Red Hot Knitters

A Long Time Gone

2008-05-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hey Ladies!

Sorry it has been so long. I have been knitting while knee deep in nursing school. I just haven't blogged about any of it. To try to make up for it, here are a couple photos, one of knitting.

The scarf is made from the Scroll Stitch Pattern in Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting. I first found the scarf on Ravelry through a friends faves. You can see the one mine s based on (ravelry link) blackbun's.

I don't know blackbun personally, but was completely inspired by her gorgeous scarf! The yarn I used was Dream in Color Smooshy, colorway Black Parade. It is soft, luscious and sproingy. Best of all, it feels great against my neck! I love this scarf. The colorway is great because it's shades of black and dark blue and goes with just about everything.

The other photo is of Missy on our little walk last week. Spring has finally hit Denver after many months of yucky weather and brown everywhere. It's nice to see trees and plants in bloom. I was really getting homesick for the Pacific NW and luckily the weather turned for the better. Of course, the day (literally) after this photo was taken it snowed! On May 1st...I used to think Oregon weather was unpredictable but I was wrong. There it was rain or sun. Here it's snow, sun, hot, cold, ice all within a few hours.

Only one week of classwork to go for my BSRN. It's crazy to think it's almost over...well, the school part at least. I still need to pass the NCLEX and get a job! Wish me luck.

(Oh and sorry for the poor quality of the photos. Before spring hit there were not many great days to take photos and I am learning to use my new camera. )

Etsy and trades

2007-10-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

I sent my sister home with my Lucy purse when she was here visiting. After all that time and money, I hated the purse. It wasn't useful to me. So I let it go. Jodi posted it on Etsy and has gotten an offer for a trade! I'm excited. The person who wants to trade paints watercolors and acrylics. She paints pears. Pears are my new passion for my kitchen and breakfast nook. Soon I will have more pears to hang up. And these are custom pears only for me! I get to suggest colors and all.

On the bright side for the two of you, Jodi has offered to be our selling agent on Etsy. If you have items to sell/trade, you can email her details and photos and she'll take care of posting and selling. You would need to mail the item once the deal is made, but she would do the footwork. Let me know if you are interested. I have some more items (hats and scarves) that I'm going to be putting up, just to see if I can de-clutter a bit more!

Knitting on my clapotis still goes. I started socks and frogged them and have barely started them again. I like the toe-up concept, but I made the first ones too big. I guess gauge swatches are always important. Lessons learned.

Karabella Boise Scarf

2007-09-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

I finished the cashmere scarf! Yay! It is beautiful. I'm very happy with it. I haven't measured it, but the length is perfect and its super soft. I loved working with Karabella. It was like knitting a cloud. It was interesting that the second skein was more difficult than the first. It had pulls and kept splitting on me. But I still loved it. And the color was fantastic.

My birthday has come and gone. I received a swift and winder from Rich! I went and rewound all of my balls into cakes and all of my skeined yarn as well. What fun. Now I need to buy more yarn to make into cakes. I'll try to get photos in action when I buy more yarn.

Lorie and Dani both sent me beautiful yarn. Dani sent me Lana Pura's Melosa Fingering in Hyacinth. It is already in action becoming a mini-clapotis and I love knitting with it. Its super soft and beautiful.

Lorie sent me Claudia Hand Painted Sock Yarn in Caribbean Blue. I love it. It will become Monkeys. But first, my next pair of socks, to be cast on soon, will be knit toe-up in Scout's Super Swag Hedgehogs. I'll start photos of the project once its started and include updates on the Clapotis.

Next weekend is Oregon Flock and Fiber. I see some money being spent. Although I really want to make this: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall07/PATTroam.html, so I may start saving my dollars (all $300 of them if I make this in the recommended yarn!) to buy yarn for this (in another acceptable yarn as I don't have any $300.00 garments, let alone ones I'm making myself). Ideas for subsitute yarn would be welcome. I thought of the alpaca I have in my stash but I'm short 1000 yards. Then I thought the alpaca for the body and some contrasting yarn for the sleeves and hood. Thoughts on this? Or other ideas. Let me know. Its pretty high on my list right now!

summer knitting

2007-09-02T15:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't had my usual knitting time with school and all, but I ended up hammering through a few projects. I finished the POW shawl redeux after Missy the wonderdog ate the first one. And to think I used to complain that I didn't have the excuse that the dog ate my homework...

I also finished the Monkey socks previously blogged about. Thanks Aimee, for the great birthday yarn. And I made Charade socks with some yarn I got from my Sockapalooza 4 pal. It's fun yarn to work with I like the way it turned out. I am usually not a pink person but I like these socks a lot.

Finally I made a Clapotis out of Lanas Puras Fingering weight yarn. Feels like buttah! So soft, so smooth, so warm for the CO winter. I can't wait. I know so many people who don't want summer to end but I love the cooler weather. I am sad to say that I won't have a new hand knit sweater for fall, but that's okay. Nursing school wins out this year. This may be all the knitting I successfully complete for quite a while! We have an incredibly busy fall ahead of us.

Happy Fall Knitting and Happy Birthday Aimee!

Sorry for the crap photos. I had okay light and then right as I took the 2nd picture the sun went behind a cloud and the room got very dark. I don't have time or energy to seek out a better spot so this is what I have to live with. Someday I will get better.

timing is everything

2007-07-24T19:48:00.001-07:00

My computer woes have managed to follow me into my second term of school. You may not remember, but I bought a new macbook back in March (it arrived March 28 to be exact). July 14th or so, after being in and out of the Genius Bar 6 times since March I took my computer in again. It was supposed to take 5 days to replace the logic board and anything else that was being persnickety and then I would have it back. No problem I said. I will have it back before finals week and be set. I can handle that.

Well, it's finals week. In fact I only have 3 days left of school and I just found out yesterday that once they fixed everything (basically gutted it and began anew), it refused to work. In fact, while running their diagnostics it just kept shutting down on it's own. Now that's a problem I never had with it (thank goodness). Timing is definitely everything. My new brand new computer will be here sometime next week. The delay is because I had it custom configured and they have to match the specs.

Thank goodness Mr. Fireman has a computer and doesn't mind if I monopolize it. So for the moment, to control the stress of not having my OWN computer, I have been knitting. And not studying. Somehow, it is less effective stress management. Hopefully soon I will have photos for you of a Clapotis (halfway), the Print O' the Wave Redo (just need to kitchner 17 piddily stitches) and the Boyfriend Socks (actually finished much earlier in the month).

Hope all is well and I will post when I am back in computer land. Or at least with my own computer again.

New Yarn Store in town

2007-07-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

I went to the latest addition to great yarn stores in Portland today. It is way up north from my house, but well worth the drive. Twisted lived up to its homepage promise of friendliness and unique yarns. The women running the shop (I apologize for forgetting to ask their names) were warm, knowledgeable, friendly, and people I would love to hang out with and knit. They were eager to share their store and yarns and I can't wait to go back! They carry unique yarns like yarntini and Karen's Heavenly Creations, as well as more well known brands like Debbie Bliss, Noro, and Schusterman. It was fantastic to see all of the choices and to know that more are coming every day. I'm sad to say for Lorie's sake that they arrange yarns mostly by brand and not by weight (her favorite way of organizing), but I felt like the owners were so friendly and knowledgeable that if I were seeking a specific weight, they would be eager to help me find it. Definitely a must see on any trips to Portland!

Rich is still in Australia. Word has it that he has purchased 12 (TWELVE) skeins of yarn for me. At least 6 are JJ's and 6 are Australian. He went to a lovely yarn shop in Sydney called The Knitting Room. The owner helped him select yarn for me and I can't wait to see what he's purchased. Rumor has it, she will ship to us up here too. So if anyone needs new JJ's, you know where to find it. If you haven't experienced JJ's yarn yet, it's lovely. Fiber Trends carries it in the US, but its more expensive than purchasing it in New Zealand or Australia. And her colorways are fantastic.

Writing of colorways, I purchased two skeins at Twisted today. I got a skein of Noro Silk Garden Lite in a pink multicolored skein to make a scarf for Miss Hannah, since I made her sister a new scarf. I also couldn't resist a skein of Karen's Heavenly Creations in Confetti to make a fun scarf for myself. I'll photograph later. If anyone knows of a ruffly scarf pattern for a five year-old, please send me a link. I need something cute and easy for this scarf.

