Knitting Iris

My Little Meathead

There hasn't a been any chances to make it to the yarn store an hour away that carries Lamb's Pride Bulky so my little Meathead hat for the knitalong ended up having to be made from yarn on hand.  Using size 15 dpns and four strands of worsted weight yarn together yielded a gauge of about 2.5 stitches x 4 rows to the inch, resulting in a rather small hat even when knitting the larger size. 

It was knit with vintage thrifted 100% wool yarn labelled with the brand name "Lee Wards".  The original color was felted leaf on the right.  The hat color was the same, overdyed with Grape Kool Aid and the green leaf on the left was overdyed with Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade Kool Aid.  The brown, felted "berries" were a different batch overdyed with the Grape flavor.  The leaves were knit from a pattern in Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments and the berries were actually balls knitted and hand-felted according to the directions in the Two Old Bags Wooly Embellishments pattern.

Last weekend, before all the snow started falling, I was looking for a place or willing head upon which to do a photo shoot and found E outside by the firepit with R, dressed up like this as "a magician", "building a machine that spins wood scraps into milk" which then morphed into "a money-maker" followed by "a pirate ship."  That's my boy.  He happily donned the hat to go with the rest of his get-up.  The little plaid jacket was thrifted for the dress up box a few years ago when he was barely walking and is still worn even though he's practically bursting through it.  We can't bear to see him grow out of it and neither can he.  Maybe a softie or something can be made from it?

The bottom two pictures are "in progress" knitting pictures and the original yo-yo embellishment that just didn't do it for me so off it came and on went the leaves.  The other knitted embellishment I considered were knitted or sewn pointy elves' ears.  I'll try this pattern again sometime in the called for yarn.  This pattern would make a great tea cozy , it's so thick and stiff, it can stand up on it's own! 

While waiting

With all the charity knitting going on out there, along with a lack of funds for new projects, my hands and needles went digging deep into stash, sorting and pulling out all the worsted weight woolen yarns and casting on for first one hat, then another, and so on.  It's been fun playing around with colors and it feels a little like making something out of nothing.   There's probably enough stashed away for 15-20 more of these.

I was knitting the hat on the left, above, in the hospital hallway on Monday when my sister-in-law's doctor rushed in from appointments at his clinic several blocks away to check on her, one of four women in the small maternity ward there who gave birth to a child that day.  As he whisked by while being briefed by a nurse he commented, "Nice hat.  That is a hat, isn't it?"  I didn't even realize who he was until my three year old nephew looked up from his playing and said, "Hi Dr. B----!"  and into the room he slipped before I could even reply, amazed that he had the wherewithal and presence to even notice what I was up to.

Until Monday, I had been lucky enough to be present at four births, two of which were our own children, two of which were a good friend's youngest children, and all of which had happened outside of a hospital.  I was thrilled to be asked to be there with my SIL and BIL and their son and was so curious to see how their hospital birth would differ or be similar to the others.  She was present with us when both of our boys were born and he was there for E's birth.  Now, they wanted us to be with them.  Various events led to their decision to choose a hospital birth with a doctor this time around, part of which was the great "reviews" that we/they regularly hear about that particular hospital and doctor.

Five days past her due date, with all signs indicating that her body and the baby were very ready, they chose to induce.  We met them at the hospital at 6:30 am and made ourselves at home in the hallway outside of their room.  For the first few hours we all chatted, listened to music, and wandered around the hospital hallways,  smiled at and made small talk with other people walking around with IV's in their arms and monitors on their bellies, speculating on how the day would go and, as my SIL said, it felt "like the calm before the storm."   

The boys played on the floor, explored the hospital and it's two waiting rooms, and read books and magazines.   I ran a couple of quick errands nearby and picked up baked goodies at the local coffee shop.  We made and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 

By noon, her labor was just beginning in earnest so soon the boys and I left the room and kept ourselves out of way just outside the door in the hallway while the assigned nurse (Even though all of them seemed wonderful, somehow they were lucky enough to be matched up perfectly with a particular one of the nurses on staff that day.), my BIL, and C helped my SIL (C's sister) through the contractions.  The doctor made it back from his clinic, again, just in time for her to start pushing at almost 3:00 pm.  That was when the three boys and I slipped into the room and watched as she gave birth to their son, without pain medication, 10 minutes later!   It was one of the more intense and beautiful things I've seen and experienced and it was an honor to be there with them.

