Knitting Facts, If You're Interested!

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Here it is August--the real 'dog' days of summer!

Here is aside: The Dog Days of summer are the hot, sultry

days of summer, were historically the period following the

heliacal rising of the stay system Sirius--the Greek

and Roman astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden

thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs and bad luck.

What else do you do in the hot summer--knit, of course!

It's time to knit up those socks, mittens, scarves, hats--:}

You might be interested in some knitting facts--

Knitting is centuries old--usually knitting fabrics dissolve over time it can be hard to actually date knitting.  It seems to have been brought by the Crusaders from the Middle East.  The term "knitting" is mentioned in the 14th century for the first time. 

A Former Type of knitting was done with only one needle.  a cross between knitting and crocheting was being practiced by Ancient Egyptians.

In 16th Century in France, knitting was practiced only by males!

The first knitting machine was invented in 1589 by Williams Lee, under the rule of Queen

Elizabeth I.  

During WWI women had the national duty to knit socks, scarves and caps for

fighting soldiers across the battlefields--some sent to their family members,

while others knitting for every soldier in the land.

Knitting can reduce heart rate, blood pressure and it relaxes the body to fight

illness better!

In the beginning, silk and cotton yarns were used most often

In 1611 Johann Siebmacher published the first documentation of 126 knitting patterns

The first knitting needles of record were made from ivory, tortoise shell or bones

Excuse me-- I'm off to relax my soul......................

Summer Stitchery

During these hot steamy summer days, why not stay inside

and stitch away?  This Scrappy vintage kitchen stitchery

by Elefantz is perfect!

The first two blocks have been posted--you

can download the free patterns till NOvember 15--

plenty of time to gather your supplies and 

stitch away

This is the first block--super cute for the kitchen!

Block #2--always did enjoy her pattern style--

She is using her stash to make a quilt--love it!

Happy stitching!

That's All Folks..................................

It's a Wrap!  Another spinning adventure is in the books!

I enjoyed watching the Tour de France when I had a chance--

I learned several things about this race--

it's all about team work! Endurance! Conquering your fears!

Accepting challenges!  

This is nothing new to us--as spinners--we will take

on any challenge we can; tackle the unknown;

not buckle under pressure--never give up (although, there have

been a few fibers I wanted to throw in the waste bin!)

What fiber did you tackle and overcome?  What challenges

did you undertake?

My wheel and hands did its best to make a fine yarn from

cashmere roving

It spun a beautiful BFL/silk blend

Together, the wheel and I, finished up 4 oz. of cotton/silk

We spent two days spinning silk

The last days of TDF we spun another BFL/tussah silk blend.

The exciting part of the tour is seeing everyone's accomplishments--

we worked like a team! to make this Tour de Fleece a success!

Finished!

Done!  Finished! Complete!

All of the above!  Another one in the books--this was the jelly roll

quilt--I really wanted to make it a broken chain--but just didn't

do it--was worried the recipient would think I'm crazy--went

with the straight set--goes on the stack of tops waiting to be quilted

This has been in line to be made--pillowcase--

girls need something soft and pink--I used the

Jenny's version from youtube

Quick and easy to make--

This one for boys--the fabric contained most of the sports that

boys like

Both of these cases will go to boys/girls club group--

Good gifts to give for their own personal use.

#SSSSQ

Kevin the Quilter is doing this Simply Sensational

Summer Scrap Quilt

A two color featuring a high contrast fabric with a

low neutral--you can find clue one here

The clues come out ont on the fourth Thursday of the month--

Search your stash!  This should be a fun way to

delete that pile.

4 patches in color 1

184 to be exact

Using 2.5" (but you can do the size you want)

will yield 4.5" 4 patch unit

A Glutton for Punishment!

Yes, I'm certainly one of those people who think they can knit lots of things at the same time--no matter there are several UFO's in my knitting bags--BUT--along comes two mystery knit alongs--and I'm hooked!

The first one is FLG mystery--from Elizabeth Ravenwood--The knit version is Royal Skillmistress Gauntlets--you can find on Ravelry, of course--look under Fingerless Mitts to get started.

For the crocheter--you have Tea Party Make along--Wish I 

liked to crochet--bet I don't!

I had these two rather plain yarns in my stash--I promised

myself I wouldn't buy any more yarn--I can always

dye them after completed.

The other mystery is a sock mystery!

I haven't done socks for awhile--here I come!

This yarn will work nicely for that pair of socks!

So Far Behind and IN No Hurry........

I wrote about the Japanese pattern scarf we were

knitting--well, I'm trying to knit--I'm so far behind but I'm in no hurry--

Add a bead--usually no problem when I have my

handy dandy little crochet hooks--couldn't find them--

must be in another bag that's hiding for the time being.

So-----how do you add a bead without a hook?

Always have dental floss on hand--

take a long piece of floss, 

place bead, pull one end of floss through the knit loop

double back though the bead and pop that little

sucker right on the stitch!

I can't find my cable needle either--darn--now what?

wait, I have toothpicks--not so smooth but can

always find toothpicks!

onward we go..................