Good Knit

Sadie Says told me about the knit from your stash project a little while ago and I’ve decided that I’m up for the challenge. I have plenty of yarn in my stash so running out shouldn’t be a problem. Being a good girl and not purchasing any new yarn from now until September will be difficult.

I went to visit my mom on the weekend. When I get there she explains that she has been cleaning up the basement and has some yarn she got from my grandma’s stash when she past away a few years ago. So much for trying to use up my stash this year. I now have at least 4.5 rubber tubs full of yarn, half of it is as at least as old as me. I have a box of yarn called Domion Siwash carded wool. It’s 6 strands of carded, but not twisted fleece. You are supposed to give it a light twist while knitting with it. I’ve never heard of such a thing before. And hell ya I’m going to try it out.

I did a quick search on the wool and only found a pattern that uses the wool on ebay. The pattern is a vintage pattern for a sweater coat. I remember the sweater coat my grandmother made for my mom using the very wool I now own. I think mom still has that beautiful coat.

I’ll have photos of the potty bag soon. I’ve finished the bag but still need to create the strap and the i-cord I’ll be using for the drawstring.

Here’s just one of the many reasons why I knit:

My lovely driveway after I shoveled it for half an hour:

I meant to post this picture ages ago. My long time friend Shari, sewed these Christmas dresses for the girls last August.

I’m rather jealous since the woman not only sews like a genius she knits too. I couldn’t sew an apron if my life depended on it.

In my ‘ego searching’ of Good Knit I discovered the following site which kindly links to mine: Knitting Instructions. You should go check it out. I only had a quick peek, but there seems to be good basic information on knitting and I also noticed an article about the history of knitting.

The potty tote/bag is growing quickly and I hope to be done by the end of the week. I still haven’t considered how I’m going to do the strap yet. A shoulder strap seems like the best choice, but I hate how shoulder bags tend to slip off. So I may think about doing a backpack style. My other consideration is how much wool I have, because I’m creating the whole thing out of my stash.

I don’t think I mentioned that my resolution for this year is to use as much yarn out of my stash as humanly possible. Yeah I know dream on, but really I only have 3 rubber totes full of yarn which is a poor amount of stash for a knitter in my opinion. I mean my mother has a whole area in the basement dedicated to yarn which is sorted by colour (I think) in clear totes so she can see it easily. When we finally buy a house (evil grin) then I’ll have my wool room. Until then space and budget say I should really use up that stash.

I’m going to go to a couple of guild meetings but I don’t think I’ll get a membership until the Fall since the season is almost half over and I would have to pay for a full season which is a bit of a waste. I should have registered last Fall. I mean it’s only $35 to join for the year (Sept. to May). I need to be more invovled in my knitting community. I don’t feel it’s enough for me to sit at home and knit anymore. I need to connect somewhere in the world and knitting is it for me.

My other resolution this year is to find a means of exercise. I’m still working on that one. I feel like such a slug these days. Maybe yoga or swimming? What sorts of exercise do you do?

You might be wondering a) where the heck I’ve been and b) what the heck is that? I really have no excuse for where I’ve been other then playing way too much WoW and it’s tricky trying to co-ordinate two computers and blogging. See half the stuff I need is on one machine and the other is on the other machine. I really need to get my DH to take the two and merger them somehow.

Okay now for b). That’s a photo of the start of my potty seat bag. It maybe hard to understand what’s going on there, but hey I’m just going to make you come back and see for yourself what the deal is. I saw the colour pattern on the back of a knitting book I had and thought that would be a great way to use up my leftover chunky yarn. There was no chart for the pattern, but it’s a simple diamond within a diamond thing. I never have more then 2 colours on the go at once. I forgot how great it is to knit in chunky because it’s instant gratification. Knit two rows gain a 1/4 inch. Sweet.

I’ve totally blown any resolutions I had for the New Year. I still haven’t joined the guild which sucks because I read on the Yarn Harlot’s blog that she spoke there last Tuesday.  I would have loved to meet her. She has inspired me and through her humor helped me through some bad days. I’m not just talking knitting here. I mean as a mom and a human being. I won’t bore you with the details of my struggles – this is a blog about knitting after all.

I will be posting the pattern to hat, mitt and scarf sets I made for the girls soon. I think anyone looking for toddler mittens will be happy to have my pattern as the mittens actually fit little hands.

Happy New Year all! This is just a quick post to wish you all well in the new year. I will have plenty to post soon.

Now that the holidays are here and I’m almost ready, it’s time to get back to knitting. My first project for the long car rides to and from London is creating a potty seat bag. Little A can’t use a regular toilet because she’s too small and is terrified of fallling in. So here I am carrying around a portable potty seat in a grocery bag everywhere we go. Not the loveliest of accessories. So my DH suggested knitting a nice bag for it. (Gotta love that man). It’ll be worth it as I will be toting the thing around alot over the next year or so, because even when little A is big enough to use a regular toilet, little G won’t.

I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday now as I can’t guarentee I’ll be writing between now and the New Year.

A Visitor From Heaven
By Twila Paris

A visitor from heaven
If only for awhile
A gift of love to be returned
We think of you and smile

A visitor from heaven
Accompanied by grace
Reminding of a better love
And of a better place

With aching hearts and empty arms
We send you with a name
It hurts so much to let you go
But we’re so glad you came
We’re so glad you came

A visitor from heaven
If only for a day
We thank Him for the time He gave
And now it’s time to say
We trust you to the Fathers love
And to His tender care
Held in the everlasting arms
And we’re so glad you’re there
We’re so glad you’re there

With breaking hearts and open hands
We send you with a name
It hurts so much to let you go
But we’re so glad you came
We’re so glad you came

This is in loving memory of Jared Venables who was stillborn on Dec. 18, 2002. I miss you so, my peanut.

Love,
Mommy

Knitting has been slow, but I made this catnip snake for one of the cats for Christmas and will be making a second for the other fur ball.

I have begun work on the website for my new client and I’m starting to feel some creative urges I haven’t felt in ages. I’m so excited about this project and I hope to see a great deal of sucess come of it for both my client and myself. My hope would be by Fall I could stop or a least lessen the childcare load and do the web work full time. My creative self has been negelected too long.

My apologies for not posting much lately. With Christmas coming and searching for another child to add to my daycare I’ve been busy. Plus I have a web site project on the go too. All good things. It’s difficult because I had hoped not to have anymore children in my care then I already do but we need the money badly. When you can’t pay all your bills you know money is a problem. That said I think we’re going to be okay, I really, really hope so. I would love nothing more then to be able to buy a house in the next 5 years. I don’t want to rent forever.