AHG Badge Help – Horsemanship #9

Every American Heritage Girl I have met seems drawn to the Horsemanship Merit Badge.

Many years ago, when my daughter earned this badge, the instructor used sticky notes to teach the parts of a horse.

Recently my Tenderheart unit attended a multi-troop event to a local horse farm.  However, the instructor missed a few requirements.  Thankfully we were able to finish them up at a meeting.

Since I did not have access to a live horse, I made do with a piece of poster board.

NOTE: The requirements have been simplified here. Please be sure to read the full text in the Girl Handbook to make sure you fully understand the requirements.

 

If you give a mouse some yarn…

If you give Marisol the Mouse some yarn, she will likely ask for a pair of double point knitting needles. After digging through your supply bin, you find a pair that are not being used for one of your countless incomplete projects.

If you give Marisol the Mouse knitting needles, she will need a pattern. So off to the internet you go, checking all of your favorite sources. After countless hours you settle on a free pattern you found on Ravelry (here). You graciously print the pattern and give it to Marisol the mouse with a smile.

And if you give Marisol the Mouse the free Ravelry pattern, she will insist on more yarn. In addition to the gray yarn you provided originally, she needs a delicate pink to accent her features.  So… into the yarn closet you go, digging through the drawers of yarn you have stashed away, until at last you find the tiniest bit of light pink.

Content to work on her project Marisol the Mouse, knits away happily only to realize that she needs stuffing.  So, you stop what you are doing and go on the hunt for stuffing.  Yet the bag of stuffing is nowhere to be found, and at last you give up and decide to go purchase more stuffing.  Armed with your craft store coupon, you head to the store.  Once you arrive at the store you quickly become distracted by the yarn they have on sale, so you come home with the stuffing and a few extra skeins of yarn.

If you give Marisol the Mouse the stuffing, be sure to open it for her. Or in her excitement she might rip the bag of stuffing only to leave a giant mess.  And we all know that mice are not known for their neatness, leaving you to clean up the mess. Once the stuffing is out of the original packaging, it will never be contained in a small bag again, but multiplies exponentially in volume.

If you give Marisol the Mouse gray yarn, knitting needles, a pattern, pink yarn and stuffing she will most certainly ask for a yarn needle.  For we all know that every knitter enjoys weaving in the ends of all of her little pieces.  So you find your stash of needles: plastic ones, metal ones, small ones and big ones.  Marisol finds the needle she wants for this project.

If you give Marisol the Mouse a yarn needle, it won’t be long until all of the pieces are assembled, but something is still off. EYES!!! Marisol the Mouse will need a pair of glass 6/0 beads for the eyes, for all mice have beady eyes, right? Predicting what will happen next along with the 2 black beads you also give her a spool of black thread and a sewing needle.

Now if you give Marisol the Mouse a pair of glass beads, in no time she will have created a most wonderful self-portrait of herself in knitted form.  Pleased with her project and her success she will ask for more yarn.

So what ever you do, PLEASE DO NOT GIVE MARISOL THE MOUSE ANY YARN!!!!!!

Just kidding, this was a great pattern. Hope you enjoy.  Happy knitting.  

 

 

The Wise, Not-So-Old, Owl

When I think of owls, I associate them with wisdom.  What about you?  Archimedes, from the Sword and the Stone, guides young Merlin.  Winnie the Pooh always seeks the advice of his friend Owl. And lets not forget Woodsy Owl, the icon for the US Forest Service, that told us to “Give a hoot — don’t pollute!”

When given the opportunity to test knit this adorable owl by Stana Sortor, I jumped at the chance.  The pattern included a blanket, zippered bag and a stuffed owl.  I tested the stuffed owl.  Continue reading “The Wise, Not-So-Old, Owl”

Double Knit Hat

After completing the horse scarf for my niece, I searched for a hat pattern that could be modified to match. The horse pattern from the scarf seemed to big too put on a hat.  While I searched for an option, I kept going back and forth about what color to make the hat.

One day I stumbled upon a hat that was a perfect match.  Rosemary Brock had designed a hat that matched the ends of my scarf. Her free pattern and instructions can be found here.

No surprise to my regular readers, I modified the pattern just a little.  Instead of following the instructions, I casted on 80 stitches of each color, and worked both sides of the hat simultaneously like I did with the scarf.  Continue reading “Double Knit Hat”

Off to the Races – A Double Knit Scarf

My niece loves horses!  I stumbled across this pattern a few years back and had been putting it off because it was double knit.  Last year, I bit the bullet and tackled a new skill.  I am happy the holiday’s are over and I can now share the project with you.

The double knitting did take a little while to wrap my brain around, but once I got the hang of it, the scarf moved along.  I do admit that double knitting takes longer than knitting two separate scarves, but I love how it turned out. As you can see in the photo above, one side is teal green sparkly yarn with brown horses, the other is brown with teal horses.  Double knitting did create a super warm scarf that will be great in cold weather. The scarf became the foundation piece for an entire set.
Continue reading “Off to the Races – A Double Knit Scarf”