Mama mia... Let the blogging continue!!!

I finally have a new computer!   I finally wrestled my blog from the 'google' change over that happened 'sometime' to BlogSpot.   .   I couldn't get in (with my password) and post for awhile and I finally found someone at google to help me get back in so I could use my blog again!  Yeah!       Some knitting...      Fingerless mitts, out of sock yarn, for my good fried Lisa as part of her Christmas gift this year.  The yarn is some self striping fingering yarn that I bought at knitpicks.com.  The yarn striping matched until the end on one of the mittens... but, that part will be on the inside of the sleeve anyway.   Some mittens that I'm knitting in some airport, somewhere... lol  (yes, they do tend to look the same don't they?)  However, I don't even remember these mittens... did I keep them or did I gift them to someone?   I will check- but, I do love the colors so I sure do hope that they are in my gloves, hat, mittens, scarf drawer.     I do have a new 'knitting plan' because I noticed that almost all of my knitting is for others or for charity.   I have knitted myself ONE sweater in my 30 year knitting career.  I also took stock a few years ago and realized that I had almost NOTHING that I had knitted myself.   I decided that I was going to make a conscious effort to actually 'knit' for myself.     I'll have to sort out my photos and start posting some of the items that I have managed to knit and more importantly:  keep for myself.   I have knitted myself at least 5-6 pairs of socks from the lovely Regia yarn that I purchased when I lived in Germany.   And, as a touch of 'soon it will be here' spring... the sandals that I purchased in Germany last April when I visited some friends still living in the area where I used to live/work in Germany before I moved to northern Italy a couple of years ago.   I have the blue pair.   They just looked like something that "That Girl' would have worn to me.  Made out of such a buttery soft nice leather.

Spring is around the corner and some orphaned animals might need a new place to call home???

It took awhile- but, I'm finally finished with a small project.   I used some scrap/left over yarns and crocheted some little 'orphan baby animal' nests.  I'm going to mail them to a wildlife rescue group for them to use this spring when all the little orphan wild animals tend to be found.   I made 2 small sized about 4-5 inches across and one really big one for larger sized animals.   I just used 3 different yarns together to make the little bowl nests more sturdy.  IT also made them faster to make too.

I've known how to crochet since I was a child- but, I prefer to knit.  However, for this project 'crocheting' was a great choice.  

I decided to include these 'felted too small' slippers.   Maybe, they'll make a great temporary home for some baby animals?   To read the details about how on earth these items came to be read the story of fuzzy feet here.

What a long day... that happens when you wake up at 2:17am and don't go back to sleep... and leave for work at 4:25am....

I guess that I got off kilter with the day off on Monday?  Anyway, I finally got up at 3am... and read the Internet news, checked my email, etc.   THEN, I said, "Forget this... I'm going to get showered and ready for work."   Yes, I left my house at 4:25am.  The gate guard on base did look at me a little funny when he scanned my military ID to get on base.   He probably was wondering why I needed to be at work at 4:40am?   At least, we didn't have another meeting after school today.  I was able to go to the base and mail 3 boxes to friends.   Two people will really be surprised with the contents of their boxes-- since, it's not their birthday or anything.   I don't think that I have shared this knitting project?  If I did, pretend that I didn't... after all... I only had 3 hours of sleep last night.  My mind is a bit tired by now.   Anyway, these are cotton dishcloths that I knitted during some of my physical therapy appointments this summer.   The sessions started with heat on my knee for about 15 minutes and ended with ice on my knee for another 15-20 minutes.  Of course, in the middle part was a lot of pain and discomfort-- but, we won't discuss that.  During those 'waiting times'... I would knit.   Other people there?  They'd play on their cell phones.   I used 100% cotton yarn by the name of 'dishie' from knitpicks.com.  I also used a variety of patterns.   I made them for my friend's aunt- she would take me to my physical therapy appointments.   I had thought about knitting her a nice warm soft wool hat... but, my friend said that she wouldn't wear a hat.  So, I'm not one to force my knitting onto others... and I totally understand the 'no wearing of hats'... unless it is VERY COLD. This is a wool hat out of alpaca that I knitted for my friend's mom.  She'd drive me to the doctor appointments.   She has strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes.   So, I thought that this color was a good choice.   This yarn was also from knitpicks.com.   This is a free hat pattern that I found on www.ravelry.com.   The dishcloth patterns were also found there or just some stitch patterns that I know how to knit without needing a pattern.

Teaching children how to knit...

A squirrel created by one of the boys in my after school knitting class.

This little boy was able to knit all 3 of these during his knitting class time-frame.   They all learned sewing stitches too.  They loved making various animals and 'monsters!'

