Knit Wiz

2009-08-17T08:39:00.005-05:00

So, let me see, what's been new in my life since the last time I blogged? Well, my boys are back at school, my husband is back at work and so am I. Half of our summer vacation my husband was gone, compliments of the Army (again), so me and the boys really didn't do too much. Once he got back, right in time for 4th of July, we did some day trips, one of them was to the Louisville Zoo and we even took a longer road trip to Colorado. 18 hours one way. Wow! I had a lot of knitting time on the way, since hubby did most of the driving. We went through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas to end up in Colorado. I have to admit that I have never seen a more boring state than Kansas, so I made quite some progress on my knitting.

I the meantime I'm sure everybody has gotten their email from Knit Picks as well as the catalog in the mail. If you did, I can point out a couple (!) of my projects in there. I'm sure everybody had to drool first over the new Zephyr needles. Hopefully that didn't divert all your attention to all the nice new stuff inside. First I want to direct your attention to the jacket I made out of Shamrock yarn. It's the Jacket with Frog Fasteners from the book Vintage Knitwear for Modern Knitters.

In the previous catalog I had one project published, that I almost forgot to show off. It's Grandma's Lace Shawl from Lorna Miser's book Faith, Hope, Love, Knitting.

Next up was the Calluna Cardigan, a web design special from Knit Picks. This cardi was made with the new City Tweed HW and was a pretty fast knit, thanks to the thicker yarn.

Of course the Felici Socks are still available, at least six of the eight colors, but the big finale, so to speak is on the last page. Mr. Foster's new girl friend (not like he had an old one) Carmen Banana. She was that super secret project I had to knit for Knit Picks and Kerin, the designer, did a really nice job with the embellishments. I did only the knitting part, they did the rest. Carmen also has great outfits to show for. Besides her stunning evening dress, she can also be seen in her pink poodle skirt with a cream top and matching cardigan. She even has some cute panties! Now I wonder what other outfits people will come up with, once they are done knitting their Carmen. There is also a contest going on at Knit Picks to make Mr. Foster a Halloween outfit. You might want to drop in an see what it is all about and maybe submit your own crazy design.

I hope you check in every once in a while to see what I'm up to. I know, I'm leaving some of you hanging for a while, but I have not totally given up on blogging, just have a lot of things going on right now. The next yarn from Knit Picks is in a box waiting for me to knit it, two more projects are in the loop for them and I'm working on three lace shawls for friends of mine. So you see, besides that and buying a house, I think I had a good excuse for taking a blogging pause.

Later.

Miralda

2009-06-22T07:55:00.003-05:00

See what happens if you put all your stuff on Ravelry? You forget to post it on blogger. Here is my Mirlada Shawl that I forgot to blog about. It was made from fingering weight Jojoland Melody I brought home from RoLynn's. I didn't even touch the 4th ball that I bought for this project. Here are the pics.

Knock Knock

2009-06-22T06:49:00.005-05:00

Yes, it's me, I'm still here. I'm surprised anybody still reads my blog after my long times of not showing any sign of life. I guess I have to make it at least a once a month thingy. It's really not that I don't have the projects to do, it's more like the projects I do and can't show yet. Then there is the other thing with the kids being out of school hogging my computer every minute of the day. I feel lucky if I can shoo them away for a couple of minutes to check my emails and my Ravelry page. One falls move, I tell you, and they are stuck to that computer again like flies to the trash. Well, that's a little harsh compairison, but you get the picture, I'm sure.

Anyway, so you all won't forget about me completely, here are some things I want to show off that I've been working on. First of all my latest FO. It's well known to everybody as the Girasole, so I won't have to say anything else about it. I'm sure you know where to find it. The yarn is some good old Wintuk acrylic (hey, don't knock it) which was handed down to me by a friend in exchange for one of my adorable Hedgies. Nine balls of it turned into this beauty. It's already well in use by my kids and even another friends cats got to enjoy it, when I brought it for show and tell in our last knitting group meeting. It's not blocked and I don't know if it ever will be. I don't thinks it going to work for it anyway, but it sure looks pretty. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it took me 10 days from cast on to the last stitch.

Next up are the things I got to knit for RoLynn and Ashley of Enchanted Yarn and Fiber. They asked me to make some things to put into their store, since running a store is seriously cutting into their own knitting time.

The first one is a scarf knit from Noro Silk Garden. This yarn is really soft and knits up really fast. The only thing is that you can't see much of the stitches, since it's kind of bumpy.

The other one is a Boys V-neck vest made from Crofter DK, a nice cotton/acrylic blend. It has a nice drape to it without being too heavy and comes in self striping colors. I was so temped to take some pink home with me to make it into a baby blanket, but don't have one "lined up" with anybody I know.

The last one was a cute little cardigan knit from Linares yarn, a cotton/viscose blend. I has a really nice sheen to it and that cardigan took 5 balls, which means it weighs a good pound!

Next up is the fish hat I just had to knit for my boys. The pattern can be found on Knitty and knits up really fast. We haven't decided yet if the fish is going to be dead or alive, so for now he is just blind.

Let's see, what else. Hmmm, ah yes, there is this little beaded purse I knitted up in an afternoon. The stringing of the beads took almost more time that the whole knitting part itself. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect bead to close it up with and I need to add a strap. It's really tiny and I don't think that even my cell phone would fit into it.

And this is what I have on the needles right now. It's some kind of bulky black cotton paired up with a shiny thread with fuzzies (I know, very scientific). By themselves either one of those yarns wouldn't have made any impact, but paired together they make for a nice, almost elegant looking, bag. It's going to be a market bag, so we'll see what it's actually getting used for, when it's done.

I already have the yarn for my next KP project in my house, all lined up and ready to cast on. One problem though - I don't have a pattern yet. Hmm, that might be a little bit of a problem, right? Well, why should I be the only one to suffer. I leave you with this picture and see what you would come up with.

Spin me right round

2009-05-19T12:13:00.002-05:00

So I got suckered into this, I have to admit this. I was so sure that I was a total screw up, when it comes to the field of spinning. I had the urge about two years ago, so I built a little homemade spindle and got some fiber off of Ebay and off I went. I think I got the hang of it, but once I had a couple of balls of single done I was stuck. Now what? I wasn't to crazy about the whole concept of plying and setting a twist and heck knows what else is involved in the whole spinning action. So my little spindle and the rest of the rowing went into a bag into a box and mostly forgotten. Last weekend members of our local knitting group got together for a afternoon of spinning. Hey, I tried it, I didn't go crazy over it, but without anything better to do that day, I went to join the ladies (and gent) for the afternoon. As proof of my failure I brought along my stuff just to find out how badly I really suck at this. Well, everybody was amazed on how good I did (including myself) and instead of an afternoon of watching them turn fuzzies into yarn and me knitting, I ended up spinning up the rest of my roving and turning it into nice little skeins.

I still don't know what to do with it, but I ended up with 5 ounces of singles. I guess I could knit a hat out of it? Don't know yet. Worst case scenario I can always felt it, right? Like a good supplier Luna didn't let us walk out of her place without a little more fuzzy stuff, to keep us hooked. Reminds me of a dealer in some way. First she gives us a taste, so we'll have to come back for more. And she has more, trust me. After all she has her own sheep to supply her with the means to her addiction. The funny thing is, and I kid you not, she has a sheep with the same name as me, even spelled the same way. How odd is that!

Ok, enough said about the way I spent my weekend. I also have a FO to report. This is the boy's V-neck vest made from Crofter DK I was working on for RoLynn's store. This is the second project I've finished for them. One more to go and I can show my face there again and walk into her place, baring gift :) Makes me feel like I'm one of the three kings.

Now the next picture is what I treated myself with after a long time of arguing with myself. After all, I do need it and there is almost not a day that I don't have those needles in my hand, it's work related, it's a necessity and all of those above reason justified me ordering this set of pretty, pretty KP Harmony needle tips. Hmmm, gotta love them.

Too bad that even as a test knitter, I had to pay the regular price for it, but I think I'm worth it. Don't you? I'll surely enjoy them.

Now off to some more knitting and casting on something else. :) Have a nice and hopefully sunny day of knitting.

New KP Project

2009-05-15T15:24:00.003-05:00

I've been lazy blogging again, but at least I do it once a month. Well, today is the day and I have something to show for. If you got the latest KnitPicks email yesterday, you got their new May Catalog online. Right there on page for is one of my projects. Well, it's actually three, but they were all knit as one project. It's the Circle Baby Blanket, Jacket with Mittens and the Chubby Bunny from the book Itty Bitty Nursery. Here are the pictures:

They were all made from their new organic Cotton yarn, which was pretty nice to work with.

It's always nice to see my stuff show up in their catalog or even in the IK magazine. Makes me feel like I'm a celebrity (which I'm surely not!). Last month felt kind of weird, because in the whole catalog there was nothing in there that I made and that is not normal, for me anyway. Just to let you know, there are three more in the queue to be published and right now I'm working on a super top secret knit for them, and that's all I can say about that. :D Sorry. But this ensures my job security.

I also picked up another knitting job. Go figure, right? So there I was strolling into RoLynn's and Ashley's yarn store (again) and ended up walking out of there with a bag full of gorgeous yarn and patterns to knit some samples for their store. Now how much cooler can that get. Now I have an official reason to swing by there and don't need to bribe my husband to swing by there. My kids absolutely love that place too and never want to leave. If it wasn't for my dogs waiting at home for me, I might just pitch a tent there and spend the night :D (just kidding). Do you get the idea that I really like that place. If I ever get a wish from a magic genie, I'll ask for a store just like theirs. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Ok, enough chatting, back to knitting. The needles are cooling down, the coffee is kicking in and I feel myself being able to knit 100mph again. Later.

Family Picture

2009-04-13T19:13:00.003-05:00

Maybe this is not the picture you are expecting, but they are part of our family. And they are multiplying like rabbits. These are some of the hedgies I've been making to knit down my fun fur and eyelash yarn stash. I still seem to have a ways to go, because a friend sent me a whole box one time and it only takes one ball to make one hedgi.

The two on the left back are not felted and finished yet, but I didn't want to hold that again them. They will be looking like their siblings in no time. Enjoy them.

Now I gotta get back to knitting down at least one ball of my latest KP project. Not that I'm running short on my deadline, but I start feeling guilty about making fuzzy toys. So here is the deal. One ball of yarn on the KP and then one hedgehog. Sounds fair?

Bad Blogger

2009-04-08T14:35:00.003-05:00

Yes, I am. I've been very lazy about keeping my friends updated on what I've been knitting. And you all know that I can't life without my needles. There is even a project in my car at all times.

I've been knitting up a storm on hedgehogs and have to take a family picture of them. But that won't happen today, so you'll have to wait for a little bit longer. But I made a good dozen so far in any kind of color variation, some of them more traditional, others plain crazy, but all of them cute. Two already found a new home, one as a thank you for yarn and the other as a birthday present, which was very well received. Anyway, more about that later.

Wait, I just found a picture of the first two I made the left one if for my younger son, the right one found a home.

In the meantime I also knitted down a little bit of my sock yarn odd ball stash. You know, those little itty bitty balls of leftover sock yarn, not enough to do something with, but still to much to throw it out without feeling guilty. Well, I have plenty. So this is what they turned into.

These mini socks that can be used as key chains, chap stick cozy, Christmas tree ornament or whatever else you might want to use them for. They, as well as the hedgehogs, are very colorful. A friend of mine from our local knitting group is taken them to a crafts fair. We'll see how people like them. I experimented with many variations in cuffs, fair isle, stripes, as well as different toes and heels and came up with my own little recipe. I hope you like them. Now back to making another fuzzy friend.

All about dogs

2009-03-21T07:06:00.003-05:00

Yes, this post is all about dogs. First, here is what my "puppy" presented me with yesterday after just leaving the room for 5 minutes.

Nice, isn't it? It's what's left of one for Aaron's felted slippers. He couldn't find it the night before. Well, the dog it. She went to town with it and had it chewed up in no time. Luckily I have enough of the yarn left to make him another single slipper. Now I just have to make sure it felts to the same size.

Next is the doggy, I might replace that first one with. It's going to be a doggy pillow. Not a pillow for the dog, but a pillow that looks like a dog. Aaron also picked that one and wanted it to look like our retriever mix.

Staying with the animal theme, here is a little friend that I made quickly for a member of our knitting group. She has a habit of frogging everything at least once, so I thought she might be in good company like that. She loved him. (No, he is not flipping anybody off, I just didn't block his "fingers" out into the right direction :) ). He was fun to do, but is one of those projects you only do once.

I'm done with the pink lacy KnitPicks testknit, way ahead of schedule, which leaves me with some knitting/crochet time for myself. I also finished this Helena cardigan from Knitty. It's really pink, but the picture came out blue. Don't ask me why. I might have to retake it, before it goes to my neighbor, who is pregnant right now. It was supposed to be a 6 month size, but since I din't check the gauge before I started, she won't be able to use it for another year or so. Ooops.

Have a nice and productive weekend.

Update

2009-03-09T08:40:00.006-05:00

I have to admit that I'm taking way to many and too long breaks inbetween posts, but what's a girl to do if there isn't much I can show, because I've been doing a lot of Knit Picks work. I'm on the third one since the last post and none of them I can show you. Too bad. One was purple and with a new tweedy worsted yarn, that they don't even sell on the website yet, plus it's a new in house design, so no info on that. The next one is a baby set, that I just sent back last friday. It's in the new organic cotton yarn you see on the KP main page right now and will be in the may catalog. The latest one I got it lace. That's all I can tell you and it's a new color for the Shadow yarn. Yum, I say. You might find some sneak pics on Ravelry.

Also, I've felted five pairs of slippers so far and finished a baby blanket. Here are the finished pics.

This pair went to Monika and I'm happy to report that she likes them very much.This is the pair my younger son wanted and got.

And this one is my older son with his beloved slippers. I have to say that they have been a success and very well received. This is the baby blanket that is going to his new intented owner. I saw the pregnant mom yesterday and it's time to pack it up and give it away next weekend.

We, the Hardin County Fiber Arts Group on Ravelry, are also entering in a arts and crafts fair in our area in May and we've been brainstorming and coming up with all kinds of things to make and sell. Here is what I made so far. It's not much, but you have to admit, I didn't have much time for lots of inbetween-knitting.

I call him a snuggle bear. I've knitted a bear head and stuffed him and attached him to a snuggly blanket. We'll see how many more of these I can crank out.

I hope that was enough update for now, because I need to get back to brainstorming.

New Obsession

2009-02-14T12:13:00.007-05:00

I found myself addicted to something new. It's purposely felting nice knitted items in a hot bath in my washing machine to the point that they are way smaller than before and you won't be able to see a single one of the stitches anymore, that I worked so hard on. It started all with the nice felted mittens I saw at Marmee's and Ashley's shop. So I made these mittens for my dad.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the finished felted project, but the braids almost disappeared. But despite that little mishap they fit nicely and are super warm.

