions, a lace chart, and a stitch tutorial.

The picture shows the shawl knit in dk weight yarn with Noro Silk Garden Lite in colorway 2011 on size 8 (5 mm) needles. This shawl measures 61" wide along the top edge by 24" long at the center back.

I'd rate it intermediate due to the shaping. The shawl is divided into three sections: 1) a plain stockinette section, 2) the leaf lace, and 3) ends in a pointy edging.

The pattern is available for a Paypal payment of $4.99. Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern and receive a link to download the pdf file.

A Join-As-You-Go Tutorial

2010-02-08T12:56:00.007-05:00

I've been working on two blanket projects recently. One is a strip blanket pattern that is in the works and the other is a Blocks of the Month project with my knitting group. I've come up with an easy way to join the strips as you knit them. This gives you a very strong and flexible join between pieces. And no seams to sew when you're done!

This method works on any pieces that have garter stitch along the edges.

The white stitch is from the last row worked. The peach yarn on the needle is the working yarn. The yellow block is to be joined to the peach block that I'm knitting.

Here's how it's done:

Knit across the right side row until you have 1 stitch left to knit. Slip that (white) unworked stitch from the left needle to the right needle. (Picture #1)

Look at the edge of the strip where you will be joining this row. See the bumps hanging out at the edge? Find the purl bump that is closest to the edge of the yellow block that matches the row you are knitting. (You'll be joining a right side row to one garter ridge in the strip on the left. )

Go up under this yellow stitch and lift it onto the right needle next to the white stitch. (Picture #2)

Now take your left needle and insert it through both stitches from the left to the right (Picture #3). Yarnover with your working yarn (peach) and knit these 2 stitches together. Join complete! (Picture #4)

Turn the strip you are knitting and knit the wrong side row.

You're ready to knit the next right side row and join the next row.

School of Fishies Scarf pattern

2010-02-06T17:13:00.002-05:00

Here's another new knitting pattern -- The School of Fishies Scarf.
It's a fun to knit scarf in garter stitch without any seams. Simple increases and decreases shape the fish.

Cast on and knit the fish in a line from nose to tail. The pattern is written for worsted weight and size 8 needles but you can use any weight of yarn you like with the appropriate needle size.

I used about 130 yards of worsted weight for a scarf of 12 fishies that is about 60" long and over 3" wide. The picture on the left shows the sample scarf I knit with Noro Kureyon.

It would be fun to knit it using a different color for each fish. You could even add some beads for eyes.

Single fishies could be used for appliques. Make a funky headband or belt out them.

The pattern is formatted as a little brochure. Print it out on both sides of a sheet of paper, fold it in half and tuck it in your knitting bag.

The pattern is available for a Paypal payment of $1.99. Click the Buy Now button below to purchase the pattern and receive a link to download the pdf file.

Have fun!

Sunrays Baby Blanket -- a crochet pattern

2010-02-04T15:04:00.003-05:00

The Sunrays Baby Blanket pattern to crochet is now available. This easy one piece blanket starts at the center and works out in rounds.

It uses single crochets, double crochets, and chain stitches. The increases create 6 rays or wedges that end in a shell border.

I used 3 balls of Baby Bee Sweet Pomp from Hobby Lobby to make this 40" across baby blanket. That's about 1,000 yards of sport weight yarn with a size H hook. (I used 2 colors in the pictured blanket because I couldn't find another ball of the Sweet Pea colorway in the dyelot I needed. I added a ball of Bare Blue and alternated it with the Sweet Pea to have enough for my blanket. I like how it turned out.)

If you make Sunrays in cotton it would make a nice tablecloth or use a fine weight wool for a shawl. You'll need to change the hook size and you may need more yardage if you do this.

The pattern contains written instructions and a crochet symbol chart for the baby blanket. If you print it out on both sides of a sheet of paper, it will fold into a nice little brochure to tuck in your project bag.

The pattern is available for a Paypal payment of $1.99. Click the "buy now" button to pay. After you pay you will receive a download link from Ravelry to get your copy of the pattern.

Have fun!

February at last!

2010-02-01T15:16:00.004-05:00

January is my least favorite month of the year. It so cold, snowy, and gloomy. I'm so glad it is over. It wasn't a fun month.

It started with me coming down with the stomach flu on January 2. I was just feeling myself again when hubby went in for outpatient hernia surgery on January 14. This is the first time either of us has had to have any surgery beyond oral surgery. It was very stressful and tiring for both of us. It was hard keeping up with my chores that had to be done, his chores that had to be done, plus taking care of him. He watched a lot of TV and I knit when I had time to set down. Hubby was off work for a week. He went back for a few hours after his post-op visit with the surgeon. He's healing well and getting back to normal activities.

There are a bunch of new patterns just waiting for me to have time to release them or finish them up. Here are two that were used for the Holiday Mystery Gifts KAL in 2009.

Cozy Ear s Hat
This crocheted hat is a modern take on the vintage pony tail hats of the 1950s and 60s. It wraps around the head covering the ears and ties under the chin. It’s a soft and fuzzy hat that will warm your ears (and not crush your hair). Make it from that odd ball of novelty yarn that is lurking in your stash (or carry along a novelty yarn with some worsted weight yarn). About 60 yards of bulky weight yarn and and size J hook.

A Sassy Little Bib
Scraps of cotton worsted weight yarn, a fun button, and about an hour of your time are all you need to knit this cute little bib. It looks a little like a handbag, doesn't it? Use one color of yarn for the bib and a different color for the straps, or use the same color for both. About 50 yards of worsted weight cotton yarn on size 8 (5 mm) needles.

Both of these patterns are available as free pdfs on Ravelry. They're both formatted as little fold up booklets printed sideways on both sides of a sheet of paper.

Click the name of each pattern to go to the Ravelry page where you can download the pattern. You'll have to be logged in to access them. (If you're not a member of Ravelry, hurry and go sign up. It only takes a few minutes to become a member and have access to thousands of knitting and crochet patterns.)

I love seeing the photos of projects made from my patterns or having people favorite (heart) my patterns.

Have fun with these!

Flap Dash Hat

2010-01-12T15:20:00.004-05:00

The Flap Dash hat pattern is now available. All you need is a size H hook and about 100 yards of worsted weight yarn to make one hat. I used Red Heart Multi for the wild one and Caron Rainbow Tones in taupe with red trim.

I call it Flap Dash because it is a very fast hat to make. Work about 14 rounds, add the earflaps and then the border with the ties.

The earflaps start with a shell stitch with two rows worked on top of it. Finish one earflap, crochet across the back of the hat and make the other one. Continue on around in sc for the border or change colors for a contrasting trim. The ties are worked as you do the border round. It's a simple chain stitch that you slip stitch back up.

The pattern includes written instructions for kids through adults as well as a crochet chart of the earflaps (just in case you get stuck).

Click HERE to go to Ravelry to download the free pattern. I've formatted the pdf into a little booklet. Print it on both sides of a letter size piece of paper. Fold it in half and it will tuck neatly into your project bag.

And then the lights went out

2010-01-07T11:30:00.003-05:00

Shortly after my last post the lights blinked, came back on, blinked again and then stayed off. Not good! I called the power company to report the outage. This seems to be an all too frequent happening around here. They said they would send someone out to drive by to look the problem. Later, I found out that we had been having freezing drizzle during the afternoon. (This was not in the weather forecast!) Someone slid into a utility pole about a mile from my house knocking out power to our area. It was dark outside by the time the lights came back on. Thankfully, it only took about an hour to repair the problem. It's too cold for the electricity to be out for long.

