Moving

After a quite a bit of thought I have moved the contents of this blog to a new home: Normas Needlework Adventures at Wordpress. This was a good place to start, but recently there have been technical issues with which I lack the time to deal. Links on the new site will be updated to include all of those here within the next couple of weeks. This site will remain in place at least for the remainder of the year. Thanks to all or you for using this site. :)

Aprons and Stargazer's Site

Someone on an email list to which I belong asked for links to apron patterns. Her preference was for them to be crocheted. I decided to do what I thought would be a quick search for them on Google. My quick search ended up taking more than an hour to complete. This was because I kept finding interesting sites that might have what I was looking for. What fun!!! :) I limited myself to sites with free patterns with the exception of one site that offers both a freebie and one for sale. Here is what I found: These are links to crocheted aprons : http://www.angelfire.com/folk/celtwich/Apron.html http://www.knitting-crochet.com/crochet/aproncro.html http://twosisters.lothruin.com/crochapron.html http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/lffunt/apron.htm http://www.freepatterns.com/fp_pdfs/Other/Crochet/Acorn_Apron.pdf http://www.learntoknit.com/may05_apron.html Here is a knitted apron: http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2006/sep/knitting/knit1.pdf Lion brand has two crocheted patterns: one free and another for free: http://www.lionbrand.com I also found a Blog about aprons: http://angrychicken.typepad.com/tieoneon/free_patterns/index.html

Here is a knitted apron from a link on the Apron blog: http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/PATTpartyapron.html

One of the stops along my way was the Stargazer's Site. This time I saw some pages I have either never seen or maybe never paid attention to before. She has a whole page dedicated to Women Only and Other Sites of Interest. Looking down a little on the left is a link titled Homeschool Links.

Enjoy!!

Glasses

There are times when life doesn't go the way we hope it will. This is one of those times for me. About six weeks ago my nursing license was re-instated. I let it lapse several years ago when I quit working to become a Stay at Home Mom who homeschools. Shortly after it arrived in the mail, my glasses got broken. This is a big issue because it means that driving is very difficult to say the least. I am now in the process of waiting on new ones to arrive. It has been more than two weeks since new ones have been ordered. I am still waiting. This should not be a surprise. It normally takes labs a long time to grind my prescription properly. It was even like this when I lived accross the country shortly after getting married so I know it is not just the labs in this area. Hopefully they will be ready by this weekend. In the meantime, job hunting is limited to online searching. It is a safety issue not only for myself but for others as well. So much for complaining.... I am not the one in charge of this. I know that God knows what is going on and why. If it were up to me, I would have been working for the past several weeks. While I am waiting for my glasses to arrive there is plenty of time to do other things. Most of them are not exciting, but that's all right. Here they are in random order. 1.My family is getting plenty of Mom time. 2.The house is getting a bit of extra attention. 3.Loose ends on a lot of crocheted hats are being woven in. There is someone in my town waiting to recieve them so they can warm heads of children. 4.Dish and wash cloths are being knitted. One is on the needles right now. Most of them will be given away either to family, friends or charities. 5.I owe my very patient mother a pair of slippers. These are long overdue. I know what I will be doing tomorrow. 6.There are scarves to be made for the Orphan Foundation of America. These won't get mailed until January of 2007, but it is not too early to work on them. 7. There are blogs to be updated. 8. There is data on the hard drive to be backed up. 9. Some Library books need to be read so they can go back. The list only mentions a few things to be done. This is Wednesday evening and we have been told my glasses will be ready by Friday. Hopefully they will be.

A Few Things

I found an interesting Blog while working online a few days ago. It is called Bittersweet. Take a look at some of the patterns on the Free Patterns page for some real treats. Even my husband enjoyed this. As usual I have been busy adding patterns to Dish and Wash Cloth Mania. It has grown so much and so fast that I am amazed. There is always something new to add. There has even been time to knit this past week. Here are some pictures of what I have made: These are both made using Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth pattern that I have used before. They got done while riding in the van and during family reading time. I used Peaches'n'Cream Emerald Frost for the one on the left. It was in a cone that has been in my stash for a long time. The other one is from some Cancun Cotton made by Columbia Minerva. I got it from a thrift shop a few years ago and have been waiting for some inspiration to use it. The pattern is quite simple but was what I needed this week end.

