A little knitting and a little crocheting....

Pattern:  Shells and Trellis Chemo Cap
Yarn:  Caron Simply Soft in Lavender Blue
Click HERE for pattern link.

 
Peachy Baby Cap (with knit 2, purl 2 rib for the brim)
Pattern:  Berry Baby Cap (I modified the pattern a bit)
Yarn: Berroco Comfort DK (left over from chemo caps)
Click HERE for pattern link.

Upside Down Flower with rolled brim
Pattern:  Berry Baby Hat (I modified the pattern a bit... by accident)
Click HERE for pattern link.
Yarn: Berroco Comfort DK (left over from caps)
I got a little full of myself and did not refer to the pattern instructions when completing the decreases.
The decreases ended up in the wrong place.  Still turned out pretty cute though... :)

Having a fun using up yarn in my stash to make caps.  The Shells and Trellis Chemo Cap pattern is a super quick crochet project.  I completed over two evenings.  The pattern is easily memorized too. I learned about this pattern on my Ravelry Group called "12 months=24 caps". 

I am using up the yarn left over from previous chemo caps to make caps for babies.  These two caps above will probably fit some preemies.  They are being modeled on a lemon keeper which I got recently to keep cut lemons fresh in the refrigerator. Turns out it's also good for modeling tiny caps! 

Seasons Greetings...

For "Operation Holiday Stockings" in 2011.

For "Caps for Good"
(caps for small birth weight babies in developing countries).

Just for fun! 
My mom sent me this cute mini-sock blocker kit with pattern for Christmas.  What a fun project.  I whipped up this little stocking in one sitting after a busy Christmas day. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day as well. 
Happy Knitting!

Chemo Caps for a Very Important Person (VIP)

Someone very important to me was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2010.  It's strange to me that I've never really known anyone diagnosed with breast cancer before this year.  And now four people I know are undergoing various treatments.  You've seen me making lots of chemo caps lately and this is why. 

My very important person (VIP) started chemo a week ago

and these are her caps which I completed in the last week or so... 

Pattern: Coronet
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in "Lavender Blue"

Pattern: Hermione Hearts Ron
Yarn:  Berroco Comfort DK

Pattern:  Odessa
Yarn:  Berroco Comfort DK


Do you like my hat model? Her name is "Miss Wiggy!" :)



Squares, Squares, Squares....

Whoops...sideways... sorry!

Yarn intended for felted bag... re-purposed.

Crochet and knit...

A little "Kodak Fever"... bear with me...

A close up to see the textures...

Granny Squares a few different ways... even a knit mitered square in the mix...

I joined a group called “Yarnfest: BSD Project” about three weeks ago.  The group is on Ravelry but you can also read more about the project on Dina’s blog called Yarnfest.  My friend, Kerri, invited me to join this group because Dina, Kerri, and I all have something in common. We all graduated from school in the Beaverton (Oregon ) School District. Dina is in the midst of a multi-phased project to make home-made items for homeless kids attending the schools in the Beaverton area.  Kerri and I both joined.  I’ve been busy making squares ever since. I mailed off my box today… 44 squares, all 100 percent wool.  The first phase of the project was to make hats, gloves, scarves… I missed that phase.  Now the project is focusing on squares which will be stitched together to make “crazy afghans”… all different squares, all sizes, all colors, all yarns… they will be great. 

I keep remembering the story of Stone Soup... you know the story, right?  Two men stumble upon a nice town, they are hungry, and all they have is the clothes on their weary, tired bodies. They go from house to house... asking, "We are hungry, can you spare any food?"  The town's people are not sympathetic; the hungry men are told, "we've got nothing to spare!" and door after door is closed on the two men.