Late afternoon yesterday, I got a call from the coffee shop where my knitting group meets every Wednesday night. They wanted to let me know that the owner, Rebecca, was sick and they were closing early. Could I let the knitters know? I posted a note on our Yahoo group and hoped it got to everyone in time. Though we do have a fallback of meeting at our local Borders store if the coffeeshop is closed for some reason. Want to venture a guess what illness Rebecca has? Yes, it's the stomach flu! One of my best friends has it too. This bug is nasty and must be very contagious.

The snow continues to fall. A new system pushed into the area overnight. We're expecting 2-4 inches more snow as it moves through. Then the lake effect snow machine will kick in again. The forecast is for it to come south across the lake to hit east Chicago and the Indiana border. We'll see if they prove to be right or not. The seven day forecast looks like a broken record of cold (and getting colder) temps and snow. It's a good reason to stay home, stay warm, and knit!

I'll be glad when I get to feeling back to normal. I did a little too much yesterday and am paying for it today. It's definitely a low energy day.

I finished another strip on the blanket I'm knitting. That's a quarter of it finished. Doesn't look like I've even put a dent so far in my basketful of scraps. It's a pretty mindless knit which I need right now. One plus of the blanket getting larger is it's keeping my lap and me warm while I knit it. Not a bad thing when the temp dipped into the teens last night.

BTW, here's a peek at the first block for the Block of the Month blanket we're doing in my knitting group. I call this one Embossed Diamonds. I've got to get busy knitting a sample of the second block and get it ready for posting soon.

Stay warm!

Weathering the storm

2010-01-05T12:17:00.010-05:00

The new year hasn't started the best for me. After attending a New Year's Eve party, I woke up early Saturday morning with a pretty vicious dose of the stomach flu. It's a good thing these kind of bugs don't last too long or they would probably kill you. My ribcage is still a little sore and my energy level is that of a flea.

It hasn't helped that snow started falling on January 1st and has yet to quit. The dreaded lake effect snow machine has kicked into high gear. When winter winds come the right direction off of Lake Michigan, we get hammered. These bands can be narrow or cover a wide area. (The radar last night showed that lake effect snow bands originating in our area were reaching clear to Knoxville, Tennessee! Yikes!) Sometimes the lake effect bands park over one county and bury them in snow. This event has had multiple bands that have wandered east and west over us but never totally stopped. Last I heard, we have somewhere about 2 feet (24 inches) of snow on the ground. The snowplows pass my house on a regular basis trying to make some inroads against the continually falling snow. The roads have tire tracks down them and are icy in places. The one good thing is that the cloud cover keeps it from getting as cold. Though one night we did hit -10. That is not a misprint!

The forecasters say the snow should stop sometime today. We could get a few peeks of sunshine tomorrow morning before the next snow system slams into us. Oh, and in case you were wondering, even more lake effect snow after it moves through. Between the weather and how I feel, I'm not motivated to even think about going outside.

This weather has inspired me to work on another blanket. Actually, there are two blankets. I'm working on a block of the month project with my local knitting group. There may be more than one block a month. It will depend on how many I get done or if someone else in my knitting group designs a block. The first block was posted on January 1st. The second blanket is the one pictured earlier in this post. I could call it Cobblestones for the texture in the pattern or Stone Soup because of all the odd bits of yarn I'm using up. It's making something out of nothing. That big plastic tub contains lots of little butterflies of leftover yarn from other projects. You could knit each strip in a different color or work a checkerboard design by alternating colors in each strip. The design is really easy with very little purling. The strips are joined-as-you-go. I really dislike seaming things together. One big advantage of this knitted join is a much stronger and more flexible seam than a sewn one.

My niece recently asked me to make her baby some new hats. He'd outgrown all but one she got at the baby shower. After searching Ravelry's pattern database, I sat down with a crochet hook and a ball of yarn to create a crocheted earflap hat. Here's a picture of one hat I made for my niece's baby for Christmas. I'm hoping to get a picture of the baby wearing the hat. A friend, Sarah, has tested the pattern with wool to make a adult sized hat for herself. It's very easy to adjust for different sizes. The pattern should be available very soon. It's called Flap Dash because it is such a fast hat to make.

I've also signed up for the 10 in 2010 lace group on Ravelry. My first lace project of the year is on the needles! It's a new shape for me and I like how it's turning out.

Stay warm!

Another one bites the dust

2009-12-30T11:44:00.003-05:00

Argh! I'm so irritated! I've broken three tape measures in the last three months. I like the retractable kind that fit neatly into my knitting ditty bag. The first one had been around for a long time. I'd worn a lot of the design off the outside. I didn't feel so bad about breaking that one. Pulled out a new one. It lasted maybe two months before it broke. The last one maybe a week. I'll have to get shopping to see if I can find a nicer one that will last. I don't mind paying a little more for something that lasts.

I knitted a lot of Cowlabundas as Christmas gifts for my SILs and nieces. Now my mom wants one and others are beginning to eye them. After knitting 7 of them I need a break for a bit. They are easy and mindless knitting. I've used several different yarns for them but like the Yarn Bee Luscious the best. Too bad that Hobby Lobby has discontinued it. I may have to post an ISO on Ravelry's yarn forum to see if I can track down some more it. It really makes snuggly and soft cowls.

There are a lot of new patterns in the pipeline--knit, crochet, lace, scarves, shawls, blankets, hats,and a new cat toy. Some get stuck with design problems. I have some crocheted star motifs that I would like to make into a blanket. Problem is how to join them so there aren't big holes between them. I'm still working on that one. The picture above is another one I've been thinking about. I used some handspun yarn to knit a sample of this design. I can't decide if I really like it or if I should use just one of the lace patterns in it for a shawl. Other designs only need testing before they can be released or are waiting on a picture of a completed project for the pattern. I work hard to make my patterns clear, easy to follow, and accurate. So know that when you download or purchase one of my patterns, that there are hours, days, and/or weeks of work that went into it.

Just a heads up for my blog readers, I'll be raising the price on several of my patterns on January 1, 2010. These patterns have been at an introductory price for some time. The ones affected are Tilting Stars, Blossom Rug, Homeward Bound Scarf, Wisteria Shawl, and Le Petite Fleur Shawl. Get 'em soon before the price goes up.

Cage Cozy pattern

2009-12-24T13:22:00.002-05:00

Cage cozy mats are thick, snuggly, rectangular mats I have knit and donated to my local animal shelter. These mats provide comfort and keep kitty (and puppy) feet off of cold metal cage floors.

Start at one corner and knit every row working a few increases and decreases to form a rectangle. These work up quickly on big needles using 1 strand of bulky weight yarn or 2 strands of worsted held together. It’s a good project for scrap or leftover yarn. Remember to use yarn that will stand up to machine washing and drying.

Size: 13" x 16"

Materials:
Size 13 (9 mm) knitting needles
Worsted weight yarn (doubled) or bulky weight yarn (machine wash/dry)
(4.5 oz/230 yards of worsted weight per mat)
Locking stitch marker or contrast scrap of yarn

Note: Tie a piece of yarn or place a marker on the right side so you know which side to work the increases/decreases.

Cast on 3 sts.

Row 1: Knit.

Row 2: Knit 1, kf&b (knit in front and back) of next stitch to increase 1 stitch, knit to last 2 stitches, kf&b of next stitch, k1.

Row 3: Knit.

Repeat Rows 2 & 3 until you have 50 stitches.

Row 4: K1, k2tog (knit 2 stitches together to decrease), knit across to last 2 stitches, kf&b, k1.

Row 5: Knit.

