Charity Begins at Home

To quote the old Bartles & Jaymes commercials, “Thank you, for your support.” The messages from you guys when I got home just THREE days after my brain surgery meant so much to me. My knitting community and desire to return to it was, for some reason, something to focus on in the midst of so much fear surrounding this thing in my head.

I‘m home. The surgery went better than expected and I’m physically capable of more than when I went into the hospital six days ago. I was knitting in ICU the day after brain surgery expected to give me more paralysis of my right arm than I started with. My whole rhythm has changed and I can knit faster. Smoother.

Life is good.

So.

I’ve been remiss about posting my F.O. because life got busy. This I can fix as easily. I’ve had several charity items finished and now it’s time for the Second Annual Knit-A-Thon at the Lakeside Café in Columbia, Maryland this Saturday. Since I’ll be saying goodbye to them, I finally got my camera out today and went out on the deck for a photo shoot.

Up there is the Jimmie Johnson preemie hat I made at the NASCAR race in September. It is a lot stiffer than I thought, but I had a lot of fun with it. Even if a baby gets a picture and it hits the floor, it was fun. I’ll do more in soft sweet colors and cushy yarns, I promise. The little model is the Taco Bell Chihuahua. It was from the Godzilla promo commercial and says “Heeeeeeer leezard, leezard, leezard!” In the commercial he sees Godzilla and followed that with “I think I need a bigger box”. That used to crack me UP.

Next is the oldest Warm Up America block in the history of the charity. I wonder if I could get some kind of award. It’s been in the car forever. It’s been ripped out, re-knitted, put on the back burner, lost, forgotten, and pattern-changed. And I’m rid of it. Bwwwaaaaa haaa haaa haaaaaaaaaa!

After that is the Nemo II preemie hat. I actually started this little guy on the way to Richmond and finished him during the Busch race of the event. I decided to make a tail on the top and improvised some short rows to give it a scaled effect. It isn’t perfect, but again, a lot of fun. I like the creative outlet. Could be worth a pattern thing if I put my mind to it, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. I still haven’t written Rainbow up yet.

It’s gonna look like a fish swallowing a baby’s head, eh?

When straightening out my knitting basket last week, I came across some leftover cotton. Knowing the Knit-A-Thon was coming fast, I used it for a face cloth for a knitting buddy’s pet charity in Pittsburgh. The name escapes me, but they give hand knitted cloths to battered women in shelters so they have something feminine and personal of their own. I used the same simple blanket pattern I’ve been using for a pet blanket I hope to have finish for the same event.

The simple rhythm of this cloth gave me someone other than myself to focus on for a while.

So yes. I’ve been busy. I’m gonna BE busy. But it’s so good to look at the little collection up there with pride.

Or simply choose a WIP and pick up where I left off.

First FO of 2007

I made the cutest spiral top hat with the Peaches and Cream yarn.

I JUST LOVE HOW THIS TURNED OUT !

I used the free pattern from Carol at The Celtic Knot for Colleen's Cap. I'll have to take it to her soon. I believe she sends caps off to University of Maryland Medical Center's Oncology Center. I added a few rows of purling for ridges on the body. It gives it less of a point and adds grip without the usual ski-cap ribbing.

The decreases turned out this lovely nine point spiral that reminds me of peppermints and those big lollipops from Ocean City. I gotta keep this pattern. It is easy to follow and the decreases can be used for other hats if I don't like theirs. I can use fewer decreases for smaller hats by starting with multiples of 8 or 7 instead of 9. I kept track of my gauge (good knitter, have a cookie) in my little red book so I can even compare various yarns. I think I’m getting the hand of this knitting thing.

I wasn’t quite satisfied with my closure and tinked it back. That was tough. It was worth it though, ‘cause one more row of straight knitting before pulling the nine stitches together made the top perfect. I was looking at it and thinking . . . State Fair . . . yeah! I really intend on entering something this year. It is good to have a goal. Some of the prize winners I saw weren’t fancy or especially pretty, just well done.

When I washed it to take care of the pet hair issues, I blocked it on a bowl on top of the dryer. Bobby and I started looking into buying a head for me to block with and use as a model for my pictures as well. Hmmmm. If I use it for charity work is it tax deductible expense I wonder? He really gets into helping me with my knitting. We were watching something on TV the other night while I was working on this hat. I *had* to be excused and didn’t want to loose my place. I said out loud,” Knit two together on a seven row” and off I went. When I came dashing back and scooped up my needles, Bobby leaned over said,” Knit two together on a seven row”.

I love him.

You know, when I look back to my first hat about a year ago, I wince. I had no pattern and believe I just K2,K2tog and sewed some sort of monster spiderweb on the top. I hadn't a clue about dpn and was stretching the yarn on flexible needles (inventing the double loop I might add). I tied big knots to change colors and did a rotten job of weaving in my ends. It was awful but I was so proud. It was what I wanted to do. It felt good. It feels good now. Scary. Personal. Good.

For you, John.