Update on Chemo caps

I finally figured out how to decorate the brim of the chemo caps I have been making. I made a tiny crocheted flower (with about a yard of yarn).



I am using sportweight yarn so they stay little and delicate. Then I layered two flowers, one over the other, on the brim.



I think it turned out very cute! (One of these days I will model one of the hats for you.)

It only takes a couple of minutes to make the flowers, and a couple more to stitch them on, so I should be able to finish these other three with no problems.



This makes 9 hats I have knit! A friend made one other one; we have given away 6, so that is 10 in all, and I think I have 5 more skeins/balls before I have to order more.

I really like making these. They are very portable, fitting into a small tote, and I don't need the pattern, so I can knit anywhere.

Let me know if you need one, I will send it right out.

Look!

I am so proud of myself! Here is the back, and the two fronts of the hooded vest I am working on. I love! the lace pattern.



I had to wait all day yesterday for the blocking to dry so I could stitch the shoulder seams and start knitting the hood. When everything was dry last night I was too tired to start, so that task is first on the list today.

I have also finished two chemo caps this week, and I found a cute little flower to crochet to add to the brim/band for a final finishing touch. I picked up some fine yarn yesterday, and got one made. I think they will be cute. Don't worry, I will show you when they are ready.

Tonight is guild meeting; Moonsilk Stitches and I are going to be going over our program for next week. We are going to be playing with methods of transferring patterns. I think we have 5 or 6 ways to play with/experiment on, plus more to talk about. We have had a lot of fun gathering ideas together.

still no stitching pictures

Sorry I have been absent... there's not too much going on around here. Last week Thursday C had a school program. Here she is all ready for it (bright solid colors), displaying the status (at the time) of her acquaintance with the tooth fairy. She Skyped me yesterday to show me another space where a tooth used to be.



Here are Meme and P waiting for the program to start.



The program was called "Cats and Dogs." The kindergarten class represented the cats, you can tell because of their hats. At this point they were all excited, hiding their sticks behind their backs (except for one little distracted boy). C is in the back row, second from the right.



The music teacher was very impressed that they were all pointing in the same direction, at the same time. I do see a couple of kids checking to make sure they are doing it right.



The program was very cute, and quite short which was not a problem, because this is how we spent the next day:



In a hospital waiting room, waiting for P's surgery to be done. He did great, and is home, recuperating. It is amazing how exhausting it is to sit in a chair for 7 hours...

I am very pleased by my progress on the hooded vest I am knitting. Here's a link to the finished project. For a couple of days I was thinking it was too hot to even knit with wool yarn, but we are back to more normal spring weather... I wish I could wear this vest today! I have the back panel done, and I have a good start on the 2 front panels. I am knitting them at the same time. I can't wait to show you a picture.

gauge vs. size

I decided, on my hooded vest to knit in my own gauge, but make a smaller size sweater. According to my calculations, and a segment on Knitting Today, that should work. I'm already about 1/2 way done on the back! In my head knitting a sweater is such a big undertaking that it would take years and years, but I think in actual knitting acreage it is a lot smaller than the Navajo wrap I made, and I knocked that out in 3 months.

I also realize that I am 4 or 5 weeks behind on TAST. I decided it is because I made a plan (in my head) for the chain stitch, and then didn't know how to carry it out, so I procrastinated. (As DH says, Put your surprised face on, that is my usual way of handling stress.) So now I decided something different to do with the chain stitch, so now I have to get it out of the bag.

I realized on Sunday that I only have 3 blocks left on my Advent Calendar, after the one I am doing. Two of those blocks are actually from the Christmas Story! So now, this is official: I want to finish this in time for Advent this year. I also had a light-bulb moment: I think I want to use canvas as a mounting base, to hold the weight without sagging. Now I call that progress!

Two Firsts

I have never knit a garment. I knit very loosely, so I've always been worried about making something that would fit. So yesterday I knit my very first swatch for a hooded vest, and blocked it, along with blocking the scarf I finished the day before. (The blocking is also a first.) Here you can see the scarf and the swatch pinned to some foam matting:

Jake was intrigued all night by this new addition to his house and kept sniffing it... but nothing smelled like supper. By this morning everything was dry, so I unpinned it.

