Preemie Hats

Here's a couple of quick pictures of some of the preemie hats I have been working on. I absolutely LOVE doing these! (Just not wild about making the pom-poms.) :)

Still no pictures...

I'll have to hang my head in shame and admit I still haven't taken pictures of the last several projects I've completed. We've been having one of those crazy weeks at home and I just haven't had time to get a whole lot of anything done! Hopefully this weekend I can catch up.

I did get to go to Hobby Lobby this week and get some yarn for a hat and some new knitting needles. I was pretty excited. Hobby Lobby is a good hour away and I only go there about twice a year. My husband was less than thrilled ("there's NOTHING I like to look at here!") but all in all he was a good sport. Always fun to add to the stash!

And side note - working on updating the page with a fall theme. It's not quite there yet...

Dishcloth Wraps

Since I used to be a MAJOR Paint Shop Pro fan I decided to do some messing around with that program tonight. First thing I did was update my header a bit. (Finally ditched the plain text - YAY!) Second, I made a handful of dishcloth wraps. Sample below...

Other than that, I see I have some picture taking to do. I have the Monthly Knit Along September Mid-Month cloth done (first time with cables!) and the October cloth almost finished. I also did a doll dress for my Sunday School baby and a pair of slippers for Hunter. Trick now might be FINDING the slippers. :)

Blog Issues

My last few changes aren't showing up. Wondering if this will.

Edit...changes are finally starting to show up but only after stripping the blog back down to nothing and slowly rebuilding it section by section. Give me a day or two and it will have everything back. I hope. :)

Fall Exchange

Opening day is finally here and MAN what a load of goodies! My partner was Kim and here's what she sent...

I thought the leaves were a very cool touch.

Everything wrapped up all nice and pretty.

And the loot! :)

Candy corn illusion cloth, Halloween notepad, Candy Corn, knitted candy corn, pumpkin key chain (kind of hiding by the knitted candy corn), candy corn candle, Halloween pencil and a BOO pumpkin.

The theme was:

Something orange: Candy corn candle, pumpkin key chain
Something boo: A pumpkin that says Boo on it, Halloween pencil, Halloween notepad
Something yummy: Bag of candy corn
And a Dishcloth too: A candy corn illusion cloth (and a knitted candy corn too!)

Thanks Kim! :) You rock!

Dishrag Tag

I received my box today and MAN was it filled with goodies! Much to my delight, there was a pair of Knit Picks circular needles in there. I have been admiring these needles for quite some time, so this really made my day.

Got my package sent off this afternoon. I've really enjoyed being a part of the Tag. Very fun to meet new people all over the country.

In other news, I haven't been doing as much knitting as I would like due to my broken finger. I had to go to an orthopedist on Monday. Found out the tendons in my finger are all messed up and I have to wear a splint for 6 weeks. Makes knitting rather tedious! Not to say I don't cheat and take it off every once in a while but I'm trying not to do that too much. I would rather have 6 weeks of less knitting than fingers that don't work when I'm older.

And totally non-knitting related...went to see Saving Abel, Shinedown and Buckcherry in Moline on Tuesday night. They were absolutely AMAZING! Saving Abel had a meet and greet after the show and I got their autograph and got to shake their hands. Very nice guys. Shinedown was very dark and goth and it was incredible. And of course Buckcherry rocked beyond all rock. Had a GREAT time!

Finger Update

Well two weeks later and my finger doesn't look a whole lot different than it did the night I broke it. Because of this, I have to go back to the hospital tomorrow and have another x-ray done. Oh joy.

Finished up my Monthly KAL. I have a sister that is a new school teacher, so this cloth will go to her. Took a few pictures of it last night but none turned out particularly well so I will take some more in the morning. I always seem to have better luck with morning light. :)

Update - picture of my MKAL September cloth.

And stitchmarkers made from Tina's tutorial at Love2Knit Dishcloths. My camera was being somewhat of a booger and trying to focus on the background rather than the stitchmarkers. Might mess around with it a bit more tonight.

Long Weekend = Knitting!

Enjoyed a nice long weekend. Wound up going camping Saturday through Monday with the kids. Mind you, we stayed with my parents and my Aunt so this was not camping so much as staying at a home away from home! They both have permanent campers in a beautiful campground in Northeast Iowa.