Action shot of some of the monsters with an owl in front of some of the student artwork on display in the hallway outside the art room.

When I taught at the military base in Germany- I was a K-5th grade art teacher.  I had an after school knitting class for students.   I taught them how to knit 'using some of my old acrylic yarn' (and some additional colors that I found in the German grocery stores).  I started all of them on learning how to just do the knit stitch.   Usually, we'd end up with something that mostly looked like a square or a small rectangle.  Instead of removing all of these wonky stitches- no matter how bad they looked-- I taught them to turn them into finger puppets.

I ask them what they want to turn the knitted piece into and I help them add extra features- even if it means learning to pick up stitches to add wings/etc.   We also use felt pieces and wiggle eyes to add to the 'creations' if they want to use these items.   I had both boys and girls in my classes.  I divided the classes up- we met twice a week for a month and then it was another grade level's turn.  I did have a 'boy's only class' after so much interest was shown.  

I'll have to find more photos of some more of the creations that they made.   One little girl, had 4 siblings at home and she picked up knitting really fast and wanted to knit each one of them their own little 'finger puppet' for their Christmas gift.   Many of the parents really did support their child's budding interest and purchased them their own yarn and knitting needles after the class was over.  I let them use all of my own supplies to take the class so that 'cost' wouldn't prevent them from learning how to knit in the beginning.  

I also let anyone that was interested know about different places to purchase yarn and knitting needles in the area.

A little knitting goes on sometimes... even if I don't remember knitting it...

When I first saw this photo- I thought that I had downloaded it from the web somewhere 'for inspiration' for something to knit/create in the future.  However, upon closer inspection- I recognized the background as one of the couch pillows that I had made for me when I lived in Seoul, South Korea.   I then remembered that I had knitted them for a toddler that I knew at the time.   I probably started knitting the guy on the far right (in overalls) because he looks a bit 'special' for lack of a better word?   His overall bib is a bit too loose for the area and his little baseball cap has the brim flipped up.  His face is flatter and one of his eyes is a bit wonky.  He was clearly the 'test knit' and the others improved as a result.   I was able to make the legs/arms and even neck appear by simply using a big needle and the yarn stitched through all layers and pulled tight (or just wrapped around the neck area for the neck).   I think that they were about 6-9 inches tall?   I just used durable acrylic for them.   I'm sure that there are patterns for something like this out there?  I do remember starting at the feet and just increased or decreased as I saw fit.   I did some crocheting on the little girl's skirt to make it lacy and open.

Some of my Christmas Market Purchases and a little knitting...

I saw these 2 little sheep in the window of a store in Bolzano.  They were the last 2 that were left.  They are made out of the natural sheep's roving and are hand-made.  I added them to my rustic hand carved Nativity scene that I had purchased in Poland one time.   They do look a bit like 'giant sheep' but with sweet little faces like that-- I don't think that 'Joseph' would have been alarmed by sheep the size of horses, do you?   I'll have to see if I can find some roving, some day, and make some more appropriately sized sheep.

I got this at the Innsbruck Christmas Market.  It was hand-made out of TIRES!!  I couldn't resist it!   I will store yarn or anything heavy that I need to carry when having handles would be more useful than just trying to haul a heavy cardboard box around.   It's pretty big too.

I did a tiny bit of knitting during break.  I just 'winged' it and knitted a little sheep out of some multi-colored fuzzy yarn that I found on sale here in Italy.  It was difficult yarn to knit with and I'm glad that I didn't pay much at all for it.  There is enough to knit another sheep-- I'll have to wait awhile while the memory of how difficult the yarn was to work with fades a bit.   I put a bell on a gold cord around his neck.  *Can you see how much more 'fuzzy' this photo is than the tire bucket is?   The tire photo was taken before the most 'recent' camera drop to the pavement.   I'm afraid that was the one that was ONE DROP TOO MANY.   My camera seems to have suffered too many 'concussions' and isn't able to do the job anymore.

Here's a little star that I knitted out of some sparkly red, green and white left-over yarn that I had.  The hardest part was trying to weave in a bent piece of wire through the i-cord tube.  Why was I using a bent piece of wire you ask?  Well, it was all I had... no stores open... to find more.   I needed the wire to be thin enough that I could pinch it at the points so that I could make it 'look like a star' as much as possible.... and strong enough to keep the bent shape.   I used some left-over wire from an old crafts show from many years ago-- 'SEE, there is a REASON for not throwing EVERYTHING that you no longer have a need for (at the moment - that is)... it could come in handy some day.   I think you learn to do this just from being a teacher... much less a 'crafty type of person' who just happens to live overseas with limited 'crafts' materials-- depending on where you are living.   You just keep things-- because it is likely to be needed in the future.

