The First Knit Mitten

One day many suns ago, I knit a mitten. I finished it up after Thanksgiving dinner with the family. I remember working on the thumb while Jon, my MIL, nieces and kids played Taboo.

The mitten stayed single while I focused on a flurry of Christmas projects I can't even remember what they all were. Most of which got wrapped and never photographed, which makes me a little sad.

Today, I'm home with a little sick boy. Coughing and fever, so he's spending the day hanging with me playing Xbox, watching TV, playing with moon sand, painting, and just creating general mayhem.

So, I decided to make a match for the mitten. Knitting is a hit or miss proposition. Sometimes things happen so perfectly, other times it all goes to hell. Looking at my perfect finished mitten on my hand brought me such joy. I wondered if it was possible to knit another perfectly matched mitten.

Then I start planning for contingencies...What if it isn't perfect? Should I felt it? Do I felt the matching hat? What if I don't find anything to wear it with? Who should I give it to? Do I want to give away my very first knit mittens? Should it go to family? Should I save it for Jesse? Is this a man knit? What man has hands this small?

Being in my head is so tiring.

The mitten is looking pretty promising...I'll tell you how it all ends up when I finish it up, hopefully later today.

Peace and What Day Is It?

Child Sewing Machine

Jesse got a sewing machine for Christmas. It was the best $14.99 I've ever spent for her. She loves it! I'm pretty happy with it too. It kept girlfriend occupied for over an hour while she "created" gifts. Everything she made, she wrapped and gave away. I think I'm rubbing off on her.

Highlights of this little machine is the plastic guard around the needle and foot. It is battery operated. Easy to use. Lightweight. Stitches are nice and even and the machine offers two choices of stitch, a long zigzag stitch and a tighter straight stitch. I'm keeping Jesse on the zigzag stitch for now, since she seems determined to fit several layers of paper and fabric beneath the needle.
The foot pedal is ideal for hand use for Jesse. One she is at the kitchen table and her feet don't touch the ground. Two, it is easier for her to coordinate using two hands at this time, instead of two hands and a foot.

Like I said, this sucker will go through paper and fabric just fine. The only downside to this little machine is the fact that it is really loud and clunky sounding. Initially, the loud noise scared Jesse, but she got used to it.

I've tried to attached a video of Jesse using the machine for the first time, but gave up since the cosmos is against me today. A two minute orientation on the machine and she was using it all by herself within minutes. Definitely a great little machine to add to Jesse's creative outlet. If you have a little one who does this...

Then the baby Singer is a great idea for them.

Peace and Come on 2011!

Handy Earflap Hat

One of the items on my to-do list was the Thorpe hat. If you are knitter or crocheter and on Ravelry, and you type in "earflap hat" in the Pattern search query, the Thorpe hat is the number one pattern. It is the most popular. I've even seen the hat pattern offered "free with purchase" at my local yarn store, Fiberworks, in Beavercreek, Ohio. I loved it on Ravelry, loved it in person and knew I had to try the pattern.

Here is where the road met the asphalt: One evening a few weeks ago, I sat down and tried the pattern. The very first bit of instructions was "using DPN's, cast on 4 stitches". Holy Mother of God, after an hour or so of struggling, I threw the project down and went to bed frustrated. DPN's and I are not friends. For those not familiar with the acronym, DPN means double pointed needles. To cast on 4 stitches, it meant ONE stitch on two needles and TWO stitches on one needle. Those four stitches are slippery tight bastards. If they were chastity belts I'd still be a virgin.

So, went to bed and had an epiphany and a realization. I'm a crocheter masquerading as a knitter. I think like a crocheter. I see patterns in my head like a crocheter. The only way I marry knit is the numbers appeals to me and I can see the pattern and number of stitches in my head. I'm still surprised by what happens with knit stitches, but crochet stitches I can predict how they are going to behave. If you understood that...GREAT!

Below is the pattern for how I ended up making the Thorpe hat. Based on copyright laws, I pretty much made my own pattern. I'm sharing it with you, in case you are one of those people that 1. hates DPN's, 2. are a masked bandit too 3. so I will have it written for future reference since I gave this hat away within seconds of finishing it.

Earflap Knit Hat

Design by Sara Hardyman

Inspired by Thorpe hat pattern by Kirsten Kapur

Finished Measurements: Teen/Child

Materials: Two strands Caron Country (worsted weight) held together, 2 skeins black used (any size bulky weight yarn will work. Caron Country is worsted weight, so two strands held together makes bulky)

Contrast band and braids, Caron Country, red and black

Needles and Notions: One pair US 9 (5.5 mm), 16 circular, Crochet hook G (4.5 mm), tapestry needle, stitch markers, stitch holder

Gauge: I didn't do one. I live by the philosophy that there is a head for every hat I make. It's risky. Try it.

