Fourth Apron is for an Apron Challenge

I'm cutting it a bit close entering the tie one on challenge. I'm not quite sure if I want to use white cotton for the 'fur' or this fake fur that I have just pinned on for now. I didn't think about what I would use for buttons or a buckle, so they too, are just there temporarily.

Third Apron Done

I didn't have much trouble after replacing the sewing machine needle, other than the usual annoyances, I mean. I used one long strip for the middle and then cut a strip for each side of the apron part. I don't have a serger so I try not to leave any raw edges anywhere. The picture on the left is before sewing the pieces together. I often use a French seam because the zigzag on my machine (and the machine itself) are not worth the trouble. The pattern on the material isn't centered but it doesn't matter, does it?

Knitted Bookmark

I came across Sia's blog (it's in Finnish) and she is having a competition. I thought I would like to enter but at first I couldn't think of what I could make. I wanted to do something with a Santa but I couldn't come up with anything that I wanted to do. It couldn't be anything big because of my hands and it needed to be complicated enough to be interesting.

So after thinking about it for a while I realized that a bookmark would fit the bill. I haven't knitted a bookmark before and it would be a chance to do some lace and practice blocking because I finally found rustproof pins! I never thought that I would.

I have no idea what yarn this is. It was just a ball in my stash. I tried the picot cast on and bind off but the cast on didn't work. I wanted a pattern that looked like a snowflake but the only thing I could find was a pattern called snowflake. I decided to use it anyway. I added a K1 on each side of the repeat (which I only did one of). I had to redo each row at least twice. And I ended up counting the stitches each pattern row. Sigh. How can Stephanie Pearl-McPhee knit lace that ends up with at least 880 stitches across? How many times would I end up undoing that?










On the left is the preblocked bookmark. On the right after blocking. Not much difference, eh?

More Material

I've taken some time off from knitting and crocheting. I was working on an apron until, well you can see from the picture what happened. That put me off from sewing for awhile.




I had taken the material off of one of our chairs so I could wash it. After 15 years or so they really needed washing. I tried to wash it carefully but as you can see it shrunk. I have to look for some material to make new covers.



I went to one store to look but instead I came back with these. Some material for aprons. I felt so guilty about buying material that I don't need. I have enough material to make many, many aprons.

Aching Hands

I have to accept that I can't knit as much as I would like to. Too much pain in my hands. I've tried doing hand and wrist stretches before and after but it hasn't really helped. I've settled on only doing one sock row (64 stitches) every hour. I'll see if I'll need to do less.

So I have to come up with some sewing. I want to make fall aprons with material that I have. I found this piece in my stash. I don't really like the pattern but the colors are fallish enough.It is just a strip of material (26 cm x 300 cm), so I will have to fiddle with it.


The fifth snowflake is done. I used this pattern. I found at least one mistake. I should make a decision on how many snowflakes I'm going to make. I've printed out 3 more patterns, so I'll at least make them.

T's Sock

T's first sock is finished. Do all variegated socks turn out like this? Will the second look the same? I'm sure it has something to do with my knitting or picking up 18 stitches instead of 17 but could it be something else?

I was looking at the Girl on the Rocks blog and saw her set of stitch markers that she made so that she can learn the kitchener stitch by the time she gets to the toe graft because she is always looking up how to do it.

I thought that that is a great idea and I'm going to try it too, but I was thinking of doing words I have trouble spelling. My first marker will be for a Finnish word I'm always having trouble saying. Why do we stumble over some words? I remember someone who couldn't say 'chicken' and never used the word.

I redid the starting knot on T's second sock about 10 times so I could try to get it at the same point as sock number one. I'm sure that there is an easier way to do it. I don't mind if the ribbings are different but I would like the insteps to be at least similar.