Crafts (mostly knitting - maybe all knitting) that I have been working on since I last mentioned any - originally posted 10/21/10

I have been doing a lot of knitting in recent months. Right now I also have several things on the needles & depending on my mood is what I do.

This is a sweater I have started for E. I am making it in a brown & a beige Hobby Lobby baby yarn. I started it in April & then it got too hot to really work on it - so will be back to it soon. I did most of the knitting on this while visiting my youngest brother in the hospital as he was being treated for a blood clot in his leg.






These are 2 pairs of socks that I made for my youngest brother who had a blood clot in his right calf just above the outer ankle in April. He is now handicapped, has a dropped foot on that side & since he has diabetes as well, he is a bit worried about keeping his foot dry between the toes. So these are a first attempt as socks to help him with that. I have discovered some things from them that I will change with his next pairs so that hopefully they will fit better next time. the socks on the left are made with Red Heart's Heart & Sole in Toasted Almond. The pair on the right are Deborah Norville's Serenity in Obsidian.


This is a pair of socks that I made for my oldest brother. The 2 brothers have birthdays 5 days apart in July, so since I had decided to give my youngest brother his 2 pairs, I decided I needed to make some for the other brother. I have a 2nd pair for him that are nearly finished, but I haven't gotten pictures of them yet. And since I haven't seen him, he also doesn't have them yet. I have to look to see what the color is, but I know it is Deborah Norville's Serenity again.



This is the crocheted afghan that I finished and gave to my oldest daughter & her new husband for their wedding July 31, 2010. The 4 circles kind of remind me of wedding rings, so I try to make it for weddings. It was actually finished in December 2009. This made with Red Heart's Super Saver in Ecru.









I had a chance to get in on a lace knit a long by Bad Cat Designs this summer, but had to wait until after the wedding to have time (I also made the cakes for the wedding). I used a sock yarn in merino wool. It is knit on a US #4 needle. I did most of the sample patterns in 1 week, but then the edging took a bit. My plan is to give it as a Christmas gift. This was my first experience at knitting a lace project. This is in Cascade Yarns Heritage Paints - a hand painted sock yarn.




These 3 pairs of socks are for me & had been on the needles for quite some time. I alternated between the 3 to give myself a break on the size of the knitting as well as the pattern that I was putting into the blue socks.

The blue pair is done in Paton's Stretch Sock in Mineral on 2.75mm needles.







This pair is done in Red Heart's Heart & Sole in Black Jack on 2.5mm needles. The pair for my brother that I haven't quite finished are in the same yarn.










This pair is done in Deborah Norville's Serenity in Saffron on 2.25mm needles.













Now for the wip's or works in progress (other than the
 pair of socks & the sweater). This is another shawl, but this time it is in lace weight yarn rather than sock yarn & it is to be for my mil who loves orange. But she also had dementia & so for 2 reasons I chose to do it in this yarn. First off, she doesn't really go much of anywhere, so doing this little triangle shawl rather than a long one should fit into her day better - can kind of be worn as a scarf. Also since I didn't pay near as much for the cone of yarn, besides the hours put into knitting it, it won't feel so bad if she were to lose it entirely. It is just some coned yarn that I got off eBay that is made from Mongolian Cashmere on US #4 needles.


This is the start of a baby blanket. I am not real happy with the pattern or the needles. So may change it. It's my pattern for a diamond background - trying to come back up with a similar pattern to one I used to have an afghan from. I had made a graph of the pattern before my computer crashed & I may have lost that pattern now. These needles feel a bit short on the needle portion, so are somewhat annoying to knit with. Don't know if I am going to be able to complete it without feeling too annoyed to do it. The needles are #7 Addi's, but for some reason the shafts are smaller than I am used to with my Addi's or maybe it is just that the needles are larger around so I notice it more. The yarn is Hobby Lobby's baby yarn.




And now the final one is a group of 4 pairs of socks that I am doing again for myself. On the left of the picture is a pair made in the same Red Heart's Heart & Sole in Toasted Almond that I used for my youngest brother. His kids are curious to see what a difference in size & in needle size can do to change the way the patten of the self-patterning yarn can make. Next to that is Deborah Norville's Serenity in Paprika. Next is Patons' Stretch Socks yarn in licorice - remaking the 1st pair I ever did since they turned out too fat around to be comfortable on my feet & too long. Last is SRK On Your Toes (Bamboo & Nylon) in Mardi Gras Multi.

The 1st 3 pair from left to right the toes are increased every 3rd row - will see how I like that. The last pair are increased every other row, which is the way I usually do it. But I might have to change this pair eventually since it seems to be coming out a bit larger than the others, but may not have as much stretch in it. So haven't decided yet.

Original comments:

comment:

1. 
   Caffeine GirlOctober 29, 2010 11:22 AM

   Wow you are amazingly productive. I am not!
   
   So sorry that your job is ending. How hard do you think it will be to find another?

Crafts that I recently got pictures of - originally posted 2/27/10

Through the years I haven't always taken pictures of cakes or gifts that I have made. But since my in-law's had items out that I had made for them, I was able to get some pictures, which I will post here.