Repeat Rows 4 & 5 for 3 inches to form a rectangle. (Do more repeats for a larger mat.)

Row 6: K1, k2tog, knit across to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1.

Row 7: Knit.

Repeat Rows 6 & 7 until you’re down to 3 stitches.

Row 8: K3tog (knit 3 stitches together).

Cut the yarn leaving a short tail, pull end out of last stitch to secure it.
Weave in the yarn tails.

© Feb. 2005 Vicki Mikulak All rights reserved.
For personal use or charitable donations only.

Holiday Mystery Gifts

2009-12-13T15:52:00.011-05:00

Here's a peek at some of the patterns that I donated for use by the Holiday Mystery Group this year. These are all quick to make if you're still looking for items to make for holiday gifts.

Connected Hearts is a pattern for knitted and crocheted heart garlands. Both of these patterns use up scraps of worsted weight yarn. Use size 7 or 8 needles for the knitted version and a size I or J hook for the crocheted garland. Click HERE to get a free pdf download of the pattern from Ravelry.

Raining Flowers is a narrow crocheted flower scarf. The flowers have 3 petals and are worked in only two rows. About 50-100 yards of worsted weight and a size J hook will very quickly make a scarf. Click HERE to get a free pdf download of the pattern from Ravelry.

Step it Up! is a set containing patterns for a dishcloth and coaster. The pattern stair steps to increase and decrease. A pair of size 8 knitting needles and 12 to 36 yards of yarn will give you a coaster and a cloth. Click HERE to get a free pdf download of the pattern from Ravelry.

Stole-N Moments is a quick to knit stole. It uses the same kind of drop stitch pattern as the Clapotis but is worked sideways. You'll need about 270-300 yards of worsted weight and a pair of size 10.5 needles for this one. You'll think this will never be wide enough for a stole! The magic happens after you finish knitting the stole when you drop some of the stitches to form lacy ladders. The stole magically grows in width. I used one skein of Down Home Superwash Worsted by Knitivity for the pictured stole. It may be lacy but it's still warm to wear. Click the word Knitivity above if you'd like to see what yarn Ray has for sale. Ray used to be a resident of New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina hit. He's now a resident of Texas. He sells his own line of hand dyed yarns. Click HERE to get a free pdf download of the pattern from Ravelry.

All of four of these patterns are available as free pdf downloads on Ravelry. If you're a member of Ravelry, you can find my designer page by clicking HERE.

Have fun!

Tilting Stars Scarf -- another newbie!

2009-12-10T13:30:00.006-05:00

Get starry eyed with the Tilting Stars Scarf. :)

This sample scarf of 15 stars was knit using just one skein of Noro Chirmen (137 yds) on size 7 (4.5 mm) straight needles. It doesn't take very much yarn to knit one star. My finished scarf is 3” wide x 56” long.

This is an easy two needle pattern. Cast on and knit each star beginning at the outside edge. You'll be surprised to see how fast you can knit one. Two stitches close the seam. Then use your cast on and ending yarn tails to join the stars into a scarf (or create a hanging loop for an ornament). Fun and easy peasy!

Knit the stars in any weight of yarn you like with a needle size recommended for whatever weight of yarn you choose.

Raid your scrap box and make a scrappy scarf.

Use individual ones for tree ornaments or package tie ons.

Make a headband, a starry vest, a necklace, appliques, coasters, etc.

The price for this pattern is only $1.99. Click on the Buy Now button below to purchase a pdf download of this pattern with a Paypal payment.

Blossom Rug -- a new pattern!

2009-12-09T15:00:00.005-05:00

Someone mentioned that my Blossom Facecloth would make a cute rug if the pattern was upsized. Hmm...could I do it? Yes!

This fun and easy pattern gives you a quick-to-knit flower throw rug. The rug requires doubled worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors (two balls of each color). I used most of 4 balls of Sugar'n Cream with size 11 (8 mm) needles). You'll need size 11 circulars in 24" and 16" lengths and a set of double points.

The petals are shaped with short rows. You start by casting on enough stitches for all the petals onto a 24" circular. Keep this cast on loose if you want your petals to lay flat!

You knit one petal at a time over part the cast on stitches. Then knit in the round decreasing to the center. Switch to a smaller circular or double points as the rounds get smaller. Only four ends to weave in when you're done.

The rug measures about 22” across. That's Pookie modeling the rug. He likes it!

The price for the pattern is $1.99. Click the link below to purchase a pdf download to download with a Paypal payment.

A Simple Cowl to knit -- Cowlabunda

2009-12-04T10:40:00.012-05:00

It's cold here today. The temp outside is a frosty 23 degrees as I write this. It's also spitting a few snowflakes. Sigh...winter has arrived. :(

Given the weather and thinking ahead to holiday gifts, I grabbed a ball of yarn out of my knitting basket last night and knitted up a simple cowl. (I hear these scarves are a hot fashion accessory on the runway this season. Knitters are ahead of the trend as we've been knitting these cowl/wimple/tube scarves for several years now. :) )

Tube scarves are great winter accessories. They hug your head and neck to keep you warm outside without having to wear both a hat and a scarf. When you go inside, simply pull the tube down around your neck and wear it as a turtleneck. It has the added advantage of keeping you warm if the room is chilly.

Cowlabunda

I used one ball of Yarn Bee Luscious and a 16 inch size 11 (8mm) circular for this project. This novelty yarn is sold by Hobby Lobby. It's 100% nylon, bulky weight, 186 yards (3.49 oz), and is very soft. All the fuzzy bits on this yarn merge together to form a great thermal mesh that traps heat next to your head and neck. (If you don't happen to have a bulky weight novelty yarn in your stash you can create your own using one strand of a fuzzy novelty yarn and a second strand of baby or sportweight yarn. Experiment to see what you come up with that will work.)

Cast on 60 stitches a little looser than usual. Join in the round. Don't twist your cast on! Knit around and around until you have about 5-6 yards of yarn left. Cast off loosely. Tuck in your yarn tails. That's it!

Knitting Tip: When my yarn ball is getting small, I pause to put a marker on my yarn where I need to stop knitting for the bind off. Find the end of your yarn and measure what you need to bind off from there. Tie a loop in the yarn or a contrasting piece of yarn around it at this point. Knit until you reach this marker and start your bind off.

Mine came out about 17" long and 26" around.

Want a flared bottom cowl?
Add a little flare at the bottom to cover your shoulders. When your yarn ball is shrinking fast and your tube is long enough to cover your head, add some extra stitches to flare it out. *Knit 5 sts, yo* around to the beginning. (Add a marker to your needle before you start so you know when to stop increasing.) Then knit until you have 6 yards left and bind off.

NOTES: If you're using a smooth textured yarn, you can work a few rows of ribbing at the beginning and end of your cowl. Using a different weight of yarn? Use the size needles recommended on your yarn label and cast on enough stitches so the cowl will fit a little loosely around your head. You will need more yarn than the bulky weight version to get the same size cowl.

Have fun with this and stay warm!

Tile is going in!

2009-12-01T14:05:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited! The tile floor is finally being installed in our patio room. The installer is cutting the edge pieces today. He should be ready to grout the tile tomorrow. I'm hoping we're able to start moving furniture in by the weekend! Woo-hoo!

I really love the tile I picked out. It's Mohawk Mandelane in the Red Rock colorway. It's gorgeous! The tiles are not all the same color though they have the same colors. I love the warm tones it has in it. BTW, the splotches on the tile are only water drops. I'll have to mop the floor once everything is finished.

The only downside to having work done at your house is you are stuck at home. Our weather is supposed to turn much colder with snow in the next 24 to 48 hours. I do need to run to grocery store for some supplies before that happens.

