SOFT AND PRETTY KNIT PULLOVER

Cozy textured pullover

Lion Brand Homespun Thick & Quick

This yarn is so soft and pretty! 

Pattern #L32012

Stitch by stitch and row by row the yarn becomes a thing! It amazes me even as my needles click and my projects grow right before my eyes. A bonus with this pattern, and Dayna's confidence in me, I learned how to cable!

Knitting provides an opportunity for contemplation and meditation or gives me an excuse to listen to an audio book or watch TV. Making something I can give away allows me to share a bit of my heart with the receiver. If the recipient wants to pass along my creation, that just spreads the joy into wider circles!

The thing I find so frustrating in anything I make (baking or knitting or canning, etc.)  is to have spent hours in the creation only to have the project turn out less than perfect.  The part I dread, but what I know has to happen in knitting, is rip it out and fix it! That should be OK, since I'm knitting for fun and not to be paid for the completed project. 

I've found several tweaks I want to make in this beautiful-to-look-at sweater. I bound it off too tightly, slightly inhibiting the stretch that should be present in the sleeves. The arms are a bit snug... But the body is nice and long since I followed one reviewer's suggestion so that part turned out just the way I'd hoped. Another reviewer of this pattern suggested a larger ribbing pattern which I also incorporated in this version.

  

Maybe I'll just hang it up and admire it instead of wearing it? Or maybe a miracle will occur and it will fit after all? Crossing my fingers...and it fit!

Any knitters who would like to offer suggestions, I'll gladly accept. Also, if you are interested in any of my creations, let me know!

By the way, I bake on request too!

Comedy of Errors

I've learned so much from my mistakes. How about you? I'm so glad erasers are on the end of pencils and that knitting can be unraveled and re-knit! This sweater could have been two sweaters in the length of time it took me to make since I had to take it apart so many times. But a thing worth doing is worth doing correctly. 

My first mistake was over estimating my knitting skills! I needed a mentor. At times like this especially, I sure miss my mom, my mother-in-law, and my aunt! I converted a pattern that called for Coats & Clark Red Heart Lustersheen 

and I used a cotton yarn instead. It was a challenge adjusting the gauge, using different needles and number of stitches. My poor old brain even misread the directions for the pattern. Why was this so easy when I made it 30 years ago and so difficult now? Don't answer that! Then I needed to make sure it fit Dayna so of course I carefully measured and kept knitting. This was supposed to be ready for cool summer evenings!  ...she can wear it next year!

Finally finished, here is my work of love.  

Now, if your heart desires the produce of my knitting needles, I'd love to make something for you too! I can't promise how long it might take to finish, but it will be filled with love and laughter when it's completed. But DON'T ask me to do this little top again, I might not make it through that experience yet again!

Knitting

I don't always have baked goods or canned produce in my pantry - sometimes I have some lovely knitted items! I usually have a couple of projects in my knitting baskets.  Knitted dishcloths are really great for washing dishes.  This pattern is nice and bumpy for scrubbing and since they are made of cotton yarn they rinse and dry quickly after each use.  There are lots of colors to choose from-below is an orange/green cloth and a cream with polkdot. These can be easily and inexpensively mailed to you if you want one or two or three...

JoPapa is getting a set of picnic green mulitcolored table place mats for Father's Day surprise. One of our favorite places to "eat out" is on our back deck and these place mats will come in handy the rest of this summer and fall! I could make a set for you too.  What color would you like to order?

Another project I am blessed to work on is The Wanda Allen Prayer Shawl Ministry through the Bolivar United Methodist Church. Several women of the church meet once a month to knit, pray and visit.  Each color signifies a different meaning. The yellow one I am making is to bring cheerfulness, energy, joy and confidence. When we get a quantity of donated Prayer Shawls we have them dedicated during our worship service.  Several recipients of these prayer shawls have expressed gratitude for the comfort these prayer-infused shawls bring to them.  If you know of someone who would appreciate a prayer shawl, let me know!

As always, I can be convinced to share my creations, baked goods, or canned produce with you - for a price. :-)

Things in my pantry

I don't just cook and bake things for my pantry - I create lots of other items.  Annie Potts started a Prayer Shawl Ministry at the Bolivar united Methodist Church and I've been knitting too! I've made so many dish cloths, hats, mittens, scarves, and wristers.  It is about time I broaden my horizons! I completed my first prayer shawl and it was dedicated at church this past Sunday. It was a lovely short prayer by our pastor JC Harp. If I had a better memory, I could quote it exactly. But he said something about hoping the shawl would bring a small bit of comfort and let the recipient know that prayers had been said for her. I gave it to Trish Ankrom to send to her sister. Her sister is fighting cancer, but not winning. She is in hospice care and it just breaks Trish's heart to know she is losing her 50 year old sister to this nasty disease! When will we ever find a cure?