Miss Jane’s Soothing Face Cloths

Sorry I’m so long getting this pattern up, the weekend evaporated and things just got a bit crazy here, there was a skunk involved….

I was going to name these for Ophelia but for various reasons that wouldn’t make sense to anyone even if I explained, I named them after Jane who isn’t really a soothing creature but….anyway.

Miss Jane’s Soothing Face Cloths

Materials –

Any DK or worsted weight cotton, linen, bamboo or combination yarn that would make a nice washcloth, I used a cotton/bamboo blend yarn that I purchased here.
US size 5 knitting needles

Pattern –

CO 35 loosely.
Border-
Row 1 – K1, *P1, K1* repeat from * to the end
Row 2 – same as Row 1
Row 3 – same as Row 1

Stockingnette Section-
Note – the first and last 3 stitches of every row is K1, P1, K1 from now on.

Row 4 – K1, P1, K1, Knit to the last 3 stitches, K1, P1, K1
Row 5 – K1, P1, K1, Purl to the last 3 stitches, K1, P1, K1
Row 6 – same as Row 4
Row 7 – same as Row 5

Slip Stitch Ridge Section-
Row 8 – K1, P1, K1, P2, *slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn to the back, P2* repeat from * until last 3 stitches, K1, P1, K1
Row 9 – K1, P1, K1, K2, *slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn to the front, K2* repeat from * until last 3 stitches, K1, P1, K1

Repeat the Stockingnette Section and Slip Stitch Ridge Section until desired size ending on Row 7 of Stockingnette section and then repeat 3 Border rows.

Bind off loosely (I use this bind off method – K2, *transfer the 2 worked stitches to the left needle, and k2tog through the back, k1* repeat from *) and weave in loose ends.

Enjoy!

I’m getting some of these ready as gifts for Mother’s Day with some yummy Yardley English Lavender and Oatmeal & Almond soaps. Need to pop those in the mail tomorrow!

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yellow bird

Except it’s blue – Yellow Bird from La D Da. I stitched this up quite a while ago but finally took a few minutes to finish it up this weekend. You can read more about the materials I used here I think…scroll down to older posts about Yellow Bird.

More snow, the girls like to watch it fall, it’s about the only time the three can get along for more than 30 seconds without someone having a hissy fit (Yzma)…I’ve been out in it once to ship orders, would very much like to be home for the rest of the day but boys’ activities may rule that out.

I’m off to do a bit more stitching, some sewing, and some much needed dusting!

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PS – I’ve blogged about the other pincushions here and here.

at the weekend

It was a fairly productive weekend. I finished up a pretty big order of Impie, Hattie & Bea things for the distributor, squeezed in a teeny bit of knitting, some stitching, and tried out a new chicken recipe on the family.

I worked on both a large and small project stitching-wise this weekend. I’m nearing the halfway point on Quaker Sampler III from With My Needle and just need to finish up the over one and the bird on Feathered Friends – March from Cherished Stitches. I like several designs in this series and think I’d like to have a basket of little bird finishes.

I always forget that I can’t just dive into a knitting project but have to wind the yarn into something I can work with first. I sometimes remember to have this done when I buy yarn at a shop but when you buy through the mail you are on your own. I’ve looked at the handy ball winder and swift you can buy to make this quick and easy….but they’re quite pricey. I guess I’d rather spend that money on yarn and wind it by hand.

I finally got one skein of the yarn that matches Yzma’s eyes wound in a ball. I knitted a little swatch of the pattern I’m thinking of using to see if I like the look, not sure I do so I’ll pull this out and cast on fewer stitches and see what I think.

I cooked up a another batch of these sugar biscuits since I still had whipping cream that needed to be used up. These are really yummy with coffee. The chicken was very well liked even if it was covered in spinach…actually Kellen is the only one who raised an eyebrow. Here’s the recipe.

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PS – Ophelia had a busy weekend too!

wrapping up a project

I am slowly making my way to the end of my many knitting projects, that is finishing some of them so that I don’t feel so bad when I start a new one. This hasn’t been a week with much time for personal crafting however – lots to do in the sewing room, Jerry out of town, and busy kids needing to be everywhere at once.

You can find the technical details about this scarf at this post. Although it’s lightweight (lace yarn) it’s really cozy. I love the color and the texture and it was really fun to knit.

Thank you to my lovely assistant and scarf model Ophelia.

