Knitting Dragonflies

A manly scarf, sometimes in our yarny world of color and exotic patterns. Always trying something new and different. We just need a plain scarf. I’m looking for a pattern for a manly scarf, and somewhere about 1.5 hours later, after looking through books, trolling blogs and Ravelry, I was still looking. I’m not sure what I wanted, maybe that was the problem. What was on my “must have” list? Well…..I think all one color. A classic style, something a man could wear to a winter wedding, church, I guess I wanted a simple but stylish scarf. I looked at ribbed styles (no), cable (high contender), seed stitch (closer), basket weave (too much pattern), and finally decided on moss stitch (just right). (see bottom of post for links to the other free knitted men's scarf patterns I considered) Moss stitch, it has some pattern, but not too busy, nice texture, lays flat, looks the same on the front and the back. Not too complicated, I can knit it while my mind is busy elsewhere.   What is St

I’m knitting a Bone Yard Shawl by Stephen West . Using some of my handspun fiber. A Persimmon color Blue Faced Leicester fiber that I added a strand of Sulky bendable thread to it to give it some dimension. It looked so “flat” spun alone. I skein I had overspun, Ugh, overspun yarn is spun too tightly, when I hold it out flat it immediately winds up on itself and kink. The “fix” for this is to run it back through the spinning wheel the other direction and then I soaked it and dried it, to ‘'reset” the twist. That came out find, and didn’t take as long as I thought it would. So now, I just have a bit more to go before I’m done. I must have been stressed when I spun this! Read more on spinning yarn with the correct twist and balance, plus other helpful tips in Knitty article This was going to be a gift for a girlfriend who is going through tuff times, but when complications set in (with my knitting, not her), I ended up gifting her my Citron shawl Steve and Penny at the local

Proof that I never know when I'll put down a knitted project, and leave it sit for  hours/days/months or years! Here is the citron shawl, I stopped knitting in the middle of a row!  Citron shawl is a great simple pattern, with rows of alternating increases & decreases along with stockingnet stitch, simple yet enough to give you some texture. How do you keep track of your progress? Coming along, only brought one skein with me! Mistake, so I'll be moving on to another project. Discovered I missed a decrease row, erg!  Think I'll just keep knitting & see how it looks!

I’ve had to travel to my Dad’s house due to some of his health issues. Thanks to everyone that has expressed concern, he doesn’t have internet access and am sorry if I’ve not gotten back to you. I’ll be traveling back and forth in the days to come, just wish I could knit in the car, I could get so much done! Was at my Dad’s house and he looked out the windows and we saw this beautiful sunset. Had to try and capture it. Of course this is about 30 snaps in, love digital cameras! I don’t know about you but I love to listen to knitting podcasts! Especially since my car cd/radio is broken! My favorite’s right now are Knitmore Girls , Stash and Burn , and a new one I heard about Jane and Jen KnitFunny (I really enjoy listening to these girls!) Of course there is Cast On (my classic). Please let me know if there are some that you listen to and enjoy, I have lots of driving time to fill! Now on to knitting. Over the years I’ve discovered I like to have 3 types of projects going (at leas

It is so disappointing to pick out a knitting pattern, agonize over the yarn choice. And then complete the sometimes long process of swatching for gauge. Only to discover that you are so confused by the pattern that you give up. I’m sure this has happened to many of us for many reasons. Skill level of the knitter, and skill level of the pattern author, may be the foremost. Pattern writing is not easy, nor is understanding patterns. On the knitters side of things, I’ve found a good resource to help understand what the pattern is telling us to do, take a look at Dummies.com Understanding Knitting Patterns and Techniques. It covers abbreviations and knitting terms, common phrases and how to follow written stitch patterns, and also charts. This and your local yarn store, (along with Ravelry, I like to look there and see if everyone that is knitting the pattern is having any trouble or it is just me), will help you discover your way. Don’t forget to Google and print out the errata page

My husband is retired now, and in the middle of painting the walls of the bedroom. He says he is going to remodel the whole inside of the house. *yay*  So far at only days into retirement he is working at a breakneck pace like he is at work. I told him he will have to slow down and enjoy himself. I picked out and bought the paint for the bedroom so long ago, (about 3 years minimum) I had forgotten what color it was. I called from work and he said he had started painting. So it was a pleasant surprise when I got home and discovered I still liked the paint color we had picked out. Now I think I will make curtains for the bed room. Paint is called silver grey and it is actually a warm grey, looks like it has a purple undertone to it in real life. Our bedroom had been lavender, maybe you can see the color at the far end of the photo past the bottom of his legs, back wall. Ugh, it was a paint color that I thought I would like but when it got on the walls, ick, I never liked it. Tree ab

