Lou Schiela

Knitting Plus - Cleveland Shell and Seagirt Pullover

2011-04-19T07:17:00.017-04:00

I was thrilled when Lisa Shroyer told me she was working on a book about plus-size knitting. I was really excited when she told me she chose two of my designs to include in the book. I have been amply proportioned my entire adult life. I know, first hand, the challenges of finding or making clothes that fit well and are comfortable to wear.

Lisa's final product, Knitting Plus, is an amazing resource for knitters who want to understand how various styles and knitting techniques work to cover the body and how to combine those styles and techniques to achieve a flattering and comfortable fit.

One of the hardest parts of designing a sweater or knitted top to fit my plus sized body is figuring out how to transition from the lower half of the garment to the upper half. It's fairly simple to create enough knitted fabric to cover my hips and tummy. It's labor intensive but not complicated. The difficulty is figuring out what to do with all those stitches so the armholes, sleeves, bust and shoulders fit comfortably and are esthetically pleasing.


Cleveland Shell	Seagirt Pullover

Although the Cleveland Shell is designed for warmer weather it can be worn over a blouse or t-shirt to expand its seasonal options.

I prefer my tops to be looser over my tummy and hips but have a closer fit across the shoulders.

I love set in sleeves, or in this case set in armholes, because the shaping of the armholes offers a great opportunity to reduce the width of the top in order to achieve a closer fit in the bust and shoulders. The A-line shape of the top allowed me to include even more ease at the hips. The extra width at the hips is gradually decreased along the side edges of the front and back.

A lace gusset added to the front of the top gives even more width at the hem while tapering away to flow into the textured stitch pattern at the bust line. The gusset hangs closed providing just a peek at the lace. Movement of the body reveals the gusset as the gusset provides ease.

The sweetheart neckline gives the Cleveland Shell a pretty, classic look.

The Seagirt Pullover is another warm weather top. The dolman sleeved, v-neck, bamboo top is particularly well suited for the larger plus-sizes and those with larger busts. The stitching at the neckline and back of this top is functional as well as decorative. The twisted and ribbed stitches draw the fabric in to create an A-line shape. Additionally, decreases at the beginning of each column of twisted stitches reduces the total number of stitches and contributes further to the shaping.

The dolman sleeves are knit with the front and back pieces by casting on stitches on either side of the body.

Diamond Rib Socks Pattern

2010-04-21T09:25:00.005-04:00

Learn to knit 2 socks at a time on 2 circular needles. No more Second Sock Syndrome! These socks feature a ribbed cuff, textured leg and instep, heel flap and turned heel, and star toe.
The hardest part of knitting 2 socks on 2 circs is getting started. The first few rounds feel like wrestling with an octopus. Take heart. This pattern includes a photo tutorial to work through the cast on to get the socks established. Then sail through to the finish because when you’re done, you’re DONE! No second sock to knit.

Finished Sizes: foot circumference unstretched 6” (s), 7” (m), 8” (l), 9” (xl) These socks are designed with 1” – 2” negative ease.
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock (100% merino wool, 3.5 oz, 440 yds) Boticelli Red, 1 skein.
Needles: 2 16” US size 0 circular needles. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions: tapestry needle, 2 stitch holders or safety pins
Gauge: 40 sts per 4”.

Price: $4.00

Travelers Socks

2010-03-19T09:59:00.016-04:00

Traveler's socks, click to enlarge

I knit these socks about a year ago. They are my very first Malabrigo socks. I fell in love with Malabrigo sock yarn while knitting these socks. And fell more deeply in love after I washed and wore the socks. They are so soft and non-scratchy.

The pattern is Traveler's socks by Nancy Bush. I have large, wide feet and ankles. I cast on and knit the cuff according to the pattern but omitted the long, plain leg and went directly into the heel, gusset and foot. This gave me the appropriate number of stitches to accomodate my sizable feet. I loved knitting the cuff pattern and the "clock" that runs down the sides of the foot. Lot's of fun traveling stitch patterns.

Cherry Blossom socks and Corset Vest

2010-03-09T16:18:00.016-05:00

I have two projects to share today. I'll start with the oldest. Way back in 2008 I dyed some sock yarn with some friends of mine. I had a couple of failed attempts at finding a stitch pattern that would work well with the colors. I finally found something that worked. I finished the socks quite a while ago. I forgot that the base yarn wasn't machine washable and ended up shrinking the socks. They fit A now so she got a new pair of handmade socks.

The stitch pattern is a combination of 1x1 rib and moss stitch. I included some travelling stitch "clocks" down the sides of the legs. From now on I'm sticking with washable sock yarn. I find that I don't handwash all that often so these socks spend more time dirty than clean.

The second project has been in the planning stages for a long time. I've had several versions of the drawing in my notebook for over a year. Once I finally got the yarn and started knitting it went very quickly. I made a strapless vest for A. I forget whether this was something she asked for or I came up with on my own. Either way, I like it, it was fun to knit and A seems to enjoy wearing it. That makes it a success in my book!

K's Mittens

2010-03-01T18:50:00.006-05:00

K needed new mittens. Her old ones are WAY too small. Her favorite colors are orange pink and purple (at the moment!) I had malabrigo sock yarn in colors terra cotta and eggplant. Here are her mittens. They are a tad big for her but she'll be able to wear them again next year. I never did get to block them. She seemed reluctant to wear them (I still don't know what the problem was) but when we got a big snow storm she wore them out to play. When she came inside all the wet outer wear went into the dryer. The mittens came out of the dryer soft and comfortable. She likes them now.

Her name is knitted into the wrist. Her first name is on the back and her middle name is on the palm side. Hopefully this will make it a little harder for her to lose them at school!

2 scarves

2010-02-12T11:14:00.011-05:00

Yes, it's taken me a little longer than I expected to get some new pictures posted.

...click any photo for a closer look...

I made this scarf for one of my knitting friends, Ann. My knitting group did a scarf exchange last year (2008) at the holidays. We each knit a scarf of our own choosing. We packed them up in identical gift bags and then randomly selected a bag at our holiday lunch. I had to borrow this back from Ann to get photos because I forgot to take them before I gave the scarf away.

Yarn: Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool (2 skeins)

K's teacher has made such a huge impact on K this year. K was in a Christmas musical at our church and her teacher came out to see her in it. K was very excited! I decided that K's teacher deserved a little sometime extra. I made her a scarf. I customized it by knitting her initials in lace at both ends. K wanted the scarf to have flowers so the main body of the scarf is made up of lace flowers. Since every flower needs some leaves I used a lace leaf border with faggotting to edge the whole scarf. The knitting was fun and K was happy with it. I hope her teacher enjoys wearing it in good health! Thanks Mrs. G!

The ends hanging from the corner of the scarf are attached to the hang tag I attached to the scarf. The pictures of the outside and inside of the hang tag are a little blurry, sorry!

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace (1 skein + a little)

hmmm

2009-11-28T09:05:00.003-05:00

I've been feeling the urge to start blogging again. I just don't know where to start. I am working on several projects but can't post pictures of them yet. Some are for future publications and others are super secret gifts. So give me a few minutes and I'll see what photos I can find.

Hermia

2009-01-27T17:10:00.001-05:00

Woo hoo! Another sweater is published in Knitscene. Check it out...

...click for detail...

New (FREE) Scarf Pattern

2008-12-10T11:05:00.002-05:00

I knit a scarf for a charity auction a few years ago. I posted a picture of it on Ravelry recently and someone asked for the pattern. I wrote it up and put it on Ravelry and decided to offer it here too. So, here is the Fir Cone Scarf. You can find the PDF here. The yarn used for this scarf has been discontinued. It's a sport weight, merino/silk/cashmere blend. You can substitute another sport weight yarn. I recommend using a soft luxury yarn with lots of drape. I think a little sheen makes it look nice too. Enjoy!

Sock projects

2008-09-09T09:53:00.008-04:00

So, the four of us who dyed our yarn started knitting socks last week. We're using the basic cabled sock pattern by brainylady. I'll be writing up my own instructions for the heel flap type of heel and toe shaping. I haven't decided which type of toe shaping we'll use. I don't think I've yet found a favorite method of toe shaping. We're all knitting two socks at a time on two circular needles. This is my favorite method of knitting socks. I don't trust myself to knit one sock at a time because, even if the second sock gets knit (and it often doesn't) I have a hard time making sure that both socks are the same. I often make decisions as I go and don't often write them down. My gauge can vary as well which makes for one loose sock and one tight sock. I really dont' like mismatched socks. Well, I don't care if they look mismatched they just can't feel mismatched. Ya know what I mean?

I find that casting on and knitting the first few round of two socks on two circs is the hardest part of knititng socks with this method. It seemed that my sock knitting friends agreed with me. Tina kept threatening to poke a needle through her eye to relieve the stress of trying to figure out the mess of spaghetti that was two circular needles, two balls of yarn, and two tails hanging from her sock beginnings. Krista kept ending up with her working yarns at opposite ends of her needles until we figured out she was using the wrong end of the circ to cast on the second sock stitches. Lorie, while she proudly demonstrated her masterful caston skills, kept getting the yarns twisted and tangled around and between the circs. Since she was working from two ends of one ball we ended up cutting the yarn (and thereby created two additional ends to weave in later, yech!) and untangling. I did that for her. When we got together to knit again two days later I found out that when I reattached the yarn I had left a knot between the two ends of the yarn. She's working around it for now. If the knot becomes too cumbersome I'll have to cut it again, making two more ends :( I'll weave in the ends for her.

Okay, so the learning might be a little difficult. I'm regretting not starting them with a single, worsted weight, tiny ornament sized sock. If things don't improve dramatically the next time we knit I'm going to suggest that we put the socks aside and make a demo sock.

Our knitting session was so intense that I didn't get any pictures of their socks. I'll do that next time. I do have a couple of pictures of my socks. The colors aren't very accurate as I took the pictures on my desk with artificial light and a flash. I don't like the way they look in the pictures. While I like them better in real life they aren't my favoritest socks ever.

	This is a more accurate depiction of the colors of my yarn.
	Socks in progress before starting the heel flap.
	Close up of the cables.

Dyeing for Socks

2008-09-03T21:52:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago some friends and I got together to experiment with the magic of dyeing. We had a glorious morning (and afternoon) of fibers, colors and many giggles.

(Click any photo for a bigger look)

	Dyeing is messy but it sure is a lot of fun!
	Krista's yarn looks so pretty. Just right for a warm pair of socks to put on the first cool, crisp day of autumn!
	Krista's all done dyeing her yarn. Next up - SOCKS!
	Lorie's yarn looks a little dark. She thought it looked a bit too masculine. Fear not! The process isn't finished yet...
	Lorie's yarn rinsed out to beautiful, heathery shades of green, blue and a hint of purple. It's really very pretty and not at all masculine now! That's my yarn on top. I'm not entirely happy with it. I like the colors but they're not in the proportions I would have liked.
	Tina dyed two batches of yarn. She didn't dye sock yarn. She had worsted weight yarn that she wanted to use to make little shruggy, bolero, crop type sweaters for her two girls. Here's one of her yarns before being heat set and rinsed.
	Tina loves both of her yarns (as well she should! They're gorgeous!) Her little helper likes them too! (But she'll like her sweater better.)

We all had so much fun with the process that we're planning another dyeing event for October. What are the chances that our yarn from this session will be all used up by then? I'm not sure but next time I'll tell you about how we got along today during our first sock lesson...

Yarn Haul

2008-08-14T17:38:00.003-04:00

My yarn acquasition habits tend to be a bit bulimic. I binge and purge. Most recently I binged. My sister has been bitten hard with the knitting bug and is cranking out projects right and left. She recently invited me to explore the many yarn stores in her area. I'm working very hard on setting aside my jealousy. She's got MANY lovely yarn stores within a 20 minute drive of her home. She's got many more within 45 minutes of her home. I don't.

So anyway... We got to tour four yarn stores one afternoon. I bought something(s) in every one. So, let the show and tell begin!

Store Number 1: Down Cellar		A great little store with lots of yarn. There were four other ladies shopping and two shop workers while we were there and it was a little crowded when we were all trying to look at the same yarn at the same time but I would definitely go back there. They had a very pleasing variety of yarns and lots of knitted samples for inspiration. The yarn I bought there is for swatching.
Store Number 2: Angelfire Studios		I don't have a picture of my purchase from Angelfire Studios. I already started swatching with it and can't show it to the world yet. The picture to the left is from the Webs website where you can see and purchase the very same Euroflax linen that I purchased at Angelfire Studios. The shop itself combines yarn and knitting supplies with pottery. A big bright location with plenty of space. Again, a loverly selection of yarns and many samples artfully displayed.
Store Number 3: A Yarn for All Seasons		My favorite store of the afternoon. The shop is located back and down from the street so we drove right past it and had to turn around and come back. It was definitely worth looking for though. The store is packed with all sorts of great yarn. The shop spans the downstairs of what looks like was previously a home. Upon entering I found myself in what felt like a porch. Lots of shelves of yarn and lots of sale signs! The sales counter is in a front room which has a fireplace with a mantle. I didn't really look too carefully at the fireplace. I assume it is not a functioning fireplace. It certainly wasn't functioning while I was there (it was very hot out and the air conditioner in the "dining room" was struggling to keep up.) But the fireplace, armchair and oriental rugs on the floor made the place so comfortable and pleasant to shop in. They were having their summer sale when we went so I got lots of yarn for not a lot of money. This sparkley, purple yarn is for none other than K. It has her name written all over it. I owe her a project.
		I didn't have a choice but to buy this yarn. As soon as I touched it I knew it had to be mine. I got nine skeins. I don't know if that will be enough to make something for myself. If it's not some woman in my life (and there are lots of them) will have to endure a knitted gift from me.
		I have an idea for this yarn. I want a top with lace leaves and vines. I'll get right to work on that.
Store Number 4: The Knitting Lab		This store is cute. We actually stopped there first but they weren't open yet so we went on and came back at the end of our forray. When I first heard the name of the store I thought about the science of knitting. Having an engineering background, I got all excited. It wasn't until we were in the shop for a while that I started noticing all the little statues and images of a black dog and realized that the "Lab" in the shop name had nothing to do with a laboratory but instead was short for Labrador! I love this yarn. It's soft and comfy and I love the color. I don't care that it's probably discontinued. I'm still not sure what I'll make with this. Maybe I'll make another top with a cinch
		I've heard so much about Malabrigo yarn. I saw this beautiful red color and figured I could find something to make out of this. It really is nice and soft. I'm normally not to keen on single ply yarns but I'll give this one a try and see if it will change my mind!

About a year ago...

