Some more Crochet

 

  

Mark and I have been re-watching a tv series at night, and I've been using up some more stash yarn.  I made the green bag first, and have been using it as a purse.  The original reason to make it differently than my other net bag pattern was that it was more closed, and could keep rain off a library book.  I really like the way the stripes turned out on it, and the handles.

 I started making two other things out of the dark green yarn, but there wasn't enough to do much with - so I made a pair of slippers out of it instead.  I ran out of yarn just as I finished the second one -  and then ran an edge of gold yarn around it to make it a bit more even looking.

 

And the dogs had told me something about needing even more floor rugs - since we keep having to boot them off the one by the stove when we cook.  I'm not really sure where another rug could fit - but I used up a bit more stash yarn to make a really nice striped pattern.  I still have to tie up all the yarn bits on it.

 

The green shawl I made this summer while I was waiting for them to do my eye surgeries. It was something I could do (all one stitch straight across) and keep my mind off things. 

 

I finally sewed up all the ends yesterday and patched the one spot where the dark green yarn had frayed to a single strand and I hadn't noticed until after they fixed my eyes -- when I was at the end of it. It looks like it will hold with the repair and I am still quite happy with it. It fits around my shoulders and neck and is very warm, just like the one I had made with this yarn before. 

 

More than that - it's a sort of 'container' for that time and all the thoughts and uncertainty that was in those hours, but I was still pressing on with doing things rather than sit there and stare at the wall thinking about things I couldn't make happen faster or fix by myself.

Knit we go in quarantine

Well, except that I am an essential worker.  But, I will remember this as the item I knit during this time.  I have a pink version of this one that I knit a few months ago, and I have worn it as a skirt (belly warmer) and a shawl, and used it simply to cover my legs while I sit and read or type.

It is a size 7 circular needle, and this particular one comfortably fits about 130 to 150 stitches before they want to pop off.  So, that is the size these blankets are.  It works out with the Red Heart acrylic yarn to be about 3 feet wide, and then I knit them about 4 foot long.

They are really handy little things to have around.
Weaving in all the ends of the stripes can be a bit hectic, but they look too plain otherwise, and I use up lots of little balls of scrap yarn in the process.

The nubbly areas are seed-stitch alternated for three to five rows and then back to garter stitch.  The stripe rows are two passes of each color.

Really simple but effective and useful knitting.

//

I saw a LOT of knitting posts lately, and yarn stashes, and deliveries etc etc... and I'm not doing anything fancy or ordering a lot of special yarn.. but I am glad to have something to work on.

I washed up and finished out the two Simply Soft scarves I had been making - one in magenta garter stitch and one in grey brick stitch.  They are about 10 to 12 inches wide and 5 and 6 foot long. respectively.  They are lovely and useful, as well.  I wore one of them around my neck up to the mailbox when it was cold the other morning, and the other one I had worn when I was wearing the pink shawl as a skirt and kept warm on top and bottom. 

That is a good yarn to hold up, although 3.68 per skein now at the store and what I have is mostly because Mark and Esme have given me them over the years as presents - silky and colorful yarns, they are definitely the type to draw the eye in.  I threw both of the scarves through the wash and they came out very nice - except I also threw in a wool scarf I had forgotten what it was made of and it came out really soft but kind of small - only 6 inches now by about 4 feet - but it is still a good neckwarmer type for tucking into a jacket collar.  I've worn a few of my knit hats, too lately - same reasons.. and making more of those for the 'pile' would be useful, too.

I also finished two net market bags, one book size and the other towel size for the beach.  The towel one is made of the same green yarn as this.

And of course wash cloths, I had stacks of them a few weeks ago - and they are all finished up and put into circulation.

Esme's shrug

Here is what the shrug looks like on Esme :)

I made chicken enchiladas tonight.  I'm about to sit down to work a little more on the 'rent' type shawl and maybe read some of my book.  This morning Esme was not thrilled at all about another week of school -- but she got up and got going. 

Knitted shrugs

 

 

This first shrug is actually Esme's.  She picked out the colors for it from my collection and I tried to find a pattern that would look okay with them.  

 

 Hers is straight across at the back and doesn't have the 'tail' of the other one.

I do need to work at the neckline a bit if I make a third one - and figure out how to do that part neater.

This is the one I made first, and it fits me but does not fit her.  I started it with scrap yarn I had left from other projects and continued in the blue because I had a lot of that.  It goes around my arms just like hers does, but the back hangs down further because I hadn't worked out what I was going to do with it until I saw the shrugs in the Outlander series and said 'Maybe that.'

Now I'm working with the general idea of the 'Rent' shawl, with the increases in the mid center.  I tried a few online patterns and couldn't work out what they were trying to do.  So, I'm going at it mathematically and figuring it out as I go. 

Another long week of work and school for all of us.  I get next Sunday off.

bits and furballs

We have four extra fuzzy furballs in the house tonight, thanks to a yellow cat. I finished Esme's knit socks but she does not like them. She took them off, put them on our bed and said 'do not want'. She liked the yarn, but doesn't like the finished product because they don't go up to her knees. That made me sad - but oh well :( I'm not sure if I want to try to knit her knee-highs or not... will have to think on it.

I have tomorrow off, and I have some new fabric for making Esme another new dress. She said she did not like the plain navy fabric that was to mix with something I have at home but then I chose another print that she did like - so I hope she will accept that. Now that she has gotten some bit older she is starting to tell me exactly what she DOES NOT like, and be firm about it - like the socks. *sigh*

Finished Object Round Up: I haven't taken pictures of everything that has been finished lately - but there have been quite a few things. Add that to what I've made in the past year or so and a lot of it is in use. So here is a round-up of the handmade items in use in our house:

Esme's knit scarf (with her name crocheted on it).
Her knitted sweater.
My knitted hat, scarf and gloves.
My slipper socks.
House jackets and drawstring pants made for myself.
Green dress and sleeveless shirt made for myself.
Extra pillows for the beds, two regular, one patchwork, two dragons ;)
Esme's alphabet quilt.
Dishcloths galore in the kitchen.
Lots of handmade toys including Clarence the dragon and the snake.
Lots of handmade dresses and pants for Esme constantly replaced as she grows.

The green dress doesn't fit me as tightly as it did when I made it. That is a good thing, I guess - because I've lost a little weight. But.. *growl*.. maybe I can put a pair of ties on it. I still need to take the sleeves out of it and replace them with something better and more 'smooth.' The sleeveless shirt is okay to wear for bed but the elastic band across the back pulls it up too much. Both of those are examples of 'wearable' but not well done.