curtains!

A few days ago my husband came home with a curtain rod for the little girls' room. There had been a white shade in the window, but he doesn't like shades. At all. When he set the rod down on the kitchen table I knew what it was for. I asked, "Didn't you get curtains?" He replied no - figured I could go get some fabric and make some.

Hm. I would have never even thought about making curtains! Sure, I could give it a try. I remembered that I had bought a bunch of cute fabric last summer when it was $2 a yard thinking I'd make backpacks or something that I never got around to actually doing.

The stripes in this fabric match the little one's comforter almost perfectly. I was particularly excited about the pom-pom trim. I had seen it on clearance for almost nothing a yard (maybe a quarter?) so I bought what they had. I was so excited to be able to add that cute touch to the curtains.

Tiger, as you can see, likes to sit in the window. She enjoys hissing at Pepper when he's playing outside.

Headed for the Frog Pond

One of my little nephews is a frog maniac. Of course being his aunt I am entitled - nay - obligated to buy/make/find any and every frog item I possibly can for him. Last summer I made him a frog backpack that he loves and took to his first day of Kindergarten.

A month or so ago the newer version of the movie Cheaper by the Dozen (2003?) came on TV. We thought the movie was just ok. I noticed the character Sarah wore a knit frog hat for much of the movie. It occurred to me that I could make one for my nephew and decided his 6th birthday would be the perfect occasion to present him with such a gift.

It knit up quickly - in just one evening. I used up stash yarn and knit it on size 7 needles. I didn't really use a pattern, just started knitting and eventually I had a hat. The eyes were knit flat (the backs are green). I sewed the fronts and backs together then attached them to the
top of the hat. Not really a precise science.

I'm thinking about knitting some frog mittens. I'm not sure I have enough of the yarn though.

Adding to the Stack

Mama Bear posted an entry on her blog about an afghan project by our mutual friend Jen. The afghan is being made for a family who recently lost their little son, two-year-old Aaron, due to injuries sustained in a New Year's Eve car accident.

For my squares I used several different stitch patterns from Vogue's Stitchionary, including; #83 - pair of eyelets, #58 - dimples (in the blue to the right) and # 172 - alternating diagonals (below, dark green).

I also did a few generic garter or seed stitch squares as well as a braided square. I put the pattern for the braided square on my pattern page. My favorite square though is a pretty simple eyelet pattern.

My thoughts and prayers go out to little Aaron's family. I am often reminded of Job when he had lost all of his money and his children were killed. The first thing he did was tear his clothes and fall to the ground in worship saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

Job was never happy about what was happening, but he worshipped God anyway. Sometimes that choice to worship anyway is very painful.

what kind of yarn are you?

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Dishcloth Cotton.You are a very hard worker, most at home when you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.
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Umm... I'm not sure I really agree (hardworking? born to clean?), but that's ok. I like cotton anyway.

Yarn Dying

Another of my daughter's very cool Christmas gifts
was sent to her from my mother in law. They sent her a yarn dying kit
for kids. Oh my, did she ever have fun with that! Yarn dying is
something we definitely want to do again. I didn't help her much (only with the heating, really)
but it was certainly fun to watch the process and especially to see her
get so excited about the project. She hasn't knit the yarn yet, but
I'll be sure to post a picture when she does. (the picture of the yarn was taken before she had added all of the colors. It looks much like a ball of rainbow now that it is finished.)

In addition to this yarn dying kit, they sent each girl a poncho my MIL had made, a hand art book for the three-year-old, a tiara making kit for the six-year-old and for the eight-year-old there was a Disney Princess learning to crochet kit. A final gift for all four girls was a craft bag with knitting needles, children's cookbooks, children's sewing project kits and other craft items. They really had the girls pegged!

Oh and one other thing, I put up the pattern for my cable socks here.

knitting at home

For Christmas my husband bought me a cool knitting bag/ basket/ thing. I had seen them at work and liked them a lot but didn't mention it to him because I really don't like telling someone what to get me for Christmas (or ever, really). I guess it doesn't really feel like a true gift that way. So much to my surprise on Christmas morning I opened up the very same bag/basket/thing I had secretly admired!

It is even better than I expected because when it's open it has all kinds room, with pockets even. Currently I have a knifty knitter hoop, a partially used ball of eyelash yarn, a mostly used ball of cotton, a skein of caron simply soft currently being knit on size 9 needles (also in there) into a seven inch afghan square and my copy of Vogue's Stitchionary (vol. 1). All of that stuff in there and still it folds up and fits between the couch and end table. I think I'm in love!

I was really impressed. I hadn't expected anything knitting under the tree because, frankly, he has no interest in yarn and needles. I figured he wouldn't have the faintest idea what to make of those few isles in the craft store, much like me at Lowe's or something.

Speaking of knitters in a home improvement store, the other day I read a funny article about one knitter's adventures at the hardware store, which can be found here.

Finally here is a picture of my dad's finished Christmas socks, or rather New Year's socks. The stripes matched pretty well on the cuff but not at all on the feet. *sigh* Oh well. This is why I'm not a big fan of self-striping yarn. I used to like it when I was knitting my daughters crazy socks. But now? I don't know. Maybe it was just this yarn? It is dark and was hard for me to even see the pattern until I had knit three inches or so. I don't like pulling my work out, so perhaps that was the frustration? I thought they were going to match and then they didn't. Next time I knit some for Dad I will use a solid color. Mismatched stripes are ok for a three-year-old, just maybe not for a retired Army Colonel.