it's a knit thing

A little bit of knitting going on

2012-02-27T10:00:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of things I finished recently. First up is a toddler hat made in Vanna's Choice yarn in Olive and White. The pattern is the Pilot Hat by Darlene Dale. It's found on the Caron website.

This is actually the second hat I made from this pattern. The first one was the baby size and was made in the exact same yarn. The pattern has you knitting the hat flat with a seam up the back but I did mine in the round.

Next up is a pair of baby booties for charity. The pattern is from Creative Knitting May 2009 and is called the Buttercup Baby Set. I have only made the bootie pattern so far. Some day I'll try the sweater and bonnet.

The yarn is Patons Canadiana in Tealorama. This was a partial skein left from a zip-up-the-back baby sweater I made several years ago. I still have a little bit of the skein left but not enough for another pair of booties.

I have finished some other items but I haven't taken pictures of them yet. Right now I'm working on another pair of the booties. One is knit and needs to be seamed and then I'll do the other one. Pictures to follow at some point.

Still making hats

2012-01-29T22:14:00.003-05:00

I joined a new charity group on Ravelry called Hearts for Warmth. One of the campaigns right now is a hat blitz to send to the African country of Lesotho. So I'm still making hats.

This first hat is a pattern is the Waffle Hat by Gail Bable. I used Lion Brand Wool in cocoa and Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in rust.

The pattern keeps it interesting and it knits up quite quickly. I made most of this hat sitting in the hospital waiting room while Scott was having a bone scan done. We were there from 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. The bone scan showed no sign of the infection they were checking for so it was a good day.

I actually started the hat for Scott but he didn't like the stitch pattern so I finished it for the hat blitz. If he had liked it, it would have been solid cocoa but once he didn't want it, I jazzed it up with the rust stripe.

This next hat is an earflap hat made from Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted in wild oak and rust. The pattern is "Kim's Hats" from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson. (You can click on the pictures to see them close up.)

This last hat is not for charity. I made it for the 3 month old son of one of Ariane's friends.

The pattern is the Pilot Hat and it was knit in Vanna's Choice worsted in olive and Vanna's Choice Baby in lamb.

I made the baby size since Ariane tells me that Mark is a little peanut. I sent it back with Ariane and haven't heard if she gave it to Kate yet.

As soon as I finished the baby size, I cast on a toddler size hat in the same yarns. That hat was finished tonight but I haven't had a chance to take a picture of it yet. Not sure who will get that one. It's too small for the Lesotho campaign. It's also made from acrylic yarn and not wool so it wouldn't be appropriate even if it were the right size.

I haven't been able to get a picture of Scott's fair isle hats yet. He always has one of them on and the other one tucked away somewhere. I am going to make him another brown hat because he doesn't like the ribbed one. It stretches out too much and doesn't stay on his head. As soon as I find a brown yarn he likes, I'll make him a beanie style hat. So, on to more hats!

It's hat season!

2012-01-05T10:25:00.000-05:00

So my son, Alek, sent me a text message that prompted a conversation that went like this:

Alek: WB is jealous of my winter hat and wants you to make him one.

Me: Really. Does he deserve one?

Alek: That question made me laugh. A lot. And prompted his response of "your mom is awesome."

Alek: So I'd say he deserves one.

So I looked in my Ravelry projects to see what pattern I used for Alek's hat, searched the stash for some appropriate yarn and made this hat for WB.

The pattern is the "Nothing but Ribbing Beanie" from "Knit a Dozen Beanies" by American School of Needlework. The yarn is Universal Yarns "Moods". Unfortunately, this yarn is discontinued. I liked working with it.

After I finished this hat, Scott decided he really liked it and wanted one in brown. So I dug through the stash again and found a skein of Patons Classic Wool in chestnut tweed and made one for him. It was a little large for him so I threw it in the washer and then into the dryer for 10 minutes. It shrunk just enough to fit him the way he wanted. But now he wants one made on smaller needles so it's a little tighter on his head.

Now you have to realize, I already made Scott two fair isle hats. After his surgery in October, he complained his head was cold and he wanted a hat to wear inside. So I made him a hat in green and tan. Then he wanted another in blue and cream. He wears them all the time so how can I refuse to make them for him?

Next time I will post pictures of his fair isle hats. I took pictures of them but they are on my laptop which currently has a virus that needs eliminating. I'll have to take more pictures and put them onto my netbook which I am using now.

Super Quick Post!

2011-10-15T17:52:00.003-04:00

This is a super quick post! Here are the items I sent to Warm Hats, Warm Hearts for the victims of Hurricane Irene in northern Vermont and central NY.

Most of these things have been in my "finished basket" for a long time. It feels good to send them to a good cause. Warm Hats, Warm Hearts is a group on Ravelry.

The reason for the short, quick post is that Scott and I are heading to the Cleveland Clinic in OH tomorrow. He is having a second bypass operation on October 20th and we are hoping that it fixes lots of things! Prayers and good thoughts are most welcome!

A Plethora of Baby Sweaters

2011-10-10T08:51:00.004-04:00

All of my daughter's friends seem to be having babies this year. Naturally once I hear that someone is expecting, I cast on for a baby sweater. Here are three of the sweaters I've made in the past few months.

First we have this little Cincinnati Bengals sweater that I made for Landon Charles. Ariane's friends Mel and Chad live in Cincinnati and are avid Bengals fans.

The pattern is Knitting Pure and Simple #982 "Babies Neck Down Cardigan" by Diane Soucy. The yarn is Plymouth Encore. I hope Landon gets to wear it since he weighed 9 lbs., 4 oz. when he was born on August 5th.

Next up is a hooded cardigan for Ariane's friend, Suzie. She's expecting a girl very soon.

The pattern is "Lillie's Little Sweater" by Carol Anderson from Cottage Creations. I bought the pattern online from Kaleidoscope Yarns. The yarn is Rozetti Lollipop.

I love the square shaping on this hood. It is very similar to turning a heel on a sock.

I think the daisy buttons look cute! I have to think about using this pattern again very soon. It's easy and fun. Scott's niece is due in a couple of weeks so maybe I'll cast on one for her little boy.

And the last sweater for today is the Baby Sophisticate by Linden Down.

I made this for Kate and Ryan's baby boy. He's also due in the next couple of weeks.
I used Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn for the sweater and matching hat. Kate loved the "little old man" look and the wooden buttons.

And now I need to get ready to take my mother to the hospital. She's having knee replacement surgery today.

Bits and pieces

2011-04-07T07:35:00.001-04:00

Here are a few things I've knit over the winter.

Actually some of these mittens have been in my finished basket for quite a while. I finally sent them out to a charity that sends things to orphans in Eastern Europe and Romania. They are all made from 100% wool.

This is a pair of socks that I made for my best friend. While we were at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio consulting with the cardiology department, Sue took care of our dog for the week. I think that is worthy of hand knit socks. I used Fat Cat Knits yarn again but in a different colorway.

And finally here is a pair of boys' socks destined for charity. I used Wisdom Yarns "Fair Isle" which is also 100% wool. The pink mittens in the first picture are also made from WY "Fair Isle". It's a nice yarn to use for socks and mittens.

The weather is finally improving. The temps are supposed to reach the upper 60's or low 70's by this weekend. I hope they do!

Winter blahs

2011-03-24T07:46:00.000-04:00

This post has been sitting in drafts since February 8th. That's over a month. Guess I haven't been in a blogging mood. So this is going to be a quick little post and hopefully, I'll be inspired to post more soon.

This hat is from "Knit with Deborah Norville". I bought it at Hobby Lobby. The pattern is one of the reasons I bought the book. The other reason is a cute baby jacket that I haven't tried yet.

The yarn is Patons Merino. In the pattern, the hat is knit flat on two needles. I subtracted 2 stitches and knit it in the round. The first time I photographed the hat, I had it on inside out. It looks good both ways.

Here are the mittens from the last post all finished. I think they turned out quite well.

Last but not least is a pair of plain vanilla socks I made for myself.

The yarn is from Fat Cat Knits and is soft and warm. I posted the link last time, I believe. I also made another pair from Ginny's yarn to give to a friend.

That's it for now. Next post I'll show a few more things I've finished.

Mitten Quest

2011-01-28T08:12:00.006-05:00

I'm making mittens for charity. So many charitable organizations ask for mittens this time of year and I like making mittens. For years I made two needle mittens for my kids and once they were grown I made them for charity. One year I made 30 pairs of 2 needle mittens for a charity my daughter was involved in when she was in grad school.

Once I learned to use double points, I tried 4 needle mittens but there were things I didn't like about the patterns I was using. The hand was too long and narrow, the decreases on the hand and thumb looked wonky, and so on. After much trial and error, I have finally found two mitten patterns that work for me. The first one is Elizabeth Durand's Basic Pattern for Children's Mittens and the second one is in a little booklet (Knitting to Share) that I purchased at Spin A Yarn yarn shop in Binghamton, NY. The booklet was published by The Southern Tier Needles and Skeins Knitting Guild of Vestal, NY. It contains basic patterns for hats, baby blankets, mittens, etc. Just the right size to tuck in my knitting bag for reference.

Here is a pair of mittens I finished a couple weeks ago using Elizabeth's pattern.

They are made from Paton's Canadiana acrylic yarn using size US 8 (5mm) needles in the 8-10 year old size. It was a partial skein of yarn and I think I originally used it for mittens.

Now I'm making a pair of mittens from the Knitting to Share booklet. They include patterns for both childrens and adult mittens. These are the childrens' mittens in the medium size.

The yarn is Lion Brand Wool Prints in Autumn Sunset. Size US 6 (4.25mm) needles. Again the yarn is from the stash. I have a habit of buying single skeins of yarn to use for mittens and hats and they need to get used up. The first mitten is done and I'm on the thumb gusset of the second one. I hope to finish it up today or tomorrow.

It's me again

2010-11-08T14:43:00.002-05:00

I mentioned at the end of my last posting that I had to finish up the fourth Concentric Stripes Cardigan. I did that this morning. Isn't it pretty? (Click on the picture to see the pretty buttons.)

The yarn is Vanna's Choice 100% acrylic in cranberry, lamb, and olive. It was knit on US 8 needles instead of the US 10 needles called for in the pattern. This makes a little tighter fabric. I am in the process of knitting a matching bonnet and booties. One bootie is done and the other one cast on.

I also mentioned last time that I was working on a baby vest. I was talking about a different vest than the one shown here but the first one is going to be frogged. I wasn't happy with it so I started and finished this one.

The pattern is Baby Boy Vest and Bow Tie by Patti Ghezzi in the book "Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders". I don't think I'm going to make the bow tie since it's supposed to be pinned on the baby's shirt. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me. The cable down the front is different from the one in the book. I didn't care for it so I got out my copy of Vogue Knitting's "Stitchionary 2" and choose the Frost Edge Cable.

The pattern called for Briggs & Little Tuffy Canadian sock yarn which is worsted weight. I shopped the stash and used Bernat Berella 4 in soft heather. The vest is knit in the round from the bottom until the armholes and then it is knit flat for the front and back. You can see where I switched from circular knitting to flat knitting. I washed the vest this morning hoping the stitches would even out but there isn't a lot of difference. (The picture was taken before washing.) I may wash it again to see if that helps. Overall, I am pleased with how this vest turned out. I might make it again in a light worsted weight yarn to see if it drapes better.

Knitting obsession

2010-11-05T10:01:00.000-04:00

I have found a pattern that could prove to be an obsession for me. In my previous post, I showed you the Concentric Stripes Cardigan in iris and lime green. Since that time I have gone onto make 3 more of these little sweaters. I am only posting pictures of two of them as the last one isn't completely finished yet. I still have to sew up under one sleeve and put on the buttons. But here are the other two I finished.

This one was made in Rozetti Lollipop in lilac and an unknown white acrylic. It has little white heart buttons.

The next one was made from Plymouth Encore in pink, light green, and white. It has little white daisy buttons.

The first one is still in my finished basket with the iris one. The pink one and matching hat were gifted to a young couple at church who are expecting their first child this month.

The fourth cardigan which I will post pictures of later is done in Christmas colors - cranberry, olive, and cream.

I have put this pattern aside for now so I can work on some other projects but my mind keeps putting together colors to make the next one. Sooo many possibilites!

This next little cardigan I made back in March or April and donated to the church Palm Sunday auction. It was bought by a friend who gave it to her new grandniece. Just this past Sunday, her niece brought the baby to church wearing the sweater. It fit perfectly and looked adorable. I was so happy to see it.

The pattern is the Mock Cabled Cardigan from Leisure Arts #4453 "Knit Hoodies for Kids" by Jeannine LaRoche. I used Patons Decor yarn in florals varigated. It was an easy pattern but there was a lot of sewing of seams. A friend just made another of the patterns from this book and it turned out really cute. It's a seed stitch cardigan with a hood, pocket and zipper.

Now I'm working on a baby vest, a toddler cardigan, and a baby sleep sack. My daughter's friends are having babies and I'd like to give them something. Plus, I really need some more handknit socks and I have plenty of sock yarn to make them. But knowing me, you won't see any of these things the next time I post. There will be pictures of things I probably haven't even started yet.

Charity Knitting

2010-09-23T09:24:00.007-04:00

I completed a few charity knitting projects this week. The first one is a toddler hat and mittens going to Project Hope. They deliver things to needy people in Romania.

The earflap hat is one of Kim Hamlin's hats from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson. The mittens are a 2 needle pattern called BB's Knitted Mittens. Very quick and easy. I used Wool in the Woods Star City yarn in "Lottery". It wasn't very soft until I washed it with some conditioner. Then it softened up nicely.

This next set is going to Pine River Reservation for one of the preschool programs. I'm sending it through the Bundles of Joy group on Ravelry.

The hat pattern is Spiral Rib by Song Palmese. It's an Ann Norling pattern. The mittens are 4 needle. I didn't follow any one pattern but combined a couple different ones. The scarf is the Scrunchable Scarf pattern. I used Lamb's Pride yarn in "Limeade" and "Sun Yellow" for this whole set. The hat and mittens are worsted weight and the scarf is bulky weight.

And finally we have a hat that I made a few weeks ago. It doesn't have a destination yet but I'm sure I will find one for it.

The pattern is Utopia by Smariek. The yarn is Moda Dea Bamboo Wool in the "Bamboo" colorway. This skein was on clearance at Joann's Fabrics so it was very cheap. I also bought one in off white. It took less than a whole skein for the hat.

Now onto some other projects. I am almost finished with another Concentric Stripes cardigan. I also have a baby sleeping bag (bunting) almost done and a pair of fingerless mitts in alpaca. I'll let you know when they are finished!

Here I am

2010-09-07T08:24:00.002-04:00

I didn't mean to disappear for so long but as they say "life gets in the way sometimes". But I'm still around and I'm doing okay.

I haven't stopped knitting so I'll post some of my recent projects. This spiral hat was made in 2009 and has been sitting in my "finished" basket waiting to be sent out to a charity.

The Bundles of Joy group on Ravelry is looking for preschool hat, mitten and scarf sets to send to Pine River Reservation and this hat should be the right size. I made the scarf and am in the process of making the matching mittens.

The colors of the scarf in this picture are not accurate. The colors are Limeade and Sun Yellow. The green actually matches the hat. I'll post a picture of the completed set when I get the mittens done. The yarn is Lamb's Pride in worsted for the hat and mittens and bulky for the scarf.

This cute little has is the Little Flap Cap pattern that I love.

The yarn is Di'Ve Zenith in dark purple and pink. It will either be a baby gift or go to charity.

And here is a cute little cardigan that I loved knitting. The pattern is "Concentric Stripes Cardigan" by Melissa Mall. Her web site is Inner Child Crochet>

The yarn is Bernat Berella 4 in Iris, Soft Fern, and Aran. It's 100% acrylic but it's nice and soft. It's my favorite acrylic to use right now. Unfortunately, the LYS that carries it is thinking about switching to Caron Simply Soft which I don't like very much. I hope she keeps the Berella 4.

I intend to make several more of these cardigans. The pattern is a lot of fun and very easy.

That's it for now and hopefully I will be better about posting. But I make no promises.

Awww...

2010-04-14T08:27:00.001-04:00

Look at my poor little neglected blog! I have been extremely lazy about taking pictures and posting them. I'll have to see if I can do better.

These are some projects that I finished back in January. This is a stranded hat that I made for Mike's niece, Clara. The pattern is from "Kids' Knitted Hats" from Cabin Fever. I used Patons Classic Wool.

Next is a Noro Striped Scarf that I made for myself using Rowan Tapestry.

I love the yarn and the pattern. I have another scarf started in this pattern using Noro Kureyon.

Next is the finished Leaf sweater from Knit Lace & Leaves for Baby by Jeannine LaRoche. This was made from Caron Eco.

I still haven't put the buttons on it. Once I do, I'll send it to a charity.

And finally here is a little halter dress I made for Clara's Barbie doll. The pattern is from Nicky Epstein's "Knits for Barbie" using Paton's Astra sport weight yarn.

Since then I have finished quite a few more projects. Pictures will be posted sometime. Hopefully sooner than later.

Right now I am crocheting a couple of afghans and knitting dishcloths and prayer cloths. I need an interesting new project but I'm not sure what I want to make. Once I figure it out, I'll let you know!

A trio of hats

2010-01-21T07:41:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Scott received a get well card from the son of our former pastors. It was a nice little note and in it he mentioned that they had started downhill skiing. Scott was very touched and asked me if I had an earflap hat made up that he could send to Luke. I did not have a boy's hat done but told him it wouldn't take any time at all to make one.

I pulled out a skein of Malabrigo worsted in "Stone Chat" and my copy of Little Knitted Gifts and made one of "Kim's Hats".

Well, as near as we can figure, Luke is around 9 - 10 years old. (They've been gone several years.) And the hat I made was definitely an adult size hat. So I didn't put the earflaps on and put the hat in the "finished" basket. I pulled out a skein of Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed in charcoal and started again. This time I was more successful.

The yarn is an acrylic/wool blend and was really nice to knit. I bought another skein in red and will also use it for a hat.

Luke has an older sister, Lydia. I think she must be 12 - 13 by now. And even though the note was just from Luke, I couldn't send a hat to him and not one to Lydia. I looked in the "finished" basket and found this Button-tab Hat that just needed the buttons sewn on. I already had the buttons and it only took a minute to sew them on, so another gift was ready!

The yarn is Patons Classic Wool in "Lemongrass". I found the buttons at Joanne's Fabrics.

I'm on the decreases of yet another hat. This one is for Mike's older niece. Pictures after I finish it and the mittens I want to make to match.

FO's

2010-01-13T07:34:00.000-05:00

I've managed to finish up a couple of projects that have been hanging around a while. First is the Noro Striped scarf I started in August. I finished it just before Christmas. It was made because I wanted to see how the colors went together. When it was finished, I wasn't sure who would want it.

Scott's niece, Megan, came over the day after Christmas and when I showed it to her, she loved it. So Megan now has a new scarf. I wonder if she loves it as much as the wedding shawl I made her?

Next to be finished were the lined mittens that I started for Scott last January. The two inner mittens were knit from Plymouth Baby Alpaca DK and the outer mittens were knit from Malabrigo Worsted. He's been wearing them but I need to wash and block them. They are warm as long as the wind isn't blowing so I hope washing them causes the yarns to bloom and be a little warmer.

Project three is a pair of two needle mittens knit from some handspun I bought at a local craft fair. The yarn is fairly primitive looking. When I was winding the hanks, the yarn kept separating where she drafted it. (I'm not a spinner so I may be using the wrong terms.) I thought it would be good yarn to use for charity mittens. It should be fairly warm. One has been washed to see if it softened up any. It did soften some. Now I need to wash the pair to soften them even more.

The final project shown wasn't an Unfinished Object. It's a Toddler's Knitted Helmet by Sandrine Turner, I used the leftover Plymouth Encore Colorspun from the Little Flap Cap that I made for my niece's daughter. It's an easy pattern. I forgot to do the increases right after the cuff so I added extra ribbing rows around the face. It's sitting in my finished basket waiting to see where it's headed. I'm thinking charity.

Scott has continued to improve although not fast enough for him. He starts cardiac rehab soon which he hopes will help him recover faster. I hope so to.

Pretty in pink

2009-12-02T08:19:00.001-05:00

My knitting seems to be concentrating on pink lately. No special reason. That just seems to be the color of yarn I picked out.