Skills and Info needed:

You need to know how to do a provisional cast on. Youtube has great videos on this.

You need to know how to knit and purl.

You need to know how to do a crochet half double crochet.

Instructions:

Brim and Body of hat:

Provisional cast on 64 stitches.

Place marker to mark beginning of round.

Join stitches being careful not to twist.

Knit in garter stitch (one row knit, one row purl) until you have 4 garter ridges (A garter ridge is made up of two rounds, one knit and one purl).

Knit in stockinette stitch (knit all rounds) until you have knit 6 inches from bottom.

Begin decrease rows: (I did this all on the 16 inch circular using a modified circular loop technique I've taught myself, but you can switch to DPN's if you'd like. I've found it possible to use DPN's decreasing, but haven't been able to use DPN's to increase. Thus the reason for this pattern.)

Row 1: Knit 6 stitches, K2TOG around. (56 stitches)

Row 2: Knit

Row 3: Knit 5 stitches, K2TOG around. (48 stitches)

Row 4: Knit

Row 5: Knit 4 stitches, K2TOG around. (40 stitches)

Row 6: Knit

Row 7: Knit 3 stitches, K2TOG around. (32 stitches)
Row 8: Knit

Row 9: Knit 2 stitches, K2TOG around. (24 stitches)

Row 10: Knit 1 stitch, K2TOG around (12 stitches)

Row 11: K2TOG around. (4 stitches)

Pull yarn through final stitches and sew in to seal the top of the hat.

Earflap Portion of Hat:

Remove the provisional cast on yarn and put the live stitches onto the US 9, 16" circular needle.

The stitches will be knit stitches:

Row 1: Purl one round

Row 2: Bind off 24 stitches, knit to end

Begin to work back and forth (no longer in the round). The slipped stitches at the beginning of the rows will give you a clean edge to crochet into.

Row 1 (WS): Slip 1, knit to end.

Row 2 (RS): Slip 1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, K2TOG, k1

Row 3 (WS): Slip 1, knit to end.

Row 4 (RS): Slip 1, ssk, knit 10 stitches, place these 10 stitches on a holder, bind off 12 stitches, knit to 3 stitches from the end, K2TOG, k1. 12 stitches remain on needle.

Earflap:

Continue in garter stitch, slipping first stitch and working back and forth on the 12 remaining stitches for a total of 10 garter ridges (including the ridges on the brim of the hat)

Next Row (RS): Slip 1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, K2TOG, k1

Next Row (WS): Slip 1, knit to end.

Next Row (RS): Slip 1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, K2TOG, k1

Next Row (WS): Slip 1, knit to end.

Next Row: Bind off.

Place remaining stitches on needles, attach yarn and make second earflap.

Weave in ends.

Crochet border:

Using contrasting yarn, half double crochet into each stitch all the way around, join the last stitch to the first and weave in ends.

Braids:

Cut 6 pieces of yarn 40" long. Loop the pieces through six crochet stitches at bottom of earflaps. Braid the pieces together to desired length and trim ends neatly.

Copyright 2010 by Sara Hardyman for Handy Hooker

Pattern is free.

Lighting and Family Pics

We did our family Christmas picture the other night. This picture is always a bugger for me because of the time of the year. There is limited daylight and the times when my family is together is typically when there is no daylight. I LOVE taking pictures in natural light. I hate flash and will do what I can to not use it. There are times when I use it because sometimes capturing the shot is more important than lighting.

Another obstacle is corralling my gang to actually do the shot. It's hard. Even Jon takes a cow prod to get him moving for picture time.

My solution to the poor lighting in my living room was to mount some light bulbs on the back of the chair I set my camera on. (HELLO, Santa, a tripod would be lovely!)

The other obstacle is movement. In low light, movement is bad.

So, we suck at Christmas pictures. Who cares? You'll get them in March anyway. ha! Where the heck did the time go?! Four days, people, four days!

Peace and a Mitten and Toothless to Go!

The Fleece Robes

Sunday morning I woke up and convinced myself and the kids it was a good idea to go to Joann's. We got there before the mall area got busy, so that was a bonus. But for some reason, my one skein of yarn plan metamorphed into 4 yards of fleece, a pattern, another skein of yarn, two spools of thread and $50 later I was left reeling wondering what in the heck happened.

