Down on the Farm

In the midst of the craziness of packing and moving, I spent the past few days with some of my closest college friends at a farm. We cooked, we laughed, we sat on the porch and watched the rain, we drank local wine, and we reveled in the simple life that farms seem to offer. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure having a farm is hard work. But there is no denying the simple pleasures that we gained from spending even only a few days at one. 

I mean, how can you not smile when you see these faces?  

The four of us gals have been spread out over the globe since college, and every now and again, we manage to all gather at the same location, at least for a short time. Family commitments, schooling, class schedules, projects, house sales and moving dates made this particular get-together nothing short of a miracle.

Sometimes there are all kinds of activities and busyness when we gather. This trip though, we pretty much just chilled. With giant life-changing situations happening in each of our lives, this farm gave us the chance to simply relax together. 

Personally, I spent a lot of time in my felt slippers, knitting and looking at the view.  

I even managed to get myself out of bed early enough to watch the sunrise a few mornings. 

 

We didn't solve the world's problems during our stay, or even most of our own issues. But we did talk, laugh, and hash out quite a few of them. I at least drove away from the farm a little less high strung than when I arrived. 

 

In addition to missing my friends until our next reunion, I will definitely miss this view... but I feel full of farm goodness.

The Sheep

A few weeks back, I wrote a post on several yarn works in progress, where you may have seen a glimpse of the headless knit sheep. A few days ago, I mentioned gift-giving and I showed off a little handmade yarn card. Thankfully I didn't reveal the actual gift, because apparently the recipient actually does read this blog! 

Yesterday, my friend from school days had her first baby shower, and she got to keep this awesome sheep pillow. Now you get to finally see the sheep, in all of his glory.

After I finished my little (um let's say, BIG) sheep friend, I sat with him on the couch and wondered if I could actually give him away. Sheep are quite cuddly, especially when made with knit bobbles. 

I had never knit bobbles before, and even though I was tempted to try to convert the pattern into crocheted bobbles, I stuck with the knitted ones. I do think crocheted ones would have been faster and perhaps easier, but I'm glad I tried something new.

I modified the pattern slightly by totally over-stuffing this thing. I think it was meant to lay like a pillow, but I wanted my sheep to stand up on his own. I also crocheted four legs instead of knitting the two long ones. Having only two legs looked funny since he wouldn't be laying on his side. (Not that you can actually see his legs, since he's rather rotund.) 

My friend chose a sheep theme for her nursery, so of course the pillow fits perfectly. 

The sheep, getting a bath before getting stuffed.

I wanted to also give my friend something she could use right away, since apparently newborns don't really need giant over-stuffed sheep pillows for sleeping.

On the other hand, my mother has always told me that you can never have too many blankets for a newborn. At her suggestion, I picked out a grass green color for the blanket. The cream colored one on the right was a baby gift for another friend.

I managed to find a little sheep applique for the corner of the blanket.

There's even more sheep to show, but I'll post the rest of the flock later this week.

Giving a Handmade Gift

I know the pickings seem slim in the crafty department, but I can assure you the needles and hooks have been flying in between moving mayhem! I am surrounded by boxes and most of the craft supplies are already buried deep. Thankfully, I remembered to leave out the gift I'm giving a friend. (I really do promise to show you photos of the actual gift I'm about to give, but you'll have to wait until after the weekend...) 

My morning coffee, perched atop the stack of moving boxes.

Usually, with a hand knit or crocheted gift, I like to give the recipient a little leftover yarn, along with a laundry care instruction card. I like to think that my handiwork will last a long time, but the reality is, stuff rips. It's nice to have some yarn that matches in case the recipient needs to mend something. If the gift has buttons, I try to include one or two extras as well.

I often just tie the yarn right onto the card, or put it in a small plastic ziplock bag (like those small ones that hold extra buttons on new clothing). This time, my project used multiple colors, so rather than shoving them all into one little bag to get tangled, I decided to make a little yarn card holder. 

The only supplies needed are paper and a hole punch (I used a standard sized hole punch, but any size or even shape could work.)

First, I found some paper. (This alone was a miracle. I really have packed away most of the craft supplies. In the future, I would definitely use sturdier cardstock -- my paper was pretty flimsy, but it did the job in a pinch.) 

Finding the paper may well be the most difficult task in this project! Here's the rest:

Punch a half hole on each side -- two holes for each strand of yarn.

Wrap the yarn scraps around the indentations. You can either tie them at the back or just loosely fold them over each other. 

