GIFTED

My lovely and dear cousin Susan

 wearing the shawl I gifted her on a recent visit.

You can see close ups of the shawl if you scroll 2 posts down.

PRAIRIE BOOTS

Loved the look of these knitted up in the local knit store via a Coco Knits pattern.

I knew I had some bulky Malabrigo wool yarn in my stash,

so at least 3-4 years ago I started on these and wasn't enjoying the pattern.

It was a bit difficult to follow,

 so after being half done with the first one, 

I put it away and forgot about it.

This January I ran into it while looking for projects to finish up.  

So I pulled it out, 

spent a lot of time trying to figure out in the pattern where I was,

and plowed thru.

The pattern wasn't as bad as I remembered and they sure turned out cute.

I had my husband cut some leather soles and punch a few holes,

and I found a couple of buttons to accessorize with 

and Woo Hoo,

they are done!

They will be a Xmas present for a favorite person in my life. 

 ANOTHER TRIP AROUND  THE MOON

or is it around the sun?

No really sure

 but what I do know is I just finished another baby sweater from

Alexandra at Two of Wands of Season 8 Knit Stars.

I love this demo pattern she shows and I had some left over yarn 

from another project,

so why not try it again?

The only bummer I encountered

 was that I ran out of yarn when knitting the first sleeve.

Oops!!

So I went thru my stash and found another similar yarn from Malabrigo.

But it was a slightly thinner structure and a slightly different color way.

Nooo!

So what to do?

I ripped out the entire sleeve that I was halfway thru with,

then alternated every other row with the thinner yarn.

If you have never knit with two yarns simultaneously,

I don't recommend it.  

It's constant Yarn Barf (tangles)

I also ran out for the collar and waistband.

So for those I swished to smaller needles and just knit them with the other yarn.

You can totally see the difference in the pix for the collar and waistband,

but I kind of like it.  

They are slightly darker in value which I think is a nice subtle contrast,

 and pleasing to the eye.

So now I need another baby to gift this to.

Whose going to be next?

Got my fingers crossed for my son and his wife.

ANOTHER SWEATER FOR MOLLY

KNIT STAR ALEXANDRA TAVEL

of  Two of Wands 

created this sweater pattern for her Knit Stars Debut in Season 8.

Her course is called the Duality of Knits and Crochet.

So she demos her pattern in both styles of handwork.

It has become one of my very favorite patterns to knit up.

It looks a bit difficult in it's textural Andalusian Pattern Stitch,

but it's super easy!

I like it so much that I'm almost done with another one.

Will I ever do an adult size of this pattern?

Probably not because I'd be scared I wouldn't finish it.

Baby/child size are more doable for me.

In Season 8 of Knit Stars,

 Alexander demos on a baby sweater so I just followed her demo.

and changed up the neck a bit.

It's supposed to be a full turtleneck

 but I thought it would be a bit uncomfortable for a baby,

so I altered it to a half turtleneck with a stockinette roll over finish.

This baby demo will probably fit up to 12 months.

I also learned a new bind-off called a Tubular Bind Off

 which is super stretchy and so much fun to do.

This photo is a truer example of the colors 

even though I took both pix at same time in same light.

Weird??

Can't remember where I got the yarn but it's a worsted weight 

in a super soft Merino wool.

And it washes up in the sink (wool wash) and dries beautifully.

And I felt the colors could be worn by either a girl or a boy,

although I'm not even sure if that's a thing anymore??

Ha ha

FORGOT TO SHARE THIS

Easton's Baby Blanket

I wanted to make sure my daughter Dani had input into the baby blanket 

that I wanted to make for our little man,

so I had her chose a pattern and the yarn.

I knew she would never like what I would have chosen.

Our tastes are very different so I played it safe.

Both yarn and pattern were from Shelly Brander's Knitstars shop. 

Have I talked about Knit Stars?

Can't remember,

but it is the most wonderful knitting/crochet store/community

of famous knit stars from all over the world.

And I mean really famous!!