Here we have a third Little Flap Cap by Lynda Gemmell (Cabin Fever Designs).

Plymouth Encore Colorspun self-striping in #7517
US 8 (5.0 mm) needles

I love this yarn and have to see where I can buy it online. The hat took about 1/2 a skein so I've started a Toddler's Knitted Helmet with what's left. You should see a picture of it in the next post.

On the ride to Scott's pre-op screening a couple of weeks ago, I started another Waffle Knit dishcloth. I got half of it knit during his appointments that day but then mostly abandoned it. I worked on it a little while visiting him in the hospital but I didn't finish it until this past Monday. Oh, look, it's pink!

Lily Sugar' n Cream Rose Twist
US 10 (6.0 mm) needles

Size 10 needles are a bit larger than I usually use for dishcloths but they were what I had in my bag that day.

And finally I have a couple of pictures of my granddog, Lucy. (Click on pics for close-ups.) Ariane's boyfriend, Mike, brought her with him when he came Thanksgiving Day and left her when he went home on Friday. Ariane was here from Tuesday until Sunday to help out with her father.

Lucy is a French Bulldog and a little monster. She loves everyone and thinks that everything is for her. Which means she's always into something. Scott loved having her here because she would cuddle up next to him on the couch. Our dog, Isabella, hates Lucy. Lucy would like nothing better than to play with Izzy but Izzy is too neurotic to play with another dog. So we had a few disagreements. It did make for a rather chaotic weekend.

Lucy is wearing a cone because she has allergies and keeps chewing on her feet. And guess what? Her cone is pink!!

Scott continues to feel better each day. Thanks for all the prayers!

Hospital knitting - Not!

2009-11-24T07:56:00.003-05:00

I anticipated getting all sorts of hospital knitting done this weekend but that didn't really happen. While sitting in the waiting room Friday during the 7 hour surgery, I did not knit a stitch. I read a book and visited with family instead.

Once Scott was in ICU, I did do some knitting but not a terrific amount. And last night (3 days after the surgery), I brought him home. He insisted all along that he would be home in 3 days. Technically he was in there 4 days but it's still pretty remarkable. The ICU staff is all impressed with how well he is doing.

He did overdo it somewhat last night when we got home. He insisted he was walking down the driveway (which is a hill) to get the mail and newspaper. I went out to see how he was doing and found him sort of wobbling up the driveway. Needless to say, I had to guide him back up. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have made him stay at the bottom and driven the car down to pick him up. But that didn't occur to me until we were back in the house. This incident did drive home the fact that even though he's out of the hospital, he can't do any more than he did in the hospital.

Today will be spent buying all the things we need to keep him comfortable at home. But I'm not doing any shopping until my daughter gets here from Rochester. I think he still needs someone in the house at all times. But, overall, we're doing very well.

Thank you for the continued good thoughts!

Quick update

2009-11-21T07:47:00.002-05:00

Scott's surgery went very well. The doctor did a quintuple bypass. He did say that there was more coronary disease than he expected so I forsee a change in our eating habits. I already cook with very little salt but I can stand to cut down on some of the cheese and eggs that I use.

Thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts!

It's getting better...

2009-11-18T21:36:00.002-05:00

Scott still hasn't had his surgery but we are both feeling somewhat better. We went to the hospital for his pre-op screening and after 7 hours of meeting with everyone associated with the surgery and having every detail explained, we left feeling very reassured about the whole process.

Tuesday I went to the dentist and within half an hour, the bad tooth was out and I was on my way home. I didn't realize how nervous I was until it was over. I also didn't realize how nervous Scott was about my tooth extraction until I came out of the exam room and found him waiting in the front office. Totally unnecessary but sweet.

I felt good enough Tuesday to go to my knitting group that night. That always improves my week.

Alek came in from North Carolina today and Ariane is coming home tomorrow. We leave for the hospital bright and early Friday morning. Scott's youngest sister is also coming so I decided that I'm bringing travel games and we're having a party in the waiting room. The surgery is 4-5 hours long so we need something to keep us occupied. I, of course, will have a couple of knitting projects, too.

I finished another flap cap this morning. These are so much fun to make. I think I'm going to start another one.

Bernat Berella 4 acrylic yarn in pink, soft fern, and white
US 7 needles

I have more colors of the Berella 4 that I would like to use but next time I'm going to use a size 8 needle. The pink hat will be warm but the fabric is a little firm.

That's all I have for now. I want to thank everyone who has sent good thoughts our way. It really means a lot.

Big sigh...

2009-11-15T17:33:00.003-05:00

That's how I feel about life right now. The past two weeks have not been good and it's not over yet.

On October 28th, Scott went for a heart catherization. He's been having some chest pains when he runs. He's a vegetarian, non-smoking runner who weighs about 150 lbs. He can walk for 6 miles and not be winded so we really figured it was asthma or maybe at the most, he would need a stent or two put into his arteries. Wrong! This Friday, he is going in for quintuple heart bypass. Absolutely everyone who hears this and knows him is shocked! Even the doctor that did the catherization was shocked. But, as he told us, you can't fight genetics. The prognosis is very good as his heart muscle is in fantastic shape. It's just the arteries that are diseased.

Then, as the family was reeling from this news, we received word a few days later that his oldest nephew (45) had taken his own life. While we weren't surprised because he's been having emotional problems the past couple of years, we were extremely upset. He was a very intelligent, charming man with a terrific smile who lost his fight with his demons.

Now on to me. I have a tooth that lost the filling and has been breaking off for quite some time now. Being the procrastinator that I am, I have been ignoring it as it didn't hurt. Well, the weekend of the funeral, it began to hurt so I finally went to the dentist. He said the nerve has been dead for a long time so we could pull it. Unfortunately, after numerous shots of Novacaine, we found that it has an infection at the root and it couldn't be pulled on Monday. So I've been on antibiotics and antibacterial rinse for a week and I am hoping it can be successfully pulled on Tuesday. If it can't be pulled then, it is going to have to wait until after Scott's surgery.

Oh, and tomorrow, Scott and I get to spend the entire day at the hospital for his pre-op session. We will meet with the surgeon, all his staff, be informed in depth about the surgery, and have lunch with people who have had bypass surgery at this hospital. They will do all his pre-op screening, too.

Are you still reading after this less than uplifting post? If you are, I am now going to talk about knitting. Which has been and will be the keeper-of-my-sanity.

The first picture is a progress picture of the Noro Striped Scarf I have been working on lately. I started it on 8/31/09 mainly because I wanted to see how the two colorways of Noro Kureyon would look together. It's now only a few inches from completion because it has been a great mindless knitting project. I may take it tomorrow for the pre-op screening.

Noro Kureyon in #95 and #148 on size 7 (4.5) needles. I apologize for the bad picture. I never should have taken it on that tablecloth. I'll take better photos when it's completed.

The next pattern I think I'm going to find a little obsessive. It's The Flap Cap by Lynda Gemmell (Cabin Fever #109). I bought the pattern and yarn at Adventures in Knitting in Harwichport, MA when we were there in September. It only took two days to knit and could definitely be knit in one day if I worked on it continuously.

Plymouth Encore Colorspun self-striping #7516
Size 7 (4.5mm) needles

I have another started using Bernat Berella 4 yarn. It will be pink with a white, green and pink stranded pattern. Very fun to knit!

And that's all for now. I'm sure you will understand if I don't post for a while. I do hope to have a more positive post after my dentist visit and Scott's surgery.

Alpaca Alert!

2009-10-26T20:18:00.004-04:00

Have you ever seen such cute faces?!!

After the wedding in Ithaca on Saturday (wedding post once I figure out how to upload pictures from the new digital camera), we went back to Syracuse and stayed at Scott's sister's house. On Sunday, we went to an antiques show at the NYS Fairgrounds. We've gone to this show for several years and the last few years there has also been an alpaca show at the fairgrounds. Usually by the time we are done at the antique show, it's too late to see the alpacas. This year we were at the antique show by 11 a.m. and done by 1 p.m. so we decided to stop in to see the alpacas.

We all fell in love with these adorable animals! Scott says he wants to buy a couple to keep in the yard. We have just under an acre of yard so it might be doable. I told him that if he does, he has to learn to shear the alpacas and I have to learn to spin.

Scott has Raynaud's Syndrome so his hands and feet get very cold in the winter. He absolutely loves alpaca socks because they keep his feet warm. Last year I knit him alpaca mitten liners for the Malabrigo mittens I am making him. Well, I knit both the liners and one outer mitten. I really need to make the second outer Malabrigo mitten before the snow flies!

Because he loves alpaca yarn so much, he actually bought two skeins of yarn so I can make him a hat! This is amazing because it drives him crazy that I have so much yarn. Well, that just opened the flood gates. While he went to the car to get the old camera so I could take alpaca pictures for a blog post, I went to another booth and bought a softer skein of yarn. The first two skeins were nice but not as soft. Then we were looking at more booths and I found the softest yarn. I bought a 600 yard skein of fingering weight marled alpaca yarn for $29.00!

L-R: 2nd yarn purchase (200 yds for $15.00), 3rd yarn purchase (600 yds for $29.00), 1st yarn purchase (2-200 yd skeins for $15.00 each) (Click on picture for a close up)

That's 1200 yards of alpaca yarn for $74.00. Approximately $.06 a yard!!

I can't wait to start knitting with these yarns. The first skein pictured was from a farm that has it's own fiber mill. I think you can purchase yarn online from them. It's A+ Alpaca Fiber Mill at Riverside Alpacas. I haven't checked out the website yet but I intend to.

And that was my alpaca adventure. I have a feeling that if we go to the antique show next fall, we'll also schedule a stop to the alpaca show!

I'll leave you with one last alpaca picture.

(I wonder if we can teach Isabella to herd alpacas?!)

Blocking rocks!

2009-10-21T07:36:00.002-04:00

The wedding shawl is blocked and ready to go! (Click on pictures to see it closer.)
Isabella is not impressed but I'm very happy with it.

I think Megan will be happy with it, too. Too bad the weather report for Saturday is around 50F and rainy. That kind of ruins her plans to walk out of the woods for her wedding march. I feel bad but I don't know what she expected when she planned this wedding for the end of October in New York State. At least it will be a memorable wedding!!

Sunday Ariane and Mike came to visit and brought Lucy with them.

Lucy is their 11 month old French bulldog and boy, is she a handful! We went out to breakfast and left her blocked in the kitchen. We came home to find the trash can on the floor with the bag pulled out. Luckily it was a new bag and empty. All the paper I had hanging on the refrigerator had been tasted and were scattered and her collapsible water dish had been tossed around so there was a large puddle of water to be mopped up.

Isabella (who hates Lucy with a passion) was properly horrified that a dog could do such awful things.

In spite of her naughty behavior, we love Lucy. She loves everyone and everything and is so happy. Isabella prefers that she not visit her house again.

First real lace project

2009-10-17T09:34:00.000-04:00

My first real lace project is done! Well, the knitting part is done. Now it needs to be blocked.

Here are a couple of progress pictures that I took earlier in the week.

The pattern is the Vine-Stitch Wrap from Vogue Knitting "Shawls on the Go". I used Mirasol "Nuna" yarn which is a merino/silk/bamboo blend in what I call a pearl white.

I started the shawl on October 5th and finished it last night (October 16th). The shawl is for Scott's niece's wedding on October 24th. Her shower is today and I had hoped to have it completely done but that wasn't possible. In my defense, we didn't get the wedding invitation until September 25th and then left for our week on Cape Cod. I'll take it to the shower to show it to her and then I'll bring it back to be blocked.

It's nice to have the shawl done so I can go back to knitting other things. It was a fun and easy pattern, though.

While vacationing, I bought a couple of hat patterns. I finished up this hat on the drive home.

The pattern is the Spiral Rib Hat by Song Palmese (Ann Norling #54) made in Lamb's Pride Worsted "Limeade". The book "HomeSpun, HandKnit" (edited by Linda Ligon) has a pair of mittens made in the spiral rib pattern that I'm going to make to match the hat. The set will go to charity.

And finally here's a picture is Isabella enjoying a walk on the beach near the house we stayed at on Barnstable Harbor. She's a real beach dog.

And now I have to go do all the housework that I neglected while knitting the shawl. The shower is at 1:30 p.m. and Scott's brothers and one of his sisters are coming over afterwards. I need to vacuum and declutter!

Cape Cod 2009

2009-09-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm on Cape Cod. Today is our 31st wedding anniversary and this is where we are celebrating it. If you have read this blog for any length of time, you know that we have been celebrating our anniversary this way for over 10 years now.

Here is my little "nest" at the house. My laptop is set up on the kitchen table next to the window where I can look out at Barnstable Harbor. (Click on pic to enlarge.)

You can see my knitting sitting next to the laptop. When we are at the house, this is usually where you will find me.

And this is the view that I'm looking out onto -

The house sits about 50 yards from the beach. Across the harbor is a spit of land known as Sandy Neck. There is a lighthouse on the end of Sandy Neck but I don't think I got it in this picture.

Not a bad way to wake up, is it?

My knitting has not progressed very far since we've been here, though. I've been working on some charity items - mittens for a couple of different places and a baby sweater with matching socks for another charity. Here are some of the mittens -

This pair is made from Wisdom Yarns "Fair Isle". I bought it at Webs for $3.99 a skein. Look in their closeout section. It's a 200+ skein of 100% self-patterning wool and it's great for charity mittens and socks. I orginally bought 5 different skeins and think I need to order some more of it.

These are Patons Classic Merino wool. This has to be one of my favorite yarns.

I was hoping to get the baby socks done before tomorrow so I could post them on Sock A Month but I don't think that's going to happen. I have about 1 1/2" done on the first one. Today we are going shopping so I don't think I'll get much more done on them.

Have a good week all. Oh, I'm on Twitter now - SuefayeNY.

Preemie hats are done.

2009-08-28T07:29:00.001-04:00

I finished 5 preemie hats for Marykatherine's first birthday. Three are knit and two are crocheted. I used a variety of pattern and yarn to make them. They will be delivered today along with a store-bought set of onesies. I hope the hospital can use them.

Now I'm back to knitting mittens. The purple ones I mentioned in the last post have been set aside temporarily. The yarn is acrylic and after rereading Ann's blog, I realize that wool or wool blends are preferable. So I started a pair in Patons Classic Wool. The first mitten is done and I just started the thumb gusset on the second one. I'll post a picture when they're done. The purple mittens will be finished and I'll send all the acrylic pairs with the wool ones. I'm sure they will all be used.

It's that time!

2009-08-24T09:10:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year when I start thinking of charity knitting. Usually because Ann from Sheep Shots posts about the Mittenz Blitz for the Cheyenne River Reservation. So far I've made two pairs of mittens this week.

They are 4 needle mittens from Leisure Arts #391 "Mittens and Hats to Knit" by Marion Graham. I've had this book for years but never tried the 4 needle pattern from it. I wish I had sooner because I find these mittens very quick and easy to make. I'm using Red Heart worsted weight yarn. A lot of the yarn is from left over skeins that I have in my stash but some I purchased just the other day. Most of the stash I have is ombres so I needed to buy some solid colors to match.

I have another pair started in purples but they are on hold for the moment. Remember the baby from church that is celebrating her 1st birthday? Well, her parents have asked that in lieu of gifts people donate preemie and newborn items to the hospital where she spent so much of her first 6 months of life. So for the rest of this week, I am making preemie hats to donate. I started and finished the first one last night.

Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly DK #SH393, Size US 6 (4.0mm)needles
This is a pattern I printed out in 2005. I can't link it because the site is no longer viable. If you are on Ravelry, however, you can search Preemie Hat Pattern and find an archived pattern. It was written by Elizabeth Dimbleby.

And I have another FO to post this week. I finally finished that pair of socks that I started in June 2008. They came out nice but they are a little tight on me. Probably because I knit insanely tight on double points and these were made on size 1 (2.25mm) needles. Plain 2 x 2 ribbing in OnLine Supersocke Tropic #931.

And that's my knitting progress for this week. Now I have to cast on another preemie hat!

All baby, all the time?

2009-08-20T07:25:00.002-04:00

Yep, I'm still knitting for babies! Here are my latest endeavors.

This little hat was made while I was on vacation in the Thousand Islands. Sue T. and I each knit one. I made the top of my hat differently than the pattern but it still worked out well.

The yarn is Zenith by Di.Ve' (100% Extra Fine Merino Wool, shrink resistant.) I liked working with it. The pattern can be found on Ravelry. Just plug Parallelo Hat into the pattern search. It's a fun knit. I didn't knit it with anyone in mind so it's going into the finished projects basket.

The next project had a definite destination. One of Scott's nieces was due in September but the baby was born in July. Little Maddy Jo was 2 lbs., 14 oz. at birth. She is now 3 lbs., 12 oz. and gaining about an ounce a day. She may even come home this week if everything goes well.

The baby shower was scheduled for August 15th and my sister-in-law decided to go ahead with it as planned. I knew I wanted to knit something but couldn't decide on a pattern. The Monday before the shower, I was in JoAnn's Fabrics and found "Pipsqueak Knits" by Jil Eaton. There is a cute sleep sack in it that I immediately knew was what I wanted to make.

So, I shopped the stash and found 2 skeins of Bernat Baby Softee in Peony Prints and cast on. Five days of concentrated knitting later, I had a cute shower gift.

I was pleased with it when I was done but if I knit it again, I'll make some changes. It will be knit in the round until dividing for the placket and the sleeves will be knit in the round, too. I'll pick up and knit for the placket differently, too. I wasn't very happy with the placket but it turned out okay.

My last picture is of the wrapped shower gift. You'll see that I used the baby socks from my last post as the package decoration.

I'm not finished with my baby knitting, either. Ariane's boyfriend, Mike, has a twin sister and she's due with her second daughter in September. I figure I should get ahead of the game and make something for her now. I think I might make a Baby Surprise sweater for her. And a couple at church had a baby girl last August who has multiple health issues. After many, many medical scares, she is turning 1 and they are having a party for her at church on August 28th. She's small so I think I'll make something in the 6-9 month size for her. Now I just have to decide what it is that I want to make. I had two weeks to make something when I first found out but now I'm down to 10 days. I'd better decide soon.

And while I'm deciding, I've been working on finishing a pair of socks that I started in June 2008 and making mittens for charity. But more on those when they're finished.

More baby knitting

2009-07-31T08:43:00.000-04:00

And the baby knitting continues!

This little pair of socks was finished just in time for my July Sock-A-Month KAL entry. I have a baby shower in the middle of August and I like to use a pair of baby socks or booties as the package decoration. These should work perfectly.

Yankee Knitter Design "Classic Socks for the Family" in Cherry Tree Hill "Sockittome" Cherry Blossom on size US 2 1/2 (3.0mm) double points.

Last week we had a pot luck dinner at church for the missionary family that we support. Susan is pregnant with their third child and we decided to "shower" them with baby gifts. They are serving in Niger, Africa so they don't really need any knitted clothing. Scott and I bought them a gift card and I made these three little bibs.

The first is the Bib 'O Love from Mason-Dixon Knitting. Very cute and very easy.

The next two are a crochet pattern found on Ravelry and at Peanutz Mom's Pattern Place. These little bibs are so quick to make that they can become an obsession.

I used Lily Sugar 'N Cream cotton and cute little buttons to dress them up. They are great for using up leftovers from making dishcloths. I foresee making many more as gifts.

Saturday we are leaving for a week's vacation. We are taking our annual trip to Wellesley Island State Park on the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands. Even though our campsite is full hook-up (water, sewer and electric), there is no internet connection. So I will be out of touch with the cyberworld for a whole week. It will be tough but I'll get a lot of knitting and reading done. I'm still bringing my laptop in case we find a free wi-fi spot when we go into town. And if I don't get online while we're gone, I can still play Scrabble on it!

First Baby Surprise Jacket

2009-07-12T07:22:00.002-04:00

Spending most of the week at the campground by myself meant some quality knitting time. I finished the Baby Surprise Jacket yesterday morning. Here it is in it's "amoeba" state.

Really doesn't look much like a baby sweater, does it? But, fold it just so and voila! You have a wearable garment.

I still have to sew the shoulder seams, decide if I want to just crochet an edging or make a collar, and sew on the buttons. I actually have 4 light blue buttons with me that match perfectly.

