Anita's Knitting Journal

True Love and Fern

2012-02-07T16:29:00.001-05:00

True Love doesn't truly love me. It's my second sock pattern for the year, my theme for February, and I'm having one heck of a time.
I love the hearts and the little bit of fanciness on this sock. I have a deep purple yarn to knit it in. Should be a match made in heaven, pure gorgeousness. Right?
WRONG
First of all, the sock is toe up. I don't want to knit toe up. When I cast off, the cuff is too wide and baggy. I don't like the way they fit. So I decided to "re-write" the pattern and make it top down. Not really a problem, except the chart is wrong! I figured it out pretty quickly and fixed it.
I've frogged the first 5-10 rows 3 times now. Seems like my heart pattern count is off. I don't know why. It bothers me. It seems like I have this problem a lot. Hmmm. Well, I will power through it and get these done. I wanted them done by V-day, but it probably won't happen. Unless I knit on them monogamously and step away from the computer for a few days.
I did finish a project! It's called Fern (Rav link), and it's my second cowl of the year. I used Andes wool in a red/green mix and a size 9 needle. This was a very quick and easy knit. I had it memorized pretty early on and knitted while watching TV. It only took a few days, and I blocked it lightly.

I don't know how crazy I am about this yarn and this pattern. It will probably go into the gift pile.

I also started my mitts for the month. They are quick and easy and I am nearly half way done with the first one. It has a small bit of colorwork: hearts of course! I'll probably be on soon with an FO photo.

Sucess! January Roundup

2012-01-31T23:02:00.001-05:00

I finished all my goals for the month of January!! Yay! One month down, only 11 more to go! Can I do it? We'll see if I have still have this mojo in a few months.

I did finish my Pinstripe Socks. I did a shortrow heel. KP's Imagination in Evil Stepmother was my yarn of choice. These were a very quick and easy knit. I like them, and they fit well.

I also wanted to join the Fingerless Glove Fanatics group on Ravelry on knitting 2012 pairs of Fingerless gloves in 2012. I only plan on contributing 12, but I may do more. Some gals have already knit three or four pair. Since mittens don't count, I decided to make the January KAL. I used Baby Ull in this cheery orange color.

My 11 yr old is the model for these. I used a size 2, and they are even a bit baggy on me. I must be a VERY loose knitter. All the other finished projects describe these as slightly tight. Hmmm. That's ok. They will work well when I practice the piano in the cold garage!

So the roundup for January, just a reminder of my knitting accomplishments

Jan Cowl
Pinstripe Socks
Icewine Mittens
Straightforward Mitts
Simply Slouchy Hat

I feel very good about this past month and all I got finished! I am even working on projects I started in 2010 (the last time I knit in earnest!). These projects will be my in-between or need a break projects. I know I can whip out a pair of FG's, a hat, and a cowl in a matter of days. Socks take a bit more, and I want to finish my Pink Rivers soon.
See you in February!! .

Bearded Hat and Other Stuff

2012-01-24T13:42:00.001-05:00

I have FO's!!! Yay!!!
I finished my cowl for Januray. That's two projects down for the month. I'm proud of myself so far, though it's only been one month of my goals. But I haven't really knit in so long, so I'm excited to once again to see things come off the needles!

Here's my January Cowl. It's aptly called January Cowl! I used Vanna's Choice in oatmeal tweed. I don't really like the color, but that's all they had when I went. It's horrible when you have to get your yarn from Wal-Mart since all the good LYS' are about 45 min away. Goes with living in the boonies, I guess. LOL.

My 11 yr old is the model. She's short so this looks very long. It falls to my waist. It's nice and warm and thick and scrunchy. For an acrylic, this yarn is a very inexpensive nice one! I used nearly 4 balls to complete this.

This is the cowl folded up. I sewed it up with a twist, so it's an infinity loop, and I think it lays better. You can even pull it up over your head if you were so inclined.

I made a hat for the month, as well. This is the Simple Slouchy Hat (Ravelry link) and I used....Vanna's Choice in black. It was pretty quick, but it takes forever to knit up 12 inches on a size 8 in stockinette. It doesn't help that I was distracted. The model is my 8 yr old daughter. I think it looks very cute on her!

I love how big and slouchy this is! I might have to make more. I know my 11 yr old wants one, probably in pink.

I'm officially 50% done with my pair of socks for January. In fact, I cast on for sock 2 this morning and am working through the cuff fairly quickly. I had a hard time with the heel. I forgot how to do a short row heel and had to restart it a few times until I got the hang of it. It turned out pretty good. The pattern is Pinstripe (Rav Link) and I used KP's Imagination in Evil Stepmother on size 2 needles.

I really like how these are working up, and once the pattern is established, they are good for TV watching.

Finally, you want to see my beard, right?
Well, when I saw this , I thought it was great and I had visions of me walking through Wal-mart and driving around town with this on. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out. It turned out a bit big, and I had some problems trying to understand the pattern. And I wanted a hat with the beard knitted onto it, and this was just an attachment. But I was able to tuck it under the brim of the hat I just made and take a photo. At least there's that, right?
Here you go:

I look like a lumberjack! This was fun to make and I really wish I could wear it around. I know I'd get some looks!!

But this is really cool, right? I might have to fiddle with it some more to get it to work right. It's too funny!

So you can see, I've been busy, busy! I have a week to get sock 2 done, and I should be able to do that easily. I'll show the finished pair once they're done. Ok, off to knit some more now!

River Sock Frustration

2012-01-17T08:29:00.001-05:00

So, I want to knit 12 pairs of sock this year, and I'm pretty much using the patterns that are in my queue from Ravelry. I want to narrow it down, at least bring it below 200, LOL!
To start on January's sock, I needed to finish up the sock I already had OTN. I could have been done by the end of 2011 if I would have checked my notes and cast on the proper amount of stitches.
In turning the heel for sock #2, I discovered this mistake and had to frog the WHOLE thing and start over!!! URGG!! This was probably around the 27th of December, and I knew I would have been able to finish the sock by the 31st.
So instead, I put the sock to the side (out of disgust) and on the first I cast on for my mittens. I worked on them, cast on for my cowl. and looked at the offending sock.
I worked on it, still a bit disgusted. I finished one mitten, cast on for mitten two, and worked on my cowl. All the while knitting a few rows on the sock here and there. I figure if I finish at least one of my projects, I can put all my attention to knitting the sock. But then I just wanted the sock to be an FO and figured I would just crank it out, right?
I turned the heel, no problem this time. I picked up the stitches to form the gusset. And then the trouble starts. Am I such a newbie I can't read the pattern? I think so. The gusset is off. I need to rip back to the picking up of stitches and redo the gusset. This sock is really trying my patience.
Out of disgust, I wound my skeins for my January sock and cast on. It's slow going, but I know I can pump these out fairly quickly. I'm going to need to, seeing as I only have 2 more weeks in January to complete my goals for the month. I'll finish the Pink River socks...someday. I do like the pattern enough to want to finish them.
My January sock is called Pinstripe, a very easy 6 stitch repeat with a slip stitch in there. Nice! I'm going to do a short row heel. And since these are on 2's, it should be a bit faster.
I'll have my mittens done in a few hours of knitting time. It helps that I can listen to audio books on my ipod (downloaded from the library, don't you love free books?) I just finished the Hunger Games Trilogy and now I'm listening to The Help. Hopefully I'll be back on with an FO update by Friday. In the meantime, here's a peek at my finished mitten #1:

The top and bottom of the mitten. I'm using Vanna's Choice on size 1 needles. It makes a thick, warm fabric, probably not waterproof, but hopefully windproof!

Progress

2012-01-09T08:41:00.002-05:00

I have chosen not to make any resolutions this year. I find that resolutions are promises to ourselves we tend to break. And then it sets you up for a pattern of failure for the year. Instead of focusing on one area to improve, I want more balance in my life. So instead of making resolutions, I pick a word for the year. This world will encompass all areas in my life.
This year's word is PROGRESS. The definition of progress is continual improvement; to move forward and onward. I really like this definition. It implies activity, no stagnation. Progress is an action verb!
I have progress so far. I'm doing pretty good with my knitting goals. I am plugging along on my Icewine mittens. It's kind of hard to knit WW yarn on size 1 needles, but it's going fairly fast. Progress. Continual improvement. I wanted to do these in gray and blue, but I found some off white and gray I decided to use instead. They are acrylic, but I don't plan on getting these wet with snow, anyway, so I should be fine. They may be a gift at Christmas, who knows?
This morning I cast on for January Cowl. It's so easy. I had to get yarn for this and went to Wal-Mart late last night (not just for yarn, I just happened to pick some up when I was there). I wanted to do these in an off white, but the closest color was a beige, kinda yellow looking. So I decided I'd use gray. Only 3 balls of gray. I settled on an oatmeal tweed color. I knit a good inch in ten minutes, so it's going to be fast!
I 'm still working on my socks, so I have not started my Jan socks yet. But the pattern I have picked out is super easy, it's not really a pattern at all. I think I can whip them out once I get these other ones done. 3 WIP's right now. Well, three that I'm working on!
I am making progress. I'll be back soon with photos.

Christmas Knitting

2012-01-05T16:06:00.000-05:00

2 posts in a week, can you believe it?

I wanted to show off the things I made my kids for Christmas. I started in December and thankfully I didn't have to make the cowl or else I wouldn't have been able to finish. In fact, I finished up the last hat on Christmas Eve.

I made the Mitten Top Toque for my oldest daughter, who is 11. I let her pick out the yarn, but she didn't know the exact pattern. I think it knitted up nicely!

The pattern called for two buttons, one just below the loop at the top, and one at the side. I didn't really get it, and I didn't add a button. I figured I could sew one or two on quickly, but she likes it like this. I like the wide brim and she wears it every day!

Here is the front view of the hat. I used Deborah Norvile's Everyday Soft worsted in Parfait. The pattern can be found on Ravelry. I still have a skein and a half left. She wants matching fingerless mittens.

This is the Bandana Cowl which I made for my 8 yr old daughter. Her favorite color is blue, and I knew she'd like the shape of this. I liked making it, it was easy and it knit up pretty quickly. I used Wool Ease for this one.

I made three Toboggan Noggins for my boys. I only got one photo, but you get the idea. I used Wool Ease and Vanna's Choice for them. I added tassels and I think I modified the amount I cast on, but I don't remember. It's all a haze to me now. And I guess I'm not too attached because I'm pretty sure they will lose them in the near future. That's the way boys are!

I like this pattern because it is open at the top and cinched with a string through eyelets. I crocheted a long chain and added small tassels at the end for fun. As you can see, it has many uses, even as a cowl if needed, or opened at the top if it gets too hot. His favorite color is orange, and this was the closest they had to that color. He likes it, right?

So I had a busy December with lots of projects OTN. I keep wanting to cast on for other projects, but I really need to finish up the ones I already have. I think 2012 is going to be a productive year for me!

Hello 2012!!!

2012-01-03T20:21:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the new year. I have made a few "resolutions" for the upcoming year, even though I am NOT a resolution person. I feel they are just promised waiting to be broken. But I do feel good about the upcoming year and where I am at as a fiber artist.

As I have mentioned before, since I moved about 2.5 years ago, I haven't found a knitting group that I clicked with. I still might try another one out here soon, but in the meantime, knitting has been placed on the backburner. Well that, and no good yarn shops close by. There are tons of yarn shops within a 45 minute drive, but it's kind of silly just to drive all that way for yarn. Right?

Anyway, I plan on making a bunch of stuff this year. At least 36 things. It's the year of 12's!

12 pairs of socks!

12 "mitts" or mittens~

12 cowls!!

I was thinking about doing a hat a week, for 52 hats, but I only got about 20 done the last time, that's not even half! And it might be pushing it a bit to try and knit all that. I do want to have time for my other hobbies!

So for January 2012, here are my planned projects:

Pinstripe socks using KP Imagination in Evil Stepmother.
Icewine mittens in Vanna's Choice Ivory and grey (already started! Yay!!)
January Cowl in Vanna's Choice, probably white, but not quite sure.

I still have to finish my second sock of Kalajoki. I would have been done by Jan 1, but I discovered, at the heel turn, that I cast on 10 more stitches for my first socks. 10 stitches is too much of a discrepancy to ignore or try to fix, so I had to frog the whole thing. And out of disgust, it sat there for a week, sadly neglected. But I got two repeats done in one night, so if I crank away at it, I should have it done by next Friday, at the latest.

I did tons of Christmas knitting, at the last minute. What was I thinking? I got it all done, fortunately, and my kids are warmer for it! I will post pics soon of what I made. Just wanted to get my resolutions out there for the world to see. I'll be back soon with another update!

Hello out there!

2011-10-19T08:38:00.000-04:00

Wow, can't believe it's been 8 months since I posted last. I have to admit, sadly, that my knitting has taken a back seat as well.

I think some of the problem is that I don't go to a knitting group anymore. It really helps to keep knitting and crafting if you have a supportive group, people who share the same passion and understand the ups and downs of that craft. Sadly, I haven't been able to find a group that I fit into in the 2 years I have lived here. That, and lack of close yarn shops. I adore sock yarn, and there isn't too much of that around here. At least, not what I crave.

I took a long break from knitting. I don't think I picked up the needles all summer. I did make one sock, and didn't really like how the one turned out and started on another pattern. So I've been knitting pretty regularly in the evenings while I watch TV, at least an hour or so most days. It's nice to feel the needles again, to see my work growing into something recognizable.

I went through a yarn purging about a year ago. I got rid of all the yarn (acrylic) that I had accumulated, a whole big trash bag full, and gave it away on freecycle. I have a smallish house and really nowhere to store extra yarn that has sat around for years. Might as well give it to someone who can and will use it, right? About that time, I became something of a yarn snob. If I only knit once in awhile, why not use the best quality materials I can afford, right? And it does make a difference!

I have been thinking about making some toddler sweaters for my boys this winter, but have not really fully decided yet. By the time I get around to it, it'll be spring! I might just work on my socks and a few hats and mittens. Those are easy and fairly quick to knit.

So that's the update for now. Hopefully I'll be back before 8 months with another update!

Baby Knitting

2011-02-05T11:06:00.001-05:00

Now' that I’ve been bitten by the knitting bug, I find myself with caston-itis. I want to knit so much, and I have so many WIP’s begging to be finished, I decided I would cast on for a few more!

A typical knitter, you might say. Yes, we all know how we are. And we have the right since it is our hobby! I’ve been trying to be a monogamous knitter since I know how I am. If I don’t finish in a timely manner, chances are it won’t get done.

But there are a boat load of babies ready to be born here. Must be in the water. I’m not one of them!!! I have a baby shower in a week. I didn’t even know the mother was expecting so I didn’t get a head start. I want to make a blanket, some booties, a pair of socks, and a cardi. Too much?

Well, I can’t seem to settle on a pair of booties that I like. I’ve made one but HATED the color I made. Now I know why this particular color of yarn was retired. Anyway, this pattern is knit on 2 needles and sewn. I didn’t understand how to do it in the round so I followed the instructions. Now I’m going to make a pair for real in the round. Hopefully I can get done with them soon so I can post a pic.

I’m also knitting an easy cardi. I think it will go fast, but I need to get off the computer to get it done in time. And I got myself a new toy, so I don’t know if I won’t be too distracted.

The next baby is due at the end of March. And the one after that is a few months away. Oh yeah, another cousin is due in May. Did I mention they are all boys? I want to knit in pink!!! I’ll be back by the end of the week to post baby knitting progress.

Out of Hibernation….for now

2011-01-31T20:14:00.001-05:00

Wow, I haven’t posted since Halloween. Hope you guys have not abandoned me.

The knitting bug just quietly went to sleep, into a deep hibernation. It just woke up and it’s hungry!! I’ve been wanting to knit and I have! I do have some pics to show of FO’s too! Yay me!!!

So, onto some pics. This is the Capucine Hat. I wanted to make it for me, but alas my head is ginormous and it seems that my daughter magically fits into all the hats I make.

I used leftover Wool of the Andes for this. It was quick and fun. I made this a few months ago. Here’s the front view.

It’s a dark purple so you can barely see the tassels hanging down. I have another skein and was considering making a bigger size for my head. Not so sure, though.

I also made a Jayne Cobb hat a looong time ago. I think I made it over the summer, or in late September. I used Cascade and luckily found the colors at a LYS.

My 4 yr old is the reluctant model. I needed to get a photo before it disappeared.

And the side view. This hat does fit me and I wear it all the time. I haven’t had anyone come up to me and tell me how much they like Firefly. I think the first one who does, I’ll give them the hat!

I went digging for some needles and found stash I forgot about! Don’t you love it? I got this skein of Cascade 220 and wanted to make a hat with it. I’m going to restart and do it on bigger needles. This is the Square Circle Hat.(Rav Link)

I’m also making a White Zombie sock.(Rav Link) I got this yarn from my MIL last year for my birthday. It’s Sunshine Sock yarn.

One down, one to go. I started these an eon ago and they were calling to me to get finished. I have plans for lots of socks so I need to get on these!

I impulsively bought a fine gauge sock loom at Hobby Lobby. I also picked up a skein of yarn so I could get started on it.

I guess the lure for the loom is to be able to make socks faster. Not yet though. I’m making a baby sock (30 sts) and it took me nearly a half hour just to cast on. As with all new things, it takes time. But I would have had these socks knitted by now! I’m still plugging along, not sure if this is an alternative for me or not. I may just go ahead and teach one of my kids to use it so I don’t waste $25.

Ok, that’s it for the catch up post. Hopefully I’ll be back before two months is up with some FO’s!

Halloween

2010-11-03T09:54:00.000-04:00

Hi knitting friends. I've been doing other things, obviously. I don't like that I've abandoned you, but it is what it is.
Just thought I'd stop by and say hi. I guess that's good every now and then, right? I even have pics, but not of knitting content.
So we celebrated Halloween this year. It's the first time in at least 5 years that we have done so. The reasons for abstaining were no longer valid so we bit the bullet and took the kids trick or treating. Me and Hubby even went to a party all dressed up. It was fun and I was sorry about all the fun we had missed, but when you feel convinced to do something, it's the right thing (as long as it's legal and no one is getting hurt!)
Unfortunately, we decided at the last minute to "do" Halloween. I think it was Friday night that we both agreed, and of course we weren't going to buy 5 costumes. So we winged it and I think it turned out OK.

The two girls on the left are my neighbor's daughters. They didn't go with us, but we did run into them at the end of the night. All the costumes were last minute and pretty much just face paint and a prop. Except for Vann. He was a pumpkin. How cute!

Jericho was a cow. Sometime during the night he lost his ears and by the end he looked like a zombie. Not what we intended!

Vann the pumpkin. He had so much fun and he was so cute carrying his candy pumpkin holder, walking through the leaves.

Xion wanted to be a lion. He looks very cute with his ears and face paint. He even had a tail attached to his pants!

Raynbe went as a princess. You can barely see her wings attached to her coat. But it's freezing here and we needed them!
It was cold on Sunday night. Freezing. The kids handled it ok but I was glad when it was over!
Here is a pic of me at the Halloween party we went to on Saturday night. It was so much fun! I haven't dressed up in at least ummmm, sixteen years! I was thinking about what I had on hand to make into a costume and the idea just popped in my head. I was the landlady from Kung Fu Hustle. If you haven't seen the movie, you should. It's hilarious!

Here's a pic of me, hubby, MIL, and her parents.

It was a great time, and I'm glad we celebrated Halloween this year. Now I will have a whole year to come up with a better costume (or one that's more flattering!) and for the kids too.

Hiatus

2010-09-03T17:05:00.002-04:00

Seems like I don't like to knit too much in the summer. Too much stuff going on...barely any mojo. I really admire those people who knit all year round, cranking out lace shawls and socks and blankets....

I do have a few FO's to post, but I don't have any pics right now. So I'll keep it short and sweet (since knitting blogs without pictures = boring!

I have been reading as much as I can and I have discovered a new hobby so that's been taking up my time the past few weeks.

I'll show pics of my FO's in the next post, which will be hopefully soon!

Summer Knitting

2010-06-22T10:53:00.001-04:00

It’s summer, officially. In Upstate NY, that does not mean the hot muggy days and severe weather of northern IN.

It’s a quieter life here. I would consider this area rural, and the gentle slope of “mountains” or hills as they call them, tells me that it is rural. Where I used to live, the streets were nicely laid in a grid type structure, allowing several ways to get from point A to point B. Not so here. The way is winding and round about. You have to backtrack on one road to get to where you need to go. It’s sometimes frustrating, but I’m getting used to it.

One thing I really enjoy is the weather. It’s almost the same as where I used to live, but there are some major differences. We don't get severe summer weather. There are no tornado sirens. It does rain a lot and the temps are about 5-10 degrees cooler, but it’s nice. The humidity of the day is relieved by the cool of the night. All you need is to open your window and enjoy the natural air conditioning of nature. I do enjoy that.

