Magic Ring. Here's Something New to Me

I am by no means an expert knitter and I'm an even less accomplished crocheter.  So when I stumble across something that either makes my hobby more enjoyable and/or makes my projects look that much better, I just have to share.

I was recently put in a position where I had to produce an infant baby hat by the next day.  Of course, the first place I go is Ravelry to do an advanced search for what would be the best pattern for me.  The very first pattern listed was called 30 Minute Baby Hat by Mary Ann Colatuno.  Even the name was perfect.  I immediately cast on and, with the exception of the flower part, was done within 30 minutes.  Now, back to my original thought.

In her directions was a link to a crochetme.com forum post that quickly described this wonderful thing called Magic Ring.  I would give you the link but she has since turned the directions into a pdf and I can't find the post anywhere.  So, today when I wanted to hook a circular project I went looking for it to refresh my memory and since I couldn't click to forum post (typing it in the address bar didn't work either) I searched on YouTube and found it.  I just clicked on the first one listed (you can see it here) and with one simple change, my finished work looks so much neater and was that much easier.

Here's a photo of the finished project.

Photo courtesy of my friend

Sylvia Schultz of

Sylvia Schutz Photography

My Beautiful, Sweet, Wonderful Little Devil!

I'm just going to start this off with a picture...

I'm sure you recognize that as a mess of yarn attached to a work in progress, A Simple Baby Hat by Alison Williams.  In fact, I have to change that into this by next week when my friend is having her twin baby boys.

Luckily, I managed to finish one, but I believe it will take me longer to unravel this mess than it would to knit these boys and entire layette.  The point of this whole post is that I just can't understand why my 3 1/2 year old, who has been exposed to my knitting since before she was born and has always handled my yarn and projects with care (if she needed to move something), suddenly decides she wants to play kitty kitty with my WIP!

Oh, and she knew what she was doing.  She came in saying "Mommy, don't be mad at me".  She led me into the living room and it was strung out all over the place.  Actually, I almost laughed out loud, after all it is just a baby hat that I can redo in an afternoon, but I wanted to have the right balance of disappointment and despair in my eyes so she'd understand never to do that again.  I think it worked.  I went back in the kitchen to try to fix it and a few minutes later when she came in to ask for something, I looked up from the fuzzy, slippery pile of yarn and said I was just a little too busy to play Candyland at the moment.  She thought about it and said "Will Daddy be home soon?".

Creative and Beneficial Uses of Lavender Essential Oil

Because I own a shop that sells fragrances, including essential oils, I get asked a lot of questions about them, specifically lavender. If you were to make a starter kit of aromatherapy and home remedy essential oils, this would definitely be in your top 6. The other five would be Tea Tree Oil, Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Peppermint and Grapefruit. But their stories are for another day. Please use caution when using essential oils around infants, children, pets and while pregnant.

While many people are aware that lavender has relaxing properties, it is very useful in a lot of other ways as well.

Lavender has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties.

• If you use cloth diapers, put a few drops in the final rinse to disinfect diapers.
• To make homemade baby wipe solution, add 2-3 drops of lavender to a pint of water and a dash of baby shampoo. Put in squirt bottle and apply to wipes or use it in a wipe warmer.
  
• It's often added to Chamomile to treat Excema.
  
• It's an effective treatment of lice.
• It heals burns, wounds, cuts and sunburns rapidly.

Lavender is a natural pest repellent.

• Place lavender sachets wherever you want to prevent moth attacks. Especially in wool yarn storage bins. No need to buy expensive ones, just use knee-high stocking stuffed with dried lavender.
  
• Toss a lavender sachet in the dryer for a clean smell and to keep bugs away from blankets, etc. When the sachet starts to lose it's strength, freshen it up with a few drops of the essential oil. If you don't have dried lavender, use small facecloth and put about 10 drops per load of lavender oil and toss it in with the rest.
  
• Hang lavender holders outside to deter mosquitoes. Apparently, they hate lavender. You can even add some lavender oil to your favorite unscented body oil or lotion for a natural mosquito repellent.
• Spiders don't like lavender, either. Especially when it's mixed with eucalyptus. Take about 5 drops of each and apply it along sliding glass door tracks, window ledges and other places they enter the house to deter them. You can apply it directly to a cotton ball and wipe it along those openings or create a spray solution using 5 ounces of distilled water. Shake well and spray.

