Knit Me Together

I can't believe I did this

2010-12-14T15:23:00.000-08:00

OK. So I set up this blog with an alternate email address that I don't ever use. Now, I can't access the admin stuff using my gmail address. Would one of you (if you're still out there), add lisaburley7@gmail.com as an admin?

Thanks. Geez. I can't believe the things I do sometimes.

I'm trying this again

2010-12-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

I'm once again going to try to keep knitting regularly and writing here consistently. Wish me luck.

Right now, I'm working on a gold fun fur 15x15 scarf. I'm almost finished with it and will post a picture when it's done.

My daughter Noelle has started knitting some. I hope she'll share some projects here.

Also, I'm on Ravelry now since it's unblocked on campus finally. I'm lisab7. Don't know what I'll do with it, but I am signed up!

Here's hoping I will be a more consistent knitter and writer. :-)

Last Minute Booties

2009-10-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

I tried something a little different to get some substance to the ties... I wove the thread through the top of the booties and then crocheted a chain... made the pom poms and tied to the chain. Hope my friend likes them!

Last Minute Baby Booties

2009-10-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

Nothing like waiting until the night before the shower to complete Baby Booties! I love the lavender!

My first ever baby blanket

2009-05-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Hi all: Here's my new baby niece and her mother, Crystal. This was my first ever baby blanket (which you have seen) but it always takes on more meaning when it's ON the child! HA!

Just for future reference

2009-04-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

I found this and didn't want to lose it. I'm embedding it here so I won't have to look for it again.

Laziness, thy name is Lisa.

Well, how about that?

2009-04-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

Susan, I absolutely love what you're doing! The blanket looks fantastic and I'm very proud of you for learning to purl. It's really not that hard and it opens up whole new worlds to you.

Have you read any of Debbie Macomber's "Good Yarn" books? I've finished the four that are published already and another one is coming out soon. It's inspired me to keep learning and stretching to do more. I even bought the yarn to do a triangular prayer shawl. I'm going to use Lion Brand Homespun in a beautiful, deep purple color called "Gothic." I saw a pattern in one of the Prayer Shawl books that I'm going to use, but I'm trying to find a free one online instead of paying for the book. Is that bad? I hope not.

I'm excited about your new niece. How did they wind up living in Peru?

Ooh, ooh, ooh! I am also now the proud owner of patterns for pink ribbon hats for breast cancer awareness! I'll have to learn how to use a cable needle and actually take stitches off the needle for a bit. The thought scares me to death, but I really want to make the hat.

Thanks so much for sharing the pictures. I love seeing what you're doing. I really, really like that blanket. What kind of yarn did you use?

2009-04-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

This is my first blanket weave baby hat that I completed to match the baby blanket for my little baby niece to be born in the next week or two.... The model is my sister and my baby doll. She is about 60 years old. She named her Betty, I named her Connie... so she has become Connie Betty! The dress she is wearing is mine! ;-) Now who said she couldn't pull it off as a model at her age! LOL!

2009-04-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

This is the Blanket weave baby hat to match the blanket I just made for my soon to be born great baby niece. Connie Betty is a little bigger than the hat is intended but she makes a great model! LOL!

First Baby Blanket More

2009-04-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

My little new baby great niece is set to be born next week in Peru. Her name will be Karis. I was excited about how it turned out! It really turned out well despite my hesitancy to learn to PURL! LOL!

My first Baby Blanket

2009-04-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

So here's what I've been up to

2009-03-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

First the hat:

Here's a close-up of the yarn and stitch pattern. It's a basic stockinette, but I learned the hard way that with circular needles, that's a constant knit stitch. Yep, I did one round of knit followed by a round of purl and then realized that it did not look like it was supposed to so I had to rip it out and start over.

I loved this yarn. It is so, so soft! I have another ball of it so I'm considering doing a matching scarf. I liked the pattern so much that I've started another one. Here's hat number two in process, posing next to her brother who has already been born. Ha!

And -- of course -- a close up of the work in progress. Once upon a time I swore I would never do anything with stitches this small, but they look so sweet and pretty and this works up so quickly that it's hard to resist it.

Here are the other things on my needles. I found some amazingly soft yarn on sale at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 a skein and bought several. Here's a close up.

