Kelly

I completed the lovely knitted 'babe' for my daughter, Emma, lovingly crafted with felted eyes which are brown to match her's, stitched to the knitted face with black embroidery thread to emulate eye lashes, red yarn hair which we braided with beads in just the right shade of orange similar to Emma's red curls. I also have nearly finished knitting her first dress, a simple pink a-line in stockinette. I bought fat quarters and the notions I will need to sew a few of the outfits shown in the book. Emma was delighted.

And what would you think?

The doll is missing and my four year old has no idea what happened to it.
Now, I cannot begin to tell you how much time I spent on this doll. Needless to say, I have torn my house apart looking for her and have, so far, turned up several tape measures, a plethora couple of stray projects, many missing utensils in odd places, and one tapestry needle, but no Kelly. The only room that I have not unearthed is my 19 yr-old daughter's and I ain't goin' in there without a gas mask.

Of course, I have considered the possibility of just knitting another doll. After all, my child is only 4 yrs-old. Maybe I should have been more diligent, kept a closer eye on Kelly. Too, there was our work together to finish the Babe. Emma was up well past her bedtime the night I finished, helping stuff the body and cut yarn for the hair. She fell asleep beside me on the couch before we could finish. I won't soon forget her shrieks of delight when I presented her with the finished doll the next morning. She took it everywhere with her that day. But, by the end of it, the doll was gone, and Emma, when asked if she remembered what she did with Kelly, simply shrugged her shoulders and said 'I don't know,' and went back to watching Jo Jo's Circus. So maybe I would be teaching her that if she loses something or breaks it, she can just have another one. That's bad and I have taken pains to avoid that mistake in the past.

Well, I don't know what those of you in knitter-land would do, but I am not about to give up very easily on 9+ hours of knitting.

So I have donned the rubber gloves and gask mask. I'm going in. If you do not hear from me in the next couple of days, send a posse. Or better yet, a box of kleenex. I have a feeling I'll be needing it.

Today, I am a blocked writer...that is, I think that I do not have anything important to say. So I have been putting-off coming to the computer and writing down anything. But when I consider what I have been doing over the past few days, I find that maybe there are a few tidbits. I watched "Wallace and Gromet and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" yesterday. Very cute! One scene showed Gromet knitting as he waited in the truck for Wallace to return. I am an instant fan. I also started a knitted doll for my daughter, Emma. I got the pattern from a book called Knitted Babes by Clare Garland. I have finished one of two body pieces in Baby Cashmerino. Everything is knit in fingering and the clothes and dolls are really cute. If all goes as planned, I will come up with my own little doll accessories to knit. I also started a shawl for my Nanny. I am using Lion Brand Jiffy because I like the mohair look and the blue is the perfect color to match Nanny's eyes. I do have a cold. I have been sick all week, but continue to labor on as usual with my domestic activities. Well, today I hit a brick wall and have been unable to do more than sit up. So I will be resting for the rest of this afternoon. We had our very first knitting group meeting at my church last week. I think that it went very well. We all laughed, talked about projects and helped each other with various techniques, both simple and advanced. Also * Debbie Stoller (of Stitch 'n Bitch fame) will be at Quail Ridge Books on Wade Ave. in Raleigh this coming Tuesday, March 28th at 1:30, promoting her book, The Happy Hooker. I believe she will be signing copies of this book.

*Also, per Barnes and Noble Booksellers, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's new book, Knitting Rules, comes out March 28th.

That's it for now. I am going to take a little ibuprophen and see if I can't get a little sleep today. The kid's are home for spring break this week and I am sure to be extra busy.

Ang

Sonnet Knit-Along

This pattern by Kristi Porter, comes from Knitty.com and is knit sideways from left front around to right front so that there is very little piecing. Thought it might be fun to do as a knit along. The pattern is similar to the baby sweater 'Haiku', also at Knitty. If you want to join us knitting either one of these sweaters, please post a comment or email me.

Ang

"Writing is not apart from living. Writing is a kind of double living. The writer experiences everything twice: once in reality and once more in the mirror which waits always before and behind him."

Donald Murray

Watch Band Pattern

Knit-up this simple watch band in less than an hour with
yarn that you have on hand for a cute accessory. Make up several in different colors and fibers to match various outfits. The possibilites are endless. I knit this one in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Sea Foam. Here are the instructions.

