Smile!

I took a picture today that made me laugh and got me thinking. Now, I am not a great photographer, although some of these were taken by friends who are. But it is hard not to smile back when someone smiles at you. So "smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking." (unknown)

Little Old Man ... Happy Birthday Sam!

Four years ago I got an email from a dog trainer that I know letting me know about a poodle that she had been called in to evaluate. The owners had disagreed with her conclusion that, with a just a little work, he would be a great dog. The owners had decided that if they couldn't find him another home, they would have him put down. (They also had already gotten a golden retriever pup that they were sure was going to be the perfect dog.)
Something about his plight struck a nerve and I agreed to let him come here "for a little while". I couldn't understand how someone could have a dog for five years and decide to put him down.
Four years later, that poodle, now known as Sam, Sammers, Sam I Am, Sammer Rammer Roo Hoo, Frack (as in Frick and Frack), The Chunky Monkey, The Little Black One (as opposed to The Little White One), The Good One (as opposed to The Problem One) has his forever home. There was no real work to be done, he was a great dog when he got here. I couldn't love him more if I had gotten him when he was a pup.
Happy Birthday Sam! Roscoe and I could not imagine life without you.

Cleaning Up

I have several friends that I wanted to make a little something for this Christmas. When I was making the baby blanket for my friend's little boy, I got the idea of knitting dish cloths for them. There are so many patterns available to choose from, and they make quick little projects to give you a break from some of the more time consuming undertakings.

There are lots of sites with free patterns. I always start with Ravelry , but have also found nice ones on Knit A Little Store , and Knitting Pattern Central . If you have something specific that you want to do and you can't find them here, just Googling usually will find a free pattern on someone's site.

Part of the fun is thinking about the person and the things that they love. My friend Amy loves hummingbirds. Her lake house has hummingbird feeders visible everywhere and some of the closest to tame hummingbirds you have ever seen. One of the nicest mornings I've had there was spent watching a momma hummingbird bring her baby to the feeder. She would show baby how to drink the sweet liquid and then back away to chase the other hummingbirds away while the baby fed.

Hummingbird Pattern

Anyway, picking a hummingbird for Amy was a logical choice.

My one major learning curve on doing these was in selection of yarns. I picked a bunch of Sugar'n Cream cotton yarns in a variety of colors before I started these projects. Most of them were multi-colored, patterned yarns and the patterns would kind of interfere with the ability to see the image that I was knitting.  But you live and learn. I still found these fun to make and hope people find them useful.

Terrier Pattern

My friend Leigh Anne loves her Jack Russell Terriers.  Bailey (no relation) and Bama are adorable, sweet dogs who are spoiled with all the love that every dog should enjoy. So with a little digging I found this pattern. Now, I know that the creator called it border terrier, but I don't know exactly what that is. You look at her dogs and tell me this doesn't look like her cuties.

Bama and Bailey

Dog House Pattern

In keeping with the dog theme, I found this little pattern for a dog house. (Not that her dogs have ever seen one, but her husband Steve might be familiar with the idea.)

And then, just because initials always work, I did this one for their surname. When I started doing the baby blanket, I had purchased patterns for all letters from the Knit A Little Store , so I used the pattern for K.

I decided to do no border for this one.

Harley pattern

My cousin, Susie, and her husband have recently purchased a Harley Davidson. It took a little digging for these, but I finally found a pattern for a logo.

Motorcycle pattern

Yeah, her kitchen isn't lime green, but she loves lime green.

And I have to get my use out of my letter patterns I bought.

Owl Pattern

When my youngest girlieques saw what I was making, they decided that they wanted their own cloths. So I let them pick their pattern and colors. The oldest loves owls and the youngest kittens, so ...

The owl pattern is called Whoo Loves You Baby.  Isn't it adorable? They have a pattern for making a baby bib with it too. I see that in Cruz's future.

And I couldn't resist this kitten for Caroline. After all, she has my heart.













So now I'm back to other projects, but I love knowing that when I need a break I have a supply of cotton yarn and a stack of patterns to match with a surprising number of people who like them.

