A Little Backwards

Life is Changing

2011-11-15T10:01:00.001-08:00

It’s been so long since I posted! This new school year has brought some changes for our family. For the past two year, my youngest had been in a charter school that met once a week for the first 3 weeks of the month. The rest of the time we were doing school work at home. This continued to feel somewhat like I was homeschooling. The next child up was in public school, then went into a different charter school. Well this year, he has stayed in his charter school and my youngest has decided to venture into public school for her high school years. There were many tears on my part with this decision. She is very happy and doing quite well. Yesterday, she started swimming with the swim team. This new schedule change has given me time to myself that I haven’t had in many years.

The end of September and beginning of October, I canned pear sauce and peach sauce (much like applesauce). I made 42 quarts of pickles, and canned over 6 dozen pints of salsa – red, yellow, and green.

Now I am working on Christmas presents. I am excited to share those projects after Christmas.

The biggest news in our family is that my parents became great grandparents last week. My sister is now a grandma!

I thought I’d share the projects I made for this new little baby girl.

I made a Sacque de Bebe from some LionBrand Homespun yarn I had in my stash.

With the leftover yarn I made her a hat to match sort of following the pattern Leaf Top Hat for Baby.

Making her look like a little eggplant!

I can’t wait to get pictures of the real baby in this!

While I visited my sister this summer, we bought some Alpaca/Acrylic blend yarn which I used to make a Rosy Cozy Baby Cocoon. I thought it turned out quite elegant.

I used the Basic Newborn Baby Hat Pattern as a guide, repeating the trim of the cocoon to make a matching hat.

Again I’m patiently waiting pictures of a real baby in these outfits.

Cute Little Baby Outfit

2011-06-18T20:15:00.001-07:00

My oldest daughter is friends with the cutest couple. They are expecting their first baby in just a couple of weeks. I am excited to share the outfit I have just made for their little baby boy. This has been my first attempt at making clothes. I’ve made scarves, dishcloths, hats, headbands and such, so this was a very brave attempt on my part.

The first part of the outfit that I tried was a pair of Kanoko Pants. The pattern for these pants can be found here, on Ravelry.

These were the easiest pants ever. There was no adjustment for the crotch. I’m trying a new pants pattern now and am realizing how easy this pattern was.

Of course, I found a hat pattern that was inspired by the seed stitch pattern of the pants. The Cute Noggin Baby Hat pattern can be found here.

Unfortunately, I managed to take 2 blurry photos of the hat, so this is the best I can show.

Next, I got very brave and ventured into a sweater. I wanted to find a kimono type sweater to match the feel of the kanoko pants. I found the Sachiko Sweater here. I made a few adjustments on the sweater to help it match the other parts of the outfit.

So here’s the end result all together.

I can’t wait to give this away tomorrow!

I Won Something!!

2011-06-15T16:22:00.001-07:00

The Monthly Dishcloth KAL group that I’m in has monthly birthday raffles. Friday, the winner for the May Birthdays was announced and I was the winner! I received the birthday package today! Wow was that fast! Here’s what I received -

Five gorgeous balls of cotton yarn. Dark Purple Ombre, Brick Red, Sour Green Apple, Mar-Di-Gras, and Christmas Green.

Take another look at these wonderful colors -

I also received a little gift of stitch markers, check them out -

I am so excited, if you couldn’t tell from all the exclamation marks at the beginning of my post.

I would like to give a special thanks to Janet Nogle and any anothers responsible for making this possible.

Vine Lace Baby Hat

2011-05-02T16:45:00.001-07:00

I’ve been making baby hats lately, and thought I’d share my favorite baby hat pattern found here. It is from Knitting Daily, free to subscribe to, and has many other patterns that are free and many to buy, too.

I finished this hat Sunday morning at 10 just as I was needing to head to Choir Practice. Because I wanted to give it away at church, I didn’t get to block it. I just snapped a quick picture and left.

I gave it to a new mom at church and was able to get a picture of the hat on the baby.

This hat is made from Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. I love pampering a baby in cashmere!

This one I made a while ago in a lighter pink cashmerino.

I also made one for a baby using Paton’s Grace which is cotton in a lavender.

Baby Gifts

2011-04-30T19:39:00.001-07:00

I started a couple of baby gifts for a friend at church back in August. Her baby was born in November and I am now finished with the gift. Both projects I got from books at the library. The first is a baby blanket called “Cot Blanket” from the book Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding

Here are close ups of the blocks.

I thought this would be a easy project for me because the squares were just like doing dishcloths. I got bored with it a bit and it got pushed to the side several times. I was not really excited about sewing all the blocks together. I think next time – if there is a next time – I might try stitching this blanket as one big project and the blocks done in intarsia.

Put them all together with a nice border and this is what you get!

I like the front of the end result!

I had to make a matching hat for this cute blanket, so I made a Rainbow Marley Hat from the book Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan Anderson.

She’s got some cute hats in this book!

Here’s the Rainbow Marley -

I’m excited to finally give these away tomorrow!

Headbands Finished!

2011-04-28T13:02:00.001-07:00

I finished the headbands and sent them to the nieces.

My daughters and Niece A wanted to have coral colored headbands.

Niece B wanted a red one -

I decided that Niece K would get a pink one -

Here’s the link to the headband pattern. At first it seemed like a tricky pattern, but as I’ve done it a few times, I’ve almost got it memorized. I use the updated decrease which makes it easier to finish. I chose not to use the optional crochet border and think it turned out just fine.

Here are some close-ups of the flowers.

This flower pattern is not part of the headband pattern, but is one of my favorite crochet flower patterns - found on the Lion Brand Yarn site - here.

I’m hoping to get a picture of my nieces modeling their headbands, but until then, here’s a picture of my girls in theirs.

I should mention that the reason I found this pattern was because my sister wanted me to knit her a headband like one she purchased only narrower. The headbands are about 4 inches wide and she would always fold her store bought headband in an inch along the edges to make it narrower on her head. I knitted this narrower for the nieces and for my younger daughter. My oldest likes the original width, so hers is wider.

Here’s another headband I whipped together from the yarn left over from my last scarf project.

I used a knitted flower pattern for this headband -

This rosette pattern comes from a hat pattern found in Knitting Daily - here. I’ve enjoyed making this flower with variegated yarns.

Crafting With the Nieces

2011-04-04T12:56:00.001-07:00

My nieces ages 7 and 8 had their spring break for the past two weeks. Their parents are both going to school and had their spring break the week before the girls. So Grandma and Grandpa were asked to watch the girls for a few weeks. I got the privilege of crafting and playing with my nieces when I was around. Of course, I never did pull out my camera until the day before they left.

We have a craft store near by (about 15 miles away) that has crafts for kids during spring break. We attended three days. Our first day the kids – my nieces, my daughter, and my son’s girlfriend - did flower boxes. My son made a flower for his girlfriend.

The second day at the craft store my nieces, my daughter and her friend painted ceramic animals.

On our last day attending the craft store crafts the girls made design your own flower pots.

The flower pots came with several inserts.

We also did some fun projects at home. Unfortunately I didn’t take pictures. I bought some “dinosaur eggs” that you place in water and the dinosaur grows and “hatches” out of the egg after several days. Here are the two blurry dinosaurs that we hatched.

We made sun catchers.

This was a very frustrating project! I think that part of the frustration might have been that the cookie sheet didn’t lie completely flat. The little beads would creep under the metal frame and then continue to spread.

