Knit Finger Puppets

On Wednesday, as my cold was coming to an end, I spent the evening knitting with a group of delightful women. Because my car had two other places to go that evening, my middle daughter gave me and her younger sister a ride to the shop where the group was meeting.

During the evening the other women asked my youngest daughter what she was making. When she showed them the finger puppet she was knitting, they all wanted to know where her pattern came from.



I had to confess that I had created the basic pattern about 2 and a half years ago. They all wanted a copy of the instructions. Since they were willing to test the instructions for me, I went home, found my handwritten instructions and entered them into the computer. Then to see how to explain attaching the skirt, I made another one.



For Christmas 2006 I made my young granddaughters some finger puppets and you can see some of them on my finger puppet webpage .

Socks, Socks, Socks

Either my days have been blessed with fewer hours than usual, or I have been busier than usual. Blogging has taken a back burner for most of the month. Time to show and tell what has been going on in my life -- at least as far as crafts go.

I have made a few sock over the past 40 years, but only with worsted weight yarn. My middle daughter is very persuasive, so, many months ago I started a pair with thinner sock yarn. I finished the first heel in October. I wanted to knit both cuffs at the same time to get them the same length, so I started the second sock shortly after that. Well, I finished them both a few weeks ago.


Now with these socks done, I could start the learning socks in Cat Bordhi's book New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I was given some leftover yarn by my enabling middle daughter (I still love her),







and the Little Sky Sock - the first learning sock- was soon finished. Amazing how much quicker baby socks knit up. (Especially when the yarn and needles are bigger.)








That meant I was ready and eager to start the second learning sock. I decided to use my
leftover sock yarn this time.






Little Corilolis worked up almost as quickly, so quickly in fact, that within a week I had finished 3 pairs or socks. (Of course 2 were baby size, but I'll try to ignore that.)










Now I thought was a good time to get back to work on my brown sweater -- supposed to be for fall, now to be for spring.

I even spent enough time on it to reach a point where I need to begin shaping the sleeves and armholes. Then the week-long school winter vacation started, I came down with a cold, and life seemed to get busier. Oh well, cold is now gone and vacation is almost done.

Shrugs and tiny mesh net bag

I've decided it's easier to find time to knit and net than to blog. Time having been at a premium this past couple of weeks, it got filled with knitting and netting and no blogging. So to make amends . . .

I saw a picture of a shrug recently in Lace Style called Retro Redux Shrug designed by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark. I liked the look of it and wondered if it would keep my arms and shoulders warm. So, I found some unlabeled worsted weight wool I had been given and gave it a try.
















I was pleasantly surprised at how warm it did keep my shoulders and upper arms.


My next thought was, "Can I create a net shrug?"

So I dived into my left-over-from-other-projects yarn and grabbed some fluffy type of yarn. Using just a plain net stitch, I came up with a pattern that will serve as a springboard for other shrugs.














My biggest problem was that I used up all the yarn I had in that color and type of yarn. The shrug will work, but in the future I will want to add more length to the sleeves, and more of an edging to the rest of the shrug. I also have some ideas for fancy stitches and shrugs.

I was delighted with the way it kept my arms and shoulders warm, while at the same time it didn't get into things while I was cooking or cleaning like a cape or shawl would.




I finally got the heel turned on the second sock and now I can work both socks at the same time and not need to worry about one being longer than the other.


I guess at this point in time knitting socks is not exactly on the top of my list of things to do, since the heel of the first sock was turned back in October. I do hope to finish these sooner rather than later, since I really want to get into Cat Bordhi's new sock book and I am insisting that I will finish this pair before starting one from her book (which I got for my birthday).









Oh, yes. One other project that has been gradually making progress. The very tiny mesh net bag.

I finished the circle going from the center to the edges.


It looks like an oval because it is not stretched out evenly.




A bit of pinning took care of that problem.














Then I needed to create a foundation loop in the middle of a circle. I took some crochet thread and formed a square in the center of the circle (seen here from one side, and then the other).



(No I didn't change the color, the computer / camera did. The bag is still a lovely shade of light purple.)










The white doubled crochet thread becomes the new foundation loop. The orange stitch marker indicates where the first circular netting round began.



Now it is just a matter of netting around and around until the bag is as tall as I want to make it. Then I will net some handles.

The mesh is small enough that size 2 knitting needles will not go through the mesh, although size 1 will barely. The mesh stick is a 0000. I am hoping to make it large enough that it will hold a ball of sock yarn and the needles as well as the socks being made.

