KayleenKnits

New Crafts

2009-06-07T23:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, over five months since I last posted. I haven't been idle either, let me tell you. Although I've been really busy, I have to admit I have not done much knitting. Right now I've really been enjoying making cards and getting into scrapbooking and rubberstamping. I love it so much, in fact, that I signed up to become a Stampin Up Demonstrator. If you are curious to see what it is that I am selling, you can just browse through my Stampin Up website at http://kayleenclements.stampinup.net

Oh, I also wanted to show an update of my two beautiful daughters. I'll bet you can't tell how proud of them I am. I am also pretty proud of me as I have lost 46 pounds and am still going.

Let me show you some of the cards I've been making. I'm very much a newbie at this, so I realize that I have a great deal to learn...but I'm having fun!!

This card was made for a secret pal that I am exchanging with through the summer.

Yep - another card going to my secret pal.

Okay, this one is definitely not my favorite, but I was playing around with some new techniques! It will probably go to my secret pal too.

A graduation card for my niece. Somebody gave me the idea of using her announcement as part of the card.

I totally took this idea from a book, can't remember which one. Don't know if you can tell, but there is vellum over the fish to look like a glass fish bowl. My calligraphy is pretty bad on this card -- but I'm working on it.

This card was made for my Mother-In-Law for Mother's Day. She loved it!

Here is another pop-up card that I made for a card swap. Can't remember which group.

Now this was a really fun card that I made for my secret pal. It closes into a little book that is tied with a ribbon.

Here is the front of the book/card.

Okay, this one is kind of silly -- but I had fun making it.

Yep, this is similar to the one above, but different. I made this for my dear friend's birthday.

Vanna's Legwarmers

2009-01-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

I finished it! About time since the deadline for the Vanna White yarn project contest is February 1st. Luckily I was able to submit my legwarmer design by photo electronically. Technically, I have until February 1st, so I can work the other leg up to double-check my pattern. Once I know the pattern is without error, I'll post it here for anyone who would like to make it. My daughter has already claimed these so it definitely got the teenager approval.

Although I don't think you can see it clearly in the photo, what I really like about this legwarmer is that it flairs out at the foot with picot edging. I just think that's so pretty. I actually want to rework this design to move the large Fair Isle patternwork lower on the leg. Because the stitches tend to be tighter, I think having it placed right at the fullest part of the calve isn't such a great idea. If I lower it down the leg, then it won't pull so much at the buttons around the calve because the other patterns have so much more give to them.

Oh well, as a budding designer I realize that I still have oodles to learn, but I love to have something to inspire me (such as a contest) to get the creative juices flowing.

OTN: (1) The other legwarmer (of course), (2) 2nd sock, (3) short-sleeved sweater, (4) Ms. Beasley wristwarmers, (5) Beaded shawl..... and yes, I do want to start a new project!

Fetching fetching!

2009-01-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I couldn't resist showing a pair of the fingerless gloves I made for another resident actor in my company. As you can tell, he was very excited to get them and told me he is already thinking about what to ask me to make next for him.

My leg warmer that I designed is still drying, darn it, so maybe tomorrow I can sew on the buttons and post a photo. We were told we don't have rehearsal tomorrow night (YAY), so I'll have an entire evening to knit!!!

Square Scarf

2009-01-25T20:50:00.001-08:00

My daughter asked me to knit this particular scarf quite awhile ago. Although I finished knitting it on our way back from France this past summer, I only now sewed it together. Part of the reason is because our season at the theatre started up again and I don't have much free time. Another reason, and much bigger is that Hurricane Ike played havoc on my home and it was only until now that I was able to find it. I'm still unpacking from that mess.

It came out much longer than I thought, but she really likes it so that is all that matters. I've also finished two more pairs of Fetching fingerless gloves which I probably won't bother posting because practically everyone has seen those. The big news is that I have finally finished one of my leg warmers of my own design. I know, I'm a tease, but I can't show it yet because it is drying and blocking. I hope to be able to sew on the buttons tomorrow night and then post it. These are the leg warmers I am submitting to the Vanna White/Lion Brand yarn contest. This week will be our tech week so I may not be able to post anything until next weekend. I do have to get them photographed and e-mailed in before February 1st to be eligible for the contest though.

Another bit of news...I have begun the Methodist Hospital Liquid Meal program. I'm at the end of my second week and it is amazing how much better I feel already. I've lost (as of last Thursday -- my weigh in days) 11.6 pounds. Pretty darn good for 1-1/2 weeks. It is amazing how I am not at all hungry and I really have to watch to make sure to get in a meal about every 4 hours. I do begin to feel rather weak though if I go too long. I was really terrified of being hungry all the time but I really haven't felt much hunger at all. I'd love to hear from anyone else who is currently on, or has been on a liquid meal program.

Teaching knitting and UFOs

2009-01-04T10:03:00.001-08:00

These past few weeks with our Australian daughter (exchange student), Katie, have been so much fun. She leaves in a little over a week and we are all dreading that fact. Apparently her sister, Gab, in Australia just learned to knit. Not to be outdone, we decided to teach Katie knitting here as well. It will be interesting to see how their techniques differ. My daughter (leaning on the left), Alex, had stopped knitting a long time ago. It was nice seeing her interested in picking up knitting again to knit along with her friend Katie.

We went to San Antonio for the weekend to visit family and also to show Katie the Riverwalk. It was beautiful, as you can see by the two beautiful girls in the photo.

Also, it felt good to pull out all my UFO's and actually finish one. I started this Harry Potter scarf a long time ago. So long in fact that I don't even remember who I started to make it for. Needless to say my husband swooped on it. I was very surprised because it just didn't seem like something he would wear, but he loves it. Now, as it doesn't get cold here very often, we will either have to wait for a cold day, or take it with us to New York the next time we go. It is knit in the round and then bound at the ends with tassels so it is double-thick and very, very warm.

This Harry Potter pattern (Griffindor) is a free pattern found at http://knit.atypically.net/scarves/hogwarts/pattern.shtml.

New Year's Socks!

2009-01-01T17:02:00.001-08:00

I finished them! Yay! I actually meant to finish them yesterday as my last project for 2008. Obviously, I missed that deadline. But, not to be daunted, I finished them today. I have a friend that is having knee surgery so I think she might appreciate a pair of comfy homemade socks. Now, the next venture. My friend told me about the Vanna White contest that I think I'm going to enter. I purchased yarn today for it. Now, what to make? Here is the information on the contest... http://vannaschoice.com/.

I Love New York City!

2008-12-27T21:38:00.001-08:00

I just love New York City. We took our Australian exchange student there to spend Christmas with us. For New York, the weather was pretty mild and very tolerable. Of course since there were four girls and one boy (my husband), we did a lot of shopping, a lot of theatre, and generally had a lot of fun. My husband did get to see one museum though so he was happy. From performing at TUTS here in Houston, I was lucky to meet some really great people who just happen to be performing on Broadway right now. We really enjoyed seeing Bobby Creighton play the Chef in LITTLE MERMAID. Kristyn Smith was gorgeous as the center Rockette! What a great show. And then we felt so lucky to be able to get in to see Jen Cody play a shoemaker's elf in the new musical, SHREK. Then when the girls went on their own to see WICKED, again, John and I went and saw IN THE HEIGHTS. I can clearly see why it won a Tony. It was original, fresh, awesome.

Okay, but this is a blog about knitting (or really whatever I guess I feel I want to share), so I was excited to actually get quite a bit of knitting done. I love to travel because there are airports to wait and knit in, planes to ride and knit in, cafes to sit and knit in...well, you get the picture. Of all the times I've been to New York, this is the first time I actually went to a yarn shop. Since I knew I had one day to myself, I look specifically for a yarn shop cafe and and found Knit Point Cafe in Greenwich Village. Its on Bedford Street for anyone interested and I do recommend you go and spend the day. The ladies there were very nice and inviting. You don't even have to knit to go there because it is also a cafe with some pretty tasty treats if I do say so myself. Although I had no intention of buying yarn, how could I resist when they hand dye the yarn there themselves. Beautiful yarn. So yes I brought home some delicious yarn to knit up. Once I finish them I will definitely post them. Oh, let me show you the project I finish while I was there. My leg warmers.

This legwarmer pattern is a pattern I've created myself, but I'm not totally happy with the way the pattern came out so I'm going to tweak it a bit more before I post a freebie pattern. I forgot that you have to adjust what you do when you are cabeling in the round. I created these legwarmers with my co-worker, Laura Gray, who is an incredible dancer in our company (not to mention a strong singer and lovely actress). Yeah, I hate her, she's a triple threat. No I love her to death and am designing these legwarmers with her in mind. I don't think she actually uses legwarmers when she dances, but she wears cute outfits during the day and loves to wear cowboy boots. I just think these will look really cute with the cowboy boots and so have dubbed them "La's Legwarmers". I know she'll love them even if they are not the final product.

I also knitted (and finished) one sock today (we also just flew back from NYC today). I'm really happy with the result and again, took a pattern and modified it more for my own taste. I'm getting to wear I really enjoy doing that. Anyway, I'm a nerd because I'm not going to post them until I finish the second sock. Hopefully in the next few days.

A Warm Hug

2008-12-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

Slowly I'm beginning to churn projects out again. It makes me so happy to actually complete items. Especially this time of year. I am actually not knitting any Christmas presents this year just because of the craziness of my job, Hurricane Ike, etc. I didn't want to add any additional pressure to myself. I figured I'll just finish things when I can. This is a project I've been working on for quite awhile, not because it is difficult, but because I simply haven't had time to knit. Now that I am trying to fit more knitting in I actually was able to finish this little shrug. I love making these because they look great on every figure. I just used Homespun yarn -- two skeins to knit this. My Australian exchange student, Katie, is modeling it for me.

The Ultimate Knitter Junkie!

2008-12-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

I've actually hit the pinnacle of knitting kingdom nerd-dum. Seriously. Well, I just hate when I go to all the trouble to knit socks and then only I can admire them by the feel of them. Its not like I churn out pairs of socks one right after another. They seem to take forever to me, especially when I design them. ANYWHO, I heard of these shoes and ordered them right away so that I can admire my handknit treasures!

