Knitting With Telephone Poles

I have been a knitting and jewelry-making fiend lately. And, I've been pretty happy with what I've created.

The first thing that I made that I'm proud of is a beehive hat that I made for my boss's daughter. Actually, I'd made the hat before. I found the pattern in the book _Stitch 'n Bitch_ by Debbie Stoller, but that pattern was for adults. I knew that I should be able to make it for children, so I played with what I had, made some educated guesses, et voila! It's the cutest little pink beehive hat! From what I understand, the girl loves it! She wears it all the time! I always love to hear things like that.

Additionally, I knitted a couple of "stoles." They are pretty cool-looking, too. I'm not too sure what would be a practical use for whomever I decide to give them to, but they are warm and cute! I have enough yarn to make a third, but I'm not sure when I will do that. I get emails from a few knitting web sites, and I'm pretty thankful for that, because I've had quite a few new ideas for projects from featured ideas in those emails. I've been pretty happy with the results so far.

Yesterday, in the mail, two size 50 needles arrived. These things make it feel like knitting with telephone poles! But, Lion promised that I could create a throw in a measly six hours if I used this size needle and four strands of Homespun yarn. I love Homespun! It's so soft! And, the throw is looking pretty good so far! I love the fact that I'll be able to make an entire afghan with 34 stitches. It's like making a gigantic scarf. I'm looking forward to the end of that one. It should be a nice piece.

I'm also working on a helmetliner for my father to use on his motorcycle, because he likes to ride year-round when the weather permits (and his definition of this tends to differ with others, including myself). I thought this would be a nice warm additive. Way to encourage him, eh? I'm finding that this is taking longer than the throw mentioned above, because I'm working on 84 stitches, and I've got to first work up six inches of k2, p2 ribbing. I've got about four inches completed.

Now, in case all that doesn't sound like too much (and I didn't even mention the pair of fingerless gloves that I made in white with a nice little lacy edge), I have also been making a lot of jewelry-- six necklaces, two pairs of earrings, and one bracelet over the past weekend. I still have more of those that I want to make. And, there are a few other things. On Saturday, I went to Georgia State's annual Iron Pour and created an iron plaque that I really like. I've been going to the Iron Pour for three years now, and this, I think, was my best one yet! Maybe it's because I planned it ahead of time. I don't know, but I'm certainly pleased with the outcome.

I have been busy lately, to say the least, but it's been good. I've realized that I have more patience than I've had with projects in a long time. Even when the small complicated aspects of the jewelry-making wasn't happening like I wanted it to, I remained calm, and eventually, it all worked out! I guess that's what patience is about!

Thanks for reading!

:)
Tracey

Fingerless Gloves

I'm not sure why, but not everyone is as excited about the phenomenon of fingerless gloves as I am. People often as me why I wear them, how they can be considered gloves if they don't cover the fingers, etc.

I wear fingerless gloves mostly at work, although I have worn them to drive also, when it's cold but not so cold that I can't touch my fingers to the steering wheel (although I've been known to do that, too, when I don't have alternatives.) I wear them because they keep my wrists warm and free up my fingers for writing with ease. Additionally, they aren't super obvious (as they really only cover half of the palm of my hands and most of my thumbs), so it's okay to wear them at work.

One of the best things about them is that they are super quick to knit up... and easy, too.

I made my first pair of fingerless gloves (shown above) about four years ago at Christmastime while visiting an "in-law." I used scrap yarn for that pair--pink, blue, and green in stripes--and my plan was to make the stripes in different orders for both gloves so that they are a pair but not exactly alike. I love them. So much so that I decided that I needed another pair (like one with purple in them, since that's my favorite color). My aunt recently gave me some purple-and-green variegated yarn (green being my second-favorite color), so I had exactly what I needed to get to work.