Now that Scott is done with the furnace and a/c installation, I probably won't do the finishing touches until we are home. Yesterday had some fairly severe thunderstorms but we were at an outlet mall so it didn't matter to us. I found a copy of Debbie Bliss's New Baby Knits for $3.99 at a discount bookstore. It has some beautiful patterns - Fair Isle, Aran, Guernsey - and I want to try them all.

Today I think we're going to an arts festival in Rochester with Ariane and possibly Mike. I don't know how excited he is about going so he might just meet us later for dinner. At any rate, it should be fun.

Now I have to decide what project I want to work on next. I need to finish a pair of socks for July and have 3 started pairs with me. I also have a top down baby sweater by Fiber Trends that was started before the Baby Surprise.

And while I'm trying to decide, I've been working on yet another dishcloth. I'd like to have a stockpile of them on hand. There was one in my "finished projects" basket but I luckily brought it with me. I only had one dishcloth packed in the trailer and that's not enough for a week. So I don't have any more dishcloths stockpiled.

And now it's time to think about breakfast and my next project!

Vacation, sort of.

2009-07-07T10:50:00.000-04:00

Scott and I are on vacation - sort of. We are camping at the Canandaigua KOA which is about 1/2 hour from Ariane and Mike's new house. I'm sitting at the campground with the dog doing a little knitting and playing on the computer. Scott is at Ariane's installing a new heating and air conditioning system. I definitely have the better end of this deal. We got here yesterday and will leave next Monday. At the end of the week, Scott will take a day or so to enjoy himself. He doesn't think he'll get everything done that needs doing so we'll be back out for a few days later in the summer.

Here's some knitting that I have been doing. These are the two dishcloths I made for the Friends of the Library to sell.

Nothing special especially if you read my previous posts about dishcloths.

Then we have a little baby sweater. It's the Dapper pattern from Leisure Arts #3202 "Precious Layettes". I usually make the "Little Lamb" pattern from this book but wanted a change. I used Premier Yarns "Deborah Norville Serenity Sport" in pink and white on size 7 needles. It's a newborn size. I need to sew the buttons on and make something to go with it - hat, socks, booties. I haven't decided which yet.

Next we have my latest pair of socks.

Just a plain stockinette pair using Fortissima Socka "Disco" in light blues. There is a sparkly thread that runs through these socks but it's hard to photograph. Maybe if you click on the picture, you can see it a little.

And here's a single sock that I finished.

This is a simple 2 x 2 ribbing in OnLine Supersocke "Tropic" #931. I started this sock in June of 2008 and finally finished it June of 2009. I hope the second sock doesn't take me a year to finish. I have almost 3" of the 4 1/2" cuff done.

Now I'm working on my first Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I've had the pattern for several years but haven't made on yet. Some of us in my weekly knitting group decided to do this pattern as a KAL. We started June 30th. It's about two-thirds done. So I plan on posting a completed picture the next time I post.

That's it from me for now. Who knows, I may even post again before the end of the week.

May Flower Socks

2009-05-29T09:27:00.002-04:00

Don't you just love it when you finish up a UFO? I started these socks last July. I even finished the first one in July but then they were set aside for who knows what? When the May sock theme for the Sock-A-Month KAL was flower patterns, I pulled them out and finished them up!

Pattern: Pretty Petals by Jeannie Townsend
Yarn: Noelle's Noodles Merino in Candy Rock
Needles: US 1 1/2 (2.5 mm)dpns

Every time I see the colors of this yarn, I'm reminded of the candy lilies that grow in the front garden. Don't they look similar?

Candy Lily

And here are the last four dishcloths that I made for Ariane.

Modified Fan and Feather in Buttercream

Waffle Knit in Peppermint Twist

Waffle Knit in Strawberry Creme

Garter Rib in American Stripes

I love the Waffle Knit pattern and just finished another one this morning using some Bernat Handicrafter Cotton. It's going to the Friends of the Ilion Library for their fund-raiser table. The library is where my knitting group meets and we donate knitted and crocheted things for them to sell. The money collected goes for improvements to the library. I'm going to make a couple more for them. The one I'm working on right now is Peaches & Creme "Daisy Ombre" which is a bright, cheery yellow/white ombre.

I'm working on a few other things that I hope I will be able to post finished pictures of soon.

The second 1/3

2009-05-04T20:22:00.004-04:00

Four more dishcloths for your viewing pleasure.

Garter Rib Dishcloth
Lily Sugar 'n Cream in a black/white tweed

Grandmother's Favorite
Lily Sugar 'n Cream Oriental Ombre for half and Purple for the other half

Garter Rib Dishcloth
Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Lime Stripes with some leftover Hot Green and White

Ballband Dishcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Peaches & Creme Fiesta and White

I know that hundreds of people love knitting the Ballband pattern. Just look it up on Ravelry. I, on the other hand, don't like knitting this pattern so much. I'd rather do the Waffle Knit.

And even though we all know that I can't possibly need more yarn, I bought more yarn. eat.sleep.knit had a sale last week. You had 5 hours to place an order and you would automatically get a random discount when you went to the checkout. The discounts ranged from 10% to 100%. My discount was 15% which was okay by me. Here are the yarns I bought.

Starting in the top left corner we have 3 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted - Dusty Olive, Cosecha, and Stone Chat, then a skein of Malabrigo Sock in Eggplant, and finally a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the Martha's Vineyard colorway.

And here's a close up of the yarns showing their labels. If you click on the pictures, you can see them even closer.

Pretty, pretty yarns!

1/3 of a Dozen...

2009-05-01T08:34:00.005-04:00

Dishcloths, that is. Instead of posting all twelve at once, I thought I'd break it up into thirds. So here are the first four dishcloths.

Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth in Lily Sugar 'n Cream "American Stripes"

Garter Rib Dishcloth in Peaches & Creme "Gumdrops"

Waffle Knit Dishcloth in Peaches & Creme "Salmon Royale"

Martini Cloth in Lily Sugar 'n Cream "Hot Green"

This last cloth is for the full bar that is in the attic of Ariane's new house. The guy who sold them the house redid the third floor and it's a nice space for entertaining. It even has a deck.

And just so you don't get bored looking at dishcloths, here is a baby set I made for my church's Palm Sunday auction. It sold for $25.00 which thrilled me!

Sweater Pattern: Raglan Cardigan with Fully Fashioned Shaping by Debbie Bliss
Bootie Pattern: Buttercup Baby Set by Sherry Graziano in Creative Knitting May 2009
Yarn: Patons Astra in Paint Box Varigated

The sweater is one that I had started several years ago. I had the back and fronts done so it was easy to finish it up. It felt good to get a UFO finished off. The bootie pattern is very easy and will probably be my "go-to" pattern from now on.

Little Brown Wren Socks

2009-04-30T21:13:00.003-04:00

These are my April socks for SAM 2009. They are plain brown socks hence the name "Little Brown Wren" socks. But they are 90% Shetland Wool/10% Mohair so they will keep a baby in Afghanistan warm.

Pattern: Playful Pairs by Diane Soucy found in Babies & Toddlers - A Knitter's Dozen
Yarn: Bernat Dundee in Norse Brown
Needles: US 4 (3.50 mm)

Here we have a basket of dishcloths that I made for Ariane and Mike's new house. We went to Rochester this weekend to help them move in and I wanted to make her a quick housewarming gift. There are actually a dozen cloths in the basket but I only took a quick picture so they aren't all showing. I'll try to post pictures of them all one of these days.

And that's it for today. I have other things to post but I'm tired so they will have to wait.

What was I thinking...

2009-03-26T08:14:00.002-04:00

when I gave up starting new projects for Lent? This is hard! Oh, wait, that's the whole idea of Lent, isn't it? Well, I made the right decision then. But I can't wait until Easter so I can go back to my old ways.

Here are a couple of my UFO's on which I've made progress. First is the Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood that I'm making in Rowan Tapestry.

The picture was taken at about 32" and since then I've added another 5". I'm still working on the first skein of each color. If I finish the second skein of each color, it will be over 70". I probably won't make it that long. This scarf is great for t.v. knitting.

Next, a project that I finished! I started the baby sweater about a year ago. The pattern can be found in Leisure Arts #3202 "Precious Layettes to Knit". It's knit in one piece from the top down and was done except for the last 1 1/2". The yarn is Sirdar Snuggle Fair Isle DK. A friend of Ariane's just had a baby girl so I decided to make her a little layette.

The bonnet and socks weren't started before Lent but since they were part of a layette that needed to be finished, it was okay to make them. I mailed the set out to my daughter yesterday. If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you'll see the cute butterfly buttons.

Once it was finished, I had the urge to start another sweater from the same book but I have to wait a couple of weeks.

I fixed the mistake I made on the Monkey socks but haven't progressed very far on them. They will get finished one of these days.

The little aran sweater I'm testing knitting is progressing slowly. I'm halfway done with the second sleeve. The designer says the rest of the sweater goes quickly once the sleeves are done. I hope she's right. The acres of seed stitch is getting a little boring. This sweater needs to be finished so I can move onto other things.

Dishcloths, anyone?

2009-03-08T12:16:00.003-04:00

In between the projects pictured in my last post, I have been making dishcloths. The two patterns I use the most are Grandmother's Favorite and a garter rib pattern that I adapted from a scarf pattern.

This first one is the Grandmother's Favorite pattern and I made it to send to a missionary family serving in Niger that my church supports. We wanted to send them some handmade things to remind them of home.

The yarn is Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Country Sage Ombre. I used US 8 needles and increased until I reached 54 stitches. I like to make these cloths a little larger than the pattern calls for. I also made a Petal Dishcloth for them but forgot to take a picture before I took it to church.

The next dishcloth is in the garter rib pattern. Using US 8 needles, cast on 39 stitches. Row 1: K2, P2 across to the last 3 stitches. K3. Repeat until it's the length you desire.

This dishcloth went to North Carolina with Alek. Yes, my youngest child decided he needed to move out on his own. This is fine with us but did he have to move 700 miles away? Apparently so. He wanted no snow and warmer temperatures.

The yarn is Lily Sugar 'n Cream Original in Renegade. It's a larger skein than normal. I made him a Grandmother's Favorite cloth using the rest of the skein.

Here is another garter rib cloth. This one is for my daughter, Ariane. She is in the process of buying a house with her boyfriend. The kitchen countertops are a dark red and this was the only skein of cotton I could find in my local JoAnn's Fabrics that had any red in it.

Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream in American Stripes. I'm making a Grandmother's Favorite from the rest of the skein but I don't think I'm going to have enough to finish it. I'll either have to make the decrease half in white or buy another skein of the American Stripes.

I have another garter rib cloth on the needles right now. I'm using up some partial skeins of cotton so these will be Monster cloths.

This last picture is not of a dishcloth. It's the Monkey socks that I mentioned in my last post.

Yarn: Mama Llama Sock II in Venice

I knit a couple of rows and found I have one too many stitches so I have to find the error before I can proceed any further.

And now I have to head up to Alek's room to pack up stuff. He took a good portion of it with him but not everything. So I'm cleaning it out and this room will be a guest/craft room. That's good incentive to clean it out.

It's been a while...

2009-03-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

since I've posted here. Sorry about that. Nothing is wrong, I'm just being lazy. Well, lazy about blogging. Not lazy about knitting.

This little baby sweater is one that I'm test knitting for a girl on Ravelry. It's knit in the round from the bottom up. In this picture I have the body done to the arm scythes and one sleeve attached. I'm in the process of knitting the second sleeve which I'll then attach and continue knitting up through the yoke and neck.

It's a fun knit and I don't even mind the miles of seed stitch. Well, except when I goof it up and have to tink back. The yarn is Patons Classic Wool Tweed in Tweed Aran.

Next is a child's cardigan knit from the top down. The pattern is from Knitting Pure and Simple and the yarn is Plymouth Encore Chunky in garnet.

I haven't worked on this in a few weeks but I hope to get back to it once the test knit and a couple of other things are done.

And here we have my version of lined mittens. I'm making them for my husband and he didn't want them attached in any way. So I knit the outer mitten in Malabrigo Worsted "Rich Chocolate" and the inner mitten is made from Plymouth Baby Alpaca DK #208.

These pictures show the first mittens done. The second liner mitten is done, too, but I haven't started the second outer mitten yet. I have to cast on for that pretty quickly if he's going to wear them this winter.

Oh, look, we have another pair of Baby Monkey socks. I used some left over sock yarn to make them. I love making this pattern. It's so quick and easy.

I have a pair of Adult Monkey's started that I'd like to finish for my March Sock of the Month KAL. March is Monkey month.

And it's a good thing that I started this pair of Monkey socks back in June because I can't start any new projects for a while. You see, for the entire season of Lent (45 days), I cannot cast on for a new project. Not for any reason. My pile of UFO's is way out of control and I need to do something about it.

It's okay for me to cast on for the second item in a pair such as Scott's mittens but that's it. I counted up UFO's and here's what I found - 12 pairs of socks, 9 baby sweaters, 3 scarves, 6 dishcloths, 4 hats, 7 pairs of mittens (although I finished one pair), 2 baby blankets, a Clapotis, the top down child's sweater, felted clogs and two of Jean Greenhowe's Rainbow Babies. Well, that's what I remember and what I can see in my various knitting bags. There is a good sized tote full of UFO's that I didn't even open. Some of the above projects are in there but I'm sure there's more. So you see why I needed to do this for Lent. But I'm finding it harder than when I gave up buying any knitting supplies during Lent last year.

I'm going to finish up one of the baby sweaters for the Palm Sunday auction at my church. Last year I made a knit-from-the-top-down sweater that zipped up the back. I have another on in my UFO pile that I started years ago. It will be fairly quick to finish. And I might even try to finish another of the started baby sweaters to donate. We'll see how things go.

So now you're sort of caught up on my knitting life. I'll try not to wait so long between posts.

It's a new year

2009-01-08T09:04:00.000-05:00

But it's the same old story here in central New York. It's snowing.

These pictures are actually from New Year's Eve day.

This is looking down my driveway. The tracks were made by my car as I came up the hill from work. In the second picture, you can see three flowering crab apple trees bordering the driveway. Then Scott got home from work, saw I that my car made it up the driveway and tried to get his truck up, too. Even with four wheel drive, the truck slid sideways into the topmost tree. The only way he could get the truck out was to cut down the tree. So we now have two crab apple trees.

I have been telling him to cut down this tree for threes years ever since we bought our first 5th wheel travel trailer. He backs the trailer up the hill and if he doesn't starting turning at just the right spot, he scrapes against that tree. Now he doesn't have to worry about it. Actually, we started out with four crab apples and he cut down the first one right after we started parking the trailer next to the garage.

I took the pictures of the tree and the trailer today. (The Jeep is Alek's and you can just see the end of my Kia Sportage.) It's snowing today, too. Yesterday was sleet and freezing rain all day. Tomorrow is flurries and another snow storm is moving in for Saturday. Normally the weather doesn't bother me but this year I really hate it. And the sad part is that it's only the beginning of January. I may be really crazed by April!

This winter has been very cold, too. I don't look good in hats so I usually don't wear them. Sometimes, though, I need to cover my ears so I decided to make a Calorimetry for myself out of Wisdom "Poems".

When this pattern first came out, I made three of them. They all seemed to be too loose so I frogged one and gave the other two to charity. This time instead of starting with 120 stitches, I started with 96 and only knit 9 rows of Row 5 and 11 rows of Row 7. This made a smaller headband that fits fairly well. The 2 x 2 ribbing makes it feel a little loose, though.

So I thought maybe a tam would look better on me. I got out my copy of Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns, a skein of Wool in the Woods Star City yarn in "Lottery", and made a tam.

The tam fits okay but I'm not sure I like it on me. But it looks well enough that on really cold days, I'll wear it.

Both the book and the yarn have been in my stash for a couple of years, now. This is the first pattern I've used from this book.

This is a good way to start off 2009, I think. I have another skein of the Star City and part of the first skein left so I might make myself a scarf to match the tam.

Right now I'm making toddler socks out of Patons Classic Wool for charity. I hope the two skeins of Malabrigo Worsted I ordered come today so I can finally get a pair of lined mittens made for Scott. I'm going to do the outer mitten in the Malabrigo and the inner mitten in the alpaca I bought at the craft fair. The mittens are hanging over my head so I want them done!

Not knitting for Christmas

2008-12-29T09:16:00.004-05:00

Remember when I said I was "not knitting for Christmas"? Did you believe me? Silly you, if you did!

Last post I did mention that the only thing I was knitting for Christmas was an earflap hat for Scott's 19 year old nephew. And I did.

Pattern: Kim's Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool in black
Needles: US 8

I was very pleased with the way it turned out. I don't know if he loves it since he wasn't at the family party where we exchanged gifts. And, knowing this kid, unless I see him (which I don't often), I'll never know if he liked it. Oh well, I'm happy with it. And he did wear the other one I made for him.

The hat was finished in plenty of time for Christmas and I had all those pretty skeins of Malabrigo to play with so I made a neck warmer for Ariane.

Pattern: Bernat Camouflage Neckwarmer
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Lettuce
Needles: US 8

She loved the neckwarmer. She snowboards and said she needed something to come up over the straps of her helmet. Earlier in the month, I asked her what the colors of her snowboarding jacket were and lime green was one of them. Perfect!

And then I had to make something for Mike, her boyfriend. I decided to make him a hat.

Pattern: Kim's Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Cypress
Needles: US 10

Mike has a large head so I made the hat kind of large. I guess it's a little too large but he figures once it gets wet on the slopes and then dries, it'll shrink to the right size.

The Malabrigo is so soft and wonderful to knit. I really love this yarn. There are three more skeins in my stash but I'm gifting the Jewel Blue to Donna. The Sunset (which is a gorgeous yellow-orange) is going to become a cowl for me. And there is no project in mind for the Damask Pink yet.

The neckwarmer was finished a couple days before Christmas. The hat was started on December 23 and finished Christmas morning. They didn't get to the house until 3 p.m. so it was all wrapped and under the tree.

Saturday we went to Scott's brother's house to exchange gifts and see everyone. I wanted something mindless to take to knit and didn't feel like working on a sock. So I got out two colors of Rowan Tapestry yarn and started a Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood.

This scarf is so much fun to knit. And the Tapestry wool is nice and soft. It's a little splitty but I don't mind. Here's a close up of the colors -

The blue is #180 Lakeland and the brown is #173 Antique. I think I'm going to have to get some other shades and make a couple of these scarves. Maybe I'll start now and have my Christmas knitting all done for 2009!

Jolly Old St. Nick

2008-12-15T22:54:00.004-05:00

This is a Santa that I knit for my mother several years ago.

Even though I had been knitting on and off for a long time, I didn't know how to do a lot of things. I know in this pattern, I couldn't figure out how to P2tog so I did all my decreases on the knit rows. But I finished him before Christmas and was very proud of what I had done.

The pattern is from Leisure Arts, The Magazine December 1988. I subscribed to this magazine because it was mainly counted cross-stitch. Every issue had at least one or two knit or crocheted patterns in it.

I used Bernat Berella 4 for the body and Lion Brand Wool Ease for the robe and his hands and feet. He's at my house right now because I had to repair his beard. The original one was rather skimpy. Tomorrow I'm giving him back to Mom.

And here we have another cowl. It's the Stacked Eyelet Cowl by Ami Madison.

It's done in Claudia Hand Painted Fingering weight yarn "Eat Your Veggies" colorway on size US 5 needles. It hasn't been blocked yet. I wasn't a big fan of the eyelet pattern but I did like knitting the cowl. And I like the way it fits. The next one I might make with a different stitch in place of the eyelets.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, several online knitting stores had sales. I ended up buying 5 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in 5 different colors (Cypress, Jewel Blue, Lettuce, Damask Rose, and Sunset), 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sport in "Black Watch", 2 skeins of Rowan Tapestry in browns, and 2 skeins of Lambs Pride Superwash sport in White and Dark green.

The Malabrigo is destined for more cowls. The 2 skeins of Rowan Tapestry will be combined with 2 skeins of blue Rowan Tapestry to make a Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood. I hope to use the Lambs Pride Sport to make stranded mittens or gloves and the Lorna's Laces Shepard Sport doesn't have a specific project yet.

But, as usual, I shouldn't start any of these projects until I finish the earflap hat I'm making for Scott's nephew for Christmas. It's the only gift I'm knitting. The hat part is done. Now I just have to pick up and knit the earflaps.

