Dishcloths

This time of year I find myself with bits and pieces of down time while watching volleyball games, sitting at the orthodontist's office, or even waiting for my daughter to finish one school subject so we can begin another.  During those moments, I enjoy working on a quick and easy knitting or crochet project.  It is sometimes amazing at how much can be accomplished when you only work on it 2 minutes here, or 4 minutes there.  Dishcloths are one of my favorite little projects to work on because they don't take much time, and before you know it, you have a cute little pile of functional items either to give as gifts or to replenish your own supply.  There are a wide variety of free patterns all over the internet.  I'm not sure exactly where I found this pattern, but it is one of my favorites.

Leftover Yarn and Baby Hats

Whenever I finish up a knitting or crochet project, and I have that little ball of yarn leftover, I don't ever seem to be able to just throw it away.  Instead, I save it knowing that some day I will make something out of it.  It seems like such a waste of a potential project.  Recently, in the midst of a big craft room reconstruction, I gathered together a number of lonely, little balls of yarn, and decided I needed to actually do something with them. 

Baby hats came to my mind first, so I chose a nice soft yarn, and began knitting away.  To make it easier to keep the little yarn ball under control, I used a cute little bucket to keep it contained so that I wouldn't be constantly chasing it as it fell off of the table.

I was making great progress .....

when several stitches fell off of one of the double pointed needles.  I tried briefly to get them back on before they began unraveling as quick as they possibly could.  When this happened, I decided I would much rather just pull everything off of the needles and begin once again.  I think the time I spend trying to pick up those little stitches is too stressful, and especially on this small of a project, the stress just isn't worth it to me.  So soon after I took the above picture, my sweet little hat looked like this:

Not to worry though.  I just began once again, and was extra careful when I got close to the end, holding my breath through every decrease round.  This time around success was there waiting for me.

So, one half of a ball down (the hats really don't use up very much yarn), and many, many more to go.  But with the variety of yarns I have to work with, I certainly won't be getting bored.

Organizing and Knitting

The other day I was going through some papers when I came across a pattern for a circle cloth dishcloth.  So I set it to the side knowing I wanted to give it a try.  As a matter of fact, I then proceeded to put away the basket of items I was going through, made a visit to my yarn stash, located the proper size needles, and began knitting right then and there.  Don't you think that is a fun thing to do while organizing papers?  In fact, I haven't revisited that particular basket since because I am still knitting away.  I figure it is all part of the organizing process.  Why find a pattern just to neatly put it in its proper place.  Why not begin working on the pattern immediately.

Knitting

My mom taught me how to knit when I was about 9 or 10 years old. Some of my other friends at school were learning how, and I thought it looked like fun. I can imagine that this truly was a labor of love on my mother's part, because she really does not like to knit. She is a crochet person, and does so beautifully. I can't even remember ever seeing her knit, but I guess I just assumed she knew how. I learned on an old pair of wooden needles that seemed to have been a part of our household forever (of which I now have the honor of possessing). She only knew the basics, but that was enough to get me going. I still enjoy knitting; however, it takes me a really long time to finish something. I've never made anything amazing, just small projects throughout the years. My mother-in-law has also taught me more detailed knitting. She is an amazing knitter!! At one point, she even owned her own yarn shop. I have always been absolutely amazed at the projects she finishes in an unbelievable short amount of time. I'm quite certain that my niece, Rachel, has inherited this skill from her. Rachel is a busy mom with 4 small children, and never ceases to amaze me at the projects that she turns out in such rapid succession.

For the past few years I have been drawn to all of the pretty sock yarn that is out there on the market. When I visit a yarn shop, I always find my way over to this particular yarn, pick it up, and think that I would really like to learn how to knit socks. I have checked books out at the library reading about how to knit socks, but have never actually come to the point where I have begun to knit socks. For my birthday this year, one of my daughters gave me this as a gift:



Everything I need to make my own pair of socks!! My birthday is in the summertime, so obviously I haven't begun them yet; but am looking forward to the perfect cold winter day when I can sit down with a hot cup of tea, pick up my needles and yarn, and begin knitting socks.