And it’s windy. A lot. Not just a breeze, but a steady wind. 5-10 mph, several days a week. I am used to it. When it stops, I only notice hours later. I like to see the curtains flapping in the breeze and it cuts down on the cost of having fans blowing constantly (and the noise!) And sadly, no, no central air at our house.

So it’s the perfect weather for knitting, right? Low humidity usually and lots of nice fresh air. Here is what I’m working on now.

This scarf/shawl is called Objects in Space (Rav Link), but I call mine Eye of the Tiger. I used KP stroll in the colorway Tiger.

I made the 80” size and I’m not sure how wide to make it. I’m not even sure how close to 80” I made the length. After I get brave enough to cast off I will cut the scarf down the middle for fringe. Cool. I can’t wait until it’s done. And since it is stockinette, it’s perfect for TV watching, or kid watching at the pool. Right now, it’s a little over 12” wide, including the curled edge. I’m not sure if I should use the whole skein of the yarn or just half…maybe I’ll just knit until I’m bored. I’ll have a very long, very skinny scarf. I wanted it kinda shawl sized, but since it curls so much at the ends, it might look weird. Just not sure.

Here is a crochet scarf I’m working on. It’s the Claudia scarf, and I’m using KP Pallette in the colorway Lipstick.

The color comes across as pink on my screen, but it’s really a deep red. This will be 6 feet long when I’m done. It’s taking FOREVER. I’m not a good enough crocheter to not look when I hook, therefore I really cant’ watch TV when I work on this. But using fingering yarn and a small hook= a forever project. I’m trying to hurry so I can start the other projects I have waiting in the wings.

Another thing that’s been keeping me busy is my new toy. I saved up and bough a Sony Reader Touch Edition. I love to read and I thought this would be a good investment. When I found out that I could borrow books form my local library, I was ready.

The Reader is similar to the Kindle. It has a touch screen, can hold up to 350 books, and is lightweight and portable.

This is a comparison to a paperback I grabbed off my bookshelf. I carry this around with me when knitting isn’t really an option and can read a few pages quickly and easily. It’s best to see the screen in sunlight, there is no glare or eyestrain, believe it or not! It’s takes a little more doing in a room lit by bulbs; sometimes you have to tilt the screen to keep the glare off. I may invest in a booklight for this purpose, but so far I’ve been doing fine with it.

Here’s another angle to show how big it is compared to a regular paperback. It’s the perfect size! And I love how I don’t have to hunt to find what page I’m on, it gets saved for you!

The Reader is less $$ than a Kindle and this version does not have a wireless connection to download books. You have to hook it up to your computer, but for me it’s a non issue. I’m at home all the time and have a computer handy for that purpose. But the Kindle does not allow you to borrow books from a library or share any books you have. And the Reader allows you to read in PDF, yes, that’s right, you can take your patterns with you without paper or worry about losing them. I might try this and let you know how it works when I do!

Ok, off to read or knit…

A Hat, some socks, and a scarf

2010-05-29T16:57:00.001-04:00

I’ve been not knitting a lot. Whole days of non knitting have gone by. Guess it’s just one of those down cycles, which seems to happen in the warmer weather. I find it hard to knit when I have to watch the kids play…. plus it makes me tired (knitting, that is!). I have managed to finish a few projects which have been OTN longer than I really like. But they’re done!!

I find I’m a viral knitter. I like to knit stuff everyone else has knit, or so it seems. So here’s my version of Skew:

Misit Alpaca Sock in colorway Turkey Tail. I love how these ended up and am a bit sad that’s it not cool enough to wear them, but not too sad. I love the warm weather and they will wait patiently until I can put them on.

The obligatory heel shot. Very cool how these work up.

And the side view. I used a size 1 needle and they may a be a bit loose, but it’s ok. I still love them. And the yarn is to die for!!

I also made a few hats. Here’s the first one I completed. I’m disappointed that it didn’t turn out big enough for me. It fits my 5 yr old son perfectly though.

This is the double layer sock yarn hat. It’s reversible and it went pretty quickly. Of course, mindless stockinette + mindless TV watching = a quick FO.

This is the main color side. I used Lanet yarn and I forget what size needles, probably a 1, 2, or 3. The only other thing I didn’t like about the pattern was the lack of direction on the decreases. I suppose I could have been less lazy and looked it up, but that’s what the pattern is for, right? Anyway, it was supposed to be a square top. Mine turned out spiral:

Does this mean it has to belong to a girl? Maybe if I make this again, I’ll use a larger needle and do regular decreases.

The other hat I made is the Olympic Hat (Rav link) from Team USA, with the reindeer (moose) on them. I haven’t done a lot of colorwork and this hat was interesting to make.

As you can see, it’s large, but it fits me perfect. Finally! I can’t wait to wear this in the winter!

Here’s the other side. I used Cascade 220 Superwash and size 3 needles. Maybe that’s why it took so long, LOL? I got the modded pattern from Shuttle Shop in Warsaw. She even sent me the yarn. Yay!

I’m also working on a pair of socks and started a lace scarf. I have 10 pages of queue on Ravelry and would like to cut it down a bit. Here’s my Mojo (Rav link) socks:

well, sock. Still on sock 1. I am almost done with it and I hope it fits. This is such an easy pattern but it seems to take forever! The yarn is Thank Ewe in key lime, size 1 needles.

A preview of Anya above. I have knitted the same 4 rows twice now since my precious baby boy keeps pulling the needles out…grrr. If he wasn’t so cute, I’d strangle him, LOL. Maybe now I’ll be more careful to put my stuff away. The yarn is KP Shadow in laceweight, colorway Sunset. Maybe a stormy sunset..but I like it.

So you can see what I’m working on. I have a few more sock patterns lined up…but at the rate I’m going, it’ll be Christmas before I get to any of them. LOL.

A Saturday Walk

2010-04-24T22:07:00.001-04:00

As most of you know, I moved from the Northern Indiana area to Central New York (state) to be closer to my husband’s oodles of family. We are settling in finally and got out to enjoy the beautiful weather today.

It’s been weird weather out here. Nice and sunny, near 70, for a day or so, then cold and rainy. Normally, 50 is not really cold. Not unless you’ve been spoiled by 70 degree weather. Then 50 feels like 30. I wonder why that is??

Anyway, we got out. Here’s a bunch of pics of the kids enjoying the walk around the reservoir today. I’m not in any pics because I took them all.

Here are the kids gathered at the entrance. We had to walk down a pretty steep hill to even get to the good stuff.

A pretty scenic view from the woodsy path.

The woodsy path.

The kids playing by the water.

My youngest daughter posing. She loves the camera!

These trees are growing under water.

Just a weird bent tree.

The other side of the weird bent tree.

Ducks.

the waterfall is the end point of our path. The other side was a lot steeper and much more work.

Kids posing again.

Here they are, all lined up.

I told them to do the “thinking man” pose. My son wanted to do something different, LOL.

This fire hydrant is in the middle of the woods. Weird.

It’s behind the concrete block in the middle of the pic. See?

There it is!

When we moved in, I twisted my knee pretty good. I’m still limping around and have to “straight leg” it down stairs. It was a hard tiring walk and I am badly out of shape. But it was fun. I hope to get out there more often.

We even saw a snake. I don’t know how my hubby caught it, but he did. The kids liked it somewhat. I didn’t get any pics, but I did get a video. Cant’ do that yet, so you just have to imagine. LOL.

I’m really glad I got out today. It’s supposed to be cold and rainy tomorrow. Brrr!!

Socks, test knitting, moving…again

2010-03-29T10:17:00.001-04:00

I’ve been staying pretty busy. A lot of time has been spent on my new laptop. It’s nice, but distracting to say the least. I have managed to get some knitting done.

I wanted to try out Skew. I ordered yarn and needles. I got ready to cast on and discovered one of my needles was split right at the top. It’s impossible to knit with the yarn being grabbed and snagged like that.

A quick call to Knit Picks customer service and I had a new needle on the way. But what to do in the meantime? My fingers were itching to knit a pair of socks. I found this pattern on Ravelry, part of Sock Madness 4.

It’s called Simple Side to Side socks. I liked the idea of them. Knit flat, then seamed together. I got to try the afterthought heel too.

But it was tedious. It stayed OTN way too long. I saw some people finished in a day or two. It took me two weeks. Back and forth stockinette…not fun. Tedious. And the first sock took me nearly 1.5 hours to seam! Maybe because it was late and I was tired. The second sock only took me a half hour to seam.

So you knit a piece of fabric, then create a “split” in the yarn for an afterthought heel. The construction is truly unique. But it’s just too much seaming. I can barely get the socks on and they feel weird. And the yarn does nothing for the pattern. The sock looks inside out.

I will definitely not make these again. I saw some very nice projects. But not with the yarn I chose!

I also test knit a hat for Vicki of Simpleknits. It’s called Block Head (no link yet, but keep checking Rav) and it’s knit top down with no DPN’s. You start out on straights, make a square, and then knit down. Very interesting construction and very fast to knit up. I had my son model it and he liked it! (Only in black). It’s more beanie than slouch and it only comes to the earlobes, but it’s cute.

Front view. I used Vanna’s Choice and knit per pattern, no mods on anything.

The top square, or block.

Side view. I’ll make the boy one for next year after summer. He won’t be able to hold onto it that long. And his style might change by then.

Here’s a pic of Skew in progress. At this point, I’m about halfway done with the foot section. As of this writing, I’m getting ready to finish up the heel and graft. Yay!! The yarn I’m using is Misti Alpaca Sock colorway Turkey Tail, number 17 I think. It’s very autumnal in color, but still vibrant.

Maybe in the next week you’ll see a finished pair. Maybe.

I’m moving again. This time to a nice house in a nice subdivision with sidewalks and big yards and lots of kids and no traffic. Yay!! It’s been scary living in this second floor apartment. My 3 year old has been caught hanging out the windows quite a few times. I think the fall could hurt him badly if not kill him. Nothing like seeing your kids hanging out the window to start a panic attack. Two more days!! And I’m just tired of having neighbors above, below, and to the side. It’s weird to hear someone walking above your head.

I’ll be pretty busy for the next few weeks as I unpack and sort through our mountain of clothes and get situated. I do have some summer/spring projects in mind that I would like to get started on. Hopefully I’ll have some more updates soon.

Bag Fail

2010-03-09T09:27:00.002-05:00

I got a new laptop for a late birthday present. Yay!! It’s just a simple Gateway with AMD processor, but it’s nice and it’s mine. I no longer have to share (fight) with the other 7 members of my household for computer time.

I decided I would make a laptop bag for my new laptop. I’m a knitter. Why not show it off in style? I went onto Ravelry and found the perfect pattern and then ordered some yarn from KnitPicks (along with some other goodies to get to the free shipping) and then promptly started my new bag.

Anyway before I even started I knew the dimensions were wrong. Not too bad off, but I could turn it sideways to fit it in, right? Not until I realized how floppy this bag was. And it wasn’t wide enough. But I wasn’t going to rip it out. I forged ahead. I added a new skein of yarn, then another.

Then I got some Addi Turbos and my knitting seemed to speed up and it actually went a lot faster. I am not a big fan of cables. I love how they look, but I don’t like doing them. Cables aren’t hard as much as they area PITA. You know?

So I finally decided I would just make it a sleeve which was another option. Until I realized that I would have to rip out about four rows to make it fit. Instead, I forged on, at this point realizing I had a new bag instead of one for my laptop.

This is the finished bag on top of my laptop. You can see how short it is. But I decided that maybe a knit bag wasn’t the best option. I don’t want to worry about my laptop falling out or anything. And this is floppy. Very floppy. So this is my new laptop bag:

It fits in there, it’s pink, and I like it. I may make a sleeve, still undecided. My left thumb is killing me today from all those darned cables…I may have given myself carpel tunnel, LOL.

Here are some more pics of the Sweater Bag (free pattern on Lion Brand)

So I used a size 8 needle and Wool of The Andes Bulky in Blackberry. The yarn bled all over my needles and my fingers. I now have dark purple lines in my creases of my hands. They just look dirty :) I really really like how it turned out. If I were to make this again for a laptop, I would add ten stitches and make side panels (more messenger bag-ish) and put plastic canvas inside for durability. I would also buy some sturdy handles. Maybe some kind of webbing or a leather belt. And I would construct a divider inside.

I got some new yarn too.

KP kettle dyed stroll in the Brodeaux colorway. It’s not so shiny and a tad darker.

KP hand painted stroll in the lullabye colorway. Looks more like the beach to me, though. Very pretty.

Baby Ull. These may become Endpaper Mitts.

Or maybe these will. I’m undecided. I like to have options.

I’m also working on a few things. This is the Rogue Scarf. It’s fast and easy and great for American Idol or knitting group! The yarn is Bernat Satin in Flamingo. I’m using size 13 needles.

And this is my Baktus. I’m using my own dyed sock yarn. I think it’s a mixture of cherry and black cherry. I might use two skeins to complete this for a nice big scarf. Then again, it might take a year to complete at this rate!

Success!!

2010-03-01T07:10:00.001-05:00

I did it YaY!!! I set my goals for the Ravelympics, and I accomplished them. It feels great to finish. Success.

Last Ravelympics, I set my goals a little less. I wasn’t sure how much I could do in the short time frame. I pushed myself a little more this time, and I accomplished two things: first, my Ravelympics goal; second, my charity projects.

I finished a WIP. I could have done more WIP’s but that would leave me no time for my other projects. These were the last socks I started in 2009. I messed up on them, but I still finished!

I made a shawl also. This one was pretty easy to complete and very quick. I like this pattern, and I will make more of them.

These socks were very quick and easy. I hardly needed the pattern. I did use the Basic Ribbed Sock pattern. The yarn is Sock Ease on size 1 needles. I made size Medium. They turned out great!

Onto charity knitting. I made 3 hats for Pine Ridge. They are various sizes.

3 pair of socks for Pine Ridge. I finished the last one up on Sunday, Feb 28 around 9PM. Gave me enough time before the official rules called for closing time. These are knitted in Wool Ease on size 4 needles. The pattern is improvised. I took two different patterns and kind of combined them. I did a slip stitch heel since I think those are more durable.

Lastly for charity, here are the mittens. Various sizes and yarns. I used Classic Mittens pattern and a size 3 needle. Makes for a nice thick fabric. I think I will make future mittens out of wool since these are acrylic. Once they get wet, forget about it. But to keep hands warm, they are fine.

I also decided to dye a skein of yarn I had hanging around. You know, naked wool crying for attention. So I gave it a dip in green! Perfect for St. Patty’s day, I think.

I went to bed last night with aching hands. It’s ok though. I have a RAK I need to finish and get in the mail. Someone on Ravelry asked for some baby items for her boy due in early April. I won’t have any more babies, so it’s perfect for me. Baby stuff is so cute and pretty quick to knit up. I’ll show it once it’s been received.

What else do I have planned? Lots. The Ravelympics sparked a fire in me. I have a short list of items I want to get done in the next month. Then I might try working through my queue. Or I just might add more, LOL.

Ravelympics 2010

2010-02-22T08:05:00.001-05:00

Anyone on Ravelry knows what the Ravelympics are. For those few of those not on Rav, I’ll tell you. It’s a friendly competition against yourself where you set some challenging knitting goals that you complete during the duration of the Winter Olympics. It’s fun, it’s free, and there are only a few rules. I love it.

There are a lot more events this time around than the Summer Olympics two years ago. There are also a few neat features that were added since last time as well. One of them is the teams and the finish line and the live coverage. All are neat, and all take precious time away from my knitting. Lots of inspiration going on over at Ravelympics.

It’s not too late to join, though you only have roughly six days to compete. I’m starting to feel a little heat here since I have a pair of socks to knit and 2 pair of charity socks to finish in this time frame. I don't’ know if I can do it….I’ll let you know next week!

I’ve already finished most of my goals. I knitted 3 hats for charity. These are child sized, 6-10 yrs old, worsted weight on size 4 needles.

The orange hat is Red Heart, the other 2 are Simply Soft. These went pretty quickly.

I also finished a WIP. My last pair of socks that I started in October, Sunday Swing. I made one sock and the other just languished and hung around. Well, now it’s done!

One thing I learned. Don’t let the second sock sit around that long. It gets mad. It wants to be finished. And when it is done…well. Let’s just say one sock fits me, the other one fits my nine yr old daughter. Too bad. The pattern is easy and pretty quick, very easy to memorize. The yarn is Alpaca Sox.

This is the All Shawl. My first Ravelympic project. It was crocheted in 2 days on a size N hook using Sensations Rainbow Boucle in Green Shimmer. I didn’t have enough yarn to finish the edging. I think I did 3 rows of edging, but it still looks nice.

This was an impulse project. I found some green kool aid (Aldis Brand) and had this hank of yarn sitting around. I went for it! And look how it turned out:

I have to decide what to make with this yarn. I love how spring like it is. Perfect for this time of year!

What I’m finishing now is the 3rd pair of mittens for my charity mitten goal. This will take a few hours. Then I’ll get cracking on my socks. The pair for me is knitted on size 1 needles with a basic 3-1 Rib in LB gumdrop. I also need to finish 2 pair of charity socks using Wool Ease on size 4 needles. I might get done in time. Ok, gotta go burn up those needles!

Fun Dyeing and some FO’s

2010-02-10T10:40:00.001-05:00

Love the pun on that word, especially if it’s not spelled correctly. LOL.

So I have a skein of LB Fisherman’s Wool. It’s white. I thought it would be fun to dye. But I can’t stand re-skeining, tying it off, etc. I’m lazy. So I went ahead and made the stuff (plus I didn’t have the kool aide yet) and decided to dye it after the fact. Also, I don’t have a scale to weigh out my yarn. I’m not all that technical. I hate to dye up enough for my project, have some left over but not enough…then it’s like wasted yarn. I suppose I could get all creative and save it to make something later with all the bits and bobs of yarn leftovers…but again, I’m lazy. Then I’d have to remember fiber content and stuff. Lazy.

Here is the before of a cute hat:

I just knitted a tube, kitchenered the top, and added tassels. I used Berry Blast Kool aide to make it appropriate for my almost 2 yr old (Please forgive the snotty nose and focus on the hat. I know I’m drawing attention to it by even mentioning it, but it does bother me, and it’s very hard to get the kids to participate when I want to take knitting pics)

And I made myself a warm pair of mittens. I needed them badly the other night when I went to my first knitting group here. I didn’t even have Fingerless Gloves!

Before:

I used this pattern. Very nice, and for lots of sizes, to boot. Best yet, it’s free!

And After. I used Strawberry to dye these.

They are not this red. More pale and orangey. What are those weird creases, you ask? I laid them on the radiator to dry. Nothing beats a hot radiator for drying clothes. Really. You can dry jeans in a few hours if you keep turning them over. These mittens would probably have taken days to dry without the radiator.

I think my dyeing experience turned out pretty good. I like the way the colors came out. I was very worried about accidentally felting them, though. I do have another ball of white wool that I plan on dyeing soon. I need to find green first.

I have a few more FO’s to show. It’s been awhile, I know. Seriously, try and take a picture of your own head with a hat on. It’s a lot harder than it looks! And I keep forgetting to get my kids to model for me.

These are Susie’s Reading Mitts. A very popular pattern on Ravelry. They knit up very quick and are fun. I used Cascade 220 in a nice blue color. I would have worn them, but then the pic wouldn’t have turned out. It’s even harder to get pics of your own hands than your head, believe me.

I made a smaller pair of mittens from the same pattern above for one of my kids. I used a Hobby Lobby yarn that is wool. Very nice and warm. You can also get the pattern from Ravelry as a download.

I made a few hats. Here are the ones I have pics of.

The first is Riply (Rav link), by Ysolda Teague. She is very talented and I love her designs. So simple, yet elegant. I made the longer version without the picot edge. I used Cascade 220 in a nice buttery yellow. It fits snug and I like the pleats on it.

I also made another skull hat. I had some pink and white wool laying around. The first one I made was way to big. This fits nice, though it’s big too. I decided again on the roll brim instead of knitting a band on the inside.

And the last hat I made using inspiration from two patterns, I love pom poms and Susie’s Reading Mitts. I like the long band from the first pattern and I just incorporated the lace pattern from Susie’s Reading mitts. I used some Simply Soft and just knitted and knitted.

It’s hard to see the detail with it on (again, the whole camera and head thing) but you get the idea. It’s perfect for bad hair days!

So, as you can see I’ve been busy. I’ll update you on my more recent adventures very soon. Hopefully with a nice stash enhancement since my birthday is this weekend. yay!

Ummm, Hello? Anyone home?

2010-01-28T13:36:00.001-05:00

Yep, it’s been awhile. Since, uh, Thanksgiving-ish.

I have a post that is saved, but I have no pics, so I’m going to give a quick brief update so you guys don’t think I deserted you.