And I have to make Scott's alpaca mittens. They have been started but I haven't worked on them in a couple of weeks.

So far one cuff has been knit and the first increase for the thumb gusset has been done. I guess I should get working on them so I can play with all my new yarns.

Forget everything...

2008-11-29T09:43:00.003-05:00

that I mentioned in my last post. I haven't started Scott's mittens, I frogged the Lopi socks because I didn't have enough yarn, and I still haven't touched the chevron lace gaiter I started for Ariane.

Instead, I made a Tudora using a skein of Sheep Shop Yarn Company Sheep 1 in color G017.

I bought this yarn on Cape Cod in the fall to make a beret but when I was looking for yarn to make the Tudora, it jumped up and yelled "Pick Me!" This neckwarmer will look really nice with Ariane's black coat.

And because the Lopi socks were frogged, I had to start something quick to make for SAM 2008. So here are another pair of Baby Monkey Socks using leftover Online sock yarn on size US 2 (2.75 mm) needles.

The picture was taken a few days ago. I'm actually 5 rounds from starting the toe on the first sock. If I knit most of today, I could finish the pair. Unfortunately, my house needs some TLC. But we'll see what happens.

And I think I'm done with KAL's for a while. I'm tired of knitting to deadlines. There is one more month in this latest round of Sock-A-Month 6 but I don't know if I'm going to attempt to finish a pair of socks in December. I don't even know if I'm going to push myself to finish the Baby Monkeys for November. Stress-free knitting is what I want to do.

Well, I'd better get moving if I'm going to get anything constructive done today. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

A bunting we will go...

2008-11-24T07:40:00.003-05:00

The baby bunting was completely finished by Saturday night.

I sewed the side and sleeve seams and then tossed the bunting and the zipper into the wash separately. They both went into the dryer. Then I sewed the zipper into the bunting. I wanted to make sure the zipper didn't shrink and pucker the seam.

The James C. Brett "Marble" washed and dried like a dream. The bunting is super soft now and no pilling or distortion at all. This is a great acrylic yarn for knitting. There was only a few yards of yarn left from the two skeins I had in the Patagonia colorway so I didn't make a hat to match.

Now to decide what to work on next. Scott is asking for his warm mittens. I'm trying to decide if I want to make them using double knitting or if I want to knit a heavy outer mitten and then a lighter alpaca inner mitten. He voted for the second choice. I recently bought Folk Mittens by Marcia Lewandowski and she has patterns for both methods. I also have Homespun Handknit edited by Linda Ligon and it has patterns for double knitting and two-end knitting. Any one of these methods is going to be confusing and time consuming which is why I keep procrastinating.

I mentioned in my last post that I started a lace neck gaiter for Ariane. I haven't picked it back up again but I think it might be next on the list. It should be a quick knit.

But, this is the last week in November, and I need to finish a pair of socks for Sock-A-Month 2008. I have a pair started in Lopi for Warm Woolies using size US 9 (5.5 mm) needles. I just started the gusset decreases on the first sock. Maybe I should work on these first.

Decisions, decisions!

Brrr!

2008-11-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

Winter has arrived in central NY. The temperatures are in the 20's at night and only reach the middle 30's during the day. And we've had some snow. I don't know why people seem so surprised, it happens every year.

I finished up one pair of mittens for afghans for Afghans.

I used Elizabeth Durand's Classic Pattern for Children's Mittens which can be found on the A4A website. The yarn is Plymouth Galway Worsted in Pink Marl on size US 6 double points.

I love using this yarn. I wish one of the local shops carried it. This skein was found in the sale bin at Patternworks when I was there a couple of summers ago. There is one shop in Barneveld (about 45 minutes away) that carries some Galway and also has Plymouth Encore. I would really like to get up there on Saturday and stock up a little on these two yarns. It depends on the weather and what Saturday brings.

I'm getting close to the end of the baby bunting. As you can see here, the front is done.

The sleeves are done and I have 3 more inches on the back before starting the raglan decreases. Then it's a matter of sewing in the sleeves, picking up and knitting the neckband, and sewing in the zipper. I should be able to accomplish all this before Sunday. In fact, I'd like to finish it by Friday. Then, if I have enough yarn left, I'd like to make a hat to go with it.

Once this bunting is done, I'm not sure what to work on next. Scott needs warm mittens, I have tons of partially finished pairs of socks, there are a couple unfinished baby sweaters hanging about, I want to knit some things for charity, and I don't have enough time to do most of it.

So, I think I'm going to make my daughter a lace gaiter from the November 2008 issue of Creative Knitting. It should be a very quick knit. I have two skeins of Plymouth Yarn Suri Merino (55% alpaca, 45% extrafine merino wool) in a light rose that will look perfect. And I may have accidently cast on for it last night and knit the first two rows.

All I can say is I'm very glad I'm not knitting Christmas gifts this year!

Yarn anyone?

2008-11-10T19:24:00.004-05:00

In the past, I've written a couple of times about Sybil's Yarn Shop outside of Cooperstown, NY. It's housed in 3 storage sheds linked together to make a shop. And it's filled top to bottom with yarn. Good yarn. Cascade, Mirasol, Patons, Noro, Ella Rae, Farmhouse Yarns, Araucania, Online, Elsebeth Lavold, and much more. And they are usually priced below retail.

Well, I went two Saturdays ago with a friend of mine. I wanted to buy some more Queensland "Kathmandu DK". (Yes, that is another brand she has.) And to see what she had in alpaca. I did get two more skeins of the Katmandu I wanted (same color and dyelot) so I now have 9 skeins to make something yummy. I also bought 3 skeins of Mirasol "Sulka" which is 60% merino, 20% alpaca, and 20% silk bulky weight yarn. Sooo soft and yummy! Oh, and a skein of Arancania "Ranco" sock yarn just because she had it and it was new. And all this for about $36.00.

While I was waiting for my friend to finish shopping, I took a couple of pictures with my cell phone so I could show everyone just how full of yarn this place really is.

This picture shows the first room you walk into

Yes, that floor space is all there is to this room. The little room in the back is her "sale room". Almost all the yarn in there is $2.00 a skein. It's mostly Patons "Canadiana" and "Shetland Chunky" but there are some mystery cones, too. The back wall is Ella Rae. The left side is her Noro supply. And on the right wall (which unfortunately you can't see) is mostly baby yarn. Oh, yeah, she has a lot of Sirdar, too.

And then we move to the middle room

This room has Cascade 220 (on the right hand side so you can't really see it), and on the back wall and left side you can find Cascade "Pastanza", Sublime, Queensland "Kathmandu DK", Classic Elite "Skye Tweed", Symphonie "Plassard" and others I can't remember. If you turn and face the front wall, it's mostly Patons and Ella Rae with some other brands tossed into the mix.

I didn't take a picture of the last room as she had customers in there and I didn't think they'd appreciate being photographed. That room is a little larger and is separated by a column. That's where the Farmhouse Yarns, Elsebeth Lavold "Hempathy", cotton yarns, sock yarns and who know what else is found. She doesn't have a lot in the way of books and needles, though. And the pictures show the place as fairly neat but it's definitely not. You are constantly stepping over things or picking up skeins to put back on the shelf. But she is a very nice person and she has wonderful taste in yarn! Just don't take too many people with you because it's very small and rather hard to navigate. I think I want to go back this coming Saturday with a couple of the women from my knitting group.

Now to my current knitting project. I found out last Sunday that there is a surprise baby shower for our pastor's wife on November 23rd. They are expecting their 4th son in December. Naturally, I want to knit something for her. And, since it's another boy, I can't use the Gull Lace sweater I have half done. So I pulled out a couple of unfinished baby sweaters that are appropriate for a boy and didn't like either of them. That's probably why they are still unfinished.

After considering a few patterns, I decided to make another "Moonlight Sleeper" from the April 1990 issue of Workbasket. I made one in October 2005 for a baby shower and really liked how it turned out. You can check my archives to see that one. This one is being made in James C. Brett "Marble" in the Patagonia colorway. I am knitting the front first so I am sure to match the shading. This picture was taken a couple of days ago. I now have 14" done the front. Once I get to 16", I can start the raglan decreases. There shouldn't be any problem getting it done on time as long as I don't get distracted. (Who, me, distracted? Never!)

And finally, here are a couple more pictures of our trip to Cape Cod as I had a request for more photos.

This first one is the whale watch boat going out of Barnstable Harbor. I'm standing in the yard of the house we rented.

And here are Ariane, her boyfriend, Mike, and Alek standing on the beach that is 50 yards from the house looking out at the harbor.

I can't tell you how much I'd like to be there right now.

(ETA: Click on pics to make bigger)

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T15:13:00.001-04:00

I have to say I'm not a Halloween fan. I don't decorate the house for it now that the kids are grown. I prefer fall decorations. That being said, I'm sitting here watching the Ghost Hunters marathon on Sci-Fi Channel. It's one of my favorite shows. Go figure.

Now for the knitting part. As usual, the end of the month crept up on me and I didn't have a pair of socks made for the Sock A Month KAL. I seriously considered skipping October since I didn't want to be racing the clock to finish a pair of socks. But I've made a pair a month for almost a year now and I hated to miss this month. So, baby socks to the rescue again. October 26th I cast on a pair of
Baby Monkey Socks by Sheri Berger of The Loopy Ewe. I had a lone skein of Patons Kroy Sock 4 in Pink Power that I figured would be perfect. I finished the socks last night at 11:45 p.m. Very easy pattern and fun to make, not to mention very quick.

I participated in Dish cloth Round Robin on Ravelry. The coordinator compiled a list of participants. Then she mailed package with several dish cloths to the first person on the list. That person took two cloths from the package and replaced them with two dish cloths that she made. Then the package is sent to the next person and so on until it arrives back at the coordinator's.

Here are the two dishcloths I made for the Round Robin

The pattern is very simple - Using worsted weight cotton and size US 7 needles, CO 39 stitches. Row 1 and every other row: K2, P2 to the last 3 stitches, K these 3 stitches.

You just repeat this row until the cloth is a large as you want.

And here are the two dish cloths I picked from the envelope before I sent it on to the next person.

The Helena sweater is on hold. I kept goofing up the lace pattern and was getting frustrated. So I started another sweater using the Baby Delight pattern from Babies and Toddlers - A Knitter's Dozen. I'm using Sirdar Snuggly DK in Fair Isle.

The sweater is knit top-down and I'm almost ready to do the sleeves. Then Ariane told me that the baby was born a couple of weeks ago and she went out and bought a gift so she doesn't need the sweater right now. There are so many other things I want to work on right now that that's a relief. I will finish the sweater to add to the pile, though. Helena's fate, on the other hand, is up in the air.

Now that the socks are done, I'm working on a pair of Manly Mitts from the Summer 2005 issue of Knitty for Scott. I'm using some Knitting Fever Alpaka yarn that I bought on clearance at A.C. Moore last year. I have 3 skeins - 1 gray, 1 brown, and 1 cream. I hope I have enough of the gray and the brown to finish these mittens. Otherwise, I'll have to incorporate the cream somewhere in the pattern. I hope the alpaca makes warm mittens for when he walks the dog. Using a stranded pattern should help block the cold.

And that's it from me for today. Don't eat too much candy tonight!

Stuff and more stuff

2008-10-08T10:21:00.003-04:00

Well, I participated in Hat Attack II which started September 16th. And I lasted until September 22nd. But I did get my hat out to my target before I died. Here is the hat I sent out.

I used SWTC Therapi in blue and stone. And the little bits of yarn are all that was left from each skein. I was getting a little nervous about having enough of the blue.

And here is the hat that killed me.

Pretty, isn't it? Reminds me of a chocolate raspberry dessert. The yarn is Knit Picks alpaca. Very soft.

I decided a little late to contribute some mittens to the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. The challenge was for 8 pairs of mittens and I finished 3 pairs.

But that is 3 more pairs of warm hands.

This week we are on Cape Cod for our annual fall trip. This year is a little different because Scott's family did not come with us. But Ariane, her boyfriend, Mike and Alek came out with us on Saturday and went home on Tuesday. Ariane and Alek haven't been here in 7 years and Mike has never been here before so it was nice for them. We wish they could have spent more time but their work schedules wouldn't permit it.

Ariane mentioned that her favorite co-worker is due with her first baby any day now and wanted to know what she should get for her. I told her I'd make a baby sweater for the baby. It's a girl and I had the pattern for Helena with me so I went to the Ladybug Yarn Shop in Dennis and bought some Jaeger Matchmaker DK in Oyster. Oyster is a funny color. Depending on the light, it looks like either light grayish blue or light grayish lavendar. Kind of like the inside of any oyster shell.

I took this picture yesterday just to show the harbor and the beginning of the project. The Adirondack chair is sitting in the front yard of the rental house. Tomorrow I will try to take another picture of it. It is knit from the top down and I have finished the raglan increases and the bodice and started the lace skirt pattern while we were sitting on Nauset Beach this afternoon. I should have had Scott take a picture of me knitting on the beach but I didn't. We'll see what happens tomorrow as far as knitting pictures go.

And now it's time to get dinner on the table. We are eating fashionably late since we spent the afternoon on the beach.

Yeah, well...

2008-09-08T20:58:00.003-04:00

I couldn't think of a good title for this post so this is all you get today.

Even though I haven't posted in a while, I have been knitting. I finished the plain stockinette socks in Regia Crazy Colors. They turned out quite well.

Then I decided it was time to do some charity knitting. First up are some mittens for the Cheyenne River Reservation Mittenz Blitz 2008. You can read more about the blitz at Ann's Blog.

The first pair was made on 4 double pointed needles and I just winged the pattern using the numbers from my favorite two needle pattern. I used some leftover Patons Canandiana acrylic yarn. They are the same size - the picture is a little wonky.

The second pair was made on 2 straight needles in my favorite 2 needle mitten pattern. I used Patons Classic Wool in "Harvest". This yarn was left over from a pair of toddler socks I made a couple of months ago.

This next pair is still in progress. I found a great 4 needle classic mitten pattern at Free Vintage Knitting. It also has a 2 needle pattern.

The yarn is Lana Gross "Quick Print". I bought 3 skeins of this yarn a couple of years ago and couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it. So I've been making charity mittens from it. I think this is the last skein I have.

All the mitten are sized for approximately 5 - 7 year olds.

And finally we have a beanie made from Patons Classic Wool in paprika and black. The pattern is "Kim's Hats" from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson. I took the picture this afternoon but finished the hat tonight.

Now I need to finish mitten pair #3. I don't know if I'll get any more pairs done before the late September deadline or not. Believe it or not, I'm starting a new pair of socks in "Bright Orange" from Sprouty25 for a KAL on Ravelry. And is anyone really surprised by this? I'm not.

Sneaky scarf

2008-08-07T15:15:00.003-04:00

I'm supposed to be knitting socks so how did a scarf sneak in here?

The scarf is here because I'm getting a little tired of knitting socks. Plus, I found this yarn on clearance at JoAnn's Fabrics last Saturday. It's Reminiscence by Debbie Mumm in the Moss colorway. I wanted a mindless pattern so I cast on 27 stitches and am just doing a simple seed stitch. I like it so far.

Each skein has something like 85 yards and I only bought 3 skeins so I'm afraid it's going to be a little short. I would go back and get more but we are leaving on vacation on Sunday and I'm not sure I have time to get up there. If I have the trailer packed, I might sneak up on Saturday.

I posted three different socks-in-progress in my last post and what socks am I working on right now? Why this pair, course.

Regia 6 Crazy Colors on US 2.5 (3 mm)needles. The first sock was started Sunday and I have 2 inches left on the foot and then the toe. They are knitting up so much faster than any of the other socks I have going. I just need to finish one pair of adult socks and then I'll go back to the others.

Here is the photo of the finished toddler socks that I finished for my July SAM 6 socks.

They will probably go to charity.

And one more FO picture to post. I made a chemo hat for the 16 year old daughter of my dog's groomer. She is in remission right now which is a good thing.

I made the Utopia Hat by Smariek in Lion Brand Cotton Ease. I love the bright pink color. My hat model is a flower vase turned upside-down which is the reason it's a strange head shape.

That's it for now. As I said earlier, I am going to be gone next week and there isn't any wi-fi at the campground so I'll be a little quiet. Unless, of course, I find someplace with free wi-fi. Then you might here from me.

(8/8/08 - edited to resize pictures)

Still doing socks...

2008-07-31T21:37:00.003-04:00

I finished the Sweet Socks the day before Sue's birthday. I think they turned out nice and she seemed to like them. They also counted as my June socks for SAM 6.

Now I'm working on socks for the various KAL's I'm participating in this summer. I started a pair of 2 x 2 ribbed socks in OnLine Supersocke "Tropic" #931 for Summer of Socks.

They are slow going on size US #1 (2.25 mm) needles. This is the first sock of the pair and I'm still working on the foot. I love the colors, though, so they will be finished.

Next up is a pair of Pretty Petal Socks by Jeannie Townsend in Noelle's Noodles Superwash Merino Wool "Candy Rock". This yarn is really soft and knits up beautifully.

The first sock is done and I am on the cuff of the second sock. I'd like these to be the first socks I finish for Summer of Socks.

Next up is a pair of Log Cabin Socks by Anne Woodbury from "Handknit Holidays" by Melanie Falick. I'm using Cascade "Pastaza" #021 on size US 6 (4.25 mm) needles.

I find it hard to work with the bulkier wool when the temperatures are in the 80's so they are hibernating for a while. They will probably be finished when it cools down. I think this pattern will make good Christmas gifts. It's a fun pattern so far.

And the socks I'm actually working on tonight are a pair of toddler socks that I'm trying to finish by midnight so they count as my July socks for SAM 6. I knew I wouldn't finish any of the other socks so I cast on with leftover OnLine Supersocke "Hiking" using size US 2 (2.75 mm) needles. The first sock is done and I have 1" left on the second before I start the toe decreases.

Will I make it?

Yes, I will. But only if I stop writing this post and get back to knitting them. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

All socks, all the time...

2008-06-16T08:00:00.002-04:00

I've decided to jump into sock knitting with both feet this summer. Actually for the next year.

If you check out the side bar, you will see two new KALs listed - 52 Pair Plunge II and Summer of Socks 2008.

52 Pair Plunge II entails knitting 52 pairs of socks from 6/1/08 to 6/1/09. That's a pair a week! Do I think I can do it? I have no idea but this KAL includes baby socks so it's a possibility.

Summer of Socks 2008 runs from 6/21/08 until 9/1/08. All the socks must be adult sized and have a cuff at least 2" long. There is a contest for most socks knitted and best "Sock on Vacation" photo. And every two weeks there is a random drawing for prizes based on socks finished in that time period.

And I have signed up for Sock A Month 6. I don't have a button or the website for that yet. The good thing is that the adult socks I knit will work for all three KALs and the baby socks will work for two of the KALs.

Here is the first pair of socks that I finished for the 52PP2.

Just my usual toddler socks knit in Patons Classic Merino Wool on size US 5 needles.
They will be heading to Children In Common at the end of June for their latest campaign.

These socks could also count for my June Sock a Month 5 entry but I hope to finish the Sweet Socks by 6/27/08.

The first sock is done and the second one has the ribbing done.

Here is a close up of the cables.

And I can't be knitting socks for a whole year without buying sock yarn, can I?

Okay, I know I have enough sock yarn to knit more than 52 pairs of socks but this was sooo pretty. It's from Mama Llama in "Venice" and "Day". I bought it through Sonny and Shear.

I've started a pair of Cookie A.'s Monkey socks with the "Venice" colorway. I have three of the six pattern repeats done and the yarn looks great in this pattern. Pictures of these socks will be posted at a later date.

And now you know what I'll be doing for the summer. Although I have to make a couple more chemo hats. The 15 year old daughter of our dog's groomer has leukemia and I want to make them for her.

FO's, new projects, and new yarn

2008-05-24T16:29:00.003-04:00

The title says it all. I have pictures of two finished projects, two new projects, and a new sock yarn.

First the finished projects. The first one is the Hooded Baby Tunic in Bernat Denim Style.

The ends are woven in, the little basketball button is sewn on, and it's been washed and dried. I'll take it to church with me tomorrow and hope that Nancy is there so I can give it to her. Not my favorite project but it's done.

Next are the plain stockinette socks made using OnLine Supersocke 100 in the Hiking-Color #968 on US 1 1/2 (2.50mm) double points. They were started back in the middle of October and should have been done long ago.