My goals for posting here have certainly not been met. I have been spending so much time adding links to Dish and Wash Cloth Mania that even knitting and crocheting have fallen by the way side. That blog has grown more than I thought it would. I even managed to give it a custom header. Doing that made for some interesting learning. I will try to get back to working on some charity projects later today or tommorrow. The priority project is a pile of hats with loose ends waiting to be woven in so they can go to new homes. Then there scarves and more hats to be made for others for the winter.

I realized a few minutes ago that I have not been writing about knitting or crocheting here in the past several weeks. There are a few reasons for this which all come down to life getting in the way. The hard drive on the computer quit working the Friday of Labor Day weekend. My plans were to gets a lot of things done on the computer that weekend. We have a 'new to us' computer purchased from my favorite store: EPC. They are the best in our entire area in my opinion. Another reason for not posting is that Ihave not been knitting or crocheting very much. We have been taking a lot more family time for talking, playing games like Scrabble and family reading. We are homeschoolers and those activities take priority. There are times when I knit or crochet during family times, but I have not done so recently. The last reason for not posting here is because there is a new blog in my life. It is: Dish and Wash Cloth Mania. I am collecting lists of free Dish and Wash Cloth patterns found on the internet. When I began the project my original site was here:Dish and Wash Cloth Mania. The lists of patterns grew very quickly and I chose to move it to a home that would allow for its growth. My free time is being spent adding to it. At the moment it mostly has knitted cloths on it. I am working on adding more crocheted ones to it. This weekend a lot were added. It is taking longer than planned because there are only so many hours in a day.

Wow!!! The past few weeks have been so very busy. It's hard to believe that it has been so long since Ihave written anything here. The main reason for this is that my old hard drive quit working on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. That was a real bummer because my oroginal plan to to spend lots of time on my blogs over that weekend. Oh well....Life happens like that sometimes. Instead of lots of computer time for me and lots of video game time for the guys, we had lots of family time. That was a very good thing. Since the computer is home now, I am getting caught up on blogging and emails. I have been busy knitting some ballband dishcloths to replace my supply of dishcloths that are wearing out. Crochet projects include weaving in some loose ends on squares for a charity project. There are also a bunch of hats with loose ends waiting to be woven in before it gets any cooler outside. Those are going to a local charity.

Long Time

It feels like it has been forever since I have written anything here. Life has just been busy. We have geared up academics now that the end of August has arrived. This means me concentrating on being organized and preparing lesson ideas a few days in advance. Even if they are not written down, they are in my head.....What a scarey place to be. LOL! For the past few weeks my only knitting or crochet time is in the car with my husband on the way to and from work. Mostly I am making some MDK Ballband dishcloths. Not only are they an addiction, but since I make them using 33 or 39 stitches, they fit my hands easily and well. There are more than a dozen in my kitchen. This way I don't hesitate to be particluar about changing them often. Today I realized that the last week of August is approaching. This means that I had better get busy and start making some dishcloths as Christmas gifts for some people on my gift list. I can't name them in case they happen to read this. It is also time to get busy making some red scarves for the Orphan Foundation of America. Last year I did not learn about this until a few weeks before scarves needed to be dropped off for them. This year I want to be prepared for this event by having some scarves made in advance. Once it gets to be a little bit cooler my needles will start having red yarn them. I have rambled enough for now.....More will come later.

My Mom

It feels a bit selfish and extremely egocentric to write about myself, but it seems apporpriate to do so in order that you know where I am coming from when I write about fiber related subjects. First, you must know about my mother. I grew up as the oldest child of working class parents in a major metropolitan area of the Midwest. From what I understand, my mother worked from the time she was able to return to work after I was born in the very early 1950's. Life was not and has not been easy for her. Growing up I was aware that her life was not like that of most women of her time. She worked long hours outside the home followed my long hours after work and on her days off at home. She is dignified and proud and at the same time a very independent person. These are all qualities I deeply admire and respect. From the time I can remember she has sewn. She has made marvelous outfits. When I was Kindergarden or first grade, she made me a pumpkin costume for Halloween. This was no ordinary costume. When I wore it, I actually looked round. It was stuffed and designed to look like a pumpkin. I had an orange hat with a green stem on the top of it to complete the outfit. If memory serves right, she made this without a pattern. Another time she made my oldest cousin and I matching balloon skirts with hoops. These were the kind that were popular back in the 1950's. She also made my younger brother and I matching coats when we were very young. She made shirts for my father to wear to work as well as a lot of her own clothes. The list of items she has been in my lifetime seems endless. Sometimes she used a pattern and sometimes she did not. It varied. To this day, and with a huge assortment of patterns on hand, if she doesn't like the way an item is made she will revise the pattern. She is also a perfectionist in almost everything she does. This is especially reflected in the way she sews. I remember her ripping out a seam because it didn't look right. She continues to do this to this day. As I tell you these things I hope you can hear and feel the respect and admiration I have for this very intelligent, independent and caring woman I have the honor and privilege of calling Mom. She has passed on to me some of the character qualities she possessess such as independence and perfectionism. She has also taught me the value of frugality and when to splurge on materials and tools. I wonder why I am a perfectionist and lover of fiber arts.....Do you think it is passed on from one generation to another?? I wonder and think perhaps it is. What a treasure it is to pass on. With love to my Mom, her older daughter.

