I’ve received a Beautiful Blogger award!

Well, it’s high time I post this award on my blog, don’t you think? DragonLady only gave it to me a few weeks ago. Let’s see, I’ve known DragonLady since my old site VeganMomma. I started that site in 2004.

DragonLady is an inspiration, I enjoy reading her posts, which recently have been focusing around her running and weight loss! As a fitness addict, I’m always thrilled when I see people get active. Congrats DragonLady. She’s gearing up to run a marathon!

Beautiful Blogger Award

According to the DragonLady, there’s some rules that go along with this award, and so I’ve copied/pasted them from her site.

**Obligatory Rules**

Copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post. Done

Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog. Done

Tell 7 things about yourself. Will do…

Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Beautiful Blogger Award, and comment on their blogs to let them know. Ok, I can do that…

Seven things about me, what do you really need to know more? I told a fair amount when I received the Versatile Blogger award! Ok, ok, I’ll start typing…

  1. I treat others how I want to be treated, with respect. I might not agree with your views, but you’re entitled to have them (just like I’m entitled to have mine.) While I might challenge your views (if we ever get into a debate)  but I’ll never attack you personally. And even if we disagree I’ll still interact with you, as long as you treat me with respect. How boring would the world be, if I only surrounded it with people who think exactly like myself.
  2. I dislike drama, those who thrive on it will find me distancing myself from them by any means necessary. That carries over online also. If you feel the need to constantly be attacking others, getting overly emotional, I won’t be around. That being said, it’s much easier to distance yourself from people like that online, not as easy in real life, since some you have no choice but to interact with.
  3. I have few friends but numerous acquaintances. I can count on my friends to be there regardless of what happens. I do the same for them. We respect each other, despite the differences, and love each other.
  4. I don’t mind constructive criticism. I don’t take it personally, since I see it as means to improve.
  5. In the book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. I related more to the male perspective than the female; I’m still like that.
  6. As a child, there was a period when I didn’t speak to many people outside of my family. That went on for about three or four years?  I wasn’t afraid, I thought I needed time to sit back and observe people. I started talking more when I was about fourteen, I do think those quieter years, helped me out tremendously.My perceptions, about others, are rarely wrong.
  7. I love living off the land, which would explain my fondness with our garden. While I’m indoors or outside, my tomato guardian is my shadow. He follows me everywhere. He’s my favorite fur buddy. It’s hard to resist something so adorable.
  8. Last but not least… my daughter trumps everything. I make sure I spend a lot of time with her. As much as I love technology, I step away to spend quality time with her.

Ok, so I came up with eight things. I could have come up with more, but perhaps I’ll save that for another time, or maybe I’ll just update my about me page?

Glancing at the official rules it looks like I’m supposed to give this award to seven other bloggers. Well, I’m bending the rules a bit and only awarding this to two bloggers, although I know many who’re worthy of this award, these two just happen to blog from the same website.

Curls and Q step right up and take your virtual award. I stumbled upon Curls and Q’s website a few weeks ago. Curls and Q is written by two sisters on the same site. How cool is that? Q is a retired high school teacher, and Curls works part-time for the post office.

Recently Curls wrote about a trip that she and her husband took to Montana, check out the post and the pictures of the quaint house with “wood siding”. I love that little house. Q recently wrote about being wrongly enticed by a stone spindle. It’s a shame that spindle didn’t quite live up to its looks.  I would love to spin yarn (eventually) so naturally I had to comment on that post. Years ago a friend, who’s no longer living, gifted me with hand spun yarn. I love it.

Reading their posts adds even more glitter to my sparkling days, hopefully their blog, will do the same for you. Enjoy!

Diamonds and pearls shawl; knitting

Since I’ve completed knitting the Elizabeth cowl. I decided to move onto another knitted project. I’m sure my regular readers have noticed that I’ve been on a knitting kick for the past  past few months…

While flipping through a knitting book; The Knitters Book of Yarn, I stumbled upon a lovely shawl pattern designed by Shelia January, it’s called Diamonds and Pearls.

Knitting: Diamonds and Pearls shawl
I’m almost at the halfway mark with my knitted Diamonds and pearls shawl

Today’s been busy, working on clients projects, gardening, and of course hanging with my daughter. I’ve managed to squeeze in additional exercise to what I did outdoors, and when I arrived back inside I managed to knock out 37 rows of the knitted Diamonds and Pearls shawl. Which means, I’m almost at the halfway mark. Which isn’t too bad for about two hours of knitting.

