An End to a Year, or A LSG Tribute, or Knitters/Crocheters Rock!

My first blog of the new year is about the generous nature of knitters. It is no secret that I love Ravelry. It truly has something for every knitter or crocheter. I have made friends, joined groups and found amazing patterns and new yarns. The A Swap in Time group is a swap group that has become a close group of crafters that are always glad to "see" you. There are funny groups, serious groups and everything in between. When my mother passed away someone recommended the Motherless group. You come to ravelry because you're a knitter/crocheter but it gives you so much more than patterns.

One group I joined this year is the LSG group. It is not for the faint of heart or pearl clutchers. It is a group of women and men that are strange, strong, creative, funny, kind and band together to help one of their own. There is even a Facebook page for our group. It was on this page that I posted a whine about my husband getting a new job. I was upset because it was another trucking job that would take him away from home for weeks at a time. I was pleased that he would be working, but I did not want to be left alone here in this new town. The group gave me support, reassured me that I was not a nut for feeling this way and missing my husband.

A few days later I was given reason to make another post. When Mark went in for his DOT physical the doctor refused to give him a med card. Everything was in well working order, but she decided that since he is diabetic he would need to have his a1c tested again. There was no reason for her to request this test. His sugar levels were within range and the last time he had the a1c test (just before we moved) it was well below where it needed to be. Mark complained to the office nurses and was told that this clinic hated this doctor with a passion. She had recently transferred in and was making every one's life hell. That day alone, she had refused med cards for 3 other truck drivers. For some reason she does not like them.

So, why not go get the a1c tested? Well, it has to be ordered by a doc and then the results are sent to the doc and he/she gives them to you. At this point in time we do not have doctors in our new town. Why? Because no one within a 4 county radius will take our state insurance. We could drive to the town we used to live in and he could have the DOT physical done there for $80. We could drive to the town we used to live in and visit his doc there, have him schedule the a1c, then drive back another day for the results then take those to the clinic down here and hope for the crazy doc lady to hand over a med card. Confusing? Yes, it is. Of course, the big problem with all of this is that we have no money. None. Without the help from Sassafrass and her husband, Chris, we would not have been able to give our children Christmas.

So, I posted about our new troubles on the LSG Facebook page. I was just looking to complain, moan a bit and perhaps get some advice. I got all that but I also got more. These wonderful people banded together and sent what money they could so that we would be able to pay for gas (for the 5 hour round-trip) and to pay for the $80 DOT physical. What a surprise and what a gift from people that only know me from a group on a knitting site. So don't scoff at knitters/crocheters. They keep this world together.

Unfortunately, the trucking company would not hold the job while Mark arranged for the physical, etc. However, I am positive that he is going to get a better job, a job that will allow him to home at night and on the weekends. And he'll be able to get it all because of the help from some damn fine knitters and crocheters.

A jolly good New Year to you all! May it be a year without fear and full of great yarn!!

It Knits Us Together

The two weeks before Christmas I knitted like crazy to get these three monsters made. All three are designs by Rebecca Danger. The black and white one is Cecil the Computer. I actually made him quite a bit bigger. I added 30 stitches to his body. The purple and green monster is Charlie the Ceiling Monster. He is a very small monster and while I did not add stitches to his girth, I did knit a lot more rounds. And finally, there is Louie the Lovebot. I made him for Gavin since he likes robots.

I sewed Charlie together late on Christmas Eve, but they were all made and waiting for the kids in the morning.

Since we didn't have the funds for extra Christmas decorations, I used an idea a friend of mine had to make a wreath. It is made with a dollar store wooden wreath form and bow and a lot of plastic grocery store bags. I cut the handles and the bottom seam from the bags then cut the bags into strips. Each bag was tied to the wreath form. It's not fancy but I like it and it only cost $3 and a bit of my time.

This year I set our table with the place mats that my mom made years ago. Even the candles are from her house. Her husband loved the Bullfrog Candle place and bought a ton of candles there. These had not yet been used so I set them out on our table.

The small tree decorated the island in the kitchen along with the gingerbread houses made by Irene and Gavin. The gingerbread house on the right is a plastic canvas kit my mother made. It used to sit out at Christmas for many years.

And, of course, the dog tree which is also my mother's. It was important to me that the house be decorated this year. I wanted our first Christmas in the new house and new town to be a happy one for the kids. Our transition to this new town has not been easy. I want the kids to look back on this time as not just a place we landed but as a place we made a home.