And here's the work in progress:

And last but not least, here's my current out-of-my-own-mind creation. I found some cotton yarn in spring colors and I'm knitting a big, round piece. I'm going to line it, seam up the bottom, and add straps to make a tote bag. I hope it turns out well. I usually do OK with homespun ideas, but this one is making me a little nervous.

So that's what's on my needles! Think I have an overcommitment problem?

This makes me laugh

2009-03-13T06:52:00.000-07:00

You should all go look at it.

http://www.masondixonknitting.com/

Susan has shamed me!

2009-03-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

I've been trying very had to live my "real life" -- you know that one that's actually in front of me every day instead of the one that comes to me via the web. :-) That means that my poor little blogs have been neglected. It's not just this one either. Trust me. Go check out my other one and you'll have proof.

However, knitting-wise I have been quite the over-achiever lately. I had a crazy impulse last fall and signed up to teach a beginner's knitting class at our university. Just four weeks that would cover the basics, but give people enough to get a good start with beginner's projects. Well, imagine my surprise when six people actually signed up! It was great and I'll definitely do it again in the fall. For our last class meeting, we took a "field trip" to Hobby Lobby about 45 minutes away and followed it with a trip to Chili's for supper. Women really know how to make anything fun, don't we?

Anyway, in addition to spreading the knitting love, I've also tackled my first hat! I don't have a camera handy but will post a picture of it on my sweet Emily's head soon. I felt kind of accomplished, especially when a 14-year-old clothing-and-wardrobe-aware girl actually WANTED it because she thought it looked cool.

Right now I'm working on a baby blanket (AWESOME YARN!) and a cotton knit-in-the-round tote bag. Can I say how much I LOVE knitting in the round? This is so fantastic! Addictive! Amazing!

So look for pictures soon and let the knitting continue!!

My FIRST Baby Booties

2009-03-08T06:43:00.000-07:00

I am reborn as a knitter! ;-) No more just knitting..... NOW I can make GARMENTS! LOL! Not just things that are square and rectangular! I credit this to the fact that a bunch of us knitters have been getting together at work once a week. The expert knitters there have been teaching me things which has helped tremendously! These booties are for my new baby niece that is set to be born in just a couple of weeks. They don't like pink but I HAD to put a little pink in the pompons just for her! ;-p

My FIRST Hat

2009-03-05T19:39:00.001-08:00

This is my first NON-scarf/NON-prayer shawl project... a project that isn't square or rectangle... I'm pumped. I'm working on Baby Booties, hat and blankie... I'll post pics when they are all done! YAY me! ;-)

Bits and Pieces

2008-11-29T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of some recent goings on in my knitting world.

Here's a scarf that I finished. It was my standby 15x15 scarf with boucle yarn.

After I finished that I decided to try a patterned scarf so I'm doing two scarves with a ribbed pattern. They're both just knit 3, purl 3 with a total of 21 stitches on a row. I'm using size ten needles with worst weight on one and size 8 needles with cotton worsted on the other. Here's the cotton yarn.

I really like working with it, which is good since I bought such a HUGE thing. I originally envisioned myself making dishcloths for people, but I actually think I'll use it to tackle my first ever blanket.

The day after Thanksgiving I went to Hobby Lobby and bought two sets of circular needles and some great neutral tones of yarn so I could make some scarves for my boys. Here's the beginnings of a scarf for my son. I decided to use the circular needles so I could get some practice. I'm not using a pattern -- just knitting every row and I'll stop when it's a good size.

I've finally done this enough to know that I really enjoy it and I don't feel bad about building up a stash of yarns and patterns. I can always find a few minutes a day, and I've gotten enough practice that a few minutes can actually yield a good amount of progress. Knitting is cool!

Bah -- my computer is being weird and won't upload the pictures. I'll try again with them tomorrow. :-)

Finally!

2008-11-25T15:09:00.000-08:00

Yep, I'm finally at it again! This is my Thanksgiving Break and I vowed to finish up a couple of projects and get going with the whole knitting thing again. I finished the red and black scarf for my daughter and put together a lime green one for myself. I also decided to do some scarves for the boys so I bought a HUGE thing of variegated blue cotton yarn and will get those started soon. I found a skein of really cool blues and greens that I had and am working on a ribbed scarf out of that. I'll probably give it to a niece for Christmas . . . or maybe a friend. Who knows?