Lavender by itself is a pretty amazing product. By tapping into the synergy of blending it with other oils, it's even better. Have fun experimenting with all of the things lavender can do.

Never Underestimate the Importance of Gauge!

After spending hours working on a pair of shorties (a wool diaper cover) for Bit and using a nice yarn for the first time, I discovered the importance of gauge. Up until this point, I either did something that didn't require a fit or just plain lucked out. While Bit can wear these with a ribbon cinch, the end product was basically an unfitted square. Hubby calls them my "Pink Bit Square Pants". If Sponge Bob were a girl, he'd probably love them (see pic at bottom of page).

Here are a couple helpful links on determining gauge and and a pic of my finished project (for a "what not to do" reference).

Yarn Forward has this to say about gauge.
Knitty.com has a long article about the importance of gauge, here
Suite101.com says this
Ehow.com says this
theknittersbag.com says gives a chart for calculating gauge, here

And of course there are scores of blogs and other websites full of advice but the bottom line, if size and shape is important, knit at least a 4x4 swatch and measure it to make sure you have the size. Everything from weight of the yarn, size of needle, fiber of the yarn and your individual knitting style can affect the end result. It's a small investment of time to take to make your project worth your time and effort!

An example of what not to do:

Finished the Peep; Or is it a duck?

I finished one before Easter. I guess it kind of looks like a peep. I think I'll do the wings up and down instead of side to side next time.

Fuzzy Pink Pear aka: Peep

I found the cutest knit project on Ravelry the other day and being the over ambitious non-achiever that I sometimes am, immediately cast on with hopes of finishing it by Easter (4 days away). Kat Lewinski posted it on her blog, here, and I am once again in awe of people who can make this stuff up and indebted to her for graciously sharing it for those of us who are "creativity challenged". Thank you, Kat.

I just sewed on the beak and am working on the eyes. I tried to do a couple wings last night but I guess it was a little late for me. Who ever heard of casting on 2?

Tiramisu Gift

All wrapped up and ready to go!

Tiramisu is done!

I'm so excited to have this done in time to give to Terry when I see her this weekend for the first time since Michael was born. I have so many other projects on hooks and needles, it feels sooo good to cross one off the list.

Tiramisu - Ready for Blocking

I've never blocked anything before. But then again, I've never made something that was supposed to be square and I wanted to look "finished" before I gave it as a gift. Here's the blanket prior to soaking. I'm following the wet blocking tips previously mentioned and it's in the water right now with a little baby shampoo. Hopefully it straightens out!

Tiramisu - The Best Baby Blanket

I never did finish Taylor's baby blanket. Probably because it couldn't be as pretty and nice as the one I'm working on for Baby Fitzgibbons. This blanket, beautifully made, simply designed, and generously distributed for free by Alicia Paulson is called the Tiramisu Blanket. When I saw this, I knew it was perfect for Terry and James and their soon to arrive little boy.

Although it's a very easy pattern, it has been a challenge for this inexperienced crocheter. This is by no means a reflection on the author of the pattern, simply my impatience, lack of focus and inexperience.

My first problem, that I didn't notice until I finished the body, is that I chain on very tight. Not a good thing when I went around the blanket with the single crochet required for the first row of the trim.

My second problem, I discovered I cannot crochet a repetitive stitch and watch TV, listen to music, talk to my hubby or think about anything other than crocheting.

Which led to my third problem and why I had to start over numerous times. I'm not good enough to not count my stitches in a row. 1/3 of the way up the second time, I took a couple minutes and counted the stitches and discovered I'd somehow added a few here and there and my square blanket was looking more like a trapezoid.

My fourth problem, I don't know enough about crocheting to be modifying a pattern. At least, not on one I am on a tight schedule to complete as a gift. Frogging takes time and I've spent my share doing that. But, I'm not giving up. I really like the look of one of the completed blankets with 8 rows of SS around the trim. I'm just trying to figure out many SS's go in the corners each row.

I did do something right, right off the bat. I read other reader's posts and carefully checked my gauge, increased my hook size to size K USA and it appears to have worked well.

Now I just have to finish the trim, wash it, block it and add the ribbon!