Where have I been? Right here! I haven’t done a lot of knitting since Thanksgiving. Maybe that’s why I haven’t posted in so long….my mojo was gone. I went days without knitting anything. I actually, at one point, debated giving the whole thing up!

But I came to my senses.

I’ve been on a True Blood/ Sookie Stackhouse kick. Well, not anymore. I am eagerly awaiting season 3 on HBO (yes, we’ll subscribe to HBO for the time it’s on. I’m a sucker!) but I didn’t knit for at least a month as I read my way through all 8 books in record time.

I guess I’ve been on a reading kick. I like the vampire novels, but I’m picky. I thought Twilight was unbelievable. I don’t remember being so clingy as a teenager. Or even finding that ONE guy who held all my dreams of happiness in his hunky hands (well, maybe, if he’d given me the time of day, LOL) I like vampire novels along the lines of Sookie Stackhouse…Charlaine Harris is such an awesome writer who draws you in and makes you care about the character. But right now I’m into the post apocalyptic books. I’m reading Oryx and Crake right now, by Margaret Atwood (who also authored The Handmaiden’s Tale, which made such an impression on me I think it’s in my top 5 faves of all time!) I just saw The Book of Eli at the theater so maybe that’s why I’m into the end of the world stories.

One thing I’ve discovered is that I can’t read and knit. I can do some of one, a little of the other, but no real progress in either area. Reading one or two chapters, a max of thirty pages a day, is not enough to finish a novel without forgetting who the characters are or what the plot is. Same with knitting. I can’t get anything done if I only finish a few rows, no matter if it’s a dishcloth or a shawl.

Speaking of shawls, I love them. I am in love with those cute little shawlettes all over Ravelry. I’ve got Multnomah on my needles. I just finished a small version of the All Shawl, and I have another, bigger shawl OTN that is getting very little action. Oh yeah, can’t forget about my Baktus. I dyed some RH sock yarn with red Kool Aid a while back and I figured this is the perfect project for it.

I’ll update with some pics of some of my FO’s. Maybe. I made a bunch of hats that promptly became “lost” by the wonderful kids. Before I could even snap any pics! But I’ll hunt them down. They are here, somewhere.

Look at this. It’s outside my window earlier today. All the snow melted over the weekend with the rain, now it’s coming back!

This church is across the street.

I tried to get the same zoom, but you get the idea.

Sunshine, dishcloths, and the Holidays

2009-11-27T12:31:00.001-05:00

It’s official. Black Friday after a VERY successful and awesome Thanksgiving dinner. This leads us into the madness and consumer gluttony that is called Christmas. I know people who max out all credit cards during this 4 week timeframe and are still paying on gifts a few years later….

My Thanksgiving was incredible. We ate with my husband’s cousin and her large family. She has the same number of kids as I do and even a grandbaby. So it was a houseful. It was sublime. I was in domestic bliss as we placed the brined turkey into the oven bag at 11. Letting the oven do all the work, the kids begged to help peel 15 lbs of potatoes. It only took about a half hour or so, but it was fun. Then we toasted the bread for the stuffing while the potatoes boiled. It was all done on time, we piled the food and ourselves into the van, and made the short trek to the cousin’s house.

The last 2 years, we travelled from Indiana to Central New York (state) for the holidays. It’s a long 12 hour trip with 5 kids . And it’s a short stay since we had to be back by Monday. But this year, we live in New York and it was nice to be so close and not hurried. I love having a late dinner. We took our time getting things together, there was no stress, and dinner was superb. I hope everyone else had a great day as well.

Last week I received an envelope in the mail. No name with an unfamiliar return address. Hmmm. Here’s what I found inside:

This came from my anonymous swap partner from the Sunshine swap. A pair of Addi’s in size 7, 16” circs. I lost all my hat needles in the move somehow. Yay!! I’ve never knit with Addi’s before so I’m looking forward to using these. Stitch markers and a pattern for a shawl I wanted. It was a nice bit of sunshine I tell you.

Our family is going through some hard times. My husband’s great aunt (grandma’s twin sister) is on the verge of dying. They took her to her daughter’s house to die a quiet death last Saturday. Everyone is surprised how long she’s lasting without food or water. Even though she’s lived a long life, it’s still hard to see her go. I did not know her when she was a vibrant independent soul. But I do know from her family that she was an amazing woman with the strength of God. And it shows in her family. What a wonderful legacy to leave behind! Aunt Maisie will be greatly missed and mourned.

Onto the knitting content:

Dishcloths. I guess it’s time for that cycle once again. Here’s a bunch I’ve done in the past week or so:

Granny’s Square. Free pattern from Bernat. Easy and quick. I did make it a few rows shorter though. I don’t like HUGE cloths at all.

Janell’s Star Cloth. I needed a few FO’s, and these two cloths did the trick!

Nubbins Nouveau. This is way to big for my tasted. You really can’t grasp the scope of the size of this thing in the pic. It’s only 44 sts wide, but it’s HUGE. I do like the pattern and it was pretty easy once I figured out how to connect row 2 with row 1.

Snowflake by Nora Gaughan. A nice cable pattern. Pretty easy but time consuming. I need to resew it to hide the seam.

And Zig from COTW Yahoo group. I used RH creme de la creme for this. The yarn is thin which I like but it bled like crazy. My needles turned green!

Here’s a hat I made too. It’s the Zucchini hat. I should have made it bigger around, but it’s ok. I used Vanna’s choice, which I think is one of the nicest acrylics out there. It’s soft and warm.

That’s it for this update. I will have more soon :)

NaNoWriMo and Mafia Wars

2009-11-10T11:19:00.001-05:00

This is what has been keeping me busy. I have hardly knit anything at all. Those three hats I was going to have done by mid week last week? I still have the one OTN. Well, technically, not really ON them as my precious children (or one of them, not sure which!) pulled them out of my hat. Which was in my project bag. They should have left them alone. Why haven’t they learned by now that my knitting is MINE??? I don’t blame them though. Not really. And it’s my fault for not putting my bag out of reach. Who can blame little kids for wanting to play with sharp pointy sticks?

So instead of having to deal with finding the starting point and how many stitches on each needle, it sits in my bag still. A week later. Sigh.

I did finish 3 dishcloths however. yay!! But I cannot show them yet as they part of a swap. Yep, swapping again. But VERY slowly. I will probably only do a few dishcloths a month for awhile. I dont’ want to get bogged down and burnt out again.

But I guess that’s my style. I find something, obsess over it until I’m sick to death of it, then leave it alone for a looong time. Like Mafia Wars. On Facebook. If you haven’t started, don’t. Do not open that can of worms. If you do play Mafia Wars, please add me to your family!!

NaNoWriMo is NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth. The goal is to bang out a novel of 50K words by November 30th at midnight. I’m doing ok, kind of behind, but not too badly. My story has stalled somewhat though…I should be writing that instead of writing this. But again, I put off what I really don’t want to work on. My story will still be there later. Right?

I have to post at least one pic, because who wants to read a knitting blog without pics? I will show you what I witnessed on Friday right outside my window.

SNOW!! In the beginning of November. It was coming down pretty hard. But it didn’t last. Nope. Yesterday it was 71. And today, well, not so bad. No sun (surprise surprise) but still warm. I’m waiting for the cold cold cold to hit. I can wait a bit longer since I still have to make those hats…

Maybe this will influence me?

Cowls, hats, crochet

2009-10-31T16:01:00.001-04:00

I’ve been busy in the last few days. Not working on my socks. Ugh. Just the thought of them makes my skin crawl. I am doing everything I can to NOT work on them. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m socked out right now. Maybe because I knit sock one in about 5 days. Or maybe because so many other projects are calling to me.

But it’s my hobby and I can do what I want, when I want, and how I want. That’s how I roll. I will finish up this pair soon, but I might not make a pair in November. Maybe I’ll have November and December as my make up months. As far as goals go, 10 out of 12 isn’t too bad.

Onto my FO’s. I guess I needed some quick satisfaction because 2 of my projects are crocheted.

This is the Convertible hat. It has a drawstring top and opens to form a cowl you can wear around your neck. Like so:

Or even up and over your ears:

I used a P hook and Wool-ease in Mustardy color. It turned out nice. What I really like about this hat is that it really looks knitted. I guess it’s the magic of slip stitch crochet. I must admit that wielding such a large hook was a hassle at first, but this project went super fast.

This project is Loop D Loops, just a long crocheted chain tied together to form a cowl. Nice huh? And the model is my beautiful 9 yr old. I used a K hook and Serenity yarn chunky weight, Berry Burst colorway. I really like this yarn. It’s so soft. And this pattern took me less than an hour to complete. Nice!

This is Aviatrix (Rav link). It’s supposed to be baby sized (12 months!) but you can see that it’s even large on my daughter. But I really like the pattern and it went super quick. I used size 7 needles for the ribbing and size 8 for the short rows. The yarn is Vanna’s choice in the Rust colorway.

Right now I have Multnomah (Rav link) on the needles with a mystery yarn that’s very thin. Probably lace weight, maybe tencel? Not sure, but it’s very colorful!

I’m also working on hats for my kids. It will probably be above normal temps here for November so they won’t be able to wear them, but you never know. I should be able to crank out 3 hats by mid week, depending on the pattern. You should be seeing some updates soon!

Nothing Special

2009-10-26T12:46:00.001-04:00

I really have nothing to report today. Just thought I’d get a little blogging in. I’d like to blog more regular, maybe not everyday, but at least once a week or so…

Here’s a pic of where I live now.

Well, not actually where I live, but my Uncle-in-law. He builds log cabins and planted one on top of this hill. What an awesome view!! And it’s not too far from me…maybe 10 minutes or so. It’s been rainy and cloudy here a lot lately, so it’s hard to even get a pic with the sun out.

Friday we celebrated birthdays. My 2 middle sons turned 5 and 3 on the 23rd. Who would’ve thought a toy train could be the cause of such contented play? Really, my 3 yr old played with that toy train from about 7 am until 11 am. I had to force him to stop playing to eat and take a nap. Crazy!

In knitting news, I did finish a hat. This hat. I upped the needle size and yarn to get a fit for my 2 yr old. But instead it wound up fitting me. How does that happen? Hats for me fit my 9 yr old daughter, and hats for my 2 yr old fit me. Gauge issues? I don’t do swatches. Simply put, I think they are a waste of time. Maybe that’s why I have these troubles. Usually I’m pretty much right on. But then again I’ve never made a sweater. If I did knit a sweater, I’d have to do a gauge swatch. Hence no sweaters for me. Maybe one day…

I finished my first sock for October. I’m doing Sunday Swing Socks in Aplaca Sox. Very nice pattern. Easy to memorize and quick too. Now I just need to work on the other one before I cast on for something else. Like Baktus. Which has been calling to me. I refuse to cast on until my socks are done and I complete a scarf I started a week ago. So much to knit, so little time!

Socks galore

2009-10-20T13:26:00.001-04:00

Haven’t shown any completed socks since May. Wow, that’s bad. I guess the posing, the picture taking, then the uploading…yeah, I’m a bit lazy.

Anyway, on to the socks!

May socks are Charade. Still no pic. Haven’t worn them, but they are lovely. I will post more info when there is an actual picture.

June socks: Flutter-by Socks (rav link)

I only made one of these. The yarn is Red Heart Sole in Green Envy. Not too bad a yarn. I found the pattern a bit fiddly. Probably why I did not finish them. Maybe later this month, if I have time….

July: Roundabout Socks

I picked this yarn because of the red, white, and blue theme going on. I am not a big fan of these colors together, but they turned out nice. These socks were quick and easy. The yarn I used was a swap yarn called Idena Crazy. More of a sportweight than a fingering, but it made for a nice thick pair of socks.

August: Garter Rib from the book Sensational Knitted Socks.

Another easy no brainer pattern. I like to knit while I watch TV and the more complicated patterns don’t get worked on as much. The yarn I used was Alpaca Sox that I received in a swap (see, if you send me sock yarn, it gets used!)

September: Komet (Rav link)

Jo-ann Sensations Bamboo and Ewe sock yarn. Nice and soft, though a bit splitty. As you can see from this picture, the sock is still on the needles. I did get it finished, but still have one more to do. I think this would have gotten done if it wasn’t so much….pattern. Cable and counting…you have to pay attention on this one. Which is why it didn’t get done in time. Yeah, another one of those.

I may have to pick simple patterns for the rest of the year so I can catch up on the two that I need to finish. It’s a good thing I received sock yarn from my knitting friends in Indiana before I left (and another sock book, yay!) Thanks, Elizabeth and Vicki for your generous gifts. I may use those to finish off the year.

My October socks are about 45% done. Another easy pattern that I am flying through. I started on Sunday and turned the heel this morning. I should be able to finish sock one today if I don’t clean the house, LOL!

FO finally!

2009-10-11T11:40:00.001-04:00

I’ve been promising pics for months now of my finished stuff. One might begin to wonder if I’ve done any knitting at all….

Here’s proof finally.

the pattern is the Wonderful Wallaby (rav link). I love this pattern. I made one for my 2 yr old but still need to take pics. Sigh. But I liked it enough to make another for my 5 yr old. I made a size 6 out of RH in Spring Green. It’s acrylic, yes, but the fact that it belongs to a five year old is reason enough.

It is a little large on him, but that’s good. He will get more than one season out of this. And that’s good since I put so much work into it. This one took twice as long as the first one, and I am thinking about making the next one for myself. Of course, the girls want one too. They will have to wait.

The side view. The hood is absolutely huge and reminds me of those hoods in the movies the monks wear. It can totally cover his face. Maybe it will shrink some in the wash? Oh yeah, it’s not wool!

I still need to find and take pics of my socks that I’ve made. I need to go back and see the last ones I blogged about.

I’m still working on my September socks. Still on sock 1, but at least I turned the heel on that one. I messed up somewhere after the heel turn and need to go back and fix it.

We are getting all settled in. After a month of no TV, we finally got our cable hooked up. Yay!! And we are back online too, with a decent cable connection. (DSL is for the birds. Or if you really don’t want to surf the net. Or you have hours to wait while pages load…)

I did not knit a stitch in 3 days. Unpacking, cleaning, and waaay to tired to do anything. But it’s nice that things are settling down and we are getting back into a routine. I only have the 2 young boys at home, so I plan on getting more knitting done (naptime!!) and catching up on my sock goals. I don’t want to get too far behind. Still need to finish my June socks and complete my Sept pair. I think Oct will go fairly quick so I’m not worried about that. Wow, that’s a lot of sock knitting. Better get going!

When life gets in the way

2009-09-30T18:13:00.001-04:00

The stack of boxes we used to pack. That’s a lot of boxes!

I bet you’ve all been dying to know about my trip from Indiana to New York (not City, but Central).

We left on 9-11 at about 5 am. I should have went back home when I filled the tank and the gas started pouring out. Hubby said the fuel neck had a hole in it, and it only leaked when filling (more like poured out). But I ignored my initial instincts and headed out anyway.

By about 8 am and in heavy fog, our car just died on the toll road. Just inside Ohio and barely able to see. Great. We made it to a gas station and I blamed the oil guys for not replacing the oil when they changed it (they said they swept the floor too!) So after about a half hour and 2 quarts of oil, we are on the road again.

Until about 10:30 or so. I feel the car chugging and I immediately pull into a rest area and add another quart of oil. I let the kids get a break, and we left after a half hour.

The car died about a half hour later, approximately 13 miles from the next rest area. On the side of the toll road, with 6 kids in tow. No cell phone. No idea what to do.

Fortunately for us, a state trooper stopped to help within 15 minutes. About a half hour later, we got a tow to the next rest area, where we proceeded to go to the next town. We got the car into the shop and after waiting for 2 hours (with 6 kids, only one in diapers, and a 2 yr old to boot) we decided to get a motel room for the night. They had no idea what was wrong. At least they gave us a ride to the motel.

More box fun!

Well, the car got fixed that night, but we stayed anyway to destress and get some rest. It’s hard being stranded with so many little ones. And I am so proud at how well they behaved the whole time. We had our moments, but considering the circumstances, they were sweet angels!

So on Sat morning, we had our continental breakfast and headed out at 9 am. We were just outside of Cleveland, close to our halfway point. We are going along good, and then BAM!! The car dies again.

This time we are NOT on the toll road at least. In fact, we are in Erie, PA, our halfway point. I make it to the next gas station and then after a few frantic and angry phone calls find somewhere to get the fuel filter changed.

After a few hours and we are good to go. I met my Mother in law about an hour or so later and she followed us the rest of the 3-4 hour drive. No problems this time.

Wow, what a trip. I left out the tears, the cussing, and the high level of stress that I endured. It was like a nightmare awake. Really. But in the end, we are all ok, and we made it. Should have taken us less time and less stress, but it’s all good.

We’ve been staying with my MIL in a small 2 bedroom apt above an elderly lady (87-ish). We are not the quietest bunch either. So far, so good.

We get to move to our own place on Monday. Yay!! I’m so excited to be able to have our own stuff, our own space, and rooms for the kids. It’s been less than ideal to have the kids camping out in the living room. And add to that, my MIL has no cable. And you know, you can’t watch any TV without cable. And you can only watch so many movies….

What we do when we’re bored…

But we get all that hooked up in a week. Yay! Excitement abounds. I’ve discovered that I can’t do plain stockinette without watching TV. It’s soooo boring.

So what would I be doing that requires copious amounts of stockinette? Why, another Wallaby. This time for kid #4. In a nice bright green. Acrylic. But he’s only 5 and doesn’t care about fiber. I just hope he never catches on fire while wearing it.

My Sept socks are not even half way done. I discovered that I made a mistake after the heel turn and need to figure out what to do next.

I’ll be posting more pics as soon as we get moved in and I find my stuff. I will be able to get caught up on a lot without cable OR internet!!

Moving to the Country….

2009-09-01T10:00:00.001-04:00

Gonna eat a lot of peaches. Remember that song from the Presidents of the USA? Oh, maybe mid to late 90’s? Nice song, huh?

So the big news is that we are moving. From North Central Indiana to Central New York state. Back to my hubby’s roots. With his plethora of family. It will be good.

Why are we moving? Mainly economic reasons with others thrown in. We get free medical care over there (he’s 1/4 Native American) that includes dental, medical, and health. And I know some of my kids may need braces. Also, the amount of family over there is overwhelming. We’ve been struggling here since my Dad went south about an hour. I really want my kids to have the strong family bonds and sense of self within that family. Right now we are kind of like fish out of water, floundering and trying to find our way. It will be refreshing to get back there.

This decision was kind of abrupt. Since the last post, even. So now we are getting packed and throwing away tons of stuff. Hard to believe we accumulate this much junk in only a few years. I can’t really say when my next post will be….

Oh yeah, I may be able to go to Rhinebeck. Yay!!!

But I have been knitting!! I finished my August socks. They went quickly and were super easy. They fit great and are super warm.

I made a bookmark out of the leftover yarn. It’s for my Dad’s girlfriend who loves to read. She has medical issues and one hand is slightly paralyzed. And she used to crochet. So, from one person to another who loves the fiber arts, she really enjoyed it.

The yarn I used is Alpaca Sox. Imagine a bigger pair knitted in rib for my August socks.

I also finally got the yarn to finish my big shrug. I should be done today sometime. I sure could have used it this past weekend. Brrr, it’s been very autumnal here lately.

If I take pictures of my other stuff, I’ll post soon with info and links etc.

Camping

2009-08-10T12:47:00.001-04:00

We went camping over the weekend. It was kind of poorly planned, but it did happen.

My oldest daughter is 9 today. Yay!! My dad wanted to camp out at the lake to celebrate her birthday and I really needed the reason to destress. It was delightful!

We got there late and had to eat in the dark (which is after 10 around these parts) but it was fun. Hubby, the 3 youngest boys, and I slept in the tent. There was a nice breeze so it wasn’t bad at all. Except for the mosquitoes. My kids look like connect the dots and my legs itch something horrible.

My 6 yr old stayed up until 4 am with my dad’s girlfriend. I fell asleep around 2 am but did not sleep well at all. So I was very tired the next day. The kids went swimming and we ate melted ice cream cake (don’t get an ice cream cake when you’re camping. Especially if it’s over 90 degrees). Everyone was tired, grumpy, and hot.

This weekend was the hottest weather we’ve had since the end of June. Yep, weird weather. So last night I made the living room a “den” with the window AC and we all slept in there, nice and cool. It was fun!

I don’t have any projects to show right now. Or any pics of our trip. In our rush to get out of here, I left my camera. Too bad since it was really fun to watch the kids in the lake.

I did manage to start my second sock for August and knit a few inches. It’s very hard to knit when you have a one year old walking around and you have to keep jumping up to save his life. I wanted to take the dog leash and collar and use that to keep him corralled a bit more but I think that would have been a bad idea. LOL. I would never do something like that, really!

Our next camping trip might be on Labor Day, and that one should be more fun with more planning. And hopefully I can work some more knitting time in then too.

