hopieknits

Here I go again

Wow!  I can't believe I'm actually posting something on my blog.  A fellow raveler sent me a message asking about something I made in 2007.  That led me to the blog to see what notes I'd made and I ended up reading my posts that really were like diary entries.  Since I've always wanted to keep a diary but was never good at keeping one, and at one point I was fairly consistent about the blog, I thought I should start again.  This is however probably my 3rd or 4th restart attempt, but maybe it will stick this time.

I even have knitting to share.  Over the past few months, I've been trying to complete some abandoned projects and I actually managed to at least finish the knitting on a few. Most are baby items but now I don't have anyone that will fit them.  The great thing about babies though is that they keep being born, I'll just be ahead of the game. 
I also started and completed some new projects.  So I can post those as well.  This will help me organize my knitting once again. 

   Pattern Name: Kina

   Yarn: Dalegarn Baby Ull

Made for one of the best little girls in the world, the lovely Emilia.  The best thing about this project is that Emilia loved it so much that now she wants to learn to knit. There's nothing like making something for someone who really loves it and to inspire an 8 year old to learn to knit is a bonus.

      
My sixth or seventh Placket Neck Sweater made in Cascade Yarns Cash Vero DK.  I don't know who will get this one but it's just waiting for the right baby.

 

 

 

 

 

If the one above is number 6 or 7, this one must be number 7 or 8.  Another Placket Neck sweater, obviously I love this pattern. This one is made in Encore Colorspun.  I love the colors and I think it will look lovely on a little girl.

 

 

 

 

Pattern Name: Baby Sophisticate

This is a very popular pattern on Ravelry and I thought it was so cute.  I bought some great buttons for it but finishing is not my strongest characteristic. Some baby boy will be wearing it this winter.

Yarn: I can't remember. I bought it in Miami and though I'd never heard of it before, I really loved the feel and look of it.

 

 

Pattern Name: Baby Alpaca Shawl

Yarn: Mirasol Cotanani

I fell in love with this pattern the moment I saw it and I loved the finished product.  The only problem is that although the label says it is not machine washable, I believed what someone posted on Ravelry about the yarn and machine washed and dried it.  I don't think the washing was the issue, but the dryer is not a friend of this yarn.  Pilling and fuzz forever.  I've since washed it again and laid it flat to dry.  There is still too much pilling and I don't feel comfortable giving it as a gift.  I'm just finishing another on in a different yarn for gift giving.

 Well I guess this is what happens when you don't post anything for months and months.  There is too much to report.  Hopefully future posts will be more concise and interesting to read. 

Until then....happy knitting.

 

Trying to get started again

Once again it's been awhile since my last post.  I was feeling guilty about it until I took some time to visit some of my favorite knitting blogs only to find that at least 50% of them are at least as bad as I have been.  It's a shame too because I really enjoyed the peek into their lives, or at the very least, their knitting bags.

I started blogging because I found it to be a way to connect with other knitters and since I was reading their blogs, it seemed unfair not to expose my own life when they were giving so much of theirs.  It also provides a venting mechanism when something angers me, a way to share sorrow when personal or more universal tragedies occur and especially the happy moments when you are so filled with elation that you want to shout from rooftops.  The blog is there.  

So I'm going to jump in again and see if I can't get things started.  It's not that I haven't been knitting, although admittedly I haven't finished much, but our lives get so complicated at times that we forget the simple habits that once brought us comfort, support, encouragement and joy, like blogging. 

Since this is a knitting blog, let's talk about knitting.  For the 4th year  I made a scarf for the Red Scarf Project.  Created for the Orphans Foundation of America, scarves are made for former foster care children who are now in college.  The scarves are a way of showing them that people care about and support them. Although it's too late to donate a scarf this year, December 15 was the deadline, it's not too late to make a monetary contribution to this wonderful project.  Unfortunately, I was so anxious to send the scarf away that I forgot to take a photo.  Use your imaginations though, I used a basketweave pattern very similar to this one Basketweave Scarf.

I used Plymouth Encore yarn in red of course.

I'm going to end this now and actually post it.  But there will be more to come soon, hopefully before Christmas, but just in case I don't - Have a blessed and merry Christmas.

 

A Tribute to My Mother

She didn't teach me to knit, but she paid for my lessons.  She always supported any new thing I wanted to try.  My mother passed away on March 9 at the age of 92.  She was a fiercely independent person and until last year that's exactly how she lived.  Maybe we were blind to the signs, but it soon became very apparent that my mother was suffering from the effects of dementia.  It seemed like it  happened overnight.  Last year this time she was living on her own, with a little bit of light housekeeping help and someone to assist in making meals.  Not because she couldn't mentally handle it, but because her eyesight was failing.  Then, last June, she fell and nothing was the same after that.  A stay in the hospital, three months rehab in a nursing home and then home again with 24/7 care.  As much as she wanted to go home, she never recognized it as being so.  I still don't know what exactly happened.  She fell off a cliff and she never recovered.

