nancy the knitting fool

Christmas knitting and the aftermath

2009-01-30T15:26:00.006-05:00

So I have endured a full year of not working and working in the nonprofit sector and my bank account shows it! Virtually all of the gifts I gave for Christmas were knitted, and most of the yarn came from my stash. It was rewarding for me, even if some of the gifts didn't turn out as splendidly as I had planned.
My sister got the beautiful piece, but I am afraid it is a stitch too short. It was knot in the round so there are no seams and the edging is single crochet which finished it nicely.

For the in-laws, I went with some more functional items. FIL got an earflap hat which wasn't as successful as I imagined it would be.

For the two of them, I had good luck with a market bag and a rug. The rug was done in kitchen cotton four strands at once. I rotated through several complementary colors and the effect was of a ragg rug that is tough as nails! This is a great one for the back door, garage, or any entry since the seed stitch texture will clean off the shoes and you can throw it in the washer any time.

cat butt approved!

post-travel time

2008-10-19T09:28:00.004-04:00

I was gone from May 23 through August 10, August 28 through September 2 and September 26th through 28th. Then minor surgery on October 2 kept me at under 100% for ten days or so, and now it is time to start work for next season again.

When you are traveling you have to choose your projects carefully. They cannot be too detailed since you may have to stop and start frequently and it's easy to lose your place. They cannot be too large since you only have so much space in your luggage. I limited mine to three items, the anniversary socks, the lace stole and the last panel for mom's afghan. Still, I barely touched any of them during all my travel time!

I will try to finish the socks today. I didn't touch them on the road. They are finished, but I need to loosen the cuffs so circulation doesn't become an issue.

The afghan was finished in August, shortly after tour. Eliza gave her seal of approval.

Two in one week!

2008-05-10T20:55:00.005-04:00

Four, actually, if you count the socks individually.

Two days after the Mata Charlie was completed, I finished Dad's socks. They're only a month late for his birthday! :-o

I have also started a new blog which will be more active than this one over the summer months. The explanation may be derived from the title, Nancy on Tour. There is a permanent link on the right in the link list.

I finally finished something

2008-05-05T11:05:00.003-04:00

Now if I can only finish the other two projects that are a month overdue.

*sigh*

What's on my needles, April edition

2008-04-18T21:27:00.007-04:00

The work I have been doing for the Drum Corps and the Mini Corps has been keeping me waaay too busy. Between that and my three day jaunt to St. Louis, the knitting projects have been backing up.

I am still working on Mata Charlie, but it has been on the back burner due to Dad's birthday and the anniversary.

I should have finished Dad's birthday socks three weeks ago, but I didn't, did I?

The anniversary socks should have been done ten days ago. It is our second anniversary, so I chose Panda Cotton in the Sable colorway. The blend is 55% bamboo, 24% cotton and 21% elastic (the 2nd anniversary is cotton)

I started Isa's sweater just before heading to St. Louis. The yarn and pattern are from Mom's stash. It will have long sleeves, a hood and a four button henley-style placket.

I finished the Wonky Bag just after my return. I kept losing my place and the strap ended up not being lined up with the bottom of the bag. I made the strap 40" so it has stretched to the point that it hangs down around my knees, but the body is also really stretchy so I can cram a bunch of stuff in it. No ballpoint pens or loose change, though.

2008-03-22T22:34:00.003-04:00

More babysocks. These are the ones for the twins, and I finally ran out of Felici. Now perhaps I can proceed with something a bit larger...until I come to the end of the next ball of sock yarn!

I can't help myself

2008-03-21T17:52:00.002-04:00

I don't want to turn this into a political blog, but this one is beyond reproach.

What's on my needles, March edition

2008-03-20T23:17:00.006-04:00

BABYSOCKS! I cannot stop using the Felici. I made two pairs for Isa and now I am working up some for the twins. The pattern is so easy and I can make a pair in 2-3 hours start to finish.

The colorblock pillow is made with Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks. Here you see the front (finished and in process) and I just cast on the back which will be joined down the center with a knit-on selvage and buttons. I won't block it until I have finished both sides.

I finally started socks with the Aussi Wool I bought before Christmas. The pattern is called Mata Hari and I found it on Ravelry. The yarn has beautiful stitch definition owing to the 90% merino 10% nylon blend but the color repeat is a little quicker than I expected. I almost need sunglasses to work it up. I call mine, "Mata Charlie".

