Wrist Warmers
A few months ago I found a pattern online that would soon become my favorite quick project for the winter. It is called Mrs. Beeton Wrist Warmers. Mrs. Beeton is considered a Victorian England’s equivalent of Martha Stewart. This project is knitted on double pointed needles. If you’ve never knitted with 5 needles before I recommend you try a pair of mittens first. The only stitches that vary from the regular knit and purl are K2tog and SSK. Instructions for these stitches can be found here.
http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/abbreviations_explained/
This website has videos for every type of knitting stitch. Just scroll down until you find the right abbreviation. You will need sport weight yarn and fingering weight yarn. They don’t take a whole lot of either kind, so depending on what you have stashed in your house, you may not even have to buy anything. Below are pictures of a few of the pairs I have knitted. Here is the link to the pattern for Mrs. Beeton’s Wrist Warmers.
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter05/PATTmrsbeeton.html
Posted in Crafts on February 2, 2006 | Comments (1)
Skeins!
Today I finished the next step in a project that was started here a few months ago. We read in a knitting magazine about a lady who buys thrift store wool sweaters, unravels them, winds them into skeins, and knits new things out of the old yarn. We bought this rust colored sweater for three dollars at a thrift store. It is the perfect color for a hat and mittens to match a jacket I picked up at a garage sale. Out of today’s unraveling efforts I have gotten 650 yards of yarn! (And I haven't even done the sleeves yet!) If you do any knitting with real wool, you know how expensive that much yarn can be. The nails on the kniddy-knoddy (the board with the nails in it that Dad made for me) are exactly three feet apart, so I count as I go along and know how many meters I have in the end. To get very thorough instructions on how to unravel a sweater go to: http://www.neauveau.com/recycledyarn.html. To get instructions on how to wrap yarn into a skein go to: http://www.neauveau.com/wrapaskein.html. The next step will be to knit a scarf, mittens, and hat out of my new but old wonderful fiber!
All my supplies
All wrapped up on the kniddy-knoddy
Taking it off the kniddy-knoddy
Twisting it
The lovely skeins
—Posted by Martha
Posted in Crafts on July 29, 2005 | Comments (2)
Rag Dolls are the Best Beloved! "The fun that we two have had together I cannot begin to tell you."
Did you have a favorite rag doll when you were a little girl? The introduction to the Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy storybooks tell quite a tale of childhood’s love for rag dolls. Johnny Gruelle, the author, begins the preface to his first Raggedy Ann book by stating “As I write this, I have before me on my desk, propped up against the telephone, an old rag doll. Dear old Raggedy Ann! The same Raggedy Ann with which my mother played when a child.�
His own daughter, Marcella, was sick as a child and Mr. Gruelle began the Raggedy Ann adventures as a way to entertain her when she was bed-ridden. Unfortunately, Marcella succumbed to infection and died at the age of thirteen. He published the first Raggedy Ann book in 1918, an event which coincided with the production and sale of the first Raggedy Ann dolls. The enchanting part of the story takes place in 1919 when he receives a package and a letter. It is as follows:
Dear Johnny:
When I saw your Raggedy Ann books and dolls in a store near here,
I went right in and bought one of each, and when I had read
your introduction to Raggedy Ann I went right up to the old trunk
in my own attic and brought down the doll I am sending you with
this letter.
This doll belonged to my mother and she played with it when a little girl.
She treasured it highly, I know, for she kept it until I came and then she
gave it to me. The fun that we two have had together I cannot
begin to tell you, but often, like the little boy who went out into the
garden to eat worms when all the world seemed blue and clouded, this doll
and I went out under the arbor and had our little cry together.
I can still feel it's soft rag arms(as I used to imagine) about me,
and hear the words of comfort(also imaginary) that were whispered in my ear.
As you say in your Raggedy Ann book, "Fairyland must be filled with rag dolls, soft
loppy rag dolls who go through all the beautiful adventures found there, nestling
in the crook of a dimpled arm."I truly believe there is such a Fairyland
and that rag dolls were first made there, or how else could they bring so
much sunshine into a child's life? All the little girls of my acquaintance have
your Raggedy Ann book and doll, and for the happiness you have brought
to them let me give to you the doll of all my dolls, the doll I
loved most dearly. May it prove to you a gift from Fairyland, bringing with it all the
"wish come true" that you may wish and, if possible, add to the sunshine
in your life.
My mother called the doll Raggedy Andy and it was by this name that
I have always known him. Is it any wonder that I was surprised when I
saw the title of your book? Introduce Raggedy Andy to Raggedy Ann, dear Johnny,
Let him share in the happiness of your household.
Sincerely yours,
Raggedy Andy's "Mama."
Four days later, on January 12, 1919, Johnny received a letter from his mother in response to the news of Raggedy Andy’s arrival.
Dear John:
Your letter brings many pleasant memories to my mind and takes me back to my
childhood. Living next door to us, when I was about four years old, was a
little girl named Bessie; I cannot recall her last name. When my mother made
Raggedy Ann for me, Bessie's mother made a rag doll for her, for we two
always played together; as I recall, there was no fence between our two houses.