It's funny how I set this aside when life gets busy. It really doesn't take a lot of effort to pick up a bag with needles and yarn and take it along when you go somewhere. I finally did buy a "to go" bag so I can carry smaller projects along with me.

I'll put some pictures up soon. I can't find my camera (don't ask) so I'll have to use my daughter's. But I'll post pictures of my new bag, some finished projects, and the ribbed scarf in the making. I think I may challenge myself to a larger project too. Maybe an afghan? That would require the purchase of some new needles, but I'm always up for that!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'll see you soon! With pictures!!!

Someone HELP me!

2008-11-18T16:33:00.000-08:00

So... I think I have a real problem! I at least recognize it and wanted to share this with all of you. These pictures are not staged and that's why I think that I truly have a problem... Why I need all the yarn on the bed (who am I kidding... this isn't all my yarn)... I don't know... but I figured you all might could relate! LOL! Check these out: NOTE: What I think I'm going to do with the laptop while I knit, I DO not know! LOL! ENJOY!

2008-11-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

Here are my latest.. these are contributions to our church bazaar for this weekend... I'm not very generous! I want to keep everything I knit!

2008-11-18T16:29:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite one and I really hate parting with it. I hope it finds a good home! LOL!

2008-11-18T16:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a close up... this was made of hot pink, red and burgandy variegated cheap "Red Heart" yarn coupled with a nice same sort of color ribbon yarn that I got for a steal from one of our church members who was going to sell it in our bazaar.

2008-11-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

This is one of the scarves I knitted for our church bazaar (sp?) this weekend... it's pink and white cotton variegated! I thought it turned out ok for a "run of the mill" scarf!

My poor, neglected blog

2008-06-27T11:36:00.001-07:00

I guess that's the way life is, isn't it? I was so excited about this blog when we started and then life kicked in and I've been so busy I haven't picked up a pair of needles in months.

The good news? I'm finished with my master's degree in August, provided I pass comps in a couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to reclaiming the ten or hours a week that grad school has taken.

And even though I haven't had time to knit, God has been knitting away on me! There have been times in the last few months that I think he was unraveling some mistakes I made along the way, but -- as always -- the pieces are being knit back together and I'm sure the end result will be beautiful.

So I hope to post here more often and I hope that the rest of you do can also find time to add a few lines about what you're learning here and there. And remember that you can also find me at http://burleyblog.blogspot.com And from there you can also link to a bunch of blogs created by some really neat people!

Keep knitting!!

New Circular Knitting Kit

2008-02-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

Here is my new circular knitting kit from my December birthday that I love to show off with all the pretty colors. My goal for this year is to stopping showing it and start using it!

What do you think I should make?

My Magic Bag of Tricks

2008-02-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

Here is the long-abandoned dishcloth. I was right proud of myself because it actually had a PATTERN to it. Woo-hoo! I don't know if you can see it, but there's a raised pattern in the middle of it. I have finished it, by the way.

And here are the contents of my knitting bag, once I cleaned it out. I found four skeins of baby soft yarn. I sent them to my niece Amy Jo who is also learning to knit.

Look at all these needles! I love needles in all sizes and colors. I LOVE the super big green ones I used for my uber-long purple scarf. One of my student workers saw them and borrowed them to make her own. Hooray for knitting evangelism!

Being a librarian, I -- of course -- have lots of books about knitting. I've even purchased another one since cleaning out the bag. Oh, and I think I'd already sent one or two to my niece when I took this picture.

So now I have no excuses. I have needles, I have how-to books with every project imaginable, and I have yarn. I didn't include a picture of it because it's kind of embarrassing. No excuses now, right? Hmm, Susan? Do you think I could knit, be in class, watch LOST, and Google talk all at the same time? It's definitely worth a try.

One completed, one begun

2008-02-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

It amazing how much your time gets away from you once work and school pick back up. It's hard to believe we're about to start our fourth week of classes. I've been plugging away on some knitting projects but not making as much progress as I'd like.

I finished the orange scarf and have made progress on the red and black. I also found a long-abandoned dishcloth when I took inventory of my knitting bag so I finished that too.