They are posing on a bed of forget-me-nots. Our gardens are loaded with forget-me-nots every spring and they are so pretty!

Next we have the two new projects that I have started. The first is the Branching Out Scarf in Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool #12 which is a pretty rose color.

I've wanted to make this scarf for quite a while but haven't yet. This will be a long term project as I don't think I'll work on it exclusively. It would be nice to get it done in time to give as a Christmas gift but it's no big deal if it isn't done in time.

The second new project that I started is a pair of Sweet Socks using Cherry Tree Hill "Sockittome" in the Cherry Blossom colorway.

These are going to be a birthday present for Sue. Her birthday is two days before mine at the end of June. I shouldn't have a problem finishing them in time.
The pattern has two little cables running up the sides of the sock and it's super easy to do. The yarn is so soft and great to work with, too.

And finally we have the latest skein of sock yarn that I received in the mail.

It's a skein of Fuse from Blue Hand Fibers in superwash merino. The color is really a little darker than the picture shows and feels wonderful. It's going to make a great pair of socks!

And now dinner is ready so I have to run. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Harmony...

2008-05-19T08:44:00.001-04:00

I finally worked out the sleeve decreases on the hooded baby sweater. One sleeve is done and I hope to finish the other one today. I can't wait to be done with it!

In other knitting news, I finished two more chemo hats.

The one on the left is the diagonal rib hat in Plymouth Encore Colorspun. I'm afraid it might be a little large for her but I hope the rib pattern makes it wearable. The hat on the left is just a plain stockinette hat made in Bernat Denim Style in Canvas. The acrylic/cotton blend of this yarn makes for a very soft, cushy hat. I hope it will be worn a lot. That's all the chemo hats I'm making for a while.

Now I want to concentrate on socks for a while. I have a lot of sock yarn and I'd like to use up a bunch. Plus I like wearing handmade socks.

And the reason I have so much sock yarn is stores like Little Knits have sales and I can't pass up the deals!

I received these three sock yarns last week.

Top left is Trekking (XXL) #132 (plum, blueberry, raspberry cream cake). I don't have many blue sock yarns so I thought I'd give this one a try.

Then we have OnLine Supersocke 100 Holiday Color #998 (red with green, blue, yellow and pink). This sock yarn is destined to be birthday socks for a good friend. Her birthday is two days before mine at the end of June.

And finally we have Classic Elite Alpaca Sox in #1877 "Classic Pinstripe"(shades of gray). This yarn is going to be made into a pair of socks for Scott's birthday at the end of September. They will be the first pair of socks I've made for him. He has a pair of commercially-made alpaca socks and loves them so I thought I'd try making him a pair to see if they are as well liked.

Oh, and I may have "accidently" ordered another skein of sock yarn in blues from an Etsy dyer that I found on Ravelry. I should receive that yarn in the next few days and I'll show you a picture and give all the details.

One reason I named this post "Harmony" is because the baby sweater is progressing and I'm not so cranky. The other reason is I'm using Knit Picks Harmony double pointed needles for my current socks-in-progress. I love these needles!! They are so smooth that the yarn moves very easily. The points are nice and sharp and, best of all, they don't bend when I use them even though they are wood. At no time do I feel like I'm going to snap one in half.

Right now I have them in 2.50 mm (US 1 1/2) and 3.0 mm (US 2 1/2). I am debating whether I want to order the whole set or just a couple more individual sets. Either way, I am ordering more of these double points.

Okay, that's enough for now. I don't have to work today but I do have to get some housecleaning done. Bathrooms - yuck!

Cranky knitting

2008-05-08T09:23:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had a project that you had to finish and it wasn't going as well as you hoped? That's how this sweater project is going for me.

I finished the body and the hood and moved onto the sleeves. And totally could not figure out how the pattern wanted me to do the decreases. I started the first one and was muddling through but not having clear cut instructions was making me very cranky. Finally I searched through my pattern books and found another knit-from-the-top-down sweater and looked at those sleeve instructions.

Bingo! Now I see where I was confused. But, is my first sleeve so wrong that I have to rip it back? I decided to start the second sleeve and see if there is a noticeable difference.

So far I don't think I have to do any ripping. The first sleeve is the one to the left. It looks okay. Now I just have to buckle down and finish the d**n thing!

I received a lovely thank you note for the chemo hat I gave to my friend's aunt. She said that she had another hat but it was a little large and mine fit beautifully. The next day I talked to Lynn and she said how much her aunt liked the hat and mentioned that she would love one in white and one in pink. I can do that!

I looked through my stash and found this Plymouth Encore Colorspun #7065. I love the colors in this yarn! The pattern is Kat LeFevre's Diagonal Rib Hat and can be found on her website Creative Popoffs.

This pattern is easy to remember and fun to do. Once this hat is done, I'll make a plain white one for her.

After I finish these projects, I am not doing any "have to" knitting for a while. Well, except for my SAM KAL. And since I want to concentrate on making socks, that will work out perfectly!

Spring has returned and everyone is hoping that this time it's here for good. The leaves are all out and flowers are everywhere. We have 3 crabapple trees in the side yard and this is the first year in quite a while that the blossoms are just gorgeous. The grass is pretty happy, too.

I am sitting on the patio writing this entry and while it's a little cool and cloudy, I don't care. It feels good to be outside enjoying the day. The goldfinches, cat bird,and a dozen other varieties of birds are singing to me. In fact, it's quite noisy out here. But all things must come to an end and now I have to get ready for work. Later!

Winter again?!

2008-04-30T08:30:00.002-04:00

Last week was a wonderful summer week. Sunshine, warm temperatures, blue skies. But if you live in central New York, wait a minute and the weather will change. Today there is sunshine and blue skies but there's also a chance of snow flurries in the higher elevations. It's a bit nippy out there.

ETA: Forget higher elevations! I looked out the window five minutes ago and saw this frozen rain/sleet stuff falling from the sky. It has already stopped and melted. Crazy weather!

Monday it rained all day. I didn't mind too much since we really needed the rain and because I went outlet shopping in Waterloo with three of my four sisters. (My other sister lives in North Carolina.) We had a lot of fun. And bought quite a bit of stuff. I bought 2 blouses and a pair of capris at Van Heusen, a long sleeved blouse and a sweater at Eddie Bauer, a pair of black clogs at Clarks Bostonian, two saucepans and a beer bottle carrier (for Alek) at Le Gourmet Chef, two citronella candles and a car freshener at Yankee Candle, and a 6" Calphalon chef's knife at The Cook's Store. We had stopped at a truck stop when we got off the Thruway for gas and potty break and found pamphlets that offered free VIP coupon books for the outlets. At almost every store we shopped at, we got at least 10% off our total purchase including sale prices. That made it really nice.

On the drive out, my youngest sister told us all about my niece's labor and delivery. Yep, the baby was born on Sunday. She is beautiful! After debating for a day and a half, they named her Cecelia Angelina. Now I want to knit more baby things!

And on the knitting front, I offer you these pictures. The first is a progress picture of the Hooded Baby Tunic in Bernat Denimstyle. The body is done and I'm working on the hood. I took the picture yesterday morning and then worked on it at my knitting group last night so I have 4 3/4" of the 7" done.

I know it isn't the clearest picture but this yarn is really busy. I have to fix the little jog in the front where the rounds started. I wove the end in quick and did a terrible job. Luckily, I didn't cut the yarn off so I have plenty to use.

Here are my April SAM KAL 5 socks.

A pair of toddler socks in Patons Classic Wool "Harvest" on size US 5 dpns. These will go to Children-in-Common for the Russian orphanages. I have another pair started in Patons Classic Wool #247 which is left over from the hat I made Alek in the beginning of the winter. The ball band doesn't tell me the name of the colorway on this skein. I also bought another skein of this yarn in Wedgewood. The current sock challenge goes until the end of May and it will interest me to see how many pairs I actually get done.

Spring has sprung!

2008-04-21T17:37:00.002-04:00

At least the daffodils think so. Not a very artsy picture but they are still very pretty.

And another promise of spring in our yard is violets! They are all over the lawn.

The weather has been in the high 70's and low 80's for the past several days. Trying to trick us into believing it's summer. But this is upstate New York and we could very well get another snow storm in the next month. I hope not!

I finished up the chemo hat on Saturday morning. The pattern is nice but the yarn was a little splitty. And, even though I was using Addis, it seemed to stick on the needles. But the end result is nice.

This is a progress picture of the hooded baby sweater.

As you can see, it is knit from the top down. Well, maybe you can see it. It's hard to take a picture of a project that is being knit in the round on circular needles.

I'm not sure I like the color of the yarn for this sweater. It seems a little busy or something. Maybe I'll like it better after it's finished. If I don't, I can always make another one in a different yarn. It's moving right along now that I'm working on it again. It would be nice to get it finished quickly.

Tomorrow I have to take my mother for her annual colonoscopy. Not much fun for her but I get to sit and knit for a couple hours. I will take the sweater and the toddler socks that I'm working on. The first sock is done to the heel gusset. I might even be able to finish the pair while I'm waiting. If not, tomorrow night is my knitting group so it's very possible they will be done by Wednesday. And that means I'll have my April SAM KAL socks done!

More April knitting

2008-04-17T09:07:00.004-04:00

Here is another picture of the Christmas stocking. I like the angle of this one better. The stocking measured 20" long.

My current project is a chemo hat. I was talking to a former neighbor at the shower and she mentioned that her aunt is undergoing chemo and lost her hair. She said she didn't know anyone who could make her a hat. So I decided I would make one.

The pattern is Cable Knit Cap 11 and I making it in Gedifra Fashion Trend Color in color #4512. The pattern is easy but it's not going as fast as I would like. I probably have two more cable repeats and then the decreases.

I started the baby sweater for Nancy's grandson. The pattern I'm using is Knitting Pure and Simples Baby Tunic #211 and I'm making it in Bernat's Denimstyle in the navy/white marl. It's not too far along because I decided to get the chemo hat done first. But as soon as the hat is done, I'll start working on it again.

The third project I have going (I seem to work in threes) is a pair of toddler socks in Patons Classic Merino in the Harvest colorway for the Children-in-Common yahoo group. I don't remember the exact URL so I'll have to post it later. These little socks will be sent to Russia for the children in the orphanages there. I hope to get some other pairs made as well.

And now it's time to get ready for work. It's going to be a gorgeous day here with the temperature getting up to 75 degrees F. Maybe spring has finally arrived!

Hmm...

2008-04-16T14:45:00.002-04:00

I can't think of a title for this post. That's okay, it's going to be a short one.

I'm sure you're wondering why I'm posting a picture of a Christmas stocking in April. I mean, the snow is gone and the weather is getting warm and sunny. This stranded Christmas stocking was a shower gift for my niece, Tara.

I made started it during Lent so I had to use yarn from my stash. (I gave up buying any knitting supplies during Lent.) This is made from Lion Brand Wool Ease in cranberry and off white. I used the "Mix-and-Match Socks" pattern from the book "Knit Christmas Stockings!" (It's the book that's shaped like a stocking.)

For the most part, I enjoyed knitting this stocking although I wasn't too crazy about the toe decreases. I did them according to the pattern but if I make another one, I'll just do regular sock toe decreases. And, instead of the afterthought heel, I would probably do a heel flap and gusset.

Tara really seemed to like it. I knew that my sister, Michelle, was making her a baby blanket and that her great grandmother, Mary, (who is in my knitting group)was making her a baby sweater so I wanted to do something a little different. The stocking seemed like fun. I'll make the baby a sweater that she can wear in the fall.

I'll post more pictures later. I'm at work and this is the only one I have on this computer. Now I probably should get back to work. Ugh!

Is it still March?

2008-03-31T11:53:00.003-04:00

I thought I should get at least one post in before March is over. This has not been the best month. Mostly because the weather is still quite cold and yucky.

Knitting has still been happening, though. Here is the second hat I made for Hat Attack! It's the Binary Cable pattern and can be found on Ravelry. It's a fun hat to knit. This one is made from Lamb's Pride Worsted in Wild Oak. I thought it turned out nice.

I am no longer alive in Hat Attack! My death hat arrived on Thursday to finish me off. I love the color and the way it fits. We took a long walk along the Mohawk River yesterday and it kept my head nice and warm.

Here is a picture I snapped with my phone at the Palm Sunday auction at church. I made a knit-up-the-back hooded baby sweater and crocheted a matching turtle to be auctioned.

They brought in $18.00 which was fine by me. A friend was sitting at the table with us during the auction and wanted to pay me to make one for her grandson. I told her to donate the same amount to the auction and I would make it for her. We didn't discuss color or size yet so I haven't started it. I'll have to call her and get the details. It won't get started until after my niece's baby shower on April 14th, though. I have a couple of things I want to get made for her.

And here is the hooded sweater and socks I made for my other niece's new son. He was born in January and I didn't get them sent out until the beginning of March so I hope they fit him. The sweater pattern is from Creative Knitting March 2008. The socks are the Class Socks from Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch. I used Bernat Softee Baby yarn to make them.

I finished a pair of baby socks for the Sock A Month KAL today. Last day as usual. They are for charity and made from leftovers in Regia Crazy Colors.

And that is pretty much it for me this month. Other than what I am working on for the baby shower. I am hoping that April turns out to be a much nicer month weatherwise.

February Frog socks

2008-02-15T09:28:00.003-05:00

I finally finished this pair of socks! They were started in May 2007. I knit them to the heel flap and they were set down. In July, I was working on them while coming home from a camping trip and did the heel wrong. I ripped them back to the heel flap and they sat in time out until October. I redid the heel, worked the gusset and they were set down yet again. I finally picked them up this month and decided to finish as my Sock A Month KAL 5 socks.

I call them my February Frog socks because of the froggy green stripes.

Pattern: Yankee Knitter Designs "Classic Socks for the family"
Yarn: Online Supersocke 6-fach Winter #882
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) Chia Goo bamboos
Leg was knit in k2, p2 ribbing.

I plan on starting the Ripple Socks from "Not Just More Socks" by Sandi Rosner. I'm using Plymouth "Sockotta" in color #5618. I haven't actually cast on for these yet but I plan to tomorrow.

As far as Hat Attack! goes, I am still alive. I haven't heard anything from my assassin since her initial post. I could still be alive next week. Pretty cool.

Hat Attack!

2008-02-13T10:10:00.002-05:00

I participated in Hat Attack! this past weekend. The pattern is called the Binary Cable hat. I made it from Patons Classic Merino wool in the color "New Denim".

I started it around 11 a.m. on Saturday morning and finished it Sunday afternoon. It shouldn't have taken me that long but I had a couple of false starts and then life got in the way. It's a fun pattern to knit but I'm not sure I want to do another one very soon.

The object of Hat Attack! is to knit a hat to send to your target before your assassin can send a completed hat to you. This hat was mailed on Monday morning and is awaiting pickup in Baltimore as of this morning. So my target will be dead but my assassin emailed that she finished her hat and will probably be sending it today. So I won't be in the game much longer. But it was fun.

I did what most of you will think is a very silly thing. I gave up buying anything related to knitting for Lent. That means no yarn, needles, books, magazines, etc. It's going to drive me nuts!

I knew a few days before Lent that I would probably do this so I went online and ordered two skeins of sock yarn. That was so I would have some yarn arrive after Lent began and I'd have something to drool over.

This first skein is Dream in Color Smooshy in the color "Giant Peach". Doesn't it look very peachy? Mmmm!

I ordered it from Sonny and Shear. Nice fast service. I ordered it on 2/5/08 and it arrived on 2/11/08.

And this pretty, pretty yarn is Noelle's Noodles in "Candy Rock". I ordered this one from eat.sleep.knit on 2/6/08 and it arrived with the Smooshy.

So I now have two yummy sock yarns to pet and fondle and plan what I'm going to knit out of them. Lent is going to go soooo slowly!

What's wrong with this picture?

2008-01-22T12:17:00.000-05:00

Well, actually nothing is wrong with this picture. This is a hooded baby sweater that I'm making for my niece's newborn son. The pattern is from the March 2008 issue of Creative Knitting and it's really easy. As you can see I have the back and the left front done. Now look at this picture with the right front added.

If you click on the picture to make it larger, you will see that the right front border is about 1/2" shorter than the left front border. The picture was taken on 1/16/08 so it's already fixed. In fact, I have one sleeve done, 1/2 the second sleeve done, the shoulder seams sewn and the hood stitches picked up so I can work on it at my knitting group tonight. Then I want to make a pair of socks to match it.

Addendum to my flying squirrel story. Apparently when the squirrel jumped at us, I did snap a picture.

Yeah, not much to see here, people. Move along.

Rocky the Flying Squirrel!

2008-01-12T15:51:00.000-05:00

Can you imagine what it would feel like to see this squirrel coming flying at you? Alek and I can!! This is a picture off the internet since just as I was about to snap a picture of the flying squirrel perched atop my curtains, he leaped at me! Well, he was leaping for the computer desk but since I was standing right next to it, it looked like he was jumping at me. I screamed and ducked and Alek, who was filming the squirrel on his phone, accidently shut the phone before he could save the pictures. Right after that, the squirrel dashed out the French doors that I had opened to shoo him out.

Flying squirrels are beautiful animals. This one got in through the fireplace somehow. There's an insert in it so we're not sure how he managed to get into the house. And he's not the first flying squirrel we've had visit the fireplace. About 15 years ago, one was trapped in the insert. Scott got that one out by putting on heavy leather fireplace gloves and capturing him. We also had a little screech owl in there once. He got out and flew through the living room, leaving sooty wing prints on the ceiling.

Our visitor today actually went into the entertainment center, climbed to the top of it and launched himself at one window, went across the mantle to another window and then jumped at us. Then we went outside and watched him glide from tree to tree until he was gone. We knew something was in the fireplace because the dog was sniffing at the air grate and barking. I put her outside once I saw it in the house. Really cool and I so wish I'd snapped the picture!!

Here's a picture of the fourth and final cabled scarf I made for Christmas. I used the Karaoke Cabled Scarf pattern from Midnight Knitter again this time using Patons "Rumor" yarn. I haven't seen the recipient since before Christmas so I don't know if she liked it or not.

This is my first FO of 2008. I made Alek a ribbed hat using Patons Classic Merino wool. Simple k 1, p 1 ribbing from Knit a Dozen Beanies by American School of Needlework.

He said it fits perfectly. He let me take a picture for the blog even though he had just come downstairs that morning.

I'm sporadically working on projects lately. I want to make a baby sweater for my niece who is due any day now. And I signed up for Sock a Month KAL 5 so I need to finish a pair of socks soon. Plus I bought the yarn to make a Minimalist Cardigan from Interweave Knits Fall 2007 for Ariane and yarn to make a new scarf for Scott. And I don't seem to be accomplishing much on any of them!

All Cables, All the Time

2007-12-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

The Christmas deadline is looming and I'm still knitting cabled scarves. I finished the Karaoke Scarf in Noro Kureyon and the Classic Cable Scarf from Knit Ponchos, Wraps, and Scarves by Jane Davis in pink Cascade 128.

I started another Classic Cable Scarf in red Harmony wool by Ironstone Yarns.

I have about 52" done and I'm almost through the second skein. I'd like it to be about 70" long so I'll break into the third skein.

Then I'll have to knit like the wind to finish the fourth scarf. I'm not sure what cable pattern I'll use but I'm making it out of Wisdom Yarns "Poems" in a teal blue varigated. I'll post a picture of it after I start it and when I have some decent light. The snow from the Nor'easter we're having is making it a little dark for pictures.

One nice thing about nor'easters, you definitely feel like staying inside and knitting! I did some Christmas shopping yesterday (along with thousands of other people) because I knew today was not going to be a good one for any traveling. I'd post some storm pictures but they would look like all the other storm pictures I've posted so just check my archives for January or February of this year. At least the wind that was gusting so hard earlier has died down. Now there's just a steady snowfall.

I think I'll go watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy with my son. We're decorating the tree tonight which is another perfect activity for a snowy day.

Let the gift knitting begin!

2007-11-02T17:01:00.000-04:00

I try not to plan on making very many gifts for the holidays. I always end up missing the deadline. That being said, two of my good friends each have two daughters. The ages are 15, 16, 18, and 21. And I like to make things for the girls if I can think of something that they would like. One year I made them each felted bags and another year they all got fun fur type scarves. The scarves were worn a lot. I'm not sure how often the bags were used. But, no matter.

