All Wrapped Up for You

Sorry it's been so long since I have written.  Coming the America has been an adventure.  We have been trying to decide where to live now that Tim needs to be educated here in the USA.  I have been staying in Rexburg, Idaho with two of my daughters.  It's a wonderful townhouse with two bedrooms.  The only problem is when you put two college students, a sixteen year old boy and three dogs in that small of space it isn't as quiet as one could hope.  My son Tim loves to tease his older sisters until we're all crazy and I am longing for the peace of my own space.  I have seriously considered running away from home!  But since that isn't an option, I have been dreaming of where we will settle.  We have decided that Idaho or Utah just aren't where we want to live long term.  We really want to go back to our roots which is the great state of Michigan.  Michigan has gone though some horrible things as far as jobs are concerned so it hasn't been a option up until now.  With our living not dependent on income Michigan is once again an option.  We comb the real estate listings daily looking for just the right property where Tim and I can settle and dad can come home and visit!  Can I just say here it's a shame that American businesses have done their best to take the work outside of this country.  And they are currently reaping the rewards of that.  Unskilled workers!  Oh well on to better things.  To keep myself sane I have been busy knitting and have completed all the wonderful warm woollies in the picture above.

      The hat, leggings and fingerless mittens were my first project ( could be because it was so cold here when we arrived).  I used a wonderful yarn from Plymouth Yarn company called Mushishi, and their pattern 1592.  They knitted up fast and look wonderful.  It's a very simple, plain pattern which showcases the yarn beautifully.
       Next comes a pair of real mittens!  I just don't think the fingerless gloves are as practical as everyone tells me!  Personally, I want my fingers covered so I knitted up a pair of mittens with my favorite mitten pattern by Fiber Trends "Easy Hats and Mittens".  These knitted up in an evening and will give my daughter a nice alternative to the fingerless gloves.

      Since my daughter Stephanie is so tall, I needed to purchase extra yarn to make the leggings and gloves long enough to be of practical use to her.  So with all the extra yarn I also knitted up a "Spice Route Shawl"  which is really a cool scarf!  It fits nicely around the neck to keep you warm without the long tails of a regular scarf to deal with.  The beautiful stitch pattern also complimented the yarn as well.  You can find the free pattern for the shawl here;   http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0369.html?r=1   I love free patterns!  They are well worth the investment of the yarn companies because I sure do buy a lot of yarn that way!

     Last but not least is Julia's Cabled Headband, this is a child's headband that I just made larger for my daughter.  I made it so that it finishes at 21" which was 7 pattern repeats, I also used 4 mm needles rather that the 4.5mm called for in the pattern.  This is another free pattern which you can find here:  http://mathgirl40.blogspot.com/2009/01/wide-cabled-headband-pattern.html   I want to make up more of these. They are perfect for covering your ears and not messing up your hair.  Plus, with my great new hair cut, head banks are very helpful!