I had to run my son to his school classes, but my daughter finished the project with the girls. She got an after shot as the sun catchers were cooling.

Here are the end results.

This niece got frustrated with fitting the colors into the little areas and finally decided to make a “rainbow” butterfly. I’m loving the end result!

The girls made masks together. I tried to take a picture of the end results and couldn’t figure out how to get the masks to stay in position. Finally grabbed tissue from a tissue box and propped them up. Not the greatest – a bit of a distraction – sorry.

And the girls modeling the masks.

At the very end, we were still pushing crafts. It was past bedtime on the last night and we started shrinky dinks.

I didn’t get pictures of the before and after. As soon as my niece’s were done, I packed them up. I did take a picture of my daughter’s after the weekend.

Now on to my biggest pride and joy! Last summer when the girls visited I tried to teach them to knit. They brought their needles and yarn for more lessons. Niece A remembered the long-tail cast on. As soon as her hands were in position, they just knew what to do. I had started them both on kitchen cotton to make squares to wash with. Well, Niece A wanted to make a scarf, and I knew that kitchen cotton wouldn’t get her the results as quickly as her interests wanted. We got some bulky yarn and off she went!

This just makes her auntie proud! Someone who loves the craft.

Look at how well she’s doing! Very few mistakes - a great job for an 8 year old.

She did start my mind thinking. She said she didn’t get as much done because she went out to play the last few days as the weather was nice. She said that exercise was more important than knitting, right? Hmm. . . .

I tried to get a project knitted for the girls before they left, but didn’t quite finish. Headbands.

I decided at the last minute that my nieces little sister needed a headband also. So I guess I’ll send these later this month. Will post the finished projects with the link to the pattern later.

Crowned Glory Scarf #2

2011-03-02T16:57:00.001-08:00

Ok, I’ve fallen in love with this scarf pattern. I found a few pictures of this scarf on Ravelry where it was knitted using a longer colorway yarn. I fell in love and decided I had to knit another scarf.

I found this yarn -

and started to knit it up.

One reason I like this scarf so much is the construction. You begin by casting on 3 stitches!!

With those three stitches, you build a triangle, then build another and another, etc. Then you end up coming back and adding the diamonds. All I can say is Iris Schreier is a genius!

I’ve got my yarn for scarf #3!! I can’t wait to find the time to do this one again.

Weave Me Wash Me

2011-02-28T12:13:00.001-08:00

I have been admiring this dishcloth for some time now. For our February Mid-Month Dishcloth KAL, Alli Barrett shared her design, also found on Ravelry. I was so excited to be able to knit this cloth!!

The suggested color for this KAL was a Shaded Pastel. I didn’t have that color, but picked a nice variegated yarn.

As soon as I realized what cloth I was knitting, I had to cast on again with a solid color.

After knitting these two, I cast on again with the soft I Love This Cotton yarn.

I’m actually in the middle of knitting this again in I Love This Cotton in brown. I’m trying this using the Norwegian Purl instead of a normal Purl. It’s a little difficult as I am learning this new stitch.

Placemat

2011-02-25T17:23:00.001-08:00

I finished a placemat!! Rachel's Knitting Room Yahoo Group just had a KAL where we worked on a placemat. I’m not sure I would have chosen to do a placemat, but I’m glad I gave it a try. Rachel designed this cloth and only gave us 5 rows a day during the week days. The weekends she didn’t give us any row so that we could play catch-up if we needed.

I really like the details, I think it’s a pretty pattern.

Mixed Emotions

2011-02-24T11:02:00.001-08:00

I’ve been very sad that Peaches & Creme yarn has been bought out by another company. My sadness actually started when one of the stores in the area stopped carrying the yarn. Back then I bought as much as I could as the store put it on sale to clear it out. Now P&C has stopped selling and shipping the yarn. But before the company closed I was able to purchase some of the yarn.

I love packages in the mail – who doesn’t?

This is what came two weeks ago.

You can see on the bottom right side of the box that it had quite a trip to Oregon.

Best of all was what was inside!!

I was thinking that it would be great to make seven dishcloths and towels, each in a different color for each day of the week. Sometimes I get a bit grossed out when the dishcloth sits at the sink for a second day of use. This way each day of the week could have a different color and hopefully it would be obvious that it was time to change the color (I mean cloth).

Valentine’s Update

2011-02-21T10:57:00.001-08:00

I’ve been meaning to post this for days, but I’ve been down with the flu.

Tuesday, after Valentine’s day, I found another heart pattern. I knitted it up quickly. I love this one, too!

This pattern was designed and posted this month by Elaine Fitzpatrick. You can find her pattern here. Also, check out all the other wonderful free patterns she has on the right hand column of her blog. Love her patterns!!

I also wanted to share a picture of my non-chocolate Valentine’s present.

This is Zauberball, a ball of sock yarn, with gradual color changes – from gold to rust to red to burgundy. Now to find the perfect pattern to show off this beautiful yarn.

This yarn is designed to be used from the outside instead of the usual, pulling the yarn from the center. Interesting!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2011-02-14T12:10:00.001-08:00

Have a great Valentine’s Day! I’m hoping that maybe my Valentine might get me yarn today, it has fewer calories than chocolate

I just wanted to share my favorite heart cloth. This is designed by KrisKnits and can be found here.

I knitted this with my new favorite yarn, I Love This Cotton!

Betsy the Bass

2011-02-11T16:30:00.001-08:00

February’s Monthly Dishcloth KAL was Betsy the Bass designed by Janet Nogle. Since I am left-handed my bass is swimming to the left instead of most people’s whose would be swimming to the right.

After finishing this, I decided to try my hand at intarsia. So I knitted Betsy the Bass once more. I’ve only done this once before with June 2009's Dishcloth KAL. My first attempt was a bit easier because all the color changes occurred in a straight line. It was easy to twist the colors to avoid gaps.

Betsy was a bit trickier, but it turned out ok, I guess.

Flurries

2011-02-09T11:14:00.001-08:00

I wanted to share what I knitted during the SuperBowl this weekend. I’m part of a yahoo group - Marilyn's Knitting Heaven On Earth. Marilyn shares a lot of free patterns that she finds on the internet. She also has just started some knit-offs. Flurries is the second knit-off that we’ve done this winter.

I find this pattern quite appropriate for the wild winter most people are experiencing. Flurries is designed by Michell Crimm and can be found on her website Southern Comfort Knit and Crochet.

Since I’m showing off the knit-off cloths, I’ll also post my cloths from the first knit-off.

This is the Checker Square Garter Dishcloth found here.

I really enjoyed knitting this one, so much so that I made it’s opposite.

These cloths got my head spinning with different color combinations – browns, oranges, tans, purples, greens, etc. I thought these would make great squares for an afghan. Oh, to have the time to make all that I dream of in my head.

Freedom

2011-02-07T14:24:00.001-08:00

Here are my January Mid-Month Dishcloths from our KAL. This cloth “Freedom” is designed by Sue Schaefer for Harvest Moon Designs.

These first two cloths were done with Sugar ‘n Cream yarn from my stash.

This next cloth is done with Hobby Lobby’s “I Love This Cotton!” Well, I have fallen in “love” with this yarn! It is so much softer. I’m thinking I want to try this cloth on my face cloth because of it’s softness.

