The Border ~ Part 1

Since we have last discussed the baby blanket, I had managed to knit up a tube and then cut it open. Exhilarating fun that was!

Now its time to add the first border. I got a great idea from the Mason-Dixon gals' book. Inside it describes a blanket made out of garter stitch squares and bordered with the flying geese pattern. The results are just spectacular. So I decided to copy them and use this as the first border for the blankie.

Essentially you are knitting 3 triangles: 1 big one and 2 small ones. This will form a rectangle. Then you repeat the process until the cows come home.

The first step is to knit 15 stitches.



Then knit across the the row to the last 2 stitches and then knit 2 together.



Repeat this row until you have 3 stitches remaining. Pass 2 stitches to the right hand needle, knit 1 the pass the 2 slipped stitches over. Bind Off.




Next pick up 11 stitches along one edge of the triangle and repeat the same process of decreasing one stitch every row.





Repeat the process for the other side of the first triangle. Congratulations, you have completed your first flying geese rectangle!



Now we just make like the Energizer bunny and keep going and going and going, until you have a strip long enough for one side of the border.



I ended up needing 13 rectangles. As awesome of a border as this is, it does have its drawbacks.



See all these ends? I would definitely consider this to be a drawback as they all need to be woven in.

I'm gonna need 4 border strips so I'll be making the triangles for awhile. I'm sure the result will be quite worth all the efforts.

The Great Lakes

Here in Michigan we have great diving opportunities in our back yard. The Great Lakes are also known as the second Bermuda Triangle due to all of the shipwrecks. From my husbands research, the whereabouts of about 2000 wrecks are known and he has charted about 1000. He has been on several of the wrecks himself. I have not due to being pregnant but am anxious to get back into diving shape and get a piece of the action!

Now Great Lake diving is not Caribbean diving. Its challenging requiring 7 mm diving suits. Most people prefer to dive dry. Deeper dives require dive lights and other specialized equipment. Visibility is poor providing about 10 to 40 feet on a good day and only inches on a bad day. Furthermore its cold. In the summer time the surface water temperature is about 50-60 degrees F. When you hit a thermocline it is about 40 degrees. Now of course this is all relative to where you are at and what time of the year you are diving.

People here are known to dive all year round. They dive in the summer when its warm and during the winter when it is crazy cold. So cold that the water temperature is less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the air is 17 degrees not including the wind chill.

These people include my husbands dive buddies as seen in the video. They are suiting up at Rick's house in their dry suits, walking out on the ice and jump in the water, drift dive a mile down the river, then drive the awaiting car back to Rick's house.

I'm glad that you guys had a great and safe dive. I'll join you after I have the baby and its a bit warmer!

Welcome Home Aaron!

The war in Iraq has been incredibly controversial in the media as well as in our homes. We realize that something needs to be done to rectify the situation in the Middle East but we also want our boys home. Its difficult to discuss current events without it coming up. Most everyone has been effected by the war as well. We all either know someone or have a family member has been there, some of us have lost loved ones and some of us have had some great tearful reunions.



Today I received an email from my sister telling me that her dear husband is finally home after 14 month of deployment in Iraq. This is his second tour. Words can not express how happy I am for her and her family for this joyous homecoming.



Welcome home Aaron and Thank You for all you have done!

The Knitted Apron

I received my IWK magazine this week. What a shocker it was and I don't mean in a good way. The layout changed: it was hard to find out who designed what, patterns are in the back of the book now. Overall, I have to admit that I do not like it and want it changed back.

As far as the designs are concerned, it was not much of a shocker that most of them just plain sucked. I'm starting to think that truely awful designs are the requirement to get published in a magazine.

Magazine: "How about this design?"

Publisher: "Does it suck?"

Magazine: "On the suckiness factor of 1 to 5 I say this gets a solid 4."

Publisher: "Well don't keep me in suspense Bill, what's it supposed to be?"

Magazine: "An apron I think"

Publisher: "Call up that designer and let them know they are in."

Now why I ask, would anyone knit an apron let alone spend good money on the Collinette yarn it calls for? This question has been driving me crazy. So I came up with a list.

Why I would knit an apron:

1) I need to practice my stockinette stitch.

2) If I put on a strand of pearls and some heals, I'll look just like June Cleaver.

3) I'm substituting the Collinette for the acrylic I have marinating at the bottom of the stash.

4) You mean not everyone wants a knitted apron?

5) Its a great way to hide my voluptious back side.

6) I need a challenge. I'm trying to figure out how to get all of the food stains out of expensive yarn. I call it research.

I'm glad that I came up with the list. I can clearly see why one would find it beneficial to actually knit an apron. However that person is not me!