Arn't they cool! I absolutely love them. My husband just gave me this funny look and my kids, well, made it clear they would not be caught dead in them, but anyone who has knitted a pair of socks and knows the amount of work and love that goes into each sock (especially people like me who still only know how to knit one sock at a time). I ordered them from Journey's online. Can't wait to wear them to work tomorrow. I'm sure I'll get some comments...

Just Gabbin!

2008-12-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

Although I've no knitting photos to add I wanted to share my, hmmm, I wouldn't call it frustration, just puzzlement really, of why I seem to be having problems with a cable pattern. I forgot that sometimes when you work a pattern in the round (such as a sock or as in this case, a leg warmer), that knits and purls don't always translate well because a pattern will assume that you will be knitting back and forth. Hence the reason the cables on my legwarmers are coming out a little wonky. By wonky I mean they are not exactly clear cut. I think I'm still going to go ahead and finish the one I've started as I'm almost finished with one of the legwarmers. I'll post it when I've finished one. I'll go ahead and make a second one and gift it to someone. My non-knitting friends won't realize that the cables arn't supposed to look that way. But then, I really want to be able to create a cable pattern in the round. I guess I'm going to need to pull out an established sock pattern with cables so that I can try and understand how it works. Then I can try to rework my pattern again. I know, it sounds complicated, but it helps to get it all out in the open for me.

On another note, our Australian exchange student, Katie, arrived yesterday. We simply ADORE her. She is only going to be with us one month and I just hope we don't totally wear her out. I don't think she is quite used to the constantly going schedule that probably most American households run. Nevertheless, it will be fun to show her a bit of the U.S. We are taking her to New York for Christmas to see some shows that my friends are performing in. Looking forward to that. I'm hoping I might be able to find one of the yarn shops in NYC. We've been to NYC several times but I've yet to schedule a trip to a yarn shop. Maybe this will be my year....

Well, as I said I don't have a photo to post of any knitting, but I will show a post of what Hurricane Ike did to our house. Two 70-foot pine trees fell on our house. We were lucky that the tree you see in the below photo got caught up by the tree in the backyard so it was not able to completely go through our house. If it hadn't, our youngest would have most likely of been crushed. Needless to say we feel very blessed.

Knitting Once Again!

2008-12-13T22:12:00.001-08:00

Almost a year has past and I've been busy with life. Since taking on a job as a resident actress and costume shop manager with Masquerade Theatre, my life has been a bit more full than I would like. I've taken a stand to find balance in my life though and one of the first steps is to renew my love of knitting. I had forgotten how the mere feel of yard soothes my spirit. The excitement of looking for a project, the fun of choosing the colors, etc. I was excited to finish two projects that have been going for over a year while waiting backstage in our production of MUSIC MAN. A pair of adorable pink socks which I think I will gift to a co-worker, and an easy, adorable little shrug which I think I might also gift. I'll get pictures of them here soon. I've also whipped out a couple pairs of fingerless gloves (Fetching on Knitty.com). They feed my spirit of needing to see something accomplished quickly. A purple pair, and a requested black pair modeled by my daughter below. I know, she requested black. What a boring color to knit with. But her smile says it all.

I've now decided that I want a pair of leggings that I can wear over jeans and down over clogs. I actually found a picture of what I would like on Knitpicks.com, but when I tried to knit up the gauge I couldn't figure out why the pattern came out so wonky. Drove me crazy. I know it can't be a difficult pattern but for some reason I just couldn't seem to get the ribbed cable pattern to work. So instead of giving up and since I can't find exactly what I am looking for, I've decided to create my own design using my knowledge of knitting socks and a cables pattern sample book. If they come out I will certainly post the pattern here.

I have been swamped, as I mentioned, with Music Man costume building which received rave reviews in the paper I must admit. Although I am very proud of the work my staff and I were able to accomplished as we built nearly the entire show, I am looking forward to a much smaller show in the future. Here is a scene that shows a bunch of the costumes I designed.

I'm starting with smallish projects to get my feet wet, but I hope to move on to some Fair Isle Knitting soon. I really want to knit a Fair Isle sweater. It is just such an expensive endeavor. ESPECIALLY when you live in Houston where it is rarely cold enough to pull out a sweater. And ESPECIALLY, ESPECIALLY when you are going through pre-menopause. You ladies know what I'm talking about. Oh well. I can dream, can't I?

I want to leave this post with just an adorable picture of my daughter in her Halloween costume. Here I am, a professional costume builder, and my kids would rather have store-bought costumes! Well you can imagine my excitement when my youngest daughter asked me to make her and her friend's Halloween costume. At least, I was excited till I heard she wanted to be a cupcake. A CUPCAKE??? Couldn't it just be an adorable costume from Simplicity or Butterick? I really have to figure out how to make a cupcake? Well, here it is...

I'm back!

2008-01-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh, I can't believe how long it has been since I last blogged!! I think when we came back from Italy, it was just so darn hot here in Houston that I couldn't bring myself to do much knitting. Then I started working as a resident company member at a local theatre and only seem to have time to knit when I am sitting backstage. I love it though. I am currently rehearsing the musical, The Scarlet Pimpernel. I'll post photos as soon as I have them. I'm working on a couple of scarves right now, and hope to finish those and post as well!

There are 20 of us company members who are all actors and some of us work full time at the theatre during the day in other jobs. Mine is as a costumer. With 19 other birthdays (20 counting the director), I have decided this year to knit each person a hand cloth and include a nice bar of soap.

Francisca's Scarf

2007-05-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, in less than a week we are headed off to Italy. To say I cannot wait is an understatement. While we are in Florence, we will be meeting with a stainglass artist who is working with my husband on a project. They have invited us over for dinner at their house. They, like me, also have two daughters who are near the same age as my own. Needless to say we are all looking forward to this evening. We wanted to take gifts for everyone and since I found out at such late notice that we are having dinner in their home, I knew I wouldn't have a great deal of time to make something for the wife, Francisca, so I made her this scarf.

I love this scarf. I've made it before, and then ended up giving it away as a gift. I really need to make another one for me because I loved wearing it. It is called the Trellis scarf from Interweave Knit's Scarf Style book. The scarf (trellis part) is crocheted. Very quick and very easy. Then you just knit 10 roses and arrange them anyway you like. Again, very fast project that looks really nice on I think. Here is my daughter "modeling" the scarf for me. Never will say no to being in front of a camera!

Dishcloth Exchange

2007-05-27T20:09:00.001-07:00

In one of the groups I belong to, Mary's Knitting and Crocheting Group, there was a sign-up to exchange a dishcloth with 11 other people. So, every month you send a dishcloth (and some goodies if you want to) to the person who signed up for that month. My month is May, and although I can tell I won't receive all 11 packages, I have received some very nice cloths. I received a particularly nice "puffy' from Nicole and just had to share it.

Isn't the flower theme she sent adorable? Packets of flower seeds, flower shaped scented cancles, and flower list pad and the best of all, the sunflower dishcloth. I love all the thought she put into her puffy. So, so sweet.

Traveling Hook

2007-05-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of this? I didn't either. But then I was invited to join one. It is where a crochet hook, a pen and a notebook get mailed to you from someone else on the list. I received the package which also included an adorable washcloth as a present for me with the pattern. With the hook you are supposed to make something for charity, write about it, or anything you want to I guess, and then mail it off to the next person on the list. I made a pair of Baby Booties. Well, actually since the hook was bigger than what the pattern called for, they are really slippers for Toddlers, but I now have found an incredibly easy baby bootie pattern that I can whip up in about 1-1/2 hours. I wish I could tell you where I got the pattern. I can't, other than to say that I found it online for free. I think maybe I should start something like this with a pair of knitting needles as well.

Its also nice to be working on something new. I'm now working on knitting a baby hoodie sweater for a friend who is having their first baby. A baby boy. I think I'll make a pair of matching socks. I'm not one much for showing partial projects. I did that once and then never finished the project. Call me superstitious. Anyway, as soon as I finish the project I'll post it.

Oh, only a little more than a week until we go to Italy. Can't wait to shop for yarn there!!!

Two final Rune Letters: NG and O

2007-05-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

Finally! The last two Rune Letters.
Rune Letter NG

Rune Letter O

Rune Letters D and L

2007-05-19T16:28:00.000-07:00

Rune Letter D

Rune Letter L

Whew! Only two more letters to go -- letters NG and O.

Rune Letters B, E and M

2007-05-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Rune Letter B

Rune Letter E

Rune Letter M

Only 4 more to go. I should be able to knock Letter L out quickly. The remaining three are going to be a little bit challenging, so bear with me those of you who are actually waiting on these patterns.

Rune Letter T

2007-05-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely, all the letters are getting done. I'll have two more tomorrow. I have already written them and knitted them, but I haven't had a chance to block and photograph them, or to type up the patterns.

Rune Letters P, Z or -R, and S

2007-05-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

Rune Letter P

Rune Letter Z or -R

Rune Letter S

Rune Letter T is almost finished so I hope to have it posted tomorrow.

Rune Letter EI

2007-05-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here is Rune Letter EI or Eihwaz. Only 11 more to go.....

Rune Letter J or Y

2007-05-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

This little guy was kind of tricky. This is the third cloth I made. I actually am pleased with the way it came out. Now I just need to learn to block better! As always, the pattern is free listed on the right, just scroll down. I'm working now on letter EI.

Rune Letters I and N

2007-05-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Rune Letter I

Rune Letter N

These patterns can be found on the right, just scroll down to free patterns. All the Rune Alphabet that I have designed so far is under one heading. I am working on the Letter J or Y and hope to have that as well as the letter EI out by tomorrow.

Two more Rune Letters

2007-05-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Two more Rune letters -- W or V, and H. The patterns can be found under Rune Alphabet on the right, just scroll down.

