Death

We traveled to Detroit to try to see my husbands father one last time.  We didn’t make it in time.  He died just about 2 hours before we arrived at the hospital.   We knew he was dying but it still is a shock when the news arrives.  I am so thankful to have knitting to distract me just enough so that the prayers can flow as the rows go by, making the item more special than I ever thought it would be.   Having a tangible reminder of the prayers lifted up on behalf of the family feels very special.  We will be busy in the coming days and I know I have a project for so many of the difficult moments ahead.  Simple projects to keep my hands busy as decisions are made and the funeral is planned.   Complex patterns for when I need to escape the stress.  Last but not least the gifts I will work on for family coming to town.  Knitting is very therapeutic!

The complex project–socks for my husband.





The simple project–a small baby blanket.



The gift–yarn for baby hat and mittens for my twin nieces.



Busyness and Business

I haven’t posted in a few days because of how busy we have been. I did get a lot of knitting done. I have even come up with a new pattern, I just need to write the details down. Unfortunately the hat is just a pattern I modified to suit my needs so sadly the pattern will not be posted. The hat and and tie were made per the request from a photographer friend. I even whipped up a diaper cover but forgot to snap a picture before handing them off. I did get a picture of the hat and tie. I like designing for photographers as they usually have a good idea of what they are looking for and appreciate the behind-the-scene work involved. Hopefully I will get the diaper cover pattern written out too!

So I was busy knitting

So I was busy knitting Friday, so busy I didn’t update my blog, and Saturday, well it was Valentines Day, enough said. So Friday I knit something very cool. A hat and tie for a newborn, special order from a photographer. I really like the results and I am glad I kept notes. Now I am going to add a matching diaper cover.
Here’s the adorable tie and hat

Russian Join

I’ve always liked Russia, it seems like a neat country. I’m not saying I agree with them politically but it is a place I would love to see, but this is not what the post is about. Yesterday I had the perfect opportunity to try a Russian join. It was intimidating but surprisingly easy. I love it. No ends to sewn in and it’s barely noticeable. Actually to the untrained eye, invisible. Soon I probably won’t be able to tell where it is when my overly conscientious eyes get over any imperfections I inflate in my mind. It’s always nice to set aside knitting only to pick it up later and appreciate its beauty as a whole instead of seeing tension problems where there are none. Here’s to knitting, and loving it!
Here is the join

Here is a link to Lion Brand’s excellent step by step instructions
http://blog.lionbrand.com/2012/06/19/how-to-russian-join-yarn-in-7-easy-steps/

Frustration

So I decided after the last pair of two-at-a-time socks to give another pair a try. Some of the patterns go against my “OCD” nature to adjust for the two-at-a-time. I matched the socks beautifully, or so I thought. When it became apparent that there was a repeat in the color way that I wasn’t aware of and the medium size was working up larger than I liked, I frogged it. Well, starting fresh and trying to match the color way was incredibly annoying but I did it.

It obviously didn’t work and is making me go insane. I am a seasoned enough knitter that even my husband understands to get the matching dye lot so there is no contrast. I have checked and rechecked and the dye lots match. So I am just going to knit these socks to unmatch. I am still frustrated.

Baby Twister is here

I finished the pattern and put it up on my blog. I hope you all enjoy it. I plan on making other sizes too, just taking baby steps 🙂

Baby Twister

And on ravelry also
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-twister