They I got bitten by the bug and started making Bev Galeska's felted clogs. This is pair # 1.

And then came another...

.... and another...

... and another one is in the making and unless I burn out on the pattern, there are a couple more to come.

I'm also working on a baby blanket for a friend that is having a boy next month.

Its the Alpaca Baby Shawl from Mary Grace Designs. It's pretty easy and straight forward pattern that can be easily knitted while watching your favorite TV show. The only thing I didn't think about was how many stitches I end up with on my cable and now it's too short. So while I'm waiting for my new cable and the new needletips to arrive, I guess I'll knit up another pair of those slippers. :D

So here I was ...

2009-02-04T19:34:00.006-05:00

... thinking the power outage was done and over with and a couple of hours later the power went out AGAIN and this time it didn't come on for two whole days!! It was due to the ice storm that Kentucky and Indiana and maybe even other parts had to deal with. I couldn't really tell you, since we were only able to listen to the radion in those two days to keep up with what was going on locally. It was crazy. People stood in the local Walmart foyer charging their cell phones, batteries, kerosin, candles foods that don't require cooling and heating were wiped off the shelves and even chain saws were a hot item, to cut the trees and branches that broke off from the extra weight of the frozen rain. Even the proudest looking tree ended up looking like a weeping willow.

It took another whole day for the cable and internet to come back. It sure makes you realize how much we depend on electricity these days. Thank god for a hobby that doesn't require batteries.

I kept myself busy with this.

I took this picture outside to show off the colors better, but they are not THAT bright in rality. The pattern in the Nordic Mittens from IK Winter 2004. I used Knit Picks Essential Sockyarn in black and Regia Canadian Color. With the size 1 (2.25mm) KP Harmony needles they got a little tight, since the original pattern calls for sport weight yarn, but I'm sure they'll stretch out enough. After I show them to our local knitting group tomorrow night, they will go off to my younger son's teacher as a late birthday present.

The felted mittens, the dark blue ones, are currently on their way to Germany to my dad, together with the cardigan I made for him. The felting itself turned out great. The mittens are thick an probably pretty water resistent, but unfortunately the cables disappeared almost completely. It was almost a waste of time to even put them in there, but we'll just write that off as a learning experience. I forgot to take a picture of the finished mittens, before I put them in the box.

Yesterday I cast on for some felted slippers. My husband actually "ordered" those and how can I say no to that. I still have some Lopi Lite left over from my first fair isle sweater (yes, it's still hibernating and the "beard" is still not woven in). That should make for some nice multi colored slippers for me. I might try the ballet version from the book for myself.

Ice Rain = Power Outage

2009-01-27T21:53:00.004-05:00

We had some freaky weather here since yesterday here in Kentucky. Last night we were informed that we were going to have a snow day because of the expected weather and it hadn't even started yet at that point. Over night we had some snow, which turned into rain, which froze and turned the streets into ice. I didn't even go outside with the dogs, because just taking them out the front door made me feel like they are sled dogs and I'll be pulled all over the place. What a nice day to stay indoors and knit all day. :) Just before dark we went outside to get at least the driveway free of ice. I know I'll be paying for it tomorrow when I'll be hurting all over because of it. But there is enough pain killer in my house to numb the pain, because not even that will keep me from knitting.

Right when were done and wanted to start cooking dinner the power went out and we were left in the dark - literally. The worst part about it was not that is was slowly starting to cool down in the house, but it was too dark for me to knit on this.

This is my new project I started today. It's the beginning of the Nordic Mittens from the Winter 2004 of Interweave Knits. My son's teacher was so amazed about his mittens I knit for him last winter that I decided to make her her very own pair. What can I say, he talked me into it and he really likes his teacher. I'm using some Regia sock yarn I had in my stash and Knit Picks Essential in black. I think the color contrast will be great and thanks to the self striping yarn I won't have to weave in any of those pesky tails.

I also felted the blue mittens today. I think they turned out great for a first intentional felting project. They aren't completely dry yet, so I don't have any model pictures for you yet. I just wish the cables would still be more visible. I can still see a hint of it, but not as much as I was hoping for. Hey, at least they are going to be comfy and warm and that's all that counts.

Finally snow

2009-01-21T12:54:00.002-05:00

Now I hear about all the tons of snow that have unloaded all over the country, but except for cold temperatures, a couple of times even with minus in front of it, we here in Fort Knox haven't seen much snow this season. Trust me, my kids are waiting for it. They haven't played in it in two years and can't wait to pull out that sled. So last weekend we finally got some and as you can see, everybody enjoyed it.

Here are two of my boys (I include my husband in that count) cleaning off my car and the drive way. (Yeah, right).

Looks like one of our dogs got her share of snow too.

Here they are both playing in the back yard. Can you find the other dog in the picture?

I know, this looks freaky, but we doctored the picture a little bit. You can actually see Laila on the original, but it was just too much fun seeing her almost disappear into the back ground like this. Looks like Fancy is chasing a ghost. :)

There has also been some knitting. We took a road trip to Nashville on Monday and as you know I can get a lot of knitting done when I'm in the car and I'm not driving. Well, occasionally I can be seen with my knitting in my lap while I'm on the road, but that's when I wait on my boys to get out of school. Anyway, here is a sneak peek of the project I'm currently working on.

I also started on a hat for my dad, but somehow the gauge must have been way off, because I measure a 22" around my head and I cast on for the 20" size and I still end up ripping it out, because I could have done with almost 20 stitches less. What a bummer, but I rather make it fit right.

I finished something

2009-01-13T10:29:00.005-05:00

So I finished a couple of things over the weekend. I guess that's a good start for the new knitting year. Let's hope I can keep it up. The best thing about it, those are all for ME! Well, somewhat for me anyway.

First up is a quick crochet beret I made up for a friend of mine after the hat her mom made a while back. I modified it a bit, just to get the type and number of stitches and the size to where I wanted it. Make up a quick pompom and here we go. A fast hat made of Red Heart Acrylic yarn from my leftover stash. It's not my fist choice in yarn, but it did the job for this prototype.

Next up is cardigan for my dad. The pattern is Veronik Avery's "His Llama Cardigan" from the book Knitting Classic Style. I even almost matched the color, but not the yarn. My sister, who is doing my dad's laundry, insisted on a washable yarn, so I substituted with Wool-Ease Worsted in Blue Heather. I started this one on Christmas Day and finished it 17 days later. Not bad, I'd say. All I have left to do on this one is find some good buttons and working around the button holes. I finished seaming the jacket on a road trip. Lucky for me, because I ended up having soda spilled on my own jacket, so at least I had something to wear. :)

The road trip lead us through Russelville, KY and we stopped by to say "Hi" to Ashley and her mom at Enchanted Yarn & Fiber. I received such a nice and warm welcome as I walked into the store and I was so surprised that Marmee recognized me. How cool is that. Well, I have to say that I had to call the store for directions, but I'm sure I'm not the first one to do that, because our GPS lead us completely out of the way onto a gravel road in front of a trailer home. So make sure when you go see them, that you follow the directions on the website and don't always trust the electronic voice that tells you where to turn. If I wasn't living about 1 1/2 hour drive away I'd be hanging out there all the time. They not only make you feel so welcome there, but they also make sure the husbands are comfortable and taken care off and can sink onto the couch in front of the fire place with a cup of coffee and a bowl of snacks, so we, the knitters, can shop and browse in peace without getting the evil eye and the silent question "Are you done yet?" (Not that any of them would ever admit to doing that)

Finally I finished what was supposed to be a travel project on our move from Georgia to Kentucky. Never would I have dreamed that this little scarf will drag out to take 6 months to finish. I'm talking about the Traveling Roses Scarf. After 15 repeats of a pattern that. up to this day, I still can't memorize without the leaflet, I finally had enough. Don't get me wrong, the pattern is very nice, but it's not one that I'll make another scarf of. The scarf was as long as I am tall, unblocked, and I figured that was a good size for me. It's made from recycled cashmere and after all that time it's going to make it worth knitting, just for the feeling of this soft yarn.

I don't want to stress you attention span too much so I'm leaving you with a snap shot of my latest project:

Remember me?

2009-01-06T13:10:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I have been out of the blogging loop for a while. Don't really know what happened, I guess I just didn't have any interesting things to blog about, but I was surely following all of my friends blogs, even if I didn't comment all the time. Just needed a time out maybe?

Anyway, my fish tank is recovering, just in case you are wondering. I had a couple of ups and downs with it, but it's getting there. That's another thing about moving, but I won't go there now.

Also, I got my teeth and crown taken care of. Now that the dentist has her claws in me again, there is no escape and I think me and her will get to know each other very well. The good side about it is that she is very nice and a knitter. How cool is that. She wants to learn how to knit socks.

But this is a knitting blog, so here is some knitting content. Beginning of December I had a rather larger project from Knitpicks. I knitted 6 pairs of socks in about 4 to 5 weeks worth of time. I guess it's no big deal if I lift that secret about it, because the really secret part of it is, that I got to knit them in the new colors of Felici sockyarn. And that's what I can't show you, so there won't be any pictures of them. Sorry.

But what I can show you is the stranded vest I was working on a while back. It always takes a while from knitting it until it shows on the Internet or in the catalog. I did this one back in October and some of you might remember it, because of that horrible scissor shot I put on the blog. Well, here it is in all it's beauty and I think it's even featured in the catalog.

Since we moved I haven't gotten a new catalog yet. I guess I have to fix that so I have a portfolio of my work. It's the Ladies Jacquard Sweater Vest and in the Palette yarn it's really inexpensive to knit too. The pattern keeps you interested and trust me, you need it. But other than that, it was a nice knit.

To make up for all that thin yarn I've been knitting with lately, I finally cast on for my Dad's cardigan. According to my sister he is in real need of a new one, so here I am. I'm using Lion Brands Wool Ease in Blue Heather and this worsted weight knits up pretty fast. I started with this on Christmas Day and I'm about to finish the pieces today. I still have to wash and blog them and then pieces them together. We'll see how well Wool Ease blogs, since it's 80 acrylic and 20 wool, but my sister insisted on something washable. So that's what she is going to get.

I also finished a Christmas stocking that didn't make it to it's recipient anymore in time. I'll send it out anyway along with the pattern. I didn't find a nice bright red wool yarn, so I used some acrylic and now I'm sad to say that I don't know if it's going to blog out, if at all. I guess it can at least be used for next year. :) Nice try, right?

Next up I'll finally finish my traveling roses scarf. I know, this has been dragging on forever. It was supposed to be a travel project I started in July/August on my way up here to Kentucky and it's finally drawing to an end. I am ending it after the 15th repeat, which will make it about as long as I am tall and I'm 5'9". No telling how much longer it's going to be after blogging. It took a while and I'll probably not going to use that pattern again, since after all those repeats I still haven't memorised it, but the feel of cashmere will make up for it for sure. (A FO pic will follow soon)

Now let's see if the UPS driver stops by today, because I have a new KP project on the way. Just in time for the cardigan being done. Also, I have plans for the new year to put my knitting machine to work, make friends with it first, and then start up my etsy shop again. I tried it two years ago with not much luck. Maybe it wasn't the right time for it, so I'll try it again, but first I have to work up some stuff to put in there. Wish me luck. I can use it.

What a weekend

2008-12-01T09:40:00.004-05:00

I've had an interesting weekend. Why? Well, let's see. I'll try to sum it up.

Thanksgiving was fine. We don't do the traditional turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie thingy, and we didn't get an invite from anybody and also, both of our families are way further than driving distance away (Germany and California), so we just settled in with a roast chicken, fries, salad, rolls and apple pie. That was nice too.

Now comes the rest. We went out on Friday to check out the sales and I must say I scored a nice yarn stash at Michael's for almost half the price. I got some Wool Ease to make a washable cardigan for my dad, whenever I get around making it. But at least I have the yarn and that is a start. Then I wondered into Bath and Bodyworks and walked out with a s***load of wallflowers. I got a good deal on some shoes for my oldest and we ended up driving home with a new 30 gal aquarium for the fish we were supposed to adopt from another family that is leaving soon.

Doesn't sound so bad so far, right? Well, here we go:

- The fish we were supposed to get have been given to somebody else.

(See the empty tank?)

Good side about that? I can choose my own fish to put into the tank.

- Our new puppy suddenly has a golf ball size "bubble" on her elbow and I already made an appointment with the vet to have her looked at.

Good side? She is not complaining that it hurts.

- Above mentioned puppy also decided to chew up my power cord to my husband's computer and it can't charge anymore.

(Can these eyes do that? No, but maybe the teeth!)

Good thing? It's under warranty and will be replaced free of charge.

- I wanted something sweet after lunch yesterday and instead of biting into a nice chewy piece of Laffy Taffy, I bit on a piece of metal, which turn out to be one of my crowns.

Good thing? I didn't swallow it, I'm not in pain and hopefully the dentist can just cement it back in.

- And in knitting related incidents: I'm knitting right along my current Knitpicks projects and found out that I overshot the pattern by 12 rows and had to rip it out half way again and reknit it. The other bad thing, now the color repeat doesn't match up with it's mate.

So basically, it can only get better, right? Well, I'll tell you more after I'm done with the vet and the dentist.

Later

Love the mailman

2008-11-17T13:57:00.002-05:00

The mailman came to my door today with a box with a smile on it. You know what that means.....

I ordered the "Knitted Lace of Estonia" by Nancy Bush and "Hats On" by Chgarlene Schurch. I'm not person to jump onto any new book, I check out the patterns, I find the best prices and see who offers free checking and who offers all I want, so I only have to order once. Well, Amazon had all of the above, so I expanded my small library and I have to say I love them both. I've been eyeing the "Hats On" for a while and Pat was very "helpful" in providing one great project after another. I think this is called enabling? Well, she is very good at it. Thanks a lot.

The lace book is just as great. I think there is only one pattern in there I'm not drooling about and that is it. You'd think the choice, which one to start with, would be hard? Not at all. I just pull out my lace yarn, see how many skeins and yards I have and go from there. Sounds easy, right?

Now let me get back to drooling. I'll talk to you soon.

Adjustments

2008-11-16T15:17:00.003-05:00

First of all let me tell you, it's been a couple of interesting days here in my house. Since we have that new puppy in our house, I feel like I have to be on my toes all the time and I don't really want to leave the house. Why? Too bad I didn't take a picture of the destruction that greeted us today after being gone for only 3 hours, but you can use your imagination. Papers all over the floor, a chewed book and a nipped game boy charger cable that was salvageable thanks to some electrical tape. I don't think I have to tell you who was to blame for this? Needless to say, she is in the doghouse - literally - today. I thought having one dog in the house was a change from our normal life, but since we had adjusted to that, what harm can a second one be. Wrong! It's just like having a second set of kids. I mean, really. They fight over the same toy, even though there are all the other ones laying around on the floor, they eat each others food, growl at each other for the dumbest things and when they get to playing, nothing is holy anymore. I get knocked over, the furniture gets bumped and so on. That's when I turn into a bouncer and tell them both to take it outside.

