Lacey Lace.

I have 2 goals this year. To make a bunch of lovely lace and color working projects. For my first project I made Haruni outta some yummy new stuff my favorite Yarn pusher sent me to try out. WOW! I love this pattern. I love this yarn! I LOVE THIS PROJECT! LOVE! I really want to make it again out of the same type of yarn but bigger and OH JOY! the designer tells you how to upsize.

So Haruni is a pretty simple lace shawlette. A field of Fern stitch with a crazy beautiful edge. The designer made it fairly clear all the way. I think I might have had the duhs going while trying to make this. There were a couple of spots I was cornfused at. The first spot is "Continue Chart A as established until you have 12 stems in each half". She goes on to explains what she means by stems. However, I couldn't decide whether she meant total for the half or across the row. After looking at my 12 stem field, I decided she meant across the row. I told you. duh!

My next 'huh?' moment came while reading the directions for the edging. Basically you work the chart across, ending with just the leaves not the triangle decrease bit. If you look at the first picture in this post, it shows the center of the shawlette. Two sets of leaves separated by a single stitch. So you begin and end each half of the shawlette with leaves. Which the designer says. Which I didn't get until I did it. I know I was being dense. This shawl does need blocking. I chose to block my with scallops. I have seen it done with a straight edge. I think It is equally beautiful either way.

Now about this yarn. LittleFreak is opening a new online shop called Shameless Twist. Which she hopes to have open by the 1st of May. In this shop of wonders she will offer Murmur. That is what my shawlette is made out of. Crazy soft 100% baby alpaca fingering weight. Yummy. 1 skein is enough for this project. Just enough but still enough (I think I have 5 or 6 yards left)

I will let you in on a little secret. She will be keeping LittleFreak open as a testing ground for new colorways and guess what she has in her shop right now? Murmur! It is incognito as babykisses but I saw it there. And....It is on sale! I don't know how long she is running the sale. So hurry if you want some!

Cliff Jumping.

Most knitters/crocheters have go-to patterns that they pull out for gift giving opportunities. Something that they end up making over and over again because the pattern is easy and turns out great. I have a dear friend who found her go-to pattern for yarn. If she has a skein or so of yarn that she wants to work with but it hasn't told her what it wants to be it become the Storm Cloud Shawlette. She has made this pattern 4 times. FOUR! She would come to Saturday knit group and tell us all how easy this pattern was. Show us how pretty it was all worked up. We would all oh and ah over them.

One day Chelle decided to try it. [She has made at least 2. maybe 3]. She came back with this lovely green thing. Then Lorenia tried it [She has made 4]. The Storm Cloud Shawlette took over. Everybody was making them. So I caved. I admit it. I had this great handspun I didn't know what to make with and I just caved. So if mama-san asked me today "Would I jump off a cliff if all my friend were doing it?" The answer would have to be "Yes. Yes, I would."

Enough about my weak will power and the fact that my friends peer pressured me into this project. Peer Pressure? I'll be 35 this year. It never goes away.

This pattern is all that they,my peer pressuring bad influence friends, said. It is quick, easy and beautiful. It shows the loveliness of yarn off. It can go from Shawlette to half-moon blanket. And...drum roll please.. its free! So everybody go make your own. 'Cuz you know...All the cool kids are doing it.

Brooke & Dover

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."~ Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Even as small child stuffed toys are magical things, aren't they? They seems to speak to you. They listen when you talk to them even before you can talk clearly. My favorite stuffed toy is the teddy bear. I love how place of the features can completely change the personality of a bear. For example Missy Brooke [Pictured Right] looks
quizzically at you. She seems to saying Huh? Where as Dover [Pictured below] looks very concerned about the whole matter.

In my quest for great knitted toys. I found a lovely book called The Knitted Teddy Bear. This book is full of knitted bears made in the classic bear fashion. They have gusseted heads and jointed arms/legs.I love it and plan to make a few of the bears.

My 1st foray into this book was to make the pattern Elizabeth & Heidi out of some Knit Picks yarns I recieved as a RAK. On the whole it went pretty well. I had trouble with the arms had to remake them a couple of times. But in the end me and Brooke worked it out. Made some alterations to the little dress by adding a Chevon lace edging to the bottom which gave it a nice scalloped edge. While I was making my little 6 in. bear, Mini-me exclaimed her love for Brooke and her wish for a mini-bear of her very own so Brooke's companion, Dover, came into the world. Master Dover is dress in a snappy grey vest of my own design. The notes for said vest are missing and have be stolen by my house brownies no doubt. I will add the notes later if they decide to bring them back.

