St. Louis Knitters Guild Member - Finally

As of 27 Oct 05, when I finally mailed a check, I became a member of the Greater St. Louis Knitters Guild! For those of you interested, you can go here to learn more about the Guild and find out about their history, calendar, various programs and charities, see pictures, or get help. My niece, Wendy (aka "Gwen"), has been a member for a year or two and really has enjoyed their activities. I'm looking forward to meeting some more local knitters, making new friends, and learning some new techniques!

Scarves, Scarves - Everywhere!

At a friend's suggestion, I am knitting scarves to be sold during the holidays. She loved the one I made myself a while ago, so I made her one, too. Then she suggested I make a few to sell to "professional women" - assuring me that they will be a "hit!" So, I'm giving it a go - might be a nice way to earn some extra cash for Christmas. So along with starting my new job, doing laundry and having to hang it to dry due to the broken dryer, dealing with a dead refrigerator, and a former employer intent on fighting my receipt of unemployment benefits, I have managed to work on the following:


A lovely peach, cream and tan scarf, finished to include twinkley fringe.

Knitting three different colors at a time!



Pink, cream, tan closeup:

Closeup of blue/pink:


The black, red and silver:

Autumn Leaves

Bet you think this will be a post about me getting ready to rake up the 80+ bags of leaves I typically have in my yard every fall . . . but NO! I found a free knitting pattern called "Autumn Leaves" a while back, but it came with no picture. The poster (Michelle on the Knitlist) had included this delightful paragraph:

"A few years ago my Grandmother passed away and I was given her stash of yarn and all the books, patterns, knitting needles and crochet hooks. In going through them the other day looking for something to make I came across a pattern that was in her handwriting with a note saying whom she had copied the pattern from. In reading through the pattern I realized it was for a beautiful shawl which I remember her having and letting me use when playing dress up when I was a child (I am now 39). I'm not sure where this was originally published but I thought someone might enjoy making this."

Initially, I started out just to see what it would create - and used some of my really old, acrylic "crap" yarn from the "dime store." If I'd been more clever, I would have just done a piece of the pattern or two, but NO! I cast on the whole thing and began knitting. At one point, there were so many stitches with the thick yarn, the circular needles I was using broke. Instead of ripping it out and just saying, "ok, now I know," I ran a string through the stitches, ran out and replaced the needle and kept on knitting.

Funny thing. In real life, when you go to the doctor you take along your knitting and knit while you wait. Same with the dentist, same with the auto mechanic, or whatever. For the unemployed, most hours of most days are life's waiting room. So, to keep myself busy and out of trouble while waiting for the phone to ring, I've been knitting. Socks, shawls, tiny purses, more socks, and now, more shawls. So below, I post some lovely pictures of the Autumn Leaves Shawl (minus fringe, which I don't intend to add), finished, blocked, and actually quite soft now that it's been steamed.

So, here for your viewing pleasure, the "Autumn Leaves Shawl."