Back to the land of knitting

2007-05-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when life gets in the way. I have just recently been able to pick up a pair of needles again. And the first thing I want to do is continue and complete working on the Rune Letter Alphabet and to assemble the U.S. afghan that I've put aside while I completed direction of The King and I at my daughters' school. The show was fabulous, if I do say so myself. But now, it is a little time for me...so, here is the first letter in a long time in the Rune Alphabet -- the Letter G. The pattern can be located under free patterns on the right. Just scroll down to Rune Alphabet.

Its been a long time...

2007-04-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well, life has got in the way and I have hardly had any time at all this month to knit. My knitting friends told me they are worried about me. A musical I am directing has apparently consumed my every waking moment, and it is only now, at 12:40 a.m. that I have a few moments to write before I go and drop into bed. I just wanted to share the pattern for the latest KAL that I made for my group. I thought it was kind of pretty. My show, well it goes up next weekend, so I only have one more week to dedicate to it -- then I am going on a binge of knitting!!!

This pattern is called the zig zag and although I wrote it for an afghan square, you can easily knit it with cotton for a washcloth. The pattern is listed on the right -- just scroll down under free patterns.

Another Rune Alphabet Letter

2007-04-07T00:14:00.000-07:00

Well I finally took some time to go back and create another Rune Letter -- as you can clearly see, the letter R or Raidho (pronounced "rye-though"). With all my obligated charity knitting and assembling of afghans, etc., it is nice to have a little creative outlet. I'll admit, I'm not particularly happy with the way this "R" turned out, but I think I will leave it for now and continue. If it continues to bother me I will go back and redo it.

I've also been very busy assembling a U.S. Afghan for my charity group. Women from all over the U.S. and Canada made state squares and mailed them in. When I finish this puppy it will go to Warm Up America. I'm actually enjoying putting it together, but I am only working on it a little bit everyday.

Finally, I just have to show you an adorable book that I have been wanting to get. But it is now no longer published and was going for $45 + online. One of the members of my charity group, lovely Leslie Pinney from California, apparently found the book and surprised me with it as a gift. Can you believe that. I'm still just speechless and touched. The book is called KNIT A SQUARE AND MAKE A TOY. It is patterns for all of these super cute stuffed animals, clowns, mermaid, etc., and they are all made from knitted squares. Very creative. I can't wait to get started on making one, or more. Leslie -- you rock girl!!!

Easter egg!

2007-04-05T22:23:00.000-07:00

Well, Easter is right around the corner and I couldn't resist designing a little Easter Egg afghan square/dishcloth for my KAL group and to give in my two dishcloth exchanges.

So if you need a last minute little Easter gift, this is a quick knit.

I am in the process of assembling the USA afghan and will post an "in progress" photo later this weekend.

Oh, if you would like my little Easter Egg pattern, you will find it on the right -- just scroll down to free patterns.

Mitts from Penney

2007-03-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

In a knit exchange group I belong to we exchanged either gloves, mittens or fingerless mitts. I think pretty much all of us made fingerless mitts. I just received mine today from Penney in Canada. The wool is gorgeous and very, very soft. I'm just not sure about the little gold coins attached though. I mean I give Penney an A+ for creativity, but I''m just not sure that I would wear them with the coins as I couldn't drive with them being in the way, and since I'm not much of a jewelry person, I think I would feel a bit conspicuous(sp?). Anyway, I do really love them. I hope Penney's feelings would not be hurt if I decide to snip off the coins. Exchanges are so hard because you make something for someone you know nothing about. But I do really love them. I just have to wait until it gets cold again.

My first Afghan!

2007-03-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

I did it. I finally did it. I made my first afghan and I crocheted it! The afghan actually went pretty quickly. It was sitting down to do the border that took 3-4 months. Altogether I'd say the afghan took about 4-5 months.

I belong to Annie's Scrap Crochet Club and that is where I got the pattern. And boy, let me tell you, it really did use a lot of my scrap yarn! I didn't realize that the blanket was going to be so big.

I am planning on donating it to charity although my youngest daughter is begging that I let her have it. I'm flattered because she never wants anything that I make. I think I might let her use it for awhile and then I'll wash it and give it away. Now I want to start a second scrap blanket, just not such a big one.

Rune Alphabet

2007-03-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

A member of one of my groups put out a request for someone to design afghan squares or dishcloth squares with the Rune alphabet on each square. I love a challenge, so I requested a try. Having made the first letter, the member of my group liked it so I am on my way to creating 24 other squares. Click http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/pronunciation.html to find out more about the Rune Alphabet. What is a Rune Alphabet you might ask? Well, I asked the same thing. Apparently it is an ancient Germanic language. "They were used throughout northern Europe, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Iceland from about 100 B.C.E. to 1600 C.E. Runic inscriptions of great age have even been found in North America, supporting stories that the Vikings arrived in the Americas long before Columbus."

So, if you have any interest in the Rune Alphabet, you can start checking my blog periodically to get a free pattern for each letter. Although I will show the letter here, you can get the pattern by scrolling down on the right and look for the title "Rune Alphabet". Each letter and its pattern will be listed there.

Okay, here is the first letter that I have -- the Letter F or Fehu (fay-who).

And baby makes three...

2007-03-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, well actually my husband's co-worker's wife who has become a friend since we have started knitting together, is just about to have her first baby. As we have a knitting group that meets at my husband's office every week, the other knitters there and I decided we would each make her something and have a little shower in the office for her. Since I finally finished this sweater and gave it to her today, I can now post it.

This is made with Debbie Bliss cashmerino - pure heaven, and I used the Debbie Bliss pattern in baby cashmerino 2 pattern book. It was very easy, but I'll admit it really was not all that fun and it took quite a bit longer than I thought for a baby sweater. Probably because I just had a heck of a time getting into garter stitch. And, even though I matched up gauge, I still ran out of yarn. Naturally because it has taken me so dad-blasted long to knit the thing they didn't have the same dyelot. Oh well. despite the bad photo that you see of it, I still think it came out rather cute.

In my charity group I run two KALs a month. We just finished one and so I thought I'd post the picture here. You can get the pattern in the free pattern section over in the bar on the right.

Clearly I need to learn how to operate my camera better. I created an adorable Easter KAL that will start April 1st in my group. I'm really excited about this one. It could be an afghan square or a dishcloth!!!

Spring Break

2007-03-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

Spring Break was wonderful this year. This is the first time my family and I actually got away and we had a great time renting a beach house on Galveston Island. Both the girls brought friends and it was just a lazy week. I say lazy, but boy did I finish a bunch of projects. So, while this post is small, there are many pictures of things I FINALLY finished -- my UFOs have become FOs!

First, my self-striping pink socks out of Lana Grossa Meilenweit Fantasy. Basic sock pattern, but boy was it fun seeing the pattern change. I finished the first sock a long time ago, but could never get past the heel on the second.

Next, a cupcake for my cupcake-crazed daughter. I guess it is all the rage right now. Anyway, it was easy as pie once I sat down to do it. Just doing it was the thing. This pattern is in the book ONE SKEIN by Leigh Radford.

Next, a hat that I started near Thanksgiving when I was doing a musical called INTO THE WOODS for a friend. The problem was that I didn't know how to do entrelac and I thought I could figure it out. Well, I couldn't, until I took the class. Then it went really fast and was kind of fun. My husband, unshaven from the holiday, was kind enough to model the hat for me.

Next, I'm sure you've seen those cute little sheep patterns from Patternworks? I think there are 4 of them. Anyway, I bought this one a long time ago. Silly, I know, but it was just so darn cute. Again, something I started right away, but never finished. Didn't take any time on my break.

And finally, last, but certainly not least, I finished my first sock design. I showed a pic weeks ago when I completed the first sock but could never get around to completing the second in order to check the pattern. Now I have. What do you think?

Now I just need to write up my pattern. I'll offer it free once I write it up.

Just an update...

2007-03-09T15:05:00.000-08:00

I belong to a group called http://groups.yahoo.com/group/maryknittingandcrochetcorner/, where I have joined a year long dishcloth exchange group. I'll admit, its not that I love dishcloths so much, but I do love sending goodies and receiving them, as well as the chance and challenge of designing them. Every month I send out a dishcloth to someone with some little goodies. In May, I should receive 11 packages as that is the month I chose. We'll see if I actually get 11, but I guess that is not the point.

Checking on my delivery confirmation I know that my partner for March has received her package so I will go ahead and post what I made and sent her. Now, I did not design her dishcloth. I simply ran out of time. But why create something that already exists!!

I haven't heard from her yet, but I hope she likes it. I'm sure everyone who has come by and checked my blog the last couple of weeks has been pretty bored with all the afghan squares. To be honest, I'm pretty bored with them myself. I'm anxious to get back to other items. I'm also working on making a baby sweater, but once again I can't post any pics until the recepient receives the gift.

I'm looking forward to finishing the two pairs of socks I have started, maybe starting a sweater for me. I don't know, something. My charity group is really wonderful in that everyone has dove into this, but I think we all are anxious to slow down and even out our commitments. I think healthy knitting should be a good mix of knitting for charity and yourself/family, etc. I just hope next month when we focus on an elderly home that everyone is not so burned out that they drop off.

I am starting to get excited about our upcoming trip to Italy and have been collecting names and locations of yarn shops throughout.

Mystery Skein Exchange

2007-03-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

Today was exciting for many reasons. I must say the most exciting reason for today is that my youngest daughter, Natalie, turned 13. There is nothing like seeing your babies grow-up in front of you. From sweet babies, to adorable toddlers, gangly pre-teens, and then beautiful teenagers. I'm very lucky.

As if that wasn't exciting enough, I also had another wonderful surprise today. Today I received my mystery skein exchange from my Aussie partner, Joy, in Australia. She made me the most beautiful scarves that are all twisty. I love twisty scarves. What is so fun about these is that you can wear them separately, or together. Beautiful autumn colors that I can't wait to wear. She also made a beautifully knit and crocheted little drawstring purse that will be perfect to wear on my belt loop. Very feminine, with a matching cellphone bag. She clearly had been very busy. In addition to these knitted treats, she included lots and lots of Australian chocolate. You can bet I am going to squirrel that chocolate away to savor when my family is NOT around. She also included a hilarious bumper sticker that is definitely going on my car that reads, WARNING - This Driver Spins, Weaves and Dyes"! Did I mention that Joy is the president of her weaving group? Finally, she sent me a yarn magazine that is published there in Australia. I thought that was a very clever gift and wish I had thought to send her one of my favorite magazines from here in the states. Rather than just tell you about it, you'd probably like to see what she sent?

