Still Plugging Along

I'm still knitting like crazy on all my Christmas knits. I'm making pretty decent progress. I've finished 2 sweaters (ribbed and hooded), 1 felted bag, 1 pink monster toy, 1 pink headband, and 1 illusion scarf. I'm working on 1 backpack, 1 pair of socks, and 1 sweater. Still to go - 1 more sweater, 1 lace shawl, a pair of legwarmers, a tie, fingerless gloves, hats, and a Deady Bear and a snake, ... this is looking pretty good! I may actually get to end of the list; we'll see how it goes closer to the holiday.

Here's a couple of pictures (don't worry I promise not to post pictures of any gifts that are being given to anyone who might read my blog! I'd never ruin the surprise!).

Meet Your Meat

C'mon, if you're gonna eat it you should know how it gets to your plate. And let me tell you, life on the farm isn't what it used to be. The green pastures and idyllic barnyard scenes portrayed in children's books have been replaced by windowless sheds, tiny crates, wire cages, and other confinement systems integral to what is now known as "factory farming."

Today the majority of farmed animals are:

~confined to the point that they can barely move,
~denied veterinary care,
~mutilated without painkillers,
~and finally slaughtered -- often while fully conscious.


Fortunately, each one of us has the power to help end this suffering by simply choosing to eat vegetarian.

A huge Thank You to ChooseVeg.com for this enlightening information. It's not pretty. But, it is a choice each of us is able to make every single day of our lives.

These animals have no choice.

A Few Words About Knitting

I have come to love knitting. Sometime back in the early 80s I decided I wanted to learn to knit. At the time I was very into needlepoint and embroidery and cross stitch. I’d bought a Reader’s Digest book on needlework through one of those mail-order book clubs – it had needlework directions and patterns in it for every kind of craft that used yarn or thread. Macramé, do you remember macramé? Of course, it also contained a section on knitting and one day I decided I was going to learn how.

Now, my mom has knit since I can remember. Some years she knit more than others, a reflection, I’m sure, on how much work her kids were requiring and how much money there was available to purchase yarn. As memory serves me, when I decided that I wanted to knit, I went to my mom and she gave me a pair of knitting needles (and undoubtedly some yarn too). I’m sure she showed me how to do the simple cast-on and the basic knit stitch. Around the same time I learned the knitting verse:

In through the window,
Run around the back,
Out through the window,
And off pops Jack!

(Can you picture the knitting sequence that goes with this verse?) With these simple steps learned I started knitting a garter stitch “scarf” for lack of a better term. Once I felt comfortable with the stitch, and I no longer inadvertently increased the number of stitches on my needle every few rows or left gaping holes from dropping stitches, I decided I was good enough to branch out and learn to purl.

After awhile, I started working my way through every single one of the knitting patterns in that needlework book – seed stitches to lace stitches. I knit dozens of 8-inch squares learning all of the knitting patterns in the book. I didn’t do much beyond this type of knitting – rectangular scarves or square wash cloths for a long, long time. I was still much more interested in needlepoint and embroidery.

Then one year I decided it was time to really knit something. I decided to knit everyone in my family (Myself, my husband, and my three kids) a sweater. My mom took me to Velona’s in Anaheim Hills and I picked out some beautiful Pingouin cotton yarn for my first attempt – the “Rare Flower” blue sweater in the Popeye knitting book – that I would make for myself. It was fairly slow going; I think the sweater took me a month to make knitting full time (stay-at-home mom, with kids in school!). It had colorwork flowers and a saying: “I am a rare flower,” and a cute little pocket on the sleeve. I learned to increase and decrease. I learned how to pick-up stitches for a neckband. I learned finishing techniques like sewn-in sleeves, and how to sew up side seams. And, it turned out great! I actually wore it numerous times!

The next sweaters that I knit were for my (then) husband – a fun pullover with a shawl color with Popeye on it out of fairly cheap acrylic; another great pullover for my youngest son with Hagar the Horrible on the front with more inexpensive acrylic; a beautiful black and white cotton pullover with a music note design for my oldest son; and a striped cotton button-up-the-front cardigan for my daughter.

I think that the fact that no one told me that intarsia knitting or fairisle knitting was supposed to be hard (read: “advanced”) was a blessing. I wasn’t at all intimidated by these sweaters. I liked knitting them. They were much more interesting than knitting plain old stockinette for an entire sweater! Sometimes having all those yarn bobbins hanging off the back got a little annoying, but for the most part I was totally engaged in my projects. And amazingly enough, all the sweaters fit their intended recipients! They must have been fairly good because a friend of my mom’s actually asked me to knit her a blue sweater just like mine!

For awhile after this, knitting came and went in my life. I’d pick it up for awhile then move on to something else – painting, jewelry making, embroidery, sewing, gardening, et cetera. But over the past 4 years knitting has become my first love. It is my go-to for relaxing on a Saturday after the farmer’s market. It works wonders when I come home after a freaking long day at work and I need to decompress. It is what I take on car trips to give my hands something to do, and I use it to keep my mind occupied on a plane trip. I knit when I can’t sleep. I knit to keep awake waiting for some member of my family to come home. I knit when I’m sitting and waiting for one appointment or another. I knit on my lunch hour (a three-hour break in between my split shifts). And recently, I’ve found a great group of friends – My Stitch ‘n Bitch buddies – to knit with. I always have some knitting project with me.

I am so into knitting that this year I’ve decided to knit Christmas gifts for my friends and family. It’s quite the list (or so I’ve been told), but I started back in July so I think it is manageable. Here is the list (without names attached to any project so my friends and family can actually read my blog and not spoil their Christmas):

1 long-sleeved sweater completely done in 5x3 ribbing,
1 hooded sweater in stockinette with a bit of colorwork,
1 lace hooded sweater,
1 long–sleeved cable pullover sweater,
1 lace shawl,
1 scarf
1 pair fingerless gloves,
1 pair legwarmers,
1 felted messenger bag,
1 backpack,
1 headband,
3 toys (snake, bear, & pink monster),
1 tie,
1 pair of socks,
and a few hats.

This is what I’ve accomplished so far: I’ve bought all of the yarn for all of the projects though I’m still deciding on the shawl pattern. I’ve completely finished 2 of the sweaters and have a good start on the third. I've finished the felted bag (which became a purse instead of a messenger bag) and the headband. I think I’ll start some more of the smaller projects and work on them at the same time as the last two sweaters. It is somewhat unusual for me as I don’t normally work more than one project at a time.

So, between now and Christmas I’ll try to keep everyone updated on my progress. I won’t post pictures until after the holidays (for obvious reasons) but I’ll try to get pictures of everyone with their gifts during the holidays and post them at that time. Wish me luck!