Just to make a blog about it–I’m not blogging today. The weather is hurting me. I’m going to curl up in that corner over there—–> and sleep and knit until I feel better. That’ll bring me to Stream of Consciousness Saturday. I expect a deluge!
Category: Loom
Hi Cyn Thank you for the prompt of the day. Incomplete.
Thank you, Linda G Hill for the fun of Just Jot It January!
Incomplete
Here are two hats and a scarf that I am currently working on. I always have three to five or more projects going at the same time. And that is true today. I have two more shawls and a doll and gloves all in various stages of incomplete. For many that would be unbearable. Especially, if they are goal oriented. But I have found that my hands hurt less when I switch around between projects. And some projects use all my concentration, those that take constant counting, like the green hat on the purple loom. The white hat on the light green oval loom is the most comfortable as it is loose with no counting. The scarf is just a garter stitch, knit a row purl coming back, on the smaller oval loom. Yes, all are incomplete but make me absolutely happy as I chug along. It isn’t the destination, as they say, it is the trip getting there. In this case, I go into physical shock when I’ve completed something. I need to find the next and get started NOW. That goes for my knitting and reading the most.
Elusive
Time. Where did today go? I still haven’t done my Spanish and German on Duolingo for the day! I still haven’t written my JusJoJan. Time is probably the most elusive thing ever!
Okay, on top of my ordinary day, with my ordinary disabilities challenging me, I now have taken on my husband’s needs and jobs. Being retired, there isn’t that much to do, the lack of funds make a lot of things off limits (maids, etc.) but keeping up with little things is difficult for me regularly. GAH!!!!! And we have the discussion about all he feels he can do one handed while in pain. So dishes get done. Yay! Feeding and care of furries. Bigger Yay! But the feeding and care of we two humans is the hard part. Standing in the kitchen that you can see your breath in has to be done in quick spurts. Taking doggy outside BRRRRR!
Oh, wait! This isn’t Stream of Consciousness Saturday! But that is what is happening in my head. One shiny chicken after another! Oh! And I got some new looms that I learned about from LoomAHat.com and bought for lots less on sale at WalMart.com I have a scarf in the making for my brother right now.
Maybe it isn’t time that is the elusive thing here. Maybe it is my brain!
Transcendent
I wonder if the opposite of transcendent is a nap? There were so many things to rise above today that all I could do was nap.
The story from yesterday about hubby’s fall and messed up arm? Yeah, well the doctor says his shoulder is broken and has two good sized chips. Trouble is we still don’t know if surgery will be what he needs. All we know is that he is in horrible pain and is helpless on many counts. Thank goodness for Vicoden. We won’t know until Monday or Tuesday what the next step would be. Meanwhile, the two trips to town wore us both down. Even though I don’t go, the trip requires an early wake-up. I needed to get up and help him get ready to do.
I feel badly not going. But the trip kills me. I mentioned that before. But if he has to go to Portland at the other end of the state, how would I manage that? And would there be any accommodations for me? And who will take care of the separation-anxiety- grandpup?
And we got more snow today that has enough time to melt a bit and then became more ice. It is impossible to walk outside our home. Poor Kali is on her own for those very quick trips for relief.
So I stayed inside and made another hat:
And then all the world shattering events today. Is there a possibility to be transcendent? Now that it is 10 PM all I can think is when can I go to sleep?
The Just Jot It January 20th prompt, brought to you by Deborah of the blog, Notes Tied on the Sagebrush, is: “Transcendent.” Use it any way you’re inspired to. And make sure you stop by and say hi to Deborah as well! Here’s her blog: https://notestiedonthesagebrush.com/ .
And once again, thank you, Linda G Hill.
The Just Jot It January 13th prompt, brought to you by Charlene Bullard of FaithtoRaiseNate.com, is: “Hospital.” Use it any way you’re inspired to. And make sure you stop by and say hi to Charlene as well! Here’s her blog: http://faithtoraisenate.com/.
And again, thank you, Linda G Hill.
Hospital
That is where many of the hats and goodies that I make go to. Here’s the one I finished today.
It is called the Ombre Beanie by Loom A Hat. I made it with the opening in the top for the Messy Bun or ponytail. I love making things for others. I imagine those who still have hair on chemo or a patient who is having a bad hair day could pull their hair up into the top and yet keep their ears warm.
Loom Knitting A Tiny Doll by Denise M Canela
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
These cute little guys and the comfort dolls also by Denise M Canela are the reason I haven’t gotten very little of anything else done in my life. (Sorry this is a bit of a repeat from the review for the comfort dolls)
This is November! That means NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. By now I should be almost finished with my novel for this year. But I’m only a third of the way into it.
These dolls are so much fun! And I keep thinking about the recipients, be they tiny little kids or adults who just need comfort, and I hope these little guys will do the trick. In case you’re curious as to my little guys: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Darra… these are just a few I’ll be adding more as I finish up. I seem to have several projects going at the same time: a hat and two or three dolls. I try to make a little kid hat with each of the dolls I don’t know if they’re going to end up that way but it seems to me a nice thing to give the kid who might get the doll a little hat or maybe big sibling gets the doll or hat, or maybe they go to both to a newborn baby or something. By having the dolls and the hats in different stages, my hands don’t get tired doing the same thing over and over. And I’m not fond of sewing. But so happy with the results when I’m finished!
