Let it snow

Yesterday a big storm system came in and dumped some snow on us. Here are a few pictures of it along the way.

This one was taken just shortly after the snowfall started, around 10 am on Saturday December 15th. It kind of looks like powdered sugar!

This picture of a bench, and one of our pine trees in the front yard, was taken just before noon on Saturday.

At about 6:15pm on Saturday, it was already dark, and I thought the Christmas lights looked so neat under the snow.

This morning when we got up, there was even more snow. Take a look at the difference from yesterday. Even on the front porch, where it's covered, and has bushes in front of it, got snow all over it.

Sunday after taking pictures out the front, I took a couple off the back porch. It sure is pretty to look at. Doesn't look like the same porch as in the summer time. Even Frazier's swing set looks a little ...uh... un inviting.

After I took the back porch pictures, our dog Ellie wanted her picture taken too. Doesn't she look pretty posing for the camera?!? Today we are supposed to get winds up to 40 mph, so there will be some nasty drifting going on. I hope anyone out in this junk stays safe.

latest news

Boy howdy I see I haven't updated my blog here in a while. I've been soooo busy with so many different things. I'll try to explain it all later. Right now I'm going to post a couple photos of recent projects.

These are some pumpkins that I made using one of those hand crank knitting machines. There are about 35 of them here. I made them for my son Frazier to give out to his class at school for Halloween.

These are some crocheted dishcloth dresses that I did in Christmas colors to have around for little gifties. Just this past weekend I gave two of them away, and they were LOVED by their new owners. You can find the pattern for the crocheted dress to the right side of this blog.

This picture is of a no sew pillow I made. LOVE LOVE LOVE the COLTS. The defending Super Bowl Champs are having another great season.

August Mid Month KAL with a change

I really like doing cables. I did another August mid month kal (from the Monthly Dishcloths group), only this time I left out two of the cables from the pattern. I like the look. You? The next one will be leaving out the 3, and having only 2. But I think my next project with cloths will be some crocheted dishcloth dress', and other crocheted cloths. I'd also like to get some work done on this afghan for Frazier. It seems I've been stuck on dishcloths for a while now, so it's time. LOL

September KAL

Here is a picture of the September Kal for the Monthly Dishcloths group. It's a birthday cake!!! What a great month for this one since my birthday is the 17th! This cloth was a lot of fun to do.

2nd cable cloth

I finished the August mid month kal in the Monthly Dishcloths Kal Yahoo group. Boy was my finger sore! LOL It was a little challenging, but definately fun. It's only the 2nd cable cloth I've ever done! I did the cloth at the same time as my friend Susan. It was a lot of fun doing the cloth with her. I think it got me to work a little faster. She's a long time knitter, but new to cables. We are thinking of doing the same pattern again, only with a varigated yarn this time.

Trying something new

With encouragement from the Addicted to Dishcloths group, I did my first cabled dishcloth. I don't have a cable needle, so a stitch holder was used. It was awkward, and tight, but I did it! I look forward to getting a cable needle, and doing another owl cloth to see if there is much difference. You can find the pattern for this cloth here.

Here is a closeup of the owl...

Giant Sunflower

Every year we plant a pumpkin patch. This year Frazier put a few sunflowers in there with the pumpkins. Check out the size of that thing! ...the sunflower, not Frazier. Although Frazier is getting pretty tall too. LOL

2007 County Fair

WOW what a successful county fair!

Frazier entered a self portrait for the 2nd straight year, and for the second straight year he was GRAND CHAMPION!!! He was so excited when he saw he'd won.

I entered a needle knit COLTS Super Bowl dishcloth, and won a blue ribbon. The pattern for this cloth can be purchased here.

For my crocheted bear I won a blue ribbon, and reserve champion. That's the best I've ever done in the fair. Like Frazier said, it's almost as good as grand champion. LOL

bread cloth

Today I finished cross stitching a bread cloth for an exchange in the Yahoo group Scrappy Crafters. I hadn't cross stitched in ages, so it was kind of a bother. When I was done with it today, my hand hurt....but I'm glad I tried doing a craft I hadn't done in a looong while.

July KAL

I finished the July KAL in the Monthly Dishcloths group today. It's been the best fun following along with this pattern. I've actually done each days rows as they were posted, on that very day. In the past it's always taken me a few days after the KAL was over to even start. This was a fun cloth to make, and I look forward to the next KAL.