I haven't been knitting or crocheting much at all in the past few days. There a some squares with loose ends waiting to be woven in. The stack needs to be finished tommorrow so it can be mailed ASAP....Hopefully my family will be open to the idea of Family Reading time this evening. If they are, then I will weave in the loose ends during this time. We have plenty of books in our 'To be read' pile for such times. The hard part is choosing which one of many to read. Once the squares are completed I will move on to completing the Ball Band cloth that is on my needles....I look forward to posting a picture of it. The colors are nice. The yarn so soft!! It may end up as a facecloth rather than a washcloth. After that is done, Ihave not decided what to make......Perhaps another dishcloth. I don't know yet.

New Site

I decided to move my new site Dish and Wash Cloth Mania to a new home because of the difficulty finding a template that fits my goals for it. You may find it here : Dish and Wash Cloth Mania. This is still my main site for fiber arts. and other topics. I haven'tdone much knitting or crocheting done in the past few days. I spent a bit of time on Saturday evening weaving in loose ends on some squares that need to be mailed in the next or so. I have also been working on another Mason Dixon Ballband cishcloth. I'll post pictures of that when it is done. At the rate I am going, it will be a few days. This evening after my husband gets home from work we are spending the evening mowing the lawn and doing some basic yard cleanup. Today is being spent working on blogs, doing dishes and straightening the house. They aren't exciting things, but still need to be done.

Busy Day

It's been a busy day in terms of Blog activity. There have been a few changes made on the side bar of this blog. I changed the order of the links around to suit my sense of organization. I also added some links, such as Star Gazer's. I also created a new blog devoted strictly to dish and wash cloths. It will eventually be placed on the side bar. For right now you can find it at Cloth Mania. My goal is for it to be a comprehensive resource for all dish cloth lovers. Another addition to the links is a web site having to do with web site accessibility. This is of special interest to me because of personal reasons which may be explained later. Please take a look at the site and consider the issues it discusses.

Time Flies

I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted here! The weeks have flown by in a blur of activity. There have been several times when I have wanted to sit down an write, but have not been able to do so for a number of reasons. My hooks and needles have been very busy. I made a bunch of crocheted 8 inch squares for a project I was involved in on Bev's Charity Challenge. They were made with some of the abundance of worsted weight acrylicfrom my stash. It was a good way to use some scraps for a good cause. I am amazed at how much scrap yarn I still have afetr this project. I have done 11 MDK Ballband dishcloths so far. The first batch of 9 out of1o were made by casting on 33 stitiches and making 9 bands. They looked like the right size for my hands before washing. Unfortunately I neglected to take into account the shrink factor and the fact that everything is normally dried in the dryer. Needless to say, they shrunk. They are still usable. I have learned to stretch them once they are wet to make them a bit larger. Dishcloth #10 was made with 33 stitches and 11 bands. It turned out to be the right size for my hands in terms of length butis not quite wide enough. I am now on #11 which has 39 stitiches and I am planning to make 11 bands wide. This one is an experiment because it is being made from some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece which was a gift from a friend. It is the first time I have ever used this yarn and I am loving it.Since one of my concerns using this yarn for the first time is how much it will shrink. After it is finished I will measure it before and after washing to see how much it shrinks.

