I made this

I’ve finally started a proper pattern. By that I mean something other than a rectangle or scarf. I’ve only ever knitted the cozy previously. Now I’m trying the Katy. I was searching the internet for free patterns and hit paydirt. It’s perfect and beautiful, to me anyway. I love that it harkens back to Little House on the Prairie. Very nice. It knits up easily as well. I think that’s why I haven’t started anything like this previously. The patterns seemed very complicated. But that’s what I thought about knitting lace before I realised how easy it is. But then everything’s easy once you know how!

I retrospect, I should have used a nicer yarn. I’m using a worsted weight wool mix. I found it at the thrift shop. Three HUGE skeins for £1. I’ve been waiting for a chance to use it. A nice DK or finger weight would have been nicer. Even cotton DK would have been better. But it’s just for myself so I’m not too fussy. And I know the pictures are HORRIBLE.

Now, an incident has occurred since my last post that has really annoyed me. Jackson was on the playground playing with another little boy. They were chasing each other. Jackson was about to tag the other little boy, who had taken up residence by his Mom. Jackson did this turn and his hand hit the other little boy. I saw the whole thing, mind you. And I really don’t think Jackson meant to hit the other boy. But he did. Not hard, but on the side of his head. The boy was startled and started to cry. Now if this had happened to Jackson, having seen what happened, I would have said they were playing rough, calm down and would hope for an apology from the boy.

I immediately took Jackson’s hand and told him No Hitting. Even though it wasn’t intentional it’s still important to reinforce no hitting at any time. He apologised to the other little boy. I reiterated that he should be very careful when playing and kept him by my side from then on.

Now, as I was taking care of it, the other Mom also felt it necessary to say VERY LOUDLY that her son wants to play with Jackson, but not to play fight. She repeated this twice VERY LOUDLY. Now, as this was happening I suddenly heard Betty crying. I didn’t see what happened, but another mom’s son, who was standing with my other mom talking before all this happened, apparantly crashed into Betty. Or Betty crashed into him. Or they crashed into each other, I don’t know. I didn’t FREAK OUT ABOUT IT. I did make sure she was all right and cuddled her until we collected Alex.

Now, once home I realised that Jackson’s arm had marks where the other mom had held his arm WHILE TALKING TO HIM. I was livid. Furious. Why hadn’t I noticed it? I saw her, because she was literally right in front of me. Why hadn’t I told her to let go of my son, I’ve handled this already, thank you very much! Why didn’t I suggest that she police her own son, who on several occasions has been less than friendly toward Betty?

I wondered whether I should say anything to her the following day but decided that the moment had passed.

I don’t know what upsets me more. That she left marks on his arm or that I didn’t stand up for Jackson better.

It won’t happen again.

**I am more than willing to accept that my children are not angels and may sometimes, ok, often fall short of the mark. But they are NOT agressive children who wilfully hurt others.

I finally got around to sewing up some Roll-Ups.

As you can see, I made the Knitting Needle Roll-Up too short. I’ve never used a pattern, instead eyeballing everything. Sometimes I get lucky, but not this time. It’s OK, though.

The crochet Roll-up turned out pretty good.

And I made this one for Betty for her crayons. I reckon they’ll make cool children’s presents once sewn and given with a brand new set of crayons.

1. I was making homemade play-doh with the kids this afternoon and it occurred to me that I could make some really cool Christmas ornaments for our tree and gifts. I reckon all I have to do is get a cookie cutter, make the play-doh, make a hole in the ornament and bake. I was thinking I could solve the necessary hanging hole by pushing a button or something into the ornament that can be ‘popped out’ after baking.

2. I’ll be giving a knitted wrap to Debbie. I’m using really huge cartoon like needles to knit an old Shetland lace pattern. It’ll be quite holey once blocked. Very unlike the one I did for Susan.

3. Felt heart shaped ornaments embroidered with the year and something special to the recipient.

4. I’m embroidering a couple of door hangers for some very close friends. They’ll have a sweet saying and some buttons or something cool.