Every year Shelly and her very professional crew

 travel the whirrled to find knitters who are trending.

Then she films their beautiful landscape surroundings,

their studio space, 

and the pro knitter demonstrating their trending patterns and designs.

I have done (paid for) all 8 seasons/years

 and have currently signed up for number 9 at her early bird pricing.

And you have the Seasons forever!

I feel the pricing is very reasonable for all that you get.

I have now traveled the world by armchair with Shelly and her team 

to some of the most amazing locations on earth

 to watch these incredibly prolific fiber artists.

And oh my,

I've learned so much in the process!!

Tomorrow I will show off a baby sweater I knit for sweet Molly.

Just finished it last week and I'm hoping the weather continues to be chilly.

The Knit Star was featured recently in season 8.

And it's probably one of my most favorite patterns to date.

So stay turned dear friends as I try very hard to be more present on my blog.

 

A side note:

After some recent blood work,

 2 of my doctors told me to get my butt to the gym.

:( :(

I have a fatty liver and pre-diabetes 

which I understand is something else that is trending here in America. 

Realistically,

 I need to shed at least 30 pds. 

which as of late,

 I disguise rather well under baggy tops.

I've gained that weight since I married my husband 12ish years ago.

He is a fast food junky because he worked in that industry his whole life,

and he's been a very bad influence on me.

When he had his gallbladder removed a few years back his doctor told me

it was the "biggest shit show he'd ever seen."

Ha ha!!

LOL  :):):)

So I'm not the only one who needs to loose weight in this household,

but that's a whole other story for another time.

Anyways,

in the last month I joined a Pilates club and average 2-3 times a week there,

 as well as 2-3 times a week at the gym for weights and cardio.

Love going to Pilates which really surprised me,

but I still HATE going to the gym.

That I have to force myself to do.

Have I noticed a difference?

YES!!!!

I've lost my first 5 pds which thrills me

 and an inch in my hips and another inch in my big old tummy.

My arms are looking way more toned and defined,

oh,

and I also lost weight thru my legs which look slimmer thru the thighs.

Woo Hoo!!!!

Now to just keep it up.

I also feel different when I walk.

I'm standing up straighter

 and my thighs are not rubbing together as much.

But let me tell you I'm spending a fortune at the Pilates Club.

Over $200 a month.

They are all very expensive in our community,

but I talked them into giving me a senior retiree discount,

but it's still a ridiculous amount of money.

:(

PAST DUE

I've been meaning to post some of my dear friends knitwear for ages now,

but if you follow this blog

 you know I've not been present a whole lot lately. 

So many wonderful distractions that I can't wait to post 

now that I have permission.

Hee hee!

In the meantime, 

Whitney High Science Teacher Aileen Perry

has been joining me for almost 4 years now this June or July,

coming faithfully every Tuesday night learning so many of the fiber arts.

But the one she enjoys the most is knitting.

She has now reached the point that she can take on any pattern and figure it out.

With circulars, double pointed or just plain old knitting needles.

She has made so many delightful gifts for family, friends and co-workers.

The list is long.

Here are a few recent ones.

The gorgeous pair of socks above, and the spectacular lap blanket below.

I'm so proud and thrilled for her.

She has even gotten to the point where she can modify the pattern

 as she did in this blanket

 to add even more pattern changes and interest then it called for.

On her recent trip to Alamitos Bay Yarn Co. in Long Beach Ca.,

she shot me a pix of her latest purchase from Red Fish Dye Works.

This is a company that dyes their own yarns

 and their colors are so rich and beautiful.

I wonder what she will create next?

Stay turned!

LOST & FOUND

It's been awhile since I've laid eyes on this Kaleidoscope Cardi,

pattern by Knit Collage.  

I was searching for something else recently and found this instead.

I'd forgotten how much I loved it 3 years ago when I weighted 25 pds. less.

Ha!

So guess what,

I really want to finish it and loose the weight so I can wear it.

This last month I've been trying to loose some pounds,

even before I found this.

Now keep in mind,

I'm always trying to loose weight.

