A Gift for a Friend

Not long after we moved to Malmo I signed my kiddos up for classes at The Little Gym. I needed to get out and meet other people. The kiddos needed to meet other kiddos. And one of the first people I met there became one of my first friends here. Knitting brought us together. During one of Tipton's classes I brought out my knitting. She came over and was very excited to see someone knitting - she had just started knitting herself. She told me about a wonderful yarn shop. We've gotten together several times for knitting sessions.

I met her at one of my darkest hours here in Malmo. I was feeling very homesick, missing my friends. And she was so cheerful, so friendly.

When I got the Mason Dixon Knitting book I showed it to her. We ooooh'd and aaaaah'd over all the patterns.

I had enough yarn leftover from the ballband dishrag to knit a second one. So I did, only in reverse colors. So it would look kind of like a brick wall. When I finished I had to show it to my friend. She really liked it. So naturally, I wanted to give it to her. So I did. She was thrilled, said it matches her kitchen. It seems like such a small gift for someone who made such a huge difference in my life here.

It ain't much, but here it is, Lina's Dishrag.

Ballband Dishrag

An acutal finished object! And I've even used it since I took the picture. The pattern is from Mason Dixon Knitting. I love this book. My goal is to make everything in it. Eventually. I'm starting small. First the baby kimono sweaters. And now the dishrag.

They said the pattern was really easy. And I wanted to believe them, really I did. But I'm still pretty new at reading patterns. But as I started knitting along, I saw what they mean. It IS a simple pattern. And it knits up really quickly.

I made this one over the weekend. And while that may seem like a long time to a seasoned knitter, you must keep in mind that I have two small children and a husband. And since it was the weekend, they were all home, all the time. It's amazing that I got any knitting done at all! And I even knitted part of this while the children were awake!!

This weekend we moved one of the couches into the playroom. The green couch. It's what I use as a background for my knitting pictures, well that and sometimes the floor. I figure anything looks better than the 70s green couch fabric, right? So my knitting will always look good when compared to the green couch... Eventually I would like to recover the green couch. It really is a comfy couch, though. It was my MILs. Great for sleeping on. And great for sitting and knitting. And now it's in the playroom, so I can sit and knit while the kiddos play.

Back to the dishrag... I've already started another one. Same colors, but reversed. It's looking like a little brick wall. One can never have two many dishrags, especially when one has small children that tend to be sticky after meals...

Not sure what I'm going to make next. I really need/want to get started on the raglan sweaters for the kiddos. Maybe I'll do those next...


ballband dishrag on the green couch

Some Not-So-Finished Objects

Okay, so I finished knitting the green baby kimono sweater. I have also knitted a blue baby kimono sweater. All done with the knitting. Now I just need to get some ribbon for the side ties, so that I can do the 'making up' part (sewing the sides/under arms.) But the knitting is all done - see!?!!! Aren't they cute?

Work In Progress (WIP)

This is my first post of a WIP. I am making baby kimono sweaters. My brother in law is expecting twin boys in August. I am making them little kimono sweaters. A green one (the WIP) and a blue one (not yet started.)

The baby kimono is much easier to make than I thought it would be. Thus far I've only made dishrags, scarves and a few simple hats. This is my first "major" work. I'm all excited!




Oh, just to point out... That canister that my yarn is in is called a Yarn Trainer. My friend, Amy, gave it to me for my birthday. It is sooooo cool! It keeps my yarn clean and tangle free and (most importantly) out of Lilli's clutches. Although, the other day she discovered that it is fun to pull the yarn coming out of the hole in the top - it just keeps coming and coming!

New Yarn!

Spring has come to Malmo! To celebrate, I went to the yarn shop today. I bought some really bright cotton yarn. I am going to make more bibs and dish rags with them. I can't wait!


Oh yeah, can you tell I got a ball winder? I love it!

Bibs!

A friend of mine told me about the coolest knitting book ever. I bought it and she was right. It is soooooooo cool! I want to make absolutely everything in this book. I decided to start small, and make a baby bib. What a cool idea - knitting a bib. And my brother-in-law and his wife are expecting twins in a few months, so what a perfect gift! I decided to use up some of the yarn in my stash. I still need to add the buttons (for fastening) but here are the two I've made so far.

I started with some pretty yellow/green/blue yarn. Only, I came up a little short. So one of the straps isn't as long as the other. I don't think it will matter much.



















The second one is really cute and really, really soft. It will make a good drool bib. I made a scarf out of the same stuff for Lilli back in November. Only the main color was pink, not light blue.




I've got to go out and buy more cotton yarn, so I can make more bibs!!

My Sister's Hat, revisited

Ta-da! Here is it! The hat for my sister, in a size that will actually FIT! I used the same pattern and the same yarn, but dropped down a needle size. It is amazing how much of a difference just one needle size can make. Amazing. If you want to compare, you can scroll down and check out the first hat that I made for her. It was big. Really, big. It was too big for her husband. It might fit one of her horses, I'll have to ask... In the meantime, here are some pictures. One of the hat on me (for size comparison purposes.) And a couple of the hat on my daughter, Lilli - just because she's really cute (and it shows the shape of the hat.) And one of just the hat.