I’m really wishing we had a Hobby Lobby near. Last year my niece and my sister brought me some of this yarn, now I’m wishing for more!

Crowning Glory Scarf

2011-02-02T14:07:00.001-08:00

I thought I’d share my latest finished project. I’m part of a multidirectional knitting group found here. We’ve just been knitting this KAL.

Here’s the finished scarf which I made from ArtYarns Regal Silk. I absolutely loved working with the silk!

Here’s a close-up of the details -

I finished this on Saturday evening and brought it upstairs to show to Mom before blocking it. She asked what I was planning to wear with it. I then surprised her by announcing it was hers. She ended up wearing it to church without waiting for me to block it. She received several compliments which made me feel good!

Here’s Mom modeling it -

I love the way she’s decided to wrap it here -

I’m not photographer, you can tell by the glare on the glasses, but I loved Mom’s smile -

If you are interested in the pattern, you can find it here on ravelry.

Happy 2011

2011-01-31T19:56:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!! I hope you all have a great 2011.

These are the Monthly Dishcloth KAL cloths for the beginning of January.

UPDATE: I’ve sure been gone from blogging for quite a while. The weekend after posting my last post, my world turned upside-down. Things are becoming more “normal” now, or I’m getting used to the way things are.

My two youngest are attending Charter Schools in two different towns, so I spend quite a bit of time in the car. As I wait, I have time to knit, but since I’m not home as much I don’t have computer access like I used to. I’m still going to make an effort to blog more this year. Plus, I’ve got a few patterns spinning around in my head that I want to design!

Frosty Jr.

2010-04-06T21:10:00.001-07:00

I decided Frosty needed a companion, but as I tried to design another snowman, Frosty’s teenage son appeared. Hence we have Frosty Jr.
The left-handed pattern can be found here.
And the right-handed pattern can be found here.
Enjoy!!

Frosty the Snowman

2010-04-05T19:57:00.001-07:00

This is my favorite of the snowman patterns that I have written this winter.

I have both left and right handed versions of this pattern. Please note that it really doesn’t matter which version you use. If you use the opposite pattern you will get a mirror image of Frosty. The wind will be blowing from the left instead of the right, and the carrot nose will be slanted the other direction.
You can find the left-handed pattern here.
The right-handed pattern can be found here.

Snowman in Grandma’s Favorite Dishcloth Pattern

2010-04-04T20:02:00.001-07:00

Here’s my pattern for a Snowman in Grandma’s Favorite Dishcloth. I’ve enjoyed adding a crochet border on my Grandma’s Favorite cloths I have written this as an option for this cloth.
I have written the pattern with both the left and right handed sections in one pattern. I’m hoping it won’t be too confusing. The pattern can be found here.

Snowman Pattern

2010-04-01T20:29:00.001-07:00

Here’s the first of my snowmen patterns to share. This one reminds me of a first grader’s attempt, but as I looked at the cloth later, I thought he was still cute enough to share.

I’ve made directions for both left and right handed knitters. I realize that it really doesn’t make a difference which pattern you would follow because there are no words. The snowman’s arms are the only thing that will really change by following the opposite directions.
The left-handed pdf pattern is found here.
The right-handed pdf pattern is found here.

Let it Snow!

2010-03-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

This really should have been a January or February entry, but alas it’s now almost the end of March.
Usually Eugene gets a dusting of snow at least once a year; sometimes we are lucky to even get a few inches - but not this year. For the past three months I’ve been knitting the only snow I’ve seen this year.
The snowflakes -

The snowmen – this was a KAL through Kris Knits blog starting here

These last snowmen are my patterns which I will post over the next few weeks -
Snowman -

Snowman in Grandma’s Favorite -

Frosty Jr. -

and Frosty -

Valentine Countdown - Day 1

2010-02-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

Today for the Valentine Countdown our card read, "Tonight exchange cheesy Valentine cards that you'll make or buy for less than $1." Well tonight I found a card on my pillow. I opened it to find the words - I love you!! along with a slice of cheese. I love my husband's sense of humor! :)

Valentine Countdown Calendar

2010-01-28T17:03:00.001-08:00

My sister-in-law inspired me with her Valentine Countdown Calendar. Check out her blog here. You can also check out the blog where she got her idea from this link. Here is mine – can’t wait for February 1st!

Cables – My First Attempt

2010-01-22T08:00:00.001-08:00

I joined another KAL group at the end of October – Rachel Knitting Room Group. This was our November KAL. I’ve never done cables before, but after doing this dishcloth/hotpad – I’m not afraid any more. I’m actually excited about making something with cables.

Happy 2010

2010-01-18T11:14:00.001-08:00

My life story is being a bit behind lately. Anyway here’s the January Monthly Dishcloth KAL.
Here’s wishing everyone a happy new year!

Confessions

2010-01-08T09:33:00.001-08:00

Well we’re barely a week into this new year and I’ve already broken my 3rd goal for 2010.

To try to use more of my yarn stash instead of buying yarn.

I went with my mother to Ben Franklin Craft Store – those of you who really know me would see that this was the first step in breaking my goal. We actually went for a jewelry trip, but I always have to check the yarns. I have been waiting for them to get the Sugar ‘n Cream Warm Brown yarn in because I’m in the middle of a hat and ran out. I was so proud of myself because as I roamed the yarn aisles, nothing jumped out at me saying I needed it now. We bought our jewelry needs and left the store, but then I saw the clearance yarns. Oh, just let me look for a minute!

Here’s what I found – Di.ve Fiamma, made in Vergnasco, Italy.

and in this color -

and in this color. Also notice the change in bulk of the yarn.

I was pulled in because of the price. These were on clearance for $2 a ball. Who could turn that down?! When I got home, I was even more pleased because I discovered that these originally sold for $18 a ball. Boy, did I get a deal.

I bought 14 balls of yarn worth $252 for $28!!

December Cloths

2010-01-07T07:17:00.001-08:00

I decided to post all the cloths I knitted in December. I’ll start with the last ones I did, which were the December Mid-Month Dishcloth KAL. As I started knitting I saw what looked like leaves appearing, so I knitted this in green. (Sorry the picture is a bit blurry)

After knitting this, I discovered the title was Vegas Fountains so I decided to knit it again using blue for water.

The rest of the cloths I knitted in December are Christmasy. This is the December Monthly Dishcloth KAL (from the first of December). This is called Wrapper Cloth.

I forgot about this angel. It was November’s Mid-Month Dishcloth KAL.

I found this pattern on the Mason-Dixon blog and decided to try it with a variegated yarn.

This is called Shades of Christmas and was shared with the Monthly Dishcloth KAL group by Janet Nogle.

Someone in one of my knitting groups did this Christmas cloth in stripes yarn. I loved it so much I decided to do one also.

A feather and fan in variegated yarn.

Grandma’s favorite with a crocheted border.

Another Grandma’s favorite with crocheted border. The stripe was inspired by the above Wrapper Cloth.

Goals for 2010

2010-01-02T10:40:00.001-08:00

A goal is just a dream unless you write it down.

This is what my 12 year old keeps saying - I think she said she heard it in Tae Kwon Do. I've heard it other places, too.

1. Read the entire Old Testament. - This is our course of study in Sunday School this year.

2. Continue to read the Book of Mormon twice a year. I have done this since the challenge at the end of 2005.

3. To try to use more of my yarn stash instead of buying yarn. Notice I said "try." I think this will be a bit hard for me!

