Update On Celtic Knots and Thumbs...

Ok, so in a previous post I said that I wanted to learn to make Celtic Knot cables and thumbs (not Celtic thumbs, just regular ones).  Anyway, I did it!  Yay!  (Is the crowd cheering I'm hearing just in my head?)  Oh well, I'm pretty happy about it.  So here is some photographic evidence...

Horribly Blurry Picture

 

Another Horribly Blurry Picture

So, on to thumbs.  I made a fingerless glove... with a thumb! 

That is a thumb, right there!  An honest to goodness thumb!  Ok, technically half of a thumb, but it is at least a thumb hole.  Never mind that the glove itself is small enough to fit my 8 year old daughter and the thumb is large enough to fit Andre the Giant  It's still a thumb, darn it!

I have only made one, so far.  I am really fighting that "one glove syndrome" (a.k.a. "One Sock Syndrome"). I believe that is what Stephanie Pearl - McPhee calls it when you make one glove (sock, mitten, etc) and then your over it.  You just don't want to make another one.  The thrill is gone, so to speak.  However, since whomever gets these gloves probably doesn't want to keep changing them from one hand to the other to keep warm, I guess I'll have to break down and make the second one! 

Here is the aforementioned 8 year old wearing the glove.  It does look better on.

 

And, here is one of Andre The Giant in The Princess Bride, just because.  

Princess Bride - awesome movie!

Celtic Knots and Heads...

No, not Celtic heads!  Styrofoam, actually...

 

Yep, not everyone can say that their husband got them their very own head for Mother's Day!  Really, I was very happy, because now I have something to model my hats (other than me).  She looks less scary with a hat on, don't you think?

On to Celtic Knots...  They are what have been keeping me so busy that I haven't had much time to blog (well, that and oversleeping, but I'm going to go with Celtic Knots).  Anyway, if you remember, I was wanting to check Celtic Knot Cables off of my Knitting Bucket List.   Well, here is what I have, so far...

Yay!  This is my new favorite thing to knit!  Of course, it really strains my eyes (since I have to follow a pattern - which I then have to turn around and do completely backwards).  So, after 20 inches or so of this I might be over it! 

Oh, by the way, try to ignore my foot in the picture, I had to get a really close up shot so you could see the cables!   

Just A Few Pictures...

Too tired for witty comentary this morning, so how about a few pictures...

Flowers my wonderful husband cut for me last night...



The hats I made while waiting with my Mom at the doctor.  I call them my "waiting room hats".


and last, but not least...



My TARDIS Kindle Cover!  It's a little wrinkled and the embroidery is awful, but I love it!



Waiting Room Hats, Yarn Shops, Cables and Thumbs...

Yeah, only in my world are those things NOT random!

So, I found out the 2 good things about sitting in a doctor's office waiting room 2 hours from my home...

1.There is a lot of time to knit (I made 2 hats in 3 days that week)!  I would have pictures, but the only camera in the house with batteries in it is in my daughter's room and she is still asleep (I am waking her up in just a few minutes, I promise)!  Plus, I am really tired of being the hat model for these pictures.  I really need one of those scary plastic heads.  Never thought you'd hear that in a sentence, did ya'? 

and...

2.They actually have yarn shops near big cities!

I mean honest to goodness yarn shops where they just sell yarn and yarn related objects.  You have to understand, the only place in my hometown that you can buy yarn also has a pharmacy, a lawn and garden department and sells groceries!  We don't even have a Hobby Lobby that's not 45 minutes away!  There are a few people who spin there own wool and sometimes sell it.  I don't mean to exclude them, they are my heroes, but I am talking about a whole store with just yarn and knitting needles!

Needless to say, I was in Heaven... until I saw the prices!  Yep, I would love to buy 100% silk yarn imported from Italy and beautiful Alpaca yarn that was spun so recently I can still hear the alpaca baaing in the back yard!  Wait, do alpacas baa?  Maybe they bleat?  Anyway, whatever they do, they are a little too expensive for me.  It's hard to be a yarn snob and use nothing but all natural fibers and all that when you have a Red Heart Super Saver kind of budget!  :/  Actually, I hate Red Heart Super Saver, but like I said, not too many choices around here. 

So, I told my husband I could check "Yarn Shop" off my knitting bucket list.  Yes, before you ask (like my husband did with an "Are you kidding?" kind of look on his face), I do have a knitting bucket list.

Which leads me to the last two random things in my title...

Cables and thumbs.  They are the next two things on my list that I want to conquer.  Now, I already know how to cable, but I don't mean just any cable.  I mean this cable!




Not my picture, I haven't actually made this yet!


It is a pattern I found on a blog called Storm Moon Knits.  I love Celtic knots and have been wanting to do something like this for a long time.  The only problem is, I am left-handed and I knit very backwards.  I don't just mean normal left-handed backwards, I mean some wierd way I found on YouTube when my right handed friend was trying to teach me to knit.  It is really odd and it works for me, but it makes most patterns come out really wierd (hey, another good excuse for not using a pattern!).  So, we will see how this goes.

The other knitting bucket list thing I am trying to learn is a thumb (I mean the kind in a glove, I do know what a real thumb is)!  I have also been looking on YouTube for this.  If anyone knows the best way to make one, please let me know! 

By the way, I did get one thing at the yarn shop!  Size 11 bamboo double point needles!!  Yes, they do deserve 2 exclamation points!!  I have to thank my Mom for these, though.  Either she wanted to thank me for driving her to the doctor twice in one week (even though it was her car and her gas) or she just wanted to get me out of the shop before I drooled all over the crazy expensive Italian silk, but she bought them for me.  So, thanks Mom!