After about six false starts, I finally found a pattern on-line for exactly the hat I’ve been trying to knit from the Koigu yarn I bought a couple of weeks ago and it’s going like wildfire now. I really like the new needles for this fine yarn.
I got sidetracked for a bit on the hat as I decided to start a pair of socks for our DD Katie to work on for a couple of days because I realized that as soon as she came home, I’d have to put them aside and could work on Amy’s hat then. Yesterday afternoon my son requested some fingerless mitts to wear for hunting, so I knitted those up yesterday evening. He’s got some pretty deluxe hunting mitts: Lamb’s Pride wool/mohair blend yarn!
Annie in Wisconsin, USA
~~Doodlestein Designs Quilt Patterns
~~Finely Finished: Machine quilting worked on a treadle sewing machine.
See patterns, quilting, and National sewing machines at: http://community.webshots.com/user/damascusannie
Replies
Well done, Annie! Are you going to show us the hat? Please...
I'm about to post a link on the Ethical/Green thread that you'll probably find interesting.
Greetings - Katina
I'll take some pictures of it when it's finished. I only started it last night and while a hat's not very big, it does take awhile to knit one in yarn this fine.
Looking forward to seeing it!
Here's the pattern:http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer03/PATTlacecap.htmlAmy picked out a variegated yarn that's going to be very pretty.
Thank you, Annie - that'll keep the little grey cells busy for sure. I might give it a go myself as I've got a number of yarns suitable for this.
Katina
It's a very easy lace pattern. After going through the pattern the first time, I can now do it without following the instructions. I was tickled to find it because it's exactly what I had envisioned and was trying to accomplish on my own.
Annie, do you find you have lots of bits and pieces of yarn left over from your projects? And if so, do you get to use it up somehow? I make hats from mine.
Katina
I do have bits of yarn, small balls, etc. leftover. I save the sock yarn for darning later as needed. Other bits go into striped hats or slipper socks or mittens. There's always something you can use them for. I like my own knitted socks, so if I have quite a bit of sock yarn leftover, I set aside a bit for darning, then use up the rest making socks. Sometimes I get some rather pretty ones, other times they are pretty ugly, but who cares? The ugly ones I either wear at home or inside boots where they won't be seen.
Handknit socks are fabulous - such winter comfort
I make summer ones for wearing when I go golfing, too. I hate rtw socks--they always seem to have a big seam right across my toes and I get huge blisters from them. We never rent a cart when we golf and by the end of a round, I can be in agony from store socks. I love Sockotta for summer socks.
My Koigu mittens are turning out! I'm trying a new thing for me, adding a cable down the hand and it looks really nice. It was bit tricky figuring out how to work the decreases at the end to fit the cable but I think I did a good job of it. I do have to reknit the thumb and make it a bit longer, but that's no biggie.
How adorable your mittens are. I can knit, but you totally amaze me with yours. Have a good Thanksgiving.
Sue
They're beautiful, Annie, both in color and execution.
Thanks for sharing.
Katina
Thanks everyone--have a great Thanksgiving!
Is there anything you don't do well? I am always amazed at the precision and quality in your quilts... and now knitting too! Your skills are top notch.
AND you have raised happy and productive children (your greatest accomplishment). Whahoooo!
Edited 12/29/2008 12:17 pm ET by CHL
I do have a gift for working with my hands and I get a strong artistic gene from my grandma, so handicrafts come easily to me. I did NOT get a tidy gene, though, so my house is usually in a state of disarray. So, it's a trade-off. A friend got a little sign for her sewing room for Christmas: "To quilt or not to quilt? What a silly question!" That pretty much sums it up for me! I am extremely proud of my children, but I usually tell people that it's in spite of their upbringing, rather than because of it! Truthfully, I was not a particularly good parent (patience is NOT my middle name and you don't get a transfusion of it when you have children!), but I wasn't a nervous one (in spite of decades of fighting panic/anxiety disorder and agoraphobia) so they were allowed to play in the woods, climb trees, make mud pies, build "hobbit houses", have their own horses, do community theatre, play league softball, and generally run pretty wild. They seem to have grown up believing that they can do anything they put their minds to--so if I can take credit for anything, I'd be proud to take credit for that. I'm working on the quilting on a wedding quilt and started a pair of socks with some of the yummy wool yarn my mom gave me for Christmas. I'm quite pleased that this year I don't seem to have the post-holiday blahs. Usually all I want to do in January is curl up by the woodstove and read myself silly, but this year I'm excited to have time to work on some long-term projects and start some new ones.
