A new home

The name of my blog has bothered for a couple of months.  Although I changed the tag line to reference more than just crochet, it still just wasn't sitting right.  So I have started a new blog - My Chronicles of Yarnia.  All the posts from this blog have been moved there...please update any links or bookmarks to the new address as I likely won't be using this one any longer.  See you over in Yarnia!

God Bless Your Stitches,
nance

Wandom Wednesday

I'm feeling a little "Elmer Fudd-ish"

1. Why is it with less child transportation during the summer, I seem to have less time to knit/crochet?
2. Last day to finish the Fancy Feet Anklets before the self-imposed start of the Christmas gifts.  Familiar project—new technique.
3. I'll have to find something else to work on that I can take pictures of since I can't show the Christmas projects.
4.  I wonder how many more babies are going to be born this fall that will interrupt the Christmas gift knitting? Current count = 3
5.  I tried, really I did, but knitting magazines just don’t interest me. Sorry Interweave Knitting, I won’t be renewing my subscription.
6. I love finding a good crafting book at Half Price Books, especially on days we have a 15% off total purchase coupon! Those same days with a coupon but no good books really stink!!!...but I’m glad Allen found a lot of CDs for his birthday :-)
7. I’m not going to finish these socks
8.  I found a friend from a REALLY long time ago on FB (hi Bill!), it was like putting on a comfortable pair of socks!

God Bless Your Stitches,
nance

She seeks wool and flax. . .

Those who know me are likely thinking, "ooo! she's found a great sale on yarn", or "oh no! she's found a great sale on yarn". But they would be wrong....well, not entirely wrong

Recently Updated

but that's not where I'm going today.
I do a lot of praying while I knit/crochet. I believe God gives us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4), that He puts those desires there. So given the desire to be creative [with yarn], I honor that when I am able to fulfill that desire by building my relationship with Him.  So back to the subject, "She seeks wool and flax. . ." you may or may not know this is from Proverbs - She seeks wool and flax And willingly works with her hands. (Proverbs 31:13) This morning I started exploring this, a "word study" as my pastor says, and I was pleasantly amused.
First that this section of the chapter (31: 10-31) is in some translations labeled "The Virtuous Wife".  I know that in this day and age men and women, husbands and wives being considered to have different qualities and roles is thought of as antiquated and no longer relevant. I wholeheartedly disagree with that.  What was virtuous for a wife in the Old Testament is still virtuous for a wife today. Applying this section of the bible to myself I went thru it verse by verse.  Bad idea! My objective was not how, in my opinion, I fall down on many of these virtues but to understand why God pointed me to this today.
What this passage taught me is there are many things we wives do, many things we are expected to do and why. Many of them have to do with providing for and nurturing our families...this is where the wool and flax come in.

¹³ She seeks wool and flax,

And willingly works with her hands.

Besides this part, there are several other references to making and providing clothing -

²¹ She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
²² She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Scarlet and purple used as nouns is unusual but I know biblically these are often mentioned as offerings. To me that means they're special, expensive, not easy to come by; so mom/wife being able to clothe her family in them must give her great joy. I certainly get great joy in making and giving using even very ordinary materials.

Another verse that set me off looking was - 

¹⁹ She stretches out her hands to the distaff,

And her hand holds the spindle

I know a spindle is a spinning tool for twisting fibers together to make the thread or yarn. But what is the distaff? Hello Wikipedia!

[a tool] to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process.

 Wow, another spinning tool reference!  But I read further. . .

As an adjective the term distaff is used to describe the female side of a family.

How interesting! The female, the WIFE!  So claiming this revelation (or just in the weird way my mind works!) I take away from all of this:

There's the literal interpretation of the making and providing. 

But,the Bible is full of word pictures and non-literal meanings of words. So looking at this in the more interpretive sense - 

(31:13) gathering wool and flax is family and she works diligently to keep things in order because unspun fibers, if not tended to, can become quite unruly and eventually useless.

(31:19) her family is the fiber placed on the distaff; unspun individual strands; as they are pulled and twisted onto the spindle they become a single usable strand

(31:21) she doesn't fear the difficulties her family may face because she knows she's covered them with the best possible materials, teaching them from the Word

(31:22) her own covering is tapestry, a woven fabric using the finest material, then stitched over with many colors (experiences) making it very thick and durable; tapestry can withstand a lot of abuse without showing much wear.  This is what a wife needs for herself in order to continue with the rest for her family.