In moving all the heavy cartons of tile, hubby managed to give himself a hernia. :( I wasn't much help since the boxes weighed about 60-70 pounds each. Our GP has referred him to a specialist for evaluation. He may be having surgery to repair it later this month. Hubby can't help move furniture when we're ready. I'll be recruiting some help for that project. Otherwise, it will probably be sometime in January before he'll be able to lift much of anything. I don't want to wait that long to be able to use our new room.

In the meantime, I'm spinning up this gorgeous merino I bought at Midwest Folk & Fiber in 2008. I love the color of this! This is the first merino I've spun for awhile. I've forgotten how much I like to spin merino. Lately I've spun Falkland, Corriedale, Shetland, Rambouillet...

I can't believe it's already December. November seems to have flown by. Our weather was warmer and nicer in November than October. More sun for sure! My fingers are crossed that this winter will not be as nasty as last year. By this date last year, we had already had 24 inches of snow! I did see it spit a few flakes yesterday but there has been no measurable amounts yet. I'm in no hurry to see it!

Over the weekend we pulled the brussels sprouts up by the roots. They are now hanging upside down in our garage. We can harvest them from the stalks as we need them. I read about storing this way in Mother Earth News. I cut some broccoli side shoots. If you keep them cut off and don't let them flower, they will produce side shoots until a good freeze kills the plants. I also harvested a bunch of tiny cabbages. When we cut the heads, we leave the root and a few of the larger leaves. Tiny cabbages will grow at each leaf node. Since all of these all cool weather crops, they have no trouble lasting well into fall and colder weather. A plus is the cooler temps make them taste even sweeter! The only things left in the garden are some green onions and carrots. Hubby is talking about heavily mulching the carrots with leaves to protect them from freezing. Then when you want carrots, you uncover the carrots, pull what you want and cover them up again.

Anyone who has never eaten fresh picked produce from a garden doesn't know what they are missing. The varieties that most supermarkets sell are only pale shadows in flavor of their homegrown counterparts. Supermarket varieties are selected for their ability to survive transport and not for flavor. Growing your own has a number of pluses: 1) you can select the varieties you want to grow, 2) lots of tasty produce to eat now, 3) some to preserve or store for later use, 4) you can control what goes into your food (no chemicals or toxins), and 4) it gives you some exercise and fresh air.

The seed catalogs for next season are already beginning to arrive. I'm looking forward to sitting out in our patio room watching it snow and browsing the colorful pages of seed catalogs and dreaming about next year's garden. :)

Slow progress & surprises...

2009-11-16T15:10:00.006-05:00

I'm trying to wait patiently for flooring to appear in our patio room. I've picked out the tile and am waiting for hubby to talk to the installer. Plus there is the little detail about actually ordering the tile. Hubby is off on Thursday and will probably place the order then. It's supposed to take a week to come in. Let's see, one week from Thursday is Thanksgiving. Oh, no! Holidays always mean shipment delays. At this point, it may be mid-December before the floor is in place and we can finally start using the room.

That's Boo looking out the new door and Pookie laying down on the rug. The tile near the bottom is what I've chosen for the floor. It's a nice warm color and will go nicely with the ceiling fan. The darker color should absorb more heat from the sun this winter when the angle of the sun is lower. It also shouldn't show every footprint. I chose a darker color since everything else in the room is white. If I had chosen a light flooring, you probably would need sunglasses!

Hubby has been busy painting all the drywall repairs we had fixed recently. The holes were from previous remodeling projects. Here's a picture of how nice our pass through window now looks from the kitchen to the family room. All it needs is a board or tile at the bottom to be complete. It's so nice not to have holes in my walls anymore. Once gardening season is totally over, hubby promises to start knocking out some of the other home projects.

There's not much left to do in the garden. We harvested the last of the potatoes yesterday. Between mice damage and the weather, most of the potatoes are in the small to tiny range. Oh well, lots of them will become seed potatoes for next year.

Still to harvest are the brussels sprouts and carrots. It's time to put the garden to bed for the winter. The trees have lost most of their leaves and color. I enjoyed the colorful display for the short time it was here. Here's the odd coloration that lots of leaves had this year. Gorgeous, isn't it?

I have a lot of pattern designs in the works. More than a few are waiting to be test knit or crocheted. I've started a pattern testing group on Yahoo to make it easier to share these patterns with my testers. There are some fun ones that should be released soon.

At the end of October I received an unexpected and thrilling phone call out of the blue from a book publisher. How exciting! An editor had seen my blog and patterns and approached me about working on a knitting book for them. I'm very flattered and honored to have been considered for this opportunity. Very few publishers contact potential authors about writing books for them.

I did a lot of thinking about the offer for almost a week. (I didn't think of much else during that period! LOL!) I carefully weighed the pros and cons. I am familiar with how much work goes into writing a book. I've worked with a number of authors typing, formatting manuscripts, creating indexes, etc., and also on the production and editorial side for two different publishers. It's an incredible amount of work. Most books don't make much beyond the initial small advance on royalties. You have to love what you're doing.

The book would not have been totally about my own designs. Yes, some of them would have been included. The publisher had a specific concept in mind for the book's theme and structure. Laying out the tasks that would be involved to complete this book, I began to see that taking on this project would become a full time job to do it well. Dealing with multiple designers and hunting down the patterns to include in the book itself would be an incredible task.

Then I thought what would happen to my designing, knitting, and personal life, while I was working on this book over the next eight months? Would there be any time or energy left for anything else? This is a big concern. Life is about balancing what you have to do with what you want to do. Too much work and you burn out.

After careful consideration of the workload, the time commitment, the advance, and having to sign away the rights to about a dozen of my designs, I decided to turn it down.

I'm happy having time to design and knit without any deadlines other than the ones I set for myself. I've never been interested in being rich or famous. :)

Fall color and progress

2009-10-28T15:09:00.005-05:00

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. The weather is crisp or frosty in the morning, sunny and warm during the afternoon, and cold at night.

This year it has been cold, overcast, windy, and rainy. I wouldn't be surprised if November is warmer than normal and more like October should have been.

We have had a lot of brilliant autumn color this fall. It came on very quickly and is leaving (LOL!) just as fast with rain and wind. Here's a picture I took of the tree across the street between rain showers this week. The colors almost glow, don't they?

The yellows, golds, and oranges are spectacular this year. Not a lot of red though I have seen some unusual pink tinted leaves. Another oddity this year is that some trees/leaves have mottled coloring on the leaves. See how these have tinges of different colors? Some leaves are rimmed along the edges with one color. I'll have to see if I can take some more pictures of these leaves so you can see what I mean. It is a very colorful, though brief, display.

Progress! Our patio room is one step closer to being finished. The electrician and the installers returned this morning. We now have electrical outlets and a ceiling fan. The special order windows have been installed, the ugly wall covered up, a new handle to replace our tarnished door handle, and all the windows are sparkling. The next step will be shopping for some ceramic tile for the floor. Once that's installed, we'll be ready to move into our new space.

Homeward Bound Scarf

2009-10-23T13:47:00.009-05:00

Announcing a new lace scarf pattern. After much thought, I'm calling in Homeward Bound.

Bird wings soar over river and mountain lace motifs in this scarf to tell of the long flight home.

This simple lace scarf is knit from a single skein of fingering weight yarn (200 yards) on size 7 needles. Don't you love projects like this that use up those odd balls of yarn you have in your stash?

