- Semi-sappy intro...
- Finished...
-
2001
- Spring 2001: Lucy block for LABMED quilt II
- Spring 2001: "Around the World Quilt in a Day"
- Later 2001: Mimi's crocheted blanket
- December 2001 - December 2002: MIDIMaze aprons
- Late 2001/early 2002: Miranda's nightgown
- Fall 2001: dalmatian latch-hook pillow for friend Benjamin for the holidays
2002
- Spring 2002: Lucy memorial Friendship Star blocks for LABMED quilt III
- June 2002: birthday pillow for cousin Rachel
- July 2002: "Clifford" sleeping bag for friend Julia's birthday
- Summer 2002: Fourth of July quilt becomes 9/11 gift for firemen
- Spring/summer 2002: leotard for Tanya doll
- Fall 2002: silly crocheted hat for Charlotte
- Fall 2002: nice crocheted beret for Miranda
2003
- January 2003: a "French flag" pillow with an embroidered "M" for Miranda
- started fall 2002/finished early February 2003: turned fancy corduroy baby bonnet into fancy doll dress
- July 2003: another birthday pillow for Rachel
- July 2003: "Clifford" tiny doll sleeping bag plus heart-shaped piggy bank for friend Julia's birthday
- July 2003: Lucy memorial log cabin block for LABMED quilt IV
2004
- July-August 2004: "Around the World" doll quilt for Mimi to match Miranda's big one
- September-early October 2004: "Rubber Ducky" lap quilt for Charlotte
- Summer 2004-ongoing: assorted crocheted items - doll hats and scarves, mostly
- Fall 2004: 1st crocheted granny square ever
- Fall 2004: knitted hat for my dad
2005
- March 2005: knitted poncho for Miranda
- finished spring 2005: crocheted hat for baby sister of a gymnastics friend - I neglected to take a photo and she hasn't given me one yet :-<
- August 2005: quick baby quilt for friend Amy's shower
- Just before Thanksgiving 2005: finished variegated green-white-blue crocheted hat (started a year ago!) -- possibly for me
- Just after Thanksgiving 2005: finished all-white baby-sized crocheted hat (started a year ago!) -- now, who to give this to? Save to sell someday?
- Thanksgiving week 2005: started *and finished* peach-and-white knitted scarf for C (not from the special yarn yet)
- Now, and for a long time, in progress...
- Future plans...
- a "French flag" doll quilt to match Miranda's pillow, from the scraps left from the firemen's quilt
- a Lucy pillow along the lines of the first Lucy block
- some things for Charlotte
- many more ideas...
- Online quilting & other craft reference materials; amazing custom-made items
- Quilting & other craft books, etc. available via Amazon.com (or other channels)
Page last updated 08/28/05
long-awaited knitted poncho for Miranda with crocheted trim
along the way: crocheted bun-cover & granny square; knitted hat
In fall 2004, after many years of talking about it, I finally got around to taking an intro-to-knitting class at our local Michael's store. The knitting and crocheting classes there were/are taught by Vreni Weber. She's amazingly fast at both knitting and crocheting, and can explain either very plainly.
The basics were pretty easy to pick up because I was used to holding a crochet hook. Our class consisted of me, another mom from Miranda's KG class, and a third woman who also had a daughter in kindergarten. For the class project, we decided to each do a super-simple, two-rectangle poncho for our respective 5-year-olds. The other women chose big chunky yarns. I did too - but mine had a thin thread woven through it. This kept catching on my needles to horrible result, as the teacher had forewarned me.
After a few aborted attempts with the chunky yarn, I switched to a very pretty turquoise cotton yarn Mom had found several skeins of for me a while back. Pretty, yes. Thin, yes. Unlike the chunky yarn it could take a pretty pattern (alternating rows of kkpp and ppkk), yes.
Closeup of the kkpp/ppkk pattern (near the bottom of the poncho):
Didn't comprehend until well along exactly how much longer it was going to take me because of how many extra stitches were involved. I worked on the poncho rectangles just about any time I wasn't in class. Slooow going.
Took the same instructor's crocheting class for a change of pace. Somewhere around this time, I made a French blue buncover for Miranda to wear to her ballet classes (she'd been asking for a while). In the class, I made my first-ever granny square, white with the leftover French blue yarn, and gave it to Mom for her newly-repainted French blue powder room. Still a long way to go on the poncho. 1st rectangle wasn't too bad, but just starting the second identical rectangle was torture!
All three of us took the knitting class a second time around... The other two finished theirs, but I was still nowhere near done with my poncho. Took time out to make a hat for my dad for the holidays. Even though we planned it to be much larger than the basic pattern, it still came out a bit small for his (big!) head.
Here's the photo I took of Pop in his hat, "holding" Mom's granny square...
Still not done with the poncho after the holidays... Or during the winter... With the instructor's help, whip-stitched the rectangles together in just the right places to get the basic shape. Still needed trim at the bottom and around the neck. Thought on this for a long time...
February/March 2005: Did three very simple rows of crochet around the bottom with the silly yarn Miranda had chosen months before. Decided to do a rolled crochet for the neckline so that any wear wouldn't be likely to impact the knitting and would be easier to repair. Added a crocheted flower just below the front of the neck, and voila!
Swore up and down that it would be ready for M's 6th birthday, and it just barely was.
Here are some pictures of how it turned out...
At least one of the other two moms in my knitting classes kept going and has done at least two or three, if not several, scarves since the second class. She's so quick now, and she's using really neat yarns! I haven't done more knitting yet. Maybe after I get some mending and quilting out of the way...