Not even my yarn is safe. I noticed that yesterday, when I stepped away for a moment and next thing Laila (that's what we named the new one) tried to drag around my ball of yarn. I guess you don't need a cat when it comes to a pet that wants to play with yarn. No way, Missy. This is my house, my rules and especially my yarn and we don't play with mom's yarn! Not even those famous puppy dog eyes are going to safe your butt there.

Since we made the transition to knitting now, I can show you a teaser picture of what she tried to drag off yesterday. I literally knitted until I had to put it down at night, because my fingers hurt. It was a nasty, rainy, windy day anyway and I didn't even make it out of the house to throw my trash. Perfect for lounging pants, baggy t-shirt and knitting on the couch all day while catching up with my DVR.

That should keep you guessing for a while, but I can't show more, because it's going to be a Christmas present and I know the recipient checks my blog and ravelry.

New distraction

2008-11-13T13:30:00.005-05:00

So I've been knitting and reading and finishing and so on, but somehow I don't seem to have much to show for. I'm almost done with my traveling roses shawl and figured with 16 repeats (and I still have to read the pattern) it's enough. It's really nice and soft, but it's enough. I just don't want to see that pattern anymore in the near future. There are too many other things that need my attention. This one is one of them.

Isn't she worth all the attention? She is a cutie and we brought her home last night. She is a 6 months old lab mix and the mother, so I was told, was a pure bread Pyrenees mountain dog. You know what that means, right? This is her, with her 1/2 year next to my 3 year old retriever mix. Just imagine how big she is going to be next year? Well, we'll wait and see.

This blanket is what I just finished last week. It was a last minute baby blanket I had to make for a new baby in my husbands unit and I knew I needed something in thick yarn with thick needles. I tried to knit this one, but gave up on it really quick like. Instead I did a simple crochet ripple and knit until I ran out of yarn. I got the yarn really cheap too at Walmart where they had the Red Heart Baby Clouds marked down to 1.50 a pack. Now how could I say no to this one, but I tell you what - it was not the most enjoyable thing I ever crochet. That's for sure. The whole time I had to hunt for the hole where to put the next stitch, because I just couldn't see it very good due to the texture of the yarn. But it's done and I hope it'll be well received.

KP 12 revealed

2008-11-02T12:51:00.004-05:00

I found another one of my KP testknits revealed on their website today. It's the Heart Pants from Hannah Fettig's book "Closely Knit". It's available at KP, of course.

So that leaves only one more in the loop. It's the one with the scary sciccor picture. :)

In the meantime I'm keeping myself busy with smaller projects. But you already know that. Here is the one I'm currently working on. It was supposed to be another hat, but turned into these mittens.

These are the White Witch Mitts from IK Spring 2008. I just ran into the right yarn in my stash, but ended up reversing the colors. I'm knitting those in 3mm cables and so far they are moving along quite nicely. Bad thing is, I'm almost done with them, so now I have to hunt for another project. Yes, I know, I still have a couple of WIPs, but there is just something about casting on for something new vs. knitting on the same old same old. I'm sure you know what I mean.

See what I mean?

2008-10-27T09:15:00.003-05:00

This is what I've been up to yesterday:

Same pattern as the first one, just with one less repeat. I also ran out of the lighter color, that's why the top had to be in solid green. Then I cast on this:

Yes, it's another one, but I still have to see if the yarn will be enough. It's thicker than the other ones, which means I could do with maybe even less repeats, but at the same time the ball shrinks so much faster and if I can't finish the round in the multi color, I'll have to send it to the pond. Then I might turn it into a striped Thorpe. Not so bad either, but I'm on a roll with this.

Entrelac Mania?

2008-10-26T11:55:00.004-05:00

So here I come to tell you that the Entrelac Hat I started two days ago was finished the same day. See....

I have to admit it was kind of addicting and fast to knit. Since I only followed somebody else's picture, I wasn't exactly sure how many rounds of squares I needed. Well, now I know. One less than what I did. I was mainly concerned about the top and the way it would close up and I think I did pretty good on it. So now, here was my problem. I washed and blocked it (which was kind of not necessary, since it wasn't even tight on that plate and this is a pizza plate, if I might add) and it was still very slouchy. My next step was to felt it. So I went to our local book/yarn store to get some advice. Well, needless to say, I didn't need the advice, since a lady in the store fell in love with the hat as is and wouldn't let it go. So it went home with her. It looks great on her too and she definitely had the right amount of hair to support the larger size.

So now, to make up for the "loss" I had to cast on the next one. See where I'm going with this? This pattern has something that makes it addicting. I started last night, while my boys went out to a sleepover and I stayed up half of the night with my dog, knitting. One reason for doing that was of course to make sure that I'd be up, in case one of my kids would come home. At least that's the one I'm using. The other reason was, that I couldn't put down the pattern. I even started to write it down, as I was going, but ended up getting ahead of myself with the knitting and didn't write it up anymore. So anyway, expect to see the second finished hat sometime soon. It will have one less row of squares and we'll see how this one fits. Who knows, I might be onto something with this? Plus it helps out with the stash issue I have. :)

Later .... gotta knit....can't help it. ......

Mittens done

2008-10-24T12:20:00.003-05:00

I wanted to show you the way my mittens worked out.

What do you think? I like them and the double layer thanks to the stranding should keep my hands warm enough in the next winter to come. The pattern can be found here and more info can be found on Ravelry here. I shortened the pattern by one repeat. I was always told I had long fingers, so I don't know how long the original mittens were. Also, I knitted them on size 1 (2.25 mm) KP Harmony DPNs, which should have made them just a little tighter too.

I'm still not sick and tired of knitting entrelac, so I found some Manos yarn (thanks Keri) in my stash box and started on this hat. I'm not really following any pattern, just leaning once again on Criminy Jickets Gaterlac pattern. It is very well written and so versatile to use. So this is the hat I'm working on at the moment. I'm very happy with it so far.

It's a rainy day here today and I spent most of it catching up with my DVR and working on the hat. Hey, what else is a girl to do?

It's getting cold

2008-10-17T09:15:00.004-05:00

I had to play a little waiting game with Knit Picks and the designer to get the test knit the way we wanted it, so in the meantime I jumped right onto this little hat.

It's getting a little colder here in Kentucky and the last two days of rain made even the last person realise that summer is definitely over. Since my older one is complaining about it being chilly in the morning (44 degrees on the way to school this morning) I had to knit up this hot hat for him to keep his ears warm. He even wanted to wear it all day at school today. We'll see what the teachers think of this, since I don't think that is part of the dress code. Either way it's nice to have my knitting appreciated.

Next up is a pair of argyle mitts. You might have seen them on Ravelry. I love them and had to cast them on last night. The ribbing is just going kinda slow, so it'll be a couple more hours until it's going to get interesting.

Since it's knitted over 72 stitches I cast on with 2.25mm (1) KP Harmony DPNs (thank you Keri) and I'm using some unknown stash sock yarn and the rest of the Dyed in the Wool Handmade Fingering Sockyarn in Winter Violet. This was left over from my Mohana Shawl I knitted for Monika. I think it's a rather nice color combo.

I'm not scared!

2008-10-14T12:52:00.003-05:00

For some of you ,that are very protective of their knitting, the following pictures might be disturbing. So I suggest you turn you eyes and wait for the next post.

The good news, I'm done with the knitting of the body of my latest KP testknit. Proof is here.

Then comes this:

I know, it's scary to look at, but it has to be done for the greater good or let's say for you to be able to get your head and arms into the whole thing.

Don't despair, because this is the second time I'm doing this and it was way less scary than the first time. Trust me, you can get used to it.

Tadaa, till next time.

All used up

2008-10-12T09:41:00.003-05:00

No, not me. I'm knitting like crazy, as usual, but the yarn for the Feather and Fan Scarf is all used up.

I managed to make a Slouch hat from the rest of it and had to substitute for the top of it. Thank god for the leftover stash. I found a color that matched the burgundy in it. I think it turned out very nice. Here are different versions for wearing it.

He is such a better model than me. Trust me, I tried, but the bathroom mirror pictures just wouldn't do.

The link to the pattern can be found on my project page on Ravelry here and for all the non Ravelers here.

Now off to some more stash diving to match it up with my ever growing queue on Ravelry.

Inbetween Knitting

2008-10-04T09:28:00.003-05:00

I had to cast on an new project yesterday. It was just itching. Seeing the seasons starting to change, the crispness in the fall air and all the nice stuff on Ravelry, I couldn't resist. My queue list is getting longer and I have to take a new look at my boxes of yarn. They are put away in my closet and only come out to play when I need something in there. It's not nicely displayed or organised for me to reach in and grab what I like, because I don't have my "craft room" anymore. Sniff.

Anyway, this is what I cast on for a friend yesterday. She "threw" some of her stash yarn at me and asked me to come up with something. Well, this is what I came up with.

It's a variation of the feather and fan pattern. The only thing I changed was that I left that one purl row out, so basically the whole front has more of a stockinette look, if that's what you can say.

Now that doesn't mean that I'm done with the stranded knitting, but I had to take a breather break. I'm more than 1/3 through the chart and my knitting is getting so much more even now. I guess it's like they always say: Practice makes perfect? I'm far from perfect, but I'm trying to work my way to it. :)

Have a nice knitting weekend.

Stranding like crazy

2008-09-29T15:13:00.003-05:00

What a weekend. My car didn't even move and me and the kids spent all weekend at home. We were somewhat hibernating, I guess? I was enjoying the weather and sat outside most of the time with my knitting in my lap and a glass of ice tea next to me.

I got the yarn for my latest test knit in the mail more than a week ago and started working a swatch. Yes, I do swatch, when it comes to KP. Good thing I did, because when I got the pattern, almost a week later, I found out that I had to go down a needles size (again). Not being able to cast on as soon as I got the yarn was like a kid staring at a cookie jar and not being allowed to touch them. It was torture, I tell you. So as soon as I got the pattern I cast on and for the rest of the weekend nobody could talk to me. And this is what I came up with.

Pretty, isn't it? I'm very partial to the clematis heather anyway and the fact that I can strand away without having to cut off yarn and start with a new color all the time makes this one go pretty fast. I also only have the two balls of yarn to drag with me (and the pattern page of course).

I'm still working on my lace scarf and on the baby blanket, but since I am knitting these for my own enjoyment and without anybody in mind I'm working on them whenever, like in the car, waiting for the kids, during tea kwon do class, cub scout meetings or even on a red light. Guilty, I know. Hey, what are some of the weird places you've been caught knitting? I think that would be interesting to find out.

I'm on the roll

2008-09-24T09:23:00.002-05:00

Today I might have to show you a couple more pictures than usual. But what fun are blog entries without pictures, right? Ok, here we go.

Remember that "smallish", but very colorful project from Knit Picks just before I moved? The one with those little alpacas? It can be found on the website now. It's a new kit they offer.

It has interchangeable charts so it's really up to the knitter on what ear flaps you want, what colors to choose or which bands you want to put where. I, as a test knitter didn't have that choice, but that's ok. I think it turned out really nice.

Next is my finished scrappy scarf, modeled by my trusty pup. She was the only available model at the time :)

I showed to our local bookstore/yarnstore owner and she wanted to keep it for now to hang it in her window. How cool is that. And I still have plenty of scrap yarn left over to make a couple more.

This little stocking is something I whipped up last night in a couple of hours. It's a little dark, but the colors are very bright. I found this pattern in the book "Knit Christmas Stockings" by Gwen Steege. I also used stash scrap yarn and 3.5 mm needles. Now I'm working on the matching little ski sweater ornament from the same book.

And here is another little peek at what is going to be my next test knit. I have the yarn, I had the chance to swatch it over the weekend, but I'm still waiting for the pattern. It feels just like looking at the candy in the store, walking out with a bag full of it, but not being allowed to have some. Now what's up with that!

This is Knit Picks fingering weight Palette in Cornmeal and Clematis Heather, just in case you were wondering.

Now back to the little sweater. And I had a brainstorm last night. Another little thing to use up some more of my sock yarn left overs. You'll see, once that egg hatches. Hi, hi, I know, I'm so mean sometimes. Happy knitting.

Scrappy Scarf

2008-09-19T12:07:00.003-05:00

Wow, I've been blogging more than usual. Don't know why, but I guess I'm taking a break from opening boxes and knitting a little more. I guess that was the bad thing about getting internet connection and my stash back and finding my needles. :)

I've been running into my leftover box and was wondering what to do with all of that yarn balls. Thanks to our trusty Ravelry I found inspiration for a lengthwise scrappy scarf here, here and here. Now how could I hold myself back from all that scrappy goodness, especially since I had to take a break from too much pink, before I started to get sick of it. I have to tell you, so far it's turning into a very addicting project. Check it out and tell me what you think.

It's hard to put it down, because the look changes with every row and you can't really make a mistake with this one. That's the best part with it.

It's just a simple seed stitch pattern and the beginning and the end of the row makes your frindge. Easy pleasy. I was planning on making some more and donating them to the Scarves from the Heart Project. You can find info on Ravelry here.

Right place, right time

2008-09-17T13:52:00.004-05:00

So I did another drop at our thrift shop on post again. I found that I didn't really have much toys to give away, since we already went through them before the packers even made it to the house. Then I got to my cook books and got rid of a couple of those. Most of them looked brand new which just proofs, that I didn't use them much, if at all, so it didn't hurt to give them up.

Just then I found this:

Somebody must have just dropped them off, because they weren't even marked for sale yet. The one lady wanted to just give them for me, since I just dropped things off, but the other one said they couldn't do that. Bummer, but guess how much I end up paying for all three sets? Anybody? Can you say 50 cents? Yup, what a steal. The Brittany alone are originally priced 6.50, the Bernat with 1.75 and I know those rosewood needles aren't cheap either. And best of it all is, I didn't have those sizes in DPNs and I was just thinking this morning, that I'm tired of knitting the little lace scarf with those long cables. I guess the knitting goddess heard my cry for help?

I found them!!!

2008-09-16T09:24:00.006-05:00

Yes, I did find the rest of my needles. It was in one of the many book boxes. Now I can sleep better.

We had a bad storm here in Northern Kentucky on Sunday. From what I heard on the radio we were cought in between two weather front that made this area here seem like Ike's little cousin. We had 50 mph winds that snapped trees, which broke powerlines. Half the day on Sunday we were out of power and I rearranged boxes inside the garage, bringing all my beloved yarn boxes into the house, so I could put my husbands car inside. I have about 2 inches between front bumper and a wall of boxes and 4 inches between back bumper and garage door. How is that for exact measurement!!