Last but not least, true to my goal, I have knitted at least one afghan square a day. I can't show them all to you because some are for future KALs and some I have already handed off to be sewn into an afghan. I did take a picture of Illinois though.

I'm getting pretty tired of knitting afghan squares. Pretty bad since we are only 8 days into March. I think I'm going to try and crochet some to break up the monotony.

I love exchanges!

2007-03-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

I just love exchanges. It is so much fun to receive something in the mail that was made specifically for you. Here are a beautiful pair of fingerless mitts that Teresa in Oklahoma made for me in a mitt exchange.

And now that I have received her gift and know that she has received mine, I can also post the mitts that I designed for her and mailed to her.

Finally, I have done yet another afghan square. Kentucky just in case you can't tell. I'm working on Illinois right now.

Afghan Square a Day

2007-03-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

True to my word I have been keeping up with my commitment to do one afghan square a day this month. Let's hope I do better on this commitment than I ever do on any of my diets!!! Actually, I want to "average" one afghan square a day. Surprised my daughter with a trip to Dallas for her 13th birthday, which meant a long car trip. Great for getting these little suckers done.

This first square is a 9x9 100% wool square for our Afghans for Afghans blanket.

This Letter C is going to be included in one of two ABC afghans for Project Linus.

This State of Texas is actually going to another Yahoo Group moderated by Tyra. The group is dedicated to making state squares only for afghans that are being sent to our troops.

March is here!

2007-03-01T21:44:00.000-08:00

March is here and I am officially trying to average one afghan square a day for this month! All for my charity FROM THE HEART OF TEXAS of course. It was difficult to take a picture of this one, but here is my square of a Dolphin for a child's afghan.

Now I am the most goal-oriented person I know, soooooooo, what shall I reward myself with if I can actually keep up this pace? Hmmmmm -- I'm thinking getting to go and purchase yarn!!!

Hugs and Kisses

2007-02-28T22:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm still working on afghan squares. Expect to see a lot of these little suckers this month. These two squares are again for our charity group. One of our members, Billie Rae, is going to assemble an afghan of all Xs and Os. I think that is such a cute idea, so of course I had to make sure there was a little bit of me in it!

I also finished my mitt/mitten/glove exchange for my partner, but I can't give any more details until she opens it!

Way too many projects....

2007-02-27T21:12:00.000-08:00

I have officially overextended myself. This is actually a good thing. I mean it. I am knitting almost non-stop right now on a couple of different projects, almost entirely for charity. I am still working on a mitt exchange and a dishcloth exchange, but I should have those done tomorrow I should think. Oh, and my partner in Australia received my package for our Mystery Skein Exchange. She just refuses to open the package until she completes my project and mails it to me. Meanwhile I'm going crazy wondering if she will like it or not. Since I don't know when she is going to open it, I've decided that it has been there a week already so she has had plenty of time. I'm posting the photos of what I have made for her.

Isn't it beautiful. Well, it's beautiful because of the yarn that Joy spun and dyed herself. She told me that the colors reminded her of an Australian desert. I wish I had a bit more yarn to make the shrug just a little big longer, but I think it came out well despite that fact.

Now I can't show the picture of the mitts I am working on yet or the dishcloth as my partners need to receive them prior to my showing them. However, I can show what else I've been working on. In my charity group, this month's focus is on a Title 1 Elementary School. I made two pairs of mittens shown previously, and a hat and scarf. That's it. Not nearly as much as I would have liked, but it has been a busy month for me too what with directing an all-school musical at my daughters' school.

I've also been working on state squares and an alphabet square for some afghans we are putting together for Warm Up America, Project Linus, and Afghans for Afghans.

Finally, a member in my group has had the sad news that a young man in her community was killed in the line of action in Iraq, and the whole community is mourning his loss. She is putting together a couple of prayer shawls for the mother and grandmother (I believe), so I made a Liberty Bell cloth to send. I hope to have time to send another one.

Okay, back to my afghan squares, mitts and dishcloth!

A Third State Square for a Third Afghan....

2007-02-26T10:29:00.000-08:00

We are just going gangbusters on these afghans. It is so exciting. We now have a third knitted afghan going and being assembled by Patty in Vermont. All of these large state blankets will eventually make their way to Warm Up America. I think we have some members who are now going to head up sewing up some smaller blocked blankets to go to Project Linus. I'll admit, I'm not sure what the qualifications required are for Afghans for Afghans, so I'll have to do a little research. But as many blankets as we seem to be putting together, surely we can send some that way as well. Can you tell how proud I am of our group. Oh, and in case you can't tell, this afghan square is of Wyoming!

Created another State square

2007-02-23T21:49:00.000-08:00

Our March focus -- afghans and afghan squares has taken off before February has even ended. I've even jumped on the excitement of making state squares. I've completed my second state square to send off to California to be sewn into a second afghan being collected there.

Can you tell its Idaho? Now I have also signed up to do a crocheted square, but I'm a bit nervous since my crochet skills are not all that strong. I'll give it a go though.

Monthly Dishcloth Swap

2007-02-22T17:37:00.000-08:00

Wow! Look at the wonderful surprise I had waiting for me when I got home today from my Monthly Dishcloth surprise partner, Laura Lundy. Isn't the cloth just beautiful! I absolutely love it and the detail is just gorgeous. This is going to be used in my bathroom for my face! She also sent a cute, tiny candle holder and a package full of the most awesome smelling Vanilla candles. I haven't even lit them yet and I'm enjoying their scent. I love Vanilla. And then, a beautiful card. Bless her heart she has been ill, but she sure took the time to write me the lovliest note. I love learning about other people through these knitting groups. And this is my first swap with anyone in Georgia!

World Wide Swap

2007-02-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

It's here, it's here! I received a wonderful surprise from my world wide swap partner, Dana, in Aschaffenburg, Germany. She made me socks. No one has ever made socks for me before, and they fit perfectly. I can't wait to wear them tomorrow, they are so cute on. She also sent the remaining yarn in case I have any repairs. I thought that was such a clever thing to do. Then she sent me a lovely picture book that was partly in English of her city. What a beautiful city to live in. An absolute jewel! You can see part of a picture of it on the book. You can bet that someday when I travel to Germany, I will definitely be going to Aschaffenburg! Finally, she sent me three adorable little sheep. Unfortunately, two of them were crushed, but one survived! Yeah!. He is just so cute and the beginning of my new sheep collection. Of course, my two teenage daughters wanted to steal him. He is made out of some type of pottery, terra cotta like material and covered with adorable sheep skin. I love it. Swapping knitted items is just so much fun. I love receiving goodies in the mail.

A U.S. Blanket for the U.S. - one square at a time.

2007-02-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

One of the ladies in my charity knitting/crocheting group, FROM THE HEART OF TEXAS, came up with a fabulous idea. Knit a square of each state and make an afghan with it. Thanks to the fabulous designer, Rhonda White, who has written a pattern for a square representing each state in the U.S. (and many other countries too!) at http://www.knittingknonsense.com/people_places.html, these patterns are already available for free!

So, I asked the members of our group if there were enough people willing to make a square, mail it in (since most of our members live out-of-state), and I will put together an afghan to donate to Warm Up America -- our March service focus. Not only did we have an overwhelming response, we now have a second afghan going with another wonderful member in California volunteering to sew it together. Now a third afghan is also started for those who crochet. Here is the link for the crocheted state patterns: http://www.online-angels.org/statesquares.html

I waited until all the states in the first blanket were selected so as to pick up any slack. I guess we have no members in South Dakota, because that was the only state unclaimed. I finished it quickly and now am awaiting its brothers from all over the U.S. to assemble into a warm, wonderful blanket for some person who is in need. Talk about a hug from all of us!

If you are reading this and have any interest in joining us in our endeavor, we still need more state squares knitted and crocheted, then please go over to the bar at the right and sign up to join FROM THE HEART OF TEXAS. We will help you select a state from there!

Piggy Mittens

2007-02-17T17:33:00.000-08:00

I'm really in the animal mode now. I had so much fun with the frog mittens that I had to try these piggy mittens. Now that I've made this pattern a couple of times, I think I'm going to try and design my own skunk mittens. If I take a pattern that is already created and I change a few elements, at what point is it then my pattern to distribute as I please? I am trying to contact the owner of the frog/piggy mitten design to ask permission to distribute the pattern amongst my charity knitter members, but haven't had much luck in reaching her yet. I certainly don't want to run into any copyright problems. But as my group is focusing on an underprivileged elementary school right now, these adorable little mittens would be perfect.

As much as I would like to attempt making another pair of animal mittens right now, I must start my afghan square design for the next month's KAL. Then, back to my socks....

Frog Mittens

2007-02-15T19:11:00.000-08:00

This month my charity group is focusing on an elementary school in Baytown. That entails making hats, mittens, scarves, gloves, sweaters and vests for elementary school children of all shapes and sizes. I remember having a pair of chipmunk mittens when I was a kid and LOVED them. My mom is still looking to see if she might have the pattern. In the meantime, I found an old magazine that has patterns for various animals, including these frog mittens. ARN'T THEY CUTE! I just love them and hope that some child will love them too. The pattern was from an August 1989 Knitting World magazine. I'm going to see if I can contact the publisher to see if they will release the pattern for my charity group to use.

I finished one of my socks that I designed, but am now working on the second sock to be sure that I wrote the pattern correctly. As soon as I complete the socks I will post both the pattern and the picture. Until then, I am off to try making another pair of animal mittens -- perhaps little piggys this time.

Yet, another exchange....

