people with special needs like knitting too...

So as I'm pretty sure I've stated before, I work in the mental health field.  I work at an adult day program with people who have both mental disorders and disabilities.  One thing that some of them enjoy doing, is using the Knifty Knitter looms that I introduced them to (with the encouragement from my boss).  I have ONE out of like 30 clients who can actually knit, and enjoys it.  She said to me the other day "I want to knit with the two needles, not the round thing".  She simply needs you to help her when she starts and finishes a row, other than that, she does everything herself.  Totally proud of her too, because we can't get her to do much that requires sitting, she likes to pace the hall and smoke...
The reason I bring this up in my blog today, and I'm not talking about the blanket I still haven't finished... is because I'm trying to find ways to help the others in trying to knit, crochet, use the Knifty Knitter looms, etc... So I googled knitting and special needs, and I googled special needs knitting, and tons of other variations... and have found NOTHING.   I only found stuff about donating to the special Olympics and the typical knitting sites...
I'm currently working on a contraption to assist people with special needs in fiber crafts, and once my dad and me both have time to buy the stuff to build the one, I want to try it out at work to see how it works out.  But I'm kind of shocked that I can't find anything pertaining to special needs and crafts, especially since most people with Autism and OCD or even just repetition being something they enjoy and helps them in their daily life.  My clients love working on crafty stuff in my room, cross stitch, knitting, crocheting, using the round looms, they love it.  Most of them can't follow patterns because they want things to be the way they want it to go, but they still enjoy the repetitive motion.  I'm going to continue to search, and hopefully find some adaptive equipment that isn't JUST for sensory integration and traditional therapy stuff.

OFF TO KNIT!  totally spent most of the day googling about knitting and special needs...

Saturdays without practice = gym and yarn.

I don't get to the gym enough... After this post I am returning something I bought because its BROKEN and was dumb enough to not notice while I was at the store... way to go ME.... and then I am going to the gym.  Bought new sneakers last night, time to try them out on the treadmill.  Maybe they will inspire me to work out more, so i can be lazy later and knit more...
Day as follow
Store to return the broken item (should have done this 2 weeks ago...)
Gym - Maybe I can make myself work out for more than a half hour... go for an hour or something, I've been too lazy lately...
Yarn - as long as the boyfriend doesn't call and go "hey, lets go get dinner, i'm hungry, you're hungry LETS DO IT!" then I plan on FINISHING the baby bear blanket.  YAY!  And starting one of two projects.

I have decided I am using the dyed by Kelly yarn for arm warmers.  I think they'd be a fun random addition to my life and I can put them on in the morning and not worry about cold arms while driving to work at 645 in the morning.

Contemplating a new job.  Got offered it, its closer, its more money, BUT I feel like its also more WORK, and my head is on the chopping block more often than at my current job.  And I really don't HAVE to leave my current job because besides the distance and pay, its perfect.  Gonna run and knit and pray til i figure it out.  Need to give them an answer Monday....

Better pictures of the blanket next time (maybe even later today *gasp* ... who am I kidding, I don't knit that fast, lol)

Practice makes perfect

I've learned that from doing this project and finding new ways to knit that I am knitting faster. It felt like the first stripe of the blanket took forever to make and now I'm zooming through the last one. It's crazy. Still deciding if I'm going to make the christening blanket or the gloves next... I think the gloves. I'm also contemplating leg warmers with the left over Deborah Norville yarn from my moms scarf. I think I still have 1 1/2 skeins left. Leg warmers would help me when leaving swimming and I don't feel like putting socks on. I have these buttons I really want to use too but they wouldn't go with the leg warmers. I'm planning on making a hat or something from spun yarn (maybe I can get the boyfriend to get me a kit for our anniversary. He enjoys the fun arts and crafts part of knitting with me lol) I'm going to try knitting or going to the gym depending on how play practice goes tonight. Decisions decisions... Exercise or crafts...
WELL time to work. Update tomorrow!

