Best knitting advise....RELAX!

As I'm knitting again and find myself tensing up, I remember the best advise my mom gave me.....RELAX VON!   She would tell me  to rest my work on my lap and relax or I would end up being very sore after knitting for hours.   Now that I'm knitting again after 30 years, I find myself thinking of my Mom every time I catch myself being tense. Miss her and wish she was here to ask for help when I get stuck. Also....wish I would have paid more attention!

Bouncing baby set from Homespun handknit

My friend was looking for a pair of booties that would stay on her great niece's feet. I ended up making The Easy Bootie pattern from Lion Brand. Following the pattern for an infant, on a K needle just fit a 1 year old. I made them a little longer and they did stay on. While searching for a pattern I ran across a picture of the Bouncing Baby Set from Homespun Handknit. An internet search found the book on Amazon and Ebay but I NEED IT NOW! Was able to borrow a copy at the local library, ALRIGHT. I don't know anyone with a baby under the age of 1 that it would fit but I HAVE to make it, just awesome. Jean Scorgie form Denver CO derived the cap from a Finnish one belonging to a friend. The knee socks are designed to stay on, they are shaped around the knee. Reminds me of something my Dad might have worn when he was an infant. The pattern calls for a 4 ply Cotten weight fingering yarn for the cap and a similar weight yarn in a Cotten-acrylic blend for the leggings. It's snowing here in PA today, a good day to fool around with this pattern. Only problem is the only yarn I have in that weight is an acrylic fingering yarn from Bernat. Feels like it might be hard to work with, we will see. The gage looks to be similar. I'm not too good with yarn weight and gages. This is exciting! LOL. There are a lot of great patterns in Homespun Handknit that are made on double point needles. Guess I'm going to have to learn how to knit on double point needles next.

Dish Cloth Pattern

Mom's dish cloth pattern: #9 needles ( use Cotten yarn) Cast on 4 stitches Knit 2 rows even K2, yarn over, knit to the end of row Repeat this row over and over until you have 44 stitches Work as follows: K1, K2 together, yarn over, k2 together, knit to the end of the row Repeat this row until you have 4 stitches remaining Knit 2 rows even on the 4 stitches Bind off

Learn How Book

This is the book my Mom gave me when she was teaching me to manipulate knots in the 70's. I keep it right by my side because I'm still learning! Notice it cost 35 cents. Published in 1959 (almost as old as me!)

Crochet frog hat...ribbit ribbit

My friend,who collects frogs, taught her great niece (who turned 1 in December) to say ribbit ribbit. So when I saw this pattern for a frog hat,I had to make it for her.

http://sandyfroglegs.blogspot.com/2009/07/frog-head-hat.html

Pattern for this head wrap was at 4Tdesignscrochetheadwrappattern.blogspot.com. ThankYou. It took me awhile to figure it out but I love it!

4Tdesignscrochetheadwrappattern.blogspot.com

Knit Moccasins

I have ALOT of this yarn I found.......got the pattern at ummeyusuf.blogspot.com

ummeysuf.blogspot.com

NEED to make SOMETHING!

I have found YouTube to be a wealth of information since mom isn't around to ask questions to anymore.  When I went searching for my needles after so many years I found some yarn....I NEEDED to make SOMETHING!  So I decided to make my dog Jess a sweater (it's been sssoooo cold here in PA). Jess hates it and I overheard my husband laughing about taking a Pitt bull for a walk in a sweater lol.  Doggie sweater tutorial by wool pedia  on you tube (theirs looked a lot better)

30 yrs later....manipulating knots again!

My Aunt saw someone wearing a ruffled scarf and recruited me to make her one. So, after 30 some years I'm crocheting again. I think I made one in every color I could find until I was sick of them!

Here it is....uuuggghhh.!

The Beginning

Can't believe I got this far in creating a blog.  As you can see I'm new to blogging and after 30 some years have started to manipulate knots again.  My mom taught me to knit and crochet and after MANY dishcloths and a few scarves, I managed to make an afghan.  I'll post a pic if I can figure out how to. It's sooo ugly.  I can't remember why I picked those colors!