Mom's Knitting Room: 7/13/08

Welcome To Mom's Knitting Room

Welcome to my blog page. My site will update from time to time. You may on occasion see items rearranged or removed. So don't think you're going "crazy". I am still learning to navigate within the blog world.

My knitting experiences have been very slight. I have only been knitting about four years. Learning the "ropes" and "ins and outs" of knitting from my mom who has been knitting for over 50 years. I have had the privilege of having many talented women and men teach me their "tricks of the trade". They have been generous and patient with me as I learn this craft.

You might wonder why its taken so long for me to catch the "bug" of knitting, but until recently it occurred to me that this long lived art would die with my mom as she is the only one of three siblings who can knit and crochet. So in order to keep the tradition alive and hopefully pass this on to future generations in our family, I ventured out on this new journey and chapter in my life.

There are many knitters out there so willing to help "newbies" along this expedition of knitting. Along the way, I have been able to impart some new techniques, skills and information to my 80 year old mom. I've been able to introduce her to fabulous fibers as well. . . . .

Who said "you can't teach an old dog new tricks?!"

Thursday, July 17, 2008

"Vintage" Helmet Garter Hat

This hat was a dream to knit. Needful Yarn is a lovely yarn and held up well to my frogging. I so enjoyed this pattern and was supposed to put it up on my blog as I had received permission from the owner at my local yarn store, but unfortunately I either misunderstood the instructions or something was not "right" with the pattern, so I haven't debut it on the blog.

The hat is knit up sideways and there are these peaks and valleys throughout, but somehow my peaks never met my valleys at the right junction. So, I continued the pattern as I thought it should be and came up with this. Its actually for a newborn/infant or so, and it sort of reminded me of Saturday Night Live (SNL) The Coneheads , remember them? Anyway its still rather cute. I used US #3 needles and loved every moment of this knit up.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Self-Striping Beanie Hat/Cap

I completed this hat last night. This hat is made with Knit Picks Sock Yarn in the blue colorway with US #3 needle and US #6 needle. This is knitted in the flat versus on circular needles. I realize how much I hate knitting hats in the flat and then having to mattress stitch the seam. I am not very good at it so I struggle with the seaming and force myself to make hats that have seams in order to get better at this techique. But I may just give it up and modify such patterns to the circular style instead.

This hat was really fast. 92 stitches cast on on US #3 needle for about 8 rows to create the roll then switching over to US #6 needle to complete the body. The decreases were fast and barely noticeable.

When I make this hat again I will use circular needles. . .pattern was easy enough to adapt it to circulars.

Cabled Rimmed Hat

I recently completed this little girl's hat made with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino yarn in Pistachio and Lavender colors. The pattern is by Knit Picks under the free pattern section. I made a slight modification to the pattern in that the cable band should have been 21" but I cut it down to 19" and picked up the required 88 stitches to complete the cap portion. It worked out really well and I hope it will fit the 8 year girl I made this for! I hope she likes it.

Etsy.com

http://www.grandviewfarmvt.net/

I recently decided to venture into surfing on Etsy.com. To my amazement and surprise, I found lovely yarns and wonderful vendors. I made a yarn purchase from Grandview Farm Vermont. A small family owned farm. I just fell in love with the picture of the yarn I saw on this site. Well after contacting the vendor, she made a special listing on her site so that I could order the amounts of skeins I wanted. The yarn came from her sheep named "Fedora" and was handspun by the vendor, not Fedora of course. . .

This yarn is so soft and clean. I wish I could just put my head on it to sleep its so soft!! Please visit this site and support our local farmers. I love doing this and wish we could all support them. They do a great job taking care of their animals and their 'homegrown products'. Good old USA made. . .

You can also find this site on http://www.etsy.com/

Cats and Dogs

I am quite blessed to have a husband who indulges me to no end. Our dog rescued a tabby cat with three kittens, all grown at this point. There were three females and one male, but the male cat ran away. The others have stayed. We have been successful in domesticating one of the three kittens, pictured below named Scratcher, plus the mother cat. We managed to spay all three female cats (Mommy Cat, Scratcher Face and White Face) and care for them daily. Two live with us while the third one (White Face) refuses to be housebroken. Doesn't matter to us, we still care for her and look for her daily to be sure she is safe and sound. We have a doghouse outside under our balconey so she is sheltered from the snow, rain and sleet. During the winter months we use a heating bowl for her water and put lots of blankies in her doghouse so she stays warm and dry.