Did a dishcloth for my sister this weekend and finished up my Exchange cloth for my partner (Kim). Sent the box out Tuesday morning. I think that's the fastest I've ever gotten one out! :)

Went to the doctor last night and they switched splints. My finger still has a funky bend to it and still hurts like mad. Hopefully this will help!

Ouch!

So Monday night my husband and I were playing Monkey in the Middle with Emily (keepaway). In our infinite wisdom, we were using a football rather than a nice, squishy ball. (Toby and I were actually playing catch with the football and Emily jumped in the middle - a pick up game of MITM was born). Anyway, Toby threw a pass to me and it hit the end of my finger just right...Instant pain. I stomped my foot, said a few choice words, then went to see my Mom since no one at my house was giving me any sympathy. (Rather hard to do since they were laughing at me).


Mom and I made a trip to the ER since at this point my finger was rapidly swelling and was bent at a rather interesting angle. Three x-rays and an hour later, the ER doc tells me it's not broken, it's not dislocated, it's merely jammed. I asked him "you sure?" He said "yep." Since he has the fancy medical degree, I didn't question him. Instead I went home clutching my Vicodin and ice pack and went to bed.

The next morning my finger was a lovely shade of purple and it was still quite swollen. I went to work and iced if off and on during the day and kept trying not to bump it since doing so caused near pants-wetting pain. At 4:30 my doctor's office called. With news. "The radiologist read your x-rays and your finger is broken." It took a lot of self-control to not drive to the ER and kick the doc in the knee. Went to my doctor's office and was placed in a beautiful silver splint wrapped with gauze. I get this wonder for two weeks.


Here's a picture of my finger. Day 4. Most of the swelling is gone but I still have a lovely bend to it. In this picture I am attempting to hold my finger straight. Didn't work out so well...

Pop-Up Camper Directions

Cotton Yarn - Solid Color (Peaches & Cream or Sugar 'n Cream or similar)

Size 7 needles or smaller

*I used a size 7 and my finished cloth is 10" x 10".

Cast on 51
Row 1 - knit across
Row 2 - knit across
Row 3 - knit across
Row 4 - knit across
Row 5 - k3, p45, k3
Row 6 - knit across
Row 7 - k3, p45, k3
Row 8 - knit across
Row 9 - k3, p45, k3
Row 10 - knit across
Row 11 - k3, p19, k2, p24, k3
Row 12 - knit across
Row 13 - k3, p18, k1, p2, k1, p13, k1, p9, k3
Row 14 - knit across
Row 15 - k3, p17, k1, p4, k1, p12, k1, p9, k3
Row 16 - knit across
Row 17 - k3, p17, k1, p4, k1, p12, k1, p9, k3
Row 18 - knit across
Row 19 - k3, p18, k1, p2, k1, p13, k1, p9, k3
Row 20 - knit across
Row 21 - k3, p15, k23, p7, k3
Row 22 - knit across
Row 23 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p9, k3
Row 24 - knit across
Row 25 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p9, k3
Row 26 - knit across
Row 27 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p9, k3
Row 28 - knit across
Row 29 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p3, k2, p10, k3
Row 30 - knit across
Row 31 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p15, k3
Row 32 - knit across
Row 33 - k3, p5, k11, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k11, p5, k3
Row 34 - knit across
Row 35 - k3, p5, k1, p16, k1, p4, k1, p11, k1, p5, k3
Row 36 - knit across
Row 37 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k7, p1, k6, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k7, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 38 - knit across
Row 39 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k6, p3, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 40 - knit across
Row 41 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 42 - knit across
Row 43 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 44 - knit across
Row 45 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 46 - knit across
Row 47 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k2, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p4, k2, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 48 - knit across
Row 49 - k3, p5, k1, p3, k2, p2, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p2, k2, p3, k1, p5, k3
Row 50 - knit across
Row 51 - k3, p5, k3, p3, k3, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k3, p3, k3, p5, k3
Row 52 - knit across
Row 53 - k3, p8, k2, p3, k1, p1, k6, p1, k6, p3, k1, p3, k2, p8, k3
Row 54 - knit across
Row 55 - k3, p10, k2, p21, k2, p10, k3
Row 56 - knit across
Row 57 - k3, p12, k2, p17, k2, p12, k3
Row 58 - knit across
Row 59 - k3, p14, k2, p13, k2, p14, k3
Row 60 - knit across
Row 61 - k3, p15, k15, p15, k3
Row 62 - knit across
Row 63 - k3, p45, k3
Row 64 - knit across
Row 65 - k3, p45, k3
Row 66 - knit across
Row 67 - k3, p45, k3
Row 68 - knit across
Row 69 - knit across
Row 70 - knit across
Row 71 - knit across

