Wrapping up 2013

Well it's been nearly a year since I last posted. In that year I've moved from one state to another and have gone through, and continue to go through, many life changes. All, I hope, are for the better. One of the great things that has happened since moving to California is the fact that I have paved my way back to knitting. With a vengeance. I've even begun teaching knitting at Michael's Crafts. I don't have many students yet, but I've come to adore each and every student I've taught. I just taught a cabling class, and here is the project that we made.

This is a really fast knit project and a free pattern from Red Heart. The pattern can be found here: www.redheart.com/free-patterns/big-cable-cowl Instead of using two strands of the recommended yarn, we just used chunky yarn. I also found that by choosing to knit one less pattern, it made a smaller cowl in diameter, thus it fits more snug around my neck to keep the chill out. When I don't need quite so much warmth wrapped around my neck, then I just wear the longer version. I just love this pattern.

Chipmunk Mittens

Once upon a time there were two little boy in the early 50's who loved to play with their chipmunk mittens lovingly made for them by their mother. Those were my brothers with the mittens, and I only have one single loan mitten as a reminder of those mittens long ago. When I can find that photo I will post it.

It fits a very small hand. Both my mom and I tried to find the pattern so that I could make these adorable mittens for my own daughters when they were young. In all, I've been searching for the pattern for about 20 years. Recently I directed the play, A CHRISTMAS STORY, and a little boy who played the lead character's little brother, would often be directed to be on stage and to keep himself quietly entertained while a scene was going on. To help him, I loaned him this lone mitten to play with. He became inseparable from the mitten, and it was so cute watching him on stage having imaginary conversations with his chipmunk. His mother told me she would give anything in order to be able to give him a pair for his upcoming 6th birthday. Once again, I searched hard...and thanks to all the new ways of locating vintage patterns, I found it!!! I couldn't believe it. I made one mitten only to discover it was HUGE. Well, it definitely fit an adult's hands. So I decreased the needle size in half. It is still twice as big as the original, but here is the result.

I put the original mitten in the photo so that you can see the size difference. Just in time for this boy's birthday. His mom was so excited when I told her that not only did I find the pattern, but I made a pair for him. I hope to post a photo of the little boy wearing his mittens. Happy ending!

New Crafts

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

Finally! The last two Rune Letters.
Rune Letter NG


Rune Letter O

Rune Letters D and L

Rune Letter D


Rune Letter L


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

Rune Letters B, E and M

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.