Month: December 2012

Besides my small business, I recently started working (part-time) outside the home. I don’t have to do this, but I do since it gives me a chance to interact with people in person.

I’m one of those folks that enjoy chatting with others, and my correspondence with clients via the computer  isn’t enough. At the place I work we  swap Christmas gifts. Admittedly I was a bit surprised when I learned about this process… I think it’s a bit of a stretch to think that everyone wants to participate, don’t you? I don’t mind giving gifts, but my issue has always been finding out what the person likes, and giving them something they enjoy. It’d be selfish of me to give them something that I like, and hope they like it too, you know?

Fortunately, for this Christmas swap, you also fill out a simple gift questionnaire about yourself… which definitely made the gift process a lot easier. The person’s name I drew was concise. He likes the colors grey, black, and silver. He loves video games, chocolate, and he listed a few other things also. I love games! First person shooters are my favorite, but I can totally get lost in a RPG (role playing game) too. Admittedly I haven’t done any gaming in about a month or so; Christmas time is busy time for myself with my business, and now I’ve added part-time work outside the home.

 

Since I wasn’t sure of the types of games he liked, I settled for some nice chocolate, a lovely stainless steel cup to carry around his preferred beverage, and an American Express gift card. This way, he can purchase whatever he wants.

Of course I wanted to knit him something! He’s a nice young man. But I never see him wearing a hat, scarf, or gloves and I didn’t want to invest a lot of time into something he might not wear. Yesterday, I settled on a ‘little something’ and knitted him a gift card-igan. I had some grey Paton’s Classic wool, so I used that, and I used a simple cable stitch design for the gift card holder. It took about an hour to knit. Since it was knit flat, the sides had to be sewed. I love sewing; aka seaming in crochet or knitting.  Once complete, I made a simple loop, sewed on a button, and tucked the gift card inside.

 

I believe it’s ‘masculine’ enough for him not to think that it’s ‘too feminine’.  When he opens his gift, I’ll mention that I wanted to make something else but I had no clue if he wears scarves, hats, or gloves. If he says he wears them, I’ll make him something bigger.

During  Cyber Monday (at Knit Picks) I ordered a large quantity of yarn. Prices on select items were marked off 40%, and I took advantage of some amazing deals…

Of course, other fiber lovers did also, and so many of the items I’d ordered weren’t available. Even though it appeared that they were available once I submitted my order. To make up for this, Knit Picks sent me a coupon for $10, there was no minimum to the amount I had to purchase, but I did have to make my order by Dec. 24. And while I was pleased when I received the email, I didn’t act upon it until today.

Towards the end of December I’m planning on making the Chevron Scarf by Joelle Hoverson. The pattern can be found in  the book, Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Since I didn’t have yarn I’d want to use for this project, I took advantage of the $10 off coupon and ordered the following yarns…

 

Knit Picks: Stroll Hand Painted Yarn; Juice Box is bright, and actually features colors that I wear so well.

 

And I also choose Stroll multi sock yarn; sunset multi.  Both yarns are 75% wool, and 25% nylon. Since the wool is superwash it can be tossed into the washer/dryer.

I think these choices will work well together, and more importantly the scarf will be a nice addition to my colorful wardrobe… hopefully my skin will be happy with the yarn choices also. If my skin starts itching when the lovely scarf comes in contact with my neck, I’ll just have to put it into my gifting stash. Sighs… Well, at least I’ll get a jump start to gifting for 2013, right.

In all seriousness, I’ve already started making presents for Christmas 2013. At this rate, I’ll be finished making all my hand crafted Christmas items before spring 2013. Perfect for someone like myself, I dislike rushing at the last minute. This year, all my hand crafted items were finished in October, and while I’ve made additional items since that time… those have been extras. 😉

 

The cold nipped Almanzo’s eyelids and numbed his nose, but inside his good woolen clothes he was warm. They were all made from the wool of his father’s sheep. His underwear was creamy white, but Mother had dyed the wool for his outside clothes.

Butternut hulls had dyed the thread for his coat and his long trousers. Then Mother had woven it, and she had soaked and shrunk the cloth into heavy, thick fullcloth. Not wind nor cold nor even a drenching rain could go through the good fullcloth that Mother made.

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This passage is on the second page in Farmer Boy, and it’s a book I’ve read many times. I’ve always marveled at the resourcefulness of Almanzo’s mother; Angelina Day Wilder. She knitted, sewed, tatted, crocheted, and did all the household tasks common to a farmers wife during that period.  Truth be told, I was more fascinated by her than Laura Ingalls own mom; Caroline. Interesting, since besides Farmer Boy, Almanzo’s mom is only mentioned in one other book in the Little House series… Laura’s mom is mentioned in every single book in that series. With the exception of The First Four Years, where she’s not mentioned much at all… but that’s understandable since in the First Four Years Laura is a newlywed who’s starting a new life with her husband,  Almanzo in their own home.