Dad's birthday is coming up and I finally found some acrylic sock yarn. Eventually I might get him to wear a wool blend, but it's not worth the effort for now.

I received this Shimmer for Christmas and have been a little afraid of it since I had not tried the lace weight yet. I thought a bridal handkerchief would be nice for the colorway and the size would not be too daunting. So yesterday I found a lace-ish dishcloth picture and worked it up in cotton to hash out the pattern. It worked fine so I commenced with the lace weight, doubling the strand and using size 3 needles. Easy peasie. The yarn is 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk and it's about the softest stuff I have ever used.

a little sad, and thankful

2008-03-20T23:06:00.003-04:00

I have been a little mired in my projects lately. Some knitting is getting done, but I had to balance a sewing project as well. Most of the time I do not follow patterns when I sew. I get an idea in my head and when I can see it clearly, I sew it. Well, I hit a snag with the strap for my jeans bag and just couldn't see it. The sewing machine stayed on the dining room table...like it was a bull in the ring.

The other side is that Mom was the best seamstress I have ever seen. Whenever I sew, I think of her (using her machine also fuels that fire), so it was kinda sad.

I finally finished the damned thing today, and it's like a weight off my shoulders. The machine is back in the closet, and I can again pick up my needles with conviction.

This is a bag that I made to use this summer, so it's big enough to hold a day's supplies, tough enough to ride on the bus floor and ugly enough to soak up some garbage juice without breaking my heart.

more hats

2008-03-05T22:53:00.002-05:00

One of my friends ordered a mother-daughter set like the violet ones I have listed on Etsy. They will ship tomorrow!

Hokey Smokes! I have a blog!

2008-03-04T18:10:00.003-05:00

Funny how things change! I got a job the day before my last post. I started working (laying some groundwork, anyway) a couple of days later, and, OOPS! Hehehehe.

The knitting has slowed a bit, but I'm still going at it, really. I separately received suggestions from two of my friends that I needed to offer a mother-daughter set of my flapper hat, so I finished those. I also got a custom order for a set and that is almost finished.

The cotton yarn I have been using for the flapper hats was on sale (with free shipping!) so I got 26 balls, plus I got a ball winder so I can start with the Australian Merino I bought ages ago.

The new job requires me to travel from June 13 through August 9, so much of my attention has been directed at what I will require to be on the road for eight weeks. While the needles haven't been as active, the brain has! I have lots of ideas for new projects that I have not quite put on paper yet, so stay tuned! I will try to get many of these off the needles before I hit the road. I think I will need to limit my traveling projects to socks in order to save space.

One pair of socks, hold the air cast

2008-02-18T16:53:00.003-05:00

My friend and fellow Stitch 'n Bitcher A gave me yarn for Christmas. This one is Lang Jawoll Aktion. It is a very woodsy, natural sort of colorway which will go great with jeans. I made up the simple harlequin pattern with an eight stitch, 14 row repeat. I love me some handknitted socks! Thanks for the yarn!!!

I also went back to the Doctor today and while he tortured me pretty completely, at least he discontinued the air cast order. Now I just have to try to find all my left shoes again!

Back from, well, not posting

2008-02-17T07:22:00.006-05:00

I was on a grumpy stomp this week. It wasn't so much when I was out, then I was actually rather chatty and friendly or so it felt. It was a home time grumpy stomp. You see, I injured my ankle on December 15 and have been wearing an air cast ever since. It is one of the tall ones that extends to just below my knee. So that produces several results:

pain, whenever I walk. I guess that is considered "overusing" it
pain after I walk
inability to drive my car - it's my left ankle, and I drive a manual transmission.
cabin fever, since I can't get out of the house
it's easy to stomp in it, since it feels something like wearing a boat anchor on your foot.

On occasion I can borrow B's car, but he needs the 4WD and the cargo that his vehicle provides. So, most days I am stuck at home with cats, laundry and Vicodin.

This has provided me with a plethora of time to knit. I am unable to stay on my feet for very long, so to the couch I go. Many items came off the needles!