Topping Things Off

It's been awhile, I know. I had to stop posting for a bit, because everything I was making was a Christmas gift for someone. I realize that it is now a month after Christmas, but honestly, I'm STILL working on Christmas. At this rate, I should finish Christmas 2011 sometime in January 2013.

As I have mentioned before, I have four girlieques. The two towheads who have been the subject of previous blogs, and my nephews two, rapidly growing up daughters.

Wait ... these are wrong.

Here ... this is better.

Improv Hat

I really wanted to make something for the older two for Christmas. After a lot of searching, I settled on slouch hats and skinny scarves. I kind of liked this hat, so I downloaded the pattern, found out favorite colors, picked (bought) yarn, and took off.

Treisur Intrigue Yarn

Their mom, who is absolutely one of the best at helping with the perfect information at Christmas time, let me know that Maddy tends to lean toward blues. A trip to Knit Happenz yielded this find.

Add size 8 and size 9 circular needles and I was ready to try. Now, something I need to work on is this whole adjusting a pattern to allow for different gauges of yarn. The pattern called for a yarn that used size 6 and 7 needles with a smaller gauge. So, without REALLY knowing what I was doing, I just ... picked 60 stitches as the right number to cast on.

I read the section on making sure not to twist the yarn when joining together. I checked to make sure that I had not twisted. I double checked. I triple checked. I knit about an inch and a half and realized... I had twisted. Lesson learned, it can't be fixed. I took it all out and started again.














Then I reached this section.

Round 1: *k8, m1 ; continue from * to end of round (90 stitches)
Round 2: knit
continue in stockinette stitch until hat measures 8.5". Since you are working in
the round, you will just be knitting(no purls)

Pretty straight forward, right? Well, maybe not if you have never read a pattern, but if you have read a few, this is pretty simple. Just knit 8 stitches and then on the 9th, add a stitch. That way you end up with 90 stitches. Except, I started with 60. And oh yeah, I READ IT WRONG!!

I went all the way around and added a stitch at every 6th stitch. (you know ... add a stitch at 9 if you had cast on 80, so add one at 6 if you cast on 60 ... I know, that makes no sense ... but it did to me at the time). Then I knit all the way around. 

THEN I completely lost my mind. I got in my head that I was supposed to repeat round 1 and 2 until I got to 8.5". No, it doesn't say that. I have no idea where I got the idea. None. No clue. About the time that I got to 140 stitches on my needles I began to get the idea that something might not be right. 

So, if I wasn't following that pattern, and I had this much done, it was time to go find a pattern that I WAS following. I realize that sounds crazy, but I was not about to take all of this out and start all over. Christmas was coming whether I was done or not! 

Slouchy Hat

I headed to Ravelry and started a search. 

I finally found this one. It still didn't exactly match what I had already done, but you have to do the best you can. 

I finished the hat and set to work on the scarf. For that I set up the following pattern:

(K3, P3) x 5, K1

Repeat 

And made it about 5'6" long.

I really like the pattern in the yarn and how the hat finished out.

Treisur Intrigue Yarn

In a mad dash, I went back to the original Improv Hat a much wiser woman. 

I knew that Abby was a purple kind of girl, so I picked this yarn. 

Actually following the pattern as written let me finish a lot faster. 

For her scarf I set up the following pattern:

Cast on 20
K Row

K4, P4, K4, P4, K4

Repeat until desired length
K Row
Cast Off

I wish that I had added one more P2, K4 but I'll know better next time.

I made it about 5'10" long.

Once again, I really like how the hat came finished out, and I think the pattern in this yarn is beautiful.

Now if our winter would just get below 65 degrees, they might get a chance to actually wear them.

Lizzy Grace's Poncho

I was in the middle of another project when I got a wild hair to make a poncho for a little girl. I can give you a million crazy things that sent my brain in that direction, but none of them really matter. I have lots of little girls in my life, and I thought a poncho would be fun. After a lot of research, I  found tons of patterns, but none really fit what I wanted to do. I wanted to make it in one piece, no stitching panels together. (I still fail when sewing is involved.) I found one for an infant, but I didn't really want to make one that small, so I decided to use that for a starting off point and see what I could do.