Knitting: Diamonds and pearls shawl

The yarn I’m using for this shawl will be different than what’s suggested; silk. I really wanted to see how 100% cotton would fare, after a bit of online searching I found a few other knitters who took the all cotton shawl plunge, and so I’m curious to see how this shawl looks once it’s finished. I’m not concerned about drape or stitch definition, since both are amazing when working with cotton. However I’m aware that cotton does stretch somewhat, and it doesn’t bounce back. How will this fare in a shawl pattern? I don’t think it’ll be an issue. But we shall see. Since this is a test project, I most likely will make this for myself.

Of course the name of the shawl made me think of the song by Prince; Diamonds and Pearls.

 

Edited to add…

Whoops, I completely forgot to add a link to the knitted  Diamonds and Pearls shawl errata page. Updates are listed under page 203 and 204. I mainly come up with my own patterns, but if I do follow a pattern, I always check to see if there is an errata page. The Diamonds and Pearls shawl only has a few errors. but they are important — with the first error appearing within the first row.

 

Overabundance of produce; early morning gardening

Warning this is a picture heavy post…

Rose

The past few weeks we’ve received heavy downpours of rain, and our garden has shown it’s appreciation through the overabundance of produce we’ve received.

Barrelful of watermelon

Watermelons picked from our one acre garden.

Early morning is my favorite time to do gardening work, and so you usually can find me in the garden shortly after 5:00 am. This morning, I was pleased with the amount of watermelons we had in our garden. I needed a wheelbarrow to get all  the watermelons. We also have cantaloupe, and honeydew melons.

 

Toys and watermelons
My daughter placing her toys amongst the watermelons

This morning my daughter awoke early enough to join me outside, and while I wasn’t expecting her to be awake at 5:30, I enjoyed her company!

Amineko & Barbie with watermelons
Amineko and Barbie, basking in the early sun rays…

She and arranged one of the collectible Barbie dolls that I’d given her onto the watermelons. Mario, one of the crocheted amineko’s I’d made, joined Julie the Barbie (my daughter named them both) as they basked in the early morning sun rays…

 

dried beans
Beans from our garden, they were dried in the sun, shelled and are stored in jars.

 

Here’s a photo of some of the beans my daughter and I shelled, last evening. There were a lot, so it took about two hours to complete the task. The time flew by quickly as we worked, we chatted about the day, and talked about upcoming activities we’d be doing, such as the chart recently mentioned on Curls&Q, my daughter is a list maker. Of course, my fingertips are still numb from shelling all those beans.

Gardening can be hard work, but I enjoy it immensely. If you put effort into your crops, it can be rewarding.

Last evening, I did knit a few rows of my Elizabeth cowl, but it wasn’t completed. I could if I’d pushed myself, but I was exhausted from yesterdays activities.

 

Knitted Elizabeth cowl
My knitted Elizabeth cowl, it still needs to be blocked.

This morning, once my gardening was complete, I was able to finish the Elizabeth cowl! It’s not exactly like the pattern, since I added extra stitches/rows, and I opted for a heavier yarn (worsted weight) I still like how it’s turned out. I might keep this cowl for myself, since I do prefer them over scarves.

 

Knit Picks Options interchangeable needles has arrived; replacement

Black-eyed Susan

I’ve always loved Black-eyed Susan’s… we have a lot of them around our house. I took this snapshot about an hour ago. Isn’t it lovely?

Last week I commented about the awesome customer service I’d received from Knit Picks.

I’d recently purchased the Options interchangeable circular knitting needles in nickel plate, upon inspection I noticed that one of the size 4 needle tips was slightly bent where the knitting needle connects to the cable. Uh oh! It wasn’t that obvious, but I called Knit Picks anyway, since I didn’t want to run the risk of stripping where it connects to the cable join.

Knit Picks Options Interchangeable circular knitting needles

The customer service rep was pleasant and told me a replacement needle would be sent to my home.  My replacement needle arrived about an hour ago. An instead of just one needle, I received two. I thought that was nice.

Thanks Knit Picks for the impressive customer service. I will be ordering from you again.

In other news…

Knitting Elizabeth Cowl
Knitting: Elizabeth Cowl from the Wendy Knits Lace Book

I’m almost finished my first project from the book, Wendy Knits Lace. I’m knitting the Elizabeth cowl. I decided to make the cowl in a worsted weight yarn, a bit thicker weight than what was mentioned in the book.