In my last post I was afraid that Santa would not be able to visit the kids this year. There really was no way I could figure out to get him here. Thankfully, I am blessed with a generous knitting friend. Sassafrass is the first person I made friends with on Ravelry and her blog was the first I started following. I loved looking through her finished projects and adding a lot of them to my project list. Granted, I don't know her in the "real world" but that has not stopped her from being kind, understanding and thoughtful. After she read my last post about the state of our finances and Santa's not being able to find our house, she and her husband graciously decided to help us with that. They sent us the money to buy the children gifts. We were able to get them each two gifts, coloring books and crayons and some goodies for their stockings. We even got the dogs a chew bone each.

Christmas morning started with my going to bed rather late...or early. Irene woke me up at 4:30. She then went upstairs singing carols and woke up Henry. I finally had to get up and tell them to go back to bed. At 7:30 Gavin woke me up by throwing up all over me. Yuck.

Still, the morning was so much fun! The kids were so pleased with their gifts and even liked the knitted ones. We had Christmas brunch with ham, potatoes delight, broccoli, cauliflower and fruit.

We are extremely grateful to Sass and her husband, whose name I sadly do not know. We were able to give our children a very Merry Christmas because of you! Many thanks and warm wishes to you both!!!!

Gavin taking a quick break from playing with his new Little People bulldozer.

Irene showing off Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder.

Gavin posing with some candy stuck to his face.

Henry and one of his Legos.

Knitting has brought some fantastic people into my life. This Christmas would not have been possible with out the help of one. We are so grateful! My next post will be about the kind knitters (also from Ravelry) that are trying to help my husband get a job. Once again, it is knitters giving a helping hand.

Does knitting make people nice, or do nice people knit?

Teacher Gifts

This week was the last days of school before Christmas for Henry and Irene. They wanted to give their teachers gifts. I wanted them to be able to give their teachers gifts but we have no money (like the "we can't even give our 3 kids gifts for Christmas" kind of no money) so I dug through my small yarn stash. I found several balls of Loops and Threads Country Loom in a pretty purple/blue/green colorway. It is considered a super bulky weight and I knew I could knit a couple of cowls fairly quickly. I took a look on Ravelry for a pattern. I found the Super Simple Superwash Scarf pattern. I think it turned out quite nice and the yarn is very soft. The cowl is large enough to be wrapped around the neck twice. I made one for each teacher. Henry gave it to his teacher yesterday and she was very happy with it. She made a point of showing it to all the other teachers and sent a thank you card home for Henry. Irene took her gift in today. I hope her teacher likes it!

I know I dropped that "we have no money" thing here in this blog. If you want the knitty gritty details and want to read my whining about it you can visit my Williams Family blog by clicking here.

2 Hats and a Cowl

In keeping with the a hat for everyone knitting theme I seem to be on, I made a hat for Henry and Mark. Henry's is made with Caron's Simply Soft yarn. I wanted to make him the dead fish hat or a shark hat, but after letting him look through all the patterns he decided on Adrian's Skull Cap. I was going to make it using shades of green to match his winter jacket but he was adamant that it be black and white.
I was so nervous about doing the skulls. Why? I don't know, it turned out to be easy! It makes me want to do more involved designs.

Mark finally asked me to make him something. This hat is the first thing he ever wanted me to knit for him. I let him pick out the pattern and since we couldn't afford to buy yarn I decided to be kind and use my Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool for it. I love this yarn (it's Michigan made!) and I don't like to share it. This particular color I have three skeins of and was planning on making a shawl for myself with it. Instead I made Mark's hat and I'm going to make myself a hat and perhaps a cowl with it.

Mark decided on Todd's basket weave hat. It's not my favorite hat pattern and not the one I thought he should have, but he wanted it so that's what I made. He is happy with it too, although it doesn't look like it in the picture. He was trying to look serious but was actually trying not to giggle ;-)

Since my yarn budget is no more, I've been trying to knit things using only my very small stash of yarn. I had two balls of Rowan Wool Cotton that has been waiting to be used for a cowl. I had tried to make the A Noble Cowl pattern before, but every time I would set it down I would forget where I was. It was a big mess. This time I put in stitch markers every 15 stitches. Success! I have a beautiful cowl that I love.

I will be starting Gavin's Roar hat next. Happily, I was gifted some lively green yarn and am now able to do so. I have one small project to finish up first. After Gavin's hat I am going to make mine and then I am going to try to make each child a monster for Christmas. Yeah...not sure if I will actually get them done by Christmas but I am sure gonna try! I was gifted the patterns to make a robot and two other monster patterns. I have some Red Heart yarn that will be perfect for them. Wish me luck!!

Hello Kitty!

