Major Knitter

Prepare to Dye!

Remember this sweater that I knit for Primogeniture for Christmas?  (Note - being modeled by Secundogeniture because he was available!)

I knit it in natural wool - because that's what I had on hand.  Primogeniture requested a charcoal gray sweater.  I asked for help in my Finish or Frog It Friday group on Ravelry and got a lot of suggestions.  My friend, upon realizing that this was my very first time dyeing a hand knit sweater directed me to the RIT dye videos.  It looked so easy, so that's what I did.

Supplies on hand:
6 gallons hot water
2 cups vinegar
Rubber gloves
1 bottle Rit dye
1 bottle Fit fixative
2 teaspoons dishwashing liquid
Sweater to be dyed
Sample knit swatch (with same wool as sweater) to test the dye

I carefully followed the instructions on the packaging and the video.  The sweater soaked in the dye for about 30 minutes (with constant stirring).  Then it soaked in the fixative for about another 30 minutes.  Then I rinsed it in cold water until the water ran clear.

I pressed out the excess water in the sink, blotted the very wet sweater in a large towel, then blocked it to the proper shape on my kitchen table.  Notice the swatch alongside the sweater.  I'll send that to my son to keep in the unfortunate event that the sweater requires mending down the road.

Now we wait a few days for this Forbes sweater to dry.  If you like this - please check out designer Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed.  

I can't wait for Primogeniture to try it on!

 

 

 

Forbes

I knit Brooklyn Tweed's Forbes Sweater for Primogeniture.  He wasn't available to try it on for me, so Secundogeniture happily modeled it.

I love the texture of this yoke sweater.  This style is especially nice if you're like me and hate sewing up and finishing a sweater.  When you finish knitting this sweater there are minimal loose ends to weave in.  And you only need to sew the underarm.  

Primogeniture has requested a grey sweater so I'll be dyeing this sweater (and some spare yarn, just in case) soon.  I'm a little nervous because I've never dyed a completed sweater before.  Fingers crossed!

 

 

 

The New Child and Adolescent Recovery Hospital at Jackson Recovery Centers

If you follow me on Facebook or on Instagram, you've seen me post about the Child and Adolescent Recovery Hospital and Jackson Recovery Centers in my hometown of Sioux City, Iowa.  It's open and I got the chance to visit it this summer.  I can't tell you how excited I am that my hometown, and the midwest, has a top notch facility like this.  I can only wish every state could have a facility this wonderful.

Kermit took time out of his incredibly busy schedule to give us a private tour.  I can't tell you how impressed and pleased I was to see this come to fruition.  Here we are posing with the busts of Mom and Dad in the entrance to the new hospital.

 

But you can take a tour, too.  Just click on the video above (or click on THIS LINK to watch the video directly in YouTube

Disclaimer:  The video contains actor portrayals of patients to protect the program's anonymity.  If you look closely, you might recognize my niece and nephews playing the roles of patients.  

I know Mom & Dad are smiling in heaven knowing that Siouxland is a little bit better place today because of all the hard work and efforts of a wonderfully giving community and amazing volunteers who have continued to make this dream a reality.  Thank you Kermit for all your leadership.

 

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday Baby!

For BF's birthday each year we try to take a road trip and watch the Mets play somewhere fun and exciting.  It's great fun and we really get to see parts of the country by way of a road trip that we wouldn't otherwise discover.  This year the Mets played the Orioles in nearby Baltimore, Maryland, so our road trip was not the big pilgrimage like other years.  So instead of the "Great American Road Trip" ("GART") as I've dubbed the last few year's trips, this was more of a one night "Good American Road Trip" - but it was great just the same.  Even though we were only gone for two days, we really enjoyed Baltimore's inner harbor.  We got up early in the morning and drove six hours (with stops, of course) to Baltimore, checked into our hotel and walked around the inner harbor and explored Baltimore.  

BF is not much of a seaman, so we avoided all the wonderful museums aboard ships.  They look like great fun - and I would definitely put them on a list for touring for those who do not get seasick just hearing the word "water" - so instead of a ship museum, we meandered down the street and chose to visit the Star Spangled Banner Flag House where the huge flag was sewn and flown over Fort McHenry in 1814 (oddly enough, during the Battle of 1812) which inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the lyrics to our National Anthem.

Here's a great view of the Pickersgill Flag House and the museum in the background.  You can read more about it on the Baltimore Heritage site.  We got there late in the day but had a wonderful time watching the brief film, touring the house (I *love* historic old houses!) and learning about a bit of Americana.  BF even noted that I somehow managed to wrap a "textile, historical, military, and gun stop with a strong female lead" on our mini-GART.  

