Nubby Dishcloth Finish

I did another quick dishcloth.  This one is the Nubby Dish Cloth and what looks like bobbles are actually just triple crochets followed by a single.  Fast to make and easy to remember.  Also looks like it will be a great scrubber.

Quick Finish #2

Another quick dish cloth.  I was also led to this one by AllFreeCrochet.com and is called the Daisy Dish Cloth

Daisy Dish Cloth

The next time I try it I think I'm going to use two different petal colors just for the heck of it to see how it works.  It was an interesting pattern and it's quite big when finished, a little over 9" square.  Onwards....

Quick Finish

I found the pattern for the Lacy Petals Dishcloth through a link from AllFreeCrochet.com along with a few others and finished this one in about an hour.  I really like it and will be making more as I am determined to make all of my Christmas gifts by hand this year and need to get started NOW!

Some finishes for January

I've actually been getting a few things started and finished.  They aren't huge items, but I like them.  First up, pigs with wings

Well actually one pig with wings and one with a white band.  I'm still thinking about giving him wings, but I'm liking him like he is right now.  Also need to get some seed beads for eyes.

Next up are two very cool dishcloth patterns that I found at neatlytangled's Etsy shop. The first one is A Practically Hyperbolic Dishcloth.  All I can say is it's 9 rounds of perfection.  It's just plain fun to make.

I used a self striping for the multi-colored on and a variegated for the blue one.  This dishcloth almost screams for bright colors but I can see it in softer ones too because of the great waves it has.

The next one is Scrubbing Ruffles and is also from neatlytangled's Etsy shop.  I didn't block this one, I just took it when it was done.  It's like a granny block that's gone all curly on the sides.

And finally for this session are these which if I remember were supposed to be sunflower colored, but I took some liberties with the petals.

I wasn't too happy with my center round because it's all lumpy, but I can fix that in later attempts.

I'm attempting to get an 11 month start on Christmas this year.  I'm hoping to do at least 2 dishcloths a month for use in gift packs at Christmas.  I think I'm seeing a lot of hyperbolics and scrubbing ruffles in my future.

I'm also working on the sofa throw for my sister.  I started over and made it longer that the original pattern.  It's rows of a crossed single crochet that alternates colors every two rows so it's going a little slow.  I've done about 10 rows and it feels like it's not getting anywhere...but I'm determined to get it finished.

Four Corners Dish Cloth

In my quest to knit ALL of the dish cloths I have patterns for, here is the latest:



You can find the pattern here. It's a lot of fun to knit and knits up fast. I'm already thinking about pulling some more variegated yarns out to play with since they work so nicely. I'm also thinking about trying some self-striping to see what the effect would be.

The dish cloth in the picture is not blocked but I still think it looks great. Right now I'm working on "A Christmas Story" as it was next in line in my folder ("4 Corners" came before "A Christmas Story" because of the number in the title). I will post when it's complete.

I'm also working on the sweater for Zoe (like George's) and the black pair of arm warmers for my sister. Bouncing back and forth keeps me from getting bored and they move along instead of becoming UFO's.

Will post photos when done.

Dish Cloth update

Here are two of the dishcloths I knitted while knitting the sleeves. The first is from the Starfish pattern:


I used the Sugar n Cream Pinky Stripes. I love the self striping yarns from Sugar n Cream. I must get more!

The second one is called Dishpan Bubbles. This pattern was so much fun to make and very easy. It is a purchased pattern from e-Patterns.com. When I saw it, I had to have it. I love the way the variegated yarn works in this pattern.


That's it for now. There were others (a DW cloth made with Sugar & Cream Fairy Tales) and a windowpane pattern that I don't think will show up well on camera.

Happy September

Another 2 months and we are heading into fall. Here's an update on what's going on:

Crafting

I've done a few dishcloths and two pairs of sleeves for my sister.

I'm not too sure about these sleeves. I followed the pattern and checked the gauge and they just seem so small, but she's a skinny thing and hopefully they will work. There is a lot of give in them. They are made from a very light weight merino. I'll post pictures in the next post.

I've been thinking about all of the patterns I've acquired throughout the years. I'm thinking that I need to stop acquiring and start making them. So I think I'll start working my way through the patterns I've saved on my computer. Just do down the list and do them. I'll have to figure out a way to list them on the blog and cross them off as they are done. It will be a big task, but what's the point of keeping the patterns if you're not going to make them?

Health

I'm still on the prednisone, once I hit 10mg in the tapering process I started having flare up symptoms and called the doctor. He put me back up to 20mg and had me begin tapering off at 2.5mg per week. I'm going down to 7.5mg tomorrow. I started my Humira injections on August 15th. I went to my doctors office to learn how to self-inject and had my initial 4 injections. Two in my tummy and one in each thigh. I decided then and there that I would have all future self-injections into my tummy. The thighs hurt way more than the tummy shots. There was hardly anything injecting into the tummy. (Hopefully I haven't grossed anyone out with the injection story.)