2007-02-11T20:34:00.000-08:00

This exchanging knitting items is really addicting. Granted, it is really fun to make something for someone that you know nothing about other that they are a knitter and probably a just as crazy about knitting as you are! I joined a new knit exchange group called oddly enough, the Knit Exchange Group. If you would like to join here is the site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KnitExchange/

This is my first exchange with them and I joined just in time to vote on gloves, mittens or mitts. Here is what I am sending to my partner tomorrow!

Once again I have my oldest daughter to thank for modeling them. Just wish she didn't have that hideous green nail polish. UGH! Oh, and good news. I finally finished my Mystery Skein partner's project. I just can't show it until she receives it. Then I'll post it. For one skein of yarn, I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

I also finished one of my socks that I am designing. I am going to write up the pattern, then knit the second sock from the pattern to make sure it works and that I haven't made a mistake in it. I'll then post it for anyone who is interested. This is just so much fun!

A Monkey for my Monkey!

2007-02-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

My goodness! I can't believe its been a week since I've last blogged. It is not because I haven't been knitting. Oh no. In fact, it is killing me that I can't show what I've been knitting most on because it is a surprise for my mystery skein partner. You can see the yarn we exchanged in previous posts. But, I did set aside a little time to make this hat for my 12 yo who has been pestering me for weeks and weeks now to make it. Talk about a fast knit.

I have also been working on my first sock design. So although I've started them (mainly due to the "design your own sock" class I was taking, I have set them aside until I finish my partner's project. As soon as I finish her project and she receives it, then I will post a picture! Its the waiting that is hard. Then I will continue working on this sock.

Okay, back to my mystery skein partner's project.

From the Heart of Texas - January

2007-02-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

Can I brag about my charity knit/crochet group called FROM THE HEART OF TEXAS? I am just so proud of these ladies. This charity group focuses on one charity a month (because we couldn't choose just one). January's focus was on The Star of Hope, a homeless shelter for families. Not only did these ladies fill a huge bag full of handknitted and hand crocheted items ranging from a blanket, to hats, vests, scarves, etc., but they also cleaned out their closets and donated coats, clothing, baby blankets and toiletries. Here is a photo of the hand made items.

February's focus is on a Title 1 Elementary School. For those of you not in Texas, that means a disadvantaged school. We are going to make hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, etc. for the teachers to give to the students. Well, we will actually give them to the principal, but you get the idea. Every little bit helps that's for sure!

Preparing for Valentine's Day

2007-01-29T20:09:00.000-08:00

I'm in two dishcloth exchanges coming up in February and I wanted to do something extra special. So I designed my own Valentine dishcloth. Granted, it is not nearly as pretty on the backside as it is on the frontside, but isn't it the thought that counts? I just love working with color. I actually would like to try this pattern again in a solid color and just with texture stitches. I'll give it a try when I have a chance. I need to be back to my mystery skein knitting for my partner in Australia, and my socks that I'm designing for my "design my own sock" class.

A free copy of this pattern is over in the right if you would like it.

AMH Hat Exchange

2007-01-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

I just completed my first exchange that was something other than dishcloths. Don't get me wrong -- exchanging dishcloths have been fun -- but this was much more challenging. Exchanging knitted or crocheted hats. I just received mine today and I love it so much I'm posting a picture of it here, WITH ME WEARING IT! Oh, AMH stands for a yahoo group I belong to called "At My House".

Okay just look at the hat, not the model (excuse all the make-up but I'm on my way out the door to do a show tonight). But it is so cute I couldn't resist -- even though I hate photos of myself -- this hat deserves to be seen. My partner was KyleAnn in Grove City, OH, and boy do I hope to get her as a partner again in the future. I wanted to make sure that KyleAnn had a nice hat so I've reposted a picture of the hat I made and sent to her.

I don't have nearly as much knitting experience as KyleAnn, but it sure was fun to challenge myself to make something nice for her.

Right now I'm working hard on my mystery skein exchange for my partner in Australia. Joy sent me a beautiful skein of hand spun, hand-dyed yarn to make something for her and then mail it back. I did the same for her. I just love getting surprises in the mail.

Show Me the Knitting

2007-01-19T04:55:00.000-08:00

Well, so far I have very little to show for it, but I have been knitting non-stop. And I do mean non-stop. I have been working on many charity projects for my FROM THE HEART OF TEXAS group. Also, I've been busy designing afghan square patterns also for my FROM THE HEART OF TEXAS group to be KALs.

And it has been a long time, but I finally have found two knitting classes to sign up that I am enjoying immensely! One is an entrelac class and as I'm not a big fan of showing partly finished projects -- I'll wait to show it when it is done. I haven't decided whether I will felt it yet or not, but I am very pleased with how it is looking.

Another class I am taking is a design your own sock class. I LOVE this class in that it is freeing me up from patterns. Actually, up till now, I've only ever made basic pairs of socks. For the class we are learning to swatch a pattern from any pattern we see that we like and how to modify it. I am also going to take this opportuntity to learn to knit a pair of socks from the toe up.

In addition to these classes, I am also involved in a couple of exchange groups. One is an international exchange where you knit something from your stash and send it to your partner. My partner is in Germany. Based on the questionnaire that I received from her that she completed, I gathered that she would REALLY love a pair of knit socks. I'm working on the heel flap of the second sock, but here is the first. I think it came out pretty cute!

Now, I did not design this sock. It came from the book called SENSATIONAL KNITTED SOCKS by Charlene Schurch. Written very well for sudo-beginner sock knitters. Oh gosh, I hope my partner doesn't come and read my blog.

I'm also in another exchange called a Mystery Skein exchange. In fact, I think if you scroll down you can see the yarn that I sent to my partner in Australia to knit something up for me and mail it back. I just received her yarn yesterday that she hand-spun and hand-dyed. I need to come up with something to knit with it and send it back. It's going to be hard to send this yarn back as it is soooooo beautiful!

Any suggestions can be sent to me (kgclements@earthlink.net) as to what I can make with it and would be greatly appreciated!

I've been tagged -- have you?

2007-01-14T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well, apparently I've been tagged. I haven't been tagged since I was a little girl playing tag. But I'm game. I have been tagged by Jeremy at http://knit-a-bit4u.blogspot.com/.

Six Weird Things About Me

Well, to most people it would be my knitting. I knit everywhere. In fact, people have told me when they talk about me they always mention to each other "did she have her knitting with her"?

Not only am I obsessed with knitting, it is my mission to teach knitting to everyone who even shows an inkling of interest. I'm in a musical right now and have taught about 1/4th of the cast to knit. It's great seeing everyone knitting (both men and women) as we are waiting to go on stage. The only problem is that when I'm in a fast costume change and there will be someone there standing to ask me a knitting question. I think I've created monsters.

I cannot stand for a toothpaste tube to be squeezed from the middle. It MUST be squeezed from the bottom.

My favorite breakfast is cold pizza -- especially with Pepperoni. If that is not available then a hot bowl of chili will work just fine..

I love having to wait on trains and in carpool line and at the doctor's office. In fact, on the last two -- sometimes I will get there and wait particularly long. Why? So I can knit!

I borrowed this one from Jeremy because it applies to me too. I have an obsessive personality. This can work to my advantage or not. My current obsession is knitting and building my From the Heart of Texas charity knitting/crochet group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FromtheHeartofTexas/. This is good. I have been obsessed with dieting, good and eating, bad. I need to become obsessed with exercise! Other obsessions are yarn and books.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

I am tagging Rachel http://rachelsknittingcorner.blogspot.com/, Ali http://alliknitts.blogspot.com/ and Cyn http://cynscorner.blogspot.com/.

Anyone else who is reading this and has not been tagged.

Test pattern knitting

2007-01-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

I jumped in for a chance to test knit a pattern. I figured how often would I get to do that. The project was for a child's sweater in three different sizes, and the pattern was written so that you end up with no seaming. The sweater was knit entirely in the round, the shoulders were bound off with a three needle bind-off, and then you picked up for the sleeves and knit them in the round until you bound off. Could not have been easier. It also was a great project for me to design a sweater for myself now -- again, to knit entirely in the round. In my opinion that is the way to go. And there was just enough pattern to keep me interested. My youngest, Natalie, is a sweetheart for modeling the unblocked sweater.

Where I am not at liberty to share this pattern right now, you can find out more about it by going to the yahoo group called CIC - or Children in Common. A charity focused on making sweaters, socks and vests for orphaned children in the former Soviet Union. Since this sample sweater was also knit in 100% wool, I am going to send it to CIC as well. Whereas we do need clothing here in Houston at our homeless shelters and such, 100% wool is difficult to wear here.

Since this was such a simple pattern to make, though, I can see making them quickly for local children here as well.

Fair Isle Hat

2007-01-12T16:17:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has read my blog may have correctly surmised that I love to make hats. I guess because they can be as challenging or as simple as you want, yet they are small enough to complete in a relatively short period of time. I so love having a sense of accomplishment.

This hat was made for a cap exchange I am in. I hope my partner does not come and look at my blog here as I have not yet even put her hat in the mail! I was just so pleased with the result though that I couldn't wait. I've done very few fair isle projects, and this was certainly the largest attempted. I really enjoyed it and even though it may look difficult, I enjoyed that it still only used four colors.

The pattern was free on-line at http://www.johnnysstew.com/pattern/fihat.html and the designer worked very hard to try and make the pattern as simple for beginners as possible. I did find some descrepancies in the pattern and have e-mailed the designer. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from her, but as you can see, I still managed to complete the hat beautifully.

Now that I have made this hat, I am ready to start designing my own. Not my own Fair Isle patterns of course, just the hats. Once I find a Fair isle pattern that I like, I will incorporate it into a hat. I'll need to check on what the copyright laws are about posting a hat with another's fair isle pattern, but if I can post what I design, I will.

