MrsDoF's Dear Ones

As promised in a previous post, here is another note to the question about What I did on Summer vacation?

click on the brown and pink hat resting on the Crafts table

there were 8 adult loom-knitted hats, 10 small child loom-knitted hats, 12 infant loom-knitted hats, 6 pair cotton crocheted potholders, and 3 cotton crocheted bookmarks

One fun pattern outcome of three hats

all were worked from the very same skein of holiday colors yarn
the difference being the number of pegs on each knitting loom

the largest hat was purchased by a dad for his daughter
he said something about her being in a program

It may be awhile before I have anything else to show you.
Employment can have a downside, meaning time away from my yarn and my computer,

but I hope and pray for a good new school year for everybody.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

School begins tomorrow, which is a Wednesday, but it is for morning only.

I went to the dentist this morning, and when I got home, the answering machine had a message from the office assistant at West High School saying she would need me to TA Sub, as many hours as I’m willing to work.

I had figured it would be next week before I would get called, before teaching assistants would need time away from their jobs, coming after the long summer.

Ah well, earning a paycheck again will be nice.

I used up my afternoon working on a hat.

knitted on the small adult 59 peg loom
with Red Heart Light-n-Lofty acrylic yarn
the color is pheasant, which I think is rather pleasant

It will be donated to the Meadows Home for the Fall Fundraiser.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

The Ewe Knit store in downtown Normal has to re-locate because the building has been purchased and will be torn down.  The owner doesn’t want to have to transfer all the merchandise, so there is a nice per cent off sale going on.
Anything we buy, she won’t have to box up and move.

I was hanging out there, looking to see what 30% off might bring into my stash.

Meanwhile, Lynn was giving a knitting lesson to a girl about 10 years old.  I don’t know what the mother was paying for her child to have a private lesson, but it looked like both teacher and student were having a fine time.

Although I prefer to crochet with a hook, this knitting with pointed sticks usually captures my attention, and I was a delighted rubber-necker.

To make myself seem proper, I did buy a couple skeins of pretty yarn, and yes, they are still in the bag waiting for a lovely project of the future.

Come on forward a couple weeks, and I was sitting near the Crafts table at the church rummage sale.  I was working a baby hat on the small peg loom while passing time.

A girl came over to admire all the items on the table.  She knew that the knitted dishcloths begin at one corner, get wider, then decrease to make the square.  She looked over at me a bit shyly, and said she remembered that I was at the Ewe Knit shop while she was getting a lesson.

This pleases me no end, that children remember me and are willing to talk with me.  Such trust should never be battered or shunned.

She really had her eye on one of the loom knitted hats.
She asked if she could try it on.
Yes, it fit a bit loosely because it was done on an adult size loom.
I mentioned that by winter, she might have growed a bit, and maybe going through the laundry would tighten the stitches a little.

Her mother and sister came over.
Her mom did not seem pleased to see the choice of hat, and picked up a different one.
After watching them interact awhile, I asked why not that first one.
Well, it doesn’t match her coat.

I had a hard time keeping a straight face.
my brain raced ahead asking What is it with some people who insist about colors?  Haven’t they ever looked at the shades Nature gives us in a field of wildflowers, or the sky at sunset?

I mentioned for myself, that I have a hat I like, a coat I need, a scarf I wear.  They are comfortable on cold winter days, doing the job I expect, but they are all different colors.

As a bit of incentive, I added that it was getting toward the end of the sale, so she could have the chosen hat for half price.  ((Heck, I woulda paid for it myself if I hadn’t already been the lady who made it in the first place.  The girl really liked that hat!))

So, mom relented and said yes, she could buy the hat.

Then sister started in.  She picked up my own favorite color hat of the bunch and asked if she could have that one for half price.

I busted out laughing so hard that several folks around us had to stop and stare.
Golly, I miss my sisters so much.  This is just the kind of situation we got into back in our day.

Yes, I said, you can have that one for half price.
I heard the mother heave a big sigh for realizing she was out-numbered.

Then I called across to the cashier about the payment arrangements.

As they were leaving, the mother was shaking her head, wondering how it had all come to pass.
The girls were wearing their new knitted hats, even though the temp outside was in the 80s.
I hope I see them again sometime this winter.

~~love and Huggs, Diane
oh, I forgot the picture of the chosen hat
here is me as a model the afternoon it got finished

not bad considering it is made from scrap balls of acrylic yarns, with the pink-and-brown ombre in the middle providing a nice swirl effect

The Normal Activity Center Needlework Group accepts donations of yarn and supplies to keep our projects going.
There is a nice shelf area in the storeroom dedicated to types and colors and weights of various yarns, plus a couple drawers with supplies, and a file cabinet with patterns.
Believe me, it is a crafter’s dream to be a part of this!

Somebody (and she knows who she is) donated 28 boxes (yes, that is twenty and eight covered boxes) of completed granny squares to the group.
I believe the original idea was to have folks send her squares, then all she would have to do is sew them together for some charity event.
Then health troubles got her behinder and guiltier, so give them to us she did.

We already do so many projects for donations, this can become another branch.

Last Thursday, I grabbed a big skein of yarn from the box marked WHITES, and brought home a pile of pastel squares which looked like they could become a crib-size baby aphgan.

When Husband got home from work, he found me sitting on the floor getting dizzy from too much color combination tugging at slightly odd sizes trying different arrangements.

It turns out the yarn for the sewing and the border had the name of Soft White, but this thing was already so far along, I just wanted to get it done.

Click on pictures for another view.

It’s a bit crazy to look at, but I know first hand that it is a warm cover.
I was watching the Olympics and had the blankie on my lap to work the edging.
Even with the air conditioner turned down low, I fanned my legs as I turned each corner.

One more chapter in my How I Spent My Summer journal.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

This morning, a real sweet item came my way.

I don’t remember any mention of my favorite color to Riley, but about as soon as I got to church today, she came over to give me a very nice gift.
And Yes, yellow is my favorite color.

Her mom says the child could hardly wait until I got there; in fact had asked if it could have been delivered during the week as soon as she finished making the potholder.

I was just telling someone the other day that I keep very few of my own projects.
By the time the last bit of yarn is fastened off, I am beginning to grow tired of it and move onward to the next.

But a gift potholder, from a girl just learning the weaving, well, This is something I’ll treasure for a long time to come.

Now I’m off to do some hand writing on a nice note card.

~~love and Huggs, Diane