Knitted wrapping paper, year 3

Two years ago, my then 11-year-old great-granddaughter told her mother that she hoped I'd knit my wrapping paper again that year. I have a tradition of giving my descendents Hallmark ornaments for Christmas. At some time, I had given Lexi hers in a knit, drawstring bag. I guess she wanted another one, so I knit drawstring bags for the six great-grandchildren, but wrapped the adult gifts conventionally. The two babies didn't give a damn, and I'm not sure what the 9-year-old boy thought, but the 11-,8-, and 7-year-old girls liked them.

Last year, I knit hats for everyone, including the adults and the unborn child, and put the ornaments in them. This year, I am knitting washcloths for everyone. My intention for the great-grandchildren was to match the towels my sister had given them with their names appliqued on one end. However, I learned yesterday that the four girls all have light purple towels. Doesn't matter for Lexi, since she's the only girl in the house. but the other three girls are all the same family. So . . . purple, lavender, and that bright pink might be good for Rose.

Michael's had Sugar n Cream 'dishcloth' cotton on sale last week, so I stocked up - one ball of each solid color they had (except yellow and orange, which I already had at home), but there were a couple of colors that were already sold out by the time I got there on Wednesday. I'll go back on Tuesday with a coupon to see what other colors they have now. I'll also check out Hobby Lobby (with a coupon, of course).

The washcloths have the person's first-name initial in garter stitch on a stockinette stitch field, with a garter stitch border. Very easy projects.

A Fulled Purse

Some people would say felted, but to me felting is done with unspun fiber. After the fiber is spun into yarn and then knitted or woven, the correct term is fulled.

Fifteen years or so ago, my friend Dana cleared some of her 'stuff' out of her mother's attic. She brought some of it to our fiberarts meeting and I came home with a large trash bag of wool.

Looks like so much yarn barf, doesn't it? Each piece is about two yards long. I have pulled out a lot of them, tied them together and rolled them into balls. This is what I haven't done anything with.

Here is what I've rolled into balls but not used yet. Several years ago, I knit two bags and fulled them. I recently completed another one (I had started it in May 2011 and then set the project aside). I don't remember how I had planned to do it when I started, but this is how I finished it.

I knit it in the round in stockinette stitch and am using the purl side as the right side, because that is where all the knots and tails migrate. On the flap, I bound off a few stitches every inch or so, alternating sides. The strap is just garter stitch. Actually this one was too long, so I did another one. Then I put them in the washer and dryer with a load of jeans to full them before I put on the strap. I had forgotten that garter stitch gets longer rather than shorter. The main part of the purse went from 15" to 10.5", and the flap from 13" to 9.5", but the strap went from 61" to 65". I had planned to have the strap doubled, but didn't like it when it was done. I figure it will make a good sash for my costume for the Walk Through Bethlehem in December.

And here is the final result, already loaded with wallet, check book, etc.

Re-finance

I think I signed my name 50 times today. I've finally been able to re-finance my mortgage. This will lower my monthly payment somewhat, but the main thing is that now I am the only one on the mortgage and deed. The reason I have this house is that my granddaughter and her husband wanted to buy it. In a weak moment, I co-signed for them. In less than two years, I was in the house but their names were still on the paperwork.  I had tried to re-finance a few years ago, but hadn't been successful. One downside: now I'll have to stop trying to convince Andy that he should come clean out the gutters, since the house was partly his.

My Day

I had a lovely day today. I went to The Ice House in Mayfield, as I usually do on Tuesday. Mary and Brandie (mother and daughter) came and we knitted and talked for a while. Then they asked if I wanted to join them on a trip to Paducah to do some errands. We went to Hobby Lobby where I bought a 5" needle to weave with on my 4" Weave-it looms (somehow I have lost one of the looms, as well as a needle to weave with). They each bought some things, but Mary didn't find the main thing she was looking for, so we went to Michael's. They didn't have what she wanted either, but Brandie bought something. After that, we went to Home Depot for a piece of wood for Mary's husband to make little looms for Brandie's daughters.

We went through the drive-through at Wendy's for hamburgers and fries, which we ate as we traveled back to Mayfield.

Then I went to the library to return books and check out more. I ran into a friend (and neighbor - she lives about a mile down the road from me), so we talked for a few minutes.

Since I got home, I haven't done anything constructive - just played on the computer. I should shut it down and knit a few rows before I get in bed to start one of the books I got today.

I'll be back in Paducah again tomorrow to talk to my insurance agent, return books to that library, go to church and then meet some knitting friends at Panera.

That will be all of my socializing for this week; then I'll stay home for a few days to do laundry and knit and read. Sounds like a boring life, doesn't it? But it suits me.

Peeee-eeew!!!!!

About this time yesterday, I smelled something that made me think "raw sewage." I checked to make sure both toilets had been flushed, although I knew they had, since I'm the only person living here, and I hadn't had any visitors. After an hour or so, I realized that the atmospheric conditions were just right (or wrong, in my opinion) for the stench from the paper mill in Wickliffe (20 miles away) to reach Milburn. I smelled it all night and this morning, but things are back to normal now. That happens three or four times a year, but it always takes me a bit to figure it out when it does - I guess I'm slow.

Shawls

I took three shawls that I've completed recently outside this morning to photograph them.

I posted a different picture of this one previously, but these show the whole thing, plus close-ups of the right and wrong sides.  The top photo, of course, is the right side, although the wrong side doesn't look bad either.

The next one is an example of what to do when you have a skein of multi-color yarn that just doesn't work in any other project. Get a co-ordinating solid color yarn and make what I call my diagonal pinstripes shawl. I start at one corner with four stitches, then alternate the yarns every other row, while also increasing one stitch every other row. It is garter stitch, which is knit every row. When I run out of the multi-color yarn, I pick up stitches along the other short side and do a border of some kind. I've made several shawl like this, using various borders.

On this one, I used a very simple Yarn Over, Knit Two Together (YO, K2tog in knit speak). On the other side of the point at the bottom, I switched to Slip Slip Knit, Yarn Over (SSK, YO). I purled alternate rows. When I felt the border was wide enough, I did a few rows of garter stitch and then bound off.

I tried to show the top edge in the next picture. This is where I switched from one yarn to the other, knit three stitches and did a yarn over to increase one stitch. It doesn't matter whether you pick up the new color from in front of or behind the other one; as long as you are consistent it will give you a nice edge.

And now for shawl number three. This is the only one that is from someone else's pattern.

It is done in modules, with stitches picked up along the edges of other modules. I think my close-up of the fans is of the wrong side, but then it really doesn't matter, does it?

I haven't spent much time in my yard this summer, so I wasn't aware that I apparently have moles.

Can you see where they are traveling underground?

I guess you call this a molehill.

Knitting

I finally finished the blanket for that new great-grandson I mentioned a month ago.

This is a picture I took of it before mailing it to NJ. His name is done in shadow or illusion knitting, which only shows up at an angle. His middle and last names are on the side edges. His mommy sent two pictures of him with the blanket.

Note how the words disappear when looking straight on.

I hope he gets a lot of use out of the blanket.

My latest finished project is a basket-weave shawl knit in four shades of green. I did it first in just three shades, but it wasn't long enough when I ran out of yarn. They were all old yarns in discontinued shades, so I could not get more. Friends gave me some suggestions, but I decided in the end to completely unravel it and start over, adding a fourth shade. I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

It is about 18 inches wide and five feet long.