Butterfly Kisses

For about 2 weeks, every now and again, I have been feeling sensations in my belly. I have been second guessing it. I'm pretty sure its the baby but how can you know for absolute positive certain? Is it maybe gas? Nope, it can't be that cuz I don't have to fart. Is my tummy grumbling? Nope, I just ate.

Then this morning I felt a distinct kick. There was no mistaking it! Just a simple thump on my left side to let me know that he is there but not enough to make a full fledged announcement.

Thanks baby for a great Valentine's Day present.

Cuttin' Cotton

As you all know I'm having a baby! So far this pregnancy is completly different from my first one. You would think that because I have been through this before I would not worry as much but the exact opposite is true. I'm worrying about everything! For example, I have only gained 1 pound in 4 months. Is this a bad thing? I am overweight to begin with but still. Then at the 12 week Dr. visit, we were supposed to hear the heartbeat and didn't. So we had the ultrasound and found out that everything was all good. Then again at 16 weeks we didn't hear the heartbeat (granted I was coughing so much it was hard for the Dr. to actually hear anything), which warrented another quickie ultrasound. Again everything is OK. And then there is this whole being sick thing. I have a bad cold and cough which is getting better thanks to OTC meds. And lets not forget the occasional morning all day sickness.

Well I decided to do something about all of this. I decided to knit the baby a blanket. That will bring good luck right? It just has to.

Now not just any baby blanket will do. It has to be a one of a kind original blankie. One that is really soft and cuddly and that no other baby on the planet has.


I found a poem that I like:

Matthew Mark Luke and John
Bless the bed that I lie on
Four angels round my bed
Two of them stand at my head
Two of them stand at my feet
All will watch me while I sleep

I'm using Knit Picks Shine and I really like this cotton. Its machine washable and soft and cuddly as all get out. I'm gonna use the left overs to make a matching hat.

I decided to knit this in the round as I am more proficient at knitting with colors than with purling. Of course this means that when I'm done, steeking will be involved. Now I hear that it is possible to be successful at cuttin' cotton and I'm going on sheer blind trust here cuz I have not actually done this myself.



Suprisingly enough, the knitting went fast. I think it took about a week.

OK Now let the fun begin!!!



I'm securing the stitches with my handy dandy Brother. Of course I double stitched just to be on the safe side. This is cotton and not wool after all.



After both sides of the knitted stitches are double machined stitched in place we must prepare for the cutting. Right about now I'm really second guessing myself and I'm hoping that I'm right. Isn't there a yoga exercise or pose that can prepare you for this kind of stress? And wouldn't you know it, there isnt any chocolate in the house.



Scream with me now. AAAAAWWWWWWW AAAWWWWWWWAAAAAAWWWWWWW



Holy God that was painful yet successful! I have to say I get a rush every time I cut my knitting. Good God that was fun! I'll have to do that again sometime.

Having Some Fun

I have decided that a change of pace is in order. I have been bitten by the design bug and it sure is fun. However there is a downside to it. I can't be posting pics or talking about what I'm wanting to submit to be published on the off chance that the publishers will want it. This is what is really really hard cuz I'm just dying to tell ya'all about it and say "See? Look what I did!"

Well thats all gonna end right here and now. From now on I have decided to have a bunch of fun with my knitting and let you all in on a piece of the action as well. I'm gonna start posting about the process and then have a free pattern section on the side bar!

Remember that hat that my sister asked me to make for her? Well this is what I came up with and she loves it!

I was inspired by Elsebeth Lavold in her Viking Knitting book. There are some gorgeous cables in there. Tons of eye candy! Anyway I'm getting off track. I had some Highland Wool lying around in just the right amount and decided that is what I was going to use. Now I didn't swatch (you would think that I would have learned my lesson by now) but I have used this stuff often enough to know what my gauge is. Next I did the math for how many stitches I needed to fit around a head and worked it all out from there.

I found the cable that I just fell in love with, charted it, then re-charted and then charted again. I didn't use any fancy computer software, just a plain ol' paper and pencil. And you wanna hear something completely crazy? I actually liked the process. It was fun trying to figure out what should cross and where and how and all that stuff!!

When it was all said and done, I have a hat! I'm calling it "Garmisch" because my sister wanted a hat to ski with in Germany. Well Jean often tells us about Garmisch and how much fun she and her family have there! I'm hoping that you like my hat. Now I really need one of these babies for myself considering we are having ourselves a heat wave over here in Michigan. I hear we are supposed to get up to about 8F today! WAAHOO!

A Poem

I found this beautiful winter poem and thought it might be a comfort to you.
It was to me, and it's very well written.
" WINTER "
a poem by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre


SHIT!
It's Cold !