Everything good I had heard about that hospital and that doctor were proven true for me on that day.  Not a single person had any trouble with three little boys sprawled out in the hallway playing all day, wandering around in their stocking feet, dropping bread crumbs here and there.  Rather, they were welcomed.  None of the staff were even aware up until the moment we came into the room that the three boys and myself would be in there when their brother/cousin was born and they were welcomed there as well.  Afterwards, the doctor showed them the placenta and amniotic sac explaining to them that that was where the baby had lived and grown and how he had gotten his nourishment in the womb.

After Monday, I have the distinct feeling that giving birth in a hospital seems almost like a social, even public, happening, with people coming and going in the hallways, trying to walk themselves into full on labor, while visitors came and went.  This, even though our own children's births could practically be considered full blown parties, with 7 people (2 midwives, a doctor, a friend, my SIL, C and myself) at R's birth and 11 people (3 midwives, 2 friends, a friend's 2 month old son, my SIL and my (now) BIL, R, C, and myself) not to mention 2 more just upstairs at E's birth.  I guess, counting everyone up, there were 11 people in the room on Monday when our nephew was born, as well.

I could go on and on, and have already, but I guess what I'm really trying to say here is that, in many ways, at least in this one case, I saw fewer differences than I would have expected (aside from the induction and monitors) between a hospital birth and the others that I've seen and experienced.  It's all about the people, really.  People who work in this field, whether doctor, midwife, or nurse, work VERY hard, take on alot of responsibility, and have the best interests of the woman, child, and family in mind.  It takes an incredible amount of calm and confidence to do this kind of work, using caution, knowledge, and experience at every moment.  I was really quite surprised at how personal and individual the experience seemed to be for each and every person that was there that day giving birth to their children.

The "public" aspect of it all seemed surreal to me at the time.  Now that I've had time to process, I can see that it was a joyous atmosphere that was really only slightly "shared" with others and that was ultimately experienced only on a very personal level by each individual.

The people in this hospital were incredibly open-minded and open-hearted, I felt.  I'm not sure if it would be possible to have a better birth experience in a hospital than I witnessed on Monday, at least not from my own perspective.

It's not that I didn't expect a positive experience.  The birth of a child is good and beautiful, period, so I knew it would be one. I guess what I'm trying to say was that my presumptions were proven wrong, which often, it seems, proves to be a good thing. 

Nearly seven years ago, C and I were in that same hospital, accompanied by our midwife and her assistant, having some tests done to check on the well-being of our child-to-be.  We saw the same doctor that was with my SIL last Monday.  Over the course of the last week of my own pregnancy our midwife was conferring with him daily over the phone.  At the end of my appointment there with him, I felt my body staring to feel different.  I suspected I might be going into labor.  As it turned out, I was.  Some people go to the hospital when they go into labor.  I walked out the door.  Choices.  It is good to have choices so people can make the best ones for themselves.

As for choices, I think my SIL and BIL  are certain now that they made the right choice to induce labor.  They had a 11 pound, 1 ounce baby boy!

As for the hats I've been knitting, I wasn't quite sure where they were going to go.  Local?  Dulaan project? afghans for Afghans?  Through some friends working in Afghanistan?  Instead, I decided on something completely different.  A friend of mine and her son are going to need money for legal help in dealing with the mother of her grandson who abducted him away to an out of state location a couple of weeks ago.  I am hoping the hats will sell at one of the local holiday craft fairs this weekend and then I will donate the proceeds to help defray their costs.  It isn't much, but it's something.  If they don't sell, then I'll donate them directly to one of the above charities.  The white background of the hat picture is snow, by the way. 

Newness.

New, fresh snow.  New, sweet nephew.  Perfect weather for settling in and nursing, and getting to know a new baby, I'd say.  Congratulations to my SIL, BIL  and baby's big brother, A.  More tomorrow, and several more knitted hats soon, my Meathead hat included.  Too sleepy now.

