new links! ------------------------------->

i have figured out how to make my simple free patterns available to non-ravelry users. the links to the right go to scribd, a publishing hosting site. there you can download my pdf's.

happy knitting!

typical...

bZ, bZ, bZ

between 5th grade end of year, end of elementary school and end of the world as we know it ceremonies, celebrations, brouhahas, and the very unlikely involvement of the smnll softball minors bulldogs in the tournament of champions FINAL game,

there's been a dearth of knitting.  but the teacher gifts are delivered, and now that the softball season and the school year are over, we're on our way to baja.  i expect a grocery bag will be knitted. ;-)

see you next week.

been around the block

look at this crunchy thing!  in person, it's more attractive, though with the black you cannot really see the fine stockinette lacy/angley/swirliness of it all.  in particular, without being blocked, it really just looks like a crunched up pile of knitting.  but this is the lush-ious cowl (ravlink), and i knit it three times with the berroco lustra, chosen because it is 50% tencel, so the wool content may not be as itchy around the neck.   i liked the lustra -- it is of course not as stretchy or flexible as pure wool, but not like working with straight silk. 

bottom two blocked, top one unblocked.  look at those gorgeous swirls!  regardez!

i'm not a comfortable blocker,  but this one was easy -- no pins, just letting them dry on a towel on the kitchen floor.

hot tip:  use jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off to make the edges equally stretchy and flexible.

teacher gifts!  please dry by wednesday...

i DO have knitting to show you...

... but til then, here's a sign i see on my way to work at my husband's office.  it reminds me of my junior high friends, and how we taught ourselves the signing alphabet so we could speak silently in class when we were bored ;-).  it also reminds me of a high school acquaintance, whom i am friends with now, who translates for the deaf for a living.

she and i have the fact in common that we are the mothers of type 1 diabetes kids.  it's a sort of club.  facebook has been my friend, in this case!

that sign says LAMAR, by the way.  it's the name of the company that sells billboard space.  the "m" took me the longest to remember. ;-)

because i can...

i think i'm just about at 30,000 feet, and, whoa! free wifi!  there's no way to get a double chin-free angle without calling a great deal of attention to myself, so i'll live with the highly unflattering view of moi. ツ

so here's a look at my knitting. i think i'll catch up on some daily show episodes while i knit. high altitude awesomeness!

this is the border of the scarflet i am knitting. can you see the points?

and here is the top edge -- i love it! i am just about ready to start my decreases.

would you judge me if i ordered a bloody to drink while all of this relaxing is taking place? i'm not driving when i get to baltimore...

hey! crochet!

i used up more kitchen cotton on a crocheted potholder.  i would NEVER hold a pot with this --  a hot one, anyway!  it will make a snappy washcloth.  i followed this pattern, it was quick and fun to do, but i'm think i'm over it now.  i did tack a lot of the internal edges together with a tapestry needle, so the fabric is sturdier in the center.  ravlink.

for mother's day, i'll show you what i just knit up for thing 1, who turned me into a mother over 11 years ago ;-)

i saw a picture of this hat, and decided to knit something similar for her while waiting for my knitting students at abuelita's.  boredom after a few rows, plus a suggestion that it's soon going to be too hot for a hat led me to repeat the first few rows, bind off, and call it a cool headband!  ravlink gives the knitting details if you'd like to do one.  i love the blue sky alpaca cotton -- it's colorful and very soft for cotton, and very drapey for cotton as well.

happy mother's day to you!  i know you have one, even if you aren't one ツ