2008-08-08T12:50:00.002-04:00

About a year ago I decided that I was going to gather up my courage and submit some of my knitting ideas for publication. I sent several submissions to each of several magazines. I cannot acurately describe the complex mix of feelings I've had about this. I was hopeful that something would be accepted. I was fearful that nothing would would be good enough. When I got the first call that one of my designs (not my first submission) was accepted for the Winter '07 issue of Interweave Knits I was so excited I don't think I spoke coherently! I was stuttering and sputtering through the whole conversation. Three sweaters I designed are currently out in knitting magazines. I get the same sense of thrill and excitement every time I find out that one has been accepted. While the rejections are still difficult to handle I'm trying not to take them personally (that's very hard to do.) But I'm hooked. I'm really enjoying this new phase in my knitting!

Summer Braids Done!

2008-07-01T13:45:00.002-04:00

I finally finished the white Summer Braids I was knitting for my sister. She finished quilting my project ages ago. Although I had some concerns about how it was going to fit I think it looks great. What do you think?

FO DH's Aurora Scarf

2008-04-15T10:52:00.004-04:00

This scarf started life as a reversible cable scarf. I didn't like how it was coming out, it was too stiff, so I ripped it out and went back to the drawing board. I liked the herringbone stitch pattern in one of the Barbara Walker books so I paired it with another pattern from the book that resembled weaving for the borders. I love the results. I hope DH does when it finally gets cold enough again for him to wear it.

Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8

Hints

2008-04-08T09:04:00.004-04:00

Amy P from Dyed in the Wool asked for some hints about the surprises I promised in my last post. I have been thinking about it since then. I am having serious problems coming up with suitable hints that don't give away the surprise. But I think I've come up with one little tidbit for one of the surprises. If you look here you may catch a glimpse of my twisted way of thinking.

I may never knit again!

2008-04-02T10:36:00.001-04:00

I just finished a very intense three weeks of knitting. Two sweaters and patterns for deadlines! I swore, more than once over the last few weeks, that when it was all done I would never knit again. I couldn't figure out why I had done that to myself. What hubris had led me into that predicament? Anyone who knows me knows that housework is pretty low on my priority list and even lower on the list of things I like to do, so when I felt like I really wanted to vacuum the kitchen floor and clean up the dishes I knew that it was crunch time. It reminded me of my (long past) college days, when, the night before a big final exam, I had the urgent need to render my dormroom immaculate, organize my textbooks and papers and make sure all my laundry was clean, folded and put away. Only then could I buckle down and hit the books. Apparently, I find looming deadlines incredibly motivating. I haven't experienced this type of self inflicted stress since the night before my last paper was due in the last course of my formal education.

So why do I do this? Why do I set myself up like this? While it's probably obvious to the casual observer, I just finally figured it out. It's the way I felt when the test was done, when the papers were on the instructors' desks. It's the way I felt on Monday afternoon when I shipped out the last package. It's the immense feeling of relief, of freedom, of feeling like I have climbed a great mountain, after taxing my abilities, pushing to see how far I can go, to finally stand up, look around and enjoy the landscape around me. It's the freedom to let my mind wander freely after having to focus hard on one thing and one thing only - getting it done. It's the complete and total release, after being consumed with one goal, of being able to let any old thought flit through my mind unfettered, to muse and wonder on the way home from the post office, "What should I knit next?"

P.S. I have three surprises coming up. Two will be revealed this spring/summer and one will wait until fall.

2008-02-25T10:53:00.004-05:00

quant progress 2/25/08

Current Knitting status

2008-01-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

I've been working on the Cabin Fever Summer Braids cardigan again. I had half a sleeve done when I realized that I was using the wrong size needle and had to rip it out. I'm not quite back to where I was but I'm making progress. 1.75 sleeves left to go. Then end weaving, blocking and button sewing (I already have the buttons!) and then I'm done. I'm making this for my sister in return for her handwork quilting a sampler quilt I put together as part of a class many years ago. She finished the quilt and gave it to me at our Christmas gathering. Now I have some pressure to get the sweater done. I need pressure. I thrive under pressure! I'll have this sweater done by next week.

Some time before Christmas or perhaps it was even before Thanksgiving, I started knitting myself a pair of gloves. I bought a bunch of different colors of Knitpicks Pallette yarn. This is not the pair of gloves that I planned on making over a year ago but it turns out that the colors are very similar! I'm consistant at least. I charted out a pattern and started knitting. Things seemed to be going well until I tried to knit a finger. I ripped the finger back three times because I couldn't get the tension right. I finally decided that the tension in the hand of the glove is too tight. I'm going to rip back to the cuff and knit the hand again with a larger needle. Then (hopefully!) the fingers will be easier to knit. If not I'll have to change the design slightly. I have columns of solid background. If I can't get the tension right I'll have to change the pattern. These goves are on a back burner now. I won't even get to rip them for a while.

I resolve

2007-12-30T10:50:00.000-05:00

I am sporadic about New Year's Resolutions. Some times I make them and some times I don't. Usually, when I make them I am serious about keeping them. So this is what I resolve for 2008:

Post to my blog more frequently

Get my website up and running

Start entering my stash in Ravelry

Learn to be a more social knitter

Happy New Year to you all!

IK Winter Preview

2007-10-24T11:05:00.000-04:00

Check out the preview of the winter issue of Interweave Knits. It's Eunny Jang's second as editor. I loved the fall issue (Eunny's first) and I like this one just as much.

I've been waiting since June for this issue. It'll be in my mailbox soon! This shell is my first published design. I'm so excited. I can't wait to get started on my next one!

FO: A's Alena top

2007-09-04T10:15:00.000-04:00

I finished A's summer '07 top. Just in time for her to wear it when we went to Philly to see Wicked. I started this top just before we left for vacation in the Adirondaks. It is a very easy top and I'm in the process of writing the pattern for it.

Yarn: Knitpicks Shine Sport (60% pima cotton, 40% Modal) 7 Orchid, 2 Butter
Needles: size 5 Knitpicks options circular

A wore this top to the play and said it was very comfortable. She wore it again the next day and complained that the straps were too long and she had to keep pulling the top up. I washed and dried the top which will (hopefully) tighten things up just a bit. I'll have her try it on this afternoon (after her first day back to school!) to see if it's more comfortable again. If the straps keep stretching I'll shorten them up a bit.

I've fallen and I can't get up

2007-08-30T16:02:00.000-04:00

I've fallen into Ravelry that is!

Back from Vacation '07

2007-08-24T14:36:00.000-04:00

I'm back from vacation. Four blissful days in the beautiful Adirondak Mountains of New York State. Sunshine (well, some anyway), fresh air, natural pine scent and lots of relaxation. I'll show pictures of our activites and the craziest thing I've ever done in my life at another time. For now I'll show you what I worked on while I was taking it easy...

WOW! Look what I found in my stash

2007-08-07T09:38:00.000-04:00

I found this great club via La over at JenLa. I am hereby joining the Wow! Look What I Found In My Stash Sock Club. What a clever idea. I can do this. And I love that it's FREE (well, actually there is a cost but it's s sunk cost!)

The original name for the club was “I wish I could join a sock yarn club but I already have way too much sock yarn in my stash”. The shortened name would’ve been “IWICJASYCBIAHWTMSYIMS” which is a little cumbersome. So we came up with this dandy club of our own.
Here are the rules:

Once a month, go into your stash.
Find a skein of sock yarn.
Take a picture of it and post it on your blog or just wave it around and go “WOW! Look what I got this month!”
You get extra points if the skein is still in the bag or box you brought it home in.
You get super extra points if the receipt is still with the sock yarn.
You get quadruple points if you actually make a pair of socks out of that skein.

Go check out what the points get you, you'll want to join too...

Back on Track

2007-08-04T23:37:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling a little better about my knitting today. A couple of days ago I was feeling like my knitting hobby was a burden. I just spent the last two days lost without direction or focus. I guess I have a "normal" project queue that includes some projects in the ~~fantasy~~ ~~dreaming~~ planning phase, some projects in the knitting phase (one of which I consider my "current" project) and I always have something smallish that I can grab and go. Lately, I've had many projects in the planning phase and none in the knitting phase. I was knitting a sweater for my sister that stalled months ago when I realized I knit too far without shaping the front neck. Last night, during a late night of catching up on laundry, I finally sat down and ripped back the 7 lousy little rows that have caused me to delay this project for so long. Here's what it looked like earlier today after ripping back but before I put the front nect stitches on hold.

During my knitting paralysis I almost ordered new yarn to make a jacket I've had swirling around in my brain. Getting the Braids UFO back on track inspired me to resolve another old UFO. I decided that although it's not the color I would have ordered if I had ordered new yarn I'm going to rip and reclaim the yarn from this long abandoned project to use for my jacket idea. I'll keep you posted on details about that.

I know I promised pictures of my little periwinkle swatches. I haven't worked on them much at all either. I'm no farther along in planning my sleeveless top than I was when I wrote my last post. Since then Michelle emailed the group to inform us that she's already knitted up to the bust and is ready for the next class.

I better go. I have a lot of catching up to do...

Sleeveless Top Project

2007-08-02T02:23:00.000-04:00

So, I'm trying on a new style for my blog. What do you think? Do these colors make me look fat?

I'm feeling very discomforted lately. I usually work on only one project at a time. I have lots of WIPs but generally only one is active. Lately, I've been bouncing around among three different proejcts. And I'm about to add a fourth.

Periwinkle sleeveless top
Cathay & silk top
Project Linus squares
M's Summer Braids

I have so many ideas in my head and in my notebook. I fee so much pressure to get something done.

I started a class with a few friends of mine. We are each designing and knitting a sleeveless top. It's really amazing how different everyone's top is. Our little group has really demonstrated that different brains really work in different ways. We were to start our project by sketching out a rough idea of what we wanted to knit. Krista could absolutely not do this step. She looked in magazines and through her closet to find something to inspire her but nothing worked. Finally, she threw up her hands and said "I have to go to the yarn store." She found some yarn that she loved and the idea for the top came to her instantly. Michelle found a picture of a tunic vest that she liked in a fashion magazine and is using that as her inspiration. Tina drew out what she wanted and then started the search for the perfect yarn. I'm not sure if she's found it yet. MaryAnn had an idea, sketched it and then tweaked it after buying her yarn.

As for me, I'm still trying to work out an idea that I had last summer. I've had the yarn since then and have been swatching, swatching, swatching but have not yet worked out all the problems. Once I figure out the mitres, the darts, the princess seams and the FIT I'll be ready to go.

I'll get some pictures of my lame swatches tomorrow in the daylight.

Sweetheart Capelet

2007-07-23T14:40:00.000-04:00

Any photo may be clicked to enlarge and show detail

My 6 yo, K, is an old soul with a romantic streak about a mile wide. Every summer she loves to wear her tank tops, spaghetti straps and tube tops. This attire is fine for warm, sunny, summer weather but that glisten she develops in the hot weather isn't so nice when we step into a restaurant, movie theater or even the grocery store. When she goes inside K can get down right chilly. I've knit summer shrugs for A before and K has mostly inherited these as hand-me-downs but this year K wanted her own and she didn't want sleeves. She loves draping a sweater over her shoulders without putting her arms through the sleeves. What this girl needed was a CAPELET! So, without further ado or preamble I present to you K in her new Sweetheart Capelet.

Features: Her capelet covers her shoulders and upper arms to keep her toasty warm. K is a real girly girl so only pink would do. The capelet has a little, allover lace flower pattern and a lace Sweetheart Border at the bottom. Attached I-cord finishes the front and neck edges.

K didn't want to have a fastener on her capelet (I think she really wanted a shawl) but I know that there will be times when she'll need that little bit of stability that a fastener can provide. Our compromise is this closure. As I knit on the I-cord edging I knit a little trefoil at each corner. K can slip one trefoil through the center loop of the other trefoil and it will keep the capelet closed without any additional weight or bulk. When she wants to wear it unfastened the trefoils act as decorative accents. (Note to self: get a photo of the capelet open.)

Here's a close up shot of the back which shows the allover lace flowers and the Sweetheart Border.

Lattice Lace Wrap Pattern Available Again

2007-06-29T15:56:00.000-04:00

The Lattice Lace Wrap pattern is back up and ready for download. Check the sidebar under Freebies!

Lattice Lace Wrap Pattern Temporarily Unavailable for download

2007-06-26T15:39:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry to say that the Lattice Lace Wrap pattern is temporarily unavailable. I've changed my ISP and my new one is not so great as my old one for online storage. I'm working on getting things straightened out so I can get the pattern back up on my blog. Until then you can email me for the pdf file.

Sheepish Communication

2007-06-08T20:51:00.000-04:00

Check out this cool picture
http://www.cualquiera.com.ar/notas/arte.html

I found this link at

Knee Deep in Fibers

Easter Finery

2007-06-03T01:09:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to keep a record of my finished projects on my blog. Here is what I finished for Easter. A decided well in advance of Easter that she wanted to crochet a hat for herself. She picked out a pattern and I bought her the yarn specified. As we got closer and closer to Easter she decided that although she wanted to wear the cap, she didn't want to crochet it. I made it for her. It was quick and easy and A gave me plenty of time to make it. I had so much time that I picked some yarn out of my stash to make a cap for K too. They both liked their Easter "bonnets". On Tuesday before Easter, J decided he was going to need a vest. Being the totally impractical, egotistical, "no challenge is to great for me" kind of knitter that I am, I cast on. I figured that without sleeves it would be a quick knit. Since it was mostly stockinette it did go quickly. J did get to wear it on Easter. Bless his heart, he wore it the whole day even though it was too short for him. He won't be able to wear it again but he wore it the WHOLE day.

I'll have to find my notes about the vest to post the specifics. I barely remember making it now. I know what yarn I used but I don't remember what needles I used. I'm sure I knit it in the round to save the time of seaming it but I don't remember actually knitting it.

Sister Tops Done

2007-06-02T17:25:00.000-04:00

Last summer I knit a top for A. K was with me when I bought the yarn and at that time I also bought yarn to make a companion top for K. Well, I finally got around to making K's version of the top. She wore it to her Kindergarten promotion celebration.

K likes halter tops so hers is a halter top. She likes sparkley things so hers also has beads. There are pink beads on the hem and green beads on the green bands. I had such fun knitting this top and it went very quickly. The top took about 9 days from cast on to wearing. I think K looks like a piece of watermelon when she wears this!

Yarn: Butterfly Super-10 DK weight 100% cotton (vari. pink) and Queensland Collection Cotolino 60% Cotton/40% linen (green)
Needles: size 6 circular
size 5 dpns for the I-cord ties
Beads: Pink and Green size 5 triangle beads from Twisted Sistah Beads
Pattern: my own

Regia Silk Socks

2007-03-20T10:57:00.001-04:00

I posted about finishing DH's socks a while back but I never posted the details. Here are some pictures. I bought two skeins of Regia Silk when I went on a yarn crawl last summer. I intended to make the socks for DH's autumn birthday. I finished them a little late but he got them, he likes them and he wears them. In fact, it took me longer than I thought to get these photos because I had to hold them when they came out of the laundry. He wears them as soon as they make their way back into his sock drawer.

