Friday, August 29, 2008

END OF SUMMER KNITTING....

Sadly, the summer is winding down. I had gathered my dishcloth leftovers together last week and felt a bit overwhelmed at that time with just how much bits and pieces are laying around in little balls of color in my yarn room. Usually I end up knitting my standby Ballband cloth with the the odd balls, but this time I wondered "what if?" and discovered by altering a few stitches and rows I could achieve a ridge effect in each segment that resembled, I think, tiny pumpkins. I haven't seen anything like this before, so I don't think I infringed on any one's copyright. Amazing what you can end up with when you fiddle around with your needles and scrap yarn. Just in time for the fall!
I jotted down the stitch pattern as I knitted the cloth. Leave a message in "comments" to let me know what you think, Gentle Knitter, and if there's enough interest I'll post the pattern.

Speaking of dishcloth, I seem to have knitted a few since my last post.

Each one of these were knit from leftover cotton and were gifted to friends as "thank-yous."


Calling this one "Chicken Scratch".


Half a ball of Sugar n Cream makes a great "Grandma's Favorite!"

Truly a "Scrappy Little Cloth"!

A heart pendant? Key fob? Luggage tag?


Not much down time before another is on the needles! Care to guess which pattern it is?

A baby bib knit for Eileen, a Grammy once again! I used Bib'O Love as a base and played around with the stitch pattern until I got a look I liked. Works nice for a baby boy, I think...

Knitting for my cause....
I decided to focus on knitting primarily mittens for our holiday community project, while some of the ladies in our group are knitting scarves and hats. Whereas knitting mittens for kids moves along in a snap, it takes a bit more time investment to knit mittens sized for a man's hand. Since I hate knitting that second sock, the same ire applies to knitting the second mitten. I knit both pairs cuff down on one long circular needle. Bless you, Magic Loop! The green mittens were based on Ann Budd's Hand Knit Patterns book, while the gray ones were knit according to Elizabeth Zimmerman's 36 stitch pattern. Has an afterthought type thumb, which I prefer over the tapered thumb. I need to knit several pairs more by October.

Debbie Bliss baby hat pattern from "Simply Baby" knit flat, in garter stitch, with Bernat " Jacquard" yarn. Makes it's own pattern. Comes in an assortment of different colors.
Again, same yarn knitted in a basic baby beanie pattern. Notice the nice color design you get with this yarn. The top is finished with a goofy little butterfly.

This is our baby fit model, Knitasha, that our group uses to display the knitwear we donate. She gets a different outfit each week.
Here's a small portion of our Knitting Ministry's output. Getting ready to donate to the local pregnancy center, with the hope that our knitting will do some good for some family.

Hold onto to summer as long as you caaaaaaaaaaaaaan! Apologies to John Cougar.
Happy knitting!