Shell Bookmark

I've been working on knitting a bookmark for a week now. It's extremly slow going for me because I'm using thread, and size 2 needles. I can only do 5 or 10 rows at a time before my eyes bug out! So I decided to see if there was a crocheted pattern out there that looked good. I found this one called a "Shell Bookmark"....grabbed a hook, a small ball of yarn, and in less that a half hour had a really cute bookmark. This may be my favorite bookmark pattern yet. Guess needle knitting something so fine just isn't in the cards for me, right now anyway.

Here is a picture of the shell bookmark. You can find the pattern at crochetnmore. I did modify the edge just a tad because I didn't care for the way the pattern edge was working out.

These little bookmarks work up so fast, and would be a fantastic way to use up some of that scrap yarn. You could add one to any birthday card for an extra surprise. Everyone loves that extra special touch!

Scrappy Coasters

Here's a great way to use up some scrap pieces of yarn. These little cuties work up very fast. Using any cloth pattern, knit "small" dishcloths or coasters. For these I used the Grandma's Favorite pattern starting the decrease at 25 stitches..

A YEAR OLD

After playing around with this blog today, I've realized that it's going to be a year old this month! How time flies. I thought I would update things a bit....so the layout has changed some. There are new links listed. I am now looking for some suggestions. PLEASE surf around, check things out, and if you have a suggestion for something crafty that could be added to this blog, let me know. Do you have a link you would like to share, but don't see it listed? ...then let me know that too. Your help is greatly appreciated! ~THANK YOU~

The Watering Can Dishcloth

I just finished a Watering Can dishcloth. It seems like the perfect cloth for this time of year. I know I love to water my flowers, and play in the garden. You can find the pattern on Melissa's website. Click HERE to visit her site.

A+ Apple dishcloth

I finally finished the A+ Apple cloth. It took me a week to do this one. With only 10 rows left to go, my needles broke. The only other pair of needles I had in the same size were way long. It took me a couple of days to find the same size in a shorter length. This cloth is going to go to my sons teacher as a thank you for her hard work.

Spring KAL (Knit ALong)

It's Spring KAL time! You will need size 7 or 8 needles, and a ball of cotton yarn in a solid color. I would suggest a bright spring color. Included each day is a picture of how your cloth should look after doing that days rows.

DAY 1:
http://janicekal.blogspot.com/2007/04/spring-kal-day-1.html

DAY 2:
http://janicekal.blogspot.com/2007/04/spring-kal-day-2.html

DAY 3:
http://janicekal.blogspot.com/2007/04/spring-kal-day-3.html

DAY 4:
http://janicekal.blogspot.com/2007/04/spring-kal-day-4.html

MEET THE DESIGNER:
http://janicekal.blogspot.com/2007/04/spring-kal-designer.html

simple loom knit slippers

I have been making these slippers for years. They are fun and simple to make. Using a small gauge sock loom, and two strands of worsted (or one strand of Bulky) weight yarn...cast on (leaving a 12" beginning tail) and knit a flat pannel for 21 rows. Then knit in the round for 19 rows. Bind off using the gathering method. Pull tightly so you don't have an opening at the toe of your slipper. Then with beginning tail yarn, sew up heal portion of the slipper. For a cuff, using one strand of yarn in (This yarn could be one of the two used in the body of the slipper, or a completly different contrasting color.) do one row of single crochet, a second row done with double crochet, and end with a third row done in single crochet. If you don't crochet, leave this off. You will still have a great slipper. Try using different yarns, maybe even a fun fur yarn, or add pom poms to dress up your slippers. These instructions fit a womans size 9 foot great. You can adjust the size by adding or subtracting rows as needed.

Other cuff options: 3 rows of single crochet
(or) two rows of single crochet followed by one row of *single crochet, chain 3* single crochet in every other single crochet

Here is a patriotic version of the slipper I made several years ago for Operation Toasty Toes.




These instructions are free for your personal use, and may not be sold for any reason.
© Copyright November 2002 ~ Janice Haley

A loom knit EASTER

It's a loom knit EASTER! Here are a few things that I have loom knit for Easter. The flower pot was made by simply doing a "small hat" and inserting a small clay pot. Then I put some cute flowers in the pot. The bunny was done with simple tubes. The body and head are one piece. The legs and arms are small tubes. The ears are longer tubes. Everything was stuffed, except the ears. The face was done with art markers. You could easily use buttons, beads or wiggly eyes instead. The daphodil was done with a booty loom. The "cup" was done by doubling a piece (like you do with hat cuffs). When I closed it up the "cup" came on it's own. The stem is done with a spool knitter. Insert a pip cleaner stem to make it bendable. The placemat that the bunny and flower pot are on was done using a regular gauge knitting board, and two colors of yarn at one time (pink and white). I knit a piece that was as long as I wanted, and removed from the board. Then with the white I crocheted a little edge around it.