If you read this then you might be interested in a new project I am starting on January 15th. In my charity knit/crochet group I will be posting two KALs (knit-alongs) a month, only a few lines a day for a total of 5-6 days until the recepient has created an afghan square. The idea is that the recepient might be learning a new stitch, and at the same time creating a square that could later be incorporated into an afghan for the needy. Either for one of our charities, or a charity in their own home town. If you would like to join our group so as to join in on this monthly afghan square, then click on the "Join Membership" over to the right. It is free to sign up and the group is called From the Heart of Texas. Because there are so many needy charities, we will focus on one charity a month. January's charity is focusing on a homeless shelter.

Mystery Skein Exchange

2007-01-07T23:50:00.000-08:00

I belong to this yahoo group called Mystery Skein Exchange. We are paired up with someone that we send a skein (minimum of 3 oz.) of yarn from our own stash that we purchased at some point but have not yet decided what to make with it. Then, our partner, after they receive our yarn, knits or crochets something up with it and then returned the completed project back to you. Likewise, you do the same with the yarn you receive from them.

I don't know why this idea excites me so much. My partner is Joy in Australia, and we have a little bit of a late start because both of our original partners kind of flaked out on us. However, we have met on-line and our packages are going out to each other this week. Joy apparently is president of her spinners organization there and is also involved in hand-dyeing her own yarn. I'm not nearly that talented, but I am sending her three hanks of yarn that I bought on one of my trips that is hand-dyed. Here's a picture!

I know, the colors don't seem to go together at all, but can you believe they came together in the package that way? I was so excited when I purchased it, but then when I got it home I couldn't for the life of me decide what I was going to do with it. I'm hoping that Joy has better luck than I did. I know she is sending me some of her hand-dyed yarn. I hope I don't screw it up, but I have a couple of ideas on what to make. Can't wait to get my hands on it. We have two months to complete our projects and get them back.

I have my own knitting group here in Houston called The Houston Knit Chicks. I have put a poll out to see if my members would also like to have a mystery skein exchange. Can you tell I like this idea?

Start of 2007 with a bang!

2007-01-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Well, as evident by the lack of new posts I haven't had much time for posting -- but I have been busy knitting and crocheting like crazy. I had started some knitting groups -- one called The Houston Knit Chicks that meets once a month and a Charity Knitting and Crocheting group that meets twice a month but in different parts of the city. I had to pay quite a bit of money to maintain the membership on meetup.com, so one of my resolutions was to be more efficient. I moved both groups over to yahoo groups and they have both taken off by storm!

Right now on the needles I have a scrap afghan that I've been working on. A great way to get rid of lots of scrap yarn. Crochet -- and I'm working on the border. I also have multiple hats going, I'm test knitting a children's sweater for Children in Common - an organization that supplies knitted and crocheted sweaters, mittens and socks for orphaned children in Russia. Here is a picture of the sweater that I have so far. Actually, I'm quite a bit further than this photo, but haven't taken a new photo yet.

In addition that these I have also been working on a pair of self-striping socks, I took a class today on how to design your own socks so have been working on those gauge swatches, crocheting afghan squares whenever I get a moment, and working on a knitted small blanket for Project Linus.

On top of maintaining these two groups I've also been helping my daughter with her fundraiser. Alex has committed to raising $2,000 for the American Diabetes Association. One of the ways she is raising money is by collecting old cell phones. There is a company that will send a check to her favorite charity for turning in used cellphones. So, any of you who read this, consider sending me your old cellphones. I'll even help pay for postage!

Back to my charity group -- I have restructured it and have renamed it to From the Heart of Texas. Cute, huh? Our focus is now to focus on one charity a month. There are just so many charities that I want to help that I found I was wasting more time on trying to figure out what to make. This way I can narrow down my decisions. For instance, this January we are focusing on The Star of Hope -- a homeless shelter. They need everything from babies to adults, blankets, toiletries, etc. Everything is needed. Next month we will be concentrating on a Title 1 Elementary School (an underprivileged school) and making hats, scarfs and mittens for the children.

I've also been very busy performing in URINETOWN, THE MUSICAL. Talk about a high energy show! It has been keeping me busy. I have a matinee to perform tomorrow and then I get two days off. I can hardly wait.!

More Christmas Gifts

2006-12-30T22:41:00.000-08:00

I can finally post photos of my husband's Christmas gifts. I could have on Christmas day, but with my show opening tonight to a preview audience, it has been really, really busy. Needless to say, my husband, John, LOVED the scarf. Made almost entirely out of cotton, he was so happy as he cannot abide wool. It looks great with his black leather jacket. And being an architect, the modular scarf seems to suit his personality as well -- loves that geometric look.

I also made John a pair of fingerless gloves from Knitty.com's Fetching pattern.

As you can see I altered the pattern a bit so that there is no cable at the knuckles (looks more manley that way) and I continued knitting to extend the length of the gloves over his knuckles. He also just loved these. Men are just so hard to knit for.

Now for something totally unrelated to knitting, my two beautiful daughters. First, here is a picture of my oldest daughter, Alex on her 15th birthday, the day after Christmas. I know, I know, but she came early!

Then my second daughter, Natalie, who is now 12. Natalie normally will never let me take a picture of her, and we were only allowed to take this photo because she was working on her Science Fair Project and had to have photos to document the process. Lucky for me!

I'm almost certain that this will be my last post for the year 2006, so please have a wonderful and safe New Year's, and my family and I wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2007.

End of Year Charity Crafting

2006-12-27T07:15:00.000-08:00

Can I just say for the record how immensely proud I am of our two little charity knit/crochet groups? For three months we were able to produce quite a bit and here is the official end-of-year tally of our donations:

Children in Common (orphanages in Russia): Vest, hat, scarf and 2 pairs of mittens
Socks for Soldiers: 49 pairs of slippers
Covenant House (home for runaway teens): 9 hats
Caps For a Cure: 1 hat
Save the Children (Caps for babies in 3rd world countries): 3 hats
Catholic Charities (charity that helps all denominations in Houston area): 2 pair booties, 2 baby hats, 7 preemie hats, 1 child hat, 9 baby blankets, 1 shawl
Blackfeet Indian Youth (Browning, Montana): 9 hats, 6 scarves, 7 coats, 7 sweaters and 1 flannel skirt
Petco: 2 pet blankets
Misc.: Houston Police Department - 1 pair fingerless gloves

You have to admit that for a short period of time that is rather impressive. I'm so moved by the outpouring of help from this group that I have changed the name and have listed it as a yahoo group so that anyone can join -- within or outside of the Houston area. I've also changed the structure some in that I feel it will help us concentrate on certain charities each month rather than just randomly making things. Some members may want to randomly make things or make something for a particular charity despite the charity we as a group are focusing on, and that is certainly okay. While most of the charities we will concentrate on will be centered in and around the Houston area, there are four times a year that we will look outside of Houston, Texas and the U.S. for those who are in need. The link to my charity group if you are interested in joining us is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FromtheHeartofTexas/. Happy Holidays.

Christmas Eve Gift.....

2006-12-24T20:59:00.001-08:00

I can finally post a picture of one of the Christmas gifts I made! I loved making this hat, I have to admit. I think I've really come to love doing Fair Isle. I like working with more than one yarn, but two seems to be what I am most comfortable with right now. I would love to try this hat again, but not with 100% wool. I ordered the yarn called for in the pattern at http://www.helloyarn.com, but it was very scratchy to work with and boy, 100% wool is definitely not needed here in Houston!

More Christmas made presents to come -- but I'm so excited to be able to share this one. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy Kawanza.

Quick Gifts

2006-12-18T23:10:00.000-08:00

Need a quick gift? I found several -- and had an opportunity to try one out today. My daughters have many friends that they want to give gifts to during the holidays, but they are not very good about giving us notice. So when my youngest told me she needed a gift to give to a friend today, I just told her to pick out a couple of her friend's favorite colors and made this hat!

Cute, isn't it! Granted, it is crochet, which I haven't fully mastered, but this pattern was so easy I was even able to manage it. Here is where I found the pattern: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/cpatt11.htm

Only one more week and I can begin showing pictures of all the Christmas gifts I have made. Actually, it is not that I have made that many, but I just can't show my favorites! I have been spending quite a bit of time knitting and crocheting for various charities. My two charity knitting/crocheting groups have also been very busy, and it has been satisfying being able to drop off bags of hand knit/crocheted items at various charities or in the mail. As the end of the year draws near, I will proudly list all of the charities and items that our little charity groups have donated -- for only being together for about 3 months, I think it is rather impressive.

First Annual JRA Christmas Swap

2006-12-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

About a year ago I started going to my husband's office (architecture) once a week to teach a group of women how to knit. At one point the group because quite large with even a couple of outside people joining us. Depending on various deadlines, the group would range from 3 people to over 10. We could never get any of the guys to come in and learn -- talk about peer pressure. Anyway, I had to stop going to the office for a few months due to rehearsing and performing in children's theater. Oh, JRA stands for Jackson & Ryan Architects, Inc.

The group has shrunk since I have come back -- busy time of year I guess. But, we vowed last year that we would attempt to do a secret gift exchange. I guess we drew names in mid to late October, so we really did not give ourselves enough time -- but we ended up with a rule of a $10 budget. Although some did go over the budget, most were very good about becoming creative with their project.

As you can see, although we were a small group that actually did the exchange, we had so much fun and the gifts were all so varied. I think there will be many more brave souls joining us for the gift exchange next year. I love my little bag with the attached cell phone holder that was designed by Rashmee. I'll have to double check that I'm spelling her name correctly.

I made a pair of Fetching fingerless gloves, a crocheted rose pin and an ice cream cozy for my secret person. I can't wait until next year!

A Movie Update

2006-12-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

Well, here is the poster/DVD cover of my first movie. Beautiful isn't it. Okay, grant me that I may be a bit prejudice. I'm going to see if I can attempt to upload the trailer at some point, but that may just be beyond my technical capability. And you can click on this link here to purchase the movie -

http://www.aletheiastageandfilm.com/

Storing Stash!

2006-12-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

One topic I read on my various online yarn groups or amongst my knitting friends is the ongoing challenge of how to store a stash. It has taken me quite some time to come up with a solution that works for me. I'm lucky in that my husband has converted our garage into a studio/craft room. I used to be a costumer for the stage and so I needed somewhere to do my costume building, storing, etc. I have really pulled out of that and now use the room as my office, yarn and scrapbooking room.