Everybody Loves A Good Bodice Ripper.

At the being of this year, some females of my acquaintance and myself where having beau problems. I was inspired to make these socks by the tales of woe. They started out based on a lyric from the Gordan Lightfoot song If you could read my mind .

"...With chains upon my feet
You know that ghost is me
And I will never be set free
As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see..."

It really spoke to me. So I designed a sock based on chains and faded love for my friend who strictly crochets.( Though we maybe turning her to the dark side.) After I send them to her she posted on Rav, pictures of them and how much she liked them. Guess what happen then? People wanted to know when I was publishing it! I, of course, took minimal notes as I made them. Just enough to be able to make a second sock. So in order to publish the pattern I had to sit down and recreate them. Which went really well.

During that process, I thought about what I would name them. Relationships really have and ebb and flow about them. Sometimes you wake up in the morning and look over at your love and think "How did I survive with out this person?" other times you look over and think "Dear Lord in Heaven, what the hell was I thinking?" Which this is a normal part of being with someone. As I discussed this with my favorite sounding board, she told me it was just like this story she reading. The two main characters wanted each other, then they hated each other, then they discover what the reader knew all along that they actually loved each other. You got it. She was reading a Bodice Ripper. Voila! They were named! And so after being vetted my test knitters, I give you the pattern.

Bodice Rippers are a toe-up pattern suitable for the begining sock knitter. I have the pattern of chains and hearts both written out and charted. I hope you like them.

download now

Socks! Sock-ty Socks!

“His socks compelled one's attention without losing one's respect”~ H. H. Munro

So I appear to have a major sock problem. Some would even call it an addiction. 6 pairs of socks and 3 toys over the summer. Whew.

I started with a pair on the plane to Canada. Slalom. So pretty. The yarn (Little Freak yarns) worked loverly with the pattern. The very cool part of this pattern is that all the heel shaping is hidden in the cables that run to the bottom of your heel. I did make a small change to the pattern. My toes are in stockinette instead of reverse stockinette. My only complaint with these socks is that I must have been tense on the plane cause they are a little snug in places. As soon as Mama-san laid eyes on them, she wanted a pair. She is waiting for a skein of yarn to speak to her.

The next pair was Send a Little Cable socks. I saw my good friend, Knitty, making them at the kitchen one day and felt and over whelming need to make my own. They are a heavy sock made from Little snugs a Little Freaks worsted weight yarn. These were super quick and easy to make. I love how they turned out and I am all around happy with them. Can't waited for boot weather!

I also made Pablo over the summer. Okay. So I made a little joke whiling naming this project on Ravelry. Pablo is a classic Hispanic name and my yarn colorway is 'Can't we all just get along'. So I named these socks after the Paul Simon song Adios Hermanos. snort. I had some major knitting issues with this sock. It was all me. I just plain couldn't get it with the first sock. My 2nd sock was done in 3 days. My one thing is the cuffs want to roll. I have worn these a few times. They fit really well.

Then I revisited Bettie’s Lace Stockings for my hostess with the mostest. She saw mine when I went to the great white north and asked me pretty please. How I say no? After she let me have a sneak preview of her shop update. These were way easier the second time around. Miss Thing has a 12” calf. So after working 3 rpts of the Wide Lace I went up a needle size. I also worked another 3 rpts to the end for height. Which was kind of guess work due the the fact that the calf in question lives in Canada. They fit her and she loves them. So total win for long distance sock knitting.

Of my other three socks. One pair isn't finished. I haven't get picture for the other and I am going to post separately for the third.

I also made some toys this summer. One Woe cake for a swap. And some lovely little bears from The Knitted Teddy Bear book.
I made some notes on them but don't have them in front of me. So I will blog about these again.

CeliaAnne's Canukistan Odyssey

Our story begins with my lovely friend inviting me in February to Canada for the Olds Fiber Festival in June. I talk to the the mister about going and he agrees to send me north. YAY! Then I realized that this will be after the whole you need a passport card/passport to go to Canada or Mexico thing goes into effect. Thank you, Homeland Security. I feel so much safer.