Fill up your yarn card. 

I slid the whole card into a narrow ziplock bag (I measured and cut the card smaller than the bag before I wrapped the yarn). 

Not all yarns are created equal and some require special care. I usually just glue the washing instructions from the yarn ball band onto a handmade luggage tag. I sometimes add info on there like whether or not I have pre-washed the item. Even if I don't have time to make a tag (or if I forget...), I'll usually remember to at least give the recipient the actual yarn ball band. 

I tied both the laundry tag and the yarn card together, and then promptly put it with the gift. Hopefully the gift doesn't fall apart, but in case it does, the recipient will be well-equipped to mend. At the very least, the extra yarn could be used for a scrapbooking or other crafty project. 

What extras would you like to receive from a homemade gift?

Cable Knit Blanket Success

I do actually finish projects, although these days it seems like it's taking longer than usual! I gave an update on my recent yarn projects here, and I'm happy to say that the gray blanket is now complete! (You can find the link to the free pattern there as well.) 

The pattern called for four panels that you seam up afterwards. I made five -- either my gauge was off, or this yarn curled more than usual, because my blanket was narrower than I wanted it to be. 

It turns out seaming up garter stitch is pretty easy! I used this tutorial here from Knitty.  

Aren't the cables pretty? I love how soft and thick this blanket turned out, since you knit two balls of yarn at one time. 

I also crocheted an easy border around the edge to prevent it from curling even more. 

I just did single crochet around one time, then a simple shell stitch on the next round. 

This was actually a breeze to make once I got cracking on it. The pattern is easy to memorize and since you're making the blanket in strips, it seems to go faster -- imagine just making five long scarves instead of a blanket! 

The best part about this project was that I made most of it while hanging out with my mom. She had no idea what was going on with that gray yarn and needles -- most of the time it really did look like a scarf. 

Imagine her surprise when I gave her the finished blanket as part of her Mother's Day gift! 

Remember when you were little and brought home artwork from school? Or a lopsided pottery dish? Well, I don't think I've ever outgrown the thrill of giving someone a handmade gift despite my age. 

And I don't think my mom has outgrown receiving a handmade gift either. 

BBQs and Spring Sunshine

These past few days have been glorious in my part of the world. (I'm so sorry Minnesota, for your springtime snow...)

It was so glorious that I decided the sheep and I needed some Vitamin D, so we spent the majority of the afternoon sitting outside. 

He didn't stay in his basket the whole time. In fact, now he has a head. It's amazing how motivated I get with a little sunshine.  

 

All afternoon though, I smelled someone barbequing. 

No matter what I have planned to eat or what I already ate... if I smell something on a grill, I want to drop what I'm doing and fire up a BBQ. 

It's the time of year when my own carnivorous cravings kick in and I too want to throw meat on the grill. A few weeks ago, I did just that. Well, actually, my mother threw the meat on, and then we tag-teamed for the final result.

Sadly, the results weren't pretty. The steaks didn't taste terrible, but we nodded our heads in agreement, in between chewing, that the Sailor was much more of a grilling champion than we were.

Today, as the BBQs wafted through the air, I once again counted the days until the Sailor arrives home.

In the meantime, I'm brushing up on my grilling skills, because I'm not sure I can wait until he gets home to make myself a steak again. If you missed the Sailor's South African braai (BBQ) rules earlier, you can find those here. 

What are you grilling this weekend?

Yarn Project Update

I thought I should give an update on the progress of the 8527 works in progress I've had on the needles lately. (OK, slight exaggeration... but I have had a lot of projects going at once.)

Citron grand shawl: A few more rows completed all thanks to a two-hour camera club meeting. I'm hoping to get a big chunk of it completed this weekend at a knitting retreat (yes, it's true. We knitters have retreats. Eat. Knit. Repeat.)

Sheep pillow: Still in progress. Until I can sit still for an hour with no distractions, I'm thinking of giving the gal a headless sheep instead. 

The possible crocheted sweater: Not possible. I realized this yarn (Caron Simply Soft) was a little too floppy for the sweater. I also realized I bought a TON of this yarn simply because it was on sale, so I started a knit blanket instead. Knitting a blanket goes against my grain... I prefer to crochet them, particularly as I learned to crochet because I wanted to make blankets! However, I've had this Lenox Square Throw pattern sitting around for a while, and decided now that I have enough of this cheap grey yarn laying around, it was time to make it. Plus, who can resist those gorgeous chunky needles? 