I just thought I'd share how I store my stash. First of all, unlike many things I've collected in the past, I found it is hard to keep my yarn put away in any type of containers, because I was constantly pulling it out and going through it. I guess planning future projects, etc. In talking with one of my friends, she also told me that she liked to store all her yarn by colors. Although I haven't mixed my high quality yarn in with the bunches, they are still in the plastic containers on the shelf behind the yarn bins you see, I have decided to coordinate them by color.

You will notice the sweater hanger to the left. That is where I store my unfinished objects. I actually just put that up and boy did it give me a visual of all my unfinished projects I need to get back to work on.

Is my room always this clean? Heck no. But we had my husband's office Christmas party at our house and we knew that some people would want to come and see the entire house (particularly the knitters in my husband's office) so it was a great reason to MAKE me clean and organize it. So, although it is rarely this clean and orderly, I thought I'd share other parts of my office with you. Basically, this is my daughters' and my play room!

Charity Knitting

2006-12-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

I have started two charity knitting/crocheting groups within the past couple of months. They are both pretty small right now, but the blessings have been abundant. Not only have we received quite a bit of donations worth of yarn, but also other knitters and crocheters who are not particularly signed up with my groups have donated items for us to give. The more I look into needy groups, the more I find there is an overwhelming need of knitted and crocheted items to be donated literally all over the world. What better time to really focus on that that during the Holiday season.

I am just so proud of our ambitious little groups that I have to share what has been donated to date (since September when we formed).

Children in Common (orphaned children in Russian or what was formerly known as the Soviet Union) - a vest, scarf and hat
Socks for Soldiers - 49 pairs of slippers for them to use while in their bunks.
Covenant House (wonderful organization for troubled teens) - 9 hats
Caps For a Cure (Chemo caps) - 1 hat
Houston Police Department - 1 pair of fingerless gloves

We will have more donations before the end of the year which I will post -- but being a new group I feel our little groups have done a wonderful job. I also have baby blankets, premie caps, abandoned pet blankets and a shawl for a chemo patient still yet to find homes for before the end of the year.

Of all the above, you might think the Houston Police Department to be a strange donation. I have been helping out a local theater for the past few weeks for their children productions and there is a wonderful police officer who spends his off duty time working to help the children safely get on and off their buses, into the theater, etc. Although we don't experience snow, it can get quite cold here, especially when a wind kicks up. Sometimes it is just difficult to do anything with gloves like write. Also, our policemen (I believe) our grossly underpaid for what they have to do and the shortage that we are experiencing in policemen right now in our large city. So I decided to give Officer Joseph a pair of fingerless gloves. He LOVED them and was quite touched that I made them for him. I plan to continue making them for our other law enforcement officers. Don't I sound like I am on my soap box. I didn't realize that I felt so strongly about it either, but there you are. Perhaps its the Christmas spirit? Anyway, here are a picture of my gloves for Officer Joseph!

A Commercial....

2006-12-07T07:59:00.001-08:00

We take time from this regularly scheduled knitting discussion...wait. Sorry. I can't show you any of my knitting right now because they are all presents, and while I'm not sure that many of my family/friends actually frequent my blog, I can't take the chance that they will see their present! What this means is that after Christmas you are going to be bombarded with photos!!!

In the meantime, I ran across this interesting little name survey that I had to share. You can check it to see how many share the same name with you. Apparently I am somewhat unique (as if my family didn't know)!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Modesty Shrug

2006-12-02T23:06:00.000-08:00

I didn't think about this when I sat this blog up, but I think blogging is going to be a type of rite-of-passage in the sense that I'm forcing everyone (who voluntarily comes to my blog at least) to view my family growing up. My oldest daughter Alex, who is a Freshman in high school, went to her school dance tonight. Going to an all-girl school, they tend to stress modesty to the point that even we, as parents, had to sign a contract that we understood they were not allowed to wear strapless or spaghetti strap dresses. I agree with the school that on their casual dress days that they should not be allowed to wear spaghetti straps, halter tops, etc., but I don't know if I totally agree with the same rules when it applies to a formal occasion -- especially when it is impossible to find a dress with sleeves these days. My husband must of taken my daughter to five stores in an attempt to find a flattering dress -- and none of them had sleeves (I had a performance so couldn't take her).

What does any of this have anything to do with knitting you may ask? Well, Mamma to the rescue but I knitted her a shrug to match her dress. I think it came out very nice -- and it was my first time to use such lush ribbon/yarn.
Unfortunately, this beautiful little shrug cost almost as much as the dress! The upside? Where other girls at the dance who did not heed the warning got detention. Also, one size fits all. The shrug is now MINE! Ahahahahahahahahah. Okay, no more dramatics. but it is definitely a quick knit to fix a modesty problem. It is the easiest thing in the world to make, but I'll post a pattern just in case there is anyone who is not sure how to do one. I've made tons of these out of scrap yarn and they make great gifts. Alex's shrug was made with Prism yarn called Flirt in Mink color.

Christmas UFOs

2006-11-30T18:42:00.001-08:00

This year we are hosting my husband's office Christmas party in our home. I love to have parties. I love planning for them, decorating for them, cooking for them (although we are getting a caterer for this one), and everything to do with hosting parties. The only time I don't like it is when I'm busy, kind of like right now. Well, it really isn't as bad as all that, but I'm finishing up performances for INTO THE WOODS through Sunday, and then Monday I go right into rehearsals for another musical, URINETOWN. Also, I'm trying to organize my craft room and especially my stash before company comes over. No easy feat. I'm going to be reading all the e-mails I've seen go around lately on how to organize your stash. Finally, I'm desperately trying to finish the felted Poinsettia Wreath by Pick Up Sticks. There are basically seven flowers to the wreath, and each flower has four layers of petals. I'm almost halfway done with knitting the petals. I'm not even going to get into what it will take for felting and then assembling.

Scary, isn't it. Actually, when it is done I think it will be gorgeous. This is what I hope it will look like!

You can order this pattern from Pick Up Sticks at http://www.pickupsticksonline.com/products/flowers/pw.php.

Finally, here is Justin in his hat. I think he liked it. It is a Knitty.com pattern which can be found at http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/PATTtopi.html.

Okay, back to knitting poinsettias.

Hat Making Fool...

2006-11-29T21:55:00.000-08:00

I have been a hat making fool! Literally. I've made so many hats that I've actually created my own pattern -- called the Easy Peasy Cap, versions 1 and 2. You will find those patterns over to the right. I'm still performing in INTO THE WOODS and these are the hats that the actors and stage crew have asked for. It is a great way to use up my stash yarn! After creating these hats and handing them out this evening, the rest of the cast basically came up and asked if I would make them a hat. As our show ends this Sunday, not likely. I did tell them that if they wanted a hat, I would be happy to make them one -- they just wouldn't get it until after Christmas!

Here are pictures of the cast in their hats, or some are of my daughter modeling the hat.

Finally, another one of my hats for Michael who is playing my son Jack in the show. He is soon going to be a new and first time uncle. As I adore Michael, I wanted to make sure that he would be the favorite uncle by making a matching cap for his nephew-to-be.

On the needles, or OTN (my daughters hate when I talk in knit), a Harry Potter scarf for another cast member which I don't think will be finished prior to Sunday's performance, a bunch of petals for a poinsetta wreath that I am going to felt, a pair of fetching fingerless gloves for my MIL for Christmas and a pair for my DH as well, a self-striping sock and too many charity projects to mention.

My First Movie Wins a Film Festival!!!

2006-11-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. What does this have to do with knitting. But I had to share the fact that my first film won Best of Festival and the Audience Choice Award at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, and "Most Dramatic Film" at the What You See is What You Get Film Festival in San Francisco. I had a supporting role, but the film won based on our leads and the beautiful filming/editing. Anyway, you can see a trailer of the film here at www.theoathfilm.com

The film is going straight to DVD and will come out on December 5th, 2006. I don't know where the film will be available yet, but anyway, I just had to share my good news!

Alex's Freshman Sweater

2006-11-19T21:52:00.000-08:00

Boy have I been busy this past week. I just opened a musical called INTO THE WOODS, and with late night rehearsals and then performances every evening and two matinees, blogging has been moved to the back burner. I actually have been working hard on a dishcloth with the Monthly Dishcloth KAL (photo to come later), another beret for another actress in my show (again, photo to come later), working on a cap for charity, a Harry Potter scarf, and trying to figure out an entrelac hat. BUSY, BUSY, BUSY. I did want to post a pic of the sweater I made for my daughter though. They wear uniforms at her school -- very strict dress code. However, the Freshman class was allowed to select a "class color" and was told they could wear a sweater/cardigan of that color on Fridays. They chose lavender, and this was in late August. There were no lavender sweaters/cardigans to be found in August, so darn it all, I had to knit one for her. I let her pick out the pattern, and lo and behold, she picked an old pattern of a sweater pattern from the 70's. In fact, my mother made me a sweater from the same pattern when I was in highschool. Anyway, as I have not done many sweaters, I was rather proud that it came out pretty cute (of course, I think anything on Alex is cute). More importantly, she went with me to pick out the buttons and she loves it. I think that she really likes that she did receive many compliments on it and she was proud that she could say that her mother made it for her. Even some of her teachers seemed to be impressed. I also made her a pair of fingerless gloves to match with the leftover yarn. Okay, I'm through with my bragging for the moment.

I thought you would like to see a quick cast shot from the show though, I'm the older woman on the left, playing Jack's Mother. What you can't see is that under that mop cap is a wig piece with enough ringlets to make Shirley Temple proud -- a fun and silly look for the second act!

OSU Dishcloth (Ohio State University)

2006-11-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well, here is another attempt as my design for a dishcloth. Marge kindly asked me if I would give it a shot. I did try to knit up the OSU logo, but it was so busy that it was very difficult to read. When I get a chance, I think I will take what I created, though, it try it in intarsia. I bet that might come out nice. In the meantime, and until I get more time, I wanted to get this posted for any OSU fans out there. Maybe someday I'll even attempt a design of Brutus. In the meantime, the pattern is listed free over at the right.