The two men go to the town square and there they build a fire.  The town's people gather and they ask the hungry men what they are doing. They say, "We are making Stone Soup... if only we had a kettle."  A man replies, "I have a kettle!" and a kettle is provided. The two hungry men fill the kettle with water and place a large round stone in the kettle of water.  More of the town's people gather, as they are curious about this Stone Soup.  One by one, the town's people approach the two hungry men to ask about the Stone Soup and to each person, the hungry men say... "We are making Stone Soup... if only we had a carrot!"... and then a person replies, "I have a carrot!"  And then the hungry men say, "If only we had a potato!"... and then another person replies, "I have a potato!"  And then the hungry men say, "If only we had an onion!"... and an onion is provided.  Before you know it, the hungry men and town's people are feasting on delicious soup and bread.  

The Yarnfest: BSD Project reminds me of Stone Soup. If you asked me to make an afghan measuring three feet by five feet, I would think... I don't have the right yarn, I don't have the time, I am too busy... but I CAN make squares.  And when we put all the squares together... imagine how great it will be! 

Foaming Waves Chemo Cap

Somehow I missed posting a photo of this cap. This pattern is called "Foaming Waves Chemo Cap" from http://www.knitmichigan.com/ (lots of great cap patterns here).  Click HERE for the pattern link (Note: Pattern link updated 04-25-2011).  Knitting with peach colored Berroco Comfort DK yarn, which I find so appealing.  Made for Halos of Hope.  Both photos above show same hat (just drastically different lighting).

I found another new great project... more about that another day...

Helllloooooo.. time to make caps

Did you miss me?  Hee, hee.  I've been busy, busy, busy, but I am still knitting away (just too busy to blog).  After finishing up a few more stockings for Operation Holiday Stocking and mailing them off, I found a new project which has me rather enthralled... caps for folks undergoing chemotherapy. 

Several months ago, my long lost friend Kerri mentioned Head Huggers (they make chemo caps for folks) as a knit-along/charity project we could do together.  I liked the idea and made a few hats.  Before I could mail them off, a gal I know (Mrs. C) was diagnosed with breast cancer. She shaved her head before her hair could fall out and I gave her three caps:

Cap for Mrs. C
Pattern:  Lace Edged Women's Hat

Cap for Mrs. C
Pattern:  Hermione Hearts Ron 

Cap for Mrs. B
Pattern:  Hermione Hearts Ron

Cap for Mrs. C
Pattern:
3AM Cable Hat (in worsted weight)





Cap for Mrs. B
Pattern: 3AM Cable Hat (in DK weight)

Now a gal at work (Mrs. B), within the past month or so, was also diagnosed with breast cancer.  I made three hats for her as well.

I've recently joined a few groups on Ravelry.  One group is called "12 months = 24 hats", another group is called "Halos of Hope", and yet another is called "Hearts of Love". They are just a few of the groups on Ravelry centered around making caps to give away. 

As my local yarn shop was closing down over the past few months, I bought enough Berroco Comfort DK yarn at half price to make at least 20 hats, so that will keep me busy.  When I met Mrs. B for the first time, after I had already given her two hats, I asked her what her favorite color is.  She thought for a moment and said, "Pink!"  Hot dog... I lucked out since I already had a pink hat in progress for her. I must be psychic!   She went on to tell me that her grand daughter will really like the pink hat because pink is the color for breast cancer and God has been making the sunsets pink lately... just for Grandma.  

Autumn Socks are Complete

Yay!  My Autumn Socks are done.  DONE!

  The pale green reminds me of the Granny Smith apples on my counter top in the kitchen.

The pale yellow reminds me of the golden leaves clinging on the cottonwood trees in my back yard.

The blue and white speckles remind me of white clouds in the bright blue sky on a crisp, cool Autumn day.

The dark green reminds me of the grass clippings all over my laundry room floor...

my son is a good young man and mowed the yard today.

I LOVE FALL!