Pet Peeve

I have recently discovered a pet peeve. It is tightly wound balls of yarn. Now mind you, I like the yarn....It's the tightly wound part that is unpleasant, to say the least. In the past week I have discovered numerous of these yarn balls in my stash. True enough, they should have been dealt with before, but alas!!!...They got lost in the shuffle. The poor yarn in some cases has been wound so tightly that it looks like string when an attempt is made to use it. Most of them arrived like that, poor things. These days I am on a rescue mission to revive them. It takes a while, but it is worth it to restore them to a better condition. My solution is to unwind it and set it on the kitchen table to relax for a while. Sometimes it stays there all day or overnight until I decide it looks as if it has regained its elasticity. When I decide to rewind it, I do so very loosely so as not to undo the good that has been done.

Pictures

Here are the pictures I promised. The squares don't look as unique as I was hoping. Loose ends reamin to be woven in as you can tell. They will wait for another day.

This one is done in scraps of blues and white. My son says it looks like a target.

This one is done in Red Heart Hot Pink andSunshine Print. The scanned picture does not do it justice.

This one is supposed to be Pink, Green and white even though it doesn't look like it. It is a very busy looking and cheerful square.

Hooks vs. Needles or Needles vs. Hooks

I have had to make some dificult choices in the past two days....What gets my attention: My needles or my hooks. The answer was...Drumroll..............Hooks. Alas, my most recent Mason Dixon Big Dotty dishcloth is abandoned in its place in the kitchen. It has been banned from its place on the table. In its place is a huge plastic type bowl full of odd pieces of yarn surrounded by more yarn, some patterns, a small open notions bag, scissors and worst of all: the dreaded crochet hooks. The reason is complex, but simple. An online group to which I belong is having a contest to see who can make the most 8 inch squares from now until the end of the month. That is simple enough. The complex part is that I also want to use some of the many bits and pieces of yarn that live here. You know the ones I mean. They are the leftovers from that skein of yarn used to make that beautiful scarf you made you mother. They are the scraps from the afghan you made several years ago. That particular yarn has been discontinued. The list goes on, but you get my point. When I began making the squares I felt overwhelmed. My stash is so big. Where do I begin to choose yarns to use? I had to think about this one for a bit....Aha!!! The light bulb went on in my brain. It is time to use the odd balls that are taking up space in my yarn bins and recycled ice cream containers on one of the desks in this rooom. I pulled out a fairly large bowl but discovered it is not nearly large enough to hold the amount of yarn it needs to hold. I then chose the largest bowl in the house to become the Bowl of Honor. I also made the rule that squares for this project are supposed to made from the contents of this bowl as much as possible. I am allowed to supplement my yarn supply with co-ordinating colors if neccesary. In a mad frenzy I attacked the ice cream containers first. Their contents were raided. They were placed in this bowl. This morning I started tackling the Bowl of Honor. As it stands now the contents of the bowl have yielded ten 8 inch squares of assorted colors. The bowl is still full. The pattern being used is the one I posted a couple of days ago. You might not recognize the squares as having come from this pattern when you see them. Color changes are made based on the amount of the scrap color being used. The corners are changed depending on my choice at the moment. I have looked at and considered using other patterns, but this one is so much fun. :) Pictures of my efforts will be taken another day. Now it's time to say "Good night to all my friends and family."

Oops!!

I forgot to say a few things about the pattern I posted yesterday.

1. You can change the way it looks by making the corners : (2 DC, ch 1, 2 DC ) instead of (2 DC, c2, 2 DC ).
2. It also works well as a one color square.
3. Another option is to make a round or two using a variegated or ombre yarn.
4. Another idea is to make a round of SCs with your choice of corners. ( see #1 above. )

Crocheted Square

Here is a crocheted square I designed a while back. I am showing it and the pattern as an 8 inch square, but it can be made smaller or larger by the additon or subtraction of rows; by changing hook size and by changing yarn weight or type.

Fascination

Materials: Small amounts of 2 colors of yarn Size I hook Size: Approx. 8 inches With Color A, form a loop around fingers to form a ring, draw a loop through to form a slip st. Rnd 1: Ch3 ( counts as first DC now and throughout ), 11 DC in ring, join with a sl. st. at top of Ch 3. ( There should be a total of 12 Dc's )