Munrospun 3ply

My mom knits patchwork afghans together with a group of women from her church.  Each afghans go to a graduating high school senior student of the church at the end of the school year.  Another woman at the church, hearing that she knits, offered to give her some matching yarn and woven fabric that she had bought maybe 20 years ago in Scotland and had never used.  My mom passed it onto me.  It arrived the other day in the mail.  There are 9 one-ounce skeins of 3 ply, green, heathered wool yarn(no yardage per ounce given) and about 2 yards of matching, woven, woolen fabric yardage.  It all spent a few days in the chest freezer to kill off any potential moths larvae. The woven yardage has a few minor thin spots which don't appear to be moth damage but I wasn't taking any chances.  There are even matching buttons and woven tags for sewing into the finished garments.

It's all so lovely but I can't imagine what to do with it.  An initial swatch turned out at 28 stitches x 40 rows over 4 inches on #2 aluminum needles.  I won't be knitting an entire women's sized sweater at this gauge and the wool is too fine and fragile(?) for children's garments.  I doubt I'd ever wearing a "matching separates" outfit that I'd make from both the yardage and the yarn anyways, at least not at the same time. 

I can see a skirt made from the fabric with the smallest amount of embroidery or applique somewhere on it.  I can just as easily see this fabric felted into a dense, soft, and wooly fabric to use for other projects.  Is that wrong?  As for the yarn, I'll have to try doubling it and swatching again.  I could see knitting an item to be felted from this as well. 

What shall I do with this?  Any ideas?  Does anybody else know anything about this yarn or have any patterns designed for it?  What was it dyed with, natural or synthetic dyes?   The tag reads:  "100% Pure Virgin Wool.  Munrospun.  3 ply Morning Haze.  Made in Scotland."  On the reverse:  "Please purchase sufficient of one blend to complete your garment.  Shade 3147.  Blend 6.  Net weight when packed 1 oz. (28.35 gms)  In case of complaint please return this ticket with wool.  Munrospun Limited.  Restalrig, Edinburgh."  Here are some pictures I found from googling Munrospun.  The one on the left is not all that different from Salina from Rowan Vintage Knits:

Let the winter decorating begin

Here's one for the resume:  Wreath-maker extraordinaire.  Yup. That was my very first job in Montana that first fall that we lived here, the second year as well, and then the third year I branched out on my own. 

That year, from mid-October to mid-November I spent my days working from morning until late at night gathering boughs in the mountains and making 400 wreaths.  Just before Thanksgiving I rented a U-haul truck to get them to Seattle and spent a few weeks selling them, either pre-decorated or decorated to suit, out of the back of a pickup truck on a street corner (with permission from the land owner) and at the Fremont Winter Market for a couple of Sundays. 

I certainly didn't get rich but made more than I would have making wreaths again for somebody else.  It meant spending three weeks away from C which was probably the worst part but I got to spend that time with my parents.  Several wreaths were given to family,friends, the postman who wasn't too happy with my dog, and the tow truck driver who pulled the pick up truck out of my parents neighbor's front yard when the emergency brake failed.  (Oops. I was crying at the time but there are a ton of giggles now and some pretty funny pictures that came out of that one.)  I met and traded with some other crafty people from another booth at the Fremont market that I still know today here in Montana, eight years later. 

A few days before Christmas, I brought the last 90 or so unsold wreaths to Northwest Harvest to be distributed with bags of food for the holidays.  Then I hightailed it back home for the holidays.  Lets just say that I kept myself busy, earned a little, and learned a lot, not the least of which was how to drive two stubborn old pick up trucks.  A good experience all in all.

Now, I just make wreaths for family and friends both near and far, shipping around ten of them during Thanksgiving weekend to both of the coasts and the midwest and personally delivering a few to friends here. 

Above is the wreath by our front door this year the way I've come to prefer them, unadorned, and even a bit scraggly I guess, as I can see now from the picture.  Below is one fully decorated.  The leftover grand fir boughs, mixed with cedar and pine boughs will come inside to decorate the house and/or become a garland over the front door.  Grand fir trees smell just like the satsuma madarin oranges that are in season right now.  Heavenly!