The pattern is free on Lion Brand's website. You just need to sign up for an account to be able to download the pattern. 

This is working up super fast, since you only knit one panel at a time, using a double strand of yarn, then you simply seam each panel together. I think my panels look a little narrow, so I may end up making more of them to make the blanket wider. 

Basic baby blanket: Completed! I even finished a second one in a different color. Those little things really do crochet up super fast when you use the same stitch and one color.

Fuzzy felted slippers: Not happening -- at least in that felted pattern. I didn't have enough of that same yarn to make a whole pair. Plan B: Granny Square slippers. 

I'm looking forward to spending a weekend finishing either the shawl or the blanket! What are you doing this weekend?

Remember the Great Gravy Boat Giveaway ends April 30th! Add your comment on that post for your chance to win. 

Work in Progress

I used to be the type of person who only read one book at a time. I may have read voraciously, but I still kept to one book. I couldn't understand how people could keep plots and characters straight if they read two or more books at once. 

That didn't stop me from carting around more than one book when I traveled, though. I had to finish one before I started another, but I still had more than one with me. That was a total pain. (Luggage limits aside... schlepping a bag full of heavy books around on a train isn't exactly fun.)

Over the holidays, I acquired a nook. The Sailor suggested I get some sort of e-reader, especially for traveling. He thought it would come in handy. On our recent travels, instead of taking four books with me, I only had to bring one nook. I even found myself reading more than one book at a time on it. 

Now, I find that in addition to the books I'm reading on my nook, I also have several scattered around the apartment that I'm reading at the same time. 

I'm not sure when exactly this transition happened, but apparently I really can read more than one book at a time. 

Similarly, I used to be a one-fiber-project-at-a-time kind of person. I usually had to finish a crocheted blanket, or a knit sock, before I could think about starting a new project. 

This weekend, I Iooked around the apartment and gasped. With the Sailor gone, I tend to leave my craft paraphernalia all over the place, and I noticed I had not one, not two, but FIVE W.I.P.S. 

(For those uninitiated into yarn verbiage: W.I.P. = Work In Progress. A W.I.P. means you have things 'on the needles' as they say, but not yet finished.)

There's this shawl (Citron Grand, if you're wondering): 

A (headless) knit bobble sheep pillow:  

(Get the free pattern here at Purl Bee)

A possible crocheted sweater (as yet undecided if this yarn will work for it):

 

A basic baby blanket: 

Plus I'm about to cast on for another pair of fuzzy slippers like these. (Spring may be here, but my feet still get cold. You can read more about my slipper obsession here.)

I almost forgot... I also still have a bag of granny squares that I need to do something with. 

I like that I've got so much going on though. It means that when I was going out the door for the camera club the other night, I didn't have to hunt for a project to work on during the meeting. (The irony is not lost on me -- knitting at a camera club meeting...) I grabbed the shawl, knowing that I could easily squeeze a few rows in without a problem. The sheep? His head needs to wait until I can concentrate on it (no TV, or distractions). The baby blanket? Easy to work on while carrying on a conversation when friends come over. 

Clearly, I've gotten over my issues of working on only one thing at a time. I blame the nook.

The Princess and the Pea

No matter how much I travel, it is always wonderful to come home to sleep in my own bed. I used to brag that I could sleep anywhere, and for the most part it is still true. Just because I can sleep on a plane though, it doesn't mean that it is comfortable, OR good for my neck, for that matter. 

Some nights -- and depending on the hotel chain and the quality of bedding -- I really do feel like the Princess and the Pea. 

No matter how great the trip, there is always a marvelous moment when I get home and realize I get to sleep in my own bed. 

A while back, I made this adorable Princess, fully equipped with mattresses, blanket and pea pod. I wanted to post it earlier, but I also wanted to wait until my friend received the gift package I mailed. I had a suspicion she was perhaps a reader on this blog; I didn't want to give away the surprise before she received the doll for her daughter.

Now that both the package and surprise are in the correct hands, I can share with the rest of you this gorgeous and fun Princess and the Pea.

The pattern is from Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson. This isn't the first toy I've made from this book, nor will it be the last. All of her patterns are adorable... and an absolute joy to knit. I've made several reversible toys from the book, and a few hand puppets, but by far, this was my favorite doll to knit.

I especially loved the little pea pod that goes with the doll. 