4. Get more of my UFOs finished. This one may take me longer than a year.

Yesterday I picked up yarn that my son James bought for me two Christmas’s ago. I’ve tried a scarf pattern with this yarn and frogged it several times. I think I’m finally liking what is happening with it this time.

Homemade Christmas Presents

2010-01-01T21:42:00.001-08:00

I only made a couple of presents this year.
I fell in love with this hat pattern and love it even more now that I made it. This was made from a yarn called “Poems” by Wisdom Yarns. I love the long color stripes.

This hat is titled “bobble hat.” The pattern is found here - http://yarndemon.googlepages.com/bobblehat

With some of the left over yarn I made this headband.

This pattern calls for a bulky yarn, but it was written so well that I was able to convert it to a worsted weight very easily.
The pattern for the headband is found here - http://neekaknits.blogspot.com/2009/12/blue-leaf-headband.html

Holidays

2009-12-30T21:06:00.001-08:00

I’m finally getting to my blog and help learning how to use the new computer update. So here’s our Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving spread -

Thanksgiving dishcloth -

Christmas Tree that Bryce had to have. Amber is posing to show the height of the tree. Amber is now taller than her mother. I am now the shortest one of the family. We’ve decided that the tree is about 12 feet high.

Tree with lights -

Christmas Tree Dishcloth

2009-11-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

This is the November Monthly Dishcloth KAL. It was a nice simple cloth to do. It has gotten me excited about other Christmas dishcloths that I want to do.

Log Cabin Dishcloth

2009-11-19T07:38:00.000-08:00

Here is the October mid-month Monthly Dishcloth KAL. I really enjoyed doing this KAL - especially because I had not a clue what I was knitting, which was front or back until I finished the peak of the roof. Then it was, Oh, it's a log cabin!
I knitted this one twice. Once reading the pattern forwards, and again reading it right to left.

A Dish Monkey

2009-11-18T17:41:00.001-08:00

I've been missing in action a bit lately. Lance updated the computer with Windows 7 and I'm totally lost on it now. I have no idea how to edit photos or for that matter upload them.

Here's my Monthly Dishcloth KAL for the beginning of October - I knitted this with size 5 needles.
This next monkey was knitted with size 4 needles - the cloths only differ in size by about 1 inch. (Editing photos, i.e. cropping this picture is still something that I can't do. I don't know what program use yet. Hmm, I don't like change.)

Amber has been wanting a cloth and has picked the darker brown monkey as one of her favorites.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T12:17:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd post a picture of Amber and me dressed up for a Halloween party and then my Halloween dishcloths that I've been working on this month.
I didn't get a picture of the side of my face, where I tried to draw a spider's web and spider.
A bat -

Skull and crossbones -

Illusions candy corn -

My skull and crossbones pattern -

Frankenstein -

Skull and Crossbones

2009-10-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to share some of my patterns on my blog, but have been waiting to figure out how to share them in a pdf file. Well, I've not figured that out yet and just decided to post it straight on the blog. I also need some photography lessons, so that I can get a better picture of this dishcloth.

I've been working on Halloween dishcloths and wanted a skull and crossbones. So Monday I wrote the pattern and then knitted it up. I'm pleased to share this with everyone who's interested.

Skull and Crossbones Dishcloth
by Miriam Giles

Materials:
White cotton yarn - 2 oz
Size #4/(3.5 mm) needles

Finished Size - 8 ½ by 9 inches

Pattern:

CO 45 stitches

Row 1: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1
Row 2: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1
Row 3: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1
Row 4: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1
Row 5: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1
Row 6: (K1, P1)2X, P37, (P1, K1)2X
Row 7: (K1, P1)2X, K37, (P1, K1)2X
Row 8: (K1, P1)2X, P6, K2, P21, K2, P6, (P1, K1)2X
Row 9: (K1, P1)2X, K5, P4, K19, P4, K5, (P1, K1)2X
Row 10: (K1, P1)2X, P5, K5, P17, K5, P5, (P1, K1)2X
Row 11: (K1, P1)2X, K4, P6, K17, P6, K4, (P1, K1)2X
Row 12: (K1, P1)2X, P2, K8, P17, K8, P2, (P1, K1)2X
Row 13: (K1, P1)2X, K2, P9, K15, P9, K2, (P1, K1)2X
Row 14: (K1, P1)2X, P3, K9, P13, K9, P3, (P1, K1)2X
Row 15: (K1, P1)2X, K4, P10, K9, P10, K4, (P1, K1)2X
Row 16: (K1, P1)2X, P9, K6, P7, K6, P9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 17: (K1, P1)2X, K10, P7, K3, P7, K10, (P1, K1)2X
Row 18: (K1, P1)2X, P12, K13, P12, (P1, K1)2X
Row 19: (K1, P1)2X, K13, P11, K13, (P1, K1)2X
Row 20: (K1, P1)2X, P15, K7, P15, (P1, K1)2X
Row 21: (K1, P1)2X, K14, P9, K14, (P1, K1)2X
Row 22: (K1, P1)2X, P12, K13, P12, (P1, K1)2X
Row 23: (K1, P1)2X, K11, P7, K1, P7, K11, (P1, K1)2X
Row 24: (K1, P1)2X, P3, K2, P4, K7, P5, K7, P4, K2, P3, (P1, K1)2X
Row 25: (K1, P1)2X, K2, P4, K2, P6, K3, P3, K3, P6, K2, P4, K2, (P1, K1)2X
Row 26: (K1, P1)2X, P2, K11, P3, K5, P3, K11, P2, (P1, K1)2X
Row 27: (K1, P1)2X, K3, P8, K3, P9, K3, P8, K3, (P1, K1)2X
Row 28: (K1, P1)2X, P3, K7, P3, K11, P3, K7, P3, (P1, K1)2X
Row 29: (K1, P1)2X, K4, P5, K4, P11, K4, P5, K4, (P1, K1)2X
Row 30: (K1, P1)2X, P4, K4, P4, K13, P4, K4, P4, (P1, K1)2X
Row 31: (K1, P1)2X, K4, P3, K5, P13, K5, P3, K4, (P1, K1)2X
Row 32: (K1, P1)2X, P4, K2, P5, K15, P5, K2, P4, (P1, K1)2X
Row 33: (K1, P1)2X, K11, P5, (K1, P1)2X, K1, P5, K11, (P1, K1)2X
Row 34: (K1, P1)2X, P11, (K1, P1)7X, K1, P11, (P1, K1)2X
Row 35: (K1, P1)2X, K11, (P1, K1)7X, P1, K11, (P1, K1)2X
Row 36: (K1, P1)2X, P10, K2, P1, K1, P1, K7, P1, K1, P1, K2, P10, (P1, K1)2X
Row 37: (K1, P1)2X, K10, P1, K2, P11, K2, P1, K10, (P1, K1)2X
Row 38: (K1, P1)2X, P13, K11, P13, (P1, K1)2X
Row 39: (K1, P1)2X, K12, P13, K12, (P1, K1)2X
Row 40: (K1, P1)2X, P11, K6, P1, K1, P1, K6, P11, (P1, K1)2X
Row 41: (K1, P1)2X, K10, P7, K3, P7, K10, (P1, K1)2X
Row 42: (K1, P1)2X, P9, K8, P3, K8, P9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 43: (K1, P1)2X, K9, P8, K3, P8, K9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 44: (K1, P1)2X, P8, K10, P1, K10, P8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 45: (K1, P1)2X, K8, P21, K8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 46: (K1, P1)2X, P9, K2, P4, K7, P4, K2, P9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 47: (K1, P1)2X, K9, P2, K5, P5, K5, P2, K9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 48: (K1, P1)2X, P9, K2, P5, K5, P5, K2, P9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 49: (K1, P1)2X, K9, P2, K5, P5, K5, P2, K9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 50: (K1, P1)2X, P8, K4, P4, K5, P4, K4, P8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 51: (K1, P1)2X, K8, P5, K3, P5, K3, P5, K8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 52: (K1, P1)2X, P8, K6, P2, K5, P2, K6, P8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 53: (K1, P1)2X, K8, P21, K8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 54: (K1, P1)2X, P8, K21, P8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 55: (K1, P1)2X, K8, P21, K8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 56: (K1, P1)2X, P8, K21, P8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 57: (K1, P1)2X, K8, P21, K8, (P1, K1)2X
Row 58: (K1, P1)2X, P9, K19, P9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 59: (K1, P1)2X, K9, P19, K9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 60: (K1, P1)2X, P9, K19, P9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 61: (K1, P1)2X, K9, P19, K9, (P1, K1)2X
Row 62: (K1, P1)2X, P10, K17, P10, (P1, K1)2X
Row 63: (K1, P1)2X, K10, P17, K10, (P1, K1)2X
Row 64: (K1, P1)2X, P11, K15, P11, (P1, K1)2X
Row 65: (K1, P1)2X, K12, P13, K12, (P1, K1)2X
Row 66: (K1, P1)2X, P13, K11, P13, (P1, K1)2X
Row 67: (K1, P1)2X, K15, P7, K15, (P1, K1)2X
Row 68: (K1, P1)2X, P37, (P1, K1)2X
Row 69: (K1, P1)2X, K37, (P1, K1)2X
Row 70: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1
Row 71: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1
Row 72: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1
Row 73: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1
Row 74: (K1, P1)* repeat * across, end k1

