I Am Not So Much a Knitter

I am a crocheter, but many years ago I finally learned to knit because I saw an article on continental knitting and I was able to do that without it hurting my hands too much. Once I got used to the movements, it didn't hurt at all. Mostly what I knit are dishcloths and most of those are for Christmas presents and for a long time I only knit the classic, ubiquitous, garter stitch on the diagonal dishcloth.
Somewhere along the line I found a very similar pattern, but with only 3 stitches cast on and the yarn over increase done after just the first stitch in each row. It seemed to be a little more symmetrical for me and so I stuck with that.
Then just this last year I decided all on my own to just do a single decrease at the beginning of each row instead on the usual decrease, yarn over, decrease that I had been doing all along. It meant I didn't get that little eyelet edging on the second half, but for me it was worth it to avoid the distortion I would always get on the second, decreasing half of the dishcloth.
Well, didn't that just open a whole world of crazy, because this year I am knitting seed stitch dishcloths. Okay, it's not real-knitter-crazy, but for me this is a big step.



The two at the bottom are from a pattern by Chris Williamson, but I can't find a way to get to it on her website. I originally got it from a yahoo group I'm in called holidaymysterygifts, but the patterns there are only available for a short period of time. New ones every month, though.

Anyway, I was looking for the pattern and came across Devin's Dishcloth which is the one on the needles above. I really like the garter stitch banding around the seed stitch center, especially in the solid color I am using here. I did change the pattern a tiny bit by casting on an odd number of stitches and beginning and ending each row of the center seed stitch section with a purl stitch. I tried it as the pattern is written but ended up with the border being one stitch wider on one side.

I know this is probably the knitting equivalent of crossing the street by yourself, but to me it a big step forward.

ICAD

In July I stumbled on Daisy Yellow and her index card a day challenge. By that time I had already missed the sign-up deadline for her three month summer challenge, but I thought it was such a great idea that I wanted to participate anyway. So, I started on my own that very day.

Now she has a new month at a time challenge and I managed to get myself sign-up in a timely way. Since I am official now, it seemed like a good idea to show some of the cards I have done. Since I am terrible at posting things, it took me this long to do that.

Last night I was trimming some paper and thought these skinny little strips of paper would look interesting on an index card. I was going to add some bits of red to be flowers but I liked the way the "grass" looked so much I decided to stop.



These are some other scraps that I had, and I thought I would use them, too, on another card. Yes, the rules allow making more than one card a day. Since the first one was card 58, this one is 58.1.



The first card from yesterday reminded me of this one I did about a week earlier with still more thin little bits of paper trimmings. I had had the idea as I was going to bed the night before to wrap a string around an index card and this seemed to be the right card to do that with.

Randomness

Every year I like to take all the letters and pictures that came with Christmas cards and put them in a special album just for that purpose. Well, if you can believe it, the people who send me pictures do not get together and coordinate their pictures so that they fit beautifully on the pages and I am left with blank spots to fill in with whatever. Luckily for them, that is one of my favorite parts.

The last few years I have tried to use what they actually sent (stickers on the envelopes, stamps,
parts of the cards) to fill in any blank spots. This is my favorite from this year -- well, last year, but I did it this year.
The image of the angels is from a return address label, and the background is from the back of a card. I thought it was a nice way to use something that might have been thrown away -- the address label -- and something that would have ended up in a pile of things I might use for something eventually -- the back of the card.





Then we have a picture of Rover guarding the vegetable patch or what is left of it after he ate most of the lettuces. He looks so serious, making sure the camera doesn't think it is going to get any of these vegetables.

Off to his right there are actually a lot of broccoli plants. My son loves broccoli, and we hope that it grows well. The leaves have gotten quite large and healthy looking, but we have not seen anything that looks like broccoli growing on them yet. This is our first year trying to grow it, so it is a learning experience for all of us. Except for our daughter who doesn't much care for vegetables and would probably prefer us to grow some nice meaty livestock.

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Valentine's Card

This is the card I made last night at our church's craft night. Most people made more than one, but I was having fun with a friend who was working on a garland that spells out L O V E.
It was so fun to see all the many styles of cards that were available to make and of course even people who were following the same sample ended up with cards that looked so different.
Kathryn Mullins is the woman who hosted this and she was so generous with her time and talent and supplies and so encouraging as we worked on our cards and as some went on to come up with their own ideas. What a talented lady.

Folder Journal

The most recent issue of Cloth, Paper Scissors (Jan/Feb 2011) has an article called Folder Journal about making a journal from a manila folder.
When she came over for Thanksgiving my mom gave me an almost full box of surplus legal-size manila folders from her office.
So clearly this was meant to be:



Since this was my first attempt at this project I decided to use some paper I didn't like very much which is some of the orange papers. As the project came together I found myself liking the way the orange paper looked and adding other papers and bits & pieces that I thought fit in . Eventually I will be adding some of my favorite Bible verses and maybe some other inspirational things to the back of the journal cards. Once I get that done, I will have a better idea of just how to finish the fronts of the cards.