I also did the good deed for the day and donated 4 boxes to our local thrift shop. It was long overdue and it sure don't miss them and I love those two empty drawers in my dresser. And that was only clothes. I still need to go through toys and those many boxes labeled "Closet item". Hmmm, that is a very grey area. You should know how many closets I had in my other place.

Did I mention I hate moving? It's not so much the moving part, since we have people to do that for us, but the part where you have to find a new home for every single little thing and if you don't then to determent wether you really need that perticular thing or if you could part with it.

And on the knitting front, which has been very much neglected, I finally finished the little pink baby hoody.

And while we are doing the picture thing here, this is another one of my KP testknits I found on the website yesterday. This was the one with all the cables and stuff. Looks pretty good on the guy and fit me perfectly too. It's called "Traditional Gansey" and can be found at Knit Picks in the book "Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone". I knit that one with Comfy in the color Cashew. Some of you might remember this project, just because it's a pretty bland color to knit with, especially for such a big project, but I think in the end it fits the sweater pretty good.

These are some close up pix I took before I sent it off.

MIA

2008-09-14T09:01:00.003-05:00

I dug myself out of boxes and packing paper and emerged halfway victorious. Halfway, because the inside of my house looks like a house now and not like a cardboard version of the New York skyline. I can walk around without stepping on things and having to manouver around boxes. I can actually see the floors again. The last room will be my younger sons room and that's where I have to do the most weeding through clothes, since I have to distinguish between too small, fits now and fits next year clothes from his brother.

Last night I found my sock needles, crochet hooks and straights. Score! Well half way, I was expecting to find my circulars right away too, but that's not the case. They were stored in a clear plastic zipper pouch on a different level of the shelf. Well, here I go digging through every box that has the word "Yarn" written on it. No luck. Well, how about the one with books, since I had knitting books next to it. No luck either. I'm still looking for those perticular knitting books too and I'm sure when I find them, I'll also find my needles. So instead of sleeping last night, my mind was still digging through boxes. So for my next Knit Picks project, which will be coming to me sometime next week, I hope that the one and only circular I brought with me, will be the one I need to use. Otherwise I'm out of luck, because most likely I'm going to have to order a new one. Darn. :)

Today is the day

2008-09-08T05:38:00.004-05:00

Well actually, it's tomorrow, but today is the day when I try to turn into Superwoman. Today is the day that I'm up at 5.30 am doing laundry already. It's the day when I pack up the rest of my belongings into my car and clean this place out. Today is when I want to wash the sheets, the towels, clean the stove and the fridge and make this place presentable for the next people that need a temp apartment, while waiting for their permanent home for over a month. Man, that has been a long time, especially when you are told in the beginning that they can place you within 7 days. Yeah, in a really crappy, over 40 year old 8plex apartment that is not worth the rent they are taking from you.

Anyway, enough with the griping, because on Friday, literally one hour before the weekend and before the office closed, we finally got the keys to our new place. What a releave, because my husband had to leave to go to school the very next morning. Hey, at least we had the keys, right? Now it's up to me to clear this place here (I'm only staying here, because of the internet and the TV!), hopefully today, because tomorrow I have a sh**load of boxes coming my way. All weekend long I have been planning and organising in my mind and I come to the conlusion that I really miss that extra bedroom we used to have. It was my stash room. It didn't start out like that, but it turned into it. Now I don't know where to put all my fabric and yarn that is coming my way and that I missed so much over last month. I might just have to "rent" some space in my kids' closets. Or the other solution is to use it all up as quick as possible.

So, just in case you wonder why I can't blog for a while (again), you might want to send out a search party to find me trapped between boxes and packing paper. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, this is what my entrelac blanket looks like.

I'm on my 4th yarn change and it's coming along great. I'm following Dave's pattern for his Garterlac Dishcloth and it couldn't turn out better. Thanks Dave.

Knitter interrupted

2008-09-01T12:08:00.002-05:00

I wanted to make sure you know I'm still knitting. It's not my greatest or most complicated accomplishment, but it's what's been keeping me busy for 2 weeks. Here are some pictures of the baby blanket I made, since my stuff got packed.

I posted it on Ravelry, but didn't do so on my blog for all of those, that don't have Ravelry or don't check on their friends activities there. Anyway, I think it turned out rather nicely. It's made from Rhonda White's dishcloth patterns and I just put them all together in a blanket. Without having all my "tools" or my stash yarn available, I had to make do with what I could find at my local Walmart. I used one skein of each of Caron's Simply Soft in Light Yellow, Light Blue, Pink, Light Green and Orchid. I also had to buy a pair of Boye size 8 (5mm) 14 " needles to get me started. They were too long for my taste, but they worked out ok. I can't tell you exactly the finished size of this blanket, but it covers half of a queen size bed. I think this qualifies it more for a throw than for a small baby blanket. Any infant would get lost in it for sure.

I also got commissioned to knit a baby cardigan. You can find the free pattern here. I'm knitting it with Bernat Softee Baby Yarn (I know, more acrylic) and had to invest in another pair of Boye needles, this time a size 6 29" cable. I'm not completely happy with them, but they will do for now. Of course I could have ordered some more Harmony needles from Knit Picks, but you know how it is, if you don't want to have to wait, even though nowadays it's cheaper to pay for shipping charges than to drive to the next yarn store and pay for gas.

Speaking of local yarn stores. I visited the Knit Nook in Louisville, KY. I love this little yarn store and my husband appreciated the coffee shop next door and the comfy couches to sit on while he had to wait for me to be done with my exploration. It's not right around the corner from me and without my GPS I might not find my way back there, but it's definitely worth stopping by there whenever my husband has to visit his favorite motorcycle store, just a few blocks away.

Well, that's it for me so far for now. Keep your needles crossed that I will get a permanent address by next week. My husband has to go off to school and it'll be up to me to open most of the boxes to set up the house, so I might not be blogging for a while again. As long as I get it before he leaves, I'll be fine. It's going to be like early christmas, opening all those boxes. Yes, I know, I say that now, until I get fed up with it and don't want to see another box again. Right now, all I want is my stuff. I'm sure you can understand that. I've been without my stash for over a month now. Whhaaaa :(

Greetings from Kentucky

2008-08-08T09:06:00.008-05:00

Hey ya'll. I'm waving hello to you from my new home in Fort Knox, Kentucky. Well, more or less new home, since I'm greeting you from our hotel, where we are currently staying in. If you read my blog more often you'll know that my husband is in the military and that it was time for us once again to pack up our TA-50 and our bags and move to our new duty station. We left Georgia last friday and made our way up to Kentucky, with a quick stop over night in Nashville. We signed in here on post on saturday and are in the hotel since then.

We used the weekend of explore our surrounding towns and made our first trip to check out Louisville. Here is where we ate for lunch:

and we also got to check out the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum.

And this is what's located right next door. Too funny.

After running around like crazy for a couple of days and getting my kids set up for school, it's quiet time for me right now. I'm knitting along on the Traveling Roses Scarf that is my travel project, but I got a little bored with it. So since knitting stores are not on every corner here, Walmart had to come to the rescue and I got some size 8 needles and some pastel colored acrylic yarn (don't booh me for that) and I started on a new baby blanket from these dish cloth patterns here.

My plan is to knit the whole alphabet and then piece it together to make a blanket. So far I'm on "C" and it's coming along pretty good, except that I'm not very happy with those 14" way too long Boye needles, but they'll have to do for now. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have all my stuff back. So keep your fingers crossed, that we find a right house for us soon.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Do you remember that pile of grey yarn with those blue? Well, I found that on the Knit Picks site. This is what it turned out to be.

Surprised?

Happy Birthday

2008-07-23T15:32:00.003-05:00

Say Hello to the birthday girl.

This is our little girl Fancy. She is turning 3 today and is very happy with her big rawhide bone she got today. That should keep her busy for a couple of days. We adopted her about 1 1/2 years ago from our local animal shelter, just a couple of months before my husband deployed. She is the daughter I never had, the barking doorbell I never wanted and the built-in security system that never works. Well, she has her moments, when people get scared of her. She is a chow-chow/golden retriever mix and it depends on how people look at her they see a overgrown Chow and back up or a very fluffy retriever. The worst thing she does to people is clotheslining them with her leash and drooling them to death. :) Otherwise she thinks that everybody is only there to pet her all day long. She also sheds like crazy right now and I always seem to have tumble fur around the house. I was thinking about shaving her for the summer, but didn't do it anyway, even with temperatures of almost 100 here today. Next winter she'll need her fur when she gets to see snow for the first time. I wonder what she'll think about that.

I can also tell you that I'm almost done with the Veste Everest. I only have about 5 more rounds to knit in the second armhole, then I'm done, except for all the ends to weave in.

I'll tease you with another pic here. Let's see what you think about that.

Mandatory Knitting Break

2008-07-21T11:04:00.002-05:00

Today it seems I'll have a knit free day. Not by choice, I must say. I am getting my latest test knit in pieces and got done with the last section yesterday and won't get the next installment of the pattern until tomorrow. I was hoping to piece together the Veste Everest today and finish off the neckline and armholes, but instead I'm doing laundry and fixing blinds.

With only 7 days until the movers are coming to pack us up, there a lots of things to be cleaned out, organised, disposed off and fixed. Today was the day to fix the blinds. I didn't want to wait until the last day, even though I know how "talented" my kids are in breaking them. In nearly every room in the house there was at least one and as many as about 10 blades broken and with 5 big blinds and hearing that the housing office will charge up to 60 dollars a pop to exchange them, it was well worth the effort exchanging the damaged blades and gutting one blind and only putting up one new one, a generous gift from another nice neighbor of mine, that just moved out. I'll hand down my still usable blinds to my other good neighbor for her to fix any of her broken ones. We all gotta stick together here.

Next on the list I'll have to go and reregister out vehicles, which are due next month. First I was going to do this at our next duty station, but doing it here means not having to hassle with it there finding all the necessary papers, which are already on file here. Plus between all the boxes and papers and things that have to be unpacked and put away, I don't want to have to dig for it. I'll just be one of those people, which are not too uncommon in the military, that drive around with out of state license plates for a while. Talk about Georgia on my mind?

Ok. that's enough of a break for now. I'm off to find some more things to organise.

Recent accomplishments and more yarn

2008-07-16T09:22:00.003-05:00

OK, here are some nicer shots of the tumbling blocks baby blanket I finished the other day. I was all excited about this project at first, lost interest in it for a while, found any excuse to knit/ crochet anything else instead, but finally have it done. I hope the kid has not enrolled in school yet. :) I had a teddy bear model for me on this one.

It's made with three different shades of Bernat Softee Baby, you know, the big balls of acrylic yarn you can find at Walmart. I used a size G (4mm) hook for it. The three rows of border made a nice finish to it and seem to pull it all together.

Next is a quicky test knit for Knit Picks in between. I started on it so quickly and had it done in only a couple of days, so I didn't even get to take a yarn shot. Here is a little peek. It will be in the November catalog.
This is what my favorite UPS guy brought me yesterday. Isn't it yummy? 9 different colors of Knit Picks Palette.

This is going to be another "smallish" project for them and will be in the September Catalog. I've been asking for little things to knit, because I didn't want to commit to anything major, since we will be moving soon (how many times have I mentioned that now?) and I didn't want to have to stop unpacking boxes to meet the deadline for a knitting project.
It's shocking, but I actually swatched for this one. Well, I have to do this for my test knits all the time and since I know myself as a loose knitter, I have to go down one needle size on this one two. The designer recommends a size 4 to get 8 stitches per inch. I, as you might be able to see, only get between 6 and 7. Now I switched to a 3mm needle instead (don't have a 3.25 in my stash) and we'll see how this works out.

On other news the Veste Everest was soaking this morning and is rolled up in a towel as we speak/type. Once I'm done with this post I'll torture the poor thing and stretch it to size to block it. Then I only have to add the edging for the neck and sleeves and it'll be done. I absolutely love the yarn I've used. It's RY Cashsoft DK and it's a dream to knit. If it ever goes on sale again (I got this one at Webs), I'll have to stock up on it. I'll post pics of Everst when I'm done with it.

Now back to swatching and blocking.

I'm making progress

2008-07-08T12:10:00.004-05:00

Do you see this? You know what that means? I finally had enough of this pattern and decided to finish it. I'm working on the outside border right now. I'm going around with all three colors once, that should do it.
This is a FO from this weekend. I had to give this double knitting a try and found it pretty interesting. At first it was a little confusing until I got the hang of it and I figured out the right way for me to hold the yarn. Then it went pretty smooth and I had this hot pad finished in a day. It can be found on Knitting Help. I knitted this one with 4 mm needles and cotton yarn that Keri sent me, when she was weeding through her stash not too long ago. Thanks. This was a perfect combination of pattern and stash yarn.

Here is the backside of it. Or is it the front? I can't decide which one I like better. Unfortunately I don't think I have enough yarn to make another one just like that one. They are nice and thick and work good as a hot pad or a pot holder.

The reason for this sudden burst of FOs is another FO. I finally got the last test knit off the needles and had to wait for it to dry after a nice soak. To me it turned out perfect, the pattern was easy to follow and I didn't have to check back with Kim at Knit Picks at all. Nice. Just keep your eyes open in the October catalog for something brown. Yeah, like you'll remember that. So you have to excuse me, but I'm off to the UPS store to send out their package and then finish the border on the blanket. See ya.

Disney World Pics

2008-07-05T09:04:00.005-05:00

We had a fun time at Walt Disney World in Florida, but I think I did more walking in those two days than in a whole week at work. I'm so tired of walking. We got to sit down once in a while too.

We went through all four parks Disney World has to offer in two days. We stayed in the military hotel in the Disney resort and had free bus transportation to all the different parks and Downtown Disney, where all the shops were. This is a view from the hotel.
And the hotel itself.

On the way there we stopped by in Daytona (my husband tried to stop by every bikeshop on the way) and in the parking lot I caught this picture and thought it was pretty cool.

Or course I had my knitting with me and right now I'm about 5 more cable twists away from finishing my test knit. I also did a little crochet in the meantime, just to use up some of my stash leftovers.

Road Trip

2008-06-30T15:03:00.002-05:00

Finally, I'm off work here for good. Don't get me wrong, I love to work, but it's been a little monotonous to have to go to work, while my kids are on summer vacation and my husband is wasting away his month long block leave, because we can't do anything or go anywhere, because I have to go to work pretty much every day. So now, that we are only one month away from leaving this place, I quit my job and I'm free. FREE. Now I have a month at this address to collect the rest of my paychecks :D and then we are off to our new duty station in Kentucky.