It took me a long time to search out just the right pattern four years ago, and so, while I'm not in the habit of making the same thing twice (and I think this is a lie I tell myself, because I've admitted more than once over the past year that I've done just that... with the same preface), I used the same pattern. One of the things about me and patterns, though, is that I often make changes when going through the second iteration. I have a difficult time staying with the same thing twice. This second pair has certain necessary structural changes based on the comfort of the first pair. These are longer (although, that change was an accident that I was ultimately happy about), and the buttoned edges are sewn together so that the gloves don't open up where/when I don't want them too. The buttoned edges are just decoration, anyway. I intend to sew up the edges of the old pair, too. The fun thing about using variegated yarn is that it takes far less effort to create a pair of gloves that are similar to each other but not exactly the same. There's no need to continually change the yarn to get the desired effect.

I had fun making these gloves this weekend. I have ideas for making other changes in the future. But, I think I'd like to try some of the other patterns I found four years ago, as I saved them as I went along, just in case I didn't find the perfect pattern.

Thanks for reading.

:)
Tracey

More Afghans

In this year of knitting afghans, I've slowed down a bit. Well, truth be told, I've come to a screeching halt! (Did you hear it?) I won't be reaching my goal of knitting afghans for most of the people on my Christmas list. I'd better think of a new plan. I have a good excuse, though. I moved at the end of July which took up a LOT of time and continues to do so, and I wrote some poetry, as I mentioned earlier, and I've been doing some other mental health-oriented stuff. Oh, yeah, and there's the jewelry, which I can write more about later.

I have knitted two afghans recently, as my step-sister is about to have a daughter, and a friend of mine just had a baby boy. So, I've made two teeny-tiny afghans. The neat thing about these is that they can be finished within a few days! The one for my step-sister is a hooded blanket in pink, and the other has a chevron pattern in a variegated blue. I've made both before, but I like them both, so I was interested in doing them again. I'm not sure why I'm so attached to the idea of a hooded blanket, but alas, I am! I'm not ever sure how useful they are, but I just like them!



I'm wanting projects these days that are quick. I can't help it. I find that with having to decorate a new home in the midst of work and other endeavors, both fun and not-so-fun, I want my projects to be quick and dirty, as they say. Although, I'm itching to make another big afghan. I'm not sure what pattern I want to do this time. I feel behind in my work (and I just this moment remembered that I still haven't finished afghan #3--oops! Maybe I need to get cracking on that one!)

More later.

Thanks for reading.

:)
Tracey

Bookmarks & Stickers

I recently needed to send a thank you to someone. I wanted to include a small token of my appreciation with the card, but I'm in the middle of a move, currently, so I don't have an abundance of time to make things right now. In a conversation with this person about my knitting, and my trepidation about knitting things for men, because there are only so many scarves, hats, gloves you can make for one person before it gets redundant and unimaginative. And, I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of doing the same thing over and over again--I like to try out new things. Well, this person told me that if I made him a doily, he would appreciate it, because I made it, even if he didn't have much use for one.

So, I decided to make him a doily.

No, actually, I wouldn't make anyone a doily. (With my experience with "never" statements, stay tuned for my blog entry on doilies, as I'm sure there will be one....)

I decided to make him a bookmark. I figured it would be small, therefore easy to knit up and easily placed in an envelope, and probably more useful than a doily (except, to be honest, I have no idea if he reads with any regularity). I have an "encyclopedia" of knitting and crochet stitches (because I am determined to enjoy crochet almost as much as I do knitting), which I bought a couple of years ago when a friend and I decided to make a friendship scarf with each other over the course of a year--I'll have to take pics sometime.

It was a cool experience. But, I digress. I decided I would look in this book for a pattern I liked and do one iteration of the pattern. I initially chose a pattern that would need 19 stitches (because I have this problem--I have a difficult time creating smaller pieces without having a border--as proved in my friendship scarf), and that was just too wide. I decided a smaller pattern would do and chose one that required seven stitches plus two for the border on either side for a total of 11 stitches. It was perfect! And, I knitted it up in three hours (although it was difficult on size one needles, let me tell you!) The final piece looks great, and I wish I'd taken a picture, but I'm pretty distracted by moving, so I sort of forgot (and don't know where my camera is, actually--it's in the new place, but where in the new place is a mystery). Now, I have a great idea for small presents for people, especially for those who I know are readers. I have a whole book of patterns to choose from! What an easy task! Wee-hoo!