You might be able to see that the two skeins that I originally purchased weren't enough to finish this project. If you look closely you can see that the toes are a little darker than the rest of the sock. That is were I added the third skein which didn't match the dye lot of the first two. This is another reason that I will always knit both socks at once on two circular needles! I loved knitting with this yarn and would definitely use it again. I also want to try Knitpicks Gloss sock yarn which has a similar fiber content (wool and silk).

When I was planning these socks I knew I wanted to use gansey type stitches. Many traditional ganseies had the wearers initials knit in just above the bottom welt. I knit in DH's initials just below the top ribbing. The photo is not so great but you can sort of see his initials here. You can click on the picture to see it bigger. The initials lay across the front of the leg.

This photo is my attempt to show the detail of the leg pattern. Click away to see the picture enlarged. I tried to be symbolic with my choices. DH enjoys hunting and fishing so I included a tree pattern and some small ropes. I posted the chart when I started these socks.

yarn: Regia Silk 3 skeins black
needles: 2 size 0 circular
pattern: my own mostly undocumented
started: July, 2006
completed: January, 2007

Yarn Diets

2007-01-31T15:22:00.000-05:00

I've been reading all over blogland that people are going on yarn diets. There even seems to be some kind of "along" for this. It makes me nervous. I don't judge anyone who decides to go on a yarn diet. I did it a couple of years ago. I REALLY did it. A whole year with no new yarn, no purchases, no gifts, no nothin'! I'm proud of it too. My concern is with the number of dieters and my concern is a selfish one. With so many people not supporting the fiber industry aren't some of the new sources going to dry up?

I've been revelling in the increase in popularity of knitting over the last few years. I've been tickled by all the new magazines, yarn manufacturers, designers and designs that have come along with the increase in knitting popularity. I feel like so many more people "get" me now. When I knit in public passers by are likely to say "I'm making a sweater for myself" or "My friend is teaching me to knit" or "I know someone that's a knitter." A few years ago if anyone even recognized my knitting as something harmless the best comment I could hope for was "My grandma used to crochet."

It's just that I can't get away from the ecconomics of it all. Supply and demand. If the demand slows down the supply is going with it. If yarn manufacturer's don't sell their yarn they can't pay their bills and they go out of business. I don't think the big companies will have any problems. It's the little guys that I'm worried about. It's the hand dyers, the small organic fiber farms, and specialty growers that will suffer, the people that offer the truly unique stuff.

I understand the pressure of having an overwhelming stash. When every room in your home hides or flaunts the object of our obsession, when you're at a loss for where to store the new purchase, when you don't know exactly how much yarn you own and you're afraid to try to figure it out, when you hide recently purchased, dk weight, pink merino from your significant other because s/he might ask why you couldn't use the dk weight, rose merino that's already in stash. I understand. Really, I understand. Yarn dieting isn't the only way to deal with this. There are other ways to address this problem.

Let's explore the weight loss analogy. If we want to lose weight we need to take in fewer calories than we expend. Theoretically, we don't have to diet to lose weight. We can eat the same as always and just exercise more. The same holds true for stash. You can reduce your stash by knitting more. If you are already knitting every spare moment of the day this may not work for you. However, most knitters can find a few more minutes each day to knit. Knit in the bathroom, knit in bed, knit while you're talking on the phone, knit while reading. This approach may require that you start a few more projects. You need an epic project to knit when you have the time to devote your attention to the lace or cable or shaping that is taking place. You need a mindless project to knit while watching TV, attending meetings, talking on the phone, reading, helping kids with homework or reading blogs and a small, portable project (socks, hat, scarf, babywear, etc) to accompany you when you are out of the house - waiting in line, waiting for kids, eating lunch in the office, waiting for the bus, riding in the car, bus, train or plane.

Already knitting at your max? Think about your intake. Step up the quality of what you're taking in. Take in a smaller quantity of the good stuff and use it more efficiently. Instead of buying a whole sweaters worth of the cheap yarn. Buy enough cashmere to make a pair of mittens, gloves, a scarf, belt, cowl or hat (a portable project!)

Okay, so you say you're already knitting every second of every day and you just can't squeeze one more ball of yarn into your house, car, office or storage unit? Be a responsible knitter and teach at least two other people to knit. Share your excitement and enthusiasm. Get them well and truly hooked so they can do your part to support the yarn industry!

Where has everyone gone?

2007-01-30T11:07:00.000-05:00

It seems I have lost all my Bloglines subscribers. Maybe I triggered something when I messed around with my template. Maybe everyone decided they didn't like my blog all at once. Come Back Subscribers! I'll be nice, I promise. I might even post another free pattern soon!

1/31/07 ETA: Thanks for letting me know you're still there. I messed around with my template and screwed things up a bit. I still don't know exactly what I did but it had something to do with the little icon I included in my template. I've fixed it and I can see myself in Bloglines again!

Projects - Old and New

2007-01-29T15:07:00.000-05:00

I spent a lot of time a couple of weeks ago trying to change the look of my blog. I was happy with the changes that I made but I knew that I was going to start from scratch and build my own template. It was going to be an HTML learning exercise for me. Well, I got feedback that my changes were unreadable. The text blended in with the background. So I changed everything back to it's original blogger template. Hopefully it's readable now. Please let me know if you have any trouble reading it.

I finished DH's birthday present. Finally. I was only three months late with them. Here is the photographic proof that they are complete:Of course the picture shows no detail. I'll have to take new photos with real live daylight. The flash just didn't cut it.

So with that project out of the way and a Superbowl sale going on at LYS what do you think I did? I started a new project. The first truly bitter cold day of this winter showed me that DH and I are both lacking warm neckwear. I bought four balls of Karabella Aurora 8 yarn in a warm brown color and started a scarf for DH. I have four balls of Rowen Felted Tweed in a loverly green that was GIVEN to me (not gifted!) by one of my neighborhood knitting buddies. My scarf will probably be knit in moss stitch as the yarn has such beautiful flecks and colors. DH's scarf took some consideration. I studied my Walker books and sampled several patterns before I decided to try something that has fascinated me for a while. I wanted to explore reversible cables. I charted out a simple cable and traveling stitch pattern for the front and made the back REALLY simple by just twisting the pairs of knit stitches. Here is what the front looks like:
Here is the back:

Silliness Abounds

2007-01-12T19:20:00.001-05:00

A saw K's pictures on my blog. I told A that I wanted to get some pictures of her with her headband on. I'm not completely sure if A was just trying to be her normal cute self or if she was mocking K. Maybe it's a little of both.

A is wearing the headband that I made for the beginner knitter class at my kids' school. The class instructor and I both thought that the headband would be a popular project. We were both wrong. The purse was the big winner. Oh well, A loves the headband so much she is knitting herself another one.

No Knitting Content

2007-01-12T10:43:00.001-05:00

I've been sick. J has been sick. DH has been away. I haven't gotten any knitting done this week. I don't have any knitting content to post. My resolution for this year was to post more often. I made a quiet resolution to myself that I am going to keep my blog more closely focused on my knitting. So, it's January 12. We're not even half way through the first month of the year and I'm going to break that quiet, side resolution. I took an online quiz. Here is my result.

You scored 90% which means you are

a hardcore conservative.

You believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals.

Conservative or Liberal
Create MySpace Quizzes

I was a little surprised by the final number but the description is pretty accurate for me. Although I have strong feelings about many political issues I am not very outspoken about them.

Passing it On

2007-01-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

Each winter my kids' school runs the Explorer's Club. Parent's volunteer to come in for one hour a week after school and lead an activity. The activities can be anything the parents want to do. My kids have enjoyed chess, floor hockey, popsicle stick art, a "how it works" science experiment class and rubber stamping. Other offerings are legos, arts & crafts, cheerleading, drama, and running. This year one of the moms signed up to teach knitting. 15 girls in grades 1 through 3 signed up. I volunteered to help out. We had our first session yesterday. It was difficult, a bit chaotic at times and definitely stressful but it was also very rewarding.

The first lesson was the knit stitch. The teacher and I decided that we would cast on for them and teach them the knit stitch. We will teach them to cast one at a later session. I ended up only helping six of the girls. I think some of them went home without having been taught anything. I just hope they all come back to give us another chance.

Before the class I knit up a few project samples for the girls to look at. They get to choose which of these they would like to knit as their first project.

A purse, a beanbag, a hacky sack

Here is K modeling a hairbow and the purse.

All of the projects are made out of garter stitch rectangles. I also knit a headband that A claimed as hers. She was wearing it at school yesterday so I didn't get pictures. I'll try to get one this afternoon.

Summer Knitting

2007-01-05T17:16:00.000-05:00

With temperatures in the 60s it certainly doesn't feel like the dead of winter. What better conditions than a January thaw to show you my summer knitting. This is a top I made for A last summer. I put together a submission package and sent it off to a magazine to see if they would publish it. Since they declined I can comfortably post the photos. Here is A modelling. I think she looks so grown up. A found the varigated yarn in my stash and asked if I would make a top for her. I didn't have enough for a whole top so I bought some solid blue to go with it. The design of this top evolved along the way.

The bottom is K1P1 rib. I used short rows to form the peak and then knit the pointed waistband in garter stitch. The neck line was also formed with short rows. The front neckband, straps and back neckband are all knit in garter stitch as one circle.

It was a fun project and I have pink yarn to make a similar top for K. Maybe next summer the girls can wear their tops together.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-03T12:50:00.000-05:00

With every new year comes the new year's resolutions. One of mine is to get back to blogging. So here goes...

I've been busy while I have been away from blogging but you wouldn't tell by the changes in my project list on the sidebar. Only one item has been crossed off since I last blogged. It was the "Secret Christmas Gift" and is a mitered, garter stitch, pocketed wrap that I knit for my stitching groups "Secret Santa" exchange. I finished it just in time for our holiday brunch at which we swapped gifts. I forgot to get a photo before I wrapped it up and gave it away. I can, however, show you what I received.

I received this from my friend, Donna. Donna learned how to knit as part of our group. When our group started meeting she was (and still is) a master cross stitcher. When she started knitting she took a liking to felting (and what's not to like about felting!) I love this bag. I love the colors, the textures and the size and shape. Looks like a new project bag to me. Now I just need to find a new project worthy of such a beautiful bag.

Back to School

2006-09-16T18:42:00.000-04:00

I realized that I haven't posted my obligatory back to school photos. My kids hate that I make them pose for these. I'm not very disciplined about keeping records of their growth so these photos will have to do. They are two weeks old already but here are the photos...

In Memory

2006-09-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

James Maounis
I never met James Maounis. I wish I had. James, or Jimmy to his friends, worked on the 90th floor at 2 World Trade Center. He worked for Fiduciary Trust. He was 42. He is survived by his mother, brother and sister. But these are mere statistics and don't capture the nature of James Maounis.

James Maounis was a loyal friend and family member. He grew up in Brooklyn and was part of a tightly knit group of friends. James' sparkling blue eyes might capture your attention but it was his personality that would make you smile. He was quick to offer a compliment or to crack a joke to get a laugh. He was devoted to his family. He is missed by a great many people. If you knew James and would like to share a story or tell us what he was like please leave a comment and I will add it to the body of this post.

Butterflies and Ladybugs

2006-08-18T12:20:00.000-04:00

This truly has been a summer of butterflies and ladybugs for us. At Christmas, K received a ladybug habitat and a butterfly kit. The concept for both gifts was the same. The box came with a container and a post card to order larvae. We ordered both at the same time late in the spring. The ladybug larvae arrived first. I didn't take pictures but certainly wish I did. I never knew what ladybug larva looked like before. They are ugly. I didn't get pictures of the ladybugs or the great ladybug release. I need a compact digital camera.

The butterfly larvae came shortly after the

ladybugs. We have done the butterfly thing before so it wasn't new but it was still amazing. We received a plastic cup filled with 5 caterpillars and a lot of muck that they use for food. The cup has a plastic lid with small holes in it. Before snapping the plastic lid on the plastic cup they place a paper disc on top of the cup. The paper disc is slightly larger than the lid so the lid holds it securely in place. The paper disc looks like coffee filter paper. The caterpillars munch away on the muck in the cup and rapidly grow plump and long. After a week or so the crawl up to the paper disc and begin to "chrysalize". I learned something new this time around. The caterpillars don't spin a cocoon, the covering they develop is actually their skin.

Once all of the caterpillars have gone to sleep DH gently removed the plastic lid and the paper disc then hung the disc in the net house. Then we all waited for the miracle of metamorphosis. It didn't take long, about 5 days. We woke up one morning and there was a butterfly flitting around the net cage. Eventually all of the butterflies emerged.

We had one poor butterfly that didn't quite make it all the way out of its chrysalis. When the caterpillars were growing they produce a weblike substance which they seemed to use to suspend themselves above the much. The one poor guy that didn't quite make it got his chrysalis caught in the sticky webbing and wasn't hanging straight down while he was sleeping. The other 4 butterflies emerged from a hole broken at the bottom of the chrysalis. "Little Guy" (as A named him) started to emerge from a hole at the lowest point of his chrysalis which was closer to the middle than the end. Maybe that was what caused the problem. (You can see Little Guy in the second row of photos below.) We have an ongoing debate about whether these are Monarch or Painted Lady butterfiles.
ETA: A quick Google search has identified our butterflies as Painted Ladies.

We released the butterflies the day we left for vacation. Getting ready for vacation is always an adventure (someday I'll blog about the time we went away and left my suitcase behind!) There are always a million things that have to get done and we are all running around tripping over each other trying to get it all done. J went out on the deck to put his golf clubs away and stopped short at the doorway. He almost stepped on a beautiful black butterfly. It looks like it was trying to hid in our doormat. I guess his body was pretty well sheltered but the wings were all out there. I wasn't sure if it was alive until it eventually flew away. I was startled when it moved and didn't get a picture of it in flight. Even if my reflexes were better I don't think my camera takes pictures fast enough to have gotten it.

The last picture shows A getting ready to release one of our "home grown" butterflies. This represents quite a change from the butterfly release we did 6 or so years ago. A was afraid to go near them. When one of them flew out of the habitat and landed briefly on her head she was very upset until we told her that the butterfly gave her a kiss for taking good care of it. She's had a soft spot for butterflies ever since.

2996 Memorial

2006-08-15T10:15:00.000-04:00

I found this site via Sarah's blog. This year will mark the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The intention of the 2996 project is to remember each of the 2996 innocent victims of 9/11. I've signed up and received the name of the victim I will honor by posting a tribute to his life on my blog on 9/11/06. If you don't have a blog you can sign up anyway and post a tribute to the project blog. 1196 more people need to sign up to ensure that each victim is honored.

