Some new projects...

Okay so I was flipping through my blog and noticed a pattern - most of the time I post only when I have a FO. And considering how infrequently I actually finish something that makes me an occasional blogger.

I had a birthday a few weeks back and got a few knitting-related presents. First off, my husband and the kids got me a yarn winder and swift! The yarn winder is the blue and white one that most places carry and the swift is made of wood. I spent the next week sneaking upstairs to rewind the leftovers from my previous projects. I also received a book - Knit Scarves! - from my sister and there are several scarves that will make nice future projects!

But I have been doing a lot of knitting lately on a new endeavor - my first top-down sweater! I'm knitting my son the Knitting Pure and Simple Children's Tunic.



He requested it in the yarn used in the picture (Lorna's Laces Seaside) so I placed my first Jimmy Bean's Wool order. I HIGHLY recommend them! I ordered late Monday night, got a confirmation email 30 minutes later, a shipped notification the next day and the yarn was in my mailbox on Friday!

Anyhow, I am in serious love with the topdown construction. I love that there's no seaming. I love that the yoke increases form beautiful 'seam' lines at the front and back of each shoulder. I love that my son could try on the sweater the other day so I knew the sizing was good.

But just as I am in love with topdown I am giving another seamless construction design a shot - a tank top knit in the round starting at the bottom. It's the Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell from IK Summer 2007.



I'm swatching Tahki Cotton Classic in a lavender shade right now but I'm unsure how to handle the shrink/stretch factor of cotton. Since it's mercerized cotton, does it behave the same? I'm definitely going to have to machine wash and dry the swatch to figure out the right size.

Warm Fuzzies Scarf

I love FO time :) I think that makes me more of a product knitter than a process knitter. I mean, I absolutely love to knit, it's relaxing and I enjoy it, but I love the feeling of accomplishing. And I especially love that feeling when the knitted object is a birthday present.

I wanted to make my friend Jenny a scarf and knew a couple of things about said scarf right from the start. First of all Jenny loves red, more specifically blue-red tones as opposed to yellow-reds. Second, she really likes great classic design with a little preppiness thrown in so I thought a cable-knit scarf would be perfect.

So DS and I made a pilgrimage to the LYS where I found an amazingly soft angora/merino wool blend - Elsebeth Lavold Angora in Cherry Red.

Next up was the pattern. I tried the Irish Hiking Scarf which I have made before but it just wasn't working for the yarn so I frogged. Then I tried the Reversible Cable-Knit Scarf from Lion Brand but again, a no go.

I finally found what I wanted while flipping through SnB Nation. I noticed the Warm Fuzzies scarf and the fact that the yarn used was very similar to my yarn so I cast on and it looked great!

The pattern is a mock-cable rib so you don't even use a cable needle, you just knit the 2nd stitch first and then the 1st stitch.

I also really liked that the pattern is reversible - the WS is a 2x1 rib. I used this as continental knitting practice time. I've read and heard that ribbing and seed stitch are WAY faster and easier if you knit continental so I gave it a shot. Those rows totally flew by, it was amazing. I knit them as fast as if I'd knit in my usual English way but without the frustration of moving the yarn back and forth.

Here's the finished product complete with fringe!

GORGEOUS yarns (or, why I haven't blogged recently)

It's hard to do much else when you've got not one but two yarns that are difficult to put down!

First up is this scarf that I'm knitting for my friend for her birthday. I knew I wanted to knit her a cabled red scarf and found this amazing Elsebeth Lavold Angora at the LYS. It's unbelievably soft and the red is a gorgeous vibrant shade. I'm using the Warm Fuzzies scarf pattern from SnB Nation - it's a mock-cable rib that I love because the wrong side is ribbed so it looks good either way. My friend's birthday is in early March but I'm making good progress. The cable part is very simple, just two stitches.




Next up is a sock yarn - Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Green Mountain Madness. The color is unbelievable - my photo below just doesn't do justice to the amazing shades of green and blue. It feels so soft too.



Since taking this photo I've moved all the stitches onto a circ because I'm giving Magic Loop a shot. After needles falling out TWICE and several "dig through the couch cushions/knitting bag/purse for the missing DPN" I decided to pick up the ML booklet and the new circ.

So far I really like ML - adjusting stitches and needles only twice in a round is definitely making the work go faster. I also like the fact that I can pull the needles through so that all the stitches are on the cable, less chance of dropping any.

So DH and I recently purchased a set of bedroom furniture. It's beautiful and I love that we no longer are cramming clothes into too-small drawers. But one of the big benefits is that one of the old dressers was moved to the guest bedroom - and it was completely empty...until now!!