Finally! I finished Irene's Hello Kitty hat. The pattern is free on Ravelry and is darling. It is knit with Lion Brand Jiffy and the bow is made with Red Heart. The hat itself was very easy, but for some reason I had endless troubles with it. The pattern calls for a size 9, 16 inch circular needle as well as double pointed needles. I have larger size 9 circular needles but no 16 inch ones and I have no size 9 dpn's at all. After two false starts I finally managed a third time to get the size I wanted on size 10 needles. Once I got to the decreases I somehow managed to mess them up. I had to rip back a bit. It was a relief to finish. Of course, then I had to sew the nose, eyes and whiskers. Plus I had to sew on the ears. The sewing makes me nervous. I can't sew and having to seam anything makes me nauseous. I am afraid of how it will look or that it will look wonky.

Surprisingly, I think I did a damn fine job! It isn't perfect and I hope no one ever looks on the inside of the hat, but Irene loves it and even Gavin wants to wear it around. So yes, I am quite pleased with myself.

I am now working on Henry's hat and I am trying to convince my husband that buying yarn to make Gavin's Roar hat is a good investment. His head needs to be warm this winter!

With Gratitude

A happy surprise was waiting for me in my email last night. One of my wonderful blog readers and ravelry friends (I'm not including her name in case she wants to remain anonymous) purchased the Roar, A Dinosaur Hat and Louie the Lovebot pattern for Gavin! It brought a smile to my face :-) I am so pleased that I will be able to make those for him.

Getting these patterns reminded me that I received a surprise in the mail several weeks ago and never posted about it. A package came in the mail from California. For the life of me I could not figure out who would be sending me something. Inside the package was a bag of Knit Picks Gloss Lace in Sterling, a lovely card and a fantastic stitch marker. The gift was from someone I do not know, however we belong to the LSG group on Ravelry and she decided to surprise me with a little yarn to pick me up.

I love the stitch marker and it is one of the best I've used. It doesn't catch on the yarn and is small enough that it doesn't leave a gap.

I was thinking of using the yarn to make something for my sister-in-law's birthday. Then I found a simple but lovely cowl pattern, Superior Cowl. When going through the finished projects I found one that someone had made with this same yarn. I am soooooo using this yarn on myself to knit this cowl! Mine, all mine!!!

I have been feeling rather "blah" and "down in the dumps" lately. The holidays are approaching and it is starting to hit home that I may not be able to give my children much of a Christmas. I won't go into it more on this blog since this is suppose to be about my knitting. Knitting relaxes me and I want it to remain that way.
Since our current situation is rough going I have been making birthday gifts for my family out of either cheap yarn or stash yarn. In the past 4 months there have been 4 birthdays and that is not including the two that have been my children's! I've been making hats for my family members. Below is the hat I made for my dad. It is made out of Red Heart yarn. The pattern is Ryan, which is a free pattern I found on Ravelry. It has a simple one stitch cable that did not need a cable needle to do. It was a fast hat to knit and I think it is quite nice. My younger brother had a birthday in August and I've written about his hat in an earlier post. I decided to make my older brother the same hat for his birthday in October. Unfortunately, the hat turned out too small. I have no idea how that happened, except that sometimes the knitting Gods like to play pranks. Anyway, the hat fit his 3 year old son perfectly and he used it on Halloween to trick-or-treat in. I have another pattern picked out for the older brother and hopefully I will get around to it soon.
Keeping in the hat knitting theme, I've started the Hello Kitty hat for Irene. Super cute and fast going. Henry picked out a skull and crossbones hat that I will start after I finish Irene's. For Gavin I want to make Roar, a Dinosaur Hat from ravelry. He loves dinosaurs and likes to walk around stomping his feet and roaring. Unfortunately, this pattern is for purchase and not free. Right now I just can't afford it.

I did finally make Irene's Penelope the Monster. The pattern is by Rebecca Danger and had been gifted to me through a Random Act of Kindness. I made one earlier for the daughter of a friend. Irene had wanted one since then.
I think they turn out so cute but I hate sewing the ears, arms and legs on. I can't sew, so to me this is the hardest part of the entire thing. Of course, Henry and Gavin wanted one but they've since gone on to pick out other patterns. Henry really wants Harriet the Haberdashery Hippo.
It is also a pattern by Rebecca Danger but this one is featured in the Knit Simple fall 2011 magazine....which I don't have. Sighhhhhh. Shall I go on about how Gavin is in love with the Louie the Lovebot (also by Rebecca Danger) and that it is a pattern for purchase on the Knit Picks site? Double sighhhhhh.

On a positive note, I posted a picture of Irene's monster on Facebook and received many compliments on it. Once person even wanted me to make 4 of them for gifts. Of course, the amount of time and yarn, eyes, stuffing, etc. makes it a somewhat costly gift. I think she changed her mind! Still, the compliments made me feel better :-)

Well, it is time to work on Irene's hat. I will post pictures as soon as it is done. Until then, Happy Knitting!