Vacation debrief

2006-08-13T12:44:00.000-04:00

Here are three pictures from our summer vacation in the beautiful Adirondak Mountains of New York State. We had a great six days. I'll have more pictures and stories about what knitting I did and didn't get done while we were away.

Sock Wars?

2006-08-12T16:37:00.000-04:00

I found this link over on Criminy Jickets blog. Is anyone signing up for this? It sounds like a lot of fun. I'm not sure if I'm willing to committ to knitting an unknown pattern using an unkown yarn weight. But it's tempting...

Hi AJ!

2006-08-02T13:18:00.000-04:00

I know I have one very faithful reader. Hi AJ!

Template, Braids, To Go, Sleep Over

2006-08-02T11:56:00.000-04:00

Template

I've been working on my blog template lately. For the amount of time I've devoted to it there are precious few changes. I added lists on my sidebar for projects that I'm currently working and projects that I'm dreaming about while I knit the current projects.

Most of my trouble with my template comes from knowing just enough HTML to be dangerous but not enough to actual figure out how to do the things I want to do. For example, I'd like to:

make my blog have three columns instead of two
change the color scheme
change the blog banner
include project pages that I can link to my sidebar lists
include expandable summaries for longer posts
group posts by categories

I'm sure I've made a complete mess of my template. I know what I've done but I'm sure that someone who knows how to use HTML and style sheets would cringe at my lack of adherence to common practices. If you know how to do any or all of this would you please consider sharing your wisdom?

Summer Braids

I'm still working on the Summer Braids Cardigan for my sister. I'm very close to completing the 13" I need for the body before splitting for the arm holes. Woo Hoo! I smell progress!

I'm about at the point where I start to panic about buttons. I could go with plain white and keep it a simple, versatile sweater or I could go with something fancier. Or I could just ask my sister what she prefers. M, if you read this feel free to leave a comment with your preference!

I also took a picture of my new stitch markers but the picture was too blurry. I'll try again later. I was so enamored with the dangley stitch markers that Kimberly gave me that I bought some more. I never appreciated the appeal of these stitch markers until I started using them. They feel like jewelry for my knitting! I don't wear much jewelry on my person but I'm thoroughly enjoying it on my knitting. I got my markers from Yarngirl's Etsy shop. I got them almost immediately after ordering them. Can't ask for better than that.

"To Go" Knitting

I started a new project for my "on the go" knitting. Sometimes I'll just work on one project at a time, taking it with me when I'm out and about but the white braids just doesn't make for practical portable knitting. I started the Regia Silk socks I'm making for DH. His birthday is in early autumn so I have a deadline. I'm almost done with the 1x1 ribbing for the cuff. If I had given it a little more thought before I started I would have done a 2x2 ribbing because there is a lot of 2x2 in the leg pattern. I charted out this little pattern (chart shows half of the leg) which incorporates a tree motif that I got from one of my Gansey books, some ribs and crossed stitches. The trees will travel down the leg at the sides. I'm still debating whether to continue the foot with the ribbing pattern or just do a plain stockinette foot.

"Almost" Sleep Over

My kids invited our neighbors to an "almost" sleep over last night. They watched movies, played music and danced around the family room with the disco ball shining. They also indulged in some special treats, one of which included thisand thisand this
Mmmmm S'Mores!!!!

It's official, I'm a nerd

2006-07-24T22:18:00.000-04:00

I've called myself a geek before but I never knew it was this bad.

How do you score?

Knitting, buying and swimming

2006-07-24T11:24:00.000-04:00

So, I really have been knitting. I started a Summer Braids for my sister shortly after I ripped out J's socks. I'm using a discontinued yarn called Time from Adriafil. It's a cotton/rayon tubular ribbon yarn, DK weight. It's soft and silky to work with and has great drape. I made A a short sleeve bolero type sweater out of it a year or so ago.

I'm knitting this sweater for my sister in exchange for her quilting talents. Many years ago I took an introductory quilting class. I learned all about different ways to piece a quilt. The project for the class was a sampler quilt of nine 12" squares. I got all the squares pieced, the quilt top assembled with sashing and filler triangles. I even got the layers basted with safety pins and the quilting lines stenciled on the top. I just didn't like doing the actual quilting. So I talked my sister into doing it for me. She enjoys it and she's really good at it.

Here is a close up of the sweater. Can you see the cute stitch markers that I'm using. They were a gift from Kimberly. Go see what she's up to. All three of my kids have seperately asked me what the cute little food things are for. I have explained to each of them that they are to help me know when to change the stitch pattern so I make fewer mistakes. I really like the way they dangle off my needle too. They're so cute. I've never used fancy stitch markers before.

I went to the TKGA and CGA convention last weekend. I seem to be in stash acquisition mode lately. I bought more stuff. This is some beautiful tencel lace weight yarn. It's 1000 yards. I also found some beads that match. I don't yet know what I'm going to make of this but I like it just the same.

Ah! Luxury. This is 500 yards of pure softness. Red Cashmere. Does it get any better than that? I think this will be a lace stole. I have a Fiber Trends pattern that I think will work. When I will get to this I have no idea.

I woke up early the other day. I couldn't sleep so I sat down to read my email. I got a message from the nice folks at Knitpicks that they were having a sale. They have their Main Line yarn (cotton/wool blend) on sale. I had to have it. I bought enoughof the color "Red Velvet Cake" to make a sweater for DH. He's gone neglected for too long. I can't wait for it to get here.

We just finished our swim team season. This was A's second year on the local team and J's first. They had lots of fun with their team and they did great with their individual swimming. The team ended up tied for second place in the league. Here are some pictures from the last meet.

I think, perhaps, this last photo needs a little explanation. The name of the pool complex we join is Fanny Chapman Memorial Swimming Pool and A and J swim on the Fanny Chapman Swim Team. There is a swim team logo on the front hem of the left leg.

What's up with that?

2006-07-13T00:12:00.000-04:00

I have long subscribed to several knitting magazines. The ones that I have been getting for years are Interweave Knits (my favorite), Knitters and Family Circle Easy Knitting. All of a sudden, a little less that a year ago, FCEK informs me that I will be getting KnitSimple for the remainder of my subscription. At first I thought that FCEK was changing it's name. Then I saw both KnitSimple and FCEK on the newstand. What's up with that? How come they just switched me? I like FCEK better and if I wasn't so lazy I'd call and tell them to switch me back. Instead I will probably just let the subscription expire and then not get either of them.

FO (sort of) and Stringy Goodness

2006-07-12T00:36:00.000-04:00

FO?

J's socks are finished, done, kaput. Here's what they looked like two days ago. Here's what they look like now...
They're done alright. Just not completed. I finally got J to try them on and they are way too tight. He couldn't get them on. K tried them on and they would have been okay if I ripped back an inch or so of the foot but she has very sensative skin and only wears ankle socks. So I ripped and re-wound them. I'll try again someday.

The String's the Thing

I needed some instant gratification so I started the string bag. I got the yarn and pattern on the yarn crawl to the Mannings a couple of weeks ago. I'm zipping right along on this bag. I might even finish tonight. It takes two balls of Tahki Cotton Classic. I had to join the two balls together part way through. I have always found it difficult to join a new ball of yarn when knitting lace. The join is always very visible and the ends always work their way out. For this bag i decided to sew the ends of the yarn together. I didn't do a great job of stitching the ends and I didn't have the right color thread. Even so, I think the join is acceptable. (This is just a string bag, after all.) Here is how the ends are joined together.

Here's a look at the join knitted into the bag. It's definitely visible but not terribly obvious. If I had thread to match the color the join would be almost invisible. Here is a close up of the join. What do you think?

Gifts, Socks and Yarn Crawl

2006-07-05T22:47:00.000-04:00

I have lots of pictures. Let's start out with something I should have blogged about 2 months ago. Kimberly sent me these adorable stitch markers. She was one of the winners in my contest a couple of months ago. I love these markers. They are so cute and they look good enough to eat. I'll be using them in the sweater I'm about to cast on for my sister. Check out her blog. She is amazingly creative with yarn, fabric, her kids and (obviously) clay.

This next picture is of the socks I blogged about last time. Here they are all wrapped up and ready to mail. The surprise recipient is a stranger to me (although I do know her foot size.) These were a pair of sock savior socks. I didn't sign up for the third round of the sock exchange even though I had so much fun in the second round. I emailed Alison to volunteer to knit someone a pair. These were fun to knit even though they took a long time to finish. They were mailed today. I hope Johanna likes them.

Since finishing my sock pal socks I've been working on socks for J. He took a liking to the yarn I originally dyed for sock pal 2. Since I had a whole skein from the original dye batch I started making these for him. They are an adaptation of the Crusoe socks from Knitty. I don't like the yarn on the ball. I don't like the bright yellow. I overdyed the yellow on the skein I used for sock pal 2. J has vision because I think the socks look great. I like the way the colors look with this stitch pattern. I have the cuffs, heels and gussets done. I'm just knitting on till I get to the toes. I have to pin the boy down to measure his foot so I'll know when I'm done.

Yarn Crawl and Fair Isle Gloves

Last weekend I went on a yarn crawl with two other knitters that I know from the Quakertown knitting group. Leslie, Lisa and I had a great time. We hit three stores, Kitnit and Oh Susanah! in Lancaster, PA and the Mannings in East Berlin, PA. I liked Kitnit. It was a nice little shop with some great yarn and lovely samples. The woman working in the shop was very pleasant and helpful without being overpowering. The shop was a little small to be a destination in itself but I would definitely stop there again if I found myself in that part of the state. I found Dale of Norway's Tiur yarn. I fell in love with the soft feel of it. I selected these five colors with the intent of making my self some gloves or mittens. I can't wait to get started. I've already spent a little time playing with my stitch painting program to come up with a colorwork pattern.

Our stop in Oh Susanah! was very interesting. The shop has much more space that Kitnit. There were about five or six rooms in the ground floor of a house which were used to display yarn. I found this shop to be a little overwhelming for browsing. Yarn was absolutely packed into every nook and cranny, floor to ceiling. I entered the shop without a specific shopping list or plan of what I wanted to buy. I have no doubt that if I were looking for something specific I could find it in that shop but because of the lack of organization I didn't find inspiration.

The Mannings was our ultimate destination. This was the main reason for our trip. It definitely lived up to it's great expectations. I have shopped at the Mannings booth at knitting events (MDS&W) and have found it to be a pleasurable experience. That was nothing compared to shopping in their store. They have lots of space and the yarns are displayed beautifully and conveniently. The staff is knowledgeable, friendly and very helpful. I found lots of inspiration at the Mannings. I also picked up supplies for three projects plus a pattern. This yarn is destined to become a string bag for schlepping towels to and from swimming lessons and swim team practices and meets. I also picked up the Oat Couture shopping bag pattern.
The second project I selected was for DH. Since he doesn't read my blog I feel safe discussing this project here. I'm planning on making him a pair of Regia Silk socks for his birthday in October. I don't have a pattern in mind yet but it will probably be gansey-ish with knit and purl patterning. In solid black. At least the sensuous hand of this yarn makes up for my lack of excitement with the color. DH is a conservative kind of guy and wouldn't go for really snappy socks. My last project is something of a secret. I have a project in mind but I haven't worked out the details yet. It's a holiday surprise for someone I know and of whom I am very fond. I'll leak details as they crystalize.

The last thing I got was something of an impulse purchase. I bought the Diamond Patch Sweater pattern from Just One More Row. Lots of members of the Ample Knitters list have knit this pattern and I have not heard of one person who was unhappy with it (seriously, check out the AK Gallery!) I'll get to it someday.

So that's about all I have for now. Hopefully, I'll have a flurry of finished projects to inspire me to start blogging more frequently again.

FO! and How ya been?

2006-06-29T22:25:00.000-04:00

Okay, it's been another two months since I posted. What's up with that? I don't have much to show for those two months either. Here's the sum total of what I've been doing...
I've been working on these socks for what feels like forever. I worked on them almost every day but they were slow going. This is the first time I've knit both at the same time on two cirular needles. Although progress seemed to go at half speed I didn't have to worry about second sock syndrome.

These socks will be shipped out tomorrow. They are going to a secret recipient. I'll let you know who it is in a couple of days.

I don't know which side of the stitch pattern I like the best. I was randomly polling people as I knit the cuff. I think either side could work as the right side. I'll let the recipient decide which one is inside out. Did I knit a traditional foot or a princess foot?

See that little tiny ball of yarn above the socks? That's the sum total of my leftovers. I'll send them with the socks but the only thing they'll be good for is possible repairs.

Some of the specifics are:

Yarn - 450 yds. cotton/elastic hand dyed (by moi)
Needles - 2 size 1 circular
Number of stitches in cuff - 72
gauge - 9 st/in after 1 trip through the washer and dryer
Heel - classic heel flap
Toe - short rows
Cuff and instep stitch patter - three stitches rib, three stitches moss
Started - around April 27
Finished - June 25
Recipient - TBA

Project Spectrum

2006-04-25T10:03:00.000-04:00

I signed up for Project Spectrum about a month ago. I have not been a very good participant. It's purpose is to encourage the participants more aware of the colors around us. The featured colors for April are yellow and orange. I have definitely noticed these colors more. So I have participated on a selfish level. I have not shared much of what I've been seeing. I don' have my camera with me most of the time but I have been noticing the yellows and oranges in the daffodils and tulips that are blooming all around. Yellow dandelions are everywhere. I also noticed the yellow haze that covered most of the trees after the small white blossoms fell like snow in my neighborhood.

Heart Flower Sweater is Done!

2006-04-02T20:34:00.000-04:00

I finished K's Heart Flower sweater in the wee hours of this morning. I am so happy to have finished. I started this sweater almost a year ago! It was fun to knit even though I took a nice long break in the middle of it. Here are two pictures of K modeling it. She was annoyed that I took her away from play time on such a beautiful spring day so she doesn't look very happy but she wore the sweater all afternoon in spite of the warm weather.

As always click on the images for a closer view:

The only changes I made to the original plan were that I used a picot hem instead of knitting a scalloped border and I used the same picot hem for the button band instead of a ribbed band. I also added the picot hem to the sleeves.

Braids progress

2006-03-27T11:02:00.000-05:00

Back in September I posted a list of projects that I was contemplating doing. Normally, I don't stick to my knitting lists and just knit whatever strikes my fancy at the time. I am very surprised at how many of the things on the list I've actuall started. I even finished some of them.

One of the things on the list that I've been working on is the Braids Cardigan for me. Here are front and back shots of my Braids in progress.