Bind off. Weave in loose ends.

If you find any errors, please let me know.

©August 2008, Shannon Bachtell, All Rights Reserved

Pattern is designed and copyrighted by me. If you want to make these cloths and sell them, that's fine...just please do not sell my pattern or claim it as your own. Thanks! :)

Elvis KAL

I am trying to catch up with the Mid-Month KAL for the Rachel's Knitting Room group. It was a cast-on of 66 stitches! For some reason I am having a terrible brain freeze on the seed stitch. I think I have it all worked out now though. I talked myself in and out of things last night and finally said to heck with it and went to bed! Funny how you can do something so many times without problems then all of a sudden hit a snag. Sad part is the snag is 95% mental! No more staying up late to watch Olympics while knitting. Overload!

Mailed 3 cloths and a tribble to my best friend today. She told me she loves the cotton dishcloths and I was more than happy to share! She called tonight though and wondered about the tribble. She said she told her husband "it's either a scrubber or a hot pad." :) Been experimenting with knitting tulle along with the yarn but I think my tulle is too fine. Doesn't seem super scratchy anyway.

In other news, the kids are back in school! I have an 8th grader and a 4th grader this year. Funny they are both at the top of their respective groups. The 8th graders (Emily's class) are the head of the Middle School and the 4th graders (Hunter's class) are the big dogs in the Elementary. Hunter had homework already tonight and seemed to think it was a bit unjust. I'm just glad they are back in school! Maybe my house will stay a bit cleaner now. :)

All Caught Up AND My Own Creation!

I finally finally finally got all caught up with my Monthly KAL's! Just in time too because the next one starts tomorrow. :) I thought this one was fun - it was neat how the design was built from the top down. Unfortunately, I saw the finished project before I started mine, so I knew what it was going to be (I HATE that!); otherwise, I'm sure I would have been guessing the entire time!

And here is my very first design! The drawback - this is a BIG cloth! I'm quite proud of it though. I'm working on getting the directions typed up and will post them as soon as I'm done. I can only type up so many lines at a time or I start making mistakes. My family and I love to camp and we have a pop-up. I looked around and couldn't find a cloth so I decided to make one. Aunt Kathy did a wonderful tutorial on designing cloths so a lot of the credit goes to her.

And finally - here's a couple of pictures of the new puppy. The first one is Hunter and Jake. The second one is Cooper and Jake. Cooper continues to adjust to the new puppy and is actually doing much better. He seems to enjoy having someone to play with. :)

Finally!

I FINALLY got around to taking pictures of my cloths. I have one more to go (July) and I'll be all caught up with my KAL's. Between vacation, work, swim meets, and ball games the summer has absolutely FLOWN by!

June

June Mid-Month

July Mid-Month

August

In other news, we have a new addition to our family...a 7 week old black lab we have named Jake. It's much like having a toddler in the house - potty accidents, getting into everything, waking us up at night and so on! We are slowly adjusting. Our 2 year old chocolate lab still doesn't quite know what to think. It's usually a mixture of indifference and disgust with a few affectionate moments thrown in.

So much updating!

Took a peek at my blog this morning and realized it's been a MONTH since I last posted! How crazy is that? I have completed several cloths that I need to take pictures of and have a few other projects going. Been busy with vacation, swim meets, baseball games and work.

Pay It Forward

Here's a chance to receive a gift in the mail. In turn, you are being asked to something nice for someone else.