Photos, photos, photos

2007-07-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

First news, I bought a bike! It's a Marin Kentfield in a charcoal color. I've put on silver fenders, a black rack, a silver bottle holder, and a pretty floral bell! I love my bike. I rode it to work yesterday and fell off on the way home. My knees are scraped and bruised and my thighs hurt like a son of a gun, but I'm game to go again as soon as it cools down. It was over 100 degrees today and I'm a wuss in the heat. I'm getting up early tomorrow to ride, but not take the bike to work. Oh, and I got a spiffy pink, silver, and white helmet to accessorize with. Now for the floral basket that Leslie is forbidding and I'll be set!

Okay, I dug out yarn I don't believe there are photos for. Here is a montage of sock yarns. The turquoise/teal is Koigu. The red/orange blend is Lorna's Laces. The black/grey/pink is Scout's Sock Yarn, and the blue/orange/Green/purple/brick is Socks That Rock in a millend that you can't have.

Here is a photo of the beautiful alpaca I purchased outside of Hood River.

Here is the di.ve Autunno as well.

And now for two finished Amanda's Squatty Sidekicks with coin purses. The rusty one is out of Manos and the purple/green is out of Malabrigio. I did not like knitting with the Malabrigio compared to the Manos and I'm not sure I would purchase it again. I can't explain in words why I didn't like it, but in my hands it wasn't as pleasant to knit with as the Manos. I also did not like the colors pre-felting. They were really muddy to me. They lightened during felting and now I like it much better. I would also say that knitting this pattern in thick/thin yarns (as both Manos and Malabrigio are) was somewhat of a mistake. The bottom is knitted as a rectangle. With the Malabrigio purse, the rectangle was wider at one end than the other. During felting, this went wonky and the whole purse is now somewhat mis-shapen as a result. I stretched and worked it during the drying process, but could not erase this effect. So beware the two yarns when felting a shaped article!

I just purchased three knitting books from amazon.com. I got Knit 2 Together, Stitch and Bitch Nation, and Never Felt Better. I love Nicky Epstein's new felting book. It is a work of art. I highly recommend it to everyone out there who felts regularly and wants a clearer understanding of felting with lace, cables, or colorwork. It's brilliant.5

Finally, the felted Noro Kureyon purse I made last year redone. I tried to give it to Susan and when I saw it in her hands I could see that it was all wrong. It didn't just feel wrong it was. I went to JoAnn's for buttons for the Squatty's and bought handles for the Kureyon. I cut off the old handles, tightened up the ripple effect and sewed in one handle. I feel that it doesn't need two, but I may change my mind and add the second after I try to use it. Anyway, comments are welcome.

Finally, I knit a baby hat for my friends Mark and Natali, but I neglected to photograph it before sending it off. It was a great pattern that I will share at a later date.

I'm madly trying to finish socks and the scarf before Rich gets home, but I'm not getting much done in the heat.

Any guesses as to what this is? Lorie already knows...

Where to begin?

2007-06-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, it's been a while. Big news on the non-knitting front, but not much knitting going on. Big news #1 - I bought a house! Couldn't let myself get too far behind Aimee :) Big news #2 - Just had a big birthday, one of those "decade" birthdays. My conclusion ... "it's the new 20." I had a great day. Aimee helped me celebrate by coming back to the hood, attending my little party and then treating me (along with Sara) to a fancy drink "the burbon renewal" at a swanky eatery. But that's not all... the next day we had potato doughnuts and lattes at Hideaway and then went to the Black Sheep Gathering. As Aimee mentioned, I have be regaled with a beautiful skein of STR in a gorgeous red colorway "Mustang Sally." I love it!!! By the end of 2007 I will post a picture of these socks. You heard it here first.

As far as the house goes, the closing date is scheduled for July 8 and I'll be moving on July 20. Only 3 weeks away and I'm ready to start packing and getting my ducks in a row for the move. I love the house and can't wait to settle in and see all the ways I can make this house mine.

As for knitting, my long search for yarn for the Rowena sweater from Knit Two Together has finally come to an end. I found a 100% merino in charcol gray. I love the yarn. However... (this is where I need advice)... I've been working on my gauge swatch. I need 6.25 sts/in. On size 4 needles I'm getting 5.5 sts/in. I have very little confidence that size 3s will get me to 6.25 and I'm not sure I'd like the result. The yarn suggests size 5 and with my knitting the result with the 4s is very nice (much nicer that the 5s). Since I plan to make the smallest size sweater, I can't just go down a size or two. I really, really want to use this yarn. I really don't want to mess with resizing. I just want to make the sweater!! I think I should try another swatch on size 3s. Do you agree? Please help me!

New yarn purchases at the BSG also include some Classic Alpaca in a heather green from America's Alpaca and a superwash wool from Wolf Creek Wools in Fall Colors. I couldn't resist this one - I just love the colors. I also got a hat pattern called Mosaic Triangles. Will post pics of my yarn p0rn soon. I need to take the pic and now it's too dark.

Last but not least, I made these for my sister-in-law for her birthday. They look ok, I guess, if you don't compare them to the picture (from One Skein). She bought me the book and loved the cupcakes - well, here you have them.

Oh yeah, one more thing... if you want to buy a new copy of Knit Two Together, they're on sale at Amazon.com for only $5.50. My copy just arrived today and it looks great. I'm kicking myself for not getting a copy for Aimee -- arrgh. Oh well, next time I see a deal, I'll be thinking of y'all.

Weekend o' Yarn

2007-06-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

I went to Eugene this past weekend to help Lorie celebrate an auspicious birthday and to go to Black Sheep Festival. Both were lots of fun. I bought Lorie her first sock yarn and obtained a mill-end from Socks that Rock at a discount price in a colorway I liked more because of the fading due to it being a mill-end! It is Titanium, but you wouldn't know it to see it! I'll take photos of all of my yarn stash soon. I'm busy cataloging it, but that's another story.

Rich and I took a drive to Mt. Hood on Sunday. It was totally fogged in and snowing, so we left and went on to Hood River via Hwy. 35. On the way there was a sign for a yarn shop and Alpacas! Without even pointing it out, Rich noticed and made the turn off the highway. We went to the Foothills Yarn and Fiber shop which was fantastic. The owner, Connie, was warm and welcoming and willing to share her immense knowledge! She showed us the shop and told us her philosophy for yarn was to only purchase the softest yarns available. She had the largest collection of alpaca (from her alpacas and many others) I have ever seen! She had tons of knitted up projects, current books I hadn't seen yet and a great atmosphere. Two cats inhabit the shop, Knit and Purl. Sweetest ca†s ever! She also has a dog named Charlie who guards the alpacas. She and her husband both spin and were happy to show off their wheels and technique. We also got to feed the alpacas. It was excellent. So excellent I walked out with four skeins of yarn for three more projects! I bought a 600 yd. skein of alpaca to make Rich a vest. I also bought a skein of the alpaca they produce. It will be a hatband on a black hat or for a stranded hat. And then I bought the softest merino to make a hat or handwarmers with.

Rich and I drove on and took the scenic waterfall route back to Portland. We climbed up a few and they were stunning. It was a great day, which we needed, since he just left for three weeks. Besides working, he will be yarn shopping for me in NZ and AUS! I can't wait to see what he buys. I'll post photos of yarn soon.

I decided to put my entire stash on a spreadsheet on Google! I've made good progress and am now daunted by the 30+ projects I have facing me. Argh. But its great to see all of the yarn layed out in an orderly fashion. Now I can add a tab for projects I want to do but don't have the yarn for! It goes to show that I truly am a librarian down to my knitting fingers.

Okay, back to my second Squatty, socks, and cashmere scarf. Will I ever finish? I'll report soon on Malabrigio vs. Manos. To me, there is no comparison.

Oh I Wish I Had TIME

2007-06-09T23:43:00.000-07:00

Let's see. I am a little late in showing the bday present I got from Aimee. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I love it. It is a ball of Scout's Swag Sock Yarn in Snowbunny. Winding it into a ball proved to be a tough task. Let's just say with all the knots it took about 3 days! OOPS. Guess I need to invest in a swift. The yarn is slated to become a pair of Monkey's!

