Friday, July 17, 2015

Hooked on Yarn

I have wanted to learn to knit for what seems like a coon's age. I see Judy over at Patchwork Times is always posting cute projects and Nancy over at  Wyoming Breezes has me yearning to knit socks. As does Carol over at The Polka Dot Chicken And then things like this pop up on Pinterest.

                           

and I am more determined than ever. I don't care if its 100° outside, I would wear hats like this every day!

And this scarf! How long do you reckon it'll take me to learn how to knit something like this?

                                                unnamed-1

Alas, I am a klutz...and a bit clumsy. I get mixed up with 2 needles although I did manage of make a scarf to wear with my denim coat. I'm not giving up though although now I need a yarn project for a time and I'm not sure knitting needles are allowed so I turned to crochet. My friend, M, who is a knitting fool, lives in Texas and when I moaned to her, she pointed me towards U-tube and lo and behold, I made something!


 Don't laugh at my wine glass mannequin. I didn't have any cute little babies handy for modeling so a wine glass is what you get. Its rather silly how happy I am about this little hat. I really want to make hats for babies in ICU and children battling cancer. I have a gift card from Hobby Lobby from Christmas and I think I'll start a yarn stash.

I was completely thrilled with my new little hobby so I jumped right in to another hat. A different pattern as the first pattern just called for crocheting a rectangle and stitching up the sides and gathering the top. This time I thought I would tackle crocheting on the round.


LOL. Something went terribly wrong. I got the round part right, but I was aiming for a hat. DH and DD are amused and to tell you the truth, so am I. I haven't a clue what I did, but it looks like a flower and I'm keeping it because some little girl may enjoy having a flower on her hat.

I know these are all the same colorway, but I'm just practicing before I go wild with the yarn and my third attempt was met with success:


I may have conquered my quilting UFO list, but I just may be on the way to creating a UFO list filled with yarn projects, but I am having fun!



11 comments:

Judy D in WA said...

I think learning anything new is not for sissies! When I taught myself to knit a few years ago, I bought a teach a child to knit book because the pictures were large and the words were simple. I started making dish clothes. Lots of dish clothes. ;) And now I can knit almost whatever I want but mostly I stick to socks and dish clothes.
I think your little flower is adorable.....could you use it for a coaster for your wine glass???

Tired Teacher said...

Great job on the hats. I can't crochet worth a hoot, and I've tried several times.

Love the knit hats and cowl. Fair Isle knitting is amazing, but handling all those different colors can be a bit overwhelming.

Be careful, working with yarn (crocheting or knitting) is addictive.

Judy said...

I can crochet simple things like afghans but nothing like hats. I remember when we tried to sell our house and these afghans were on beds. The realtor said "those look like grandma blankets." My husband said, "my wife is a grandma!" Now I quilt.

Judy Laquidara said...

Oh, look at you! Those are so cute. If you love crochet, you're going to love knitting more but there will be a while that you aren't real happy with it. I felt like I needed a third hand when I first started but you'll get it. I love those colorwork projects but they require more concentration than I think I can muster in my old age. I'm so proud of you.

And I think it's funny that 2 of the 3 previous comments were left from "Judy" and now me! :)

Pauline said...

Very Good! Knitting stumps me too. Haven't tried in years. But I love your cute hats! They can accompany all your quilts for girls. That will make the new moms happy. Love your colors and are those threads regular size? They look larger, that might work even for me.

Dar said...

Congrats on your first hats in your new hobby. I too wanted to learn to knit and because of Judy at Patchwork Times, getting me started at a quilting workshop many years ago, I can knit simple socks, cowls, and scarves. Hats are on my list to try soon. Keep it up and soon you will have a stash of yarn that will rival your fabric stash! lol

Deanna said...

You could turn the odd one into a very large flower.....I love the colors and babies don't care much about details.

Anonymous said...

I am a crocheter who has recently been trying to knit. You might find the Tin Can Knits website helpful. The have lots of tutorials as well as a collection of free patterns called Simple Knits designed to teach various techniques to beginners. Their patterns come in sizes ranging from newborn to very large adult. I like to try the newborn sizes to see if I can understand the pattern with a minimum of time invested. I use an acrylic/ wool blend yarn such as Plymouth Encore worsted which is not terribly expensive (about $6 per skein -- one skein was enough to make the Newborn size Flax sweater) but looks and feels nicer than chain store yarn. If I am successful with my "test knit" then I graduate to a nicer yarn. By the way, a great online shop for yarn is Dizzy Sheep. They put a different yarn on sale each day and every order, no matter how small, is shipped free. I love the funny notes they put on their receipts and shipping bags. Good luck with your knitting.

Cindy in NC

Lisa said...

Does Aunt Char knit? I haven't knitted for years, I did in 4H. My Mom was a knitter. Some of my prize possessions are the things she made for others that have been given back to me. A special one is a tan sweater for a child that had a horse head on the back. Taylor and Drew both wore it. Have fun!!

Joyce across the Pond said...

That's super that you taught yourself to knit...well done.....love the colourful yarn.....my one concern is if it is suitable for a baby's soft skin?
Can you check with someone in ICU or someone who already does these that you are using suitable yarn before you do many more - hope you don't mind me mentioning this.
The weather in Northern Ireland is anything but 100 degrees....not even 50 degrees and pouring rain with it....harvest will be late if they actually can get into the fields to get it cut....the drier will be in use big time.
Sending best wishes to your daughter for her studies....great that you got somewhere for her to live...it looks like it was worth the wait.

Ranch Wife said...

I'm sorry its taken me so long to reply to your comment, Joyce. You arrived in my inbox as a non-reply blogger so I am adding my reply in the comment section in hopes that you see it.
Of course I don't mind! In fact, I appreciate your tip! These particular hats went to babies in a African village, but I am asking around for yarn recommendations for ICU babies.
I hope you have dried out by now. Seems its either feast or famine when it comes to the rain for those of us who work in agriculture.

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