On to this year's gift knitting. The beginning of this week, I decided to join the Fall Cable KAL 2007 (button on side bar) because I love knitting cables. I was going to make another Irish Hiking Scarf but in looking through the free internet patterns that I have, I found the Karaoke Cable Scarf from Midnight Knitter. So I dug around in the stash and found 3 skeins of Gedifra Fashion Trend Stripes in a nice brown/cream/tan colorway and cast on for a scarf for myself.

Pretty, isn't it? And so easy to memorize, too. Then I got to thinking that this scarf would make great Christmas presents for the girls! So I put aside the scarf for me (isn't that always the way?) and cast on a new one.

I'm using some Noro Kureyon 102 that has been in my stash for a long time. I thought I make a Booga Bag out of it but that never seemed to happen. And it seems perfect for the 15 year old that I have in mind for it.

The knitting was started this past Tuesday while I was at my weekly knitting group. It's very easy to work the pattern without looking as long as I keep track of what row I'm on. The first skein of yarn is done and measured about 29". I have 4 skeins of the Noro so I should have plenty to make a nice long scarf. And she might even get a pair of fingerless gloves to match.

Now to decide what to make for the other three girls!

Matchy, matchy...

2007-10-30T08:51:00.000-04:00

I finally finished the socks to match the Sakonnet baby hat. I don't know why I found making baby socks with worsted weight yarn on size US 5 needles to be such a pain. But I'm glad that they're done. And in time to be considered my October sock of the month, too.

Pattern: Yankee Knitter Designs "Classic socks for the family"
Yarn: Plymouth Encore worsted in denim and white
Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) bamboos

A couple of weeks ago I went to an open house at the Shops at 25 West in Little Falls. The three craft shops that are in this co-op of stores all had door prizes. I naturally signed up for the one in the Pincushion Patchwork yarn shop and I won!

Isn't this gorgeous yarn? It's handspun merino sock yarn from Fat Cat Knits. She's a local spinner. Unfortunately, I don't find any sock yarn on her Etsy site. She does have some great rovings, though. Makes me wish I knew how to spin.

Here's a progress picture on my green Online ribbed socks. I am at the toe decreases of the first sock.

This is another pair that just seems to be taking forever to finish. Probably because I don't work on them. Maybe I'll get them done as my November socks.

Ravelry and knitting stuff

2007-10-04T21:36:00.000-04:00

Yep, I made it into Ravelry last week. I've been poking around the site, signing up for groups and putting in some of my stash and projects. I have most of my books listed. I didn't realize I had so many. I entered 65 and that's not all of them. It's a great site. I'm Suefaye over there if you want to add me as a friend.

I finished up some mittens for the Cheyenne River Reservation. I wanted to get 7 pairs done but only managed to finish 3 pairs.

Donna had made 3 pairs for me to send to them, too. Don't you love the embroidered flowers on the pink pair!

I bought a baby earflap hat pattern while on the Cape. The son of a friend just became a father for the first time so I made one for his new son.

The pattern is the Sakonnet Bonnet from Designs by Louise. I started it Thursday afternoon while on the Cape and finished it on the first leg of the trip home on Saturday. It was a nice, quick knit. I used Plymouth Encore in denim marl and white.

Now I'm trying to get a pair of socks done to go with the hat. I'm finally past the gussets on the first one. I ripped the heel out twice - once because I made it on the front of the sock and once because the flap wasn't long enough. Hopefully the second one will go more smoothly.

Tomorrow should be the day!

2007-09-27T23:06:00.000-04:00

There are now 201 people ahead of me on the Ravelry list. So by tomorrow I expect I'll receive my invite. I'm still on vacation in Cape Cod so I probably won't be able to explore too much until I get home.

Here is what you do on a Sunday afternoon in late September when on Cape Cod. This is Scott and I sitting on Nauset Beach in Orleans, Massachusetts.

This is the view we are looking at from our beach seats.

And this is Scott not being amused that we are asking him to stop reading again so we can take yet another picture. I decided to give him a little pinch to liven him up. I don't think it worked.

I have visited a couple of yarn shops and purchased 3 patterns, US 1 bamboo double points (Plymouth), US 2 double points (Chia Goo), a skein of Austermann Step, 2 skeins of Plymouth Encore and two skeins of Utopia worsted weight.

One of the patterns was for a cute baby earflap hat that I started in the Plymouth Encore. It's for the new grandson of a friend. The other patterns were both sweater patterns for children.

Tomorrow is our last full day here. We'll do a little more sightseeing, a little more shopping, and start to gather up all our belongings. It's been fun but I'll be glad to get home. Four couples in one house gets to be a little confining after a week.

I have more pictures but I don't know if I'll get them posted before we leave for home. Catch you later.

Hot Socks on the Beach!

2007-09-23T11:50:00.001-04:00

Here are a couple of pictures of my September Socks for SAMKAL4 taking a little stroll on the beach at Barnstable Harbor on Cape Cod.

We're renting a house in Barnstable for this week and it's 50 yards from the beach. I'll be posting more pictures throughout the week.

I finished the socks during the 5 hour trip out here. I was not happy when one of my Brittany double points snapped on the last row of the second sock. I just bought the needles a couple of weeks ago and this was the first pair of socks I made with them. I think I'll be contacting Brittany. I love using their needles and was so disappointed.

The pattern is my favorite "Classic Socks for the family" by Yankee Knitters Designs. The yarn is Regia 6 "Crazy Colors". The above mentioned needles were US size 2 1/2 (3.00 mm).

Now on to my next pair of socks. I'm not completely sure what I'm doing next. Maybe a pair for my youngest sister's birthday in November.

3957!

2007-09-20T19:33:00.001-04:00

That's where I am on the Ravelry waiting list!!! The list is moving quite fast now and I'm getting anxious to see what everyone is talking about. Hopefully I'll find out soon. The blog said that they are inviting 500-600 people a day now.

Today I packed my knitting for our trip to Cape Cod. I have several socks-in-progress, the Big-Foot Bunny from Knitting Toys by Zoe Mellor, baby booties, mittens for the Cheyenne Reservation, and worsted weight socks for afghans for Afghans and Children-In-Common. I don't know if I'll go to any of the yarn shops that I like there since I really don't need any more yarn!! But, I probably will hit at least one.

No pictures today since I haven't finished anything. My Crazy Color socks are still progressing but I still have an inch before I start the toe decreases. I'd love to get them done before we leave but I don't see that happening. I should be able to finish them on the 5-6 hour trip to the Cape, though. Then I can wear them while we're there!

I just finished the book "Died in Wool" by Mary Kruger. It's a knitting mystery (obviously) and it was good. I bought the second book in the series last night while at Barnes and Noble. I also like Maggie Sefton's knitting mysteries.

That's it for tonight and that's 3 posts in 3 days! I'm on a roll!!

Knitted Toys Group

2007-09-19T09:37:00.000-04:00

I know, two posts in two days! Don't worry, it probably won't become a habit.

When I posted yesterday, I meant to point out the "Join" button for knitted toys on my side bar. I'd like to make more knitted toys and couldn't find a yahoo group that had exactly what I wanted. So, I started my own group. If you have any interest in making knitted or crocheted toys, come on in!

The site is still quite new but I hope to be adding more to it soon.

That's it for now and I hope to see you all soon!!

Someone stop me!

2007-09-18T22:52:00.000-04:00

I keep buying sock yarn! Here is a picture of sock yarn that I've purchased in the past month.

There's two different colors of Crystal Palace "Panda Wool", Cascade "Sassy Stripes", Lana Grossa "Meilenweit", Regia 4, and Opal "Herbstmelodie" handpainted. I started out looking for a self-striping yarn that was mostly red to make a pair of socks for a friend. She liked the Moda Dea "Sassy Stripes" sock that I hated working on. I suppose I could just suck it up and make the second sock but I really don't care for the yarn.

The first Panda Wool I bought is Lacquer Red. But I foolishly only bought one skein. When I went back to the Little Knits site, I saw they have a $25.00 minumum. Oh, what a shame! So I bought one more skein of the Lacquer Red, two skeins of Red Cinnamon, and a Dale of Norway book. The previous order (when I bought the first Panda Wool) was also when I bought the Opal and the Meilenweit. The Cascade "Sassy Stripes" I purchased at a LYS. That's why it isn't in a shade of red. The Regia was purchased when we were in Lake Placid two weekends ago.

Heaven knows I don't need any more sock yarn. I have enough in my stash to make probably 20 pairs of socks. It's just all so pretty! Now all I have to do is knit it into socks. I'm thinking of making each of my sisters a pair for their birthdays. That would mean one pair in November, two pairs in December (the 8th and 31st) and one pair in June. I might be able to do that.

I'm on the foot of the second Crazy Color sock. The foot always seems to take sooo long to finish. I should have these done in plenty of time to count as my September socks in the Sock A Month KAL 4.

Update on Mom - the catherization went well and the doctor said you could drive a truck through her arteries because they were so clear. Unfortunately, after the procedure, she went into atrial fibrillation. She had to stay overnight in the hospital so they could get her heart rate regulated. She's doing okay now but she has two new medicines to take every day. Thanks for all good thoughts.

We leave Saturday for our annual trip to Cape Cod. The house we rented this year is only 50 yards from Barnstable Harbor. I can't wait to go! There is wi-fi at the house so I'll be able to post pictures while we are there. Both of Scott's brothers and his oldest sister and all their spouses are going. That means 4 couples in the house. Usually we have 3 couples. This may prove interesting.

It's looking a little more like love...

2007-09-13T07:08:00.000-04:00

I think I could really like knitting socks if I keep trying it. Using Brittany size US 2 1/2 (3.0 mm) birch needles and some Regia 6 "Crazy Colors" (color 5404)that was marinating in my stash, I cast on the Easy Sock Pattern from the apparently defunct Oz Yarns. I wanted to try it because it uses a "no wrap" short row heel.

Well, the short row heel was not looking quite right so I ripped it out and did a normal heel flap and gusset. Except that I didn't make the heel flap long enough and ended up ripping it back again. Third time's a charm and I have one finished sock! Even the toe grafting went well. And I did that in the truck on the way back from our weekend in Lake Placid.

I love the colors in this yarn! I was a little concerned because I managed to pick the one spot in the striping that only shows up every 9" or so. But I found it with very little trouble in the skein I picked to start the second sock. The cuff is done on the second sock and I'm moving into the leg.

The first sock took a little over one skein of the Regia which makes me happy that I have bought 3 skeins of it.

Back when we were in New Hampshire, I promised to take a full view picture of the marketplace where Patternworks is located. And now I'm finally posting it.

There is quite a bit more to the building but the end part is Patternworks with Keepsake Quilts next to it under the porch roof.

Now I'd like to respond to a couple of comments that were posted recently.

Sue Rowal asked if we ate at Hart's Turkey Farm while in New Hampshire. Yes, we had lunch there one day and it was very tasty! They even had a veggie sandwich for my vegetarian husband.

Sheryl (Bibliocat) wanted to know if the Hugs N Kisses ponchettes are for the twins or for dolls. Well, they are for the twins (who are just one year old) but eventually they can use them for their dolls. The pattern is from Creative Knitting Magazine July 2005.

That's it for now. I have to get ready to head to the hospital soon. My mother is having a heart catherization today to see if there is a blockage or narrowing of one of the arteries. Hopefully, she won't need angioplasty. Please keep her in your prayers and thoughts.

Love/hate relationship with socks

2007-08-29T08:39:00.000-04:00

I really want to like making socks. I look at all the beautiful sock patterns and yarns out there and I want them all. I have a pair of socks I made myself that I love to wear. I want to give socks as gifts. But so many times I get to the heel flap and set the sock down for months. Why? I know how to do the flap and turn a heel. I don't even have problems picking up the gusset stitches.

It might have something to do with how long it takes me to make a pair of socks on size 1 or 2 needles. But, if I work on a sock faithfully, I can get it done in a reasonable amount of time.

Oh well, enough lamenting. It's time to get serious about socks. One way I figured I would push myself to make socks was to join the Sock of the Month 4 KAL. (Click on the button in my sidebar for more info.) I joined the SAM3KAL late and only finished two of the four pairs I was supposed to make. I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to join the next round but I decided to look at the final socks that people had made. And I immediately signed up for the 4th round.

Of course, now I had to get a pair of socks made. I was working on a pair while in New Hampshire that are made from Moda Dea "Sassy Stripes" on size US 3 double points. I worked on that sock for the whole week and almost finished it. Unfortunately, I hated working with the 100% acrylic yarn. I had to switch from Crystal Palace bamboo needles to metal needles to finish the foot. Here is a picture of it just before I finished the toe decreases.

It looks nice but believe me, it was torture! Then I tried grafting the toe late at night and it looks terrible. Oh, I think it's salvageable but I left it in disgust. I dread making the second sock.

Now it's getting toward the end of August and I didn't have socks done for the KAL. I know I can't get a pair of socks made on size 1 or 2 needles with sock weight yarn in time. I'm just not fast enough. Then I remembered that to be eligible for this KAL, they don't have to be adult socks. Baby or child size socks will do. Plus Afghans for Afghans is asking for warm wool socks for kids from ages 7 - 14.

Ta da! A pair of warm wool socks made in Patons Classic Wool on size US 5 needles. It's the "Good Earth" colorway.

I cast on 40 stitches to make the child's medium size but accidently made the foot 6" long instead of 5" long. Since they are for charity, I'm sure they will fit someone. I started the socks on August 21st and finished them on the 27th. The second sock was started in the car on a trip to Rochester to Ariane. 2 1/2 hours to get there, knitting on them for most of the day, and then the 2 1/2 hour trip home knitting in the dark. I was on the foot by the time we were coming home so I didn't need to see what I was knitting. As so I have my August socks completed for the KAL with a few days to spare!

I dug out two more skeins of the Patons Classic Wool in varigated colors and started another pair yesterday. These are in the "RoseWood" colorway. The socks need to be sent to A4A by September 12th. If I finish up two more pairs, I'll have my September socks done for the KAL, too.

Center Harbor, NH

2007-08-08T13:31:00.000-04:00

Do you know what is located in Center Harbor, New Hampshire?

Can you read the sign above my head? That's right! Patternworks!! I'm standing on the wooden walkway of Senter's Marketplace preparing to go down the stairs and to my left to get here (click on the picture to enlarge it):

They have a sign right as you walk in the door asking that you not take any pictures of the inside of the shop. And I respect that so I'll just have to tell you what I found inside.

Immediately to my left was a corner filled with sock making supplies - needles, books, and yarns. I picked up a set of Crystal Palace 6" double points in US size 3. I was a little surprised that they didn't carry any dpns in the 5" length. They had 4" Addis and 7" Brittanys and the 6" Crystal Palace but no 5's. As for sock yarn, I saw Regia 4 fach, Tofutsies, Jawoll, and a few others that I forget right now.

The store is set up in several rooms and each room seems to have a general theme. There was worsted weight yarns in the first room to the right. This room also held Addis in all sizes. I went through this room to a little hallway that held chunky weight yarn. I was looking for Encore Chunky to make the Oregon Vest by Oat Couture. I found 5 skeins of a pretty garnet color but I needed at least 6. I asked one of the 3 sales clerks if there was any more of that color. She went upstairs to check for me and came down with two more skeins. I decided to take all seven skeins to be safe.

The room after the chunky hallway seemed to be DK, sport, and baby yarns. There was a lot of different cottons and cotton blends in there. Each room also had books and patterns that went along with the yarns. From the sport weight room, I went back to the first room which, in addition to the sock yarn, had a corner devoted to felting, some lace weight yarns, and another display of yarn that I forget.

While I was waiting for the clerk to bring down the Encore, I noticed a very pretty teapot cozy sitting on display. Next to it was a copy of One Skein Wonders. I asked another clerk if the cozy pattern was in this book. Sure enough it was. It was done in Knit One, Crochet Too "Paint Box" in a very pretty muted colorway. The clerk took me to the worsted room and showed me the display of "Paint Box" and I picked up a skein in a brown, rust colorway. I have a copy of One Skein Wonders at home and I'll make the teapot cozy for my daughter.

All throughout the store there are baskets and shelves of sale yarns. I restrained myself quite well but I did pick up a pretty pink/white marl in Plymouth "Galway" to use for charity mittens.

And that was the extent of my purchases at Patternworks. Mainly because my husband was waiting outside the store and I didn't want overdo it. The store was a little smaller than I expected but was still a good size. The displays are neat and well organized, the rooms are very bright and not cluttered, and the sales staff was very friendly and helpful.

I haven't taken any pictures of the yarn I bought yet. The campsite is a little shady and it was pouring the day we went to Center Harbor. I'd like to go back before we leave and if we do, I'll take pictures of the whole marketplace area. Keepsake Quilting is there and a rather large cross-stitch/needlework store that I didn't even go into.

Meredith, NH

2007-08-04T23:05:00.000-04:00

Well, here I am at the Twin Tamaracks Campground in Meredith, New Hampshire. It was a long (5 1/2 hour), uneventful trip. We traveled from New York through Vermont to get to New Hampshire. I should have had the camera in the truck because the scenery was beautiful. I'll take pictures this week to show you how pretty the mountains of New Hampshire are in the summer.

I was very happy to find that there is free wi-fi at the campground. I didn't see any mention of it on the website or in their brochure but I always check my network connections when we get to the campground and there it was! Now I can keep in touch and have my internet fix, too.

I think I need to get some sleep since I was awake at 4:30 a.m. and put in a very long day. We didn't get to the campground until 6:15 p.m. and never had dinner until after 8:30 p.m. Now it's after 11 p.m.

More later this week!

Camping in upstate NY

2007-08-02T08:57:00.000-04:00

Camping in upstate NY usually means that at some point, you will be sitting in the rain. This is Scott sitting by the campfire at Wellesley Island State Park in the Thousand Islands. We camped there the week of July 7-15.

Wayne joined him for a while but they both gave up and sat under the awning with the rest of us. It rained every day we were there. But sometimes the rain came at night and I don't think there was any day that was a complete wash out.

And one day we even got to see a rainbow.

The trailer shown in the first picture is our new 5th wheel. We really didn't like the quality of the one we bought two years ago so we traded it in on one that we really wanted. It's bigger and very nice. I'll have to take pictures of the inside sometime and post them.

We went camping at Sampson State Park on Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes last weekend from Friday night to Monday. It rained on our trip out but then it was gorgeous for the rest of the weekend. I have a couple pictures that I'll post later.

This Saturday we leave for a week in Meredith, New Hampshire. The campground is about 11 miles from Patternworks so I'm excited. There will be a little yarn shopping going on. I just hope the nasty cold I'm battling will be gone by the weekend.

I finally finished the Hugs N Kisses ponchettes for my niece's twin girls. I mailed them before we left last Friday. I don't know if they will ever get to wear them as they live in North Carolina but they can use them as doll clothes or something.

I made them out of Red Heart Super Saver since I know Katie will just throw them in the washer and dryer. The yarn was stiff but it softened up nicely after I washed and dried them.

Now I have to get back to making mittens for the Cheyenne River Reservation. Last year I sent 6 pairs (I made 5 and Donna made 1), and this year Ann has asked for 7 pairs in 2007. I have 4 pairs in various stages of completion.

Oh man, I need to be to work early and I'm not even close to being ready. Gotta run!

May Socks and camping

2007-06-07T14:08:00.000-04:00

These are the socks I finished for May for the SAM3 KAL. I call them my bulletproof socks. They were knit from one skein of Reynolds Lopi on size 6 needles. The pattern was a free one from Dawn Brocco called One Skein Lopi Socks. I don't think it's on the internet anymore.

I made the first sock several years ago while waiting from my daughter to have knee surgery. The second sock was done through the heel flap and then abandoned. I looked at it a few times over the years but had misplaced the pattern. That's when I discovered a google search didn't turn it up anymore. Luckily I found the pattern in all my papers. I finished it over Memorial Day weekend. Here is a picture of the sock relaxing on the picnic table at the campground. (You can click on any picture for a close up.)

We camped at Association Island. It's an island in Lake Ontario connected by a causeway to the mainland. Originally it was owned by General Electric and used as a conference center. About 4 years ago, it was turned into a campground. It still needs some work done to the campsites but the scenery is beautiful. You can see Lake Ontario from any place on the island. Here are a few pictures that I took.