Today I received my birthday gift to myself/present from Steve's dad and stepmom (50/50 funding). It is a Tatami Kimono Sweater Kit from Sundara Yarn in Sangria over Garnett. Oh I can't wait. But I have bunches of other things on the needles, and I have just started a hectic week.

The List of Projects:
1. Snicket Socks in Reynolds Soft Sea Wool Pink for my Sock Pal (August 2 deadline)
2. Print o' The Wave shawl by Eunny Jang in Alpaca with a Twist (August Deadline- cuz I say so). This is the redo of the print of the wave I made last year...the one my dog got her teeth into. I want it done because it was already done once.
3. Boyfriend Socks in Trekking ProNatura in a Blue and Green colorway for Mr. Fireman (no deadline)

So, at this point, I think I can manage at least the first two projects by their deadlines. I am to the instep of the 2nd Snickett sock and use that as bus knitting. I am also 22 (out of 34) or so repeats into the center panel on the shawl. Maybe, oh maybe with some time here and there I will be able to cast on for a monkey sometime in July! That would be great! Unless school takes over too much, which it might!

Take care and Happy Knitting!

socks socks socks socks

2007-05-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been a bit slow to post my progress. First with a progress report and explanation of some of the photos. The green striped socks were made back in December/January (yikes) out of Austermann Step (forgotten color). Aimee bought the same yarn and I can't wait to see how hers turned out. I was bummed that the striping is a bit off, but was not so bummed to fix the issue! The Anastasia socks by pepperknit were done in March out of Cherry Hills Sock Yarn (don't remember the colorway). The red ones are my treasured Embossed Leaves socks from Interwave Fall 05 that were partially destroyed by our puppy. I didn't photograph the remaining yarn, but ended up with less than 1 yard of Koigu yarn left after using the remnants from the first go round and the salvaged yarn that I got out of the dogs mouth! Yep, the dog ate my knitting.

The delicate pink socks (pattern: Snickett Socks from MagKnits) are for Sockapalooza 4. I am finally getting somewhere on these. I love how they look and really hope my sock pal loves them. She has a larger foot than I do so, I am going to have to have someone else try them on to make sure they fit around before finishing the toe. The only person with the same measurements around is Mr. Fireman, so I need to wrangle him into pretty pink socks! I am not sure he will be too agreeable. For now, you all get to see how much longer they are than socks made for me would be. My sock pals' foot is 1+ inch longer than mine. These socks are knitted out of Reynolds Sea Wool which is fantastic. I did not expect to enjoy knitting with the yarn as much as I have. It's sproingy and soft and luscious. I hope my pal, who likes natural fibers will enjoy them! (Can you tell this is the first sockapalooza I have participated in?).

Lost camera

2007-05-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

I've seen my camera since the move, but now I can't find it. Argh. Anyway, I've been knitting socks, my cashmere scarf, finished a baby hat, and need to felt a purse I made for my mom. I found the cutest pattern on the new Interweave Daily Knitting letter thing. I had randomly purchased two skeins of Manos for my mom's new purse without a pattern. Luckily, Amanda's pattern came along at the right time!

The baby hat is out of Crystal Palace Fjord. Its a cute pattern that I also found free on the internet. Photos soon.

I also purchased yarn to make one more for Kathleen in this great yarn:

Here's a great way to impress the neighbor (especially when he's the president of the Friends of the *******) at my work. I was wearing a t-shirt while doing yardwork when said neighbor appeared. He, Rich, and I all chatted about the yard, the fence, the neighborhood. After we wrapped it up, I headed inside only to look down and discover the t-shirt I was wearing had "Overworked and Underfucked" in giant letters on the front. When I pointed this out to Rich (giver of said t-shirt), he started laughing. Good times.

Update: Rich found the camera. I'll add images post-felting. Or write a new post.

New house and sprained thumb

2007-05-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

We are moved! I love our house. The location is great. I've managed to unpack our bedroom, the living room, and kitchen. Things have been going swimmingly until yesterday. I was in my car at work. I reached across to grab a stack of decorating books with my right hand and when I picked it up, I heard a loud pop and felt something go awry in my right hand. I ignored it and went to work as usual. Within two hours my fingers were numb and my hand was swollen and throbbing. After a visit to ZoomCare and a set of x-rays, it was determined that I had sprained my thumb joint and damaged the soft tissues in my hand. I'm allowed to do nothing with my right hand for at least a week and maybe longer. No unpacking, no knitting, no holding books. Work is going to suck! Mind you, I'm not in terrible pain unless I try to twist my wrist or use my thumb! Okay, typing one-handed sucks. And no matter how well I can use my left hand, there are certain things that I just can't left handed. I'll leave that up to your imagination.

a disgruntled model and a favorite knit

2007-05-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Ahh...models. Sometimes they are good and sometimes not. Geoffery the Giraffe was less than compliant about wearing a pink baby sweater. After a few words, and him reminding me that he is a male giraffe (like one can tell when they are stuffed), he agreed and floppily laid there while I took the best photo I could. I don't know why the photo only shows up sideways. Oh I don't understand blogger at times. (Yes, I have lost what little mind I had and there are two weeks of the term left!)

I LOVE this sweater. It is the February Sweater from Knitters Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman. A zillion bloggers have knit this little number and now I can see why. It's fun, it's fast, it's fabulous! I want to knit a million more.

Specs:
Started: Friday April 27, 2007
Completed: Tuesday May 1, 2007 (It would have been done on Monday but I had to study for a test).

Yarn: approx 100g Jaeger Aqua (pink) + small amount of left over Knitpicks shine (cream). That's right, this little beauty was made with about 2 1/4 balls of yarn. Considering that it was all I had in my stash of both, I was pleasantly surprised.

Needles: Clover Bamboo US4 circular

I have more knits to show you, but my picture taking skills suck right now. And they are socks that I have already worn a number of times and need to wash before I can show you. Hope all is well and the knitting is fantastic.

Love and Hugs,
Me

Stephanie making socks

2007-04-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching the Knitty Gritty episode with yarn superstar, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee! It was fabulous. Even though I've knitted a few pairs of socks, I feel like I'm going to have great understanding of the construction and make the process even faster. She was her dry, witty self and I loved it. Yes, Lorie. I saved the episode. How you will watch it, I don't know. But it's here waiting for you.

On another note, Cat Bordhi was on another episode and she has reinvented sock making. I can't wait to get her new book and learn how to do this. It looks totally cool and may turn sock-making on its head! And it still works on two circulars, my way.

I haven't been knitting much. House buying, painting, cleaning, and moving soon have sucked up all of my energy. I have been reading a ton and watching some mindless movies. I loved "This Film is Not Yet Rated". It was a great look at the MPAA rating system and how it isn't fair. I also, to my surprise, like "Stick It". Its a movie about a gymnast who has retired early and her forced return. I thought, more teen schlock. I was surprised. It was actually funny and heart-warming.

Okay, off to clean more windows.

Yarn? Check.

2007-04-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

Aimee and I did the Portland yarn crawl today. Thanks, Aimee! After visiting 3 LYS and parting ways, I stopped by Lint on my way home. Lo and behold, I found and purchased yarn for the Pearl Buck sweater. Aimee, it's better than the Rowan Felted Tweed. And the nice owner of Lint helped me with good knitterly advice after consulting my pattern. I ended up with Berroco Ultra Alpaca (a 50/50 wool/alpaca blend) in the cranberry mix colorway. I looked for an accurate photo online, but none capture the true color. I love it!

I got to see Aimee's new house. It's big and beautiful and waiting to be lived in. Can't wait to see it with all the stuff and fewer paint fumes (not too bad anymore). Great to see you, Aimee, and thanks for having me.

On this trip I experienced McMinnville, OR for the first time. I got to visit a library friend and my Guadalajara roommate, Dee. My visit included a stroll down what seemed like main street. Fancy there was a beautiful yarn shop along the way and I just so happened to get some more Classic Elite Miracle, this time in a light bluish tone. Another lacy scarf on the horizon (distant, but out there).

If that weren't enough, upon returning from Portland, I got dinner invitation to Annie and Seth's. That means I got by baby fix with Zara, play time with Boris, lovely adult conversation, and a delicious meal. All in all, a delightful weekend.

Organization

2007-04-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Oh the doggy, oh the Print 'o the Wave, oh the tragedy. Dani, I feel for ya.

