In Loving Memory ...

My wonderful mother-in-law: Bertha B. Wheeless

July 2, 1926-May 16, 2011

You are greatly missed

I just really haven't allowed myself to think about the passing of my husband's mom. She was a terrific mother-in-law ... full of kindness and caring and generosity. She was witty and outspoken; a fabulous bridge player and the quintessential Avon Lady. She loved people and animals ... Coke with crushed ice ... clip-on earrings ... orange, marshmallow circus peanuts ... and biscuits from Hardee's. She was an avid reader of romance novels, devouring several at a time; getting stacks out of the library! Yet, one of her favorite books was O Ye Jigs and Juleps! (and if you've never heard of it, you should definitely find a copy and read it). She had several copies of it over the years, as she would lend it out and never get it back! She enjoyed the tv-shows Murder She Wrote and Jag and loved old movies: Portrait of Jenny was one of her favorites. She always fixed us a big breakfast, no matter how tired she was and Christmas just wasn't Christmas until we arrived at her house ... and ate her stuffing, onions and squash, biscuits and that deliciously salty country ham. Nobody makes country-fried steak or pork chops like Nana. She was an amazing woman who stayed courageously brave after the untimely death of her husband back in 1984. She had many words of wisdom and love to share with all. I really just can't believe she's gone.

Go Incognito!

Remember those goofy, plastic nose glasses with the mustache? Well now you can knit your own ... and customize your skin color and mustache while you're at it!

Disguise those fruits and vegetables the fun way!

Here's the silly pattern for you to try! If you'd rather have a pdf version, go to The Pattern Box

Incognito

Copyright 2011 Anita M. Wheeless


SIZE
One size fits all, allowing for the addition of more or less elastic for a perfect fit.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
A little over 7 inches from side of eyeglass to the other side of the eyeglass

MATERIALS
For glasses, ear pieces and mustache: Patons Classic Merino; 100% pure wool; 223 yards per 100 gram skein; color: 226 black; 1 skein
For fluffy mustache: Sirdar Foxy Fur; 100% polyester; 44 yards per 50 gram ball; color: Mink; oddment (just enough for the mustache)
For Darker Nose: Ella Rae Classic Merino; 100 % pure wool; 219 yards per 100 gram skein; color: 33; 1 skein
For Lighter nose: Galway; 100% pure wool; 210 yards per 100-gram skein; color: 138; 1 skein

1 set of 5 size US 8/5.0 mm double-point needles
Notions required: Strong black thread; black three-quarter-inch elastic; locking-ring stitch markers

GAUGE
Because item is felted, gauge is not important

PATTERN NOTES
Knitting in the round on both three double-pointed needles and four double-pointed needles. I-cord is used.

PATTERN

Nose: Use 4 double-pointed needles
Knitting back and forth with the double-pointed needles and your choice of nose- colored, wool yarn, cast on 24 stitches onto one needle.
Row 1: Divide by knitting 8 stitches onto each of the three double-pointed needles. Place a stitch marker before the first stitch on the first needle and prepare to join.

Rounds 2-8: Knit these 7 rounds.
Round 9: Needle 1: ssk, k6 (7)
Needle 2: k2tog, k6 (7)
Needle 3: k6, k2tog (7)
Round 10: Knit
Round 11: Needle 1: ssk, k5 (6)
Needle 2: K5, k2tog (6)
Needle 3: k5, k2tog (6)
Round 12: Knit
Round 13: Needle 1: ssk, k4 (5)
Needle 2: k2tog, k4 (5)
Needle 3: k4, k2tog (5)
Round 14: Knit
Round 15: Needle 1: ssk, k3 (4)
Needle 2: k3, k2tog (4)
Needle 3: k3, k2tog (4)
Round 16: Needle 1: ssk, k2 (3)
Needle 2: k2tog, k2 (3)
Needle 3: K2, k2tog (3)
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Thread tail through a yarn needle and gather the remaining stitches onto it. Pull tightly to close. Knot off and weave in loose end.


Glasses (make 2) Use 4 double-pointed needles
Knitting back and forth with black wool yarn and the double-pointed needles, cast on 30 stitches.
Row 1: Divide by knitting 10 stitches onto each of three double-pointed needles. Place your stitch marker before the first stitch on the first needle. Prepare to join.
Rounds 2-3: Knit these 2 rounds.
Bind off.
Bridge of the nose: Taking one of the eyeglass rings, pick up 3 stitches simply by inserting one of your needles into three stitches on the outside center of the ring. Knitting back and forth in stockinette stitch,
Row 1: knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: Purl bind off
Cut yarn. Using matching black thread, stitch this piece securely to the corresponding place on the other eyeglass ring.

Ear Pieces (make 2) Use 2 double-pointed needles
Take your double-pointed needles and cast on 6 stitches. Make a 40-row I-cord.

Regular Mustache (use 5 double-pointed needles)
Knitting back and forth with black wool yarn and the double-pointed needles, cast on 16.
Row 1: Divide by knitting 4 stitches onto each of 4 double-pointed needles. Place a stitch marker before the first stitch on the first needle and prepare to join.
Round 2: Knit (4 on each needle)
Round 3: Increase in each stitch on each needle. (8 on each)
From now on, you will knit back and forth on each individual needle (separately), finishing one and then starting on the next. Starting with the needle you're on:
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: k2tog, k4, ssk (6)
Row 8: Purl
Row 9: k2tog, k2, ssk (4)
Row 10: Purl
Row 11: k2tog, ssk (2)
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Thread tail through a yarn needle and gather remaining stitches on it. Pull tightly to close. Knot off and weave in the loose end.
Repeat the above directions from rows 4-11 with the stitches on each, individual needle.
After all four pieces segments have been knitted, fold them over, so that you have a front and a back, as well as a left and a right side to the mustache. Stitch the sides together using black yarn and a mattress or ladder stitch.