The story doesn't end there, though.

I had to mail this with a thank-you card. Of course, when I placed the bookmark in the envelope, I found that the seal didn't seem too strong, and I feared that the envelope would open and the bookmark would tumble out, so I needed to tape it shut. Well, remember that I'm moving, and I was in a living space where everything is in boxes, so I didn't know where to find any tape. Well, I say everything is in boxes. My craft and art supplies are mostly not in boxes--never were, in fact--and I could easily locate my sticker-making device. Of course, I also needed something to make a sticker out of. I looked through a box of book-making sundries, and found cut-outs I had saved from previous books. I saved these just in case I felt I could use them in later projects. As it turns out, the green puzzle piece had a new job! I quickly turned it into a sticker and sealed the back of my envelope! Voila! I haven't actually made any books since last November, and I've never used the sticker-making device since getting it for Christmas, so it was doubly fun to be able to use my new toy to solve a problem!

Now, I'm looking forward to other uses for my sticker-making device! Wait till my craft room is complete! Wee-hoo!

Thanks for reading.

:)
Tracey

Another Afghan!

Okay, so this afghan-knitting exercise is more time-consuming than I had initially thought it would be. This is only the second one I've finished since starting this project in January. The good news is that I'm almost finished with the third one, which was the second one I started!

Actually, I LOVE this pattern! Once I got the hang of it, I thought it looked really cool. This afghan was made for my cousin's wedding present. I can't wait till she gets it, because I think she'll love it! I wanted to have an orange in it, instead of the purple, but I couldn't find yarn that I liked, and since purple is my favorite color, I decided to go with the purple after all.

One of the things I love about knitting is that there isn't much too it. This pattern looks pretty complicated (I think), but it's really not. It's about using knit-stitches and slip stitches. That's it. Pretty simple. The entire project was supposed to take me ten hours, but it definitely took longer than that.... I thought I was a pretty fast knitter, but maybe not so much! lol Maybe it has to do with the fact that I don't really have ten hours a week to dedicate to any craft, let along completing an afghan. In doing this particular pattern, I decided to add an extra stripe, so that the afghan begins and ends in green. For some reason, I thought this would be a good idea. And, ultimately, I really like it and am glad I did it.

I've thought about doing another afghan of this pattern this year, but I think I'll not do that, as this year is about trying various different patterns for afghans. Maybe next year, I can make one like this for someone who isn't family, because there are plenty of patterns out there, just so I don't have to make the same pattern for multiple family members, who will conceivably visit each other and see the same afghan! Too much thought needs to go into this....

Soon, hopefully, I'll be finishing up the third afghan. There are several other patterns that I want to try out, so I can start in on those patterns when I'm through.

...although, I'm moving soon, and I have some knitting ideas for decorating my new home, especially since it's my first very own piece of American soil!

If anyone has any neat patterns for cool afghans or throws, please let me know. If anyone is interested in this pattern, please drop me a line. I'm happy to share!

Thanks for reading!

:)
Tracey

Weddings and Jewelry (cont)

My mother and I spoke last week, and she told me that she loves the jewelry I made her. She said she wears it all the time. Then, she asked if I would make her a matching bracelet. It's funny that the design came to me as I was making it, and she liked it so much, she wants a more complete set! It's also funny that I had hoped she'd like it enough to wear it to my cousin's wedding, and she says that she wears it all the time.

One of my friends was nearby when I was making the necklace, and she later shared that she found it interesting that while I was making it, I said to myself, "This doesn't look right. I need to change it somehow. I don't think the black will work here after all." Then, I changed a few beads around and said, "Here! This looks good!" and finished the other side. She said, "You didn't ask me if it looked good. You already knew."