This is a great pattern and I am really enjoying knitting it. I love the way the pattern looks, I love the yarn and the color. I hope to finish it before the heat of summer hits. I'd like to finish it and put it away so it will be all ready for me to wear in the fall. If I don't finish it before it gets too warm I'll have to put it aside and finish it when it gets cooler.

Oh no! I feel another project coming on!

2006-03-25T00:09:00.000-05:00

The list mom of the KnitAlong list on Yahoo contacted me and told me that their group was going to be knitting the Lattice Lace Wrap as a KnitAlong project. She asked if I would be interested in joining. Of course I would!

So I'm getting ready to knit another one. I'm going to be using this yarn (in beige) from Elann and either these copper or these gold beads.

I have a friend, Mary Jane , whose mom, Jane, knit the wrap in the same color that I used for my first one. Jane did a better job knitting the wrap than I did. I'm going to drop down a size or two for my needles this time around to see if I can't make it look a little neater.

I'm thinking about making it a little bigger this time. I used 5 pattern repeats the first time. I might try 6 or 7 this time to make it wider. I don't yet know how long I'll make it. I figure I'll know when I get there.

The official start date for the KnitAlong is April 1... no fooling! I can't wait.

Contest Wrapup

2006-03-20T22:36:00.000-05:00

Can you guess what these are?

Ok, I'll tell you. They are prizes! Each of the three people who entered my contest is getting a prize. Congratulations winners! And thanks for helping me destash. This is what the prizes are...

(Left) 2 50 gram skeins of Trekking XXL. At one time, I thought it might be nice to use the yarn as home decor and removed the labels. Of course they are nowhere to be found now. Although I don't remember the color name I do know that it's Trekking XXL yarn. Also included in this prize is one 100 gram skein of cotton/elastic sock yarn (approximately sport weight) that I dyed myself!

(Center) 4 100 gram skeins of wine/burgundy/maroon/choose your favorite name for dark red Galway wool yarn. Included with the wool yarn are two balls of Eros in dark red/green/pinkish.

(Right) 1 100 gram skein of cotton/elastic sock yarn that I dyed myself in pink/purple/orange. Also included is an undetermined weight but at least 8 oz (I think) of a wool blend spinning fiber. Carded into the blue and black wool (of unknow breed) are silk noils. If my memory serves me right the name of this blend is "Starry Night" or something like that.

I will be depositing the packages at the post office tomorrow. I hope the winners are happy with their loot!

Special note to my Sockapaltwoza pal... I'll be bringing this to the post office tomorrow as well!

Mittens X 2 and a Contest too!

2006-03-10T12:30:00.000-05:00

As promised, I have pictures of mittens today. I took them yesterday while the A and J were at school so I only have one pair being modeled. Here they are...

The top two pictures are K modeling her mittens. She is not a snow baby and only wore them to go to and from the car in the cold weather. But she likes them which is the important thing.

The bottom left picture is a close up of K's mittens. A quick recap of the details are
Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in Lilac (purple), Petal (pink), Grass (green) and Lemon (yellow). I used less than 1 ball of each.
Needles: two size 0 cirular

The stitch pattern is a combination of several motifs from A Shetland Pattern Book by Mary Smith and Maggie Liddle.

The bottom right picture is a close up of J's mittens. He selected colors of Knitpicks Merino Style yarn. I wanted to try this yarn but I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to use it for a pair of mittens for an 8 yo BOY! I was disappointed (but not surprised) to see them start to fuzz up and pill almost as soon as he put them on. Oh well, he likes them and he wears them and that's what counts!

Yarn: Knitpicks Merino Style in Storm (navy), Frost (aqua), Maple Leaf (red) and Asparagus (green). I used one ball of each except for Storm. I needed two balls of that.
Needles: set of 5 size 2 dpns.
Stitch pattern is basic salt and pepper. I used navy in every row and rotated through the other three colors for the contrasting color. (Yeah, I know that's as clear as mud. I think if you look at the picture you'll see what I mean.)

Contest!

Just for fun I purposefully made J's left and right mittens differnt in three ways. All three are visible in the photo. Can you find them? Email me at lousendscontest@comcast.net with your answer and "blog contest" in the subject and I'll send a prize to one winner. The winner will be selected randomly from all correct entries. Contest closes on Monday (3/13) at midnight eastern time. I don't know what the prize is yet but it will be yarny (I'm in a perpetual state of de-stashing) .

Enjoy your weekend!

Why do I blog? Why do you blog?

2006-03-08T10:55:00.000-05:00

A couple of months ago I was meeting with one of the knitting groups to which I belong. We started talking about blogs and one of the other knitters expressed her puzzlement at bloggers. She couldn't understand why anyone would "put themselves out there like that". She also said she thought that blogging was a somewhat narcisistic activity.

Her comments caught me off guard and I didn't have a good answer for her. I confess that I do feel narcisistic at times. My blog is absolutely all about me, Me, ME! I also knew that somewhere in the recesses of my brain I had other reasons for blogging, reasons that had nothing to do with vanity. Getting back to my blog after such a long absence has really clarified a couple of things for me.

I knit because I love the process of knitting and I think I celebrate the fact that I’ve finished a project (and can move on to a new one) more than I celebrate the finished project. Having the blog helps me to celebrate the finished items. It also helps me appreciate them more.

The pictures I post help me to look at the finished item a little more objectively. When I hold a knit piece in my hand I see all my insecurities about various decisions I made along the way. I see all the little mistakes and stitch inconsistencies that didn't warrent fixing but still keep it from being "perfect". I see all the things I would do differently “next time”. Taking a photo and posting about the project helps me look at the project as a complete, functional (or decorative) item. It gets me to try to see things from your point of view. It gets me to see more of the big picture instead of each individual detail. Blogging helps me get more satisfaction from my knitting.

Why do you blog?

I'm back again!

2006-03-07T21:50:00.000-05:00

Wow! I don't know what came over me. I haven't posted since OCTOBER! I guess it was a slippery slope. Something or another distracted me from my blog and then the longer I went without posting the easier it was to put it off.

I suffered a serious knitting slump in the fall. I finally got over that and got back to my knitting. I even took pictures along the way with every good intention of posting them to my blog. I composed several entries in my head while I was busy with other things too. Alas, I never actually got them up and published. I won't bore you with all the details. I'll just post a couple of pictures to break the ice (and remind myself how to get this all up and formatted!) I fully intend to start posting more regularly again!

Back in September, after I finished my Sockapal2za socks I struggled with a plan for what to knit next. I just went back to read a todo list in one of my previous posts and I'm a little surprised at what I've accomplished since then. I knit 5 lace scarves for holiday gifts for the kids' teachers. Four of them are pictured here. Clockwise from the top they are

garnet merino lace weight yarn in arches and columns stitch pattern.
autumn Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud yarn in falling leaves stitch pattern.
black merino lace weight yarn in broken acres stitch pattern.
moss Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud yarn in fir cone stitch pattern.

The 5th one is pictured at the left. It is mist Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in the lace pattern that I used for the lattice lace wrap. I didn't use any beads on the scarf.

I also completed the ballet shrug for K. I'm still looking for a worthy recipient for the shrug. K quit ballet before the 10 week class was finished. She never wore the shrug because the sleeves were close fitting (as a ballet shrug should be) and K doesn't wear close fitting things. She makes me stretch the sleeves of her long sleeve T shirts before she puts them on. She does a funny little dance and a not so funny shriek when she puts on anything with clingy sleeves or legs. Leggings and tights are absolutely out of the question!

In addition to the scarves, I knit two pair of mittens over the holiday school break. I don't have pictures of them yet. The first pair was for J. I asked him to pick his favorite colors of Knitpicks Merino Style yarn. He choose Frost (aqua), Storm (dark blue), Asparagus (light green) and Maple Leaf (red). It took me a long time of fiddling to figure out a way to combine all the colors without making the mittens look "girly". After several swatches J and I agreed on a very simple design. I'll post pictures soon.

The second pair of mittens was for K. I'll post pictures of them later too. I thought that mittens for her tiny little hands would go quickly. I don't know why I thought that because I had her pick her favorite colors of Knitpicks Palette yarn. This is tiny yarn. I used tiny (size 0) needles. There were more stitches in her mittens that in J's mittens! Guess what colors she picked...Surprise! She chose petal and lilac. I added lemon and grass. (These are the same colors that are in her Heart Flowers Cardigan)

I started working on K's Hear Flowers Cardigan in May! I'm currently hoping to complete it for K to wear for Easter. It's a good thing I made it big. At some point since my last post I had a burst of activity on her sweater so it's almost done. I'll have no trouble finishing it for Easter. She's the only kid who's getting new knitting for Easter this year.

I'm currently working on my Braids cardigan. It's knit from the bottom up in one piece and then divided at the armhole. I'm a few inches above the armhole. It's fun to knit and I really hope I can finish this for myself by next fall.

Okay, I don't want to overdo it on my first post back. I have a bunch of pictures to take for next time. It's time I get back to blog surfing too. So, I'll see you in the blogsphere!

I'm Baaaaack!

2005-10-11T15:46:00.000-04:00

Wow, my trip to Arizona absolutely stunned me. My world has been turned upside down. I went there innocently enough. I was tagging along on DH's business trip - a conference at a spa in Scottsdale. I went with images of me lounging in the spa the whole weekend. I was not prepared to fall in love.

I'm the one who hates summer, can't wait for the crisp days of fall and is associated with the term "sweater weather". All these forty years I thought I was a cool weather person. It turns out that it's not the heat that I hate, it's the humidity. I know, it's such a cliché.

DH and I spent two days walking around Scottsdale, outside for the most part. Several local merchants told us that at 105° it was about 10° hotter than usual for the end of September. On the third day we went for a Wild West Jeep tour of the desert. It was glorious! I loved the feeling of the hot sun on my skin. The littlest breeze felt wonderful. I could BREATH! I was very careful to stay hydrated (much more careful than I am at home.)

Approaching from the air did not impress me. I saw a lot of brown earth. I tend to prefer the lushness of the northeast. Even that changed. As we walked around Scottsdale I grew quite fond of the sparseness of the vegetation. When we went on the desert tour and I learned more about the various plantlife and history of the area I developed a deep respect for the area. Life is really in the details there. I learned that the spikes on the saguaro cactus actually provide about 25% shade for the plant. Who would have thought to figure that out. Having spent my entire life living in the northeast USA, I find it amazing that 25% shade would matter so much!

Silly me forgot to pack my bathing suit (for a trip to a spa!!!) So DH and I spent the better part of our first day there shopping for a new one (a suit in my size is not an easy thing to find.) The people that we dealt with in various stores were so helpful - giving us lots of suggestions, direction and even making phone calls to other shops on our behalf.

Even the art in the hotel made me feel good.

I've got news about my sock pal's socks, my current (new!) knitting project, and one or two finished projects. I'll post about that tomorrow.

No Sock News / What's Next

2005-09-22T03:03:00.000-04:00

I feel like an expectant father. I've been waiting (im)patiently for word that my sock pals socks have been successfully delivered. According to the lady at the post office they should have been delivered by noon yesterday. No word yet though. I'm leaving early Friday morning to go to Arizona with DH. I'll be pacing until then. If there's no news when I get back on Monday I'll have to figure out what to do.

In the meantime, I have to figure out what knitting I'm going to bring with me on the trip. I will have no children with me so I might actually get some knitting or reading done.

I am starting to compile a mental list of projects I want to work on. I have hesitated writing the list on paper because that might make me feel like it would be okay to start them all. I'm taking the plunge and I'm going to list them here (in no particular order)

4 (or maybe more) lace scarves for holiday teacher gifts *
ballet shrug for K's dancing lessons *
mittens for K *
mittens for J
red/navy/yellow socks for J *
another Tivoli T for A *
any of the many projects A selected from the Oct. Knitpicks catalog
Braids cardigan for me *
socks for DH *
sweater for DH *

* indicates that I have suitable yarn in stash for this project.

Goodbye Socksapal2za

2005-09-21T12:03:00.000-04:00

Sockapal2za is really over. I sent my socks off in the mail yesterday. Since I was late I sent them by express mail. The lady at the post office said they should arrive at their destination today. (ETA: the socks were mailed Monday and they should have arrived Tues.) I ran around like crazy trying to get post cards that reflect my location. I hit the two major museums in town. I think I did okay. I don't have pictures of the post cards but I do have pictures of the socks. I don't want to give too much explaination just in case they haven't arrived yet. Here are the socks.
This next shot shows the front of the socks:
Here is a close up of the little dohickies on the front. Do you think you know what they represent? Click for a larger picture if you need to.

Socks Yeah!!!

2005-09-20T23:24:00.000-04:00

My Sockapal2za socks have arrived! I got such pretty anklets! Despite the fact that I consider myself to be a consertative dresser I love fun and funky socks. I love my sockapal2za socks. So without further ado here is the sequence of events:

Looks like the delivery guy ran over the package with his truck. Good thing these socks are so soft and squishy!

Pretty pink ribbon!

SWAK

My funky socks

Look, they fit!

THANK YOU NYC Mouse ! This was such a fun exchange. Thanks Allison, for organizing it.

Opinions Please

2005-09-13T21:38:00.000-04:00

I need some input from all of you who are participating in Sockapal2za. But first...

Here is a picture of Little Miss K on Friday. She had orientation for pre-Kindergarten. Orientation lasts approximately one hour and I stay in the classroom and sit on the little itty bitty chairs and listen to the teachers say the same things they've said in every one of the eight preschool orientations I've been to over the past several years. I don't really mind that though. K gets to see her teachers, her classroom and whatever friends are in her class from last year. What bugs me about orientation is that I'm so anal retentive that I feel like I have to buy her two "first" day of school outfits. Orientation is sort of the first day but it's sort of not. This is her orientation outfit. She wore a really cute outfit on Monday too for her first REAL day of school. I didn't get pictures on Monday but I'll get them next time she wears the outfit and she will wear it several times again because it's just that cute!

So, on to my Sockapal2za dilemma. As I told you yesterday, I'm hosting my stitching group this Thursday. As you also know, since your taking part in Sockapal2za, Thursday is the day we mail our socks to our sock pals. What I want your opinion about is whether or not it would be really terrible to keep my socks for show and tell on Thursday evening and mail them first thing Friday morning. Would that be horribly unthinkable? My socks are on course for completion. I've picked up the stitches along the heel flap and have started the gusset decreases. I have two evenings left. I routinely stay up until the wee hours of the morning which will give me plenty of knitting time. The most important thing I have going for me, though, is a deadline. Nothing motivates me more than a looming deadline. I once read a quote described me to a tee...

"If it weren't for the last minute I'd never get anything done!"

Please let me know what you think about mailing the socks out Friday!

