MY SEVENTH "BUILDING OUR HOMES TOGETHER" FOR JULY 13TH

I'M PARTICIPATING IN THE "BUILDING OUR HOMES TOGETHER..........WITH JESUS" OVER AT THE PRAIRIE FLOWER FARM BLOG. CLICK ON THE LINK HERE TO VISIT LINDA. TELL HER I SAID HELLO. OR YOU CAN CLICK ON THE BLOG BUTTON ON MY RIGHT SIDEBAR.

Hi everyone,
Oh, How is your week so far? Mine has been good.  I'm busy crafting and knitting. I've also been making a concerted effort to spend less time on Facebook. So far, so good. 

 UPDATE ON THURSDAY - JULY 14th: I'm also going to be participating in the Simpy Homemaking series over at Our Simple Country Life. Click here to view the  latest link-up. Otherwise, you can click on the blog button on my ride sidebar :) :) Have a blessed day everyone :) :) Love and hugs from Oregon :)

I  was going to share a simple pattern for a bath mitt today. Well, something happened on the way to grabbing those knitting needles. I'll still share the pattern with you. However, let me share an unexpected  little  project along the way. Sometimes things don't go my way when it comes to crafting. 

THESE ARE THE SUPPLIES I GRABBED FOR THIS PROJECT. ONE THING I FORGOT TO INCLUDE IS A  WOODEN RULER TO  MEASURE MY KNITTING.

Here's a list of the supplies I would need to make my French knit bath mitt:
*  some paper. I used a composition book.
*Lily N Cream cotton yarn
*Set of 5, double pointed knitting needles (3.5 mm/ 4 US)
*Scissors
*Pen, to write with
*Row counter
*Row marker
*Yarn needle
*Needle gauge
*Wooden ruler (not pictured here - to measure knitting)

So it's always a good thing to knit a test swatch to figure out what your gauge is. How many stitches would you knit per inch.  So I went to find the tail yarn on the inside of  my skein. That's where the "accidental" part comes in. Some skeins of yarn just aren't put together very well. This is what happened. When I thought I'd pulled out the tail yarn, literally half the skein popped out. It took me forever to untangle everyone. This is what I had  once it was all fixed:

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T FIND THAT INSIDE TAIL YARN. I ENDED UP UP  PULLING OUT HALF THE SKEIN OF YARN. NO WORRIES. IT DIDN'T STOP ME FROM MY KNITTING PROJECT.

I took two of the double pointed needles to make a test swatch.  I cast on 25 stitches on TWO double-pointed needles held together. That helps keep the tension when you're casting on nice and loose. No worries. It will tighten up naturally as you knit. 

I just knit one row, and pearled back. That is called "stockinette stich". I ended up making a little 5 inch x 5 inch square, mainly because I was still working out some frustration from the crazy yarn ball .  Then when you reach the desired length, simply bind off loosely.  Or you can undo the yarn and reuse it in your knitting project.  However, it turned out quite nice. It's a coaster or mug rug of sorts ;) :) The edges will curl just a bit when you knit this way. It's just the nature of the yarn to do so, even if you knit with wool.  I might take an iron to it. I haven't decided yet.

  Here's what my little gauge swatch turned "patriotic mug rug" looks like with a teacup sitting on top of it.  I added some vintage effects to the photo. Isn't that just the cutest?

I'm working on another pattern for a coaster. It will be just as pretty, if not prettier. Plus, the way I'm knitting it, it'll lay FLAT.  When it's all done, I'll write up the pattern and share it here with you all.

After the fiasco with the yarn, I decided I needed a treat. So I made a java chip coffee ice cream rootbeer float. Trust me, this works together. You will need the favorite coffee ice cream and rootbeer of your choice. You can use any flavor ice cream that you like.  I just happen to LOVE coffee ice cream, especially java chip.

Choose a favorite mug or glass. Scoop out a nice, large healthy amount of ice cream into your mug.  Then add your rootbeer. Now be careful when you pour, because it is a  soda. The soda will foam up quite a bit. Just pour a little bit, let the foam go away, then pour some  more.  And enjoy a nice cold treat on a warm summer day.

Oh, my that java chip  rootbeer float was GOOD!!!!  Did I mention that I love coffee and coffee ice cream?  big smile :) :) :)
   
What I meant to show you originally today was my pattern for a simple knit bath mitt.   You'll need all the supplies that I mentioned at the top of this post, with the exception of the pen and paper. However, I like to take notes on each knitting project. It's like keeping a journal of sorts. It can actually be very helpful to you, if you have to stop your work or if you have questions later on about something you did.