I passed it off to Jon as "a good plan" to make J&J fleece robes for Christmas.

Guess who cut all my pieces for me? Yeah, he's a good man.

He figures these things out so much quicker than I. For the record, neither one of us have ever made an sewing item from a pattern. Jon has never made any sewing item. Not even the time he blew the back of his pants out at work. He let it all hang out instead of even attempting a sew repair job. I told him that may have been sexual harassment. He laughed. His boss laughed and I got some knowing looks from the guys who got to see his butt.

Anyway, enough about Jon. He cut out every piece for me. We (he) is double cutting. We (he) laid both pieces of fleece together and cut with a rotary blade with a piece of wood underneath.

I'll tell you how it all turns out as I attempt to sew this baby together.

Peace and OHMYGAWDMondaySucks.

Winners!

The winner of the Silk Bamboo knit hat is Emily C.!


And cause I love ya! and I have two kids! and it's Christmas! James picked a second name...WhisperingWriter!

I'm sending you these arm warmers. They are small sized for little girl age 3 or 4 and made out of the silk/bamboo yarn leftover from the hat.

Thanks for playing every one! Love ya!

Winners email me at rottnluck at gmail dot com with your name and address.

Because I Love Ya!

Because it has been a heck of a day...I lost my car keys in a snow bank.

This is a silk/bamboo knit hat that you would wear on a day when you need a hat but don't want to mess your hair up. Silk is very nice to hair. I loved trying this hat on. It was like putting on a favorite t-shirt, on my head, though.


Because this project hasn't found a home, no matter how much I love it. It's a gorgeous cranberry and apple color. Think pretty red/magenta with lime green. Jesse picked the colors.

Because I look so "hood"...I'm giving this hat away to a lucky commenter.

How this works...

Leave a comment telling me what you've made recently. Food, knit, crochet, scrapbooking, craft, a nice smelly fart. Anything goes, but keep it clean. :) Making babies counts too! Just don't mention how.

I'll pick a winner on Monday. Comment by Sunday, December 19th, evening 11:59PM.

Peace and In Memory of My Grandma. Missing her today on her birthday.

Feature Day!

My Etsy shop is being featured on Somewhat Simple today with a giveaway of one ornament and one hand dyed skein of sock yarn. You should hop over there and leave a comment. :)

In reading through the comments about what people love about my shop, I just smiled. It is always great to get feedback.

Here are what some of them are saying (and I wish she (somewhat simple) had spelled the name of my shop right. ROTTNLUCK. oh well.)


Rotn Luck - I like the wooden ornaments
From Rotn Luck I love the red sock yarn and all the bulky yarn. So pretty!
I love the Zhu Zhu felted bag from Rotn Luck.
Rotn Luck a scarf or the wrist warmers
The wooden ornaments from Rotn Luck are awesome!
I LOVE the Ruby Red Crochet Shawl from Rotn Luck!!! What a great shop!!!
Rotn Luck - I would love some of her hand dyed sock yarn! Such great colors!
Rotn Luck: Love the hand dyed items!! And the wooden ornaments!
I love the Ruby Red Sock Yarn from Rotn Luck.
on rottn luck i love the crochet scarves.
I love the Large Wood Cross Christmas Ornament from Rotn Luck.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Peace and Interview Time!

Puppy Dog

I've mentioned before we have a dog named Puppy. Very original, I know. She walked into our yard a year ago October and has stayed. We got her spayed, vaccinated and ID chipped and resigned ourselves to the fact that we had a dog. She isn't the perfect fit for our home as we've found out because she goes berserk crazy with the cats and rabbits. Gnawing on them and stuff. My cats are used to rottweilers and basically just laid down and wondered why this stupid dog was nipping them and chasing them. For Puppy's safety, we keep them separate. For the rabbits safety, we keep them separate.

Puppy has proven herself as a great outside dog and she spends most of her time looking over our 6 foot privacy fence, much to the amusement of our neighbors. Puppy keeps track of the neighborhood news, watches the kids get on the bus and seems to enjoy her very scheduled life. She has thrived on having specific things required of her. We are still working on the jumping, but after a year, I'm happy to say, she responds pretty immediately to my voice.

The following video shows her responding to me ANNTTing at her. You know, that weird sound moms make to show disapproval and get the child's attention.

Puppy loves me. I love her. I kinda captured the look of adoration on her face at the end. She definitely is a one person dog that loves everybody, but bonds well with a female.

Oh and ignore my messy house. This was Tuesday morning after I'd worked the night shift. Actually, I'm lying to you. My house normally looks this way.



Peace and Snow Playtime!