The eggs were fun and easy to do as well. I've been making these little cuties for years without following a pattern. All you do is pick the egg you want to use, then chose a loom that fits easily over the egg. Knit a tube that is as long as the egg and remove from the loom. Put the egg inside the tube and close the ends. It's that simple. You can fancy it up with different stitches, beads and other embelishments. Also change the egg size.... Here's one I did with a giant egg, using the one over two double loom knit stitch. Change the color of yarn to get that great painted affect.

These little egg people were fun, and also done with no pattern. With a booty loom make a tiny hat. Decorate the tiny hat with a pompom if you like. Then glue the hat to one half of a plastic egg. Use art markers to make the face. These make adorable eggs in any basket, and you can still use them to hold stuff!

HAPPY EASTER!

© Copyright March 2007 ~ Janice Haley

Crocheted Butterfly dishcloth

What a cute pattern! I just did a crocheted butterfly cloth. These would make way cute additions to any little giftie....or make them in soft pastels for baby cloths...take them to a dinner party as a thank you. You can find the pattern here. I also printed a little poem to attach to the cloth. I used a business card program, but printed on a nice bright yellow paper. Here's the poem I used...

"I'm a cute little butterfly, as you can see.

I can brighten your kitchen if you set me free.

Just take me home and turn me lose, as this is one of my wishes.

If you'll take the ribbon from my body,

I'll help you wash the dishes!"

~ENJOY~

Pocket Tissue Cover

Who doesn't love those little pocket packs of tissue. They come in so handy for purses, back packs, the glove box in your car. Here's an idea for a cute cover for these little tissue packs. Something like this makes a welcomed little giftie addition. It is both thoughtful, and appreciated by anyone who receives.

Using the small gauge knitting board (a round loom could be used as well) and a nice soft yarn such as Carron Simply Soft (the soft yarn makes it really nice to hold in your hand)... Cast on 20 pegs and knit a rib stitch (K2, P1 ... across ending in K2) until your piece measures aprx. 6". Remove from the loom and lay piece flat. Fold one end in to middle...fold the other end in to meet the first end. Sew sides shut leaving the middle open to insert tissue pack. What I did here was crochet one row of single crochet, then a second row of chain 3 single crochet in every other stitch. This gives it a nice lacey edge. If you don't crochet, just leave it open. The cover still looks adorable. You could dress this up with some beads for an even fancier option.

These instructions are free for your personal use, and may not be sold for any reason.

© Copyright March 2007 ~ Janice Haley

Wrist Warmers

I've been playing around with ideas for loom knit wrist warmers. They have become very popular lately. Here are some instructions for 3 different pattern ideas. All were done on a small gauge sock loom.

Wrist Warmer (A) Golden Sparkles: You will use one color of worsted wt yarn. Cast on and knit 1 row, then begin with a rib stitch (K2, P2 around, ending in P2) for rows 2 thru 10 / Rows 11 thru 20 are a basic single knit (1 over 1 stitch) / On row 21 begin knitting a flat pannel (Do not cross from last peg to first. Instead wrap last peg and reverse direction. Repeat when at first peg to reverse direction again.) Do this for 6 rows. / Row 28 - 33 are knit in the round. Remove warmer from loom with the crochet method (putting 1 chain stitch between each loom stitch)

Wrist Warmer (B) COLTS envy: You will need small ammounts of blue (main color) and white (accent color). Cast on and knit one row. Starting with row 2 wrap even # pegs with main color, and odd # pegs with accent color. Repeat for rows 3 thru 15. Snip the accent yarn and continue on with only main color for 6 rows (rows 16 thru 21). Knit a flat piece for 7 rows (rows 22 - 28) (Do not cross from last peg to first. Instead wrap last peg and reverse direction. Repeat when at first peg to reverse direction again.) Rows 29 - 34 go back to knitting in the round. Rows 35 and 36 are knit with accent color. Remove from the loom with the crochet method (putting 1 chain stitch between each loom stitch).

Wrist Warmer (C) COLTS envy 2: You will need blue (main color) and white (accent color). Cast on and knit 10 rows with main color. Then bring up for a cuff (as you do with hats). Rows 6 thru 16 single knit (1 over 1). Rows 17 and 18 are knit in accent color. Rows 19 and 20 are knit in main color. Rows 21 thru 27 are knit in flat panel (main color)(Do not cross from last peg to first. Instead wrap last peg and reverse direction. Repeat when at first peg to reverse direction again.) Rows 28 thru 33 are single knit in the round again. Remove with the crochet method (putting 1 chain stitch between each loom stitch).

