At a Loss

Right now I am at kind of a loss about a lot of things. It had started Saturday and by now I am sure the whole world knows about what has happened outside my Safeway in Tucson. I had planed to go to the event but chores got in the way of me being there at 10 am.

I still have at least 1 person I know, whom is still in ICU and still facing more surgeries. My Safeway is still closed and the other stores around me are nice they are definitely not my Safeway. I worry about friends who work or have small business in that mall and how they are faring. It is my sincere hope that this one random act of craziness will not hurt their business in the long term.

Aside from the Safeway there is a Coldstone Creamery, China Phoenix ( a personal note here, this is one of my favorites and the dim sum is something to write home about) a locally owned franchises of La Salsa and Honey Baked Ham. A local favorite called Beyond Bread , 2 banks, a dry cleaners, pet store, nail salon, a pharmacy and a few other small business.

Life will not be quite the same but I am hoping that all those who were injured make a speedy recovery and can get back to some semblance of normal. My thought and prayers go out to the families who have lost loved ones. I my heart I have to believe that they are all now with Gd.

I have to move past this one random act of craziness and move forward, but I find it hard to do with what seems like the whole worlds media attention focused on my little corner of the world. Well it is time to go put Eric to bed. May peace be with you this week.

The Cowl Pattern

The cowl pattern is finally here. My reason for so long between blogs was my darling daughter was here for 3 weeks between terms. So with out further ado here goes:

A Simple Cowl

Supplies:
1 skein worsted weight yarn 3.5 ounces and apx 223 yards I used Paton's Classic Wool in Magnolia

1 circular knitting needle US sized 8 by 16 inches

1 stitch marker

1 darning needle

Abbreviations:
co - Cast on
yo - Yarn over
k2tog - Knit 2 stitches together
k - Knit
pm - Place marker

Cast on 101 stitches using your preferred method.
Row 1 Knit 1st and last stitch together.
Knit 99 stitches and place marker.
Knit 4 more rows in the round. Rows 2 to 5
Row 6 : k1*yo,k2tog* k1
From here forward Rows 1 to 5 will be knit. Row 6 will remain the same.
Repeat these rows 9 more times so you have a total of 10 repeats.
Knit 5 more rows.
Cast off loosely using *k1, yo, k1 pull the 1st knit stitch and yarn over over the last knit stitch* Until you have 1 stitch left on the knitting needle.  Pull the tail through and weave in the end.


A Simple Cowl by Sheri Karobonik is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.handmadebysheri.blogspot.com.

The New Pattern

The new cowl pattern is almost finished. The pattern will be posted soon. I plead Teri time as my excuse.

We spent the afternoon at Savers shopping. Well really Teri shopping and me knitting, working hard on the cowl pattern. I accomplished 2 more pattern repeats and Teri found 2 pair of Jeans and a t-shirt.

I am really enjoying my time with Teri and everything but laundry is going by the way side.

I got to go now. So enjoy your families and have a great and productive new year.

How to Make Eric's Bibs

OK, as promised here are the directions to make Eric's bibs along with pictures. Essentially they are made the same way for baby to adult sized bibs. The only thing that is different is the supplies. So as with any good craft project here are the supplies needed by size of the bib.

Supplies

Makes 2 bibs.
Baby bibs - 2 wash cloths, 1 bandanna, matching thread
Toddler through early elementary school - 1 kitchen towel, 1 bandanna, matching thread , bias tape
Pre Teen - 2 kitchen towels, 1 bandanna, matching thread
Adult - 2 Hand towels, 1 bandanna, matching thread

For all bibs - a Sharp scissors, a sewing machine and a nice thing for the toddler bibs is a surger but you can also use the bias tape which is less expensive than buying a surger.

Step One

For all the bib sizes take your bandanna and cut corner to corner so that you have 2 triangles. Fold the raw edge over and and sew a 1/4 inch seam. Fold over 1 more time and sew a 1/4 inch seam. This is what the first part will look like when finished. You can see how both the front and the back are suppose to look.