Still no big whoop. I need a copy of my birth certificate that is embossed to renew my drivers license in October. Seriously, Homeland Security, you shouldn't have. So I go online cause the world is online anymore right? Well, not really. I found the county and state was born in no problem. I even was able to look my birth record online. I was not able to order a copy. So I tried calling the county seat they had a recording tell you to download a form and send them money for the copy but I couldn't leave a message and talk to a person. I have a problem with blindly sending money away with no proof I did. I dug around on the internet some more and found VitalChek Express. This site not only helps you order you records they get to you really fast. They are an expensive service. I feel they are worth it and give them two thumbs way up!

Next thing I did was price tickets. Yowouzer! I talked to my World Travel Papa-san about how to find cheaper tickets. He said Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz, and Travelocity. So I tried each of them and got the cheapest tickets though Priceline. I was really happy at this point. Yay Priceline!(Please continue to read as my opinion of Priceline changes dramatically later.)

Having got my tickets and my birth certificate, I can now work on my passport form. Which is honestly pretty easy to fill out. Then I went to the post office to get my picture taken and order the passport.Voila! I am feeling Pretty froggy about this whole thing.

I started to research what could and could not be taken on a plane cuz sitting for three hours and not knitting? That would make me nuts. Hey guess what? YOU CAN TAKE KNITTING NEEDLES ON A PLANE and your IPOD. I was very pleased to find this out. I printed a copy of the page to take with me in case the security tried to make me toss them.

Oops! 1st Hiccup. My out bound flights were canceled. Eek! I called Priceline they assured me that I was booked on new flights. I would be getting into Calgary later though. I update my Friend. Whew! Crisis averted, Right? Right?

2nd Hiccup. My Friend has the opportunity to buy a house. Yay, her! She will be moving in around the 1st of June. So I will get to stay at her new house. SO Exciting. Seller of said house starts being flaky. Grr. The tenants of said house tear things up on their way out the door. So there will be a little remodeling. Still things are good.

The day of my flight comes. I go to my online itinerary and confirm my flights. I also printed off a copy. This was a very smart move on my part. I tell my 'bum that I would like to be there 2 hours early for check in and random craziness that always occurs. He tells me that we don't need to be there that early. We bicker bit. I let him win. So we get there and hour before my flight and try to check in. Remember up there when I asked you if the crisis had be averted? Yeah. No. I go to the check in counter of the airline I am suppose to be flying out on. They have no record of me and tell me I need to go to the original airline I was booked on before the those flights were canceled. Which is in a different terminal.

The KCI airport is set up in Hubs that are far enough apart you need to drive between them. So we go out and get into our car and go to the other Hub. We get to that airline counter. Wait in line for 10 min for them to tell me that they can't help me I will need to call priceline. So I go to a pay phone to call priceline and can get confirmation that I have tickets on the flight with the 1st airport. I couldn't get a human being to answer. This was still during normal business hours. So we go get in our car and drive back to that 1st airline counter. I get a different lady than the 1st time. I relate this entire thing to her. The very nice Delta Lady gets on the phone with priceline and gets a human. I was shocked. The over the intercom comes the boarding calls for my flight. So she calls the flight and asks them to wait. She trying to deal with priceline. She tells them that we are working under a time constraint. They are still spouting the company lines. And long drawn out story very short I missed that flight. So it comes to pass that they never booked me on replacement flights. After much begging and pleading She gets them to release my tickets to her. The next flight she can get my on is 4 hours later. Sigh. I call my friend to tell her I won't be there until 11:30.

Eventually I get on my flight to St Paul. Nothing exciting happens. Thanks the powers that be! When I get to my connecting flight from St Paul to Calgary, I find that the plane has been delayed. Apparently someone got airsick from turbulence in New York and they had to pull a seat. So I called my friend again. It will be more like 12:30. By the time I get there my eyes are so bloodshot I can't focus but my friend is there waiting.

Meanwhile my poor friend. My hostess with the mostest is having problems of her own. Things did not go as planned with the move. The house was in worst shape than she thought. But her'bum came through. The super hero that he is. He told her that he would finish the moving while she played with me. YAY, Mr. FREAK!

The next morning we went to breakfast and then on to Olds! I loved olds. It was great fun all kinds of fiber people to talk to. I got to meet the Owner of Twist of Fate yarns. She gave us a Ravelry Button to wear around. We ran into a couple of other Ravelers. I went buck wild with the yarn. A great time! Upon seeing Canada in daylight one thing struck me. They still have Lilacs. I love lilacs but they fade so fast in Missouri. Also the Poplars were pollinating. So there were tuffs of fuzzy stuff floating every where.


