Christmas Joy!

Perhaps Christmas is celebrated at this time to bring some joy to the cold wintertime and brighter light to the shorter days.  My life, my hopes, my deep inner feelings and beliefs are greatly influenced by Christmas, the celebration of the birth of God’s Son.

As a parent or grandparent, is there anything better than seeing the joy on a child’s or grandchild’s face when they open a gift we gave to them? We feel perhaps even more joy than they do. I imagine it is the same with our Heavenly Father when we accept the gifts He offers us: Gifts of unconditional love which show us how to love others, of total forgiveness as we recognize our mistakes and try to live better, of inspiration as we read His words and communicate through prayer; and the greatest gift of all– of life, both here and eternal, as promised through the resurrection of his Son.   I think of my father, who passed away just before Christmas 30 years ago.  He was a very good man, a person of integrity, hardworking and generous. I always loved him. And I will tell him that when I see him again.  One gift of Christmas is knowing there is life beyond this mortal time on earth, and that provides great joy to me.  We celebrate Christmas, the birth and life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who is the source of love and light and joy. 

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Some of my loved ones live far away, and I particularly like to make gifts for them.  “Handmade” is a bit of a misnomer as I use my embroidery, knitting and sewing machines to make items.  As I make something for someone, he or she is in my heart and mind…

Here are what I completed today, and they’ve been taken to the Post Office so Santa can deliver them.  For the two smallest grandchildren I made their first Christmas stockings.  I drew up a pattern for sewing the stockings, and then embroidered on them.

I digitized the "ninja face" from a little toy Lincoln has. He has a ninja nursery!

I used Swarovski crystals on the embroidered angel's tiara and also put one on the star. I sewed pearls to the hem of the angel's dress.

I embroidered a message inside both Sophia's and Lincoln's stockings.

I also made Lincoln a "matching" pullover bib from a hand towel.

I embroidered an "Italian Snowman" on a dishtowel for our daughter who has a new home in Italy.

Prayer Shawls

One of the reasons I wanted to get a knitting machine is I wanted to be able to make prayer shawls in a reasonable amount of time.

If you don’t know what a prayer shawl is, it is a shawl you have knit or crocheted using a stitch with a Biblical reference.  For example, a design of three stitches could represent the Holy Trinity–the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

If you know for whom you are making a shawl, you specifically pray for that person as you knit or crochet.  Even if you don’t know who would be the recipient, you pray generally for the one to whom you will be giving the shawl.

When you are finished with your gift, it is nice to include a note explaining the stitch design with a Biblical reference, and add that you prayed for the person getting the shawl as you were making it, and include words of encouragement or comfort.  The person will certainly feel your love and God’s love when they put on the shawl.

You will want to choose a nice, soft yarn for your shawl, and if you know the intended recipient choose a color they like or love.

I knit the pictured shawls for special ladies in our church as Christmas gifts.  The lady seated has been recently widowed for the second time.  Her shawl is in yellow, her favorite color, and is a lace design of 12 stitches–in this case representing the 12 apostles of Jesus.  She told me she wears her shawl every morning as she reads her Bible and does her devotional.

The woman on the right has a husband in the early stages of Alzheimers, and family is several states away.  The yarn was a very lovely tweedy thick and thin yarn, and I made her shawl in stockinette stitch–one simple stitch meaning there is only one true God.  She adores the color blue.

The burgundy shawl is make in a 16 stitch lacy design of three-row tuck.  This signifies John 3:16:  “For God so loved the World that He gave his only Son, and whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life.”  This lady and her husband adopted one child from Alaska with fetal alcohol syndrome and three children from Korea, now grown.  They then were raising a grandson with a lot of problems and issues, and she often felt very stressed.  She wore her shawl over a short-sleeved burgundy dress she had bought to wear to a wedding (I had no idea about the dress or the upcoming occasion).

The light blue shawl is a tuck stitch repeated every seven rows, a traditionally “perfect” number in the Bible.  This woman is widowed and her children do not live close to her.  She loves her home, but does feel lonely at times.  She has told me how much she really loves the color and very much enjoys snuggling up with it in the evening.

The next Christmas I gave each of these ladies beautifully handmade 2-piece shawl pins of wood and bone.

Making prayer shawls is a wonderful thing for me personally.  It is a privilege to pray for someone.

Pearl Harbor

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

A prayer by Pastor Ricky Powell:

O God of our Fathers, We guard in our hearts today the sacred memory of those who gave their lives on that day which will live in infamy. Bless us, O Lord, as we humble ourselves in Thy presence to remember our shipmates and friends who served our country so valiantly.

Let us not disgrace those who still lie in the quiet places through our indifference or forgetfulness. Rather, help us to always remember Pearl Harbor and help us to keep America alert. May we never forget that more than 2,000 of our sons, fathers, brothers, and friends were killed and more than 1,000 citizens of our land were wounded on December 7, 1941. Their sacrifices were not in vain. They defended America’s freedom and demonstrated America’s goodness.

Heavenly Father, we give thanks for the brave men who embodied your love by making this ultimate sacrifice. You have declared “greater love hath no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). May we be willing to follow their example when duty calls.

We also give thanks for those who survived the attack on our country and who went on with their lives in a way that portrayed honor to a watching world. They carried on with life even as they bore deep within them the haunting memories of what they witnessed, heard, and felt. Bless them with continued grace and mercy from your holy hand.