On Saturday, March 6 she celebrated her 92 birthday.  She wasn't fine but she was OK.  There were no real physical ailments.  A little high blood pressure, borderline diabetes, but she was on very few medications, mostly vitamins and it seemed that she would live forever.  She didn't.  Three days after her birthday I received a call in the middle of the night from the home attendant who took care of her.  She had gotten up to check on her, as was her habit during the night, and she couldn't rouse her.  She called 911 and then called me.  Silly me, I never even considered that this might be the end for my mother.  I arrived to find that she was gone from me forever.

That's the sad part.  The more uplifting story is that a woman, born to a sharecropper in rural Virginia, with less than an 8th grade education, lived for 92 years and accomplished so much. She was a pain sometime.  She was bossy and always wanted things her way.  Her way was the right way.  She had very definite ideas about everything.  But  she was also life long learner.  Her biggest regret was that she didn't have an education but she didn't let it stop her. She studied everything from the Bible to the guitar.  At age 72 she was ordained as a minister in the Baptist church.  She was my role model, my biggest fan, my mother.  She was the person who loved me most and best.

But this is a knitting blog after all and she is the one who gets the credit for my knitting.  I wanted to learn and she found a yarn shop near her job and arranged for my lessons there.  I don't remember how many lessons I took but I remember sitting in the afternoon with a number of older ladies and being instructed by all of them.  My mother never refused me anything.  She and my father were like that.  They didn't have but they wanted me to have.  I guess that's not unusual for parents, but it seemed that way to me.

I loved her. The last few days of winter, after she passed away, I wore the scarf I made for her two years ago.  It still smelled like Youth Dew, her favorite fragrance.

I will try to remember, every time I knit something, that the person responsible for my having this skill is a woman who never held a knitting needle but who was so proud that I did.

I love you Lou.  Thank you for being my mother.

I missed my own blogiversary

I guess I'm really getting old.  I'm supposed to be good at remembering important dates; birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  Well I didn't even remember my own blogiversary.  This blog is now officially 3 years old.  I began it shortly after the birth of my grandson, Brandon, who is now walking, talking and generally just doing things on his own.  It's amazing how fast time goes.

I didn't knit as much as I would have liked in 2009 but I'm on my way to a productive 2010.  As I write this I remember that I also didn't send New Year greetings to the blogisphere.  Happy New Year everyone.  I am hoping that this year will see the realization of everyone's dreams and that we can achieve the impossible - world peace, the eradication of hunger, homelessness, loneliness and deprivation of spirit.

I already have a finished object for 2010.  I made socks for my daughter. The last pair I made for her she completely wore out.  i hope she likes the new ones.  They were supposed to be finished for Christmas but I guess she'll have to accept them as her 5th anniversary gift which is coming up this Friday.  Made from beautiful Koigu KPPPM yarn, I loved making these socks.  I love the finished product.  They are soft and squishy and just feel wonderful.

Yarn:      Koigu KPPPM - now I know why this yarn is so popular.  I love it.

Needles:  Size 1 circulars,  Magic Loop method

Pattern:  Tidal Wave Socks by Deby Lake found here

This year's Red Scarf

  This is the third year I've been involved with the Red Scarf project.  It 's a phenomenal effort that provides scarves and other goodies to college students who were formerly in foster care.  If you know anything about that system, in any state, you know what an accomplishment it is to make it to college if you are a product of it.  These young women and men don't have families to send them care packages but the Red Scarf project rectifies that situation. Knitters contributing to the project not only provide a scarf but are encouraged to put together a whole package of items desired by the average college student.  This year my recipient will not only get this scarf, but I plan to include a Dunkin Donuts gift card,pens, highlighters, post-its, and some other items that I think might be enjoyed or needed.

If you want to get involved, click on the link above and learn more about it.  If you don't feel like knitting a scarf, you can always send a donation.  Try it, you'll like it.

2009 Red Scarf

Yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed - 3 skeins

Pattern:  One row Scarf

Needles :  Size 10

                

Knitting again. Finally!

It's funny.  For the past few months I've been looking for ways to help manage the impact that increased stress has wrought in my life. I won't bore you with the litany of issues I'm dealing with because everybody has their time in the pit.  But I will say that I thought I could deal with stress better than I have and on top of everything, I've gone back to work again, full time.  I've gained at least 10 pounds since the beginning of the year and some days I feel like I'm 20 feet underwater with no scuba gear.

