Been Awhile

Lots of life changes can cause one to neglect one's blog.  So, I will not make any excuses and simply start blogging again.  I've set several goals for myself that scare the mess out of me, but I'm gonna do it.  Ever feel like you might make the wrong choice for fear of failure? Well I've decided to try something like oh, making the choice and being able to say I tried it, it worked and by golly I can do it again! Pray for me!  LOL  Ill be back later with some knitting photos.

Heart...

Sometimes we come across people in the strangest ways and they affect us in a way we weren't expecting.  Today was that day for me.  I was in the grocery store this morning with the mister. and we were doing our usual laughing and talking while shopping.  Making jokes and such - but the mister made a joke to a woman and she burst into tears around the corner.  He said oh no - she's crying!!!

We went to comfort her and she just spilled out her story.  She said that she is taking care of her father and and needs some help she has been awake for 12 hours and she was just overwhelmed.  She was taking care of her father and how her brother would come over and spend time and then leave.  She was just grateful for a trip to the store to breathe.  We let her get it all out and spoke to her until she was calmed down.  We offered to help her around the store and she said no but thank you for just listening.  She gave me a hug and blew the mister a kiss and walked off.  My heart went out to her. I can't imagine what she is going through.  I am lucky because my parents have decent enough health that they don't need my help yet.

We take our health for granted until, well we cant.  It hurt me to see someone else in pain like that - with what seemed like no resources to help get her some relief.  I will no longer take my health for granted.

New Nephew...

So um I haven't been here in awhile.  I feel like I abandoned my blog.  I will have to work on that.  Well um how have y'all been?  I've been in a knitting funk (again?!?). I've knit some dishcloths and I'm currently working on a blanket for my dare I say great nephew to be.  He is due on my birthday in June - so that would be cool it if he actually waited until then to show up. 

I tried to get his mom to name him Nicholas but um Dad vetoed that and said he will be named Junior - I had to try (tee hee).  Anyway this is the blanket I'm working on for him.  I may actually finish it by the time the baby shower rolls around in May.  


I can never seem to get these things done on time and maybe it's because I like the small needles.  They seem to make a squishier denser fabric.  I think the big needs are cheating - but then if it was easy for me to do - I wouldn't want to do it.  The colors are placed randomly and I used a size five needle and cast on 322 stitches and went for it.  I know it sounds crazy - but it was a pattern that had a whole lot of definition and I didn't like the pattern so I ripped it out to the border and continued on the with the colors I had for that blanket.   One of these days I will actually like to finish one of those complicated intarsia patterns that I love to start and finish before I get bored with it.  I do have one in mind that has bunnies on it.  And I do intend to finish the elephant parade - which I sadly had to rip out due to the gigantic hole in it.


So what are on your needles and hooks today?

Purple Elephant Parade

Hello....anybody out there? I'm still here. I'm not baking like my folks in the south with their 100 plus days of summer - but it's been pretty warm and the weather is amazing!!!!

Like any other nutcase knitter I am knitting blankets in this heat. But not because I'm cold or have new cousins coming - I like the challenge of working a pattern and ripping it out. (Ok not the ripping part) Anywho...my newest challenge is....drum roll please....Elephant Blanket.

I am now a steek lover!!! if you havent tried it go for it! Throw pattern intimidation out the window and just go for it. I know i know - it's easy for me to say now but I too was a pattern coward.

I'll upload some photos as soon as I figure out how to get them off my phone...

Dotty

Happy 4th y'all!!! So I am almost with Dotty! Whew! I just have to do the binding. Making the cut was really scary but you know what? It didn't fall apart! Way easier than I thought. If you ever feel like you want a challenge but arent sure if you can do it - this pattern is found in the second Mason-Dixon Outside the Lines book. It's called Dotty. The pattern they wrote was not as complicated as I made this one. My mods were as follows:

1. Cast on double the size of what the pattern calls for
2. Used a cotton blend yarn (Lion Brand Cotton Ease)
3. Had lots of cussing sessions for dropping stitches in weird placed (ok not really)
4. TRUSTED the pattern to do what it said it would do
5. Had fun and love the outcome!

Give it a try - it's very easy to do!

What are y'all working on?

Quilting Bug

Look what MamaC gave me!!!!! It's a great looking sewing machine. And why did she give this to me? Because I've been bitten by the quilting bug!!!!! I found myself missing my Granny and was looking around to see how I could feel closer to her. Quilting was one of the many things that she did well. Lawd have mercy I miss her peach cobblers! Whew.....I digress.

Quilting is something that I figured I could try to see if my creative genius (tee hee) would continue to flow with. I am finding that the older I get the more I want to create things with my hands. I want to make gifts for people that will last longer than the fleeting moment of a gift card. Anyway - my first attempt with be something simple. It's called the Plus Quilt. MamaC and I will definately have some fun working on this one.

Choosing fabric is just as hard as choosing yarn for a project. I won't even tell you about the millions of choices and patterns. It's definately gonna be a journey. I won't however be putting my knitting needles down anytime soon.

The Blues!

The Blues!, originally uploaded by missthg.

OMG!!!! This here pattern has given me the blues!!!! You know the kind...my dog is dead and my woman done left me blues. I have ripped back and re-knit from the beginning about 60 eleven dozen times!!! The pattern is called Prairie Blanket by Oat Couture. If you have any tips please share. I consider myself to be a pretty good knitter, this made me feel like I couldn't count. Could read, couldnt tell a knit from a purl...UGH!!! Maybe I'm just not ready to knit it yet...yeah that's the ticket!!! HMPH!

Baby Dotty

, originally uploaded by missthg.

Ok I'm just on a knitting roll!!! This is the Baby Dotty Blanket - or my version of it from the Mason Dixon book Knitting Outside the lines. It's a start. We shall see how long this one takes...

Bookman is finished!!!

I finished the Bookman Blanket today!!! I cant wait to give it as a gift. As soon as I figure out how to load more photos I will. This blanket was easy to do. If you can knit and purl - you can do this!!! Do not let the pattern intimidate you!! If you are on Ravelry - I do have more photos there. This is my first finished project for 2011!!!

Pattern: Bookman Blanket by Megan Bayonet. This pattern was found in the Interweave Knits Holiday 2010 issue. It's also listed on Ravelry.

Bookman

Bookman, originally uploaded by missthg.

This is the Bookman Blanket coming along. I have two more tiers and I will be finished with this one! I can't wait until I'm done and can take some of those drapey photos like the original!