Friday, December 28, 2012

Prayer Shawl


Finished in time for Christmas. It still counts if I finished it Christmas Day, doesn't it?

I started it at Thanksgiving, when my Grandma Terwilliger died.

That was sad.



Three generations, one groovy hat. 



So I started Mom's shawl. It's the Collonnade pattern I found on Knitty, and I've knit it five times.  Three shawls for me, one for Norma's Birthday, and one for mom.

Happy Birthday, friend! 
This thing needs to be mentioned. We had a lovely meal, but we needed dessert. It came in liquid form. I drank it. It was good. Very good.


Fast forward a month to Christmas, 2012.

I started knitting on my trip back to Rochester Thanksgiving morning, and finished it Christmas morning. I did not knit while driving. Yes, I thought about it.

Matching Collonnades.
I also cut 10 inches off my hair. Actually, someone else did after I gave the OK. It felt great. Really great.

SO the first Collonnade I knit was a thicker wool and I must have knit it on smaller needles.



Then came my fave- the red one.

Cherry Red


Lake Huron Blue
 Then the third- two odd colors for me, but I like them together- very Autumn.

Gold and brownish purple.
I have yarn for at least one more.

Can I do it? Six? I love the pattern, and it's a useful garment.

Next project is a chair cushion, though. Stay tuned.



Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Hooked!

My first hooked rug! It was started after my visit to the beautiful Locally Made Shop in Leroy, NY a little more than a year ago. The lovely Jan introduced me to the art of rug hooking and even let me try a few loops on her rug. I was literally hooked. I returned again this year at about the same time and visited her- in the meantime I had acquired a rug hook, backing, a lot of wool and cutting tools. I was almost ready to go, I just needed a pep talk and last minute reminders. When I got back to Michigan, I found an image, started sketching, and made the rug. So here's how it went, from drawing to finished rug.
Are you sure you want to do this? 
Goat Sketch. 

First loops, it's fun!

OK, goats are cute!


I can see how this is going to be!


It's feeling ruggy!

The camel hair background was THICK!

Hooked! now...the edge...


Green wool, whip stitched. 


Must sign and date.


And the finished product:
Done!
Happy 70th Birthday, Mom!!

"SMILE"

Monday, January 16, 2012

Thrifted Gold!

So I've been thrift crawling for most of my adult life, and I've found some amazing bargains and amazing items. But I jut can't get over this bag of yarn I found for $5. Not at the Sally Bland or the Goodspill, but at a generic but always busy Thrift Store on Gratiot near Mt. Clemens.
Can you SEE those prices?


Can you FEEL those textures?
All I can think is that some lovely, classy older lady passed away and her bachelor, ungrateful son (ungrateful because he didn't cherish his mother's yarn stash which most likely kept his head and neck warm for years!)  bagged them up and shipped them off. I mean, who willingly gives away Noro?

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Jiffy Pop Hat

I did do some Christmas knitting, but I had to give them all away pre-photo, so a quicky description will suffice: four cotton star dishcloths. Two yellow, one red, and one green and white. They were fun and useful!

On to my Thrift Store find of the year: over $120 worth of yarn for $4. All in one bag. All nice yarn, including this $20 skein of Noro nadeshiko yarn...on which I quickly went to town. I wanted a hat for church renovating weather. Church renovating weather means icy cold wind alternating with propane heated jets of smelly warmth. I had a picture in my mind, and I wanted a cable band. I wanted it to be full and warm, and to fit around whatever silly thing I was doing with my long hair that day. Usually braids or bun, sometimes ponytail.
Here's what I came up with: