race cars and dish cloths

I went on a long weekend to Rally West Virginia to be part of my son's pit crew. That's Andrew on the left and his co-driver Michael on the right. My specialty was making sandwiches. In thinking of what I could take along to do in the down time hours I decided to take cotton yarn and some dish cloth patterns.

The patterns I found at the Dishcloth Boutique here. The green one is called Moss Diamonds. The pattern was worked out over a 10 row repeat, I had to pay attention to where I was. Some ripping out was needed on this one when I got off track. The other one, here on the hotel window sill, is a basic checkered dishcloth, it was fun to make and much easier to follow the basic perl 5 knit 5 pattern.

I gave the dish cloths to my daughter in law Sarah. She looks a little tired in this photo, being a rally pit crew member in 90+ degree heat is draining.




After our time in WVA we went to Western Maryland to visit my husband's step mom. I made a basic Grandmother's Favorite for Wilma. Wilma is 92 and was quite the sewist in her day. She had triplet daughters, 69 years ago. Wilma made most of their clothes, starting out with their infant nightgowns and on up to prom dresses. Imagine, 3 of everything! Wilma shared many great stories of the creations she made for her girls.

After finishing the basic one I started another more complicated design, this one is called Baby Fern Stitch. I have had to make a few recovery stitches in some places, so it is not exactly to the pattern. I just remind myself that this is a dishcloth. This little item will be a worker cloth, this puts it all in perspective.

Wool Hat finished in plenty of time for snow

Snow, how can one even think of it when summer solstice is so close and the temperatures are close to 90 each day? The timing of my wool hat project obviously has no connection to the season. I did it to get experience with knitting on double pointed needles as prep for knitting socks. The hat turned out really nice, it's very stretchy and soft. Here it is near my hydrangea bush, we always called it the snowball bush. I transplanted this bush from my parents yard, they planted it many years ago in memory of my grandmother whose birthday was in June. My father always claimed that is bloomed on her birthday. Her name was Pearl Loraine, we share the same middle name. She died when I was only 1 year old so I don't know if she knitted or did hand work.

On another note, I drove by my local Hancock Fabrics and saw that it is indeed closed and empty. So sad. There is a Value World near by so I stopped in to see if they had any sewing supplies or fabric. I made a pretty good haul for $4.80. I don' t think I ever spent that little at Hancock. I can always find a use for zippers and the lace was just too wonderful to pass up.

Knitting accessory bag for Sarah

I made a small accessory bag for my daughter in law to store her circular knitting needles. The rick rack that I used for the top I made recently matched these fabrics very well, it's so nice to be able to continue to use materials from my stash.
The bag she has on her shoulder is Thelma's Knitting Bag from Favorite Things Patterns. I made it awhile ago, it is an interesting pattern as it has an expandable feature, a zipper inside that when up zipped allows the bag to expand to the larger size in the photo.

Inspired by Sarah, I have been working on expanding my knitting skills. It's nice to have a hobby in common with my wonderful daughter in law. : )

Knitting for kitty and next project

I needed a knitting project for television watching time and to have on hand in case a need arises for a portable project. Our cat loves to sleep on wool, so I found a ball of scrap wool and am knitting her a small blanket. Here she is today checking it out, not finished yet, but she seems to be interested.


My next knitting project will be this hat. (Pinwheel Hat by Mountain Colors Designs) This is an opportunity to get some experience knitting in the round. The hat starts off on round needles and ends up on double pointed needles. I am doing this to get some experience, so I can feel comfortable taking a sock knitting class. I am self teaching here, so we will see how this goes. I can always stop back at the shop or ask a friend for tutoring if I need it.

Cabled scarf for Nathan

My first try at cables. I knitted a reversible cable scarf for my son Nathan. The pattern is from the same Ann Norling collection that I used for David's scarf. Here
I used Galway Highland Heather yarn in a greenish color called Heather. Nathan is very happy with it, as you can see. I finished this just in time, today it was 71 degrees. Winter is not over though, so I am assuming he will get some use out of it yet this season.

Back surgery dish cloths

I was done with the scarf and needed some portable project work. I pulled out some cotton yarn from my stash and found a pattern to make up some dishcloths. This Grandmother's Favorite pattern can be found at http://www.jimsyldesign.com/~dishbout/kpatterns/knitting.html

My sister Karen helped me decipher the instructions, add a few hours waiting and voila, new dishcloths. David's surgery went very well, what a relief. We look forward to more regular activities in the near future. A relaxing stroll in the neighborhood will be a real treat.

Knitting refresher - Wool Scarf

I decided to refresh my knitting skills while shopping for a gift for my daughter in law, Sarah, at http://www.knittersmercantile.com/. The staff person recommended a pattern by Ann Norling. I made the garter/rib scarf with Lamb's Pride Worsted, 85% wool/15% mohair yarn. The color is one of my favorites, a blue-green, this one is called Persian Peacock.
Sarah helped me with the casting on and reading the directions and adjusting for a wider version. Thanks Sarah, it's great to have a knitting coach in the family. The end result is seen here, a gift for David. He seems very pleased with this warm, warm scarf.