The Felici headband was finished in time for Amber on Tuesday. She had a little girl on Tuesday and it matches the baby's fancy pants and hat.
The Valentine socks were done on Sunday.
The i-cord headband also finished. I scaled back to three cords since that's easier to braid and the colors worked better that way. I still have to finish #2, but that's not a priority.
I received the yarn for Jen's wristers this week, designed them, cast on, cast off, and shipped.
Last Sunday I made the Raspberry Ice Cream and Magenta Marigold that are now on nancysknits.
My invitation to Ravelry came through and I spent some time nosing around there. The photo slurper is giving me fits, but otherwise it looks like a well thought out site.
I am almost done with my second pair of socks for ME. Another hour and those will be on my feet.

So it's been a great week for the needles, but I can't wait to see the doctor tomorrow so he can tell me how well I'm not healing. ;-]

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T10:49:00.007-05:00

While I have had my share of very special Valentine's Days, it's not typically a day that I hold in high regard. I have spent 21 years working in restaurants, so if my sweetie wanted to take me out on the 14th I would, well, not go. The 12th, 13th, 15th, or 16th are in play, but I would sooner eat airline peanuts for dinner than eat out with every other couple in the city and be served by an overworked and unhappy restaurant staff. We called it "amateur night".

Enough of that. There are always lovely, romantic gifts and very thoughtful cards exchanged, and we will have an early supper at "The Winchester" tonight. I doubt that my gift for B is a big surprise, but I wrapped it anyway.

some relief

2008-02-03T17:09:00.002-05:00

I am trying to find the proper balance in my kniting podcasts. I think I am just about there with the three I have right now. Kelley Petkun's Knitpicks' podcast is always good. She keeps a relatively structured format and speaks informatively on her chosen subject. Sticks and String is interesting but I can't give you a real review since I have only heard him once. The last one I dig is limenviolet and they are ninety minutes of yarn, caffeine and insanity.

The reason I bring this up is that I was listening to limenviolet's Episode 51 this morning. They mentioned a charity called The Snuggles Project that provides blankets to animal shelters. They ask for knitted, crocheted, quilted or sewn blankets in three sizes to use in the cat and dog kennels and they ask that they be cotton or acrylic.

BINGO! The PERFECT thing for my huge tub of Mom's yarn! This has given me a light at the end of the remnant tunnel.

What's on my needles, or Crazy Nancy's Remnant Knit-Off

2008-02-02T13:01:00.002-05:00

I am so bored. This seemed like a really great idea at first, but now I am about ready to hang myself with fingering weight superwash.

How did I get to this point, you ask? I sorted through my stash and eliminated a great many wads and knots of 30 year old yarn. None of it had labels, most of it was less than 25 yards in length. What I did find was lots of cool yarn that I had purchased for one project or another and ended up with over a skein left. I also found that I still didn't have any room for more yarn, so I had to start knitting from remnants or toss it. I am waaaaaay to thrifty to toss perfectly good yarn, so Plan A was the way to go.

The other component of this odyssey is that I opened an Etsy shop. I needed products to sell.

The cat toy from Christmas is the first product. I can finish one in an hour if Eliza is sleeping. Sweet. Number two is made with some pastel boucle and will be headbands for baby girls. I have two made and three more scheduled. Third project, adult headbands. I have some fingering weight merino (from the Fancy Pants and the first socks) that will make pretty headbands, and I've learned some I-cord tricks that will work well. Number four, amber and bronze scarf with the poncho leftovers and some Lion Glitterspun. Five is another headband made with four i-cords in different colors of Lion Microspun. All this sounds great, right? I never realized how much I depend on new yarn to keep my interest in a project. Even the charcoal tweed I am working up into Valentine socks are boring me, and that is new yarn. I think that is carryover from the other projects.

1. 2.
Eliza:

So I think that's five or six projects in process right now, and I am switching from one to the next faster than Flava Flav on the turntables. Yo. I even have a spreadsheet for projects in the pipeline and that contains about twenty, so I'd better get through this slump in a hurry. Yo Yawn!

a long story, chapter 1

2008-01-18T13:57:00.002-05:00

2007 was a very difficult year. My mother was diagnosed with a form of dementia in 2003 and we watched her decline slowly over the next three years. Then last January it was as though she went "over the hump" and her condition seemed to get worse from one week to the next. Hospice signed on in February and they helped Dad care for her at home for as long as possible. By the end of April she was admitted to a nursing home.

