Beginner Knitting

I've been thinking about the multitude of questions a beginner knitter has, everything is so new; the needle sizes, the yarn sizes and all the specialized language. Yarn over for instance, yarn over what? A needle? Another piece of yarn? Or maybe just over the hand? Just getting to the point of the physical act of knitting is an accomplishment. Then there is casting on, everyone has a preferred method, and any and all of them are fine but for a beginner they are all confusing. There are several knitting books that explain the basics but the best way is to have someone who is willing to sit down and knit beside you. My granddaughter learned at camp and I taught another granddaughter. A classroom setting is also excellent. A friend's daughter's teacher taught his class to knit. Another friend actually taught herself to knit from a book, but most people don't have the time or patience--I would hate to have to do it myself! It is so easy to become discouraged because it takes time and concentration but for most of successful knitters there is a time when they can see the result of their hard work and have that first feeling of accomplishment.

More books

I also want to read "Eden's Outcasts" by John Matteson. This is the story of Louisa May Alcott and her father. He was a social misfit, ahead of his time in some ways and sometimes just unwilling to conform. Almost all of her life, money was very scarce for Louisa May Alcott and her family. Mr. Alcott tried several careers but didn't seem to stick to any for long. After reading the reviews, I am anxious to read the book.

Another book that sounds very good is The High Road to China" by Kate Teltscher. This book takes place in the 1800s and is the story of the opening of China and Tibet. It is basically a travel book and I love travel books.

Weekend of Book Reviews

I spent a lot of time this weekend reading or watching book reviews. I love to read a blog by Rick at ricklibrarian.blogspot.com and read several good ones, namely one about a book by Bailey White and another by Roald Dahl that I want to read, he also had a link to CriticalCompendium.com which I loved. There were several books there that I want to read.

Then I watched Book Weekend on Cspan 2 and found more interesting titles. The most fascinating one, I think, will be "Half life of a Zealot" by Suwanee Hunt. Several others sound interesting so I will be reading some very good books soon.

I finished "The Orkney Scroll" by Lyn Hamilton and really enjoyed it. This is an archeological mystery series, she has a lot of historical facts in her books so they are set all over the world. This one was about the island of Orkney and its history. I have read several in this series and enjoyed all of them.

Well back to the knitting for the bazaar.

Christmas bazaar

I contacted the South Medford high school about a table for their Christmas bazaar. Last year's bazaar was cancelled and they are not sure if they will have one this year. We met last Thursday and several are working on projects for the bazaar so I will continue to look for a table in case we aren't able to have one at the church. There are several bazaars so I'm sure I will be able to get us into one IF we aren't at the church.

I am going to make felted lambs for the bazaar, they are a little more intricate but are too cute. One of the girls is making tatted crosses, tatting is too hard for me.

 

 

The new Vogue Knitting magazine is out. There are several vintage patterns in it and most of them are excellent. Vogue has very nice patterns and always has good finishing ideas. The patterns are almost always free of mistakes and well written. One of the patterns is "Enchanted Forest" by DKNY. I have knitted it twice; once as a gift and then one for me, both turned out great. It is a bulky-knit sweater with great details.

I am reading "The Goodbye Body" by Joan Hess. It is a light little read, nice for an afternoon at the pool.

Pictures at last!!

Finally here are pictures of the baby reefer sweater and the prayer shawl. The baby sweater is finished and ready to mail. The prayer shawl will go to a lady who recently lost her husband.

Today at church the youth pastor presented the workers who had gone to Canada and also a girl who had gone to India for the summer. All of them were awed and overwhelmed by what they saw, especially the girl who went to India. She talked about the poverty that she saw for the first time. She also was in an area where there were Christians and she talked about the difference they made. When we forget how fortunate we are, we are reminded by people like her who have seen poverty that doesn't exist here.

Finishing work

Today I did a lot of finishing work, boring but necessary. I finished the baby reefer sweater and hope to get a picture of it as soon as it finishes drying (I always hand wash a gift before giving it probably a holdover from my 4-H days). I also made several dish cloths and finished a birthday gift. I am working on the prayer shawl again, this time it seems to be going better--I am using the right needles!!!

We want to have a table at the church bazaar. At this time, we are third alternative however it occurred to me, here in the middle of August, that if people back out we will be responsible for filling in at the last minute, hence the sudden spurt of dishcloths. I want to make several other items; the bootees in the Debbie Bliss book for example and some larger items.

I finished Beverly Lewis book "The Preacher's Daughter". I enjoyed the history of the Amish and their lifestyle of today, however the ending was disappointing as it was obvious just a lead-in to the next book in this series. I will continue to read it however as the characters are very believable.

Now that the prayer ministry is getting under way, we have decided we need officers. We elected a secretary and treasurer, and I am now the Publicity chairman. I think it's a very good idea to have officers, people who are accountable and will have the final say. We decided against having a president and vice president as we felt they weren't necessary. I wasn't able to attend the meeting don't know who the other officers are.

The continuing saga of the baby sweater...it is now almost done. All the knitting is finished and tonight I am going to sew the sleeves in.

Rrriped prayer shawl

Last night I realized the prayer shawl wasn't as big as I thought it should be and the beginning (the point of the triangle) bowed up. I reread the instructions and realized the size 11 needles that I thought were going to be fine--weren't. The pattern called for a size 13. I spent the rest of the evening ripping it out, all 7 ounces of Lion's Brand Homespun. Tonight, yes you guessed it, I will finish the baby sweater before I re-start the shawl.

As we all know, always check your gauge and use the RIGHT SIZE needles. Fortunately, this error on my part is easily corrected by just ripping out, however on a more difficult pattern with several colors it would have been a nightmare.

Knitting show

I love to watch "Knitty Gritty" on DIY network. Vickie Howell is charming and her show is very informative. She has had some interesting guests with some new and unusual projects. I loved the lingerie show, there was so much work for such little garments!! Also, she shows how to do various things (casting on, carrying the thread across behind another color, etc.) in a simple yet clear manner. She now has a book out that is very clear and concise. She has knitters on the show and usually has at least one that is a beginner.

I finished Margaret Coel's "Eye of the Wolf". It was very good. Now I am reading "The Preacher's Daughter" by Beverly Lewis.

Long, long week

This has been a very trying week. On Monday, my clutch went out on my car and it was very expensive to replace plus I was without a car for two days. Fortunately, the repair place isn't very far from here so they were able to take me to work, bring me home and then pick me up the next day. I can't believe how dependent I am on a car, I guess that's the way cowboys used to feel about their favorite horses.

Today I attended the funeral of a good friend. He was a retired pastor and everything we want a pastor to be. His wife, too, is a very good person and I feel blessed to count them as friends.

I finished reading Bruce Alexander's book: The Color of Death. It was very good but very long. I felt as if I was lost in a maze of people and personalities, he had way too many characters and I had a difficult time keeping them straight. I did like his subject and felt I learned a lot about slavery in the British Empire in the 1800s.

I just started Margaret Coel's book: Eye of the Wolf and I love it. I always love her mysteries and have read several. They are stories of a priest on an Arapahoe-Shoshone reservation in Arizona. They are always good reading, people are believable. In fact, a couple of times after a book is through, I have caught myself wondering if on of the characters is all right!! I have also noticed that almost always the books are set in winter, I find that interesting and wonder if the author is trying to set the mood for the murder.