Over in my neck of the woods not much knitting is happening. I've actually been reading(!) and have otherwise kept occupied with a social life and activities such as the shooting of guns, slingshots, bows and arrows. It's true. Part of my knitting hiatus stems from the fact that I have yet to ~~find~~ decide upon yarn for two sweaters in the chemise. So I busied myself last night organizing my pattern stash. One binder is now two. Ideas are brewing. Yarn shopping will take place this weekend, I hope.

I never posted my finished scarf (partially finished photo posted earlier) or the one I made after that, or the hat. Oh well. That was on my trip in February. I am looking forward to the Year of the Sweater. Maybe even the Year of the Sock.

Happy knitting, studying, and moving to ya!

Lorie

I should be studying...

2007-03-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last week actually managed to get worse before it got better. I couldn't even take a picture of the horror that occurred on Sunday. But the Print o' the Wave Shawl that I posted about a while ago is no longer.... Missy, the cute innocent dog in the photos managed to literally get her paws (and teeth) on it and it is now 8 smaller balls of yarn waiting to be washed and dried and re-wound and re-knit. Also, in another photo posted today, there is only one red sock shown. And in reality there were two before she ate 4" off the cuff while I was attempting to salvage the shawl. It was so sad it was funny. Basically two doors got left open that were supposed to be closed, and the rest is doggy byproduct!

On a good note, my new computer arrived yesterday. Fortunately I was here when the FedEx guy came, but immediately had to leave for 8 hours of school. So I didn't get to touch it until last night and then it took 4 hours today at the Genius Bar to migrate all of my stuff from my old computer to the new one. Some karma was on my side though, as my old computer waited until the last GB or so in the transfer before it crashed for good. So I didn't get some of the last photos off the old computer, but all the important ones have been saved on disk. Thank goodness!

To explain the photos, the first is Missy and the coveted new computer....ahhhh isn't she cute? But don't turn your back or leave yarn out. She is not detoured by pointy sticks. And the 2nd is of some recent stuff. Red sock #1 which will hopefully have a partner again if I end up having enough left over yarn to make it happen. The scarf ended up being a gift for a friend and the stethoscope represents my life right now. It has somewhat replaced knitting for now. But when I get to it I will post a pic of my newest socks. I just have to sew down a picot edge and they will be done. Something to stay tuned for.

Take care!

to see if it all works

2007-03-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

I had a post the other day that I had carefully written out, but I didn't email it because it sounded like a pathetic country song. Instead of losing the house, the husband and my job, in the last week I have managed to find a crack in the windshield of our '06 car, the dog we are watching for family had a seizure and an expensive vet visit, and then my computer died. That was Monday through Wednesday of my Spring Break. Exciting, huh?

So now onto exciting news. Yesterday we went rock climbing....it was the first time in two years and reminded me of how much I really miss it. It was rewarding and challenging and fun and painful all at the same time. And now my forearms are on fire from typing a paragraph and a half and it feels so good! :)

Also, I am still working on picking out the new computer. Luckily for us, we get a free printer out of the deal. Which is great and amazing considering that our current printer (which was free because it sat in a closet so long) jams regularly and takes 1 hour to print out 20+ pages. Yes, that says 1 HOUR, not one minute. The spec sheets says it should print out 20 pages in 2 minutes....HAHAHAHA. It's a bit of an understatement don't you think? So we are excited at the prospect of a new printer, especially one that is a copier/scanner as well since we have never had either capability beofre.

In knitting news, I managed a pair of socks in my first 8 weeks of RN school. I finished them right before spring break. I will post photos later. Also I have gotten 3/4 the way through another pair in the last week. Yay! I have more knitting I am hoping to do, including a baby sweater but we will see how quick it all goes with school staring again next week. When I get the new computer I promise I will post photos. I don't want to download them to Steve's computer, although I am sure he wouldn't mind.

Hope all is well with you all. Love the new design, the colors are favorites of mine as well.

Ummmm, I think I changed the blog

2007-03-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hi. I played with the blog tonight. Let me know what you think of the new color scheme. Its the colors I would pick for my house if mine were the only vote. Alas, its not and thus I had to settle for pale imitations. If you have any comments/suggestions let me know. Dani, please try to post and see if your log in works!

When good knitting goes bad

2007-02-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

(I don't know why this keeps posting sideways, when that isn't how the photo was taken. Tilt your head and imagine it upright.)

It's happened. I've heard the horror stories and thought, well that won't happen to me. Well it has. I felted the Lucy bag. Good so far. I pulled the Lucy bag out of the washer only to realize that somewhere in the knitting process, I dropped a stitch. Not good. Not good at all. I'm posting pictures to see if someone has an idea for a fix. I don't yet. I'm thinking of cutting it and sewing it together, but it won't quite be aligned. Other ideas? Here are photos. The good side and the damaged one.

Argh.

Tons o'knitting

2007-02-18T19:36:00.000-08:00

I've been busy finishing projects, starting new ones, and thinking of what's next. I've knit slippers for my sister's birthday, but forgot photos. Jodi, if you read this blog, please send photos!

I'm still getting used to my new computer. I'm figuring out new iPhoto with my older (1 1/2 years) camera. Trying to get them to talk to each other is a challenge. We'll hope this works!

I finished my armwarmers and love them. I borrowed an idea from Dani and ran with it. She made her handwarmers out of Koigu (there's a story on the blog about their ultimate fate). Mine are out of Socks that Rock medium weight. I love the coloration and design. There is some pooling, but only when I decreased to a certain size to fit my arms. These are truly custom made. I used two size 2 circulars (similar to how I knit socks) and tried them on repeatedly as I knit, increasing and decreasing as necessary. I didn't decrease the hand portion enough (I forgot about the thumbs and how they affect the width of the hand), so they were loose. I tried, somewhat successfully, to felt them a little bit to shrink them up. I also added elastic to the ruffled edge to help them stay on my hands. Before the elastic was added, they kept sliding up as I typed and drove, which didn't work well. I'm ready to tackle another pair, this time with cables, after I finish another pair of socks.

I've also finished my Lucy bag, but I need to felt it. I'm madly working on my Karabella Boise scarf and am at the 24" mark. I'm liking the pattern I've developed. Its interesting enough to keep knitting, but not so complicated that I can't do anything else. When I finish the scarf, I'm going to submit the pattern to knitty.com so maybe I'll get published!

I've also made Rich's new nephew a wee hat out of Knitpicks Shine. I think that's all. Here's the photos.

Finally, here's a photo of Spike being scary (or scared)!

What Animal were you in a past life?

2007-01-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

You Were an Otter

You are a faithful friend who guides others toward success.
You are also light hearted, and love to play around.

What Animal Were You In a Past Life?

absence makes the heart grow fonder

2007-01-28T06:08:00.000-08:00

I haven't picked up the needles in a week and besides, why should I? I have nothing on those needles, or any other needles at this time. I am done (except for a couple almost finished projects from early 2006...) with everything I set out to accomplish by the end of last week. I will post a pic of the brown sweater when I can convince Mr Fireman to take a good photo for me. Considering that I have seen him for less than 6 waking hours this week, it will not be anytime soon! Our schedules are a bit crazy now.

I started nursing school last monday Jan 22. It is clearly evident that my commute time will not be filled with knitting but rather flash cards for pharmacology and some book learnin'. I know I don't sound excited, but I am....it's just overshadowed by the overwhelming amount of work that I have to do, every single day. Sad to say but I don't know how much you all will hear from me over the next few months. I will do my best to pop in and comment and if I ever get to pick up the needles again I will share my joy with you all. I am counting down the 7 weeks to spring break, when I am positive I will be able to cast on a pair of socks. Seven weeks is not that far away right?

Hope your lives are full of knitting and fun and no pathophysiology notes or tests!

Love and hugs. me

belated 2006 photos, new for 2007

2007-01-15T12:44:00.000-08:00

I have obviously been a bit absent, but still have been knitting. In fact, I have knit quite a bit. First, here are some photos of the Print of the Wave Shawl from Eunny . (I hope the link worked. I have had SOOO much trouble doing the links).