Treat Bags

Throughout the this year, I've been sent home "request" lists from James and Jesse's teachers. You know, "We are having a party and please supply the item listed below" kind of list. I don't mind, but schools frown on handmade these days. The approved Birthday treat list did not include one item you could make at home. It was specifically geared for items you must purchase. So, I could rant about how homemade/handmade is going to the wayside, like usual, or I can tell you how I've beat the system. Picked my battles. Took one for the handmade team.


James was asked to bring in 16 treat bags for their class Christmas party on Friday.

Last night, I pulled out lunch paper bags and my supply of scrapbooking stuff. Five years ago I spent an evening at a scrapbook store using their die cut machine for an hour or two. I made these stockings, candy canes, wreaths, bows and LOVE letters. Since I'm a bit of a saver, I found these in the back of the hall closet and shouted, "YES!" when I saw them.


A couple of bags of bells purchased several years ago with our 12 foot Christmas tree...


Modge Podge that I've been waiting for a couple months to figure out a use for...


Ribbons that are probably 7/8 years old...

Two kids that love to glue and make things...



It was a great way to end the evening with them.

But I have to say crafting with children isn't for the faint of heart. I seriously needed a shot of alcohol. My wee ones do not stay on task for long and I spent a lot of time chasing over flowing glue and runaway bells. So I sent them off to take showers while I finished up. :)

Peace and Where the Heck Did Tuesday and Monday Go?!

Hump Day

Okay, I've mentioned I'm a bit bahhumbug about the holiday's. I have to confess, I've never taken my kids to see Santa. We randomly ended up with a picture with the Easter Bunny at Walmart one year, but that was a complete accident. See, I have a slight problem with telling my kids they must sit on some strangers lap and tell them secrets. It's just a wee problem I have that also includes tickling, trick or treating and wrestling with little kids. I may discuss my issues with those things another day, but today, I confess I took my kids to see Santa despite my reservations.

Here is why: The Santa above is Jon. I was totally okay with telling my kids to sit on his lap. Both kids figured out it was Jon, and I've been informed we are to keep it between us because the Big Guy is watching.

I made J&J mittens out of Full O'Sheep wool using the Lion Brand free pattern "Family Mittens" in crochet. This is a quick project and I love how they turn out. As you can see above, wool mittens and snow means the snow gets caked on the mittens. Some people have a problem with this, but I checked after an hour of playing in the snow, Jesse's hands were toasty warm despite the caked on snow.

I felted these particular mittens. Just tossed them into my front loader and washed them THREE times. So Full O'Sheep and crocheted mittens means they felt really really slow. Which is great for a nice controlled felt.

For Thanksgiving, Jon and the kids and I went to Grandpa's to play Scrabble with him. It is a yearly tradition and Grandpa usually whips our butts. This year, Jon won, Grandpa second and I was third. I even practiced the night before. HUMPH!

Peace and Rock!

P.S. Jesse hobbled out to the living room last night with her underwear around her ankles and announced to me, "Mommy, I smelled my underwear. I think my butt is dirty." Ah, love these little moments of life lessons learned.

Mismatch?

Last week I posted on FB that the crochet pattern Crochargosy was an awesome pattern, free and a quick project. I did this scarf in one evening. Very quick project. I used Caron Spa yarn in Rust color using an I hook (?!). It was a red hook. I rarely remember what hook sizes I use because I typically remember them by color. Which by the way, I taught James about hook sizes. He was quite impressed to have that little secret revealed to him. He's a bit of a math whiz. Already counting by 10's. Does math addition in his head. And it seems he has a capacity to understand measurements. Maybe for some this isn't a big deal, but for me, my momma pride bubble is just bursting.

Previous to the scarf, I made this hat out of Caron Spa color Iris, using the crochet pattern by Ellen Gormley, Driftwood. This pattern is $5 on Ravelry. I probably bought it because I really like Ellen. She is so nice and approachable. I've never met her, though she is local to me. I could probably devise a meeting, but I'm weird about meeting people. After doing the project, I have to say it is one of my favorite go-to crochet hat projects. The thing with this project is it creates a nice dense hat. I love for my hats to have some density to them because I don't like the wind whistling through my ears on a cold day. Who does?

What do you think? Are these mismatched? They are the same type of yarn, both crochet projects and just lovely. I'd wear them together, but I've been know to wear green and yellow together with a splash of orange.