While I didn't make nearly as many mattresses as I could have, the Princess seems to have plenty to keep her occupied for a while. As for me, I'm happy with the one mattress I have at the moment. 

Two-at-a-Time Sleeves

While creating the blue cardigan the first time, I worked on the sleeves and made them both at the same time. 

The first time I heard of this technique, I thought 'Huh? How can you make two sleeves at once?' 

But after making my first-ever sweater and forgetting how many rows I did from the first sleeve to the second sleeve, I vowed to make both sleeves at a time from there on out. That way, if they were the wrong length, at least they would both be the wrong length. 

Besides, when you make a sweater, sometimes you end up with second sleeve syndrome (similar to 'second sock syndrome', whereby you are too fed up to make the second sock by the time you finish the first one.) 

With this technique, you simply cast on for the first sleeve with one ball of yarn. Then you cast on for the second sleeve with the second ball of yarn. You have to be careful about getting the two balls of yarn tangled together, but I found that if you keep each ball in separate little bags on either side of you, they won't bunch so easily. 

I've also heard that if you are the type of person to get bored with your sweater by the time you get to the sleeves, then you should simply knit the sleeves first. I can attest to this technique, since I had to start everything in my cardigan over again, except the sleeves. Although, if you are also the type of person to skimp on buying extra yarn, you may run out of yarn on the body of the sweater with that method (far better to have shorter sleeves rather than a shorter sweater, right??)

The Great Cardigan Remake - Done

In the midst of everything that happened last week after we got home from our trip, I realized that I never updated you all on the status of the great cardi remake. 

I found these fabulous buttons at a hobby shop and I finally sewed the sleeves on, and put all of the finishing touches on the cardigan. 

I must confess that I was relieved to finish it... but I wasn't super thrilled with it at the end. Maybe it was just too hot in South Africa, or I didn't have the right shirt with me to wear with it.

Now that it's unpacked and I'm cold again, I'm looking for more occasions to wear it.

Successful Socks

Sometime in between putting a hole in the blue cardigan and starting over on it, I knit a pair of socks. I need to diversify, especially in the middle of a knitting frustration (like the cardigan). I occasionally need to remind myself that I know how to knit. 

And while I know South Africa doesn't get the same crazy snow and weather that we get back home, I do know how cold it CAN get here -- especially at night. 

So I made my mother-in-law some fun socks for the winter. I used the same Paton's pattern book as before. I must confess that I haven't experiment much with any other new pattern for socks. (Why mess with what seems to work?)

I do think that I need to start branching out though -- I think my socks need a cable or lace pattern at some point. But for now, I'm sticking to the basic pattern. 

I should also confess that I never really thought much about socks before, especially to give as a gift. (I think I conjured up images of children ripping open gifts to discover plain blah socks, when they expected toys instead...)

However, since I learned to knit to make socks... and since I've gotten fairly good at this basic pattern, I've come to appreciate how wonderful hand knit socks feel on my feet. Now I feel I need to share the joy. They are definitely fun to give as gifts -- and I'm going to bet, just as fun to receive.

Feeling Blue on Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day brings up a myriad of emotions. Me? I'm not really a big fan. I think I'm still a little scarred by a former job.

Years ago, I worked as a temp at a local flower store for the Valentine's Day rush.

Now, before you get all excited with images of quaint flower stalls crammed between meat and veg vendors in open air markets in Europe, or even your local florist with the fresh, wrapped roses you may have already bought for you sweetheart, let me first tell you the honest truth. 

I never even TOUCHED a flower there. 

Eight hours on my feet daily, surrounded by roses, carnations, baby's breath, Hershey Kisses and teddy bears -- I got to spend the majority of that temp job stapling cellophane.  

Cellophane. Cello-PAIN. 

I hate cellophane. It's the first thing I rip off of flowers when I buy them. And it is usually the first thing most people rip off before they place their flowers in a vase, but the cellophane's job was to keep the flowers neat, clean and alive, apparently. My mundane job on the other hand, was to fold and staple countless sheets, so that someone else could actually wrap the arrangements. 

I didn't get any flowers from the Sailor that year. He was halfway around the world, and I told him not to bother. I saw enough flowers in that 'factory', even if they weren't mine to keep. 

This year, thankfully, I didn't spend the week leading up to Valentine's Day at the florist. (Nor did I make use of any cellophane, whatsoever... although I did battle with some plastic wrap this afternoon when I covered the potato salad.) 

I did however get fairly far knitting my blue cardi.

