2008
12-27-08 ~ I knew back in the summertime that I wanted to make handmade gifts for my family this year, but I thought I was going to be able to learn how to quilt. I wanted to make quilts for everyone with family pictures on them. Rather ambitious for someone who has never quilted before!! So after I did a little research at the local yarn and craft store, I decided to make something different. I had always wanted one of those hand-cranked knitting machines and I started looking for it. Surprisingly, my wife found it when she was in the local thrift store and bought it for me. I tried it out, but I wasn't too happy with the results. Sometimes it would miss the yarn and you had to re-thread it back in, which made it difficult to simply turn the crank and knit without a care. So I went to Wal-mart and bought a Knifty Knitter loom and some yarn to practice. It was slow going at first, having to learn a new craft. But the directions were very easy to follow (once I read them several times and studied the pictures). And in no time I was loom knitting. I've discovered a new way to relax and create something wonderful for the people I love. The photo below is a picture of me nearly done with the scarf for my mother-in-law:
I sent it to her and she was absolutely delighted with it. I made one for my parents too but haven't heard back yet since they weren't available when I called. I haven't finished two more I'm making for other family members. Once I got started, I enjoyed it so much. It is a very peaceful and fulfilling activity, since you see the progress you are making so rapidly.
2009
1-2-09 ~ Here is the scarf that I just finished for my sister:
and here is a detail of the scarf:
I think it came out so nice. I didn't measure the length but it is 2.5 rolls of this color yarn. It took about 2 weeks to complete, working on it for about 1-2 hours a day during the week. I'm working on my brother-in-law's scarf right now and it should be done by the end of next week.
1-7-09 ~ Here is the black scarf that I finished for my brother-in-law:
Here is a detail:
I didn't measure the length but it is 1.75 rolls of this color yarn. It is not as wide as the others because the wider ones seemed more feminine to me.
1-8-09 ~ Who knew I'd be knitting my way into 2009?! Here is the scarf that I finished for my daughter:
It probably took about 1/4 of the red and not much of the white to complete. It measures 4.5 x 34.5. I decided to try knitting two colors together to see how it would look, and I think it came out great. The white yarn has various colors marbled into it, and you never know which color you are going to get as you work your way through the yarn. When I bought it I thought it would mostly be blue but there is also purple and brown so far; I'm sure other colors I haven't seen yet are hiding in there. If you look closely at the picture above you can tell that the white ends are both different colors. Here is a detail of the scarf:
It is as soft and warm as it looks! This scarf took the shortest amount of time to complete: 5 hours. It is the shortest and least wide of all of the ones I've done.
I was loom knitting this scarf as my wife and I sat in a public waiting room, and all the women on staff came over and commented on how nice it was coming out. One showed us a lavender and white baby blanket she had crocheted. It was beautiful! She also loom knitted: she made little hats for the premature babies to wear at a local hospital. She described how she made the hats and the little pom-poms for the top. She shared with me some tips on knitting and showed my wife (who has an interest in sewing) how to make the rail fence pattern for quilts. The women were surprised that I could get almost the entire scarf done in the amount of time we were sitting there and kept coming over to check my progress. If I get ambitious I might try to make a hat and maybe some mittens for her.
1-15-09 ~ Here are two more projects I have started this week. The first one is a scarf for me. My daughter loved her scarf when I gave it to her and I decided to make mine two colors too:
This is about 5 hours worth of knitting, and already I have 28" in length. I'm using the 8" loom. I hope to be done with it by the end of next week since the temperatures are in the single digits around here! I'm using the same yarn I used for all my other scarves: Lion's Brand Homespun.
This is the shawl that I started making for my wife:
This is the shawl that I started making for my wife:
It is a different brand of yarn: Patons Divine. The color is Denim Storm:
It has wispy strands, almost as if you had taken a comb to the yarn and pulled it through:
I thought those wispy strands were going to make it easier for the yarn to snag as I worked it, but it didn't. This is about 3 hours of knitting on the 20" loom. I have 3 inches of length. We bought ten 142 yard rolls of it, so hopefully that is enough to do the job. Can you tell that I'm really enjoying this?! What's next, Artman Greg scarves? Maybe.
1-22-09 ~ Progress is so quick and visible when you knit, that is one of the most satisfying parts about it. Here's how they look after just two weeks. Mine measures 50",
the shawl is 12.5":
1-30-09 ~ My scarf is done! I made mine the longest (72") because I like nice long scarves to wear. It is so soft and warm, I love it! My hat goes off to Lion's Brand yarn! So it took about 2.5 weeks, partly because last week I only worked on it 3 days:
And here is the progress on my wife's shawl. It is now 19":
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