Here's how it works:

• Leave a comment here with your email address and blog address.
• Make a post on your blog offering your own pay it forward.
• Receive a gift from me within the next 6 months. (after I've confirmed your post)

This is a very simple way to spread some happiness and kindness to others.

Limited to the first 3 replies.

Two more to do...

With MUCH happiness I received two new patterns from Marilyn. She does the most amazing name cloths I have ever seen. And she will personalize if she doesn't have what you are looking for. I was tickled to get my "Toby" and "Hunter" patterns. Now everyone in my family will have their own name cloth. :) (And Hunter was absolutely THRILLED to have something with his name on it!)

If you aren't familiar with Marilyn's work, I urge you to check it out. You won't be disappointed!

Muddy Mud Mud

This post is somewhat of a follow up to yesterday's prayer request. The headline in the paper this morning is that the tornadoes that ripped through here over the weekend were classified as an F-5. I remember watching the movie Twister and someone asked what an F-5 was like and they answered "the finger of God." I think that is a very apt description. I look at picture after picture of the damage and it's completely devastating. There were a total of 7 deaths and 350 homes were lost in the town that was hit the hardest (with another 100 homes receiving "extensive" damage). In the town I work in, 240 of 280 homes received damage of some sort.

Closer to home, went in to work yesterday to discover our warehouse had flooded. From the watermarks on the door it looks like we got between 2 and 3 foot of water inside. A lot of our stuff is palletized but of course pallets only sit 6-8" high. Most of it floated around inside until the water receded then landed. My co-worker and I spent all day yeseterday cleaning. We basically had to open each case of toys, inspect them, remove the damaged cardboard, relabel the foam enclosures, then sort them into clean and dirty piles. Then they got hauled to a storage facility. It was VERY slow going. (Total side note - I am AMAZED at how well those styrofoam enclosures kept out the mud and water!)

Another co-worker, and a good friend, lost everything in her basement...deep freezer, washer, dryer, furnace, water heater, personal items, etc. Even her car in her garage is totaled. And of course, very few people have flood insurance. Ironically, this particular area was just rezoned as a flood zone last week thereby making people even eligible to get flood insurance. (Another side note - THANK the Red Cross. They are an amazing group of people!)

Here's a few pictures of our clean-up efforts at work:

Mud and my co-worker standing in it.

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One corner of the warehouse. This was where we started.

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Storage shelves. You can see the mud caked on the shelving.
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Going towards the back room. The boxes along the side are pedal tractors.
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Pile of trash from inside. Mostly cardboard boxes.

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More of the trash pile.

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And a few more links:

F-5 Status

Photos

Today's Headline Article

Prayer Request

We had some terrible storms go through our area last night. We were very fortunate in that we had no damage, however many people in our area were not so lucky. Our school is closed tomorrow because there are so many families that have storm damage.

Please keep these people in your thoughts and prayers!


Articles relating to the storms:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/05/26/severe.weather/index.html

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080526/NEWS/792288293/1001/NEWS

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080525/NEWS/326681311/0/DEATHNOTICES

Finally Done!

Another KAL done - finally! As I've said, this one was a doozy for me. Funny thing is, once I got the kinks worked out, it was actually a fun, easy cloth to make. It's one I tagged as "favorite" in my pattern book so I will definitely be making it again!



Here's the Ballband cloth I did during our trip to my cousin's graduation. 3.5 hours, one way. Plenty of knitting time! :)

The Truth Revealed

Well I finally saw a picture of what this month's KAL is supposed to look like. I have the basic concept down but apparently I got off a row somewhere at the beginning. My little inside out ridge at the very bottom would be incorrect. I started a new cloth last night and hope to have it completed tonight. This was a VERY interesting KAL! I learned a new technique - reverse yarn over - and I also learned how many different ways directions can be interpreted. :)

ARGH!

This month's Knit Along is absolutely kicking my rear! First time around, I was doing the yarn overs wrong so the pattern didn't look at ALL like it was supposed too. Now that I have THAT figured out, I seem to have a continuing problem with purling through the back loops. Seems like about every fourth row or so, I miss one and I wind up with one goofy stitch in the middle of the row. I think this is rapidly turning into my most frogged project ever!

Mistake in the top row.

Results from the wrong yarn over.

Correct way (I think!) front side.

