Ten on Tuesdays

Hello Knitters,

Today's Ten on Tuesdays theme is "10 Facts (some little known) About My Mother." 

1. She's 100% Finnish.
2. She can shoot a very large hunting rifle - although we don't really let her near one....
3. She has knocked out a porcupine with a can of shrimp because he was eating our deck.
4. She can make pretty much anything, and usually from whatever we have around the house.
5. She takes awesome photographs, especially of flowers.
6. She drove all the way to Florida and back with only the Best Western Accommodations Book that she found the first night of the trip.
7. She is upholstering a footstool right now, and she's never done this kind of thing before.  She isn't afraid of trying new things, she just wings it and 9 times out of 10 it turns out completely amazing. 
8. She can stand with her back to a hoop and blindly shoot a basket. (I think this is because she has good aim....see the shrimp can point above.)
9. She is a great Christian example to everyone she comes in contact with, and is the person I look up to the most. 
10. She is the biggest and best cheerleader to everyone, especially me!  She believes in people and always tries to see the best in them and help them bring it to the surface.  She is also a great spotter of hidden talents in others. 

*She doesn't take credit for any of these things, but says she did it all with the Lord's help and guidance. 

She is a fantastic Mother and I'm so lucky that I'm her daughter!  Thanks Mom for being so great, I love you!!  

Happy Knitting!!

P.S. I think I forgot to mention that my sister and her husband are finally home from their honeymoon, they came back last Thursday.  Thank you everyone for all the prayers!!  I was just so relieved to  have them home that it completely slipped my mind to tell you all they were back, so sorry!!

Miniature Monday

Hello Knitters,

Sorry for the awful picture, but I took this last night and the lighting wasn't very good.  This week's miniature is a hunting hat since it is deer season here right now.  Pretty much everywhere you look, you will see men (and some women) wearing their orange hunting caps.  It's the thing that reminds me most of deer season.  This is quite a big deal for my Dad's side of the family - they even have a trophy for the biggest buck.  I personally am not one for killing innocent animals, and was scarred as a little girl by my Dad taking me to our business' garage to watch a bunch of men clean their deer.  I've always been an animal-loving person, so I feel for the poor things this time of year.  I do have some good memories though of going hunting with my Dad.  He would never shoot one in front of me, so most of the time was spent walking around in the bush, taking naps in big fir trees and walking down to the shore to look at ships through his gun's scope.  Sometimes we'd even find some old fishing lures washed up on the beach that I'd take home as my treasure.  However, I think my favourite part was when we'd stop for a break and have some of my Mom's homemade oatmeal cookies for a snack :-)  They were the best! 

Well, I hope you all have a fantastic start to the week.

Happy Knitting!!

Ritzy Stable Mitts

Hello Knitters,

I finally wrote up the pattern for the fingerless mitts I made back at the end of summer.  I named them 'Ritzy Stable Mitts' since they remind me of something you'd wear out to the stable to check on your horse.  They're not really what you'd wear while riding, but they'd be just the thing to take off that morning chill on your way to the barn.  At least that's the way I dream of wearing them!

They're also great for us non-equestrian types to slip on during the cool fall months.  The yarn has a bit of cashmere in it, making them a little treat for your hands.  And probably the best part of all, at least in my books, is that they are super quick to make so they come in real handy for holiday gifts!   

You can find more information on the yarn, needles, etc and the pdf download here on the Ravelry page. 

Happy Knitting!!

A Few Hats

 Hello Knitters,

Here are a couple of the baby hats I made this past week.  As I've said before, there are a lot of babies being born in the next few months, so I've been working on some shower gifts.  These two are from Susan B Anderson's book Itty-Bitty Hats.  The yellow one is the Upside-Down Daisy, and the pink one is the Football Hat, only made in girly colours.  I got the idea for this one from the amazing Suzanne when I was watching an episode of her video podcast :-)  I'm very happy with how they both turned out and I think they look nice displayed on my new hat stands. 

This is the Red Apple Hat from the Spud and Chloe blog and it's also designed by Susan B Anderson.  The decrease sequences on this one are different than her other patterns, so it was fun to try out and learn a new technique.  

And this hat is the Spring Beret by Natalie Larson that I knit up during one of the wedding dress fitting trips back in the summer.  It was super quick and fun to make.  I have yet to find a recipient for it as it doesn't look good on me due to it's yellow-tone.  The front view isn't the most flattering on the hat stand but the side and back views look much better.

I think the back view is my favourite by far!  I did the more slouchy version since I like my hats with a little more body to them.  This might have to go on the gift-giving list for this year's Christmas presents, I'm sure I can find someone who would look fabulous in it! 