I thought I had pictures but they're not on my computer! ARGH! They must still be on my camera, so I'll add them later. I feel like I'm finally making some progress and actually becoming a knitter and not just someone who is struggling through the learning process.

Oh -- I took pictures of all the stuff I had down in my bag. I'll have to show you how much stuff I had crammed in there. I sent some of it to my niece and I hope she can join in and post us pictures of what she's working on.

Keep your eyes open! Pictures will be here soon.

Football Mania Scarf

2008-01-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

The Scarf pictured to the left is my latest completed project. This scarf is for my friend Nancy. Nancy was the one who taught me how to knit. Nancy is not only a knitter but also is a big fan of our Appalachian State Mountaineers Football team and attends almost all of the games. As a "Thank You" present for teaching me this new obsession, I decided to knit Nancy a ASU themed scarf for her to wear to our chilly ASU home games this next fall. Our colors are black and gold (obviously). Here is a close up of the weave. This is plain knit stitch (21 casted on) and using one thread each from a black skein and a gold skein.

I love to make fringe but never found a good way to make it. With help from my smallest "Knifty Knitter" loom, I was able to make the fringe the right size. To trim, I hung the scarf up over my shower rod and trimmed off the excess. I thought the alternating colors turned out well.

This project was done with just regular Sweet Heart yarn.... one black and one gold. The project only took probably half of the skeins. What you see to the left are the remnants of the skeins. I put the two colors together and cast them on together using the two strands like one. I used Size 11 Bamboo Needles. If you haven't switched over to bamboo needles... pay the extra and get them. They are like butter. You can get them at Michaels, JoAnn's or AC Moore.

I may be getting the hang of it....

2008-01-14T14:38:00.000-08:00

So I decided yesterday to try again to get my scarf going, and I think I have finally go the hang of it. At least the purl stitch anyway. My scarf is about double that size now, and I am so excited to see it starting to resemble a scarf. I am actually knitting! YAH!

Maury

Some of my projects....

2008-01-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Lisa asked me to add some of my projects to the site... my digital camera isn't that good but this is just a few of the projects I've been working on.

I've been knitting for about 13 months now. I've been wanting to learn to knit for a long time. I first started with the "Knifty Knitter," a set of looms that allows you to knit without ANY skill! ;-) Here was my first project. This scarf was done in Black and White Eyelash yarn.
Last November, my friend Nancy taught me how to knit... and I mean KNIT (I'm still scared to Purl). I don't have pictures of all of my projects but here's my first finished knitted scarf. It's Homespun (my fav too) and in one of my favorite colors, PURPLE.... I especially like the fringe on the end! ;-)

Here's one of my favorite boucle scarves in my OTHER favorite color... Red. This is especially nice since it's Red and Black variagated! I thought it turned out well.

Our church has begun a prayer shawl ministry. We have given away 8 shawls and this has really been a blessing to me. The product isn't perfect but it is filled with love and prayers. After making them, our church prays over them and it is given to someone that has expereinced illness, loss, etc. This is the latest prayer shawl I have made for a dear friend of mine having surgery this week.
I've gone a little nuts now... I have been making scarves and prayer shawls right and left! I NOW have two HUGE Rubbermaid totes FULL of yarn. I need help!

New Year, New Projects

2008-01-01T13:38:00.001-08:00

I finished the tangerine scarf! Hooray! Just in time to start a new project for the new year. I have some red and black self-striping yarn I started with a while back, but I wound up ripping it apart in order to use a larger needle size. The other scarves I've done have either been garter stitch (all knitting) or stockinette stitch (a row of knitting followed by a row of purling). This time I'm using a double rib stitch, meaning every row will be k2, p2. Another difference will be needle size. My quick-to-make scarf is on a size 15 needle. This one will be a 10 1/2. The yarn is textured, but it's not as bulky as the boucle' yarn I've used before, so I have no idea how long to expect this one to take, but it'll be fun to see how it comes together.

Oh! And here's a picture of my uber-long scarf that I made last year. Becca likes it so much she wants me to make one for her. She's going to go pick out her yarn and this will give me a quick project to work on when I need a break from the smaller needles and slower progress of the red and black scarf.

