Memories, Beautiful Clothes, and Knitting at my friend Deborah's Wedding

Well, life has been as hectic as ever.  It seems we are out of town more often than in town sometimes.  The weekend before last we went out of town to see our close friend, Deborah, get married in Auburn, Alabama.  (The photo above is at the Moore's Mill Golf Club.)  It was so wonderful!  We had so much fun seeing Deborah, and also seeing several of our other friends from college.  It was perfect weather, which was great.  It was so wonderful to see that my friend had met a strong Christian man, and both sides of the family have a deep faith in God.  It was wonderful to see her get married, and to such a great guy!

Both Deborah's parents and her husband are Nigerian, so the majority of people there were Nigerian.  They wore beautiful outfits in gorgeous colors, with headdresses that sometimes matched, sometimes contrasted.  Deborah, her husband Abiola, and the wedding party wore traditional American wedding clothes, while their parents wore traditional Nigerian clothes.  All the parents' outfits were made from the same turquois fabric, and they wore orangy-red, large beaded jewelry which went perfectly.  Gorgeous!

Deborah and her Dad while taking a picture at the reception

Deborah and Abiola's family at the reception

A Suprise Knitting Connection

At the reception, one of our friends brought a gift that had a knitted ribbon. A third friend asked about it, and in the process we learned that all three of us knit! What a suprise! I think I have already gotten used to feeling like I am the only one around that knits, and I was so pleasantly suprised that my two friends had started knitting too! My friend had knitted the ivory colored ribbon on the way to the wedding. Of course, I had to bring out the dishcloth I was working on for Deborah. It was so neat to talk to them and learn what they were knitting. I also told them about Ravelry, and one of them has already joined!

Before leaving the reception, I told Deborah about all three of us becoming knitters.  She said that she used to knit, but had put it down.  I am going to have to encourage her to pick it up again.  Maybe after her knitted gifts from us she will be inspired!  Wouldn't it be wonderful if all four of us could visit and knit together?!  What a dream!  :D

Knitted Wedding Gifts

This is one of the dischloths that I knitted for Deborah and Abiola.  I knitted half of this on their wedding day.

I am knitting more of these for them.  I couldn't get them finished in time for the wedding, but they are in Puerto Rico, so I doubt they are missing them!

Congratulations Deborah and Abiola!!!

Talk to you all soon!  I have TONS more to share, just not enough time to write!

Faith

Feeling Better and Knitting!

Yay! I'm blogging! I wondered if I would ever make it back. I guess technically it hasn't been that long, but I love to write and I sure have missed it.

A few days after getting back from our weekend trip to Tuscaloosa, I got sick with a virus. It was not fun and it took me a little over a week to get better. The last week or so I have been trying to catch up with things and get back into our routine while at the same time taking care of my husband, who is now getting over being sick. I have so much to write, but will have to spread it out over several posts. :)

I have been knitting, though of course not as much as I would like to. I have about 4 projects going right now, and a list of them to start. So many patterns to knit! :D I have found the best time for me to knit is when Cosette is eating her breakfast, and sometime after she has gone to bed. Then I am all about patterns, and Ravelry, and Ebay, and, oh yeah, knitting! ;)

Finished Project: Cabled Baby Bib

I finished the cabled baby bib recently! (See picture at top of post.) I have not sewn on the button yet, but otherwise it is done. I am tickled with the results. The cable looks great, and as far as I can tell, I didn't make any mistakes. (Shocking!)

This project was a great refresher for me on cabling. I also got to learn the seed stitch, which is very fun to knit. (Knit, purl, knit, purl across the row.) Wonderful purling practice. This was a really fun project with a simple cable that anyone could knit. It was a great project to usher me out of my dishcloth world, into the exciting world of other knitted projects! :)


During Cosette's breakfast I finished up a small washcloth I have been knitting to match the bib. Yes, yes, even though I am braving the new world of other patterns, I will continue to make these cloths. They are such great gifts!

Note: The bib pattern is "Modern Cabled Baby Bib" by Andrea Pomerantz, and the pattern states that it is her variation of the "Simple Baby Bib" by Colleen Kadleck.


A Bunny for Cosette

I just started a little bunny for Cosette the other day! I am really excited about this project. It will be my first knitted toy. It is a Jean Greenhowe pattern, and it is so cute. It is supposed to be a little over 6 inches when it is finished, so I think it will be the perfect size for Cosette, who just started toting little stuffed animals all around the house recently.

The Pattern

The pattern is the bunny in Jean Greenhowe's Knitted Animals. You can see the pattern on Jean Greenhowe's website: http://www.jeangreenhowe.com/animals.html. My Mom has a stack of Jean Greenhowe pattern books, which I love. They are not difficult at all, and are extremely adorable.

