Quote for a Tuesday

Knitting is very conducive to thought. It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles, write a while, then take up the sock again.

~~Dorothy Day

The Hogwarts Scarf

I have requests from three daughters for three of these scarves:

 

We chose the yarn awhile back but I just finished this yesterday. After I finished, I found this example of a Hogwarts scarf online (thinking I might post it when I first mentioned the scarf, but then decided to take a picture of ours.) I'm relatively pleased by how much this looks like the fake-real thing.  (Or is that the real-fake thing?) Of course, my knitting is much sloppier than the example, but my girls aren't critical fashionistas. They are simply brave and chivalrous Gryffindors who want to stay warm. 

Great Yarns for the Close-Knit Family

Mary Gildersleeve has a new book out that looks irresistable.

Great Yarns for the Close-Knit Family combines favorite family read-alouds with knitting projects. How fun is that! I see lots of our favorites on the list, which includes:

1. Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
a. Pinocchio Doll and Clothes

2. Canadian Summer by Hilda vanStockum
a. Mr. Magic’s Gnome Hat
b. Arthur Purcell’s “Gay” Sweater

3. The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkein
a. Bilbo’s Backpack
b. Bilbo’s Traveling Jacket

4. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder *
a. Ma’s Boot Socks
b. Pa’s Red-White Checked Mittens

5. Little House in the Highlands by Melissa Wiley *
a. Mittens for Laird Alroch & Auld Mary
b. Tullie Greyshanks Doll and Clothes

6. The Lost Island by Eilis Dillon
a. Fisherman’s Jersey
b. Wool Socks for the Journey

7. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
a. Mary Poppins’ Carpetbag
b. Mary Poppins’ Fur-trimmed Gloves

8. Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
a. Captain Cook (penguin doll)
b. Mr. Popper’s Cozy Scarf

9. Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle
a. Otto’s Chain Mail
b. Otto’s Scabbard and Belt

10. Redwall by Brian Jacques
a. Matthias’ Over-sized Habit
b. Asmodeus the Snake

11. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
a. Colin’s Rug and Cushion
b. Mrs. Sowerby’s Cloak

12. The Wheel on the School by Meindert deJong
a. Lina’s Stocking Cap
b. Thick Wools Socks for Linda & Jan

I'm already thinking about the Tullie Greyshanks Doll, Mr. Popper's Scarf and Matthias's habit ... I know what I hope to find tucked inside my Easter basket. (What's that, Atticus? I don't usually get an Easter basket? Well, I'm starting a new tradition this year.)

More info on the book can be found at the publisher's website, Hillside Education, which is fast becoming my favorite publisher of all-things-home-ed.

(Kind of) Domestic Me

Awhile back, I mentioned that I was longing to knit something. A few of you very kindly asked what I planned to knit, or mentioned that you hoped I'd post the results. I wasn't sure the results would be worth posting (I'm still a Novice Knitter), but here they are. The first hat, below, is now offically labeled "Practice" because the back of it is quite messy (will someone please explain to me how to connect the edges neatly? I'm hopelessly sloppy.)

My model, Mr. Putter, was extraordinarily patient with me as he posed for this. He did, however, have a disgusted look on his face just moments after this photo was taken.

The second hat turned out really well, as the chosen tool (a Knifty Knitter loom) did all the work for me. I added little bows that pull up the brim, and I was pleased with the final result. That one is for the little girl of a FOCUS Missionary couple we help to sponsor. For their new baby boy, I'll be knitting a new edition of the hat Mr. Putter is modeling, sans messy back seam and cat hair.

I'm hooked

A couple of days ago, I was feeling stressed out over a number of things.

I managed to slip away alone, to run some errands, and I was zooming through a discount store with several dozen projects, responsibilities and commitments weighing on me. I nearly zoomed past the craft department, but then I thought I heard something. Yes, it was an almost imperceptible voice, calling, calling me.

"Me? You talking to me?"

I turned around, wary of the vortex into which I could be drawn.

Yes, it was the siren song of the yarn, and it was beckoning me in. I was helpless to resist. I had to do it. Nothing else existed at that moment but my busy brain and the possibility of relieving its stress and worry with a new knitting project.

I picked up the yarn ... oh, these soft, baby colors ... maybe something for that new little one we just heard about.

As I strolled away (no more zooming) with the coveted yarn in my addicted little hands, I could feel the stress simply melting away.

Aaahhh. I was going to knit.

And, then, for a brief moment, there was denial ... is this really me? Domestically-challenged me? Craving, desiring, wanting to knit?

Yup. It's me.

