Yeah, the Scarf Makes All the Difference

You can see it, too, can't you? 

This gentleman is a mildly attractive, moderately intelligent, hard working man.  But with that amazing blue, hand knit scarf...WOW!!!!  Doesn't he look devastatingly handsome and brilliant?

That's what one of my knit scarves does for a person.

You wish you had one, too, don't you?

Just Because You CAN Make Something Doesn't Mean That You SHOULD

I have been perusing sewing and pattern websites recently.  I have found some great stuff, but I have also seen some things that lead me to think only one thing:

Why?

A cloth flower arrangement.

Big stuffed cone things that stand in a corner for decoration.

A child's quilt that would give a small child nightmares for years, and probably drive him into therapy as an adult.

A decorative...uh...thing....for carrying in firewood.

Seriously?

And doesn't the world have enough kids running around wearing ugly pointy hats? Think about all the husbands forced to wear ugly, ill-fitting sweaters, and all the relatives who pretend to be excited about those handmade salt and pepper cozies.

I've never even heard of a child saying, "Please, may I have an embroidery hoop monster for Christmas?"

Don't get me wrong.  I definitely believe in loving something because so much love went into making it, and I'm sure that some of my relatives are going to open their homemade gifts from me and force a grateful smile (or be grateful that they live far away so they don't even have to pretend to like it).

But sometimes, folks in the sewing and crafting world need to just say "no."

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

It's official.  I'm just about out of time.  There are gifts that simply aren't going to be finished in time for Christmas. The acknowledgement of that reality is disappointing, but it's also liberating.

It means that I can give up the feeling that I have to spend every free moment knitting, crocheting, and embroidering.  I can actually read a bit if I want, or spend more time with my boys. I can choose to slow down and take a little extra time with a project, rather than rushing through it just to get it done.

The whole point of homemade gifts is to make something that's extra special for those I love, and to put a little bit of myself into each gift. It's hard to add those special touches when you're counting the hours of free time you'll have between now and Christmas and dividing that by the average length of time each gift project takes.  For some reason, that steals some of the magic for me.

So now I can slow down. I can take the time to enjoy the holiday season a bit.

And I will.

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Peppermint Candy

This scarf is made with a strand of Quick and Cozy white yarn (the super soft stuff) and a strand of worsted weight red, knitted together using size 13 needles and a regular knit stitch all the way through.  Yup.  Easy peasy, huh?  But look how pretty it is...and soft! Oh my goodness, this is a piece I wish I could keep, but no, it's going to one of my cousins as a gift.  I know she'll love it.

The creativity of this venture has really surprised me.  I find myself sitting down quietly before I start a new piece and thinking about its intended recipient.  What is s/he like? What gives him/her joy? What would make him/her smile? Then I make yarn and needle choices and envision how it will look when I'm finished.

There's something very therapeutic about making something with your own hands.  Most people these days don't get to experience it, but it's really something.  If you haven't, I encourage you to take a leap of faith and try it.

Yarn Worthy?

I've been sick for the last few days, so I've been posting photos on Facebook, but I haven't been posting here.  I know, shame on me.

This is scarf #2, knitted in Wool Ease Thick and Quick yarn (color: denim twist), using the basic knit stitch.  Cast on 12, knit as many rows as you want for your perfect length, then bind off.  Easy, huh?

But it looks beautiful!  I don't think this really comes through in the photo, but the dark blue part looks almost ribbon-like in the finished product.

This scarf got me thinking about yarn.  I used to think that yarn was yarn, and the only real difference in yarn knowledge was between normal people like me and those folks who spin their own yarn (you know, the hippie folks who live in communes in northern California...the ones whose children run around naked with flowers in their hair.  Of course, anyone running around naked in the far north of California is just crazy because it's cold, which is why women knit and spin their own yarn......but I digress....) was that those people made their own yarn and I bought mine.

Yeah, I was wrong (shocking, huh?). The choices of yarn are mind boggling. Just when I think I have it figured out, I discover more.The most exciting discovery I've made so far is that your yarn choice probably plays the most important part in how your product will come out.  You can knit exactly the same the thing using different types of yarn and it won't look at all like you knitted the same thing.  For example, I have used the simple knit stitch for my first 4 scarves and they look completely different, not like they were all made from with the same simple stitch.

But there's something else I learned.  The really cool yarns are expensive.  Bummer.  I knew there had to be a catch to it. I absolutely love Quick and Cozy yarn for scarves.  It's gorgeous and very, very soft. I can't wait to make a throw blanket with it, too.

And it costs almost $9.00 per skein.  Ouch!  And it takes 2 - 2.5 skeins to make a scarf.  Double ouch!

But it's so beautiful!

So, now I'm thinking about how "yarn-worthy" my friends and relatives are. Some are definitely worthy of the more expensive yarns.  Others, not so much. You know what I mean.

It reminds me of that episode of Seinfeld when Elaine is describing her struggle about deciding if a man is "sponge worthy." Do you remember it? The contraceptive sponge has just gone off the market and women were stuck with the sponges they had in their own private inventories.  Once they were gone, they were gone, so they had to be used judiciously.

There is no shortage of fancy yarn, but its cost makes it scarce and precious in my world. Now the knitting Christmas gifts project has become much more complicated.

So much for simplifying my life.

Beautiful Wizard of Oz Quilt

My friend, Linda, sent me these photos of a beautiful quilt she made for one of her grandchildren.  I love projects like this.  It's not only beautifully done, but it's fun, cute, and likely to be cherished for a long, long time.

Enjoy!

My First Scarf!

Well, I did it.  Last night I finished my first scarf!  It wasn't my first knitting project (frankly, I'm too embarrassed to share the first three things I tried - at least for now), but this was the first project that I completed and that looks pretty nice.  In fact, I think it came out looking terrific!