Guide us and direct us in all that we do. Let us live to bring glory and honor to Thee. This we pray in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

I hope everyone will find a moment of silence in their busy day to remember our fallen heroes.

Discovering a Mid-Gauge, Or, Adventures in “La La” Land.

Meet "La La"

I’ve had a Silver Reed LK-200 mid-gauge for a few years.  Yes, you read that right.  It is an LK-200.  I don’t know what the “200″ denotes or what makes it different from an LK-150.   It has 140 needles and the carriage (denoted by “La La”) says something about intarsia.  It looks as if I could extend the bed easily if I found another needlebed.

The well-worn box my Silver Reed LK-200 mid-gauge hides out in.

I purchased it on eBay for a song.  It seemed virtually new, and had all its accessories.  The manual was missing, though, and so I haven’t figured out how to use its intarsia capability.

Yarn misbehaving--very irritating.

One thing I do not like is the yarn slips out of the white plastic eyelet on the tension mast when I knit.  Sometimes it even gets caught under the eyelet.  Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

Two of the three metal cast-on combs

I read on one of the machine knitting groups that Singer/Studio/Silver Reed don’t come with cast on combs.  I don’t know how true that is–because this one does.  It is heavy metal and has three linking parts, so you have 1/3 bed, 2/3 bed, and full bed lengths.

Madly in love with Magicolour

I do love working with Denys Brunton Magicolour yarn on my standard gauge.  Alas, all that is in my stash are vintage cones and oddments found on eBay (some at a handsome price).   I wish I could find a modern yarn like it.

Delving into Entrelac

 I am entranced by Entrelac. This fall I’ve rediscovered my penchant for purple–eggplant to be exact.   I love sweaters–that’s why I bought a knitting machine.  When I saw this sweater on “Knitty” online, I decided to learn how to do Entrelac on the machine.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEdf11/PATTtenneypark.php

Never mind I have only made one machine knit sweater–and that was three years ago.  That was a wrap sweater in pink on a standard gauge I made for my granddaughter who was then 8 years old.  She had picked out a pretty sweater in an old MK magazine that was for a toddler.  Never mind–I would make it for her in her size.  And I did.  It actually turned out well.  And she actually wore it. 

Never mind this particular sweater is handknit.  It can’t be too hard to knit on the machine, can it? … And I’ve been wanting to learn how to Entrelac, anyway.  So, I ordered the beautiful yarn.

Aren’t the long striations of the Mini Mochi in (“Autumn”) lovely?

Mini Mochi in "Autumn"

 

 

 

Louet Gem in "Eggplant"

I watched a video on “You Tube”  of a lady knitting Entrelac on her Bond machine.  I also had directions I’d printed off a website.  I cast on my standard gauge machine and got off to a very rocky start.  So I watched Diana Sullivan’s video on Entrelac and read through her directions.  http://knitnatters.com/dianaknits/#Entrelac  Trying again, I got a little farther along, but the Mini Mochi was not cooperating at all.  When I looked at the completed row of base triangles, it was not a pretty sight.  The Mini Mochi was splitting, shredding and breaking.  So, I tried it on the 9 mm machine.  At least I could see the individual stitches a little better, but Mini Mochi is NOT a yarn for the bulky machine.  Over and over, back and forth between the machines, I was determined to make a swatch of Entrelac.   Finally, something Dianna had said about using a “good yarn” when making Entrelac made me decide to try some Noro Kureyon on the bulky, and SUCCESS!!

   

Finally, success with Noro Kureyon on my Singer 155K bulky machine

 This is when I decided to try the Mini Mochi on a midgauge machine.  And again, success!

This is, of course, the reverse or “non-public side.”

What I’m working on…

When my granddaughter saw me wearing the ruffly scarf I made using Rozetti’s “Flora” yarn in “Poppies,” she wanted one, too, as did her sister. So, I am making two more scarves in “Big Ocean” and “Berry Crush.” Here you can find the free pattern: http://www.nobleknits.com/rozetti-flora-1-skein-scarf-free-knitting-pattern/

I did try knitting these on a 9mm knitting machine.  The one I used was a bulky Corona 9N, since my Singer 155K had other work in progress on it. 

I don’t know that the Corona was the best choice for trying to knit with Flora yarn on a machine.  It was the first time I tried using it and it is markedly different from my other bulky machine.   It is an all metal machine from what I can see, and  I don’t think it needs a sponge bar.  I had to give it a good oiling before the carriage would glide easily.   I purchased this machine used quite reasonably from a noted machine knitting designer (my claim to knitting machine fame?).  It didn’t come with a manual, so I don’t know all the ins and outs just yet.  I tried just putting the edge of the yarn on 7 needles and pushing the carriage across to knit.  It didn’t want to knit smoothly, and I thought it was taking more time than just doing it by hand.

Hello.

As a child, my mother would often ask me, “What are you nattering about now?”  Even then, I had curiosity about and opinions on most everything.

I don’t know that the world needs another blog, but here is my attempt to document my progress in developing expertise in knitting, quilting and embroidering by machines.  Hopefully, I will encourage others as they the learn skills I am learning… and I’ll not natter too much.

Mostly, I am self-taught.  And I manage to make every error possible before it clicks and I am on my way creating. 

I am interested in homekeeping, faith, and family.