M.I.A. (but now I’m back)

2009-08-02T10:51:00.001-04:00

My last entry was in late May. How sad. I’m letting you know that I’m ok and life is good. As good as it can get. Unless I win the lottery, that is. But that could be bad. So yes, I’m good.

I have been knitting. Not so much over the summer, but it’s picking up now. I must admit that I had no desire to knit for a few months. Why blog when I have no motivation. I even stopped going to my knitting group. But I will be back! (I’ve warned you…)

So the knitting mojo has returned and I’m ready to start on my Fall knitting.

I did finish my July socks and one sock for June. I just did not like the pattern. Well, I guess I didn’t like anything in June/July. But I did finish my July socks on July 31. Yay!! I’m only one sock behind for my goal. I’ll catch up on that one when my August pair is finished. I cast on that sock last night and did a few inches so I’m happy.

I also made one fingerless glove. the other one will be cast on soon and finished. And I’m working on Endpaper mitts. I made a mistake, and I don’t want to go back and fix it. Guess it’s hiding somewhere….

And I made a hat for my baby. It’s bright green acrylic. It took me a day and it fits my 16 year old. But 2X2 ribbing will do that. I wanted something quick that won’t bother me too much when it gets lost. And it will, if it isn’t already.

So why all the winter wear knitting? Because, sadly, summer did not happen this year in these parts. Looking at the 16 day outlook it won’t either. All the heat from the West just kind of dissipated before it got to us. Maybe Lake Michigan absorbed it all. I don’t know. All I do know is that I used the AC once (in June!) for about a week. And the fans are hardly on. It’s been a weird summer for sure. I don’t mind too much since the heat melts me but it is nice to get a few scorcher days in the summer.

Ok, so you want to see some pics? Let me see what I have.

I made this for my youngest daughter. It fits nice and looks good. I like seeing it on her. I made it a little longer than required.

Well, that’s all I have for now. I’ll take pics of my socks and stuff and post soon-ish on that.

Hats and Dishcloths

2009-05-22T10:29:00.001-04:00

I’ve been on a hat craze lately. As you can see from my last post I’ve been trying to make them. Here’s a hat fail that I thought would be a cute slouchy hat for me:

As you can see, it looks cute on my one year old. Kinda looks like a mushroom. Oh well, one day I’ll get it right, right?

Although I do think the model is cute as cute can be, but I’m biased. LOL.

Another hat I made is a cable hat.

This is my other young son being the model. I used a size 8 needle and followed the directions. It’s still to small. I think I will make this one again, but will do at least one more pattern repeat to get the length I need.

I’m working on my second Felicity (pdf) right now. It was the first hat I made for 2009. This time I’m following the pattern without mods and see how slouchy it is. I should be done later today unless I get distracted…

I’m making a bunch of dishcloths as a present for my son’s speech therapist. Long story short, some lead was found in some paint in our house. We got new windows (Yay!!) and he got a speech therapist who’s been coming to our house every week for nearly a year now. Well, my boy has outgrown his need for his speech therapist and our sessions are coming to an end in a few weeks. She admired my knitting work when she came over so I thought a bunch of cloths would be a nice thank you gift. I hope to make at least 12, but maybe more. I’ll pair it with a nice basket and some soap or something.

Another windmill cloth. These turn out large, but they are super easy and little different than the regular round cloths.

This is from the cloth of the week group and is called Waves over Molokai. Another very easy and quick pattern. Maile’s patterns seem to run on the small (perfect for me!) side, but I don’t mind!

Lastly, Turtle tracks (This pattern is free on Ravelry). This is a LARGE cloth. I actually used a mercerized cotton and size 3 needles. I did 3 full repeats and I think it came out nice. The color is more of a lavender than grape, but you get the idea.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope everyone is enjoying the weather. It’s been nice and warm here and definitely feeling like summer!

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day!!

Some FO’s, WIP’s and Paying it Forward

2009-05-20T10:32:00.001-04:00

I have been busy. Sort of.

Well, I admit that I’ve made about 4 hats in the last week. I had to frog all but two of them. Why, you may ask? Gauge issues. So the one hat I had almost done and it would have fit Goliath’s sister. Rip it out. I actually used a smaller needle (since I tend to knit loosely anyway) but do you think casting on 110 stitches on size 8 would make for a large hat? Using WW yarn?

So I tried again, but with a different pattern. So 110 on size 8 is too big. Why not cast on, say, around 74 on size 6? Too small. So what is wrong here? I hate doing gauge swatches, so I think I must stay happy with just guessing, I guess. Or maybe my tension keeps changing.

So here’s one hat I completed:

This is Coronet. It’s been done for ages now. I just got around to posting a pic. This hat is neat since the brim is knitted flat and the rest is just garter, round and round and round. Easy and looks great.

This hat is the Spring Beret (Rav download). It’s my first “slouchy” hat. I love the pattern and it knit up super quick. I used Blue Sky Organic Cotton that I received in a swap. I ran out of yarn, so I did not do the last few rows of the last repeat. Then, when I was decreasing, the yarn kept breaking on me. I still like it and it turned out pretty good. I might make another one.

This is OZ. A big shrug. I got a gift card for Mother’s Day, and this is the yarn I chose. 4 skeins of Boku. Lovely stuff. The poor man’s Noro, LOL. What you see here is most of my shrug. I ran out of yarn and haven’t been able to get more yet. I am going to make the edging out of a solid color, but still have to choose what yarn and color I want to use. So this bad boy is on hold until I can decide. I got this far in about 3 days!

I got a lovely pink scarf from Bev as part of the pay-it-forward chain mail going around. (She didn’t spam me, I signed up!!)

My 8 yr old being the model. I think I may have to hide the scarf from her! It is so soft and pretty. Here’s a close up of the detail:

The top pic is true to it’s actual color. My camera is horrible!

So, to pay it forward, I need to post this on my blog and pick 3 people who agree to pay it forward themselves.

However, I am not a big fan of chain mail. Soo…I’m going to change the rules up a bit. I will uphold my end of the bargain. Whoever wants something from me in the next year, please leave a comment. You may not like it, it may be weird or useless or fantastically bizarre. But it will be handmade, by me, for you.

All you have to do is Pay it forward. Pick three people and do something nice for them. Does not have to be a handmade item, you do not have to broadcast it on your blog. It will be on your honor with no one watching. Of course, you can announce it and make 3 people make 3 more people make stuff. It’s all up to you! I think the way the world is going it would be nice to show some Random kindness, even to a stranger. So remember the next time at the grocery store when the kid is screaming and the frazzled mom looks like she wants to give up, pay it forward! You may just make her day!

Ok, get ready, get set, go! Just leave a comment saying you want me to send you something. Otherwise, just comment as usual and you won’t be my special 3.

We got a Winner!!

2009-05-18T20:58:00.001-04:00

So, remember the contest I was running?

I have a winner.

Here is what the lucky recipient will receive:

Sorry about the flash. I will be in the market soon for a new camera. The one I have is nice, just not very good for taking close ups. Which is not very good to show off my knitting hobby.

Anyway, the winner will get 2 skeins of cotton. One is Lime, the other is Aqua. Why did I choose these colors? Because they remind me of summer, and around here it’s starting to look like summer. All the trees are nice and green, flowers are blooming, and I’ve seen a few mosquitoes. Next Monday is Memorial Day, the unofficial start to summer, so I thought this would be fitting.

Also, there is a nice skein of RH sock yarn in Navy. Does not go with summer, but it’s always nice to have sock yarn. You don’t have to make socks. You can make a scarf, a cowl, or even a hat. Yep. All that with sock yarn. I guess if you chose to make a scarf, it would be light and summery. And the last thing is a nice set of buttons. I love buttons and one can never have too many. These are shimmery blue with pressed flowers in them. Very cool. Maybe you could put these on the hat you make out of the navy sock yarn?

So, who’s the winner?

TA….Da……

It’s Hakucho! Yay Hakucho. So you just need to email me your address and I’ll get these goodies off to you. Hopefully you can enjoy some nice summer knitting on Memorial Day with some yummy cotton! (You can contact me at anitaobom at gmail dot com or on Rav as AnitaO). I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you!

That’s my update for today. I’ll post some FO’s soon.

March FO’s

2009-05-06T08:45:00.001-04:00

Yep, it’s May. You did read correctly. But I did not post ONCE in April to show you some of my FO’s for March.

I finished my socks for March. They were the Welt Fantastic from the book Sensational Knitted Socks. I did have problems with gauge on these bad boys.

If you click on the pic and get a bigger view, you will see the gaping holes and the horrible ladders. I love the design itself, but I would never have a k2tog or ssk at the end of a DPN. I used Serenity yarn in Sockweight, color Paprika, and size 2 or 3 needles. I can’t remember now. I cast on around 54 stitches, I believe. I love the yarn. For a “big box” type yarn, it’s pretty good. I’m glad there are options for us less fortunate knitters to experience some nicer yarns that don’t cost a fortune!

Speaking of costing a fortune, here’s an anecdote for you. I was looking at WEBS at different yarn. Man, do they have tons of yarn to look at, and the prices are good too. Anyway, I came across yarn that was silk and mohair, WW at 256 yds a skein. How much is it? I asked my husband. When I told him (around $55) he laughed and said I picked a rich woman’s hobby. LOL. If I had the disposable income, you bet that would be in my stash, or knitted up into a gorgeous sweater!

This is Clue 1 of Vicki’s Shawl Kal. I finished clue 2, and am 2 rows into clue 3. I can only knit lace at night after the kids are in bed, so I get a narrow window to knit on this. It is beautiful and growing ever so slowly. I will probably gift this to my MIL. Her birthday is in October. I should be done by then, LOL.

Bamboozled. A headband I gave away as a RAK. It’s the yarn I got in a swap on Ravelry. Very pretty! I like this headband. It went pretty quickly and turned out perfect!

That’s about it for today. I’ll show you some more hats soon! And don’t forget to comment for an entry in the contest ending on Mother’s Day!

Hiatus

2009-05-03T16:41:00.001-04:00

April was a crazy month. I know I’ve been absent and I apologize, especially since I started a contest. And I feel like I owe my loyal readers an apology and an explanation. My contest is still running. Just leave a comment to be entered, and I will run it until Mother’s Day. Prize :TBA

Long story short, we had some money woes. I mean woes. Yep, the recession hit us hard. It’s not something I really care to talk about too much, just that it affected all my swaps. And that extended to my life in general. Everyone was great and understanding so that helped lots.

Finally I am back. This whole thing even affected my knitting. I haven’t been doing much of anything really. No patterns interested me, no yarn, nothing. Kind of muddling through my shawl and working on a felted bag. And of course knitting these:

The yarn is Tye Dye from Knit one crochet too. The pattern is called Zig to the Zag. I used size 1 needles. Very quick pattern. The yarn is gorgeous to knit with, and feels so soft. I think this is one of my favorite sock yarns so far. Not splitty at all! The only thing was the green sections were sooo long. As you can see on my right sock how much green there is.

I did a short row heel of course. I like those best. They are quick, fuss free, no gussets!! Of course there is more foot to knit, but that’s ok with me. I don’t have to keep track of which row is knit or decrease. Guess you could call me a lazy knitter, LOL.

This is the Dayflower Cowl. Made out of Saucon Sock in Turquoise. A nice pattern and perfect for the warmer months. I gifted this as a RAK and I really hope they enjoy it!

I’ll post some more FO’s in my next post. I want to show you some yarn I snagged recently.

Hubby went on a trip to Indy. I told him to visit a yarn shop there and pick out some yarn. I said to tell the owner/worker that his wife loves to knit socks. Which he did. And this is what I got:

This is Alpaca Sox. I haven’t even looked for a pattern yet!

I just printed out about 5 patterns that I want to start on. I finished one today. It was a super cute easy crocheted headband that my daughter wants. I might send it out in a swap, so pictures later.

Also, for my May socks I have decided on the pattern Charade knit in Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the color Harmony Rose. I haven’t cast on yet, but will soon. I started to make the Pothos socks out of this yarn, but found that I didn’t like the pattern and yarn together. I need a smoother yarn to make the leaves pop out more. Maybe Malabrigo???

That’s about it for this set of updates. I will post soon with more pics of FO’s that I’ve finished since March.

This is a video of my baby walking. Yes, he just started taking his first steps. How exciting is it, even after 5 kids, to see them grow up! And my guy is dirty. He was munching on Cheetos and taking a walk, LOL.

Birthday Cake and the Park

2009-03-23T10:13:00.001-04:00

I was going to do a nice long post yesterday, but my computer was acting up and I could not download any pictures. Hmm, isn’t technology wonderful?

I don’t have any knitting pics to show today. I haven’t been doing a lot of knitting lately. A few rows here, a few rows there. I will post pics of some FO’s in my next post.

It’s getting to be spring around here. No budding leaves yet, but the weather is definitely warmer. We got to turn the heat off for a few days and even went to the park.

The Merry go round was a big hit for all the kids.

And the slide.

Playing in the sand. I don’t know why kids love sand and dirt so much.

We also did some swinging and some more sliding….

It was a fun day. And very warm. The walk to the park was nice for all of us, even the dog!

Now I told you last week was the “bookends” birthdays. I call them that because they are the oldest and youngest of the kids, kind of bookends, you see?

Of course we had to get a green shamrock cake!

And here they are! Kind of hard to believe I have kids 15 years apart.

And what is a birthday without pictures of the 1 yr old eating cake?

Before

After. He pretty much ate the whole thing. And he loved it!

Isn’t that sweet that he would share with big sis?

Well, that about does it for today. It’s going to be even nicer this week. I’ve been getting the kids outside as much as possible, taking my knitting with me of course. It’s fun to watch them run around and play and have lots of fun. And kind of relaxing too. I just wish the cars driving by would go A LOT slower. Like barely moving, LOL!

Oh yeah, on one last note. If you are into knitting shawls, my friend Vicki is having a Shawl KAL on a yahoo group. The pattern for now is free but will be for pay once the KAL is over. I haven’t knitted a shawl like this before so I’m kind of excited to play along. I just need to get some yarn and wait for the clues. Did I mention prizes? She’s giving away 3 awesome prizes (for the finished shawl with pics) bundled very creatively I must say. This gives me incentive to stay with it. Heard enough? Want the link? Go here and join the group!

Green Stuff

2009-03-17T11:34:00.001-04:00

As I was looking through my FO’s I noticed that they all were green, or had green them. Weird, since green is not one of my favorite colors, though I don’t mind it too much.

And I’m not this prolific a knitter. Nope, not by a long shot. I tend to store them up and show them off all at once. So here is my “green stuff”

Irish Lace from the Cloth of the Week group. A very quick knit, and pretty. I used Hobby Lobby I love this cotton!

From the same skein is the Reversible Shamrock cloth. It’s only one cloth, but both sides are pictured. It’s reversible. I used a size 3 needle, and this cloth is large. I don’t normally like to cast on 45 stitches, but this is worth it.

This is a dishcloth/towel set I made for a swap. The cloths are crocheted hyperbolic and the towel is knitted. Very quick projects actually. I finally put the buttons on to finish the towels.

Another towel for a swap. This is the Mitered Towel from the new Mason Dixon book. The pattern is actually free. I really like this towel. I used a huge button so it would stay closed.

This is another set for a swap. It’s the Two-one cowl (pdf) partnered with Maine Morning Mitts. (pdf)The ribbing is a 2-1 rib and goes pretty quickly. They stretch quite a bit.

This is the Zinnia cloth that I first saw over on AK’s blog. I love this grey/pink camo color. I used green as the center. Thanks AK for inspiring me to do this cloth. It was quick and easy, though I don’t like the seam at the end. It just doesn’t quite fit the overall pattern.

So I mentioned before that I was going to have a contest starting today. My baby guy turns one today, and my other guy turns 16. So in honor of reaching 2 important milestones, I’m going to have a contest. I’m still throwing ideas around for prizes, but it will be good, I promise!

To enter just leave a comment. This contest will end on the 31st with winners announced on April 1. Ha, I can already see the jokes for that one….

My goal is to blog at least 3x a week so check back often!

Update

2009-03-12T10:18:00.001-04:00

Witty title, HUH? Yeah, but that’s what this is. I do have some FO’s to show off.

I made these hats for a RAK on Ravelry. The lady who requested a soft hat has a family member going in for surgery and chemo this month. She wanted the hat to be super soft and blue/green.

The Durango Hat again. I think these are fine chemo hats and the button makes them stylish. I hope she likes them. I made two since I had the yarn anyway. The yarn I used is Deborah Norville’s Serenity WW. Very soft. I like this pattern since it’s so quick to make. I made these 2 hats in a day!

Remember the girlfriend shrug (pdf) I was talking about before? I got started on it. I had a coupon for 40% off at Joann’s and got 2 skeins of this Baby Jacquards. I had Olivia pick out the color she wanted. I must admit that it’s pretty boring to knit. And the fact that it’s knit flat stockinette stitch adds to the boredom. It’s been sitting on the side table for days. The girls don’t appreciate it anyway, so why hurry?

The Ivy Cowl. (Rav link) This is the prettiest thing I’ve made in awhile. This gave me a hard time. I had to rip it out several times to get it right. Just can’t read patterns, LOL. And lace knitting, even as simple as this, gave me troubles. I have too much chaos in my house to be able to knit lace properly. Oh yeah, the yarn I used was Caron Spa in celery. Soft, but splitty.

This cloth is called The Gift of Time. It’s one of the choices for the Ravelry Weekly Dishcloth KAL. The yarn is a yellowish SnC I think.

The other choice was the tricolor cloth. I used red, hot pink, and a pink/white/purple variegated. I think for it to look better, the variegated should have been lighter in color. I cast on less stitches and it went pretty fast. It came out nice and dense, too. This is a perfect scrap cloth that takes little effort and looks amazing when done.

I’ve been bad. I got this swap from Bev a long time ago and promised to post it. But I haven’t, so here it is. I just want to say Bev is an awesome swap partner and I love my package. It’s from the Round Robin Group on Ravelry, and the theme was “Favorite Things”.

So, here are some of Bev’s favorite things:

You see the picture along the side? I think that’s her view every day. Amazing and simply beautiful. I’m going to call this the self-indulge swap since it’s full of things to pamper ME! Bath stuff, hot coca, a nice book to read. I kind of buried the cloths, but there are 2 very nice cloths in there that were crocheted. And the creme de la creme yarn from Red Heart. I can’t get it around here, so was tickled when I saw it. I’ve been wanting to try it out for awhile now. So thanks, Bev, for the awesome swappin goodness!

Well, that’s my update so far. I’ve been thinking about my contest and how I want to proceed. Weekly prize? Bi-weekly? I’ll let you know soon.

Sock Dilemma

2009-03-05T15:51:00.001-05:00

My last post was supposed to be a cumulative review of my projects and goals so far this year. Somehow I forgot to mention that.

So, I have completed 2 pairs of socks. I did knit a pair of mitts (fingerless gloves) so I guess that counts as mittens, right? I also made 15 dishcloths, bringing my total to 29. And for hats, I completed 5, with a total of 12.

Now onto the good stuff. If you remember, I cast on my March sock using Saucon Sock and the Komet pattern. I did not go down a needle size (the pattern calls for size 1). I knit the cuff and a few rows of the pattern. At knit night, I decided I did not like the bagginess of the sock. I like my socks snug and not falling down. So after some confusing conversation with Vicki, I decided to use a different yarn for that pattern.

Not that Vicki was confusing, LOL. She told me how to convert the pattern to what would work for my foot. And she explained it well, although I felt I was in an advanced calculus class.

Anyway, I frogged the Komet socks. I found a nice cowl pattern on Ravelry that called for fingering weight yarn. I cast on for that today and this is what I have so far:

I would have been farther, but I had to cast on a few times. You know, not enough yarn. I was at 92 stitches and had about half an inch of yarn left. Oh well, it all worked out in the end.

So here’s my new March socks:

Pretty, huh? It’s the Chevron pattern in the book Sensational Knitted Socks. I used a size 2 needle and cast on 52 stitches. I had to add two more stitches to the pattern. But I know 52 on size 2 works for me. So I’ll stick with that. This pattern is surprisingly fast. I only cast on last night and this is how far I got today.

What is that yarn, you ask?

Premiere sock weight. Yep, that’s Deborah Norville from Inside Edition. This yarn is amazingly soft and nice to knit with. It’s on sale this week. I need to get some more before Saturday. The color I have is Paprika.

These are my February mittens. It’s Sensations Glorianna. And sadly, my Joann’s no longer carries it. What shall I do with the rest of the skein?

Well, that’s about it for today.

If you want to win some Cotton Ease, hop on over to Beth’s blog and leave a CLEAN joke in her comments. You only have a week so get over there. But your joke better not be funnier than mine, LOL.

February Update

2009-03-02T09:21:00.001-05:00

I haven’t blogged in awhile, but I haven’t been slack. I’ve been busy knitting away.