Yarn:  Schoppel Wollle "Ambiente" 

Colorway: Kiwicoctail

Pattern:  "Ribbed Socks for Bigger Feet" by Susan B. Anderson

Autumn Socks

Love this yarn!
A gal I know, Dawn, opened a knit shop in the town where I work. 
The shop is called "Knitsense".  It's a gorgeous shop.  A sun drenched space, neat and tidy, filled with great yarn. So dangerous that I drive by this shop each & every day on my way home when all I want to do is go home, put up my feet, & knit!   This sock yarn was my purchase on opening day a few weeks ago. This yarn is knitting up nicely I think... the colors remind me of Autumn. 
http://www.knitsense.com/

Sagey Cable Cap

Pattern:  "3AM Cable Cap" 

Yarn:  Berroco Comfort DK

Crimson Cable Cap

I made this hat the other day thinking it might be a nice chemo cap to give away.  A friend at my Thursday knitting group mentioned the yarn might not be soft enough since it does contain about 25% wool. Decided to give the hat to my friend's almost-15-year-old daughter. I was hoping she might find it "cool" or fashionable.  Today, I was leafing through a catalog which showed up in my mail box out of the blue the other day and, wouldn't you know, I found a hat which is quite similar.  Click the LINK HERE and see what I mean.  The clothes in the catalog are quite stylish.   The pattern can be found HERE.  I made this hat once before but I added extra to the ribbing the first time around so the bottom of the hat can be folded up to make a nice brim.  I like this pattern since it's a great use for worsted weight yarn and it knits up really quickly.

Market Bag

I did a little sewing this week.  Click HERE to check out my Market Bag.

My Knitting Corner

This is the view from my knitting corner.  The little space I have next to the window.  This is my view.  Pretty nice, huh?  The space between the window and my chair is where I stow projects in progress... I have a difficult time keeping it tidy since I usually have too many projects going at once. I've not been having a lot of time to knit this week; it's been rather crazy around here... to say the least.  My husband severely sprained his ankle playing tennis with our son.  This week, we've been to the Emergency Room, the Orthopaedic Specialist, a Physical Therapist, and then back to the Orthopaedic Specialist. My husband does so much around the house, so this week I've been busy helping him get around and taking care of his chores and mine... and tennis playing since our son misses his Pop for playing tennis.  Despite this, I started a scarf with beads and I made a cover for my husband's amazing foot brace/boot/walking contraption.  The boot reminds me of a snow ski boot with an open toe.  It's padded inside and has straps for adjustment and is rigid enough for support but allows for movement (walking).  It actually has an air bladder built inside it so he can pump it up for more support or release the air if it's too tight.  Here's a photo of the cover I made (he wanted the cover to keep it clean when he has to go out and about).  It has a zipper and a drawstring top.

A few shots of the beaded scarf...

On another note, our son had a football championship tournament on Monday.  His team was undefeated this season and they won the championship as well.  You can see the final score in the background... Home Team 40; Visitors 14!  It was a good end to our son's football career; next year, he's switching to tennis.

Operation Holiday Stocking

I have been wanting to find a charity knitting project.  I even recently bought some yarn to make baby hats, only to find the yarn I bought was the wrong kind.... contained some wool, not good for little babies.  On Ravelry the other day, I found a perfect match for me: Operation Holiday Stocking (OHS).  Click HERE for the link. 

A number of year's back, a lady named Sue started this project. You can read more about OHS on her project web page. It's a rather cute story, but long story short... this project is all about making little holiday stockings for soldiers serving in the United States Armed Forces. The stockings are filled with goodies and then shipped off.  Can you imagine the smiles this must put on the faces of the young men and women who can't be at home with their loved ones during the holidays?  I don't know about you, but my Christmas stocking (lovingly prepared by my mom each year), was just about the best thing about Christmas for me when I was growing up.  (Thanks, Mom!)

I made two stockings this past week using the pattern I found on the OHS webpage (see two photos above).  But if you know me, I can't follow patterns (just like I can't follow recipes) with out "tweaking" things a bit.  Don't get me wrong... the pattern on the webpage is great.  The stockings are made on straight needles. After you knit the cuff, you do a series of short rows which magically creates a heel. Amazing to see it develop before your eyes. Problem is... you have to SEW a blasted seam to finish up the stocking.  I was knitting nicely but sewing poorly, so I modified the pattern so I could knit on my favorite pair of double pointed needles.  My little stack of stockings is piling up.  Sue at OHS would like to receive stockings prior to November 24, 2010; they will fill the stockings and ship them over Thanksgiving.  I plan to make as many as possible between now and then, but am looking forward to working on this project throughout the year for 2011.

