Free-form Scarf and Pattern

 I have been doing more free form knitting and crochet projects lately. I am really enjoying them, too.

Here is a scarf that I made, mainly from handspun yarns that I had in my stash.

Some of the yarns, were art yarns, that I spun several years ago.  All are very soft!

This scarf is a great stash buster! You can use bits and pieces of leftover yarns, if you want to.

I used many various yarns to knit this scarf.

I thought that I would write some very simple directions for this scarf.

Free form knitting, or crochet, is just that.  You sort of know what you want to do and then just keep adjusting until you like it. You can add different stitch patterns into the project or change colors when you want to.  Want to do a row of lace? Go for it. Want to do a short row and turn around? Go for it.  It is to be fun and serendipitous.  Yes, there can be some problem solving.  Sometimes you may need to rip and re-do an idea that didn't work, but we do that anyway when we make a mistake with a regular pattern.

This scarf is a great stash buster! You can use bits and pieces of leftover yarns, if you want to.
I used many various yarns to knit this scarf. I used a mixture of my handspun and some mill spun yarns.

The scarf was made by knitting lengthwise. Most yarns were bulky weight and I used  size 11 US (8 mm) knitting needles.

Leaving a long tail(for fringe) cast on about 50(or more) stitches using your favorite cast on method. Then knit one row. End off the original color and start a new color. When starting the new color leave a long tail in the beginning of the row and then leave a long tail at the end of the row, when ending off that color. These tails become the fringe.

Knit each row, unless you want to add in a lace stitch or another textured stitch pattern.  I added in a row or two of Old Shale(Feather and Fan), that is what caused the slight zig-zag.

Periodically, increase stitches, so that the length of the scarf becomes the total length you need to be able to wrap around your neck.
When your scarf is the length and width that you want it to be, bind off. Block and trim fringe even, or not. :)
It is free-form and you can be structured with your fringe or not.  :)

Are you a crocheter?? You can make this scarf, by using a similar size hook and single crochet. You can work any crochet stitch that you wish, actually, and can add in a lace stitch or textured stitch, just like the knitters.

The Wool Coat Story

Once upon a time, I bought a piece of wool fabric. I brought it home, with dreams of a ruana type coat. It went into the fabric stash..... OK, so now I have to confess, that I not only have a fiber stash, a yarn stash, but I do also have a fabric stash.  :)  Over the years, though, as sewing has taken the back seat, the fabric stash is now smaller than the fiber and yarn stash. So, I know that isn't saying much, cause that could mean the fabric stash is still huge and the yarn/fiber even larger.  Not true.  LOL! The fabric stash has dwindled.  Amazing.

So, anyway, The piece of lovely gray plaid wool, sat languishing in the fabric box and truly wondered if it would EVER get out of there.  One day in 2011, I decided to pull it out and delivered it from the box. Because my idea was to make a ruana cover up, that was sewn from felted wool, I put it in the washer in hot water to see how it would felt. IT DID!! 

About the same time, I realized that I didn't have enough for a ruana....... it was too short and too narrow of a piece.  What's a person to do? Well, I went to my wool fabric stash, that has grown over the years.  Ooops!  Yep, there is another stash... Doggone it.... Well, anyway, the stashes are helpful.  I was able to go to that stash and pull out several pieces and add it to my ruana and decided it would become a coat. :)  A LARGE coat, that my sweaters could be warn under.

Well, it was too large.

So, I crocheted a trim down the front, from my yarn stash, to see if it would look slimmer.  Hahahaha! Talk about big and ugly. Guess what I did? Yep, I tossed it on top of the fabric stash box, in the closet.  I thought there was no hope for it.  The coat was in time out in the closet, on top of the box, for about a year. 

I took it out one morning, just before Christmas 2012, and wore it outside to get pictures of snow.  It was REALLY warm.  hmmmm.  I thought, "WOW, I have to fix this thing."

So, I decided to lay it out on the floor and put my winter jacket on top to use as a guide.  Think it was too big?? 

 Well, I ended up cutting off about 26 inches total, in the width, of the coat. :) If you are a professional seamstress you may just want to skip the next few sentences.  :)  Because this retired professional seamstress did the unthinkable. I did use a ruler, though, and marked a cutting line out from the coat.  Cut off the side pieces and stitched them up.  Didn't start with a pattern, and didn't finish with one.  :)

I also ripped off the trim, that was supposed to make the coat look slim(and didn't).   AND with much encouragement from two of my friends, I crocheted a dark brown trim on it instead. 

