OOOOPS! BLOG WENT OUT BY MISTAKE. SORRY

Oh My gosh........my blog went out by mistake.

 It was in the early early stages 

before editing......

please disregard and 

DO NOT PASS IT AROUND.......

THANKS, JACKIE

Cheat Cheat, Never Beat!

Today I am going to cheat and ask for a little slack. About a year ago a friend shared with me a knitting pattern for "fingerless" gloves. You've seen them; they are like mittens but with your fingers sticking out. In my opinion these are the perfect little accessory for the cold weather. They are great for driving, texting, (not at the same time please) or doing anything that requires use of your fingers and still keep your hands and wrists warm. Well like I am prone to do I decided that they would make great "sister swap" gifts for my sisters and sisters-in-law; and in staying in the almost 40 year tradition that we have  of exchanging small, thoughtful tokens of love each year at Christmastime. I couldn't wait to whip up 6 pair of these babies over the course of the year to present to my gal pals. Impulsively of course, I ran out and bought all kinds of yarn without bothering to read the instructions first. I didn't know at the time that once again I would be working with my Nemesis.....the DOUBLE POINTED NEEDLE. Over the course of the year I tried numerous times to follow the pattern and failed. I put all the stuff in a bag an there it sat until I came across an interesting prospect on the Internet at a wonderful needlework and social networking site that I subscribe to called  Ravelry.  http://www.ravelry.com .  As coincidence would have it there was a woman there looking for people to take part in testing out her first ever pattern design. None other than the fingerless glove. The reward for helping her would not only be  entry into a yarn raffle but the free pattern and the onnline help executing it  I WAS IN!   I signed up and followed along with the successful result of not only becoming more proficient with the double pointed needle but learning and mastering a new pattern. People posted questions and answers helping each other as we went along.   Check out  the spicy homemaker at:  http://spicyhomemaker.com/2012/10/26/spicy-knits-the-good... 

 

Here is the glitch. I am a slow knitter......If I knitted every day all day until our family party which is December 2nd I would still never finish 6 pair of mitts . SO..... I am declaring that I have

Finally Finished ONE of the six  pairs of "Fingerless Gloves" that I committed to a year ago.

   Whooo Hooooo! Happy Holidays!

W.W.G.D? (What Would Grammy Do?)

O.k,  so I find myself moaning and groaning to anyone and everyone who will listen that I can't figure out how to finish the green baby sweater. Well meaning advice has been everything from "throw it out" to  "pay someone else to do it".  But the fact remains that I need to  "blanket stitch" the little holes around the bottom and on the cuff of the arms and I don't know how to do it. I have tried and I am making a mess. Mine just doesn't look like the one in the book.   Life was less stressful for me before Pinterest!  Unfortunately the only people I know that could help me are otherwise "indisposed";  my mother who just isn't up to it these days and my grandmother who sadly is not longer with us; so...... short of contacting the Long Island Medium to ask "grammy's"  advice I have to figure it out myself.  This is unfortunate because my grandmother would be able to help me. She could do anything creative with or without a pattern. Sewing, embroidery, cooking, knitting and crocheting you name it.

This is evident in the tablecloth I came across while searching for of the white embroidery floss that I needed to do the "blasted blanket stitch". 

 This gorgeous work of art was crocheted by my grandmother with dainty thread and a tiny hook; and I am sure without one bit of complaining.

 Like every thing she did, she did it with love.

  I guess I'll go now to You Tube and try to figure it out.

This time without complaint but with old fashioned ingenuity and perseverance.

Because that is what Grammy would do!



Ok, so my "inner voice" lies

Ahh.....Yet another tiny baby sweater left undone!  As most of you know, almost three years ago when my daughter told me she was pregnant I was so certain that it would be a girl I began several "baby girl" projects. When we found out that it was to be a boy I abandoned them and went to work on some boy things that I could leave  un-finished. It's not that I like girls more than boys or that (gasp!) I subconciously wanted a girl, it is just that my intuition rarely leads me astray. Ok,  so there were  a few times I should have ignored the " inner voice", like back in the 80's when I thought that a small town white girl could rock an Afro!!  And oh yeah,  maybe my guide was a bit off  a few years ago on Halloween when I dressed up as Princess Leia to surpise my grandson Dylan who was going as Darth Vadar.  But that my friends is another blog for another  day. Let's just say  that I have been asked not to dress up for halloween from now on. Hmmmm I suppose he was just jealous of all the attention I was getting right? So here we go one more sweater to finish . Except for the collar all the pieces are done now and I will begin the process of putting it all together and then sewing on buttons and embroidering little flowers on it.

Onward and upward faithful readers! Thanks for your encouragement; it makes the sometimes daunting task a little easier.

Stay tuned for the pinecone wreath.

Peace and Love, Jackie (aka Leah)