Hats, Hats, Hats

I'm still knitting hats, so many, that I've lost count of them.  These hats, are destined for baby boys who are making their appearances this month.  One in Baton Rouge, and the other here in Alabama, in Fultondale.  They should be nice and cozy in their new hats.

I'm also making pumpkin hats for the Thomas Boys in Kentucky.  I've finished Liam and Walker's and have Tristan's on the needles now.

Not much other knitting on in the past few weeks other than hats.  Stay tuned.......I hope to be showing you more pumpkin hats soon!

Hats and More Hats

Hats.  I've been making lots of hats lately.  To be specific, I've made six in the past 2 1/2 weeks and they're all newborn hats.  Oh, and I have another on the needles now.  

All these hat making is the result of realizing that I have five babies to knit for and they're all due between the end of this month through the end of December.  Since three of the babies are due in September and October, I'm making Susan B. Anderson's Little Pumpkin Hat for them.  I'm also making a couple of just simple little hats for them using the House Hat Worksheet from my LYS.  Oh, and they're ALL boys!  Not a girl in the bunch!

The hats in the photo above are for Rebecca's baby and will be gifted at her baby shower tomorrow afternoon.  I hope she likes them.

Back to hat knitting.

The Perfect Day for Knitting

Thanks to what's left of Lee, Hurricane Lee, that is, today has been the perfect day for knitting.  We've had heavy rains and the wind is blowing it sideways.  And there's flash flooding too.  All which makes it the perfect day for staying inside and knitting.  Thankfully, I didn't have to go or be anywhere today so I've spent the greater part of the day in my jammies watching Dr. Quinn, and knitting.  And all the while drinking copious amounts of coffee.  And I've enjoyed every minute.

I've gotten a lot done on my Catherine's Shawl (sorry for the bad picture) and am almost done with the increases on the body. 

Back to my knitting, Dr. Quinn, and coffee.

Finished. Completed. Almost All Done.

The Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf is all done.  Well, almost.  The knitting is done, the seemingly endless bind-off is done, it's had a wash and a had a nice long lie-in on the Blocking Bed.  But the fringe still needs to be trimmed.  That'll be done this weekend.  The good folks at Churchmouse Yarns suggest on the pattern that it be steam pressed for the blocking but since I took this thing from here to yonder and back, I opted for a nice wash. 

Yesterday, I stopped in the yarn shop on my way home from work and found myself at the KPPPM and thinking that that a scarf in blues would be pretty.  I guess this means that I'll be casting on for another one soon.

Fried Chicken = Family Reunion

Wherever there’s vast amounts of fried chicken, there’s bound to be a family reunion or at the very least, some sort of family gathering.  You see it sitting out on the table in the boxes or buckets so everyone knows where it came from, the local grocery store, KFC, or Jack’s Hamburger’s.  That way everyone can pick their favorite.  Crispy?  Extra crispy?  Spicy?  Sadly though, it’s mostly bought chicken now.  Rarely do you see real homemade chicken.  Most “homemade” are breaded frozen chicken fingers that someone cooked.  I can remember the time when my Mother would fry chicken all morning for a family gathering.  My cousin asked at a recent family gathering what happened to my Mother’s chicken and I told him in the kindest way possible, “it’s a fond memory”. 

All this talk of fried chicken means that I’ve been to family reunions, two in the past two weeks and both on my Mother’s side.  Two weeks ago, I went Welti, up in Cullman County.  The reunion there was held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, founded by my great-great-great (I think that’s enough greats) grandfather.  Many of his decedents still go to church there. 

Last week, I was off to Kimberly with yet more covered dishes, including this strawberry cake, a family recipe from my Dad’s side of the family.  When I got there, the cake looked like this: 

Here’s what I brought home:

Scarf Knitting

All of this shopping for food, cooking, and reunioning hasn’t left me as much time to knit as I would have liked but I’ve been cruising right along on my Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf, a fine pattern from Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.  I’m past the 4” mark now. 

I’ve read how some folks don’t particularly care for the linen stitch because it’s time consuming and it is.  I didn’t care for doing the gauge, and not because I was eager to get started, but because just about the time I got into a rhythm, I was at the end of the row.  With 450 stitches on the needles for the scarf, there’s plenty of time to get into a rhythm.  Having stitch markers every 50 stitches is a lifesaver – you goof up and you know you only have 50 stitches to deal with.  And, I have discovered a few things while working on this scarf:

1.  I can’t carry on an involved conversation while knitting it

2.  I have to count the end stitches to make sure I still have 50 stitches since this is where I tend to lose one or two.

3.  Ripping out 450 stitches is painful and putting them back on the needles is time consuming

4.  Since you cut the yarn at the end of the row, you can’t tell if you need to knit or purl the next row and where to even start if you do figure it out so different color markers to designate knit and purl sides are a must.  Oh, and as insurance, a sticky note as to which is which stuck on the pattern.

Last week at Knit Night, I found myself standing in front of the KPPPM and thinking about another Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf, in blues or purples. 

Knit Night = Yarn Shopping

Last Thursday night, I went to my LYS's Knit Night and came home with this:

On the left is Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Dewberry and on the right is Madeline Tosh Light in Kale.  The Kidsilk is destined for Birch and I hope to get it made by a wedding I'll be attending in mid-November.  The Tosh is for Catherine's Shawl.

I love Knit Night.  I can knit and chat with other knitter, pick up anything I might need, and pet the yarn.  And I usually manage to bring some of the yarn home with me. 

 

A Long Weekend and a Road Trip

So, last Thursday's a week ago, my parents and I headed to one of my favorite places in the whole world - Berea, KY - for a long weekend away.  We have family there and I am always looking for an excuse to visit and to shop in the craft stores, stop for a coffee at Berea Coffee and Tea, and most important, visit the boys out at the farm.

My parents stayed on the square at historic Boone Tavern , while I stayed just down the street with my cousin. 

My parents absolutely loved staying here and are already looking forward to staying again sometime.  The hotel was built in 1909 after Mrs. Frost, the college president's wife, told her husband that something had to be done after hosting 300 guests in ONE summer!  At that time, college visitors and prospective students stayed with the Frosts. Just thinking about hosting 300 people in my home in one summer just boggles my mind!  Much of the furniture in the rooms were built by the college students. 

Mother and I stopped in at the Promenade Gallery on Center Street and I bought these:

Handcrafted knitting needles.  Aren't they gorgeous?  These happen to be a size 7.  I haven't used them yet but am so looking forward it.  They also had crochet hooks, which Mother bought, and needle gauges.

No visit to Berea is complete without a visit to the farm to see three of the most precious little boys ever! 

This is the view from the front porch.  This front porch has the most amazing front row seats to the sunset.  Unfortunately, it rained while we where there so we missed ou

It was great to see everyone and to catch up.  We came home already looking forward to going again.