Remember me?
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.
Labels: FO, FO stranded, KP, Lace
FO Report
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.
Labels: Lace
Mohana Progress
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.
Labels: Lace, On The Needles
New Temptation
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......
Labels: General, KP, Lace
I Do still knit, you know
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.
Labels: FO, KP, Lace
No more tidepool
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.
Labels: FO, KP, Lace
Woohoo, I'm stuck!!!
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.
:)
Labels: KP, Lace
Pictures? Here you go...
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...
Labels: KP, Lace
In case you've been wondering ...
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?
Labels: FO, KP, Lace
Garden Party Shawl WIP
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?
Labels: Lace
Progress
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.
Labels: KP, Lace
Not to worry
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.
Labels: KP, Lace
Just a quicky
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.)
Labels: Lace, Scarf
Lace FO
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.
Labels: FO, Lace
Swap Mittens - received
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. :)
Labels: Fingerless Mitts, Lace
"Grey Matter" FO
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.
Labels: FO, Lace, Socks
Keep moving People, not much to see here
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.
Labels: KP, Lace, On The Needles
Lace update
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. :)
Labels: Lace, On The Needles
Breath.......
I swear, if anything else would have gone wrong yesterday, I would have screamed. How would you feel if you just dropped of one of your kids to a birthday party and two hours later you want to jump into your trusty Jeep to go pick him up again and the darn thing won't start? Yeah, exactly. I put in the keys, the gauges went crazy and that was the end of it. No more sign of life. Now what am I supposed to think now. And to top it all off, it was parked in front of the garage, where my other car is parked. Lucky for me I have a couple of friends that lent me their car without even hesitating and I was able to pick up my kid. Then, after I had figured out that it's probably a bad soldering connection to the battery, came the other drama. No juice, no locks! How the heck to you lock a car that has only one key hole and the electronic is shot? To make it short, I did get a sign of life out of the car, after I put on a new connector I bought, long enough to lock my car for the night. It's still not running, but I got access to my husbands car now. Hmm, I guess I'm forced to drive around with the cool Mustang now for a couple of days until my Jeep aka. the grocery getter, is fixed. I'll suffer so baldly ;oD
Now to better news. I did happen to finish the first Harry Potter book and moved on to the second one. Woohoo.
Oh, you wanted knitting news? Sorry. I've been a bit torn between projects right now. I started the
Endpaper Mitts beginning of the week for
Keri's
Fingerless Mitts for Fall KAL, but haven't even finished the first one. But, for my defense, I'm at the thumb increase, so I'm making progress, just slowly.
What I was most occupied with, besides my nasty neighbors (doesn't everybody have them?), was the latest Knit Picks project. Remember the green one? Yeah, that one. For some reason that one has been dragging too. Must be me, because the pattern is not hard to remember and I enjoy knitting with the
Swish.
(I know it's not the best picture, but that's how it's supposed to be)
To add to it, the new Lace KAL "
Secret of Chrysopolis" has started on Friday and the only thing I got to do on that one so far is read all the comments and posts on the yahoo group and print out the pattern. It looks nice so far, has a great border and is really promising. You can see first pictures of it
here and there is still a chance to join in. The pattern is written out as a chart and is easy to follow as long as you know what ssk, YO, k2tog and a sl 1 k2tog psso is and it's pretty much bilingual in German and English. So there is no excuse not to check it out and I've even found a couple of people from the Mystery Stole KAL again. Imagine that.
I've also ordered a new book, some yarn and the new
Harmony Options needle tips from
Knitpicks and can't wait to get all my stuff. But we all know how it works, when you are really, really waiting for something. Seems to take double as long, but I think I have enough to keep my mind and hands occupied until the mailman shows up for me.
Until then, don't let those needles cool too much. It's getting colder outside.
Labels: books, Fingerless Mitts, General, KP, Lace, Secret of Chrysopolis
Flechtmuster Schal/Braided Shawl
Here you go with the promissed pictures. I had to soak and pin the shawl last night, but didn't want to bore you with only those shots, so I waited until it was wearable and I could bother one of my friends for an "action shot". So, what do you think? Am I ready for the chilly fall evenings out on the porch? I think so.
An here are some blocking shots:
Labels: Flechtmustertuch KAL, FO, Lace
