The Knittinglady

Bread Baking

2009-08-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

I baked bread on Saturday!! I checked the following book from the library.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I had to buy unbleached all-purpose flour and yeast in a jar instead of the envelopes and a good size bowl with a lid. I followed the easy directions and got a loaf of bread that was so good!! I now have enough dough left for 3 more loaves!!

Here is the loaf I baked before and after cooking, with a close up of the cut loaf!! Can't wait to bake more this afternoon!!

July 4, 2009

2009-07-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Daughter #2 was able to come home for a visit this holiday weekend. Needless to say, we really enjoy having her home even for a few days. She was featured on her college's website for the Equestrian Hall of Fame for her accomplishment at a horse show last fall.

She was Champion of the 3'3" jumper division (3 ft. 3 in. was the height of the jumps in that division) at the Germantown, TN, Harvesttime "A" Show. "A" shows are the strictest judged show except for Olympic level shows. Professional riders can be found competing in "A" shows.

We are very proud of her acheivement at this show.

Double Woven Dishcloth

2008-03-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

I started this dishcloth on March 21 while at Alltel Arena watching NCAA basketball games. I needed a no-brainer cloth to knit during time-outs and half times.

Jacobean Socks

2008-03-31T09:40:00.000-07:00

Finished the Jacobean Socks for the Yahoo Group SKP2008. Used Knit Picks Essentails yarn with size 0 needles.

Dishcloths - 2008

2008-02-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

I recently completed three dishcloths. The pattern for one was found in the current issue of Creative Knitting and the the other two patterns are from the MonthlyDishcloths Yahoo Group.

Toby

2007-12-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

TOBY

FEB 14, 1996 - DEC 20, 2007

DEVOTED AND MUCH LOVED FAMILY PET

"YOU WERE TRULY ONE IN A MILLION"

Millie's Sweater - Pictures

2007-12-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Millie wore her new sweater to work today. It looks good on her, so I think this project turned out well!

Millie's Sweater - Finished!

2007-12-14T06:58:00.001-08:00

Finally finished Millie's Big Jacket sweater. It was mailed out on Thursday. I'm anxious for her to get it and see if it "works" for her. It is not a sweater that just anyone can wear. Here a picture of the finished project. Hopefully I can post a picture with Millie wearing the sweater soon.

Here is the picture from the pattern.

Definitely not your common cardigan!!

Felted Bucket Hat

2007-11-12T19:17:00.001-08:00

The sleeves to Millie's sweater are being knitted on now. I expect maybe another week to finish unless I run out of yarn. I'm getting anxious about the amount of yarn I have left. It doesn't look as if there will be enough - keeping fingers crossed.

I ordered a pattern for a Felted Bucket Hat from Lion Brand Yarn by Chic Knits. It was a really quick project - took only a couple of days of knitting to finish. I used Lion Wool and it felted so nicely. I can't wait to make more. Pictures below are of the finished hat, then the hat before it was felted and finally the yarn I purchased for this pattern. I will use the gold yarn for the next hat.

Sweater for Millie and Ebay yarn

2007-10-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

As you can see from the picture below, I'm working on the right and left side of Millie's sweater at the same time. Right at 1/4 of each has been finished. Millie seems excited about how the sweater is coming along and I'm anxious to see it finished, too.

I won an Ebay auction for 13 balls of Lily's Sugar Babies yarn. It is 100% cotton and makes great baby blankets. Since it has been discontinued, I was excited to be able to get ahold of these.

Sweater for Millie - Finished Back

2007-09-27T07:02:00.001-07:00

The back of Millie's sweater was finished late last night. I worked on this piece for one week. The right and left sides are worked exactly the same as the back. I think I will cast-on both sides onto the same circular needle using two balls of yarn and knit them at the same time. That means I will not have a finished part of the sweater for two weeks, but at that time I will be ready to start on the sleeves.

Sweater for Millie Continues

2007-09-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

After knitting on Millie's sweater for six days here is the result. The back is 4/5 finished. My goal is to knit a ball of yarn in two days. That is right at 50 rows. If I can maintain that progress the sweater will be finished before the end of Oct!

Sweater for Millie - Third Day

2007-09-21T22:46:00.000-07:00

The back of Millie's sweater has gotten off to a good start. The pattern is easy to remember and the yarn is wonderful to knit with. So far - so good!