Bind Off in pattern

Enjoy! Happy Halloween!

A pdf of this pattern can be found here.

Baby Hat Weekend

2009-10-05T22:39:00.001-07:00

Since this weekend was conference, I decided to knit while listening all weekend long. I thought I'd try to use up my leftover bulky yarn. I was so excited to discover that I had enough yarn to knit one more hat in each color.
After finishing the goofy tri-cornered baby hats, I had just a tiny bit of the green and purple yarns left over. I wondered what would happen if I striped the two yarns. I was just barely able to make this tiny hat.

I absolutely loved the way it turned out! I want to buy both yarns in greens and purples again and make this hat in a bigger size.

Dad's Birthday

2009-10-03T16:13:00.001-07:00

My dad and sister share the same birthday - September 30. Because of busy schedules, we didn't celebrate Dad's birthday until last night. Lance decided that since Dad always makes such wonderful things out of wood, that he would also like to try his handiwork. So, Lance made this clock for Dad.
These are Russian nixie tubes. Lance ordered the clock kit from Yugoslavia and built the box around it. I think it's kind of cool. At 50 seconds past the hour the clock displays the date.

Baby Shower Tonight

2009-10-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

I've got a baby shower to attend tonight, so guess what I've been doing all week. Actually I bought the yarn on Tuesday, and cast on the pink one that night. The pink yarn is merino wool, microfiber, and cashmere. I have ripped out this little hat twice and back tracked many rows several times. I am disappointed in my work on this one and would like to try it again. Luckily I have just enough yarn to make one more, but not before tonight.
This pattern is becoming my old faithful. I like that it works up quickly in a bulky yarn. I absolutely love this yarn. It's 100% baby alpaca - just delicious!

Finally Caught Up

2009-09-28T12:20:00.001-07:00

Since I joined the Monthly Dishcloth KAL at the end of March, I've been keeping up with the dishcloths as they've come along. In between time I've been trying to play catch up. Well I've finally finished January through March and their mid-months. This is March's Pot O' Gold.

I did a little experiment with the lighter yellow cloth. According to the pattern, the image is created on the right side of the cloth, with the wrong side being border then purling across. In the lighter cloth, I tried the pattern by creating the image on the wrong side with the right side being border then knitting. The difference is very subtle, but I believe that the image is stronger when created on the right side - as in the darker yellow cloth. The colors and yarns can fool one a bit, but I was able to feel a difference.

Playing Catch Up

2009-09-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

For the past several weeks I've been trying to catch up on the February mid-month dishcloth. I am finally done with this one!! This is called Circle Cloth.

Rhombus

2009-09-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is the September mid-month dishcloth KAL. We just got the last rows last night, so I don't have the official name for this cloth. I decided to name the cloth, Rhombus, because it is a rhombus. I also wanted to dedicate this cloth to Amber, who is trying to memorize the definition of a rhombus.

A rhombus is an equilateral parallelogram.

September ABC Dishcloth

2009-09-21T09:25:00.001-07:00

School has begun and my times seems to be tied up with helping Amber with her home schooling/charter school work and my job - the office manager at her charter school. Some nights I'm so tired that I don't have the energy to knit.
This is my excuse for not posting my knitting lately.
Here are the September KAL dishcloths - very appropriate for this time of year.
I added one row of knit before I did my border on the yellow dishcloth. Subtle but I think I like it better.

Sock Yarn

2009-09-02T19:41:00.001-07:00

O.K., so I admit, I have a problem. I am a yarnaholic!

I have so much yarn stashed away, yet I still need - (ok want) more yarn. I saw this sock yarn at the yarn store a few weeks ago and have been wanting to buy it ever since, even though I already have several skeins and hanks of sock yarn. I also have to admit that I still have yet to make a pair of socks.
I absolutely love the melon and green stripes of color in this yarn. So today I rationalized the need for this yarn, and I added this beautful yarn to my sock stash.

Diamonds Plus

2009-09-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

I've mainly been knitting dishcloths from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL. I'm also a member of Cloth of the Week group, but I don't knit those cloths as often. The following is a pattern from that group. When I saw the pattern, I knew I had to give this one a try.

August Mid-Month KAL

2009-08-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

I was hoping for a name for this cloth before I blogged about it, but so far no name as been given to us. I need to make a quick disclaimer - I don't usually block my dishcloths before I take pictures or use them. I figure that they are to be used to work and don't need to be shaped.
I did get carried away with this dishcloth and made four different cloths. This tea rose colored one is as the pattern reads.
I found that I didn't care for the last row of eyelet hole at the very top before the border. I decided I wanted it a bit more symmetrical, so for the purple one I omitted row 56.

As I finished the purple one, I realized that it wasn't symmetrical from left to right. So I decided to try another cloth - the yellow one. For this cloth, I cast on 41 stitches and changed the eyelet rows by adding a K1 before I started the yo, k2tog repeats. This centered the eyelets much better. I also omitted row 56.

Then of course, I decided to try one other experiment. The previous cloths had the eyelets in vertical rows, so I changed this last cloth to alternate the holes. I did this one by following the pattern that I changed for the yellow cloth. Then I alternated the eyelet rows by reading it forward the first time (row 8), then backwards, right to left, the next time (row 12), back and forth.