I did finish my pair of socks for Feb. I did not bind off until March 1, but I call them done anyway.

These look so much nicer this way than on. The hearts stretch and become all wonky, but that’s ok. It’s something I can live with.

See what I mean? I did enjoy making these, though. I did a few mods. The yarn called for was a light fingering, on size 1 or 0 needles. I was not about to mess with that, so I upped the needles to size 2 on sportweight yarn (if Ranco is sportweight, or maybe a heavy fingering?) and cast on 52. I only did 4 pattern repeats around instead of 6 and did a shortrow heel. No need to bother with a heel flap if you don’t have to! So the second sock was super easy: 3 repeats on the cuff, 4 on the foot. Done!

I cast on for my March socks already and finished the cuff. I have to redo the first row since my count is off, but I was feeling kind of ill last night. I’ll fix it today.

The Pattern is Komet and I am using Saucon Sock in Turquoise. I don’t know if I like this yarn. It’s cotton and acrylic, so it’s inexpensive, but it’s not as soft as Ranco. And it’s kind of splitty. Stay tuned for more on this.

I completed my kitchen set for my Secret Swap. I still need to sew buttons on the towels, but that only takes a few minutes.

I also made this:

Can you guess what the pattern is? Ok, it’s the Clapochet, the crocheted version of the Clapotis. I couldn’t resist when I saw it, and it looks so much like the “real” thing. I used a J hook and 2. 5 skeins of RHSS. (No, I won’t apologize for using acrylic!!) It’s all triple crochet and goes VERY fast. I finished this in 2 days. It could be a one day project if you are a fast crocheter and don’t get as distracted as I do, LOL.

Lacy Diamonds. Don’t you love how this pooled? It’s like a zig zag of color. Very cool. I wish I could plan these things.

Colorwave cloth. No, the screen isn’t messing with you. There is a glaring error smack dab in the middle. Too bad I didn’t notice until I bound off. And then I probably would not have gone back to fix it. This cloth is unfixable: read frogging only. I like the texture. It’s soft and spongy.

Citizen Kane (pdf). I knitted this while watching Amazing Race. It’s so easy and pretty quick. I think for best results though, use a larger needle size. My size 6 made a dense fabric and the “rosebuds” can’t show through as well.

Last, I want to show off my goodies from the $10 swap on Ravelry. It’s fun looking at how creative everyone is in sending out cool packages at $10 or less. Some things are totally awesome and very creative.

My package was pink. It may not look like much, but everything had something inside it!

Handmade stitch markers.

Sock yarn and dye.

Erasers for the kids.

I think this was an awesome package. All my containers are reusable and cute. I now have a place to store my DPN’s (I have a lot!) and even a mini notebook. My partner rocked!! Thanks, Margo, aka prlknits on Ravelry!!

I don’t have any hats to show yet. I do have a bunch in mind. I just need more time!! Darn the internet and the constant distraction. Darn Ravelry beckoning me…but I wouldn’t give it up, LOL.

I’ll be back with more soon….

Hat FO’s

2009-02-19T12:32:00.001-05:00

Are you tired of seeing my finished hats yet? I’m up to #12 so far, which means I only have 40 more to go! Yay!!!

I’ve been doing lots of knitting. I finished my first sock for Feb and cast on its mate last night at my knitting group. I got through about half the cuff ribbing and should be starting on the heart motifs soon.

I’ve also been working on some projects for my swap in my AtMyHouse Yahoo group. It’s a super secret swap and I haven’t been too motivated to do much of anything. However, I made a kitchen towel. I need to make another one and attach some buttons. I will also make a set of cloths to go along with it. Maybe this weekend….

My birthday was Friday the 13th. It was not too unlucky although our car broke down on Thursday and we were broke. I did more walking that day than I did in 6 months. I’m only just starting to fully recover from shin splints. At least it wasn’t freezing out!

And speaking of freezing, winter is back. When I left my knitting group the ground had a nice coating of snow. I drove very slow to get home. Today the wind is blowing, the snow is falling, and it’s cold!! I know it will only be a matter of time before I complain about the heat and humidity. I don’t have spring fever yet, so this does not bother me too much. Besides, it’s still February.

Onto my FO’s. Hats! Hats! Hats!

This is the Pi Topper Chemo Cap. I used I love this Yarn! in cranberry. The pattern is knit from the top down using EZ’s pi. The band is knit on, and I think took longer than the hat itself. But it’s so cute and comfortable.

Here’s the top so you can see how it increases. only 3 increases, and the rest is knit. I couldn’t try it on, so it’s a little bit big.

And the ceramic button. I had my friends at knitting group help me decide which one to choose. This won hands down .

Dreams of Spring Hat (pdf download). The pattern called for a size 7 needle, which I stuck with. It’s still slightly large, but I really like it.

And the side view. The seed stitch bottom keeps flipping up. I may sew it up inside and that will take a few inches off the length.

And this one is Reasonably Hip (Ravelry link). I do feel hip wearing this. It’s snug and stretchy. I love the brim. The seed stitch took forever, but well worth it. I’m considering making another one, but I will leave out a few rows of the body. My 15 yr old son informed me the brim goes backwards. Guess I’m not so hip, after all. I don’t know a thing about fashion today. Of course, I prefer the grunge style of the early 90’s, but that’s because I like to be comfortable (and slobbish!)

So I have a few dishcloths but I will spare you those. If you really really want to see them, go to my Rav page and check them all out!

I’m going to finish a cowl I cast on last night and work on my socks and St. Albans mitts. I have lots to do on this cold day.

Pink Lemonade

2009-02-12T09:19:00.001-05:00

I wanted to make these:

This is the St. Albans mitts from Smariek. But I did not have the right yarn or the right color. And I didn’t want to spend a lot for just a little bit of yarn. I think I can make these with around 200 yds. I could order from KnitPicks, but why wait and pay extra for shipping?

So I decided to try dyeing my own yarn. I picked up a skein of white Red Heart sock yarn. It only cost me $4 with my 25% off coupon. And I picked up 2 packages of Pink Lemonade

I got the directions from Knitty.com.

The first thing to do was skein my yarn. No pics of that, but I turned my small coffee table upside down and used the legs for that. They were just the right width apart for this project. I found a knot, so I cut it out, and I have a larger skein and a smaller one.

Next, I soaked the yarn while I made the dye.

I had my 8 yr old help mix the dye.

I had to decide between using the stove or microwave. I decided on the microwave but had to find an appropriate dish to put the yarn in.

I only let the yarn soak for a few minutes, maybe five or so. I read somewhere that superwash grabs dye better than regular wool. In fact, I think over at Lorna’s Laces, they do not soak their yarn at all. They put the dye directly onto the dry yarn. .

Now, in the knitty directions, it said to mix the dye then put your yarn in and cover with water. What I should have done is mix the dye in a separate container, put they yarn in the bowl, then pour the dye over the yarn.

So only the one side got saturated with dye and grabbed it pretty quick. When I turned the yarn over, it was already too late:

You can see the darker portions in here.

And this is after microwaving for 3 2 minute periods and letting the yarn rest for 2 minutes in between. The water is clear-ish so all the dye had been absorbed.

I let the yarn cool and added some dish soap and gave it a gentle wash. I had to get the lemonade smell out of the yarn. I don’t think it was sticky, but I kept imagining it to be, so the washing helped. I let it dry. It took about 2 days since I had to keep moving it around so the kids wouldn’t mess with it.

You can see the smaller skein didn’t get as much dye. But that’s ok. I’m wondering how it’s going to knit up in the mitts. The color runs from very pale pink, or pink tinted, to a nice solid pink, not too bright or too deep or too pastel.

Very interesting experiment. I used 2 packages of kool-aid. The yarn was less than 2 ounces (50 g).

I’m glad I did this experiment and that it did not cost too much. I have quite the selection of Kool-aid at my Wal-Mart so I can try out some more colors. I might try another one color batch (this time in lemon-lime) and then maybe some painting. I need to find somewhere to dry it better though. The next batch will get more dye and I will try to spread it evenly throughout.

If you go to the knitty site, you can see all the colors dyed up. It’s very helpful since I did not really know how they would turn out.

Hat FO’s (Surprise, Surprise)

2009-02-09T10:20:00.001-05:00

I’ve been knitting less lately. Maybe it was my rash of dishcloths I did last week. Maybe it’s because I was reacquainted with Stumble. Talk about a time-waste. Boy, if I had more hours in the day. But you know, the interwebs is full of great things. Some things I don’t care for, but some are funny as hell. I was laughing out loud at some of the stuff I came across. Oh well.

I did finish my mini purse for the mini purse swap on Ravelry. And here it is:

Just kidding. I can’t show pics since my partner may read my blog. All I can say is that it’s cute, but not my most fun thing to knit. It took forever!! Well, not really. I was halfway done and I completed it over the weekend, so that’s good.

Here is Hat #8 for 09, the Black Forest Hat (Rav link). I used SWS in Natural Plum and size 7 needles. I have such a weird head. Nothing fits me. It’s either too small or too big. some hats I swim in, some hats feel like they are slowly coming off the top of my head. Maybe it’s my hair. Maybe that’s why I don’t wear hats?

And the Banana Republic Knockoff (scroll down and look on the side). There are several patterns out there like this one. You knit the “band” flat, then join in the round for 4 more inches before doing the crown decreases. And on chunky yarn no less! This is Plymouth Encore Chunky and size 9 needles. I did go down a needle size, but it still does not fit me. Too small. But it’s too big for my sweet model who is 8.

Here’s the front view. Don’t you love the look on her face? I can’t get a pic of her any other time except when she models my hand-knits.

I’m working on my socks. I hope they turn out. The yarn calls for a size 3 needle, but the pattern says size 1. I wasn’t about to mess with that, so I went up a needle size and omitted one repeat. I then discovered that the design would be all wonky. So I went up another needle size and omitted one more repeat. So far so good, and it’s working up fast. I’m almost to the heel on sock 1. I like doing this pattern since it’s in chunks of 16 rows. It does go fast.

I’m also working on a lap blanket for a secret swap. I am crocheting this, but put it aside to work on hearts. Now I can’t find my crochet hook. Sigh. It always happens to me.

I have 2 more hat patterns printed that I’m going to start soon and I want to finish a pair of the mystery slippers for my secret swap. So I will be keeping busy in the next few days.

I am going to try my hand at hand dyeing soon. I will use wool and kool -aide for my first attempt. I will show pics and stuff. I just need to get the things I need to get in order to start. LOL. So keep an eye for that!

A Pile of Hearts

2009-02-05T14:19:00.001-05:00

This pictures should say it all. I made a pile of Hearts the last few days. I love the Heart Lace Cloth by Smariek, but I’ve done enough to last me another year, LOL.

As you can see, this cloth looks good in both solid, variegated, and stripes. Most of these were made with I love this Cotton! except for the Red and Stripes. I’m done with Heart cloths for another year.

Our bunnies have been named. Meet:

Smoke and Bella.

So Aunt Kathy and KatKnit, send me your address and I will send you a small prize for helping us choose names. Which is harder than I care to admit. No one could decide on any one name, so it went to the parents to make the final decision three days later!

My January socks. I finished these on Jan 30. I was so happy. I used LB Sock-ease in either cotton candy or bubblegum or something like that. The ballband was lost. The pattern is Groovy. All I can say is that these are pretty comfortable and I still have half a skein of the sock yarn left. Fingerless mitts???

Here’s the top view. I like how the pattern stretches out when worn.

And the side. the heel is short row and quick. I like this heel the best.

And this is the yarn that will become my Heart Lace socks for Feb. I will cast on soon, as soon as I finish the next hat. The pattern is written for circs, but I’m going to make them on DPN’s in a larger size needle too. Which means subtracting some stitches. I hope I can figure it out and don’t mess it up too bad. I can’t see working on size 0’s. I don’t even know if I have any!

That’s it for this update. I’m about dishclothed out, even though I still need to make one for a swap…after I finish the hat and cast on my socks!

More Hats

2009-01-30T10:50:00.001-05:00

I really enjoy making hats. They are quick fun projects for me. Quicker than socks even.

I am struggling to get my socks done for Jan. But I still have 2 more days. I need to get off the computer and onto knitting to get them done. I only have about 2 more inches and the toe to do, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Unless I get sidetracked by something else…

The bunnies will be named on Sunday, so if you have some suggestions and have not commented, do so now!

Onto the business of knitting! This hat is the Divine Hat. I crocheted it in a few hours. I like the look of it. I used I love this Yarn! and an H hook.

My second crocheted hat. This is the Nubby brim cloche (Rav pattern). I had to restart this one a few times. I went down a hook size the first time, and it fit my 10 month old perfectly. Then I went back up to the normal size, added too many increases and had to rip back. I’m not exactly sure how many increases I did, but I think I did 6 instead of 4. It’s a little big, but if I cinch the tie, it’s perfect!

And Stella. This one was done in random acrylic yarn. It was a 3.5 oz skein. I still have some left over. This was fun to do as well. It’s just a rib of sorts so it’s very textured. I love the texture. the top is square. I didn’t follow the directions so I added a few extra rows, but I like it this way.

Here’s the swirly top. Nice huh? I might have to make a few more of these bad boys.

So that makes my total hat count for January 7. Way beyond my one a week goal. I could take most of Feb off and still be ahead. But I won’t do that since I already have another hat waiting to be cast on. I should try and wait until I finish my socks…

I also made this cowl: (Rav Pattern)

The Yarn was made for me by Dee. It was part of my SP12 package. It’s handspun and dyed alpaca. Super warm and comfy. And maybe cowls will be my new obsession.

Because it doubles as a hat of sorts. You just pull it up, and viola! It’s loose enough that it won’t mess up the hair too much but it keeps the snow off and the wind out.

Ok then. I have a bunch of cloths to show, but I really need to get on my socks. I would love to show them off and say that I completed them in Jan. I already have the yarn and pattern for Feb and I’m really anxious to cast on for those. I want them done by the 13th so I can wear them on my birthday.

So gotta go and get those socks done!

Bunnies!

2009-01-27T12:27:00.001-05:00

I know I’m crazy. But that’s just how it is.

Someone posted on Freecycle that they were getting rid of their Lionhead Rabbits. I ignored the first request since it was too far away. But when it was reposted a few weeks later, I jumped on it. We got 2 bunnies, a male and female, for free!

So I need your help in naming them. Our family has agreed to pick the winner from the comments section. So comment with some names!

This is the girl bunny. I think she’s around 2. She has had some litters before.

And this is the boy. He’s fathered at least one litter.

Remember they are Lionhead rabbits. We don’t want names like Fluffy or Cottontail or Hoppy of Jumper or Thumper or anything too cutesy. Our family has weird names. Our dog is Ngozi (Na-go-zi) which I think is Ethiopian for Blessed. So there you go.

I can’t guarantee a prize besides being honored with the knowledge that you had the best idea for names. Beyond that, we’ll see.

Hello Kitty!

2009-01-18T13:44:00.001-05:00

First let me say that I can’t stand Hello Kitty or anything to do with her. I remember Hello Kitty being the “in” thing when I was young. How did it come back around again? Yuck. I didn’t like her then, and I especially don’t now. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it’s the vacant looking eyes and the cute bow that seems so innocent. I guess I’m just not a fan of Japanese cartoons.

So knowing this, I want you to appreciate how much I love my daughter:

Because she LOVES Hello Kitty. She got Hello Kitty stuff for the holidays. I even bought her a coloring book. She had to tell me where to put the bow and the ears, and picked out the color for the nose. See, I have no idea.

This was a quick knit, except for all the seaming. The ears are actually 4 pieces sewn together. The bow is made from 2 pieces. Then when that’s all done, you have to sew them on the hat. The hat itself was very easy. I used Lion Brand Jiffy and size 8 needles. The bow is Satin Sport, and the nose is cotton. The eyes and whiskers are black acrylic.

And another thing I learned was how to embroider. I had no idea and failed on other attempts. After scrutinizing the pics on Ravelry, I discovered that the nose and eyes were just pretty much back and forth. I think it turned out ok. I’m not a master or anything, but the girl loves her Hello Kitty hat. And I enjoyed making it!

I also finished another this weekend. It was the Who? hat from the Rav group Hat of the Month. I wasn’t going to make it, but I decided to since the other projects looked interesting. And it’s cute.

I only added eyes on one of the owls since that’s what mostly everyone else did, and I’m lazy.

A close up of the owl cable. This hat was quick and fun to make, though it turned out big. It’s more of a bucket type than form fitting. But I like it. The actual color is the hat on top. I used Berella 4 and size 5 needles.

I also finished a few more dishcloths.

Holiday Bells (Ravelry link) by Sue Schafer of Harvest Moon.

Holly Design from Dishcloth Boutique. It’s on page 3 of the site.

On both of these I used I love this cotton! and size 6 needles. The top cloth is actually red, but for some reason it came out pink.

We all survived the brutal cold from the North Pole. It was negative 19 here! On Saturday it got into the 20’s, so it felt balmy and warm, LOL.

I finished my flip top mittens and mailed them off. I’m working on hat #4 for my 52 hat challenge. It’s going to be a baby hat in sock weight. The first row took forever. We’ll see how the rest of it goes.

Off to do more knitting. I still have to finish one more cloth for an exchange and work on my mini purse for the mini purse swap. Still lots to do to keep me busy in this freezing cold yucky weather.

Snowstorm and some FO’s

2009-01-14T11:48:00.001-05:00

I love watching the weather, and bad threatening weather has always fascinated me. I watch the weather forecast daily, sometimes 3 times a day! I check the weather online and generally know what it’s going to be like for at least a few days.

So when this approaching snowstorm hit us, I was a little bit surprised at the amount of snow we received. It wasn’t supposed to start snowing until later in the day. It started early and snowed pretty much all day.

This is hubby and my 4 yr old. Yes, my son is in the yard, LOL, but he was outside with Daddy helping him work. The little guy loves that.

He was so caught up in his shoveling that he went the other way. He was actually shoveling the walkway that was already shoveled in front of the neighbor’s house.

What!?! Yes he’s using a leafblower. It must have worked. Good thing this snow was the powdery kind.

This is my backyard, Maybe if you click the pic, you’ll get a larger version and see how much snow was falling. It was coming down!

So all the cold and snow is good knitting weather, right? I’ve been working on dishcloths for swaps. Yep, that’s right. I’m into swapping again. New Year, new swaps. If you are one of my partners, you won’t know which one you are getting.

This is the Morse Code cloth. I love the unique slip stitch design. It went very fast and easily memorized. I used I love this cotton in pink and white.

Polygon cloth. This pic makes the cloth look like a mess, but it really isn’t. It may need blocking. I like the unique shape of this cloth. This pattern is from the center out, but it’s a VERY quick knit.

This is little hearts from the LA booklet. I love hearts and I got this booklet on sale. This is the first pattern I tried. It turned out good. If you look very closely, you can see the little eyelet hearts. I like this cloth lots.

These ballbands were done for a RAK (random act of kindness). I guess the colors intrigued me. She wanted hot pink and red for her cupcake kitchen.

Speaking of RAK, I am also working on a pair of mittens for a Georgia gal visiting NYC at the end of Jan. I can empathize with her cold weather plight. So out of kindness (LOL) I am making her these mittens.

The palm has a flap so you can use your fingers!

These are super quick and easy. I am going to make myself a pair as well. I have other reasons for making these mittens, LOL. I have committed myself to making 12 pairs of mittens in 09. This will count for pair #1. Yay!!

And I finished the sweater (scroll down) for my baby boy.

I like this pattern, but it rolls on the bottom. I may need to block it the best that I can. But then again, he’s already broken it in with graham cracker crumbs.

It only took me about 3 days to make, so I’m not unhappy with it. I don’t know if I like the wide open neck in the front, but it is cute. I used wool ease in Woodland print. One full skein and less than half of the other. I might make a hat to match.

I also received the coolest dishcloth swap package in the mail. It came from the Rav group dishcloth Round Robin. It was a state themed swap.

She lives in CT where the little blue bow is. How nice. The yarn is a linen cotton blend and very very interesting. Thanks, Deb! for the awesome cloth.

That’s it for now. We have arctic air on our doorstep. It’s freezing out. Literally. I’m going to finish up my dishcloth swaps and start the Hello Kitty hat for my 8 yr old. And I need to get on these socks if I am to make my 12 pair challenge for socks. I am on sock 2, but I’ve been so tied up with other projects that it has become the last thing on my long list.

Hats

2009-01-06T10:17:00.001-05:00

I am on a hat kick. Hats are quick and easy and fun! I don’t like to wear them too much, but I figure someone will, if not in my household, then somewhere.

I just bought these needles from Etsy (she also has a store on ebay: 8seasonknitting). They are a about 17 inches, and so far they are nice. The whole set was less than $15. The tubing reminds me of the medical tubing but the join is nice and smooth. And they are comfortable to work with!