Not pictured includes the last of 2006. A pair of socks in Austermann Step yarn (with jojoba and aloe) with a short row heel. It was my first try at the short row heel and I like it but I imagine that the heels will wear out sooner than the normal heel that I am used to. I have to say I did enjoy not having to pick up stitches. Not pictured also includes the first fo of 2007. It is the Hourglass sweater with modifications. I will post a pic and info when I can. I am sad to say it is a bit larger than I wanted it to be but it will still be comfy and cozy.
And finally that brown blob that isn't showing up very well is the Vogue Knitting Fall 2006 Cabled Cardigan #19. It is coming along quite quickly considering that I cast on on 1/8/07. The goal is to have it done and wearable by 1/22/07.

Why such a set date you may ask? That is the day I start the BSRN program here and will then have limited knitting time. Also with all the snow in Denver I am needing as many warm sweaters as I can get my hands on. We are due for another snow this coming weekend, making it 5 weeks in a row. There is snow on the ground that is refusing to go away from Dec 21st! It has caused quite a mess including broken gas lines, frozen pipes and all kinds of other issues for the people here. Luckily we have avoided any accidents and major problems. We also feel thankful to have a home, even if the heater is not keeping up as well as we would like in the -8 degree temps at night. Hopefully you both are warm and happy!

New year, new projects (for me)

2007-01-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

Since my last post on Nov 19 (!), much knitting has occurred, but very little documentation. Forgot to take photos of the Christmas hats, but here's the bag, a gift to my sister-in-law. A simple Booga bag, striped using a color scheme suggested by her. I decided to eliminate the surprise element in favor of picking colors she would like.

I have finally cast on the Lucy Bag using yarn purchased last spring. I love this color and its name, Blue Magic. Aimee and I didn't quite accomplish our plan of casting on during her last visit, but we did at least figure out which size to make (large ball, not tall ball). I am close to finishing my increasing then round and round I'll go.

As I'm now branching out to more than one project at a time, here's the beginnings of a scarf in a simple mistake rib pattern. With all of this super cold weather, I'm looking forward to adding a scarf to my wardrobe (although as Aimee can attest, I am rather attached to my purple cashmere beauty, not a hand knit, but still a delectable piece.)

Christmas gifts included several knitting books: Stitchionary 3 (thanks Aimee!), Knitting Nature, OneSkein, Knitting in Plain English, and Knitting to Go pattern cards. Quite the bounty, really. I'm ready for 2007 to be the Year of the Sweater. It's time for my first sweater and I have several in mind. The next step is to find yarn, and I've been looking. Aimee, do you think we'll be able to fit in any yarn shop visits when we're in Seattle next weekend? Or maybe a Portland shop or two on my way home. Other than sweaters, I still have a couple of projects in my chemise -- the market bag is one. With this cold weather, I may be moving the felted clogs into my chemise pronto.

Dani, I heard some crazy stories from Aimee about Extreme Denver and yarn shops. Here's to warmer weather and longer days. Happy New Year, everyone!

What Kind of Reader are you?

2007-01-13T07:04:00.000-08:00

I haven't been knitting much this week. My iBook is in its final death throes even as I type this. I've managed to save all of my music, photos, etc. And I bought a new iMac which will be here on Tuesday! Yay! I'll post photos. No more laptop for me.

Okay, what kind of reader are you?

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Sad news from our friend Kendra. She had Hobbes put to sleep because he was really, really sick. My heart goes out to you Kendo.

Aimee

Broken knitting, ballet, and ipod issues

2006-12-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hi. What a couple of weeks its been. I managed to finish all of my knitting projects for Christmas, although I'm still working on presents for friends. We'll call those New year's presents and they will appear in the new year. Here are photos from Christmas. Nieces shoes, Jodi's bag, mom's socks, and pile o'felting:

While I was knitting Rich's slippers, I broke a Denise needle at the connection. I've yet to send it in for replacement, but I hear they have excellent customer service, so no worries. Lorie and I exchanged Stitchionary 3 for Christmas, which forced me to purchase more items from Knitpicks in order to get free shipping. That makes sense right? Anyway I purchased the "Knit Scarves" book that I believe I have photocopied almost every pattern from and "Knit Fix". "Knit Fix" is excellent at explaining more technical problems and how to finish them. Except when you are knitting a lace pattern and then notice that you have switched how you slip stitches on every row. And dropped a stitch somewhere. Why did reading Knit Fix cause this? It didn't. It just forced me to pay attention. Yuck. I've completely ripped out the lace scarf I started months ago and put the yarn and pattern away for now. I think I can only do lace knitting and nothing else when I'm doing it. Require concentration. Happily, freeing up a project has allowed me to start my Karabella Boise cable scarf finally. I wasn't happy with any pattern I found, so I've made one up by combining two other patterns. I love it. It's a simple six row repeat, 4-stitch cable pattern. Simple and stunning just as that yarn deserves.

Meanwhile, Rich and I had a date last night. We went to Moscow Ballet's Cinderella and then out to a nice dinner! It was a fantastic night. The ballet was great. Good dancing, stunning costumes, and great sets. The only issue was super tall person two rows in front of me, performing a view block I thought Lola had reserved for herself when I'm watching TV and ignoring her. Anyway, we moved to the center between acts and had a great view of the dance for the finale. We are hoping to go to Maya Angelou in February and I want to see David Sedaris again in April, but I don't know which show, Eugene or Portland? We'll see.

I got an 8 gig Ipod Nano for Christmas in stunning red. Its causing me problems. I've been on the phone now for an hour with apple trying to fix it. Argh. It is formatted as a Windows machine for some reason and won't let me register or download purchased music. I'm not a happy nano owner right now, but hopefully they will get it fixed today. You only get one call under the 90 day warranty unless you buy the extended warranty. Can you say rip-off? (Post-call addition: nano not fixed. I have to take it to a Genius bar. I could go today, but since Rich and I are heading up to Port Orchard, I'll wait until Tuesday. We'll see what they can do. They assured me they think it can be fixed and won't need to be replaced. My luck with ipod continues. Argh.)

Besides the scarf, I'm knitting my gauntles, bowls, and vases. I have about 7 inches on the gauntlets, with three to go before reaching the thumb gusset. I'm stealing the pattern from Dani's non-patterned handwarmers in the previous posting! Hopefully it will work.

Bowls, bowls, bowls. Kendra was down before Christmas and we felted tons o'bowls. Kendra finished her first bowl, which felted beautifully. She started her second and finished it all by herself upon her return to Eugene. I'm so proud of her. She figured things out on her own. She's coming into her own!

Happy New Year to all and may all of your hopes turn into reality.

a belated post

2006-12-26T00:46:00.000-08:00

photo first....this time sad. I have learned that our beloved dog Missy has just as expensive taste as I do. From the photo above you can see that there is something wrong with my glove. That right their is a koigu gauntlet that I made (my own pattern) while riding the train in Portugal in 2004. Sadly it will not make it into 2007. But all is not lost, as the gloves are a tad bit big and a bit long in the arm, so I will (at some point) end up ripping them out and making them again. Problem is, I never wrote down the pattern. Now on to better things....

Merry Christmas! I was hoping to get out a picture of our tree....but the pic's did not do it justice. Mr. Fireman decided since we don't own many ornaments and we didn't want to buy them before Christmas as they will be much less expensive after the holidays, that we would use household items to make up our tree. From a bottle of advil to hot chocolate packets and toothbrushes our Charlie Brown tree is lightly dusted in decoration. Even with our attempt we still did not manage to cover the tree with much. Maybe I will send out a photo you can squint at.

I have been meaning to write a post for a bit. I finished the Print 'o the Wave shawl (pictures pending). It was completed in the Winter Blizzard of 2006 while I was stuck at work for 28 hrs. Yep, it was evident that day that I am a diehard knitter. I went to work in running shoes (knowing 3 ft of snow had been forecast) and without extra provisions beyond a toothbrush but I remember to take not only the work in progress (the shawl) but a skein of sock yarn just in case I finished it. And I did! After only three months of tinkering and procrastinating, I completed my largest lace project to date. It is currently layed out on the guest bed blocking. Well, it's probably dry by now but with Christmas I didn't manage to have time to check on it. And now I am at work and not able to check at all. Gotta love working night shift on holidays.

Here's to merry knitting in 2007! Happy Holidays!

Felting Season!

2006-12-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

I can't really show many of my projects right now, as they are presents, but be assured I will post photos as soon as the holidays are over. Today is national felting day. I'm felting 7 projects! Argh. Cross your fingers and toes.