A candy cane knitted ornament that I made.  This was the first one that I did.  I tried using some jewelry making wire-- it wasn't really sturdy enough-- and it was so time consuming trying to force/weave/push it through the one color -- that I decided that it held the shape 'good enough' and I only put the wire in ONE COLOR of the candy cane!   

What else have I been doing?  I've spent quite a bit of time... 'downstairs' in the 'extra room'... the room that you need a guide to go with you to make sure you make it back out safely.   It is where all the boxes got shoved after I moved in and had 2 weeks to get my house ready for company.  That was after teaching all day... in the winter (ceiling lights aren't very bright and I have really tall ceilings too) ... I had to get 3 bedrooms ready, boxes out of the way, etc.   So, after a certain point-- everything that didn't have a home or I didn't have time to deal with... got shoved/hauled to this extra room downstairs.   I had wanted to work on it this summer and I had planned to do so- until the knee surgery/injury problem prevented me from doing it.   Now, the problem is... I want to find things to get rid of... but, since I haven't seen this stuff in a long time now-- it is more difficult to get rid of something that you haven't seen in awhile... and that you still like.  I'm working on it- I'm trying.   I have sorted through things and I do have some things set aside that I can do without-- but I need to get rid of a lot more things.    ANYONE ELSE 'sorting' or getting rid of things?

Trains of Italy.. I took a few photos on my trip last weekend.

Most trains have a little pull down table (far, far, far more room than what you'd find on an airplane- look at how long that little table is.  If you look you can see my coat and the edges of my green scarf and my knees.  That should give you an idea of the space that you have.)   On some trains, you'll also have a few sets of seats (4 -- two will be facing the direction of the train travel and the other two will face the opposite direction- and there is a large sized table between all 4 seats.)  This particular train also had the aisle walking area dropped down lower than the seats.   If you look towards the floor, in the photo, you can see what I'm referring to.   Yes, I did start knitting a pair of socks.  :D

You can see the table in the 'up position' on the left side of this photo.   They do have a mixture of seats facing in different directions- in case one likes to sit in the direction of travel?'   If I'm going to a new place- I do like to sit by the window facing the direction of travel- just so that I can read the station (town/city) names on the train platforms.    The armrest between the seats does raise up and goes between the seats and the racks are far enough from the ceiling that you can stuff some pretty big stuff up there- including suitcases.

This was along the side-- only one set of chairs and facing each other... no little pull down table.   There is also a 'trash can' (where that red button is located) that pulls out and holds quite a bit of trash.   I'm sitting in the seat and you can see that there is a lot of room- (yes, that's my backpack on the opposite seat.  I have used it for years-- it is more of a 'large messenger bag' style... and will fit across your front and along the opposite shoulders for security.   Lots of pockets all around and on the inside AND... a couple of on the ends (where the buckles on the strap is located) one has a velcro flap (I put a water bottle in it) and the other one has a zipper closing for security.   There is also a big open flap on the back side the width of the bag-- I put my umbrella in it (inside a plastic bag so that I always have a place to stash a wet umbrella from rain or snow) and books/magazines/etc.   Things that I need for easy access.   I've used this bag for years.   The little see through zipper pocket in the front has:   a tiny vial of Tylenol, some Pepto Bismol tablets, and my inhaler.

Pretty huh?  Bolzano, Italy 

Another view in a different direction-- right in the mountains!  The Dolomite Mountains- or the Italian Alps.

This is another train station in the area.  I love how the sun was playing on the various areas of the mountain.

On my return trip, I was on a train that had compartments like this.  It consisted of 6 seats, a rack to stash your belongings, and you could adjust the headrest, etc.   It was comfy for sure.  You could shut the door that you see to the left.  I was the only one in the compartment.  This type has the aisle on the far side instead of being in the middle of the seats as you saw on the other train.   I always think that these look like the trains that you see in the old movies.  They always look so spacious and the trains like this in Italy are very spacious.

Do you see that oval looking thing along the wall of the train?   It's a pull down seat (you can see another one under the other window) and I've been on these trains when they are so crowded that people are sitting in every one of these seats- I've had to sit in this type of seat before.  

Venezia.. or Venice   (my train-- because, I live only about an hour from Venice)

It was COLD and the fog was rolling in.   I'm glad that I had my alpaca wool socks on, my wool sweater over a long sleeve t-shirt, my thin cotton long johns (really they are thin pj's that shrunk too much in length- but, they are perfect to wear under clothing in the winter), my wool long coat, my 2 pairs of wool gloves (fingerless and regular that I wear together if it is needed and it was damp and cold- so, it was needed), and my wool hat/big shawl/scarf.  I was dressed for the weather in layers-- the day of the market it was cold-- but, no snow... but, that night... once it got dark and after 7pm... it turned damp and COLD.  I was glad for everything that I had on-- I had to wait on the open platform for 40 minutes.

