Hand Knit Challenges

Mary had a Little Lamb was my theme song growing up, and so I have always had a fondness for little lambs.  When I saw the Hand Knit stamp set it was love at first sight.  I didn't knit much in those days, but I was learning.  In fact, my sister, Sally, had worked in a yarn shop for many years, and eventually bought in as part owner when she retired.  She was a fabulous knitter, with a great personality and tons of patience, so she saw to it that all her sisters, and many of her nieces, learned how to knit.  I used to call her "the yarn pusher", because she always gave you a beautiful ball of yarn as a gift, along with a pair of needles and a pattern, so that you would have no excuse for not learning.  Once she got you hooked on this addictive habit, it was going to cost you big time to continue knitting.  But, you've got to love her, and we all knit today.
 I decided that I was going to make some little tags and cards to sell at a craft sale. So today I worked up a little knitting and a little lamb (reminds me of all the beautiful knitting you see at the fair, and the sweet little lambs in the petting barns that I like to visit. Once again,I made the cards with 2 challenges in mind.  First is Dynamic Duos #17 to use Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush.  The second was a sketch perfect for this little card from Retro Sketches#26, which had the simple layout I was looking for.
I ordered the Hand Knit stamp set and a stamp pad for Sally's birthday gift April of last year, and just before her birthday she informed us that the yarn shop would be closing.  It was very sad for Sally, and all the people who loved the shop.  It just did not sound like the right time to gift her with a knitting stamp set, when she was kind of trying to put that behind her.  So, I held on to it for a while, intending to give it to her later, but it proved to be irresistible to me, and I just had to crack it open and give it a try.  I always intended to make some cute little tags to accompany the hand knit things I have made, and give some to my sister's too.  I manage to get one made for each of the baby afghans I have made this past year.  I made two for the first baby, Kol, born last October.  One when he was born and another for Christmas.  I made one for Olivia, born in January, and several hats, too.  Now, I have started one for the next baby, a boy, due in September, but that one is not going so well.  I headed off to the yarn shop, pattern in hand, that I had gotten off the knitting blog of somebody I found on Ravelry, which is a knitters heavenly blog.  As luck would have it, my first choice of yarn, they did not have enough of a blue color in stock.  Second choice was green.  I chose a sage, celery, and camel combination.  It looked fun and kind of contemporary.  This blanket is made up of triangle pieces, and forms a hexagon shaped blanket.  When I got to the sage green, I was unsure about the color, maybe it was too dark.  After making four of each color squares, I put them together, and was unsure about whether I liked it.  I put the sage aside and decided I would go back and replace it with a different color, which I did.  Started knitting that one, and did not like it either.  I was talking with my sister about it, and she asked me if I really liked the project or not, and I decided that I did not.  The pieces are larger than I expected, and it looked more for a grandma than a baby.  So I stopped knitting.  I am looking for a new pattern, and I am taking the rest of the yarn back.  Looks like somebody may be getting an interesting scarf, eventually.
Hope you like my little lamb card.   I'm also going to share a few of my better knitting projects with you.  Someday, when the baby days are gone, I might make something worth entering in the state fair. 
Mary Alice

Tony & Smita

Kol's blanket by Me

Kol

Kol's blanket, hat by Laura, Sweater by Sally

Kol's second blanket

Kol & Gary

Laura & Me

Olivia's blanket

Olivia

Olivia's spring hat