I went to Denver to visit Dani. We had a yarn store extravaganza! It was fun and at times fascinating. You see dear Dani worked at a yarn store with the most luscious gossip. Its almost like a soap opera. I can't share the details, but it was endlessly fascinating.

I bought baby alpaca for the bonnet from "Knit 2 Together" and Rowan Tapestry in Moorland for a scarf. Both are extremely tactile soft yarns. Dani got me Austermann Step in greens with a hint of red for Christmas. They will stripe beautifully without any fuss! As she bought the same yarn for herself, we'll report back on whether or not the Jojoba and Aloe Vera make a difference when knitting.

Meanwhile, here are cute photos of Lola, Spike and Rich's new friend.

Dani, if you're ever in the need, consider a crocheted bouquet from your favorite store as a wedding accessory! It s a great look for almost everyone! I know that if the situation were to present itself to me, I would sure think of the forever bouquet for my wedding day!

Projects Por Fin!

2006-11-19T22:02:00.000-08:00

It's time to post and show some finished works. I've been knitting away it seems, getting ready for the holidays. Project #1, laptop cozy (Alterknits), hip and stylish, modeled here by its owner, Sara. She picked great colors and the dimensions came out just about right. A little too much shrinkage lengthwise (after only about 8 minutes!) but some tugging and stretching did the trick. We like the slightly skewed lines. In exchange, Sara helped me roast, peel and skin over 200 peppers from my garden (yes folks, that's 200, not 20)! Long, skinny sweet Italian peppers now safely in the freezer waiting to be turned into something. More holiday gifts???

Now, drum roll please....my first lace project! The traveling vine scarf (Knit Scarves!). This is "Miracle" - a gorgeously soft Alpaca/Tencel blend (50/50) from Classic Elite Yarns. (I hope the recipient doesn't read this blog.) This was a labor of love and concentration. Jeez, no chatting or la-dee-da-ing around with the lace. At least not for a newbie like me. Much time fixing mistakes, yet much learned. A delightful project... I will definitely take up lace again.

Now I'm on to more knitted gifts. Smaller projects will travel with me to Guadalajara next week taking advantage of airport and airplane time. Ok, I am taking books, too, people. Latina authors to boot. One must not let one's hobby overtake her profession, mind you. Well, I could just take knitting books, come to think of it. :) Ciao!

On the what?

2006-11-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

First, I must say, sorry no pictures. I did make some progress over the past few days, finishing a pair of socks and working hard on a selfish sweater that has been giving me trouble. I am hoping to be to the sleeves on the sweater by the weekend, as the body is knit all in one piece...but isn't a raglan. I will divulge what the project is as soon as I determine that I plan on finishing it! It's a great pattern but a bit difficult at times.

Okay..enough about knitting. On to the conversation I had on my cell phone on my way to work today. First, here is a little background. So you girls know that Steve and I found the dog for us. And we have been distracted training her and having a great time watching her personality come out more and more each day. She was so skittish for the first week we thought we had a meek one on our hands, but it turns out that she is full of spunk but still very well behaved. And then today, while I was on my seemingly endless drive to work I got a call from Mr. Fire fighters mom. You see, when I work nights and Steve is at work, she goes to his parents house to play with their dog and to stay the night. That way she isn't left inside our condo all alone for extended periods of time. Not that we don't think she could handle it but why should she? They love having her around and consider her part of the family. And they love that she helps keep their 11 year old dog a little younger.

So, back to the conversation. My phone rang about 20 minutes into the commute from hell ( not normally but for some reason it was tonight).

Me: Hello. How's it going? (I got that newfangled caller ID so I knew it was her)
Her: Hey there what's going on?
Me: Nothing much, just on my way to work. Oh, Missy and I went on about an hour walk and I just left her back at your house at 4:30pm.
Her: Sounds good...hey, did you know where she was when I got home?
Me: Um....she didn't jump the fence and go visit Shania did she? (Shania is the neighbors dog).
Her: Nooo...
Me: Well? Where was she? She didn't get out and you couldn't find her did she?
Her: Noooo....
Me: Um...where was she then?
Her: Well, when I got home I dropped my stuff inside the house and went back out front to grab the mail. That's when I heard a bark from the back of the house.
Me: yeah....
Her: And when I turned around I looked back at the house and there she was on the roof of the garage!
Me: On the ROOF!

Yep, that's our skittish, meek and timid dog that walks backwards away from you with her tail between her legs if you walk towards her just right (even if you have treats in hand). She's scared and timid one minute and then wild and on the roof the next. She is definitely a girl! What the hell are we gonna do?

stuck

2006-11-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness I am not knitting Christmas gifts this year, because I would be failing miserably. I can't even seem to manage to get done what I need (want) to get done for myself....where the prize at the end is a new sweater...something I need desperately since I am a bad shopper. I am working on an orange sweater, a teal sweater and green socks...all of which are in various stages of completion...and I am thinking about ripping them all out! Well, except the socks because I HATE the yarn and if I rip now I will never make the socks. Knitpicks Essential sock yarn is on my list of sock yarn NEVER to knit with again. I don't like the feel (scratchy). I guess I am a snob when it comes to sock yarn... give me Cherry Hills, Mountain Colors, Trekking XXL, Koigu and countless others and I will be happy but I am just not satisfied with discount sock yarn. Other yarns are fine...just not ones that belong on my feet!

I am hoping to post better progress in a few weeks but damnit it ain't happening now. Maybe I just haven't gotten desperate enough for the sweater(S)....

Off to attempt to finish my last sock working with the scratchy bad yarn...At least it's my LAST time.

Hope you all are having better success and are more highly motivated than myself.

Hugs! Hey, how was your girls weekend together?

Babies, birthdays, and Christmas

2006-11-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

My friend Kerri had a little girl in early November. I'd been working on a baby blanket for her. Even with a gauge swatch, it turned out to be 29" square after blocking, not the 32" I was hoping for. As a result, I had a skein of yarn leftover! So I quickly knit up the baby hat from "One Skein" and baby socks from an online free pattern. Both patterns were super easy and fast! I like that. I love the hat. If it weren't so darn cute, I'd be tempted to knit one for myself, but I think that would be a fashion don't. I still have more yarn and don't know what to do with it. I think after Christmas I'll take leftover yarn from projects and knit baby hats and donate them to the local prenatal unit. Tiny hats are fast and those babies (especially the ones born addicted to meth) need a little bit of warm love in their lives.

You will notice an axtreme difference from one half of the blanket to the next. This is not a photographic error. Its the yarn. From one skein to the next. Same dyelot. Totally different colors. Argh. I can't stress about it. It'll be fine.

I've also knit Rich's birthday present. I can't unveil this until next week after said birthday. It was a great knitting project to knit and I have enough yarn to make a matching one for me.

I finished my mom's Christmas present, Hannah's, and am halfway through Jodi's and Emma's. That just leaves Rich's, my dad, and all of my girlfriends. I think I can do it! I'll put photos up of the nieces Christmas slippers once they are felted because they are so darn adorable! Couldn't be cuter. Even though felted ballerina slippers are high on the cute quotient, I can safely knit a pair for myself and wear them around the house and no one need be the wiser that I have the cutest feet.

My sister announced that my two baby nieces want scarves for Christmas. This won't happen. why not? Because they are getting felted ballerina slippers and Kate dolls and a book each. They may get scarves next year. I did knit them scarves earlier this year, but they are only for dress up I guess. They are total rock star scarves and I have no photo of them. Jodi help! But here is a photo of the matching rock star flip flops (or slipper slops as Hannah has deemed them):

Okay back to laundry and knitting. Hope you all are well.

Red Scarf Project

2006-10-31T17:53:00.000-08:00

Hey there!

I know that christmas time is a big one for our lovely handknits....(not me this year, which is a bit of a relief), but I was wondering if y'all would be interested in doing the Red Scarf Project in January. That is the only month they accept donated scarfs for the Orphan Foundation of America. I thought it might be nice to knit for someone who isn't a friend or family member. It would be a new experience for me. Let me know what you think. I plan on doing it anyway but it might be fun to see what we all come up with.

Happy Haunting!

distraction

2006-10-30T18:57:00.000-08:00

For the past week I have wanted to knit...sort of. But I have found an amazing distraction that makes me think about other things...beyond needles and yarn. What might you ask could cause such an uproar and take one away from a hobby so important to life it is like breathing?