Rnd 2: Ch 3, DC in same st. as joining. 2 Dc in each st.around. Join with sl. st.to top of beginning Ch3. ( 24 DC ) Rnd 3: Ch 3 in same st as joining, 2 DC in next st. Then ( 1 DC in next st; 2 DC in next st ) for 11 times. Join with a sl st at top of Ch 3. ( 36 DC ) Rnd 4: Ch 3 in same st as joining, DC in next st., 2 DC in next st, * ( DC in

next 2 sts, 2 DC in next st. ) Repeat from * around. Join with a sl st at top of Ch 3. Fasten off Color B ( 48 DC) Rnd 5: Attach Color B in any st. Ch 4 ( counts as first TR ) and 2 Tr in same st, then DC in next st, HDC in next 9 sts, DC in next st. *Then 3 TR in next st ( to form corner ); DC in next st, HDC in next 9 sts, DC in next st. * Repeat between *s 2 more times ( for a total of 3 times ). Join with a sl st to top of ch 3 and fasten off. Rnd 6: Attach Color A to center TR in any corner ( group of 3 TR stitches ) with sl st and ch 3 (counts as a DC ), then ( 1 DC, ch 2, 2 DC ) in same st.; DC in next 13 sts. Then *( 2 DC , ch 2, 2 DC ) in next st; DC in next 13 sts.* Repeat between *s 2 more times ( for a total of 3 times ) Join with a sl st to top of ch 3. Rnd 7: Slip stitch to center of the ch space and ch 3, then : ( DC, ch 2, 2 DC ) in same space. DC in next 13 sts. Then * ( 2 DC, ch 2, 2DC ) in corner space; DC in next 16 sts. * Repeat between *s 2 more times. ( for a total of 3 times). Join with a slip stitch at top of ch 3.

Rnd 8: Slip stitch to the center of the ch space and ch3, then: ( DC, ch 2, 2 DC) in same space. DC in next 19 sts. Then * ( 2 DC, ch 2, 2 DC ) in corner space; DC in next 19 sts. * Repeat between *s 2 more times ( for a total of 3 times ). Join with a slip st. at top of ch 3. Fasten off and weave in loose ends.

This basic pattern is very flexible. You can change colors any time you want for different effects. You can crochet in either the front or back loops for another effect. Please enjoy!!!

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Please be advised that this pattern is copyrighted to Norma R. WAMPLER and 2006-All Rights Reserved. You may [PRINT OUT A COPY] for personal and charitable use only.

Please be advised that this pattern is copyrighted to
NORMA R WAMPLER and 2006-All Rights Reserved].
You may [PRINT OUT A COPY] for personal and charitable
use only.

Norma

Dish & Wash Cloths

Lately I have been on a dish and wash cloth make craze. At first I blamed it ( tongue in cheek ) on the Mason Dixon Knitting book. I have come to realize that there is more to it than that. There are lots more reasons than that ranging from them being a quick portable project to the simple fact that I enjoy making them. They can be knitted, crochete or cro-hooked....It just depends on my mood. I have been thinking about the ways they are used. In my house they are dish cloths, wash cloths, coasters, placemats and when worn out become rags. Last weekend at Stitch and Chat one of the ladies shared that her family uses them as cloth napkins. This sounds like a good idea. I wonder what other uses can be found for them.