It's my life.

I've tried fasting, weight lifting, cardio, eating way better,

but nothing has been working like it used to when I was teaching 

and never, ever sat down all day.

So a friend at the gym who recently lost a ton of weight shared his secret.

Walking, counting steps and caloric deficient.

Well I was already doing all those things.

He simple said you aren't doing enough walking.

And he was right!

He said you have to do at least 15,000 steps a day,

everyday.

Eat all the vegies and fruit you want,

and cut back to only 2 meals a day.

Plus continue to lift weights at gym along with sit-ups and leg lifts.

I was averaging between 6000 to 10,000 steps in retirement,

so about a month ago I really picked up my pace.

My children set me up with Audible (books on tape) for my birthday,

headphones and a fanny pack.

And now I'm averaging between 12,000 and 15,000 steps a day

and have lost 6 pds. that I'm managing to miraculously keep off. 

I'm even trying to pick up the pace more by doing a little bit of jogging,

plus lots of hills.

People are starting to notice 

that my upper arms, butt and thighs are looking slimmer.

YES!!!!

But where I'm really noticing it is in my upper stomach,

right under my breasts which no one will ever see again.

LOL

I can't tell you how excited I am.

I'm even noticing that I'm standing taller and feeling lighter on my feet,

and it feels so good.

The down side is it takes a chunk of time from my day and evening.

And discipline,

lots of discipline!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Are you wondering if I allow myself a cheat day?

You betcha.

One day a week I get one scoop of ice cream

but I keep on truckin' on that day as well.

PUMPKIN LOVE - part two

Displaying my son and daughter-in-law's homegrown pumpkins at the cabin...

and putting up all the harvest decorations throughout home and yard.

That's huge love for me.

Putting out artist/illustrator Patience Brewster's mini 3-d designs come to life,

along with fiber artist Barbara Nelson's stuffed whimsical creations

on a Halloween tree design by Patience is always something I look forward to.

Barbara is still going strong at 87 although this was the first year

the Artistic License Art Show wasn't put on due to Covid where her work is featured.

I've collected one of her whimsical creatures almost every year since I was in my 30's.

Creating pumpkin designs with my new fiber students and and long time dear friends,

was so enjoyable this year.

Aileen Perry,

Whitney High's Biology teacher,

 along with her sister Suzanne Campbell,

Whitney High's Principal's secretary and I have been spending the last 5 months together,

meeting up once a week at my home studio for chatting and creating.

And yes there is mask wearing and social distancing going on!

HA!!

This is satisfying my need to teach as well as keeping me abreast with all the goings on

 at my beloved school that I continue to miss so very much.

Aileen gifted me with the lovely ochre pumpkin in the middle

and inspired me to design my own pumpkins for gifting and display.

Now the gals want to learn to quilt,

so I'm teaching them to eco-dye first to learn about all the dyes that can be extracted from plants.

This will them a rich array of color on cottons and linens to design their quilt with.

Then they will learn to hand stitch and embroider

doing a little preliminary on felt before constructing a mini quilt.

It's up to them where we go after that.

Possibly basketmaking, weaving , felting, bookmaking;

it's all so much fun for me.

It was Aileen's idea to try and make a child's mobile using a few of the characters from Harry Potter.

She has become an avid knitter in only a few months.

Above is the Sorting Hat I demoed for her

(a fairly challenging pattern).

We've also completed the snake and hedgehog and are working on the lion right now.

I'm not a big Harry Potter fan so I used my Sorting Hat as a Halloween display.

Another big love for me during this time of year is collecting and pressing fall leaves.

I just found these from last years collection when I was looking thru a big Coffee Table book.

Amazing how they haven't lost their color in a years time.

Now what to do with them?

Hummm?

This is also the time for us here in Southern Ca. to take down our dried out summer gardens.

This weekend I helped my son remove all his dried up pumpkin and squash vines

and tah dah, 

we can see his backyard again.

I think I might have mentioned a couple of posts back

that when he and his wife moved into their home,

they gutted their backyard.