When we got home that night we exchanged goodies with each other. I had made her a pair of socks(those are them in the picture), a CD and a crochet hook holder thingy. I brought her girls some books. She gave a bazillion ton of goodies I got a Project Bag from Lingering Springs that I have been coveting, a rubberhoar bag, some needles, a thread cutter and some yarn. WHOOT!!

In all my trip to Canada was wonderful. Red Deer is beautiful. My Friend and her family are delightful. I can't wait to go back.

Tantric Diamonds

I like patterns that are different. Something unique that not everybody has made. I just found one of the greatest. There is under a 100 projects on Ravelry for the Tantric Tank.

This free pattern is really more of formula than a pattern but that is what makes it great. You can use any type of yarn and any gauge. There is no shaping. So it is also a great beginner pattern. Just 2 straight panels and 2 thin ties. Some creative semming. Voila! You are done. I made a couple of small adjustments for my ample-ness (47.5" bust). One adjustment is I made the panels a couple of inches longer. The other is I made it an inch wider. Even with adjustment I only needed about 900 yards of aran cotton yarn. Worked one panel in an Irish Moss Diamond stich and the other in a Seed Diamond stitch.

Monchichi 's Socks

While I was working on socks for My friend, Miss Freak, Mini-me expressed a desire for some knitted socks of her very own. As I mulled over the merits of knitting socks for feet that might very likely grow before I finished them. I found a partial skien of Lisa Souza's Sock! yarn in the Violet's Pink Ribbon colorway that someone had given me.So away we went. This is one of those good news bad news project stories.

Good News - This yarn is lovely to work with. I love the simple stripes it made when worked up. Can't wait to use it a again.

Bad News - This were the socks of doom for me. Just simple socks right? Boring ordinary anklets. NOT! I had to frog and recast on at least 4 times.

Anyhoo they got done and she loves them. So Whoot! Here's hoping her feet don't grow.

Bad Blogger! No Cookie For you!

I have slacked off on the blogging of knitting projects. so I am going to do a huge one right here. I have a serious thing for socks and sock yarn right now. I blame all the great sock designer and indy dyers for this affliction. Seriously I can't seem to make anything else.

So the 1st project you haven't heard about is a Swappy Project. I was in the Bebeh Freak's designs 1st ever swap. It was called the Hot Stuff CAL/KAL. We just stated whether we wanted mitts, socks or hats. My swappy buddy wanted sockies. I made her Rainy Day socks out of Crystal Palace Panda Cotton. She has promised me pictures of her sock clad feet but as of yet hasn't delivered. This was my 1st time using Panda Cotton. I liked it. It was not a love-at-first-sight thing, but I will use it in the future.

The 2nd Project, done but not reported, is my friend Jodi's Paper Back Novel socks. I designed this pattern based on a song by Gordan Lightfoot. Once I successfully recreate them, I will share the pattern. promise. I made these out of Little Freak yarn's littlesock. I love this yarn. LOVE!

The 3rd project is The Gardner made out of Zitron Trekking Handart. This was my 2nd pair of socks for the Spider along. These are beautiful socks with a flowery vine pattern up the front and a big spider on the back. Also had a really cool lace trim along the top. I did fiddle with the pattern a bit. I had to make the heel gusset a little bigger and I ended all the vines with buds. once again love the yarn.


4th project( I told you busy, busy), I made My Missouri Autumn Mitts for the Moma-san out of some discontinued Knitpicks sock yarn. I am selling this pattern for $5,if you are interested in it.


My 5th project is a hostess gift for Missy Jodi. She is letting me stay at her home while I feed my yarn addiction at a fiber festival in Canada. It however is a secret. So I am not tell you about it.

My 6th project is Bettie's Lace Stockings in Littlefreaks Yarns. Did I mention I love this yarn? Anyhoo. This pattern was in Interweave Knits, Spring 2009. I like the finished product a lot. I had problems with the pattern through. My calves are apparently shapelier than the designer's. Once I got up to the larger lace pattern and worked 3 repeats I had to go up another needle size and then again after 3 more repeats. Still I like them and will make another pair for a friend.

My 7th unreported project was my 1st ever Cookie A. Sock, Monkey published in this really cool online mag, Knitty. I made Monkey out of Pagewood Farms yarn. Again had to fiddle a bit. This it was because my friend Rosemary is very statuesque and needs more to stand on than us under 6 ft. However the pattern was easy to memorize and was fun. This gives me hope for some of Cookies more challenging patterns.