Some stockings with my "tweaked" pattern (with traditional heel and gusset and toe).

Socktoberfest...Jester Socks are Complete!

On Ravelry, October is "Socktoberfest".  They are encouraging folks to work on socks, finish up unfinished socks (the dreaded "second" sock!), and otherwise work on unfinished objects.  I finished my "Jester Socks".  The pattern is called RIBBED SOCKS FOR BIGGER FEET... a Susan B. Anderson pattern.
The yarn is from Knit Picks and the color is called "Jester Multi".  The colors in the yarn remind me of a juggling jester in a clown-like costume... you know, the goofy guy with the funny three-pronged hat.  What are those hats called anyway?  Jester hats?  I had good intentions of working on unfinished objects for the remainder of the month, but that did not last long.  I cast on a sweater last night.  More on that another day...

Chestnut Cable Cardigan is COMPLETE...FINALLY!!!!





While it's a nice big accomplishment to finish a big project, such as a sweater, it's also a big ol' relief.  After all that work you are thinking to yourself... do you like it? does it fit? is it what you hoped for? I am pretty happy with my Chestnut Cable Cardigan.  I got to wear my sweater to my Thursday knitting group; it was bit hot out for that, according to my husband, but that did not disuade me! Hee, hee.  It was still kind of hot out when we went to our son's football game, but I knew we'd be in the shade and the sun would be going down.  The game ran so long they actually had to turn the field lights on and I discovered my sweater is perfect for watching a football game on a beautiful autumn evening.

Lesson #1:

My sleeves could be a bit longer.  I discovered that when I got in the car and reached for the steering wheel!  Huh!?  Lesson learned: don't just look in the mirror when you are trying on a garment in progress.

Lesson #2:

When I knit the sweater, I knew I'd be going back and picking up and knitting stitches up and down the right and left fronts of the sweater. When making heels on socks, I've learned that if you slip one stitch at the beginning of each row, then there's a nice and obvious loop where you can easily pick up stitches.  I thought I'd "out smart" the pattern. At the beginning of each row, I slipped one stich.  When I went back to pick up and knit to add the ribbing edge, I ended up having only 1/2 as many stitches to pick up and knit.... if that makes sense.  I stewed about it for awhile and then decided to... pick up 1 stitch, cast on 1 stitch, pick up 1 stitch, cast on 1 stitch... all the way to have an appropriate number of stitches.  Phew! Problem solved.  Lesson learned:  Follow the instructions!  Don't think you are being clever and don't try out smart the pattern. Follow the instructions! Of course, if you are an experienced sweater knitter... you can wing it.  As for me, this is my FIRST adult sized sweater... I need to follow the instructions!

Lesson #3:

I made my button holes horizontal.  They are okay but not my favorite. I just sort of winged it. The bottom button hole was too big especially since the sweater tends pull toward the back. I made the button hole a bit smaller by closing it up with yarn and needle.  Do you like my buttons? I got them at my closing local yarn shop at 40% off.  Since I only used three buttons, it really wasn't a budget buster... even if I would have payed full price.  I LOVE my cool buttons. Lesson learned:  Cool buttons rock!  Don't scrimp on buttons; with all the work I put into this sweater, it deserved some nice buttons.

Lesson #4:

My mom has an awesome yarn stash. My mom allowed me to take this yarn home in my suitcase a few years back. Lion Brand "Wool-Ease" yarn in a heathered "chestnut" shade.  Thanks for the yarn, Mom!

Lesson learned:  Always listen to your Mom.  Mom's are very smart... especially if you have a mom who knits! 

Pattern source.  http://www.lionbrand.com/ 

If you'd like to see the pattern I used, click here to see the Lace Inset Cardi. If you look, you'll see I altered this pattern quite a lot.  See, I told you I am not good at following instructions!

The cable up and down the front is from "The Great American Aran Afghan" Book.

The cable on the sleeve is from the "The Great American Afghan" Book.