It was with the size 7 that I made Felicity. I used some mods by another Raveler so the top of the hat was not so slouchy. I like the idea of the hat, but on some of the pics on Rav, the top is very mushroom-y or baker-ish. So these mods were perfect for me.

I used Wool-Ease in gold and size 7 needles for the whole hat.

This is the top. I like how it turned out. Though I do not look so good in hats, they do keep me warm. My 8 yr old does love hats though! This is my first FO of 09!!

This is Kirsten, my last FO of 08. I love this hat! I love the tassels and the orange color. It only took a few hours, including the tassels. I had to go down a hook size and add a few rows. I went out and bought a bunch of hooks in the larger sizes since I couldn’t find one over an I. Now I have doubles or triples in those sizes and no H. Go figure.

Tychus. A 2 needle short row hat. This is found on Knitty using 2 colors. I used variegated and size 7 needles. I find my gauge is very loose so I usually have to go down a size. I only did 4 repeats. It fits my son nicely!

And here’s the top. Yes, those are the holes from the short rows. It does not bother me too much since I don’t usually see hats from this angle. But there is a hole that is a bit too big…I think I did the short row twice on that one! The yarn is Red Heart Peruvian Print. I used this same yarn to make my baby a sweater. I like the colors, especially the black and white sections.

The cone hat. I added a pom to the end. It’s big on her, but small on me (it does fit the 8 yr old!) I had to make her something so she didn’t feel left out! This was a quick hat and the pom was fun to make. I tried using a pom maker but that didn’t work out. So I went the old fashioned route and used my hand instead. It turned out good!

While I was waiting on my circs to arrive I made another 2 needle hat. This is a basic hat seamed up the side. I added a few stripes.

It was for the little guy, but it turned out huge! And I need to fix the hole at the top. Depending on who it is for, I may still add a pom.

Now he wanted a hat in yellow. So I made this. I’m not sure if I like it too much, but he loves it.

I’m enjoying him modeling for me since I know the day will come when he will be reluctant.

I’m still plugging away on my socks. I finished one and cast on for #2. No second sock syndrome here! I did some ribbing. But something else caught my eye:

The top down Raglan sweater for my baby. It’s woodland print in Wool-Ease. I am using size 7 on these. I got the arms on stitch holders (circs) and should finish up the body today. I hope the sleeves go fast! You can’t see the details here, but the collar is seed stitch and the front has seed stitch panels. I have only finished about 4 rows in the round without the seed stitch border. I know this will go fast.

I’m hoping to start on another hat by this weekend. The Hat of the Month group on Ravelry has the Who? hat as one project. It’s sooo cute I have to make one.

I’m going to make another pair of slippers since my feet are always freezing. Trying to keep warm this winter has been a challenge. We are keeping our heat at 66 during the day so we don’t have to sell one of our children to pay the heating bill. It’s on 60 at night. Yes it gets cold, but it makes for cuddly nights. But sometimes it’s just freezing in here and two pairs of socks is just not cutting it. Maybe I’ll make those slippers today. Or find the ones I already made, sew the buttons on, and slap them on my feet!

Here’s a funny video. My hubby saw this on Monty Python. It’s a long skit but the end is the punch line for me. It’s about crochet!!

Holiday Celebration (and some knitting too)

2008-12-29T11:04:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pics of our holiday celebration. We don't celebrate Christmas anymore but all the relatives do. We can't withhold the pleasure of seeing them enjoy the kids at this time of year.

That's all the kids preparing to open gifts. My in-laws came all the way from New York in an ice storm and bad weather. It took them nearly 15 hours, which should only be at the most a 12 hr drive.

My MIL with her newest and last! grandson.

Her Mom taking a nap with the same baby. Yes, he's very cuddly!

This is me and hubby. Isn't he the cutest?

Since we don't celebrate Christmas, we decided this year to do Hanukkah. It was kind of weird and different, but it went ok. No, we are not Jewish, but the focus was on Jesus being the light of the world and our lives. And it was a good time to get the kids thinking about following Jesus in a more active way.

Everyone made their own menorah and lighted their own candles. Of course with close supervision.

Here is a close up of the menorahs. Well, two of them. Just the wooden craft planks with molded fimo clay baked and painted. The kids had great fun making them.

It was a fun way to start a new tradition. The kids did get a small gift on the 8th day, which was icing on the cake for them. I think we all enjoyed this holiday season more than any other.

Now onto knitting. I have been a a knitting fool. So much that I'm kind of burned out. I had been working on a 4x4 ribbed scarf. I frogged it and decided to start another scarf. It's another drop stitch scarf with the yarn held double. Very shimmery and pretty. Hopefully it won't take too long to finish so I can show you.

I am still working on my socks. These are taking forever to make. I guess if I worked on them more it wouldn't be so bad. But after rows and rows and rows of going around, it just does not seem to grow. Where are those stitches going?

I am now on a hat kick. I will post some photos of finished hats soon. I ordered a set of circulars that should be arriving within a week. I can't wait to get started on some hats. I have several queued on my Ravelry account, but I think the first one I will make will be Felicity. I will do a few mods...you'll see soon.

I made this hat back on Thanksgiving. It was my traveling hat.

This is the Durango Hat. Very quick and easy and very embellish-able. I made tiny flowers though they are not evenly spaced. I might make another in a different color. It's nice and roomy and covers the hair on a bad hair day.

This is my Gangsta pose. I think this is my fave hat. So far, anyway.

These are my first mittens. Well, the first PAIR anyway. I used Modea Dea silk and wool blend. They turned out nice. Of course the second mitt fits better and looks slightly nicer, but the left hand knows nothing about the right hand so I don't feel so bad. These were done on 2 needles and seamed up the side. And the second mitt is much better looking, LOL. I used Bev's The Mitts pattern. My next pair will be in the round. I might try some colorwork, if I get brave enough.

Well that's about it for today. I'm gearing up for the New Year by sorting out what I want to do. I have started a knitting journal with FO's and wips. And goals. I might post them here as well.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, whatever one you celebrated.

Look what I made

2008-12-22T14:01:00.001-05:00

I know I was supposed to post pics of my Fiber Frolic. But...I did not go. My youngest daughter decided she needed to be sick with a fever. So I had to stay home and play the good mother. Poor girl. She was laying on the couch all day and wanted me to sit right next to her. I'm sorry that I had to miss the fun day with my fibery friends but duty called. She's ok now, though the fever did keep coming back throughout the week. I think we finally kicked it!

So the weather is a big topic. Snow in Vegas. Sub-zero temps in the Midwest. Ice storms in the East. Apocalyptic! Not really, just winter. Seems like the cold is going to stay around here for awhile.

And it's been cold. The counties north of us had a Blizzard Warning last night and into today. I woke up to a light dusting of snow and ice on the windows. All the bad weather seems to pass us right by. Seriously. When I look at the radar, it seems our city is the only clear one. The eye of the storm. I really really want lots of snow. I want an inch an hour for several hours. I want to wake up to Winter Wonderland. I guess it helps that I have nowhere to go so being snowed in would not be that awful for me (unless the power went out!)

So I've been knitting. And spending lots of time on Ravelry pouring over projects and patterns.

Here's a FO of the past week. And I got to use it yesterday. Fun!!

This is the Grownup Bonnet found in the book Knit2Together. It was a fun project. The scarf took forever though. Boring 2X2 ribbing. I guess 3 days isn't so bad. And when you are sucked into the final Survivor, the knitting goes way faster. You look up and see you've done a few inches more than you thought.

Here's the front view. I used size 9 needles for the whole project. The hat is perfect. I think it would have been huge if I used size 10 needles, but I do tend to knit a little loose. The yarn I used was Wool-ease. A little less than 2 skeins. If I were to make this again, I would make the scarf longer. It did serve it's purpose though.

This is the 4 Trees cloth from Holiday Mystery Knits Yahoo group. Yes, they are about done with the Holiday part but there will be a shawl pattern for the "off" season. Such a fun group. Anyway, this gem was designed by Alli of Knitwits Alley. She has tons of cute cute patterns, so go check it out.

Isn't this snowman cute? He's very large. Larger than I would have thought by looking at the pics posted. But that's ok. I got some bobble practice too. You can find the pattern here.

Another cloth I knitted up was the Flurries cloth. It was quick and easy. Yes, it needs to be blocked but you get the idea.

I did also finish another Big Bag but I can't post it yet. And I'm still working on a scarf that is a 4X4 rib in Caron Bamboo. Very nice and soft yarn though it is 75% acrylic. I will show pics of that whenever I get it done!

Here's a scarf I whipped up in one day.

Yeah, the pic is horrible. It's less than a skein of Homespun on a J hook. I think it took a few hours total and It's pretty long. It's purple too, though you can't tell that either.

Here's another view. Not much more detail, but I thought it was a cool shot. Neat, huh? The pattern is here.

Well, that's about it for my knitting fun. I have so much to do that I can't keep focused. The computer keeps calling me....I need to get this stuff done. Or not. It's not gifts or anything. But there's other stuff I want to start too. Hmmm, maybe I will just keep casting on. I just don't have enough needles!

I'm still here

2008-12-12T18:56:00.001-05:00

I've been terribly busy with the round of flu and everything else.

I have nothing to show you today. But I have been knitting. I have tons of things OTN so that nothing seems to be getting done!

And I discovered a few UFO's lurking in the back of my closet. What to do about those? Leave them there!

We are going through a major house cleaning/re-arranging right now. I thought we were going to be moving, but it looks as if those plans are nixed for now. Maybe in the summer. This house is just too small for our large family and I long for another bathroom. And a bathtub! Yes, we have NO bathtub. How does that work with kids, you ask? I bought a huge tub from the store and we fill it up. Have to be careful, and only one kid can fit in. Kind of like the olden days. The youngest one gets the last bath since he tends to be the dirtiest. And who wants to wash in that water anyway? Yuck! But we've made it work so far. I just want another bathroom where I can do my thing without having someone banging on the door. Oh yeah, nobody has to pee until you are on the toilet, then ALL of them are going to pee their pants right now!!!

So I've decided to clean up our house and re-arrange slightly. That may trick my mind into believing we actually made the move. Or not, but it will definitely be new. I've already got the living room done. The cleaning and rearranging added at least another, oh, 5 feet of living space. Nice!

Next we are going to switch rooms with the kids. Currently our 4 kids are sharing a small room. We have the largest one, and that does not seem right. So when all is cleaned and switched out, the kids will have a place to play that's not in the living room. Yay for giving me a break!

Now I just have to get all this junk sorted and free-cycled.

On the knitting front, I am on a mitten kick. Well, I'm in the middle of making my first ever mitten. And the Grown Up Bonnet. It's a bonnet with a scarf attached. Hopefully I have enough yarn to finish it up. I'm also working on a 4X4 ribbed scarf and a pair of socks. Oh yeah, and Cozy, the wrap from Knitty. I am going to start on some slippers soon too. Our house is sooo freezing it's kind of crazy. What we do to not have to pay an arm and a leg...maybe freeze one off.

I've completed all my swaps. Hooray!!! This last one just about killed me. I'm already signed up for a few more, but they are quick and easy: dishcloths. I can whip up a few of those in a few hours. In fact, the last one I made was on the way back to IN from NY. I call it my NY cloth since it was completed entirely in the state of NY. Just a simple Grandma's Favorite. I'm still thinking of joining the mini purse swap hosted on Ravelry. I have until the end of this month to sign up. We'll see where I am then.

I am also trying to get the snowflake cloth done. We'll see. The cast on is 158 stitches. Which I've done about 3 times. But I'll get it yet!! Maybe tonight.

Lastly, my little baby boy is growing up. He crawled for the first time today. It was so bittersweet, knowing this will be the last time I will get so excited about my baby crawling. And he's already trying to pull himself up (mostly on me, LOL) so I think in another 3 months my baby will be a toddler. Awww. Time goes by so fast. I am enjoying him so much and I'm not ready for him to be an active mobile little guy. Maybe because my oldest will be 16 soon...that will be 2 milestones I will have to face. But I still have time.

Tomorrow is my Fiber Frolic with my knitting group. I will post pics and share. So get ready!

I'm Ba-aack!

2008-11-23T09:12:00.001-05:00

Wow, it's been forever since I blogged. A lot has been going on. Needless to say, I am back. To explain a little, I went through a mild to severe state of depression until I figured out what was causing it. It's taken care of, and I'm back to being a human being again. Yay!!

I have been knitting up a storm. I several FO's to show and tons more WIP's. I don't do holiday knitting, so I don't have to worry about that stress and pressure.

We got a record amount of snow over the last few days. It snowed 9 inches! That's the most we've ever had this time of year. The old record was around 4 inches. Good old lake effect. It will probably be melted by Thanksgiving, although the sub-zero temps may prevent that. Well, not quite sub-zero. But darn close. Man, it's freeking freezing in here, Mr. Bigglesworth.

On to the knitting:

This is a test pattern for a pair of fingerless mitts. No name as of yet. But they did work up very quickly. This is my 2nd ever colorwork project. They only took me 2 days to make. I used Bernat satin sport in pink and red on size 3 needles.

This pic shows the swirls on each glove. They are not identical! Kinda hard to see here. Check out the cuff. Slightly lacy with a subtle scalloped edge.

This is my Sasquatch skull hat. I have an extra large head, and no hat I make seems to fit this dome of mine. Well, this hat will fit a Sasquatch, I made it that big. If I make it again, I will definitely use size 8 needles. Yeah, I used a 9. But it's the only DPN's I had laying around. Oh well, live and learn. Even though it is huge, I love this hat o mine. It's pink, it's got skulls, and it rocks.

A close up of the skull. This is my first ever color work project. And despite the size, it really turned out fantastic.

This shawl has been done for some time now. I had to make it extra large since I'm not a small lady. This is the Angel Wings Shawl and I used almost 2 skeins of simply soft. It went pretty quick and was fun.

This is the Spidy-ghan. My son wanted this for his 4th birthday. Well, he wanted anything spider-man for his birthday. This is what he got. He loves it.

I didn't get it done in time for his birthday. I only had 2 weeks to do it. But then it sat in the bottom of my bag for a few weeks...anyway. I'm a procrastinknitter. LoL.

Talking about big heads. I wanted a hat to keep me warm. I made this for me. But it did not fit, and my 8 yr old claimed it. But I don't mind. She wears it every day, all day long.

And this is the Baby Kimono from the Lion Brand site. It ties around the back and to the side. Only a 2 day project. I used Red Heart. It's kinda short in the back. Maybe my little guy has a longer back than normal. I don't do gauge swatches. So it is what it is. He seems pretty happy, no?

I've done a lot more knitting, but don't have pics. I made a few scarves that became gifts and sent some stuff I did not take pics of. But that's ok. I'm getting things done.

I started on a pair of socks, but my 2 yr old pulled my DPN's out and then proceeded to stick the needles into the couch cushions. I recovered most of them, but there are a few still MIA. So I decided to restart on a different pair of socks. I will cast on soon. I need to come up with a way to keep his hands off my knitting. Hmmm.... pain does not seem to have a lasting impression, LOL.

I think I'm going to make the mitered dish towel from the new Mason Dixon book. Thank goodness for the library, but it needs to go back soon. You will probably see the towel in my next post.

It's been way too long...and it's good to be back.

One of those days...

2008-10-09T11:31:00.001-04:00

Ever have one of those days, weeks, months, years?

Is he crying because of all the tangled yarn or because of our failing economy? Or maybe he's just hungry....

Random thoughts and things I found interesting this past week

The Duggars are on baby 18. They belong to a movement called the Quiverfull Movement. This movement does not allow for any form of birth control at all. I read a lot about this. It isn't for me. To each their own. As long as they can take care of their kids, fine. But what is worrisome is that this movement comes from "Scripture" that children are a blessing from God and we should not deny His blessings. Yeah, the Bible does say this but way back when child birth was a dangerous thing. If you survived and had lots of children, you were truly blessed. Now days there are crack whores having babies... is that God blessing her? Is that God blessing that poor child? I'm not so sure....
The Presidential Elections are a crock. Why? Who do I vote for? Which candidate is less corrupt? How do I decide which one is the lesser of two evils? Why has our government become so low and how did it get to this point? I guess power does corrupt!
My Wal-Mart is getting rid of Simply Soft yarn. I don't know why. It's sad, since I could get it there for $2.08 a skein. It's almost $4 at Michael's!
My local JoAnne's has become knitter friendly. They re-did the layout and the yarn selection is a lot bigger. They barely have any crochet hooks and a lot of the yarn is slightly "higher end" (for a non LYS big box store). They sell the big balls of Sugar N Cream and the Cuisine Colors! Yay!!!
My knitting apathy continues. I am trying to get things done for swap deadlines. It's hard when you're not loving what you do. And I've been frogging projects a lot. A lot.
What can I make with 154 yds of WW yarn? I received a skein in a swap, and can't find anything! It's slightly tweedy looking too.
I love looking at the Destash board on Ravelry. It seems like a lot of people want full price for their yarn, plus shipping. I can order a new skein from the supplier for a lot of the prices these people are asking. And reading the Naughty Swappers list is scary. I don't have money to be throwing to the wind. It's hard to believe people actually take money for items they never intend to send. Makes me want to NOT trade via Ravelry.
I have several hats in my queue. I hate hats. They make my head itch.
I have tons of scarves I want to make. I wear a scarf only if it's freezing out. And I mean blowing below 0 temps. Which happens maybe 2 or three times a year.
I like to knit socks. The wool makes my feet itch and sweat. I only wear socks when I have too.
Why is it that all the things I like to make I really have no use for? Or limited use? Hmmm....
I am on a swap hiatus until further notice. I still have to finish the swaps I am in. Three of them are due by the end of the month and the last one is due at the end of Nov. I will still do an occasional dishcloth swap since I can't possibly be expected to quit completely.
I really really want a set of Options nickel plated needles. But I don't really like circs all that much. But it would be nice to have the right size needle despite if it's connected to a cable or not.
I have to use metal DPN's until my kids are a little older. My 2 yr old loves to break them. And he likes to pull my needles out of my projects. And he likes sticking my DPN's into the couch cushions. I'm still missing 3.

That's it for today. I'm going to go and try and get one Red Scarf done before the deadline. I need to mail in a week or so. Can I get 2 done? I doubt it!

I Love the Postman pt 2

2008-10-06T13:49:00.001-04:00

I received my final SP12 package. Yay!!!

Look at this luscious yarn Dee spun and dyed for me. It's alpaca and ohh so soft. I have no idea what I am going to do with 2 skeins of this yarny goodness, but in the meantime it will be my pet :)

She also made this cute felted bag. I love the handles! This is the perfect bag for me.

Ok, sorry this pic is not all artistic and laid out nicely. It shows some other stuff I had to unwrap as well. 2 skeins of wool for my own Ruthann's Birthday Bag (you can buy the pattern off Dee's website), some notions including the cutest buttons in pink! She sent a very nice bookmark, some sweet smelling candle melts, a handmade cloth, and some cotton. Oh yeah, she sent the pattern for the bag too, not just the wool, LOL.

I think one of my favorites was the CD full of Christian music. I owned most of them, but they got broke or lost at some point. Some of my very favorite songs are on those CD's and now I can enjoy them again. So I thank you Dee for sending the music to me. It's a real pick-me-up and gets me connected in a way nothing else can. And boy, do I need to get re-connected.

This was a great SP experience for me. My spoilee is someone I "know" from other swaps (BigBagKnitalongand Kal, mini purse swap, and monthly dishcloth swappers!) and has the same values. We both have large families and homeschool our children. We both believe in, love, and follow God and our personal savior, Jesus. Wow, our hostess did a wonderful job in assigning us together.

Thanks Dee for the great swap. Of course you did an awesome job in teasing, sending, and spoiling! I was guessing until the end. And I love all the handmade stuff. Especially the yarn. Wow, awesome job.

So who has ideas on what to make with the yarn? It's 100% alpaca in a WW or light bulky weight. I have about 210 yds. And I don't want to felt it! LOL. I would love to read about your ideas, since right now I have none.

Have a great day!!

I love the Postman

2008-10-02T15:57:00.001-04:00

It's been a depressing week around here. Don't really know why. My knitting mojo is all but dried up. I go aimlessly from project to project...and work a few rows, then it's done. Maybe I overextended myself in the last month with all the swaps. So I'm going to take it easy until after the new year. I know there aren't a lot of swaps over the holidays, but still. So I'm sitting the next SP out. But I will do the really really irresistible swaps, like a dishcloth swap. And I still have to finish up the ones I have already signed up for.

And speaking of ongoing swaps, I love the postman. He drops off good things at my doorstep. Look at what I got today:

Can you see the M&M's in the background? I will have to hide those from hubby. Two skeins of SnC to do dishcloths with. Yippee! A nice skein of wool/silk blend in pink. A candle burner? With lovely candles that made the whole bag smell yummy. And in front is a Fresno State pencil, her alma matter (I think).