We amended it with bucket loads of steer and chicken manure,

so the sunflowers they grew were pretty ginormous...

LOL...

as you can see here.

I got to take one of these beauties home with me yesterday,

 and I'll scatter the seeds next spring at the cabin.

Well, maybe not all of them.  

I'll give a lot to our always hungry Blue Jays.

WORKING ON MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

One of my resolutions was to finish my ongoing projects.

This Infinity Scarf was supposed to be done by Xmas,

but I just recently finished and blocked it,

and gave it to it's recipient,

my gorgeous trainer Gelissa

(who enjoys kicking my butt at the gym).

This yarn is from a company called Knit Collage

 which I was recently turned onto 

thru the fabulous crafts store in Ojai ,Ca. called Cattywampus Crafts.

It's been handspun with added bits of lace, ribbon, etc. and is super fast and easy to knit with.

The label on the yarn recommends a size 15 needle but I found a size 19 worked better for me.

I used the Mistaken Rib pattern which is incredibly easy.

You will need an odd number of stitches in units of 4 with one extra,

like 13 (12 + 1), 17 (16 + 1), etc.

I used 17.

Every row is knit the same:

Knit 2, Purl 2, Knit 2, Purl 2, K1.

You always end with Knit 1.

This was one of my students favorite patterns.  

It creates hills and valleys instead of hard ribbed edges.

A gentler Ribbing.

Another of my Resolutions was to post more.

So far that hasn't happened.

Structure is challenging when you retire.

ha ha!!!

I need someone to crack a whip over me or I need a deadline.

But in this case,

the deadline of Xmas didn't even work.

I'm a mess.  LOL

SNEAK PEEK

The yoke is almost done as I head into week 2 of the online Cardi workshop.

Love, love, love working on size 17 needles and using extra bulky handspun yarns.

They are yummy!

Plus it goes so very fast.

With this last black/grey/purple yarn I'm working with 

tiny little daises have been handstitched on after it was spun,

and it's so fun to see them pop up here and there. 

I'm an English knitter but in this workshop I'm also trying to learn the European Continental style.

Another global skill which means it''s very difficult and requires much practice.

But hey,

I'm retired and have got the rest of my life.

:)

STASH BUSTER UPDATE

Nine years ago when I moved into my new husbands beautifully appointed home,

he had this striking oil hanging over his couch.

It stills hangs there over a very masculine leather sofa.

To soften the look a bit I felt that I needed to add a knit throw.

So I began this lap throw after taking an improvisational knitting workshop 

with knit star Valentina Devine. 

I first became acquainted with her in the gorgeous coffee table book 

Knitting in America.

Valentia lives in Los Alamos, New Mexico and her background is fascinating. 

I have always knitted! Born in Russia and growing up in Germany, I can remember knitting all sorts of things from doll clothes to small garments for myself. In the early eighties I became a life-time member of the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria Virginia. There I exhibited knitted one-of-a-kind garments and wall hangings. For the Folger Theater I knitted costumes for Macbeth. At the same time I started teaching a technique “Creative Knitting” and I continue to the present day. I have also knitted two major costumes for the road show of “CATS”; Deuteronomy and Gus, The Theater Cat. Some of my knitted garments have been chosen for the movie industry. I now enjoy designing for different publications. I have been a contributor to many knitting books and publications. As time went on I have added to the courses I teach. I now teach six different techniques. I show my art-to-wear garments in different boutiques throughout the United States. I cannot imagine not knitting and I hope to continue to inspire many more knitters here and abroad.

In 2011 I was able to get this far

which I posted about in March of that year here on the blog,

but then I lost interest and put it away

 and finally took it out this last week and have started knitting on it again.

I took it up to the cabin this weekend and have almost finished off that bottom row.

Please note!

I have not blocked this yet.

And it's all over the place lumpy bumpy and wavy.

I will tame it eventually when completely done.

I still have so many stash yarns to bust thru so I'm going to lengthen and widen 

and then probably put several borders around it.

At least that's my plan right now.

