About Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Living and crafting between the hot flashes

Changing things up

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

For several years these cards from IKEA were displayed in a long vertical frame on a narrow wall.

But I wanted to change out the pictures for some note cards by Woody Jackson.

I didn’t want to damage the cards by taping them directly to the underside of the mat so I made picture/photo corners from some old envelopes.

I just cut off the corners at an angle and slipped them over the corners of the note cards. Then I taped those corners to the back of the mat.

Voila! No damage to the cards if I ever decide to use them.

Now the frame fits nicely above the doorway going from the kitchen into the hall/dining room/foyer area.

Care and feeding

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

A few years ago the choir members at Mr. Aitch’s church gifted him with a beautiful sweater, tie and dress shirt. The dress shirt is 100% cotton and not the wrinkle-resistant kind of cotton.

Though I appreciate the gesture, I do not like the extra work involved. I have a love-hate relationship with that shirt. It takes me twice as long to iron it than any of the other shirts. And I don’t mean a quick press or touch-up. I mean IRON. As in dampening the shirt and using spray starch. I really dislike the care and feeding of that shirt but it does look so nice when I’m finished with it and Mr. Aitch wears it.

Finding the right yarn for a project also means looking at the care and feeding of the finished item. Acrylic? No problem. Cotton? “Most” of the time it can be machine washed BUT dried flat after reshaping. Wool? Depends on if it is superwash or not. Superwash can be machine washed and dried but best to dry flat after shaping. Not superwash wool? Hand wash gently in cool water, roll in a towel to get as much water out, reshape and dry flat. Of course ALWAYS check the label to see how to take care of the finished item(s).

So when I needed a superwash wool yarn for my special project, I had to go out and buy some as I know the recipient (and his wife) would appreciate an easy care item over a handwash item.

I always include care and feeding instructions with my handmade things be them knitted or sewn.

Do you take those into consideration when gifting something you’ve made?

New LYS

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

I don’t know if you remember that the one and only local yarn store (LYS) closed last year. The nearest one after that was 75 miles away. I bought some great yarn at great prices but one can only knit from stash if one has the right yarn for the project.

I’m on a yarn diet but I did need to buy some yarn for a special project and though I tried to use some from my stash, the yarn wasn’t the right yarn for the project.

Now there’s NEW local yarn store! Frostburg Fiber Depot is 20 miles away but that’s better than 75 miles.

The husband of one of the co-owners raises alpacas and so it’s a win-win-win for her, him and yarn lovers.

I only found out about this new yarn store when I received a gift certificate from there earlier this year. While running some errands last week, I decided to check out the store and use my certificate for some yarn for the special project.

I found the special yarn and some Cascade 220 in yellow to knit myself something to go with my new winter coat which, by the way, is yellow!

That’s when I discovered they carry Malabrigo yarn! I have one hank of Malabrigo that a blog friend gifted me a few years ago when I commented on her blog about never having seen, touched, squished, or smelled said goodness. It’s beautiful but the wrong color. And now I can find more and it’s only 20 miles away!

I couldn’t wait for better light as I wanted to get knitting right away!

Special project… And more true to life colors.

It is such a treat to knit with this yarn. I’m in love. ❤

Christmas Wishes 2016

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Before we get to the meat of this post, I want to thank all our veterans for serving and defending the freedoms we enjoy each and every day. Thank you so much.

Well, I’m really going against MY rules about posting something about Christmas before Thanksgiving in the US but I’m posting this now those of you who wanted/needed a reminder early enough so you can do this, too, if you want.

Christmas Wishes or an Advent calendar of sorts. A small gift, Words of encouragement, activity suggestion, simple craft, or treat is opened each day before Christmas. For more details, read this.

In the beginning I used brown paper lunch-sized bags. Then one year I wrapped each “gift” and quickly learned that I wasn’t doing that again! Finally I made those sour cream packets since I was using small items and the lunch bags were just too large.

I used card stock this year and glue sticks. The double-sided tape works better but is more expensive. Plus I didn’t have much tape.

I printed out the numbers and cut them out with a large hole punch. Paper sizes were 4×5, 4×6, and 6×6. A paper cutter works great but so does a rotary cutter.

The mini ornaments and no candy.

The card stock was sturdier than what I used in the past so I held the ends together with spring clips until the glue dried. I won’t lie, this took longer than using the double-sided tape but I needed to take breaks anyway.