2009 Knitting Goals

At the beginning of 2009 I set three knitting goals for myself ... that I would knit 100 skeins, 10 kilograms, and 10 miles of yarn.

On Wednesday, November 25th I reached two of the three goals!  With three projects off the needles during that day I completed knitting 110 skeins of yarn which equal 10.53 miles (18,550 yards)!! 

The third goal will be hard to reach - I'm 1600 grams short of the ten kilogram goal.  It is probably unrealistic to expect to knit that much in the remaining 34 days of the year, especially since the projects I hope to complete by December 31st use fingering and DK weight yarns.

I will admit that the yarn inventory has not shrunk by the 110 skeins since I have bought some yarn during this year, and have been given some yarn for "charity" knitting, but the stash has shrunk some, I think.

Photos of my latest completed projects will be in my next post.

Socktober and other October knitting

"Socktober" was just that - a month of sock knitting, with a little knitting for others thrown in.

The first pair of socks off the needles were my second pair of socks knit from the toe up instead of from the cuff down.  I have avoided this method for several years, and now I cannot imagine why!  The techniques are not difficult and result in a very efficient use of almost every foot of the yarn, reserving just a little for future darning of the inevitable holes in the heels.  The pattern I used is Wendy Johnson's "Sportweight Toe-Up Sock with Gusset Heel" and the yarn is a tweedy Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Socka 6 Fache/6 ply I purchased at Limerick Fibers in Gordonsville, VA several years ago. 

After that pair was complete I dug out the oldest sock yarn in my stash and cast on for another toe-up pair.  Somehow the yarn, a skein of Lana Grossa Meilenweit, had shrunk from 100 grams to 88 grams over the past years.  This is quite possibly because I had started a couple of pairs of socks with the yarn, become frustrated with whatever pattern I was knitting, frogged the socks, and returned the yarn to the back of the drawer - guess I threw away some of the yarn when it tangled too much.  Anyway ... the yarn is now a pair of socks knit with the "Vihtori" pattern designed by Heli Heikkilä in Finland.  I love the opposite swirls of the pattern.

My October knitting ended with another baby cardigan and hat knit for the Anchorage Stork Project.  The yarn Red Heart worsted is from the estate of Norma Jean M. whose son graciously passed along his mother's yarn stash to some of us who knit for community service organizations.  The pattern is one of the "5-hour baby sweater" patterns found free online.

An October day in New Orleans

The next to last weekend in October I traveled to Baton Rouge to spend several days visiting with Kate.  That Saturday we drove to New Orleans to spend the day wandering around the French Quarter.  We walked along the Riverwalk, through the open-air French Market, and around Jackson Square. 

Because the line was so long at Cafe du Monde we bypassed that for a cup of coffee at a smaller coffee shop near the French Market.  I was surprised by how crowded the area was ... perhaps the crowds were drawn to town by the "Krewe de Boo" (Halloween parade) that was to take place that evening ... and we saw a lot of prople wearing LSU and Auburn tee-shirts (the football game at LSU did not start until 7pm). 

While we were around Jackson Square we watched a wedding party parade - the strolling jazz band was followed by the bride and goom, then the attendants and parents, then the wedding attendees.  We presume the wedding had just take place either in St. Louis Cathedral or in Jackson Square. 

After walking for a couple of hours we stopped for an early dinner at a small restaurant called the Gumbo Shop (thank you Lia for the recommendation!) on Saint Peter Street.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Crawfish Etouffee, while Kate had the Combination Platter with Shrimp Creole, Jambalaya, and Red Beans.  While dining in the open air courtyard under a huge banana palm we listed to the jazz bands playing for the wedding parties going into and coming out of the Cathedral.

We concluded our day in New Orleans with a drive along Bourbon Street, a drive through a few streets of the Garden District, then across town to a drive through what remains of the Lower Ninth Ward where the total devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is still so evident.