A friend of mine also asked if I would knit a hat for her daughter. Of course, she knew exactly what she wanted. A design that I had not seen, so here is my creation of "Sarah's Bobble Hat". I know, Sarah is just so darn cute it is hard to look at the hat, but the pattern is listed at the right. Let me tell you too, that this is a very fast knit and is a great way to use up scrap yarn!

Lakiaya's Beret

2006-11-13T22:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, here is another hat made for a cast member. Lakiaya, a sweet girl playing the part of Florinda asked for this Beret. Although it came out kind of big (she does have big hair though), I think it is still cute on her. I seem to be having the continued problem of my hats coming out too big. What, measure for gauge? It just seems like the patterns I have never call for the type of yarn that I have.
Here is another view and yes, she still looks cute in it. This was a really, super fast knit. It got to be a little boring after awhile, just because the decreasing part took forever! I think I would like to make one for me too. Oh, wait, another cast member has already asked for a hat like this. Oh well.

Texas Longhorns.....

2006-11-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

This cloth is for all you Texas Longhorn fans out there. Actually, Diane asked me if I would consider designing a Texas Longhorn dishcloth -- so this is my shot at it. I thought it came out kind of cute, even though I'm really a Notre Dame fan.....

Anyway, you'll find a link for this pattern for free over to the right. Enjoy.

Hats galore

2006-11-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

I'm in the midst of rehearsals right now for the musical INTO THE WOODS. When I'm not on stage, and when I need to unwind (rehearsals can be a bit stressful at times), I knit. It is amazing how the simple act of knitting will draw people towards you. First, they watch in silence. Some will say "I have always wanted to learn to knit" which I then happily reply that I will be happy to teach them. Some will ask me if I am knitting or crocheting. Then others, will bluntly ask me to make them something. I don't mean bluntly as in rude, but I have to admire the guts to just come on out and ask. Usually it is just one person. But once the first one asks, and then proudly shows off his/her knitted item, they come in droves. The hat pictured is a result of that. The actress pictured is named Karen (very talented actress), and when she saw that I had knitted something for someone else, she promptly found a pattern of an R2D2 hat (she is very big into sci-fi). Of course I thought, when else would I ever get the chance to knit something like this -- so I happily complied. It is also a great hat to use up scrap yarn, as well as working intarsia. Unfortunately, I don't know where she found the pattern, but I'll bet if you Google R2D2 Beanie Hat, you'll find it.

Knit, knit, knit, knit....

2006-11-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Some people call me a prolific knitter. Okay, to be honest, they just call me nuts -- but truth be told I do manage to get many knitted items out in a rather short period of time. Of course, I have an Aran sweater that I've been working on for over a year, but only because I can't really travel with it and I have to set the chart up in front of me and not have anyone talk while I work on it. With a husband, two teenage daughters, two cats and a hectic work schedule, that doesn't happen very often.

I do love quick projects though. I just feel a great sense of accomplishment. The fingerless glove (I will make the second one) is going to be for my nephew for Christmas. I was visiting my Mom in Bakersfield a few weeks ago, proudly wearing my Fetching gloves when he said how much he would love to have a pair of fingerless gloves that he could use for work. As my mother sent me home with a huge suitcase full of yarn (granted, it was all acrylic and I will use most of it for charity), I found a variegated ww yarn that I really liked and thought it would make a nice pair of gloves for him. Also, they are completely washable. Since he also has a Jack Russell dog that he loves, I thought I'd make the dog (Bruno) a matching sweater. Too cutesy? Oh the pattern for the fingerless gloves was created by Amanda Gill, and the pattern is free here http://www.gaea-creations.com/fingerless.pdf.

The hat, another quick project and a great way to use up fragments of yarn is a knitted hat believe it or not. Everyone who saw it thought it was crocheted. A very talented Laura designed this hat and this pattern can be found at http://www.poormissfinch.com/index.php?id=D20041101. I made this hat for Amanda, a young actress that I am rehearsing a show with right now. Needless to say, she was estatic and is eagerly awaiting for our show to open so that I will teach her how to knit.

Pattern for Hershey Kiss Dishcloth

2006-11-08T04:48:00.000-08:00

Well, being very computer challenged, I am having difficulty figuring out how to work all this...so here is the pattern!

CO 46

B3 = continue established border

1. *K1, p1*
2. *P1, k1*
3. *K1, p1*
4. B3, k41, p1, k1
5. B3, p41, k1, p1
6. B3, k41, p1, k1
7. B3, p41, k1, p1
8. B3, k9, p16, k16, p1, k1
9. B3, p10, k22, p9, k1, p1
10. B3, k7, p26, k8, p1, k1
11. B3, p5, k29, p7, k1, p1
12. B3, k6, p30, k5, p1, k1
13. B3, p3, k31, p7, k1, p1
14. B3, k6, p31, k4, p1, k1
15. B3, p2, k31, p8, k1, p1
16. B3, k7, p31, k3, p1, k1
17. B3, p2, k30, p9, k1, p1
18. B3, k9, p28, k4, p1, k1
19. B3, p4, k26, p11, k1, p1
20. B3, k11, p24, k6, p1, k1
21. B3, p7, k21, p13, k1, p1
22. B3, k13, p19, k9, p1, k1
23. B3, p9, k18, p14, k1, p1
24. B3, k14, p15, k12, p1, k1
25. B3, p12, k13, p16, k1, p1
26. B3, k15, p12, k14, p1, k1
27. B3, p14, k10, p17, k1, p1
28. B3, k16, p9, k16, p1, k1
29. B3, p16, k7, p18, k1, p1
30. B3, k17, p7, k17, p1, k1
31. B3, p16, k7, p18, k1, p1
32. B3, k17, p6, k18, p1, k1
33. B3, p18, k4, p19, k1, p1
34. B3, k18, p2, k21, p1, k1
35. B3, p21, k2, p18, k1, p1
36. B3, k16, p1, k24, p1, k1
37. B3, p24, k2, p15, k1, p1
38. B3, k10, p5, k26, p1, k1
39. B3, p26, k6, p9, k1, p1
40. B3, k6, p6, k29, p1, k1
41. B3, p31, k7, p3, k1, p1
42. B3, k2, p5, k34, p1, k1
43. B3, p34, k2, p5, k1, p1
44. B3, k41, p1, k1
45. B3, p41, k1, p1
46. B3, k41, p1, k1
47. B3, p41, k1, p1
48. *P1, k1*
49. *K1, p1*
50. *P1, k1*

BO in pattern
Weave in ends

Hershey Kiss!!

2006-11-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo! I had so much designing this dischloth for Diane Schultz who is a co-member of Monthly Dishcloth KAL. Granted, it is still a little rough, but the most important thing is having fun -- right? I'm tring to figure how to put a link to make this pattern available because Lord knows I don't want to have to retype it! Bear with me gang!

Ice Cream Cozy!!!

2006-11-06T21:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Yahoo Group - Lonesome Skein KAL - I was challenged to knit something with a single skein of 100% cotton. Oh, what to knit besides a dishcloth (which I love doing by the way)? Then I thought, what about an ice cream cozy! Why, you might ask? Well, I don't know about you, but when I pull out some ice cream to eat, I don't bother with a bowl. Why do dishes? Just pull out the pint -- but it is just too cold to hold in your hand. Right? Of course, right. Then I thought, I'll put it around an empty Baskin Robbin container, add some beads to the tie, and then include a gift certificate in the container. What a nice little gift it would make for someone -- and cost me very little money. AND a fast knit. That's three pluses in my book.

Working at Creating My Own patterns

2006-11-05T17:12:00.000-08:00

Well I'm giving the idea of creating my own patterns a try. I seem to remember doing this same thing when I was first learning to cook. At first, I would never, ever deviate from a recipe, and for years I could literally not cook anything without a cookbook. Now, I rarely use one. Knitting is evolving that same way for me. Some designs are coming out by accident! Like this hat. Well, some of it was by accident and some on purpose.

This hat was created for a musical production of FROG AND TOAD which will begin performing at Main Street Theater here in Houston -- for the character Toad. I actually made a hat for both Frog and Toad, but Toad's hat had to be silly! I think it is. Unfortunately, you can't see the ginamous tassel hanging off the top of the hat. I'll try and get another picture of the actor wearing the hat in costume and make-up. Should be a hoot!

I have also been very busy making Fetching, the fingerless gloves from Knitty.com. I just LOVE making them. They are very fast, and I love wearing them. I think they will make fabulous, inexpensive Christmas gifts. Here are a couple that I made, one with the recommended Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in chocolate, and the lavender pair from leftover Cascade 220 that I had.

Finally, I have joined a monthly dishcloth exchange group for a year commitment. I thought it would be fun to actually try and design a dishcloth to send to each of these ladies. This candy corn cloth is my first attempt. Of course, I am only showing the cloth after my recipient has received it as to not spoil the surprise!

Knitted Girly Knee-High Socks

2006-11-04T23:46:00.000-08:00

I love reading everybody's blogs, but I've been very timid in trying to create my own. So bear with me as this may be rough ride!

I am excited to show my first pair of knee high socks for my 12 year old. My children never want me to make them anything. Isn't that the way it always is? I also sew -- used to costume professionally but have put that aside as I prefer performing on stage and knitting. But, when I sewed I always offered to make my daughters their Halloween costumes. Did they want that? Noooooooo, they wanted store-bought! So, when my daughter asked me to make her a pair of pink and green knee high socks, I jumped at the chance.

I knitted them top down on dpn's, but I want to eventually try, circulars, magic loop, toe-up, etc. I bought some self-striping yarn to try the toe-up option next. In the next couple of days I'll post some of my other recently completed projects. I've been working mostly on smallish projects as I have had a need of completion. I also have a number of Christmas gifts I need to get busy on.

As I am involved in a couple of dishcloth exchanges, I have also focused on those. So much fun.