So.
I still don't have pictures. Yet. Maybe later this week. If I find time during the daylight - this being of short supply here in the upper Midwest. Or, I'll post badly color pictures.
What have I been knitting, you ask? Well... baby stuff, mostly. Too many people around me coming down with babies all of a sudden. I ripped out and restarted the Panda sweater - it was knit too tightly, and I decided to go with a white body with black sleeves instead of the other way around. I think it looks much better.
I finished a pair of baby booties, using a pattern from Knitting for Baby. Very cute. I made them out of Jocelyn's Fiber Farm's Silk and Ewe in the Ocean (I think) colorway. I love this yarn - its so soft. Perfect for baby stuff. I'm working on a matching hat.
I have the fish blanket all connected, all I have to do is sew in tails and block one more time. Hmm... why haven't I finished this yet?
Each of the above 3 projects are for different babies - only one being mine. These are at the top of a list of 9 (count 'em 9) babies who either are newborns now, or will be born in the next few months. That'll keep me going. Don't get me wrong, I love handknitting baby gifts. I find it lots of fun, and a great way to try out new patterns. But 9 on my list at once is getting a bit ridiculous.
This is also why I'm not knitting Christmas presents this year.
Teaching Kids to Knit
A week before Thanksgiving my daughter's teacher asked if I'd like to come in and teach the kids to knit. I thought it would be great. Granted, I was a bit apprehensive about 30 kids learning all at once. Fortunately, the teacher called in 3 other parents to come in too. Not that any of them knew how to knit, but they learned quickly to cast on :-)
I went in the Monday before Thanksgiving for 2 hours. We started by making needles. I bought packs of 5/8" dowels (12" long) at the craft store. I think they're a bit long, but they were easier than cutting dowels down. I bought a bunch of beads, and brought in sandpaper and furniture polish to slick them up a bit.
The making part went really well, then I went around and cast on the class. This is where the teacher and parent helpers learned to cast on so this didn't take forever. I then demonstrated. Taking a leaf from Stitches (specifically, Lily Chin's class), I had picked up 15mm needles, and some Wool-Ease Thick and Quick so the kids could see what I was doing. Then, I went around the class student by student and showed them again. My daughter also helped, since she already knows what she's doing in knitting. We only taught them the knit stitch. We cast on ~30 stitches, and we'll make hats or scarves (depending on how long they get their pieces) Ones that are shorter, I'll sew together (somehow - we'll see what we get, right?)
They learned so well! I was in awe. I went back in Tues. and Wed. for a half hour for trouble-shooting and further instruction. I was in last Thursday, and will go in next Thursday as well. I have one girl who has completed a 5 foot long garter stitch scarf!
On a personal note, I'm starting a new project this month. Very cool. Very I can't talk about it, however - new software projects get that way. I'm almost in the Christmas spirit. I think I'll get some decorations out this weekend, that'll help.
If there are still people out there reading - hi. If there aren't, that's OK too. This is mostly to keep me honest, and on track with my projects.
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