Knitting: Elizabeth-Cowl
Almost at the halfway mark with my Elizabeth cowl, and yes I used my Knit Picks Options interchangeable knitting needles.

I took the above pictures two days ago, and have added several inches since that time. I most likely will complete it later today.

Knitted Mary Jane slippers; simple

From the age of 12 – 15, one of my favorite shoes to wear were shoes similar to the ones I knitted above. I remember we referred to them as baby doll slippers, but they were also marketed as Mary Jane’s or China doll slippers too.

The doormat below my feet says Wipe your paws!

Back in the 1980s, a plain canvas pair like the ones featured above, cost between $3.00 – $6.00. And those were the type I usually received. Occasionally, I’d use my own money, that I’d received from cutting lawns to purchase those shoes. They also had fancy pairs with beautiful embroidered decorations on the front of the shoe. Those were about three dollars more. One year, I had a pair that featured a gorgeous flower, and the next year I had a pair that featured a dragon. Since I was so fond of embroidery I really loved those shoes.

Since I wore them often, they received a lot of wear. I was a tomboy (still am I guess). Shocking I know since I enjoy making pretty things. But I’d still much prefer be outdoors, getting dirty from yard work, than to get dressed up in anything fancy.  As a child, my baby doll shoes took a lot of abuse, from all my activities, but I’d still try to wear them. I remember my mother found a pair of my baby doll shoes, and threw them into the trash. Gee, thanks mom!

I made these knitted baby dolls/mary jane slippers, last week, while renovations were going on in our home. A simple knitted rib stitch was used, k3, p3. I really love rib stitch. For me it’s mindless knitting, and I can do this pattern with my eyes closed. The pink buttons are actually crocheted. Sometimes, when working on crafts, I go into “purist mode”, and refuse to work with anything but fibers to finish off a project. And so, with some of my handcrafted items the embellishments you see will be crochet, embroidery, knitting, or sewing.

In hindsight I should have doubled the yarn, since the knitted slippers I made, used a single strand of worsted weight yarn. But overall I was pleased with how soft and comfortable these shoes are. After all, I’d made plenty of crocheted bedroom slippers for others, it was time to add myself to the equation. I was quite pleased with those crocheted bedroom slippers that I linked too, I made them about a month after I started crocheting. I’ve advanced a lot, with crochet, since those early days.

For future knitted mary jane slippers perhaps I’ll use more  elaborate stitches? I might even incorporate lace into some of the shoes. Who knows, perhaps I’ll add some embroidery too… I have many wonderful childhood memories, it’s nice that I can recreate some of my most cherished items through crafts.

Inspired by Curls & Q’s knitted teapot doohickey, I knitted wristlets….

“You first, Mrs. Boast,” said Ma, for Mrs. Boast was company. So Mrs. Boast opened her package. In it was a lawn handkerchief edged with narrow crocheted lace. Laura recognized it; it was Ma’s best Sunday handkerchief. Mrs. Boast was delighted, and so surprised that there was a gift for her.

So was Mr. Boast. His present was wristlets, knitted in stripes of red and gray. They fitted him perfectly. They were the wristlets that Ma had knitted for Pa. But she could knit some more for Pa, and the company must have Christmas presents.

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Boasts had arrived at the Ingall’s house on the night before Christmas, so there was no time to make them anything. They weren’t expected, but they had arrived early to get a jump on settlers looking to register a claim in the early spring. I thought it was just like Caroline, Laura’s mother, to include them in the families Christmas celebration.

If you’ve followed my site for a bit, you’ll know that I quote passages from the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, quite often. I read the entire series when I was eight-years old, and have continued to read the books; at least a few times yearly. It’s safe to say, I know the majority of the passages from those books by memory. I felt like I knew Laura, after reading her books, and I continued my research of her beyond the Little house on the Prairie series. She’s definitely a person I’d have loved to have meet.

Q, recently wrote a post about a ” knitted teapot doohickey” that she’d made. Her lovely teapot would drip, when she would serve tea, and the knitted little scrunchie (as I’ve called it) solved that issue. For some reason, Q’s post made me think about Laura’s Ma, Caroline, and her ability to come up with creative ideas. I’m betting Caroline would have loved Q’s idea. When I saw the doodad resting on the spout I instantly thought about a project that I hadn’t gotten around to making; knitted wristbands/sweatbands.

