Knitting practice

I'm busy practicing my knitting skills -- but I have difficulty remembering the order of knits and pearls when doing a simple pattern.  How will I ever master doing cables or other fancy knit designs?  Fret not, just keep practicing....

Rather than knitting more scarves for everyone I know, I'm now knitting 8" squares.  They will be pieced together into larger patchwork knit blankets and given to SEARCH Homeless Services here in Houston.  Eventually my simple practice squares will help warm someone struggling to get back on their feet.  Think I'll get prettier yarns for my next batch of knit squares ....

SEARCH Homeless Services works to engage, stabilize, educate, employ and house individuals and families who are homeless. Our essential services are highly effective in transforming lives because we meet individuals where they are and provide what they need to get off the streets and back on their feet.
Learn how you can help by looking at the SEARCH website at http://www.searchhomeless.org/

Or start by knitting some 8" squares ....

new scarves

I've been practicing my knitting skills -- still very much a beginner knitter though.  Here's the 2nd scarf that I've ever made from start to finish.

I think I'm keeping this one (just like I kept the first one I made.  click here to see it).

Then I asked my sons to select two yarns to make scarves for each of them.  It's fun to see what their color preferences are ....

Here's one for my oldest.

The colors are a deep burgundy/purple (he was hoping for brown, which I didnot have) in a velour-type yarn and a pale orange in pompom yarn.  I got rather creative in getting the pompom yarn to stretch through the length of the scarf.  He likes it, does not want me to redo it, but has also said he might not wear it in public!

Then this one is for my taller son.

I love the look of this finished scarf, knit entirely -- no pearling at all.  Is that the garter stitch?

These two yarns work up nicely and feel so soft and warm.  I may have to make a few more of these ... maybe I will start early on gifts for next year's holiday season.

Hmmmm, in you'd like one of these, be sure to hint nicely what colors you'd like best!  I will have to learn what to do with the tail ends of the yarn before I gift any of my handcrafted scarves, though.

Extreme Knitting

How many strands of yarn can you knit with at once?

Ponder your answer before you watch this YouTube video.

Amazing, right?

Here she is: Rachel John, extreme needlework artist/inventor/innovator from the United Kingdom.

Visit her website http://racheljohn.co.uk/default.aspx to learn more about Rachel and her exploration into extreme needle crafts.

I would love to visit her studio in Gloucestershire to see her work first hand and possibly take a workshop ..... 

I wonder if I am ready (as a beginner knitter) to try some extreme knitting .... or should I practice with a multi-strand scarf first?

almost a scarf

I've finished my first knit project and it is almost-a-scarf!  In other words, I ran out of yarn sooner than anticipated ... but I like my creative solution....

I began this project in an earlier post (click here), except it is not quite long enough to be the scarf I had wanted.  When I realized that my yarn was running low, I knit in a button hole (clever idea -- thank you to Sara who told me how to do and to Amy for her additional coaching!).  By adding a wooden button, Ta-Dah!  my first knit project is complete and ready to wear on the next nippy morning!

For my second knitting project, I tried knitting with two yarns.  Actually I am finishing a project originally begun by Linda (who has seriously downsized her studio in preparation for a move to another town -- missing Linda's smile already!). 

This scarf is lusciously soft and fuzzy and really, really long!  If you look carefully, the end I finished is the one that flares out .... My first time to knit using two yarns was successful, with the exception that I inadvertently added stitches to each row (how did I do that?)
Inspired by this project, I started my own long and fuzzy scarf.

Alas, I ran out of yarn too soon .... and now I am debating whether to unknit back to a location suitable for locating a buttonhole OR whether I should unknit the entire project and begin again, with a skinnier original size OR whether I should create something entirely different from this almost rectangular piece of knit fabric ....

Camping and Knitting

Inspired by the quirky hand-knit socks that are everywhere (or so it seems), I have wanted to learn the secrets of knitting for eons. During the recent Quilt Festival, I persuaded Danielle and Wanda to teach me how to knit, even though I am a leftie and they are both expert right-handed knitters. Undaunted, they simply taught me to knit as a righty. However, it was not so easy (at least for me). So they showed me how to Continental Knit (work is done with the right needle while the yarn comes off the left-hand). This I love! I knit a few sampler squares during Festival, and have started a bonafide project. While it is not a pair of socks .....


it is the beginnings of my first knit scarf. The pattern is the Easy Ribbed Scarf by Graywood Designs. I love the soft variegated colors in the wool yarn, Lanaloft (Coral Reef) by Brown Sheep Company in Nebraska.


I began this over the week-end while camping with the Scouts at Camp Strake. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! Perfect for camping and canoeing.

My tent is nestled among the trees, early Saturday morning. Misty fog is rising from the lake. A chilly, nippy morning it was, too.

Here are half the Scouts, as they gear up for a canoeing relay race. Meanwhile, I'm on the shore, happily knitting away.

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P.S. There are loads of websites and YouTube videos teaching how to knit, just as Danielle and Wanda promised. Enjoy this post by another lefty-knitter or this site (by knittinghelp.com), which has video-teaching demos of both "ways" of knitting and much more.

Preview Night 2009

Excitement as the count-down ends...

... and the shopping begins ....

This is a view down Vendor Aisle #1400. Look carefully all the way to the end of the row ... oops, too far ... come back about 2 or 3 booths and Surprise! On the left is Graywood Designs.

Danielle and Wanda are ready to answer all your questions about quilting and/or knitting. I can answer some questions too, but I'm just beginning to knit (after a long siesta away of many years). It is rather fun, but more news on my knitting another day.

At the other end of the vendors, in the first aisle, you will find the "It's A Party" gang, including Thangles. Spend $25.00 in any of the participating booths to earn a chance to win a wonderful quilt (or other prizes too). While you are in the area, stop by the Thangles booth to see ....


... a demonstration by Mary Beth or Patrick of how to sew half-square triangle blocks the Thangles way. Other fun, sponsored by Pokey Bolton and her Quilting Arts team, includes raffle chances for classes at the Make It University or swapping ATCs with other attendees. To find this group, look for the Make It University sign on aisle 1200.




Of course be sure to go and admire the prize-winning quilts in the 35th annual International Quilt Association juried show. Here is the 2009 IQA World of Beauty Award winning quilt.

Hearts and Garlands
by Liz Jones of Leominster, Herefordshire, United Kingdom

Another top prize-winner is this quilt, winner of the 2009 IQA Founder's Award.

Garden of Dream
by Fusako Takido of Shizuoka Shi, Shizuoka Ken, Japan

Be sure to see the exquisite workmanship of this quilt, winner of the IQA Best of Show Award for 2009.

On the Wings of a Dream
by Caryl Bryer Fallert of Paducah, Kentucky

To see full views of these quilts as well as all the winning quilts in the 2009 IQA Show, click here for the official Prize Winners of the 35th International Quilt Festival.

"The Last Knit"

This animation by Laura Neuvonen, titled "The Last Knit," is so clever that I felt compelled to share it with everyone. While I, myself, do not know how to knit (yet), I can crochet simple things. In fact, I dream of knitting socks.

Why socks? I have no idea other than that unique and funky socks have always tickled me and make me smile......and knit socks need not match, right?

"When knitting becomes an obsession."

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do. Without further ado ....



Directed by Laura Neuvonen
Country Finland
Year of Production 2005
Running Time 7 minutes

Viewed over 1,000,000 times before being posted here!