Mercury

I love working with double pointed needles, so when I stumbled upon this pattern on Ravelry, I jumped at the chance to knit. I had the perfect yarn picked out, too! It's a very simple pattern, basic stuff!

I know I've mentioned that my wrist has been a giant bummer for nearly a year. I was able to do a few small cloths around Christmas, but not much more.  I'm happy that this project has been pain free, without using IcyHot, so hopefully I'll be able to finish the second fingerless mitten in the next day or so.

A few things..

I've been a busy bee lately. With summer camp over (sigh of relief) and the kids back in school, I have a little more time to breathe and work on some things. Christmas is coming up, and with my wrist still sore I'll be doing less knitting and more projects. Anywhoo, here's a few things I've done recently.

 Grapefruit and vinegar cleaner. 

I've got 5 more grapefruits and a big bottle of vinegar to add before this sits and I bottle it into spray bottles!

 Banana bread. 

Honestly I've never made a banana bread I didn't like!

Creamed corn casserole. 

Eh.

It wasn't bad at all, but it's not something we'll eat on a regular basis. 

Good recipe for cleaning out canned corn I guess.

Before & After

I finally finished my "Ugly" blanket, and I'm totally in love with it. Next time (if there is a next time) I'll figure out a way to attach the squares together that isn't so ugly. I'm just glad to be done!

Sneak peek

I'm hoping that by the time August is over, I'll have enough of these to make a funky little blanket for the back of the couch. I teach at a summer camp, so I will be pressed for time once the kids get out of school, but I think I can do it.

I'm using Sugar & Cream yarn for this, though the pink yarn is from a little tiny ball I had left over. I'm not sure what the brand is, but it's a similar texture. I'm sort of aiming for an "ugly" blanket here. Nothing fancy. The pattern is from the Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth!

Solana

"Solana"

Easy Lace Scarf:

pattern from Knitter's Review

I have to say that I'm really proud of this scarf. It is the first time I've knit anything that wasn't just plain garter or stockinette stitch. I had always turned my cheek on anything that had to do with increasing or decreasing or slipping stitches. I was pleasantly surprised at how EASY this pattern was to follow -- after a few sets of the sequence it gets memorized and you can just go with it. Whoo hoo!

I used plain old RedHeart acrylic yarn for this, but I'd like to try making it with a lacy yarn so that the "holes" for the lace look are more visible.

Taylor

"Taylor"

I wanted a fun scarf that was super skinny and versatile enough to be worn as a headband, so I whipped this up. It only took about 4 hours, but probably would have taken less time if I were solely focused on just the scarf.

You need:
Size 11 straight needles
Any color yarn you want
Crochet hook for tucking in the tails


Directions:
Cast on 110-130 stitches with color A
Row 1 - knit with color A
Rows 2-7 knit with color B
Rows 8-9 knit with color A
Bind off

Jovan

"Jovan"

I named this project after my mother, as this gift was a gift for her 11/28 birthday.

You need:

• 10.5 straight knitting needles
• 1 skein RedHeart EasyTweed; Coffee
• Crochet hook for weaving in tails
• 2-3 "buttons" (optional)

Directions:

• Cast on 30 stitches
• Knit each row until there is 2-4" left on skein
• Bind off
• Weave in tails

You will now have a very short scarf. Manipulate it by folding in different ways until you create the look you want. Pin it in place. Use a needle & thread to sew only the front of the scarf in place so it doesn't flop around. When I made this one, I left the sides & back unsewn, just folded, so that my mother could essentially unfold it so it covered her ears if she wanted. The "buttons" are not functional and are just decoration, but I thought it looked better with them.