My husband and older son both have Yetis. Actually, my husband has an Rtic but they look exactly the same. My brother has one too and he works in town 2 or 3 days a week so he stays with us and then we have 3 of them floating around looking like liquid filled triplets!! They obviously don't need any kind of insulation but they need distinction. So I decided to come up with a simple Yeti cozy pattern. You can make yours striped or solid color or mix it all up!! Just make it yours!!
Yeti Cozy
Scrap yarn - Worsted Weight (4)
Needle Size - US 6 - 4.0 mm - 4 dpns
Gauge - 22 stitches to 4" in stockinette stitch
Using color A: Cast on 52 stitches using the long tail cast on, or cast on of your choice, and join in the round being careful not to twist your stitches.
Rounds 1-5 - K2, P2 around
Switch to color B:
Knit the first round
Round 2-5 - K2, P2 around
Switch to color A:
Rounds 1-5 Knit in stockinette (Knit every round)
Switch to color B: (decrease section)
Round 1 - Knit around
Round 2 - (K11, K2tog) around
Round 3 - (K10, K2tog) around
Round 4 - (K9, K2tog) around
Round 5 - (K8, K2tog) around
Switch to color A:
Rounds 1-5 - Knit around
Switch to color B:
Rounds 1-5 - Knit around
Switch to color A:
Rounds 1-5 - Knit around
Switch to color B:
Round 1 - Knit
Rounds 2-5 - K2, P2 around
Bind off loosely or use Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. Weave in ends and enjoy your colorful and personalized Yeti!!
Wow!! I know you're all blown away by my profound title! Ha!! But I found a link to an article through Facebook yesterday that made me think. The young daughter of the writer had told her Mom how beautiful she is. And, like me, this woman has a not-so-positive image of herself! However, it suddenly occurred to her that she should try to see herself through her daughter's eyes!! That led me to think a bit further. Now that my boys are older (21 and 18) I wonder if I'd had a better self-image it would have helped them!! I wonder if we project our self-image (positive or negative) on to our children!! I wonder if I caused damage on my children by not seeing more worth in myself!! I sincerely hope and pray not!!
I know that my self-deprecation extends to other parts of my life. Outside of my knitting, I also enjoy sewing. Anyway, I always feel like what I do in those areas is only following someone else's pattern. That no matter how good it looks, it really doesn't have very much to do with me. Or that it could always look so much better that what I've done!! When I knit something for someone I feel compelled to point out all the flaws in it!! I think that has to do with two things: 1. I feel dishonest if I give them something less than perfect! (Even though I know that I'm not perfect - only God is!) 2. I wouldn't ever want anyone to think I'm all that and a bag of chips just because I knit something for them!! I know that's probably strange but that's me!!
All that being said, I know there are things I can do that will help my self-esteem. I absolutely need to lose weight!! And not just those last 5 pounds!! I've let that hold me back. But I'm the only one in control of that - no one can do it for me!! I need to sit back and look at all the good in my life and thank God for my blessings!! Instead of knit picking everything to death!! I see every thing that's wrong with my house, my hair and makeup, the mistakes I made with my boys, etc, etc, etc!!
So lets all go out and learn to love ourselves!! God made us and He loves us and expects us to do the same!! And lets also try to help others see the good things about themselves!!
On to my knitting. Tomorrow night is the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. I plan to cast on during the opening ceremonies and try my best to finish my project before the end of the closing ceremony!! Many, if not most knitters, crocheters, and spinners know about this. I believe that same group also probably knows about the threats made by the USOC to change the name of our competition. I really do not like the new name but I'm not going to be ugly about it. So I will be competing in the "Ravellenics". I am on Team Texas Yarnivore. I'll be knitting the Bigger on the Inside Shawl by Kate Atherley in the Knitty Spring/Summer 2012 issue!! I am a huge Doctor Who fan and I knew I wanted to knit this the second I saw it!! After my yearly knitting weekend one of my precious friends sent me three skeins of the Lorna's Laces Bigger on the Inside sock yarn so that I could knit this!!! Tomorrow I have to go out and purchase size 3 circs!! I have all sizes of needles in circular, dpns, and some straights. However, I've never needed a size 3 circular until now!! No matter how it ends up I will have a beautiful new shawl in the end thanks to my sweet friend!!
I hope you all accomplish whatever you want during the Olympics and enjoy watching all the super-talented athletes!! Let's celebrate their victories and pray for them in defeat or if they're injured!!
I'll leave you with a picture of the Rose Tyler square of my Doctor Who blanket!!