The scarf turned out beautifully:

I already liked the color and the pattern (above you can see the knit side and the purl side, both are very interesting) but the blocking changed the texture of it to be very soft and drapey. I am very pleased with it, but I don't know if I will be able to wear it until it gets cooler! I have a new top it would go very nicely with...

Here is a close-up of my swatch. I found the pattern last fall (October, I think) when I went to the knit expo in Schaumburg. The yarn is Lion Brand, bought at JoAnn's. It is undyed, and the label says it has natural oils. I didn't really notice that when I was knitting. Now I am in unknown territory. I stretched this when I blocked it... quite a bit, and now the gauge is off. I am supposed to have 20 stitches in 4 inches, and I have 15 1/2. So, can I block it again and hope it will shrink a little, or do I have to try again with smaller needles? I am already using needles 2 sizes smaller than called for.

Our spring is still accelerating. Today the daffodils are out and all the maples are flowering. I guess tomorrow we will see the tulips!

This and that

In Arizona my dad was telling the story of a visit to southern Mexico for his work. His host had a meeting that did not involve him, so dad asked to visit the local ruins. While he was there exploring a lady started following him around trying to sell him some woven shawls. He was not too interested in that kind of stuff, so he declined, but the lady kept dropping the price, from $12 to $3, at which point he bought the shawl, with very mixed feelings. She must have been in quite a bit of need to drop the price so far, but did he take advantage of her? To this day he is not quite sure.

It would be wonderful to be able to put people with beautiful handwork into contact with people who want, appreciate, and can afford beautiful things. That is happening more and more with fair trade items around the world, but there is a long way to go yet.

After my dad told the story, we were getting ready to leave the house, and my mom came out of the bedroom with the shawl in question. The weaving is amazing! The yarn is a little bit coarse, but this is a very warm shawl. When I admired it, my mom gave it to me. Isn't it beautiful?

A few days ago I receive a package from my mom with something I had forgotten (my scissors earrings). She wrapped and padded them in this apron:

It is old and faded, and has a few holes, but my mom told me her sister, my aunt Marcia, made it for her when she was a child. I can just see my aunt making it, and my mom bustling around the kitchen helping out with her apron on. Thank you mom, for sharing it with me!

Weather-wise we have skipped right from early spring into mid-summer. The plants are all bursting out to catch up. Yesterday when I went outside there was one crocus:

Today they are all up:

I planted a dozen crocuses in this spot probably about 30 years ago, 4 yellow ones, 4 purple ones, and 4 white ones. The yellow ones were the first to disappear, and the purple ones lasted several more years. I don't know if you can see, but a couple of the white ones have some purple tinge to them. I don't know if these are a blend between the original white and purple ones, or if they are the purple ones that have lost their color. All I know is that I love it when they come up every year.

Have you ever heard of a vegetable called romanesco? I hadn't until last Friday. Our food pantry got a donation, and we were all amazed at how beautiful (and strange-looking) they were. This color is not accurate, they are a much brighter yellow-green. The pointy spirals are very interesting, and when I looked in wikipedia they did confirm that these heads demonstrate fractals and Fibonacci numbers. So cool!

We were a little nervous to eat it, but I went ahead and cooked it like cauliflower. The verdict is it tastes like cauliflower, but it feels like broccoli in your mouth. We would definitely eat it again, if we ever saw it again!

It was so much fun!

VIP day was a lot of fun! C and I got to sit in the rocking chairs, while everyone else had to sit on the floor. I was amazed even before I started one boy asked if I had been knitting ahead of time (I had!) and two boys knew that some clothes come from wool. Another girl knew about silk worms.

Everyone was very interested in and excited about the cotton bolls.

I did go a little long, but the kids were interested through the whole chat.

It was quite an interesting peek into a whole kindergarten world.