 After a little rest, we walked to the Oriole Park at Camden Yards early so we could walk around, see everything, and eat before the game.  I learned that this ballpark was the first to really think outside the box and create a pleasing downtown stadium, blending the old and the new, creating an ambience for fans with shops and restaurants for a full game experience.  BF and I go to a lot of ballgames and I think that this is my favorite ballpark to date.  Additionally we had great seats (not amazing - but great) and they did not cost a fortune.  That's the way a ball game should be.  You should be able to take the family and root for your favorite team without breaking the bank.

The game was very exciting from the very first inning.  We stayed until the bitter end when the Orioles hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th to win the game.  Disappointing -- yes.  Great game -- that too.

But the best part of all was stopping to visit friends on the way home.  We stopped in Media, Pennsylvania to see a dear friend from BF's college days.  We arrived early - as usual - so we walked around a bit and stumbled upon the Pennsylvania Veteran's Museum in the old Armory (and underneath Trader Joe's).   It was very well done and it even had some great representation of Women in the Military.  I especially loved the female Sergeant Major's uniform (with a more current photo attached on the lapel).  Who was this woman?  I'd like to know.  

Some have suggested it was SgtMaj Grace Carle.  I think that would be pretty darned cool.  Unfortunately, the uniform wasn't identified on the display - just this photo dangling from a lapel pin with no name.  Of course, I didn't think to look on the inside collar of the uniform.  Maybe if I thought I could have gotten away with it, I would have!

After our visit in Media, we drove to downtown Philadelphia to meet with BF's 4th grade teacher.  So.much.fun.  We shared stories and memories and had a great time.  We were also very fortunate to avoid the rainstorms as we were walking around during the day.  I took some great pictures of the visits, but BF's rule is "no pictures of BF on the blog" so you'll just have to trust me that everyone looked wonderful.  It was a fantastic, albeit brief, Great American Road Trip.  I can't wait to find out where the Mets will be playing next year.  I'm quietly rooting for a game against the Atlanta Braves or the Florida Marlins next August so we can plan a week-long Southern US trip.  Scratch that.  We could fill in a two-week long trip to stop and visit everyone and everything I want to see from Florida to Philadelphia!  

Let's Go Mets!



 

 

#TBT Pancake-style

Homemade pancakes are a morning ritual in our house.  Secundogeniture has eaten pancakes on a daily basis since kindergarten.  Somewhere along the way, they morphed into chocolate chip pancakes.  Whenever he's home, we make a batch.  It's a mutually understood agreement that we have.  

Here's a picture from 2004 when we tried to make animal shaped pancakes.

Fast forward to this morning at 6:15 a.m. which is pretty early for a growing lad.  Good thing he's got his homemade chocolate chip pancakes and Ovaltine to keep him going this morning!

He's still my little boy - even though he's 6'2".  I guess these breakfasts helped him grow!

 

 

Happy Easter!

I decided to make my own dye using ingredients in my kitchen.  I found water, salt, vinegar, beets, red cabbage, red onions, yellow onions and turmeric. If you want to try this at home - here is a good article with instructions.  Here's another article.  Read them both and you'll be on your way to dyeing.

 

You'll be amazed how many dyes you can make from ingredients you have in your kitchen.

I started by making individual dye baths by boiling approximately one quart of water with the ingredients from my kitchen and 2-4 tablespoons vinegar.  I boiled the dye bath for anywhere from 30-60 minutes until I got a darker color than I wanted.  When an item dries, it ends up lighter than it was in the dye bath.  I strained out the food stuff and placed the dye in a glass cup.

Using beets, I got a nice pink. Unfortunately, the pink wore off.  I'm not really sure what happened here.  I think I needed about three times as many beets as I had.  Next time I'll know better.

Surprise!  Surprise!  The red cabbage turned my eggs blue.  I never would have guessed that.  Once again, I didn't use enough red cabbage so this one took forever to dye.  Afterwards, I read the aforementioned articles and realized I should have used nearly the entire cabbage.  That would have made my work easier.

Red onion skins turned my white eggs a nice golden brown hue.

Yellow onion skins turned my white eggs an orange-tan color.  Both onion skins dyed my eggs quickly and very deeply.  

Turmeric is a very easy way to get a bright shiny yellow egg.  If I had left it in longer, I would get a nice golden egg.

Next year I'm going to try again and add some new colors - or even just some more vibrant colors.  I want to get a green egg, so I'm going to try the red cabbage on a brown egg - or dipping the egg in both the turmeric and then the red cabbage.  

Happy Easter!

 

 

 

 

Baby, Baby, Baby!

So much fun.  We had 30 people at the baby shower - 18 adults and 12 kids.

The first thing people saw when they walked in the house was the play teepee in front of the fireplace.  I made this by cutting a semicircle out of a canvas drop cloth and then decorating it with triangles cut out of the fabric from Jenna's Pinterest page.  I found a lambskin rug at Ikea and my niece Grace brought out her woodland animals to inhabit the teepee.  I had my nephew Pierce use his mad Boy Scout knot tying skills to lash the teepee poles together.