A few weeks ago, when I was doing yard work outside, I thought about making some. It was over 100 F, I was cutting grass, and doing work in the garden. A lot of sweating was going on that day. While working, I thought about knitting a pair, since I could use the wristlets to wipe off the sweat while I worked outside.

As I worked, I figured that making them in a super absorbent cotton, using a rib stitch, would be ideal. Wool was out of the question, since it makes me itch. I love cotton yarn, but I was concerned that even using a stretchy rib stitch, since it was 100% cotton yarn it wouldn’t “bounce back” as I’d like. About a month ago I knitted a 100% cotton  ribbed beanie hat, that hasn’t returned to it’s normal shape after washing; so that made me hesitant to go 100%. For the wristlets, I figured that this could be avoided if I added a yarn that would retain its shape after washing. And so I added a grey acrylic yarn to the 100% green cotton yarn that I’d selected for this project. No pattern was used, I started and finished with a acrylic worsted weight yarn using a simple rib stitch; k1,p1 throughout the piece.

In the future, I’ll use a yarn that’s a cotton/polyester blend, but overall I’m pleased with the simple knitted wristlet pattern This weekend, I’ll cast on a pair for myself. I believe I’ll drop down to size five knitting needles.

I wish I could report on how awesome these were when I worked outside yesterday… but I can’t. I gave this pair to my father; July 24th, was his birthday… It was an extra gift that my daughter and I gave to him. I used my size 6 Knit Picks circular needles. It produced a tightly knitted wristlets, that were incredibly stretchy!. I bound off the stitches loosely to insure they’d fit over his large hands.

My father, loves practical gifts, just like me. He also enjoys being outdoors. Since he wipes the sweat of his forehead with his wrist, he now has super absorbent wristlets to help keep his face dry.

 

Wendy knits lace and how do you ssk?

Earlier today, I received the book… Wendy Knits Lace by Wendy D. Johnson, flipping through the book. I saw plenty of knitted lace projects (simple and advanced) that will eventually end up as works in progress.

I’m already a big fan of Wendy’s knitted designs, having thoroughly enjoyed her books; Socks from the Toe Up and Toe-Up Socks for Everybody. Wendy didn’t disappoint with this book, and I enjoyed flipping through the pages, and being inspired by the gorgeous knitted lace designs.

Regardless of your skill with lace knitting you’ll find an appropriate project. Wendy has an entire chapter focused on learning lace knitting techniques, and she even tells you how to fix common lace knitting mistakes; perfect for a new lace knitter, or someone who wants to brush up on lace knitting.

Of course, I’ve already casted on a knitted project from this book. How could I resist? The designs are lovely! I chose the Elizabeth cowl as my first project. For those new to lace knitting (and chart reading) I’d highly recommend this pattern. I’m already working on an elaborate project, and I don’t feel like adding another one — just yet.

The actual lace pattern consists of seven stitches, and there’s two lace pattern rows repeated throughout the entire row. The chart is simple (just four rows total) that’s repeated throughout the pattern. The only stitches used in the pattern are k, p, yo, k2tog, and ssk. These stitches  creates a simple, but pretty lacy design. For a new knitter ssk can be a bit deceptive, since if you took it literally, you would slip, slip, knit. But that’s not true. SSK is actually a left slanting decrease. k2tog is a right slanting decrease.

How do I make ssk stitches?

Ssk (usually) means that you slip each stitch knitwise, once stitch at a time. Occasionally, I’ve seen it done differently, but it was explained in the pattern. Moving the stitches from the left to right needle.

  1. Slip each stitch, one at a time, from your left to right needle.
  2. Insert the left knitting needle into the fronts of the slipped stitches which are now on your right needle.
  3. Knit the slipped stitches together

Youtube has a video tutorial of the differences between ssk and k2tog. If you’re unsure how to do these stitches the video tutorial will show you how to make ssk and k2tog.

Over the past week, I’ve taken numerous photos of work in progresses (most of which are now complete) and finished objects. My daughter even caught a few pictures of me knitting, so I’ll be sure to post some of those too. I most likely will start posting the pictures here at Celebrate Life, tomorrow.

Knitting abbreviations

k=knit

p=purl

yo=yarn over

ssk=slip, slip, knit

k2tog=knit two together