. . . for God loveth a cheerful giver.

But this I say,
He which soweth sparingly
shall reap also sparingly;
and he which soweth bountifully
shall reap also bountifully.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Every man according
as he purposeth in his heart,
so let him give;
not grudgingly,
or of necessity:
for God loveth a cheerful giver.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

II Corinthians 9:6-7

More knitting . . . and still waiting!

I’m still working on mini secret projects over here, and here is another sneak preview:

I also thought I’d share one of my favorite steps in knitting . . . the Kitchener Stitch — the 8-ball way!

When it came time to learn the kitchener stitch, I found it easier to make the stitches very loose. (pretend you don’t see that the yarn used in the pics looks suspiciously like the yarn in one of my mini secret projects!)

Then, I needed something to put in the sock to spread out the work so I could lay the stitches flat (kind of like darning a sock) — well, at the time, the children had this miniature pool table set up in the living room, right near where I was working; the light bulb went off! I took a pool ball from the table, and dropped it into the toe of the sock! (the pool table is long gone, but I still have the 8-ball!)

I begin working from right to left, and with my yarn needle tighten the stitches to match the tension of the surrounding stitches.

I found this to be so helpful — all the stitches are even, none bigger than the other. When I first learned this stitch for joining the toe, I tried just holding the sock flat, and tightening as I went, but it looked horrible — my 8-ball kitchener method was just the trick!

I don’t know if everyone loves this step or hates it (I’m also one of those weird seamstresses who really like putting in zippers!), but I really get satisfaction in hiding this join in plain sight! And the 8-ball makes it super-easy!

Oh, and we are continuing to wait for the postman to deliver our bare dyeing yarn!

~ Not yet, Mommy! ~

From the dye table . . .

Well, the skein from my last post has finally dried, and you can find VIOLETS listed in my Etsy shop!

~ VIOLETS semi-solid ~

~ superwash merino, fingering weight ~

And now, I begin the wait! I’ve got 2 orders that I’m waiting on for more bare yarn, and I’m eager to get my hands on it! Right now, I’m finishing up my dyeing for the September Sock Club, and then I’m going to be getting ready for my October Sock Club, as well as dyeing up many more semi-solid skeins — so I’ve got my eye on that mail truck!

We play this game when we’re waiting for the mail truck around here! Out on the rural mail routes, the carriers use pickup trucks, and our box is down the hill at the road. Since we live at the end of a 2-mile dirt road, most likely if we hear a vehicle coming down the road around 10:30am, it’s the mail truck.

~ We're waaaaay down at the end! ~

So, all the children know, if Mommy is expecting a package, they peer out the window, look through the dense cluster of trees out at the road, and try to see if the truck is stopping at the box, or coming up the driveway. When it comes up the driveway, (maybe something too big for the box?!) this yarn dyer is excited! Of course, I’m sure I’m the only one to play this game! =)

I’m going to lay low for the rest of today to try to shake this 24 hour headache I seem to have — I’ll be back tomorrow with updates on some of my other current knitting projects!