I used Homespun yarn and size 19 needles! They're HUGE and make these humongous stitches! It's a real loosey-goosey finished product.

There are two different yarns: the solid purple and the variegated beige, cream, lavender. They look really cool together. (The rows are straight, just not in this picture, LOL.) On cold days, I love being able to wrap it up over my head and around my neck and still have it hang down low underneath my coat.

When I started knitting there were a few days I wanted to just put it up and never do it again because I just couldn't get it. Remembering that frustration makes it all the more satisfying to say, "Yes, I made it!" when I wear this scarf. Hang in there!

Knitting and Maury

2007-12-31T15:37:00.000-08:00

Last week, with some of my Christmas money, I purchased my first knitting needles and a book to learn to knit in one day. I did....but that is about as far as I have gotten. I know that I am making my loops too tight, and I just can't seem to do it any differently. I started over several times, but just keep having it too tight. Which I can see, really slows down the process.

I want to learn how to knit b/c it is a challenge to me. My grandmother and mom can both crochet, but cannot knit. So it does challenge me to see if I can be the first in my family to learn to knit. My mother tried to teach me to crochet a few times, but she and I are both ambedextrious, only we are exact opposite with what we do with each hand, so we cannot get our brains or hands in sync with each other. When I was working at the nursing home, I was fascinated watching the ladies crochet, and at the time I was interested in cross stitching. I had several ladies tell me that they used to cross stitch, but weren't able to see or use their hands to do that, so they picked up crocheting. I have to always have something to do when I am sitting down, so I decided I had better teach myself how to crochet. So, I got a book and after a few tries figured it out. I have made a couple of afghans and many doilies over the years and have really enjoyed it.

So, now I have moved on to knitting. I see that it is a real challenge to coordinate both my hands to do different things at the same time. I was literally sore the next morning in my arms, neck, and shoulders after being so tense in learning to knit.....and I am sure that is why my stitches were so tight. I would love some advice/suggestions on how to keep it looser.

This is what I have gotten so far. a knit stitch and a purl stitch....I THINK!?!?

I bought this yarn on sale for $1 at Michael's and I LOVE it, but got frustrated trying to knit with it, and have now moved on to crocheting with it, and am just about to get frustrated with that as well!
I found both of these on sale at Hobby Lobby....the pink one (was $1) is for Rachel, and the purple ($2) is for Leah, I am wanting to knit them scarves.....I started with the purple but am really having troubles b/c it the thread keeps trying to seperate.

Knitting and Lisa

2007-12-30T16:32:00.000-08:00

I grew up seeing my mom knit. She made hats, scarves, gloves, afghans, and just about anything else you can think of. Most evenings we could hear her knitting needles clinking together as she worked on one project or another. One year during the 70's she made these ponchos for my sister and me. My girls wore them to school for Spirit Week a couple of years ago.

I'm sure my mom tried to teach me to knit when I was young but I'm sure I was far too impatient to learn. As a result, I had to teach myself a few years ago. At first it drove me absolutely nuts. I did a whole swatch and realized that I was doing what's known as "twisted stitches," even though I thought I was doing it right! My stitches were WAY too tight, I couldn't get more than about ten rows done without dropping a stitch and I really wanted to quit.

I hate to admit that the reason I kept going was because I was determined *not* to let my mom be better at this than I was. How lame is that? Lesson number 1: Mother/daughter rivalry is not good motivation! Although she hadn't knitted in years, I could still remember watching her and could see how the needles and yarn looked as she moved through the process. I tried to mimic that and everything got easier.

After finally getting the stitches down, I decided to tackle a project and I did a couple of dishcloths. I don't have any pictures of them. After that, I moved on to scarves. One year I did two -- one for my daughter Emily and one for my niece Kayley. I didn't really use a pattern, just used Lion Brand Boucle yarn and cast on 15 stitches on size 15 needles. It came together very quickly and that's now my favorite scarf to make. The colors in the yarn tend to be bright and vivid so they're good for kid and teen projects. I've used the Popsicle color twice and am currently working on one in tangerine for Noelle.

I also like to use Lion Brand Homespun for the same reason -- it's bulky and works up quickly. These colors tend to be more muted so they're good to use for adults. I made an uber-long scarf from two strands of homespun. I'll post pictures of it later.