Grapefruit orange juice and some yarn do a morning good

What do I do before work? Oh you know eat breakfast and knit until I can clock in because I get here early to beat traffic. Oh the joys of long commutes. Oh well atleast I can knit. Starting a christening blanket and some arm warmers. When home I'll give you guys the pattern in using for the christening blanket

Fascination (no idea if that's spelled right)

I was checking my stats and saw that people from other countries have read this blog.  I'm completely in awe right now.  THANK YOU PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES.  I enjoy knowing that people, other than myself, my friend Danielle (who I keep updating on this, and she does the same) and my boyfriend (who I occasionally make skim this...), are atleast SEEING it.  Thank you people!  I will have to post more so you guys have something to actually look at...
Up next is the baby bear blanket (it has nothing to do with Bears, I am referring to my sisters first kid as "baby bear" and its meant for her when she has her first kid, so...).  Its just a yellow striped knit stitch blanket, and I'm not considering it part of my "12 in 2012" so more projects to come.

knitting draws people to you...

So I have been working on a blanket for YEARS now (like 4...) that my big sister started when she decided that she wanted to learn how to knit... again...  The first time she bought a pound of yarn and asked me to teach her, then decided she didn't have time, or something like that, I don't remember.  She wanted to be like me and knit for future babies and current friends and family.  

The second time, was this blanket, which I'm working on more so because she got married and I expect small children to be coming in the near future, lol.  Actually I'm HOPING in near future, lol, I love babies but the world is not ready for the insanity that would be Dylan/Kelly, and I want to be married before making any babies.  That's just me.

Back on the original topic I meant to start with.  I have been working on this baby blanket on and off when I'm not working on another project.  I call it my mindless knitting project because its just a simple knit stitch everywhere.  This blanket brings so much attention, especially from women, lol.  I knit while at play practice and I knit at work, and it really draws attention.  A woman at practice the other day said to me, "I always see you working on something" and she wanted to see what I was making.  My friend has a baby and her son thought it was fun to snuggle, another friends daughter liked it months ago, its fun. 

I don't know about the rest of you out there (if there IS anyone out there...), but I enjoy telling people about what I'm knitting, and teaching other people how to do it too.  I think everyone should knit because everyone deserves something made from scratch.  I'm considering continuing this blog after the project is done, OR! starting another project.

I made a "how-to" video about learning to knit, and I want to keep going with it, I just need to find the time, and maybe get Dylan to find me a good video editing program... that way I can make the video in more than one take, because it too forever to make ONE, thus I have ONE on a different account.  I'm a self taught knitter and i enjoy talking about knitting, and clearly WRITING about knitting.  Thats my non-project related post for the day... I'm going to try to post every day, or at least every other day, but we'll see how that goes...  I'll post pictures of the mindless knitting blanket soon.  Also, I'm going to start more intricate projects that don't just include "knit 20 stitches.  turn, repeat".  

2 3/4 done, 9 1/4 to go!

I'm proud of myself that its only half way through February, and I should be done project 3 today, as long as Dylan lets me knit, lol.

Since my last post, I've had about 6 different people tell me their pregnant, and like 4 tell me they're engaged, and its nuts.  One of my dear friends is having a baby, so this project has kind of turned into "Making Baby Stuff in 2012" but, hopefully I can make enough things for my friend that I am happy with the gifts, and when she tells me I can put her name on here, I will tell you who that is.  Though I doubt she will ever let me put her name, so I'll just have to show you my baby stuff for her without caring.  :)

I woke up this morning, saw my blankets all messed up (I'm a restless sleeper...) and learned that I am officially an obsessed knitter.  I fell asleep with my project in my bed.  I went to fix the blankets, and grabbed a knitting needle, going, "how did that get there?" and then saw the rest of the project, lol.

I was going through the pictures on my phone and realized I had projects I'm proud of that I'd like to share on here, along with the projects I'm working on now.

