KnitterlyNotions

I have been a busy girl this last month. I've made 21 charity items that I actually managed to get project pages up for, plus about 10 more things that I haven't made pages on Rav for yet. Examples include: These are Yellow and Orange Booties . This is Orange Blossom Hat . It's meant for the Outreach to Appalachia project on GivingArtfully.com. This is Plum Jam 1x1 Rib Newborn Hat. Its pattern is supposed to be featured in the Care Wear newsletter in March. Very excited about that! :) Here is the little boy version I made: Deep Blues 1x1 Rib Hat . Both of these were made with Red Heart with Love yarn, which is wonderful! So soft and nice to work with. There are a lot of other things that I made too, that I am proud of. :) On a not so happy note, though, Jerek's back is acting up again and he's been in bed most of the weekend. It started last Tuesday, although it's been bothering him mildly off and on for a while. Getting an 800 pound a

*Preens proudly* I finished TWO baby afghans! I am so proud of myself I could burst. I know, I know, making a baby afghan isn't curing world hunger or stopping the morons in various countries from shooting at each other, but it is a pretty big deal to me, the person who doesn't make afghans... normally. I seem to be on a blanket kick though. I started the first one, Painted Desert Baby Afghan , when Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation started an emergency supply drive for foster babies. I finished it in maybe two weeks, but only because I lost some of the yarn for a while. Here that one is: The, on the 19th I started a second one. That one was double stranded, an idea another FoPRR member gave me. It's called Snow and Hard Candy Baby Afghan . I made a hat to match this one, but no photos yet and it doesn't have a Ravelry project page yet either. I've also made a few other things: Baby booties. Link to the pattern here . I altered them only

Jerek actually did make it back that last Saturday that I posted in the blog about it. Yay! Tiri and I have been out with him, but I elected to stay home this week because I have laundry, etc to do. Then last night I got sick to my tummy so it was good that I was at home instead of out on the truck anyway. I am feeling better now, but my tummy is still sore. I've used about 8 skeins of yarn since we have been out. Here are some of the things that I made: This is a baby cocoon set that I would like to send to a lady who is collecting items for Sandy survivors in NJ/ I made it from the book I got at Walmart called Baby Cocoons. Nice little book, it has 5 cocoon and matching hat patterns. Then we have these: These are both special requests from Calvin's Hats, an organization that gives hats to moms who have lost babies. The bottom one is actually blue, it just looks purple. These are also meant for NJ. The top item is a pet bed for a

Well Jerek is back to work. This is a good thing and not a good thing. Good thing because he is making $$$$ and we all need $$$$ to survive. He started working for Crete and that is more $$$$ than Garden Valley, though we haven't gotten the first check from Crete yet. (It's due to be direct deposited on Thursday, and then every Thursday is pay day.) Not a good thing because he has been gone nearly a week, and will be gone quite a bit. Tiri and I can go along, but... yeah. He's supposed to be home today but I don't think it will happen, not with the loads he has to finish up today. Probably he will be here early tomorrow. His driver manager couldn't look at a map and see that we aren't in Milwaukee, we are in western WI. In other news, I've been knitting and crocheting, but I haven't been able to take pictures lately because Jerek had the padd with him, and he also has his cell phone with him. I plan to have some quality time with one of those devi

I just made a micro preemie beanie, meant to be a keepsake for a stillborn baby's mother. I thought I would write the pattern, since there are people who make them and even a charity that distributes them, Calvin's Hats. The link is to their Ravelry group. On to the pattern, then. A few yards of DK weight yarn Size B crocheted hook Tapestry needle and scissors for finishing *               *               * Chain 2, slip stitch to beginning to form a loop. Chain 2, dc 10 into the loop. Join. (10 st.) Round 2: 2 dc into each stitch. Join. (20 st.) Round 3: Chain 2, dc in same stitch as join. *1 dc in next st, 2dc in next* Repeat around. (30 st.) Round 4: Dc around. (30 dc.) Round 5 through 8: Repeat round 4. Finish off. Using tapestry needle, weave in you ends carefully, taking care to not leave any hard knots on the inside of your work. Your hat may be put on the head of a baby so tiny that its skin can rib like wet tissue paper.  You want the finished