August Dishcloths

2009-08-16T19:09:00.000-07:00

I finished the August KAL just in time to start the August mid-month KAL. I struggled with this cloth. I had it almost done (11 rows to the end) when I realized I couldn't make out the flower or the words. So I ripped it out and started over using needles 2 sizes smaller.
After finishing the thank you cloth, I decided I wanted to make an August themed dishcloth as my second cloth. So I went back into the files and found this lighthouse from 2006. This reminds me of August and summer because I love going to the beach this time of year.

Amber's Show Is Tonight

2009-08-15T16:04:00.001-07:00

Amber and her team were in today's paper. Make sure to look at the slide show. In picture #1 - she's front and center, #2 - she's far left, #3 she's harder to be seen - 4 girls are around pool, 2 are diving in, she's still waiting her turn to dive, closest to the house, #4 - she's at 10:30, and I don't believe she's in #5.

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/18585019-41/story.csp

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School of Fishies Bath Cloths

2009-08-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

I know that I already posted pictures of the fishy Tawashi, but I made some more of these last night. Heidi, I liked your idea of using these as kids' bath cloths. So, I'm sending these to Aimee, Betty, and Katie from their Auntie Miriam. Grandma and Grandpa will deliver them this weekend. Enjoy!!

Baby Shower Gift

2009-08-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

I had a baby shower to attend this morning, so last night I picked out some yarn and cast on this little hat. The previous hats that I have made with this pattern have used bulky yarn, and I've been able to whip them up in about 3 hours. So, I figured I'd be able to just whip out this hat last night. Well this wasn't a quicky. I used kitchen cotton yarn, so I had to make adjustments to the pattern which was fun to figure out. Anyway this ended up taking me about 9 hours to finish. I took the picture before I had sewn in all the yarn ends as I was running out the door. Then on the way to the shower, I sewed in the ends - good thing Mom was driving.

I striped this hat using the fibonacci series. Lots of fun for this mathematician!!!
Love the toilet paper roll poking out under the hat! Needed something to keep the hat in shape for the photo shoot.

Fishy Tawashi

2009-08-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

I am slow at posting, maybe because I went through a bit of a knitting lull. Here are July's mid-month dishcloth KAL. It was supposed to be knitted in acrylic yarn. Well my dishcloth stash is cotton, so I knitted this in cotton. The eye is done using the crochet method.
After seeing what I was knitting, I remembered a book I used to read to the kids, Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister. I decided my next fishy needed to be blue and green. I also made a change in this fishy. I knitted this with a smaller needles (size 8) and CO 20 st. It turned out slightly bigger, but I like the closer knit.

Two fishies swimming in the sea.

Sariah's Birthday

2009-08-05T16:29:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Sariah's birthday on Saturday. Here she is with the only birthday present worth taking a picture of. O.K. I may be a bit biased there.
After the presents we had cake. Sariah decide she wanted ice cream cake, but a bit differently than I've previously made. She was so excited about the cake that she invited a friend over. Here we are with Lance cutting the cake.

A slice of cake - described from left to right. Blueberry sorbet, vanilla ice cream, gluten-free "blondie", strawberry sorbet, vanilla ice cream, gluten-free brownie, blackberry sorbet, vanilla ice cream, and gluten-free "blondie". The cake was frosted with whipping cream to which I added some hot chocolate mix.

I must admit that it was so filling that most of us couldn't finish a slice at one sitting. It was funny to look in the feezer to see all these plates of left over cake.

Circular Dishcloths

2009-08-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

I gave up the computer last week for air conditioning and have since fallen behind in posting. Here are some dishcloths that I sent home with my sister, Lydia, to give to my sister, Beth.
I've decided I don't like black in the bright sun, but don't have the cloth to retake the picture.

Here they are all together. The black is a better color, but the stitches aren't as clear. I guess I gave up one for the other.

Finally

2009-07-26T19:18:00.001-07:00

My sister was here visiting this week! I finally got pictures of her baby with the hats that I'd been working on.
Here is a hat with my own pattern - eventually I'll figure out how to put it in PDF and share it. The Crochet Irish Rose is from Lion Brand patterns found here: http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?store=/stores/eyarn&faqKey=492&language=&service=801&letterId=54779
I love the big flower on Maya!

Here's a front view of a wool winter hat - same hat I pattern I used for Lori's twins - http://alittlebackwards.blogspot.com/2009/06/hats-for-twins.html

And a moving back view with shadows and all.

I talked James into posing with Maya for this last picture. He is wearing the first attempt at Maya's hat, but it was too big. I'm going to give it to Sariah for her birthday this week. This is certainly a silly picture. Maya had had enough of posing in hot hat in this heat and was squirming around - hence the toes.

Evening Projects

2009-07-13T15:24:00.001-07:00

Thought I'd post pictures of the projects that I have been working on in the evenings this past week. I did a couple of circular dishcloths and then tried out the feather and fan stitch, which I'd never done before.

I really want to post pictures of the hats I finished the previous week while on vacation. But I'm hoping for my niece Maya to model them for me when she gets here next week. Patience isn't always my virtue.

Beach Umbrella

2009-07-07T13:05:00.001-07:00

I have just finished the July dishcloth KAL. I spent my whole knitting experience trying to guess what in the world I was knitting. This purple one was my first beach umbrella dishcloth. Because I'm a left-handed knitter, my umbrella leaned to the left as opposed to the pattern which leans to the right.
Last night I made the green one and knitted it reading the pattern from right to left. Sometimes that can be a trick!

Baby Bird

2009-07-06T23:28:00.001-07:00

Since we were out of town last week, I've missed this baby bird growing up. James was able to get a few pictures.

The kids saw the birdie on Saturday morning, but the nest is now empty. I'm hoping that everything is o.k. My mom said that a hawk flew in among the trees several days ago. There were about 4 birds flying around the hawk trying to distract if from the nest(s?).

Hats for the Twins

2009-06-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Our family is on vacation in Oakridge this week and I got to walk with my dear friend, Lori, this morning! After exercising I was able to give her the hats that I made for her twin grandbabies. Her daughter gave birth to her second set of twins on June 10. Mother and babies are doing well. This is the hat for her little girl, Breea. Using the Crystal Palace pattern http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/iceland_babyhat.html
And this is for the little boy, Nakoa.

I also gave her the hats I made earlier this spring. http://alittlebackwards.blogspot.com/2009/03/hats.html

Thank goodness for Amber's baby doll to model for me - and no red eye!

June's Mid-Month Dishcloth

2009-06-25T19:02:00.001-07:00

I have finished June's mid-month dishcloth. The recommended color was a variegated yarn, but I couldn't see the pattern of the cloth because of the distraction of the color changes, so I ripped it out and started again with a solid color.
After knitting the red cloth, I made a change by doing rows 1-10 twice to balance the center diamonds. Mom says this is one of her favorite patterns so far.

Feeding Babies

2009-06-24T22:01:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to get pictures of the birds feeding their babies, but they don't seem to like my flash and interuptions. Bryce and Amber have seen a baby beak and tiny head. They think there might be only one baby bird, but I'm hoping for more.

More Dishcloth Catch-up

2009-06-18T12:42:00.001-07:00

I only have a few more patterns still to catch up on. Here is February's Monthly KAL.

I didn't really care for this pattern. I have tried to figure out why, and decided that it may be the same reason that I don't like posters on bedroom walls or wearing T-shirts with writing on them. Since I didn't like it well enough to do another one, I found another valentine type dishcloth and decided to make it.