Bessie's doll was made a day or so after Raggedy Ann, I think, though
I am not quite certain which of the two dolls was made first. However
, Bessie's doll was given the name of Raggedy Andy, and one of the two dolls
was named after the other, so that their names would sound alike. We children
played with the two rag dolls most of the time until Bessie's family moved
away__when I was eight or nine years old. They had faces just alike;
the mother who made the first doll probably painted both doll faces. I do not
remember just how Raggedy Andy was dressed, but I know he often wore dresses
over his boy clothes when Bessie and I decided that he and Raggedy Ann
should be sisters for the day. You will remember I told you about Raggedy Andy long
ago, John. Isn't it strange that the two old rag dolls should come
together after all these years? I wish Raggedy Andy's "Mama" had signed her name, for
I should like to write to her. Perhaps there may be some way of finding
her out. Anyway, it seems to me you have the subject for another rag
doll book, for Raggedy Andy must have had some wonderful adventures in his long life.
Yours Lovingly, Mom
What a wonderful tale of childhood’s love. Every little girl should have a doll made for her by her mother. My girls all did. In the introduction to the Little Blossom Doll instructions, published by Magic Cabin Dolls, the creator says of making a doll for her daughter…�I was compelled to create a small ‘something’ for her to have with her in her satchel, so that if she were to have great moments of fear or trepidation she could hold this little part of me and feel comforted.� What a wonderful sentiment. About a year ago I began a doll making effort with my daughters to ensure that they had the skills needed to provide their own children with the gift of a playmate made by their own hands. We began with Baba dolls. The pattern can be found at the Magic Cabin website. They are wonderful dolls for toddlers, and we had great fun making them. The first ones we made were velour stuffed with wool as the directions suggested, but the next batch we made were fashioned of sweatshirt material turned inside out and stuffed with polyester fiberfill. The head was a bit harder to fashion with polyester, but they were much more economical and still looked nice. After that we started in on our own Raggedy Ann dolls. We lost some of our vigor for the project and need to get back to it. They are all sitting in bags in the basement with full heads of hair but no clothes. My research on the history of Raggedy Ann and Andy has revived our interest, and today we discussed when we could get back to it. We are so close to done. Given the importance of dolls in children’s lives, you may be interested in starting in on a doll of your own. We are looking for more ideas. If you have any doll patterns that you have made and especially enjoy, we would love to hear from you. You can contact us at info@lilypress.com.
Posted in Crafts on May 10, 2005 | Comments (0)
Things to Make for Preemies
While searching online for a knitting pattern, I came across a website about donations of knitted items for preemies. The site had dozens of patterns ranging from burial gowns to booties.
It sparked an interest in me, and since then I have made quite a few hats (see photo) and I am going to start on matching mittens soon. It is also a special project for me because the blood donations I make at the Red Cross are able to be given to preemies. They informed me that my blood type and the fact that I have not been exposed to a certain virus makes my blood safe for preemies to receive. Because everything needed is so small, it is also a great way to use up leftover yarn from previous projects. Most of the patterns are at a beginner level, so even if you are new at knitting I encourage you to attempt a hat or two.
Here is a photo of a woman holding her preemie who is wearing a donated hat and booties.
Here is a page with links to preemie clothing patterns.
Use this link to find a hospital near you that uses donated items.
—Posted by Martha
Posted in Crafts on March 28, 2005 | Comments (0)
January is a Great Time to Sew
Can you think of a better antidote for cold and snow than working on a cozy quilt? I finished a new one today; one that I have been working on for way too long. It is amazing how much time can pass between the buying of fabric and the actual finishing of the project.
I saw this quilt sewn up in a little quilt shop in upper Michigan. We always stop there on our trips to Minnesota to visit our family. I like quilts that are made from fat quarters. They allow me to take my time buying little bits of fabric over time instead of spending a lot of money all at once.
When I first saw the border fabric in our local quilt shop, I bought enough for the outside of a quilt. It was the color I wanted for my bedroom and my husband has been urging me to make a quilt for our bed. After seeing this Morning Glory pattern, I started to buy fat quarters that coordinated with it. The pattern was free on the Moda fabrics web site. Just go to www.modafabrics.com and click on the free patterns option. Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose the archived patterns. That’s where the Morning Glory pattern is. If you choose to make this pattern, I would recommend being careful to choose only medium and dark prints; I think some of my florals were too light to give a good contrast to the stars. When putting my squares together, I did have to completely discard some of my fabrics for this reason. I think this would look nice with creamy stars and darker colors as well. That would certainly give more contrast. It is a very easy pattern. All the points on the stars are time consuming but not difficult. I had enough left-over fabrics that I cut squares for a lap top quilt from the scraps. I will post a picture of that when I finish it. I love getting a bonus quilt from scraps!
We read in an old book that at one time girls were expected to have a dozen quilts made before they were married. We laugh about that a lot; I guess it was before heat when you used multiple quilts on each bed. Do you realize how many children you would have to have before you could put twelve quilts to use in today’s world? Nevertheless, our girls have attempted to build up a store of homemade quilts for their homes. Two summers ago I was thrilled to visit a quilt museum in Virginia. Most of their displayed quilts were from the mid-1800’s. I was tickled when I saw two matching quilts made by sisters. Each quilt had an embroidered number on the back, as the girls were keeping careful count of their completed projects, attempting to get their dozen quilts needed before marriage. I guess it was really true.
Posted in Crafts on January 17, 2005 | Comments (1)