Sweater for Millie - First Day

2007-09-20T06:32:00.001-07:00

The swatch for Millie's sweater measured correctly for the size needles called for in the pattern, so I didn't have to make a change of needle size. I cast on the stitches for the back and knitted 12 rows last night.

I'm down to weaving in yarn ends on Ann's striped sweater.

I found a new pattern for dishcloths last week titled Nubbins. I have made a couple, mailed one to Ann at college (because it was pink). I'm using some new (new to me, at least) cotton yarn from Michaels called Twist for these cloths.

Sweater for Millie

2007-09-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

I received the yarn for Millie's sweater today. Recently I have been knitting on dishcloths and a baby blanket (pictures coming at a later date). I almost have Ann's striped sweater finished. My knitting time now will have to be divided between Ann's sweater and starting on Millie's.

It is impossible to have such wonderful yarn in the house and not be knitting with it.

Monday, June 11, 2007

2007-06-11T06:56:00.000-07:00

Where oh where has this year gone! Can not believe it is already June. Most of us are up, going and blowing this am. Ann has left for the barn. She is working a few hours a week at a new tanning salon here in Cabot. That will give her a bit of spending money. I think I will try out the new sunless spray-on tan and Jill wants to give the massage table a go. Jill has an dental appt at Children's Hospital this morning - just routine. Want to keep those pearly whites looking and working good for the time Jill starts eating "real" food again.

Striped Sweater

2007-04-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Received this in the mail on Monday . . .

to make this for daughter in college.

The yarn for this sweater is just yummy. The gauge was exactly what the pattern called for (knitters will understand that statement) and of Friday morning I have back and left side completed. It is working up much faster than I expected. I think I will be able to have it finished early next week. I hope I don't run into trouble with the ruffle.

Spring Flowers

2007-04-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Pretty flowers in the yard become pretty flowers on the kitchen table.

Cecil Bennett

2007-04-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

This is an entry I've been postponing. I thought about skipping it completely, but found I couldn't continue to post if I did.

My Dad passed away last month. His health had been failing steadily and the family knew the end was coming. I thought I was prepared for his passing, but wasn't really.

With Mom and Dad both gone now, it seems like my roots are gone - an ending of a phase of my life.

The entry to the right is the first page of the Family Focus Newletter Dad's church publishes on the internet monthly.

Click on it to enlarge. I think it is a nice tribute to both Mildred and Cecil Bennett, my Mom and Dad.

Bragging

2007-03-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

Have to brag a little on youngest daughter. Ann is the third from the right. She attends William Woods University majoring in Equestian Science.

More Dishcloths!!

2007-03-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

As you can guess by now, I really like knitting cotton dishcloths. They are very quick to knit and require very little thinking. Plus a dishcloth is an item all households require. Here are the two newest cloths I have finished.

Below is the Double Woven Dishcloth, sometimes called the Darrell Waltrip Dishcloth (because of the letters DW) . To the right is the Diagonal Ripple Dishcloth. Both were made from cotton yarn on size 6 needles.

Lovely Day

2007-02-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely day here in Central Arkansas yesterday. Jill was able to sit out on the back deck for a while. She had to come in the house to get ready for her chiropractor visit but was wanting to stay out. Toby came around to get a treat. The trees are still bare, but you can see how sunny the day was.

New Knitting Book Arrived Today

2007-02-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

Received February's book from Zooba.com today. It makes for a
good day when I get a knitting book or magazine in the mail.
The cover describes this book as " tucked away in a valley surrounded by a luscious landscape and rolling hills, Morehouse Farm is home to two former Manhattanites-Margrit Lohrer and Albrecht Pichler-who sought refuge from city life to raise Merino sheep and create the plushest wool of them all. "Morehouse Farms Knits" opens the gates of this magical farmland with a true city-to-country fairy tale and a fresh crop of patterns for merino handknits." I may not knit any of the patterns from this book, but I will enjoy reading the story of Morehouse Farm and looking at the knitted items.

February Weather

2007-02-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

It is cold here today and the wind is really blowing. Even though the sun is peeking out, the cold temps and wind chill is going to keep us in the house today.
Ann called last night with the news that central Missouri is getting snow yet again.
She has seen more snow and bitterly cold weather this winter at college than she experienced her whole life here in central Arkansas. I'm so glad she loves her college or she might be wanting to come back home! Here is a picture she sent after the first snow they got in Fulton.

