Knit Brooches

When I found the pattern for these Brooches, I thought they were soooo cute I went right out and bought round toothpicks and pinbacks. The Activity Director in our Assisted Living supplied me with some small beads for the needle heads. I polished the toothpicks and glued on the beads, and then found that my 0 needles were the same size so I used them to knit the material. The striped one was first and I made it too big. I could hardly squeeze it onto the toothpick. I knitted the last row onto the toothpick. The hardest part was making the tiny ball of yarn. There was a lot of Elmer's glue involved, too.

Mobius Scarf

I have to try every new trick in knitting that I read about. There are several ways to make a Mobius and I used the cheating way to start out with. This easy way is to just knit a rectangle, fold it in half, then turn one end over and graft them together. My daughter told me she wears red and hot pink and when I found a large ball of this super bulky yarn in the stash that was sooo soft, I just had to make it into a scarf for her,
First of all I had to start it with a provisional Cast On so it could be grafted onto the other end. That was something new to learn. No problem. I had done a Kitchener stitch before so I dug out the instructions for that and had no problem. When I finished that I found there was a flat space of stockinette stitch in the middle of my garter stitch. Now I had to pick that out and go to Kitty to learn that I just had to reverse the knits and purls in the Kitchener stitch to end up with matching garter stitches. Ta Da!

Next will come knitting a Mobius the real way!

Felted Purse

Another useless item, but I just had to try to felt something. I bought the yarn and got a free pattern for it. Knitting was simple and I had just enough left over to make a tiny change purse to go with it.
I tried felting it in the kitchen sink but it just wouldn't felt, so I sent it to the laundry with my hubby who does it for me. It sort of felted so I mailed it to my daughter in New Jersey to show her what I have been doing.

Alpine ?? ! !

I wasn't going to show this goof, but why not?
I saw this pattern and thought it looked easy. It started out to be a tube sock with a sole knitted extra and sewed on. The one on the right was the first one. Obviously I made it too big and I didn't like the sole sewed on, so I decided to make it into a regular sock.
I had done the Fair Isle pattern on the top, and then just added stripes on the foot until I ran out of red and finished the toe with the gray. The sock was too short, too. I didn't continue the Fair Isle up above the calf nor down the foot like I was supposed to do.
Now, what to do with one sock? I really liked the pattern, so I struggled through the Fair Isle again, and then knitted the rest in a size to fit me. That was when I decided I would never knit a Fair Isle pattern again, so I am stuck with this result.
It was good wool though so I am now wearing them as bed socks. Very nice and warm on the cold nights we have been having.

Lace Collar

It's a good thing that lace is supposed to have holes. There may be some misplaced holes. On the whole, I think it turned out quite well. I can't think that I will ever wear it, but it was fun to knit.

#1 Start Here!

Years and years ago I did a little knitting but I had a husband, children, large garden, dog, pony and a good sized greenhouse full of orchids to take care of, so the knitting did not last long. Last year I started up again. This time I have become more interested in learning the many tricks in knitting. I have a short span of attention and a low tolerance to boredom so my projects are mostly quick and easy items.

Well, here is my first project. Hats seemed to be the easiest item to learn to knit. It was knitted flat and sewed up the back. It was way too big. I had to learn how to knit to fit. The initials were embroidered on with the duplicate stitch technique.

Purple Hat

I have a dictionary of knitting stitches and was eager to try some of them out. The purple hat turned out very nice but the mittens do not match. I had to try different stitches on each! One was made without a thumb and the next has the start of one. I was still learning and practicing. The best pair of fingerless mittens I made are now being worn by a ninety year old lady in our Health Center, (Nursing Home) to keep her hands warm while she reads. I don't have a picture of them.

More Hats

Christmas was coming so the Red and white hat was appropriate. I learned how to use Double Pointed and Circular Needles The Rainbow Scarf was knitted lengthwise and I made the mistake of knitting it in stockinette stitch so it rolled up into a tube. You learn by your mistakes. I have since ripped it out and reknitted it flat.

The Blue one was an even better fit and I was learning how to make little thumbs on the mittens.

Christmas Tree Hat

Well, Christmas was here and I found this pattern for a baby and I just enlarged it to fit me. When I told my hubby that I would make one for him, he immediately made plans to illuminate it, so his has a few tiny lights poking through, with a battery and switch inside. We were a big hit at all the activities at our Retirement Village.

First Shrug

The reason I originally started knitting was to make shrugs for the residents in the Health Center. Knitting was too slow and we needed them immediately so we sewed them out of fleece. This was actually the third shrug I made. The first two were ripped out. Frogging, it is called. A frog goes "Ribit". Get it? "Rip It"! This one was wearable, so I kept it. The yarn was donated to our Craft Closet by residents who moved in and brought all their leftover yarn, thus the stripes of Mystery Yarn. This was an excellent project to practice different stitches. Some came out fine but some were too difficult for me.

More Stripes

Just using up more scrap yarn in the lap robe on the left and the scarf below. The lap robe is my VIBGYOR. The colors of the rainbow are Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red, so it is a Rainbow.

This Neck Cozy has a little trick to it. There is a slot that one end goes through. Outside of that is is just garter stitch and rib stitching. I am making one now using a fancy rib stitch I learned while making a shrug that is still in progress. It is a large project and very boring. It will take me quite a while to finish.

I found a tutorial for knitting Lace in Knit Picks catalog with the instructions for making this lace headband. I found it very easy to make and will knit more when I have time.

Peach Vest

This was a large project for me, but I finally finished it. I saw a picture of this vest and made it from scratch without a pattern. Never having made a garment before, I had to make adjustments in fit as I went. It would have been done much sooner if I had been a lot thinner!

Striped Capelet

Finally something made out of purchased Caron Simply Soft yarn. Easy to knit on circular needles and easy to wear. Easy to fit after a couple of false starts to get the neck the right size. I still like stripes! The Denise circular needle kit is great! Light weight and easy to change needles. Plastic is not as slippery as metal ones. I use bamboo for the double pointed needles. They are the least slippery. I don't have enough control to keep the yarn from slipping off of metal needles.

Cupcakes

What a cute thing to make! It fits my criteria of being small and quick and easy to knit. I make a choice of Coconut, Strawberry or Chocolate frosting. I have decided to give one to each resident on her 90th or over Birthday. We have a resident who just celebrated her 100th. She is still alert and buzzing around on her scooter. She is just hard of hearing.