I made the earth tones afghan for D's dad while I was expecting A. My feet were swelling a lot, so I decided to make afghans for every family for Christmas that year. He decided that he didn't care for the colors, so asked if he sent me money for more yarn would I crochet it totally in off-white.









So the 2nd picture is that version.















D's mom loves orange, so I made her a plaid afghan in orange, brown & white.















Dad & N have collected clocks for years, so I made this plastic canvas clock for them in the 1990's.

















This is the tablecloth I made for Dad & N for their wedding in February 1985.

Crafts I've complete since I last posted about them - originally posted 2/27/10

This is what I call a wedding ring afghan. I found the pattern years ago in Good Housekeeping magazine. I think it was about 1980-81. They called it Filet Crochet, if I remember correctly. The original pattern called for making it with an F or G crochet hook & knitting worsted yarn. I decided after making the 1st one that I would make it with a larger hook, so I use a K and still use knitting worsted. I think you can see the rings that are part of the pattern and each ring has 4 small flowers and 1 large flower. To me, it reminds me of a wedding ring quilt. So I have taken to making this for family & friends when there is a wedding planned. When A & J got married in January 2005, she requested that I make it double the length, so they had to wait a while on theirs. In 2004 I made it for 3 other weddings - first my cousin As wedding in April. Then Js sister T's wedding in August and then October was my cousin A's wedding. In the middle of that, I also was making A's wedding dress as well. And then started their afghan for their wedding, but didn't get it finished until about September 2005. Then I also made one for E's best friend B for his wedding in October 2005. This particular one was planned for E's friend J who got married while A & I were on our cruise, but after all the ones I have made, I had difficulty completing another one - so didn't get it done until December 2009. But by then, the happy couple weren't so happy anymore & are currently separated. So guess I am actually ahead at this point.

While A & I were on our cruise last August, I wanted something that was easily portable so that when we were sitting by the pool or whatever, I could have something to keep my hands busy. So I started my 1st ever pair of socks. The grey socks are the result. The green socks are my 2nd pair and I am currently working on 3 different pair at the same time - a blue pair, a tan pair & a cream pair.

Cooler weather this week!

Well, it is now Hump Day as Wednesday has come to being called!  We are half way though yet another week, more than half way through 2012 & nearly half way through July!

The weather here in Kansas, as well as other areas of the country has been being really hot - not quite as hot as we had it last summer, but definitely over 100 degrees every day for several days in a row.  This past Saturday ngiht we had a few sprinkles & come Monday, it has been about 10-20 degrees cooler than it had been.  As I write this, it is just 74 degrees!  I don't even really mind this weather too badly!  My preference would be 60-70's year round, but that isn't a possibility here in Kansas for sure.

Yesterday was my youngest brother's (and youngest sibling) 45th birthday!  I hadn't planned to do anything personally about it, especially after being caught a bit by surprise with a shorter than normal deposit from my unemployment last week, but then got notification that I should have 14 weeks more coming, although at a lower amount that I had been receiving - quite a bit lower in fact.  So after initially turning my niece down on her request that I visit for my brother's birthday, I changed my mind, but let them know that this will have to be the last visit until I have a new job!  And I have to admit to a bit of panic about that part of it all.  I know there is a good possibility I could be hired back into an old position or something in the same field, but that wouldn't be my preference.  I left that position over 7 years ago & it feels like stepping way back to consider going to work in that field again.  But, if I haven't found anything within about a month, I will go & ask.  But back to the subject of the birthday - I was 8 years old when this brother was born.  He was the youngest of the 3 children my mother had with my step-dad.  All 3 were born within 5 years.  The oldest 2 of the 3 were only 19 ½ months apart, then the youngest was born just 5 days before the 2nd child's (or oldest brother) was born.  Our mother, in my opinion, was never a good mother.  She pretty much did her duty, but no true love was given to us, no cuddling, no fun times.  So when the 3rd was born, except for her nursing him, I pretty much took him over!  I called him my baby.  I bathed him, changed his diapers, etc.  When he started talking, he called me Mama as well as calling her Mama.  At a point later, I didn't feel like his Mama, but if you talk to all 3, they will tell you that I continued mothering all of them.  I think instead of mothering, what I did was have things that I knew either had to be done or was told I had to do & I did them.  I made meals, did the laundry, got them off to school, etc.  I didn't correct them unless I was told that I was to take care of them while our parents were gone & I would be in trouble if the chores we had been given were not done by the time our parents got home.  Usually I did them myself since if I didn't, it wasn't the others that were in trouble, it was me & they would usually locate themselves on our parents king-sized bed with a pair of legs aimed in all 3 open directions & if I tried to physically force them to do something, I got kicked.  So I would give up & do the chores to get them done.  I do remember one time, our mother had gone across the street to visit with her sister, our aunt.  She had taken my youngest brother with her.  When she came back, she didn't have him with her.  I asked where he was & was told that she had given him away to a woman who had been walking down the street as she was coming home.  I was totally freaked out & screaming about this, begging her to go back, find the woman & bring him home!  She thought it was hilarious!  She had left him with her sister for a while.  A couple years ago, he was in the hospital after a big scare with a blood clot in his leg, which he is now handicapped because of.  I was notified about it & about the fact that he was fighting the nursing staff & his wife wasn't able to be found.  It turned out, after I had driven there to see what I could do, etc., that she had been exhausted & found a place to get some sleep.  Anyway, his oldest daughter said that I gave him a look & he backed down - so evidently as an 8 or 9 year old, I must have developed a look that I still had!