So this is why I ended up with all her knitting supplies last January. I was just looking for a little bit of yarn when Dad suggested that I take the whole stash. Three plastic tubs of yarn and about three dozen pairs/sets of needles, plus stitch markers, bobbins, stitch holders, etcetera. So there we were, Dad and I, with my sister giving constant support from the West Coast, caring for Mom as much as we could and I was teaching myself to knit. It was therapeutic. The clicking of the aluminum needles was a very familiar sound and always made me think of Mom - and still does.

Catching up, part two

2008-01-18T11:56:00.003-05:00

You may recognize this poncho pattern since I used it at Christmas. It is the same one I gave to my sister in the red/black ombre. I actually started this one first to be sure that I would be satisfied with the results. I made the back of this one, then made sister's, and just this week finished mine. I am really digging the poncho these days.

The yarn is Adrienne Vittadini Aria which I purchased on closeout. It is a 75% wool 25% nylon single ply bulky weight roving yarn. That means it is not a constant thickness and mimics the quality of a handspun yarn. I am wearing it right now - it feels like a cozy blanket. Yow!

OMG! THEY FIT!

2008-01-18T11:10:00.003-05:00

For some reason socks seem like the most daunting of knitting projects. Perhaps it is because many people are very particular about what they put on their feet, and if you are wearing a poorly fitting sock it can ruin your entire day. Maybe that's just me.
When I purchased the Felici yarn for the last baby project, I also got some in two other colors, Coastal and Arugula, enough to make two pairs of socks. The sock pattern is from Patons and is a good basic pattern. I blindly followed the pattern, trusting that it knew more than I did about sock knitting.

Whaddya know. These are the most comfortable socks I have ever worn. They even fit perfectly! I am now a committed sock knitter. I am searching frantically for all the sock yarn that I can find and cannot knit quickly enough. I want socks for every day of the week. I want to make socks for all my friends and family. This is like crack for knitters. My next trick will be to attempt the two circular needle method, but I must wait for my new needles to be shipped to me. I'm telling you, it's bad. At least they are quick to knit, so I can keep feeding my habit without getting bored.

playing catch-up

2008-01-11T14:48:00.002-05:00

Finally the Christmas knitting is done, and I can finish up projects that I put on hold last Thanksgiving. I have two friends that are pregnant and due this spring. When I found this pattern for Fancy Pants I was compelled! I had never used a sock/fingering weight but the colors that Felici offers are so delicious I didn't even care!

Since the pants are so small, the weight wasn't that big a deal. The superwash wool/nylon blend was so soft and easy to work with that the whole project was a pleasure. I also got to try out the short row technique which will be very useful now that I'm working up some socks.

Postscript: I gave the pants to my friend last weekend and she loved them. Her first comment was, "and they're not PINK!" Somewhere in the conversation a hat was mentioned, so of course, since I had enough yarn, I made one of those this week. I did the same garter stitch on the brim and then stockinette for the rest of the hat.

The Learning Curve

2008-01-02T21:58:00.002-05:00

Great books I got from my mother. The 1973 McCall's book contains a variety of patterns, some that will translate, some that will forever be trapped in the '70s.

I was desperate to make the two color "hippie bag" you see above. My advice? Don't be in a hurry when you are yarn shopping. I usually need to chew on a pattern for a while before I purchase the yarn so I can get the right colors and textures. I didn't do enough of that with this project. I chose Lion Brand Wool-Ease in a couple of clearance colors and got a quick start. The body of the bag took a while and the seed stitch was a little tedious, but that was just the start! There was also the buckram for shaping and the lining...basically I had to make three bags. I also chose poorly for the lining fabric. I wanted something light colored so I could see into the very deep bag, and something durable so I chose this (ahem, clearance) tan twill. It looks horrible with the dark colors on the bag.

I did add the slip pocket to the interior, and I'm pretty proud of the quality of the work on the lining, but it still looks like crap. One of these days I may try the other bag pattern, but not anytime soon!

The closest thing I have to a nephew

2008-01-02T17:57:00.002-05:00

is my friend's oldest child, Rhys. He just turned two in mid-December and he is adorable. Something about me and little boys, they just love to flirt with me. I do manage to encourage it...;-)

I found this great pattern on Bernat which gave me an opportunity to test my intarsia skills and purchased some Swish Superwash Merino in Camel and Merlot Heather from Knitpicks. It worked up quickly and easily and I was able to tighten up the loose parts in the design during the finishing. I had to redo the neck (after this picture) since the little guy has kind of a big noggin - but that just gave me a chance to make it look better.