Yup, that's it, my rather meager yarn stash! I'm not sure that even qualifies under the definition of 'stash'!

Two firsts! Socks and a Felted Bag

I have two FOs to share - the first is my very first completed pair of SOCKS! Woo hoo!



Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple Beginner's Sock Pattern
Yarn: Plymouth Encore

This was a great newbie sock pattern. It was needle-by-needle instructions which really helped me understand the basic construction of a sock. And the fact that the pattern called for worsted weight yarn was nice too because it went very quickly so I could see what I was doing.

I was so excited about finishing them that I cast on for Jaywalkers but for some reason they were clearly too big so I frogged them and will try a smaller needle size. I did an in-the-round swatch so I'm not sure what happened. I used US3s for the swatch and the first attempt so now I'm going to try my 2s.

Next up, my felted bag! It was the Kitchen Sink Bag from Two Old Bags and I used Cascade 220. I started this bag about a year ago but it kept getting pushed to the back burner. Finally I completed it and felted. But now that I'm looking at the photo I'm realizing it really does need another trip through the washing machine, the stitches are still visible.



Pattern: Kitchen Sink Bag
Yarn: Cascade 220

One last thing, I just want to talk about what a great LYS I have! I go to Wool and Company in Geneva. They have a great selection of yarn - almost every time I see a brand of yarn on the internet or in a magazine that I want to try it turns out they sell it.

So anyhow I stopped in last week with my 2-year-old DD. I know what you're thinking - 2-year-old in a yarn store? But she is well-behaved - there is a crate of books and toys and she will sit and play quietly.

I needed a substitute for a yarn that had been discontinued - DH wants a brown scarf. So I asked the two women working in the front and they started to make numerous suggestions showing me all types of yarns. Then one of the women remembered a yarn that wasn't out yet on the floor that could work and went in back to retrieve 3 balls of it for me. That yarn (Lang Tosca) turned out to be the winner!

I was so grateful for their help - I was able to get what I needed and get out of there quickly!

Men's Rustic Scarf from 'Last Minute Knitted Gifts'

Here it is, the first knitted item for my husband! It's the Men's Rustic Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts done in black and two gray tones. It was a VERY quick knit - started Tuesday night and finished yesterday afternoon. I love the blips of the previous color that show up.

Now Husband would like a brown version. I love the browns used in the book but unfortunately that yarn is discontinued so I'll just have to go to the LYS and figure something else out. I've done some searching on other people's blogs and found where someone did a brick red with two browns, I like that!

Pirate Sweater Completion

Yippee! The pirate sweater is done. My son is wearing it today and he's happy with it :)



Pattern: Pirate Sweater from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots
Yarn: King Cole Smooth DK
State Date: late August 2006
Completed: January 9, 2007

Next up - the Men's Rustic Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for my husband. It's shown in brown tones but I'm knitting it in black, charcoal gray and heather gray using Lamb's Pride Bulky.

Also - I received money for a gift this Christmas so the other day I took a trip to the yarn store and got...

• The basic sock pattern from Knitting Pure and Simple
• Two sets of DPNs for the sock pattern
• Denise Interchangeable needles and an extra cord

I'm using the Denise needles for the scarf and already they've made life easier. I cast on using a US15 on a long cable and then switched to the US11s the pattern called for. I really like plastic needles - they're lightweight and I feel more in control of the yarn than when I've tried metal.

Pirate Progress

Well, the pirate sweater is nearing completion! The front is done and here's a pic:



And Sleeve #1...



I added one more stripe to give DS a little more time to outgrow the sweater :/ I must be getting faster - that sleeve took no time at all. Of course it is just stockinette and I REALLY REALLY like to purl (yeah I know how weird that sounds!) I cast on for Sleeve #2 last night and I'm hoping to finish up before the end of 2006.

DS is getting pretty excited now that he sees his sweater taking shape. He really liked the Iceland yarn I used for my MD scarf and has been giving the needles a try...

Happy holidays!

Multi-Directional Scarf

I started this scarf almost a year ago - December 2005 - but since it was something I planned to keep for myself it got put on the back burner in favor of gifts for others, so much so that when I picked it up a few weeks ago I had completely forgotten how to wrap and turn! I kept trying to turn and wrap and got big holes.

So here it is - my MD scarf that I've already worn a few times. It's long enough that I double it up and pull the ends through the loop.



Pattern: Multi-Directional Scarf with Alternate (squared off) ending
Yarn: Crystal Palace Iceland in color Icestorm
Needles: US10.5

Now I also wanted to show the picture that is below. I started this scarf almost a year ago when I had been knitting for only about 5 months and the starting end is much more tightly knit than the last triangles that I did. I tried blocking it and that did help a little but it's still noticeably different. Oh well, I love my imperfect little scarf!