First, we must venture back last year! September!!!  I just feel like sharing these cute little booties with the world.

I made these cute little booties for my coworker when she had her baby back in September.  I had made them, and KNEW they needed a button, then realized I had no buttons... so I just sewed fake pearls onto the sides as the buttons for them.  My coworker says she tried to put them on her little one at Christmas, but the baby kept kicking them off.  For anyone who tries to make these... use either a soft yarn, or make sure the mother, or you, know that you need socks with them.  This particular yarn is itchy once knit.  Comment or email if you want the pattern.  LITERALLY took 2 hours to make theses.  I sat on my couch with my boyfriend and got them done so fast, sewn together and everything.

NEXT!!!  I work at an Adult Day Program.  One of my guys calls it "School" which it technically could be because we teach them things... I taught at least 5 or 6 of them to use the Knifty Knitter Looms, and so my boss bought a set to have at work so I could take mine home, lol.  Currently some of them are learning to sew as well.  But I have one client who would DRIVE ME NUTS looking for her cigarettes.  We'll call her Katie, even tho I have no Katies at program... yet...

Katie likes to put her cigarettes in her bra (what girl doesn't stash SOMETHING in her bra when she has no pockets?) and so I made her this bag to keep the cigarettes in.  She took home the bag, but never uses it.  She told me she'd give it to one of her roommates... who knows.  It took awhile too... because I was knitting it at work and the strap was just tedious having to turn it around constantly...

YARN!  I dyed this yarn, myself, well one of them.  My ever lovely boyfriend listened to me when I rambled about wanting to dye my own yarn, and this really cool kit on Etsy and for my birthday (back in October, though I didn't get a chance to use it until almost 2 months later...) bought me kool aid packets, some very girly gloves (he only handed me the gloves at first, and told me they were for cleaning...oh Dylan...) and then we went to the store and he bought me a ball of yarn.  He also printed me three different directions for doing this, and said, "I didn't know which to use, so I just printed a bunch..." and handed them to me in this nice little folder.  Isn't he cute? lol 

So i split the yarn in 2, and Dylan and I sat at my kitchen table and dyed yarn.  It was actually fun.  Then I washed it all, I think I felted it a bit, and it got slightly skinnier...  The ruler and paper towel dispenser held this yarn up until yesterday... when I finally got a chance to wrap it into little balls.  Dylans yarn is slightly bluer than mine, while mine is orange and pinks more than blues and purples.  We didn't have green sadly.  BUTS! yellow and blue made green, so we were good, lol

MY SECOND 2012 PROJECT.  I gave the first away before taking pictures because I was just ready to be done with the stupid complicated hat...  So this is project 2.  Jacque's scarf.  The purples are brighter than they seem.  Her birthday was last month and I haven't gotten to give it to her yet, but we must plan a food date so I can help her with a project for school and I can give her her scarf.  Maybe next weekend... or during this week... I'll call her.  Its Purple and lime Green, and white throughout.  It striped on its own, WHICH I LOVE.  I was so excited when it did that, and it made it more awesome than I thought it would turn out.

This is my Mommy's scarf I had talked about.  The hole is for the the scarf to pull through.  6 more inches and its done.  Its wrapped appropriately in the second picture.  I made a scarf like this for a my sister (which started the obsession with this yarn) and my mother wanted  one.  I then found the purple and green yarn and this blue one and made them for Jacque and my Mom.

 If you want a WARM scarf, and want to just knit aimlessly, I suggest this yarn.  Its Deborah Norville Serenity (see picture below) and it is SO WARM.  

If i could afford a ton of these to make a blanket, I would, but right now I'm knitting with the yarn I have unless I have to buy a new yarn for one of my projects.  I have too much yarn and it needs to get used.  Hopefully using the yarn I dyed with Dylan for some arm warmers, socks, leg warmers, something! lol.  I need leg warmers for when I leave swimming, so it may be for that... 

If you have any ideas, just send them.