Necklace Holding Mirror

Need a place to hang your necklaces?  Try this idea!  A friend had a similar one that fit her decor wonderfully.  She took a rectangular country-style white mirror and put large hooks in the top and bottom. 

This fit my darker decor.  I found this mirror at World Market in the discount section for about $14.  (Ignore my image taking the picture.. ha ha.)

I did some measurements to get them even on the sides, but also at the point.  They ended up being 2 inches apart, centered along the two sides.  If I need more storage, I can put hooks on the top and hang the shorter necklaces there. 

I predrilled the holes, then screwed in the large cup hooks I bought at Walmart.  I really like how it looks in my room, plus it's really doing the job.  I can try on different necklaces and see the result in one spot.  Nearby I have my earrings and bracelets on different hangers.  Works great!

Kid Sized Knit Experimental Sweaters

It's always fun to try new things and once I learned how to make simple sweaters, I wanted to try them all.  Here are some examples of fun knitting stitches to try, and kid sized sweaters go fast.  Plus, if your child is small enough and not balky, he will WEAR your hard work!

 I made this fair isle sweater vest for my daughter.  It was a good place to learn that technique.  It's not a relaxing way to knit but it produces lovely results. 

 This was my first knit sweater from a pattern.  Everything was knit flat and sewn together, then the button band was knit on last.  This success gave me the courage to try harder things.

Here is the same pattern but I added cable stitches to every piece.  I looked them up online and made a grid so I'd be able to design it myself.  I love how it turned out.  All of my sons wore this sweater.  Very traditional in color and design, it looked great on a cold Sunday morning at church.

 Here's the back of the sweater-- the complicated cable in the center was especially intriguing. 

This sweater had stripes of pink that are a particular 'holey' stitch.  I found them in a pattern, and had trouble translating the symbols into what I saw in the photo.  As I was struggling with it, my expert knitting friend Lori reminded me that as long as what I did was consistent, there was no right or wrong.  So I plunged ahead and made this up with my imperfect attempt at that holey stitch in pink.  I think it turned out great.  My daughter loved this sweater and wore it often. 

Have fun trying new things.  Make the pattern pieces the right size and keep consistent in your stitches and it will turn out great!

Child's Argyle Sweater Vest

Because I live in Georgia, sweater vests worked better than long sleeve sweaters for nicer wear.  After learning how to knit sweaters, I wanted to try the vests.  But plain wouldn't do!  Using some serious math and experimenting, I came up with these sweater vests. 

I made this brown Argyle for my oldest son who was 3.  It turned out to be a bit big, but I loved it.  After it turned out well, I made another for my younger son, who was 1.  Mathematically taking out the multiples made his vest fit perfectly.  So the sizing changes exponentially when making these Argyle sweaters. 

Here are the two boys in their matching sweaters.  They are both in college now.  Ah the memories.

I'll post the patterns here for both sweaters.  Once you have your gauge right, you can choose which pattern will work for you to get the correct size.  Or you can change your gauge too.  The math based pattern is inflexible; if you try to cut it off or change it, your lines won't work or you'll lose the design symmetry.  Scaling it down one stitch means you lose many stitches across the pattern, as you can see if you compare the two plans.

Check your gauge!  Know you are knitting the correct size before you get started.

I recommend also that you practice knitting in two colors, if you haven't already done that before.  The trick is to cross the yarn strands over each other in the back so that you don't get holes where the colors change. 

See how the yard loops form in the back of this argyle.  Be sure to loop the yarn around each other when you change color.  Note:  Ignore the x markings on the pattern until after the knitting is completed.

Argyle Sweater Size 12 months

Argyle Sweater pattern Size 5

You will need to make up small balls of yarn of your two alternate colors for the diamonds. 

I would make the back first, to be sure you like the length and shaping, then you can make changes to the above pattern before you've invested a lot into the Argyle pattern.  You could add or remove rows at the shoulder to lengthen or shorten it.  Or you could simply knit more rib knit at waist to lengthen it.   

To Start at waist:  Cast on the number of stitches listed at the bottom of the pattern, then work in rib knit for a few inches.  Knit a row, purl a row.  Knit 8 sts for size 12 months (10 sts for size 5) and knit the next stitch in Color 2, change to Color 1 and knit 15 (19), knit 1 st in yarn color 3, switch to color 1 and knit 15 (19), knit 1 st in yarn 2, knit 8 (10) sts in yarn 1 to end.  Turn and purl next row exactly as you knitted first row.

