I am "getting my knit on." I have my yarn pulled out, my looms, my refresher books and hooks and off I go! I know you may be thinking, who knits toboggan's and scarves in the heat of summer? Well, I like to be ready when the fall and winter strike and I always knit hats and scarves for friends too so...
If I start now I can have everyone warm by the time Old Man Winter begins to set in, however, I also want to see just how many I can knock out by the fall. See, I have this little part of me that would like to stock up on a bunch of knit hats and scarves and make a few batches of homemade soap and try myself out at the local farmer's market. I'm in the middle of a restful time right now so I don't want to put unnecessary pressure on myself all over again (I need to rest), BUT who knows? If I can enjoy myself and stock up on hats, scarves and body products by the fall, I might make a little extra money for Christmas. Toss in a few fall pies and some jars of tomato sauce from my many tomato plants in the garden this year and the table might look nice. However, I am not committing myself to such a goal, only attaching myself enough to the dream to see what may come. If you are considering selling your own items at your local farmer's market, now is probably a good time to decide on and start making a few interesting homemade items and do a bit of research about how to gain yourself a space at the market when the fall comes. Brambleberry is a great website for those of you who may want to find a great price on very good quality ingredients in body care products. There are videos for free on this site and you may just find yourself immersed in a new craft that you love. This could be good or bad, but that's a decision for you to make. :) The base products and fragrances are fantastic and my orders have always come in quickly and well packed. I've never had a problem ordering from Brambleberry. They really know their stuff! Right now I am knitting. I have knitted a toboggan for my littlest one and am working on the matching scarf now. The purple and cream striped toboggan at the top is the one I just finished. I used a size 6 bulky yarn and knitted on the yellow long loom. I used one of the purple adjustment pegs to make the size of the loom smaller to match her head size but I could have used the full loom and it would have been fine. In fact I could have used the yellow loom and she would probably be able to wear the hat for two years, but it is finished now so I'll be making more. (I would have made more anyway.) The second picture above is one of my oldest daughter. She is wearing a blue and brown flecked homespun yarn knit hat and I used a combination of single and purl stitches on the loom to create the beehive look for her toboggan. I also matched it with a scarf. I made this one last year so I will have to make her a new one this year. They wear them for a season and then we donate them the following year. The third picture above is one of the candy corn hats I also made last year and donated this year. I think they want another set of those, but I want to make Christmas hats this year so we will see how much I get done. Once I start knitting it consumes me for awhile but it is so restful for me and I end up with something useful to show for it. I'll be a knitter forever. Using the looms to knit with make it very easy to pop projects out quickly. I also use the sweater knitting machine but I have a bit more to learn on it. I can do basic knits (hats, wash clothes, blankets, shrugs) on it, but I haven't really made a sweater on it yet. I find the edges to curl too much on the machine so I have lost a bit of zeal for it. If I can find a way to control the curling on the edges for those basic projects I'll go back to it, if not, I will only use it for sweaters. The curling doesn't matter much with the sweaters since the seams are eventually sewn together on each piece and that solves the curling issue on the edges. I would like to try one this year but I'll have to build my confidence up for it. I'm not as patient as some knitters are, which is why I enjoy the quick looms and machine. I tried needles years ago and it was so time consuming I just gave up on it. The looms have definitely solved those problems and the variety of knits I can do on them are just as great as those with needles. I will put a few photos up as I complete projects over the next few weeks. If you would like to try your hand at loom knitting you can go to Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, JoAnn's, or probably any crafting store and find a kit of long looms or round looms for around $20 with directions. You will be knitting immediately; it's so easy! I would start with a nice color of 'Red Heart' or 'Homespun' yarn since they are reasonably priced and easy to work with. Have fun knitting and consider emailing me some of your project photos. I'd love to see what you have made!