Yarn for Bunny

I am knitting the bunny rabbit in Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn. The color is "linen." Even though it is acrylic yarn, it is really soft. The reason I chose acrylic is because it is difficult for me to afford luxury yarn right now, plus, I wanted something washable since an almost-2-year-old will be carrying it around. I am really excited that there is some nice, soft acrylic yarn out there! (I tried regular Red Heart recently and couldn't take it.) I am already spoiled! Thanks Mom! ;)

Needles for Bunny

I am knitting the bunny on size 2 needles, which are much smaller than the size 6 that I am used to. I knitted a small swatch and thought that I may need to move down to a size one needle. When I tried to use them, though, it was almost laughable. I felt like I was knitting with toothpicks! I was afraid that I might even bend them. :D So, I moved back to size 2. The size 2 are pretty fun to knit with, actually.

Memories of a Knitted Bunny Named Ritz

I can't tell you how exciting it is for me to knit Cosette a doll. When I was a child, my Mom knitted and crocheted me all kinds of dolls, toys, and Barbie clothes; and I loved them all. She knitted a stuffed bunny for me, which I named "Ritz," and he quickly became my favorite stuffed animal of all time. Recently my Mom told me he was the first stuffed animal that she made, and that she didn't do a very good job. She said she would have ripped him out and started all over, but that I would not have let her. I can actually remember when she was making him, and I think I probably bugged her to death asking when he would be finished. Finally the day came where she sewed his nose and mouth, attached "google" eyes, and gave him to me to hug for the first time. To me, Ritz was perfect.

After that, it was all over for my other dolls. Ritz was my bunny, and I had to have him in order to go to bed at night. My Dad would tuck me in, and he would tease me by calling Ritz, "Fritz." It used to drive me nuts! I would say, "it's not Fritz, it's Ritz!" :) My Dad was great for teasing us, and he loved teasing me about Ritz even after I became an adult. And it still bugged me! :D Now the torch has been passed on to my husband who kids me in the exact same way that my Dad did. I guess I will forever be teased about my Ritz! (Secretly I love it.)

This is Ritz (knitted by my Mom)!

Ritz was made from the following pattern: "Snow Bunny" designed by Michele Wilcox. I think it was in a magazine, but I will have to ask my Mom which one.

While the bunny I am knitting is from a different pattern than Ritz, I have hopes that he will at least become one of my daughter's favorite dolls. I am waiting to make her a Ritz doll when she is a little older and can appreciate a larger stuffed animal. Plus, I wanted to start out with a small toy. I am still a beginner afterall! ;)

Have fun knitting!
Faith

A Great Weekend

My weekend was busy, but great!

I had so much fun this weekend, that I have to tell you about it! My husband and I went to the Blount Undergraduate Initiative (BUI) 10th Anniversary this weekend on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, AL. BUI is a liberal arts scholar program at UA. It is a great program, and you can read about it at http://www.as.ua.edu/blount. Mr. "Red" Blount was one of the major donors, and was very involved in the program, which is why the program bears his name.

Nathan and I were in the inaugural class (1999), and we both graduated college in 2003. Our experience at UA was impacted so much by being in this program. We learned so much, and gained so much intellectually and socially from BUI. We had so much fun getting to see old friends and professors this weekend. Several of us "Blount couples" have gotten married and have had "Blount Babies," and it was so great to see our kids playing and getting along so well. Some friends of ours from the program had gotten married and had a baby 3 days before we had ours. They had a blast together!


Knitting this Weekend
I also had fun knitting at my Mom's in Birmingham (of course!). This weekend while riding in the car and visiting with my Mom, I finished my Monkey wash cloth, started and finished a small green wash cloth, and started a baby bib.

This is my finished Monkey Wash Cloth (it has not been blocked yet, and I am not sure if I am going to do so.)



























The bib pattern is "Modern Cabled Baby Bib" by Andrea Pomerantz, and the pattern states that it is her variation of the "Simple Baby Bib" by Colleen Kadleck. You can find this pattern for free on Ravelry.com.

My Mom gave me a refresher on how to cable, and with this pattern it is SO easy. You only have to put two stitches on the cable needle and lay it behind your work, knit the next two stitches, and then knit the stitches on the cable needle. Then you just finish the row. It is simple and I must recommend it to anyone who wants something easy to work on in order to learn cabling.

The body of the bib is what I think is called a "seed stitch," which is basically, "knit, purl, knit, purl," all the way across. This is a great way to practice the purl stitch after you are comfortable with the plain garter stitch.