This is the campsite we had. I took this Monday morning and a lot of people had left already.

They have quite a few sites that are right on the water. We were one row back but this shows one of the waterfront sites.

Here is Alek enjoying the view. He attended Oswego State University which is also on the shores of Lake Ontario and spent many hours on the lake.

And, finally, this is a picture of a trailer heading across the causeway to the mainland.

It was nice to get out for the first camping trip. We did not appreciate the annoying little bugs that swarmed everything in sight. Fortunately they didn't bite but they were everywhere!

I have been knitting a lot lately. And even finished a few things. Mainly little things but they do count. I'll post again soon about our trip to Rochester this past weekend.

7 Random Things

2007-05-24T07:48:00.000-04:00

Vivian tagged me with the 7 random things meme. That was a good thing as it prompted me to post. Here are 7 things you never wanted to know about me.

1. I'm addicted to playing solitaire and Scrabble on my laptop. Too often I play them instead of doing things I really need to do.

2. I used to weave baskets and I've made over a hundred baskets in my life time. I sold most of them in a consignment craft shop. I stopped making them several years ago and have only made one since then.

3. The only things I've ever knit for myself in the 40+ years I have been knitting are two pairs of socks and two scarves.

4. I collect old needlework tools. I have thimbles, tape measures, tatting shuttles, sewing kits, crochet hooks, etc.

5. My mother's ancestors came to the Mohawk Valley around 1709 and helped settle this area.

6. The house I lived in while growing up was haunted.

7. I was very shy and hated giving oral speeches in high school so I would pick an offbeat topic to hold everyone's attention. I gave talks on fortune telling, voodoo, and life after death.

On the knitting front, things have been very disjointed. I am working on things but not finishing things. I have the second ponchette, a back-zip hooded baby sweater, a toddler pullover, and socks on the needles in various stages of completion. And I'm not very enthused about working on any of them. I did knit a pair of baby booties but that's about it. I'm trying to resist casting on for something new to break the boredom.

I hope everyone here in the U.S. has a nice Memorial Day weekend. We're packing up the 5th wheel and camping for the weekend. I can't wait to go!

April Socks

2007-05-01T09:42:00.000-04:00

Here are my April socks for the Sock-A-Month 3 KAL (link in sidebar). I made them using this pattern. The yarn is Online Supersocke, Fach 6, Winter Colors in color 880. I used size 2.75mm needles.

For some unknown reason, I decided to make the foot 50 rows long instead of 56 rows. They're a little short for my size 9 foot but fit my daughter's foot perfectly. (I had her try on the finished one when she was home at Easter). I mailed them out to her yesterday.

I cast on for another pair of socks with another skein of Online Supersocke. This one is in shades of green and gray. I'm using size 2.75 mm needles again but I'm using my Yankee Knitter Designs "Classic Socks" pattern. I did 1 inch of K1, P1 ribbing and then went to K2, P2 ribbing for the rest of the leg. I don't have enough done to post a picture yet.

I decided it was time to send out a bunch of charity items that have been patiently waiting in my project basket.

These full term and toddler hats are going to Parkland Hospital in Texas. I'm at work and don't have the names of all the pattern books I used. I'll post what I remember and correct myself later.

Left to right:

Turquoise hat - Itty Bitty Hats using Caron Simply Soft.
Lavendar hat - pattern written by Gail Bable for the Knit Baby Surprise list where I am no longer a member. Knit in Bernat Soft (I think).
Rolled brim hat - Knit Hats for Kids book in Smania from JoAnn's Fabrics.
Blue helmet - Sirdar pattern in Peter Pan by Wendy. I'll have to post the leaflet number after I'm home.

And these sweater/bootie sets are going to Warm Hearts, Warm Babies in Colorado.

The sweater pattern for both is Little Lamb from Leisure Arts "Precious Layettes" book. It's knit from the top down and a great pattern. It can be found at most JoAnn's Fabric stores. The bootie pattern is another Sirdar pattern. The yarns used are Patons Astra (pink) and Patons Look at Me (purple).

MDK Miters

2007-04-17T14:52:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture of my latest project. It's a mitered square from Mason-Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner and Ann Meador Shayne.

It's knit from Lion Brand Wool Ease in Cranberry and Mushroom. I also have one finished in Forest Green Heather and Mushroom. I only need 78 more blocks to make this blanket.

I decided on Wool Ease for a couple of reasons. One is that I have a plastic tote full of various colors and the other is that Wool Ease can be machine washed and (hopefully) dried. I don't expect to get this blanket done anytime soon. It's more of a project to do when I want something easy to knit. I don't find it totally mindless but it's very easy to do.

There is a problem with the pattern, though, and I can't seem to find any errata on it. I end up with one extra stitch which throws off the bind off. I'm going to reread the pattern to be sure I didn't miss something and if I don't find the problem, I'll ask one of the online knitting groups.

Saturday Sue and I went to Remsen to Wool Haven Yarn Shop. We had a nice visit with the shop owner (unfortunately I don't know her name). She has lots of great finished projects all through the shop. I got to see a Tomten jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann and an Einstein jacket by Sally Melville. The samples made me want to make both of them. Well, except for the fact that they are both all garter stitch. I don't know if I can do that much garter stitch.

I bought enough Plymouth Encore to make a Knitting Pure and Simple cardigan vest and a couple skeins of Lopi for felted slippers. I also got a copy of Vivian Hoxboro's Domino Knitting. Mitered squares seem to be my thing lately.

I've been working on prayer shawls but I haven't finished one yet. I have to write up a short presentation for the Missions Committee at church. I hope there's enough interest to start a prayer shawl group.

Okay. Enough from me for today. I need to get back to work. Take care!

Knitting beginnings

2007-04-05T10:07:00.000-04:00

I think I first learned to knit around age 8 or 9. I'm not completely sure but it must have been somewhere around then. And I'm not sure if my mother or my maternal grandmother taught me but it was one or both of them. But all they taught me was how to knit and purl. I'm not even sure how long I continued to knit after I first learned but I suspect it wasn't long. Fast forward to me after I was married but before I had children. That would put me between the ages of 23 and 26. I remember wanting to make Barbie doll clothes for my husband's nieces but I didn't know how to increase or decrease. Decreasing was a no brainer but I had to find a knitting how-to book and decipher the written directions on knitting into the front and back of a stitch. The great thing about doll clothes is that they are very small so if you goof up, you can rip back and start over without too much angst. I did learn how to K f&b and to decrease. And I made quite a few doll clothes for the nieces. Now those nieces have little girls of their own. And I still have those pattern books from almost 30 years ago.

All this came to mind when I was trying to think of something quick to make for the Palm Sunday charity auction at church last week. I only had a week and wanted something I could work up quickly. I had recently purchased two American School of Needlework pattern books of fashion doll clothes and wanted to try some of the patterns. So I went to A. C. Moore and picked up a couple of inexpensive fashion dolls and made some clothes for them.

The evening gown pattern and the burgundy blouse pattern were in the new pattern books. The burgundy skirt was from one of my old pattern books. The tube top and the two dresses were patterns I found online. And the scarves and the multicolored skirt I made up. The multicolored skirt is crocheted as is the scarf/shawl that matches it. I thought they all turned out well. I bought two canvas bags to hold the dolls and clothes. A little girl at church now has two dolls and several outfits to play with and I had fun making them.

I have good news to report on my sock. As you can see, I managed to find the right place in the yarn pattern to start after undoing the knot. This picture shows the sock a couple rows into the heel flap. In real time, the heel flap is done and it's time to turn the heel now.

I have also been working on a prayer shawl. I'm going to try and start a prayer shawl group at church. I can't remember the name of the shawl pattern I'm using and since I'm at work, I'll have to post it at another time. I am using Plymouth Encore Colours in a gray/lt. blue/white colorway. Updates and photos on this project will be in a future post.

Thank you to everyone who commiserated with me on the knot in the yarn. And I thankfully don't have any unhappy medical news, Amy, but thank you for your concern.

Happy Face, Sad Face

2007-03-15T10:17:00.000-04:00

I have some happy things to share and some not so happy things to share. The first thing that makes me happy is this pair of cardinals. (Click on the picture for a close up) His color is so bright and cheery in the otherwise drab landscape.
And even though Mama Cardinal isn't as bright, she's just as beautiful with her more subtle coloring.

The next thing to make me happy is I finished the first Hugs & Kisses Ponchette for my niece's twin daughters. I used Red Heart Super Saver acrylic in the Bon Bon Print. It took just over a skein of yarn. The pattern is from the July 2005 issue of Creative Knitting. I changed the pattern a little. I did purl 1, 4 cable back, purl 1 instead of the purl 2, cable twist, purl 2 written in the pattern. I don't like doing twists. I'd much rather do a regular cable. Other than that, I followed the pattern exactly. I still have to weave in ends and wash it. I think I might put a tassel on the point of the hood. It seems to call for it.

I've started the second one in Red Heart Super Saver Bikini. Very bright colors in both of these yarns. Katie won't lose sight of the twins in these ponchettes! The 100% acrylic yarn was a necessary choice as I know she won't have the time or inclination to hand wash or block them.

Now for the not so happy part. Here is the latest picture of my second 56 stitch sock. Do you see that? The part where the yarn is separated? I found a knot in the yarn. This (as you can imagine) did not make me very happy. I untied it and decided to just knit the two ends together for a couple of stitches so I could continue on my merry way. After a few stitches I knew the stripes would be off by maybe an inch. And I had matched the stripes perfectly! They were spot on as far as the stripes go. ARGGHH! I am in the process of tinking back to where the turquoise stripe starts. Then I'll find where the next turquoise stripe starts in the skein of yarn. Not a hard fix but annoying all the same. And as you can see, I have more than enough yarn left to accomplish this task.

I really want to finish this second sock before the end of March as I joined the Sock A Month Kal 3. You can see the button on my sidebar. You knit a pair of socks a month from February until July. Of course, I won't have a pair for February but I'd like to try to get the other 5 pairs done. Even though I started the 56 stitch pair before I joined, they are still eligible if I finish the second one in March. This will be a good incentive for me to finish some socks.

After all the sub zero temperatures we've had in March, this week has been balmy in comparison. Yesterday was in the high 50's. But when you have warm temps, a couple feet of snow, and then the temps begin to drop again, you get snow fog!

Pretty cool, huh? Not so cool for driving home from work in, though. There were times when I couldn't see more than a hundred feet in front of me. Luckily my drive home is only 6 minutes. And the fog was thick only in some places. Today it's doing some kind of rain/snow thing and the whole area is under a flood watch. Plus the weather people don't know what the nor'easter coming up the coast is going to dump on us. It might not dump anything but we don't usually have that kind of luck. The warm temperatures did take out a lot of snow, though. Of course, that's why we have flood warnings. You can't win around here, weatherwise.

Oh, and that cold I mentioned coming on last week? It was a doozy! Today is the first day I don't feel like my head is stuffed with cotton wool. I'm still coughing and my nose is still a little drippy but I'm feeling human again. I went home from work on Friday and only left the house once until I went back to work on Tuesday. And I didn't even go to my knitting group on Tuesday night because I didn't want to cough all over everyone there. I'm sure they would not have appreciated being exposed to this crud.

Time to wrap this post up and get ready for work. Until next time, knit happy!

Still doing socks

2007-03-08T08:10:00.000-05:00

I finished the 56 stitch, 56 row sock. It wasn't completely done on Saturday. I kitchenered the toe on Sunday morning. I don't know what I did wrong the first time but I had to take the grafting out and do it over again. It worked fine the second time. I've never had a problem with the Kitchener stitch before.

It took me 10 days to make this sock. I stopped at 50 rows on the foot instead of 56 because I thought it would be too long. It fits but I think I will do the entire 56 rows if I make these socks again. I did start the second sock but I'm still on the cuff. I got distracted by this sock.

Here is a close up of the pattern stitch

I'm using Atacama handpainted alpaca that I had in my stash and size US 3 needles. The pattern calls for 2 1/2 repeats of the pattern on the leg but I have done 4 repeats here. The original pattern is for an ankle sock and I'd rather have a longer leg. It's very easy to memorize, though. And the little bit thicker yarn and bigger needles make it work up quite fast. I don't think I'm going to continue the pattern into the foot. I think it would be a little uncomfortable to wear with shoes.

I hope I have enough yarn to finish them. I have 3 skeins of it. I don't feel like I'm running short yet.

Tonight is supposed to be the coldest night of the winter with temperatures of -14 degrees F. The temperatures have been in the teens and low 20's for the past two days. Just bone chilling. Oh, and it's snowing again this morning. What a surprise! On the bright side, it's supposed to be in the 40's by the weekend.

I have the beginning of a cold which is not making me very happy. But with all the nasty stuff that is traveling about, I will take the cough and runny nose and hope it doesn't evolve into something more.

In like a lion?

2007-03-01T09:12:00.000-05:00

I took this picture just a few minutes ago. The sun is shining and the temperature is 14 degrees F. It looks like March is coming in like a lamb but it's not. By 5 p.m. tonight we're supposed to get snow, sleet, and freezing rain. So if you don't hear anything from me, you know we lost power at some point. I'm hoping that doesn't happen but it's a possibility.

Amy S - this snow picture is for you!

I think I may have turned into a sock addict! Remember the sock I started Saturday night? Here is where I am on it now.

The heel is turned and the gussets are done! Now I'm doing the foot and will hopefully have it done by Saturday. Then I can start the next one. The last pair of socks that I made in this weight yarn took me 2 years to finish. But I like wearing them so much that I really want to get these done. And I think they will fit me fine.

I am also working on ponchettes for my niece's twin girls. The twins are 6 months old now but I'm making the 18 month size. Knowing how I am with setting projects down and knowing that I have to make 2 of them, I figured the bigger size was a good bet. I'll post pictures and details at another time.

I'm very excited! We made camping reservations at a campground in New Hampshire for August. I did a map quest search and found out that the campground is around 11 miles from Patternworks! Since we camp with Sue and her family, we are both looking forward to visiting Patternworks. I may have to start saving up now!!

And with that news, it's time for me to get ready for work. At least it's almost the weekend!

Ahhh, new yarn!

2007-02-25T12:36:00.000-05:00

I really, really love buying new yarn! It doesn't matter how much I already have, new yarn is always good!

Yesterday, my two knitting cohorts (Sue and Donna) and I went to Syracuse to check out a couple of 'new to us' yarn shops. Donna had visited The Mission Rose Quiltery and Knittery booth at a craft fair this past summer and wanted to check it out. A month ago while visiting my sister-in-law in Syracuse, I had driven past it so I knew approximately where it was located. Plus the website has great directions so we headed to North Syracuse. We found it with no trouble. The shop is wonderful! If you like quilting, the selection of fabric looked amazing. The sample quilts that are displayed around the store are just gorgeous. I didn't really look around the quilt section, though, since I really dislike sewing. The knittery section of the shop was smaller but the selection was very good. Check out the website to see what brands they carry. After much deliberation, you can see my purchases in this picture.

The pattern (which you can barely see) is Oat Couture's Oregon Vest. They had a shop sample made up in Noro Kureyon which was beautiful. Then we have two skeins of Online Winter Color 6-fach sock yarn in #881 & #882. And two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in Gold Hill.

Even though I came home and immediately wound up a skein of the Shepard Sock, I cast on a sock in the Online #881 yarn last night. Here is my progress so far:

I'm using the 56 Stitch, 56 Row Sock pattern on size 2 ChiaoGoo 5" bamboo needles. When I swatched for this sock, I swatched straight and got the 7 sts. to an inch but in the round, I think I'm getting more like 8 sts. to the inch. I think it will be okay but if it's too small, my daughter gets a pair of socks. I'd really like them for me, though!

After stopping for lunch, we went to the east side of Syracuse toThe Knitting Connection on Burnet Avenue. This is a smaller store with a smaller selection but the yarns were top rate. My purchases here were 4 skeins of Berroco's Ultra Alpaca in #6288 which is a heathery blue, a skein of Lopi Lite and two skeins of Berroco's Furz. The Furz is discontinued so I found it in the clearance bin along with the Lopi Lite. She no longer carries Lopi since she put in Blue Sky Alpaca. She also had the new Tofutsies yarn but I resisted. If I become more proficient with my sock making, I'll go back and get some of it. But after buying yarn for 3 pairs of socks on this trip and having enough for probably 10 more pairs stashed away, I just couldn't buy myself to buy the Tofutsies. I know, I know, I'll regret not buying it but I can always go back even if it is an hour trip one way.

And finally, we have our obligatory snow picture for the day. This picture was taken several days ago but it still looks about right. It's bright and sunny today with 30 degree F temperatures so we might lose some of this snow. Okay by me!

Shoveling sugar

2007-02-14T20:18:00.000-05:00

Remember the 9 a.m. picture of the air conditioning unit? Well, here it is at 12:30 p.m.

And this is a picture of Alek's car at 12:30 p.m.

Isabella decided she needed to come outside and supervise Alek and I when we were shoveling. And very shortly after this, she decided that it was a bit nippy out for a diva dog who had a hair cut yesterday. So she went inside.

Shoveling this snow is like trying to shovel sugar. It's very grainy and rather heavy. Alek and I were making slow headway when Scott came home at 1:30 p.m. and ran the snowblower again.

It's now 8:30 p.m. and it's still snowing. Scott and I each shoveled a little more around 6 p.m. and our tracks are completely covered. It's not supposed to stop snowing until 10 p.m. or later. So we should have our 3 feet by tomorrow.

I didn't do much knitting today. I did finish the Panta and started a Mystery Kal for Yarn Yoga but that's about it. So much for a knitting snow day!

Valentine's Day New York style

2007-02-14T09:50:00.000-05:00

This is a shot of the air conditioning unit that sits next to the house. The small indentations are what's left of my husband's footprints from 6:30 a.m. He had to walk over to the side of the house to dig out the furnace exhaust pipe. If the pipe gets covered in snow, the furnace won't run. I took this picture at 9 a.m. As you can see, his foot prints are almost gone. I went over there after I took this picture and the snow was about mid-calf.

At the same time, I took this picture of my son's Honda Civic. The area next to his car was snowblowed once today. Even though you can't really see it, it's still snowing in these pictures. It's a fine, granular snow and it's coming down very steadily.

Well, I'm off to take a shower and then do some laundry and knitting. I might have to go into work if there are a lot of emergency calls since someone has to be there to answer the phone. My husband will pick me up, though. I'm not driving in this stuff even if I do have 4 wheel drive on the Kia.

I'll be checking in later.

Nor'Easter 2007

2007-02-14T06:59:00.000-05:00

You know it's going to be a long day when you get up at 6 a.m. and the weatherman on the local news tells you that the biggest storm of the winter is going to drop the most snow right on your village. The whole East Coast is getting slammed and most of our section of central New York is supposed to get between 1 - 2 feet of snow. Except for a bull's eye spot over the Mohawk Valley that could get up to 3 feet. And, yup, that's where I live.

The picture is of my husband running the snow blower at around 6:30 a.m. The snow started around 9 p.m. last night and by this morning there was 8 inches. But the heaviest snowfall isn't scheduled to hit until between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. And snow falling at the rate of 2-3 inches per hour for 12 hours adds up to A LOT OF SNOW! Oh, and did I mention that the winds are supposed to start and be up to 25 mph except for the 40 mph gusts on occasion. Plus the temperature is around 10 degrees F? Can you say "Blizzard"?

I'm going to be blogging periodically today. I'll post pictures throughout the day. I can do that because I am not going into work. There is nothing on my desk that needs my immediate attention. Hubby has to go in since it's a plumbing and heating business. He has 4 wheel drive on the truck so he shouldn't have any real problems. People who live up on the hills better hope their heat stays on, though.

Regrets?

2007-02-12T20:07:00.000-05:00

There are times when I wish I didn't have such a large stash of yarn and needles. Don't get me wrong, I love all the yarns I have. But when I see a new yarn or a great color in a favorite yarn, I feel guilty buying it. And I love buying yarn, so I hate the guilt!

I spent a good part of the day wading through the pile in my front closet. That's where I keep all my knitting magazines, knitting bags, newly purchased yarn, and projects I am currently working on. Or should I say, projects I started, worked on until I got bored, and then abandoned for the next fun thing to come my way. I now have an XXL Ziploc bag of yarns that need to be hauled down cellar and put in the appropriate Rubbermaid totes. There are also a few projects that need to be frogged so I can use the yarn for something else. The small zippered bag is my stash of Lamb's Pride Worsted.

