In the photo below are some of the items I'll be donating for the flood victims in Iowa. I have some other scarves and hats and an afghan downstairs, plus one more mitten to complete a pair, but these are the items I made earlier this month (and used up 8 balls of yarn!)
My SIL in California had a birthday yesterday. These are the socks I knitted for her. Even though it's a lot warmer in California in the wintertime than here in Minnesota, their family sometimes heads to the mountains for winter activities and these socks should keep her feet warm inside her boots.
My great-nephew has his first birthday celebration this weekend. Since his mom is a Minnesota Vikings fan, I thought it would be fun to knit him a little Vikings colored sweater. I even managed to find the cutest little football buttons (click to enlarge)
I made this sweater using the "Sweater Wheel" pattern that was given to me by a woman at work who bought a couple of these, but then decided she was never going to take the time to knit any sweaters from them.
It's a pretty neat concept.....on one side are all the kids sizes and the other side is adult sizes. You simply place the arrow from the "Start Here" section on the size of sweater you want to make. Magically, all aspects (stitches to cast on for whatever weight of yarn you're using, inches of ribbing and body length, shaping and bind offs, etc.) of your pattern appear in the cutout under the arrow. You start with the back, the proceed to the front, and lastly you're directed to the sleeves. Thankfully I'm an experienced knitter, I don't think I'd want to try this as a knitting novice--at least not without someone nearby who could answer all my questions about what to do next.
The southward migration of summer birds has also started here in Minnesota. We have quite a few (at least for me) hummingbirds hanging around here right now--I've seen as many as 6 at a time. After I finish supper and the dishes in the evening, I head out to the deck with my little hand-held hummingbird feeder and spend at least an hour with the hummingbirds coming to eat from my hand. It's such an amazing experience for me to have them sitting so close I practically have to watch them through my bifocals. They are just the coolest little birds and I'm going to take advantage of their thirst for nectar and natural fearlessness for as many evenings as I can before they depart for Mexico in a couple weeks.
P.S. It sounds like a lot of people are going to be taking time off work on Friday, so my plan is to get as caught up as I can tomorrow so I have a chance for more "creative use" of my computer time on Friday, if you know what I mean.......
11 comments:
You have been busy Ruthie. Love the sweater for the little one. Those socks are to die for.
WOW--that Vikings sweater almost jumps out of the computer on its own. Love the little football buttons.
The raglan wheel looks pretty cool--I have never seen one. I am an intermittent knitter, so I don't look around for such devices.
Great job on all your knitting projects. That raglan wheel looks very interesting.
I have also been noticing a lot of birds "flocking up", getting ready to go south
Brian is taking the day off on Friday and we are heading to the fair.
Boy you have been knitting up a storm as seen on that 1st pic. Ethan will look cute in that Vikings sweater, how about a knitted helmet too!
Yes the birds are starting to flock together, all I have to do is look at the power lines where they gather. We still have baby cardinals around our feeders, and have seen a couple of chickadees also at the feeders. The leaves are falling off our apple trees and we are seeing some changes in leaf colors, all signs of what is coming, one of the prettiest seasons here in southern Minn.
MOM
Thanks Lisa. That's one of my favorite sock patterns--I think I've made at least 5 pairs (even 1 for myself once!)
Thanks Donna. I had to do a little "fiddling" with the sweater pic in Photoshop--the purple photographed as blue, so I tried the "Replace Color" feature.
The sweater wheel is a good tool for "basic" sweaters. I did put a paper clip on so the wheel didn't turn accidentally--it would be a disaster to knit the back of a size 2 sweater and then not realize the wheel had turned to size 4 till you got your sleeves knitted and found out they were wrong!
Have fun at the fair Debbie and eat some cheese curds for me, OK?
Hi Mom,
I've printed out all sorts of new knitting patterns from the internet, so my biggest problem is deciding which one to try first! I hope to finish one more project this week yet.
Are you still seeing orioles? I saw a couple on Monday, but mine are really quiet and I just happened to look at the right time and see them.
Boy, you HAVE been busy Ruthie! Our hummers are headed that way too. I'll miss them. :c)
What beautiful work you do! Hope your Friday turns out as you hope at work. No hope of me doing tomorrow's tasks today...patients are needy every day! ;-)
I am still seeing orioles, but not at the feeder, I imagine they will be leaving shortly, so we will have to wait 'til next spring. My finches are back but yet have to see the babies.
MOM
Where do you find the time to do all this knitting? It is all beautiful and I especially like the vikings sweater (I'm with your mom, wouldn't a little helmet be darling too?). Off topic, but since I read your & your mom's comments, I too am seeing less orioles. Can't summer stay just a little longer??
Lovely work as always. You are a gifted knitter. I really like that chevron scarf. That is on the short list for this winter. I would love to check out that sweater wheel sometime.
Hi Jayne,
Even though I like fall, it's always hard knowing that once the hummingbirds are gone it's going to be half a year till I see them again!
Thanks Ruth. I'd be willing to bet though that you get a lot more personal satisfaction out of your job than I do!
Hi Mom,
I have lots of baby goldfinches--all the chirping is getting quite loud around the thistle seed feeders!
Hi Marsha,
I knit during our daily work commute (about 40 minutes) and then usually in the evening--about an hour or until I fall asleep.
My orioles are usually gone by the end of August, but hopefully I'll have hummingbirds for at least 3 more weeks.
Thanks Trixie. After I got all the yarn from Don, I checked out Knitting Pattern Central to find some scarf patterns that wouldn't have to be blocked and looked the same on both sides. The chevron scarf is called "Angus Angular Scarf" and it was a really fun pattern to knit. You will enjoy it.
Regarding the Sweater Wheels, I found that I have a couple of really valuable items here. Apparently they're no longer printed (haven't been for years!) and when I finally found one on eBay, the asking price was $29.99. HOLY MOLY! I guess if Sharon knew what these were worth, she might have thought twice about "giving" them away....
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