Knitted of Love

Many of you know that P & A & I just got back from a mission trip with the Appalachian Service Project down in Lee County, Virginia. Our week was full of hard work, laughter, and learning to trust and have faith....putting our faith forward was the theme down at ASP this summer. It's a good lesson to remember.


Of course I packed some knitting projects for the week - three to be exact. All of them were my WIPs for the WIP Knit-Down. On Saturday evening, I packed them all into a hard case and included them with the luggage we packed into the car on Saturday evening. Sunday morning as we were leaving the house, I realized that I didn't have anything handy to knit during the 6 hour drive down - so I quickly reached into my cotton drawer and grabbed the two nearest skeins, threw them in a bag and ran out the door. I volunteered to drive, so didn't get any knitting time and kind of forgot about the cotton for a couple of days.


Day #1 & 2 at our family's home involved painting and texturizing the ceiling. On day #3, we were ready to paint their walls. The kitchen was painted a pale yellow. Also, our family had been given counter tops that were a cheerful lavender color...it was when I saw the counters that I remembered the two skeins of cotton in my bag.


Turns out that I had grabbed the perfect colors for our family's new kitchen. These are the exact colors I would have chosen if I had KNOWN their kitchen was to have yellow walls with lavender counters. Kim, Sara, Kathleen, & I took turns knitting a dish cloth for Katie, the lady of the house. It was a cloth knitted of love for their house built of love. Coincidence? Maybe......but then again, maybe not.

Want to know more about the Appalachian Service Project? Click here!

Exponential WIP

See this WIP? It's the De Colores jacket by Ginger Luters from the Fall 2002 issue of Knitting Magazine and the Module Magic book. But don't worry - I didn't start this project in 2002 - I started it in 2006 - well OK, maybe 2005.....but never mind that! It's been my focus in WIP Mania during the past two weeks.



Every time I think I'm getting closer to the end, I remember that after I finish all of the sections (7 more to go for the sleeves) then I have to finish sewing in the ends......then I have to seam the sections......then I have to crochet edging all around the edges......THEN and only THEN will this WIP finally be finished. Yes, I've made progress, but goodness, I hope I still like it when it's finally done!

WIP Mania - two down for the count

Beth's Turkish pattern mittens are finally finished! I love the colors & how they feel on my hands - I hope she'll like them, too. These were intended as a Christmas gift for last Christmas & I actually finished one during our break, but then got busy with school & grad school again....and then - well it got HOT & I didn't want to knit mittens. This WIP almost won because three days ago I realized I had knitted another RIGHT mitten...grrrrrr.....but fortunately, I didn't take long to redo! Now on to a really stinky WIP - the infamous six year sweater......double grrrr and fingers crossed!

WIP Mania - one down for the count

Aaaaahhhh - long weekends! They are especially good when we spend them here, at b-i-l's river "cabin".


B-i-l recently moved house - literally - moving his retreat from the flood plain to just 14 inches over the 500 year flood zone up the hill. It's a much safer location and the house had a few upgrades in the process. It's very civilized for the wilds of West Virginia!

My m-i-l brought me a little present. I really like the photographs in this stitch dictionary. They are very clear.


We enjoyed a beautiful and cool 4th of July weekend. (#1 son & gf on the river)



...and I finished these: Slave to the Socks (the holes are part of the pattern, really!)


One WIP Mania project down & three to go! I think I might need another weekend get-away to help me knock out a few more!

July WIP Mania - Slave to the Plurk

Slave to the Plurk sock #1
Originally uploaded by ckknitter

I joined WIP Mania of Ravelry in hopes of knitting down some of my 'works in progress' for you non-knitters. These lovely socks, designed by Terry Ross for her plurk friends, have been languishing for a bit b/c I messed up the heel and needed to tink and reknit....not a very exciting prospect - BUT yesterday and this morning, it was accomplished. I even added beads to the cuffs! Now it's onward to sock #2 - I'm just on the toe. I hope I can finish it in a more timely manner than sock #1!

Cuff view: