Sunday, July 26, 2020

Adding a little magic to my knitting...

Life has suddenly become busy here.  It's a welcome change from the past few weeks that have felt sooooo sloooow as DH began his recovery and home-based physical therapy (PT) after knee replacement surgery in late June. 

He's doing really well, and this week he graduated to outpatient PT.  Fortunately, we don't have to drive to Indianapolis for these sessions (which was DH's original plan).  We live in a small town south of Indy that has a decent PT place just 5 minutes from our driveway - traffic is rarely an issue so it's a nice little stress-free drive.  While it is, of course, a pain (literally) for DH, it does provide for some nice little outings during the week.  I drop him off and have an hour and a quarter to myself three times a week, while he gets in a little social time that he craves. :)  Hey, sometimes you gotta take your fun where you can find it.

And the last few weeks we've also begun to make weekly trips again to DH's mom's house and "The Great Sort" continues.  I've brought home some pretty cotton fabrics that I hope to use to finish some cross stitch smalls with.  My MIL was a quilter extraordinare.  And a very fine seamstress.  If I can lay my hands on the photos of her many quilts (and church banners), I'll dedicate some posts here to showing them.

So with all that, my crafting this week has consisted of some easy projects.  Mostly, crocheting on my Leaps and Stripes  Leaping Stripes and Blocks blanket:
It's about half-finished at this point.

~~~~~

And I've been knitting some fun dishcloths from left-over cotton yarns I combined into "magic balls".   


Pattern (which is great for variegateds) can be found here.

Mostly, I've joined the different yarns with a braided join, but for some reason these joins have a real knack for ending up on the edges of the cloth, and that can make for some wonky edges when knitting with worsted weight cotton.  So I may not bother with the braided join every time.  Rather, I may just wind the balls and leave the ends loose and weave/sew them in later.   At least I'll still enjoy how the colors change in a ball of wound-up mixed colors - which has this "magic" way of speeding along the knitting.  You gotta find the magic where you can too...  ;^)

And I end up with fun, colorful cloths with otherwise throw-away lengths of cotton yarn.



And that's a win!






36 comments:

  1. I'm so in love with your dishcloths! What a great way to use up scraps, and you're right - gotta find the magic where you can.
    Best wishes for your husband.

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    1. I'm glad you like them, Ella. :) They make wish I had more scraps of this happy colored yarn.

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  2. I'm glad you aren't having to do all of that traveling, especially with everything else going on these days. I hope that therapy isn't too hard on him and that he 's up and back to normal in no time. But a bit of quiet crating time is good too.
    Those are some really happy cloths! I like the way the colors pop and they really do work well together.
    The Leaps and Stripes pattern makes a really pretty blanket. I've used something like that for hats and matching scarf a while back, I can't wait to see how your blanket turns out. That is a really pretty blue, is it for a gift or will it be fore your home?

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    1. Does the blanket appear to you as blue? It's actually a lavendar color (and the variegated is several shades of purple). I'm really hoping to finish it soon. Mostly, because I'm going to run out of the shade of variegated yarn I'm using soon and I want to quit worrying if I'm going to find myself playing yarn chicken at the end. I want the suspense over with already. :)

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  3. Hi Becki :) I find magic everywhere I look! Your dish clothes are super. I envy people like you who can so (seemingly) easily create such pretty handcrafts. I'm glad to hear of your hubby's progress! You take great close up shots btw!

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    1. I know you do, Rain. :) Thank you for your kind comments. Always.

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  4. Love your purple blanket and the colorful dishcloths. What happy projects making use of scraps.

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  5. I am glad you are crafting again. Pretty stuff coming out of the knitting needles. The quilting cotton can come in handy all the time. Who knew we would be making as many masks? I am not much of a quilter although I have quite a few scrap scraps that my grandma would have loved.

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    1. Oh yes, I momentarily forgot about masks... I've noted a few pieces of fabric that would make some nice ones at some point. I have to get in the right mindset to do that again. ;^)

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  6. So glad you don't have to drive DH to Indy. Also, so happy he is recovering well. Your Leaps and Stripes blanket is coming along...I always want to call it Leaps and Bounds. LOL! Your washcloths are so pretty! I never thought of using magic balls for that but they turned out really cute! Have a good week and stay safe and well!

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    1. Thank you, Sam. I just realize I got the name wrong. It's actually called Leaping Stripes and Blocks. So maybe that's why you want to call it Leaps and Bounds. Maybe you knew that there was a word that started with B in the name? :)

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  7. Oh I love that lavender coloured yarn with the white, it looks so gorgeous. The warmer flecks in the purple is just lovely. I have been saving all my ends from weaving tea towels with a plan to make dishcloths with a zillion ends to sew in or maybe I’ll try the braided join that I’ve not heard of. There’s a far bit of loom waste so will be interesting to see how many dishcloths I can get. Problem is I don’t have the pretty selection of colours you’ve got. I hope your husband’s PT helps his mobility, so handy having it local and nice for you to have some ‘you time’.

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    1. Thank you, Liz. I find the braided join works well with cotton as it doesn't want to hold together like wool (or even acrylic) yarn tends to. It's visible if you're looking for it, but I think it blends in pretty well.

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  8. That DW pattern is so perfect for variegated yarn. Your scraps have turned into gorgeous cloths. I hope you can find photos of your MILs quilts. I would live to see them. Glad your hubby's healing is moving along so well. Your blanket is pretty. Live anything purple.

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    1. I know the photos are around somewhere, but with all the organizing and "getting rid of" that DH has been doing, they are buried in a box somewhere at the moment. He actually asked me one day if these were pictures to save. Thank goodness he did. If only for his sibs to look at again, for me to post some here - YES! They must be saved. For a while longer at least. My SIL appreciated it.

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  9. I'm pleased that your DH is recovering well, your crochet is lovely, the dishcloths are so pretty. I don't think I would have the patience to do the braided join, that's the first time I've seen it, I think weaving the ends in would probably take less time. I would love to see your MILs quilts I hope you can photo them at some point. Have a great week.

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    1. I've nearly concluded the same thing - or that it's at least a wash between braiding and weaving in the ends. Will look for those photos soon!

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  10. I think physical therapy is sooooo trying for everyone. The patient is working so hard, and the chauffeur has big chunks of time taken up for the logistics. But you have a way of making the best of the hand you're dealt.

    I like your creations very much. You must have a good stash there!

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    1. Thank you, Liz. I have an enormous stash. And save the scraps for things like this. It's really too much, but I plug away at it until the day I no longer want to do that. I like to imagine someday someone will be tickled to inherit my hoard of yarn. But then I visit my late MIL's home and I realize that will never happen...

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  11. So glad your husband is healing well and it's not too stressful getting him to PT. I love your blanket and dishcloths.

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    1. It wasn't that driving to therapy in Indy would have been terribly stressful (mostly, we would have avoided the interstate and the heaviest traffic), but it would have been a significant time investment. The drive both ways would have eaten an hour by the time we were home again, and once there (because of COVID) my option would have mostly been to wait in the car. If the temps weren't so terribly hot, I could get some exercise and walk around the outside of the hospital, I suppose, but with the heat and humidity here that wouldn't have happened mid-day. Sigh. The more I think about it, I'm realizing just how good this local option for PT is...

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  12. I don't crochet, but that seems like a perfect way to use those bits and pieces of yarn/thread! Your dishcloths are lovely!

    I hear you about finding joy where you can get it . . . even if it is a few minutes alone or a little PT socializing! There is joy to be had if our hearts are grateful for His gifts!

    Glad to hear that your husband is continuing to recover well!

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    1. Good words, Cheryl. I often remind myself these days to look for the good things.

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  13. I love the cloths...so cheerful. I am glad your hubby's PT is closer to home and yay for getting the hour and a bit all to your self. I know when I drive hubby to appointments I love the quiet time to walk and be alone with my thoughts. I have never heard of the braided join. I also just drop one end and pick up the next and sew in later. Off to You Tube to check out braided joins.

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    1. :) Call me if you need rescuing from the rabbit hole of youtube videos!

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  14. Yay for smooth PT recovery for your husband. What a trooper he is. Fun dishcloths.

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  15. Glad the PT worked out for you. My DH had PT canceled because of Covid and it never resumed. It was for his shoulder....Lots of great projects. I actually make "washcloths" for my students for their water bottles....so they are really little mats....I have to make some more for this year....

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    1. My biggest concern at the moment (not that we lose sleep over, just keep our noses to the grindstone) is that one of us would get the virus and his PT would have to be put on hold. That would be awful and set him back. It just means we're continue on in the same mode as we have since March.

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  16. I LOVE the idea of making yarn leftovers into "magic balls" and then making dishcloths with them. I know I wouldn't have patience for the braided join, but I can weave in ends. I would use them for crochet projects as i don't knit. Actually wondering about maybe trying this with my old favorite hot mat pattern and then just not doing and color changes. Thanks for the idea!

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  17. So glad to hear that your DH is doing well - I'm sure each day it gets a little better, at least I'm hoping so! Wait times for you while he has his PT is not so terrible if you have something you can do. As for working at your Mom's house - I know it's hard but also interesting to discover things long forgotten.

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    1. It's like one step forward, two steps back, then all of a sudden it's four steps forward. He's experiencing a lot of new pain this week and I'm finding that disconcerting. With the therapy being local, I don't have to hang around. I can actually go home for an hour or so and then just drive the 5 minutes back there and pick him up. It's glorious. :) He's also getting really close to driving himself there and back, so the shorter trip is nice in that regard, too. When he's regularly driving himself, he won't have to wonder if he's up to a 30-minutes drive back home.

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