Correct way (I think!) back side.

Gardening!

I finally got some pictures of my flower gardens uploaded. We've had a LOT of rain and then finally got some sun. Everything is really starting to "pop". Of course I can now really see how much we need to paint the foundation of the house. Oh well! Maybe the daylilies will grow tall enough to hide it! :)

We are slowly in the process of creating all perennial beds with just some accent baskets of annuals here and there. We started our flower beds over 10 years ago at our old house and transplanted everything when we moved. Each year we split off a few more things and move plants around as our tastes change. New this year is the "Bachtell Bed" (complete with a name sign my parents got me for my birthday last year!) Slowly but surely we are getting it just like we like it!

Front Bed - Week 1

Front Bed - Week 2

What a difference some rain and sunshine make!

Bachtell Bed - Week 1

Bachtell Bed - Week 2

Side Bed - Week 1

Side Bed - Week 2

Close up of my Bleeding Heart

Mini Roses in an old bucket.

Close up of one of the hostas and sedum in the front bed.

Petunia bed. I always plant petunias because they remind me of my Grandma.

Another Placemat

Finished the mainly green placemat this morning and I have to say I am LOVING how these look! Makes me anxious to get the other two done. :)

Completely Caught Up!

I FINALLY am completely caught up on the Monthly Knit Dishcloth knit alongs! With the time I had to knit over the weekend and a few nights this week with nothing going on, I finally got all of my back knitting done. What an awesome feeling! :)

I am going to try to take another picture tomorrow morning. Orange does NOT photograph well. Related to that - my light box bit the dust over the weekend. Full house, two kids, big dog, rammy husband and precious little storage space meant the light box went on top of the piano. Unfortunately, there were also some books on top of the piano that went through the side of the light box. I was a little bummed but not terribly so. I wasn't haven't great luck taking pictures with it, just good luck. Maybe I'll try again another day. :)

Here's a slightly less orange'y orange. I think it shows the detail MUCH better than the other picture. Plus you don't need sunglasses to look at it!

Playing Catch-Up

Had some lovely time to knit this weekend - finally! Emily helped pick up the house Saturday so I had most of the afternoon and evening free to just play around. I decided to try to catch up on the KAL's that started before I joined the Monthly Dishcloth Group. I am trying to complete the challenge (making all 24 cloths for the year) and had two to finish. I completed the Diamonds on Lace cloth this morning. It's a very pretty cloth with a cool pattern.






Funny thing is, I joined the group the first part of February and I remember looking back at that cloth and the directions and thinking "I'll NEVER be able to make that!!!" I'm thrilled with how many new things I have learned in the last few months. I'm forever grateful to the members and owners of the various groups I belong to. :)

Mother's Day 2008 - Hunter and I went yesterday and bought some flowers for the front porch. That was my present. The kids and I went to Sunday School and church this morning and Toby made us brunch (Belgian waffles - yum!) Played a round of Garbage with Hunter and have been reading and knitting. No complaints here!

Ribbit, Ribbit

I have had the worst luck with my knitting lately! Seems I have been frogging more than I have been completing. I started a Dragonfly cloth a few nights ago and somewhere I got off a line. It took me several lines to realize my image was now reveresed (the "ins" were "outs" and vice versa). I was so frustrated I wound up frogging the whole thing and putting the yarn away!

Maybe I'll just stick to Tribbles for a few days...

Another KAL Done!

Just finished the May KAL for the Monthly KAL group. I thought this was a very pretty cloth! (And just a few days after my wedding anniversary).

Also did another slip stich cloth - this time in Hawkeye/Starmont colors. Was a fun cloth to do but I might try adding a border of some sort next time. Either that or it's finally time to learn to crochet borders. :)

Round and Round

I finished my very first circular cloth last night thanks to a pattern from The Dishcloth Boutique. (I used the Cotton Dishcloth pattern) Once I got the hang of this, it was a very fun cloth to make and pretty quick too! This was also the first cloth I did that involved turning. It's so much fun to learn new stuff! I have to admit though, I frogged this cloth three times because I didn't think it looked quite right. Each time though it looked the same so I finally decided that must be the pattern...It was.

Happy knitting everyone!