Back to College

I spent last week getting my 3 daughters back to college for their second year. One went back on Monday, one on Wednesday, and one on Saturday. Each girl returned to school with a warshrag, knitted with the colors of her choosing.

This is SarSar - all Sugar 'n Cream (Pastel Print ombre, Hot Blue, Hot Pink) on size 8 needles.



This is Trishy. Again on size 8's, using S'nC Sunshine and Red and Lion Turquoise.



And this is LeeBee, also on size 8's but with S'nC Cool Breeze ombre and Light Blue.



Look at this edge, Lisa!



Ed., Instructions for this edge technique can be found on the Mason Dixon KAL blog here.

My daughters are identical triplets. The dishcloths are like my girls - same pattern, different colors.

They are my only children. They came all at once and they leave all at once. It's just as hard this second year as it was their first year.

August Mid-Month KAL

Finished the mid-month KAL from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL group last week.


This pattern needs strong contrast. I started Day 1 of the KAL using S'nC Nuptune (white, blues, greens) as my primary color and P&C White as the contrast color. The white wasn't showing up very well and then I made a mistake (surprise! surprise!). So I frogged and started over with what you see - White primary with S'nC Playtime contrast.


The pattern can be found here.

Dishcloth Belts

Not a dishcloth today!



Here are some belts make with SnC cotton. The ecru belt was made for my daughter. When my friend saw me working on it at the beach, she asked me to make her one in white with the pattern that I was using to make an eyeglass cloth. These are great travel projects to do while waiting in doctors' offices, for kids or husbands, in public, etc. I worked on one of them at a baseball game and at an outdoor movie.

Details -

Ecru belt - SnC Ecru on size 7 needles. Seed stitch. CO odd number. Work each row K1,P1,K1 across.

White belt - SnC White on size 7 needles. Pattern adapted from Perpetual Stitch Calendar.
Row 1 - K2,K1,P4,K2
Row 2 - K2,K3,P2,K2
Row 3 - K2,K3,P2,K2
Row 4 - K2,K1,P4,K2
Row 5 - K across
Row 6 - K across

Simple mindless knitting that is easily carried wherever you go.

Buckles can be simple D rings (from Joanns, Michaels, etc.). I went online and purchased some buckles from M&J Trimming and JCaroline Creative.

August Dishcloth KAL

I'm finally posting my FO from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL for August. The cloth is superimposed on a photo of the Corolla Lighthouse on the northern Outer Banks. I'm learning how to play with PhotoShop and it's fun to play with these pictures. Can you find my ever-present mistake in the cloth?

There was much discussion about this cloth as we were knitting it - what is it? It was knit upside down, so it looked at first like a spider or other bug. Andi, our fearless leader, told us to use any solid color yarn, but made one comment just before we started that light blue would be a good color. As I was knitting it, I thought it was going to be a crab - a Chesapeake blue crab. Andi is from Maryland and only made the blue reference once, so I thought it was a hint. Oh well, wrong again!

I used size 7 needles and Bernat Handicrafter cotton - Blue Haze.

More About Yesterday's Ballband

I've thought for a while that the Mason Dixon Ballband cloth would look good even just using one variegated yarn without a second yarn. I started it that way with Eartha and I like that but I want some more "punch" so added in the second color. I started SueBoo with a BooBoo only using P&C Gumdrops, a colorway that I love. But after about 2 rows of bricks, I knew I didn't like it by itself and so added the white. I really like the white with the Gumdrops as contrast. Just goes to prove something you more experienced knitters already know - not all variegated yarns are created equal.

Tidy Edges Ballband

Another Mason Dixon Warshcloth.


Meet SueBoo with a boo-boo. My Mom saw this on the needles and asked if she could have it when finished. So, it's named in her honor. Her nickname is Sue and her mentally challenged brother used to always call her Sue-Boo. And that is how my husband and I affectionately refer to her. There is a mistake in the section that used only the variegated yarn. Will I ever knit a cloth without at least one mistake?



This is my first cloth done with Lisa's tidy edges. She explained this on the Monthly Dishcloth KAL and it was posted in the Mason Dixon KAL blog. It sure neatens up those jagged edges! I did exactly as Lisa explained, except I knit into the back of the first 2 stitches on each WS row. Thanks for this tip, Lisa!

I used P&C Gumdrops and White on size 8's.

What? No Knitting?

Not this time. Just some pictures from a very beautiful weekend. What a great change and it's oh so nice to be able to turn off the ac during the first part of August in Baltimore!


A rare, beautiful, clear, blue sky in August.


One of the crepe myrtles that we planted over 10 years ago in our front yard and it's finally blooming like crazy.



Fireworks at the Frederick Keys game. It was a perfect night for a baseball game.

More knitting on the way.

Putting the Petal to the Metal

Something different for me.



This was fun to knit, and pretty easy. Of course I miscounted the first time I tried it and had to frog it when it was more than half way finished. It looked more like a zig-zag than a circle (I had miscounted in more than one spot!) It is knit in wedges with short rows and all garter stitch with a slipped stitch and a yarn over in every other row. There were no DPNs required. Good thing - I'm not ready for that yet. I used S'nC ed. Over the Rainbow on #7 (metal) needles. The pattern is called Petal and can be found here. There are eyelets in each wedge but you can't see them in the picture.

A 12-Pack With Zero Calories

Like all knitters, I am a yarn junkie - just can't get enough. Because I am currently addicted to knitting dishcloths, I am also addicted to cotton yarn. And because I love the Mason Dixon book so much and their many projects, I have a craving for Peaches & Creme. In my neck of the woods, the only place to buy P&C is the dreaded Wally World. And even though WW carries P&C, they have a very limited supply. Now one way around this dilema is to order directly from Elmore Pisgah, but... You must order at least 6 balls of any color, something I did not want to do. So I was delighted to find out that I could call Elmore Pisgah and order something called the "Mason Dixon 12-Pack." It's 12 balls of assorted colors that can be used to make coordinating ballbands.



The colors are -
1 White
11 Sunburst
19 Peacock
51 Apple Green
55 Light Green
133 Shaded Denim
139 Teal Ombre
165 Daisy Ombre
171 Pink Lemonade
175 Fiesta Ombre
181 Faded Denim
186 Lemon Lime

You may be able to specify which colors you want in your 12-pack. This comment was on my invoice - "This is the standard kit. We have had individuals request special colors and we try to honor their requests."

The cost is $18.00, plus shipping. Shipping to Maryland was $6. So my 12-pack cost $2 per ball - more expensive than Wally World, but I received such yummy colors. And I received my order within 3 days. What a fix!