For this project I used the following:

1 Skein Red Heart Super Saver Yarn Watercolor  244 yards
1 Skein Red Heart Super Saver Yarn Medium Purple 364 yards
A little soft white, or off white yarn ... I had some Loops & Threads Impeccable in Aran
Size 9,  24" circular needles. I have this really nice Boye NeedleMaster Interchangeable Needle Set that is great for always having the right size for the right project.
2 double pointed size 9 needles
1 tapestry needle
4 Stitch Markers in two colors

K = Knit
P = Purl
SSD = Slip on stitch from left to right needle, then slip the next stitch. Insert the left needle into the front loops of the slipped stitches and knit them together from the position.
K2TOG = Knit 2 Together
VDD = Slip 2 stitches from left to right needle, remove marker, knit the next stitch, slip the two previous stitching back over the stitch you just knit, replace marker
You also need to know how to make an I-Cord.

Using Watercolor Cast on 240 stitches to the Size 9 Circular needles
Row 1 P all the way around.
Row 2 K2TOG Yarn Over all the way around
Row 3 P entire row
Row 4 K entire row

Row 5 K1, SSD, K114, K2TOG, place marker, K2, SSD, K114, K2TOG, place same color marker, K1
Row 6 K entire row
Row 7 K entire row

Row 8 K1, SSD, K to 2 stitches before marker, K2TOG, K2, SSD, K to two stitches before marker, K2TOG, K1

Repeat Rows 6 - 8 until you run out of the Watercolor. Tie off and start using Medium Purple

Continue repeating pattern (decreasing every third row) until the piece measures about 15"

Begin Working Back and Forth for Neckline

Row 1 K1, SSD, K to 2 stitches before marker, K2TOG, K2, SSD, K to two stitches before marker, K2TOG, K1
Turn Work
Row 2 P entire row
Turn Work
Repeat Row 1 and 2 until the opening is about 5" long ending on a Row 1

Count your stitches and divide by 4. Count that many stitches from either end of the row and add the two other colored markers. You should now have 4 markers, each about a quarter of a way around the piece.

Row 1 Purl entire row
Row 2 K1, SSD, K to 2 stitches before marker, VDD, K to 2 stitches before marker, K2TOG, K2, SSD, K to 2 stitches before marker, VDD, K to 2 stitches before next marker, K2TOG, K1
Repeat Row 1 and 2 until the new seams you are creating on the two sides (shoulders) measure about 4"(ending with a Row 2 which is the Knitting row)
Turn
Row 1 K entire row
Row 2 K2TOG Yarn Over entire row
Row 3 K entire row
Bind Off

With the Medium Purple, create a 3 stitch I-Cord about 36" long and weave through the "lacy" part of the neckline. 

Then create a tassel by winding the yarn about 15 times around four fingers held slightly apart. Cut about a 6" piece of yarn and slip it through the thick loop of yarn you have made. Cut through the opposite end of the loop. Thread the end of the tied yarn into the tapestry needle and stitch the tassel onto the I-Cord, weaving the rest of the end into the cord. Repeat for the second tassel.

I used my check book to create the fringe. (I figured it should be useful for something.) I took the Medium Purple yarn and wrapped it over and over around the long side of the check book. Then I cut through one end of the loop created.

 For each stitch of the very bottom row, pull three pieces of fringe through, one piece at a time. Insert the crochet needle from back to front, hook one strand of fringe from the center and pull half way through, thread the cut ends through the loop created and pull tight. Repeat, with 3 strands in each stitch. And repeat. And repeat. This is a great mindless thing to do if you are watching a good movie.

I like making the I-Cords and I had read that you can use them to make designs, so I decided to add one to this. I took the Aran yarn and made about a 36" cord. I took the cord and shaped it into a flower and stitched it together. Then I took the medium purple and created about a 26" cord. I fit this cord inside the white design and stitched it into place. I went back to the Aran and made about a 7" cord. I wound that into a tight spiral and stitched it into the center of the flower.

I placed the flower just a little off-center and stitched it onto the poncho.

Next weekend one of my girliques has her tenth birthday. Here's hoping her present fits.

This was my first attempt at writing down a pattern. I hope you were able to follow it. If I confused you, as I'm sure I did, give me a shout. I'll be happy to try to explain what I did.

Jeannie