I took some of the fabric, that I had cut off, and made cuffs for the sleeves. :)  The plaid fabric is the fabric I bought in a fabric store.  The tan fabric is from my dad's wool coat and the gray was from a wool skirt that I purchased at a thrift store and then felted.

So, there you have it.  I love my new coat.  I have been wearing it on days that are cold, and having a blast!  It is nice and toasty in 30 and 40 degree weather.  Maybe one day, I will get to wear it in colder weather to test it out. It does get colder that 30 here, especially in February.

Shrug and a White Christmas

I don't remember if I made this shrug last year or the year before. It is knitted from my handspun yarn.

I like the shrug, I especially like the back. However, I don't like wearing it. It doesn't really keep me warm and I am not happy with the fit.  Soooo,

 I have decided to rip it out.

 Above is the back. I really like the back and I am not going to rip the back. I am going to rip the ribbing that is around the edges and the sleeves. I am not sure exactly what I am going to do with this, but I am hoping to be able to have enough yarn to knit 2 fronts and make the circle shrug a vest type sweater or shrug.

Yesterday, we had snow during our Christmas dinner!!! A white Christmas in north central Texas is rare. We were very excited and happy.  I took pictures this morning.

Overnight the temperature dropped into the teens, so our beautiful snow, turned into ice. Driving was interesting, to say the least.

Below is the front of the house, with tiny icicles hanging from the roof.  :)

This is the view from the back deck.  I love the way that snow makes everything look beautiful and bright!



Snow doesn't usually last long here. The sun came out today and it has started melting. The temperature is supposed to warm up tomorrow, so the snow will probably be gone by tomorrow night.

Christmas is almost here.

Wow! I can hardly believe how fast time has flown by this year.  I just wrote our Christmas letter. As I sat down to write it, I wondered if there was anything to write about. Then as I started thinking about it, I realized that we had had a pretty busy and eventful year, when I reached page two of the letter, I thought "WHOA!" So, I backed up and consolidated it to be only one page long.

To end up my year, I have just finished working at THE UPS STORE as Christmas help.  As usual, it was a fun 2 1/2 weeks. This year instead of wearing a Santa hat, the UPS Store guy let me wear a Christmas fedora. That was fun!

I just was reading a blog that I visit once in a while. It is called Attic 24. She is a crocheter in England and loves COLOR! I love to stop by and see what projects Lucy is working on.

For me, several years ago, in a crazy moment of life, I bought some cobweb weight yarn. Yep, me who loves worsted weight and bulky weight yarn, bought cobweb weight. After several attempts at making something, man that yarn is tiny, I finally succeeded. :) This shawl, although not complicated, is so light and airy. It can actually be gathered up and worn as a scarf. It does slide through my wedding ring!

I have written the pattern and it is currently being test knit! I am calling Wil-o-Wisp, because it is so light and airy. Currently, I am not sure when the pattern will be released.

So, today I am off to straighten and clean the house and ready it for Christmas celebrations tomorrow.

I do hope you all have a blessed Christmas Day with your friends and loved ones.

My Mom and Long Island, NY

I just arrived back home, to Texas, from visiting my mom in New York.  We had a very good visit, as always.  :)

Mom lives on Long Island, not far from so much devastation left behind by hurricane Sandy.  Her home survived this hurricane all right and only lost power for 2 hours.  However, we have had damage from hurricanes, that have come before, and have had power outages for a couple of weeks before. So, our family is used to the loss due to storms.  This time we feel very blessed that all is OK.

Here's mom! We were having lunch in her kitchen and I snapped this photo!



One day we decided that we would take a drive around town, to see the damage that some of her friends were dealing with. By the time I arrived to NY, most folks had gutted their homes of walls and carpets, cabinets and furniture. They were working on rebuilding and fixing. Her friends' homes were being repaired and starting to look pretty good.

We drove to the local boat docks along the south shore of Long Island, near her home, and stopped in our favorite spot for just sitting and looking at the sea.  It was an extremely calm and beautiful day. But, here is some of the damage that we saw.

This is a local seafood restaurant.  They were getting it repaired, so they could open back up and serve the public.

Some houses being repaired. All the first level floors were being ripped out, while the families were inhabiting the top floors. If you look close you might see the wood leaning against the houses.

More houses and more devastation. But, repairs were under way.
All of these homes are right on the bay, the bay opens into the Atlantic.

