Monday, October 18, 2010

Knits for Kate

My third grand-girl was born this summer. After hearing my daughter was in labor, I made it from rural North Carolina to downtown Chicago in time to see her take her first breath and to be wrapped in the knits I'd made for her.

Her newborn gifts were a combination of pricey and practically free. The reversible cable blanket is made from Venezia Worsted (pricey) but the cashmere vine lace hat and booties were made from a 100% cashmere sweater that I found for $4.00 at Goodwill.

I tripled the lace weight yarn into a fingering yarn while working with just a single strand. It's a very useful technique called Navajo knitting or Navajo plying. You can see it here. Or, check out the video at the end of this post.
Good Kate, sweet Kate.
I just finished her very first winter hat (the Inca Snowflake from Itty Bitty Hats)...which she's already had the chance to wear in Chicago. It was made from unraveled J.Crew sweaters in two shades of gray that my daughter found at a thrift store.

My favorite part is the organic cotton fleece lining that I found at WorthyGoodsTextiles. It's soft and thick and luscious.











She likes it!



Holy Bible "Big Red" in 3-D by Thomas Nelson Publishers

I have a strong and pleasant memory of being fascinated by the illustrations in my mother and grandmother’s Bibles when I was a little girl. The one I stared at most (usually when bored in a church service) gave me the willies. It was of a blinded and bleeding Samson laboring over the lever on a millstone. A strong runner up—but one that didn’t give me the willies, was the one of Jesus knocking on a door. These illustrations helped me understand the stories and concepts I was hearing about at church and home.

I don’t particularly care for the computer-generated style of illustration used in this children’s Bible, but it appears to have been executed by a talented artist. The content appears accurately portrayed and the compositions are engaging. I think it’s great that Thomas Nelson has created a Bible with illustrations that will make the Bible feel relevant to children’s lives.


I review for BookSneeze