The scarf has no right or wrong side because it's in garter stitch (knit every row). This is a good project to tackle if you've never knit lace before. The blocked scarf is 6” x 60”. The pattern is five pages long and includes both written line-by-line instructions and a lace chart. (A stole version is now available. Look for Runes Stole in the sidebar.)

I used one skein of Jojoland Melody Superwash yarn for the sample. I love how the long colorways shade in this scarf.

You may purchase a pdf download copy of the pattern with a Paypal payment of only $2.99. Just click on the button below to pay and download a copy.

Construction continues

2009-10-19T15:33:00.006-05:00

The patio room is up but not 100% finished. Here's what it looks like from the outside.

See the narrow boards at the top under the eaves? Those will be replaced with windows soon. They had to be special ordered to fit after the frame was up.

The next step is having an electrician come to wire up some outlets, a ceiling fan, etc. I'm waiting for a phone call as to when that will occur. Then Champion will come back to install those upper windows and fix the inside wall where they ripped the siding off the house. This is what it looks like right now. It can't be fixed until the electrician gets through poking holes in the wall. It will be covered with a white wall covering to match the rest of the room.

Once that's finished, we have to address the floor. Old rough, stained, concrete is not a nice surface for furniture. We've been debating our options. Carpet would be the cheapest option but not good for our allergies and hard to keep clean. A tile floor would be best if we can swing it. It will last a lot longer than concrete and be much easier to keep clean.

With our patio room having a south facing exposure, we will be able to take advantage of passive solar to help keep the room warm in the cold season. The lower winter sunlight will shine into the room and warm it up. We have a temperature sensor out there now that shows how much the temperature jumps when the sun is out. (Not much sun lately, but it has happened.) A tile floor in a mid to dark color would absorb more of the sunlight (heat) and radiate it back out at night to keep the room warmer during the colder months. The Hunter ceiling fan we're having installed in the room has a ceramic heater in it too. That will help add some extra heat in the winter.

Our kitties are enjoying exploring the new space. See the purple kitty hut in the corner? And a cozy rug to sit on and look out the new door. Plus a box and a folding chair serve as other viewing places. We're not moving any real furnishings out here until the floor goes in.

I'm so looking forward to being able to use this space for family gatherings, parties, and knitting/spinning frolics with friends. In the meantime, I have to be patient and wait until everything is finished.

Thursday morning I spotted our first snowflakes of the season. :( So far for the month of October, we have been below normal everyday. Not much different than the whole of 2009 for us. Our daytime temps recently have been in the 40's (she says incredulously)! They should be in the low 60s. I am so hoping that November turns out to be much warmer and includes a nice long Indian summer.

Here's a picture of a knitted scarf I finished last night. I posted it today for my test knitters to try out. I was thinking of calling it Starlight. Hmm, maybe Tilting Stars is a better name. What do you think?

Looks what's happening!

2009-10-12T11:20:00.005-05:00

Champion started work on our patio room this morning! Yippee!

One of the walls is already starting to go up. This is so exciting!

I'm so happy that it wasn't raining today so they could start.

The downside is that someone has to be here while they work. They need access to electricity and since our outside circuit isn't working, that means I'm stuck at home while this is happening. It will be well worth being stuck at home for a few days to have the extra space. Woo-hoo!

As if this weren't enough, hubby decided to hire someone to finish some of the dry wall projects in our house. We're finally getting the doorway and pass through window in the kitchen finished and some holes closed up. These are leftovers from our kitchen remodeling project of 2003. LOL! I'm just happy that it's finally getting done. Once they put the final coat of plaster on the walls we'll be ready to paint. It will be so nice not to have holes in my walls and rough edges everywhere. :) (Now if I can only talk hubby into putting up my cabinet kickplates and getting a vent fan to put over my range. Hmm...

We're having late November weather here in northern Indiana. Our high temperatures this week are in the low 50's with night time temps dipping down to freezing. Brr! We harvested all the winter squash, peppers, tomatoes, and tender crops from the garden last week. We picked the few beans that were missed by the deer. There were only a few green beans and the rest we shelled because the seeds got so big. I cooked them up last night with some of our onions, chunks of our fresh potatoes, and a few strips of bacon for flavoring. Yum! They were delicious served with cornbread.

All that's left in the garden now are the cold tolerant crops like brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrots, and potatoes. Our temperatures are about 15 degrees below normal. If hubby's right, our November temps should be warmer than usual to make up for how cold it's been. I've gone from wearing capris and tank tops straight to jeans, long sleeves, and wool socks.

I finished a lace scarf over the weekend. Here's a picture of it. I'm working on enlarging it into a stole. The temporary name for it is Boxes. Don't you think it needs something much nicer than that? The design looks more like diamonds. Though after checking Ravelry's database, diamonds has been used a lot. If you have any ideas of what to call this design, post a comment(s) below. I do gift a free copy of the completed pattern to whoever suggests the name I give a pattern.

Wisteria shawl - a crochet pattern!

2009-10-03T10:12:00.007-05:00

I've been in a crocheting mood recently. Here's one of the latest things I've created. It's a crocheted shawl worked from the neck down like lots of knitted triangle shawls. Increases are worked at the edges and the center back. The design reminds of trailing blossoms of wisteria in the spring time.

I used 3 balls of Knit Picks Palette (693 yards) and a size J hook to give it nice drape. Palette is a softly twisted 100% wool yarn that's rated as a fingering weight. It's great for crocheting! Three balls will only set you back about $6.00. That's a bargain for shawl yarn. I liked using it so much for this project that I immediately placed an order for more colors. :) The Huckleberry Heather colorway I used was a birthday gift from a friend. (Thanks, Jamie!)

I blocked my shawl to open up the lace. It grew from 60" wide to 68" wide after blocking and in length from 28" to 33" at the back point. If you don't block your shawl (or use a yarn that won't hold its shape after blocking), you will have to make the shawl larger to compensate for the size difference. If you choose to use thicker or thinner yarn for the shawl, use a hook several sizes larger than usual for that weight of yarn. Just remember, if you make any of these changes that you need to adjust the amount of yarn you need.

The shawl pattern is 5 pages long and includes both written instructions and a hand drawn crochet chart. It's formatted as a little folder that's printed on both sides of an 8-1/2 x 11" sheet of paper.

Click the link below to pay with Paypal and receive a download link for the pdf file. Pattern cost is now $2.99. Have fun!

Fall and new developments

2009-09-25T14:27:00.006-05:00

Our weather has been so screwy this year. It was cold most of the summer. Then the first day of fall hits and it's as warm as the first day of summer should have been. Go figure! Oh well, I'm enjoying the warm temps for as long as it lasts. It's been dry since the first of the month. The leaves are turning colors and starting to fall.

My forsythia bush is clearly confused. Do you see the yellow in the center of this picture? Those are flowers! It's not supposed to be blooming in September. It only blooms in the spring before the leaves come out.

Our tomatoes have been coming in like gangbusters. Here are some big yellow tomatoes I picked last week. These are either heirloom Pineapple Tomatoes or Big Rainbows---both are very sweet, and flavorful, low acid tomatoes. The ruler will give you an idea of how big these really are. Each of them must weigh at least a pound.

And some big news! We're having a four seasons room built by Champion! It's something hubby and I have wanted for a long time. Yesterday, they poured a foundation around our existing patio. Here's one of the workers pumping concrete into one part of the trench. Now to be patient until the walls and roof arrive and are installed. It should be done by the end of October. This will more than double the size of our family room and add some much needed living space to our home. I'm looking forward to sitting out there this winter watching it snow while I spin. Or inviting my knitting/spinning group over for a Fiber Frolic! The kitties aren't too happy about all changes right now but I think they'll be very happy to have all those windows to peer out this winter when it is too cold for them to go outside.