I've managed to get some project photos taken in the last few days, finally! :) I made Tiri a pair of bootie slippers this week when it was chilly. She seems to like them. This is the same pattern as Jerek's, just scaled down with fewer rows and stitches. I also used a size "J" hook. I am also working on washcloths. FriendsofPineRidgeReservation.org is collecting items for prizes for fall festivals. Some of the things they are collecting are basic necessities, which to me shows the level of poverty there. One of the other requests is hand-made items. I have two 3-packs of bar soap that I decided to make washcloths to go with. I may gather some other toiletry items to go with them. Here they are in order of completion: The pattern for this one is here. This is the second one. It calls for a size 10 1/2 needle but it was wayyyy to big. I ended up using a size 5, and then crocheting around it one round of sc and one of hdc. This is its pattern.

Well look at this, two posts in as many days. Haven 't done that in a while. Today I was out and about with my uncle and Tiri. It was a long day and not one I would like to repeat for a while. I am so tired now but I don't think Tiri is interested in going to bed yet and so neither can I. I managed some productivity today, at least. I made another pair of slippers for charity and then I made Tiri a little pair using the same yarns as the big pair. :) They look so cute on her little feet. It was cold and rainy today and I whipped them up before we left my aunt Kathy's apartment so Tiri's feet would stay toasty. Jerek can barely walk, if he were in any worse shape he wouldn't be getting out of bed at all. I wonder when they will decide that he's sorta in bad shape and maybe they should try to figure out why. I finally got to the pharmacy and got his other meds. I've also been reading a pretty good book. :) It's the last of the Earth's Children

Hi. Well, it's been a while. I've been a little busy. Jerek is still in terrible shape and the doctors seem to be sick of him. Soon I will be in jail because I am sick of the doctors and am about ready to let them have it. Yesterday he went to Eau Claire for an injection in his SI joint, his second one. He actually got worse after the first one but that went in one ear and out the other when we told them. He's supposed to go for an evaluation for aqua therapy next Monday. I've been knitting and crocheting away, because I would go battier than I already am if I didn't. I donated some hats to WIC last week, and this morning Lori, one of the ladies from WIC, called with lots of nice things to say about them. :) That made me happy. Here are some of the hats: There were a few others but these are my favorites. :) I'm also making several sweaters (I know, I know, but it's a disease, this Startitis), still working on Jerek's socks, and

I've managed to finish a few things lately. It's helped that I've been the passenger in Allen's pickup truck instead of being the driver in our (permanently broken down) van. I finished two hats in one day on the 7th. One was knitted and one was crocheted. The knitted one is a modified version of "Hat Shaped Hat" . I made it smaller, as I was using only one ball of Brown Sheep Burly Spun yarn. It's nice and soft and cozy. I am thinking of saving it for an Afghans for Afghans donation drive sometime in the future. This is the hat: (Again, I am sorry for the bad photos. Jerek ordered a new cable for the eepad but it won't be here for another week or so and I want to get these projects up.) Here is the crocheted one. This was my own design. I held a strand of Bernat Sesame (Germantown Weight) and a strand of Red Heart Classic held together. The Red Heart is dark pink and the Bernat is light blue. The Bernat is 100% wool. This hat is t

Correction as of June 2, 2018. Eyelet tow rewritten.  Last night I had to take Jerek to the emergency room with his back pain. Of course I am not going to take him to the hospital without having yarn and needles along! I was going to make another hat (I finished two yesterday while we were out and about with my uncle Allen) but I think I am hatted out for the moment. Instead, I made booties. Nice, easy garter stitch booties loosely based on some that Tiri was given. I though everyone might like the pattern. I am calling them Pine Ridge Booties because I am linking the pattern to the  Bundles of Joy group on Ravelry.com. They make baby things for the OB ward of the hospital on Pine Ridge Reservation. They expect about 30 births a month and the poverty on the Rez is staggering. The things the people in this group send might be all the baby has to wear at home. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Pine Ridge Booties Size 7US needles Wors

Today Jerek had another appointment with the Occupational Health doctor at the Urgent Care building of Luther Midelfort/Mayo Healthcare. His workman's comp check showed up like it was supposed to, and we headed out, making a few stops before we ended up at Walmart in Eau Claire. We were early, and we wanted to cash his check at Walmart anyway. We piddled around the store until the time came to head over to his 1:20 appointment. I was driving since he's still in a lot of pain, and when everyone was all buckled in I put the key in the ignition and tried to crank her over. It wouldn't start. Um. Uh-oh. First he thought it was something about the oil being low, so he ran back in and bought a quart and poured it in. "Try it now." Same thing. This time, though, he listened to it as I tried to start it, and as he did he got the face that I know means big trouble. Do you know the small humming sound a car has when you are going to start it? Do you know what th

