Delivery Day!

Today was our church's day to deliver meals to homeless people in our area. I took in all the things I've knitted on my looms in the past month. In all there were 17 hats and 3 scarves.

Today was the first meeting of our knitting group, so we should be able to turn out lots more items in coming months.





Today was "part one" of our knitting group organizational meeting. I had one lady show up, but more are expected at Thursday evening's meeting. I'm trying to schedule it so more can participate, so we'll probably end up with an afternoon and an evening session each time.

Today I taught my knitting buddy how to cast on and do the e-wrap to knit a basic hat with a brim. I had prepared two looms ahead of time -- one with a hat ready for a brim, and one with a hat ready to be taken off the loom and gathered. We had so much fun, and I'm really looking forward to getting a whole group involved.

Some of the projects we're planning to do are:
* knitting items for the homeless in our area - hats, scarves, mittens and socks. There is such a HUGE need for this in our area.
* knitting lap afghans and other items for nursing home residents that we are going to start visiting.
* contacting the local hospital to see what their needs are - possibly baby hats, blankets, and chemo hats
* maybe even getting involved with the prayer shawl ministry

I finally finished the scarf using the mock crochet stitch. I goofed in one little place -- I lost track of which way I was going and put in an extra few stitches. I was going to rip it apart and start over, but I really needed to get it finished by today so it could be delivered to someone who needed it. I was really tempted to keep this hat and scarf for myself -- I just love the mock crochet stitch, especially for the hat.




I'm working on an afghan now using Lion Brand Homespun yarn. I'm using the garter stitch (alternating knit and purl rows) on the yellow KK loom, using all pegs. I love the way it's coming out. I haven't gotten far enough to take a photo yet, but I'll post it soon.

Back to knitting!

Almost finished!

I'm almost finished with my Semaphore scarf -- I love it! I just have to figure out how to make those pesky little ends quit peeking out. All I need to do now is add the fringes and then I can wear it.


I finally tried the Mock Crochet Stitch -- it's so easy and looks so great! So I sat down and made a hat using this stitch. I love the way it looks, and it's very lightweight.

It was really easy to do. I started with the crochet cast on method and then did two rows of K1P1. Then I started with the mock crochet stitch - I didn't count the rows but I went for about 7 inches. For the last few rows I just did the e-wrap and gathered it off. It didn't take any time at all.

My son's basketball team uses UNC Tarheels colors and I've been trying to find a "Carolina Blue" colored yarn. What a hard color to match! Anyway, I made him a hat and his teammates really liked it, so now I'm working on hats for some of the guys who wanted them. My son's has a brim, but the ones I'm working on now will have no brim. I've found that using the cable cast on method and doing one or two rows of K1P1 gives the hat a nice flat hem with no curl. Here's one I've finished:


These are my son's and my hubby's hats (hubby coaches the team).


The kids have early dismissal from school today, so it's time for mom to get upstairs and get some things done before they get home. I'm hoping for some quality knitting time tonight while they and the hubby are gone to the youth lock in at our church this evening. Woohoo!

Working on my Semaphore Scarf

I purchased the pattern for the "Semaphore Scarf" from Cindy on Ebay (just do a search for Semaphore Scarf) and started it last night. I didn't understand some of the instructions, so I emailed her. She responded to me lickity-split and explained everything perfectly, and off I went.

I'm using the purple knifty knitter for my scarf, and so far I'm happy with the way it's turning out. I'll probably do a second one using my son's basketball team colors to show my spirit at his games.

My hubby asked me to make him a checkerboard scarf a few weeks ago, and I was fortunate to find this great pattern from www.behappydesigns.com. It worked up quickly and was so much fun to do. It's a little long (it hangs below the bottom of his jacket), so I may end up making him a shorter one and keeping this one for myself.


After I finish the semaphore scarf, I'm going to start experimenting with some stitches and make some different scarves and hats that will be donated to our church's homeless ministry. Every Tuesday we prepare lunches to be delivered to homeless and indigent people in our area, and once a month our church does the delivering (a Christian school and other churches take care of the other days). On our delivery days we deliver our handmade hats and scarves along with other donated items such as clothing, toiletries, etc. Next week we're having the first meeting of our "knitting club" that I'm organizing, so I'll post pictures of our projects (and our fun) later.

I'm itching to start an afghan. I'll start it after I've played with some of the stitches and can decide how I want it to look.

I couldn't resist adding this picture of my knitting buddy, Bud. He's the best "dog" our family has ever had! Every evening he finds me sitting on the couch (next to my snoozing hubby) with my knitting in my lap. He stares me down until I clear out his spot next to me, and then he jumps up and cuddles next to me on the couch while I knit. Of course he grabs at the yarn from time to time, but I'm sure he's just trying to help. Finally he falls asleep (until one of the other cats joins us and wakes him).

Just starting out . . . .

Welcome to my new blog, where I will share some of the things I'm learning to do with my knitting looms. I'm a recent "loom addict" -- I only started in December 2005, but it has become an obsession! I've made a bunch of hats and scarves for friends and family, and now I'm making items to donate for our church's homeless ministry. I'll start posting photos shortly, as well as some links that have been helpful to me. Feel free to add your "loom related" comments.
Lisa