An appreciated 'knitted gift'....

"What am I supposed to do with this thing?"   I'm used to those tiny purchased mice."

This summer, while recovering from my knee surgery... I knitted a mouse for a cat that my friend was 'cat sitting' for...

"grrr... must attack mouse... Oh, this is much more fun than those wimpy little purchased mice.."

What?  This is MY MOUSE and no one else can have it!

I think the mouse was a success?      *No pattern... I just free knit cat toys of all types.  (Some day, when I move back to America... and get to have my own pet cat... the cat will have lots of knitted toys.)

I'm baaaaack in Italy... yes, June 24 to Sept 29th... is a long, long, long time

I missed Italy and mostly I miss my knee that didn't have an ugly scar running the length of it too.   However, these things in life happen and EVENTUALLY I hope that I'll have a knee that will work just as well as the one that I was born with....    I see that the blogger is doing the 'wacky stuff' where I can't space between paragraphs again.  Grrr     I did do some knitting while I was recovering- to give myself something 'fun to do' since I was trapped without a car (couldn't drive if I wanted to anyway) and my social life consisted of going to Physical Therapy once I was out of the hospital and rehab.  Packing for a knitter is a little different than regular folks... and since I can't sleep on planes (never have been able to for the past 24 years that I have worked overseas) ... I need some knitting for entertainment.  I don't take anything too complicated (small space is a big reason) because I do get 'brain tired' even if I can't sleep.   I usually take more than 1 project 'in case' something goes wrong-- pattern wise, wrong needle (yes, one time... I forgot to take the larger sized needle that you needed to use for the rest of the pattern AFTER I got started-- all of 1 inch got started) or something else you don't expect.   As a result, I usually try to already have a project or 2 started to prevent some of the knitting glitches that I had mentioned.  This time, I took a couple of projects that I had started in Germany and never finished (I had probably got pneumonia or something like that?)... a pair of socks (I had knitted the cuff, the heel, and most of the foot of the sock- but, I could tell that 'hope against hope' that the sock was going to be too big for me-- and the needles were no longer in the sock... (I had apparently needed that size of needles at one time and removed them for another use?)   so, I ripped the sock out to the cuff and knitted on them using a smaller needle and they fit perfect after I was finished! The other project was a sweater that I had started and had knitted about 1 1/2 inches of the bottom- both projects got finished... (well, I decided to lengthen the sleeves to my wrists - since I had extra yarn left over and I just need to knit the last sleeve - about 4-5 inches and then I'll be finished).   I also knitted 2 hats (birthday gift for a dear friend and a hat for the friend's mother) where I was staying in the states- as a THANK YOU for taking me to my doctor appointments.   I also knitted 7 dishcloths as gifts.  I bought some more yarn and knitted myself a blue/white pair of striped socks too.   (You can see how much MORE SWOLLEN, from the surgery, my right leg is in this photo of the blue socks.)   Photos 2, 4 and 5 are yarns from www.knitpicks.com and the brown sock is some good German sock yarn that I bought when I lived there.  Regia brand.  The green cotton yarn used in the sweater (you can't tell much from that photo, can you?) is some amazing cotton yarn that I bought in Italy the first time that I lived here- about 1999.

See, knitting sneaks in every so often... my finished 'nalu mitts'....

See Knitting happens sometimes!   Actually, I haven't had much time (since, I started taking those 3 on-line college classes) to do any knitting or much of anything else... but, one night I really needed a break... SO, I went downstairs to the 'yarn room' and dug through some of the bags/etc. and I found these 'almost finished' fingerless mitts from last year.  I seem to vaguely remember knitting them and then I got sick with pneumonia?  Which would mean:  Too sick to knit or to care.  *They are unblocked and the stitches look a bit uneven in the photo-- and blocking is like magic 'it settles' the stitches down and makes everything look professional looking.

All I had left to knit was the tiny ribbing on one of the thumb places and to weave in the yarn ends on that one mitt.   Everything else had been finished/etc.   This is the yarn that I used.  The pattern is on www.ravelry.com and it is a free pattern.

The pattern is:  nalu mitts

Do a search in google or in ravelry and you'll find them.

