Knitting is Giving!

Joys of Knitting and Giving!

      Christmas was a busy time of knitting for me as I was trying to knit a cuddlesack for all my grand kids. The girls got Mermaid tails and the boys got monster tails. Good thing the knitting was done on large needles and several strands of yarn held together. I used one chenille type of yarn and two strands of variegated yarn, crazy combination but what do you expect for little monsters.  It was actually a good stash buster, I just tried to find remnants of the colors I wanted. When I ran out of one color, I just started using another. Knit on size 19 circular needles in the round and ending up with dp at the point.
      Once they opened them, they immediately crawled inside and began to scoot along the floor.  It must be the kid instinct.  Hopefully they will enjoy them to keep warm, play and know that Grandma loves them
      I do have the Mermaid tail on my website, and the monster tail will soon be coming.

I Love To Knit Gifts For Others

    There is nothing like a handmade gift, especially a knitted one. I love to knit for others, you just hope they appreciate and love the project as much as you did while making it. Something interesting about knitting for other people, while you are working on the project, you think about that person and they are on your mind. It is strange but true and somehow, you feel closer to that person, as you are working on the gift for them. 

My New Grand Nephew

He was just a newborn when I started to knit this outfit, but it was fun and challenging since I didn't know how big to make it, or when they would bless him. I ended up knitting 3 outfits, just in case they wanted a little different color, or size.

My Grandmother was a KNITTER!!!

I'm such a blogging slacker, I forget I have a blog and it's been way too long since I've updated it. My projects lately have been to write my Mom and Dad's histories. It has been a blast from the past, and since they are both gone, it's been like doing detective work, but I'm finished with it, for the first volume. I also wrote my Father-in-Law's personal history. It was a wonderful experience, since I didn't know him when he was younger and again it was amazing what I found when I started to dig.
I'm not advertising for Blurb, but it is a great book publishing company to make larger books. These books I've completed have 160 pages, all color on premium paper with a hardback cover, for $60.00 ea. If you get the promo code, you get 20% off. It is something I think we need to do to help our kids learn about their heritage and who they are. My Mom & Dad during WWII
The really amazing thing I discovered, my grandmother was a huge knitter. She kept a leather notebook with patterns, and her writtings in it. I have kept some kind of notebook for years. One of my reletives was going through some of her stuff and knew I knit, so they passed it along to me. We are kindred spirits. You can't tell me there aren't connections to our past ancestors.

Knitting in the Ukraine

See what I do while I travel? I'm knitting. I don't go anywhere without it. It is my security habit. My son Coulson doesn't even notice, since I've done it his whole life. This is one of the nice days in Kiev, the rest of the time has been very rainy. We have spent the week in Kiev walking and taking the metro. It's difficult to knit on the metro while you are smashed in like sardines, but I put it away so I don't accidentally stab anyone when the metro stops or starts. People just stare at me, but I really don't care. They are jealous they don't have something to do while just sitting. I like to just sit, I have something to entertain myself. I'm a true "knit-a-holic".

happy knitting from the Ukraine Sept 2, 2010

Knitting in Pieces or Going to Pieces?

Why would you knit a sweater in pieces and seam them together, when it can be knit in one piece? I am helping out an elderly friend from England, who knits the traditional way, I think that means, like it has always been done. She was in the middle of a short sleeved sweater and got stuck on the instruction for the front. The pattern is quite a bit older, but still cute. It is knit in pieces. Knit from the bottom up and shaping for a raglan sweater. Interesting, I figured it out and knit it for her and feel sorry she has to sew all those pieces together.

I'm going to write a pattern for the same sweater, only in one piece from the top down. It's a cute sweater, but sewing raglan pieces together? Let's see how it turns out.

Coulson's Thumb

One day out of the blue, Coulson, my 16 year old son told me he knew how to knit. I had never taught him, but he said he could do it. No one taught him, but he took my needles, and sure enough, he could knit, very slowly, but he did it. when I asked him who taught him, he said, "No one, he figured it out by watching me." I guess when you are exposed to something for so long, you can eventually figure it out.

Coulson is now 21, and after breaking his thumb playing soccer and having surgery, this is how his thumb ended up. Painless, yet very entertaining, we knew it had to be surgically fixed again. He couldn't put pressure on his thumb, since it would just bend backwards. So much for gripping or pinching anything.

I do have the new patterns for the Cocoons ready. Look at these cute babies, cuddley warm and happy. This little cutie is about 6 months old. The cocoon is perfect for a newborn and smaller infant.

New Downloadable Vest Book Is Ready!

11 Patterns for $9.95

It's ready! The new Vest Book, for all sizes. I've been working nonstop to get it written. My daughter-in-law, asked me if I could knit her a vest for Christmas. She described it to me and even took a picture of one that was similar, but she had some variations. She drew me a picture and as I looked at it, I thought, "That's a vest just waiting to be knit."
We carefully picked the yarn, a dk weight acrylic, from encore and she had her vest for Christmas. It's one of those vests, that covers the holiday "overeating" evidence that so often creeps up on our middles when we've indulged a little too much on the wonderful treats and goodies that are tempting us everywhere. This is only one of 11 vest patterns in the book. Here are some of the other vests in the book. This is only a sneak peek.
To purchase: http://onepieceknitting.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=85