Teacher gifts

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week at my son Thomas's school.  Weeks leading up to that week were hectic and I was sick during the first half of the week iteslf.  So I didn't get anything special done for the teachers.

Short history here is that my son has had a difficult year.  We've gone through all of the process and he was just moved to a special education classroom that can better support him.  Throughout the year, many of the staff have worked extra hard to support him and I want to show them that I appreciate they're dedication to Thomas's well being.

I was trying to figure out what to do that would be quality, yet quick, as I have several staff I want to give gifts too.  Gift certificates would fit the bill *if* I had the money to do so, but I don't so I was looking for a creative solution.

A lady in one of my Facebook fiber groups shared a gift idea she did for Mother's Day.  She made dishcloths and folded them up to present them as flowers.  I love this idea!  I can whip out a few wash cloths in a day and have a few mini-bouquets to go around. :)

I'll post pictures when I'm done. :)

It's my Knitting Anniversary

I just realized that this month is my 4 year knitting anniversary! I started knitting because of several reasons compiled:

• A friend of mine wanted to start summer crafting groups in the park and I wanted a mobile craft
• It always bothered me that I snubbed a chance to learn knitting in girl scouts because I was trying to boast about my crochet skills
• My favorite Project Guttenburg read showed off beautiful knitting on her blog and it look interesting*
• I love textures

The final reason that I did go buy some knitting needles and pick up a book at the library was because I was pregnant and sick.  I felt worthless sitting on the couch not being productive (besides growing my daughter).  I needed something creative to do but also something that was useful to my household to justify the money I'd spend on it (we didn't have much).

I picked up the size 10 aluminum needles suggested in the book (lol yes - huge needles, and it was a kids' book!) and didn't get yarn because I remembered having some in my craft supplies at home.  Well, when it came time to dig all I found was this small ball of red yarn only a couple inches in diameter.  Oh, well.  I figured I'd knit and rip it out a gazillion times until I figured out what I was doing.  So I turned on the tv to something I would half ignore (I have no recollection of what it was now.  A few movies, I think) and got going.

My first knitting; May 6, 2011

The book had me knitting with the yarn in my left hand and it felt oh-so-clumsy.  I had little or no tension but I was determined not to give up.  At first it was a struggle and sloppy and took me a long time to knit through that tiny bit of yarn.  When it was used up, I ripped it out and tried again.  I did that for a few hours and was becoming surprised when the yarn ended.

This was the last time I knit with that yarn.  I was satisfied with my grasp of the loop making and felt ready for a little project.

Shortly after I found knitting videos on YouTube by Knitting Tips By Judy and switched to English style knitting (yarn in my right hand) which was much easier for me!  I was originally trying to learn together with my oldest son but he was getting frustrated.  The first project to do was cast on 20 stitches and make a square.  Repeat and sew the squares together to make a lap blanket.  He was so frustrated that I said to just cast on 10 stitches and make a square.  Well, long story short; he never finished a single square and pretty soon I *HATED* those darn little squares.  So many rows frogged because I'd be on a roll and went too many rows past where I was supposed to stop.  I finally asked him if I could knit strips and fortunately he was okay with that.  Part way through this I was mad and made something for me, just because.  (It was a little pillow foot rest for under my desk.)  Then came the seaming.  UGH!  I think I almost hated the seaming even more.  All those ends to weave in and tiny sides to sew together and nothing wanted to line up.  But I was determined to get it done.  And I did!  I didn't take a picture of it when I finished because I didn't want to see it anymore.  My son really liked it but he is texture sensitive and it was cheap, scratchy yarn.  So it went into the bunk bed and got stuffed in a corner.  We don't really talk about it. lol

The hated blanket in progress.

Then I went on to make small projects with continuous knitting like slippers and hats.  I'm so glad I persisted through that first project because it made me feel like I can tackle anything when it comes to knitting.  And I have!  Nothing has frustrated me as much as that very first project.  Does that mean I've never made mistakes?  No!  I've made hundreds, thousands, of mistakes!  But I've learned from them.  :)  I now have three blue and three red ribbons hanging on my wall, customized dresses, designed my own patterns, and so many hours of enjoyment!

Some day I'll tell you how I got started spinning and designing, too!

My latest project, fresh off the needles!

*My brain is back on.  It's KayRay (Kara Shallenburg) on LibriVox.  Here's a link to her blog.

Taking my time

For the first time in a few months I have no deadline knitting to do. I'm enjoying making myself a pair of socks. I am also knitting up a cape for my daughter with my hand-spun. (It is a lot further along than pictured.).

I do have a spinning project with a deadline but the next step is to card it. I'll be going in in Monday to my LYS to rent the carder. Then I have a month to a month and a half to finish. I'll be okay. 

Beginning

I'm starting a new blog to show what I'm doing at Rachel's Cozy Knits & Designs.  I love what I am crafting and I hope you do, too!

I do have a problem with OCD which can make my knitting amazing but caused problems with blogging in the past.  I'd spend way too much time editing every post and I couldn't keep it up.  This time I'm going to try to let it go and blog with a more raw style.  Little to no editing.  So my apologies up front if I come off like I'm babbling!  I'll try to K.I.S.S.

My latest project has been to create these box bags for projects.  I really like them as do my friends. :)  I have four sizes:

Small - notions / tatting
medium - small project
large - good size project or a small spindle
extra large - good size spindle and fiber

They are for sale at Black Sheep at Orenco.  I'll also be posting them in my online shop shortly.

These are a couple of the extra-large bags.  They are lined with complementary fabric.  I'll post more pictures soon.