Eyes Only

A post or two ago, I mentioned pattern books...I thought I would share them. A fair warning, I'm going to tease you by mentioning what I made but not show you until future posts!

Until recently, I've been mostly using patterns I found online. The great part is that they were free. The bummer is when they don't make any kind of sense or there are errors. My mom got me Last Minute Knitted Gifts and we both fell in love with the bunny pattern. I also LOVED the bag on the cover and decided it was a "must make." The day after New Year's, my mom and I hit the craft store sales. There I found Spud and Chloe at the Farm (darling farm animal patterns, mostly done in the round) and Baby Beanies. The hats in there are super cute. I've already made a few.

I thought I was done with my purchasing spree but I was at my local LYS (YfY) and I saw 60
Quick Knits for Baby. There was THE CUTEST pea pod sweater I'd ever seen. Plus lots of other great hats, mittens, clothes, jackets, socks, blankets...you name it, it's probably in there. And finally, after making a few of the stuffed animals from the Spud and Chloe book, I decided that making stuffed animals might be one of my "things" despite an early resistance to try them. I saw "Knitted Toy Tals...some of the cutest stuffed creation patterns I'd see yet. I simply CANNOT wait to make the Frog Prince and the Owl and The Pussy Cat. Sigh. I'm in pattern HEAVEN! (These stuffed animals are made flat and sewn up the back.)

I can't wait to start sharing the projects I've made from these books! I hope you'll like them, too. So, my dear readers, what are your favorite pattern books and why?

Day 4--Books

My grandma was a teacher...is still a teacher in many ways! She taught early elementary for many years. She is still a kid magnet, too. The other day we were in Wendy's and I could hear her giggling as various children went up to her...just drawn in by her warmth and genuine love.

My grandma always read to her grandkids. My parents read to us quite a bit as well, I believe inspired by how much my grandma read to children. I absolutely love to read and I tribute my grandma for creating a family of readers.

My nieces love to read and they love to read to their Nana. A actually learned to read as Nana read to her and sounded out the words one by one.

Reading opens up so many doors. There are so many adventures to be found behind the pages of a book.

Of course, my grandma not only gave her family a love for reading but a love for crafting, knitting in particular. My mom and I took my grandma to the local knitting store YfY and in no time at all, she'd befriended several knitters, including one newbie, and was sharing patterns and ideas with them. I love my grandma and her infectious spirit...when I "grow up" I want to be just like her! ;0)

Peace, Love and Yarn...a Story of The First

Every child in the Warn family has been introduced to "spool knitting." It's a simple art that can be made from a wooden spool, four nails and a darning needle (or a more elaborate set up--see below). It's also a quick way to make something called an "I cord" in the knitting world. It was my first introduction to knitting.



I did eventually try knitting needles but couldn't get the knack of it. And then it came to pass about a year or two ago that my mom, a lefty, decided to start knitting (and taught herself "backwards" as a righty). She soon became convinced that it would be a perfect mother-daughter bonding experience. Something akin to guilt was the only thing that made me pick up (rather begrudgingly) the pair of size six needles with striped pink cotton yarn to give it a try.

I knitted only in her presence. My excuse was that the cats would get into the yarn if I took the 'scarf to be' home. But really I was rather frightened of all of the mistakes I could possibly make. That and I just wasn't "into it."

While visiting Whidbey Island after my uncle's death, my cousins and I ate ice cream and drank coffee (well, did one or the other) while our moms visited a local yarn shop. Eventually, we got bored and went inside. The colors were pretty and in all honesty, it was the textures of the fancier yarns that drew me in. Then, he saw it. My cousin picked out a sample of a simply GORGEOUS scarf done in all sorts of colors, textures and triangular patterns. He was so taken by it, he tried to buy it for his wife. The proprietress was aghast! SELL one of her creations?! Never! Didn't we realize that they were for DISPLAY ONLY? Slightly taken back, we hung our heads while our moms kept shopping. I'd decided if the cousin didn't buy it, I'd buy it for myself so I was quite put out. I just kept going back and looking at it. Fingering it (I MUST touch yarn...I practically PET IT). Coveting it.

Then the epiphany struck me. I could learn to make something JUST LIKE IT. Suddenly, I was inspired. I knew I had a ways to go before getting to that skill level but in fact, that night, I knit up a storm. (My mom had INSISTED I pack my knitting...I think I made her put it into her suitcase, lol.) It took a little time to finish up my small ball of cotton yarn and it wasn't enough for a scarf. I wasn't sure what store it had come from or how to find more of it...what is a novice knitter to do? Be creative! My mom took the almost finished piece to my 11 year old niece, E, and she finished up a pointed end to it. My mom blocked it and sewed it together. Then...viola! A small coin purse was made.


I knitted an I cord with the spool knitter and one of these days, I'll get my mom to help me attach it as a strap. I wand a little coin PURSE not wallet, lol.

Now my days and nights are filled with knitting and my closet full of my yarn stash. Of course, my fears about my feline helpers wasn't completely unjustified. Phat Cat is rather clingy for a cat and just LOVES to curl up next to me (and on my creations) and though four years of age, it isn't beneath the Princess to find the end of the cast on string to is dangling JUST to torment her. Sigh. Phat cat has gotten into more of his fair share of yarn, I must mention. He shreds yarn labels more finely than toilet paper, it seems.


There are all sorts of clues and hints in this picture of my progression from novice knitter to an intermediate chick with sticks but I'll save it for another post. As we speak, Phat cat is curled up against my right arm and plus, you wanted a blog post, not a novel. Until next time...peace, love and yarn!

The Knitting Back Story

My maternal grandma has been knitting since about 1942. She was "recruited" to knit socks for the troops when she was in college and still knits to this day. She crochets. She used to sew. Her sister, my great aunt, majored in home economics. (My dad still raves about that aunt's cooking to this day.) Crafty runs on my dad's side, too. It's deep in my genes and sometimes, I just "need" to create.

I used to think that I wasn't artistic because I couldn't draw. It wasn't until I took a class in child development focused on art for children where I began to understand that drawing was only a small part of being artistic, of being crafty.

Card making, stamping, scrapping and cross stitch have been my "addictions" of choice over the years. But lately, I've been more likely to read than to come home and create. But my mom took up knitting last year and decided that it would be an excellent mother/daughter bonding experience if I did, too. I was not a particularly enthused or excited participant. I'd tried knitting with my grandma before and it just didn't "click." I worked on the same piece for weeks. I'd only work on it near my mom so I didn't get very far.

Then, I went to a yarn store. And the plot, so they say, thickened.

I saw the most amazing scarf EVER. And I realized that if I put energy into learning how to knit I could make something THAT cool. That very night, I probably knit just as much as I had all the weeks together.

I made crazy mistakes. Still working on the gaping holes i end up with. My mom and even my expert grandma sometimes don't know how to fix what I've done. I actually have managed to pull off complex stitches without know what in the world I'm doing. But I'm slowly getting better. And more patient. I've got a stash of yarn growing and some weekends, I have to fight the urge to buy more, more, more!

This blog isn't just about knitting. But it is the newest of my craft obsessions and will most likely be the dominant feature of "Fat Cat Crafts." Well, perhaps second to my feline companions. Since I don't have children of my own to brag about...I will probably post a little more about my felines than a non-cat lover would like. ;0)