You will need:

3/4 inch D-rings (2)
Size 5 (3.75mm) straight needles
Small amount of yarn of your choice
Tape measure
Yarn needle for weaving in ends.
Watch Face (found mine at Michaels in the beading section - must have 3/4 " opening to allow band to slide through)
*Remove band from old watch and use that!*

Finished Measurements
1 " wide and 9" long

Gauge: 5 stitches per inch

Directions:

Garter Stitch - Knit every row
SSK - slip next 2 stitches one at a time knitwise and insert left hand needle into both slipped stitches at once and knit off of right needle.
K2tog-knit 2 stitches together making one stitch

1. Cast on 5 stitches
2. Knit in garter stitch (knit every row) until the piece measures 8.5 inches.
3.SSK, K1, K2tog. (decrease row)
4.Knit even for 6 more rows. Bind off.
5. Weave in ends. Hold both d-rings together and fold narrow flap end of band over rings, stitching flap down with the yarn needle and small piece of yarn. Thread watch onto band and secure to arm. Voila!

Try knitting a solid color and crochet fun fur edging or try felting one in 100% wool but be sure to knit one third longer and maybe one stitch wider to accomodate shrinkage. Have fun!

See Pick Up and Knit for picture of the finished Watch. (sorry about this-my pc died and am using my son's - for some reason his won't let me post more than one pic per post??)

City Market is one of our favorite places to hang out on the weekend. The cobblestone streets boast art galleries, a ceramic shop, several gourmet stores, restaurants and bars and my personal favorite, wonderful produce markets. Used as the local farmer's market from 1914-1957, the market was revitalized in 1988 to include shops and restaurants and art galleries and included adding mounted police. A old fashioned looking trolly bus runs Thursday–Saturday nights from 6:40 p.m. to 12:40 a.m., free of charge, linking City Market to other downtown locations.
The first friday of each month is known as First Friday. Shops, galleries, and restaurants are open from 6:00-9:00 pm with an outdoor band. Sometimes, galleries host openings with new artists who are onhand to discuss their work. Visit the City Market website for parking and event details as well as a shop directory.

"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves." Carl G. Jung

There it is....the reason we love to knit!

Ang

Looking Up

Well, I've had a pretty good week so far. My husband's MRI last week came up clean - no tumor. Thanks for all the prayers! Also, I have been keeping busy with my knitting, working on a 'Rastafarean' (did I spell that right?) beanie for my skateboard dude son, and a chenile vest for myself. Just an FYI, I found plastic circular needles at Joann similar to the Susan Bates, for $1.99 a piece. There is no length info on the label (a clue as to why they are so inexpensive) but I picked up sizes I did not have. I'll get back to you on how well they work. ( They all are 29", by the way. )
Also, I am knitting a lovely tank top for my 4 yr old using Cascade Yarn's Fixation. Thought of knitting the top and straps of top in ribbon yarn, but I am unsure as to whether this will be do-able since the Fixation is more of a sport weight yarn and the ribbon is considered more of a chunky weight. Please post a comment if you think this will/ won't work. Will post pic when Blogger's upload feature is back up.
Have a great day!

Ang

Hello all!

I must again apologize for neglecting to post last week, but I had the week from hell, (or should I say, a week from hell - there have been so many). All I can say is that I need all of your prayers. Thanks in advance.

Anyway, here is the long awaited pic of the finished Felted Fair Isle. I actually finished this very early Tuesday February 28.

Not my favorite of the pictures I took, (no, the camera is not out of focus) but this one shows the nice icords suggested by all of you. Aren't they nice?! Don't know if you can see it in this pic, but the bag did not show as much of the Fair Isle detail as I had hoped. I felted this longer than I should have, so some of the detail was lost. Still, I think it came out well and it grows on me the more I look at it. It is my handbag of choice for now and I have gotten complements on it. The top is more of a ruffle top, but I kind of expected that - you remember the error I made not having a size 8 circular (one size smaller than needle used for the rest of the bag) to finish this, so that's what I got - a ruffly top - oh well! Still pretty, I think.

I'll be posting more soon but I am out of time for now. Take care you guys and don't forget those prayers.

Angela