And the chapter ends with this - 

³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands,

And let her own works praise her in the gates

Whether the fruit be a hat, a scarf, a sweater or mittens or the children she raises or the husband she supports,  all this gives glory to God and will stand before her in His Kingdom!

May God Bless Your Stitches,

nance

The Official Start of Summer

I don't ever think of summer really starting until after the kids' dance recital.  This year it's a week earlier, THIS weekend as a matter of fact.  So what that means for me is extended time during rehearsals (finale and dress) as well as the shows.  Since Allen and I perform at the end while the kids are getting set up for the finale I'm there from before the beginning until the very end with very little commitment to the show.  After the first dress rehearsal we were at ran an unprecedented 6 1/2 hours, I now bring a project along.  Although I was knitting a little this time last year all the previous years have been crochet projects.  So In the next two days I need to figure out what to bring.  I'd like to bring something that doesn't require a lot of focus because there are distractions (kids, other moms who didn't bring anything to do who like to chat....etc) also nothing too complicated because the theater is usually dimly it if at all.  I'm thinking simple socks (maybe a chevron lace or another easy lacy pattern), or maybe something from the KnitPicks Anklets kit, 

or finally committing to a pattern for my friends' baby blanket.  The next day and a half will give this a LOT of thought!  Of course there's always the set of fingertip towels I didn't get finished for the wedding last weekend...hmm, what to do? what to do?

God Bless Your Stitches,
nance

On a mission

The goal was to finish the Aria tank for the last day of school.  Despite the awful yarn we picked for the contrasting color and not being able to follow the pattern after putting in the contrasting color and having to “wing-it”. . .it DID get finished and worn for the last day of school.  I present to you the modified tank and beautiful FOURTH grader! I’m very proud of both J

God Bless Your Stitches,

nance

Summerwear

I can't believe I'm saying this but last week I found myself with nothing interesting to make!  I always seem to have so many ideas and not enough time but for some reason I couldn't think of a single one of them.  So looking thru my yarn for inspiration, I found a really pretty orange sherbet colored cotton and Sydney wanted a cami for summer. I searched for HOURS to find a plain, simple cami or tank pattern and came up with nothing!  This was close and Sydney liked it but it only goes up to a size 8, I need at least a 10/12.   

I thought of just making a tube in stockinette then adding some straps. One final search on my blackberry while I was at her dance class gave me the Panda Silk DK Aria Tank/Camisole, very close to what I was looking for. Here's progress so far.

 And the really pretty contrasting yarn.

I'm anxious to start on my Christmas projects but need to do some background reading and research first.  Of course I can't post progress of those but I'm sure they'll get a mention now and then.

So I've taken two days off of work and then the holiday weekend. Five days off in a row - that almost NEVER happens!  I'm so looking forward to spending time with my sweetie and my yarn.

God Bless Your Stitches,
nance

Spring is Sprung

I'm finally feeling spring and it's not just that my allergies have once again made a mess of my respiratory system and I'm treating another round of bronchitis...really, it's not.  I know I'm feeling spring because I want to make fun, warmer weather things with yarn.  I'm still leaning heavily towards knitting.  I look at it as a season, the crochet season will return again in time.  So today I'm feeling a little springy and and a bit flighty so here are my random thoughts on Spring and knitting. . .

1. I haven't knit a real pair of socks since I finished the Christmas rush and I'm itching to get back to them.  I got a small fix of them (pun intended) making two pairs for a friend's baby out of Christmas leftovers.  They were adorable and I'll try to get a picture of her in them soon.  For now, all you get is the picture from the pattern. I've also recently made her pink leg warmers (my own design, aka just winging it)...coming from a "dance family" there were a must!  I feel very honored they were used in her first portrait along with the tu-tu from Auntie I'm told.
2. I'm currently working on a pair of short-shorts for Sydney to wear for dance class out of a pale blue I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby.  Only a couple rows of ribbing for the waist and those will be done
3. I want to make a hat for a dear friend who's having surgery next week, just to cheer her up.  I've knit many winter hats lately but this should be fun for spring...need to find the right pattern and yarn soon.
4. New babies now, new babies later - how does one get to make all the projects queued up when something (or some ONE) new always comes along? New baby socks (same pattern as above but these are the actual socks), forgot a picture of the matching hat but it was adorable too.
5. I'm in love with sock yarn, corriedale sheep (well really just their fiber/yarn, don't know any of the sheep personally), double knitting and the prospect of making Folk Mittens.
6. I'm really looking forward to seeing my friend Jim this Friday and watching him shear his Alpaca herd...company of Luann and Sydney are part of the bonus package!

