Block count

I'm up to 18 blocks, 8 1/2" square, all of them are crazy. Although my oldest, again playing the role of the experienced quilter and being very proud that she never used the same fabric twice on her pillow, quickly pointed out that all of my blocks look the same.

Here are the fingerless mitts I made for G. They cover his wrist for a good length. He will test them Sat. while he is at a winter survival day with his scouts.

The latest new thing here is "I" making valentines. She got a papercrafting book from my sister (I think) and is having a hey-day with it.

MItts in action

This afternoon, we tackled the Christmas lights. I like this weather.

Since Advent begins this weekend, I was hoping to find a picture of our Jesse tree to put up. Seeing how I cannot find a picture, I may have to draw one with "Paint" to share here. Seeing a family tree for Jesus is interesting. We do not use it every year, and I don't know why it's done only at Christmas because you can study Bible verses any time of year. Stay tuned.

Off the Sticks

Hey, it's "A's" fingerless mitts. Pretty nice, eh? This is probably the most complex knitting she has done to date -- ribbing and sewing a seam.

Not a lot going on -- A garage sale this weekend at my place, a campout for Mr. GAIN and "G," and perhaps some easy unfound geocaches for me. There are four in the area that I haven't found.

Off the sticks last week -- another dishcloth. This time, I made a regular "grandma's favorite." I love that the pattern is incredibly easy. I first experienced this pattern at my wedding shower. A family friend from Matt's hometown gave me one, along with her church's cookbook. My goal is to have seven. I give about half of what I make away, so I may be reaching my goal of 7 by 2009.

I found a knitting book at the library. It has a future Christmas gift in it. Now to just find the yarn. In another library book, I found a scarf that I want to make. Already have the yarn for that, now to burn some brain cells to modify the pattern to fit my yarn.

I'm also trying to use up my stash, so I also decided to make neckwarmers for younger nieces and nephews. The tester that I made failed the test. Why do things always work better in my head than in real life?

Wow, I'm using a lot of short and simple sentences. Must be all the work of pricing garage sale items.

Fingerless Gloves

I took a break and decided to make a quick project. Actually, my youngest implored with all her might to have a pair of fingerless gloves and I caved. I've been wearing mine to ball games and in the car when I'm driving in chilly weather. It's still September, so full gloves and jackets seem like overkill. So I use a sweatshirt or sweater, maybe a hat, and my fingerless gloves.

I modeled her gloves after mine. Leftover Rowan All-Season cotton. (I still have some left.) Size 6 needles. Fetching was the original pattern. She is very proud of them, wearing them to Red Rock for a day (the largest lake in Iowa!). After the sun came out and the temps increased, she kept them on. She thinks they are cool and make her look stylish. She definitely has a style all her own.

Hello

Hey-o, everyone! This is the first entry to my crafty blog. I normally knit gifts, so I have very little knitwear for myself and immediate family. I made an exception these last two weeks.

I was buying another ball of yarn to finish a tank top for me (Janis, from knitty gritty). I thought I would have a relatively inexpensive, rockin' new top, but it may end up costing around $20 -- I may as well have bought a new top at a store. Oh wait, you can't find anything at a store like this. I knitted my own fabric! Isn't that cool? I always, always, out of habit, peer in the bargain basket of single skeins (doesn't matter what store I enter, I always look in the bargain bin). I found a skein of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino dk yarn for $1.50. I liked the color. I thought I would buy it and figure out a use for it later. This is rare for me. I usually buy things that are on my list. Impulse buys are very few.

Anyway, I searched for pattern that uses one skein of yarn. Tiny shrugs and cell phone cozies, hats and stuffed animals, etc. -- none tripped my trigger. Then I attended my older daughter's ball game. Senior league usually plays the late games. They begin at 7:45 p.m. So although the weather was pleasant during warm-up, I felt chilly by 7:45 and continued to feel colder as time passed. (The free, close-out pizza from the concession stand warmed me a little.) I remembered seeing a fingerless glove pattern at knitty.com called fetching. It was for the yarn I bought, but in aran weight instead of dk. I thought I would go for it. I have nothing made of cashmere, why not gloves?

Here they are:Photo by Cole.

I cast on 40 stitches instead of 45 because the circumference of my wrists and hands are small. I probably could have gone smaller, because they have a lot of stretch in them. The thumb hole is large, too, but I was not going to spend brain cells working out a smaller thumb hole. And they work! Definitely warm, totally luxurious. I thought fingerless gloves were silly for a long, long time because I couldn't see myself needing any. Until the game last week. I can still dig in my purse, work a zipper, turn a knob in the car, etc. without removing my gloves! Revelation! I really like the color, because it is close to skin tone. I would not want a bright or dark "Hey, look at my fingerless gloves!" color. That would be too attention grabbing and over the top for me.

I liked making cables. I wish the picot edging laid and showed better on the finger edge. Maybe that would change with washing or blocking. I feel very smart because the gloves were a very quick knit, pretty darn cheap, and rather handsome. I finished with much more than the one yard noted in the pattern. So I still have really nice yarn in a small quantity. Maybe a little sweater or sock ornament will evolve from it.