Some day I'll take a photograph of the pile of totes and plastic drawer sets under the cellar stairs that house my stash. Maybe. If I'm feeling brave.

I finished the Calorimetry that I was making in the Plassard "Symphony" to match my multidirectional scarf. I'm not very happy since this one is too loose, also. I'm giving up on this pattern. Hopefully I can find someone who will like the colors and the way it fits. It's too bad since it looks nice with the scarf.

I haven't given up on making a headband of some sort so I started making a Panta. I don't know the link that will take you directly to the pattern. It seems to me that I googled it and had to search around a bit to get the pattern that I finally printed out.

I'm making the first one in Lion Brand WoolEase in white. It's for Ariane's friend, Ashley. I was going to make her a Calorimetry but for the above named reason, I'm doing the Panta. I just started the decrease rows so it's over half done. Ariane would like one in black and I am going to make myself one in the Plassard. The next one I do, I think I'll use a provisional cast on so I can graft the ends together.

The needles I'm using are my only set of Bryspuns. When we were camping in Lake Placid in September, I stopped in Adirondack Yarns to buy a set of size 5 needles. The only ones she had were these Bryspuns. I needed them for a pair of two needle mittens I was making. The pattern called for worsted weight yarn used double on size 5's. It made too tight a fabric for the flexible Bryspuns so I put them aside and haven't used them since. Actually, I put the pattern aside, too. I can't work with that tight a fabric. I decided to try the needles for the Panta with the single strand of WoolEase and I love them. I like how pointy they are and the flex makes them easy on the hands.

Now for the latest weather report from upstate New York - the low temperature for tonight will be -10 degrees F. And a nor'easter is moving up the coast and is going to hit us late Tuesday night and into Wednesday. I just love February.

Enough already!

2007-02-08T09:24:00.000-05:00

I think we have plenty of snow, now. Thanks, but it can stop anytime! It has snowed every day for the past week and it's supposed to snow every day for the next week. Normally it's only a few flurries but today the lake effect snow band has moved over us. We live an hour to an hour and a half away from Lake Ontario but we are in the direct path of the lake effect snow band. At least we aren't up in the northern part of the state which has received almost 6 feet of snow in the past week and is supposed to get more! Alek is glad he's not in Oswego this year since they will probably end up with close to 8 feet of snow.

These pictures were taken from my front door looking down at the road and the high school across the street. And I have to go out and drive in that mess in a little while. I love the 4 wheel drive on my new KIA Sportage!

As far as knitting goes, there isn't much to report. I did finish a baby hat out of some clearance yarn I found at JoAnn's Fabrics. It's JoAnn's brand and it's called Smania. It is a cotton/nylon blend. If you double click on the picture of the ball of yarn, you can see how the yarn has sort of a mesh tube around it. It knit up nicely but since it is cotton, it bothered my hands a little. I love the rainbow sherbet colors in it!

I don't normally buy novelty yarn like this but it only cost me $.75 a skein! I got two skeins of the Smania, two skeins of Camelia, and two skeins of Petalo. I'll show you pictures of the other two yarns later sometime.

Now I have to get ready for work or I will be later than normal. Happy knitting and stay warm!

Winter finally found us!

2007-01-31T08:39:00.000-05:00

Amy mentioned that it seemed funny to see a picture of New York in January with no snow. Well, Amy, does this look more normal? I think we have had snow flurries every day for the past two weeks. This picture was taken last week. There isn't a lot more snow but there's enough for me!

While I was taking pictures of the snow, I decided to use it as a backdrop for a couple of knitting projects. The picture didn't turn out too well. The little cabled hat is one I started back when my daughter had knee surgery. I think that was two years ago. I dug it out of my UFO box and finished it up. The pattern was from a Yahoo group I used to belong to. I think I'll put tassels on the ends. It will probably be sent to a charity. The other object is a fingerless glove that I made using a skein of Manos de Uraguay that I had to buy because I loved the colors. It has a nice cable but you can't see it in this picture. When I make the second one, I'll take a better picture of it. The pattern can be found here.

This last picture is a hat made out of some 100% wool that was given to me to use for charity. I'm going to send it to Afghans for Afghans. I'm too lazy to figure out the URL but if you google, you'll find their website. The red color goes with the accents in my dining room.

Right now I'm on the bind off row of another Calorimetry from Knitty.com. I made this one in Symphony by Plassard. It's the same yarn that I used to make the multidirectional scarf that goes with my good wool coat. I might even have enough yarn left to make another pair of the cabled fingerless gloves to complete the set.

I'm also thinking about making a Fair Isle sweater for Ariane. I started one from the new Knit It! magazine but it's knit flat and even though I can now knit and purl with both hands, it's awkward to purl. I started one sleeve to see how it would come out and I won't feel too bad ripping it out and starting again. I found a sweater in a Creative Knitting magazine that is knit in the round and has the Fair Isle pattern in the yoke. I'm going to try it. I'll post more about it later.

6 Weird Things...

2007-01-17T08:20:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Bianca to answer the "6 weird things about me" meme. I almost forgot to do it but here are my answers -

1. I have double-jointed thumbs. They bend in at the joint. Very annoying when they bend in unexpectedly and you are holding a hot cup of coffee. Believe me, I know.

2. My hands are very long. They measure 7 3/4" from the base of my palm to the tip of my middle finger.

3. I hate monkeys. They creep me out.

4. I hate the feel of microsuede.

5. I love to visit cemetaries and read the headstones.

6. I can float in water for a very long time without getting tired.

I'm not tagging anyone for this meme but feel free to answer it if you so desire.

I finally finished the scarf for the Red Scarf Project for Orphans.

I used one skein of Plymouth Encore (lost the band so I don't have the color), cast on 28 stitches and did a k2, p2 rib until the skein was gone. You can see how much yarn I had left from the little ends that aren't woven in yet. It was 4" wide by 58" long.

I've been trying to finish up some UFO's. The only problem is I keep finding new ones and getting distracted by them. Hopefully I'll have some FO's to report soon.

And finally I'll leave you with some pictures of the ice storm damage that we had on Monday. By the time the storm hit NY, it was pretty wimpy but we did lose power for 2 hours. And a lot of tree limbs came off the pine trees in the back yard.

If you look way to the back in this next picture, you can see a large branch that is sticking right into the ground. Good thing no one was standing under that one!

And here is Scott dragging away the elm branch that fell on his truck. Luckily, it didn't do any damage.

And that (as they say) is all the news that is the news.

First FO of 2007!

2007-01-04T17:14:00.000-05:00

See I knew the wrist warmers were very close to being done. I finished them up this morning.

The pattern can be found here.
.

Cherry Tree Hill Potluck Wool in an unknown colorway.
Size 7 double pointed needles
I cast on 36 stitches instead of 30 because they seemed narrow.

Very easy and quick to make. There is still a lot of this wool left so I'll make something else out of it. Maybe a Calorimetry to match the wrist warmers.

I am going to try to finish up the knitting on the felted bag tonight. And hopefully make some progress on the Komi mittens. If you want to see the pattern I'm using for them, go to my January 2006 archive and scroll down to the January 18th entry. I have only done maybe 4 more rows than is shown in that photo.

I need to reply to some of the comments that were recently posted.

Amy - I am so not an expert on stranded knitting. I like doing it but I make mistakes all over the place. I know if you try it, you'll pick it up immediately.

Dee - yes, the Calorimetry is done in worsted weight wool.

Michelle - yes, it does look like lips! I have the same yarn in green. If I make another one in that color it will look like frog lips!

Thanks, Christine and Bianca for your kind words!

Okay, I'm off to do some knitting and watch my DVR of Knitty Gritty. Boy, do I love DVR!

Bored, bored, bored.

2007-01-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

I'm bored with all my current knitting projects. The k2, p2 scarf for charity is done to the half way point but I can only do so much ribbing. Plus I made a k2, p2 hat to go along with the Lusekofte Cap but I made it 1/2" too short so I have to rip it back to the decreases and redo it. I can't do more k2, p2 right now!

I need to make two more Calorimetrys but guess what? The pattern is k2, p2!! I'm not swearing off k2,p2 for life but I need a little bit of a change. I also need to sew up two pairs of booties to send out for charity by the end of the week. And I'm not even going to discuss the 3, no 4, pairs of socks that have been started lately.

I went to my knitting group last night and was all set to start a cabled headband from the book "One Skein Wonders" edited by Judith Durant. I had to start with a provisional cast on which consists of using a crochet hook and scrap yarn to put your stitches on the needle. The instructions were very clear so I had no problems with my cast on. Then I tried the pattern and it was all downhill from there. You start each row by slipping the first three stitches. Then you do your knit and purl stitches to set up the cable. Well, if you slip the first three stitches on the row, you end up pulling your yarn across these stitches to get to the knit and purl stitches. A couple of the other ladies and I discussed it and we think it is supposed to make an i-cord border on both sides. I was going to just keep knitting and see how it turned out when I realized I had lost two stitches. I didn't see where I dropped them, they were just gone. So I ripped it out and worked on the k2, p2 scarf for the rest of the time. I'll probably give the headband pattern another try sometime but not right now.

When I got home, I decided to dig out some UFO's and finish them up rather than starting another new project. The three projects I picked were the Potluck Wristers that I had started for Ariane back in October, a felted bag in Lopi, and a pair of Komi patterned mittens from "Knitting Marvelous Mittens, Ethnic Designs from Russia" by Charlene Schurch that I started last year.

So far today, I have the wristers done except for the thumbs, and I have about 12 rows and the handles left on the felted bag. I can definitely get these two projects done in the next couple of days. The mittens are a different story. I only have part of the first cuff done on them. But after doing the stranded knitting on the Lusekofte Cap, I can't wait to try it on these mittens.

So that's my knitting saga for today. No pictures because I haven't finished anything. Maybe I'll have some pictures to post before the end of the week. It will feel great to finish up some of the many UFO's I have on the needles.

Lusekofte, baby!

2006-12-29T08:45:00.000-05:00

After much trial and error, I finished the Lusekofte Cap from Hats On! by Charlene Schurch. Actually I finished it twice. The first hat was 132 stitches on size 6 needles. I was on the 3rd to the last row and I knew that something was very off. After closer examination I found this

If you look closely at the right side of this blurry picture, you can just make out a dropped stitch. Actually there are two dropped stitches. I tried to rip it back but ended up with a mess. Too many stitches to pick up in too little time. The mistakes were found on December 23rd. The hat was supposed to be finished by Christmas. So I cast on 108 stitches with size 9 needles and started over again. Luckily the pattern is easy to follow. And yesterday morning (not Christmas) I ended up with this hat:

I think it came out quite well. And here is a picture of the inside of the hat.

The finished hat was knit in Patons Classic Merino. The disaster hat was knit in Cascade 220. I tried doing the decrease rows on the disaster hat with double points and lost control of them somewhere. The good hat I used 2 circular needles for the decreases and it was much easier. It surprises me since I do hats with double points all the time. But now I think I'm going to use the 2 circulars to finish my hats.

The hat is supposed to have a long tassel on it hence the pointy top. I'm not sure how the recipient will feel about a tassel so I'm going to be sure it is easily removed. And, just in case he doesn't like the pointy top, I'm making a k2, p2 ribbed hat in Lamb's Pride worsted weight in Blue Boy which is basically the same color blue as the other two hats.

Next up on the needles is a k2, p2 ribbed scarf in what I think is burgundy Encore. I can't find the ball band or the second skein right now so I'm not sure. The scarf is for the Red Scarf Project which gives scarves to orphans who are now college students.

And I need to start two more Calorimetrys for dd and her roommate. Ariane wants black and Ashley wants white. Not very exciting colors but very practical.

Then I hope to get back to the three pairs of socks that I started back in November. I've been wearing the socks I finished for myself and want to make more for me. But first these need to be done for some other people.

So maybe I was mistaken...

2006-12-10T23:14:00.000-05:00

Maybe there will be a little Christmas going on here after all. The new issue of Knitty came the other day and I loved this pattern. It would be a perfect gift for several people I know. I'm just not sure how many I'll have time to make.

It is Calorimetry designed by Kathyrn Schoendorf.

And here is another shot of it.

I started the pattern last night, knit to the halfway point, and then finished it today during the hour drive to my sister-in-law's house in Syracuse. Really fast and fun to knit. The only mistake I made was to bind it off in knit instead of knit 2, purl 2. I won't do that again.

I used Tesco by di.ve', color 25565 on size 8 needles. It's 55% wool and 45% microfibre and very soft. I think the gauge may be off by a little. It fits me fine but feels like it could be a little tighter to my head. It's going to Ariane, though, and she had more hair than I do so I hope it'll fit better. If she doesn't like the fit, I can just whip up another one! I have already cast on the second one in Art Yarns Super Merino, I believe. (The shop owner put her price sticker over the name of the yarn and I can't peel it off to read it. I really hate that!)

There are no pictures of the stranded hat I am making Ariane's boyfriend. I ripped it out 4 times before I finally got it right. Stupid mistakes each time but they were unfixable mistakes. It is now correct and I'm up to row 8 of the pattern. I haven't had a quiet time to work on it but I need to get back to it.

The mittens went to church today to be given to the family we adopted for the holiday. I was going to do booties for the 4 month old baby but did a pair of thumbless mittens, instead. I did my two needle pattern using Patons Astra sportweight yarn and size 4 needles and just eliminated the thumb. They are shown here next to a pair of the same mittens done in worsted weight yarn on size 7 needles. I cast on 24 stitches for each set and increased to 30 stitches after the cuff. This is the difference between sportweight and worsted weight yarn and different needles sizes.

And then we have another cute picture of Isabella. She likes to sit with her chin propped up on the arm of the love seat. We think she knows she looks cute this way and everyone has to pet her when she does this. Her favorite dog is sitting next to her.

Tomorrow we're going to Carousel Mall in Syracuse to hopefully finish the bulk of our Christmas shopping. That's the same hour drive we took today and I should be able to get a lot done on the second Calorimetry.

Not much Christmas knitting here!

2006-12-06T08:44:00.000-05:00

I'm not really making much for Christmas this year. In fact I think the only thing I'm knitting as a gift is a hat for Ariane's boyfriend. I'm attempting the Lusekofte Cap from Hats On! by Charlene Schurch. Pictures are not being posted until this sucker is done! I had the ribbing and 10 rows of pattern done last night when I realized that I had dropped a stitch in the ribbing. Off to the frog pond it went! I cast on the 132 stitches again, worked one row of ribbing and realized I had another hole which I couldn't fix. So it was unraveled one more time. I think the problem is that the ribbing is k1b, p1 and I'm goofing up the k1b on the first row. This leaves me with a hole. So for the third (and hopefully last) cast on, I'm going to do the first row in a plain k1, p1 rib and will start the k1b on the second row.

Here's my latest knitting endeavors. Even though I said I wasn't doing any more hats for a while, I made another hat. Alek couldn't find the two hats I made him last year so I whipped up a new one for him. This one is a few rows shorter and he prefers it that way.

Just two shades of Woolease.

And I believe I told myself that I wasn't doing anymore charity knitting until after the holidays.

Behold! Mittens for a needy family that our church is giving gifts to this year.

I did luck out though. I made the bottom three pairs and a good friend made the top two pairs. She belongs to the same church and had these in her project basket. Perfect!

The deadline for the dishcloth swap came up way too fast so I only knit two of them and crocheted the other three. The top dishcloth is really two cloths tied together with ribbons to look like bloomers. Aren't they cute?!

And finally I'll leave you with a picture of my silly dog.

Isabella loves to sleep propped up on the little pillow on the couch. Doesn't she look comfy? And ridiculous?!!

Happiness is...

2006-11-21T09:44:00.000-05:00

taking these two items

and using them to make these wonderful yarn cakes!

I finally got a ball winder to wind my hanks of yarn! After I took this picture I wound up 4 more cakes. I have been watching for a 50% off coupon from Joanns.com for just this purchase. One came through my email last week and I immediately ordered the ball winder. The total cost including shipping and handling was $24.78. Not a bad deal, eh?

It's not the fanciest and I have to pay close attention when I'm winding but it's so much easier than winding the balls by hand. Looser and neater, too. Maybe I'll start using up some of the wonderful yarn I've purchased in the past that is still in hanks. Oh, and I don't use them the way they are pictured. The winder is clamped to a bookcase to use. This picture just shows them together.

I love my swift but I'm afraid that too much use is going to hurt it. I bought it at an auction over 15 years ago. I'm not sure how old it is but it's old. The sticks that allow me to adjust the tension of the yarn hank are actual branches from a tree that have been sanded a little and varnished. One is in the basement waiting to be glued back together. They are a little fragile so I try not to use them. I wonder if Scott could duplicate the swift and make me a new one. It would save wear and tear on the old one. Might be a good winter project for him.

Two of the 5 dishcloths are finished. I have a third one about a quarter done. Chances are I'm going to have to crochet the other two in order to get them done by November 30th. I'm very tired of working with cotton right now.

The knitting on the baby sweater is done but I still have to weave in the ends and sew on the buttons. Then I should make a hat to go with it. It won't be done for the knitting group tonight. Maybe next week. And we won't mention the wrist warmers today.

For Christmas presents this year, I think I'm going to knit a bunch of ornaments. There are cute ones in the knitting magazines and my knitting books. More on these as I get them done.

And the cold that I was dodging last week? Hit me like a ton of bricks on Saturday. I felt awful Sunday and Monday. Today is much better so I hope it's on its way out.

And we have more hats!

2006-11-15T08:40:00.000-05:00

Apparently I like making hats. I always seem to have one on the needles. These four hats were sent off to Stand Up For Kids in Boulder, Colorado. What do you mean, they look just like the four hats I sent there last month? I just make what the kids will wear.

Here are a couple of Fruit Hats. These were donated to my Tuesday night knitting group. They raise funds for the library where we meet. Cute, huh?

I'm trying to get a baby sweater and hat set done for them, too.

I haven't made much progress on the socks I'm knitting. In addition to the boot socks and the lacy socks, I started a pair of Tabi Socks from the book Not Just More Socks by Sandi Rosner. I'm using Lion Brand Magic Stripes on size 2 needles. The Tabi socks have a split toe so you can wear them with flip flops. They are for Alek so I'm only making a 2 inch cuff. It will be interesting to see how they turn out.

The poor wrist warmers that I mentioned in my last post are at exactly the same spot they were when I posted. I forgot about them until I reread that entry. I'll have to drag them out and finish them before Thanksgiving.

I'm not sure how many things I will make for Christmas. The rate that I'm going it won't be many. I need to have 5 dishcloths knit by the end of November for an exchange I'm doing. I have two partially done.

A cold virus is running rampant through this house. Scott and Alek have it bad. I think they've gone through two boxes of Kleenex so far. I seem to have ducked it for now. I had a sore throat for a day and I have a little cough now but that's it. I hope that's all I get because they are miserable!

Ahh, November!

2006-11-03T09:33:00.000-05:00

And it begins again! This picture was taken from my front stoop a mere 30 minutes ago. Nice, huh? It started snowing around midnight and it's still going. Luckily we aren't supposed to get much accumulation. It does make me want to knit warm things, though!

I don't have any knitting pictures to post right now. I am working on two pairs of socks. One pair is on size 1 needles in fingering weight yarn and the other pair is on size 6 needles in worsted weight yarn. Quite the contrast! I'm not posting in progress picture, though, because that's a sure jinx on them.

I also have a pair of wrist warmers going and I might post a finished picture of them before the weekend is over. One is done except for the thumb and the other is done to the thumb gusset. Now I will put the gusset on a holder and finish the top. Then I'll do both thumbs and they will be finis.

In lieu of knitting pictures, I give you this yarn.

I may have posted a picture of it when I first got it but that was over a year ago so I'm showing it to you again. It's a worsted weight, hand dyed skein of merino wool from River Ridge Fiberworks in Lime Time. The yardage is listed as plus/minus 550 yards. It was a prize from Vixenpath. A link to her blog is in my sidebar.

This yarn has been popping into my mind lately. Obviously it needs to be knit up into something spectacular. The reason it hasn't been is because I don't know what to knit it into! The colors are wonderfully rich. I haven't wound it into a ball yet so I don't know how long the colors go. I don't want to make it into a scarf. Any suggestions as to what this skein of yarn could become?