Thrift Shop Finds & Answers

Went to the Thrift Shop the other day and found some yarn for my double knit blanket.

99 cents!



Not sure what brand the blue one on the left is but there were 4 balls of it.
I'm thinking little sweater.


And for $1.99 - I could not pass up this book.



Now for some answers to some comments. Figured I'd answer in a post - much easier!

Lizzie asks what I do in my spare time - Oh, bake, watch tv, weed, trim trees, shop, web surf...
Today we are going to trim another of our backyard trees. I'll try and take pics.

Kathy asked if I had a pattern for my earflap hat - no I did not take notes - just knit until it looked good.... I'll try and make another one soon.


And what about all those WIPs I showed you?

Well the books have been read - I'm on to new ones now.

The Midnight Club by James Patterson
and
Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs

Crocheting around 2 panels of the Bond/ISM blanket.

and some reason I dug out an old favorite WIP and trying to finish it.

I have 6 more rows to go!

Hint - It is RED, WHITE & BLUE

Never Say Tomorrow!

I tried to be back - but too many things have been distracting me!

I've been busy reading these two books.




WIPs
I did promise a photo parade of WIPs - so here they are.

#1
Ravelry gets me into trouble - I belong to the Loom-a-Long group and we are working on Cable Mitts by Isela Phelps.




#2
I've also joined the Haekelbeutel CAL and using up my cotton stash.
Pattern is a PDF here





#3
A little baby poncho from Lion Brand yarns. Using LB Homspun.





#4
An Innovations Hat that needs the crown part knitted. I find I like to hand knit the tops instead of the usual gather up finish. This one is made with Wool Ease and a Fun Fur brim.




#5
Six inch squares for a bright baby blanket.




#6
A Mile-A-Minute type crocheted afghan for oldest daughter. I think we had started this when she first lived in Aurora, Colorado. Then she moved to Texas and the project became a UFO.
Now she's back in Colorado and I've decided to finish this for her before she moves somewhere else!




#7
A scrap blanket on the Bond/ISM. The plan is to make 4 panels and fold them inhalf, crochet around them and then crochet them together. A variation on the 9 Patch Pattern.

What Happened To Me?

Guess I have been busy knitting and cranking away!

Purple Earflap hat - no pattern - I improvised and I used Paton's Melody yarn from my stash.




Two more pair of Slippers for Heet The Feet!

Yellow and black pair with 2 strands of worsted wt yarn on 24 sts.




Blue & white pair with 3 strands of think yarn, 24 sts and a short row heel.




Innovations Ladder Scarf.

Tried flat panel knitting just because and made this dropped stitch scarf.
This little crank knitter has 44 needles but only uses 40 for flat panels.
I dropped every 4th st and that left me with 4 knitted stitches at each end.
If make another scarf like this I will probably use my Bond/ISM knitting machine but had to see what this little Innovations could crank out!




One More FO
Another 14 Scarflet for Kurt's Fiance!





I'll try and be back tomorrow with a list of WIPs - I have 6 or 7 going right now....

Cranky Hats & One Potholder

I just had to crochet this potholder! I was visiting My Boring Life's Blog and I was enticed by all the pretty potholders she has crocheted.

So easy, so simple and I have lots of cotton yarn to choose from.

Pattern with lots of good pictured instructions is here.




Been playing with my new toy here - the Innovations Adult Knitting Machine.




We even started up a group on Ravelry - called Crank Knitters - come join us!

I've been making hats, but they are not really large enough for an adult. Since the machine only has 44 sts, they come out best for infants or small children.

Below is an experiment that I did to make the hat a bit larger/wider.
I knit the tube, took it off the machine, finished one end and then dropped 4 sts evenly spaced around. Probably not a great idea for a single layer hat but with a double layered one - not too bad and it fit my 23" noggin better than the smaller ones.




I used worsted wt from the stash


Picture is of both sides.

The dropped stitch effect is probably better for a scarf and that's what I am working on next!

Still knitting away on those Heet The Feet slippers and booties!

Is The Water Hot Enough?

I don't think the water was hot enough today.
It was a cold last night for So Cal - around 36 degrees.

Threw my socks in the washer with some sweats and a few hand towels.
They took awhile to start felting not as quick as the last time. And this was the same yarn I used on the squares slippers. So I'm blaming it on the water temp.
I even put them in the dryer for a few minutes and that seemed to help shrink them down a little more.

I don't want to stick my foot inside them right now while they are damp so I won't stretch them out too much. I did try both of them on before they went into the dryer and they did fit.
Maybe a smidge too long. The width is just about right, but that is for my wide foot with socks on.




These will be going to the Rez for Heet The Feet as I am sure they will fit some poor swollen feet. There are many who suffer from Diabetes that would love these slippers.

Next time I am going to try less rows - good thing I kept a row count! But since this is a 44 needle machine, I cannot do anything about the width. Maybe a lighter wt wool yarn might work..... back to the drawing board (knitting machine)!

While Others Watched Superbowl

I managed to finish up some WIPs!

Another pair of slippers for Heet The Feet from Ann's recipe.
These look small but garter stitch stretches so they fit me too, but they're going to the Rez :)




Then I cranked out another double sided hat on the machine! Here's a pic of both sides.

Felting Experiment In Progress

So okay - I've played around with knitting up little hats on the machine.
Now to get down to some experimenting.

Why not felted socks? So I used the Fuzzy Feet pattern from Knitty.com as a guidline and knit up this tube. The pattern called for 44 sts to be cast on and the machine has 44 needles.
I used waste yarn at the beginning and end and on 22 needles for the afterthought heel.
The gauge on the machine knit tube with worsted wt wool was 3.5 sts & 5.5 rows to one inch. Found the right needle size to match that and made me a toe and heel!

Just have to finish the 2nd one and toss them into the washer.







Another quick fix project was a pair of crocheted booties.
Found this cute pattern in one of my older books,
Woman's Day Bazaar Best Sellers 1983.

Another little pair for Heet The Feet!




And I finally felted these slippers made from squares.
I started these in November and never got around to felting them.
They're the Easy Felted House Slippers from Craft Magazine.



There is also a very helpful video on YouTube to show you how to fold them up.

Folding The Norwegian House Slippers