Renaissance Fun

2005-09-12T14:02:00.000-04:00

This is my second attempt at posting today. My first attempt was eaten by blogger when I tried to post it.

I host my stitching group this Thursday. That means I have to clean my house. I should be doing that now but I'm procrastinating. I hate cleaning. There are few things I wouldn't do instead of cleaning!

My three kids spent the last full week in August at their grandparents' house. DH and I drove up to pick them up and all of us spent the day at the Renaissance Faire in NY. Here is what the kids looked like when we were leaving the grandparents' house:

K (on the left) is wearing a princess dress Halloween costume I made a few years ago for A. A (in the middle) is wearing a costume we bought for her last year at the PA Renaissance festival (note the hair net she's wearing!) J (on the right) is wearing a hat from an old Halloween costume and REAL CHAINMAIL!!! DH's brother made a full set for himself when he was 16. He spent most of the night before our frolic modifying and refitting part of the suit to fit J. I was very impressed with J for wearing it the whole day at the Faire. The part that he is wearing weighs about 25 lbs!!!

Although A begged and pleaded with me to find the hair net before driving up to get them she didn't wear it for very long. We weren't in the Faire grounds 10 minutes before she saw

You don't recognize her? Well, that's okay I wouldn't recognize her out of context either. In fact, I still don't know her name. She is a hair weaver. She worked on A's hair and did this amazing thing:
A selected the design which is a braided crown with a bun. I talked her into getting the "ropes" which are the little swags that hang below the bun. I think it is amazing that anyone can do this with hair. I couldn't do it in a million years. This woman accomplished this do in about 15 minutes! She even put in mini roses and glitter. Before we left the woman gave us instructions on how to keep the hair do for a couple of days. She said that if we took care of it (basically, coat it with hairspray in the morning and at night before bed) A would be able to wear it for 3-4 days. We decided that we were going to do whatever we could to keep it looking good so she could wear it for the first day of school. She did:

She couldn't wait to take it out after school was over. I don't blame her. It was stiff as a board with hairspray. The braid left her hair very curly. I have to admit that I thought it looked beautiful when the braid came down. I almost tried to talk her into getting a perm.

I guess I could procrastinate a little longer by knitting a couple of rows on my Sockapal2za socks. I've got 1.5 socks done and I'm heading down the home stretch to be able to mail them on Thursday. I don't see any trouble making the deadline. I hope my sock pal likes them. I'll post pictures of the socks next time.

Ahhh, Much Better!

2005-08-24T11:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, some of you may have noticed that I've entered two post in two days. School doesn't start until next week. Are you wondering how I've managed this when I was only able to post approximately one per month all summer? I'll tell you. All three of my children are enjoying their last summer fling at their grandparents' house. They are staying with Grandma and Grandpa for the whole week. This has given me time to do the things I don't normally get to do - like blow dry my hair, shape my eyebrows, clean my bedroom, go out to lunch with my aunt, get reaquainted with DH, etc. I'm having fun but I do miss my kids. I miss their little personalities. I miss seeing their beautiful faces. They make me laugh and they make me proud. I'm going to enjoy this time to myself and I'm going to be very happy when I see them on Saturday.

I managed to get the yellow portion of the Sockapal2za sock yarn dyed yesterday morning. I'm am so much happier with the way it is now. Here are some before and after shots. I have one skein of each now. Which one do you like better?

Here are before and after pictures of the sock in progress:

Before:	After:

Mission Accomplished!

2005-08-23T09:29:00.000-04:00

I went to the baby shower on Sunday. The Mom-to-be seemed surprised. At two weeks to go until her due date I was wondering if the shock would send her panting to the hospital. No such luck although later she admitted that she wouldn't have been sorry if it had. She's ready and raring to go have a baby! This is Mom-to-be with Grandmom-to-be in the foreground. Christine is holding up the little sweater I made for her baby. I knit a toddler size 1 because I want the baby to be able to wear it for longer than it took me to make it. I also gave a little (size 12 month) pair of jeans, a red long sleeve bodysuit with navy trim, a pair of red socks and a little denim and red baseball cap. Yes, they know that the baby is a boy!

Here is a closer shot of the sweater. After Christine opened the gift I had to run up and grab it for pictures before her helpers packed it back up. True to my nature as a champion procrastinator, I finished the sweater Sunday morning with no time to spare and didn't get any shots.

So, with the baby sweater done and out of the way I was free to turn my attention to my sock pal's socks. I have been looking forward to knitting these socks. I had cast on the first cuff and knit a couple of rows right after I dyed the yarn. I took it with me to knit during the 2 hour car ride to the shower.

I loved the yarn after I finished dying it. I was going for bright autumn leaves with the variegated and a rich, bright olive green for the solid. The green turned out a little more pine colored that I intended but I think it works anyway. I like the variegated yarn except for the bright yellow. I wanted something a little more mustardy. When I look at the photo it doesn't look as shocking and the pattern is easy to see. In real life I have trouble seeing the fair isle pattern because the yellow is too distracting. I had dyed twice as much yarn as the pattern called for. I did this to be safe because I took no notes or records so this yarn in NOT repeatable. I am going to take the second (unused) skein of variegated and over-dye just the bright yellow. I have already re-skeined they yarn and I'll do the target dyeing this morning. I'll let you know how it turns out.

On Father's Day, last June, I ended up in the hospital with a high fever and redness rising up my left leg. I was diagnosed with cellulitis and took a ten day course of antibiotics. The infection cleared up and I have felt fine ever since. This morning I noticed more redness on my leg which is warm to the touch and looks very much like cellulitis. I'm going to the doctor later to see what he thinks. Has anyone had experience with cellulitis? Is it the kind of thing that recurrs often? My poor left leg. This is also the leg that was most affected by Lyme disease a few years ago.

Lotsa WIPs

2005-08-16T17:10:00.000-04:00

When I woke up this morning I had four "active" knitting projects. That's not the way I usually knit. I usually have one active project. Okay, I might have a project of opportunity (like a sock) in my purse to knit when I'm waiting for one or another of the kids. Usually I'm a one project kind of girl. So what happened?

Way back in July I started knitting Ene's Scarf from Scarf Styles. I had two skeins of Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in the autumn color. I love the look and feel of this yarn! This scarf is fun to knit but it's huge! I keep making mistakes and having to rip out rows at a time. Very frustrating. I'm beginning to think I'll never be able to move on to the next lace scarf. (I'm planning on knitting 6 to give at holiday time as gifts for the kids' teachers. I have one completed already.)

In July I also started knitting a Tivoli T (from Grumperina) for A. I just finished it today. FO hot off the needles. I got the yarn at my LYS's Memorial Day Sale. The Tivoli is a really cute pattern. Since the pattern wasn't written for this gauge I improvised. In hindsight I should have knit a gauge swatch (something I normally do ad nauseam!) done the calculations and then carried the pattern with me! This top was a hit or miss project. I did a lot of ripping and reknitting and when all was said and done I probably knit the equivalent of two tops. Although I had great ideas in the beginning about not including the waist shaping but using cables to accent the waist instead I stayed true to the original pattern for the most part. I did add a few garter ridges to the neck, sleeve and hem edges because I prefer them to rolled or crochet edges. Here's a picture of A modeling her brand new top. She approves!

Here's another shot of A in her top proving that despite her height, poise, charm and wit she is still nine years old. Now, if I could only get her to brush her hair occasionally!

What post would be complete without an update on Sockapal2za socks? I wanted to knit both socks simultaneously on two circular needles. I managed to get all the stitches cast on, on the second try. I could not, however, get the needles to stay untangled long enough to get through the first round of ribbing. When I have a little more time I'm going to explore that method of knitting socks. For now, I'm knitting my sock pal's socks one at a time on two circs. Here are the first exciting few rows of the first sock.

On Sunday I am going to a baby shower for one of DH's relatives. I spent the better part of yesterday searching for pattern and yarn to knit up a quick sweater. After a couple of ill fated starts I finally landed on the combination of Accordion pattern with Plymouth Wildflower yarn (51% cotton, 49% acrylic) in Denim Blue accented with oddments of grey and bright red yarn. I'm in a big rush to get this knit up. It needs to be done by Sunday.

So although I started the day with four knitting projects. I finished one and one will be done (or scrapped!) by Sunday. Then I will be back to a more manageable (for me) number of projects.

Sockapal2za under way

2005-08-15T19:27:00.000-04:00

I finally got my sockapal2za socks underway... sort of. At least I have all the materials assembled in my possession. So here's what I've done so far...

You might remember that I was undecided about what to knit for my sock pal. As hard as I tried and as much as I obsessed I couldn't come up with a plan. Well, it took a bit of time and a lot of web surfing but I finally found the perfect pattern. I ordered it and it finally arrived. Then I needed to find just the right yarn. I couldn't find it anywhere so figured I could dye it myself.

I started with three of these

I added a little of this

and a little of that

and just a pinch of the other thing

cooked it all up in the soup pot(s) and ended up with these!

Now I'm ready to start knitting my sock pal's socks! Well, just as soon as I knit up a baby sweater for a shower this Sunday! I wonder if I have just the right yarn...

I am still here

2005-08-09T17:32:00.000-04:00

I was away on vacation last week. We had a great time in the Adirondak mountains. I don't have any pictures though. I will have a proper post (with photos of knitting) in a couple of days.

Bloglines Arghh!

2005-07-30T09:42:00.000-04:00

Bloglines doesn't seem to be recognizing my posts. I know that others have been having problems with Bloglines too. If anyone knows of an alternative to Bloglines I would love to hear about it!

Sockapal2za progress

2005-07-28T10:06:00.000-04:00

I have not started knitting my sock pal socks yet. That doesn't mean I haven't invested significant time, energy and thought into them! I have been wracking my brain trying to come up with an "original" and appropriate idea to please my sock pal. I blogged about the sock yarn I had in my stash. Lots of folks even helped me come to a decision by offering opinions. I swatched the hand dyed cotton/elastic yarn using the "fir cone" lace pattern. It's okay but not "it".

Nothing felt right. So, do you know what I did? I bought some yarn! This is Fleece Artist Merino from Simply Sock Yarn Company. The colors are (l-r) Ivory, Hero and Mahogany. I was a little disappointed with the Ivory. There is so little variation in the color that it looks like a solid color even in person. The Mahogany colorway is so rich and warm. I'm keeping that for myself! The color Hero is beautiful. It is mostly dark blue with bursts of brilliant, clear colors. I selected this color to begin swatching.

I had Lucy Neatby's Fiesta Feet pattern so I started swatching the sole and instep stitch patterns. The solid cream color is NatureSpun Fingering yarn from Brown Sheep. Unfortunately, the NatureSpun is too small to use with the Fleece Artist Merino. Although I love this pattern and I still plan to make it someday I don't think it's time has come yet.

So I put Fiesta Feet aside but I still liked this yarn. I cast on a bunch of stitches to see what the colors looked like using the fir cone pattern. The reason I love this stitch pattern so much is that it makes the color stripes curve up then down. It seems to have s little bit of a swirly feel to it. I like this color in this stitch pattern and this swatch may lead to a pair of socks with this yarn in this stitch pattern. But not for my sock pal. I want to make her something that will be really unique. I don't know much about her but I think I've found the pattern that I'm going to use. The pattern has been ordered and I've been notified that it has shipped. I expect to receive it in the mail today. I haven't settled on the right yarn yet. I've searched and searched. I may end up dying it myself to get the colorways I want. I'm going to customize the pattern a little to make it more perfectly suited to my sock pal. I'm not going to tell the details about the pattern but when I start the knitting I'll post pictures for you to see!

A Special Note to my Sock pal

2005-07-13T10:26:00.000-04:00

Dear Evil Sock Pal,

I got your comments. I prefer anklets. I don't think I've worn the footlet type since I was a kid (and that was more years ago than I'm going to admit here!) I will confess that I've only ever made one pair of socks for myself and I ended up giving them away because I made the cast on too tight and they weren't comfortable on my legs. I mostly wear commercial socks. I don't pull them up because they don't fit so I wear them slouched around my ankle. The single sock I finished recently (pictured in my last post) is about 3.5" from the top of the cuff to the top of the heel flap. I think that anything from 2.5" - 3" would work great too.

I hope I'm being helpful and not coming across as "fussy". I know some people like having the freedom to create whatever they want with no boundaries and others like more input to help focus their decisions.

You're teasing me with your comments. I would be happily grappling with my decisions about what to make for MY sock pal but you are nudging my curiosity with your messages. I've been searching blogland to see if I can recognize you! Then I realized that I'm not even sure you have a blog! I guess I'll just have to concentrate on knitting my sock pal's socks!

I can't wait to "meet" you in September.

Sincerely,
Lou

Lots of Knitting Progress

2005-07-07T13:57:00.000-04:00

When I was in college I had a friend who was seeing this guy. As it turned out, my friend was more into this guy than he was into her. At one point he didn't call her or stop by to see her for a couple of days. As time passed her emotions progressed from annoyed to irritated to concerned to downright angry. When this guy finally came around (probably late at night, drunk and in a mood) she asked him why he hadn't called or stopped by. He said that the first day he was legitimately busy. The second day he put it off because he thought she would be annoyed. Then as each day passed he figured he was just avoiding more and more anger. He called it the escalator effect. After her anger and disappointment ran it's course we laughed at the "escalator effect" label and I have used that term several times in the many years since college. (Lest you think "my friend" is a euphemism for me, rest assured I had NO boyfriends in college. Not for a lack of trying though.) I think I have been avoiding my blog for the last few days because of the escalator effect. How do I start a post when it's been a week and a half since my last post? None of the excuses I can think of sound plausible.

With that smooth entre into my post I will tell you that I have gotten a lot of knitting done in my hiatus from blogging. Here is my evidence.

This is the first of 4 or 5 lace scarves I'm making for holiday teachers' gifts. I know it doesn't look like much yet because it isn't blocked. When it's blocked the lace will look so much more delicate and pretty. This scarf is knit with Merino Lace weight yarn on size 4 (US) needles. I think the yarn is manufactured by JaggerSpun (the same company that makes the oh-so-popular Zephyr.) The mini skeins that I've had aging in my stash for about 6 years are wound off from a large cone. The name of the color is Garnet. This scarf took most of 2 mini skeins that are 200 yds and 1/2 ounce each. The lace pattern is Arches and Columns from The Art of Shetland Lace by Sarah Don. I used three repeats of the lace pattern. I started and ended the scarf with 5 garter ridges (10 rows). I also put a 5 stitch garter edging on each side of the scarf.
This photo was included in a previous post which contained a bunch of pictures. I promised to explain each of the photos in a subsequent post. The garnet colored yarn in the right of the photo is what has turned into the scarf above. So here you can see some of the scarves-to-be. I really like the purpley color (Merlot) at the top of the photo. I don't know what stitch pattern I'll use for that scarf yet. I also don't have a clear thought about who will receive that scarf. I just know that I'm looking forward to knitting that color.
This next shot is the sock I needed to finish to reclaim some needles. I need the needles to start my sockapal2za socks. I still haven't made a final decision about which yarn I'm going to use or what stitches to use for the socks. I'm leaning toward using my hand dyed yarn because that's what most of the comments suggested I use. I might have even received advice from my sock pal herself!

