Something New

 I finally finished a stash buster project for me.  A 100% cotton blanket.  It is just big enough for my lap.  It’s finished just in time for winter.  

Hyper Drive Knitting

 I have moved into my hyper drive knitting for the summer.  I am knitting with 2 strands of worsted weight cotton held together.  I use US size 13 knitting needles, so these go super fast.   I can finish between 1 and 3 hats a day.  These usually go to the younger children.  I hope by the time I finish this spree I will have one more empty storage box.   This one is 48 quarts and almost empty.   I do get a little crazy with the colors, the kids like bright and colorful hats. 

I usually use some cone yarn with the scraps of yarn from these hats going into regular hats for older kids. By the way, this is the 37th hat of the year.  I also have a full tub of 4 to 6 ounce skeins that I will use to add variety of these hats. 

A Slow Day

 Slow best describes my day. I did manage to get most everything done. The hardest part was locating flu shots. Normally this is not a problem, but 2020 has made flu shots scarce.  So call before you go.  I had to make a lot of calls and wait on hold at least 5 minutes per call.  So go get your flu shot sooner than later.  

I did have one big surprise today. I had ordered a kit to make kitchen towels for Teri on the loom.  I opened the kit today and to my surprise half of the yarn was wool. John’s only comment was who would design a kitchen towel using wool? The water would not absorb. So I went stash diving in hopes of finding enough yarn with cotton and or linen content.  I really hope that Teri likes the colors.  Lesson learned is just go pick the fiber myself, the heck with kits unless they come from Mary Gavin.  

Projects 129 to 134

This weeks projects include 6 hats for the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank. Two are super wash wool and four are a soft cotton.

23

This is my first non Elmo size sweater. After helping more then 20 people finish their sweaters I have finally finished mine.  Yes, this is the sweater that I completely frogged and re knit.  It has 500 rows of knitting towards the 1 million row challenge. It also fits to a T. It is made from 100% cotton that was kettle dyed to give it a unique color.  Yes, I love it and will wear it often. No I can’t give you the pattern name because I changed the pattern as I went and did not take notes. I will not be re knitting this sweater to create a knitting pattern.  This sweater was more a work of perseverance than of joy to me.  Mist ask my friends how many times I fell asleep knitting this.

Cotton Thread

I think that I have an idea for all the cotton crochet thread that I was given. It does involve a loom. The loom is warped for the sample.

P.S. I am using one of John’s creations in the process.

Fun, fun,fun. Until the the loom runs away.

In The Blender

Eric had a rough night last night and I don't even remember what time that I got him settled down for the night.  All I know is that 6 am came much too quickly. Eric's bad night lasted for most of the day. So,Eric skipped his day program and helped me sort the double pointed knitting needles by size. I now can say that I know where most of my double pointed knitting needles are. I think that I can lose quite a few before I have to run out and buy replacements. Of course there is still the odd one floating around the house and a set with each hat knitting bag. I keep one bag for knitting animal fiber hats and one bag for plant based fiber hats. The are no bags for petroleum based fiber hats, as I feel that no one should be forced to wear clothing made from a non-renewable resource.

I think that I will be putting all my knitting accessories in one spot too. I have not decided what I will put all the accessories in yet. That and single pointed straight knitting needles will be done on Friday. I find it kinda of odd that after over 30 years of marriage that I am finally starting to understand my engineer's mind for organization and that sometimes less is more.

I usually do not run the washer and dryer after 100f, but I got a late start at  laundry today. Even though I was finished with the laundry by 10:30 am it was over 100f already. It did feel on the cooler side today at lunch time it felt a bit chilly at 105f with a light breeze after last weeks 115f and 116f days.

I also found time to start knitting a new wool hat tonight and am halfway through with it. I think that is is time to go do some reading.

The Friday Pattern -Wash Cloths and Beyond

This was the most wanted pattern by new knitters on Friday.

The pattern is for a wash cloth for new knitters this is a perfect pattern to leap off from. Use the needle size recommended by your yarn of choice. I like Lilly "Sugar and Cream" or Lion Brand cotton for dish cloths, but feel free to use any cotton you like.

Cast on 2

Row 1 knit one (K1), yarn over (YO), knit one (k1)

Row 2 knit one (K1), yarn over (YO), knit (K) till the end of the row.

Repeat row 2 till your wash cloth measures 10 inches up the diagonal side.

Row 3 knit 1 (k1), knit 2 together (k2tog), knit (K) till the end of the row.

When you have 2 stitches left on the needle bind off (BO).

Weave in the ends.


The abbreviations in the brackets are like the ones you would see in a typical knitting pattern. The pattern would look like this in in a typical book.

CO2

Row 1 K1, yo, K1

Row 2 K1, yo, K till the end of the row

Repeat row 2 till the diagonal measure is 10"

Row 3 K1, k2tog, k till the end of the row.

repeat row 3 till you have 2 stitches left on the needle.

BO and weave in ends

The thing I like about this basic pattern is that it can be grown into different projects by just adding a little more knitting. I like to use cable needles when knitting blankets, the weight is distributed more evenly and does not get as heavy as if knit on straight needles.

For a preemie blanket knit till the diagonal is 20-26 inches long. I would use a soft washable yarn with NO metal threads in it. The nurses in the NICU's generally do not like wool because it tends to felt when washed and is not quite suitable for their smaller charges.

For a full term baby blanket knit till the diagonal is 36". Use any yarn you like. If it is meant to be a show only blanket the yarn does not matter, if however, you want a usable blanket make sure that the yarn is machine wash and dry able.

To make different size blankets make 9 (3 blocks by 3 blocks)to 30 (5 blocks across by 6 blocks long) wash cloth size squares and sew them together. This is a good way to use left over yarn. Once the squares are sewn together a a small crochet trim to bring the project together.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave me a comment with your e-mail and I will answer to the best of my ability. Have fun knitting and see where the yarn will take you.

Have a wonderful day.