So since this is the only week now that we are all off, we are going on a road trip. Only a short one, but long enough to ask the neighbor to babysit our dog. Where does everybody wants to go at least once in their lifetime? Yes, DISNEY WORLD!!. I've made reservations and tomorrow we are off on our way to Orlando. We'll be spending two days in the park and enjoy Florida for a while. We'll be back home in time for the 4th of July celebrations to avoid all the traffic and to keep our dog company, which is a big chicken, when it comes to thunder or any other loud noises. Of course there will be knitting on the way, since the route is already plotted on our TomTom and I won't have to be a copilot. I hope to get the rest of my test knit done on the way there or back and send it out this or next week, just in time for the deadline.

Sorry about the pictureless post, but I didn't want to bore you with more cables and the chicken dog of mine wouldn't cooperate and turned camera shy. Too bad.

Pics to keep you guessing

2008-06-24T14:57:00.003-05:00

I finally found my camera. After almost tearing up the house, I finally found it, because there is nothing I hate more than to post without a picture. Here is another sneak peek on the cable madness I've been working on. Pretty, isn't it?

Those cables always remind me of the icing around a cake. Funny, I know. I'm down to the last 5 packs of yarn now and am pretty sure it'll be enough, but the pattern is easier now and I'm zooming right along. But I still can't wait until this is done and I can post about other knitting again.

I have one more week of work ahead of me and then I should have a lot more time for knitting, besides cleaning and uncluttering the house, before the movers come next month. I'm getting into the mood for this every once in a while and can finally get rid of some things. I'll tackle this next month and go through our stuff one room and one box at a time. My craft room is off limits to my husband. He is not allowed to throw anything out from there. To him it might just be string and fabric rags, but to me it's hidden treasures. I know you understand my point. :)

Happy knitting.

Hibernation in summer?

2008-06-17T16:51:00.003-05:00

I know, it's been quiet on my blog lately, but I haven't been hibernating or anything like this. After all, it's summer and not the right season for it. I have been knitting the whole time too, trust me, but since it's a test knit, there isn't really much I can show you, except more cables and maybe how the mountain of 17 balls of yarn is shrinking. So far I've gone through 9 balls of yarn and the main body (I guess you have figured out it's a sweater, duh) is almost done. You know what comes next, so I'm not going to get into it any further.

However, here is something I CAN show you:

Those are the Tubey socks from the book "Son of Stitch 'n Bitch" by Debbie Stoller. The pattern was designed by Claudia, who can also be found on Ravelry here. I knitted them with Knit Picks Risata in the color Buttermilk with Dusk and Sable as accent colors.

Otherwise I don't have much to show for at the moment. I've been looking for something small to knit in between, kinda like an instant gratification sort of thing, but can't seem to find anything in that direction either. It's just this heat here in Georgia (we had 95 degrees today), the weather, something, I just don't know. Maybe it's me working for a couple of hours a day, maybe it's the boys being out of school or just the upcoming move, but I can't seem to be more productive. So I tinker along on those cables every day, a couple of inches at a time, until it's done.

I'll be working until the end of this month and then we'll be getting ready for our next military move to Kentucky. I'm glad to get out of here. The south just doesn't seem to like me and it's going both ways. I've been here the second time now and don't like it any better than the first time. I'm actually looking forward to white Christmas and snow, but might curse the snow, the first time I have to shovel. But just think how much more my knitting will be appreciated in climate like this instead of here. :) Gotta find the good thing in every situation and right now I'm looking forward to getting there, just not so much the move, the house hunting and the setting up and finding a spot for all the junk we own and drag with us. Yard sale, here we go.

Family Trip

2008-05-26T13:16:00.003-05:00

Having two days off in a row at the same time doesn't happen to us that often, so we had to take advantage of it. Even though the gas prices seem to be going through the roof right now, we took the oportunity for a day trip to Atlanta. We didn't get cought in the travel rush, so the drive was pretty smooth. After only about 4 hours we made it to Atlanta and headed for our destination, the Georgia Aquarium. It was pretty impressive for being a huge aquarium, but since we expected something a little more interactive, we didn't spend as much time there as we had planned.

Next stop, after a drive through a pretty (and rich looking) neighborhood with old colonial houses and parks with jogging people, very nice landscaping and Mercedes in the drive ways, was Stone Mountain Park. After this we headed home and since we had more time on hand than expected and traffic wasn't bad either, we stopped one more time at the Tanger Outlet Mall in Locust Grove and took advantage of their Memorial Day savings and the additional military discounts offered. I scored a couple of nice Tommy pants for me :).

Since we were on the road a while I had a chance to get quite a bit of knitting done too. I am up

7 inches on the latest test knit. 3 balls of yarn down and many more to go.

Tag, you're it

2008-05-23T17:22:00.002-05:00

Michelle tagged me the other day and I almost forgot about it. This is a cute one, so here we go.

“The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.”

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

Being a SAHM with a then 1-year-old in the Mojave desert in the middle of nowhere.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Get the boys ready for school, go to work, walk the dog, do some laundry, knit, blog, go out to dinner (it's friday!)

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Yogurt, granola bars, sour cream with sugar (no, I'm not pregnant, just weird sometimes), gummi bears and sour octopus gummies

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Pay off all my bills and open a yarn store. Go figure

5) Places I have lived:

Schweinfurt and Baumholder, Germany (obviously); Fort Stewart, GA (twice); San Diego, CA; Fort Irwin, CA and soon I can add Fort Knox, KY to the list

6) 5 peeps I wanna know more about: Ashley, Wannietta, Del, Tami, and Connie

I hope all of them will play, so we can get to know a little more about each other than what we knit.

2008-05-21T15:03:00.004-05:00

I want to blog, I swear I do, but something always seems to get in the way. So now I just took the time, ignored everything else, even the nagging dog and the child next to me, telling me everything about playing Halo 3 I don't want to know, and plugged in my new toy. Guess what, this is what I'm using right now.

This is my new little Toshiba laptop that my husband insisted I'd have. I deserve it, he says. Hmm, what does he want? Or better yet, what does he want to buy to justify buying me this one? We'll see. He does things like that. Keri knows. The whole reason for that was that my older son caught something on our laptop, which made it not hook up to the Internet anymore. I wouldn't connect to the Internet Explorer anymore. Now this one works like a charm and I can even work Blogger perfectly again. I can link and I can move around my pics again, which was impossible before.

Now on the knitting note, I wanted to show you the last delivery from the UPS guy.

This is my new KP testknit. 17 balls of Comfy. Yes, it's going to be a big one this time, but I have a pretty generous deadline. I did my swatch and now I'm off to casting on. Once I have something to show for, I'll take some more pics.

Well, that's going to have to do for now. I'm needed again. Gotta run.

I have issues

2008-05-15T13:43:00.003-05:00

Gauge issues that is. I am usually not the one that uses the same exact yarn as in the pattern. Well, one reason is that when I knit for Knit Picks, unless the original pattern calls for it, the yarn gets substituted with one of theirs. Duh, that's to be expected, since the whole point behind me knitting for them is to promote their yarns and to show that substitutions will work out just was well as knitting it with the "original" yarn.

Anyway. My issue is not with one of their patterns, it's with one that I'm actually knitting for me. Well, more for a friend of mine as a late, or maybe we can already say, early Christmas present. She requested a vest last Christmas. After searching for that perfect pattern I decided to make the Veste Everest by Veronik Avery from the IK Fall 2005 issue. I found the perfect yarn on last months WEBS sale and went for RYC Cashsoft DK. Choosing the right size seemed to be a problem for me, since the size I needed, was not exactly in the pattern. So I have to figure out a "in between" size. Therefore I had two choices. Bigger pattern and smaller needles or smaller pattern and bigger needles. Since I know that I knit a little loose, I went for the smaller needles. Eeeenk. Wrong answer. After knitting through about half a ball of yarn I had to figure out that I had a perfect gauge for the size I was NOT going for. So ripping I went. Now I'm going for door number 2: smaller pattern, normal needles. I knit up the yarn I ripped out before and it seems to be working in my favor. The best part about it, it's two whole repeats less, which is 24 stitches. That should speed up things a bit.

And since I sent out my last KP test knit beginning of this week, I got a new on in my e-mail box today. Contract is signed, yarn is ordered therefore stay tuned for new sneak peaks at the yarn. Until then I'll have to knit a little faster on the vest, before I have to decide which one has priority.

KP 8 Revealed

2008-05-10T12:51:00.004-05:00

How do you like this cardigan? Pretty nice, hugh? I found this today on Knitpicks.

Now compair it to this:

Yup, it's my tidepool lace knitting I did a while back for them. It made it to the website and should be in the next catalog too. I'm glad it looks great on the model. It was lots of knitting, constant knitting, but in the end it was worth it. I like it. See Michelle, this is what you look forward too, except that your name won't be mentioned, but that's ok. The fellow bloggers, that follow my blog, know I did it and that's all that matters. Thank you all for putting up with my teaser pictures all the time.

I'm almost done with the last one I'm making for them. All I can say it's gray and it's a sweater. Woohoo, that should narrow it down, right? Yeah, well, that's all you are going to get for now. :). Now I wonder what they have to offer next time.

I don't know what I'm going to be working on in the meantime, but I'm sure I'll find something. After all, I got that big box of yarn from Keri to go through and instant gratification that comes with doing small things isn't so bad either.

Have a nice weekend and a good mothers day, for all that it applies to.

FO Report

2008-05-05T14:57:00.003-05:00

It is done, finished, blocked and it's gorgeous. I love this shawl. May I present:

"M O H A N A"

This shawl is designed by Monika, as peviously mentioned only a few times :) and I had the honor to testknit it, to make sure no bugs were left in there. I hope I cought them all and now it's up to you all to show, that you too can make this masterpiece. It's really fun to knit.

I got the yarn from Monika too, who bought it from the talented Maggie (dyedinthe woolhandmade.com), which hand died it for her in the color "Winter Violet". I used a little more than two skeins of it, one of the running 378 yards, so you go figure out yourself, how much it would take you. I had to start the last skein on the picot edge. The yarn is a Fingering Sock Mediumweight and I used my size 5 (3.75mm) KP options needles with a looooong cable for it. Great combination. It seemed a little small yesterday, after I was done, but after a good soak and a nice over nicht stretch the shawl grew to a good 40 inches down the spine and 80 inches wingspan. It's sure to keep me warm enough in the evenings out on the porch in that rocker and it being the weight it is, made it faster to knit too.

Have fun.

Mohana Progress

2008-04-30T15:01:00.003-05:00

Wow, has it really been two weeks since I last posted? Two weeks, since my husband has been back and we are a "normal" family again? I guess not everything is back to normal yet, if I don't find the time to post on my blog regularly. I still have to get used to the new "schedule" that includes him.

But I have been knitting too. I even put my KP project on hold to knit on Monika's Mohana Shawl . Here is a picture of the process that I made so far.

I'm only 13 rows away from the end and the rows are getting longer and longer (Duh!). I'm glad I have a long deadline to finish my KP testknit and it doesn't interfere with this one. I just wanted to get this done and any bugs worked out, so Monika could make the necessary corrections on the pattern, before we let the rest of the knitting world at it. After all, did you check out how many people already queued that shawl? Wow, amazing. And I'm the first to actually knit it after her. What an honor. Monika is so talented, when it comes to things like this.

Sadly I have to say that I ended up frogging the toe up baby cables sock. Why? It just wasn't fun for me right now and I didn't want another UFO hovering around, so rather than wondering what happened to my needles, that I was using, I pulled them out and turned the yarn back into a nice little yarn cake. I'm still going to knit socks, just not right now. I guess I have to be in the mood for it.

Ok, back to those 13 rows now. I don't think I'll be able to knit in a dark movie theatre tonight. We got free tickets to see "Ironman" and even though it's a school night, we are going. I hope it's worth it.

New Temptation

2008-04-16T14:31:00.004-05:00

This is what I got in the mail a couple of days ago from Monika (www.yarnloopie.blogspot.com/). I'm going to test knit the Mohana pattern for her with this. It's a great yarn and a great color made by Dyed in the Wool Handmade in Winter Violet.

She also added a skein of Fleece Artist to it as a bonus. Thanks so much.

So no wonder I couldn't help but cast on this morning to see how this knits up and to get started on her test knit, so the pattern can available to more people than just her and me. I'm so special, I know, and I'm a schmuck too, but you have to forgive me for that.

The KP test knit is coming along great too. The only problem I have now is, that Monika's shawl and the KP is using the same size needle. Hmm. Timeshare?

Here is the reason for my short blogging absence:

Yes, Hubby is home. After more than a year he is finally back from his deployment and if I have anything to do with it, it was his last one too.
This is the boys, before the bus came in, waiting......

New Teaser

2008-04-05T15:44:00.003-05:00

This is was arrived yesterday on my door. Isn't it pretty? A little mountain of yarn, compliments of Knit Picks for my newest testknit for them. The last one was done so quickly, that I already have a new project from them. It's Swish DK, the same one I knitted the moss green vest with. I like using it. It knits up pretty fast, as you can tell.

This is today's teaser pic for you. My goal is to "get rid" of one ball of yarn per day and with this pattern, that shouldn't be a problem. It's almost like knitting socks for me. I can knit this while watching TV :). So I have another 20 grams to go today, so I won't torture you any more and leave you wondering. I know, I'm bad. :D

Two down, one to go

2008-04-02T12:57:00.003-05:00

Two? Yes, I finished my test knit for KP (9) and it's on the way back to them. I already got their next offer in my inbox. That was quick.

The other thing I finished, right after I came back from the UPS store, was inspired by Keri and her blog entry about being mindful (sorry, still can't link for some reason, grrr). So I went and snooped around on Ravelry (gotta love them) and came up with a pattern for a cotton shower puff. But that wasn't enough. Once I got dragged over to the dark side and I got hooked, so to speak, I had to finish the whole set. Here you see the back scrubber (it's the loopy thing on the top right), a wash cloth, the bath puff, a face scrubber and a soap saver. I love that little pouch. So what do you think? More environmentally friendly? I hope so. Now I need to see what other kind of cotton yarn I have laying around in my stash. :D

Then I figured it was time to think about socks again. I had the Baby Cables queued in Ravelry for a while. I really don't need a pattern for it, so I started. Grabbed the first ball of yarn I saw and figured, I wanted shorties, ankle socks. Hmmm. 44 grams of this, should be enough. How can I be sure? Well, how about a toe up version? Ok, no problem, but I might need some advise, once I get to the bind off. I did it once before and my sister was complaining about them being too tight. I don't want that to happen again, but I don't want them to fall off either, since they are going to be short. Oh, and yes, I'm using magic loop. Why? Because I didn't like having a braid right in the middle of changing needles. There you go. I'll just have to figure out how to do do the second sock and no, I'm not doing them at the same time. I'm not that adventurous.

So that's it for now. Any suggestions?

KP 7 = What?