We.....(big breath to aid in the anticipation) found THE DOG (Like it wasn't obvious from the picture at the top of the page). Our (new) dog, who has completely melted our hearts, made us weak in the knees and a bit crazy. It has caused us to spend at least 1 near sleepless night on the edge of the bed (each of us on opposing edges) clinging on for dear life with sheer determination that the dog who weighs 43lbs would not manage to take over an entire queen size bed and kick out two full grown adults. (Well the Fireman is full grown...I am a little short but an adult nonetheless). We have since come to our senses and resolved the bed issue. She sleeps on her dog bed next to my side so that now if I need to get up in the middle of the night I have to crawl over the fireman to get to wherever I need to go. For now it is the only solution that works... She likes to be close to us and we like to be close to her. From the picture you might be able to see why we are so attached already.

Her name is Missy. And she is a rescue dog and we are so happy to be blessed with her in our lives.

More on knitting later. Happy Halloween.

A moth

2006-10-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

As fellow knitters, be ready for gasps of shock and pain at this story. (Oh, I understand it could be worse.) I found a moth. Okay, really I found a cocoon. It was on a recipe sitting under the red bowl pictured in a previous post. It wasn't on the recipe when it found its way under the bowl. But it was there when I pulled it out to file it. I believe there may have been a panic attack, but since I have no memory of this due to the lack of oxygen getting into my system at this point, I don't know. All I know is I went to the Internet and found out that really there is nothing one can do about moths and yarn. Freezing is an urban legend. Microwaving can damage your yarn. All that I could do was invest in ziploc bags and pray. I have gallon size bags and 2.5 gallon bags now enveloping the yarn collection. I lovingly took out each skein of yarn and placed it in a bag. I couldn't even form sentences while doing this process. Rich was forced into silence because I was panicking too much and seeing the end of my yarn collection. I couldn't have external conversation going on concurrently with the internal screams of dread. I packaged the yarn by project and type. I'm hoping, if there are moths, they are the cotton/acrylic eating types. I put that yarn in the top drawer, just to be more inviting. Please little moths, go there. Please. Not the cashmere. Please.

Wrap up your yarn now. Triple wrap it. Do you think its overkill to take all of the ziplocs and put them into rubbermaid? And then take that rubbermaid and put it inside of rubbermaid. Or that just a practical decision?

Librarian costume

2006-10-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Lorie sent me a link to this "costume" and suggested it could be my Halloween costume. Little does she know that this is my new uniform. You wouldn't believe how eager the teens are to read when I'm in my workwear. For those of you who don't use your local library, you may want to check it out and see what your librarian wears to work!

Bowls, bowls, bowls

2006-10-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

Its been too long since I've posted. Due to ongoing illness, stress of new job and life, I just haven't had a second to post. But I have been knitting slowly and steadily. And adding to my yarn stash. Let me say that Dani's stash is miniscule compared to mine. I'm actually considering destashing the yarn that has no intended projects. But I have to think more on that.

I've started making bowls! Let me say that I love bowls. They are my favorite shape. I have bowls from many of my trips in many different materials, but I had no felted bowls! I made four in one week, felted them and have given three away! I have just done one more and hope to make two or three more this week to start stashing for Christmas presents. I love bowls. Here's some photos:

The blue and green bowl is not photogenic. Its also not my favorite. Its too tall and looks odd to me. I've learned a lot from making bowls. If you want to know more, please comment with your email or contact information and I'll respond.

I've almost finished the baby blanket for a friend of mine. And my mom's Christmas present. Now I just have everyone else's to work on. Next are felted ballerina slippers for my nieces!

I went to Flock and Fiber in Canby Oregon in September. It was a great fiber festival. Tons of yarn and people. I resisted strongly until I found some yarn I couldn't live without! I'm not yet sure what I'm doing with it. I think I'm making a felted purse with the two skeins and probably bowls with the light yellow if it will felt!

Dani sent a pair of socks to our friend Susan for her birthday. I know that Susan loves them. Dani, post a photo already! More postings as projects finish. And practice with the flash! Stay well.

FO's

2006-09-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there,

I hope y'all are doing well and having a good weekend. I have finally managed to get the camera, computer and myself to the Place of Internet Access to do a post. Sometimes I hate that we don't have internet at home...but then part of me loves the excuse to be disconnected and since I have wireless at work, I don't feel like I miss all that much.

Here goes into what's new in my knitting world. A week ago I put myself on an abstinence program. No buying yarn until two big projects and three small projects were done. The quick list is this:
Small Projects:
1) Shedir hat
2) Baby Hat for-soon-to be-born neice
3) Green socks
4) Baby Burp cloth from Mason Dixon for soon-to-be-born neice

Big Projects:
1) Felted Market Bag from Weekend Knitting
2) Alpaca Shawl (laceweight)
3) Rowan Tweed aran project (AKA the sweater that isn't)

So last week I completed Small #2 & #4 and then Big #1 yesterday. So what did I do to reward particularly my ability to complete a project requiring colorwork?...yep, I broke, I failed, I fell off the wagon and bought yarn. In my defense the yarn was on $35 and will make an entire sweater. And I finally established which pattern to use and started the laceweight shawl....but I still broke. So...one off the big list, one added on...fair trade I suppose. And I am still on the fence about knitting the green socks as the yarn is really scratchy. I should just give the yarn to goodwill. That would solve one of the small project issues....:)

So without furhter ado, here's an explanation of the photos. The first is to illustrate to Miss Aimee that she will have PLENTY of yarn for her Sunshine Yarns socks. Of course my feet are a little smaller, but my socks are snuggly and a little big because the pattern was a little bigger than my shoe size. So rest assured, you will be fine in the yardage department!

And the other photos are of my first ever fair isle project. And my first attempt at duplicate stitching...I am actually pretty proud of how it turned out. I did modify the yarn (used Cascade 220) which made for a slightly smaller bag, and changed the handles. They wanted you to continue the pattern on the handles, which seem daunting to me considering that it required fair isle on the purl side (SUCKS) as well as using the last part of one row and the first part of another row until the straps got small enough. It made my brain hurt at a point in the project when I was ready to just be DONE. So, I made striped handles and liked how they turned out. Now to figure out what the bag will be used for...Right now it's just part of the evergrowing collection.

Dating and Knitting

2006-09-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

And she's off... 2 dates, comin' up. Aimee, I'll be able to fill you in, in person, on Friday. As for knitting. I've discovered that my 12 row repeat of the travelling vine scarf is now taking me 32 minutes. 5 down, many to go...depending on how much 2 skeins lasts me, I calculate between 20-27 repeats. I'm not going to do the math. I'll just jinx myself by forgetting a yarn over or two. My plan is 1-2 a day. Maybe I should take the train to Portland....hmm...more knitting time.

Knitting and Dating

2006-09-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Only one of the three RHK bloggers is in the market for a date. That would be me. When Aimee really moved to Portland, I said, okay Lorie, it's time. No more Friday knitting nights at Aimee's. Nor does a woman meet eligible bachelors sitting AT HOME knitting. Alas, as of today, it's back to Match.com. I took advice from the Yarn Harlot and crafted my profile sans mention of the word knitting, knits, knitted, or any variation thereof. However, I do believe "librarian" snuck in there somehow, as did "cat." Hmm... One thing is true: more dating = less knitting. I'll keep you posted on the progress of both. -lv

More Kates

2006-09-16T20:11:00.001-07:00

Here she is...I love the Kate! Her shirt looks a little wonky, cause it is, but I love her, flaws and all. I got MUCH better knitting with dpns and would like to make another Kate asap. I knit mine on size 7 since I don't own size 8 dpns. Thanks to Kate's creator Jess Hutchison and to Knitty.com for the free Kate pattern.

More cat beds

2006-09-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

My cat bed is also done. There is an earlier post of the pre-felted bed (i.e. Rastaman cap). Post-felted it became a beret, modeled by this lovely stump. I dried it over an old lampshade stuffed with plastic bags. Finished product was nicely shaped for about 33 minutes. Now it's flat as a a pancake, Aimee and I used different patterns, and I made some modifications on the side part that I shouldn't have -- shoulda followed directions. But all in all you can see that Peeps still likes it. BTW, this was made with 4 skeins KnitPicks Sierra in Cranberry with about 1/2 skein of Lamb's Pride Worsted in Tiger Lily. I knit 16 wedges on size 15 needles (26" diameter) and 4" up the side. The pattern is here: http://webhome.idirect.com/~quanah/patcatb.html

Kates and Cat Beds

2006-09-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

I finally finished another project! I finished my second Kate. She is a bit larger than Kate 1 (3 inches larger in diameter) and I don't know why. But I love her just the same and as both are gifts for my nieces, the bigger Kate can be for the big sister.