With the weight gain, (a lifelong battle), I considered joining a gym, taking a Zumba class, yoga and meditation.  None of these options are bad choices, but I suddenly realized that my weight gain not only coincided with the stresses, but also with my lacking of knitting.  I've been looking for someway to manage my anxieties and I had the way all along.  I've always called knitting my meditation and I guess I couldn't see the forest for the trees.  So I'm knitting again.  I haven't lost  any weight yet but I do feel a lot more relaxed and I certainly am more productive.  Look at the photos below.  Both completed in the last two weeks. 

As for blogging, I am really impressed with those who are so consistent with their posts.  I was beginning to feel bad about not blogging when I took some time to check out some of my favorites and also linked to some of theirs.  What did I notice?  That I'm not unique.  So many of the bloggers I like to read, have also taken a hiatus from blogging or at the very least have increased the time between posts.  Also most of the up-to-date bogs belong to those who have their sites for commercial purposes.  This is not true of everyone but those selling pattens or other items are the ones mostly likely to be current; as well they should be.

Enough talk - I have been knitting.  First there's this lovely sweater made for our newest grandchild, Madison, who is now 6 months old.  The blanket I finished earlier this year was for her too but unfortunately, I made some mistakes and there is a fairly large hole in the center of the blanket.  I was determined that I would finish this sweater with no errors and it turned out pretty well. 

Pattern:  Cable and Lace Wrap Cardigan from Baby Knits by Lois Daykin

Yarn: RYCashsoft Baby DK

Needles: Sizes 3 and 6

This was a fun knit.  Just enough lace to keep it interesting but not so much that it became annoying.

My next project was a sweater for our grandson Brandon, who turned 3 last month.  I've been wanting to make this one for sometime and it's the perfect time of the year so that he can wear it right away.  The knitting on this one was done in less than a week, mostly during training for my new job.  It could have been a boring task but it went so quickly, I didn't have time to get bored. 

My photography skills leave a lot to be desired but I love the little pockets. 

Pattern: Stocking Stitch Sweater - Debbie Bliss, Easy Knits

Yarn: Elann's Peruvian Sierra Aran

Needles: Size 8

I can't wait to see both of them in their new sweaters.  I hope they like them.

Here's Brandon modeling another FO made during my two weeks of training.  My daughter recently cut her hair, and asked me to make a hat for her since she won't have hair to keep her warm this winter.  The hat was my introduction to entrelac.  I have to admit that I probably made four hats since I kept getting to the end only to realize that I'd done something wrong.  It's not perfect but it's not so bad either.  My daughter likes it and I guess that's all that counts.

Pattern:  Ella - Hip Knits Hats

Yarn:   Baby Alpaca Grande

Needles: Size 10.5 circulars

Lastly I working on my Red Scarf Project scarf for this year.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Red Scarf Project, please take the time to link to the information and seriously consider getting involved or sending a donation.

This post is entirely too long but who knows when I'll post again, so I have to get it all in.              

I Want to Knit - (but I haven't had the time)

It 's been so long since my last post or at least it feels that way to me.  I think about knitting almost everyday, but I just can't organize my thoughts well enough to figure out what I should knit.  Of course, I have a few works in progress but those sometimes take more energy to pick up then something new.

In any case I hope to be back in the swing of things soon.  I'm dancing as fast as I can.

It's been a long time

It's been a while since my last post; almost three months.  I haven't even been reading blogs as much as I usually do.  I don't know why but I suppose that after two years of blogging it's good to take a short break.  I took a break from knitting too, for the most part.  I did make a blanket for our newest grandchild, a girl, Madison Chase, compliments of my stepson and his wife.  I love having new babies in the family.  They love about 45 minutes away from us and we hope that we will get to see Miss Madi as often as possible.  I don't know if I really like the blanket though.  I made it with Lion Brand Cotton Ease because since she's a Spring baby I thought she'd need a lightweight blanket. I'm not sure I like it though.  There's something about the shape of it, it's too wide or too short or something.  Her mother wants her name embroidered on it.  I'm not the world's best embroiderer.  In fact, I'm not an embroiderer at all.  But I am going to try to have it done by a professional. 

I also started a sweater for my friend Valerie's newest baby boy who was born at the end of January.  But after checking out the latest photos of him on Facebook, I think I need to make a larger size.  He's a big boy! I don't know if I have enough yarn to make it bigger and I haven't had the chance to check but since I'm in a knitting mood, I've been knitting washcloths.  I've made three so far this week and it's the sort of mindless knitting that is fun, easy and immediately satisfying.  Of course, I want to be knitting something else but there's so much going on in my life at this point that I can't make a decision about anything, so washcloths it is.  Not so bad, custom made washcloths are a luxury.