Next several rows, knit next row in plan, decreasing color 1 and increasing colors 2 and 3 in their diamond patterns.  Once the corners have only one sts of color 1 separating them, increase color 1 and decrease colors 2 and 3 until they disappear.  For example, the next row, knit 7 (9) sts in color 1, 3 sts in color 2, 14 (18) sts in color 1, 3 sts in color 3, 14 (18) sts in color 1, 3 sts in color 2, and knit to end in color 1.  Turn and repeat, purling this time to create the stockinette stitch.

Only change to the next row in the pattern once you've knit and purled the same row in the pattern.  Each square in the pattern represents two rows, a knit and a purl row. 

Neck and Armhole shaping:  Cast off stitches as the pattern shows.

X-markings:  Use these as a guide for your needlework.  Thread a dull tapestry needle with your contrasting color (pink in our example) and carefully sew a stitch into the two stitches where marked.  This forms the criss-crossing accent lines. 

Once front and back are completed, stitch left shoulder front to the corresponding shoulder back, right sides together.  Cast on one st in each st on the left side of the vest front and back neck.  Knit rib knit across for 4 rows, cast off.  Cast on one st for each st in the right side of the vest front, taking care to catch the new neck band in it.  Rib knit across 4 rows and cast off.  Stitch right shoulder together.  I used color 1 to do the arm bands and the neck bands, but feel free to use any of the colors in the design. 

Cast on one st for each st in the armholes, rib knit 4 rows and cast off.  Stitch side seams and clip yarn.


This classic look can be scaled up for adult sweaters in dark colors too.  Consider putting a button band in the center front of the vest for adult versions.  I made this design in my Christmas stockings, a subject of another post.  Most of all, enjoy the diversion of Argyle knitting!

Knitting Without Tears

That is actually a title of a book by Elizabeth Zimmerman, a wonderful book.  When I saw that title several years ago, I knew I had to have it! 

I started knitting when I was 11 years old as part of my church instruction in the Merrie Miss group of girls in Primary in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Since I had already learned to crochet, knitting came pretty easy to me.  But following patterns was always a struggle-- it was tedious and time consuming.  Often I ended up with strange loops in every other row.  So I learned how to make things without patterns, which was rather limiting (hats, scarves, the like.)  Elizabeth Zimmerman taught me how to make many more things after I found this book!

Turns out that I learned to knit differently than most Americans-- I learned to knit the German way.  That explained why I had funny loops in those odd rows when I followed patterns.  Americans wrap their yarn, while Germans grab it.  Also, Americans poke into the left side of the loop, while Germans go through the center of the loop.  I think German knitting is faster, but it requires adapting patterns to avoid that pesky loop.

My favorite part of this book is the chapter on knitting seamless sweaters (Page 64.)  Zimmerman explains in the chapter how to mathematically calculate the number of stitches required to make the sweater based on size, gender and age.  Starting at the waist and knitting up to the neck, I loved how she described reducing at the shoulder as going quickly, like the barn was burning down.  She's a great read.

Making these sweaters will require the use of double pointed needles for the arms and flexible needles for the body.  Once the sleeves and body are knitted up to the armpit, they are joined onto the flexible needles leaving some to be woven at the armpit.  A few more inches are knitted upward, then the decreasing begins until you reach your desired neckline, when you can cast off.  It makes perfect sense and a lovely sweater.  

Here are a few of the sweaters I have made over the years using this pattern.

This was my first attempt.  I had to see if it would work before I got too excited.  This turned out great except that the neck was really tight for a small child.  I loved watching the patterns emerge with the veriegated yarn.  Seeing that Zimmerman's pattern worked, I tried other things, like putting a button band in front.  Worked great!

This one with a button band and purple stripes went fast.  I loved trying the raglan at the shoulder instead of the random decrease in the first.  My daughter wore this sweater often. 

I tried a flower bud row at the neck for interested, which produced this fun sweater and hat.  The hat went first so I could see how the buds would look.  My daughter wore this often too.  This is using the original random decrease again.  Note that I didn't use double pointed needles on the sleeves for this one.  I thought I'd see if the seam under the arm would be a problem.  Of course it wasn't a problem, it just looked nicer without the seam, so I went back to the complete seamless look.  It was worth the double pointed needles.

These newborn blessing day sweaters are just a couple of the ones I made to give away as baby gifts.  The v-neck was made by decreasing it at the neckline button band as I was decreasing the shoulder Raglan style.  Then I picked up the stitches across the center front on both sides of the needles to get the button band and collar done up together.  I really like how it turned out.