God bless your stitches,
nance

Sometimes you just have to admire another's creativity!

What does warmth LOOK like?

Hats!

In my last post I mentioned not being able to focus on anything so I made hats. . . lots of hats.  I wanted to share the joy of my inability to read a pattern for several weeks. 
First was Allen's hat, 100% wool left over from Leigh's Christmas socks

From 2010-02-04

Then Sydney's hat

From 2010-02-16

Then my headband/earwarmer

From 2010-02-04

which became another hat for Allen because of my inability to measure gauge or my pig-headedness to just NOT.....but does it really matter?  Can we just move on now?
So at this point I still have no hat.  January in the midwest requires one to have a hat, unless you're a 12 year old boy who would rather just complain about how cold it is....but I digress.  Following the completion of the mitten/gloves, it was finally time for MY hat; my thick, warm, cozy, keep-every-part-of-my-head-and-ears-warm hat.  It became my latest knitting nightmare.  Now, when I make mistakes, choose not to read a pattern, choose not to measure gauge, etc. I get frustrated but there's no sense in getting upset or angry because it's my own fault.  But when I do use a pattern, and I do measure gauge and it still comes out wrong, then I get a bit testy! Ok, the gauge thing I'll take partial blame for, I did measure but measured in seed stitch but the pattern said (see, I did read it, just not all of it) to measure in stockinette even tho the only thing done in stockinette is the earflaps, go figure.  So I have the lady at the local yarn shop order the pattern book for me.  Her website says she carries Sundae yarn so I don't bother asking her to order that.  When I went to pick up the book and buy the yarn I find out she doesn't keep it in stock, but she can order it for me. Sigh.  Long story short, I opted for three strands held together of yarn from Dollar Tree in just the right colors.  Once finally vindicated that the pattern was indeed incorrect I was able to move on and finish the hat.  But alas, as you may have guessed because my gauge being unknowingly off, it was too big...another sigh.  Now my husband can be the best maker-of-lemonade ever...he says he likes the hat and will add it to his collection and procedes to wear it around the house the rest of the evening.  I did forego the 6 inch pom-pom the pattern called for.

From 2010-02-04

Of course with all the wrinkles ironed out I just HAD to make one for Sydney!

From 2010-02-16

(bad picture from cell phone as she left for school!)
So with one final attempt I actually finished MY hat!  No, not the one I imagined for myself but I love it, it fits AND its keeping my head and ears very warm. . . :-) 

From 2010-02-16

(panda is for modeling purposes only, the hat is MINE!!!)

God bless your stitches,
nance

I Thought They'd Never Get Done

Have you ever had one of those projects you think is going to just fly by? Me too. But did you read the heading of this post? Guess again!! Sure I thought it would be challenging, I'm fairly new to knitting and my repertoire so far has only consisted of dishcloths, socks, mittens, hats and a simple rectangular/mobius wrap. Then came the convertible mitten/gloves (insert scary music here). When I couldn't find a pattern using WW yarn that I liked I thought I could improvise - start with a mitten pattern then just add fingers and make mitten tops, sounds so simple...until I got to the fingers then everything just started to collapse into a twisted pile of black spaghetti yarn. First attempt I used US8 needles because that's what the ball band recommended. When I got to the fingers, the stitch count was equal to the size M so I went with that. Now, I've never done anything like fingers on a glove before so this was a challenge but I plowed my way thru and made 8 lovely fingers, WHEW! I tried them on, figuring if they were a little loose on me they'd surely fit my brother....the mitten part fit just the way I'd hoped, the fingers just BARELY fit ME! UGH!! Back to the patterns. When I looked at the size L glove pattern there were WAY too few stitches. So I backed out a few rows and increased 16 stitches over 3 rows. So they were shaped a little weird, they're just gloves...for my brother...for hunting (does it sound like I'm justifying? I AM) Back to the fingers. Now that I'm experience at doing fingers the four on the first glove didn't take too long. I tried it on, nice fit. I held it up to admire my work....oh my! It looked sort of like, how can I put this tactfully, a "Jemima" doll. Do you remember those little flat dolls made out of black fabric with four or five little braids sticking straight up out of her head? (please don't send me "you're a racist" emails/posts, they used to have these when I was a kid and that's what we called them). As much as I wanted to keep justifying, I just couldn't. I have a certain, unwritten standard for my work and these would not do, not even for tramping around in the woods, living in a one room shack for a week with 5 other guys and no shower. It was THAT bad!