Yesterday

Yesterday was fun. I wanted to write about it last evening was just too tired. Once a month our library has a Stitch n Chat in the afternoon, led by one of the library staff. It is a very informal time for people who do any kind of stitching to get together and just stitch and chat. It has been months since I have gone because life just got in the way. I went yesterday despite having lots of work to so around the house. DH, of course, encouraged me to go. His comments were that I needed to do something for myself; I needed to get be with people who share my interest and that sort of thing. He made sense...Not only that, but it has been a long time since I have attended any of the stitching meetings around the area. It was about time I came out of my hole and just go. So I did. Once I got there I wondered why I stopped going in the first place. There are large tables arranged in a rectangle or square, depending on how many are in the room. The idea is that they are arranged in a circle. There are plenty of chairs. The most formal aspect of the meeting is the presence of a sign in sheet and paper nam tags. Most of us no longer use the name tags since we know each other. The large tables are an invitation to spread out supplies, current projects and of course Show and Tell items. The atmsphere in the room is casual and friendly. I arrived a few minutes early and found others already stitching and chatting in the wonderfull informal fashion in which they do. Greetings were exchanged as I entered and unpacked my bags. As I looked around the room , there were some familiar faces and some new ones. The Library staff person, rightfully proudly, showed me the big afghan she was crocheting. It is being done in Double Crochet out of dark red/ burgundy color. She has learned to crochet since we started meeting and has done a fantastic job doing so. Next to here was a lady cross stitiching. She is truly amazing to me because she does the most comples projects with great ease. Her work is beautiful. Another lady, who is an expert knitter, was making socks on double pointed needles without a pattern. She has made so many of them over the years that she says they are easy and does not need a pattern. Sock making looks so easy when watching her. Next to her sat her sister. She was working on a baby blanket in filet crochet using a one punder skein of yarn. The design is lots of Teddy Bears in rows. I admire her patience to follow a chart. There are some 'new to me people' present. The first new person is making socks out of a self striping yarn. They are beautiful. Her work is meticulous. I had the privilege of looking at it closely. She says she is being taught by our expert knitter and sock maker. There is a lady at the end of the tables who is knitting a lapghan on circular needles. It is being done in the most beautifull shade of sage green. That is the best way I can describe it. She said it is getting to hot to work on it despite air conditioning. This makes good sense because the temperature was in the 90's yesterday. It is typical for this town in the summer. There were two ladies on the same side of the table as me. The one furthest down knits and crochets for charities in the area. She always has something beautiful on her hooks or needles. I did not see what she was making because shotly after I arrived she began teaching the person next to me to crochet. Her student came here for the first time and asked if someone would teach her to crochet. Since she is right handed, we agreed that the lady close to me, rather than me, teach her. The motivation was to make it easier on the new crocheter. This was a wise decision. By the end of our time together she had a couple of rows done on a good looking dishcloth. After talking with her, I think she is hooked. :) We were joined occasionally by others.....The Head Librarian came in requesting help locating a pattern. A retired library staff person came by to say "Hi." She stayed and chatted for a bit. A mother came in and asked if we would give lessons in knitting or crocheting to her young person. The collective response expressed in many ways was that we would be gald to do so. We answered her other questions about when we meet and what she needs to have when they come. Hopefully the next meeting will find us having another new person in our midst. As the meeting ended we tahnked our hostess and said Good Byes to each other. I stopped the main section of the Library to see if my family had books waiting on the Hold Shelf. There were none. As I left, I wondered why I stopped going in the first place.

Another Big Dotty and Some BallBand Cloths

Never has one book of patterns captured my imagination as much as the Mason Dixon Knitting book. Yarn and thread have fascinated me since I was 6 or 7 years old. I learned to knit before I was 10 years old and learned to crochet as a young teenager. My collection of fiber related books is adequate, but not small. My collection of patterns obtained from online is likewise not lacking in size. This book ranks right up there with some of my favorites.

This is Big Dotty 2, completed. I used a scrap of Yellow for the background stitches. I don't know if it P&C or S&C. The blue is P&C Bright Navy. I had more fun making this cloth than the others.

As a rule most of the Big Dotty cloths are measuring about 6-6 1/2 inches wide and 6 1/2-7 inches wide.

Here are some Ball Band Dishcloths I have made from this same book. This one is made with same Yellow used in Big Dotty 2 and S&C Spring Meadows. This is the one time I used the number of stitches specified in the book.

This is the second BallBand Dishcloth I have made. It is made of P&C White and Peppermint. It was deliberately made smaller than the pattern called for. The motivation to fit the wants and needs of my household. It measures approximately 6 1/2 inches square.

Finally!!

I finally got loose ends woven in on some dish and wash cloths today. It feels like a major accomplishment to have done this. It is one of my least favorite tasks to do in the entire world.

These first pictures are done using the Big Dotty pattern from the Mason Dixon Knitting book. I used # 10 1/2 needles for rows 1, 2, 9, and 10. The remaining rows are made on size # 8 needles. This results in the front stitches not pulling, thus creating a fabric that tends to lie reasonably flat.These are purposely made small to suit my hands.

The on the left is made from P&C Pink and Light Grape. The one on the right is made from P&C Gumdrop and Grape.