Currently I have sock for Mini-me and a tank on the needles. Whew! Finally caught up. I will try to post projects as I finish them in the future.

Pandemic Shmandemic

"OMG THE PANDEMIC IS COMING!!! RUN! HIDE! DON'T LET ANOTHER SOUL WITHIN 10 FEET of YOU!!"

Please. It's the flu, people. Breathe. Use the internet for more than playing games and updating you myspace page. K? Educate yourselves. The H1N1 flu is just a flu. Granted a new flu but still just a flu. So let us go over how to prevent getting sick. Hygiene People! Wash your hands a lot. Go outside. Breathe the fresh air. Eat healthy. Get Plenty of sleep. If you start feeling sick or your loved ones do take them to the doctor right away for treatment. Easy, huh? Yes, people are dying from H1N1. People with compromised immune systems, the elderly, and small child are at risk of death. Not any more risk than they are under every single flu season. But there is a risk.

I know people are going to be annoyed with me. 'You are minimizing the risk' Not really. I am cutting through all the drama. Over the years our news station have started sensationalizing what they report. Trying to stir us up to get ratings and now they are creating a panic. But that is a whole nother rant.

Now order to show our Swine Flu prepared-ness, I made my Moma-san and myself Swine Flu Masks. These are supper easy and fun to make. I made them out of Dark Horse Fantasy yarn. My grandmother is one of the 'compromised immune system people'. She has trouble breathing in the winter with the cold air. I think if I leave the snout off, this would be perfect for her when she has to go out and about.
There is my mini rant about SWINE FLU ::insert scarey music here::

Spider Socks!

I started a Spider-a-long on Ravelry. We are all working on spider themed projects. In the process of talking about the different spider patterns I found 2 sock patterns I wanted to make. The 1st of these is done! I give you Spider Socks! I love them. I made these outta Trekking Hand Art. They are a super fun. The pattern is a cuff down one. It seem to take forever then all of a sudden the big spider starts to take shape and Whoosh you are done!

I seem to stuck on socks lately. I just finished a pair of Sidewinders for Mama-san. She loves them. I use Knit Picks Imagination in the frog prince colorway. This pattern really show the yarn well. In traditional knitted socks, Imagination intends to pool a lot. Which not everybody loves. I am still having problems with the back to back decreases. I think the next time I make these pattern I will add I middle stitch to see if that fixes my laddering problem.
I have also got socks on my needles for a swap that I am in. Another spider sock that I will cast on as soon as I have finished the swapies ones. That pattern is called The Gardener. I also have 2 sock ideas rattling around in my head based on Gordan Lightfoot songs. One of which I must have done before my trip in June. Which should be too big of a deal the swatching is going great.

So my friends, I hope you like looking at sock pictures.

Handmade Heritage-Maternal

It is late afternoon here, slowly creeping in to night and I am musing about my heritage. I grew-up in a very crafty family. Both sides of my family are really into handwork. From Crewl embroidery to crochet/knitting to Quill work. So I decided to share my thoughts on the two sides of my family. I will start with Mama-san's side. Recently, Aughra has decided that congestive heart failure really does mean she may not survive it and has started clean out her house. I received two precious objects from her recently. One is the first ever piece of knitting she ever did.

Aughra made this little cream (white?) sweater for my uncle when he was born. We are talking 1949 or so. It has been a little moth-eaten since the time it was worn by her little boy and is an awkward little thing. 60 some-odd years ago someone (her mother-in-law so the story goes) told Aughra that she couldn't knit and she would never be able to keep a house. The knitter in question is a very stubborn woman. Nobody tells her what she can or can't do. So she taught herself to knit. This sweater has a wrap type closure with crocheted trim around the neck. There is some dissension as to whether or not it is worked in acrylic yarn. Mama-san believes that it is acrylic based on Aughra's social class at the time. I don't know of any moths that eat acrylic.

The 2nd item is also made for my uncle when he was a toddler. This navy sweater has color work on it. She worked the nursery rhyme 'Hey diddle diddle' on it. There is a little grey cat playing the fiddle, a dog with his tongue lolling out in a happy smile and a cow jumping over a red moon. You can see on the cow where it has been stained by baby food. This sweater has no moth holes in it. So I am certain this one is made of acrylic.