Hi. My name is Karen. And I'm a knit-a-holic.

My knitting, such as it is

As sheepishly promised, here are the various projects we've been working on.

Betsy tries her Knifty Knitter hat on Mr. Putter, the cat.

I do love this fuzzy hat that I made for Ramona. It was extremely easy using a Knifty Knitter.

This is the doll scarf I knitted for the girls. I used knitting needles for this. Real knitting needles!

Here is the incredible widening scarf (see how cleverly I hid the flaws in the first picture?) How did I add stitches? I have no idea.

Now, I'm working on little scarf for Anne-with-an-e. Novice that I am, I have only one set of needles, and Betsy pilfered them, insisting that I teach her to knit. So, with my only needles involved in Betsy's project, what was I to do?

I improvised, with the help of the wonderful Jennifer, of the S/V Mari Hal-O-Jen. On this thread at the 4Real Forum, Jennifer suggested using chopsticks, sharpened in the pencil sharpener. That's exactly what I'm doing. Take a look:

I was so impressed with Jennifer's ingenuity and resourcefulness.

I'll keep you posted on our projects.

And, I'm thinking I may just want to eat Chinese this week.

I'm trying

I've been following Jennifer's sewing adventures, and I'm feeling envious. And a little inadequate in the mommy department, but that tends to happen with a number of things domestic.

Last week, at a 4-H meeting, I felt truly inadequate. At a previous meeting, our leader (a really lovely woman who would probably know how to design, create and sew a new sofa) said, "Be sure to bring your sewing machines to the next meeting!"

Ummm ... this assumes that I have a sewing machine. Oh, but, wait! I do! My sister recently gave me a small mending machine that she had bought, but never used. All I had to do was get that thing ready to go for our next meeting. (Okay, yes, I must confess that it had been sitting in the box for the two months subsequent to my sister's generous gesture.)

The day before our 4-H meeting (you knew it would happen the day before, didn't you?) I got it out, figured it out, and was inordinately proud of myself. Betsy happily stitched away on scraps of fabric, practicing a new-found skill. I patted myself on the back for having a sewing machine to tote to the meeting.

Once at the meeting, my pats on the back turned to furtive glances at the machines around me. Real machines. Big, intimidating machines. Machines that screamed out, "I know what I'm doing! I sew on a regular basis! I am the best of all possible machines, because I belong to a mother who knows how to sew!"

Not only did I have a pipsqueak of a machine, but I had allowed Betsy and Anne to pick out completely different fabric colors, so I had to change the bobbin and thread several times, which slowed us down and left Anne as the only one who didn't complete her project at the meeting. A real sewing mom would have thought to guide her children toward fabrics in the same color family, and my friend, J., had done exactly that. She knew what she was doing.

I whined to her, "I'm miserable at this stuff! Will we have a 4-H project that involves philosophy? Theology? I'm there. That I can do. This stuff? Not so much."

She laughed and told me I was doing fine, which perhaps I was, but I couldn't stop feeling like the Kindergartener in a college level class.

None of this is meant to deride the wonderful machine my sister so sweetly donated to me (somehow the word "donated" seems so appropriate as it calls to mind charity and the needy.) If it hadn't been for her thoughtfulness, I wouldn't have had a machine at all, and would've appeared truly needy, having to beg others for the privilege of using their machines. Would I then have faced the humiliation of hearing things like, "No! Not like that! You'll break it! Don't you have your own machine somewhere? Are you really a mom?"

So, I am really and truly grateful for the gift of the sewing machine, and it actually did a very nice job on Betsy's pillow. I'll post a picture of them soon (after we finish Anne's ... eventually ....) and maybe you can all assure me that I'm not a complete failure at some of this domestic stuff.

I've been consoling myself lately with teaching myself to knit. I've been inordinately proud of my efforts in this area as well, even though there's no reason to be. The hat I made Ramona was done on a Knifty Knitter, which anyone can do. The doll scarf, which I did with real knitting needles, looks pretty bad in places, and mysteriously widened at the end.

But, I'm proud of it all anyway, because, with a little help from The Mary Frances Knitting and Crocheting Book, I figured out how to cast on stitches and once I did that, the basic knitting that I did as a child came back to me in an instant. It was fun, and I can already see how people become addicted to these kinds of hobbies. There's such satisfaction in the finished product, even a bumpy and crooked one.

I have shown Atticus each little triumph, fishing for compliments. He's quite ready with them, probably as amazed as I am that I'm doing something so delightfully domestic.

Not bad for a woman who would rather snuggle up with a good encyclical.