Fluffy Mustache
Wait until after felting. Cut strands of Foxy Fur two times the desired length of the mustache. Fold each strand over and stitch securely under the felted nose.

FELTING

Put the eyeglasses, the ear pieces, the nose and the regular mustache into a zippered lingerie bag. Throw the bag into your washing machine. Sprinkle in a little bit of laundry detergent. Set your washer to the hottest, longest wash with the least amount of water. Set a timer and check your pieces about every five minutes until most, if not all, of the stitch marks have disappeared and each piece is firm and fully felted. The felted ear pieces will each measure somewhere between 6.5 and 7 inches long.
Stretch each ring of the eyeglass over a 2.5 inch round form, such as a glass candle holder, a jelly jar, etc.
Pinch under the nose to form nostrils.
Set the pieces aside to dry, which could take up to several days.

FINISHING

When dry, center the nose under the eyeglasses and stitch securely to both rings and also the little bridge-of-the-nose piece. Center the regular mustache under the nose and stitch securely in place. If you want the fluffy mustache, stitch the strands in place under the nose. Trim, if necessary. Stitch the ear pieces securely to each side. Measure the person's head (or the item, if a fruit or vegetable, for instance) from the end of one ear piece to the other. Cut a piece of black elastic stretched to this measurement. Stitch the elastic securely in place on ear piece, then to the other, joining the ear pieces with it.

I hope you enjoy it! As with all my patterns, if you run into any bumps or trouble spots along the way, please email me and I'll help!

May Days!

The fish have come out of their fish cave! YEA!!!



Here are all five of them. Three koi and two comet goldfish.

Aren't these guys wonderful?

Notice the food pellet!

Our back yard is really shaping up this spring. It's so peaceful and a really great place to sit and think and gather yourself together. (Which is what I need to do all the time!) It's also great inspiration for knitting projects. I haven't had the time to knit in SO long that I feel like I'm going to burst! I have so many ideas just bubbling up!!! I can't wait until I finally can sit down with my needles and my notebooks! (And this will definitely be the perfect spot to do so!!!)

I bought about 12 stock plants and put them all around the patio. Their spicy smell is just wonderful. It's a little like dianthus.

Here's Saint Francis waiting for some birds!

The color of this foxglove is just incredible.

Although those pesky canker worms ate all the leaves off the cherry trees, the blueberry bushes are still hanging in there. Only about a cupful of green berries are growing this year.

I planted some phlox and some English daisies, too. This little spot is going to be a tiny fairy garden!

My First Book Signing!

Here they are! All the characters together for our first book signing! I had so much fun at Cottage Yarn today! Thank you Sara and Grace for mking me feel so special! And thanks to all who came out, even during the terrible rain storm! I had the opportunity to meet such warm and enthusiastic people!

Storybook Dolls to Knit is Available: Really! It IS!

I was absolutely ecstatic to get my hands on my very first copy of Storybook Dolls to Knit!!! I hope you will be, too! Despite the snafu with Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com, who seem to think it's out of print already, it's available, really, it is! I'll be back with more details soon! And I've ordered a case of them, myself, which will be available on my website as soon as they come in ... and if you want me to autograph it, just let me know! As with all my designs, I will be here for help if you should run into any bumps or trouble spots while knitting, felting or embroidering.

Oh! One thing that made me so happy: There are step-by-step instructions for my designs ... including the embroidery! The cd of the stories is fabulous, too! The narrator is terrific! I do so hope you'll give these designs a try. I know you'll be glad you did!

Day-After Valentine's Feast!

I LOVE these Russel Stover Caramel-Marshmallow candies.
Just look inside!

This is what happens the day-after Valentine's Day! GO! GO now and buy yourself a bagful! Drugstores usually have them 50% by now, but you have to sort through the box. Don't be fooled by the coconut hearts or the plain caramel ones or even the plain marshmallow ones. Only the caramel-marshmallow combination will do!

I'm half-a-century old!

I am blowing out my 50 candles! (Well, just two actual candles ... with the "50" sentiment!) I had a cupcake in there, smothered with ice cream and fudge sauce. YUM.

Here is my birthday present! A vintage (somewhere in the 1960s) Candyland game! Complete with the ICE CREAM FLOAT card! (Which was my all-time favorite!)

I realized the other day that I really haven't been posting anything for awhile. It's not that I don't want to ... in fact, there are TONS of things going on ... even little silly things every day that might get a chuckle or two, but there just doesn't seem to be any time to take decent photos ... and really, let's face it, even a funny post needs a photo or two. Even though these photos aren't very good, at least there's something to look at while you read. Anyhow, yes, my birthday was the big one this year. The one where now I am starting to receive the AARP magazine in the mail! (How did they know how old Randy and I are, anyhow???) I can't believe it, myself, as I still feel the same as I did 20 years ago. My brother and I were reminiscing about how, when we were little, my Dad would talk about World War II ... and we thought that was ANCIENT history, but in reality, it had only been 25 years or so. Now, to think that I graduated from college 28 years ago is really shocking! But, there it is!