Not-So-Plain Brown Wrapper

I finished reading a book just a couple of days before I was going to be going on a trip and I didn't want to start one of the books that have already been packed to take with me, but I did want to read something that I could finish before I left. So I looked for a skinny book in my bedside stack and found one that I was too embarrassed to have my co-workers see the cover of. You know the kind. They have titles about the billionaire and his virgin secretary and their love child. So bad and yet so good, like that secret stash of Hershey's miniatures you put in the back of highest shelf so your family won't eat them all.
Anyway, I grabbed a lunch bag and a scrap of some striped contact paper on my way out the door to work. Using the same technique I had used in high school to cover textbooks, I made a cover for this book out of the paper lunch bag. Of course, a plain brown wrapper is like a beacon saying "look, there is something of an embarrassing nature under here," so I cut strips from the contact paper and then applied them in a woven pattern to the cover to make it look more like a craft project and less like an attempt to protect my co-workers eyes.

I like it.

Needlebook Swap

There was a swap on Swapbot to send a needlebook to one partner. My partner said in her profile that she was getting married soon and that she is using pink and white and cherry blossoms in her wedding to this is the needlebook I came up with for her:


The battery on my camera gave out as I was taking pictures and since we moved recently, it took some time to find the recharger. Sigh. The inside pages have white flower trim appliqued on them. Very cute, but no pictures. The inside pages are a darker shade of pink.
I am also in a bottlecap pincushion swap so since that was on my mind, too, and I already had the felt out, my partner got one of those, too. Then, while looking for something to tie the package up with, I came across some pink cotton yarn. So, of course, she got a dishcloth, too. I think it is a sweet little package for a soon-to-be bride and she was happy with it, too. That is what counts.
Here is another picture of the pincushion:

I really like how that picture came out.

Unpacking

When you unpack after a move you have to look at the things you have had around you for a while and rethink what you are going to do with them and where they will go if you do decide to keep them. Sometimes it just takes that new setting to see something that has been there for a while.
I found a little margarine tub (how long has it been since I even bought margarine in a little tub like this?) in with all my beads. This is what was inside:

I remember making them about 5 or 6 years ago. The goldish colored ones were varnished with something that gave them a bit of an yellow tone which looks lovely on those beads, but I decided not to try it on most of the colors. Here are a few of the strands of beads:

I also found these pins that I made a while ago. My mom had given me a kit for the yellow one. She had gotten it from a group she belongs to. I used leftovers from that kit and some of my own supplies to make the rest. Basically, you just keep going in and out of the holes on a four hole button, picking up various combinations of beads whenever you are on the front side. Fasten off and glue a pin back to the back.

Paisley Brooches and Picture Frames

These are some of the things I made for February's felt themed contribution to the beat-the-Christmas-rush year long project. First there are a couple of paisley shaped felt brooches.

I didn't really like paisley when I was a girl, but as I am seeing it more and more of it this time around I do see some that I like very much and others that have design elements that I like even if I don't like the piece as a whole. It was so enjoyable to do the embroidery and to pick out the colors and beads and buttons for these. I would definitely do this again.

I also made some frames for wallet sized photos.

These are intended to be hung on a Christmas tree. They were so easy to do and I have some ideas for some more, so these shouldn't be the last of them. The lighter blue one reminds me of those flowers Mary Engelbreit does. So cheerful.
The funny thing was that I was trying to think of something a on the masculine side that I would not totally mess up with my girl-brain way of thinking I see clearly what a thing looks like while totally missing the most important part. (Sheesh, mom.) Anyway, my son saw these and said they looked nice. I asked him which one he liked best and he looked very sad and asked if picking one meant they wouldn't both have his picture in them. So I guess it'll be okay if I don't get any "boy" ones done.

Last Minute Christmas Gift

This year several sites mentioned surprise balls. They are balls of crepe paper that the recipient unwinds to find small gifts hidden inside. I decided to try them with my family.
Shortly after I made my mom's, I found the item I had meant to put in the middle. So, I unwrapped hers to start over and even though it wasn't for me it was so fun to see the goodies fall out. The next day I was telling one of the women I work with about it when it occurred to me that I should make some for my co-workers. We weren't having a gift exchange this year, but I wanted to do something.
The plan was to just put small candies in it since this was now very last minute, but I ended up making a bracelet (sorry, no picture) for one person and some small felt pins for some others.

One co-worker had already asked me for a snowman pin and another loves ladybugs, so those were easy to come up with. These were so fun and easy to do that I know I will be making more.
Not everyone got a pin but they all got a surprise ball and they were all delighted as they began unwrapping them and saw the little treats falling out.
The hardest part of this is finding the little things that work, but as you wind the ball you see where to add the next thing and it all comes out pretty round at the end.

This Is Not a Doily

Nick's Not-A-Doily
Originally uploaded by joanieponytail57

Nick wanted to know how to use the loom and since this was the smallest size they had, this is what he made. It is a bit large for a coaster, or small for a hot pad. It is definitely not a doily. Don't even think it. Not. A. Doily. (Apologies to my daughter, the writer, who hates it when people do that, but this is serious.)
It took him three crafting sessions to finish this and the only reason he did is that I promised to put a picture of it here if he did. Once he figured out how the process actually worked he was over it.