Baby family - Jenna, Tila, Javi and Cain were the first to go through the dinner line.  Guests of honor first!

After everyone ate, we played some silly games - Name the Baby Animal and Diaper Diagnosis - and both were lots of fun for everyone.  It was entertaining to get the men in on the fun.  One was even overheard saying "This is what you do at a baby shower?"  Yup!  That's correct.

We passed around a dozen plates with diapers numbered #1 through #12.  You had to peek inside the diaper and guess what was inside.  Each diaper had a mashed up chocolate candy bar of some sort.  Many were easy guesses.  Others were very challenging.  Everyone laughed.

My sister-in-law made a baby quilt for her new grandchild.  It's so cute!

They opened my woodland animal baby hats and many other gifts.

And I couldn't resist a set of Marine Corps dress blues - after all this baby's daddy, uncle and great aunt are all Marines.

It was a lot of fun and Tila wasn't the only one ready for bed.  She curled up in the arm chair while the rest of us packed up, chatted and said our good-byes.

Such fun!  We really can't wait to meet this new bundle of joy.

Everybody Loves a Baby

There is some exciting news in my family.  My nephew & niece-in-law are expecting a baby.  It's the first baby of the next generation so we're all very excited.  I'm going to be home later this month so I suggested a baby shower.  

Thank goodness for Pinterest.  I was able to check out Jenna's pins for the new baby and get 1,001 ideas.  But you know how dangerous that can be. I tend to grab hold of an idea and run away with it.  

Jenna's main themes are Native American Indian and wolves.  While I thought about just sending out an electronic invitation, I thought - "That won't be so fun to leave in the baby book." so I got my arts and crafts on and created some invitations.  They don't sell them like this at Hallmark!

I Googled "Wolf howling at moon" and came up with several images.  With my paints, card stock and computer, I started painting howling wolves.

First I painted the base color with a white moon and wolf head.

Next I added a second layer of gray by adding ears and fur accents on the neck.

Then with some black paint I added the final touches of mouth, nose, eyes, accents and more fur.

Finally, I had a few dozen invitations complete with Jenna's very personalized theme and a quote I found by Googling "Native American Quotes and Sayings"

I can hardly wait for the fun to begin. 

 

Dapper Darlings

Last night was The County Assembly Charity Ball in Fairfield County.  It's a Sadie Hawkins dance to raise funds for local charities.  The teenagers looked so adorable.

Secundogeniture and his date looked so gorgeous and grown-up as did all the other teenagers.  

They were polite, poised and very polished young adults and I couldn't have been happier or prouder of them.

I may have even snapped one mother/son picture.

Afterwards, BF and I came home to a quiet night at home with three dogs, a healthy light dinner, our favorite sofa and latest Netflix binge (Criminal Minds) and my current knitting.

I think hearts are appropriate knitting tonight.  

I <3 my son
I <3 watching these youngsters grow up
I <3 how gorgeous they all look
I <3 seeing them so elegant

 

Christmas Knits in Review

Now that Christmas has come and gone I can finally share photos of my knitting projects from this past month.  It was killing me not to share the photos as soon as I finished my projects, but I didn't want to spoil the surprises for the recipients.  

I made two pink bulldog washcloths using Peaches N Cream from my stash.  One is for our friend Virginia.  The other will be given away next week... so I cannot spill the beans just yet. The pattern is by Lisa Millan and can be found on Ravelry.

I made one black bulldog washcloth using Peaches N Cream in black for our friend Matt.  I think I'll have to make a lot more of these because they're really, really cute.

BF got his traditional hand knit cashmere socks for wearing around the house like slippers.  He really feels the cold, so these puppies help a lot.  

And speaking of hand knit socks, Primogeniture made my day on Christmas by wearing these hand knit socks I made for him during his surgery in 2009!  He's not a big fan of handknits, so I rarely make him anything, but I insisted on making him some socks, if for nothing else, than for one day to open his sock drawer and see some handknit socks and think of dear old Mom.

Maggie's favorite color is orange, so everything she got for Christmas was orange.  I like to go with themes.  I knit her the Galicia hat that was featured on the front page of Ravelry three weeks ago.  I had plenty of yarn, so I knit up an infinity cowl using the same stitch pattern.  I think it looks great on her!

And last but not least, in keeping with the orange theme, I knit Maggie her very own penguin ornament wearing an orange hat.  I just love this Penguin Popper pattern by Jill Arnusch and have made ten of them already.  This orange one is so bright and cheery that it is definitely one of my favorites.

There you have it.  Some knitting progress and FOs for the month of December.  I already have some gift knitting for next year in the works.  Afterall there are only 362 days until Christmas!