More about the yarn on the right when tomorrow's post automatically publishes in the morning.  (We'll be driving early, early, early in the morning on **SNOWY!** roads to the hospital to be with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and nephew during labor and to greet the newest member of their family as she/he is born into this world!)

In Due Time...

I was told the other day by the owner of our LYS that she'd heard that when you're knitting a hat for a full term newborn you should aim for the size of a grapefruit and if you're knitting for a preemie, try for the size of an orange. 

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are still waiting.  They are SO ready, now.  I guess I couldn't stand the waiting any longer either, casting on for and finishingr two wee little hats out of two sock yarns, both Trekking, in only a couple of days.  You know that knitting myth/suspicion (not the boyfriend one), the one where you start to believe that you can  influence someone's labor by casting on for a last-minute project for their baby or, if not that, then finishing and casting off or, if not that, then, as in this case, starting and finishing the second one...?  So much for THAT idea!  These were done a few days ago.  Silly me to think that my knitting held that kind of power.  Babies come when they are ready to, thus the phrase "in due time" I suppose?

This is the closest yet that I've come to knitting in traditional candy pink or baby blue for anyone.  They're both knit on #2 dpns over the same number of stitches (80, I think?), the pink one just a few rows shorter to prevent running out of yarn (approximately 5.5 - 6 inches before starting decreases).

The pink one is being modelled by an orange-sized grapefruit, and the blue one is on a grapefruit-sized orange.  So much for THAT idea, as well.

Goodbye to fall

Until this fall, we've had no designated nature corner.   After clearing the bookshelves in the house of my all my crafting and knitting books, moving them into the still unfinished (no heat yet) craft room above the shop, there was suddenly space on an empty shelf that would serve as one.  The shelf above was stocked with all the nature craft books and plant/animal guide books that we have.  Included in the nature corner were paper bag trees, pine cone owls, painted wooden drawer pull mushrooms, and colored wooden leaves, along with other treasures brought in from outside: leaves, the last blooming wildflowers that went to seed while on the shelf, twigs, lichens, rocks, a paper wasp nest. 

All of this is being dismantled today and the pressed leaves will be put away into the box for next years' crafting.  The flower seeds will be spread to the wind like snowflakes.  A fresh coating of snow (scrap of white polar fleece) will be laid on the shelf for the winter.

We've all enjoyed so much creating this little corner of our house.  I was surprised at how into it the boys got and how they enjoyed sharing it with others who came to our house.

On to winter decorations now.  We try to reserve the Christmas decorating until after E's birthday early in December so as not to take away from his own celebration.  Sometimes there's just no stopping it, though.  A couple of weekends ago I got to sleep in late, awakening to find that R had cut out fabric and sewed a Christmas stocking for the dogs all by himself. 

Turkey Leftovers, lots of it.

This was supposed to post yesterday, only I ran out of time before leaving for our Thanksgiving gathering and then the legendary turkey and triptophan effect kicked in, knocking me out immediately upon returning home, falling asleep in E's bed after reading to him.

The Hutterites were in town this week selling poultry and produce out of a refrigerated truck by the side of the road.  I bought only one chicken from them this time for roasting and making soup and only wish I'd had the cash for a whole case of them to put in the freezer.  They are so much better than what you can get in the store.

A couple of turkeys:  Two with fake leaves for feathers.  It's nice to actually use up completely some of this stuff that's just been sitting around in the craft supplies.  Two more of the real, wild variety foraging in a neighbor's yard down the road.

On the left, more wild turkeys nearby.  (R named that Mei-Mei's chicken barn from Jan Brett's Daisy Comes Home several years ago and the name has stuck even though we all know it's a hay barn for cattle.)  On the right, two more tired turkeys.

Real turkey feathers, courtesy of a neighbor who gathered them after a coyote killed a wild turkey in his yard, put a new twist this year on headbands and traditional traced-hand turkeys.  As you can see I have no qualms about decorating with imagery of the food that will be on the table and in our bellies.