Yesterday I was trying to knit a baby bootie sock. I ended up frogging it. Then I tried to use the same yarn for a baby boy burial gown. Screwed it up. Rippit , Then I started crocheting a baby cap. It didn't turn out either, but not in the way of its earlier amphibian-ized ancestors. It became a chemo cap instead. I've never made one of those before. I've thought about it but never actually did it. It was fun. Oh, not quite as speedy as a baby or preemie cap but still fast enough. I used Lily Sugar Babies cotton in "Baby Blue." It's a nice cotton, thinner then the cones at Walmart and it seems softer. Of course, seeing as it calls itself 'baby cotton' it had better be soft! The hook I used was my pretty turquoise-colored metal hook that it seems like I have had forever, losing now and then but always finding it again so it can help me turn out more useful items. I plan to call the cancer center at Luther Midelfort today and ask if they would

I am in another afghan square swap, and this one is going a bit better than the last one. I finished my sixth square today. It looks like this: As you can tell, it needs blocked and the ends woven in. Right now, though, I can only block one square at a time and one of these squares is currently pinned out. So the granny will have to wait. I like the fun fur accent though. It's kind of fun. I found some fun fur and eye lash yarn in the stash cart at Yarnology for this project, and when I get the chance I will be checking it out again. Here are the other blocks I have done: Not too shabby, I don't think! :D The last two are all blocked and labeled and everything already. You have no idea how much this pleases me. :) Hopefully I can keep this streak going. I would love to be the first one to be finished and have her squares submitted.

Hello All! I have a pattern to share with everyone today. I just knitted these up yesterday, and I thought they might be something others would be interested in. I've been busy making baby things to donate to Luther Midelfort in Eau Claire, WI. I just made these up on the fly yesterday. Hope you like them, and if you find a mistake leave a comment! :) You will need: Bernat Baby Jacquard or comparable baby yarn Size 7 needles Tapestry needle Scissors Two stitch markers Size F or G crochet hook ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gauge: 11 stitches to 2 inches in garter stitch. These are worked in garter stitch throughout. Cast on 36 stitches. Knit in garter stitch for the first 6 rows. Row 1 of shaping: Knit 15 stitches, knit next 2 stitches together. Place marker, knit 2 stitches, knit next 2 stitches together. Place marker. Knit to end of row. (34 stitches) Row 2 of shaping: Knit 14 stitches, knit next 2 st

Hello all. It's been a while, now hasn't it? *Sigh* Sorry. Kinda got busy and off track. First, my computer has crapped out not one, but two different ways. First the battery died, so it will not run unless it is plugged in. This was inconvenient, but nothing I couldn't live with. Then, when it discovered that hurling that little roadblock at me didn't diminish my zeal for Ravelry (because I'm going to have to be dead for my zeal for Rav to go away) it decided that it no longer liked its memory card and it murdered it. Voila, no more computer for Rachie. I have Jerek's now, although of course when he is home it is not really up for grabs. And he was home. From the 6th of June up to yesterday. Why, you ask? Well, they dropped a 30 foot, 800 pound spray boom on him. That'll lay a guy up for a few days. He's still in a lot of pain, but, in the words of the doctor, he doesn't need surgery so he has to go back to work. Everybody all together

I am in a friendship square swap, and I need to have my last square done and pinned out today. I wet block them, and it seems like it takes at least a day, usually two for them to dry, and since I need to have them sent by Monday at the latest... I need to be done. Obviously I am looking for a last square that will work up fast. I need it to be 12" and I need it to be out of worsted weight yarn. It's time to improvise. This morning I was laying in bed thinking about it while I nursed my daughter, and it occurred to me, what is faster then double crochet? Treble. It's taller, it will get up to 12" faster... and what would it look like if I substituted treble in place of double crochet in a granny square? Let's find out. So far so good:  Does everyone know how to do a treble stitch? I prepared a photo tutorial: Step 1: Wrap the yarn around your hook twice. Step 2: Insert hook into stitch or space, depending on your project. Catch the yarn