Molli's Materials

It's here, and I made the cover!

2012-01-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited about the newest edition of Living Crafts Magazine. My Blankie Baby design is featured on the cover. I designed this toy for my grandsons so that they could have a quiet, smaller, snuggle blanket. It's been tested, and approved! I love the little model on the front - isn't she adorable?

The pattern for Blankie Babies appears on page 30 in the magazine. I sincerely hope you will enjoy it.

A One Row Shawl

2011-07-25T05:47:00.001-07:00

In an effort to plan some vacation knitting- by my definition knitting that doesn't require complicated stitching, pattern reading, or really small needles, plus I wanted a strong, servicable garment. After 6 or 7 attempts, I came up with this:

My One Row Shawl

I had this yarn, 2 balls of Melody and 2 of Mohair Royal

The Melody I used is color MS39, and the mohair color 12553.

I held one strand of the sock yarn together with 1 strand of the mohair on a size 7 needle.

I used the EZimmerman garter stitch edge, WYIF slip 1 as if to purl throughout. The finished garment 'cups' slightly and stays on my shoulders nicely.

One-Row Shawl Directions

Cast on 7 stitches

Knit 4 YO, K to last 2 stitches, YO, K2

keep repeating this row back and forth until your shawl is the size you are looking for. I added a 4 stitch I-Cord bind-off for a soft edge at the neck.
I'm gonna do this again with some handspun that I have- gotta love a simple knit! At least I do. :)

Easter and the Socks

2011-04-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

I got a wild hare, no wait, I have wild hair but that's hair, not hare- anyway I decided everybody needed socks for Easter. The little red ones for Ethan helped compensate for his daddy's size 12 feet!

and here are our boys with Papa- Just Say Cheese!

Holy Snow, Batman!

2011-02-02T10:43:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2010

2011-01-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

Here's our family wearing my knitted love.

One on Me!

2010-12-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

Okay - so the pants I wore the other day were 2 sizes smaller than I normally wear and I've probably only lost enough weight to wear pants that are 1 size smaller than I normally wear, so I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and discover that I've taken 34 pictures of the inside of my pocket.

Stop Laughing.

Happy Holidays,

Molli

It was an ORANGE weekend...

2010-11-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

I've written before about the Girl's weekends that I
attend. This one was slightly different. Several of
my sisters, our daughters and daughters-in-law
were invited to bring a 12 inch square- the only
restriction being that it should contain the color orange.
What an assortment!

We laid the squares out, pieced them together and added a border, backing and binding. Then we hung the finished piece on the log wall of our cabin. It will stay there- a memory of our ORANGE weekend. It is such a privilege to be a part of a multi-generational group of women who laugh and cry together and create art rather unintentionally!
From left to right the blocks are from me, my sister Linda, my sister Bonnie, a group scrappy creation made on the spot to complete our nine-patch, my niece Kari, my sister Mari, my niece Amanda, my daughter Rachel and my daughter-in-law Erin.

Here's a close-up of the work of Rachel and Erin-

aren't they amazing?

Goofy Hats

2010-10-14T10:43:00.001-07:00

One of the things I've been doing the last few years is at least one hat for everybody. My DH actually wears his for snowplowing, etc. Great- isn't it?

I like them to be goofy- so this week I'm doing some thinking about the hats for this year.

Easter at the Cabin

2010-05-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

Three little boys and a batch of cinnamon roll dough - a match made in heaven. Those are my hands in the right corner with the LARGE cup of coffee! We had such a good time, I got knitting done and the rolls were really very good. It won't be very much longer before we can take all four of the boys- Ethan is getting close!

Thankful for the Chance to be Thankful

2009-12-30T08:20:00.000-08:00

This is our first grandson Douglas putting sox on the toes of our fourth grandson, Ethan. Yes, the baby is on the buffet table where the turkey will soon be- isn't it wonderful?

For various reasons we are celebrating the holidays with our kids and grandkids New Years weekend- more about that after it happens.

Wild Raisen Gallery

2009-08-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to let you know that some of my designs are available at the Wild Raisen Gallery in Fife Lake Michigan http://www.wildraisin.net/

This is a beautiful gallery filled with creative endeavors of all kinds- some very nice stuff that I covet! I hope you'll visit them soon...

A New Beginning

2009-07-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

A long, long time ago there was a little girl who picked a bunch of tiny, little squashes from the garden. "They are so cute!", she told her mom. The bloody welts from the flyswatter are very clear in her memory. Mom didn't see the tiny squash the way the little girl did.

Last week my grandsons picked tiny, little, really cute green peppers, green tomatoes and tiny, little cucumbers. They made 'stew' and 'cake' in my kitchen. It ends here.

Vacation fun

2009-07-16T15:38:00.001-07:00

We spent last week at the cabin- the highlight of the week was Ice Age- Dawn of the Dinos in 3D.

Here's Douglas wearing his Buck eyepatch. And Scott watching TV at the cabin in his 3D glasses. I got some sewing and knitting time in and lots of grandbaby time!