The Crystal Garden Shawl pattern

2009-09-10T11:26:00.011-05:00

The Crystal Garden Shawl pattern is now available.

This pattern is for a triangle shawl knit from the neck down. It features a crystalline design that ends with a diamond triangle lace edging. The linear design of the lace changes as the shawl grows, mirroring the many facets of our personalities and how we change and grow throughout our lives.

The 15 page pattern includes both charted and line-by-line instructions. The blocked size of the shawl is 68” wide x 34” long. Laceweight yarn such as Knit Picks Shadow, Shimmer, Gloss lace, Bare laceweight or similar yarns are recommended for this project. You'll need about 1200 yards and size 4 (3.5 mm) knitting needles.

[BTW, that's Boo in the picture. He likes this shawl. He was purring and kneading it. LOL!]

This design is dedicated to my MIL, Mary Alice, who passed away from cancer in August 2007. A donation was made in her name to the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care for each pattern sold in 2009. Hospice provided invaluable help to our family and care for my MIL during the final months of her life. A check for $90 was sent to Hospice from introductory pattern sales. Thanks everyone for your donation!

To send a $4.99 Paypal payment for the pattern and receive a download link for a pdf copy of the pattern, click the Buy Now button below.

That's when the lights went out....

2009-08-31T11:35:00.003-05:00

I'm seriously considering investing in some solar panels! Seriously, our power goes out once or twice a year and it's never been due to the weather. People driving their vehicles into electric poles and knocking them down is usually what happens. Here's what occurred this time.

It rained on and off all day Friday (and most of last week too). Somewhere around 5 o'clock in the afternoon the lights blinked off and on. I breathed a sigh of relief. An hour later, they went out and stayed out. Crap! I called in the power outage to AEP. The operator I reached (shock! a real person!) claims I was the first to call in the problem. After what I've heard, I'm not so sure about that.

I went outside to see if anything was visible. Several neighbors were gathered by the street looking west. About half a block down there was a huge tree down across the road. It must have taken the power lines out. No storm, no wind, just light rain. What's up with that? (Though I don't know what's up with the fact that two large trees have fallen recently in this area during dry, windless conditions. Both happened as motorcycles passed by. One man was killed, the other just injured.)

Click picture to see the tree down from a local TV channel's website.

Hubby was working late. I called to let him know that the power was out. He wasn't coming home anytime soon because there were major computer problems at work that had to be fixed before classes started on Monday (today). Sigh...

Living out from the city, we have a well and septic system. When there is no power, there is no water. (Not even to flush the toilet.) My stomach was telling me it was past dinner time and there was nothing ready to eat. (I don't buy much in prepared foods due to allergies, preservatives, sodium content, etc. in it.) I had no water for cooking or cleaning up. Couldn't open the refrigerator (and risk having everything spoil if the power was out for too long). Couldn't get the car out of the garage to go somewhere to get something. (I can't reach the release you have to pull to be able to open the garage door when the power is out. It would not be safe to try this standing on a ladder.) I live several miles from the nearest grocery store or restaurant. Suffice it to say I was not a happy camper.

I lit some candles when it got dark. My cats were wondering what was going on. I started knitting a sock by candlelight more by feel than actually being able to see the stitches. (I had to fix a few stitches I split/dropped the next day.)

I was considering eating dry cornflakes by the time hubby finally made it home after 10 pm. He was starved too since he hadn't had time to eat either. We went out to get something to eat before everything closed up for the night. When we got back, I held a flashlight to light the front door while hubby unlocked it so we could go inside. (It really makes you appreciate having power when it's off for awhile.)

The power finally came back on a little after 1:00 am.

On Saturday, a neighbor south of me complained that his cable TV was out on Friday night. I didn't have anything sympathy for him. Another neighbor filled me in on what happened on Friday night. None of this information was aired on the local TV news. What follows sounds like a comedy routine. I'm not laughing.

1) The tree that fell had been reported to AEP and the county a year and a half ago that it was rotten and in danger of falling. Nothing was done. It fell and luckily no one was hurt.

2) The county police called in V.E.S.T to close the road and wasted no time getting out of the area.

3) The fire department came and stayed to make sure the electric line didn't start a fire.

4) The highway department arrived to clear the tree from the road. They waited for AEP to get the wires out of the tree before they would clear the tree away.

4) AEP wouldn't touch the wires because the wires were in the tree. It was the tree trimming company's job to remove the wires from the tree.

5) The Comcast cable guys were sitting and waiting for everyone else to get done so they could repair the cable. So was the phone company.

All these people and resources and it still took 8 hours to fix this....WOW!!

Yesterday, I received another interesting piece of the puzzle from my next door neighbor. Our power could have been on all Friday night. What???!!

AEP shut off all power about 6:30 pm to over 1500 people in the area. Why?

The last time there was a long power outage in my area, many people got tired of waiting for the power to come back on. (I can sympathize. It was during cold weather. All night with no heat makes you want heat, lights, and to try to save the contents of your refrigerator and freezer.) People bought generators and hooked them up incorrectly. Yikes! Twelve houses had to be totally rewired. As usual, everyone paid the price due to the actions of a few.

Please, if you are going to use a generator, get it hooked up correctly and safely by a professional. If you don't, when the power comes back on, it can back feed from the incorrectly hooked up generator through the power lines; kill any electric workers who are working on the lines; blow up the generator; fill your house with toxic fumes (if not set up outside); blow out the wiring in your house; or start a fire. None of these is something you want to have happen.

Sunflowers!

2009-08-21T12:42:00.007-05:00

Sunflowers are such a cheerful flower. We have some really tall ones growing in our garden. We didn't plant them. They're volunteers from last year's garden. Hubby posed next to them so you can see how tall they are. (BTW, he's 5' 8".)

After some much needed warmer temperatures, the squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes are finally producing. I have almost enough zucchini in the freezer for the winter. That's good because the squash bugs and vine borers are working on them. Tonight we're having squash fritters for dinner. Yum!! I may bake a couple of batches of zucchini bread to freeze. Tomorrow, we'll harvest the sweet corn. The raccoons have knocked down a couple of ears. We'll eat some of the corn but most of it will go into the freezer for winter meals.

Take a peek at size of this winter squash. That's my camera case sitting next to it for size comparison. Can you believe how large that squash is? It's a cushaw squash which I've heard tastes a lot like pumpkin but sweeter. I've spotted 3 or 4 of these babies in the garden. This may be the first but not last time we grow these!

Here's a tip that some gardeners may not know: When you harvest cabbage to eat, carefully remove the head leaving some large leaves and the roots alone. After a few weeks, it will start to look like this. Let them grow into the fall and you'll have a second harvest of mini cabbages to use.

It's feeling more like fall around here today. I have my fingers crossed that we don't have an early fall. I am so not ready for cold weather to return. Last winter started early and stayed overlong with lots of snow. And this summer has been a cool one.

In honor of the sunflowers blooming, I'm releasing a new free pattern. It's a Sunflower dishcloth (or hotpad) and coasters. You'll need size 7 (4.5 mm) needles and scraps of dishcloth cotton to knit them (about 30 yards for each cloth and 14 yds for each coaster). [Try knitting them with larger needles (maybe 9's) and worsted weight felting wool for felted coasters and hotpads.] Both sunflowers start by knitting a strip of petals. Then you pick up stitches along the straight edge of the petal strip. The cloth is then knit in the round on double points. The coaster's center is knit on straights. Once you're finished you weave the purl bumps together to close the seam. Both are fun and fast projects that will make great gifts.