For several years, I didn't make any jewelry, and I didn't knit. I learned how to knit when I was thirteen and working at a hotel in New Hampshire. I learned how to make jewelry when a friend of mine was interested in it when I was living in Guam and shortly thereafter. For several years, I focused only on writing poetry. During that time, I felt like something was missing. I began knitting again. Then, I started making jewelry again. Then, I learned how to make books. I feel more well-rounded in my creative endeavors. Engaging in only one seems stilting for me. Having more than one creative outlet provides me with the variety that I need. During the time that I was writing only poetry, I spent time with mostly poets. There was a connection there. There's variety in my social experiences now, as well as my creative outlets, and I feel more whole as a result.

I have finished two of my afghans now, and I'll include pictures of the second in an upcoming post. I have the third (the second-begun) to finish now, but there's not much left to it, so I'm hoping to have it finished soon.

Thanks for reading!

Tracey

Afghans-- A Knitting Project 2008

For 2008, I decided in January that I would make as many afghans as I could to give away as presents. When one considers working full time and going to school full time and whatever other experiences life has to offer, this can be a pretty daunting task! In fact, I've finished only one afghan so far-- in three months! Now, I'm in the middle of two others. And, by "in the middle" I mean I'm almost finished one and little more than 1/4 of the way through the second.



I'd like to talk a little about the first one, and I'll talk about the others as I finish them. Before this, I've only knitted one adult afghan (I've knitted multiple baby afghans, because they can be finished in about an afternoon sometimes.) This one afghan was one I made as a Christmas present for my ex's mother. I remember it to be beautiful when I finished, and I remember how much she loved it. The pattern is completed in the round, so I start off with 8 stitches in the center of the piece and ended with nearly 1000 stitches on the exterior edge! Very cool design, as the afghan itself appears to be square, but it's rounded, too. I love it. And, it's mine. The rest I do for this year will be for presents for others.

The interesting part of knitting (and any craft I do) is what happens emotionally for me, especially when I'm making something for someone else, because I usually have the reason for the knitting in mind throughout the entire project. During this project, I thought that I would think about the last time I used this pattern (I don't tend to do the same project more than once--usually--unless it's something I really like and really want to do again). In some ways, I expected this experience to one of emotional growth, as I was in a difficult situation during the first knitting of this pattern. In some ways, I think I was looking for catharsis in this pattern. Remember, it took me three months to complete this project, doing a little on it almost every day. It occurred to me that I don't remember anything about knitting the first one. This is a relatively large project, and I don't remember any of it from the first time. This time around, there are certain images that will remind me of the knitting of the afghan; when I look at or sit under this warm blanket, I will reflect back on where I was, what the cats were doing, etc., while I was working on it. But, I have no such memories of the first time I worked this project. In some ways, I'm glad that I did this one a second time simply so I could have the memories that I seem to be missing from the first time. I have a pic of the first afghan, included here, as proof that there was a first iteration of this project, but even in looking at a photo of it, I can remember THAT I did it, but I don't remember the actual doing. Maybe there's some catharsis in that.

Just a note that the cats playing by the afghan in this last pic are mine. Cosette is the tabby mix who is on the ladder--she's more than two years older now, so quite a bit bigger! Novalis is the Persian/Siamese mix at the foot of the ladder.

The two projects that I'm working on currently are for two upcoming events. One of my friends is turning 40 this year, and I'm making her an afghan in blue and brown blocks to help her celebrate the event. The other one is an afghan for my cousin who is getting married this weekend. The plan is for it to match with her new condo. I'm not sure if I've accomplished that goal, but we'll see when it's in her home! I'll give updates when I've finished those. I'm intending to make another for a friend's June birthday when another friend is turning 50. I'm not yet sure which new pattern I'm going to try, but I've got lots of interesting ones to choose from. There are a couple of patterns I'm interested in trying out, but one is going to be for an aunt of mine, and another may be for my mother. We'll see. My friend has given me specific colors to use, so I'm looking for a pattern that will work with the color scheme she's chosen. If anyone has any suggestions for cool knitting patterns for afghans, I welcome the input. Also, if anyone is interested in patterns for afghans I make during this year, I'm happy to share!

Thanks for reading.

:)
Tracey