Then, as I started to weave in the ends, I noticed that the ones in the back didn't look so neat. The sloppy weaving was right in the middle of the back, where I had joined a new ball of yarn. 

I never join a new ball of yarn right in the middle of a sweater. But because I added some length to this sweater, and since I neglected to buy an 'extra' ball of yarn, I was so afraid of running out of the blue, that I joined a new ball in the middle. 

The thing is... I never really joined it. I always put a double knot where I join my knitting. Some people say this is the worst thing to do -- if you're not careful, it leaves a lump right where you weave in the ends. This time, because I couldn't hide the lump (small as it may have been...) in the seam or at the side, I decided not to knot the balls the together. I just left a few inches and weaved the ends in. 

Then when I saw the sloppiness of my weaving, I pulled one out. And somehow (I'm guessing because I didn't tie a knot in there!) I managed to put a hole in my knitting.

 I gasped. Then I stared at the hole for a while. 

 Then I decided to make an even bigger hole, in my attempt to fix the damage. It you're going to mess something up, you may as well go whole hog, right?

(Ironic, isn't it, that my knitting needles have formed a frown?)

I made an effort to graft the stitches together, but in the end, it didn't look very nice. Plus, I had the mess at the back to contend with. The Sailor took one look at it and suggested I start over completely. I resisted the urge to take the long circular needle to his neck... and decided he was right. 

So I ripped out the knitting. And ripped. Then ripped some more. The whole monotonous ripping and winding reminded me of that temp job stapling cellophane. But before I knew it, the sleeveless portion of my cardigan was back into balls. 

By now perhaps you're wondering why I ripped the WHOLE thing out?? Well, because I had already sewn the button band on (not pictured in the above 'vest' photo), I had to rip that out too. And in my carelessness, I started to rip out the bottom of the cardigan by mistake. So I figured that I may as well rip the whole thing out while I'm at it. 

I was so frustrated by the whole thing, that I was ready to throw the yarn into the trash. I felt like the color of the yarn. The Sailor reminded me that we learn by our mistakes. He's right. And sometimes things look pretty ugly before they become beautiful. 

I decided to take my mess and try out the yarn ball winder my mother-in-law just gave me. I love that she taught me to knit and she's passing along to me a vintage item that she herself used for years. 

I enlisted the Sailor's help to wind the balls. (I know they're in balls above... but this yarn winder makes them into center-pull balls, which is infinitely better. It also means the yarn isn't rolling around in dog hair on the floor while I knit.)

I explained to him how the ball winder works, and he just looked at me while he calmly reminded me that he helped his mother wind numerous hanks of yarn when he was a kid. 

By about the fourth ball, I realized that cellophane or not, I didn't need any flowers from the Sailor on Valentine's Day (I get plenty during the rest of the year...) 

Hanging out with him for the day was enough. Having him believe I could create the cardi over again was even better. Helping me wind the balls of yarn was just an added bonus. 

Shades of Blue

Sunshine, shorts, sandals and hammocking... I must be in the Southern Hemisphere. I am trying to soak up as much Vitamin D as possible -- what a contrast to the snow and ice the Sailor and I left behind only a few days ago!  

For the trip, I specifically picked this cardigan pattern to knit. It’s not at all complicated (handy when trying to knit AND carry on a conversation when you're somewhat jet-lagged), plus it’s made of cotton (essential in my book for summertime knitting). I already made this same cardigan before, years ago, in a shade of green for my mother. 

I decided to make myself a blue one, so I ordered the yarn online. I realized later that it’s the exact same shade of blue as the first sweater I ever made -- one I knit and put together in Cape Town, the year I learned to knit. In fact I was wearing that first sweater the day the yarn arrived -- and I even chuckled a little to myself when I saw how similar the shades of blue were to each other. 

Apparently I'm drawn to all things blue when it comes to knitwear
(although I prefer my hammocks in pink and green...) 

Fitting then, that yesterday I set-up my trusty hammock and decided to float for a bit under the bright blue sky, while working on the blue cardi. 

Everyone should hammock. It's good for the soul. It's also the perfect way to see some shades of blue without feeling blue. Here's where to find your own Color Cloud Hammock. Even if you're still experiencing winter, if you order your hammock now, you'll have it in time for sunny skies and hot weather. 

* Full disclaimer... while I am friends with the fun and fabulous gals behind Color Cloud Hammocks, I received no compensation or goods from this post. Hammocking however, is contagious, so I do feel compelled to spread the word.