Anyway, I don't know if it was because it was a mega-dose or what, but I felt better in that first week and my symptoms have drastically changed for the better since being on the Humira. I gave myself the next set of injections this past Friday and have had none of the complications assocated that could possibly come up with the injections. So far I am very happy with the Humira and hope it will continue when I'm taken off of the pills (which will hopefully be very soon).

Well I guess that's it for now. I'll have to get out the camera and take some photos of the dishcloths I've done and my sisters arm sleeves. Right now I need to get out and do some chores for the day in the barn.

Illusion Bunny Cloth

Well better late than never. I started and finished the Illusion Bunny Cloth from the Mid-March KAL for the Yahoo Group Monthly Dishcloths.

It's my first illusion cloth, knitted up very quickly and I love it!

Here's a picture looking straight at it:



And here's one on an angle to see the illusion. (I haven't blocked it yet, so you'll have to excuse the curly edges):



On to the first cloth for April! Glad to have actually knitted something for the first time in a couple of months.

Knitting in LA

I did some knitting while I was on the plane and in LA. I did Saartje's Bootees, 2 dish cloths and started the Baby Bib from One Skein while on the plan back.

I need to put buttons on the booties and the I-Cord on the bib, but they are very cute in their interim stage.

Here are the baby bootees, I still need to add the buttons and block them:




I used the lime green self-striping Sugar and Cream yarn for the dish cloth which is very cool yarn:


Here is the baby bib sans I-Cord:


I'm missing a picture of the dish cloth I did in the self-striping red, white and blue cotton. My sister can't find it and thinks her cats have made off with it. But then again I may have given it to Shon when she took me to the airport. I can't remember, my mind is a like a sieve some days...just too much going through it.

I picked up a book today at the library on dying your own self-patterned yarns. They even have a watermelon self-striping pattern. I'm definitely going to work towards doing my own. It looks like a lot of fun. Well I've got to get some work done before I can have some fun knitting. So more later.

Challenge Finish

This is one from my Wagon 10 Challenge Finish. It's the Skull and Crossbones. Not the greatest picture, but it's finished! Nine more to go!

Proof that I have finished something

Only a day late in posting finishes. I've added a Flickr badge to the right of some dishcloths that I've finished recently. By finished I mean knitted. I still need to wash and block them.

Here is one that's on the needles to be finished:



I've got a bunch of others I want to do. They will get posted as I go.

Good things and not so good things

Good things - It's only Tuesday and it's been a doozy of a week so far. On the good end, our farm picked up an account at a new local grocery store to carry our pasture raised chicken, turkey and eggs. We made our first delivery last Thursday. We came home from market on Sunday to a message requesting more eggs and on Monday received a call for more chicken. On top of that they've ordered 50 or our turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Needless to say we are extremely happy that our product is selling at the store. We know that once people taste our chicken and eggs they tend to become loyal customers. It's just really nice to see it happen at a retail level.

So most of today was spent getting the second order prepped and out the door and we'll be making our third delivery on Thursday. If you want to check out the store here's the link: Plum Market

It's a really great store. I can wander around there for hours. I got an amazing 3 year old gouda cheese from them today. The flavor is incredible.

Needless to say, my crafting has very much been hit and miss. I get some knitting in while riding in the passenger seat to market. I've cut out several pieces for the pin cushions and now I need to sew, stuff and finish them. Then I need to wash and block all the dish cloths. I've promised myself that Thursday night is craft night so I plan to have some pictures to post on Friday of something...ANYTHING...craft related.

I've got to get something done on my Wagon Challenge list. I have actually knitted the skull and cross bones cloth, I just have to block it.

Not so good things - On the health front, I'm experiencing major "moon" face from the prednisone. I actually startled myself last night when I looked in the mirror. I didn't realize how pronounced it was this time around. It looks like I'll be on the prednisone for a while so I'll just have to get used to it.

My sister has been in the hospital since last Wednesday out in LA with numbness in her feet. She was diagnosed with MS about 5 years ago and after a bunch of tests and a spinal tap they have decided she is having a recurrence of the MS which is causing the numbness. They don't know if it will go back to normal or stay the way it is or partially go away, she'll have to wait and see. I'll be out in LA the first week of November to help her recuperate from surgery for something else...if she still has it. Her neurologist is worried that the surgery will be another level of physical stress on her body and make the MS worse. So we'll have to decide if she's going to have it. It seems that if it's not one thing, it's another for us as far as health is concerned lately. Time to do some positive visualization.

So that's it for the day. I'm turning in so I can get up at 4a.m. tomorrow and feed the chicks and turkeys and prep the next order for the store and farmers' markets. Then I'm going to craft something just to remind myself that I can get something finished.