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Gardendale, AL

Gone Home

As many of you know, my sweet Mother passed away on February 26th after a long illness.  She died peacefully with family surrounding her.  My Dad, brother, her sister, two nephews, her niece, and myself were with her when she died.  She was 76. 

She was a woman of deep faith.  She was a wonderful wife, Mother, and friend. But she was best known to family and friends for her Southern cooking.  Many people have shared their memories of her with us and not surprisingly, most of those memories have involved food and sitting at her table.   

My family has been overwhelmed by the love and concern shown to us in the days before and since. We are so grateful for everything - the flowers, food, and cards.  The visits, hugs, and phone calls to check on us.  And we thank you.  From the bottoms of our hearts.

 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! 

One of my goals for the New Year is to blog more.  Somehow I’m rather surprised that I haven’t blogged since the end of October because I blog a lot in my head.  But unfortunately, blogging in my head doesn’t count, does it? 

I’ve been knitting a lot or it seems that way anyway. I made six pairs of fingerless gloves as Christmas presents.  Five pair were the Welted Fingerless Gloves and one pair was the Ferryboat Mitts, both excellent patterns from Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.  I can’t disclose all the recipients yet since a couple still haven’t received their gifts but the ones who did have seemed to really love them.  Here’s a photo.  These were all knit from Rowan Felted Tweed.  Mother has a pair knit in a cream color Rowan Baby Alpaca DK. 

The Ferryboat Mitts are knit in Cascade 220.

I also made a Honey Cowl for my niece Lindsay.  It's made with Madelinetosh Light in Well Water.  I made the medium length and it took every bit of my one skein.

 

I’ve  made hats and scarves for the Fellas but I worry that the hats will be too big even though I measured their heads at Thanksgiving.  These will finally go in the mail this weekend.  I was hoping to have mittens made by now but I’m having a hard time finding a pattern I like using worsted weight.  Anyone have a favorite pattern for worsted weight for a 2, 4, and 6 year old?

And finally, have ya’ll seen the Jolly Wee Elves from Churchmouse?  They’re just the cutest little things and are like Lay’s Potato Chips.  You can’t knit just one!  Here are three of the six I’ve made so far (the other three are just like these).  These will be Christmas gifts for this year. Nothing like getting an early start!

Have a good rest of the week everyone!

 

A Bunch of Knitting Going On

I’ve been knitting a lot lately and I mean a LOT.  It seems like I’ve been knitting more than usual but really, I think it’s just that I’ve been working on things that had a deadline of some sort. 

Two by Two

First up are the hats and booties I knit for Andrea’s twin boys and I finished them in the nick of time.  I finished them in time (with a couple of days to spare!) for her shower at work on the 5th and then left them on my kitchen table.  So, it was the next week when I got them to her.  The babies were born the next week, on the 17^th.  They’re a little early but doing well.    

 

Roll Tide!

Next up, I made a Paris Scarf in Alabama team colors for my friend, Sandy.  Sandy crochets but when she saw the Alabama and Auburn scarves at In The Making, she fell in love with the Bama version.  Kits were handily for sale and so she bought one and I knitted it for her.  Just a note everyone:  per Robin at the shop, the sample has a cast on of 61 stitches so that’s what I used.  Sandy loves it! And it goes wonderfully with her Bama purse that our friend, Pam, made for her.

 

A Knit Along

Betsy and I finished our bi-state knit along of Color Affection.  Betsy finished almost an entire two weeks before I did but that’s OK.  I tell you, those last rows were almost painful.  I felt like I had been to the beach and back by the time I had completed two rows!  But the result is absolutely lovely.  No matter what I did, I couldn’t make gauge, so I settled for a 7 needle.  Next time, (if there is a next time), I think I should go down to a size 6 needle.  My goal was to finish in time to wear to the Sacred Harp singing at County Line this past Sunday and I made it with time to spare.  It was a chilly morning and chilly in the church so I was glad to have it around my shoulders. 

 

No Purling Required

I took Purl Dreams, a baby blanket for a co-worker’s new grand-daughter to be, with me to the Sacred Harp Singing with the hopes of finishing it.  And I did!  The faster they sang, the faster I knit!  I told them to keep singing fast songs.  I was ready for the bind off after lunch and bound off the last few stitches as they were singing the closing song.  It’s knit in the round so it looks kinda like a feed sack.  During the morning break, Henry stopped by to chat and couldn’t figure out how I was going to get it off the needles without cutting it.  He checked on the progress when the singing was over and was surprised to see it off the needles.  It's still unblocked, but here's a photo of it....