Yesterday, I experimented with making my own ‘fullcoth’, I don’t see too much reference for fullcloth online… I’m guessing, fullcloth was discovered by accident and what a delightful accident that was! Washing wool items in hot water naturally made it shrink, which produced a dense fabric.  However the process that Laura Ingalls Wilder describes in the above passage, is what’s done when felting wool also.

In order to felt wool, you need to use wool that will shrink, since I have plenty of wool yarn that isn’t superwash yarn (wool fiber that’s been treated so it won’t shrink) I was ready for my first felting project.

 

Above you see a before and after felting picture. I was impressed with how much the wool had shrunk, and how dense the fabric became. It’s extremely thick, soft, and most importantly warm. I can see why Almanzo’s mom and numerous others made fullcloth. It would do an excellent job of keeping out the cold.

 

For my felting experiment, I knitted slippers, and I used Patons Classic Wool. I’ve been looking for an excellent slipper pattern for months now, and Thursday, I stumbled upon a pair that I absolutely adore; Hopsalot! Hopsalot is one of many designs created by Tiny Owl Knits/Stephanie Dosen. Aren’t those bunny slippers sweet? In the first picture, you can tell that my felted slipper doesn’t look anything like a bunny, since I didn’t knit the ears, or add the eyes or mouth, but I’ll do that some time this weekend.

I didn’t follow the pattern religiously, I used worsted weight yarn, instead of DK. Also, I used my size 8/5.0mm Hiya Hiya sharp needles instead of the recommended size 11/8.0mm needle. And, I didn’t hand felt the wool. The slipper was tossed into the washer (hot water) and dryer.

This knitting goes by fairly quickly, I was completed one slipper in about two hours. I must say I’m pleased with this pattern. If you’re a new knitter the only techniques you need to know are knit, purl, slip 1(S1), and make 1(M1). A simple pattern, that produces some lovely slippers.

Photo Source: Tiny Owl Kits

I’ve found my new ‘precious’ and it’s the Hiya Hiya Steel Sharp interchangeable needles.

And I might have been a tad impatient, although I did a great job of not showing that. You see… the past few weeks, our mail person has been arriving much later. Perhaps it’s tied into the Christmas holidays, since more packages are being distributed? Last evening, we didn’t receive our mail until 6:00 p.m.

I must say I was impressed by Hiya Hiyas needle case. Of course, the packaging won’t make a crappy product better, but that wasn’t the case here. Having already knit with the Hiya Hiya needles that arrived Saturday, I know these needles are amazing, and so the extra attention that was given to the needles case makes it even better.

 

I really love this case, it’s small, compact, and beautifully stitched.

 

When you open the case you’ll find the needles, and also you’ll see a zippered pouch… it’s the perfect size for  storing knitting notions.

 

When you flip the case over, you’ll see another zippered pouch. This is where the interchangeable cables are stored. Four cables are included with this set; 18″/46cm, 26″/66cm, 34″/86cm, 42″/106cm.

I must say, looking at this bag has given me some ideas for making a more lovely bag for my Knit Picks Options needles. My Knit Picks bag is a long work in progress (WIP) I started embroidering part of the design a few months ago.

Yarn Bazaar, you’ve done an awesome job. I ordered this set later Thursday afternoon, you even noted my case preference (red) and it’s what I received today. You even added a free gift; square knitting needles. Even if you didn’t toss in a freebie, you’ve gained a repeat customer, and that has everything to do with your quick responses to my email.  Good customer service, quality product, and speedy delivery… you can’t beat that.

My daughter likes to tell me she’s a cross between a girly girl and a tomboy. I told her that just made her a person that has a lot of interests, and there’s noting wrong with that.

Along with her crafty side, she loves to play sports, collect race cars and trucks, be outdoors, going on insect hunts with me, and she enjoys building with her building blocks, etc.,

When it comes to clothing… she likes to dress down, and she also adores pretty clothes! My daughter enjoys life. It’s so nice to see her doing what she enjoys, and not trying to fit into an inaccurate mold. I was the same way at her age; in fact I still am like that.

This morning, I scoured Ravelry for about an hour looking for a feminine hat. Check out the super cute pattern below…

 

I think I stumbled upon the perfect candidate, don’t you?

My daughter constantly tells me that I need to start posting more of my elaborate knitting projects. I told her, I’d start doing that. This knitted heart hat is designed by Linda Cyr. Isn’t she talented? I’m thrilled that this hat features intarsia knitting (heart design.) Have I ever told you how much I adore designing and following intarsia and fair islepatterns? I promise I’ll try to take more photos of my work, before they are sent away.

I’m going to modify this pattern just a bit… instead of knitting the heart flaps, I’ve decided to crochet them. After all, I find crocheted hearts much nicer than knitted hearts.

 

My daughter is loving this hat. She thinks she’ll be the hit of her fourth grade class.

I can’t wait to test drive my Hiya Hiya knitting needles

 

In other news…

My first order for the Hiya Hiya needles arrived today. I just ordered this two days ago. How’s that for awesome customer service? I’ll be test driving the Hiya Hiya needles when I make a hat for our angel. I’m tempted to make her the heart hat.