Still here :)

Well, it's been a little busy lately. Last month DH and I went to China for 2 1/2 weeks. It was a great trip! I did see yarn in Tibet but did not purchase. The yak yarn was VERY coarse and I couldn't tell what gauge the wool was.

Before the trip I assessed my WIP pile to figure out what I was going to finish up on the plane. As you might have guessed not ONE of my projects (present or future) was appropriate for plane rides. DH's scarf? It requires a very LONG circ - no good for a plane ride, right? The multi-directional scarf? Well, there wasn't much to finish on that so it would be pointless to bring. (and no, it's STILL not finished!). So I immediately headed to the LYS where I purchased yarn for the Pirate Sweater from Adorable Knits for Tots. And I have gotten quite a bit done thus far.

Here's the back:



And here's the front...



You can see the beginnings of the Jolly Roger motif on the front.

Oh! I finished my 1st crochet project but I forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to a friend for her birthday. My LYS had a Learn to Crochet night and we made the One Skein Scarf from SnBHH. I really enjoyed the project especially the near-instant gratification of it! In a few hours I had a scarf :)

Big Bad Baby Blanket!

It's done, it's done, it's done!! The Big Bad Baby Blanket knit in Cascade Sierra Quattro is completed as of today.









I'm really happy with how it turned out. The yarn knit up beautifully (I love Cascade!) and it looks pretty good after a trip through the washing machine (gentle cycle of course!). The pattern itself is simple and quick to knit.

Although the recipient was just born under a week ago I won't be meeting her for two more weeks so I am actually done *gasp* early for once!

I did by the way figure something else out during this project. I'd bought an insurance hank but the yarn store owner hadn't wound it for me because she didn't think I'd need it. But tight knitter that I am I did end up a little bit short. I was 5 rows from binding off when I ran out of yarn. Since I'm trying NOT to buy yarn lately and didn't want to make a special trip I decided to try to wind it myself. I found this great video on the Knitting Help website and gave it a shot. And here it is, ta da!



It worked out pretty well, it didn't get stuck or tangle while I was finishing up. I'm going to save this yarn and make something for my daughter, maybe a little purse or something.

So...my LYS is having an SnB Happy Hooker night in a couple of weeks! The first 30 people to sign up get the yarn (Patons Classic Wool) and hook to make the One Skein Scarf. There will also be crochet instruction that night so that everyone can make the scarf. I'm signed up! I can't wait, I've been interesting in crochet as well and I've messed around with it a little but I think I need some in-person instruction so that I know for sure that I'm doing it right. My sister picked up SnBHH for me last week and I've been following the directions. Here's a little practice swatch of single crochet...

Soooooooooo close to done

Okay, yet ANOTHER gigantic lapse in blogging! But I am nearly finished with Mollie's blanket, just need to do 18 (or was it 20?) rows of seed stitch and it'll be complete! Just in time too since she's due in a couple of weeks. When that's done I'm going to see what UFOs may be lurking in my knitting tote.

So, it looks like late August and early September will provide LOTS of knitting time for me - DH and I are going to China! We're going as part of DH's MBA program for 2 1/2 weeks and we'll be visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Tibet and Hong Kong. I'm excited but nervous about leaving the kids for so long, ugh!

Edited to add...

Here's a (blurry) picture of the blanket I'm almost done with!

Yes, I'm still here...

Wow, what is WITH me? It's been months since my last post. I am happy to report that the 1st Punk Rock Backpack is complete. Here is my niece sporting it...



I am so glad to be done with it! The niece's birthday was almost 2 months ago so it's a very late gift. I felt so bad I ended up sending her a card with money!

So I still have the other monkey bag to finish (already sent THAT niece her card and money LOL) and I started on the Big Bad Baby Blanket (from SnB) for my friend Mollie. I tried taking a picture but my digital camera seems to be on the fritz. So I'll just post a link to the yarn. It's Sierra Quattro (Cascade) in #87 - the green, pinks and blue.

Other than that I'm still trying to finish up on other projects, I have a severe case of not-enough-knitting-time right now. My work has kept me busy and my son just turned 4. I've also been doing a lot of planting in the yard, I'll try to get some pics up of that once there are some blooms :D I am new to gardening and I LOVE it! So between that and knitting I've picked up two hobbies in the past year :D

Speaking of hobbies I have been reading a good book called 'The Distant Land of My Father'. It's about Shanghai in the 30s.