This sock (pictured) will be waiting a while for it's mate. I really need to force myself to sit down and write out some notes for making it while it's somewhat fresh in my head. I squished a wire hanger to the approximate shape of a foot to show off this sock. When it's off the hanger it doesn't resemble a sock at all. I still need to wash and block it. While it looks freakish when left unformatted, it fits really well and I'm looking forward to getting the second one made so I can wear them this winter. This one is really comfortable and it fits well!
So, let me introduce you to my current obsession. This is a top I'm making for A. It's an adaptation of Grumperina's Tivoli T with a smattering of Ballet Pullover from IK Summer 2004. The idea comes directly from the Tivoli T. The dimensions and method come from the Ballet Top in IK. I have to make modifications to accommodate the yarn I chose. It's Phoenix yarn by South West Trading Company (100% soy silk). I opted to use M1 increases along the raglan lines instead of the k in front and back increases that Teva Durham suggests. I like the lines of the M1 better. I'm also going to use Grumperina's idea to use two design lines (reminiscent of princess lines) instead of Teva's single, centered line. Since A is 9 years old and has the figure of a 9 year old (and not that of a 19 year old) I'm going to use small cables to make the lines instead of using the lines to add waist shaping. In my version the lines will be purely decorative. All that being said, I may change my mind about these cables when I see what they look like with the variegated yarn!

So there you have it - my long winded way of saying that even though I've haven't spent my time blogging I have not been taking a vacation from knitting! I'll try to post more frequently but I can't make any promises. I'm enjoying the extra time I get to spend with my kids.

Siren Song

2005-06-26T22:08:00.000-04:00

I find that I'm more of a one-project-at-a-time person. That's not to say that I complete each project before moving on to the next. What I mean is that I generally focus on one project at a time. If I hit a bump or a lull in a project I will generally put it aside and start something new. I rarely go back to the old projects. I have a boatload of unfinished projects. I'm trying my darnedest to not let that happen to K's heart flower sweater. The mis-shappen sleave cap may be the end of her sweater. As I'm considering my next move on the sweater I'm being tempted by the lure of new projects.

The Soy Silk I bought to make a top for A has been singing a siren's song. I'm itching to cast on for a top down top. I'm going to use Grumperina's Tivoli T pattern as a starting point. I have a few moderations in mind to adjust it for a different gauge and to make it more suitable for A's girlish figure. (It really is girlish - she's 9!)

I have been experiencing lace envy. I joined the Summer of Lace group and I'm reading about the lace that so many others are knitting. I love knitting lace. It's an obsession I picked up about a decade ago. Right now I have no lace projects going. Last month I finished my Lattice Lace Wrap. I'm thinking about knitting another one without the beads (or maybe just putting beads on the edges.) I also got Myrna Stahman's book on Faroese shawls and seamen's scarves. I've been looking at the shawls with their unique shaping. I would also like to knit some lace scarves for teachers' gifts this year. I need to start early if I really want to get 4 of them done by Christmas.

I have a special skein of yarn in my stash. It's been in my stash for more years than I'd care to admit. It's 300 yds of Qiviut. It's incredibly soft. I understand that it's amazingly warm. I'm starting to feel the pressure of owning and not using such luxury. I really want to find an appropriate use for this skein. What's a girl to do? I'll have to think on that one a bit more.

I was a good girl today. In spite of my "love 'em or leave 'em" attitude towards my knitting projects I picked up TWO old projects today. We took the kids to see Herbie Fully Loaded (a cute movie!) and I really didn't want to be tempted by the popcorn. I brought the Shapely Tank I started a long time ago to try to keep my hands busy. I got a couple of rows done but I still managed to eat some popcorn. Ultimately, I had to stop knitting because I dropped a stitch and couldn't find it in the dark. I know that the picture makes it look like I am knitting this top in the round but I'm not. This is just the front that I'm knitting back and forth. I stopped about 10 stitches into a row. This is a free pattern from Joan McGowan-Michaels at White Lies Designs.

I also knit a few rounds on the toe up socks I started around Easter. I knit most of what's already done while waiting for my kids to take their swimming lessons this spring. I put them aside when I got so passionately involved with K's heart flower sweater. I need to hurry up and finish this sock because I will probably use these needles for my Sockapal2za socks. Speaking of which, I'm still no closer to picking out the yarn I will use for my sock pal's socks. If you want to take a look at the choices they are here. Feel free to weigh in with an opinion.

Sockapal2za

2005-06-25T22:38:00.000-04:00

I got my mate for Sockapal2za. She didn't have specific requests for fiber content or color so I get to indulge my own creativity. So, you know I'm dead in the water! For starters, I don't know if I want to knit cottony, warm-weather socks or woolly, cold weather socks. The exchange occurs in mid-September. Here in the East US we'll probably still have a couple of weeks of warmish weather but the cool winds of October and November will only be weeks away. Dear Reader, if you would be so kind, could you help me solve this dilemma? To aid our deliberations I went to the wall of yarn. I have several candidates for these socks.
First up are the warm-weather fibers. Starting with (upper, left) a couple of skeins of a lovely red, cotton/nylon blend from Zitron (Sitron?) The red (in reality moreso than in this photo) is vibrant and cheerful. I was thinking that this yarn will make lovely lacey socks. I could also use this for a nice pair of cabley socks. I could even continue the cables down the heel flap as my sock mate tends to wear sandals and clogs with her socks. The next yarn to consider is the peach, cotton/nylon blend in the lower right of the photo. This cotton yarn feels slightly softer than the red. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing for socks. The same design ideas apply for the peach yarn as for the red.

Cool weather socks call for wool blends. Both offerings here are wool/nylon sock yarn. The upper, right skein is a self patterning yarn. I have never used a self patterning yarn before so it might be fun to try. The only problem I see with this is that the socks won't be terribly creative. That might be okay. What do you think? The lower, left selection is something I've had in stash for a while. It's Trekking yarn. (I removed the labels long ago when some of my stash became "art") I love the colors in this yarn. I think a texture stitch possibly including cables might be nice.

I feel that I am in a rut with my design ideas. If you were my Sockapal2za mate which yarn would you like to receive? Which would you like better for your socks - lace or cables (or any other idea you might care to share!)?
I almost forgot. I have more yarn. Here are three different colorways of the same yarn. It is a cotton/elastic blend. I dyed it myself. I used this yarn a couple of years ago to make a pair of Moss stitch socks for A. She would wear them as soon as they came through the laundry. She has since outgrown them but I'm still waiting to see if K will like them. They have a good bit of stretch to them. I like the way they kept their shape even after multiple trips through the laundry.

Okay, you have seven yarn options here. Which would you like if you were my Sock pal?

PICTURES!

2005-06-25T17:03:00.000-04:00

I've had writer's block. I've been having a lot of trouble coming up with something to write. I finally decided to grab my camera and take pictures and see if the images will inspire me with something to say. Here are the pictures. I will explain each of them in subsequent posts.

Let's start with this one. These are crickets. They are in a plastic bug house. They are serenading me with their chirping as I write this. When they first came into my house this morning I immediately took a liking to their courting sounds. That was about 6 hours ago. I'm so over them. The only reason I don't tip them out in the back yard is because of this little fellow.

It might be hard to see him. He's hiding behind a reflection. My kids brought him home. We are currently planning on keeping him until we are ready to go away on vacation. Before we leave we'll send him back to his home. In the meantime, I'm hoping he'll make short work of those noisy insects! We also have some of these in case he gets really hungry.

I finished knitting the sleeves for K's heart flower sweater. The sleeve cap is too big. This morning I blocked the sweater back. I'll block the fronts so I can take some measurements and refigure the sleeve cap. I really want to get on with this sweater. I need to get busy with my summer knitting! I received the fall issues of both FCEK and IK. I'm planning on knitting a Braids cardigan for myself this fall so I need to make sure that summer knitting is finished by the end of August.

Hello, remember me?

2005-06-23T10:03:00.000-04:00

Have you missed me? It's been nine days since my last post. End of school, Father's Day and a trip to the ER with a 103^o temperature have kept me from my blog. But now, I'm baaack! I have lots of things to tell you about and a few things to show you. Right now, I must get ready to take A to the dentist. She's getting 3 primary teeth pulled today in preparation for some orthodontic work. This summer is shaping up to be a busy one! I love it!

KIP Day

2005-06-14T15:19:00.000-04:00

Here's the birthday girl! Actually, her birthday was June 3 but I was late about planning her party so she didn't get to Chuck E Cheese's until June 11. That just happened to be National "Knit In Public" Day! At least that's the buzz I heard on lots of other blogs. I've been known to knit in public on occasion so I made sure I had my knitting with me on Saturday. Since it was KIP day I "made" time to knit during the party. I will confess that I didn't get lots of knitting done.
So, here's a picture of me knitting at Chuck E. Cheese. Do you see Chuck's picture there in the background?
I was knitting the last short rows on the shoulder of the left front of K's heart flowers cardigan. The fronts and back are knitted. I'm about a third of the way up the length of the sleeves but they are getting wider so progress will start to slow a little before I get to the cap shaping.
I am obsessed with this sweater. I usually carry a smaller project with me for traveling. I managed to stuff this into my backpack/purse and it's the only thing I've knit on since I started it. I can't wait to see it as a finished item. I really can't wait to get some pictures of K modeling it!
Gotta run. It's time to do the school pick up thing. It's swim team practice today and more time to work on the sleeves!

The Envelope, Please!

2005-06-14T12:02:00.000-04:00

I had a great time reading all the comments from the entries to the Alpaca Cloud raffle. Thanks to all who entered.

Once again, I'm a day late and a dollar short. This seems to be the story of my life. Yesterday I spent the day in Philadelphia at the Franklin Institute accompanying A's third grade class on their end-of-the-year field trip. We all had lots of fun. It's one of my favorite places to go, as far as field trips go. More details about the trip will accompany another post. We got home a little later than I thought and I was BEAT! I ended up going to bed when the kids did and didn't wake up until this morning. I know it's a lame excuse but that's all I have.

I picked a name this morning. Actually, K picked the name. She had so much fun picking the name she wanted to pick another so we selected a first runner up. We got all the way to the 9th runner up before she tired of the activity. So, without further ado... (drumroll please!)

The winner is...

Sue katyknit's mom

If you will email me with your address I will get your prize right out to you. You will find a link to my email id on my sidebar in the profile section. If you have any trouble finding the email link (I've become aware that my blog doesn't behave well with all browsers) leave a comment here. Congratulations!

Summer of Lace

2005-06-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

I am becoming quite a "joiner". I signed up for Sockapal2za (see the button on my sidebar?) My most recent bandwagon jumping has been onto the Summer of Lace group. I stole Janice's button (it's the one one the sidebar with the beautiful lace doily in the background. Janice MADE that doily!) No, I really stole it. I didn't even tell her I took it. I seriously need an ettiquette refresher course. If you feel inclined to knit lace this summer come join us (just click on that beautiful button.) Janice said you can steal her button too (just save it to your own server, please.)

Heart Flower Progress

2005-06-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

It seems like it was days ago that I promised to post pictures of K's heart flower sweater. It's coming along. Here's the back of the sweater. I haven't finished knitting all the pieces but that didn't stop me from starting the duplicate stitch. I really wanted to see how the flowers would look in real life (as opposed to in a chart.) I'm very happy with the way it's coming out.

I am currently working on the second front piece. I have the left front done. I had to knit both front pieces two or three times. The first reknit was because I goofed on my neck shaping calculation and didn't account for the neck band. I feel really stupid about that mistake. Then I had to rip and reknit again (only one front this time at least) because my gauge was so uneven. I must have put my knitting down and picked it back up when I was tense because there was a distinct line where my knitting suddenly became much tighter. I'm back on track now and expect to have the right front done and the sleeves started this weekend. I don't realistically expect K to wear this sweater until the fall but I want to get it finished before I start working on A's Soy Silk Tivoli T. Grumperina just published the pattern in multiple sizes.

Last night's stitch group went off without a hitch. Yesterday, Diana commented that fellow knitters would understand that knitting and blogging are a higher priority than house cleaning. She's right. My stitch group is wonderful and they don't hold my clutter and dust bunnies against me.

I had my camera set out and ready to take pictures last night but I got caught up in the festivities and didn't even turn it on. I got to see Donn'a scrapbook from her trip to Italy. The cropping was as beautiful as the pictures! Debbie also brought a scrapbook that she put together for her oldest offspring. I can't call him a child because he just finished his first year of college. Her book was a tribute to his years at home (before leaving for college.) The creativity of the women in my group never ceases to amaze me.

This is the book I am reading. It's the current selection for the book club I'm in. I'm only on page 9 but it's promising to be a good read. I just need to get used to the authors writing style. That should come in another couple of pages. I don't know if it's because she's British or if it's just that her style is different than the last book I read.

The real purpose of this picture is to point out the bookmark. See it? Look right there at the bottom.

Debbie is also a beader. She made bookmarks for each of the Ridge Stitchers. See the charm at the very bottom? It's a ball of yarn and knitting needles! I love this.

We had watermelon for dessert with dinner the other night. In a brilliant moment of clarity we sent the kids outside on the deck to eat because they wanted to eat off the rind. If you look closely you may see half of the watermelon juice on their clothes. Does watermelon stain?

I didn't realize that if you combine a warm evening, three children and a few slices of watermelon, silliness will break out! Here is the photographic evidence!

I love these guys.

.

Stitch Group Tonight!

2005-06-09T14:09:00.000-04:00

Champion Procrastinator

Tonight I am hosting my stitching group. We take turns hosting. Having very strong hermit tendancies can make hosting very stressful for me. That and the fact that I actually have to CLEAN my house (or at least the part that I'm going to let my guests see.) With all this work to do what am I actually doing? BLOGGING! What better way to procrastinate. I don't even have any new pictures for you.

So many people that signed up for the raffle have commented on the purpleness of the yarn. I have to tell you that the yarn really only looks that purple outside, at dusk, on a shrub. In regular light it looks more like this (the two skeins on the right.) The beads coordinate beautifully with the yarn. I got light purple "rainbow" beads and they highlight all the fiber colors in the yarn. I think it will be lovely! I can't wait to see if I'm right.

I got a little work done on K's heart flower sweater yesterday when I took the kids to swim at the pool. I had to order more purple Shine because I won't have enough to knit the sleeves. I love the way it's coming out. I'll post pictures tomorrow after I have recovered from hosting tonight.

