Skip to main content

Greetings....

This blog is about something that is very popular anymore; knitting. It's also about being a mommy, charity, life, patterns, pets and other things I haven't even thought of yet. You will notice something, though. All of it, no matter what, always seems to come back to knitting, at least for me.

My name is Rachel. I am married (W.A. 10-26-10) and I have a daughter born 9-5-11. We have two cats, Shani and Katy, and we are making our home in an apartment at the moment.

I taught myself to knit over a span of years and even after I got the basic idea, I didn't really enjoy it. I can't tell you exactly when I started enjoying it, except it had to do with finding a pair of number eight needles and a wee patten for a Barbie doll hood. It was only in the last few years that I became passable and--dare I say??--*good* at knitting. My patience is increasing, so much so that I have something on the needles right now that I never would have considered making even two years ago. (The item is an Elizabeth Zimmermann Tomten Jacket, but that is a whole other post.)

I wanted to knit for one very simple (at least to a nine year old) reason: Laura did. Now, "Laura" is none other than the esteemed Laura Ingalls Wilder, my childhood hero and someone I still admire today. I wanted to learn to knit so I could knit socks and mittens just as she, her sisters and her mother did in the books...

I only made my first pair of socks (not even proper socks, mind you, but tube socks) this last fall. Alas, I don't think I am really a sock knitter, but there was a time when I would not have thought myself a Tomten knitter either, but here I am, about half done with it. So, maybe someday I will be knitting throwing that tiny sock yarn with the best of them.

Most of my knitting (and crocheting, I am in fact bistitchual) is for charity, and what isn't for charity is for my daughter or my husband. I never make things for myself. I am not saying it is bad to make things for oneself, I just never do it. Oh, I start sometimes, but the item always gets forgotten about, till one day I come along and frog it, or at least steal the needles for a project I want to make for someone else.

My favorite recipients for charity work is the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. They need everything, so I enjoy perfect crafting freedom, limited only by personal notions. I make hats and baby mitts and anything else that catches my eye. Hats are my favorite project. The Rez is also the intended destination for the Tomten Jacket.

Now that you have learned a few things about me, I shall close this, lest you become bored too soon (I'm hoping to hold off on that until the second or third post. (-:) Talk to you soon.

Comments

  1. Good first post. Good luck with your Tomtom jacket. I'm sure that some child will be much warmer for your efforts. I understand not making much for yourself - I too prefer to knit for charity. It always fits that way! LOL.

    Hugs and happy stitching,

    Kae - Kae1Crafts on Ravelry

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad to have found this blog. Looking forward to reading more posts!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great first post! It seems to be the same for me. I very, very rarely make anything for myself. About 95 percent goes to charity and the rest to family or friends. I enjoyed your blog and hope to read more.

    Blessings,

    Betsy
    Http://Betsy-thesimplelifeofaqueen.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baby Booties

Hello All! I have a pattern to share with everyone today. I just knitted these up yesterday, and I thought they might be something others would be interested in. I've been busy making baby things to donate to Luther Midelfort in Eau Claire, WI. I just made these up on the fly yesterday. Hope you like them, and if you find a mistake leave a comment! :) You will need: Bernat Baby Jacquard or comparable baby yarn Size 7 needles Tapestry needle Scissors Two stitch markers Size F or G crochet hook ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gauge: 11 stitches to 2 inches in garter stitch. These are worked in garter stitch throughout. Cast on 36 stitches. Knit in garter stitch for the first 6 rows. Row 1 of shaping: Knit 15 stitches, knit next 2 stitches together. Place marker, knit 2 stitches, knit next 2 stitches together. Place marker. Knit to end of row. (34 stitches) Row 2 of shaping: Knit 14 stitches, knit next 2 st

Little Crochet Mitts

I made some sweet little crochet mitts tonight, and I said well, I might as well blog about them! :) Actually, this is how I made them. They are size newborn+, with a bit f wriggle room. :) Materials: Baby weight yarn. I used Bernat Baby Sport Ombre. You don't need much. Size F crochet hook. Scissors and tapestry needle. Notes: Chain 1 and chain 2 counts as first stitch in each round. Abbreviations used: HDC: half double crochet DC: double crochet CH: chain Sl ST: slip stitch ST: stitch REV SC: reverse single crochet, or crab stitch Directions: Chain 2. Join with sl st to form ring. Round 1: Ch. 1, work 11 hdc in ring. Join. (12 st.) Round 2: Ch. 1, hdc in same st as join. 2 hdc in each st around. Join. (24 st.) Round 3: Ch. 1, do not work in same st as join. Hdc in each st around. Join. (24 st.) Round 4-11: Ch. 1, work 1 hdc in each st around. Join. (24 sts.) Round 12: Ch. 2, dc in each st around. (24 st.) Round 13: Ch. 1, hdc around.

Nine Lines Washcloth

Hello again. How is everyone? It's going about the same here, Jerek's still in the same shape. I did have a nice weekend. It was the circuit assembly, which is a two day series of Bible talks that takes place every year, along with the District Convention (three days) and the Special Assembly Day (one day.) There were many upbuilding Bible-based talks, and it was good to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a while. As you can tell by the title of the post, though, the assembly isn't the main point of my writing to you this time. I made a washcloth last week. I used a stitch pattern that I learned last fall from a afghan block. It was called Plowed Rows, but I didn't think that name fit the washcloth. Instead I am calling it Nine Lines, because it has nine lines. (I know, ain't I creative? (-:) Here is the cloth. Not a great photo, but as good as I can do right now. And on to the pattern. I think this would be a great pattern to learn how to slip