Basil and a naughty deer hat

I realized that I had never posted a photo of the 'naughty deer' hat that I had knitted for a friend.  *I had knitted when I was living in Germany... (slow internet that did not like posting photos to blogs).   I had found a photo of this hat pattern that someone else had knitted on the Internet and I sent it 'as a joke' to a friend who not only was a 'hunter' but his job was that of being a 'hunting guide.' The next thing I know... he is begging for me to knit him a hat too.  I never thought he'd wear something like this- but, I did knit it and here is the result.  Here it is being knitted.  NOTICE the deer and their 'deer activity?'   All finished, notice the snow on my balcony in Germany?  Notice the 'snow drifts' on the balcony in Germany?   I think that the snow does look pretty sparkling because of the camera's flash.  I don't mind snow... (as long as it is not everyday for 6 months) if the SUN COMES OUT every so often... in Germany, it was dark, dreary, and gloomy for 6-7 months a year.  I drove to work in the dark and it got dark by 4:15-4:30.    I got my blood  tested and found that I was Vitamin D deficient. THE was knitted out of 100% alpaca.   The hat was well-received by the new owner.   There was a lot of muttering going on while I was knitting my first fair isle/stranded color work knitted hat.  And, now back in Italy....  look at what I bought... The basil plant that I bought.  I have now replanted him in a bigger flower pot.  I need to buy more fresh herbs so I can start having a herb garden.  Of course, part of the problem is... when I go to the states during the summer... I won't have anyone to water things.     This is the side of my house and the brick area is my driveway.   My garage has ceramic tiles.   Makes me not want to park on it.

Kitty knitted goodies...

A friend was recently 'pet sitting' two cats for a few weeks.  He said that the cats were very aloof and they were like invisible pets.   He was in a small apartment and he could tell where they had been/etc. but, they rarely interacted or acknowledged his presence.   I decided to use some scrap yarn and knit them some wool toys from left over sock yarn to knit him some toys for the cats and maybe some 'favor' from the kitties. The yarn is from my first pair of socks.  http://iwouldratherbeknitting.blogspot.it/search/label/socks I just knitted and made things up as I went along.  I made a little mouse and a stingray.   The stingray had earlier beginnings here...http://iwouldratherbeknitting.blogspot.it/2013/01/when-good-knitting-goes-bad-by-accident.html    You might recognize the body of the stingray from the previous blog entry linked above.  I even stitched the little smiling stingray mouth on the underside. He reported that the kitties ignored the knitted toys the same as they ignored him.   Oh well.

Dead Fish Hats

I knitted these last summer for a friend's grandsons.   I used some acrylic yarn by the name of:  I love this yarn

I love how they turned out!

The youngest boy, almost 3 years old, got the 'downsized' hat with a blue background.  He loved it and wanted to wear it... but, since it was 105*F we told that he could wear it when it got cold outside.   I used some white felt for the eyes and just stitched an X on the eyes with some thin black yarn scraps that I had.   I wasn't able to post the photos when I lived in Germany DUE TO THE INTERNET SLOW WORKING ISSUES and as a result:  LIMITED ABILITY to download/share photos!  So, when I came across these photos today - I thought that I'd share them on my blog. Has anyone else knitted this hat pattern?  It is a free pattern and is easy to follow.  I changed things around on the little blue hat since I was totally making it up to downsize it anyway.  I like how the fish fins look better on the blue one too.  I made them fuller and more natural looking (to me anyway).

Felting success and good intentions...

I knitted this purse 1 1/2 years ago.  I used the new yarn line from Knitpicks (at the time anyway) that had a gradual long color change.   I used a rainbow colored yarn and I also used a solid blue to tie the colors together.

Then, I felted it... dramatic demonstration of how much the felting changed the size of the purse,
 utilizing my 'fun fur' flip/flop that I made that summer too.

Have I put a purse handle on it?   No.   Have I gifted this to the person that I knitted it for?  No.
Have I knitted a purse for myself in a different colorway?   No...

Ahh, such good intentions.   Honest... I had them. 

Meanwhile, I need to get back to unpacking the boxes of 'stuff'... that the movers left.   Because, as much as I'd wish otherwise I know that they aren't going to unpack without my help.

PS  I discoverd a great 'local' neighborhood pizza/pasta/restaurant tonight.   Food was great, cheap, and served in large portions.   The bread served was also fresh and very good.   I wonder if there is a 'bakery' in town somewhere?

So, what have you been putting off?   Any knitting projects like this in the 'almost' finished stage/s?

Little Owl Hat for a new Baby Boy!

I made this little hat up and gifted it to a co-worker for her first grandson.   She was able to fly to the states after his birth for a little visit.   The hat is a little too big but it should be perfect for next fall/winter's winter wearings.