Okay, back to cleaning the kitchen. The floor has to be mopped every once in a while.

Patten Error

2005-06-08T10:57:00.000-04:00

****There's still time to enter the RAFFLE!!****

Added later: The pattern has been corrected. Thanks again to Grumperina for converting the file for me.

Aw shucks! I goofed on the pattern for the lace wrap. Melanie S. pointed it out to me. Thanks for straightening me out. I'm going to upload a corrected file as soon as I can. Until then, please note that Row 1 in the Instructions section should read:

Row 1: *K1, slide a bead up close to the right needle. Repeat from * 3 more times. K1. Work Row 1 of
chart A once, Row 1 of chart B 3 times and row 1 of chart C once. *K1, slide a
bead up close to the right needle. Repeat from * 3 more times, K1

Notice that both 4's in the instruction should be 3's.

I'll post later with an update on the heart flower sweater I'm knitting for K. I love the way it's coming out!

Clarification

2005-06-07T10:52:00.000-04:00

Please note that the beads for the raffle are strung on thread, they are not strung on the alpaca. It won't be hard to transfer them to the alpaca but if you win that you must do. Good Luck!

Please leave entries on the raffle post (you can click HERE to get there.)

Raffle! Free Yarn

2005-06-06T04:30:00.000-04:00

Raffle time

I finished knitting my Lattice Lace Wrap a couple of weeks ago. I've been really curious to see how it would look in a different color of Alpaca Cloud (I used Midnight for mine.) So I'm having a raffle. If you are the lucky winner I will send you two skeins of Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud yarn in color Iris, enough prestrung beads to knit the wrap, a printed copy of the pattern in a plastic sheet protector and a beading needle (just in case.) The only thing I'm asking in return is a photo of the finished wrap.

If you would like to knit the Lattice Lace Wrap leave me a comment on this post. On Monday 6/13, I'll randomly draw a name from all commenters. (Don't forget to check back to see if you're the winner!)

This yarn is so soft and silky. It is a joy to work with. I've already purchased two skeins in the Autumn color and one skein each in Moss and Stream. I was thinking about knitting up the Lattice Lace Wrap in Autumn or I might try a different lace pattern with a triangular shape.

Good Luck!

Summer Knitting Line Up

2005-06-06T04:29:00.000-04:00

My Cutie Pie

Memorial Day Sale

I got to the Memorial Day Sale at my LYS. I had a great time browsing their stuff. I don't go there very often because I have so much yarn at home but I got to get some yarn that I hadn't used before. I also had a gift certificate that one of my friends gave me for my birthday!

Mmm! Soy Silk. I've been drooling over this yarn since I first saw it months ago. I love the way it feels. I also love that it's made from the byproduct of tofu production. I don't particularly care for tofu but I love the economy of a yarn made from the waste of food production. Ultimately, this yarn will become this top for A (my cutie pie!)

This yarn is for me. I got 8 balls but I've only pictured 6. (Do you know how to make a pyramid with 8 things?) I'm going to use it to knit this top. The top has a hood which I want to omit but I want to keep the shawl collar looking part. If you have any ideas on how to accomplish this please let me know!

Shine review

2005-06-01T10:02:00.000-04:00

I'm using Knitpicks Shine yarn for K's sweater. Grumperina asked my opinions of Shine yarn.

When I first saw the color swatches of Shine in the Knitpicks catalog and on their website I wrote off the yarn. Although the ball looked fine the swatches looked fuzzy. I figured that if the yarn fuzzed like that just by being wound for a swatch it wouldn't stand up to the wear of an actual garment. I thought the yarn would be like Kitchen cotton or Handicrafter yarn. Well, the cheapskate in my won out and I ordered enough for a small sweater (K's about to turn 4). At $2.29/50 gm I found the yarn to be very affordable. K's sweater cost $18.32. (I don't count the other $16 I spent to qualify for free shipping!)

Shine is definitely soft. The surface of the yarn has a soft silkiness to it but like most cottons it also has a firm density to it. As Grumperina has pointed out, softness is not always a desirable quality in a yarn. In this case the softness is appropriate. Although I have not done any kind of torture testing Shine seems to be durable enough to stand up to some wear. I did have to frog the beginning of the first cardigan front. I knit the design in intarsia which is something I should know better than to do by now. After the knitting, frogging and reknitting the yarn looked no different than the new length coming out of the ball.

The knitted fabric is very touchable. Its silky and has a really nice drape. It's a great choice of yarn for K. I would definitely use Shine for myself too.

There's been some discussion on the Ample-Knitters list about the differences between Modal and Tencel. I know that Tencel and Modal are both trademarked names but I'm still not sure if they are the same or different fibers. I've used a wool/tencel blend made by Cleckheaton that I liked very much. It was very soft too. It showed the effects of being frogged a little more than the Shine yarn does. That might be the difference between pairing wool or cotton with the tencel/modal.

I will definitely be using this yarn again. After I knit up all the yarn I bought at my LYS's Memorial Day sale. But that's a topic for another post!

Here's a gratuitous picture of rare sibling detente.

Sweet as Honey

2005-05-31T11:51:00.000-04:00

About a week and a half ago I received the yarn I ordered from Knitpicks for K's sweater. Here it is.
The yarn is Shine and the colors are Violet (purple), Orchid (pink), Grass (green) and Butter (yellow). I also purchased some more Alpaca Cloud (I had to get my order up to $30 for free shipping, right?) I love the silky feel of the Alpaca lace weight. I'm going to use the Moss and River colors for scarves. The Iris color is going to be a surprise. So check back within a week or so to find out my intentions for those two skeins!

I'm happy with my progress on K's sweater. Here's a picture of the back which is on my needle now. I finished both cardigan fronts but I'm going to have to rip and reshape the neck. When I planned the shaping I neglected to allow room for the neck band. How silly is that? I'll put the heart flowers and stems on with duplicate stitch. I knit the first front with the flowers and immediately ripped it out (without even pausing for pictures.) It looked terrible. I have never been able to knit intarsia so that it doesn't end up looking all bumpy and sloppy. I like duplicate stitch much better.

All in all, I'm happy with the Shine yarn. It's very soft. K will have no trouble wearing this next to her sensative skin! However, I get annoyed every time I encounter one of these. There has been one of these in every ball of Shine that I've used so far! I'll still buy the yarn because it is so well priced.

K and I were playing outside for a little while this morning. She like to play a game she calls "House". Anyone around must assume an identity. Usually these identities are assigned by K. This morning she gets into her little plastic car and says, "I'll be the Mommy, you be the honey. Bye honey!" and rolls off to "work". I like being the honey.

Free Pattern!

2005-05-27T13:14:00.000-04:00

6/8/05 Update: The Lattice Lace Wrap pattern has been updated to correct an error.

Psst! See that?

Over there ---->

Over on the side bar.

I just added a new section to my side bar. It's Freebies. I just finished the instructions for the Lattice Lace Wrap. I've been blogging about that wrap ad nauseum lately. It's finally a done deal. The wrap is done the instructions are done and the link is done. I have to send a great big thank you to Grumperina who converted my document to a web friendly format. THANK YOU Grumperina!!!

If anyone actually reads or uses this pattern I would love to hear if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. This is my first attempt at pattern writing.

The beads on the edges are easier to see on the front view (click the picture above to see the front.) The beads in the body of the wrap don't show up in either picture very well. Those dark spots between the lattices are beaded. The beads show up very well in real life.

Maybe I'll find someone for whom to make another one of these some day. I really would love to see what it looks like in another color.

Okay, back to K's purple heart sweater!

How do I offer a free pattern?

2005-05-25T13:40:00.000-04:00

I've been working on writing the directions for the Lattice Lace Wrap. I have them pretty well finished but I have a problem. I don't know how to get them on the web. I don't want to just post the pattern to my blog. I want to have a link on my blog to a pretty and (hopefully) printable pattern. Can anyone out there in blogland offer advice? Thanks!

All Wrapped Up

2005-05-22T22:00:00.000-04:00

The wrap has been knit, blocked and worn. Last night DH took me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. We went to one of my favorite leave-the-kids-at-home-with-a-babysitter restaurants called the Black Bass. When we walked in and went to our table I was surprised to see that DH had secretly arranged for three of my dearest friends (and their husbands) to be there. They were already at the table. I had so much fun! The food was great, the wine was delicious but nothing could top the company! I'm still smiling.

While we were eating dinner we heard several rounds of the Happy Birthday song. We must have heard it four times during our dinner. It was a popular night for birthday dinners. Fortunately, my friends were thoughtful enough to spare me that public spectacle. We went back to one of their houses for cake and after dinner drinks. And more laughter.

I'll post later about the cake and the gifts as they are all postworthy! Here are the pictures I promised of the finished wrap. I was disappointed at my outfit. It looked so much nicer on the (size 4) model in the catalog! I felt like a schlump until my dinner companions made me forget all about my self consciousness.

So, what's next?

2005-05-20T13:00:00.000-04:00

I finished knitting my wrap last night. I'm so relieved to have it finished. I have to wash and block it today. I'll have to get it laid out earlier rather than later because it's a rainy day here and I want to make sure it's dry for its debut tomorrow evening.

My washing machine is fixed too. That means I can wash the new clothes that I'm going to be wearing tomorrow. I don't like the way new clothes feel before they are laundered. I'll take pictures of the finished wrap tomorrow before we go out to dinner. I'm somewhat self conscious about doing this but I'm planning on having DH take pictures of me modeling the wrap. We'll see if those plans come to fruition.

Two days ago when we were sitting at the dinner table I commented that I was almost finished with my wrap and I needed to start thinking about my next project. I asked who wanted me to make something for them. All three kids yelled "Me!" A few days before that, while we were sorting through the winter clothes I came across a cute little hat I made for K. It didn't take long to make. I used an alpaca/wool yarn for the hat and added a cute, fluffy brim. She rips it off her head any time I try to get her to model it. She says it's itchy. She also can't stand the wool poncho I made A many years ago. I'm beginning to think K is sensitive to wool (ya think?!) So I'm on a mission to make her a cotton sweater that she'll love to wear.

To this end I placed an order with Knitpicks. I selected some of K's favorite colors of Shine yarn (Violet, Butter, Orchid and Grass.) I spent a little time yesterday playing with my graphing program and this is what I came up with...

The hearts down the front are supposed to represent the buttons (I already have these!) and the short stripes are supposed to look like a ribbed button band.

J needed a haircut. Summer's coming and he'll be doing some swimming so we decided to get the hair cutter out and buzz him. We made a pitstop midway through the haircut. Here he is with his cool mohawk. The blue tongue is compliments of a blueberry Rita's water ice.

J with a cool mohawk and a blue tongue

J on the soccer field with completed haircut

I know that I'm not objective but I think J is an incredibly good looking kid!

T -4 days and counting

2005-05-17T14:17:00.000-04:00

I've been busily working on my lace wrap. I have a deadline now. DH is taking me out to celebrate my 40th birthday on Saturday. I'm going to knit every possible second until Friday night. Then I'm going to gently wash the wrap (in the sink because my washer isn't working - boo hoo!) and stretch it out with my blocking wires. Saturday it will be all ready to go.

Since I don't like to post without pictures and I don't have any new pictures of the wrap in progress I'll leave you with these shots of the dress and pinafore I made for K for her first birthday. That was almost three years ago! It's hard for me to believe that it's been that long. It seems like just yesterday.

As always, click on the photo for a closer look at the details...

K's 1st birthday dress and pinafore - front

I can't find any pictures of K in her dress on my computer. I know I took some. I'll dig around some more and post them at another time. The yarn for the pinafore is a very fine cotton and silk I bought at Stitches from the Yarn Barn in 2000. I bought the yarn to make a baptism shawl for K. She was due in 6/01 and I expected to have her baptised within her first 6 weeks so I bought this lovely yarn that was so light and cool. The pinafore was made from the leftover shawl yarn. It seemed fitting that K should get two lace garments from "her" yarn.

K's first birthday dress and pinafore - back

My Red Tent

2005-05-10T15:41:00.000-04:00

Have you ever read that book, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant? I highly recommend it. It's a great story. I like the idea of the red tent as a symbol of women's relationships with each other, women guiding, supporting, assisting and validating each other. While inside the "red tent" women are relieved of their mundane duties and are free to share ideas, problems, solutions, dreams, wisdom, compassion and sorrow. In the book the women of Jacob's tribe entered the red tent for one week each month (can you guess what they're doing that week that causes the men to banish them to the red tent?) I enter my red tent every Thursday evening, not to pass my "womanly" time. I join 11 other women from my neighborhood (or as many of us as can attend that week) and spend three glorious hours sharing food, wine, needlework and great company. We share our troubles and sorrows, joys and accomplishments. We celebrate each other and compare notes on our roles as wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, godmothers, grandmothers and friends. This really is group therapy for me.

***** Do you have a red tent? *****

Last week we were a relatively small group. Here are some of our members...

Donna's taken to hooking

Yes, we take every opportunity to joke about Donna being a "hooker"... a RUG hooker that is! Although she is currently working on a hooked piece she was first an expert counted thread stitcher (including but not limited to cross stitching) and a knitter! I tend to ~~push~~ ~~cajole~~ ~~force~~ ~~insist~~ encourage our members to knit and Donna was my first ~~victim~~ knitting student in our group. She's now a very accomplished knitter and has completed many projects including scarves, totes and a shawl. She WILL be knitting a sweater this year. Right, Donna?

MJ and Viv knitting

MJ is a regular member and coordinator of our group. Here she is pictured with her knitting and her guest friend Viv. MJ needed no lessons. She is an extodinary knitter. She can knit anything and I am constantly amazed at what a prolific knitter she is. She is a champion felter and a whiz with counted thread embroidery.

Linda and Joann crochetting

Linda and Joann are both currently working on afghans. These pictures were taken at Linda's house because she was hosting this week. Our group is filled with multi-talented women. Linda crochets, quilts, knits, cross stitches and is one of the most organized and pro-active people I know. ...........
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Okay, I'm back. Sorry about that. I had to fight off the green eyed monster. I'm neither organized nor pro-active. I'll leave it at that.

Joann crochets, knits and makes amazing baskets. We had an ornament exchange last year at Christmas time and Joann made the most beautiful 3-D woven reed stars. That star will always grace the top of my stitchers' tree.

Debbie knitting

Debbie is the newest member of our group. I think she is also our newest knitter. That hasn't stopped her from knitting umpteen scarves. In this picture she's working on what I think is her third or fourth felted tote bag. She is a fearless knitter! I just wish she could sell me about half of her energy!

So that's (part of) our group. I'll introduce you to other members as I am able to catch them in action.