But knowing me I will get distracted with another project

 and this will wait another 8 years for me to pull it out again.

Ha!!!

Speaking of that,

headed out tomorrow morning for a 2 1/2 hour drive up to Ojai

(inland from Santa Barbara but above Ventura)

to a new crafts shop called Cattywampus Crafts for a knit-a-long.

Going to be starting a cute little v-neck cardigan with all handspuns (some mine)

knit on size 17 needles.

Can hardly wait.

Poor little throw.

LOL

TRYING SOMETHING NEW

This is a kit that I purchased at a favorite knit store up in La Verne called Make One Yarn Company.

It came with the circular knitting needles that had been cut in half and a magnetic clasp attached,

and some directions.

The sock yarn I purchased at the store,

the knit pattern I figured out on my own

(came with no patterns, but pix of several pattern ideas)

I've been knitting a baby sweater with a faux cable so I put that thru the middle 

with a bit of knit garter on either side and along the bottom edge.  

I also threw in some stockinette around the cable to make it pop better.

Instead of binding off,

you just keep the piece on the needles and criss cross them within the piece.

Done!

In The Nick of Time

My beautiful Step Daughter Julie is having her first baby in February.

His name will be Sydney 

and we had his baby shower last weekend.

I asked Julie to look thru all my knitting books

 and pick out something special that she'd like me to knit up for Syd.

She picked out the "Little Old Man Cardigan" from

What to Knit When You Are Expecting

by Nikki Van De Car,

and she asked me to do it in a heather grey.

And of course the only way I finish something is with a deadline hanging over my head,

so two nights before the shower I finish,

 get the buttons on,

wash and block it.

It finishes drying the morning of the shower,

in time for me to wrap it up.

Phew Shuuuu,

it was a close one.

LOL

The buttons I found in Julie's grandmother's sewing box.

And I found the Carter's romper with penguin shirt at Kohl's.

But the best part was I got to feel Sydney move in her belly.

Can't wait to meet our little guy!

Passing On The Fiber Arts

KNITTING NEEDLES AND SOLAR DYED YARNS

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

wood, polymer clay, yarn and food colors

It's really remarkable what you can do with very few supplies to make the Fiber Arts come alive for this next generation.

Lori Lawson of Capistrano Fiber Arts, do you see your three pieces on my display wall??

Here is adorable senior Daphne Chiang hanging her freshly dyed yarns to dye outside the art room door on our handy-dandy branch /wire rack.

Below are Daphne's knitting needles that she has made from scratch and her beautiful yarns are wound and ready for use.

Oh wait, she is using them already.

She's learning to do the knit garter stitch.

A cute close-up.

And then here is hard-working senior Bianca Tolentino mixing her dye solutions from Wilton's cake dyes.

All nice and safe.

Below are her needles and yarns.

She is in the process of casting on.

And a close-up.

And lastly we have colorful senior Kaili Hamada who wrote up a guest post on Monday about how much she loves color this year.

And look at her go, she is done with her knit and purl garter's and is moving on to stockinette.

Sadly, Kaili has lost one of her needles somewhere in the Whitney halls.

Hopefully it shows up soon.

Another Baby Sweater

I just can't seem to resist making baby sweaters.

I think it's because they are small and I actually will finish them, unlike something larger.

I saw this one in a Noro magazine from Japan when I was at Barnes and Noble.  

But it was the only thing I liked so rather then buy it, I copied the pattern down on a napkin I had in my purse.

Yah, I know that's not right, but I hate buying a knit magazine unless there are at least 2-3 things inside I want to make.

Wish I'd taken a pix of the napkin when I finished this piece a year after I started this.

Falling apart  LOL

The yarn for this was a Noro yarn called Shiraito, 45% Cashmere, 45% Angora 10% Wool, super soft and perfect for baby skin but very pricey at $32 a skien.  This sweater took 2 1/2 skeins.

The buttons all came from my husband's mother's sewing box.

I'm hoping to give it to his daughter when she has her first baby girl.

Hopefully real soon  :)