Because of the cooler weather this week, I was able to get the afghan done that I had been working on!  Which is a relief, not only because it means that I am finished with it more than a month before the wedding that it is a gift for, but also because I don't have to have it on my lap causing me to be hot all the time in the hot weather we had been having!  No yarn sticking to my fingers instead of flowing through, etc.  Now I have a pair of socks on the needles to try to finish before my dh leaves to go to the wedding.  He will be flying home on the day of his mother's 84th birthday & I wanted him to give her a gift from me in particular since I won't be there this time.  But I need to get them done early enough to be able to put a non-skid coating of some sort on the sole of the socks.

This coming weekend will be a weekend with the oldest granddaughter again!  It is also the same weekend that my next KAL starts, so I probably won't get that started until Sunday evening.   But I know my granddaughter & I will have fun!  Possibly playing monopoly, which is a favorite game.  Possibly playing on the wii.  Most likely watching a few movies & hanging out together!  Most of the grandkids also usually take advantage of the fact that they can sleep in!  Unless we have a deadline for something, I don't make the kids wake up before they are ready, unless it is Sunday & it is getting close to the time I have to take them home at the end of their weekend.

This past week I tried making some cream horns.  I don't feel I have succeeded even though they have been very good.  I am doing something wrong!  I know the 1st time I should have looked at a recipe I had found before diving in, instead of using an egg white wash & then sprinkling on sugar, I used just cold water.  My dh said he liked it that way, but I felt they got kind of soggy.  The 2nd time I used egg white wash, but this time, they stuck really badly to the forms.  Maybe I need to put a strip of wax paper around the forms or maybe I should just oil or flour the forms.  I don't know - will do some thinking on it & give it another try when the weather is cooler!  I do know that both were good, but an thinking making my own puff pastry dough might not only be cheaper, but also better tasting!  Will try that!

On Facebook, I have been staying up way too late at night lately reading & commenting on a page about those of us who grew up in the same town.  There are some posts - mostly about what businesses had been in what building, or events that happened, that I remember 1 way and others remember another way.  Sometimes I think it is confusion by someone that might not still live in the area & other times I think it is selective memories or choosing to change things because another version sounds better. At times it reminds me of various times over our marriage where my dh has taken a family story of my family & changed what happened when he then tells it to someone.  I get upset about it.  Usually it is bad enough the way it actually happened, but in my opinion, it makes it so much worse when he has changed it to his version.  Maybe it is just me because of the comments that were made about me by a person in a position of authority when I was young where they claimed I was a liar - my story differed from their daughter's story, so I was the liar.  I admit it, I have an almost phobic response to things not being told the way they happened.  Although I am sure there are things that I don't remember the way others remember them.  A prime example is the way my siblings remember me being their caretaker - I don't remember it quite the same way.  I especially don't recall taking care of my oldest 2 siblings, I remember it more as just doing my chores.  In the end, we have had so many memories come flooding back to all of us.  A thread will start one way & before long, it has taken a turn & has almost no relation to the original subject of the thread, because something that was written has now reminded someone of something else that happened.

On this page, I have found someone that I evidently knew when I was just 5 years old, but I can't say I have a memory of them!  I do remember being 5 years old & supposed to be walking to & from school that was 3 blocks away by a girl in a family that lived diagonal across the street from us.  I do remember my mother saying this girl had either left me at school or somehow forgotten me.  The person I have recently met on Facebook says that she recognized me & my name after looking at a picture of me 47-48 years after the fact & remembers that she & her older sister walked me to school, but they didn't live diagonal across the street from us.  They lived 1 block away at the end of the next block, 1 street closer to school than we did.  But she says I would be outside their house every morning.  So I almost wonder if I had finally been allowed to walk to school on my own, but had chosen these 2 girls to walk with.  I don't know, but I do know I will be eager to see if I can recognize her by a picture once she can get back to her home to send me one of her.  I usually do have a good memory for things & people.  I have recognized people that I last saw as small children when I wasn't even a teenager yet myself.  I have surprised quite a few people with my memory, especially from my own childhood!  I feel as adults, our lives get more complicated & involved & sometimes we don't really let things sink in so that we remember them years in the future.  I know that I have waited on people in jobs that then when I met them in different surroundings, I didn't recognize them & had to be reminded.  Or they will look familiar, but I can't place why.  In any case, her maiden name isn't clicking with me, so I will hope the picture does!

So how has your week been going?  Tell me about it!  I love learning about other people!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!