Kate - thanks for being such a good tour guide and braving all the traffic!

Fall Retreat Quilts

Early in October I attended my quilt guild's annual Fall Retreat in New Windsor, Maryland.  Twenty-four of us spent four wonderful days in the Maryland countryside sewing and quilting from early morning until late at night.  Thursday and Friday I spent working on a large project that will have to remain "under wraps" for the time being.

Saturday and Sunday I completed six small quilts that will be given to the Fairfax Hospital Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit for distribution to babies there.  The first five quilts were made using the "Yellow Brick Road" pattern; the last quilt used leftover 4-patches from a quilt made many years ago and red calico fabric which came from ???.

 

September Socks

I'm really not sure how I become ensnared in the Sockknitters Anonymous and the Solid Socks groups on Ravelry at the beginning of September ... but I did.  Each group has a "challenge" each month and umpteen members try to finish at least one pair of socks using the designated technique, pattern from a particular designer, or color of yarn during the month. 

First of all, the Sockknitters Anonymous group's "technique" for September was to knit a pair of socks using yellow yarn.  Well, I just happened to have two skeins of Brown Sheep Wildfoote in "Lullaby Yellow" that have been languishing in the stash for a couple of years.  Nancy Bush, a world renowned sock designer, graciously designed a mystery sock for the group and the clues were released weekly during the month.  I cast on the first sock on September 2nd and bound off the second sock just in time on September 29th.  The pattern is called "Fox Faces" and creates a beautiful lacy design.  I had thought I might give these socks away because I don't see me wearing yellow socks, but as pretty as these turned out I think I'll keep them.  (The yarn is really much more of a pastel yellow than the photo shows.)

Then the designated Solid Socks group color for September was red.  And in my yarn inventory was a rich red skein of Bearfoot by Mountain Colors.  The yarn is a mix of wool, mohair, and nylon, and the mohair adds such a nice softness and halo to the knit.  For this sock I chose the Yarrow Ribbed Sock pattern in the book Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.  But since I have knit this pattern before, and have been wanting to teach myself to knit socks from the toe up I switched directions and used Wendy Johnson's toe-up techniques for the socks.  I have avoided toe-up sock patterns in the past ... no more!!  I had a few problems but none that I could not overcome.  And my good friend Cindy M showed me a very stretchy bind-off that works wonderfully.

The only problem I foresee with these red socks is that I have to remember to always handwash them.  When I washed them for blocking the water was a very bright red through the washing and all four rinses.  The yarn must be super saturated with dye! 

Tomorrow, October 8th, I am off to my quilt guild's annual Fall Retreat.  One suitcase is packed full of fabric, thread, patterns, batting, and miscellaneous supplies.  I am probably taking two to three times the number of projects I can reasonably get done in the four retreat days, but better to have too much than not enough.  Of course I am also taking along some knitting for the quiet times - the one pair of socks left over from the September challenges and two pair of socks I've cast on for the October challenges.

Fall Quilting in the Hoop

When I completed my year (2007-2008) as President of Springfield Chapter of Quilters Unlimited my two vice-presidents, Beth and Cindy, presented to me a beautiful quilt top consisting of blue and white snowball blocks made by many members of our guild.  Beth did a stunning job of putting the blocks together and adding the borders.  The quilt is a reproduction of a much admired antique quilt another member of the guild, Loretta, owns.

A quilt top this beautiful must be hand quilted, and so I have begun doing so this month.  This will be my quilting project this fall. 

Summer Knitting Challenge Complete

You may recall my post in June about my self-imposed summer knitting challenge - to knit all this yarn into warmies for others less fortunate.




Here are the completed items, finished just one day before the official last day of summer ... seven hat and mitten sets, three additional hats, and two pair of child's socks. All these items will be sent to an orphanage in Romania. I want to thank "themadknitter" for giving me the yarn.