Glad Rags Re-Visited

2009-07-03T10:39:00.001-07:00

These are some of my best work with my original yarn that I call Glad Rags. Great fun to make the yarn and to design the projects to show it off. If you are interested email me or post a comment.

Baby Blanket Edge Treatment

2009-05-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

I spent some time in my stash the other day and found a few balls of Universal's Classic. This is what I came up with. As a blanket edge on polar fleece it's stunning. As a stash buster it's perfect for those one-skeiners- from one ball you get a blanket edge and a baby hat! How cool is that? Makes a great baby gift for way under $10!

Inspiration?

2009-05-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

People talk about how to find inspiration for their work or their lives. Just take a look here- the loves of our lives.

Here is inspiration for everything good - blessings from God.

New Slippers!

2009-04-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've just finished this design. The slippers are my Super Slippers, felted and very warm and I've added the cuffs. My suggestion is leftover sock yarn for the cuffs so the completed slippers continue to be washable. The first pairs were of course for my grandsons- they approved!

RESOLVED

2008-12-31T11:19:00.000-08:00

I resolve to knit 2 things from stash yarn before making each yarn purchase for 2009... hats count!

p.s. I have patterns available for the felted mittens from Living Crafts (www.livingcrafts.com) as well as many other original designs. I am also available to do custom work for you- need an original one-of-a-kind article? I'm your girl! Just email me or post a comment for more information.

Amazing !

2008-12-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

This is me- on the front page of the local paper- what fun! my LYS (www.backalleyfibers.com) is hosting a party on Saturday. I hope to see everybody there.

Ready!

2008-12-12T05:18:00.000-08:00

Here is the corner of my kitchen- ready for Christmas. I took a morning away from deadlines last week and sewed this Christmas bib just for fun. Sometimes I just have to goof off!

Felted Mittens

2008-11-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

These are some of my felted mittens. I make them in all sizes from small child to adult.

At my daughter's suggestion, I added the 'snow cuffs'. These are long, ribbed cuffs intended to be worn inside your coat sleeves while the gauntlet part of the mitten stays on the outside and Viola! no snow inside your sleeves! They are great mittens but what I'm really, really excited about is having my pattern PUBLISHED! The new issue of Living Crafts Magazine http://www.livingcrafts.com/ contains my mitten pattern. I'm so excited that if I think about it too much I get sort of sick. Last night when I was trying to sleep I found myself wondering, "do ya think the Yarn Harlot was this excited the first time she got published?"

Happy Birthday, Welton

2008-11-03T06:13:00.001-08:00

you're it!

2008-10-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

The rules are as follows:1. Link to the person who tagged you.2. Post the rules on your blog.3. Write six random things about yourself.4. Tag six people at the end of your post.5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

http://funkyc.blogspot.com/

1 I'd rather knit or read than do anything else on earth
2 I love Rocky and can watch all the movies one after the other (while knitting)
3 I believe that baseball is the only perfect mix of team sport and individual talent
4 I wish I could hear my mom say she is proud of me
5 I hate the word panties
6 I think caffeine and nicotine should be major food groups

I'm tagging you- Bethie!

2008-08-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

Now, this is vacation!

We spent a week at the cabin in Northern Michigan. Life is good.

This is our nephew Brad. He left for boot camp two days after eating his cake. Indeed, God Bless you, Brad!

(Yes, that's me in the background - knitting! What else does one do on vacation?)

Sock Yarn

2008-06-30T10:30:00.001-07:00

This is Jackson. Jackson wore his sock yarn sweater to visit family in Chicago. Jackson is teething.

I designed this neck-down sweater using a double strand of superwash sock wool. It features cables on the body and the sleeves and a cross-over ribbed collar that makes it easy to get on and off.

"One-ders"

2008-06-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

Got excited over some new yarn this week. Universal Yarn's "Tapestry" It's a self-patterning blend with great yardage on the ball.

Here are pictures of my design for a child's hat and mitten set called "Knot Just Another Hat (and Mittens)"

You get a set from one ball with enough left over to make another baby hat- how cool is that?

A Glad Rags pattern available at Back Alley Fibers. http://www.backalleyfibers.com/

Uncle Newt

2008-05-16T06:51:00.001-07:00

I work hard at designing garments that reflect the life and times of our family.

This sweater is my own design and is called "Uncle Newt" in honor of my son-in-law's Uncle Newton Robinson, a Viet Nam vet and an Agent Orange victim. The yarn is created by me using Cascade 220- available here www.cascadeyarns.com

Why I do what I do

2008-05-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

These are my grandsons. They are wearing sweaters I designed and knit for them in Jawohl Sock Yarn available from Berroco. http://www.berroco.com/

Here is a sweater I designed and knitted for my daughter.

Noro Iro is the yarn- available from http://www.knittingfever.com/

I do a lot of different things. However knitting and sewing for my family is my passion. It gives me very great pleasure to visit their homes and see their children wearing things I made for them, walking on rugs I made for them, eating dinner on linens I made for them. On some esoteric level it helps me feel a part of their lives.