Tag Archives: knitting

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Eli’s chess set: mission (barely) accomplished!

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If you have been following along for the last few months, then you know that I have been working on a chess set for my husband. This Brithday-turned-Christmas-present was almost a Valentines gift, but with just 4 waking hours to go, I got everything knit up in time for Christmas. Truly, a Christmas miracle!

Not much of a chess player myself, I let my mom play the first round with my husband.

Appropriately, he won!

The whole set took over 40hrs to knit! So, no, I will not being taking orders for them :) Orders for Ewoks, however, I am taking. Stay turned for my free hand Ewok!

 

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Knit Nativity…well, okay, knit baby Jesus.

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After years of wishing I had a lovely Nativity of my very own, I decided to take matters into my own hands (or needles) and knit my own! Luckily, I had come across this great book at a Barnes and Knoble a few years back:

Knitivity by Fiona Goble

I began, not as the book suggests with the donkey, but with the baby Jesus. I figured, he was the real center piece  I finished Baby Jesus just in time for Christmas and Mary a few days later. Next Year I will tackle Joseph and maybe an Angle…or a couple sheep…

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‘If I Should Die’ or New Year resolutions.

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Sometimes when I’m glancing over the yarn at the thrift store, I come across little plastic baggies of half-finished knitting projects. Usually, the yarn is reminiscent of the 80′s. Occasionally the extra yarn, buttons, etc. to finish the project are carefully enclosed. Always, I buy them. Never, do I finish any of them. Well, never, until now.

I made a New Year’s resolution to finish all unfinished knitting projects in my life. I made the resolution so that my own knitting projects would never end up sadly half-finished at Goodwill and also so that I could let a couple I had picked up, finally, rest in peace.

So far, I have finished: two little baby sweaters (just in time for a cousin’s baby shower), a rug made from  pot holder loops (more on that later) and a baby rattle. Yet to go: a sweater started for myself in 2006, two diaper covers and a pair of slippers (about which I make no promises).

The loops for this rug were all strung together and made into a ball by a homemaker in Juneau, WI in 1949. I know this because one of the balls was wound around this invitation:

These little sweaters were packaged together with buttons, finishing yarn and all in the craft aisle at a Goodwill:

Finally, the sweet little bunny rattle I began myself, nearly two years ago, all ready for a late January baby shower:

 

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Knit-down to Christmas: Stockings!

 

 

I know my fellow knitters and DIYers will empathize when I say Christmas really sneaks up on you no matter how good your intentions!

Every year I determine not to spend money, but rather time and make everyone a hand made gift. And, every year, I buy some one a 3000 piece puzzle or DVD collection or, worst of all, an over priced jam basket. Expensive and thoughtless.

This year will NOT be different. However, I am one step ahead thanks to last year’s failure. Last year I took it into my head to knit Eli and I stockings. Evidently, they got shelved early in the Christmas bustle. I found them, half finished, while hunting down the yarn I needed to finish Eli’s “birthday” gift (now a Christmas gift).

I buckled down to the task and completed them before it was even time to buy the wine for Thanksgiving!

As usual, I used a pattern for inspiration, but mostly made it up as I went along. They are made with Raggi self stripping sock yarn.

Now, back to Eli’s Christmas gift and on to stockings for the dogs! Wait…How cute would hen stockings be?…So much to knit!!

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Pecking Order

 

When your whole world has in a metal water tough and expands, at its largest, to a sigle backyard, moving upstate for the summer can be stressful.

My Annabelle Lee got the worst of this summer’s migration and her fellow feathery friends started pecking on her out of frustration. (It’s call “canabalism,” but that term is a little extreme for my taste.)

Now, once your chickens have pecked enough on another that there is a visible bald patch, they won’t stop. Ever. So, you have a couple options: isolate or cover. I chose cover and while a little bit of duck tape will usually do the trick, my inner knitter got the better of my practicality and I decided I just had to knit Annabelle a chicken apron. Yes, it’s just as adorable as it sounds.

I found patterns online, but only for sewing. Undaunted, I used those patterns for measurements and knitted one up using a sturdy, colorful, all cotton yarn.

Now we just wait until her feathers are all grown in.

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Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Free Gift

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Being a first year teacher with a husband who is a full-time student puts all kinds pressure on our budget, so when a birthday comes up in our family, I always look for a knit gift first. Yesterday was my husband’s little brother’s birthday and he LOVES Lord of the Rings so Eli, my husband, and I decided the perfect gift would be a unique knit gift from the movies.

After debating over figures I could knit and deciding that it would be difficult to get across an exact character (Gandalf would likely come out looking like a colorless gnome) I had the idea to try and knit the fellowship brooch which the members of the fellowship wear in the first movie.

Normally, I can ‘free-form’ knit anything I set my mind to (from Mockingjay pin to baby blanket), but this one turned out to be quite the challenge. I went through 3 versions of the leaf before I was satisfied and even (shhh…) looked at an ivy leaf pattern online for inspiration.

Eventually, I was able to nail down a basic shape that made me happy and the embellishments were cake…or maybe icing…in any case, 20mins and 6inches of craft wire later, I transformed my modified ivy leaf into a Elvin pin worthy of a dedicated LOTR fan.

Now, I’ve got to get working on the terribly ambitious project I’ve taken on for my husbands birthday. More on that in November!

 

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Trendy

 

 

Over a year ago, dear friend and fellow “Chick” Sara showed me a picture of a baby in a beard-hat and asked, “Could you make these?” I said, “Yes.” And then, I didn’t.

So a couple months ago when another friend showed me a picture of a grown man in a beard-hat, I said, “I could make you that.” And this time, I did.

I like to knit “freestyle” so I didn’t use a pattern for either the hat or the beard and scrounged up scrap yarn for the project ( I will make pieces with custom chosen yarn, but I make the chooser buy the yarn).

The beard buttons on to the hat so that it is adjustable and removable- lord knows, things as trendy as a beard-hat don’t usually stay “narly” for long.

(I think it would also be a great costume piece for one of Shakespeare’s cross-dressing heroine’s like Rosalind)

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Book Club: Women in Love

 

 

As my knitting project for Women in Love, I decided to make a little bride and groom. I went through a couple other ideas, like a blue paper weight or a roan colored horse, but this seemed a little more practical! Also, I had a bride in mind to gift them to :)

women in love

I started knitting the bride in the car in CO and had her finished in less than 5hrs. The groom, however, gave me fits! His legs, shoes & bow tie were quite a challenge.

bride

groom

couple

I’m happy with both the results and the book. Every time I pick up a classic, I think it’s going to be droll and every time I’m thrilled to be wrong!

Dawn