Well, I have to make a dent in my work today before I pick up the kids. Hopefully I'll have a productive evening of knitting and some pictures to show for it!

Wake up, you funky monkey

Sooooo..................I think I may actually LIKE intarsia *gasp!* After ripping the monkey out and abandoning it for two weeks (three?) I'm back on it and it's going much better. I'm twisting like crazy and have about 18 bobbins hanging off the back (one for every little color section) but it's not too shabby. So without further ado, I give you the funky monkey!!!!!!!!!!!!



(oops, sorry about my toe and pajama pants ending up in the picture)

So there are a couple of areas that will need some double stitch but otherwise I'm pretty pleased and I think my nieces will like it. Did I mention I am making one for EACH of my nieces and their birthdays are both in March so I still have one more backpack (and one more intarsia monkey) before this is over? But actually I'm enjoying the entanglement of it all. And by the way, I'm using Knitpicks Wool of the Andes and I really like it! I wish the color palette was broader but it knits up very well.

Onto books...I'm in the middle of The Kite Runner and if I didn't have the backpacks to worry about I'd be finished by now, it's an amazing book about Afghanistan from the 70s to now. On the other end of the spectrum I'm reading Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter which has me laughing out loud every page.

Well, I got the kids into bed about 20 minutes ago and I promised myself the monkey face would be DONE tonight! So I need to get cracking, it's only 11 more rows, easily done tonight while watching last night's House. On 2nd thought I may need TWO shows to finish...

Knitting Weather

Well, it is COLD here, over the weekend the highs were in the teens. I made a lot of progress on my felted tote and it was nice to have it resting in my lap warming me up a bit while I knit. Oh and my i-cord bind-off looks GREAT thanks to help from Kathy's sister at our knitting get-together a few weeks ago!

I had to put the monkey bag on hold, first try on the intarsia was a mini disaster! I had holes (must twist!), the yarns all got tangled and it puckered because I carried the yarn too tightly. So I had to take a break. I'm debating doing the monkey with double stitch instead and saving the intarsia for after.

Recently I went to an Oprah taping! It was such a great experience, she is well-spoken and intelligent. The topic was health and Dr. Oz was the guest. I already have his book so I was really excited to see him in person!

Speaking of books I have now read TWO books in 2006! I picked up The 5th Horseman by James Patterson last week and finished it in a couple of days. It was a good quick read!

Sooooo tiiiiiiiiired...................

Well, tonight I am going to meet some fellow knitters at my friend Kathy's house. Apparently she has a knitting group. I'm looking forward to it since I really don't know anybody who knits except for my sister. Kathy's sister is an excellent knitter and she's going to help me with the I-cord bind-off for my felted bag. I still can't figure it out despite posting for help on KR. I think I need to see it for myself.

I started on Bronty last night while I finished up LOTR: The Return of the King. He is so cute and Zach is going to love him! I'm glad I finally finished the LOTR trilogy. I wasn't too thrilled with the first two but RotK made it all worthwhile, it was incredible!

I am REALLY exhausted today. Kyra was up in the night with tooth pain and finally I took her into the guest bedroom and laid down with her. She is a crazy sleeper, moving all over the place. And a few times she woke up ready to play - at one point I awoke to her blowing on my face! So after Zach goes to school it will be naptime for K and me. I better set an alarm so I don't miss picking Zach up.

Just 9 days left til my moms' group has their big fundraiser of the year. The group raises money for our community - schools, the library and families in need. We have an auction every year to raise money and I'm on the committee that organizes it. I'm still trying to get donations from a few businesses but it's frustrating. I wish some people would just call back and decline instead of not returning my calls.

Christmas in January

Yes, we celebrated Christmas last night, kind of. My friend Rachel hosted an ornament exchange/cocktail evening/dinner at her house last night. We really had such a good time! I finished my ornament yesterday and here it is...



It was so funny, someone opened it and everyone was like "umm" and then when they found out I knit it they were like "Oh so cute!" Ha! I got a really cute snowman ornament from my friend Jill to add to my tree.

So I'm realizing how bad I've been about reading since I began knitting. I haven't read nearly as much lately - as of right now I have finished ONE book in 2006. Ugh! And the book I read was "A Million Little Pieces" so I feel like I have to read something non-controversial now. My book group picked "The Kite Runner" so I started on that one. I noticed that it does say fiction on it so there's no question! Honestly I wasn't surprised by the fact that AMLP wasn't all true. I mean between the root canal and the fact that he was recollecting events in such detail as he was detoxing I was skeptical. I did watch when he was on Oprah last week and although I don't feel like I was "duped" I was really annoyed by James Frey. He just sat there and barely said a word. He really should have had more to say. At this point he should have just come clean and said why he "altered details".