 

I’ve started on my Christmas knitting.  So far, the plan is to knit Honey Cowl and a few pairs of the Welted Fingerless Mitts.  I’ve also got my eye on Ferryboat Mitts, a new pattern from Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.  Speaking of which, have you all seen their new Autumn release?  I want to knit them all!

Adventures in Noro

I started to title this post “Knitting With Crack” because that’s what knitting with Noro is like.  Addicting.  Totally addicting.  All I want to do is knit so I can see what the next color change is going to be and I find myself digging into my ball of yarn to see what’s coming up.   

What am I knitting?  It’s Kay Gardiner’s Mitered Crosses Blanket for Japan blanket and I’m using the called for Noro Silk Garden.  The crosses are knit in Noro Silk Garden with a natural colored log cabin border, also in Noro Silk Garden.  I have to admit to feeling a bit letdown when I get to the log cabin border or “frame” because as much as I like to log cabin, those color changes in Noro #269 just aren’t as much fun.  But they do an exceptional job of setting off the colored crosses.  Here’s what I mean……

 Both crosses are knit from the same skein of yarn.  Just look at that!  Not all skeins are that dramatic but it’s still interesting and fun.  I’m really glad that I chose to use a variety of different colorways and I’m knitting it as it comes – no snipping or clipping colors here!

This has turned out to be perfect summer knitting.  It’s small and easy to take along even though there’s a bit of cutting the yarn and sewing in of ends.

Square production has slowed down for the time being.  I ran out of the #269 for the log cabin border but I've restocked.  My friend, Betsy, and I are doing a knit-a-long together, and I have a baby shower on October 5 (twins!).  But I always have a square in my knitting bag.  The perfect odd moments knitting.

 

 

 

 

A Hot Cup of Comfort

A hurricane, Issac, is swirling in the Gulf and causing all the weather forecasters in states with a coastline to work overtime.  For a minute there, it was thought that Issac was going to hit around Mobile causing those of us in middle Alabama to make sure we were prepared for any power outages from winds or spin-off tornadoes.  I had my mental list going: knitting that could be done in low light, gas for the car, batteries for flashlights and Coleman lantern, books on the Nook, and cookies.  

But as always, when we have a hurricane along the Gulf around the time school starts back up, my mind wanders back to Hurricane Frederick.  Frederick pounded Mobile and the remnants moved upward to Birmingham bringing drenching rain and high winds rendering an umbrella utterly useless.  I was in my first semester at Samford University and slogged to class through the pouring rain and wading standing water.  In my opinion, I should have gotten extra credit for showing up.

That afternoon, when I arrived for my Spanish class, all wet and chilled, I found that my professor, Senora Allgood, had rounded up enough coffee mugs and styrofoam coffee cups for everyone in class.  She had fired up her electric pot to heat up water and handed out cups of hot water and tea bags.  The only problem was that she didn't have enough tea bags so we had to share - two people per tea bag.  But we didn't care.  We were just grateful for having something hot to drink and thankful for her kindness.

Frederick hit in 1979.  Thirty-three years ago.  I'm still grateful for that cup of tea and I'm reminded that it's the small things that are remembered the most and have the greatest impact. 

Learning to Cable

Isn't the little coral sweater beautiful?  It's Mignon, a fabulous pattern from Loop London.  A big thanks to the wonderful ladies at In The Making for allowing me to borrow their display and window for a photo op! 

One of my knitting goals this year was to learn to cable and Robin at In The Making told me Mignon was perfect for learning and she was right!  I don't know why I thought cables were so hard but they aren't at all.  Just a little fiddly.  And Robin told me another secret too - I didn't have to have a cable needle (the store was sold out that day).  All I needed was a DPN and those I have.

The sweater was a delight to make and quick too.  This week, it will be headed to Lexington, KY for a special little girl who is scheduled to arrive in September.  The sweater has been finished for a couple of weeks but I keep putting off mailing it.  I'm so proud of it, I've been showing it off to everyone who'll look!

Here's another view, a little closer up:

The pattern is available on Ravelry or In The Making.   I used Cascade's Ultra Pima and I used just barely over one skein.   I think this is one of those good to have in your knitting aresenal patterns since it can be worn by a girl or boy, depending of course, on the color.