Here is my bib so far:

A Current Special Project

In about 2005, sometime around the time I took the knitting class at the Knitting Corner, I started working on a scarf for my Dad. I was knitting it with grey wool that my Mom had given me. I don't know if I got bored with it, or if I just didn't have time to work on it, but either way I ended up putting it away and never finishing it. (One of several projects left from the past, before I really got into knitting.)

Well, I recently got out my "stash," which has been packed away for a while (I'll show pictures of this another day). In the stash was that project, still on the needles (the teal yarn is unrelated):

I looked at it a few times over the next few days, not knowing what to do. My Dad passed away in 2007, while I was pregnant with my daughter. I wasn't sure if I would be able to work on it again, since it was originally for him. However, one night I looked over at the partial scarf and yarn, and thought about how one of my husband's favorite colors is grey. I then thought of an idea. I could finish the scarf and give it to my husband, leaving the part that I had knitted for my Dad intact. It is a way for me to finish something that I had started for my Dad, and still give it to a special man in my life, someone who would appreciate the importance and sentimentality of it. I think he will really like that! (And I think my Dad would have really liked that too.)

I am hoping to finish this by Christmas. :)

Sincerely,
Faith

Dishcloths: The Perfect Beginning Knitter Project

I am out of town this weekend, but I wrote most of this post before I left, and am posting it from my Mom's in Birmingham. I am so excited to talk about all of the first knitting projects that I am working on! In my last post I shared with you my very first completed knitting project: A dishcloth. The pattern that I use for my dishcloths is "Grandmother's Favorite," and can be found all over the web and on Ravelry.

Grandmother's Favorite: An overview of a Really Simple Pattern

(Please bear with me as I am still learning all the correct knitting lingo.)

This pattern calls for size 6 or 7 needles. You start out by casting on 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches, and then on each following row you knit 2 stiches, do a yarn over in order to increase (which also makes a pretty eyelet hole), and then knit the rest of the row. How simple! The pattern calls for you to do so until you have increased up to 44 stitches on your needles. Then on the next row you knit 1 stitch, knit the next two stitches together in order to decrease 1 stitch, do a yarn over to increase 1 stitch, and then knit the next two stitches together in order to decrease 1 stitch.

Now, while you are decreasing 2 stitches (one stitch less in the row per "knit together"), you also increase 1 stitch when you do the yarn over, so that in all you only lose 1 stitch in the row. (I think that if you did it differently, such as just knitting two together one time in order to lose one stitch, that you wouldn't get the little eylet hole that the yarn over gives you, so the edge of the second half of the dishcloth wouldn't match because it wouldn't have the eyelet hole from the yarn over.)

Okay, that was a mouthfull, but hopefully made sense. :)

Beginner's will learn a lot with this simple pattern.

What's really neat about this pattern, is that, like my friend Sarah said in a comment on my last post, you learn so much while doing it. You learn how to knit, how to increase by doing a "yarn over;" and how to decrease, by knitting two stitches together. Of course, there is also casting on and binding off.

The only basic that you don't learn with this pattern is the "purl" stitch. I think that this may be a plus, though, because if you are a beginner, it is good to keep it simple. Like I said in previous posts, I have done knitting before, but just never got into it, and never progressed. I was able to get some good, though sporadic, experience with the simple knit and purl stitch, however. But even for me, already knowing the basic two stitches, it was great to just practice the knit stitch without having to also purl. It is nice to just take one step at a time...get used to one thing at a time. It makes thing simpler and less intimidating, too.

Six Reasons the Dishcloth is the Perfect Beginner's Project

I believe the "Grandmother's Favorite" Dishcloth pattern is the perfect beginner's project for six reasons:

1. It is Simple and Easy. (Even a beginner can memorize the pattern and won't get confused. It is not complicated.)

2. It is Quick. (For me, one of my personal discouragements that kept me from getting intoknitting was the length of time it takes to finish a project. This quick project solved thatproblem for me. Depending on the time devoted to knitting, you can finish this in 1-4 days the first time tried, and of course you get faster over time.)

3. You Learn a Lot. (As mentioned above.)

4. It is Not Intimidating. (Because this is a small project, and doesn't take a long time to make, it is not "scary" to think about making a mistake. If you do make a mistake, then it is reassuring that it is "only a dishcloth." You can rip it out and not feel like you are ripping out a lot of work. Also, since it is "only a dishcloth" you can live with the mistake if it is not too bad, and not feel like it is a big deal. There is no reason to fear making mistakes with this or any other knitting project really, and it really takes the pressure off.)

5. It is Fun! (These dishcloths are fun to make, not only because of the above 4 reasons, but also because you get to practice knitting! You can make a quick and easy knitted project that you will love to give away or keep to use yourself. They are great as a dishcloth or wash cloth, and they are pretty too.)