HEATHER'S KNITTED FRENCH BATH MITT

Finished mitt should be 5 inches wide x 7 inches tall.  Remember, this is knit in the ROUND...so you will actually be knitting a 10 inch continuous circle.

Also, this is just general instructions. you can manipulate this pattern any way you'd like to. Also, depending on what needles you use and your knitting style, your gauge might be different. There's no right or wrong with this pattern. That's what's really great about it.

So this is how I made mine. After I knit that gauge swatch turned coaster...I took a wooden ruler and measured the stitches per inch. It came out to approximately 5 stitches per inch. So since I"m knitting in the round a 10 inch circle, I multipled 5 stitches per inch times the 10 inch circle and came up with 50 stitches total.  

Here's where there's some more wiggle room. I wanted an even number of stitches on each of my four knitting needles, so I rounded DOWN to 48 stitches.  That would give me 12 stitches per needle. Also,  I LOVE to use 5 double pointed knitting needles when knitting in the round.   I have the yarn project sperad out over four knitting needles, and I"m always knitting in with the fifth needle. This is less stress on the yarn when k nitting in the round. you get a much smoother finish than you do when just using  4 needles.

Okay, so hold two double-pointed needles together and cast on a total of 48 stitches. Remove just ONE of the double pointed needles and  begin to knit evenly in the round.  I placed 12 stitches on each needle.  Don't worry if there a little gap when you first join the ends together. It will  tighten up a s you   knit. Plus you can use th e  tail yarn to weave together any loose spots at the  end of your project.

Make sure to have a row marker at the beginning of your row, so you know where  the end and beginning of your  rows are.  In this case, since I'm using double-pointed knitting needles, I placed the row  marker one stich in from the beginning of the row. This prevents the row marker from falling off as your knitting :) 

Just continue to  knit in the round for a total of 58 rows OR until the piece measures 7 inches long.  I forgot to write down how many rows I actually knit when I was finished. However, 58 rows sounds about right. Then do a combination of knitting the stitches together/binding off loosely. Weave in the loose ends on the wrong side of the project. This is what my project looks like, with some vintage touches added to it.

If you want or need more detailed instructions, let me know.  I will also be doing another post on my French bath mitts sometime in the near future, with clearer instructions. However, this pattern is fairly simple and straight forward. Again, if you have any questions whatsoever, please let me know. I'll do my best to answer them. I like this project for it's versatility. It makes a great bath mitt to use in the shower or bathtub. you can even put a bar of soap inside, and it's a soaper/scrubber all in one ;) :) OR you can use it to help with washing dishes. It makes a hand dish mitt, too :) :)

Today in my devotions I was reading through Leviticus where God is telling Moses and the people about keeping certain days as well as specific rituals to be maintained in the Temple. Now, it was a LOT of detail. So glad that I live under grace now, because all of that detail would be a bit overwhelming for me :) :) That was Leviticus chapters 23 and 24.

Then I read Psalm 24. These verses stood out to me. Right now I'm highlighting ALL verses in the Bible that have to do with the tongue, whether it be about lying, deceit, gossip, anything that talks about our speach and what we should or shouldn't be doing. So these verses stood out to me today:

3) Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?  Or who may stand in His holy place?
4)  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.
5) He shall receive blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Now, we know that our salvation is based on accepting Jesus Christ as our LORD and Savior. He is the one who cleanses us from sin :) :)  What stood to me here, is that even in the Old Testament, God makes it very CLEAR that He does not deceit. Swearing deceitfully is the same as lying. So that'll be added to my list of verse that refer to the "tongue". I'm also writing down all verses that refer to money, because I want to know what God has to say about that, too.

My final passage for today was  Acts 21.  The short version is that Paul is chilling with some fellow believers. He goes to Jerusalem. They don't want him to go. A man prophecies that he (Paul) will be bound in Jerusalem and delivered to the Gentiles. Paul "No problem, I'm going to go anyway and preach the Gospel" (that's my interpretation" :) :)   Paul loves Jesus, more than his own life.  I'm not sure I'm that strong ,to be honest.

Anyways,  that's where I'm at in my Bible reading today. I'm going to try and journal some more of that with you on Wednesdays. So bear with me, if  I sound like  I'm stumbling over my  own words a bit. Paul did, too, right?

Well, thanks for joinging me today. I love it when you stop  by and visit me. You are all welcome here :) :)  Oh, Dairy Queen here in Oregon is having a sale on their 4-piece chicken strip baskets. Only $3.99...holla...Dad and I are SO going to enjoy that today. That's the news from Oregon today. Extra love and hugs, Heather :)