Stitching and Living

Excited!!

In the scope of life this is a minor thing, but at the moment it is a big issue. My Flickr Photo Album is working. I had to install Java in order to access a Chat Room for a knitting group to which I belong. After doing that, it dawned on me to check to see if that action made a difference on this blog. It did.  the one Photo Album I still have up is now  functioning properly!  I learned something I did not know before today. The next time there is a problem on this order I will double check to see if Java has been installed.

There are new Ballband cloths posted as of today. Take a look at them if you want. The ones I make are fairly small to meet my own needs and wants. The pattern is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. The possibilities are endless, in terms of size and color combinations.

Have a fantastic Day!!

Fun Day

What a fun day this has been. It has been snowing almost all day.
Our area has had it's' first real snowstorm of the season. The weather forecasters originally said we were going to get about five inches this weekend. In the past few hours that amount has been increased to an estimated nine inches. 

We originally had plans to run some errands today, but changed them once we saw how hard it was snowing. This has been a perfect day to get some knitting done. So far today I have :

• Finished two cloths except for weaving in the loose ends. They are both knitted on the diagonal and are about 8 inches square.

• Started another cloth. This one is on the diagonal and will be about 6 1/2  or  7 inches  square at the most. 

• Frogged one cloth and started another in its place.

This is doesn't sound like much on the surface. This has all been done in between: spending time with my family; doing a bit of housekeeping; reading and answering email; two fairly long conversations with my Mom. There was also time for a mid morning nap. That was a real treat.

I will try to get some pictures taken of cloths and snowy weather in the morning so they can be posted here. By that time there will hopefully be another cloth or two done and another one started. There is some cotton Chenille calling my name.

Bugs and Knitting

    This is my second day in a row to be home sick with a bug. All right, so that's not very professional sounding. What else could I call it? I can think of some things like: The stuff everyone else at work or their families has or has had?  The creeping crud? A virus? The flu? A sore throat?  It all depends on your perspective...There is a list of  symptoms with which I will not bore you, except for one. I have little or no energy.  It is strange to feel like this since I am the resident Whirling Dervish on a normal day. Most other days you can combine that with Energized Bunny to describe me.

    If there are any psych nurse or health care workers, I am not  depressed. It's just a bug, which should  hopefully  go away quickly. In the meantime, I am doing all of the right nursing measures like forcing fluids; resting; making myself eat; and knitting. Yes, knitting. :) It is good for the body, soul and spirit. Can you tell I think it has healing properties? Besides, it keeps me busy and from going totally stir crazy.

    So far here is what has been done:

• Most of a washcloth for a CNA at work. It was ready for loose ends to be woven in when I discovered a dropped and live stitch about three fourths of the way down. It was tinked and is now about 3/4 of the way re-knitted. The pattern is my own from here. It is made with Baby Pink Peaches and Creme.
• All but the last 10-12 rows of the  Ecru dishcloth in the Holly Kitchen Set from Elmore Pisgah. The pattern is easy to follow and works up quickly. This is one that will be used again even after the yarns from the kit are gone.
• I have gotten caught up on three days worth of rows for a KAL.

    It has not been much, but it has helped keep me from being totally bored. I will try to post pictures this weekend.
    

A Passion

It seems like I have disappeared from this blog. I have been busy taking care of working on one of my passions which is almost anything related to dish, wash and face cloths. The truth is, it is an addiction. At one time in the past few weeks there were at least five cloths on the needles. I am now down to three. Some of them are freebies and others are purchased.  One of them sort of does not count since there will normally be one in my knitting bag for those times when I am either a passenger in a vehicle or when I am out and have waiting time. There is a pile of them waiting to be photographed for sharing.  That is going to have to wait until my day off in the middle of the week in a few days.

The other project which has been consuming my time is working on one of my other blogs: Dish and Wash Cloth Mania . It started out innocently enough at a different location. We had little or no money at the time and my household was running low on dish cloths that were not worn out. I did what an computer knowledgeable crafter would do and turned to the internet for help. That was about a year and a half ago. The small blog has become a bit larger to say the least. I have discovered lots of patterns, both free and for sale,  by fantastic designers out there on the internet. In the past few weeks much of my time has been spent updating that blog.  My motivation for saying this is not  is not to  get you to that site, but merely to tell you how my time has  been spent.

There is  more to  be said on this topic, but  it will have to wait. There are  other responsibilities  calling for my attention.

Have a great day!

Life and Knitting

It has been almost two weeks since I last posted here.
Life has been busy but  not exciting.Here is some of what has been going on:

• I continue to knit and crochet in odd moments.
• A few dishcloths have been made. Some will stay here while others will go to assorted new homes.
• Work continues on the Comfortghan for a friend at work. It is going very slowly.
• My family and I have been diligently cleaning out and rearranging the basement of our home. This has consumed the past couple of weekends I have not worked for my employer.
• Work is going through a super busy phase. There are days when I come home so tired it is all I can to have a snack combined with family time and go to bed. Sleep takes over.
• This is allergy season for my family. It saps our energy. We sleep, try to eat healthy foods  and force a lot of fluids to keep going.
• As a person with heart disease, exercising is a must. Walking daily, or at least trying to, is a priority. I can now walk almost a mile before needing to stop and catch my breath. My goal is to be walking five miles daily by my next appointment with the cardiologist.
• We homeschool. Family time and teaching/learning time are a high priority and as such dominate life in my household.
• I belong to some online email groups and have another blog. Mail is way behind in all of these areas. I feel badly about it, but am trying to catch up.

These are the things that have taken my time and attention from this blog. It is life and it is important.