Tiny mesh net bag started

I like variety and, while I can and have made a pattern over and over if there was a good reason, I decided there were many techniques I had not yet tried with net bag making. So this bag is different from the others I have made recently.

I decided to make a circular base, but since I am using such a small mesh stick -- 0000 size knitting needle, I decided to make it using decreases only. To accomplish this I need to start in the middle of the circle, with the maximum number of loops, and work toward one end gradually decreasing the number of loops and forming a half circle. Then I will go back and, starting again at the middle of the circle, work the opposite direction toward the other end decreasing the number of loops to create the full circle.

I started by netting a chain of 72 knots. That gave me two rows of 36 loops. I then ran a crochet thread through the 36 loops on one side to create my foundation cord.

I attached each end of the foundation cord to an old pillow using safety pins . . .

. . . then I net 1 row across the 36 loops not in the foundation cord, creating row 3.

Here is the 3rd row with the mesh stick still through the loops.




and the same without the mesh stick.



I gradually decreased the number of loops to create a half circle. When I had only 7 loops in the row, I cut the thread and joined the thread in the netting needle to the thread left hanging from the starting chain.

Here is the half circle attached to the pillow, with the needle joined to the thread from the starting chain.

Here is a close-up of the netting. The reason it looks more like a half oval than a half circle is because it is not stretched out. That will happen when it is blocked as a circle.

To start netting the other direction, I removed the foundation cord from the 36 loops of row 1 and replaced it in the 7 loops in row 36.




With the thread in the netting needle joined to the wide middle of the circle it is time to create the other half of the circle by repeating the process used in creating the first half of the circle.



The 0000 knitting needle mesh stick is at the bottom of this photo and the foundation cord is in the 7 loops at the top. The second half of the circle has begun.

Finished projects - first of many for the new year

And here I thought January would slow down. HA!

I have finished a few projects and finally taken photos.

First is the front of the "rag" quilt. . .



as well as the back side.


I found my hands were getting cold when driving early in the morning. So I decided to make a pair of mittens. My middle daughter showed me some she was making and I decided to make myself a pair of peek-a-boo mittens. I like the fact that my fingers can get out easily, but will need to make some adjustments with the opening. My hands do stay warmer than with the gloves I had.


Now with these projects out of the way maybe I can try to get some netting done. Maybe a net bag to hold my knitting?

Christmas Tradition

Each Christmas since 1971, our first as a married couple, we have written a Christmas poem. In those early years it was an inexpensive way to give a present to our parents and nearly 20 siblings. Eventually it evolved into an annual tradition. This year I finally placed the poems online.

As Christmas rapidly approaches this year I wish . . .

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All!

Unto All
Heavenly choirs sang out with joy, proclaiming Jesus' birth
To shepherds watching o'er their sheep. They sang of peace on earth.
The startled shepherds hurried forth to Bethlehem to find
The baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, the Savior of mankind.

The joyous angel songs can now be sung by every voice.
The joy the shepherds felt can cause our own hearts to rejoice.
We too can fill the air with songs of praise to Christ our king.
We too can bow to honor him, to him our greetings bring.

We can fulfill the promised bliss of peace to men on earth.
We can esteem each child of God as one of precious worth.
With love and service to the least of these our fellow beings,
We render love and service to our Lord, the King of Kings.

by Robert and Rita Bartholomew
Christmas 2007

Advent Calendar

The last couple of weeks have been busy. I recently saw an advent calendar that I really liked and so proceeded to make a couple, one for me and one to give away to my oldest son and his family (we drew his family for Christmas). Since that one has been given away (received and displayed) it is now safe to show it. I still have the pattern and I may, over the next several years, make more to give to my other married children.



I like the way that Mary and Joseph travel a bit each day going from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

The shepherds and their sheep are also present.

And the stable has its manger filled with hay. Part of me says the star should not have been glued on but should have had Velcro attached to it so it could be placed above the stable on Christmas Eve. Oh well, maybe I can do that next time.









On the back is a small doll, wrapped in "swaddling clothes," waiting to be placed in the manger on Christmas Eve.









I also finished clipping my 3rd son's quilt and washed it once. Then I had to find all the holes in the seams where I had accidentally cut the thread. Now I just need to sew up those seams and wash it again. Then, after I take appropriate photos, I will present it to him. Only 6 months late.