Sounds like whatever you lacked in the homecleaning and patience genes, you more than made up for them with love and support. I applaud all my friends who raise happy, well adjusted adults. It's not an easy task in these days and times... so much against parents. So take your kudos girl, and rest easy knowing that's one of your enduring legacies!
The mittens are fabulous. Do you have a pattern for them that you can share? Thanks. Z
Oh, yikes! You should see my "pattern" at the moment--three pages in a small notebook with more crossings out than actual saved notes I think! I will be writing them up in a more useable form, with some minor changes and when I do, I'll let you all know.
Those are beautiful. You are such a good knitter. One day.....
Your mitten is very attractive Annie. You have such a nice even tension, and the cable work is fab! Bravo! Your fingers knitting are like Rodezzy's crochet, flames must come from your needles!!!!! Cathy
Beeeeeeeeooooooooootiful! You do lovely knitting too! Mary
Thanks, I've been knitting longer than I've been quilting by a long ways. I was taught to knit when I was in sixth grade, about 35 years now. Our new principal, who was the best guy in the world, instituted "mini-classes" on Friday afternoons. The different teachers in the grade school listed their hobbies and other skills and they developed a large curriculum of special classes from them. I learned knitting and crochet, batik and tie-dying, theatrical set building and painting, mask making (we did an all-school Christmas play that year) and probably other stuff that I can't remember. The next year, I moved up to the junior high and didn't get to do this again, but I never forgot the crafts that I learned that year. My younger sister learned how to decorate cakes--I always regretted that I never got the chance to learn that.
What a wonderful gift that principal gave to the students! The teachers too! I imagine it was a good experience for all, young students getting to make some choices and learning life skills, teachers getting to share their love of craft, sounds like a win win for everybody!
What I remember most vividly was my second grade teacher, Mrs. Gunderson, patiently figuring out how to knit left-handed so that she could then teach me. She's also the reason that when I write, I don't curl hand all around and goofy like so many lefties--she noticed that I was left-handed and taught me to tilt my paper in the opposite direction from the other kids. Voila! No need to contort my hand to write! Oddly enough, the other Ann in the class was also left-handed; doubly odd since our class was only 48 students. Unfortunately, my daughter's teacher was not nearly as smart as Mrs. G, and refused outright to let Susan tilt her paper correctly and so my daughter is cursed with that awkward hand position.
Teachers truly do make a permanent impact on our lives. Thank goodness there are some who are open minded and don't balk at innovation and believe that each child is an individual.
One of my major complaints was teachers who would punish "over" active children by having them stay in at recess! Duh! Let them run off some energy and they will be more able to sit still and concentrate. No common sense! You can't put a round peg in a square hole, so work with them instead of against them, right?
I have a picture from a Mary Engelbeit magazine on my fridge. It shows a stern (angry looking) teacher pointing at the blackboard that says "How to draw". There's a classroom of students in neat uniforms quietly working on papers with a pencil. There is one student with his shirt tails out, messy hair, painting up a storm with a paintbrush. The teacher is glaring at him. The caption reads: "Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training."