6. It is Easy to Modify. (My Mom taught me how to make these, and she knits up to 55 stitches before decreasing her rows, instead of the 44 that the pattern calls for. I used to think, wow, what a variation! That was until I found out about all the other variations that people do with this pattern. Some variations include: Making different size dishcloths, just using different size needles and number of stitches (thanks Mom and Lisa!), making blankets, making shawls, and more. All you have to do is vary the needle size and the number of stitches, and you can make all kinds of things. Of course, you can also change the type of yarn and make additional changes to the pattern as you desire. Your options are almost endlesss. Just let your creativity take over!)

Here is an example of a modification/variation on the pattern. This is one of my Ravelry friends' projects. (Her name is Lisa.) It is a shawl that she made based on the "Grandmother's Favorite" pattern. Isn't it beautiful!?

Lisa's Shawl:

My Projects So far with the "Grandmother's Favorite" Pattern

I've already shown you my first dishcloth and first completed knitted project:

I knitted this with Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn, in red and white. I used size 6 bamboo needles (that my Mom gave me) and knitted to 46 stitches before decreasing. For some reason it turned out looking kite shaped instead of an exact square. I think this may be because I knitted a little looser the second half of the dishcloth. (My ends aren't woven in yet. My Mom is going to show me how to do that this weekend.)

After completing that dischloth, I knitted the same pattern again, with the same type of yarn, but in a different color: Potpourri Ombre. I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn, as it is a natural color with specks of color here and there. It was very soothing, and made me feel like I was knitting with yarn from a time gone by. I did make several mistakes in this dishcloth, though I am not completely sure what I did wrong. Hopefully when I see my Mom this weekend she can tell me. (If you are reading this and know, please write a comment and let me know your thoughts! You can see it on the bottom edge of this picture: The eyelets are going along horizontally, and then all of a sudden they move up some and then continue going on horizontally again. Weird! My guess is that I made a mistake in decreasing or increasing, but I really don't know.)

The next dischloth I made is actually a mini wash cloth for my cousin-in-law's baby boy, who will be coming along any time now. I used Sugarn n' Cream in a light green color. (Her nursery is in green, red, and yellow, with lions, monkeys, and camels). It came out well, and was super quick to make. I increased until 30 stitches on a size 6 needle.

Next, I knitted the full-sized dishcloth in blue and white striped Sugar 'n Cream yarn, increasing to the pattern's 44 stitches, on size 6 needles. This is my best dishcloth yet! I will be giving this to my husband's Grandmother Mary for Christmas. She loves blue! I loved knitting with this color yarn! It reminded me of being in a beach house, which is decorated in white, with big paned windows to the view of the sea. Outside you can see the beautiful ocean with blue/green waves, and a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds. The sand outside is decadent with sea water moistening it under your toes. I am also very comfy in cotton capris and sun hat. LOL! I really got into this yarn. I think knitting really has become an escape for me! :D


My Current Project

Now that I have made several of the "perfect beginner dishcloth," I am trying something new. I am making a dishcloth that includes the purl stitch, and shows a picture on it when you are done. I am making a dishcloth with a monkey on it (also for my cousin-in-law's nursery.) I am really excited about it. I am knitting on size 6 needles (of course!) and am using sugar 'n cream cotton (of course!) in yellow. At first my purl stitch was really really slow. After working on this pattern, though, I have noticed that my speed at purling is starting to pick up.

The pattern is by Lisa Millan and I got it from http://pictureandpattern.blogspot.com/ . I was specifically looking for a lion, monkey, and camel. I bought both the lion and monkey patterns that she had, which were $2 a piece. This seems really reasonable to me. A pattern is something that you can use over and over again, afterall. She also has a selection of free patterns, as well.

Other great dishcloth patterns can be found at http://www.knitsbyrachel.com/ . Some of these are free, but some are also priced at $2. Rachel also has a great yahoo group that you can join, where women KAL (Knit ALong). Both Lisa and Rachel have some really adorable dishcloths for you to choose from!

Here is my monkey washcloth so far (It's hard to make out the monkey right now):

Dishcloths and Wash Cloths are great for everyone to try.

Whether you are a beginner or an advanced knitting artist and designer, knitting a dishcloth can be an enjoyable knitting project. It is nice to relax, and start a quick project as a gift for someone in need of cheering up or for a special event, or even just for fun to use in your own kitchen or bath. Relax, pull out your needles and cotton yarn, and knit away to whatever destination your mind takes you to. I am planning on visiting my beach again, but then again, I really prefer the mountains of the Old Smokeys...

Have a great weekend!

Faith