I have knitted up to the tree line on Oregon — woo hoo! I was not lying when I said this was going to be a long haul. Part of the problem is the non-portable nature of the project. And as yet I have not found my portable project.  I am bereft and have nothing to take to work with me, or in the car (when eldest daughter is driving). So, I plug along when I have time at home.
But here is Oregon:
Watching grass grow…….yawn!
Lest you get the idea that I have been shirking on both my knitting and blogging duties, I will admit only to shirking my blogging. I have gotten a small bit of knitting done in the past few days. I have been finishing up a few loose ends in preparation for the State Fair. Entries are due next week so the unpleasant part of completing a project has been left to the bitter end in several cases.Â
I have finished my Beaded Bag:
This is my design in the sense that you have to basically create a shape to fit the purse frame that you buy.
I also finished up the silk American Beauty Scarf:
I had several ideas about how to finish the ends. My first thought was some kind of beaded fringe, but it seemed like guilding the lily. I ended up doing a double crochet scallop. I do not crochet, so it presented a challenge. I made my daughter a sweater last year with this crochet stitch along the hemline so I had done it before, but it is quite pathetic to watch me struggle with crocheting! I am not a huge fan of crochet, but it certainly has its place.
I also finished knitting and felting a bag for my youngest — if I make something, she always wants one, too. It is like the purple bag my daughter, Laura, made but of course in pink. It is drying. I worked on Oregon a little bit with very little progress to show and also finished up the second baby hat.Â
The hats are turning out like “Goldilocks and the Three Hats” — one was cast on too tight, one was cast on too loose and the next should be JUST RIGHT.Â
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So now I am caught up on my blogging for a day or two. Â
‘Marsha’ generously offered some of her yarn stash for Save-the-Children hats. I appreciate the offer greatly, but I don’t think I need the yarn. My Thursday peeps are going to knit a few hats, but want to buy the yarn themselves. I have enough to make quite a few already. I also have a friend who offered to subsidize the yarn purchases. People are very thoughtful when babies are involved! Thanks, Marsha!
I have made two hats so far and will post a picture tonight. My other knitting is languishing. I need to focus and get back to my needles!
Re: Thursdays at Four
Last evening was knitting night and I could not miss it again. Very fun evening. We did have a bit of a celebrity sighting as our group was attended by local author, Monica Ferris. Monica has written a number of fun-to-read murder mysteries (“The Unravelled Sleeve,” “A Murderous Yarn” etc.) which are set in a knitting shop in one of our local communities. A couple of our group members are prototypes for characters in the book, which also makes them fun.  Â
Susan, you’re a shameless name dropper!
I bought some cheap, but very soft, yarn to make a few baby hats for Save the Children.  Check out Warm Up America Circular Hat Patterns to find the same patterns done on dpns so they are seamless. I should get 8-9 hats from the single skein I bought for under $3. I will post a picture of a completed hat in the next day or two.
It’s hot in Washington, DC right now. I can’t even describe how hot, but since this heat wave has spread over much of the country, I probably don’t have to.
My left foot is particularly hot because it’s in this weird shoe/cast thing, where it will remain for 7 1/2 more weeks give or take a few hours. Not that I’m counting — the pain killers make that kinda hard, anyway.
It will get better and at least I can knit. And, if Clay Aiken announces any concerts, I might even be able to roll my way there.
How, you ask?
Why using this — the handy Roll-A-Bout, a device for people like me who are too clumsy and inept to use crutches.
Sweet, eh? It comes fully loaded with a hand brake that doubles as a parking brake. Here’s a shot of one in action.
That’s just how I look on mine, too, except that I’m not a man in a suit and it’s my left leg that’s injured, not my right, and I haven’t taken mine outside yet because it’s so hot. But you get the idea.
Now steering one of these babies is a bit trickier than it looks, especially if you’re dodging furniture, dogs, things that have fallen to the floor that you can’t pick up because if you tried you’d fall over, skeins of yarn, laptops, headphones, and power cords.
I’m getting the hang of it, though. I did have one mishap in which I almost drove off a cliff (and by cliff I mean the step down to my “sunken” library). Oh! — and I pantsed myself by running over the pajama bottoms on my “good” leg, which pulled said pajama bottoms halfway down my ass. Film at eleven.
Other than that — I’m a pro.
Susan and I wanted to let you know about a way to save the life of a child just through the simple act of knitting. Save the Children has developed a program called “Caps to the Capital,” which combines advocacy with knitting. Although neither one of us wants to impose a political agenda upon readers of our blog, we wanted to provide the link and information for those interested.
“Can something as simple as a knit or crochet cap help save a newborn life?
In many poor countries,the answer is yes. Four million newborns die each year within the first
month of life–half within only the first 24 hours after being born.
But a package of simple health measures provided to mothers and babies worldwide,including
antibiotics to fight infections,training for skilled birth attendants,immunizations against tetanus,
education on breastfeeding and basic care such as drying a newborn baby and keeping it warm
(this is where the caps come in!) could prevent 70 percent of these deaths.”
If you would like more information — including free patterns for both crocheting and knitting these caps — please visit Save the Children’s website
You can also download a PDF of their action kit here.
Wendy, thanks for your question about the ribbing. It is called corrugated ribbing: 2×2, using one color for the knit sts and another for the purl. The colors change along the way. AS rarely changes both colors on the same round in order to soften the color changes. It is terribly slow to do.
This looks like the other picture, n’est-ce pas? You’re wrong! The trees are starting to emerge! I’ll keep doing this for 20 more inches with a stop along the way to add armhole steeks and do the neck shaping.
The fabric is very thick, but lightweight. You can see the nubbiness and multi-colored nature of the yarn.
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Thank goodness bunions aren’t on the thumbs — Sally can still knit! I just talked to her and she sounds great. So far, so good.
I really did miss my knitting peeps on Thursday, but it was well worth it. My kitchen (as old and outdated as it is) looks the best it has ever looked. It has inspired us to move on.Â
I have been working on Oregon and my American Beauty scarf. The scarf just gets longer so it doesn’t look any different (just look at the old picture). I received my latest issue of Interweave Knits and Kate Gilbert (Sunrise Circle designer) has a bolero pattern in it made with the same silk yarn as my scarf. Tres cher (French for ‘mucho bucks’). It’s kind of pretty but you can’t see how gorgeous the yarn is from the photo.
The other thing I’ve been doing is finishing up my State Fair entries. Everything must be turned in by mid-August. I’ll do a State Fair post then.Â
I’m feeling better today, but last night I would have traded every inch of yarn in my stash for about five minutes of pain relief. Whew.
But right now I’m actually able to knit on my feather and fan shawl (in between dozing and taking my medication). Thanks for the well wishes.
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