2008-03-27T06:40:00.005-05:00

Here is another KP test knit revealed. I found it on their website this morning. Looks familiar? The colors? They call it the Twinkle Sweater, but it was make without the beads that go on the yoke. I really liked that one and the only thing I would have changed, to make it perfect, would be to add a hood, but the pattern didn't come with it. Here is a model shot of my own. This sweater fit my 7-year-old perfect, don't you think? But he was embarrassed about the colors, which is why he is "headless" on those pictures. But he sure strikes a nice girly pose here ;). (Don't tell him I said that, or he'll be mad at me for a while)

Next up would be Elliott. For all of you that strained their eyes, necks or just imaginations to see the dragon in that pile of yarn, here is his on his photo shoot. It's a little hard to do this on your own, because you can only angle your wrist to much, to make him look at you. I had a little problem with the mouth, it just didn't want to shape the way I wanted to, so maybe I'll add some cardboard in it, like what we did to the sock puppet my son had for his Spanish class.

Risata anyone?

2008-03-24T07:43:00.005-05:00

Can you use a lot of your imagination and see a dragon emerging from all of that tangled mess? No? Well, unfortunately he is not "pulling" himself together, so you'll have to wait until I get around to it. But he's been patiently waiting.

The reason for his neglect is this:

This is what came in the mail the other day and it the next project for Knit Picks. I've already told you that I'm knitting with their new yarn Risata, but that's all I can really officially give a way. It's really hard to hide what this is going to be. Duh. But the yarn knits up really nice and even. So if you are interested in some summer sock yarn, I'd give this one a try.

But did you notice those needles? Those are the Harmony DPNs I got in Keri's package. I had to try them out. I never used 2.25 mm before and they are shorter than my regular sock needles too. I love them, especially since purple is one of my favorite colors and there is a lot of that in those needles. This project is really flying off the needles, but it doesn't look like I'm going to have much yarn left over this time. It also taught me a forgotten technique, that I might just use more often in the future. Got you interested? Well, don't torture your brain too much.

I Do still knit, you know

2008-03-20T19:53:00.002-05:00

I finally have the Tam done, that was hibernating in my house for a while. The constant purling and the frequent increases made this a slow project. But it's done. I can only show you the blocking picture right now, since I don't have a victim to model it for me. The pattern is from the Holiday 2007 IK and I used some mystery mohair yarn from my stash for this. Now I just have to find a worthy recipient for this one.

Then I've been working on Elliott the Dragon, also from the 2007 IK Holiday issue. I'm knitting it with some handspun yarn I received a while back from Rachel (Have you any Wool). This was the perfect project for this yarn. The color changes make this an interesting dragon. He still needs to be sewn together, before we can show him. He seems to be a little shy. :)

Then I got new Knit Picks yarn in the mail today. It's for the next project and it's their Risata yarn. Hmm, what could that turn into?.....

Happy knitting.

No more tidepool

2008-03-08T16:17:00.005-05:00

It's done. I can honestly say, that this test knit was the longest one ever. Did you ever knit a whole cardigan in lace weight yarn? Well, I did. That's why it's been kind of boring on this blog, because that's all I did. I had no other projects going on the side, except when I was stuck and got to crochet a couple of diamonds for the baby blanket. I was in a time crunch already, so yesterday I missed the UPS driver for the pick up and today I spent 4 1/2 hours in the ER with my oldest with swollen tonsils, fever and all the other good stuff that goes with it. That was excellent knitting time and by the time I got the prescription for him, I was done with the cast off. I ran home, stuffed it (lovingly) in a box, wished it fair well and brought it to the UPS store to send it off. Unfortunately there was no time to take a picture, so this is what I took two days ago.

Here is also an updated picture of the baby blanket. I would say I'm half way done?

I also got a lovely package in the mail from Keri. As a thank you for the mermaid gloves I knitted for her she dyed some yarn for me. Not only did she send back the yarn I sent to her, but also some extra sock yarn. And to make the package complete, she added two sets of Knitpicks Harmony sock needles in two different sizes. Now what do you say about that? That is so cool. She is such a great friend and always knows how to surprise me. Thanks Keri. I love all the stuff.

Woohoo, I'm stuck!!!

2008-03-02T15:45:00.003-05:00

Usually nobody would be happy about this, but somehow I am. Why? Because all I see is tidepool green lately and now that I'm stuck at the pattern, I have to take a "forced" break, until KP gets back with me on that issue. That means, I get to pick up one of my "old" projects and work on that for a couple of hours, without having to feel guilty. Yes, I could pick up something new, but that wouldn't fit into the no-guilt-concept of mine. So off I go to dig up the baby blanket. Now, I wonder how old that baby is by now? Is he walking yet? Applied for his drivers license? Just kidding. Have a nice Sunday. Pics to follow. Of what? I don't know yet.
:)

Not much to show for

2008-02-27T16:59:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone. I just realized it's been a good two weeks since you last saw a sign of life from me. I know, enough with the apologies, but there was just not much going on here on the knitting front that would be worth showing. I haven't been lazy, by god no, but do you really want to see sneak peeks of the same tide pool yarn over and over again? It's not like I can tell you much about it, but my test knit is pretty much been taking up most, or better yet all of my knitting time. I'm finally on the last piece of it and might be done by the end of this week. Cross your needles for me on this one, since crossing your fingers would make it hard for you to knit. :)

So, what else... well, I've been following all of your blogs, as some of you can tell by the frequently left comments and I also check in on my friends on ravelry, so don't think you are neglected. I've just not been in a very sociable or talkative mood lately. Some news are brewing around here, but nothing conclusive can be told yet, so I'll leave it at that. I know, mysteries galore today.

Knit Picks is starting a knitting community. I don't know how many of you have heard about it yet, but I got an invitation today and so far it's still in the testing stage and will hopefully soon be open to the whole knitting public. Blogger still won't let me link, so you'll have to google for it. Btw, has anybody else have that problem?

I promise not to leave you hanging for so long between posts and hopefully I have some other stuff, that is picture worthy, to show for by next week. Until then, happy knitting.

Another KP testknit released

2008-02-12T08:04:00.000-05:00

From time to time I have to check the Knit Picks website to see if any of my test knits popped up yet, since I don't get notice of it. So today I was snooping around there and behold, my "KP6" (it's easier to just number them) was out in the pattern page. Here it is what the website shows:

This is what the pattern in the book looks like. I think this picture shows the overlapping front pieces better.

The pattern is "Elise" and can be found in the book "Vintage Knits", also sold on KP, or course. I did like knitting it with the Elegance yarn.

Pictures? Here you go...

2008-02-05T16:26:00.000-05:00

I finished blocking the Garden Party Shawl today and took it out for a photo shoot. I'll spare you the self-portait in the bathroom mirrow shot. I just draped it and hoped for the best. Here you go. I'm sure you like it. It's amazing how the color can change because of inside flash and outside light (in the shade I must add).

Don't blame me, I was on a roll and wanted to take advantage of the batteries being full.

Here is a little peek at the KP project. I know, a little fuzzy, but that could just as well be the yarn. Do you see it's lace weight? Actually it's KP Alpace Cloud in Tidepool. Now what could she make from that.... You'll see, eventually.

Gotta go, gotta catch up on knitting...

In case you've been wondering ...

2008-02-05T06:01:00.001-05:00

what I've been up to? I've been nursing my nasty cold. It's think it's finally getting the hint, that it's no longer welcome and I'm getting more productive. I'll spare you the details on the cold front.

I've finished Laura's Garden Party shawl (blogger won't let me link to her right now), tucked in the last loose ends, tried to drown it and then put it on the stretcher :). Hey, I'm just getting even now. Unfortunately the gold color doesn't give me a very good contrast on my beige carpet to show you the stretched out version, so I suggest you have to wait until it's dry and I'll try to get a model shot instead. It's gorgeous though and worth knitting it for sure. Now, as you might know, this is not your average beginners shawl. It works in many different directions, but Laura made it easy to follow her instructions. All of us testknitters put our two cents into the final version and I think it's ready to go. In the meantime, until it's available either on her blog or at the Loopy Ewe (right Laura?) you'll just have to put up with drooling over the finished pictures. I'm still waiting to see what Kristie's (Guilty Pleasures) version looks like.

Then I've been casting on my new Knit Picks test knit. I know, that's all I seem to be doing, but trust me, besides being sick and then having to take care of my also somewhat (maybe just pretending to be?) sick children, I have a life (somewhat) and a job. Imagine that. Anyway, I'll take a teaser picture in a little while, so you can all try to wrap your brains around what it might be I'm doing this time. Hi, hi, I know, I'm so mean, but isn't that one reason why you keep checking back? Just one?

Garden Party Shawl WIP

2008-01-30T14:10:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to show you how my version of Laura's Garden Party Shawl looks like so far. After completing the latest KP, I could concentrate on this one. After all those repeats on the border I finally have the pattern memorized. Well it's about time, I say.

This is only a quick picture in a semi pinned position, just to show you the details a bit. My batteries for the camera wouldn't let me take any more pictures right now. Of course Laura's pink shawl is great and I hope my gold one is not so bad either. It just doesn't seem to be as big as I wanted it to be, but I guess that's what you get for using mystery yarn. We'll see how far it stretches when it's all done. So, hopefully I'll get there by this weekend, because the yarn for my next KP test knit is on it's way and all I can say is, it's going to be lacy too. ...

Also I got caught in the latest sick wave, I guess. Between me working with a lot of people and the kids in school, there are many ways to catch a cold and I seem to be pretty good at it. The last two days were the sniffle and cough days, today it's the body ache day. Thank god for DayQuil, or I'd be totally down, but I do feel like I'm in a bubble. So long drives and shopping trips are definitely out of the question right now. Good thing I hit the mall before all this started. I scored a 100 % cashmere sweater at Old Navy for 75 % off. Now how great is that?

Crisis averted

2008-01-27T13:17:00.000-05:00

I am so unbelievably happy that my computer recovered from it's "cold". I have no idea what happened, but it would give me trouble with the internet explorer. My husband is blaming it on me interrupting a systems check up. Anyway, I thought I tried everything, but nothing would make my poor computer better. So I remembered the problem my neighbor had one day and I deleted the program completely, hoping it would recover, after rebooting. Nope, wrong answer. Now it was definitely kaputt. After discussions back and forth I had that little light bulb going on in my head, the blond roots were pushed out of the way and I remembered something about restoring the darn thing back to a better point in it's life. So it tried this and low and behold, it worked. My puter is up and running again, like it was two weeks ago.

I promise I will never interrupt a check up on my computer and I know now how to work a time warp. Am I great or what? Keri, I didn't mean to bug you, but luckily I could figure it out.

So, first things first. Thank you Tammy and Monika for the following award

Both of them awarded me with the "You make my Day" award and that makes me feel so great. I'm so glad people check into my blog once in a while to check up on my knitting, get teased with KP sneak peeks and see whatever else is going on in my life. Thank you so much. Maybe it's my writing style that makes some people laugh. Having English as a second language is not always easy and I still catch myself every once in a while trying to translate a German phrase into English word for word, which or course makes not only my husband crack up. So bare with me, whenever I do this.

Oh, yeah, the award. Here it goes: "Da Rules"

"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

Keri - http://knittygrittythoughts.typepad.com/knitty_gritty_thoughts/

Wannietta - http://whatswanniettaknittingtoday.blogspot.com/

Pat - http://www.patsknittingandquilting.com/

Julie - http://jeweltomes.blogspot.com/

Rhonda - http://knitorpurl.blogspot.com/

Yarnhog - http://yarnhog-yarnhog.blogspot.com/ (I know she already has the award, but she makes me smile)

Ashley - http://ashley511.blogspot.com/

Kristie - http://guiltypleasures.wordpress.com/

Del - http://cozysplace.blogspot.com/

LaurieM - http://issueswithknitting.blogspot.com/

Sorry about slapping the links on there like this, but blogger won't let me link it right now.

Of course out of contest are Tammy and Monika. All of those bloggers have such interesting blogs, whether it's because of their projects or just because of what's going on in their life. I'm sure we all have a long list on our bloglines, but there are just those certain blogs that we just have to jump to first, to check them out, while others get skimmed. Admit it, we all do it. So, to all of you I just want to say, keep blogging, and even if you are not on the immediate list, you are still on my big list, I check in on you all the time and I love you all.

Computer trouble once again

2008-01-26T15:47:00.000-05:00

Like so many other bloggers, we are having problems with out computer once again and I'm working off of my old laptop computer. This stinks, but I hope you don't mind this short note. Don't know what happened, but I hope that between Norton and McAfee the mistake will be fixed and my lifeline to the knitting/blogging world will be restored.

KP is on the way to Washington and the Garden Party Shawl is growing a border. Just to let you know. Gotta get back to knitting, since it's hard for me to produce any pictures on this one. Or lets say, I don't want to go through the trouble of having to install software and all the good stuff I know so little about. I'm a user of this thing, that's it.

Later.

PS. I'll do the award thingy later, if you still think I'm worthy of it. :)

Progress

2008-01-21T12:16:00.000-05:00

OK, so today we are going from Blaah day to Cleaning day. Don't ask me why, but I had that bug today, that I couldn't live in my house one more day without cleaning. I pulled out my trusty Bissell Flip It and went for it. Every time I changed the water, I had to show my kids how much they "helped" in messing up my house. Between them and my dog, who I ragged on too for having her nose and paws all over everything, my complaints seemed to be ignored, but it sure made ME feel better muttering, while I was cleaning. Now I feel somewhat better in my house and know I've accomplished something on this holiday (not like I only clean on holidays).

Another accomplishment is, that I'm almost done with the knitting part of my KP test knit. Two sleeves in three days. Woohoo. I have exactly 10 more rows before I cast off and then block the sleeves. Then I can continue on Laura's shawl, totally free of guilt. Well, kind of, there is still that dreaded baby blanket and I'm sure the baby won't stop growing for a while, so that's not helping either, but I have to set my priorities. I'm determent to finish both of those projects before the deadline and so far it's looking good for me. Cheer for me, please. Thank you. I'll give you another sneak peak at the KP, before I send it off this week and also try to get a decent shot of the progress of my shawl. But if you want the real deal, the finished project, then check out Laura's blog or go to Ravelry. She had the pattern registered there too.

Blaahhh Day

2008-01-16T17:23:00.000-05:00

I am making today an official Blahh Day. It's cold, it's rainy, it's gray, just blaahh. Typical Eeyore weather, if you understand. A day do crawl under the covers and wait for it to be over. I spent most of my day at work cleaning up my predecessors mess. Great start already. When I got home I had some coffee, some pain pills and my knitting and flopped on the couch for an hour long phone call with my sister. That made things somewhat better. My back is better now, I've done some lace knitting (I have the pattern down without needing a chart) and things seem to look a little brighter. Just don't look out the windows, that view might ruin everything again. So I declared tonight a YOYO night (You're On Your Own) and I'll go back to knitting. See you later, hopefully with pics, unless I get to unravel lace again! Now what was the deal with lifelines? Hmm.