Wishing you Joy and Peace at the Holidays and throughout the New Year May your knitting be out of this world this year!  Got excited with my new camera. *grin* Happy Knitting! Taken in my backyard Christmas Eve, clear beautiful (and cold) night! Happy Holidays from Evansville Indiana. Pattern from Emfy's crochet (Helen Free), she has a selection of free crochet patterns. The tree, and the bling….I enjoyed making it so much I’m making a pink one now and bought some yarn for a white one. Check out these Ravelry people that have created one.

I’ve been knitting ornaments. Here are a few I’ve gotten done. I had planned on knitting one for everyone I work with, but that would be around 20+ ornaments, after knitting around 6 I decided I was not up to that!  Maybe some baking, of course it is already the 20th of Dec. Oops! Below are two stocking ornaments from the same pattern. Lion Brand Christmas Stocking, I knitted several in the first version with the green tree, and then decided to try a white tree. Free Pattern from Lion Brand Yarns pattern here Pattern is fairly easy, knitted flat and shaped then sewn together. and tree sewn in duplicate stitch. Below pattern knitted flat and then ready for duplicate stitch and sewing up. I also knitted some mitten patterns. Pattern also knitted flat and then sewn up on the sides. Pattern from Lion brand yarns pattern link here.  Turn out cute and fast, I’m knitting more of these, but don’t have photos yet. Happy Knitting!! Happy Knitting, do you have a favorite knitted Christm

Fall in the Midwest means lots of green tomatoes. Green tomatoes are best in the fall, sweet when they have been touched by frost.  Yum!  I’m always looking for new ways to use them. The classic fried green tomatoes, relish, salsa, pickles, chutney, and yes even jam. This year I decided to try a Mincemeat Pie recipe, also known as Green Tomato Pie, and Vegan Mincemeat Pie. It is surprisingly yummy, I think this recipe falls into that sweet  category.  I did tweak my recipe below, so enjoy and let me know if you have a version of this or if you try mine. Happy Baking! Green Tomato Pie Recipe from Blueberries, Art and Life at end of post, I have not tried this one, but it is in the savory category and looks yummy! Green Tomato Pie seems to be common in the South and Ozark area of the U.S, I have also seen it in North Carolina. I had not heard of it before we moved down here. It was one of those things that I passed by on every occasion that I saw it. Really? Ugh? In my mind I placed

Always take my knitting when hiking! Thankfully I have been able to get some time off of work the last month. Trying to cram in as much family, fun and knitting time as possible. This involved a hiking vacation, knitting, visiting family and some yarn and fabric shopping. Several sweaters and a quilt in the near future. Until then a few photos… Serious decisions (above)                          Looking good, top down sweater (above) More knitting on the trail…                     While Steve sketches Campfires at night…                   and road trip knitting….. Now back to reality…. Keep knitting..

I’m always looking for a interesting pattern, especially free ones! Here are five free patterns I’m seriously looking to knit up….. 1- The Giant Knit Cowl , I have this super bulky yarn I bought in a sale that is an odd color, I’ve never know what to do with it. I think this would be great! Looks like it would be fast also! From johannainman .  Jane Richmond ( rav link ) 2. The Camp Out Fingerless Mitts by Tante Ehm , I love these, I like the two way knitting, I don’t have any Noro yarn, but am in serious stash busting mode, I’m hoping to find something I can use! Or I might just have to buy some Noro, these look soooo good! 3. Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson, who doesn’t like a slouchy beret!! Cables spice it up. Get Knitting!

I finally gave in and got one. Two days later I’m hooked, Well after calling several people accidentally, and having trouble hanging up. Does anyone actually read the manual that comes with your phone? No! Only when forced to…*grin* I went on an app downloading spree, of course after loosing my micro sd chip in the only little gap in the back of the phone. Gone forever I guess, I was afraid to poke around too much. What are your favorite app’s? I had no idea that there were so many knitting apps! So I decided to check them out *of course* I’m not sure there are any “must have” ones, of course why not check some out, especially if they are free!. Oh, there is an android group on Ravelry , Top Knitting Apps. (let me know if you use any apps for knitting or have any of these) 1. Visual Knitting Counter (free, ave rating 4)-After looking at the screen shots I thought this would be handy for keeping track of lace knitting. And one of the reviewers thought so “Multiple counters with