Husband and misc. Christmas

2007-12-26T19:12:00.002-05:00

I used the Wool of the Andes from the golf club covers and a pattern from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation called Jellybean. My first attempt with this pattern, I followed it exactly and ended up with a beanie that looks really cute on me, but I don't think it would have the same result upon my husband's head (see right photo). On the second go-round, I added another six rows (a full cable section) and eliminated the white stripe. I think it will be just fine!

I got a little tired of making things for everyone but me by the 20th (go figure!) and took an evening off for myself. Everyone needs a Santa Hat, right? This one follows Lion Brand's pattern exactly, and it's the same yarn I used for this year's ornament.

The last project I did was for all the cats in my life. Lots of catnip, lots of yarn remnants, and lots of kitty love meant I made eleven cat toys in various colors. It was quite a challenge to keep my Eliza out of my face while making them!

Sister's Christmas gifts

2007-12-26T01:00:00.002-05:00

The yarn from Mom that I used for Dad's scarf I also used for another project. Since she lives in California these will be largely ceremonial, but I used the same ratio on the colors and made her a pair of mittens. At least I know her hands won't freeze to the gear shifter in the mornings.

I am probably at least a year or two behind in the current fashion trends, but I am loving ponchos. They are not difficult to make and the garment is fun to wear as well as versatile. I found this split collar pattern on Lion Brand's site and the yarn from JoAnn's is AWESOME. It is Sensations Rainbow Boucle (red print) and the skein is over 800 yards, so you can get a whole project out of one or two skeins.

Dad's Christmas gifts

2007-12-25T18:22:00.003-05:00

Berocco pattern Peter Easy and Patons Classic Merino in New Denim. I was very pleased at how easy the pattern was to follow, as well as how well the collar ribbing turned out!

I mentioned that I had inherited all of Mom's yarn, right? She had four huge skeins of sport/dk weight yarn without any labels in navy, chocolate, camel and cream. It was evident that she had purchased them for a single project, but no indication what it was going to be.
I decided that a muffler for Dad was a good option.

This year's ornament

2007-12-17T08:42:00.002-05:00

Every year I give an ornament to each household in my family. My parents, my husband's parents, and my sister and brother-in-law. I also get one for our tree. This year (in keeping with the theme) I made little stockings.

I took a couple of different patterns and made a hybrid. This has given me more courage to start knitting socks for humans, as well. I must finish Christmas first, though!

I am offering this pattern for sale at my Etsy shop: nancysknits

More Christmas

2007-12-09T17:56:00.003-05:00

The hardest part of these club covers was making the pom poms, and that wasn't hard, just tedious. I used a network card for the winding. The length was great since I had 100 rounds to wind, but I wish I could have used something slightly smaller to make a more compact pom. Is okay.

This was my first argyle. The pattern called for the red cross to be overstitched after the knitting was completed, but I knitted it into the pattern. Can't stand that tedious stitching!

The yarn I used came from KnitPicks which is my new favorite provider. Their Yarn of the Andes works up easily and is very reasonable at $1.99 a skein!

These are for my father-in-law who loves golf. I hope Big Bertha fits!

I stopped in to a REAL LYS a couple of days ago. It is locally owned and is in my neighborhood, which is more than I can say for any of those chain craft stores. There was yarn stacked on yarn, from the floor up to about six feet on every wall, in between the walls, in bins, in baskets on the floor, a whole wall of buttons, it was just SICK. There was not a huge needle selection, but I guess you can't have everything. I settled for one hank of hand-dyed, Australian Merino sock yarn. The proprietress even offered to wind it for me! I declined since I don't want to tempt myself with it until I am finished with my Christmas projects.

Christmas, part 2

2007-12-05T11:38:00.002-05:00

My husband is not big on wearing mittens or gloves, but I am rationalizing this project two ways.

He trudges through the woods every morning to feed feral cats and it's cold outside
I wanted to try a project utilizing double pointed needles

Using dpn's looks a lot more complicated than it really is. Now I just need to persuade him to wear them!

I used JoAnn's Sensations Kashmira in black and cream, along with Berroco's Pele pattern.

Christmas is coming!

2007-12-04T21:48:00.002-05:00

Crazy days! I quit my job as of the 16th of November. I had been looking for a new job on and off for some time with limited success and finally got fed up enough to leave without a new job in place.