Bag? What bag?

This bag from Jenna A. from the Big Bag Kal and Swap. I love love love this bag. The colors are so ME!!

Look at this needle felted masterpiece. I think it's my favorite thing about the bag. So cool.

And this is the card she sent along. Isn't it cute? I need some sunshine in my day since it's been freezing here! You can't tell, but the card is 3D and the sandals are on top of the towel.

I had mentioned this was going to be my sock knitting bag. Jenna sent this wonderful tin with some cool sock knitting helpers. I like it.

Thanks Jenna for the great swap! You cheered me up today. I've been stalking the mailman (and you sent it FedEx!) for a few days now. You really did a great job picking out the right things for me. I am happy! I hope you get as spoiled as I did.

Terrible 2's and Knitting News

2008-09-22T08:51:00.001-04:00

Doesn't he look sweet? See how's he posing oh so innocently? You'd think after 4 kids, I would be used to the terrible 2's, but it just so happens that I don't remember ANY of my kids being this....bad.

Do parents have a selective memory of all the bad things their kids did, just so they can have more? Because if he was #1, I think I would be done with kids. This kid is into EVERYTHING. I do not exaggerate. He is very resourceful and he mimics very well. It does not help that he has older siblings to influence him, but he gets into enough trouble on his own. So now we have locks on the bathroom and my bedroom, gate across the kitchen (since he likes helping himself to snacks in the fridge), and we have to make sure he can't get outside. Because the neighbor across the street has brought him home. Twice.

It's funny how some kids are easier than others. My #2 boy, who will be turning 4 soon, is so sweet. He's a big teddy bear. All my other kids use him as a punching bag. He was not into everything, though he did have his moments.

Yep, the dirty face is par for the course. I start to worry when his face isn't dirty!

So what does this have to do with knitting? Nothing, except with boy 3, my soon to be 2 yr old, it seems like I am always jumping up to save him or the house or furniture or something. He broke at least 3 pair of needles in one week. Just took my 5 straights and snapped them like twigs. Twice. He tried to break my 7's, but I stopped him in time. He likes to wind the yarn around his wrist as tight as possible. Oh, and pulling whatever project he can off the needles. That's a fun one, believe me!

But I do love my boys. My 15 year old is surprisingly good, for a teenager. I was expecting the worst, but he's far from it. He's usually happy and very helpful (when I force him!) and mostly respectful with little reminders every now and then. He's not sullen or rude.... I really lucked out. I was worried he was going to be as bad as I was...but I still have my 2 girls to get through. Oh no, that will be soon...my oldest daughter just turned 8 in August. A few more years....

So onto knitting. Here are some dishcloths I made:

Squaring the Spiral. This was fun and quick, and I love the outcome.

Dash by Renee (solmama on Rav). I love her cloth designs! If you are looking for neat slip-stitch cloths, this is the site for you!

My ninepatch. I had to make the rows shorter since it would have been a towel if I would have kept going. It's the perfect size, though it looks kind of squat. This is a great scrap cloth and pretty quick. Except for all the ends to weave in.

4 needle with picot bind off from Cloth of the Week (link in sidebar). I had to add a bunch of rows at the top so it would be bigger than doll-size. Funny, how one cloth is gargantuan and the other is miniscule. Anyway, this was nice, except the bind off was torturous. It looks very pretty and I love the cuisine colors I knit it with.

I am also working on the Big Bag for round 2 of the BigBag Kal and Swap. I am doing the bag as outlined in the pattern. I like it this way. I am nearly halfway done. So far, I like how the colors are going together. Wish I could show pics, but then my partner would see it and that would ruin the surprise!

I also started on my next Serafim shawl. I got some boucle on sale, and it looks pretty good so far. I am also working on Special Olympic Scarves and the Red Scarf Project. (I never did find the missing needle. I guess boy 3 threw it in the trash or something. Drat, it had my row counter on it too!) My fingerless mitts, Porphyria (ravelry link) are coming along. I am going to start a Granny Afghan soon. It's going to be in pinks...cant' wait!

Secret Buddy

2008-09-20T14:51:00.001-04:00

I received my secret buddy box last week. I have been too swamped to post pics...so I apologize to my secret buddy. I was going to make a great post with awesome pics, but life once again got in the way.

Take a moment and drink this in. You really can't get the idea of what was in that box, especially since half of it has been claimed. So, let's start with what's here. A nice big bag, a scarf, a big red doily, 8 placemats, 2 dishcloths, coasters, a purple crocheted box full of spa goodies, yarn, thread, towel topper with towels, a cross stitch kit, 2 pattern books.

I also got a bunch of stuff for the kids. They loved every single thing. There were toys for the little guys: a leapfrog toy that sings the ABC's (my 2 year old will try and sing along) and some cool stacking toys that light up and make music. My baby loves to chew on these, and all the kids like to play with them. There were also coloring books and a giant Cars color in poster. And a bunch of cute pens that were immediately taken. I had to snag the fluffy pink pen before my oldest daughter could lay claim to it. And I can't forget the chocolate! But that's already gone.

I want to thank you, secret buddy for the wonderful box, and I apologize for taking so long to properly thank you. It feels so nice to be able to give my kids such nice things, and tell them that my "crafting" friend sent them. They don't really understand, but I do, and it's heartwarming that you would think of my children!

I also received lots of yarn this week. I got a big box of pink and gray Plymouth chunky yarn along with some wonderful stitchmarkers from my Ravelry friend. I tried to make a poncho for one of my daughters, but I have to go back and start over since it would fit a two year old. She's 8! It's a good thing they are quick to crochet.

I got a RAK box of yarn from a nice lady over in OR. She sent me some nice pink stuff for a Granny Square blanket I plan to make someday soon.

And in another dishcloth swap, I received 3 skeins of nice yarn. Thanks Micki, for thinking of me!

I have lots of cloths to post, but I will do that later. Have a great day!!

Slacking...not really

2008-09-18T10:07:00.001-04:00

I have been unbelievably busy. Too busy to even blog. Yet I still manage time to find patterns that I will never be able to knit...ever!

Actually, I wrote a post last Friday, but as the day wore on, it never got published. So this post is just a quick update on my goings-on and such.

I joined waaaay to many swaps this month. I keep a notebook of my addresses to who I need to send out that month, the swap, and what to send. Anyway, I figured out that I needed 7 dishcloths by the 20th. Wow, and I didn't even have one! But I got busy and still have one more to finish, but it will only take about a half hour or so.

I was tagged in DishRagTag. As soon as I got the box, I got started on the cloth. It took only about 1-2 hours to knit. I sent it off within 5 hours of getting it. Hopefully the rest of the team can keep up the momentum and we can finish close to first....

I started another Serafina shawl, this time in boucle (crazy I know!). I don't know if I like boucle too much...I guess it's not as bad as some of the bulky stuff I worked with before. Red Heart Light and Lofty is from hell...but maybe this stuff is too...I definitely need to take it slower.

I also cast on for Porphyria last night. Late last night. For those of you not on Ravelry, this pattern is for a pair of fingerless gloves. Very pretty. I am using some sock yarn I received in a swap awhile ago. I don't know if it will work with this pattern, or if I'm even loving the color of the yarn, but we'll see how it turns out.

I also finished some broomstick lace fingerless mitts. Hubby hid the camera, so I will do another post with those. I don't think I'm in love with broomstick lace. Maybe if I had the right equipment. It seems very fiddly, but the outcome is nice.

Ok, so you want some pics? Here you go:

This is a scarf as part of the Yahoo group Weekly Kal/Cal. It was very quick and easy. I think if you crocheted this in one piece, it might take about 2 hours. It's hard to tell with the pic, but it's lacey and long. I like the ribbon accent.

This is Balme from Berroco website. I know this is not the best pic, but it's a nice cabled purse. Maybe I should have used stiffer yarn since it's floppy, but it reminds me of a nice big sweater. I started this ages ago, and finished this up about a week or two ago.

I made this cute little crochet case in one night. Crochet is so satisfying if you need instant gratification or a quick project.

I like how the hooks fit right in. You make a "tube" along the rows that the hooks slide into.

And here it is closed up. A nice little contained roll. I used cotton in WW. You could add more rows if you needed to for more hooks.

Y not Celebrate, from Cloth of the Week Yahoo group. I liked making this cloth. It was done in Guacamole.

Oops I dropped a Sticth, from Cloth of the Week Yahoo group. I don't know the color. I got it in a swap.

Ok gang, that's it for today. I will have another post tomorrow with a show of some goodies I received in the mail.

September is Here!!

2008-09-02T12:45:00.001-04:00

I have been meaning to post for days... but I wanted to finish a dishcloth so I could show you. Well, it's still in my bag, unfinished. So I will just have to show you what I have. Which is a lot.

Check these bad boys out. I Love This Yarn sportweight. It's called pink mocha or something like that. Very easy, and quick. It's a simple 2X2 rib with a gusseted thumb.

It's too hot for these!

My second Sunday Market Shawl. Quick and easy. This is made with Sinfonia, 100% cotton. One skein is too small for me. I would need to cast on a bit more and use two skeins to make it worthwhile. But this is a gift, so I hope it works!

My first Special Olympics Scarf. I still need to add fringe. It's 2 strands on a P hook. I think I chained around 85-90 and did dc for 4 rows. It took less than an hour. It's thick and chunky and looks warm. I still have tons of yarn leftover, so I can make lots!

I made a basket out of Peaches N Creme. 2 balls of Potpourri. I had about an inch left to seam, and I ran out of yarn. It's now sitting there while I decide what yarn to finish up. It's in the corner, on the bottom, so I think ecru would work. But my ecru is connected to another project right now...

My bath mitt with a tiny thumb. I should have done at least one more row of dc for the thumb, but I guess it works. It's going in the basket above as a swap. Along with some soap and other cloths. And some more stuff I have to make by Friday.

So have you ever had a deadline, and did not want to meet it? I have been trying to avoid making things for this swap...but I can't do that, can I? So yesterday I did the scarf as a quick break.

I have yarn for the Red Scarf Project. I am itching to get started on it. I have other things that need to go out. Too bad I can't knit in my sleep, LOL. But then I get bored...knitters ADD.

I'm waiting on the box for Dishrag Tag. I'm somewhere in the middle, I think. I'm ready! How cool would it be to win this thing?

That's it for today. Hopefully be the end of the week I can show you some more stuff!

Proud...and not so proud moments

2008-08-28T09:06:00.001-04:00

The Question of the week for SP 12 is to describe one of your proudest moments as a knitter, and then the flipside of that.

I think my proudest moment was when I actually finished my first project. I am self-taught. I learned by watching DVD's borrowed from the library. I went to Wal-Mart and bought a size 10 metal straights, and some nice soft white-ish acrylic. Then I sat down and found the Roman Stitch dishcloth. Which I made. It was kind of wonky, and not really useable (acrylic dishcloth?) but I was proud. I made my first knitted item! I looked at it, turned it over, and admired it some more. I was officially a knitter.

Of course, I had to find more patterns, and stuff that I cold make. So I cruised the Internet and found some dishcloth groups. Lots of them. I joined, knitted along on the rows and made some nice cloths. I struggled with one cloth that I had to frog 25 times, but I did it. I was accomplished!! Yay for me!

Along the way I made some mistakes. I decided to make a poncho for my infant son, since my house is drafty and it was cold. Easy right? Knit 2 rectangles and sew them together. Only it didn't quite happen that way. Well, it did, but I made it so small it would have fit a doll. My son could not wear it. I recently found it and put it on my 2 month old. It fit him just fine! So my 1 year old poncho actually fit a 2 month old.

Now I recently tried to make a felted crocheted hook case. For some reason, it came out all loose at the top. I really don't think that it would hold any hooks since they would fall out the top. I'm not convinced that crocheting and felting go together...I love my felted bags that are knitted, but I washed that case at least 5 times and could STILL see the crochet stitches.

As far as knitting progress, I finished a Sunday Market Shawl and have started on one snuggle. It's boring and I don't really like making it, and yet I have another one to do. Maybe I will just power through it and get them both done this weekend.

I have been on a dishcloth extravaganza. I made 3 in one day! I will show pics after I have finished up 2 more. Maybe tomorrow. There will be pics, I swear!!

FINISHED!!!!!

2008-08-22T12:05:00.001-04:00

Sorry about the shouting, folks, but I just have to tell you that I am done with my Ravelympic projects. Yay!!! I feel very accomplished right now. I finished the scarf on Weds, and the socks became a pair last night.

Without further ado, here's the scarf in all its glory:

As a reminder, this was made using SWS on size 8 needles. I cast on only 16 stitches and used most of 2 skeins of yarn. This yarn is nice to knit with, but it's scratchy on my neck.

Don't you love the color changes? I really like SWS. I'm thinking of making a pair of mitts with some of this. They would be very warm.

Now my socks were not as easy to make as the scarf. It took me 3 days to find a good short row technique. And the pattern was easy enough, but I kept getting confused and had to rip out several rows at several points. The first sock I made had a regular bind off...not so good with socks.

The second sock was a lot easier. I did make the foot a tad bit too long, so my heel is actually above my heel, and the toes are a little too pointy. I probably could have knit a few more rounds too make it longer, but hiking up the sock makes it even.

These were knit in Imagination Damsel by knitpicks on size 3 needles. Aren't they pretty? I love them, and can't wait for the cold so I can wear them. It's just too hot right now for wool/alpaca socks.

I'm going to cast on another pair in a few days. I need to rest on sock making since these were done so fast.

I had a good time knitting for the Ravelympics. About a week in, though, I wondered what the reason for this whole knitting spree was. Why was I racing to make these items besides the right to say that I did it? And even if I did not complete anything, what would have happened? Nothing.

So I have decided to knit/crochet for better reasons. I'm jumping on the Red Scarf and Special Olympics bandwagon. I am also making a few handmades for RAK's ... so that makes me happy.

That's it for today. I'm going to go cast on for one of my RAK's now. I need to get it done ASAP. I will post when it's done.

Progress

2008-08-18T08:55:00.001-04:00

I had a pretty busy weekend. From my last post, I finished sock #1, so halfway done. I tried to get to my heel of sock 2, but sadly failed. to give myself credit, I did start the sock yesterday, so getting to the heel would have been an all day knit-a-thon. I did make lots of progress on sock 2, almost halfway to the heel.

I did have holes in the toe, however. I can live with it. They are mine, and the holes aren't VERY noticeable. Maybe I should ask my hubby and see if he can see them.

The hard part of taking pics of your own foot is the angle is always off. So you get to see my view of the socks.

They aren't very long. I don't like socks up my calf. I don't like them just to the top of my ankle, either. So I guess I like the 3/4 crew sock. I did have to rip out the bind off, since, silly me, I did a plain ol bind off. Yeah. I cold not get the sock around my heel. I was afraid I was going to break the sock. So I took the bind off out, ripped back 2 rows, and proceeded to do the bind off I found here. I liked it better than the EZ sewn bind off, since then I would have to reposition my stitches on the needles, and it seemed like to much of a hassle. I decided to not make a ribbed cuff, since the pattern is a rib. Redundant. Well, we'll see if they fall down all the time.

Here's a pic of the 2 socks for comparison:

It isn't the best pic, but it is the prettiest one I took! I may have to get a better camera.

In other news, I did work tons on my scarf. Not quite there yet, but soon. I think I will be done with these projects soon, but who knows?

I have to go school my kids now. Have a great day!

One Week In

2008-08-16T08:31:00.001-04:00

It's been a week since the Olympics started. Last night I watched Michael Phelps nab his 7th gold. It was a short race, but was it good. This is good TV. I used to think Olympics was boring. Why watch people play sports I didn't really care about? But the race last night was awesome. It was a photo finish. It looked like the other guy won, but if you watched it very close, I think Phelps did win, barely. By a fingertip. And some people say a second doesn't matter. He won by .001 of a second!

So I know you are itching to see my progress on my Ravelympic projects. I do have....some.

Here's the deal. I haven't knit on my socks in 2 days! Why? Well, on Wednesday, I was a crazy woman at knitting. Round and round. Then I got the pattern messed up, it was getting late, and I figured I'd fix it and finish on Thursday.

Thursday comes, I am knitting on some swap cloths. Have to get those out. Then for some reason, I get this KILLER headache. One where you want someone to rip your head off to stop the pain. I was ok if I sat very still and didn't move. If I even shifted my weight to get more comfortable, I could feel the pounding in my temples and the pain just kick in. It was horrid. I had to send hubby to get some ibuprofen. Thank goodness it helped. Needless to say, I knit nothing that night. I went to bed early, woke up in the middle of the night (3 am-ish) and then stayed in bed for another hour trying to get back to sleep.

Now it's Friday. I am determined to get the first sock done and cast on for sock #2. Now that I have the pattern down and worked the kinks out, I think the second sock can be done in 2-3 days easily. But instead, I get on Rav, and come across this dishcloth. It dazzled my eye and called to me. I looked at it, and had to knit it up. I just love patterns that are a little perplexing. And to my delight, it was easy! I mean, super easy. I quickly memorized the pattern and got to knitting away. Unfortunately, in my knitting zeal, I messed up and had to frog back a whole repeat. But that's ok, my daughter loved helping me rip out the yarn.

I called it "Infinity" on my Rav projects page. It looks like the infinity symbol. Renee calls it Harmonic Mosaic cloth. Ignore my mistake smack dab in the middle. I wasn't about to rip out another repeat to fix it. I used size 6 needles and hot pink and white cotton for this baby. I'm definitely going to make more of these. Truly mindless knitting with an incredible finish.

I did work on my scarf last night. I wanted to get to the end of one skein of SWS. Didn't happen. I was watching Mystery ER on the health channel. And falling asleep. But I'm close. Here's the pic of my Drop Stitch Scarf:

I love the colors on this one. Oh yeah, I had to restart this as well. I'm now on size 8 needles, and only cast on 16. Sot it's skinny and long. I will definitely need 2 skeins for this to be long enough. If I have enough yarn left over, I will add fringe, I think. The color is Natural Crimson.

So off to more knitting. I have a few more cloths to do for swaps, but I will get the sock done today. And you will get to see the it on my foot tomorrow. Unless I break my hand or something, LOL.

Question 10

2008-08-13T11:54:00.001-04:00

What Olympic event would best describe you knitting/crocheting style?

I would have to say I'm a pentathlon knitter. This requires knowledge of several different techniques, but not total mastery of just one.

Those of you who are not familiar with the Modern Pentathlon here is a brief overview:

The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport which consists of competition in five events in one grueling day. Competitors earn points for their performances in each of the five disciplines: pistol shooting, epee fencing, swimming, riding (equestrian show jumping) and cross-country running.

And how are my "events" coming along? I completed my heel for sock #1 last night and did the ankle, plus about an inch of the leg. I still have lots more knitting to do, but maybe I can finish it tonight.

I ripped out my scarf. I did not like how wide it was, or how loose looking. So I changed to size 8 needles and only cast on 16 stitches. Hopefully it will look better. But this scarf is FAST, so I don't think I'll have any problem getting it done in time.

Tomorrow I will have to make a few more cloths and whip up a purse for a swap. I love crochet. You can whip up a bag in no time, and it still looks pretty decent.

I bought some yarn at HL the other day. Sport Weight yarn for a pair of fingerless gloves. I need to get done with all these other projects so I can cast on some more. Or maybe I should get off the computer and do some knitting...

Next week I am going to start home schooling my girls. They want to start now, but I'm not quite ready. Plus I still need to get a few more books...but we can wing it until then. My oldest son started yesterday. I don't understand why they would have 2 half days instead of giving them an extra day off and start with a full day. But I guess a lot of that does not make sense to me anyway.

I have no pics today. Guess I'm going to try and do a few rounds on my socks. Hopefully I can show you the completed sock tomorrow!

Humble Pie...and birthday cake

2008-08-11T09:21:00.001-04:00

I had a huge piece of humble pie this weekend. Hell, I had the whole pie, then went back for more. How's that you ask? Don't think you can knit a pair of socks in 12 days unless you know what you are doing!

The socks from Hell, I will dub them. I almost gave up, but, being the perseverant type, I did not. So I ripped, re-started, ripped. I finally got the circulars and did the magic cast on with that and it went so much easier!

So working on the short row toe without leaving holes was not fun. I finally gave up and said, I will live with the small gaps. I will be the one wearing them, so it does not matter (when did I become a perfectionist?). Until I tried them on. Only a few inches beyond the toe.

These socks would have fit Bigfoot and still been loose. What was I thinking? I still knit on for a few more rounds until the image of these huge, drooping socks plagued me. Why bother knitting them, and then not wear them because they don't fit? Am I that lazy that I can't rip out and re-start (for the 10th time!) [as a side note, KP's Imagination seriously holds up to repeated rippings and knittings. It does not affect the yarn at all!]