Well, have a great weekend everyone!  Make sure to take some time for yourself to relax and do a little crafting :-)

Happy Knitting!!

P.S. You can check out my Ravelry project page for some more close-up pictures, yarn, and specifics on these hats in a few days, I should have them all added by then if you're interested.

How-To: Make a Hat Stand

Hi Knitters,

I've been wanting a hat stand for quite a while, but I have never been able to find one.  So the other day I showed my Mom a picture in a book of what I was talking about and asked her if she thought we could come up with something similar.  Of course, my Mom being the genius that she is, knew right away how to do it!  So I thought you all might like to see how we made ours.  It's nothing super fancy or anything-we used what we had around the house with the exception of the dowel, but I'm really happy with how they turned out :-)

First, Mom found some wooden hearts my Grandpa - we called him Atta (it's Finnish) - had cut out for her years ago.  He used to be a carpenter so he always had things like these on hand and loved making things for my Mom and all us grandchildren.  He has since passed away, so using these hearts for the bases of my hat stands makes them extra special to me.  They already had holes drilled in them so Mom went to the store and bought a dowel that would fit snugly inside.  We sawed the dowel into pieces that were the height I wanted, making sure to add extra length to make up for the parts that go into the base and the top.

I gave them a couple of coats of white paint - this kind was patio paint for wood, so it didn't need to be varnished or anything.  There wasn't a lot left in the bottle, so I did my best to give them a nice coating.

I stuck one end of the dowel into the hole in the base and lightly hammered it in to make sure it stayed.  Then Mom found some Styrofoam balls that were about the size of a newborn baby's head and I poked a hole in the bottom, added some hot glue, then stuck them onto the other end of the dowel. 

After that we took some fabric, cut it into squares that were big enough to cover the balls completely and draped them over top.  We took some sewing thread and wrapped and tied it around the "neck" part to secure the fabric in place.  (We tried our best to make the fabric lay as smooth as possible, but it did have some overlapping areas.  It still looks nice though).  To finish off, I cut away the excess fabric.

Ta-da!!  And there you have it, a very easy way to make some cute hat stands!  They're great for taking photos, especially when you don't happen to have a little baby handy.  I also made a bigger one for displaying and photographing adult-sized hats while I was at it. 

I'll be back tomorrow to show you how the hats I've been working on this past week look on them :-)

Happy Knitting!!

Ten on Tuesdays

Hello Knitters,

Today's Ten on Tuesdays theme is "10 Things to Do to Get Ready for Christmas."  Now that the wedding is over, I've begun to feel like Christmas is sneaking up very quickly on me and if I don't start preparing now, it will be here before I'm even close to being ready.  So I dedicate today's list to helping me get myself prepared.

1. Finish finalizing gift list.  I know I said I was going to work on this over the weekend, but instead I spent that time finishing off a project so that I'd have a clean knitting bag to start off the week.
2. Make cookie baking recipe list.  This year my plan is to photocopy off all the recipes I use so that I can put them together into a little booklet of sorts to have as a reference for next year.  Every year I make a list of all I make so that I can refer to it later, but I somehow misplace it and have to start from scratch each year looking up the recipes.  So this time, I'm planning ahead!!
3. Check supplies for projects and baking and make a list of things I need to purchase.
4. Pick a theme for Christmas decorating.  This year I am leaning towards a Dr. Seuss type theme.
5. Decide what decorations to make this year.  Every year I try to make at least a few new decorations for my tree.  This year I'm thinking about bread dough ornaments and sparkly pine cones.
6. Set a day to go to the bush to collect anything I need for projects - such as twigs or boughs.
7. Make my Christmas card list.
8. Choose what day I want to do final cleaning before I start to decorate.
9. Help Emmie write her Christmas list  ;-)
10. Start making gifts!! 

Have a great week everyone!!

Happy Knitting and Planning!!

Miniature Monday

Hello Knitters,

I thought a leaf would be appropriate for today's miniature now that it's November.  All our leaves have fallen off here, but you do see some on the ground here and there still.  I crocheted this leaf, using a pattern from a scarf I just finished for my Mom.   

Just to keep you all updated; we did hear from my sister and her husband, and they are fine!  They're having a bit of trouble getting home though due to the extensive damage done to the island.  My sister said that they're bringing in the National Guard, so hopefully things will start to get back together there.  If they are able, they're going to be taken by boat to the airport tomorrow because the roads are out.  Please do continue to keep them in your prayers, especially for safe travels!  Thanks so much!

Happy Knitting!!