It's hard to see from the picture, but it's a black and grey scarf, about 8" wide.  I used black Wool Ease Thick and Quick yarn (2.5 skeins) and black/grey Fun Fur yarn (3 skeins). I knitted with both yarns together (holding a strand from each together as one), using a simple garter stitch for the entire piece, casting on 16 stitches on size 13 needles.  It took me a total of about 9 hours to complete, but remember, I'm a newbie.  I'm sure most experienced knitters could whip this out in 3 hours or so.

Interestingly, I didn't see this scarf online or in a pattern book anywhere.  On Thanksgiving, I was at my Aunt's house knitting a scarf for a cousin, using regular worsted weight 5 yarn and size 6 needles. It was slow going, and I was discouraged by my mistakes.  My cousin's girlfriend, who has been knitting for years, suggested that I try using a thick yarn and bigger needles. Hmmm. That didn't sound like a bad idea at all.  Then I got the idea to add the Fun Fur, hoping that it might make any newbie mistakes a little less noticeable. 

It worked like a charm. The larger needles and thicker yarn made the project go much faster, and I made very few mistakes.  The few mistakes I made are completely hidden by the Fun Fur.  No one will ever know.  Well, now everyone knows because I've put it out there publicly on the internet, but you wouldn't have known if I hadn't told you.

I can't even begin to express the sense of accomplishment I have. I showed the finished product to one of my friends today, and he said, "Wow! That looks like something you would buy at a store!"  I can't think of a sweeter compliment.

My next project is another scarf, a Christmas gift, in Thick and Quick Denim Twist (black and denim blue striped) yarn. No Fun Fur this time.  I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm dying to make a blanket, but I have several holiday scarves to make first.  The practice will do me good. I also have some needlepoint Christmas gifts to finish.

A New Look at Mom's Needlework

My mother stitched this piece a long time ago. I always liked it because I love the Serenity Prayer, but I never really looked at it until today.

For years it was up on the top shelf of a wall unit in the living room at home.  You could barely see it, but I knew it was there. Then I brought it to the office and slid it between two bookshelves until I found the time to hang it.  That was months ago.

Today I pulled it out and took a closer look. All of the lettering is in cross stitch and the rest is made up of a variety of stitches. It's beautiful, but simple.  Maybe some of the beauty really is found in its simplicity.

Upon close inspection each tiny stitch is visible. I know how painstaking the process is: following the pattern, counting the squares, finding the right one, making the stitch so it's not too loose and not too tight, moving on to the next, then changing thread colors and starting again.  Over and over again. Mom didn't make this in an hour or two.  It took longer.  I wonder where she started. Did she get frustrated and put it down while she finished other projects? Or did she focus on it from start to finish? Did she intend for this to end up with me when she started it?

I am humbled when I compare this to some of the simple needlework projects I have started with - a few bookmarks, some place mats, a towel.

I'm inspired to take on something a bit bigger now.

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The Journey Begins

I'm not a craft person.  I don't scrapbook, and the only gifts I've made for people were baked goods, but even those were very simple and uninspired.  I used to say it was because I'm not a creative person, but that's just hogwash. I'm a writer.  Creativity oozes from my pores.

The truth is that I was scared, insecure, and unsure that I could do it. Besides, I'd tell myself, who has the time for that? I'm a small business owner.  I work more than full time, and I have a family.  Time is the most valuable resource I have.  Why would I squander it on a hobby?

But it became clear to me one day that my life was less than fulfilling in recent years.  I had put too much of myself into my work and my family's needs, to the degree that there wasn't much of me left. When I told my husband that I was going to start taking time for me to do things that I enjoy, no one was more shocked than I was that I had no clue about what that might be.

I was looking for something that I could do around the family because I was already away from them too much because of my work.  And I wanted something that would challenge me.  I wanted to learn, stretch myself.

Then I remembered my mother.  Mom passed away five years ago.  She was an avid knitter, cross stitcher, and quilter.  She sewed many of my clothes in childhood and adulthood. I have fond memories of going to church wearing homemade dresses that matched my mom's.  She would help me make matching dresses for my dolls, too, so they looked like me the way I looked like mom. I remember laughing with her at the funny knitted projects she would produce.  They didn't always look quite right, but they were always useful.  The slippers she knitted for me are still my favorite. I'm grateful that she made me about 10 pairs so I still have some even though she's gone.

It occurred to me that taking up the same hobby that she enjoyed so much would be a way to connect me to her, and it helped that I already had a little experience (emphasis on the word little). Mom taught me the basics of knitting - the real basics like the knit stitch.  She never taught me how to cast on or bind off, but I could knit the garter stitch til the cows came home. She also taught me the basics of crochet and cross stitch. We did a little rug hooking once, too. And as I already mentioned, she taught me how to use the sewing machine to make clothes for my dolls.

After buying a few supplies and trying my hand at a few things, here's what I remember:

Knitting - I still remember the basic knit stitch.
Crochet - I remember it involves a hook, but I remember nothing that she taught me.
Cross stitch and needlepoint - I remember it pretty well.  I was never very good, but at least I know what to do.

So, about 10 days, I started out again as newbie to needlework and yarn crafts. I was immediately puzzled by things like all the possible yard, floss, and thread choices. And those knitting patterns - what do all those strings of letters and numbers mean? I was faced with too many choices and not enough information.  I responded to the challenge as I always do; I started to research and ask questions.

This blog is all about sharing that journey and what I learn along the way. I'll be posting pictures of the projects I complete, free patterns, links to helpful websites, sources of project ideas, book reviews of useful books, lessons I learn, and tips from experts.

How this blog evolves depends largely on you.  Tell me what you want.  Offer advice, tips, and resources.  Join me on this journey.

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