For the Love of Knit

First of four baby cardigans started

I cast on for the Easy Baby Cardigan on Wednesday night. 

I'm just about 1/2 inch away from being done with the hood.  I've never made a top down cardigan before, so it's a new experience for me.  Sometimes I am intimidated by patterns until I remember what an experienced knitter told me.  She said, "It's all about interpreting the pattern."  That's very true!  It's not like you have to do handstands or knit with one foot behind your head while using the other foot to bounce up and down or hopscotch -- at least I've never run across a pattern that asks this of me yet, even if sometimes it feels like it may as well be saying that!  Does anyone else ever feel that way?  Sometimes I think you just have to forge ahead and give it a go -- it seems like it only makes sense sometimes when you have the stitches right there in front of you, waiting to be worked.

I'm rushing out of here now to sing for another funeral and then to spend the rest of the day watching the kids' basketball games (and yes, I'm bringing my knitting!). 

Have a lovely weekend!  Stay warm!  Brrrr....

Red Scarf Finished

Finally!  I'm sending it off on Monday, along with a scarf that one of my co-workers made, too. 

Here's a picture of mine:

It was sort of a tough week around here as my husband's aunt passed away on Monday.  The funeral was on Friday.  We sang a few songs at the funeral -- ugh, that's hard.  It's hard to sing at funerals in any case, but especially when it is family.  We used to sing in a quartet -- my husband and myself, his cousin and his wife and another woman -- and Carrie, Phillip's aunt, was definitely our biggest fan.  I know she would have been pleased that we were able to sing for the funeral.

I am also almost finished with another American Girl Doll poncho and then I'm going to cast on for a baby sweater yet tonight.  I will post photos of both in the next few days.

I hope you had a great weekend!

Are your handmade gifts always well received?

My parents receive the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel each week and my mom gave me a copy of this article which appeared in last Sunday's paper.  It is called Skein Deep .  The first paragraph states as follows:

    "If you're a knitter, the craft can offer a perplexing mix of pleasure and frustration. It's gratifying to make one-of-a-kind gifts, but disheartening to give them to people who don't always appreciate your handiwork."

So my question to you is this:  Have you ever made a handmade item, be it knitted, crocheted, sewn, etc., and had it only half-heartedly received by the recipient?  If so, does this bother you?  But that being said, I wonder why am I knitting at all?  Do I knit just so that I can receive kudos from someone who may receive a handmade gift from me, or is it because I enjoy creating something with my own two hands?  To be honest, I think it is probably both.  While I would knit just to knit, I also think it's a little disheartening when your handmade gift is not as well received as you had hoped.

This article is more specifically about the book One Skein.  Do you have it and if so, would you recommend it?  I don't presently have it, so am curious if it is something that I should have in my knitting library.

There are a few other articles listed in the sidebar on this page which relate to knitting.  I thought it was interesting that Heidi over at Spritual Knitter also linked to this article today!  Great minds think alike, Heidi!

I said the other day that I would post a picture of the yarns I intend to use for two of the baby sweaters that I plan to make in the next few months.  I have Plymouth Encore DK in a denim color and the wool superwash in pink from Knit Picks.  I'm anxious to get them going.  I am planning on using this pattern for both of these baby knits -- the Easy Baby Cardigan.  I originally found this pattern on Samantha's blog -- thanks for the link, Samantha!

Here is a picture of the two yarns I will be using: 

Busy day tomorrow as the kids have basketball games all morning.  On Sunday I am attending a retreat with my Confirmation students.  They will be learning about the life of Blessed Mother Teresa.  I do hope that they will get something out of it...

Have a great weekend!