Bird's Nest

2009-06-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last week we heard what sounded like a bird in the house. We have had birds in the house before when the big garage door was opened, but we have not had the garage door open much this whole year. We all started looking around and James discovered this bird's nest right outside the library window. This morning I found what I assume to be Mommy bird sitting on her eggs. I'm a bit surprised that this picture took so well through the screen.

Exciting New Toys

2009-06-12T08:08:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time, Lance and I were vacationing at the great Oregon coast. I like to relax with yarn and knitting needles or a crochet hook. So, Lance took me to a local yarn shop and let me pick out some yarn for our little vacation. I was very naive at the time. I didn't know there was a difference between a hank of yarn and a skein of yarn. Anyway I got two beautiful hanks of variegated green and purple merino wool, which I made into what I still consider my favorite scarf. When I got back to our room, I had to figure out how to convert my hanks of yarn into usable balls of yarn. From that day on, I have wanted a yarn swift and a ball winder. I have been saving my allowance and my birthday money.
Finally, I got my yarn swift
and a ball winder.

When set up like this -

I can take hanks of yarn, like these -

and these -

and wind them into usable and very beautiful balls of yarn.

I am very excited about these balls of yarn because they are going to become baby hats. Two will be for my friend Lori's grandbaby twins. I think they were born a couple of days ago. I'm still waiting to hear. The other ball is for Maya!

American Flag

2009-06-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

June's Monthly Dishcloth KAL was the American Flag.
After doing the flag above, I thought it would be fun to do it in color. I have knitted different colors only by changing color at the beginning of a row. Intarsia is a technique where the color is added in the middle of a row. I figure this is as great a time as any to learn a new technique. I think I did o.k.

Cabbage Patch

2009-05-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here's May's mid-month dishcloth with my revisions. Now that I know the name, I thought it would be appropriate to knit it in green. Unfortunately this has been the extent of my gardening this year.

Dishcloth Fever

2009-05-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

I have been driven by dishcloths lately, to the extent of staying up until the wee hours of the morning. The following two dishcloths are my catch up of January's Mid-month KAL, called Cheyenna. The first is knitted from some scrap yarn that I have gotten from a knitting basket that used to belong to Ida Shurtz. Many of you will remember her from Eugene First Ward. I found out after I married Lance that she was also one of Grandma Bacon's best friends.

This one is called grandma's favorite. When Theresa (Holland) Raymond taught me to knit, she taught me with this pattern. A couple of years ago I started adding a crocheted border to this pattern. I started this on Thursday night when I went to a Book Club for Enrichment. I have a hard time sitting still and not having my hands busy.

Weekend Knitting

2009-05-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful weekend with a little bit of down time, so I was able to do some extra knitting. I finished this wonderful dishcloth which was designed by a very talented lady. I didn't find the pattern until after Mother's Day, but how appropriate.
Since I joined the Monthly Dishcloth KAL at the end of March, I didn't get the dishcloths knitted from the beginning of the year. I've decided to try to knit those dishcloths when I can find the time. If I can get them all done and posted on the KAL group site, I will enter the 2009 Challenge for the year. This is January's dishcloth.

It will be fun to have a bunch of dishcloths with monthly themes and then also just dishcloths.

May's Mid-Month Dishcloth

2009-05-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

Here's May's mid-monthly KAL - I don't even know it's name yet. The whole pattern with its title has not been posted yet. It's interesting as I knit, sometimes I think, "I could make this 'better' by doing such and such." I don't always figure that out until these dishcloths are done because I only see a few lines of pattern at a time. This is definitely one that I want to reknit and make into more of a square.

Elephants for Grandma

2009-05-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

Sariah helped us make a Mother's Day present for Grandma Giles, who loves elephants. She said I could post her cute plaque after Grandma got her present. Happy Mother's Day, Grandma!
Sariah is so artistic and talented.

Mock Disaster

2009-05-16T22:56:00.001-07:00

This morning the three younger children and I spent about 4 hours at the fire station being victims in a mock disaster. We volunteered to help those training in the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Program. Amber was so excited about going and getting all made up, but she ended up being assigned the role of a hysterical family member. She was only made up with a bruise on her forehead. Luckily the make-up artist understood the teenagers that made up most of the volunteers. He gave them the opportunity to go home with extra blood squirt on them if they wanted to go impress their moms. So Amber got to go home all bloody, too.

The Complete Library

2009-05-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

The tangram bookshelves are filled. It's been fun watching Dad fill them with spheres that he has made - finding ways to place the spheres to look like eyes, brains, or something being held.
I tried to get a picture of both shelves together - a bit difficult without a panoramic lens. I am sure enjoying this beautiful room; now the challenge is that Amber and I can keep it clean.

A Tribute to My Mothers

2009-05-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

I wanted to express my love and appreciation to my mother and my mother-in-law today. I don't know why I was blessed with two of the most wonderful angels, but I am so grateful. I have learned many values and traits from my mother, she is such an example to me. I know I would be a good woman if I had but a few of my mom's attributes. My husband is the wonderful man that he is because of his mother. As I have been a mother and parent, I think I have gained more of an appreciation of what my mother and mother-in-law have done for me.

Can you tell what this is?

2009-05-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

I have been working on designing a dishcloth this week. I finished the design last night and then knitted it. My family has had a hard time telling what it is. Can you tell what it is? I do not draw, so this is a difficult thing to do. I have a second version which I will start knitting - we'll see if it's any easier to tell.

Tangram Bookshelves

2009-05-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

After finishing the wonderful diagonal bookshelves for the library, my dad started some other fun tangram bookshelves.
Dad was looking forward to doing these because they were much more fun and challenging. Hmm, I wonder where I get this drive to knit and create. That reminds me, Mom is starting to knit some socks. This is really becoming fun!!

Daisy

2009-05-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

I finished May's Monthly Dishcloth KAL.
Sariah hates the bobble; but I learned something new, so I think it's o.k. I do understand her point, I'm not real big on bobbles all over a sweater, but who knows maybe some day I'll make one and then like it.

Books in the Bookshelf

2009-05-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

I have not done any book organizing for over a month. I've got about two or three cubicles to fill still and stacks and stacks of books to decide which will go into them. So, the books remain in piles on the floor in Bryce's room. I finally decided just to take a picture of the shelves with the books that are in there and post the picture.
I enjoyed organizing these books - I have the reading books organized by author, then most of the school books by subject. It was fun to change the slant of the books, too.

A Couple Cloths of the Week

2009-05-05T10:39:00.001-07:00

I just finished a couple of dishcloths this week. This one I finished last night - Waves of Molokai Cloth.
This one I finished a few days ago - Waitress Slice of Pie.

Lydia - I have not forgotten about Maya's hat. I've misplaced the yarn and needles for it - but I'm searching.

Sock

2009-04-29T16:47:00.001-07:00

Last night I finished my three week class on making socks on two circular needles! I am so excited to be learning to knit socks. As I have neared the end of this, I realized that the sock is a bit loose. All my shoes are tight, so I'm going to try to make the sock over again (again). In class last night the teacher let me use the store's size 1 needles and I think that it's a better gauge. I guess I'll be waiting for my birthday before I'll be able to redo the socks. Can you guess what's on my birthday list? Anyway, I thought I'd show a picture of the sock before I rip it out.

A Plethora of Emotions

2009-04-27T08:52:00.001-07:00

We have had quite the roller coaster of emotions and events the past several days.

