Knitting Dragonflies

We are having fun at work, stitching. Any stitching is good. I started knitting on break and lunch. This expanded to one girl who wanted to learn to knit, that turned into 4 to learn to knit. Now we have 2 learning to crochet also, with another making noises about learning. We have total newbies. Women who "used" to crochet, and a occasional spontaneous person who sets down and learns to knit one or two stitches. Usually we would sit and put our feet up for awhile and grump. Now I hear chatter and see smiles. I even had a illicit meeting in the locker room, for a emergency baby blanket stitch consult. LOL Keep on Knitting....

A lovely sunset...

Yes this is my husband impersonating a pixie. Don't tell him I said that. I have started a Earflap hat. My husband loves these hats, i have knitted them and crocheted them. Ended up having more luck with the crochet ones. This pattern is from the Lion Yarn Company Website. Free pattern but there website makes you register and log in, which is slightly irritating. Check them out. Lots of fun things. Here is a pic of of the arms of my Bridesmaid wrap from the Wedding Knits from Suss Cousins. They are coming along. I think I should have made them on larger needles. My body of the wrap is on #11, in K1, P1, these are ss on #8. We will see. I am not going to frog them. (at this point, talk to me later on LOL) For a lovely free bridesmaid or bridal wrap pattern see here. Here are my pups, both 2 years, Penny and Syd. Syd is the piggy one (75 lbs) in the lighter crate. It is about 1 degrees outside and they are spoiled. I have kidded that I was going to knit a doggy bag ...

Yes I am going to cast on something with my frogged yarn from my pyramid sweater this weekend. Really I am.....the yarn has been in a pile on my shelf silently mocking me, and making me feel guilty. Beautiful yarn, and it needs to become something beautiful. so I will search on the Internet, and magazines and books until I find the pattern that whispers to me, make me..... I am looking at this pattern right now, I think I would like something like this yet with row by row color changes, maybe more like this ?? I hope. So more on that soon. When I was having some fun I found this blog , as I am always trying to organize myself. I found this interesting. OK well maybe I don't want to be that organized, seem like it would take away from my knitting time. I have been having thoughts about quilting again. Today I was so excited, my girlfriend is pregnant!! This will be her 2ND, her first little girl is 9, and is a trisomy 8/cp. I am trying to decide if I should quilt, crochet or knit ...

I found this Etsy seller while shopping around and having my coffee this am. staceyrebecca.etsy.com . These puppets are so cute and afforable. They make me smile. Check this store out. I think this is a original and fun idea.

Here is the finished baby blanket, just in time for the shower. I ended up crocheting the picot border in a sc in 3, then chain 3, sc in next 3 stitches. Pretty, but took me a long time to get around it. Now on to the bridesmaid wrap, still working on the first sleeve. Since I bought the yarn from Handpainted yarns.com, it comes shrink wrapped with very little info about it, just the dye name. So I cannot remember what the estimated yardage was, and it does not say on my receipt. I decided that I should do the arms first and then see how much was left for the wrap part. And I am thinking about doing a little roll collar. More to come soon. I cannot believe that is all I have on my needles right now. I am usually a 5 project at a time girl. I better start casting on something. That means digging into the stash.... Keep on knitting!! And stay warm.

I have been working a quick Baby Blanket. I got this pattern from a girlfriend. This is a pattern that her mother in law used to make all of her baby blankets. It is a lovely pattern and quick. I like the shells nested into each other, (no little fingers or toes poke through) I have another shell pattern but they are directly on top of each other. I have made this many, many times. Usually I make it in Red Heart yarn, because it is indestructible, I have even bleached a blanket made out of it and the colors did not alter. (Kinda scary) It usually take two of the Super Saver skeins. If you are in a super big hurry try this...I have used two strands of Bernat Baby coordinates in sport weight, this yarn has a little shiny thread like ribbon running along the yarn. In the pictured blanket you can see the little sparkle it gives it, not too much bling. In this blanket I used 4 skeins of Bernat 5.6 oz yarn, 2 pink 9412, two white. Ed's Mom's baby blanket pattern, Nested She...

I love to knit socks, so satisfying to knit. Compact to travel and stuff in a purse to go with me anywhere. Wonderful to wear! Great for a gift, even people who have never had hand knitted socks will go "ahhh..." when wearing them. So when my LYS offered a class to teach knitting two socks at the same time on circular needles I immediately signed up for it. It used the often heard of Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles : a Manual of Elegant Knitting Techniques and Patterns by Cat Bordi. I was so excited. I dutifully bought all of my needed items!! Ohhhh a chance to buy more sock yarn. (I have some at home, but when signing up for a class, I get 20% off whatever I buy) So of course I had to pick out some new sock yarn!!! Sockotta, The Plymouth Italian Collection, Cotton/wool blend, Color 605 a blue/green/gold, blend. I was ready!! Well life happened and I missed the class. The yarn, book and needles are still untouched. But then I discovered this crazy book on a yahoo yarn gro...

Since the Penguin episode in my life, I have become very interested in Amigurumi, I bought the book Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute . I like this book a lot. I am in the process of making the little pig in it. This is a basic book on making Amigurumi animals, covering the basics of crochet, best yarn to use, tools, and a short section of stitches needed. I like it very much. I am primarily a knitter, and do crochet, but usually simple flat objects, translation afghans. I feel like I have gone over to the dark side. With that being said, I found these to be fun, quick, good gifts and really cute. Keep Happy Knitting......

Here is the start of my "Bridesmaid wrap" from " Wedding Knits " by Suss Cousins. I am making it out of heavier yarn, From Handpainted yarns I love the yarn it is so soft and the colors are beautiful. The wrap is made in mohair in the book. I plan on making it a shorter wrap, due to the heavier yarn. I hope it turns out OK . If you check out the book link, there is photo of it. If you want a free Bridesmaid wrap pattern this is a lovely one from Knitty! I made this baby bunting, on the spur of the moment, just playing around. I used one skein of red heart yarn, and a small amount of the fun fur yarn in a coordinating color. Cast on 80 stitches at 4 sts /inch. Knit in the round, until 24 inches long. If you would rather knit flat, knit even rows, purl odd rows. Add Fun fur yarn, or other novelty yarn for the last 10 rows. Bind off, using a very loose bind off. I like to use the Elizabeth Zimmerman method of the Sewn Bind off ...

You can see how big the Penguin turned out!! No word yet on his name. This is my great niece and nephew. I am still working on my shrug. Binding off this evening. Hopefully I will have it done soon. I am looking for any books or websites/blogs that have knitted stuffed animal patterns. If anyone has any input I would love you for it. Thanks Right now I have bought some pink yarn and am trying to get a pig done. More on this later. By next weekend. Yes, I do love to do most of my work under pressure. LOL Pics' soon. Keep on knitting....

It's Etsy Wed!! I love Etsy! I love to look and shop there. It is nice to buy gifts there, you can get one of a kind things! Whether looking for original gifts, or something for yourself. I am constantly amazed at the creativity that I can find there. You are supporting individuals, not the mass chains of stores and catalogs. With that said, my first Etsy pic is knitter, Knitted Gems is her store. She also has a blog http://knittedgems.blogspot.com/ . Please check her out! What brought me to her shop was this item: A hand knitted alpaca beaded shawl for Barbie, now my theory that Barbie has everything is really true!! Then I look further and see she has all kinds unique knitting patterns. The thing I really love about her patterns are that they are all something I would actually knit and either use or gift to someone. From decorative pillows and vase cosies to scarfs, and hats, among other items. This shawl is lovely, it looks complicated, but is not. She furnishes PDF document wit...