Friday, January 28, 2011

A Few Loose Ends



January was a month of finishing projects that were in limbo during the holiday season. Lorraine put the last touches on this hat for her oldest daughter with the crocheted trim and chin strap. You won't find this pattern anywhere. It is another Lorraine original.







Louise deciphers the pattern of a diagonal knit lap blanket that she started last year.
The wool yarn is of such beautiful colors!



















This is Bully modeling a sweater that I made from a free pattern on the Lion's Brand website.
The original was made with cotton yarn for Martha Stewart's dog, Francesca. Bully's sweater is made of WoolEase yarn which fit him snug and perfect the first time I put it on him but then it stretched and is saggy. I stitched around the buttonholes with 100% wool yarn and washed and dried it in hot. The 20% WoolEase didn't shrink or felt to any degree and is still loose on him. Next attempt will be made with 100% wool yarn on bigger needles and felted to fit.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

JANUARY JOYS

The holidays have past and yet the fiber still flies across our fingers in the first month of the new year.

The newest member of the Deming Library craft family is Greta. She is incredibly smart and accomplished. She juggles an amazing schedule and yet she still makes time to join the group and brightens the Wednesday night conversations. The doll she knits is growing every week and will be a work of art when finished.
Yes, that is a prescription pill bottle in the foreground. I remove the labels and recycle them to organize my yarn sewing needles, stitch markers, buttons, etc. The clear plastic makes it easy to identify the contents and the child proof lids help keep my grandchildren from swallowing small crafting tools.
Louise models her new mittens. They are made of Lion Brand Fisherman's wool, knitted flat with a sewn seam. The original pattern finished the finger tip end with a sharp point that Louise was not pleased with so she adjusted it with Kitchener's weave for a more rounded end.

It's football season! GO SEAHAWKS and please forgive me for knitting these booties for the newly arrived baby in a (I hate to utter) Chicago Bears fan household. Consider this as my contribution to the De Feet of Bears. It was fun to use my old Annie's Attic crochet patterns of the Feet Boutique series They are very accurate and diverse patterns of many shoe styles from Cowboy boots to Mary Janes. The instructions include sizes from newborn to adult so that an entire family can wear matching foot wear.
Time to go knit and watch the game now.
Have fun, will ravel.
Anne