These instructions are free for your personal use, and may not be sold for any reason.

© Copyright March 2007 ~ Janice Haley

diagonal Bunny cloth

In the Monthly Dishcloth KAL group on Yahoo we did a really cute diagonal bunny cloth. What do you think of it? I plan on doing several of these before Easter. You can find the pattern here.

Garter Stitch Eyelet cloth

I re-discovered an old favorite, the Garter Stitch Eyelet cloth. The pattern can be found here. This pattern calls for a pattern repeat of 12. This would make a very looong dishcloth. It's more for a dish towel. What I did was a pattern repeat of 7. What do you think???

Loom Knit Bookmark

I finished my loom knit bookmark. It was fun to make....and very simple too. I used a fine gauge rake, and ribbon yarn. Cast on 10 stitches, and knit 4 rows. On the 5th row knit the first 2 stitches, then purl across. The 6th row is knit across. Repeat these 2 rows until your bookmark measures about 5" long. Then knit 4 more rows. Now you start the tapper. Whatever end your working yarn is hanging from, move the loop from the outside peg to the next and knit off. (taking you down to 9 loops on 9 pegs) Knit across. Repeat this process until you have only one loop on the loom. Then remove and knot. Next I cut 3 pieces of ribbon yarn about 12" long, fold them in half and poke the middle of the yarn through the point on the bookmark. Tie off and trim fringe. You could add beads for a little flare if you like. This is a nice simple, easy to work up bookmark. They make great little extras in birthday cards and small gifts. ENJOY!

These instructions are free for your personal use, and may not be sold for any reason.
© Copyright February 2007 ~ Janice Haley

Bev's Chemo Cap Relay

On the Yahoo group Loom Knitting Newbies, we are having a Chemo Cap Relay to help Bev Q's cause. She will be selling the caps at an event, with all proceeds going to cancer research. The hats that don't sell are going to be donated. What a great cause! You can find more information by visiting / joining the group Loom Knitting Newbies, or visiting Bev's blog.

cell phone bag

In the Loom Knitters Exchange group they had a cell phone bag exchange. This is what I made for Susan P. . I hope she likes it. It's not very fancy. I tried adding a flower to the front, which didn't look so good, so it got removed. The mailing date for this exchange isn't for a couple weeks yet, so I may hold off on mailing, and try another one a little fancier. Maybe something with beads or Fun Fur yarn on the edge.

Retro Eyelet Bookmark

I'm calling this one a Retro Eyelet Bookmark. The colors make me think of 70's tie dye. Here's what I did. Using self striping sock yarn, and size 4 needles...cast on 4 stitches and knit 2 rows. Starting with row 3 knit 2, yarn over, and knit across until you have 10 stitches on the needle. Then start the next row with knit 2, yarn over, knit 2 together, and finish this row with knit across. Repeat until bookmark measures 5 1/2 " long. End with 4 knit rows. Bind off. To decorate the bookmark you could add a ribbon or tassel, maybe some beads. What I did was this...to stick with the "retro" idea, flower power and all....I added a daisy aplique to the top. I really like this little cutie pie!

These instructions are free for your personal use, and may not be sold for any reason.
© Copyright February 2007 ~ Janice Haley

simple knit bookmark

Last night I made a simple knit bookmark. All I did was use size 4 needles, and some thin ribbon yarn...cast on 10 stitches. Rows 1 -4 knit / Row 5 K2, P6, K2 / Row 6 knit across. Repeat rows 5 and 6 for 38 rows. Rows 43 - 46 knit across. I added a simple tassel by snipping 6 6" pieces of the ribbon yarn, and hooking it through the center at the bottom edge of the bookmark. You could have fun with it and add some beads here.

I really enjoyed making this. It has me wanting to create more bookmark patterns. Maybe I'll start a bookmark collection!

These instructions are free for your personal use, and may not be sold for any reason.
© Copyright February 2007 ~ Janice Haley

Kitchen Item Exchange

On the Loom Knitters Exchange group we had a kitchen item exchange. This is what Cyndi V. sent to me. What a lovely dishsoap bottle cover, and pair of scrubbies!!! THANK YOU Cyndi! When I put them on the floor to take a picture, our dog Ellie thought they were hers. She wouldn't move until I took her picture too!!