Knitting in Anchorage

During the early morning hours when everyone was asleep and I was wide awake still on east coast time, during Caroline's nap times, and in the evenings when Caroline had gone to bed I fit in some knitting time.

For Caroline I knit a cardigan in Sirdar Baby Bamboo, a sweater which should fit her this winter. I finished the cardigan on our last day there, so I left it drying on the towel!

For myself I knit a pair of sock in the Lichen Rib pattern by Nancy Bush, using Fortissima Socka, a cotton and wool blended yarn. And for the Anchorage Stork Project I knit two sweater and hat sets of Lion Brand worsted weight acrylic. (The first sweater was knit on the trip from Virginia to Anchorage which included an unexpected four hour airport layover.)

If you ever have the opportunity to travel to Anchorage do not miss going to one of the best yarn shops I have ever visited - Far North Yarn Co. The ladies there are the nicest and most helpful, and they love to have visitors come sit and knit for a while. The shop is my "home away from home" when I'm in Anchorage.

August in Anchorage

This August I visited with our daughter and granddaughter in Anchorage, Alaska. Of course I took pictures of Caroline modeling some of the sweaters I knitted for her over the past several months. It is so much fun to knit for such a cutie! Here she is:

Pattern: Buzy Lizzie by Louisa Harding ... Yarn: Botany by Rowan

Pattern: DROPS b18-25 Jacket in Garter Stitch ... Yarn: Cara by Zitron

Pattern: Butterfly Baby Hat by Melisa Darniedar ... Yarn: Cara by Zitron

Pattern: Frilly Edge Bolero by Sirdar ... Yarn: Kraemer Little Lehigh Pebbles

Pattern: Bias Baby Cardigan by Knitting Matters ... Yarn: Cornucopia by Kollage

And a few extra pictures from the trip:

Rebecca and Caroline at the Botanical Gardens

Julia, Caroline, and Denny

Moose in Rebecca's neighborhood!

beautiful Fireweed blossoms

Summer Knitting Challenge July Update

Here's what I have knit so far this summer using the yarn my friend Sharon gave me in 2007. The socks will go to Children-in-Common to be sent to an orphanage somewhere in eastern Europe. The hats and mittens will be sent to Hand of Help and go to an orphanage in Romania I believe. The yarns I used include Tahki Designer Homespun Tweed, Rowan Cork, Tivoli Killoween Chunky, Jaeger Dublin, and unlabeled red and brown worsted tweeds. These projects were fun and quick.

In late June I went on a rampage of knitting toddler socks for the CIC sock challenge and knit these six pair of socks by June 25th.

Pomona Squares - Andrew's Graduation Quilt

We had a second graduation in our family this year. Our nephew Andrew, son of my sister Nancy in Brentwood, Tenn, graduated from high school and is going to Pomona College in Clairmont, Calif for college.

Naturally a quilt to take to college was called for ... and a quilt in colors that will survive in a young man's college dorm room. So I sorted through all my dark fabrics, especially the seemingly zillion 6" squares I have left from the two years I purchased a 6" square of each fabric that came into a quilt shop in North Carolina. I used the pattern "Romantic Charm" published by the Quilting Squares Studio in Franklin, Tenn, a pattern I bought when visiting Nancy and her family in February this year.

After assembling all the individual blocks for the quilt I laid them out on the living room floor to check the color balance.

A very curious Maggie was peeking out from under the ottoman during the block layout.
I left the room for just one minute and this happened!
To make a long story short I completed the quilt in time for Andrew's graduation in May. A friend quilted the quilt for me on her longarm machine in a meandering pattern. Here is a photo of Andrew and his new quilt.Congratulations to Andrew on your very successful completion of high school, and all the best wishes for good studies and new friends at Pomona.

Summer knitting challenge

One of my good knitting friends, Sharon F, is leaving Northern Virginia and moving to Buffalo this week. Sharon and I have been knitting buddies for about two years now, are in two knitting groups together, and I will miss her terribly!