Well, until next time!!
Knit On!
Just a quick update: My computer crashed and I'm having to share which doesn't really allow me to post. I'll be back as soon as I get my own laptop back!!
See ya later and knit on!!
Shama D
I'm probably one of the most opinionated people you will ever meet!! There's almost nothing I don't have a very decided opinion on!! My feelings run deep and are based in my spiritual beliefs! But even things that don't have eternal consequence cause me to have very strong feelings!!
Another thing about me, is how I like what I like - always!! When I was 3 years old I fell in love with Donny Osmond!! Now, 43 years later, I still love him - and did even when it wasn't popular!! The same thing for Rick Springfield!! I fell in love with him in 1973 when his cartoon, Mission Magic, was on TV!! To this day when I get to see him in concert, I scream like a teenager!!!
Knitting is no different!! I like what I like and I feel strongly about the things I like!! It seems that I am particularly drawn to cables and amigurumi!! I love the color blue but I can still be drawn to a pattern in even the ugliest colors!! Yet, when I see something knitted in blue, I have to really look to see if it's the color or the pattern that I like!! Sometimes it's both!! One of the things about my opinionated self is that I don't tend to follow who or what is most popular!! A few years ago everyone was knitting the Clapotis. And I knit one. But I knit it because I liked it!! I've heard lots of talk (on podcasts) about the Selbu Modern hat. I can see why people like it, but it doesn't appeal to me at all! I love shawls but I hate lace weight yarn and lace done in lace weight!! I truly appreciate the work that goes into projects made with lace weight yarn but it doesn't do anything for me!! Am I weird? Actually, I know the answer to that - YES!!! But I am who I am and I stand strongly by my beliefs and I like what I like!!
The thing about me is I've grown over the years, but I'm still me! In the last few years I've reconnected with many of my closest school friends through Facebook and a couple of class reunions. I'm still the same person I was then, just with a husband, kids, and 16 years of homeschooling under my belt!! But underneath it all, I'm still just me!
Well, I've been contemplating starting on this blog again. One thing that's held me back is lack of FO's!! My younger son just graduated from our homeschool and I'm working on a blanket for him. I started it a month later than I started Logan's. I've run into quite a few issues with this blanket. And a few weeks ago Kelby and I were discussing his "secret" gift that I was knitting in front of him. He told me that he likes Doctor Who, but doesn't love it!! Blasphemy!! LOL!! So, we've picked out some patterns and some things I can design to make JUST the blanket for him. I can put up pictures of the finished squares. (When I take some) The way I knit my blankets is in strips from bottom to top and then I join the strips and do an edging.
Well, I don't want to get too carried away on my first blogpost back!! One question I have is this: Since I'm finished homeschooling, should I change the name of my blog? What do my faithful readers have to say about this? Oh, that's right, I have no faithful readers!! ; )
Knit On and Talk to you Soon!!
Shama D
It's been many months since I last posted on my blog. I plan to start back on a much more regular basis now. I spend all of my time with my family and a lot of time knitting. I've spent the last 20 and a half years being a full-time Mom and homeschooler. As you know, just over two years ago my older son graduated from our little homeschool. Since then he's continued to live at home and go to a local junior college!! However, last month he moved out and to a town about 70 miles from here to finish up college. It was one of the hardest things I've ever been through. I'm handling it a lot better than I ever thought I could. It helps that we have a really close relationship and talk and text daily!! I miss him but he's very happy and with a great group of Christians!! That's very important to me!! This is not the only huge thing in my life...In a few weeks my younger son will be starting his senior year at home. I intend to make the most of our last year together on a full-time basis. We'll do school but we'll also do some things we enjoy- like going to the zoo, going to visit Logan, getting coffee at Starbucks and spending lots of quality time together!!! It's going to be a year to remember.As far as my knitting...There have been so many projects over the last several months. But the big project that's coming up is another senior blanket for my younger son. He loves video games of all kinds but he's partial to Mario. There are tons of cute Nintendo/Mario patterns on Ravelry and I will be going through them, picking out the ones I think he'll love the most, and laying out my design!! I'm in no hurry for the year to be up but I will knitting a memory for my son. When Logan graduated I had knit him his Harry Potter blanket. It is currently on his bed in the other town. That means a lot to me. Well, this is very short and there are no pictures to accompany it but I needed to get my blogging feet wet again!! I will be back on a regular basis - blogging does a lot of good for me!!Knit On and more later!Shama D
Round 2-5 - K2, P2 around