Yarn, Links and Dishcloths

The past couple of days have been very interesting. I have been in dish and wash cloth making mode for the past few weeks. This week has been no different. I am in the process of making a Big Dotty cloth using Sugar n Cream Gumdrop and Hot Orange. There will eventually be an inverse set. This first one has Gumdrop as the front color and Hot Orange as the back color. It will be so pretty. It is only about a third of the way completed but that's because I made a mistake on it yesterday and frogged it. I restarted it this morning. Once it is done and loose ends are woven in I will post pictures of it here. It is fun combining bright colors in ways I have never had the courage to do before. For the present, I am making only Big Dotty dish and wash cloths. The contrast of textures: smooth on one side and a bit less smooth on the othe, is appealing to me. I like way they look when using two colors in the way the pattern uses them. There are other patterns I want to try, but they can wait for now. My yarn stash is very slowly becoming smaller. It seems to be taking a while though. Making dish and wash cloths is not the quickest way to deplete it....It's summer here in the Midwest which means heat and high humidity. It's easier and much more pleasant to make smaller items using natural fibers in this weather, even with air conditioning. I never knew there was so much to learn about blogging. It took a few times to find the template that has the basic style I want. After finding it, I played around wit the side bar and messed it up so badly the easiest thing to do was start all over. Now it looks the basic way I like it. It needs a few more links and buttons, but those will come in time. Thanks to Lisa at Calming Seas , I now know how to post buttons onto a blog. It was so kind and helpful of her to teach me how to do that. It was a fun thing to learn.

Busy Day

Wow!! This has been a super busy day. The first part of the morning was spent learning to re-size and crop photographs. It was fun to play around doing this. I have spent a lot of time today reformatting this blog and have finally chosen to stay with this template after some experimentation. It is working out quite well. More links need to be added, but that might have to wait for another day. Actually it will be a work in progress ( aka WIP for those who don't what it means ). I have been on a dish/washcloth making spree using the Big Dotty pattern from the Mason Dixon book. Most of them need to have loose ends woven in before pictures get taken. Once that is done, I will post them here. They were originally all going to be used for dishcloths, but Big Dotty # 1 got used as a washcloth last week. It was a fantastic combination of texture on one side and softness on the other, in my opinion. I spent a little time today working on one in purple and pink. It is the second of a 2 cloth set.

One of my favorite places to visit is the Mason Dixon KAL site. I always seem to get new ideas when visiting there. This is great because I have lots of cotton worsted wt. yarn to use and am not the most creative person when it comes to choosing color combinations. I appreciate seeing what others do.

On The Road Again

Finally......I am on the road again!!! My van is repaired and home once again. It's strange how something so commonplace as a minivan can make such a differnece in one's life. Mine is nothing special in the scope of life, except that it is mine, well, really ours. But the point is it is wheels I can drive. YES!!!! I wonder just how much knitting or crocheting will be done now....Oh well..It will even out in the long run.

Big Dotty # 2

Ok, so I don't have all the fine points of this Blogging stuff down yet. I am working real hard on it. Somehow I wound up with two identical pictures and can't figure out how to get rid of one of them. At least I am able to use the scanner to post pictures of my work. Yeah!!!!! That's progress.

This is Big Dotty #2 using pattern from the Mason-Dixon Knitting Book.

This time I started off using size 10 1/2 Boye needles and switching to size 8's when switching colors. Oh, the colors are P&C Bright Navy and some a scrap of yellow. It looks much neater than the first Big Dotty dishcloth.

Like I said earlier, this is an obsession...or is it an addiction?

Big Dotty # 1

This is a picture of my first attempt of making "Big Dotty" from the Mason Dixon Knitting book into a dishcloth. I used a size 8 Boye needle to start and Peaches & Cream Yarn. After the first several rows it dawned on me to use larger needles for the red rows. I changed to size 10 1/2 for them and the result was a better looking dishcloth. The portion at the top is really the cast on edge and first few rows. This is not the best picure, but wil do for the moment. As you can tell, I still practice making the sides look neat when carrying colors up the side.....Gee, I guess that's an excuse for making more dishcloths. LOL!!

June 20, 2006

My First Experience With A Blog

This is exciting!!! I have been thinking about doing this for a long time. The impetus for doing this is all of the knitting and crocheting I have been doing.

At the first of the year, I promised DH and DS I would not buy any more yarn this year until I had used up the equivalent of one 16 gallon tote of yarn.....I blew that one a long time ago, but am still conentrating on using what is on hand. Progress has been pretty good so far. I have only bought yarn a few times this year., which is not bad for me. the frist couple of times it was on sale...The yarn called my name and said it was mine. LOL!!! This last time, I went looking for some bright colored cotton yarn to go along with what is on hand. The motivaton was knitting dishcloths. Yes...That's right. I am knitting discloths. The Mason-Dixon Knitting book that I had requested from the library became available. It has some great patterns in it. A couple of them have caught my fancy...Actually, they have become an obsession.