About the book, I read this and the comfort doll book and I couldn’t seem to get it right just by following the book. Luckily, Denise has videos attached in YouTube that you can watch. I watch them over and over and finally took the book, made notes from the book so that I’d have one piece of paper to look at and wouldn’t have to turn on something electronic just to recall the steps and how many stitches. And now I think I’m at the point where I don’t need to look at anything to remember how to make them. I don’t think I can blame the book. I blame me. I just have a hard time with written instructions and I do so much better when somebody shows me how to do it. So may I suggest that you get the books, read through, watch the YouTubes, and enjoy making the dolls!
Thank you, Denise M Canela, for all your books and instructions to making fun things for charity.
Loom Knitting Comfort Dolls by Denise M Canela
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
These cute little guys and the tiny dolls also by Denise M Canela are the reason I haven’t gotten very little of anything else done in my life.
This is November! That means NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. By now I should be almost finished with my novel for this year. But I’m only a third of the way into it.
These dolls are so much fun! And I keep thinking about the recipients, be they tiny little kids or adults who just need comfort, and I hope these little guys will do the trick. In case you’re curious as to my little guys: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Darra… these are just a few I’ll be adding more as I finish up. I seem to have several projects going at the same time: a hat and two or three dolls. I try to make a little kid hat with each of the dolls I don’t know if they’re going to end up that way but it seems to me a nice thing to give the kid who might get the doll a little hat or maybe big sibling gets the doll or hat, or maybe they go to both to a newborn baby or something. By having the dolls and the hats in different stages, my hands don’t get tired doing the same thing over and over. And I’m not fond of sewing. But so happy with the results when I’m finished!
About the book, I read this and the tiny doll book and I couldn’t seem to get it right just by following the book. Luckily, Denise has videos attached in YouTube that you can watch. I watch them over and over and finally took the book, made notes from the book so that I’d have one piece of paper to look at and wouldn’t have to turn on something electronic just to recall the steps and how many stitches. And now I think I’m at the point where I don’t need to look at anything to remember how to make them. I don’t think I can blame the book. I blame me. I just have a hard time with written instructions and I do so much better when somebody shows me how to do it. So may I suggest that you get the books, read through, watch the YouTubes, and enjoy making the dolls!
Thank you, Denise M Canela, for all your books and instructions to making fun things for charity.
A Looming Lady by Pamela Murrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I belong to a wonderful little group who makes hats for cancer patients, preemies, the homeless, and many other who need warmth and comfort. Before I started with the group I could crochet fairly well and had knitted a few scarves and slippers. I had bought the Knifty Knitter sets when I worked at JoAnn’s a while back. But I didn’t know how to use them. Carol, the chairman of our group, taught me how to use the knitting looms and I have become addicted to loom knitting. I scour the internet for new patterns.
That is how I found this gem. Most of the patterns in this book are easy beginner projects that didn’t fit what I want to make but I think novice knitters would like to try some of these. Notice I didn’t say women. Many men are finding the joy of making things with these looms. In fact, we have a guy in our group who makes many hats and gives us advice in our knitting pursuits. He is also a liaison to vets in need.
But this book is better than just a pattern book. It is a story of a homeless person who learned to use the looms. If you are involved in helping by making hats, this book personalizes recipients. Many people see the homeless as takers and leeches on society. They think that all homeless are out for drugs, in general, worthless beings. For those of us who have known folks who have been there, or almost were there, we know misfortune can happen to anyone and those without connections to help out of their plight are the most susceptible. This story gives us one example of a person as she tries to find her way out. Not everyone is as lucky as she becomes, even though that luck doesn’t seem good to her in any way. We get to see her growth. I loved the story.
Though I am on SS myself, the donated yarn gives me a chance to learn more about my obsession, while making comfort items for folks who need them. If you have the same obsession, this book may ring true for you. Even if you haven’t found your way to actually making loom hats, this story may open your eyes to the plights of the homeless.
Any Loom, Any Hat, Any Time: Loom Knitting Hats by Scarlett Royale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don’t usually buy books. I especially don’t spend over a couple dollars. But this one is not only worth the $9.99 I paid, I am hoping to get the paper version for even more. Meanwhile, I loved all the patterns so much I had to write them in my notebook (with proper attributions, of course) so I could work on these without my overheating laptop open.
I love how the author shares the formula for translating these patterns to smaller or larger looms. That is something I have always tried to do, see how to adapt patterns. But the formula Ms. Royale shares is so simple, and it works.
These patterns were well written and I finally chose the one I would use as my first from her book. The beret. She makes hers on the green (36 pegs) loom. I have a new, larger (48 pegs) size from CinDLooms that I used Scarlett’s formula on. IT WORKED! The hat was a good size to fit over my ponytailed hair so I think it will be a nice hat for someone who needs it.
If you have trouble interpreting the patterns and/or the formula, Ms. Royale has links in the book that lead to YouTube demonstrations to guide you through. For the most part, the tutorial helped me. May I put in here that I did have trouble seeing what I needed to see in the part where you need to do the Kitchener stitch. It seemed the camera didn’t show it up well and I finally gave up and just sewed the bits together. I would love Scarlett to do a separate tutorial of this stitch. I think another kind of formula would help. I kept looking around the webs for something that showed it better. Nope. didn’t find it. I wanted a written version that might say bottom down, top down, second peg upper up, first peg lower up, etc. That was about when I got lost. I attempted the whole thing, several times but it didn’t follow. But all in all, I was happy with the results and can’t wait to try it again on a smaller loom.
And, I can’t wait to try other patterns in the book. I will be buying more of Scarlett Royale’s books! BTW, here is the link to my Ravelry page with the hat I made: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Darra…
Many of you may wonder what happened to me. I know it looks like I disappeared. But if you take a look at this page you will see what, besides summer, I’ve been up to:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Darravels
For those of you waiting patiently for reviews… I will be on it as soon as I can!
Darswords 
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