Step Two only for the Toddler Bib

Fold the Kitchen towel in half so that the bottom and top of the towel are lined up.  Be very brave and cut the towel along the fold.  Now you either surge the edge or cover the cut edge with bias tape. I have made them both ways and they both hold up well to repeated washings.





Step Three

Along the top edge of the towel position the bandanna so it is centered and both of the upper corners of the towel are covered. Pin into place.  I like to start pinning at the top center and work my way out to ensure a smooth wrinkle free bib. Next pin the bottom center and work your way out again.

The first seam will go along the top edge. When you get to the other side leave you needle down and turn your work to do the first side. When you get to the tip of the bandanna leave the needle in the down position and turn to go across the last side of the triangle. I like to sew the bandanna as close to the edge as I can. I find that the bibs tend to last longer that way. 

Then using the seam line as a guide I then do any personalization to the bib.  In a school or day care environment it is perfectly OK to add the persons name in block letters. Most sewing machines have at least 1 alphabet now a days. To make the bib last longer I have found it necessary to do a bit of machine quilting inside the triangle. You may either do a grid or free form it is up to you.

Now its time to clip all those loose threads and run it through the washing machine before use.

This pattern is for personal use only.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Enjoying My Holidays

I am enjoying my holidays with everyone home. Yesterday we went to see Disney's new movie Tron, which was pretty good, not much knitting got done. My only 2 request to the movie makers are better fitting 3-D movie glasses to fit over my glasses and to come up with a way to do 3-D that does not leave me with a blazing headache. I personally feel a headache does distract from the overall movie experience.

After the movie we went for dim sum at China Phoenix. As usual the food and service were great. Sarah did her best to make sure we left with full tummies. Then it was home to relax and watch some TV.

Today after a late start I took the kids to Beyond Bread for lunch. Teri and I split the Avi's Avo for lunch. Avi's Avo is a turkey and avocado sandwich that is wonderful, and is one of our favorites.  I then sent Teri ahead to one of our local favorites a really wonderful book store called Bookmans Used Book Store. This gave me time to finish feeding Eric. There was not much that I needed at Bookmans so after perusing the store Eric I relaxed at the section of the store with tables and I worked on my latest charity project. Teri meanwhile pick out a full bag of books to read.

We ended the day by leaving the guys at home and going to Mayco's for their wonderful chicken taco's. It was good to have a girls night out. Teri does have a request from the family that runs Mayco's, please bring Mayco's to the Silicon Valley.

Check back in this blog during the next 2 weeks for some of our favorite Tucson spots. Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

We Are All Together

We have been having great family time. We have Teri home with us for a few weeks between terms at school. Eric has been enjoying having Teri at home.

I managed to finish a new pair of mittens for Eric on the ride down and finished a wool hat which promptly went on my head to keep it warm. My new cowl was perfect for the cold wet weather.

We took the kids to Disneyland and had a great time even through the rain. Some highlights included the Winnie the Pooh Ride, It's a Small World, Buzz Light Year,Toy Story Arcade Ride. The guys were better then Teri and I at the arcade games. The Grand Californian Hotel was a very nice hotel with great staff who went out of their way to make our stay wonderful. Due to the rain we did not get any pictures. Looking back I am wondering if we went at the right time.  It was so wet the Disneyland did not even let Mini and Mickey out...so what were we doing?

My mom, older sister and niece even drove down to have dinner with us one night. The food at the Story Teller Cafe was wonderful.  Both kids seemed to wind down after 2 days with rain and fun. We found out what a code V was and no I am not going to tell you.. this you will have to find out on your own.

With the weather getting worse and both kids under the weather we left a day early. We did drive through the rain on the way home but got out of the worst of it before the Governor of California declared a state of emergency due to the rain. Both kids are feeling better and we plan to have a great time for the rest of Teri's time at home.

Well I need to get the day going. So have fun and enjoy your families.

Bibs

This is what I have been busy working on this week. This is what 3 dozen new bibs looks like.  Enough to fill a laundry basket.

If you would like a picture tutorial on how to make your own bibs let me know and I will find time to do it in January 2011.

Teri is home for winter break so I must spend time with her. Teri time is a very precious commodity around here. So have a nice evening and enjoy your families.