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~~ Keep safe and warm in all that snow, wish you’d send some of it here!

nearly done!

I am so close to being finished with our Family Sampler from Little House Needleworks. I have misplaced the threads I was using (another moving mishap) I think I have narrowed down where they may be, it’s just finding time to look and then finding time to stitch. I’d love to have this on the wall by Christmas. I have finished up my Entralac Scarf but it needs blocking. I want to stitch another…maybe in this yarn (Orchard) and I am nearly done with this pretty wool scarf, you can find the pattern here, this has been a really quick knit and will be very cozy when it’s cold.

I did bake some cookies on Saturday which was very chilly, wet, and grey, I even think you can see the chill in my cookie picture… These are yummy with coffee or tea, actually I think I’ll make another batch since I only made a half batch the first time and it’s nice and sunny today…I think that’s a good reason for cookies.

I hope Ophelia is nearly done with her nap. She snores and I think she might be sucking her paw…..

I hope Monday is kind to you!

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birth day

Here’s Kellen with his ‘game face’ on. Serious sports viewing was taking place when I snapped this.

Kellen’s 17th birthday has been fully celebrated. His actual birthday was Saturday but it seems like we have had a weekend of celebrating wrapping up with a family dinner for seven, Amber’s boyfriend joined us, tonight. Of course we enjoyed some birthday cupcakes after dinner.

We have had some chilly days which gave way to more beautiful Autumn sunshine and warmth. I pulled out a few seasonal stitched things to decorate a bit. These are mostly Prairie Schooler and the one with snaps is Bent Creek. These have been around a while now. I received the Bent Creek Snapper through the Fair and Square exchange group ages ago…that was a fun exchange. It was stitched by Joan, I added the JABCO pins which I think are just right with this cute design.

Ophelia looks so pretty looking out my bedroom window, I love the color in the photo!

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3 little kittens

Yzma

Ophelia

Jane

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a pillow…

…and something yummy to go with it.

This is a free design called Reading with Jane by Tanya over at The Sampler Girl. I stitched this on 26ct white linen from Wichelt which is not white at all as you can see. I used 2 strands of the following threads, Crescent Colours House Wine, Bean Sprout, GAST Peacock, Apple Cider, and DMC 927. This is a pretty big pillow, much larger than I usually make. I did change the order of the titles to reflect my favorites.

I’m also working on a knitted scarf. This pattern is called Foreign Correspondent’s Scarf, I found it over at Ravelry. I’m using Knit Picks Palette Yarn in the color Turmeric on US 5 needles.

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Hello from Ophelia!

a new week

I hope Mother’s Day was a sweet occasion for all who celebrated this weekend. This year was very different than last year. This year I was able to celebrate in person with all four of my children and Jerry, last year with just 2 of the boys. We had a yummy Chinese food take out feast here at the house. It was good to be at the table with everyone!

When I think back on last year I remember all the encouragement I received throughout the year from blog friends to hang in there. I want to take a moment and thank you all again. You truly were a huge encouragement and still are. Moving is a big job and I really do appreciate your good wishes.

As requested I’ve included a few pictures of Jane from the last day or two. She feels like queen of the castle here. I haven’t told her yet but Yzma and quite possibly Ophelia will soon be invading her space. I hope that goes well, Yzma was queen of the rock when Jane arrived as a kitten, now Jane feels she is the one in possession! Ophelia is happy as long as there is food in the dish.

I framed my Red House Sampler. I love seeing this on the wall, makes me want to sit and stitch but I’m refraining til I’m caught up on EVERYTHING here. I think I might feel I can sit down to a good long, guilt free, stitch by the end of the week if all goes well. I apologize for the very blurry peek at the living room so far. Jerry’s sister sent those chairs home with us, they are super comfy and where I will be doing that bit of stitching. She still has 2 just like them at her house so we match! I would like to get a leather(ish) ottoman for that room.

We had some rainy weather over the weekend, there should be mountains beyond those trees in the view from my sewing chair!

Jane says hello!

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PS. a bit of kid news…Amber has finished her degree (Bachelors of Science – IT, Web Programming) and Tyler just got a job for a company that works with IBM at their facility near Boulder. Happy for both of them. The bad news for my other two, they will be doing school all summer, well some anyway, we have a bit to catch up on, they aren’t really excited about that, don’t know why???

Christmas Cat Napping

I feel like joining them!

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