In the Family

December 22, 2014 | Verónica

Everyone tells me that my niece, Victoria, looks like me. It makes me feel very proud especially since I do not have a girl of my own. So it brought me immense pleasure when I discovered that my niece likes to knit! She knit a scarf sometime in her teens. My brother sent me pictures of her with her needles. This first semester in college, she decided to learn how to crochet. She asked me if I could take her to buy some yarn and a crochet hook so that she could try to crochet a stuffed animal for a charity auction at her college. Of course, there was no need to go to the store, we just dug into my stash! She found a pattern and crochet instructions on YouTube. Twenty-four hours later, she had made this:

She then remembered that my mother said she wanted a headband with a flower on it for her hair. So off Victoria went to crochet a headband just like my mom had requested.

She would sit with me in the evenings with a hook in her hand and yarn on her lap while she meticulously worked on the headband. It will be her Christmas gift to her grandmother.

I am so pleased that the arts of knitting and crochet still appeal to young ladies like my niece. It’s wonderful to keep the tradition in the family.

September FO: Chunky Newborn Hats

September 6, 2014September 5, 2014 | Verónica

One of my very best friends in the whole world is having babies. Yes, plural, as in twins. Clearly, knitting was in order. She said she loved photographs of babies wearing those big chunky hats. Easy enough: two newborn knit hats with pompoms, for two boys. All I needed was the perfect yarn.

Luckily, The Tinsmith’s Wife had many gorgeous options. I present to you Slubby Blue by Fleece Artist in the Pansy colorway. Isn’t she beautiful?

As easy as these hats were to knit, the task still seemed daunting. I really wanted them to look just right.

I’m generally pleased with how they turned out but still have doubts. They just seem so tiny. What if they’re not chunky enough? Maybe I should have made the pompoms bigger?

The time for fretting is over. By now, my friend will be opening the package. I hope the little ones like them.

Girl’s Weekend

August 24, 2014May 10, 2016 | Verónica

Mom turned seventy-something this month and I had been contemplating a mother-daughter weekend for some time. To make it even more fun, we invited my aunt whom I had not seen in a while. Thus began our girl’s weekend.

The destination was Fredericksburg, Texas. Fredericksburg was founded by German immigrants and named after Prince Frederick of Prussia. (Source). It is located among the rolling stretch of the Texas Hill Country just a short drive from Luckenbach, Texas. Yes, the one with “Waylon and Willie and the boys.”

We took the scenic route on Farm Road 1376 to get there and made our first stop in Sisterdale, Texas (population 25). Housed in a restored cotton gin is the winery for Sister Creek Vineyards.

We toured the various rooms where the grapes are turned into Merlots, Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. Oak barrels were neatly arranged in rows fermenting the wine. A sign read, “Employees only please. Our wine is resting.” After a wine tasting, we packed up a couple of bottles and hit the road again.

Upon arriving in Fredericksburg, our first stop was the cottage which would be our home for the weekend. Words cannot describe how adorable this place is – all 440 comforting, quaint and cozy square feet. Mom said it was like staying in a life-size doll house.

Once settled in, the rest of the weekend was filled with one delight after another. It turns out that the monthly Fredericksburg Trade Days was during our girl’s weekend. Trade Days is a giant flea market with 7 barns and various acres of antiques and collectibles. The girls were giddy with excitement stopping at every booth, finding shabby chic and rustic decorations, and sampling Texas salsas and peach jams.

For meals, we ate hearty German food and locally-brewed lagers and ales at the biergartens and steakhouses; and creamed corn frito pies and bacon-wrapped grilled jalapeños at the food stalls at Trade Days.

On Sunday morning, after enjoying hot coffee and the freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies left at the cottage by our host, we stopped at Wildseed Farms. Wildseed Farms has acres of zinnias, sunflowers, dahlias, and other wildflowers; and rows of vegetables and shrubs. Everything is labeled so that one can buy the seeds or plants from the nursery.

We shopped, slept, did our make-up together sitting at the cozy kitchen table, talked, laughed, and enjoyed life. Just us girls.

June FO: Summerhouse Wristers

June 22, 2014 | Verónica

Finally got around to knitting the matching hand warmers for my mother. Here they are blocking.

They turned out okay. I wouldn’t say I’m crazy about them but Mom likes them. They match the hat from the Capitol Knits pattern book. Small project but continuing to work down my stash.

A Blanket for My Son

January 2, 2014 | Verónica

My husband and I have two teenage boys – one his, one mine. Our boys are the same age and share similar experiences – riding on our shoulders as toddlers, daycare, doctor visits, cub scouts, basketball, middle school, deepening voices, freshman year, etc. While they share some interests, they are very different. One is gregarious, the other introspective; one talkative, the other thoughtful.

One day during a visit, my son asked if I would knit him a blanket. My heart melted. Of course I would. Consulting with my husband, I searched for the perfect pattern. It had to have simple lines and muted colors. After pouring through pattern books and the web, we selected the Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket. It had a rich history, a rustic feel and the palette of primary colors was just right. We could envision this blanket becoming an heirloom piece seeing our son through college, wrapped in front of a fireplace, and one day tucked around tiny feet.

The History

Point blankets were used for trading with native tribes in Canada and the United States, mostly during the 18th and 19th centuries. The value of the blankets was measured by how many beaver pelts one could exchange for them. The color palette is the result of using dyes that were easily accessible. The colors also had significance to the native american tribes: green meant “new life,” red stood for “battle or hunt,” yellow referred to “harvest,” and blue stood for “water.”

A few years ago, the Hudson’s Bay Company commissioned a group of Canadian designers to create coats using the well-known motif. You can view their unique designs here.

[Source]

There are a number of sites on the web about the Hudson’s Bay Company Point Blankets. The Point Blanket Site offers a comprehensive overview and has an excellent bibliography. The Hudson’s Bay Company website also provides a history of the blankets.

The Yarn

I chose 100% Superwash Wool for warmth and ease of cleaning. I found the elemental colors in Cascade Yarns. They did not have enough white so I found a comparable yarn from Ella Rae. I will note that the Ella Rae had an unusual number of knots. Often, I had to unravel a row to cut off the faulty piece and tie on a new string.

Ella Rae Classic Superwash – 14 balls white (100 grams, 219 yards)
Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash – 2 balls each in navy, yellow, red and green (100 grams, 220 yards)

To accommodate a growing teen, I wanted the blanket to fit a double bed. Based on the yarn’s gauge and using a US 7 circular needle, I cast on 238 stitches.

The Blanket in Progress

The Finished Blanket

It took a year to knit this blanket. The repetitive garter stitch produces a lovely texture but can be monotonous. Then there were the months abroad when the blanket lay dormant. Upon returning, I was determined to finish it by the holidays. The dimensions turned out at 72″ x 68″ and fit nicely over a full size bed. Based on the standard sizes marketed by the Hudson’s Bay Company, it merited 3½ indigo markings to denote size and approximate weight.