It helps to have some sort of inspiration when creating something, and by
inspiration I don't mean the sort of inspiration that is derived from the panic of a looming deadline. I found that when knitting a larger project, having just the right sort of inspiration really helps move things along. This year for my dad's birthday I gave myself 3 weeks to knit something fun, which wound up being a vest. He's a vest guy - you know those people who look good wearing a polo shirt with a vest over it? That's my dad. Since he is a huge fan of various sports teams associated with The Ohio State University, I thought it would be neat to give him a vest in scarlet and grey. So, it is only appropriate that I hummed the Buckeye Battle Cry while finishing... (which caused great pain as I am most certainly NOT a Buckeye. I am a Boilermaker, through and through!!)
Pattern: Petrol from Knitty
Yarn: Plymouth Encore
In old Ohio there's a team
That's known thru-out the land;
Eleven warriors, brave and bold,
Whose fame will ever stand.
And when the ball goes over,
Our cheers will reach the sky,
Ohio field will hear again
The Buckeye Battle Cry-
Drive! Drive on down the field,
Men of the scarlet and gray;
Don't let them thru that line,
We have to win this game today,
Come on, Ohio!
Smash through to victory.
We cheer you as you go:
Our honor defend
So we'll fight to the end for O-hi-o
Timmy is not our only furry inhabitant. It is high time to add the other very important member of the family to the photo tree.
Meet Winston, the younger, albeit larger, brother.
They pretend to hate each other but secretly we know that they are the best of friends.
I imagine that if I had extra digits like Timmy up there, my knitting would come along much faster than it's current rate.
Thought I'd make the very first post here about knitting/sewing. Our school district in the middle of nowhere Ohio still ahderes to the home economics curriculum in middle school, which was attended by everyone - not just the gals. We all turned out elastic-waist shorts and other various objects as well as baked muffins and whatnot together. That was probably about the same time I decided to take a 4-H project in sewing, which my mom had to then teach me how to use her machine. As it turns out, I wasn't very good... but the ideas and skills were retained in the back of my brain and came out to play recently as I decided to make curtains for Aiko's room as well as her Halloween Costume last year (Hello Harry Potter!)
After researching various styles on-line, I came accross an appropriate pattern that was unfortunately for the older kid set. So I had to scale down the entire pattern on my own and fudge the rest - it turned out pretty cute, and even though the fabric is shiny (liked it better that way) the whole effect with the knitted scarf was stellar. The kid couldn't have been happier, although she refused to wear those blasted glasses for too long into the night. Don't really blame her... What you can't see from the front view is the adorable hoodie, see?
That scarf though, was true to it's reputation. Harry Potter costume scarves are notorious for being the "never ending project" because people who adhere to the true patterns find them to be unbearably boring and tedious after the first few repeats. Even with scaling the pattern in half, it was difficult to finish the silly thing on time!
This year, little Potter has announced she would like to be a cat - not just any cat but a PINK cat. So I think we're off to the fabric store to come up with some patterns and new fabric to fulfill her wishes.
Knitting is something I picked up when pregnant - it was decided that even though the child wasn't due until January, we were going to convince her to appear a little beforehand in December. So, I taught myself how to knit from various books and made a purple and ivory fuzzy holiday stocking. Whether or not it was the motivation for the baby coming early is debatable but the fact remains that she arrived on the 23rd, 3 weeks early and home in time for the holiday! Tee hee.
I generally use patterns from "The Yarn Girls", who own a shop in NYC Called the Yarn Co. They publish relatively simple and FAST knits that look mighty cute. They have two books for adult patterns and another 2 for kids. The second kid pattern book is due out on the 15th, which is exciting because the patterns are for older kids - and since Aiko is quickly outgrowing the patterns in the first book, it is a good thing! Of course, the baby pattern book has been put to very good use lately, as everyone and anyone I seem to know has started having babies! The very first item I ever truly completed aside from the stocking, cat stockings and HP scarf (which means there is a path of uncompleted, sad, items that came before it) was a hoodie sweater for my sister last year. I think it turned out really well as a first attempt at doing various knits and actually putting the pieces together. Other finished items include a poncho for my other sister, another for my MIL and a couple of baby sweaters.
This past weekend we were at the county fair (yes, although it seems like Chicago is not too far away, we live in the middle of nowhere) and I saw someone actually spinning and hand-dying yarn. It was beautiful and made me wish that I had the time/inclination to do that! Perhaps some other lifetime, when there aren't preschoolers to chase after and new babies to think of!