I made this to solve the problem of car seats over baby coats.  Note that the sweater opens at the legs to allow the buckle to meet at the crotch.  Note the unusual pattern that appeared on the seamed arms so I could get that unique pattern with the veriegated yarn, although it didn't make that pattern in the body.

This is buttoned the way Paige usually wore this sweater-- as a pram.  But the seat belt can still be inserted through the button band.

Back view of sweater.  Note that in adding the hood, I made rib knit stitches at the neck so that it would hug her neck better without having to decrease and increase again.  

This is a detail of the backside button band, which allows the car seat buckle to get through the legs of the coat.  Note that I used rib knit at the toes to pull in the bottom, like a drawstring does on fabric prams. 

I hope this inspires others to try this different approach to knitting without using patterns, hence no crying.  Especially if you are a German knitter like me! 

Organizing the pantry and spices into canning jars using steps

After looking for several hours at many ideas online on how to organize my pantry, I realized that my boxes and boxes of canning jars would make a great storage solution.  I also had mayonnaise jars I stored with my traditional canning jars. And best, it was free!   

Whenever I would use any canning jars and wash them, I stored them with parchment paper screwed in with the lid.  That theroetically kept the jar clean and helped me know which jars were ready to be used, so I didn't need to wash them prior to use.  Seemed like a good step to take. 

With that in mind, I gathered up all of the clean jars and began putting all of my pantry items inside.  I wish I had taken a good photo of my pantry before the tidy.  You'll just have to take my word for it when I tell you it was really messy.  We couldn't find anything! 

As I emptied a larger container into a canning jar, I put any remnants in a large freezer bag and put it in the bins in the bottom of the pantry. 

I used a label program on my computer to make up the labels for the jars.  In hindsight, I think it would be better to use white labels with a clear plastic label over the top to seal the ink in.  If there were specific instructions, as for brown rice, I printed them on a separate label and put it on the lower part of the jar for easy access. 

To make the step-ups, I simply cut 2x4 boards to the right length to fit the width of the pantry, then set them inside.  Using a small scrap of 2x4 on each end of the back-most row raised it higher than the one before it.  This system could be used to make many rows of step-ups. 

Even though some liquid items on the upper shelf are not in uniform canning jars, because they are on the steps, they are easier to see and use. 

After seeing how great it looked, I went to my spice cupboard and did the same thing.  This time I used  pint sized jars.  The bins at the top contain specialty spice blends that we don't frequently use.  Only enough headspace exists in this small cupboard to make two rows and still be able to step-up the back row and be able to remove the jar easily over the front row.  So just one 2x4 was placed in back for that row. 

I alphabetized the spices, and seeing how well that worked for me, I went back to the pantry and alphabetized those jars too.  Yep, I'm over the top! 

I think the combination of uniform containers and the 'steps' is what made this work for me.  I can see my pantry ingredients and remove them easily.  I can find what I need quickly and painlessly!  And putting it back is so easy, the pantry stays clean and neat.  Hooray for organization!

Fine Art on a Salvaged Door

A friend of mine is remodeling her home and changing out her flat luan style doors for the modern traditional look.  She gave me a couple, and I got creative!

First I removed all hardware, like hinges and doorknobs.  Using my tablesaw, I cut the door into two pieces at the doorknob.  I was looking to remove the hole and salvage the rest of the door so I could use the door as a canvas for fine art.

The larger piece was perfect for the project I had in mind.  I decided to use the door with the cut end up, thinking it would be less visible there due to how I was hanging it.  I used 'Great Stuff', the foam gap filler in the hollow and cut off the excess after it had cured.  It is not noticeable, but I think I will finish it nicely.

The smaller gaps where the hinges had been created a smaller problem.  I used sheetrock mud to fill the gaps, but next time I'll use wood filler.  I made a sanding block to sand the dried result, so that it would be flat and blend with the rest of the wood on the side.  Wood filler is preferable because it is closer to the density of the wood door and will blend better.  

Now that the door was ready, I primed it using 'Kilz Oil-Based Primer.'  I just rolled it on.  Then I laid out the design.  I used an old soap ad I found on the internet.  Here's an example of it I found on ebay.  I don't know what I did with the one I printed out.

I reproduced the ad on the door, adding color.  Pears ads were usually bright and striking, so I didn't hold back on color.

After finishing, I covered with a couple of coats of urethane and added some hooks to the upper corners.  It's beautiful in my main floor bathroom!

Forgive the flash in the photo.  I'm going to do this again!  It looks great three-dimensionally displayed without any frame.