We have one daughter who is definitely AD/HD. School was torture for her and she simply couldn't focus on lessons with all the other kids around her. At the end of kindergarten, the teacher informed us that she would not be passed into first grade with her twin sister. We vetoed that in a hurry, especially since that would have put her in the same class as her younger sister (can you imagine the emotional damage THAT would have caused?!) We agreed to let her be put in a special tutoring program in first grade. We were very puzzled when her sister was learning to read just fine, but Katie's tutoring didn't seem to be helping at all. Every day after school, she'd come home with a pile of worksheet that she hadn't finished in class and I'd have to make her do them while her sisters got to go outside and play. This didn't seem right so Jeff spent a day with her at school. I've never seen him so angry as he was when he got home. The tutor didn't use the same reading curriculum as the regular class, so when Katie got done there, she'd have to stay in at recess to catch up on what she'd missed while she was out of the main classroom! He pulled her out of the special class that day and told the principal that if she ever went back, he'd pull all of our kids out of school and we'd homeschool them, since that was pretty much what we were doing with Katie anyway. Instead, what happened was that he started going to school every day with Katie, and sat next to her during her reading and math classes. Every time her eyes would stray, he'd gently take her head and turn it back to her paper. He did that every day for about three months and with that and the tutoring I gave her at home, she did eventually learn to read. Now she's 25, working full-time as an assistant stable manager and taking an on-line course to become a conservation officer. Oh, and she loves to read! Ironically, about five years later, we did decide to homeschool the kids, for other reasons that had nothing to do with the school they were in at the time.
Wow! I'm so impressed that you homeschooled all of them! That's a huge commitment! We homeschooled our son through 7th and 8th grade and it was the best experience of our lives I think.
Thank goodness your husband was able to investigate what was going on with your daughter. Congratulations on her success and saving her from all the torment they would have put her through. Kudos to you and your husband for being your child's advocate!
In some countries they provide healthy snacks throughout the day and claim that reduces learning disabilities and behavior problems. Many times food or environmental allergies cause learning and behavior problems.
Edited 12/7/2008 12:09 pm by MaryinColorado
It was a big job, but the older five had a good start in school, so that made it easier. The younger two have been more challenging, but I think they've survived the experience! Our parents were horrified when we made the announcement, and we took a LOT of heat from them, but they've been very gracious now that they've seen that our kids are not social klutzes and are doing as well as their conventionally educated cousins. You never really know how well you've done until they go on to college. All the kids that decided to pursue post-secondary degrees have done very well. The oldest has cum laude BA's in two areas and is going to pursue her Master's Degree next year, one has two associate degrees in Management, Katie is working toward a conservation degree as I mentioned earlier, and her twin plans to go back to school when she is declared cancer-free and won't have so many medical expenses. The youngest is a Master Gardener.All five are successful at their chosen jobs/careers. The oldest has worked for a state university, first as director of student programs (position cut this year) and now as a campus career counselor, one is assistant manager at a large local bakery, another is in manager training with Appleby's and the last travels the country doing a contract job on military bases--taking dental x-rays. I guess the proof is in the pudding as they say. We are very proud of our kids--they've worked hard and they are seeing the results of a good work ethic.
You are "glowing" with pride and love for your children! You get to reap the benefits of working so hard to be good parents. It's the most important job of all. I pray your daughter has a complete recovery and will have a full and happy life. Merry Christmas!!!
Karen's been in remission for over two years now and it's unlikely in the extreme that this cancer (Hodgekin's lymphoma) will recur, but she still has another year of quarterly CAT scans to get through before they'll let her drop to one a year. If she's still clean after five years, she's declared completely cancer-free. She just needs to get through this last year and things will ease up for them. Her employee insurance covered the major expenses, but the deductible is so high that they still have to come up with $2500/year for each of them.
That's wonderful to hear, medical science has come so far! She has a high copay, but thank goodness she has insurance coverage! Have a blessed Christmas!
Happy Christmas to you, too!
I would have loved to homeschool my girls. The therapy and dr appointments meant they missed a lot of school. They also had learning problems that the school was lax on following through on. If it were not for the fact that I was always in and out, picking up and dropping one of them off, and popping in to say hello to the other two while I was there, they might not have got them at all. The school rescinded their open door policy to parents because I followed through on checking up on my childrens progress. I was not a disruption, but the teachers did not like my insistance. The good teachers did not mind my being there, and encouraged it, even after the policy change. Cathy
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