Sariah was called to be Education Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency a couple of weeks ago. She has felt very overwhelmed and has had feelings of inadequacy. Luckily she has a very wise bishop who has told her many wonderful things to help her realize that this is where she needs to be.

Bryce went to school on Thursday and found out that one of his friends had committed suicide. They didn't hang out with the same group of friends, but they had most of their classes together. Bryce and Kyle sat next to each other in their classes, so Bryce got to know him a bit. Bryce has taken this pretty hard. Our thoughts and prayers have gone out to Kyle's parents and family at this time.

On Saturday the youth had a temple trip and Amber was able to attend for her first time. She has been looking forward to this for a very long time. It has been hard to watch all of her older siblings grow up and have to wait such a long time for her turn. Amber had a very wonderful time and wants to go at least once a month.

Saturday evening was Churchill's Prom. James had a friend from school ask if he would take her to the Prom. It was fun to watch him plan and prepare this week. Here are a couple of pictures of the two of them.
Putting on the corsage -

A nice couple pose -

Sunday we had changes in our ward's bishopric. Lance was called to be second counselor in the bishopric. He has felt very nervous about this calling even though he served 9 years in the Oakridge Branch Presidency. He joked Saturday evening that our new bishop was probably sleeping like a baby - waking every 10 minutes and crying. Well, I have to say that I believe that was the way that Lance slept on Sunday night. I think it really hit him last night.

April Showers

2009-04-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I'm going to bore everyone to tears with all my dishcloths, but that's just what I do and seem to want to do right now. I guess part of it is the ability to finish a project within a short amount of time. I also just really enjoy the monthly KAL because I never know what the result will be as I get only a few rows of pattern per day.

Cloth of the Week April 10th

2009-04-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest finished dishcloth titled Double Delight. I used a self-striping yarn, which was kind of fun to use.

Happy 12th Birthday, Amber!

2009-04-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

Today's Amber's birthday. Here she is posing next to a few presents.
She really wanted elephant poo poo paper. The paper is made from cleaned elephant poop. A portion of the money for this goes to the welfare and conservation efforts for endangered elephants. They are number 1 at number 2.

Here's a present from Bryce and Sariah, hand decorated by both of them.

It was filled with hand-me-downs from Sariah: sunglasses, perfume, and hot sauce from taco bell.

Yum, yum. Nothing beats birthday cake. Gluten-free brownie ice cream cake.

Thank you's

2009-04-11T23:49:00.001-07:00

I have seven wonderful women that helped make our Relief Society Birthday Party a big success. I have decided to thank them by knitting each a dishcloth. I finally finished them tonight and thought I'd bring them to church tomorrow.
I really like this one. I like the way the green makes the center.

I kind of developed the pattern of the dishcloth in the picture below by mixing the ideas of the dishcloth in the picture above and the dishcloth blogged about on April 1st.

Here they are all together.

What could be more fun...

2009-04-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

than having your sister visit? Lydia and her kids came to visit this week. Ethan wanted to come and make sure Grandma was O.K.
Lydia and I spent two whole days thrift store shopping. We had all the kids with us the second day. Here's what I thought were all of our finds, but after Lydia packed I found another bag of clothes and shoes. Lydia kept finding all sorts of great shoes - Cole Haan, Clarks, Born, Josef Seibel. I was oblivious, or should we just say uneducated. I was pleased to find a few Ann Taylor skirts, a Talbots cardigan and a Coldwater Creek jacket. We did Amber's birthday shopping there also. As Lydia started packing, Maya had to get in on the action.

Here's a couple shots of the kids playing checkers. Or at least trying, it's hard when you get help from a little one.

Last night Lydia and I had to make the kids that were at home pose for us. You can tell some of them were so excited ~ not!

Boy, Bryce is sure tall! Amber is 5' 4-1/2".

Illusions

2009-04-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

I know that I should be working by putting books on the bookshelf, but I've been knitting. I have been having so much fun!! Twelve days ago I joined a monthly dishcloth knit-a-long. On the first of the month we are given about 8 rows of pattern without knowing what it will look like. For the next 5 days more rows of the pattern are sent. I guess that they do the same in the middle of the month also. I just finished April's dishcloth. I knitted the green and white one first and as soon as I saw what was happening, I did the spring colored one also. I had seen pictures of illusion knitting before but thought it would be too hard to do. This was a lot of fun!

Library Bookshelves - Update

2009-04-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

I should have updated this earlier. My dad had the bookshelves ready to put books in at the beginning of the week. He didn't want the joints to show so he made beautiful buttons to cover the joints. These have been made with cocobolo, which is a tropical wood from Central America.

I will post more pictures when the bookshelves are filled.

Dishcloths

2009-04-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend I finished my red and blue dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL.

I also did one in peppercorn ombre and then tried another changing the stockinette stitch to seed stitch.

My niece Avarie

2009-03-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

While in Portland this weekend, we got to visit with family. One of my

highlights was being able to have my niece Avarie over.

Avarie has been diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). She did not respond to the chemo she received in the first month and so she is in the Extremely High Risk category of Leukemia. She is currently preparing for a bone marrow transplant this June.

When Avarie came over she wore one of the hats Aunt Miriam had made for her. I asked her if she would let me take a picture of the two of us while she was wearing the hat.

Avarie is having a hard time with this past batch of chemo. It makes her nerves feel weird. She had been very fussy, but I caught her being silly that evening. I took a picture of her playing with the Easter bunny ears.

Doctor Who?

2009-03-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Is this Doctor Who coming to serenade me as I pack for our trip to Portland?

No, wait, where's the sports coat? This guy's wearing some band shirt.

Oh, it must be my son James with his new hair cut and costume glasses.

AAAUUUGH, Why do I do this?

2009-03-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

I have so many knitting and crocheting projects in the works. Then what do I do? I start an new project, or I buy yarn for a new project without finishing others.

I just joined two dishcloth groups, here is a dishcloth I just finished. It says to block when finished, but I figure if I'm going to be washing dishes with this - Why Block?

This is the start on another dishcloth. I think I'm knitting it too tight. I may have to rip it out and start again.

It's getting a little warm

2009-03-26T10:02:00.001-07:00

Well, I finished a scarf in the last week or so and have finally taken a picture of it. I have a zillion scarves, but not a single black one. I decided it would be nice to have a classy black scarf.

Wouldn't you know, I'd make a scarf just in time for the weather to warm up.

Talking about getting a little warm, what I'd really like to know is where do the hot flashes come from?!? My goodness, I've had so many this past week.

Bookshelf for the Library

2009-03-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

My dad is building bookshelves for the library where my living room furniture is, and where Amber and I do school. I couldn't wait for them to be finished, so I will blog the process.

I love my dad's talent, creativity, and hard work.

Hats

2009-03-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

I have finished two hats for my friend's daughter's twins. She is expecting her second set of twins; both times has been a boy and a girl. I made the rainbow hat for the boy and the strawberry hat for the girl. I really wish I had a real baby to try on these hats.

Fingerless Gloves

2009-03-13T18:34:00.001-07:00

I've decided to start a blog to post my projects, and also to post what happens in the Giles household. These past few months I've been making fingerless gloves. Eventually I will post patterns that I have made. The pumpkin colored gloves are my own pattern. The darker green gloves are made with llama and alpaca yarn, yummy! The lighter green striped gloves are make with a self-striping sock yarn.