http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNqIJ3e0OJw
Always loved this one, before I put my natural hair in dreadlocks, occasionally I’d be rockin’ the afro puffs. Never too old for them… 😉
Month: February 2014
Hiya Hiya knitting needles, Malabrigo Rios, and the knitting the Ferramenta Hat
I finally got around to casting on for the intricate Ferramenta Hat, but first I had to rewind the lovely skeins of Malabrigo Rios yarn in Pedras. I’m so glad I did, the first skein was fine, but the last skein was tangled. I didn’t discover that until I started rewinding. After about 40 minutes, I was able to remove all the tangles without cutting the yarn!
I put them side by side in two neat yarn cakes, aren’t they pretty?
The next step was to retrieve the pattern, which I did…
and then start casting on, yep did that too! The pattern calls for size 6 knitting needles to cast on, but I after reading a few comments by people who’d knitted this hat, I decided to drop down a few more sizes and ended at a size 4. I like the brim to have a snug fit. I pulled out my Hiya Hiya sharps and started knitting.
Since I did not like the rolled hat brim that the pattern suggested, I decided that I would see how I liked using moss stitch, and I must say that I’m thrilled with the choice, I think it looks great and will fit with the intricate cables designs of this hat. Once I’m finished the moss stitch section, I’ll swap out my Hiya Hiya sharp interchangeable for a larger size or two. We’ll see….
So happy together; fun in the snow
Today, while it was snowing outside, you could find my daughter and me outside playing in the snow! We were both wearing layers of clothing. I had on three layers of pants and the same amount of shirts, and so did my daughter. We didn’t get cold!
My daughter made snow angels, I watched and took pictures. I didn’t want my loc’s to get wet.
She also told me she wanted to make a snow house. We did that. The ‘roof’ was a trash bag that I had cut open. You should have seen her face when I did that. Initially, she did not think it was a great idea, but once I had ‘hammered’ the ‘roof’ down to the sides with sticks, her face brightened and she said, “Mom, that looks really nice!” I smiled at her and said, “You’re the young one, aren’t you supposed to have the overactive imagination?”
Normally she does, but at times I need encourage her to open her mind a bit more… 😉
More snow; round three
You’d think I’d get tired of getting tired of snow, right? But I’m not, they’re calling for more snow tonight. If we get snow, that will make the third night in a row that we’ve received snow. Currently we have about 15″ of snow outside, perhaps a bit more. I’m not counting.We’ll see how much we receive.
Since I knew that snow was in the forecast for this evening, I dropped off the food at our local homeless shelter (one day early)Â just to be sure there tomorrow when it’s our church’s turn to prepare the dinner and breakfast and lunch on the following day. Those that sleep at the shelter still need to be fed, right? The homeless shelter depends on the good will of a variety of churches to make sure the guests are fed.
I have not seen this type of weather, in these parts, for quite some time and while I could spend my time whining and complaining about how all the frigid temperatures and snow, events cancelled because of the weather… I’m not! I’m enjoying the difference I’m seeing in the season and realizing that regardless of how cold it may be, I don’t have to worry about shelter each evening, I have enough food to prepare many meals, and much more… I can’t say the same for those who are homeless. But you know what? I’ve interacted with many of them, and several of the ones I’ve talked with have reasons to be thankful.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
I Thessalonians 5:18
New American Standard Bible
Lot’s of snow and it’s continuing to fall…
Well, it’s snowing here.
It’s not the first one we’ve had this winter, but it’s definitely the one with the largest accumulation thus far…
A few hours ago it was about 12″ and now we’re past that. Around 3:00 a.m., I tried to talk my daughter into going outside with me to build a snowman but she wasn’t having any of that.
Earlier I took Mr. B outside to do his business, for some reason he wasn’t thrilled about hanging outdoors. In fact, he looked at me like I was crazy!
He did what he had to do and ran back to the porch looking at me walking about taking pictures. Yeah, I’m sure he had a lot of nice things to say to me in his little doggy mind! 😉
Just a cupful of ginger…
Yesterday afternoon I wasn’t feeling and so shortly after returning home from work, I snatched some freshly brewed ginger and soursop tea and drank several cups throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening. I listened to my body and rested. A bit hard to do when you have a very active ten year old, but I planned appropriate activities and my daughter was content.
Later that evening, I added a few drops of oil of oregano to my water, and right before bedtime I chewed on a few cloves of raw garlic. The things I took are all effective, in some way, for fighting off the common cold and other ailments. Some of their properties are anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and a great source of vitamin C. Running down that short list, it seems including them in my diet are way to tell any potential cold germs to take a hike, right?
And while some of the items listed don’t have countless case studies behind them (not too much money in doing case studies on natural remedies is there?) I’m not arrogant enough to think just because science has not deemed it as a cure doesn’t mean it won’t work. We humans are something else, aren’t we? We’ve been brainwashed into thinking that if something hasn’t been rigorously tested it’s ‘quackery? I don’t blindly assume that just because something is natural it has to be good for me, as with anything else I do a lot of research. My research, sometimes means reviewing what others have said about the particular item. Also, I have a huge library of books on various natural remedies and their ‘reported claims’ to fall back on also. This morning I felt great and off to work I went, armed with natures boost to my immune system, which is just what was needed since there are several sick folks at work.
People don’t give you their colds or other germs but if your immune system is run down, your body will have a harder time fighting the various germs that decide to check out your body and if your immune system isn’t strong, you might get sick. What we choose to eat can work for us and make us healthier or it can be detrimental to our health.
Resources:
- Ginger
- Herbalist: Flu and viral infections
- Beat Back Cold and Flu with Garlic
Soon to be on my Hiya Hiya needles; malabrigo rios and a ferramenta knitted hat
While my loom, 32″ Kromski Harp, is taking a much needed break, I’ll be picking up my much loved Hiya Hiya needles so I can knit this adorable Ferramenta Knitted hat. It’s part of a barter I set up with a friend in exchange for growing my own mushrooms.
Isn’t it gorgeous? I’m in love with this cabled design!
Here’s the description…
Reminiscent of the complex and decorative ironwork popularized by the Italian immigrant iron workers in cities like New York in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Ferramenta (Italian for ironwork or ironmonger) is knit bottom up, in the round, and used twisted stitches and small cables to evoke the complex patterns that these workers incorporated into their art.
This hat can be worn as a slouch hat, or blocked flat into a beret/tam shape, making it suitable for men and women.
Pattern has written and charted instructions.
I gave my friend a list of cabled knitted hats that they could chose from, and they picked the above hat. It’s the one I would have chosen too. They’d already chosen the yarn, super squishy Malabrigo Rios in Pedras! The cost of Ferramenta knitted hat pattern is $5.00, and it can be found on Ravelry. The weaving designer, is Nina Machlin Dayton, and her website can be found at Nina Knits, but she hasn’t posted there in a few years.
I’m really looking forward to working with cables again. I love knitted cables, and am looking to become reacquainted with twisted stitches.
Knitting videos
I think, the videos I’ve included below, are helpful for those new to these two stitches. The instructors speak clearly and the video shots are great so you can actually see what they are doing.
How to knit a cable stitch
How to knit a twisted stitch