This, below, is one of my favorite views. :) Why? Cause it is a picture of the bridges to the beach and I LOVE the beach. Yes, there are two separate bridges there, but they are built close enough, that from a distance they look like one.  We noticed that cars were crossing, so I started the car and we drove to the bridge and tried to get to the beaches.

 After we crossed this bridge, and a draw bridge, we couldn't get to the third bridge, that leads to Fire Island.  The bridge was ok, but the road on the other side isn't.  We tried to visit a couple of other beaches, but they are all closed, due to damage.  So, we turned around and went home......

We had a great day, visiting with each other and seeing the water.  We both always enjoy just looking at the different views of the water.

Finished Teddy Bear

This past summer during the Olympics, I participated in the knit along on Ravelry. One of my projects was this adorable teddy bear. I was to cast on, knit and finish him during the Olympics. Well, this project didn't make it to the finish line in time, but I did finish him.  :) 

BUT, I couldn't show it to you until now. Here he is, Coe's bear.

Coe just turned one! AND we were able to give it to him for his birthday.  I think he likes it. Here is a link to the pattern for the bear on Ravelry.

This project is from the pattern named Revontuli, a free pattern on Ravelry. It was one of the projects just sitting and waiting to be done. So, I finally finished it!! I really am happy with the way the colors stripe in this. 

I did dye the yarn to be self-striping yarn,, hoping that my experiment would work,  It did and I really like it!

Here it is blocking. The knitting starts at the neck edge and you work down to the bottom edge. I did work the bottom edge differently than the original pattern. I added some lace and a ruffle. 

Pumpkin Cake and Projects

Most of us like pumpkin. :)  I Love Pumpkin pie and Pumpkin cakes and Pumpkin cookies. I have a lot of recipes for making them from scratch too. BUT, sometimes you need one in a hurry.  I found a recipe, that is quick! It uses just a yellow cake mix and a 15 oz can of pumpkin.  While I was mixing it, I thought that it might be a little bland. In checking out, on the internet, what others did I saw that some used a spice cake mix instead of a yellow cake mix. It was too late for that.  :) What's a baker to do? I took out my cookbook and added the spices that I would usually add to my pumpkin pie.  AND I added extra cinnamon for good measure.

Pumpkin Cake
1 Yellow cake mix(the 2 layer size box, Duncan Hines, Pillsbury).
1 15 oz can of pumpkin.
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
1/8 tsp nutmeg.
1/2 tsp ginger.
1/8 tsp ground cloves.
Place all ingredients in mixing bowl and beat until smooth.
Pour into greased 9x13 inch pan, level out. Bake 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Glaze for topping
1 1/2 cups powdered(confectioners) sugar
3 Tbsp Apple Cider
1/2 tsp cinnamon
When cake comes from oven, you can cool for 5 minutes and turn out onto a plate, BUT, I don't have a plate for a 9x13 cake. So, I left it in the pan. Pricked holes all over and poured the glaze onto it. The holes enabled the glaze to drip into the cake.  You don't have to do that step. You can wait for the cake to cool and pour the glaze over the unpricked cake.

If you are a lover of cream cheese frosting, you could also frost it and omit the glaze.


I have launched a new pattern!!!!
This pattern is named Nicole(after one of our granddaughters) and is in the etsy shop and on Ravelry.

This pattern gives you the choice of using fingering/sock weight yarn or worsted weight yarn. You can have a ruffly type lace edging or flat edging.

The shawl starts at the top back neck and you work to the bottom edge.



This blue/lavender shawl, is made with fingering weight yarn from Harrisville Yarns.

The plum and gray one is also fingering weight wool yarn, purchased at JoAnn's. The lace on this one is the "ruffled" one, which helps the shawl to curve nicely around your neck.

This rose pink shawl is knit with Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride worsted(superwash).

The light pink shawl was knit by my friend Liz.  She does a lot of test knitting and editing for me and is so faithful to always help!!!! Thanks, Liz! Liz used a DK weight yarn and followed the directions for the fingering weight yarn.

You know, I don't always knit. It seems like that, but I don't. Once in a while, you can also find me doing traditional rug hooking and even sewing. Years ago, I drew this picture of the Montauk Point Lighthouse, which is out on the eastern end of Long Island, and then I used my hand spun yarns, to hook it. The picture resides on the wall in my hall bathroom, where we have decorated with lighthouses.