Not to worry

2008-01-12T21:37:00.000-05:00

I haven't disappeared, just been busy. School started back up after Christmas break and the normal routine is settling in again, which at the same time means less knitting time for me. It's not that I haven't been knitting the last week, oh no, it's just with all those FOs I had during the holidays I ended up starting a couple new ones and, well I can only knit on one of them at a time and that makes it seem like no process at all. You know what I'm talking about.

Now I did get my yarn from Knit Picks and I'm happy to report that I'm almost done with the second part of it. I know, all those secretive hints, but I'll see if I can squeeze a little mystery picture in. It's coming along, but mainly stockinette can take it's toll and get a little, well, let's say monotonous at times.

That's were Laura's Garden Party Shawl comes in. Did I mention that I'm doing that test knit for her? She just published some of her patterns and came up with a new one and called out for test knitters. Well, it's not that I didn't already have enough things going at once, but seeing her previous lace projects, I just couldn't resist and signed up for it. I'm knitting along with two other ladies and together we are testing, knitting and filing this pattern to perfection. Go check out her blog to see some progress pictures of hers. It's the bright pink one. Mine is going to be "gold" colored. I hope that's what you could call that color, but I guess that depends on the mood and the light. I'm behind the other two speed knitters, but thanks to them visiting TNNA I have a chance to catch up to them. After all, it's not a race, just friendly competition.

My little tam is hiding in my purse. It's my take along project and has been badly neglected the last couple of days. It falls into the same category as the KP, just in purl instead of knit.

Now lets get back to the needles, before they cool off.

Check this out

2008-01-04T14:31:00.000-05:00

Here is a quick picture of another one of my Knit Picks test knits. I just found it on the website. It looks always so much better on a model, than pinned and blocking on the floor.

Drive by entry

2008-01-04T14:11:00.001-05:00

I don't really have time. Gotta run, because the mailman (gotta love him) brought me new yarn from Knit Picks for a new project. Can't tell you, as usual, what it is, but it's this yarn in watermelon and coral. So now I gotta go an swatch, so I can get started. You know how it is, if you have a pattern and have to wait for the yarn. It's just itching for you to get your hands on it.

The other thing I started it the Qiviuk Webs Tam from IK Holiday Issue 2007, page 33. I cast it on yesterday already, thinking I could go with a 2.5 mm needles and then use a 3mm instead of the recommended 2.25 and 2.75 (sorry, I have metric needles and I don't own those inbetween sizes). But that didn't work out. Way to loose and way to big. So I went to a 2mm and a 2.5 mm needles and even cast on the 112 stitches for the kids size instead of the 144 for the adult hat. Imagine that. After putting it on a cable needle I could pull it over my head without drowning in it and without it restricting any bloodflow to the brain either. :) I did end up going back to dpn (in ebony, hmmm), because the cables aren't long enough for a desent loop, but too long to just keep on knitting in a round. Sorry, but the piece is not picture worthy yet, but like I read on one comment about it on Ravelry, you really gotta love to purl on this one. Many say it looks better on the inside? We'll see when it starts taking shape.

Oh, and the baby blanket grows a couple of diamonds each day too, here and there.

Until then. Happy Knitting. :D

First FO for 2008

2008-01-02T18:54:00.000-05:00

This one is not a leftover from last year. This was started on January 1st and finished today, one day later. Can you tell I have too much time on my hands? I grabbed a yarn, checked which patterns I had in queue on Ravelry and went for it. This is Coronet from Knitty Winter 2003.

It's a nice little hat, but I had to make some adjustments to the pattern (again). I know, I'm bad with that. I didn't realize at first, that the braid on the hat is turned up. This actually worked to my advantage, because otherwise I would have run out of yarn. That's why it's facing the other direction. I just had to be different. I don't know what kind of yarn that is anyway. I grabbed an odd ball from the bin and started. No gauge test, just grabbing some needles that might work with it and off I went, making the braided edge. That was a lot of fun and before you know it, I had it done.

Now, unless I get the yarn for a new Knit Picks project tomorrow, I'll either have to find another quick project or work on the baby blanket. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea for today. I need to get this one done too sometime. After all, the kid is growing with everyday, which means, the blanket is going to have to be bigger too? Better get cracking then. :)

Another FO

2007-12-31T09:04:00.000-05:00

I seem to be getting quite some things done here in the last weeks. It's interesting, because my kids are out of school for their Christmas break and you would think I'm busy all the time with them? I guess that just leads to the conclusion that I need lots of knitting therapy right now to keep me sane, right?

Well, here are my fuzzy comfort socks, found in the German sock knitting book "Das geniale Sockenbuch". They are called "Sneakersocken" and the cuff is made by adding some fun fur in with the pattern on every other row. I think it makes for a nice surprise when you sit down, fold your legs over, the pants happen to pull up a bit and out comes a poof of yarn. It's quite the effect, trust me. Usually I'm very perticular about the socks being started at the same spot in the color repeat, but she didn't care about that and with all the fuzziness it was hard to figure out what color it was and where it is in the ball of yarn. With the ever changing colors there was no chance of the Second Sock Syndrom sneaking up on me.

This particular pair is going to my neighbor and she was oh so happy to put them on yesterday. She picked the colors too and wants me to make some more of them. I guess I found me a sock victim here. We'll see.

Santa is done

2007-12-26T19:42:00.000-05:00

I finished the snowman's friend, the Amigurumi Santa, today and gave it already to my friend as a christmas present. Due to his small size he'll probably find a spot on the christmas tree as an ornament. I made him with sock yarn, that's why he turned out so small. I'm not so sure I'm in enough of a christmas mood anymore to make the matching Reindeer this year, but there is always another christmas and this time I'll try to start earlier (cough, cough, yeah right).

Anyway, I had a request for another boys baby blanket and since I like variety and have the freedom of choice I decided to not go with a row or ripple design this time. I found a Tumbling Blocks pattern from Coats and Clark that I liked very much. The bad thing is, there are lots of loose ends to weave in, but I'm keeping up with them right as I finish the block. The good thing is, that I can make this blanket as big as I want it. The baby is already 3 months old and will probably be another one older, by the time he gets it.

Skull Hat FO

2007-12-25T15:03:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I just did this earlier, but I just pulled this one out of the dryer, hoping it would shrink, felt or do whatever it had to do to fit right. I knitted this one for a Christmas present, but it ended up too big. I tried to block it and it got even bigger after it was wet. So, since I had no idea what kind of yarn it was I threw it into the washer with my jeans. I figured it would either shrink or felt. Well, it didn't do either of it, but at least it fits better than before. So now I can present you with a picture of my version of the skull hat, found on Ravelry, made by Gina. I used some kind of worsted yarn out of my stash and knitted the liner with 4mm and the hat with 5 mm needles. That might be where my problem was. I should have just continued in 4 mm and I should have been fine, but I followed the pattern. Oh well, it's still a warm hat.

Enjoy

Christmas FO

2007-12-25T11:59:00.000-05:00

I have a little last minute quick fix Christmas FO to report. Wow, what a name for a little guy like this.

This is my Amigurumi Snowman I made up yesterday and handed over to my nice neighbor for Christmas together with some other smelly good gifts. He was very much welcomed into the circle of other snowmen that inhabit her house.

Now I'm off to make the Amigurumi Holiday Santa and then have him joined by the Amigurumi Reindeer. All of those patterns can be found on the Lion Brand Pattern website and were made from left over yarn in my stash. What a fun project.

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Knitting.

Thar she blows!!

2007-12-21T14:02:00.000-05:00

Don't ask, it just sounded good right now. I have another FO to announce. And since they are no secret christmas knit, I can show them off too. So may I present the finished Mermaid Gloves, first knitted by the Craftoholic, adapted from Cookie A.'s Pomatomus socks. They look pretty close to the original ones and are knitted with Koigu KPM 100 % Merino Wool in color 2171111, just if anybody is interested. I used the suggested 72 stitches on size 0 (2mm) Brittany needles. The pattern is reversed for the second glove. I liked it better this way, even if it made the knitting a lot slower, having to slip the first stitch off, twisting the second, slipping it back onto the left needle before I could finally k2tog. Otherwise the stitch wouldn't have been twisted and I'm a little picky that way, even if the gloves aren't for me, but are going to be on their way, hopefully today or tomorrow, to Keri. I hope you enjoy them, because I'm not knitting them again. Sorry. This was not a mindless, sit in front of the TV, knitting.

Up next will be a skull hat. I have the yarn ready. Usually I don't swatch, but in this case I will, since I'm using some kind of mystery yarn again from my stash that somewhat looks the part, but I have no idea what the mileage or gauge on it is. After that I'll get right to the pattern and hope to have some new pictures to show to you soon.

I guess I was good this year?

2007-12-15T11:21:00.001-05:00

I almost forgot to show you what the mailman brought this week, totally unexpected and out of the blue (gotta love that man). I received a big, padded envelope from Monika in Canada and she surprised me with some really nice goodies. Here they are.

She sent me the Holiday Gift issue from Interweave Knits and two skeins of gorgeous Koigu yarn in just the perfect color for me next to some wool wash for me to try. Maybe that will give my Lopi sweater some softness? It might just make me tuck in all those loose ends and actually block that thing. Monika, thank you sooooooo very much. It was such a nice surprise. I could say I'm speechless, but we all know that's not the case. :D

Now let me get back to my second Mermaid glove. Yes, I'm still working on them. Having to figure out the pattern on your own, just by following a picture, is not that easy, but absolutely manageable at times. I have to reverse the "scales" for the other glove, but since I know where and how to do the fingers and especially the thumb now, it should be no time, until I can present them to you. I have no interruptions planned, so let me go "fishing" again. Today is not an outside day anyway. Thundershowers are to be expected. Yuck. Let's cuddle up with some knitting, a book and something in the crock pot.

Just a quicky

2007-12-14T19:13:00.000-05:00

Here are just two promised model shots from today's Christmas party at work with the happy faces of the lucky recipients of my knitting.

First up is Kim with her Shaped Triangle Shawl, very happy to be wearing this beauty next Sunday to keep her warm in church.

Then we have Jinelle modeling her new hot pink fuzzy scarf, which was a real breeze to knit with 8mm needles and Paton Twister yarn. She is also the one that got the hot pink and black Endpaper Mitts. Go figure, she's a hot mama. :) (Please ignore the clash between the red shirt and the pink scarf. The shirt was part of todays uniform.)

Lace FO

2007-12-10T19:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry, Keri, you are not going to be happy about this one, since this post should be for your project, but I needed my head clear for yours. I finished the Shaped Triangle Shawl from the Gathering of Lace. It's being pinned and stretched into shape as we speak. I can give you those pictures for now, if you'd like and later a model shot. So here is what I've got for you for now. Enjoy. And now I'm off to make some more mermaid scales.

Something fishy going on

2007-12-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

Can you recognize the pattern already? Does it look fishy to you? It should, because this is the beginning of a pair or Mermaid Gloves I'm knitting for Keri. I'm following Cookie A.'s pattern so far, just with smaller needles. I'm actually about double that far by now, but didn't want to bother with a more recent picture. It grew since this morning. I'm actually getting closer to the thumb gusset and I'm wondering how I'm going to proceed. I've dug through a couple of patterns for the gloves I found, since the ones from the craftoholic don't really state exact instructions, but they either have different stitch numbers or both go in the same direction. These are supposed to go in the opposite direction, to make them look nicer, in my opinion.
So I guess I'll either trust one of the worked up patterns or I'll figure it out myself and play it by ear. After all, a glove is pretty much a glove, right?

This is pretty much it for today's news from the knitting front. Oh, and did you notice the cute bag in the background? This is one of Keri's very own sock and project bags. I got mine as a birthday present from her, but she is making more and has already successfully sold some in her etsy shop. There were none up for sale right now, but I hear from a reliable source (cough), that there will be some up for grabs soon. So keep checking out her shop to score one. Sock monkeys anyone?

Swap Mittens - received

2007-12-05T07:54:00.000-05:00

Look at what the mailman left for me to find yesterday. I got Katie's swap package from the Fingerless Mitts for Fall Swap. It's so cute. She changed the theme a little to "New Mexico", which I like.

There are the mittens she mad for me, of course, which can be found in the IK Spring 2006 issue, made from KP Swish. This yarn is so soft and it's superwash, not like I'd get those Pom Poms dirty enough to where they would see the inside of my washer.

She also surprised me with a generous 4 ozs. of Cormo Wool from the Elsa Wool Company. This yarn, being 100 % wool, is so super soft. It makes me want to see if I can get my hands on some more of that for a bigger project. Especially after my wool experience with the Lopi, this is the total opposite.

Then there were some Salsa (thank you for the mild) and some dip and stew mixes, accompanied by a coyote and a jalapeno cookie cutter, and to make sure I wouldn't burn my hands while making those, she also included a nice potholder and kitchen towel. How sweet is that? Thank you so much Katie. I hope you'll like your package too.

After seeing all those long lines at the post office yesterday and the day before I decided to go to the UPS store to send of my goodies for her. It was a little more expensive, but there was no line. That was already worth it.

I'm doing progress on my Shaped Triangle Shawl. I have the main body done and moved to the edge. After 6 or 7 repeats of it, and figuring out the hard way, that there was another typo in the pattern, I have it memorised. After all, there are 30 zig zags on each side of the shawl and I sure don't want to have to drag that pattern with me every time I sit down for it. It's so nice to finally see the big blob starting to come off the long needles. Freedom for the lace!

Then I printed out the pattern for the Mermaid Gloves. Keri send me the yarn she wants me to use, together with what I got from her stash sale. The Luxury Cashmere is so soft, but I have no idea what I'm going to use it for yet. But it called my name and I had to have it. :)

Swap Mittens are done

2007-12-01T23:18:00.000-05:00

This is just a quick post to report another FO. My mittens for the swap partner of the Fingerless Mittens for Fall KAL, which is now at it's end, are done and will be in the mail by monday. I hope she will like them. I know she will like them, because I do and while I was knitting them I had a request to make a second pair of them. We'll see, I sure have enough yarn left to make another pair exactly like it. Pictures will be taken prior to mailing them, but I won't post them until Katie has received them. Sorry, you just have to hold on for those a couple more days. In the meantime I can turn my full attention to the Shaped Triangle Shawl and hope to get this one done and blocking soon, so I'll have a presentable picture for you all.

Have a good night.

"Grey Matter" FO

2007-11-27T15:20:00.000-05:00

You have to excuse me, but I had a little too much "Ben 10" intake this weekend. My kids are absolute fans. And since I've been frantically working on the grey test knit to finally finish it, I thought it would be appropriate to nick name it "Grey Matter", like one of the characters in the movie. Of course it has a much lovelier name in reality and it turned out really nice, but I'm waiting for the model shot on the Internet or the catalog to appear, before I claim it as mine. :)

So with that out of the way I can finally throw myself onto the swap mittens, which I so badly neglected. Sorry Katie, but I'll get right to it. I'm jumping back and forth between patterns and yarn to try to find the perfect combination, but it's not easy knitting something for somebody I don't really know. After all I don't want her to unwrap it and say "oh, oh well, anybody want those?" Not, I want her to know that those were made especially for her and lots of thought and effort went into making them. After all, that's what should go into any project.