Done and done!

My daughter's sweater is finally done! I have been wrestling with it for 4 months and finally have it completed with a few minor changes. First, I could not for the LIFE of me figured out the buttonhole row and after frogging that row 10 times I decided the sweater would be button-free. Funny thing about that is that when I tried the sweater on Kyra the other night the first thing she did was pull it together and try to button it! I was in tears laughing so hard at her attempts! The other thing that changed was the collar. It should have folded over but I got so sick of the ribbed trim that it is now a short collar. Sooooo, without further ado here is the sweater...



So now that I'm free of that sweater (at least until I attempt another one) I'm off to new things. I had a trip to the LYS yesterday (Wool and Company in Geneva) and picked up a skein of Cascade 220 in charcoal. I already have two skeins of Cascade 220 in Garnet and I'm going to make the Two Old Bags kitchen sink bag with them. It'll be my foray into the felting world.

I also picked up a skein of green Cotton Fleece to make my son these adorable little dinosaurs. Aren't they cute? He loves dinosaurs and since I made Kyra the sweater he's been asking what I'm going to knit for him. I just bought the one skein and I'm going to give the brontosaurus a try first.

Since the whole DPN thing clicked for me I've been fascinated with making socks. On whim I picked up a ball of Lion Brand Magic Stripe sock yarn and now I'm making the first sock with them. I'll post a picture another time, I just realized the ones I put on the computer are fuzzy but I think I have a better picture on the camera downstairs.

Last note: my sister learned to knit! She recently took a class with her friend and she's making a scarf! It's looking really good and I'm so excited that we have yet another thing in common. We're very close anyhow and now we can knit while we hang out!

Okay, gotta go get ready for the day. We have a playdate this morning with my good friend Mollie and her little girl!

Lesley

Irish Hiking Scarf

I just realized I haven't posted in a while, probably because I've been wrestling with DD's sweater. I think I chose a pattern with too many new things to learn and right now I'm pulling my hair out over a ribbed border with buttonholes. I've decided to just make both sides ribbed and buy snaps to sew on. I'll leave the buttonhole lesson for another project!

Here is the Irish Hiking Scarf I made my mom for Christmas.



I'm really happy with how it turned out and my mom seemed to like it too!

DH has requested that I knit him an afghan. I have the Ombre Alpaca Blanket in mind but the yarn cost would be $200+. Being a newbie knitter I have not spent anywhere NEAR that amount for yarn for a single project. I keep trying to tell myself that we'd have the afghan for decades to come and that it's probably not worth the headache to seek out substitute yarn. I think this whole DD sweater fiasco has me spooked or something.

Well, the holidays have passed once again and a new year has started. I'm trying to be better about using our treadmill (v. cliche, isn't it?) but the kids keep getting up at 4:30-5 a.m. so it's been hard to get the fitness program started! I'm ready to be a healthier person and that means some habit-changing. No more eating the kids' snacks and no more laying in bed til they wake up! I need fruits and veggies and exercise :D

Okay, that's all for now, hopefully I'll have DD's sweater done soon!

Happy holidays!

Wow, I can't believe another holiday season is upon us! I'm wondering how Christmas day will go since it's the first since my dad passed away.

I'm STILL working on the Irish Hiking Scarf! I'm into the 2nd skein of yarn so I'm more than halfway done. Still, I'll have to work hard to get it done in time for Sunday.

Here's a picture of the sweater I'm working on for my daughter. I started it in September but I keep getting sidetracked with other stuff. It's a Sirdar pattern and Sirdar yarn. I really like the yarn, it knits up very nicely. I just hope I finish before she outgrows it! I just have one sleeve left and some border stuff to do.















Well, I better get going, still some gifts to wrap and of course there's the ever-present laundry/dirty dishes/toys all over the place.

Home sick :(

Well, I am home with a cold today. The upside is that this is my day to work from home so the kids are at the sitter's house. So at least I've been able to rest (and knit!)

And here's a picture of the scarf I'm knitting for my mom. How many days til Christmas?!? This is the Irish Hiking Scarf I mentioned before and I'm using Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in Silver Sliver. Cool name for a color, don'tcha think?


Okay one more picture to finish up this post. We have gotten to be good friends with our neighbors and when we were there this weekend the wife gave us this lovely gift for Christmas. It's paperwhite bulbs so we'll have lovely scented white flowers by Christmas!



Well, time for me to get going. I want to do another set of rows on the scarf and then I'm off to Hallmark to pick up birthday cards for my husband, today is his birthday!