Ok. When I went by the measurements in the book I was shocked. According to the chart, I had an Xlarge foot. Now, I may not be dainty, but I always considered my feet to be average, if not slightly on the small side. But Xlarge!! So I cast on for the large size, and it was still too big. Ha! I guess I get some satisfaction out of that.

So instead of 32, I went down to 22. What a difference 10 stitches makes. I guess as a knitter, we know what works with experience. No book is telling me the size of my foot, despite tried and true measurements!

There has been progress. And as fast as these are knitting up, I think I could have them done in a few days without the interruptions of having to knit for swaps.

I did go for a different short row technique. The yo thing was just not working. The gaps were too big, I kept losing my place... and the other link from a previous post also left holes. Sigh. I was almost considering going back to the wrap and turn or something that was hole-free.

See? no holes! Maybe not the best pic. I used the Japanese short row technique. (YouTube vidoeo)It's so simple. There is no counting, since you can clearly see what needs to be knitted together. I got the toe done in about 15 minutes. Seriously. I don't know if I was relieved to have finally found a method that works for me, or if I was angry that it took 3 days to discover a method that would take only 15 minutes.

Moral: train. If you want to do a project on a time limit, but not sure how to do it, then train first. If I would have trained, I would have one sock done. Oh well, guess that's life. Maybe no gold medals for me, but I will settle for a silver or bronze.

It was my daughter's birthday on Sunday. She turned the big 08!! Wow, hard to believe #2 is 8 already. How time does fly. The day I had her, the hospital was full of babies and mommas. I think there were at least 10-15 births that day. Enough that I had to share a room...let me tell you, that is not fun to share a room with someone after giving birth...but that's another story.

We made her cake. It's an ice cream cake that I found online. Ice cream sandwiches, whip cream, chocolate and caramel syrup. I let her decorate with sprinkles. She loved it! I may have started a tradition. And the good thing is that it cost less than $10. I know an ice cream cake from DQ would be at least $20 (for a small one!)

Now off I go to knit some cloths, then back to the socks. I will hopefully get the heel done sometime today, without any holes!! If there is significant progress, I will post tomorrow.

Oh yeah, dishrag tag is closed. I am on team 6. Sorry all the other teams, you may as well just bow out now, since we're going to win. LOL.

Day One Progress

2008-08-09T08:04:00.001-04:00

It was a sad day yesterday at my house. Well, not really sad. There was lots of anger, yelling, and frustration.

After working on my sock ALL DAY, this is what I went to bed with:

What? Just the tip of the toe? Yes. But in all fairness, I did do the toe about 4 times. I should have "trained" for this event, because I think I'm about to be disqualified. Seriously.

The first problem is the Magic Cast On on DPN's instead of a cable needle. It's almost impossible to knit the first row.

Problem #2: The YO short row method left huge holes down the side. I tried 3 times...still holes. This is not working for me.

As I sat in front of the computer, an idea hit me! I googled short row heel and found this. So at about 11 pm, this is what I tried. And the result is what you see. I'm about halfway done with the toe. Oh yeah, I had to re-start that too. Lost track of my turns.

I had to cast on for my 2nd project before midnight. I got 1 .5 repeats done. It's a matter of fact that this scarf is so much easier than the socks.

Patons SWS on 10.5 needles. I love this yarn!! I think I'm loving wool more and more.

My plans today include knitting up to the heel at least. If I make too many more mistakes, these socks will become an afterthought...

But the yarn is lovely. I do have one problem. My needles (KnitPicks Harmony) match my yarn. How weird is that? So I need lots of light to see what I'm doing. I really like alpaca too. Need to move to the country so I can raise one.

As I was knitting my socks, my son decided to play with my ball winder. So I told him to wind my leftover cotton bits. Here's what he accomplished:

There's a few more kicking around. Nice huh? Suppose I'll have to make him his army of ninja's now.

Finished!!!

2008-08-08T09:48:00.001-04:00

I have a lot to post...so beware!

Pinky was completed last night. Dinner was late. My hands were cramped. That's just how it goes. Hubby thought I was crazy when I pulled the yarn through the last loop and then gave a crazy whelp of joy. I got up and did the happy dance. All the kids thought I seriously lost it. I think #5 was going to cry. LOL.

I really LOVE the Clapotis. Truly. Deeply. Madly. It's such a simple pattern, but the results are just so awesome.

She could be a wispy curtain.

These are the true colors. Very nice. It's probably not as wide as I would like, but that's ok. I still love her.

And here's my son, being the ever reluctant model. Looks weird, with his head cut out of the picture. My son does have a head, just not here.

Pinky took me 7 days. Pretty much 7 full days. I can't wait for it to cool down so I can wear her. Maybe I will take the baby out and nurse him, just so I can use it as a wrap....

Here's the details. I used 3 skeins of Sinfonia, on size 5 needles. I have one skein left, so I plan on making clap fingerless gloves and a hat out of it. I still have a little left over from the 3rd skein, maybe not enough for a glove, but we'll see.

Onto other news. Ravelympics starts today. Well, it started at 8am. I was still asleep. I have until 8pm on the 25, I think. So when I get done here, I will be casting on for my left sock. Whoo Hoo.

I did do a swatch last night, fiddled with numbers, turned a page in my book, and found a chart with all the measurements I would need. Go figure. I really really like the Damsel. It's so nice and soft and fluffy. I am going to enjoy making these into a pair of socks. I can see a pair of fingerless gloves in my future too.

I will probably post every other day with progress. Just because.

I joined round 2 of the Big Bag KAL and swap. So basically, every one knits a Big Bag and sends it to their partner. Do I need 2 big bags? Why not? I use mine constantly. It has become my knitting bag that I carry around the house. And it gives me a reason to make another one. I really like the bag I received, and it has white in it, so I may try that. You have to go to the blog, and e-mail the hostess that you want to join. We had lots of fun last time. I urge you to go. RUN!!

Ok, one last thing. I have talked about this, but I would urge you to go look up the RAK group on Ravelry. Even if you don't have a wishlist, there may be someone there you can gift. A lot of them are easy. I sent a PM about a documentary that I watched. So many people are privileged and can send a skein of yarn or some extra needles. Who needs closets full of yarn that you can never use? Why hoard when someone will happily use it? It makes a person feel good to send a gift...I am trying my best on my limited budget. But since I'm in so many swaps, there are things that I could not use so these are re-gifted. There's even a handmade RAK group. I know, I can make whatever I want. But some people can't or don't have time. I think it's nice to send something to someone who will really appreciate it. Now I have a justified reason to make 100 scarves or fingerless gloves...or whatever.

Now I leave you with a picture that melts my heart. It not only makes a mother proud, but a crafter as well.

My 15 yr old and my 8 yr old (On Sunday) are both learning to crochet. How cute is that?

Have a great weekend!!

Halfway There!!!

2008-08-06T08:59:00.001-04:00

I've been working on my Clap exclusively since the beginning of the month. It's coming along quite nice! I'm almost done with the straight section, and I'll be doing the decreases soon. I just attached the 3rd skein, and I know I will have tons leftover.

The pic is a bit blurry, but you get the idea. I love how this is knit on the diagonal. I have to admit when I first started it, I really had no idea how it was going to work. I'll be squaring off the other edge soon. Two more straight repeats, yay!!!

Oops, I did knit a potholder to get a slight break from my Clap. It was quick and easy, and I like how it turned out. I used PnC Aquamist. I love that color!!

This is the first knit potholder from the Ravelry group Potholder along. I will try the crochet one soon... I used 2 strands together, so it's nice and soft and thick. Kind of on the small side, but it is an easy pattern to increase. I may make a matching potholder and dishcloth for a set.

So I'm sure many of you have heard about the Ravelympics, if you are not participating. It starts on Friday, I think at 8 am for me. I still have to swatch for my socks, but that won't take too long. I want to have my Clap done either today or tomorrow. I am also doing the Drop Stitch Scarf. I figured out that I have to finish each item in about 6 days. That takes some pressure off. 6 days for each sock, and 5 days for the scarf. If I can knit a Clap in 8 days, I can knit a scarf in 5!! So this will be a challenge, since I still need to do a few dishcloths and finish a purse for an exchange.

I'm going to do the Meme from Aunt Kathy's blog. She has a great ongoing contest until the end of the month. All you have to do is go on over and leave a comment each day, and a winner is randomly drawn at the end of the week. But each day has a "theme" so it's not that hard. Really. This week the prize is 2 skeins of Strata yarn, self-striping, along with a pair of needles.

Here's the Meme:

List 6 quirky things about yourself. Tag six people, link them, blah blah blah. If you want to be tagged, YOU'RE IT!!

1. I am a cynical S.O.B. If you tell me the sky is blue, I will have to check for myself before taking your word for it. I need facts, and lots of them, before I believe a lot of what people take for granted as truth.

2. My 4 sons share 2 birthdays. K and V have a March 17 b-day. and X and J share Oct 23 as theirs. Weird, huh?

3. Maybe TMI, but I used to be super hairy...now I barely have to shave (my legs, not my face, LOL)

4. My favorite fruit is a fresh peach, right off the tree.

5. I can't stand peach-flavored anything. It's just not real.

6. I think I stopped biting my nails for good...

Ok, so if you want to join, go ahead. If not, I won't send the blogging police to your house. I leave with one final picture for your enjoyment. This is hubby and baby, chilling on the couch, watching TV. Aren't they a handsome pair? Have a great day!!

Clap Progress

2008-08-03T12:53:00.001-04:00

I decided to get going on my clap. I hadn't touched it since I first cast on and did the first 3 repeats of the increase section.

Well, the project got pulled off the needles and stuffed into the bottom of my knitting bag. I decided the best thing was to rip and re-start.

This is the increase section, plus the first 4 repeats of the straight section. I've dropped the stitches 4 times now, yay!! It's taking longer to do the straight section, since there are 107 stitches to deal with, plus slipping all the stitch markers. I'm using metal straights, which is not fun. Metal and slick yarn are not a good match. I guess that's adding to the time as well.

Here's a close up of the dropped stitches:

I really like this pattern. It's easy to do. Mindless, and fairly fast. Just knitting and purling. I just got through one skein of yarn last night. I might not use all 4 skeins.

On to other news. I joined dish rag tag. Found the link on Abigail's site. Thanks for the PSA!!! It's only for the first 300 people to sign up, and only for US knitters. Basically, there are teams that knit the same pattern. The first one to get it done, wins!! Kind of like a round robin race...Go check it out if you're in for some knitting fun.

I also found the coolest groups on Rav. It's RAK and Handmade RAK. What's a RAK you ask? A Random Act of Kindness. People post what they want. You scan the list, and send it if you have it. The thing I like is that it's random on who or what you select to send, and if anyone sends back to you. I like this since it's a swap, with nothing in return. You can only hope...

I've already made a commitment to send a RAK to someone. And I've posted a list of stuff I want. No big deal. I can't think of anything I want made for me. Most things I want, I can make myself. Maybe I'll just have to be a RAK sender. For now.

And I did join the Ravelympics. They made it easier to join, so I went ahead. I am doing the sockput and scarf something. Basically, I am going to do a pair of socks toe up using short row heels and toe on DPN's in a basic rib. And I am going to complete a scarf, the drop stitch scarf using my Patons SWS I received in a swap. I think that is challenge enough for me. I wonder if I can handle that in 17 days.

Finally Friday Fill ins, late as usual. How does Friday go by without me even realizing it?

1. If I could travel back in time, I'd go to Jerusalem, when Jesus rode in on the back of the pony.
2. Give me Taco Bell or give me Chik fila

3. I am listening to SpongeBob on TV in the living room.

4. Somewhere, someone is thinking get out of my way!!! 5. I'll always be a mom
6. My idea of a good time includes knitting needles, nice yarn, and peace and quiet!

Thanks Secret Pal!!!

2008-07-31T10:02:00.001-04:00

I was sitting on the couch, emptying out my knitting bag to get restarted on my Clap, which has been sitting there all lonely since I first cast on. Then hubby walks into the room with a box. For me!!

Here is what was inside:

On the bottom you can see a nice note, then a skein of SnC stripes, 2 skeins of the new knitpicks sock yarn Imagination in the Damsel colorway, along with a sock knitting book, size 3 Harmony DPN's and best of all, a ball winder!!

After admiring the yarn for a few minutes, I tore into the ball winder and proceeded to wind up my new skeins of Damsel. (Sorry folks, this colorway isn't available until Sept!! I hope my pal snagged some for herself as well!)

I guess it takes practice to get nice cakes of wound yarn. Here's my before and after pics:

The cake on the left was my first attempt. The second one got a bit better. The instructions say I need a swift, but that's where the 15 yo comes in handy, and I don't have to pay him!!

I went back and spent some more time with the other goodies in my box after all the winding excitement. (Which took maybe a half hour). The sock book is amazing. I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn how to knit socks. Well, it doesn't exactly tell you HOW, but it does explain the math behind getting the perfect fit, and shows step by step instructions for short row toe and heel. I may use this book for my Ravelympic sock challenge.

The DPN's are great. I need to keep them out of the 1.5 yr old's line of vision. He broke my Harmony DPN's and at least 2 pairs of bamboo needles. Snapped them like a twig. So I will keep them up and away.

And of course the cotton. What girl can't use more cotton? I already have the pattern picked out for it.

Yay SP 12 Pal!!! Thank you so much for the thoughtful gift!! I will use this winder until it breaks, I'm sure. And the kids had fun helping me, which is good since I always threaten them about touching my knitting stuff. I'm using the yarn for my Ravelympic sock challenge, now to find a pattern!!

I hope others have such a great pal, cause mine is the best. And I hope you are getting super spoiled as well!

A Towel and a Dishcloth

2008-07-30T10:41:00.001-04:00

I am seriously tired of trying to come up with interesting titles for my posts. I could just date them, but then I want to know what my post is about...so today it's about a towel and a dishcloth. And the next SP12 question.

I am working on this towel for a gift. It's a secret. But she does not know it's for her, if she even reads this blog. So I can post pics and show that I have been knitting some...

It doesn't look too impressive here, but it is! I used the Vineyard cloth by Danielle Cote and doubled the pattern. I hope I have enough on the cone to complete it. I will probably do at least 6 repeats. What you see here is 2 repeats. The dishcloth pattern calls for 3 repeats. If you do knit this up as a dishcloth, use tiny needles, otherwise it will be HUGE. The cast on is around 50 stitches! I think I might dye it once it's done. If I get it done in enough time to dye it...

This is the dishcloth I completed as part of the Dishcloth Weekly Knitalong Ravelry group. It is the Grid dishcloth. Very quick and easy. I used my prize baby pink yarn I won. I know it doesn't look pink, but it is. Don't you love technology?

Here's another market bag I completed. It went very fast. I modified the pattern since I didn't understand the part with the handles so I just made some handles and used a button to attach them to the bag. The handles are adjustable. I hope the buttons work out... It's a nice large roomy bag and I might make one for myself. I used 2 balls of hot pink and one ball of teal. It was just enough!

I am working on my 2 blankets still, as part of my July UFO project. I finally decided to cut the yarn on my mess of a tangled ball and it still took me all evening to untangle it. I now have 2 smaller balls of yarn that I can knit from, so it's all good. I hope to have it done by the 8th. Why the 8th?

Because it's the Ravelympics. I am participating "unofficially". I am not signing up for any teams or even on the Ravelry thread, but choose to do it from the sidelines in my own way. I am non-competitive and I know it's not a competitive thing going on, but still. So I hope to have my UFO's done by the 8th so I can start on my own Ravelympics.

Here's the question of the week for SP 12:

What is your favorite supper for a hot summer evening?

If it's really hot and humid, I prefer NOT to cook, so it's Taco Bell!! If it's moderately bearable, I will make a nice filling salad. I love Mexican food !

So here's a nice Southwestern Salad you can whip up and enjoy.

You need lettuce, corn, chili beans, tortilla chips, chicken if you want more protein (you can get a Rotisserie chicken and pull chunks of meat off, or I use the vegetarian Chik N Strips that are frozen and seasoned, YUM). All you do is dump everything together and mix it up a bit. You can add tomatoes, avocado. onion. I like to use the Spicy Ranch dressing, and a dallop of sour cream. It's tasty, filling, and fast!! I wish I had a picture to show...but you can imagine.

Ok that's it for today. I will update with more pics hopefully soon, and I will post about my Ravelympic challenge closer to the 8th. Have a great day!!!

Friday Again, car woes

2008-07-25T10:08:00.001-04:00

Yep, it's Friday. How did Friday get here so fast, when it seemed like yesterday was only Monday?

Today is the last day of VBS for the kids. They really love it. I think it's kind of corny, but hey, the kids are learning good stuff. Tonight, they get a pizza party since they raised $175 for a local charity this week. Not bad for a bunch of kids!! They will be sad when it's over, but hopefully a good memory.

Our car broke down. But that's not the bad part. Nope, it broke down at least 3 miles from home. So me and hubby had a nice long walk ahead of us. It took almost an hour. Thank goodness that it wasn't hot and humid, that we were going east (at 7pm), and that we did not have to go uphill at all. So it was perfect for a long stroll. I think my legs are gonna fall off today. I never walk that far for any reason. Hopefully we can get the car fixed this weekend. We need groceries, and I am not walking to the grocery store!!

I have been knitting some. Here's a few dishcloths I finished:

This is the starfish cloth. From the sew-funky blog. I also did the windmill last week. I like her round designs. They are definitely not your ordinary round cloth! I used the wrap and turn method so there are no gaping holes on the short rows. It turned out very nice, and the pattern is sooo simple.

Another round cloth. This one crocheted. I made this at my knitting group meeting on Tuesday. How cool is that, when you can finish a dishcloth during a knitting group meeting? That's one reason I like crochet. It's so fast and gratifying (when it goes right!)

And I picked up a bag of roving from Vicki. She's the best, really. And she sent me a pattern I was looking for. How awesome is that?

This will be some good spinning practice yarn. It's so soft...Thanks again Vicki!!

Ok, here's the SP12 question of the week. I decided not to bother answering the ones about vacation, since I don't take them and have not in ages, so I had nothing to say.

What is(are) your favorite place(s) to knit? My favorite place to knit is probably on the bed. I can stretch out, lay back, and watch TV. My stuff stays in the same area, and it's cool in there!!

What supplies (besides yarn & needles) make the setting perfect for knitting? First, you need to have a drink nearby. Coffee, ice tea, soda, or water. Knitting makes a girl thirsty. I also need a pen and paper handy, just in case. Post its are good when following a pattern. Oh yeah, can't forget the chocolate. I love munching on chocolate when I knit. Or rather, letting it melt in my mouth.

Ok, now on to Friday Fill-ins

1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

2. If you're good at something, do it, share it, teach it to others!

3. Why so much heartache and destruction in the world?
4. Something is out there, it's called reality, and it's not the Sims!

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled SAHM knits daily.

6. Sitting on my back porch [if you don't have one, use your imagination] I see the wide expanse of my backyard that slowly slopes to a fence bordered by a nice alley.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching a movie tomorrow my plans include waiting for hubby to fix the car and Sunday, I want to go grocery shopping in our fixed car!

Ok, that's it for today. Here's a pic of our growing puppy. I know, his eyes are not weirdly blue like that. Must be reverse red-eye or something.

Anita's Knitting Journal

True Love and Fern

Sucess! January Roundup

Bearded Hat and Other Stuff

River Sock Frustration

Progress

Christmas Knitting

Hello 2012!!!

Hello out there!

Baby Knitting

Out of Hibernation….for now

Halloween

Hiatus

Summer Knitting

A Hat, some socks, and a scarf

A Saturday Walk

Socks, test knitting, moving…again

Bag Fail

Success!!

Ravelympics 2010

Fun Dyeing and some FO’s

Ummm, Hello? Anyone home?

Sunshine, dishcloths, and the Holidays

NaNoWriMo and Mafia Wars

Cowls, hats, crochet

Nothing Special

Socks galore

FO finally!

When life gets in the way

Moving to the Country….

Camping

M.I.A. (but now I’m back)

Hats and Dishcloths

Some FO’s, WIP’s and Paying it Forward

We got a Winner!!

March FO’s

Hiatus

Birthday Cake and the Park

Green Stuff

Update

More Sock problems

Sock Dilemma

February Update

Hat FO’s

Pink Lemonade

Hat FO’s (Surprise, Surprise)

A Pile of Hearts

More Hats

Bunnies!

Hello Kitty!

Snowstorm and some FO’s

Hats

Holiday Celebration (and some knitting too)

Look what I made

I'm still here

I'm Ba-aack!

One of those days...

I Love the Postman pt 2

I love the Postman

Terrible 2's and Knitting News

Secret Buddy

Slacking...not really

September is Here!!

Proud...and not so proud moments

FINISHED!!!!!

Progress

One Week In

Question 10

Humble Pie...and birthday cake

Day One Progress

Finished!!!

Halfway There!!!

Clap Progress

Thanks Secret Pal!!!

A Towel and a Dishcloth

Friday Again, car woes