Is this the longest and strangest year ever??
In case you had any doubts, I’m the one on the right!! 🙂
Sally and I have been doing some knitting. I am also on a potholder high! I’ve been cranking them out for my dad, my daughter, and myself. They are such a dumb little project — kind of like knitting dishcloths — but they are practical and necessary.
My first attempt was a fail. When I got to the last edge to bind off, the lack of tension caused the whole thing to disembowel. SO, I came up with an idea to use knitting needles to hold the tension on the bound off sides. These are super long, strong DPNs, but I had planned on using old straight needles, which would have also worked.
I am also knitting. When my daughter was a baby, I designed and knit her a baby sweater (she is 30 now). I have planned for 28 years to recreate the sweater for others and sell the pattern. It is in process and may take another 28 years at this point!! 😎
Oh, colorful fun! We used that kind of frame in grammar school too many years ago.
Comment by Elaine in NYC — August 25, 2020 @ 2:28 pm
At first reading I thought you had just now made your eldest daughter a baby sweater. I can actually see that, maybe finishing something you started long ago, and giving it to her for a future grandchild. Then I realized you knit it for her when she was a baby and are just recreating it for a pattern. I did something similar – I started a pair of socks for my husband while I was pregnant with my daughter. They were never finished, and I never tried knitting other socks, until my daughter hit her teens and I dug them out and finished them and continued on to make dozens of other pairs. 🙂
Comment by Jane Plant — August 25, 2020 @ 3:37 pm
I love making those potholders, too. They’re really are so soothing & mindless, at least until the bind-off!. Harrisville has a online wizard that you can use to plot out your designs, too – https://harrisville.com/pages/potholder-wizard
I’d appreciate you getting moving on the sweater design, please! I’ve got a niece or nephew making her/his debut in January. I’ve been browsing for baby patterns to start on.
Comment by Samina — August 26, 2020 @ 10:17 am
January to August 2020 – so true. Thanks for the laugh.
Comment by Elizabeth — August 26, 2020 @ 8:09 pm
Ohhh, that looks like mindless fun! Nice change. What are you supposed to do (in the directions) to bind off before it disembowels? After 52 years of marriage, I sure need some new ones!
Comment by Kathy W. — August 27, 2020 @ 5:08 pm
Oops! I just looked at the photo and saw how you bind off. Very good solution to the problem!
I also laughed out loud at the top picture! I have done quite well for all these long months but for some reason the last few days have been very very hard! Looking forward to seeing you on Sat -if I can get my computer working. Should be better!
Comment by Kathy W. — August 27, 2020 @ 5:13 pm
I remember making these at my grandma’s when I was a kid!
I’ve been loving this summer. My in laws have not been able to use the family cabin, so I have, using my house as a pit stop every 2 or 3 weeks to help my mom and see Heidi. Paul, however, is a bit tired of the 260 mile commute every Friday and the reverse on Sunday or Monday. I love it up there for so many reasons, but this year I’m adding two more — my life up there is as it has been for the last 40+ years and no news.
Comment by Susan Fahning — August 29, 2020 @ 6:40 pm
If ever there were a year to make a woven cotton loop potholder a major accomplishment, 2020 is it.
Comment by twinsetellen — September 4, 2020 @ 12:01 am
I used to do these forever ago. The way I held the potholder on: As I bound off each side I I would take a small loop from that corner and pull it over to the corner peg and hook it on and then continue around the edges until finished. This gave enough tension to complete the project without added tools or popping off the frame.
Comment by Joanne — September 8, 2020 @ 3:08 pm
Try the Magic Potholder pattern (crochet). It’s easy and fast and you end up with a double layer that you can’t stick your finger through.
Comment by Ruth Spears — September 11, 2020 @ 10:20 am