You can download a free pdf of the patterns on Ravelry. It prints out as a nice little folder printed on the front and back of one sheet of paper. Click HERE to find the link.

Lotus Blossom Bag -- new pattern!

2009-08-12T12:10:00.009-05:00

Here's my newest design --- the Lotus Blossom Bag. This is a joint project with my friend Jamie. She came up with some killer embellishments for this bag.

This felted bag features an unusual construction method. The body of the bag is knit sideways in garter stitch. Short rows add a flare to the bag. The bottom stitches are picked up along the lower edge and knit in the round. The pattern is written for a small (165 yards) and large bag (420 yards). It's knit in worsted weight felting wool yarn on size 10.5 (6.5 mm) needles. The purple and red bags were knit with Patons Classic Wool. The pink bag in Galway Paint.

Knit it plain or add flowers, buds, leaves, and vines. Scraps of several colors are needed for the embellishments. Directions are included to for the embellishments. (Psst...the flower pattern makes a cute coaster too!)

The small bag stands about 8" tall and is 20" around. The larger bag stands about 11" tall and is 31" around.

Pattern cost is $3.99. Click on the button below to pay with Paypal and get a download link.

Weird weather & deer

2009-08-10T14:35:00.004-05:00

The month of July here in northern Indiana was the coolest July on record (going back to 1893). Our local TV weatherman said we had only 4 days that were normal or above normal temps. We set 3 record low high temperatures for July and our average daytime temperature was only 67 degrees! You can understand why the warm weather veggies in our garden were sitting there doing nothing. I shouldn't complain about how cool it's been. Other parts of the country have been sweltering in 100+ degree heat.

Turn the calendar to August and watch it change! As our daytime high is going down, the actual temperature has gone up. The last few days we've been in the low 90s or high 80s, much warmer than it has been here since late June. The warm weather crops are making up for lost time. Summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers, are finally coming in. The sweet corn is setting ears and we got our first crop of bush beans. (It also may be the last. Covering the bed with Birdx netting has kept the deer out. Sigh...a bunny rabbit has burrowed under the fence and is working on the plants.) The okra plants have grown noticeably bigger every morning. No blossoms yet.

Here's what I spotted out my patio door one day last week---a doe and 3 babies! The pictures aren't as clear as I would like. I was afraid to open the door and scare them away. The deer are getting quite bold. Usually they would come around at dusk or dawn. The deer around here are getting so used to humans that they come out during the day. This photo was taken about 2 pm. One day driving down a road near us, a mother deer and two babies crossed the road. Thank goodness everyone stopped for them!

I've made great progress on reorganizing my craft room. Strike that, my design studio. I feel that is a much better name for that space. My yarn, fabric, and spinning fiber has been sorted into bins and shelves. I love how it looks! I've thought of posting pictures but I'm not sure I want to share how much stash I really have. LOL!

Hubby looked at what I had accomplished and says, "Why don't we paint the walls, put in new flooring, and a ceiling fan?" I groaned. Why didn't he suggest that BEFORE I did all this work? I told him if he finishes some of the projects he has started around the house (baseboards, finishing doorways, cabinet kickplates, patching holes, etc.) I might consider it next year. Hubby has a habit of starting lots of home improvement projects but never quite finishing them. It drives me crazy!

I've sorted out 3 bins full of yarn to swap/sell on Ravelry. Check out my trade/sell folder if you are interested. Still to come is a cleanout of all my sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, and spinning books and magazines. There's a groaning bookcase full in my studio, plus more in the office and the living room. It's definitely time to pare the collection down to more manageable levels.

Lots of designing is going on behind the scenes. I have a bunch of patterns in the works at various stages. I'm hoping to have at least one pattern finished by the end of the week.

I've submitted a few designs to be used by the Holiday Mystery Gift Along group here on Yahoo. You'll have to wait and see what they are. :) The HMG group is a fun one with lots of things to knit (and crochet) for holiday gifts. The 2009 season of patterns begins on September 19th.

Help name me, critters! & the garden

2009-07-25T14:54:00.010-05:00

Designing, knitting, spinning, crocheting, and working on organizing my craft room are keeping me busy. (And I clean my house, shop for groceries, do laundry, cook, and lots of other things on top of this.) I can no longer stand how cluttered my craft room is. Last weekend, I packed almost everything out of the room and started over. I bought a bunch of stackable wire crates and created a wall for my yarn stash. (Three bins worth that I am not keeping are in my trade/sell folder on Ravelry.) I sorted all the scrap yarn I use for cat toys into some stackable bins I got on sale. I still have to sort through bins of fabric and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. Then go through my shelf of craft books (knitting, crocheting, spinning, sewing, and quilting). I have too many hobbies! I'll post some pics when I get everything whipped into shape. It will be nice to have an organized room where I can find what I need and have room to work. :)

This week I've been working on a crocheted triangle shawl. The pattern is finally worked out. I had some difficulty visualizing how the increases needed to work. Now I have to make a full sized version to see how much yarn is needed for the shawl.

Some projects in the works are a new scarf design that without a name. Here's what half of it looks like. It has arrows going up, down, sideways, a zigzag and a lace edge. I knit the sample with only one ball of Jojoland Melody. This will be a charted only design since the lace pattern is so simple. I'm working on instructions for turning the scarf into a stole to as an extra with the pattern. Any suggestions for names? Leave a comment below. If I choose the name you suggest, you'll get a free pdf copy of the pattern when it's ready to go.

Another one is a felted tote bag. Sigh, it doesn't have a name either. (Suggest away!) I'm actually working on several felted bag designs. I have so many designs in the various stages that I'm losing track of how many there are. LOL!

This is beginning to look like a year without summer for us. Our temps are probably 10-15 degrees below what they should be. Everytime we get close to normal temps, they take a nose dive again. We could really use some rain. We did get 4/10ths of an inch last night which helped.

Here's is some of the first veggies from our garden this year. I picked one zucchini earlier this week. I am so missing home grown veggies. By this time last year, we had been eating fresh zucchini and beans for almost a month and I had frozen bags of it. This year, the deer have eaten the tops off our beans. I purchased some Bird-x netting that we have clipped to the fence over the beans. This is keeping the deer out of the beans. Hubby has replanted and the bean stubs that were left are trying to make a come back. I don't know if we will have enough warm weather to harvest them. The deer are enjoying the cucumber plants too. The cucumber in the basket is the first one we've harvested this year. :( The plant it came from is growing inside a wire cage where they can't get to it. We've been seriously thinking about fencing our entire garden. Though a neighbor tells us that even an 8 foot fence will not keep the deer out.

Hubby was happy to see the first two ripe tomatoes. Though the tomato plants don't have a lot of fruit because of the cool weather. The potatoes, cabbages, brussels sprouts, and broccoli love cool weather and are all doing fine. The days are getting shorter and fall is coming. I don't hold out much hope that we'll get much of anything from our warm weather veggies.

Have you noticed how screwed up the weather seems to be all over the U.S. this year? The NE has been cold and wet. I've heard that the potato blight has shown up there. (Isn't that what caused the potato famine in Ireland many years ago?) It's been cool and dry here in the upper Midwest. Texas and points west are hot and dry with crops drying up in the fields. The Pacific NW has been warm too. This doesn't bode well for food crops produced in this country. A smaller harvest also means higher prices at the grocery store. Not something that any of us want to see.

The special intro price on the La Petite Fleur shawl pattern is good through July 31st. If you want the pattern, buy it soon before the price goes up.