Since I'm sure somebody will ask, yes, I made the quilt about 10 years ago.  I did the handquilting while we were living out of our old truck and looking for a place to live/purchase.  I traced a wide-mouth mason jar ring in each of the squares because that was all I had for a template for quilting.

To all those who celebrated yesterday, hope you had a Happy Turkey Day!  It was a perfect, beautiful Thanksgiving here with a light dusting of snow and in good company with much to be grateful for.

Acorn - A = Corn

See what I meant about candy-corn colored knits around here?  I've used the last of the naturally dyed self-striping sock yarn but still have enough solid colors for a few pair.

The kernels from the decorative corn in this post from last year is what we used for both necklaces and decorations, soaking them in water until they were soft enough to string on a needle and beading thread.  We soaked the corn husks to make a corn husk doll as in the Legend of the Corn Husk Doll, following these directions.  We glued the dry kernels and 11 bean soup mix onto paper (Too bad we didn't have any dried squash seed as well to represent the third sister).  We also strung some extra, stale popcorn for hanging on the trees outside, made cornbread, and even tasted (a tiny bit of) corn syrup.  The popcorns balls have dried cranberries and sunflower seeds added for a trio of native american foods in one very sweet treat.  It's called homeschooling and crafting-on-a-shoestring with what we had on hand!

Enough corny-ness for now.  It's been a rough couple of days around here, which makes all this sweet craftiness.  This full-time homeschooling mom needs a break!  Luckily, tomorrow will be a sort-of one as it's a holiday and we'll be enjoying the day with friends and family and far too much food.  Then I could really use a day to myself, NOT for running errands or cleaning up around here or catching up on blogs, but REAL time just hanging out with girlfriends just ourselves, not easy to arrange with kids and families to juggle.  We're just going to have to make it happen, though.  It would be in everybody's interest!

A-corny

Felted acorns, seen first here and here. It turned out that I had on hand almost the same colors as Stephanie's.  The peachy color was dyed naturally years ago with I-don't-know-what.  The boys' acorns turned out nicer and less lumpy than mine.  I think they rolled and felted the wool more gently in the beginning.  I was too impatient.

Since you asked, how-to's for making felt balls or beads (then you can just roll them into more of an oval egg-shape, if you wish, towards the end): good instructions for making small ones and for working with kids here, Martha's pretty version here, more here, and here.  Gosh, I wish I'd taken a peek at these first.

More acorny and squirrely stuff:

How could I have forgotten this?:  the squirrel and acorn clip art from the MSLiving mag last month. 

Wooden acorns like the two mixed in above: here (scroll to bottom of page), or if you are like me and would love to someday get them in bulk so as to have an entire bowlful, then here.  Crafty idea for using them here.

Stephanie's amazing and sweet squirrels here, here, and here.

Felted jewelry: here, here.

Wee Folk Studio, of course.

Sewn & crocheted woolen acorns from here.  Sewn, scented acorns, sold here (scroll down).

Crocheted acorn pattern, free here.  Intricate knitted Leaf and Acorn lace pattern, free here.  Fiber Trends' Acorn Lace sock pattern.  Again, Adrian's Squirrel and Oak Mitten pattern free here.  Another mitten pattern here (scroll down, on right hand side, just under "Min favoritvante fran Dalsland").

Crate and Barrel:  acorn ornament, candlepot, bowl, and squirrel ornament.

Anthropologie:  Felt squirrel and acorn ornament.

Vintage wooden acorn jewelry: pins here, here, here, here, necklaces here, here,  here, bracelet here.

Beautiful wooden acorn needle and thread holder here (scroll down).

Pictures:  acorn, squirrel (via Mecozy), or just go type in "squirrel" or "acorn" in the search box at Flickr.  The squirrels pictures are numerous, sometimes bizarre, and often with hilarious captions.  Mr. Acorn. :)

Stencils/templates:  acorns, another acorn,  oak leaves, or better yet, trace around pressed leaves. 

Acorn boxes here, here, here, and this tiny one from an article about making gift boxes in MS Living December/January 1992:

Enough?  Anything more to add?  I'd love to know of anything else out there that you know of.