About a year and a half ago when Sharon was "de-stashing" some of her yarn she offered to me some wool for Children-In-Common knitting (Children-In-Common is an online Yahoo group of people who knit items that are sent to orphanages in Russia and Eastern European nations). Thank you Sharon! Last week when I was rummaging around in my yarn stash I came across the yarn Sharon gave me, and decided that this summer would be a good time to knit up this yarn. Last Thursday I knit a pair of toddler socks of the one skein of Jaeger Dublin yarn.

Then it occurred to me ... a great summer challenge to myself would be to knit the yarn from Sharon and turn all that yarn into useful socks, hats, mittens, and vests for C-I-C. So I took this photo of the yarn in its unknit state (except for the socks already completed).


At the end of July and August I'll post photos of my progress through this beautiful yarn.

Our Caroline in vintage clothes

When Caroline, and her mom Rebecca, visited us in May I took the opportunity to play dress-up with my grand-daughter.

Several years ago I received some of the batiste dresses that my grandmother McClure, my mother's mother in Atlanta, had made for me when I was an infant (I won't tell you how many years ago that was!). After soaking the dresses in sodium perborate dissolved in hot water, an archival-safe chemical used by many museums to remove yellowing and some stains in vintage fabrics, and pressing them, the little dresses have been restored to their glory. The workmanship my grandmother put into these dresses is impeccable - the tiny stitches, the enclosed french seams, the precise embroidery, the teeny tiny buttons and hand-stitched buttonholes.

So I put one of the dress and slip sets on Caroline and started snapping photos. I think this is the best one. Isn't she absolutely adorable! She's seven and a half months old in this photo.
Another photo showing the dress and slip from the side.
I am going to put the dresses on soft little hangers and hang them on a Shaker peg board in my sewing and knitting studio ... a beautiful reminder of the generations of needlewomen in my ancestry.

"Road to Miami" - Liz's Graduation Quilt

My niece Liz just graduated from Lehigh University and is now studying at University of Miami for her DPT (Doctor in Physical Therapy). When she graduated from high school I knit her an afghan instead of making a quilt ... so I decided to make her a quilt for her college graduation.

Because she was moving to Miami the quilt had to reflect the tropical colors there, so I selected bright batiks and used the pattern "Yellow Brick Road" by Atkinson Designs ... hence the quilt's name "Road to Miami." I machine quilted this myself, using a large pumpkin seed design with the curving lines flowing diagonally across the quilt. The borders are quilted with a cable pattern.

Congratulations Liz ... and lots of good wishes for successful studies at U. of Miami!!

Caroline's Comfort Quilt

The Armed Services YMCA runs a program called "Operation Kid Comfort" that provides quilts for children of deployed service members and you can read more about it here: http://www.operationkidcomfort.blogspot.com/. Ann Flaherty, the founder of the program, is a quilting friend of mine from when I lived in North Carolina.

As most of you know our son-in-law Jason deployed to Afghanistan in February for a year. When he deployed I began planning a comfort quilt for grand-daughter Caroline. Instead of using the standard Operation Kid Comfort design I decided to use the "Lucky Star" pattern (by Atkinson Designs). Susan at the main office of the ASYMCA here in Springfield, Virginia very graciously did the photo transfers for Caroline's quilt. The photos are of Jason, Jason in uniform, Jason and Rebecca, Jason and Caroline, and even one including their dog Sadie. The fabrics include a lot of orange, Jason's favorite color. The machine quilting, which I did, begins with stitching around the central star and then parallel lines radiating outward.

After completing the quilt I decided that Caroline also needed a small "quiltie" that she could take with her whever she goes, in the car, to a friend's house, and traveling. So I made a single block with a single photograph (the photo of Jason, Rebecca, and Caroline was taken the night he left on the deployment), and then I put taggies of various ribbons around the outside of the small quilt.

Rebecca and Caroline visited us in May and here is a photo of Caroline and her toys on the quilt.