Long story short, I knew that I would have more time than money for Christmas shopping this season. As I told my father, it will be "a very stretchy Christmas" since everyone is getting something knitted from me. I cannot reveal all my projects yet, but here are a couple.

More fun with the purple Boa yarn! I used the same keyhole scarf pattern I used for my sister but added five inches on each end and one more inch to the keyhole. I also used the knit hat pattern that I used before to make a matching hat. This set is for my mother-in-law Marilyn.

LYS bargains

2007-11-18T22:09:00.002-05:00

(LYS=Local Yarn Store)

It is so much fun to go through the bargain bins and find fun yarns at great prices. Bernat Boa has some beautiful colors and I picked up several balls of Parrot and Peacock since they were only $1 each. The next question is always, "what do I do with it?"

My sister Janis fell in love with the purple (parrot) color so I knew I had to make something for her. I decided on a keyhole scarf which went pretty quickly and was received with great thanks. Since I still had a good amount of yarn left, I wanted to make her something else. I found a sweater pattern using the Boa as edging and Bernat Matrix for the body of the garment. Much better in theory then reality. The ladder yarn was not really easy to work with and did not take to sweater shaping as well as more natural fibers might. It was a learning experience even if she won't ever wear it!

I had better luck with a hat I made for a friend with the peacock color. Too bad it's spring and she will have to wait several months to wear it.

more of Mom's yarn

2007-11-15T21:28:00.002-05:00

Another friend, another baby, another sweater. One of the really cool things about my Mom's stash is that she had several pattern books and the most recent one was from 1973. Yes, most of them were black and white. Many patterns I recognized since she had made them for either me, my sister or one of my cousins. Several had notations in her handwriting. It had been a while since I had seen her very neat, round handwriting and it felt quite precious.

My friend Amber has a little boy named Will who was born in June of 2005. He looked just like the boy in the pattern illustration so I knew I had to make this sweater for him. It is Mom's black worsted weight orlon with a shawl collar and drop sleeves. It turned out waaaay better than I expected!

That age group

2007-11-12T13:34:00.002-05:00

You know, where all your friends are just married and starting to have kids? It's perfect for the novice knitter, since I can make all kinds of small projects and they don't have to fit perfectly. I also end up looking like a wizard since I didn't just go to Babies'r'Us and pick out the first thing on the registry list.
The other thing of beauty about knitting in the internet age is that there are TONS of free patterns online. I love the ones at Lion Brand and Berroco in particular. They are easy to navigate, have very good pictures and the selection is fantastic.
My friend Laura had twin girls in July. I made sweaters and matching hats for the shower, then boucle blankets after they were born.
I used Lion Brand Microspun holding two colors throughout. So soft!

first knit

2007-11-11T09:47:00.002-05:00

I did the requisite Google search for "knitting instructions" and found some decent step-by-steps on about.com. After a little practicing with Mom's yarn and needles it seemed to be just like riding a bicycle. I have always been good with the small motor skills, just don't ask me to hit a softball with a bat.
For my fisrt project I wanted to make something for my Mom. She was bedridden with a terminal illness and I wanted to make an afghan that was soft and warm. No one told me that a large project was ill advised as a first one, so I dove in with both needles. That's how it always seems to work for me, no one mentions the difficulty until after I have completed it. Saves me the trouble of being afraid to start, I guess.
So I head to the LYS and find some lovely purple chenille yarn and a stitchinary and I'm good to go. Pattern? We don't need no stinkin' pattern! I chose a seed stitch for the border and a double parallelogram pattern for the main field.
Long story short, I learned a lot about choosing the right pattern for your yarn, vice versa, dye lot numbers, and how to get really bored by doing the same pattern across a large project. Mom got a lap afghan and I learned to humbly use a pattern for a while.

the inspiration

2007-11-11T09:32:00.002-05:00

My journey began in early 2007. when I "inherited" all my mother's knitting supplies and stash. I was just looking for a small amount of yarn for a completely different use, and Dad suggested that I take all three tubs of yarn and supplies since Mom couldn't use them any more. She hadn't knitted for several years so there was a lot of acrylic yarn purchased for various projects and never started as well as needles and supplies that had been collected over 30 or so years of knitting.
Mom taught me to knit when I was a child and I remember making a lavender scarf. It was all in garter stitch and the width varied like a stream of water from a tap.