Early Morning Writings

It is hard to imagine that I am up and awake at this hour. Normally I prefer to be in bed asleep long before now. It has been a busy few days since my last post here.
The new washing machine  was delivered on Thursday, Sept. 20 at the time it was scheduled to do so. It works wonderfully. There has been a lot of laundry done this weekend thanks in part to its presence in our home. That combined with my Fall Cleaning mood has meant a very busy weekend. The house has been de-cluttered so much that it has been worth the time and effort.

I have been struggling with the lack of progress on the gift for my friend who lost her child this past summer. The crocheting is easy. The hard part of the process is that when I work on it, I sense her sorrow and pain. This might sound totally crazy to some people, but it is the truth. Of course, she is in my prayers daily, but she is even more so when I am making her gift. At this time, it is only 1/4 of the completed. My goal is to have it completely made and ready to give to her by the middle of October. It will just take a bit of self discipline to do so.

I have spent my knitting time in the past few days  making coasters and dishcloths. I find these to be wonderfully relaxing items to make. I will post pictures of them later this week.

My treat to myself for the past two days has been lots of computer time. It has mostly come in the form of adding  patterns to Dish and  Wash  Cloth Mania. Last year I promised to have an ample supply of Holiday related links to patterns listed on the site. Hopefully there are plenty this year.

Interesting Day

Today started out like a normal work day. I did a few things around the house; did some knitting and crocheting and spent time homeschooling. In the middle of those things, I did a few loads of laundry. That is typical. At least it was until I went downstairs to see if uniforms were ready to be put on an extra rinse cycle. The washing machine had stopped in the middle of the wash cycle and would not restart. I checked to make sure it was properly plugged in, which it was. I tried to start in on different cycles with no success. By that time I was worried. All of my uniforms were wet, dirty and soapy.

I did the best things I knew to do. I checked the checking account balance; figured out what could be spent to replace or repair the machine and called my husband at work for his thoughts on the subject.  The conclusion of our conversation was that I would ask my boss for the day off if possible and then check on the price of repairing this machine. If repairs were not cost effective then I would go buy a new washing machine.

My boss responded by giving me the day off. Now for the fun part of my day. I called a local appliance dealer with the reputation of honesty and integrity. Based on the symptoms the washer was displaying he said it sounded like the motor was going bad. This was not good news. He said the estimated replacement cost is about $175. This was worse news. It was clearly not cost effective to repair a machine that already had other problems besides that. It was time to do some shopping. The result is that a new washing machine will arrive here in the morning.

A check of Laura Spradlin's site last evening provided a wonderful surprise update on the Rebuilding Greensburg Block by Block Project. Take a look here if you are interested. Words fail at this point. :)

I have been busy and having fun with fibers in the past few days.

This is a Darrell Waltrip Cloth made with Bernat Summerset. I enjoy using this pattern with variegated yarns because it shows off the colors well. It also works up quickly and easily. Despite all of the patterns readily available, this is one of my favorites.

This cloth is one I have never made before. It is called KBB Dishcloth by Cathy Waldie. I made it using Sugar'n Cream Twists in the color Denim Twists. It was started on 4.5 mm needles. Somehow in the middle of making it I started using one 4.5mm needle and one 4.25 needle. That was the result of knitting at the kitchen table with several needles handy and not paying attention to what I was doing. In spite of that, the cloth came out looking fairly well.  This is one of those patterns well worth using again and again in a variety of yarns.

Some time was spent this morning working on part of the gift for a friend at work. It is not progressing as quickly as I wish it were. One of the issues is that I am finding it a bit difficult to switch from using the natural fibers in the dishcloths to the acrylic fibers being used for this project. Could it be my taste in yarns is changing?

Dishcloths

As some of you may know, one of my other blogs is Dish and Wash Cloth Mania. While I was sitting here this morning adding links to some of the pages and generally updating the site, I came across this article: Lots of Cloths by Cathy at Wishing I was Knitting at the Lake.

Thank you for writing it. :)

I read the article a couple of times to take in all that she says. First of all, she offers an interesting variation on an old dishcloth pattern. It sounds like an idea well worth the try. It has been added to my list of "Patterns to Try".

Secondly, is that she expressed a lot of how I feel about making dishcloths and the arts of Knitting and Crocheting. As a teenager I secretly wanted to be an artist. On the talent end of it I was a bit short to say the least. Because of some eyesight issues, not only do I literally see the world differently than most people, but I do not have some hand/eye co-ordination skills. For me this means that I know what I want to write or draw and how I want it to look, but cannot make it happen on paper or canvas.

This is where my hooks and needles come into play. When I pick them up I can do almost anything I choose. I can change the color of a pattern. The size can be changed either by adding a border, adding or taking away a multiple of stitches, or changing the number or rows made. I can use different stitch combinations than what the original pattern suggests. Did you ever try a garter stitch top instead of a ribbed top on a pair of socks? Did you ever uses a 1x1 rib instead of a 2x2 rib in a pattern? I can also use more than one strand of yarn to make an item. Did you ever take a 'new to you' pattern from a stitch dictionary and use it in a scarf or dishcloth? Did you ever combine 100% cotton knitting worsted yarn with #10 crochet thread in a dishcloth? How about crocheting or knitting with large hooks or needles? Have you ever used a yarn other than that called for in a pattern? ( Be especially careful with this one. A gauge swatch could be a life saver with it. ) Have you ever tried making up a stitch pattern? Have you ever made an item using a Cro-Hook or the Tunisian stitch? These are some of the ideas that come to my mind to try.

Hats, scarves, mittens, baby bibs, afghans, doilies, dish and wash cloths and other items become unique creations when these things are done. It is amazing to see a simple scarf pattern look different by using different sizes and colors of yarn. My imagination can and does run wild with ideas. The possibilities are endless. Now all I want is more hours in my life to turn my ideas into reality.

Maybe I really am an artist.