Bennett Hall

2007-02-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

The last weekend of January one of Jill's caregivers stayed overnight and helped James with Jill while I made a visit to Corinth to be with my Dad and sisters. The church my parents attended and at one time pastored had a dedication of Bennett Hall as a memorial to Mom. Story and pictures can be found here.

More Dishcloths

2007-02-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

One more dishcloth to show. This one has been in my knitting bag for a few months. The pattern was published in Mason Dixon Knitting and it is also known as the ball band dishcloth.

Heart Dishcloth

2007-02-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

I found this interesting heart dishcloth at http://smariek.blogspot.com/.

There is one more dishcloth I want to try to make at http://criminyjickets.blogspot.com/2006/07/garterlac-dishcloth.html, then back to knitting socks.

Horse Dishcloth

2007-02-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

I had to tweak the pattern a bit for it to come out correct, but I knitted Ann a dishcloth/facecloth with a horse!! Very appropriate for an equestrian science major!

More Knitting

2007-02-10T06:31:00.000-08:00

I finished another cap. This one for Jill to wear. I don't like it as well as the other two because it wasn't knitted with wool yarn. The others were softer and probably warmer. I also knitted a heart dishcloth to send to Ann at college for Valentine's. I have a couple of dishclothes I want to knit and then back to socks! My fave!

Dishcloths

2007-02-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

I have joined a group at Yahoo! Groups for knitted dishcloths. They are great fun to make and better to use for washing dishes than store-bought ones! The group has two knit-a-longs a month. This is the first one I participated in. The dishcloths turned out to have heart motifs. The yellow one doesn't show the pattern well, but it looks like sunshine to me. You can see the hearts knitted in the red cloth a bit better. It changes to a different color because I was trying to use up left over cotton yarn.

Knitting caps

2007-02-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

I came across the Cold Weather Hat on www.headhuggers.org and have made several caps using this pattern. I couldn't find anyone to model so Jill's white bear was drafted. These caps were made out of Muskoka yarn, 100% merino wool in Denim Marl. I'm going to make one more, but out of Berella "4", color Wine Mist. All were made using size 9 needles.

My Hobby

2006-05-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

A knitting friend told me I needed a blog. I didn't tell her I had one, but hadn't updated it in a really long time. I haven't even talked about my all-consuming hobby, knitting. But since the name of this blog is The Knittinglady, it should be apparent that I do knit. I read several other knitter's blogs and enjoy seeing what they are currently knitting. I'm finishing the Feather and Fan socks (will post picture when finished) and waiting very impatiently for my copy of Mason Dixon Knitting to arrive. I have already joined the Mason Dixon KAL (Knit A Long) and everyone there is busy knitting the BallBand Dishcloths.

Beginning Again and Track Meet

2005-10-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I started this blog and made an entry. I've been playing around with it trying to get it perfect - everything just the way I want it. But I've not been able to reach that point. I decided that I may not be able to get where I want and meanwhile I'm not making any progress here. So I have to just start and not expect this to be the perfect blog I wanted.

Cold here this morning, but a lovely, sunny afternoon. I'm working in the kitchen, making a pot of vegetable soup (as close to Meme's as possible) and watching the high school track members walking the golf course. There is a conference meet on the golf course today and the teams all walk the marked course before they run. I'm remembering the year Jill and her fellow track members did this same thing. It was fun to stand on the deck and watch them run by. I have the newspaper clipping and the picture of the awards given out after the race. If I remember correctly, Jill was named All-Tournament or All-Conference from that meet. The next time I run across that clipping as I work with our scrapbook stuff, I will post the picture here.

Missing That Girl

2005-06-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

This is Ann's last morning of Driver's Ed. When she comes in, I will be ready to go to Little Rock to meet Terrie and Olivia. We need to plan our agenda for San Antonio. James is in El Reno, OK, for a shoot, but he will be back tonight. Ann and I will stay with Jill tonight. For some reason, yesterday was my cry day. I just wailed as I was getting ready to leave for Easter Seals and cried most of the way home last night. I miss that girl as she was so much. I know she is still here, but will never be as she was. Even though, she drove me up the wall sometimes, I thought she was so pretty and talented. She had that quality and the ability to do whatever she set her mind to do. I often wonder what her life would have been like - where she would have gone and what she would have done. She was crazy about visiting New York, perhaps she would have aspired to a career there. We will never know.

First Post

2005-06-03T01:16:00.000-07:00

The idea of having a blog - a cyber diary of sorts - seems interesting. A place to record happenings, thoughts, feelings, etc. exactly as they are.