I love handmade things. They represent time to me. When we make something for someone specific, we think about them during the time we spend on it. If it's for our soon-to-be child, our hope and dreams are work in to the object as we go. These little sweaters were made by a young mother deeply in love with the man of her dreams and are full of love for her 'Sunshine'.

As I was growing up, my hands always had to be busy. It was a rule in Aughra's house. Idle hands and what not. Mama-san and Aughra have always had something crafty going on. When I was very little, we were always working on something for the Church bazaar. Then Aughra decided to build a miniature town in her basement. Mama-san and her had an interior decorating business once. Always busy there. And as we go through her house all these ventures surface. Such good memories.

Freaky Socks!

I got some wondrous yarn from LittleFreak yarns named Celia. Yep! you heard right. Celia! cackles Let me introduce you to my Twisted Freak socks. I had the best time makes these socks. The pattern is Twisted Hourglass by Robin Griffiths At first the charts were eye-crossing but after about an inch or so I got my groove on. These are my favorite socks right now. I love the yarn so much that I now have 3 more skeins in my stash. LOVE!
Note: I have updated my Mitts pattern. It is published and up for sale. I am selling it at an introductory price for the month of February

My Recent Obsession.

I bought myself this yarn mostly cause I liked the name of the colorway. Shallow? Me? Never. When the yarn arrived at my doorstep, I innocently opened it and what to my wondrous eyes did appear?(see what I did there?) This! Isn't it just lovely. Woe Cake is by Dizzy Blonde Designs and is part of her signature collection. Her regular line of yarn is all named after famous blondes. But I digress.

So I laid eyes upon this yarn. Then I touched it. I thought about how it reminded me of how KCMO looks towards the end of fall. You know the leaves are mostly shades from red to pink and the grass is kind of tan color? Just breezy and cold. Almost immediately a pattern came to mind of fingerless mitts with a open work leaves running down them. I was swamped under with obligations at the time. So I had to set it aside.

It was all well and good until it got cold...Then it wouldn't leave me alone. I dreamed about the pattern. I searched the web to see if anybody had made them. This yarn and the pattern were always on my mind. The obsession was not as bad as it was going to get.

Finally I was able to work up a swatch! From working the swatch to weaving the end~2 days. That's right. 2 days! I couldn't think about anything else. I barely fed Mini-me and the Dogglet. Sad, huh? Anyhoo! Here is the finished product. What do you think? Pretty? I think so. The best part is it used less than half of the skein. So I can have some footies from it! Hopefully, I will fall equally in love with the next colorway I get from her. 'Cuz there will be more. Oh yes, there will be more. I am going to get it test knitted by someone else. then I will publish!
UPDATE: The test knitting went really well! My Testers loved it and there was just a few things to adjust. So it is up for sale at $5.00 USD.

Updates!

I just updated some stuff on my blog. There is some new stuff to behold. One Of my Favorite people just opened her OLYS Little Freaks Yarn. Check out the link down in my yarn candy. Also I have added a link to my new ArtFire Shop. The shelves are a little sparse. I am still adding stuff to it. And have I mentioned how much Ravelry rocks recently? No? Well let me tell you Casey And Frecklegirl are awesome. They gave me linkys to my patterns. So now there are cool links to PDFs of my stuff.

December is super busy as you all know so that is all for now!

Sup?

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is fast approaching. My needles are smoking from the effort to get my Christmas knitting done. I am really making pretty good progress. We had a lovely Craft sale last weekend. I meet some really great people. And got a job offer. Yep! You heard right I have been offer a teaching position with Metro Community College here in the KC area. I am So excited! I loved teaching knitting before and am ready to get back to it. So for the spring class schedule 'Beginner's Knitting I - Felted bag' will be taught by myself. The classes will be held out on the old military base in Belton.

Let's see any things else worth mentioning. I am still sick(?). I have this cough that will not go away. I am on almost a full month of it now. So sometimes I have a voice sometimes I don't, but I am not sick enough to justify a doctor's visit. So I just keep trying to wait it out. Blegh!

Oooo! I receive something of great value to me. I am the proud owner of a baby sweater Aughra knitted for my uncle. this sweater is srsly close to 60 years old. After I get it cleaned up and reblocked I will share. I also got to copy a pattern for the Most wonderful handmade stocking. I grew-up wanting this stocking for my own. I will probably not get it done this year but next year I will have it. After Christmas I will post pics of all my Christmas projects. I can't post them as they are finished because their soon to be owners frequent this blog. 'k. That is all for now.