Someone from New Albany, Mississippi recently sent me a small box of yarn scraps to use for cat toys. I'd like to thank her for her generosity. There was no note or email address in the package. I turn these short lengths of yarn into cat toys for my local, no-kill animal shelter, Pet Refuge. Some of my toys are sold to help raise much needed funds for them. This week I was able to give them $47 collected from the toy jar I fill at my vet's office. Animal shelters are having a hard time. Donations are down and shelters are bursting at the seams with animals dropped off by people who can no longer afford to feed their pets. I do what I can to help. I encourage others to do so too. :)

La Petite Fleur Shawl -- new pattern!

2009-07-10T13:18:00.009-05:00

Here's the newest design in my collection of small shoulder shawls---La Petite Fleur (little flower).

This is a three triangle, wedge shaped shawl knit from the neck down. It's an easy knit with a row of flower motifs forming a pretty border that ends in a picot edge. Add beads to make it sparkle. Small enough to tuck in your bag, this shawl makes a quick cover up that’s great for summer evenings or chilly air conditioned rooms. This project knits up quickly and will have everyone asking where you bought it!

Knit this fun flower bordered little shawl with with one skein of sock or fingering weight yarn (350-400 yards) using size 6 needles. Great for showing off handspun yarn. Options are given for adding beads to the lace border (see picture) and edge and enlarging the shawl. This is a four page pattern with written line-by-line instructions and a lace chart.

The pink shawl was knit with Fleece Artist Sea Wool (382 yards) and the green one with Miss Babs Bamboo Baby Sock Yarn (400 yards). The green shawl is a test knit by my friend Jamie. The picture is used with her permission.

The pattern price is now $4.99. Click on the link below to pay with Paypal and download a copy of the pattern right now. Have fun!

Critters

2009-06-26T13:59:00.004-05:00

You would think we live way out in the country (instead of a bustling suburban area) from all the critters that have visited our yard recently.

For example, this week:

Foxes are now living under our neighbor's shed to the east. They must have run off the ground hog who was living there. On the bright side, they won't eat our garden and may keep some of the other critters away who do. We had noticed a strong musky smell around a few times lately. And several weeks ago a rabbit had been killed in our front yard. Nothing was left but fur. We had suspected that a fox did this.

Raccoons are living under our neighbor's shed to the west. Early Thursday morning, hubby saw two raccoon babies on the wrong side of the fence. The momma raccoon was hollering at them and they didn't know what to do. Hubby got a shovel and carefully dug a hole under the fence (with mama and babies watching) so that babies could get back to momma. As soon as they were on the right side of the fence, momma grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and towed them back under the shed.

A ground hog is still living under our shed. :( This after being run off by another one several weeks ago.

Last week, a mother deer and a fawn were in our yard. (During the winter we sometimes had 7 deer visit our bird feeder.) Mama deer jumped the neighbors fence, leaving the fawn behind. She was too small to jump that high. She ran up and down the fence hollering until she figured out she could go around the end.

Pookie and Boo like to go outside during the day. Yesterday, when I went to check on them, I found two big dogs coming up to the house. I ran them off. Boo and Pookie were hiding in the bushes. They came in as soon as the coast was clear.

Hubby and I have thought several times about fencing our yard. It would be expensive and probably would not keep all the critters out. We also like the open space and the view we have.

I can't resist posting another picture of Pookie. He was intrigued by a fold up crate that I usually keep in the trunk of my car. He decided it was a good place to lay down. Love the glowing eyes through the crate handles! LOL! He seems to like having his picture taken.

I finished this crocheted baby blanket last night. I call it Sunrays. It's an easy pattern to crochet. I'm working on a shawl version of this using 4 wedges instead of 6. My original idea was inspired by the lace pattern in my Wings to Heaven shawl. I wanted to see if I could reproduce it in crochet. It took about 5 tries and lots of ripping and crocheting before I got it figured out.

One of these days, I'll get some more patterns ready to post. I'm on a felted bag craze. I have about 3 designs that I need to test knit.

Gardening, new patterns, and more

2009-06-12T12:58:00.007-05:00

Our normal spring temperatures can swing wildly between cold and hot. The clash of these air masses can and has produced severe storms and tornados in our area. This year has been different, one of those springs that comes once in a blue moon. We've stayed in the cool range with a few nights even getting down into the upper 30s. Not good for warm weather plants but great for us. Flowers have bloomed like mad with no storms to knock their blossoms off early.

These cool nighttime temps have made it hard to get our warm weather veggies planted. The last few will finally go in this weekend. We need some 80 degree days and warm nights for the corn, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and beans to do anything but sit there. The weatherman says that next week we will start to see some of those warmer temps. Here's a peek at the potatoes coming up.

As usual, we have ground hogs living under our shed and our neighbor's shed. Early the other morning, my hubby called me to come watch what was happening in the middle of our garden. Two big ground hogs were fighting and screaming at each other. It looked to be a territorial dispute over our garden. They both must be males. They ran around the yard rolling, biting, and screaming at each other. I've never seen anything like it before!

We make cages out of heavy gauge fence wire to put around individual plants like broccoli that ground hogs love to eat. If we don't, they will eat them to the ground. Ground hogs don't share. Fencing the entire garden doesn't help. We've tried it. They dig under the fence and eat until they are stuffed. One of the cages hubby put around a broccoli plant this year was made from some flimsy wire. The ground hog has managed to get it off the plant and chewed it down to a nub. We've bought more wire that we will use to build more sturdy cages this weekend to put around vulnerable plants.

The mystery shawl kal I hosted is over. Though I loved seeing the shawls knit from my design, it was a lot of work and took up too much of my time. The shawl kits and other prizes have been awarded. All packages were mailed on Monday, June 8. I've received email from two people that their packages have arrived. The one that went to Denmark will take awhile to arrive. Crystal Garden is the name I've given this shawl design. The pattern should be finished sometime this summer. It's going to take a lot of work. The entire shawl has to be charted (and the instructions written up). There are no motif repeats as there are in most shawl patterns. It will require me to use a new charting method as my current software program can't handle the size charts I need.

I have a few more patterns almost ready to release. The Lotus Blossom felted bag (pictured at the botton of my May 8 post), a Blossom Coaster (like the Blossom Facecloth), and Le Petit Fleur (a small shoulder shawl with beads and a flower border) are in the final stages. Test knitters are working on them. I need better pictures too.

My spinning wheel has been busy. This pink and peach merino I finished last week. My Rav friend, Jamie, dyed the fiber. It was a joy to spin and made a laceweight 2 ply yarn---4.2 ounces and 926 yards! This will be saved for a special shawl project. Jamie recently got a drum carder for her birthday. I sent her a box of fiber from my stash to help her get started. In return, she's sent me these batts she made as a thank you. I was overwhelmed by her generosity and so excited. Lots of fun spinning ahead! (Psst, don't you think she should sell some of these beauties?)

My fiber arts group is having our second all-day retreat on June 20th. I'm helping out with it. We couldn't do it without volunteers. One member found us a venue. Another one has worked hard since January contacting various companies for donations for goodie bags. I can't wait to see what she's come up with! Another member is teaching a top-down sweater class. Plus we'll have a demo about Ravelry and how it works. I'll be putting together some notes and a handout for that demo. Several vendors will be there selling yarn, fiber, and other goodies. Lunch is an all-you-can-eat buffet downstairs in the university dining hall. Members are encouraged to bring along things for a sell and swap table. It's a lot of fun!

Finally, I'll post a picture of Pookie. Here he is all relaxed and asleep. We humans could learn something about relaxing from kitties. He's found a catnip plant growing in on of my flower beds. Look at how big the leaves of this plant are! That's my hand next to the leaf for comparison. Pookie loves catnip. :)