Then I have to report that I'm knitting along on the Shaped Triangle too, but the rows seem to get soooo much longer every time. Wait, I'm not imagining that, they are getting longer. Ha, ha. I'm about 20 rows away from the edge, but that doesn't mean I'm done. It still has a nice border going along side the edge. I'll keep you updated and I'd like to show some pictures, but "grey matter" can't be revealed yet and the shawl looks like a big blue blob, not very appealing. So I guess you'll have wait a while. Sorry.

Stranded Mittens done

2007-11-22T10:41:00.000-05:00

I'm happy to report that the blue and grey starnded fingerless mittens (wow, what a name) for my son are done. They turned out a little tight, so note to myself: Use bigger needles next time, when I knit stranded!

Now on to the next WIP

Quick Fix

2007-11-18T17:20:00.000-05:00

I was on the search for a pattern for my fingerless mittens swap partner and dug around in the new IK Winter issue.

I found the Kilm Gloves, but wanted to make them without fingers. Also with less colors. I found the left over yarn from the Knit Picks Fair Isle Sweater from a couple of month ago. I had to put the grey (sweater) and the blue yarn (lace) down so I would get a change of scenery. Did I really? This is what I pulled out. Grey and blue. Again.

After a few adjustments in patterning, you can see I changed the cuff and the cross turned into a star, I came up with this:

Now comes the other dilemma. They are too tight to fit a grown person. So I was debating to either rip them down to the cuff and reknit on a bigger needle or find a suitable victim. Also, my swap partner lives in New Mexico, so 100 % wool might not be so suitable for that kind of climate. My older son liked them so I decided to finish mitten #1 and cast on mitten # 2. I might have them done by tomorrow. Don't hate me, please, but when I get into a project, especially a small one like that, it can go fast. I'll see if I can find something new in sock yarn or a single layer pattern for my swap partner. We'll see. Plus I need to keep the suspense up for her and wouldn't want to blow it by posting about it online. :D. I know, I'm so mean.

On the cover

2007-11-16T20:20:00.000-05:00

I don't know how fast the mail system in other parts of the country, but here in Georgia, I just found my November issue of the new Knit Picks catalog in the mailbox today and my gloves are on the front cover. Woohoo, how proud am I. Not only is my stuff in print, but on the first page too. Just wanted to brag, even though you've already seen them.

Keep moving People, not much to see here

2007-11-15T16:10:00.000-05:00

No, really, I feel like I haven't done much lately, but at the same time I'm wondering why my fingers are hurting so much. I am doing some knitting, but I can't seem to find anything to show for. I had to reknit part of the test knit, because I was reading "around 5 corners" again, like I like to call it, instead of how the pattern said and ended up frogging an equivalent to one whole front half of the project. Nice. I know. Here is a quick pick of the edge, which is about the only interesting thing about it right now, unless you want to see more stockinette.

Then I wanted to show you that the lace project for my friend hasn't been totally neglected either. I finally got to the part where I start seeing some kind of a more interesting pattern, but or course that would also be the part where the whole thing gets to be big to make a nice picture or the whole project. So here is the picture of the evolving pattern and at the same time of the rest of it which looks like lace barf. Sorry, but I can't think of a better way to describe it at the moment.

I still haven't decided yet which mittens I'm knitting for my swap partner (sorry Katie, but I'll get right to it, promise), so there is nothing to see there either.

So I'll leave you with lots of things to look forward to, depending on what happens first, me being able to show more progress or the batteries being charged ;o)

PS. Sorry about the fuzzy pictures.

FO to report

2007-11-06T09:21:00.001-05:00

Here is a quick picture of the finished blue baby blanket, before the batteries ran out again on the camera. Darn rechargeable batteries. Anyway, I'll be sending this out today or tomorrow and hopefully it should make it to my friends house in California before the baby does. Fly mailman, fly. :)

I'm not THAT fast

2007-11-05T19:31:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to clear up a misconception and let everybody know that I'm not competing with Wanietta and I'm NOT that fast of a knitter, especially with lace. The red one is the one in the book, just so you don't have to run and look for the shawl I'm talking about. It's not that popular, that everybody instantly knows what I'm talking about. The blue little triangle is mine so far, well, a little further by now, but still far from being done.

I've been working on the baby blanket all weekend long. I'm finally at the edge and then it'll go into a box and I don't ever want to see it again. No, not really, it's still made with lots of love, but it was the kind that you don't mind, when it's over and gone.

So since one didn't make much progress, the other isn't done and the third is "sleeping", there won't be no progress shots this time. I'll report back with a picture of the blanket hopefully tomorrow. Good night. The time change is still kicking my a... big time.

Lace update

2007-11-03T15:43:00.001-05:00

Here is my latest update. I had to take a little thinking break on the testknit pattern and turned my attention to the new lace pattern I appointed my next project. It's the Shaped Triangle from Meg Swanson's "Gathering of Lace".

This is what it looks like in the book and this is my progress so far. Now remember, that I have other thing on the needles, that also need a little attention every now and then, so I haven't been going as fast as I was hoping.

This pattern repeats itself up to row 108, so I have a little further to go, before it's more interesting and I actually have to pull out the pattern again.

And that should be if for this weekends knitting predictions. Stay tuned as I'll try to keep you updated. Have a happy knitting weekend. See you again soon. :)

Mailcall

2007-10-31T07:11:00.000-05:00

First of all I want to wish everybody a Happy Halloween today. I'm not a great fan of it, I don't like the scary movies that are constantly on TV, even the shows on the kids channels. They make my kids want to sleep in my bed at night and I like my space. So, after tonight, hopefully I have more room again. :)

This is what my two pumpkin heads made for this year.

Not too bad I must say.

Now for the fun part on my side. The mailman (gotta love that man ;)) brought me another package yesterday. Wanna see what was in there?

I ordered a big skein of Bare sock yarn, black Essentials sock yarn, Shadow Jewels Heather and a longer cable for the Options needles. Yum.

The sock yarn is so I can make more stranded socks or mittens and combine them with all my other crazy colored sock yarns. I might be done with the Endpapers, but that doesn't mean I'm going to do everything one colored now ;).

The lace yarn and the longer cable is for the Shaped Triangle Shawl from the "Gathering of Lace". This is going to be my next lace project for a friend of mine. Now I get to use my new swift!..... Gotta go, gotta wind. Talk to you later.

I got a swift

2007-10-29T15:01:00.000-05:00

The mailman had to come to my door today and drop off a package that was just too large for the box. I have to admit, I was kind of worried about it.

I found this swift on the internet and after seeing the prices for all the other ones I was surprised to see this one priced so reasonable. I found it on ebay as well as on etsy and ordered it. Today, when I checked on the seller (theknitstore), I had to find out that the listing on ebay was gone and also that his store was empty. Panic attack? Can you blame me? Well, there goes the blond brain again. I guess I got the last one, so now the good man has to sit down and make some more. No wonder they weren't listed any more. So now I have my very own swift - an no yarn to wind. What a bummer. Now if the mailman DID happen to leave me another package that DID fit into my box? We'll see, because I ordered some lace yarn and that has to be wound. Hi, hi, hi, I get to play with my new toy! I know, simple things please simple minds, right? (Not today, I didn't get the yarn yet :( )

On another note, I finished the first piece on the knit picks project # 6 today and unless the lace yarn comes in and distracts me immensely, I'll be off to start on the next piece. It's really soft, I tell you.

Preview for the next blog entry: Pumpkin heads

Another Teaser

2007-10-27T21:08:00.000-05:00

Sorry guys, but I can't help myself. I love teasing you with the Knit Picks projects I get to work on. I guess I should make this a contest and ravel off the unused yarn for the one that can find the project first in the new catalog? I don't know about that, but it was a thought :) Anyway, I guess I can show you a sneak peak of my latest knit without giving away too much about the pattern. I'm on my second skein and this is what it looks like so far.

Pretty revealing, right? Plain stockinette. The great thing is that I can pretty much knit on that project with my eyes closed, glued to the TV or on a book. I'm using Elegance 70 Alpaca/30 Silk and this is turning into some very soft fabric. As you can also see I'm using my new Harmony Options needles that came in my last order. I love them and they make the whole project a little colorful. The only thing I don't like is, if they untwist after a while and the yarn gets stuck sometimes. I guess I'm turning my needle as I'm knitting? Maybe that would be a good time to use that nifty little tool that comes with the cables? Now where did I put that one?

I also picked out a new lace shawl for a friend of mine for a Christmas present. Well, it's more like, I knit you a shawl and you refinish a piece of furniture for me. Works out great for me, since I have no idea about wood, unless it's a needle, and she only knows a little crochet and would love to own a shawl. Perfect match, don't you think?

The pattern is one from Meg Swanson's book "A Gathering of Lace" which Monika had sent me in her kindness together with "Knitting" by Sarah Dallas. Thanks a million, Moni. I hope my swap makes it to you soon. :) If you guys want to check out her new and totally free pattern of fingerless mitts named "Kyla", you won't regret it. They are amazing.

Oh, and to announce another FO, I just wanted to let you know that the hot pink Endpapers are done, but I didn't want to bore you with another picture of it, plus my hand model wasn't available for a shoot this time.

Shield your eyes

2007-10-22T10:03:00.001-05:00

You wanted to see the third one? Well, here it is, half of it anyway.

The first one of the third pair of Endpaper Mitts is done. I knitted this one with the magic loop technique and casted on with 3mm and moved over to the new Harmony 3.5mm. They were a dream to work with and if I have to replace any of my needles, I definitely will choose those.

I think after this one I'm endpapered out and I will turn my attention to some other knit worthy patterns. It is fun though and a little addictive. Don't you think? In my case anyway. I'm not sure though, if I'm done with stranding though. We'll see what's next.

Mitten Blockers

2007-10-19T17:06:00.000-05:00

How do they say? "Necessity is the mother of inventions"? Well, what's a knitter to do when there is no such a thing as a mitten or glove blocker and she has not sock blockers either? Make one. Of course. So here is what I found to use as my own personal mitten blocker. Cool, huh?

No, this is not a commercial, but I do like the Dew ;) I just took two empty cans, some duct tape (everybody should have at least one roll of that in the house and in the car and maybe even in your purse) and taped them together to fit the mittens. After soaking them I pulled them over and ..... success. Now they can dry in peace until I find out Monika's address and off they'll go.

That was a fast knit and guess what - the pink is already on the needles. I also was asked to make some gloves/mittens for my neighbors daughters, but I think I'll suggest a different pattern, since too much is too much. There ARE other patterns out there, you know.

Too Cute

2007-10-19T10:33:00.001-05:00

Let's start off with a non knitting thing. Meet my little sons new Spanish class friend. He doesn't have a name yet, but they made this sock puppet in Spanish class and have to bring them to school on the right days and they get to talk to them. He (I assume it's a boy) is too cute. Oh, and the one on the right is my son ;)

Here is a quick picture of me - knitting, what else.

Here is a picture of my dog. My son got camera happy and wanted take pictures of everything until the batteries went out - again.

And this is what I picked up at our local Goodwill store this morning. I know, some people won't be caught dead in there, but I didn't have much to loose, right. And now look at what I dragged out of there. It's a Cashmere/Silk short sleeve sweater with beats in a purplish/grey heather color with beats. No, I'm not going to wear this, but I'm going to recycle it, take it apart and will have a good 4 ounces of yarn, minus the beads. And all I paid for this is 3 dollars. I know it's some work involved, but I couldn't say no to this. Even doubled that would make a nice lace something, don't you agree? No, let's get back to them needles and then pull out the little bitty scissors and the winder. I'll give you a before and after shot as soon as I'm done with it.

Knit Picks Gloves

2007-10-18T07:28:00.001-05:00

This is what happens if I surf the Knit Picks website: I run into my projects online, before they get printed in the catalog. There are the gloves I made. Does anybody remember the colors?

I always love the model shots so much better than having them laying somewhere on the couch to take the picture. I even managed to match the color repeats on both gloves. They are nice and long and have buttons on the sides. Woohoo, I'm so excited.

Another one of the projects is up too, but I couldn't get the picture to show, so I'll get back with you on that. It's the carnival Baby Blanket. I can't really take credit for that, because I only added the border as a finishing touch to it.

This morning I had a frogging party. I got up at 04.30 am. Why? I'm not used to having company in my bed and whenever one of my boys can't sleep they come into my bed and then I can't sleep. So I put that time to good use and straightened up my knitting/computer room. Now I can see the floor again and most of all, I can use the futon to sleep on it, if there should be need for it. Oh, yeah, the frogging. Did you ever wonder what happened to Mystery Stole 2 and 3? Well, they are wound into nice little balls until further notice. I'm sure I'll find a project for it soon. No hard feelings.

Also, the first one of the second set of Endpaper Mitts it done and I'm working hard on the second glove. Since I got to work a little early yesterday I sat outside and worked on it, which got me another Endpaper project. Gosh, what is it with those mitts? The next ones are going to be shorter and hot pink with black. Woohoo. But they match the girl that wants them. Shield your eyes for the picture.

Can't stop

2007-10-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

Can you see that? Yes, it's another pair of Endpaper Mitts. I got a couple of nice comments about mine that and after a couple of emails back and forth to Canada, me and Monika found a color match between what she liked and I had to offer and another pair of mittens was in the making. For some reason I really like that pattern and what you see is only a days worth of knitting. That is between Sunday duties like church, CCD and laundry. This is my knitting-on-the-porch-talking-to-my-friends-knitting result. Even though I'm the only one that does the knitting, but luckily I'm multi talented when it comes to talking and knitting ;). So I have a feeling those ones are going to be done in no time at all so hopefully Monika can enjoy them before it gets really cold up there.

I also finished my Knit Picks project, which of course you'll all have to wait for a while to see in it's full glory (I know, I'm such a tease). Blocking took a little bit longer than scheduled, due to the humidity and the darn thing not drying as quickly as I was hoping for. But that's OK, since I still have plenty of time before the deadline. It's going out today though.

Hole in my head

2007-10-10T19:45:00.001-05:00

Question: What do I need as much as hole in my head? Answer: Another Mystery Lace Shawl KAL.

Yes, I did it again. I signed up for another KAL, it's called the Mystic Waters KAL, which starts October 24th and will be done before Christmas, in case anybody wants to make this one a present for a deserving individual, if something like this should exist in your life. Go over there and check it out. Don't want to be an enabler and all, but did I also mention that Woodland Woolworks is having a sale on lace yarn going on right now until the 14th?

Uuuuhh, I'm so bad. Sorry. Bad knitter, bad.