Felting...How to?

So I mentioned that I was going to felt myself a tea cozy using my 1 Fish, 2 fish charts. Right? I know very little about designing felted projects but I am willing to learn..off a researching I will go! I googled 'designing felted projects'. WOW! there is a wealth of people selling their felted projects. But what I was really after was how big you should knit something before you felt it down. That info was a little harder to find. But I found it! Knitted to felted pieces generally shrink 20-25% width wise and between 40-50% lengthwise Depending on the type of wool used. Everybody strongly suggests swatching. Man. I hate swatching. But I guess I will do so. I think I have decided to use worsted weight Wool of the Andes Now I have to ponder the amount of yarn to order for this project...

My 1st for sale pattern!

See this beautiful sweater? Well, I didn't design it. Someone else did. The lovely color working? that is all me. I originally designed these charts for my red-headed friend, currently trying to get her bath remodeled wink, she adores the poem Winkin', Blinkin', & Nod. However, The Amazon beat her to the punch and wanted it really bad for her soon to be little baby Amazon. Since I let her pick what she wanted, I made it for her. The Amazon & I have a difference of opinion on the colors babies should be dressed in. Sigh. The pale bits are all her. The lime green sail and red fishes, that would be my design. As soon as Her Red-headedness gets around to spawning, I will make another in the colors I originally pictured. Until such a time as we are all graced with the presence of mini-redheads, I will sell these charts. In fact for a measly $1.00 USD you to can own them! They are available in my Ravelry store. If you would like these charts and have no wish to be apart of Ravelry, then you nuts! Kidding. Just leave me a note. Here is the lovely poem of inspiration...

Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod

Winken, Blinken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe --
Sailed off on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in the beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!"
Said Winken, Blinken, and Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.

The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in the beautiful sea --
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish --
Never afeard are we";
So cried the stars to the fisherman three:
Winken, Blinken, and Nod.

All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam --
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe
Bringing the fisherman home;

'Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed
As if it could not be,
And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea --
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Winken, Blinken, and Nod.

Winken and Blinken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoes that sailed the skies
Is the wee one's trundle-bed.

So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fisherman three:
Winken, Blinken, and Nod.

poem by Eugene Field

Something Fishy

I am the new proud proprietor of an Ravelry Store. YAY! I have spent the past few days pouring through my three-ring binder of many ideas and projects. I have posted some for FREE. Mostly just color work charts. Digging amongst all of my favorites I found one of my 1st charts. Strangely enough it is still a really good chart, to my thinking. You would think you could really improve on one of you 1st efforts, won't you? Simple yet fun. The picture of the finished product has long since disappeared or I would post it to share.

So, I ponder. I would really like to share these charts with others. How? I could make up samples of them? I hate working on something and having nothing usable at the end. OOO! I could make a purse! A 1 Fish, 2 fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Purse. Hmm... I can see problems with that. I could felt it. But my felting skills are still at the neophyte level. I know I will make a tea cozy! I need one and it is a fairly small project to felt . We have a winner! Look forward to seeing a marvy felted fishy teapot! The charts are published! I just added a Download Link.
DOWNLOAD NOW!

Weezy Doll Revisited.

I promised a couple of knitters to work up the pattern for Weezy. So I revised my notes on this delightful labor of Love for Mini-me. Guess what? I will totally have to rework her. I cannot make heads or tails of my notes. Sigh. Well, that's okay I have some new ideas regarding construction. Can you hear my maniacal laughter? It is there I promise. I must but off to finish my 2nd sock of the Rain Day socks I am working on. I am in danger of catching 2nd sock syndrome.  Every day that passes makes it just that much harder to pick the needles up.

Mama-san is having some health 'troubles' these days. They concern me. Not in the freak-out 'Oh Noes! my mommy sick! How will I survive?!?!?!' way. But in the 'What is the next step?' way. I am a planner. I like to know what is going on pretty far out so that I can plan. I get a little twitchy when things are up in the air. Down right mean sometimes. My Mama-san is a go with the flow type of person. very in the now.

She doesn't want to discuss the 'troubles'.  She will wait until she is forced to confront them. I, however, want to know what is going on right now!!!!!! I need time to look it up on the internet, to plan just exactly what I need to do to help her get through all of it. Pushing the issue is not helping though. So I sit and twitch and try not to push her around about it. So there it is in a nutshell. Blah!