TEDDY BEAR KIT
Ok, it’s official. I’m abandoning the more yarn out than in goal!! I mean, how could I resist when I have granddaughters!! M1 Yarns recently added a boucle yarn base to her dying. She mentioned she thought it would be good for a teddy bear kit. I knew that if she pulled it off, I was going to order one. Well she did it so I ordered a kit. It’s a large bear, 18″ tall which is what I wanted. I plan to add some contrast yarn for the “hands” and “feet” and maybe inner ear so that I can make the arms and legs a little longer than the pattern calls for. I also bought these sponge “curlers” to help hold the head erect. A fellow toy knitter in Florida recommended them. They are inexpensive on Amazon and I got the multisized set in preparation for future toy knitting. I’m a little disappointed in the “kit” in that it doesn’t contain the stuffing. I didn’t realize that when I ordered it. Turns out the “kit” is just the yarn and the pattern. Still, I can’t wait to cast it on after I finish the baby blanket on my needles.
ABYDOS TEE
Round and round she goes. This is the boring part. When I had to start a new ball, I decided to go ahead and complete the sleeves. This way my son’s girlfriend was able to try it on and confirm all fits fine. Now I can knit the body till it’s the right length, 7 more inches, or I run out of yarn. I’m using a suggestion I learned in a podcast to determine when I’ve reached the additional 7″. I made a chain of lightbulb stitch markers. When the body is as long as the last stitch marker, it’s be time to bind off. Fingers crossed this becomes an FO this week.
As you can see it finally happened. I’ve never mixed skeins of yarn to avoid the uneven dying that can come with hand dyed yarns. I didn’t realize it till now that clearly the top skein is lighter in color than the bottom. It doesn’t matter on the yoke rows and doesn’t show that much on the front. It does show more on the back. I don’t think it looks too bad since the transition happens at the armholes. It kinda looks like a fade. My son’s girlfriend says it’s fine. I’m going to let her know that if she changes her mind and doesn’t tend to wear it, that I can rip it out and reknit it alternating the lighter color yarn with the darker. It would still create “stripes” so I’m not sure how much better it would look.
BABY BLANKET
I finished the Daisy Stitch “stripe” and now I’m knitting the Blanket Rib Stitch. I found this stitch in the Stitch Dictionary provided at the Online Summit back in March.
YARN WALL GROWS
I’m always so proud of myself when I’m able to remove a wooden box from my yarn wall. It means more yarn out than in. As noted above this goal has been a major fail so far this year. I finally gave up and brought back out a wooden box and extended my yarn wall. I also pulled back out yarns that I had put into project bags that I had intended to knit while in Florida. Clearly that did not happen. My knitting plan has blown up with baby knits that were not anticipated but that’s a happy circumstance.
At least I’ve learned that it’s way too easy for me to forget projects if I move them to project bags before I actually start knitting on them. I use my digital knitting calendar to track projects that have been cast-on. I don’t track projects that have been put into bags but not cast-on. Here’s to hoping that by the time I head to Florida the end of November, I’ve been able to remove at least one wooden box from the yarn wall.
MOTHERS DAY
Today is Mothers Day in the US. My stepdaughter sent me these beautiful tulips. The vase on the right is passed on from my mother-in-law. My daughter sent me fun bath spa items. Hubby is making me a special dinner of steak, twice baked potatoes, and green beans. My favorite meal. I picked up some ice cream from our local ice cream company for dessert. They are known for their literal hunks of chocolate in their “chip” versions.
SAD NEWS
On a sad note, we lost Mary yesterday. My dad was lucky to be happily married for 44 years to my mother and then 25 years enjoying the friendship of Mary. Yesterday Mary’s daughter went to pick up her mother to have lunch with my dad only to find her mother had passed away at home. Because my mother passed away when my oldest was 5 and my middle child was 1, Mary was the only “grandmother” my kids knew on my side of the family. It was Mary’s wish to die at home and that she did. My dad seemed to take the news well but we will see how he does in the coming days and weeks without her.
On a happier note, I hope you are having a wonderful day. It’s a beautiful, warm day here in Ohio. I plan to enjoy knitting in the sunshine. This has been a Year Of Projects Ravelry post. A group of crafters that create an annual crafting plan and share weekly updates on our progress, or lack there of.