5. Sewing a couple of personalized draw string gift bags.

6. Baking some mexican wedding cookies, rocky road fudge, gingerbread cookies and sweet potato bread. Then I’ll divvy them up into little parcels and give them as gifts. (Will also be doing these for school Christmas Fayre)

7. Making a homemade gingerbread house with the kids. (that I totally intend to eat!!!)

8. Knit a couple of scarves for teachers’ gifts.

Those are some really big ideas, but I’m working on them!

Tomorrow’s Halloween and we’ll be going over to Wayside to celebrate. I can’t wait for the spooky walk up the lane. All the kids will have flash lights and the adults will be hiding, laying in wait for them to pass by. Then we’ll creep up and scare the living daylights out of them. Or at least I will be! I love that part. I used to love a good scare as a kid.

While it’s Halloween, it’s also parent evening at school. So we’ll be attending in costume. Should make for some interesting discussion.

What are you doing?

Oh My God. I’ve finally finished a project! And just in time, too. My sister Susan, for whom the cozy is knitted, is here visiting with her daughter, Mary Stuart. I’m in the process of blocking it. I can’t wait until it dries. It’s cotton so it may take a while. Anyway, it’s has been a lot of fun so far. We had the traditional Sunday roast at The Old Farmhouse this afternoon. We all ate so much we collectively popped. Anyway, the knitting was fast, once I got started. I knitted in spurts of inspiration rather than tackling it as a project. It took a while to finish, but you can certainly appreciate the time it took to knit. You can also tell where I messed up in the counting before I bought a counter gadget, which I highly recommend. It remembers for you what row you left off. But the mishaps add to the charm.

Hope all is well with you! I’ll be visiting with Susan for a while, so I’ll have to chat at’cha a little later.

I’m working on this shawl in the cozy pattern. I’m using acrylic lace weight on size 7 UK circular needles.

Again, you can really see that it’s handmade.

If you remember, I’m also knitting this pattern for my sister using cotton lace weight on size 4 UK circular needles. It’s amazing what a difference needle size and the type of yarn can make on a pattern, isn’t it?

I’m not at all sure what I was doing with this. Practicing, I suppose. Anyway, I only had 3 balls of this yarn and this is what became of it. The picture doesn’t do the yarn justice. The colour is beautiful and it knits up nicely.

Here’s a closer view with more accurate colour. Still not sure what to do with it yet. Any suggestions?

Susan is due to visit at the end of the month. I have until then to complete this cozy. I still need to knit the rest of this ball and add a crocheted lace edge to the far ends. Whew. Just thinking about it makes me tired. Anyway, I thought I should at least update on the knitting front. It’s been FOREVER since I’ve posted anything. Mostly because I’ve been doing A LOT of frogging.

Anyway, as you can see, I have been working on it. It’s turning out very nicely, I think. And if you look closely you can see that it’s homemade. I have to admit, I like the little imperfections. It makes it more special.

Take a quick look at my new site, why don’t cha?

Remember when I said I wanted to knit the cozy wrap? Well, here it is so far.

And I’m actually sticking with it! Whoo Hoo!

Do you like to make things? Sew? Knit? Crochet? Craft? Scrapbook? Paint? Cook? etc… etc… etc…
It’s pretty simple, really. If you’ve got something homemade and are LOUD and PROUD, then come on and be the first to join my new web ring. This is a ring for anyone who is creative.

I’ve noticed that a lot of people who stop by my site are interested in several different crafts. It ranges from fibre arts to photography to cut paper to quilting to photography to cooking to recycling thrifted goods. The list is endless. And when I had a look at the different rings available, I didn’t find one for those of us who like to do A LOT of different things. So that’s where the I got the idea. I’m hoping it will serve as a great starting point for new projects as well as a way of sharing ideas.

So if you’re interested in being the first brave soul to bare your goodies, then

CLICK HERE

see ya there!