Neckwarmer, bandana cowl from the Purl Bee

 Found this free patten on the internet and thought it would be just right for walking the dogs, as there is not a lot of bulk in the back and enough coverage in the front to pull it up over my face when the cold wind blows.

I located two yarns that knitted together would give me the bulky requirement of the pattern, measured over the 100 yards the pattern required and started to knit it.  Once I understood how to complete the short rows it was very simple to complete.  I ran out of yarn however, so it is shorter than the pattern by one inch.  Of course, I found more yarn a week later when I wasn't looking for it.

It hasn't been cold enough to use yet, but I am planning on making another for sure and maybe two, if I can find a suitable chunky/bulky yarn.

One More Dishcloth then, hopefully, just one more...

 I found this lace pattern on Jessica Tromp's marvelous knitting site, page 21.  I had no difficulty knitting it and think it will work as one of the panels in my Cream Afghan.

I will be knitting one more dishcloth to finalize plans for the other panel and then to the spreadsheet for figuring out my total stitch numbers.  I am so anxious to have this search behind me and to start again to knit that afghan.



I want to finish it so I can knit something else-isn't that the way it always is.


By the way, this design had no name and I haven't looked for it in any of my stitch books.

UFO completed? No....but

Okay, I have not been working on my UFO's this week.  But I have been working.  Here are some completed items.

Butterfly Lace Dishcloth

 Why this work on dishcloths?  Well, I have been using so much time trying to decide how to knit my cream afghan that I thought I might as well accomplish something instead of swatches.  And my ten skeins of encore is a UFO so this is what I did.  I searched dishcloths on Ravelry and found some interesting designs and stitches.  This first one was a challenge to chart and apply my Moss Stitch variation.  It is done, but I don't think I will use it.  If it doesn't interest me while knitting a dishcloth I don't think my interest will be maintained over an afghan.


This shows the Moss Stitch detail.  

Moss Stitch instead of Reverse Stockinette

This red one uses a stitch pattern from Barbara Walkers Treasury and I think it will make it into the afghan.  It is a simple pattern with a little texture and will combine nicely with a Gull Stitch-whatever I decide on-in the other panel

Three dishcloths completed

This one is also from Ravelry; it is called Lake Ariel and is a nice design.  I enjoyed knitting it, but I don't think it will make it into the afghan.  

Another View

These pictures will go into my projects on Ravelry.
I think I need to designate one day a week to work on finishing something.  My goal today was to get the afghan planned for sure for knitting on Wednesday.

More UFO's completed

I started this blog with a list of unfinished projects I had around here and, of course, I WONDERed if I would ever get around to finishing them at this point in my life.  I was retired this year when the company I worked for was sold.  So sad-no party-no work-no extra money-but still lots to do right here.  That was in February and most of the UFO's are still here, but I am making progress.  I am making more projects to finish, but I have to in order to use yarn and fabric.  Is this win-win or lose-lose.  Anyone know for sure?


I finished these three BSJ's for charity.  Do young mothers put these on their babies?  The question of the day.  I would make more if I knew the answer was "yes".

The multicolored one helped me to not WONDER if I should start another one to use up yarn leftovers-all those ENDS to sew in.

I like the white one, yes, I do.  I would repeat making this one and it is one I would have enjoyed putting on one of my babies.  I will knit more of these-Oh, no, I forgot those UFO's again-change that to read: I hope to knit more of these to go with the baby quilts I make.  Sure wonder if they would sell so I could buy more yarn and fabric.




I also worked on the Green Sweater.  I stupidly-optimistically?-thought it would take a day to finish.  It will!!!  One day to redo twice and finish the neck edge.  One day to sew in half a sleeve and research how to do it correctly on YouTube.  One day to sew in one sleeve correctly.  Still not finished at this time.  Will need more one days.

Adult Surprise Jacket

I really WONDER why I do these things.  I have all this yarn in my stash but not enough to make any one item out of one color, if you get what I mean.  And it's all wool.  I like wool.  I like to knit with wool.  But I am probably the only person in the world who actually wears it and is not afraid to wash it and let it dry.  So I can't knit it up in items for charity as they all need to be made with acrylic.  So, what to do?  I have made some Baby Surprise Jackets in junk yarn I had around and after reworking the first one twice I have a pretty good handle on knitting them.

So, I got the Adult Surprise Jacket pattern to use up my wools of various colors.  Because of my previous experience with the BSJ, I knew better than to just start this project.  I pulled out a like scrap skein and started to follow the directions with the intent to size them down to doll size.  So this is what I did today.  Yeah, it took me all day after church and walking the dogs. Oh, that wasn't all I did.  I spent hours researching ASJ's on the web.  I saw pictures of many I liked and read notes by the knitters on Ravelry.  I do WONDER why I spend so much time there, but it is helpful in so many ways-what to try and what not to try.

It was only partially successful; the front neck edge was much longer than the back and if you follow her percentage system that shouldn't happen.   The experiment will need to be repeated for a bigger doll with more attention paid to the neck directions.

EZ's directions are very unclear and here is an example: "Slip all first stitches and, paragraphs later, increase in the first stitch". Can't do both, sorry.

Miss M. loved the little jacket so I will finish it up for her doll.  She especially like the variegated stripe.

But, I didn't do any sewing on the green sweater.  I don't think I like sewing knitted sections together.  Will try again tomorrow.

UFO out of the closet

My Green Sweater

I don't know why I stalled so long before completing the knitting on the sweater.  I can only guess that reading that it should be blocked before sewing together halted my progress.  I've always blocked afterwards, not in the process.  Also, I didn't think the color was all that great.  But like most projects, it looked better after it hasn't seen the light of day for a while.

The only knitting left was the back neck band.  I wasn't sure how to do this, but I did it today and hope to sew it tomorrow as well as sew in the sleeves.

The bottom of the sweater.  The stitch pattern I choose after swatching many was Arrow from Barbara Walkers 2nd Treasury.  It was knit with NatureSpun, 100% wool from the Brown Sheep Co.  I love knitting with wool.

Here is the cuff.  I took a portion of the Arrow pattern to add some interest to this portion of the sweater. I like how the sleeves fit and am glad it worked out with Sweater Wizard.

Halloween and the Old Lady

Miss M. chose to be an old lady for Halloween this year.  We have no clue where this idea came from, but she didn't change her mind and ever consider something else.  Her Mom got her a wig that fit wonderfully, a cane that wasn't too long for her and some "old lady" shoes and glasses.  I knit her an "old lady" shawl that fit her perfectly and she was ready to go.  Here are some pictures.