What I am trying to hide is my face. I rarely wear my hair down, but yesterday when I woke up I realized that there was an area of concern on my face. It wasn't acting like a zit. In fact it seemed to be getting bigger and bubblier. Bubblier on my face with a nice splash of red made me ask Jon to take a look. He glanced and proclaimed, "Yep, it looks like impetigo." UM?! What?! I blame my poop scooping, face patting children for this. So yesterday, I missed a blog because frankly I was grossed out and had to go to the doctor. AND I had blood drawn and I have an ultrasound scheduled.

Not pregnant.

I have a genetic propensity to celiac disease and possibly a non-functioning gallbladder. At 32 I'm falling apart. My doctor had no idea what celiac disease was when I asked for the blood test. It was an awesome moment of WTH?. She suggested the gallbladder test, which is a good call.

Who doesn't love over share of medical problems?

Peace and Countdown to Christmas has Begun!

Fast Friday

It's gonna be a busy weekend. I've got to make four hats, a pair of wrist warmers, gloves for James and Jesse and a scarf for James. It got cold fast and doesn't seem like we are going to warm up again for a four or five more months. So, I'm on a mission this weekend.

I found the cutest crochet glove pattern that calls for slits in the fingers, so you can open up the fingers to zip zippers, button coats and grab kitties by their toes.

The holidays are hard for me. It has always been an effort to be upbeat and positive during the holidays. This year has been slightly better. I'm coming off a year of recovery from a very stressful time in my life. Jon and I are getting our rhythm back for our family. My crafting is going like gang busters. Home life is good and peaceful. Ultimately my goal is peace. As a mom, I want my children to have peaceful eyes. To live a childhood relatively naive to the awfulness of "real life".

So, this weekend, J&J will be doing an ornament craft I picked up at Joann's for a $1, messing up my house and just generally creating mayhem while I get my crafting in between laundry, cleaning and mopping. It's gonna be a good peaceful weekend.

Oh, and just an FYI for those keeping track...Jon got the Christmas tree down in April last year. The Halloween Castle just left the front yard today. I refuse to let him put up the tree until next weekend. I need a week of peace from the "holidays".

What are you doing this weekend?

Peace and Love!

My Dad

Isn't my dad a handsome guy?

He's a funny guy too.

His anniversary is coming up. 28 years married to my step-mother. I don't think I even have a picture to show you of her. She has never let me take her picture.

Anyway, Dad asked me what I got Jon for our anniversary. He was trying to get ideas because he is a good man like that. Jon and I don't have this pressure. We do things like text each other "Happy Anniversary!" or write a Dear Jon, blog post about it...

Even though it was my dad, I had to tell the truth. I probably should have lied. Not sure how comfortable we both are having this knowledge now...

I told my dad exactly what Jon and I "get" each other for our anniversary. My exact words, "I gave him a kiss and a tickle, Dad." I hope my dad thinks we only do it once a year and when making babies, otherwise...Oh, the thought isn't worth it. *wail!*

The reason I tell you about this today is because I am putting together a care package for my brother who enlisted in the Army. One of the items suggested is underwear. I'm thinking that I don't want to know whether my brother is a boxer, brief, or commando guy. My Dad already knows too much about me and my privates. Not sure if I want to extend the hand of family over share just to send him underwear.

Do you know this kind of personal info about your siblings? Or are you so emotionally scarred and have repressed all memories of TMI moments?

Peace and Pizza for Dinner!!!

My Favoritest Dye Job

Oh, Sunday night there abouts, I got the urge to dye some yarn. Checked the yarn closet. What you don't have a yarn closet? And found three skeins of bare Lambs Pride Bulky. Pulled out the dye and went to town.

This is a patterning repeat of purple, iris, watermelon, magenta, mocha, and a dark blue whose name escapes me at the moment. I used Prochemical Washfast dyes. Put plastic wrap on the kitchen table, soaked the skeins in synthranpol and citric acid crystals (or vinegar), mix the dye, apply the dye, wrap the skein up in the plastic, pop into pyrex pan covered in foil and cooked in the oven at 350 for 40 minutes.


This skein is my all time favoritest. I love love love how it turned out. I made two twin child sized hats out of it. I'm not sure why. I don't know anybody who has two twin girls ages 3 to 10. I'm weird like that. I just make stuff just cause. I should do better and have a more purposeful plan.


Here is an example of monkey sees, monkey dos. She saw me do this a few weeks ago when I traced some pictures for her to make some lacing cards for her. Ever since, Jesse has used this trick almost every day, to get more mileage out of every coloring page she does.

And another monkey see, monkey do. She is bracing the dust pan between her ankles and sweeping into it. I love her just a wee bit.

Peace and Rock on Wednesday!!!