So I've had this illness since before New Year's Eve and by the second week of January (week 3 of the mitten/glove calendar) I could no longer look at them. My head was just foggy and I couldn't focus very well on anything, let alone a patternless mitten/glove. So I set them aside and made several hats. Knitting lots of rows, round and round in Stockinette was about all I could handle.

Two weeks later, I thought I would try again. I totally dismantled them down to the cuffs, changed to a US4 needle because they seemed a bit holey while I was taking them apart, and decided to use the Line By Line Mittens to Gloves pattern from KnitPicks that I used to make Mom's mittens. Her mittens seemed to come out a bit small even though I was right on gauge, I thought "WW yarn instead of DK and US4 needles instead of US3, I'll take my chances". My husband Allen and Andy seemed to have the same size hands (somebody had the idea at Christmas that they measure them against each other) so I was having him try them on thru every step. And finally, after a month, my brother will have a finished pair of mitten gloves to take hunting.

From 2010-01-25

From 2010-01-25

Crying And Rolling My Eyes

I believe I have just read the funniest blog post I have ever seen to date. Note - I have only within the last six months stumbled upon several good yarn-based blogs and try to stay current with their happenings. This blog I just found by clicking and clicking and clicking deeper into a rabbit hole - I can't even remember what the original click was!
Now, my blog is not humorous in nature, I never meant it to be. I think I have a good sense of humor (don't we all?) but not good enough to lighten anyone else's day over and over again. But I love to laugh (or do "the look" as the kids say) when my dear husband does something ridiculous so the kids will have a special memory of something or other. This blog entry, the part about the neice's dolls, literally had me in tears, and I really do mean LITERALLY. "Luckily", because of my never ending cold this winter, I have a box of tissue at my side at all times and I had to reach for it no less than three (3) times to get thru this post. I'm not sure what it was, the content (oh my gosh that's SO Sydney!) or the writing style (OMG that's so Brendyn in a few years!) or some combination of these and other things but it's the best laugh I've had in a LONG time. Thank you, Franklin, for sharing and your book is already in my Amazon shopping cart :-)

The Panopticon

God Bless Your Stitches,
nance

From This to That

My current project was started about 7 months ago but got put on hold for various other projects.  I found a sweater at my favorite thrift store (mentioned in previous posts, my obsession for recycling sweaters) which originally caught my eye because of the color, a beautiful salmon-y pinkish/orangey color.  Only to read the fiber contents tag to give me that deer in the headlights look - 40% Wool, 30% Viscose (still not really sure what that IS, i'll have to google it), 20% angora rabbit hair, 10% cashmere.  It feels amazing, and looks like it was very well cared for.  So I took it out to begin dismantling it when this thought occurred to me....."Sydney, come here and try this on!"  But it wasn't the whole sweater I wanted her to try, geez, it's a ladies medium and she's only 8!  No, I wanted her just to try on the sleeve. . .on her leg!  "What?!!", she said. It had such a pretty cable pattern and she had been asking me to make her leg warmers for dance.  I immediately had 100% compliance. Lo and behold, it fit nicely and the armpit reached just above her knee.  So the project began. . .I want to share the progress here with pictures but please forgive that i've already taken out the first sleeve and started the first leg warmer construction.  I'll share details while I do the second one.

So here's the sweater, minus one sleeve.

and the cable detail.

God bless your stitches!