Besides finishing Kate, I've been working on a Christmas present for someone who reads the blog. It is at work so I can work on it during breaks and lunch, since I'm now required to take breaks and lunch. Hmmmm. I'm not sure how I feel about that. My days are just as long as they used to be with commuting and lunching, so no free time for knitting.
The cats have discovered the cat bed. I had made it huge so that both cats could fit in it when felted. Ha. It shrunk by 50%! Its a one cat bed. Things to do differently next time: don't do so many decreases up the side. Cupping does not work. If I hadn't decreased so much, the sides would stand straight and then it may have worked as a two cat bed. Anyhow, here are photos of said cats enjoying the bed.

Lola is on the left and Spike on the right. So cute.

I'm still working on the baby blanket. I need to finish because the baby is due in the next few weeks. Starting a new job and getting sick are not conducive to knitting time. I come home at night, eat dinner, watch tv or read for a bit and head to bed by 9! Argh. I will adjust soon and return to knitting fever.

For the lovely poster who asked about the tea kettle. You can find the nicer ones at fancy kitchen stores. I don't know how much they cost, since it was a present. Mine is a Capresso. There are many brands to choose from and mine is my new favorite thing!

Gratuitous yarn porn:
This is the Karabella Boise in color 63. It is a blend of 50% Cashmere and 50% Merino. I can't stop touching it. It is the softest yarn I have ever owned. I want to drop all projects and knit my scarf out of this now! I can't praise it enough. You must go buy some now!

Okay, enough about that. Here's a cute photo of Lola and I'm off to wake up and drink tea and knit:
Lola is not in kitty jail. She is in one of her many cat cozy places that are spread throughout our tiny house. Yes, my cats are spoiled.

Yarn Harlot and Birthday presents

2006-09-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

First off, thank you Yarn Harlot for coming to Eugene. You were fabulous! You made us giggle, snicker, and full out laugh. It was all good. I loved your stories of telling people you're a knitter and the silence that follows. Imagine this if you will: telling people you are a librarian, knitter, and cat owner. Its all downhill from there. I would love to sit and knit and laugh with you one day. Hope to see you again soon.

Lorie stopped by our new digs in the Portland area. Her visit inspired me to finish the cat bed. It is felted and quite pretty, if I do say so myself. However, said cats from first paragraph have yet to give it the time of day. Here's the metamorphasis from pre to post-felting.

Besides the cat bed, I'm finishing up my second Kate. I have two arms and a leg to go! Hopefully today she will be put together in all of her glory. Inexplicably the second Kate is 3 inches larger around in diameter than the first kate. I call her big sister kate, since the pair are intended for my little nieces. I'm also trying to finish the baby afghan I started so I can send it off as soon as the baby is born.

I recieved fabulous gifts for my birthday. Dani knit me not one but TWO washcloths from Mason Dixon. And hand dyed yarn from some other Dani! What fabulous birthday prezzies.

Lorie gave me my favorite book of the year--Knitting in Nature. Its full of inspiration. My grandmother got me the Yarn Harlot's book Knitting Rules. I'll also be purchasing Big Girl Knits and One Skein with birthday money. My friend Marla gave me Debbie Bliss Soho in a cream, gray, and purple colorway. Stunning.

Rumor has it I'm getting two skeins of Karabella Boise in red, but I have yet to see it! All in all a happy knitting birthday. Dani is the yarn enough to make a full pair of socks? If not, I'm knitting a lacy scarf with it. But if so, I can't wait to get it on my feet. My sister made me a set of three fabric nesting bowls to hold my yarn in and display it around the house. They are really pretty. So pretty I like to look at them without yarn. However, after listening to Stephanie talk about moths, I'm reading to buy a chest freezer and store it all there. Reminder to self: go and invest in many ziploc bags. Many Many Many.

Rich totally got me on my birthday. You can read more about his nefarious plans and my reaction on his blog, which is linked on the side : Mind Wanderings... Here was the final present: An electric teapot that boils water in 3 minutes! I love it. It will make my tea making habit so much faster and easier. Those Germans. Great engineering with fine looks too.

Finally here is a sunset from the Washington coast where Rich and I went yesterday. It was a great trip. We found one dead sand dollar, but saw many live ones, which is great.

As is typical

2006-09-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

As is typical with most of my jokes, they are unintentional. I did not intend to put up two of the same picture, although it does seem kind of funny with the title. I even edited the post and fixed it but that didn't seem to take affect when I looked at it. When I view the individual post it comes up...but then when I go to the blog it is the original. So enjoy the pun in my error.

Happy knitting

Peat and Repeat

2006-09-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have been very much in a "do it again" mode. Not mood mind you, mode. I can't explain it, but in the last month I knitted the same scarf twice. Not, oh I got most the way through and realized that I majorly misread the pattern, resulting in frogging and re-knitting. No, that might be okay and easy to explain. I have actually, with great purpose and intention, knitted the same lace weight scarf twice. Both are still on the list to be blocked, which really doesn't have to happen until we get snow at 5200 ft here in CO. Or until the week before Thanksgiving comes, and the recipient of one of the scarves arrives for her visit. She is not a knitter, so she will not be tipped off by this entry. The peat/re-peat mode has been so strong that the other day at the LYS I purchased a skein of yarn for a winter hat, and went back and purchased a different color to make said hat twice! With no plans of giving either away, I wonder what I will do with two of the exact same hat in different colorways? Who does that?

Here are a few other things that have managed to be made/bought over the past few months. First up, is my first purchase of sock yarn from a fellow blogger. Dani (gotta support a knitter with the same name as me) from Knitting Sunshine on Etsy.com has some AMAZING colorways and great yarn. I bought two skeins, one as a gift (hopefully she got the package in the mail today or I just ruined the surprise) and the other for me. I mean, who can order yarn as a gift and not purchase a small keepsake for herself? Me, that's who. And I am so excited because I am almost done with one sock, which I will show when done and the other is started. And I am so excited about the fit, the feel and the pattern. Oh happiness is this right here! Or in a future post for y'all actually.

I broke down at 0600 in the morning one day at work on day 15 of a new work out program and decided I needed a reward for keeping up the program for 15 whole days. My fit hands typed my way to discountyarnsale.com where I purchased the pattern and yarn for the Orangina, by glampyreknits. It took me just over a week for complete and block, including ripping out all the ribbing and adding an inch to the body so that my lovely (less fit) belly would not hang out when I wear the top with a favorite pair of fancy pants. Pictures on that to come as well, since I am wearing said outfit to a work function tonight. Love the top, love the pattern, very nice and flattering.

And let's see...heres a look at my Brea Bag from berrocco with recycled yarn from my first knitted sweater (bad fit and to boot -double stranded worsted weight wool that would have been too warm for the 4.5 months I spent in antarctica!). But it makes a cute bag. Really cute one I sew in the lining...but since you all know how well I sew (what's a bobbin?) it will be MONTHS or years before that is accomplished!

Hope all is well and your visit with the Harlot was fantastic. I am SO JEALOUS! Come to Denver Yarn Harlot. I have heard so many things, so many many wonderful things!

The List

2006-09-05T04:02:00.000-07:00

Before I get off on a tangent: I forgot to grab the camera and USB cord on my way into work so I don't have photos now, but there will be soon. Currently I am halfway done with two dinosaurs (just need stuffing and sewing) for my nephew and soon to emerge neice. I am also working on Trellis Scarf Part Deux. It is from IK Spring '06 and I finished one earlier this month using Misti Alpaca in a light pink. That one is for a family friend. The current one I am working on may be for me or tucked away as a future gift. Who knows. It falls in with my futile attempts at de-stashing.

Since I am prone to list making, knitting has become a major focus on the organization front. I told myself I can't buy more yarn until half of my projects are accomplished, and that means not just the little projects. In the last month I have broken the rule twice. Once out of pure desire to have a new top....which has already been knitted and will debut soon. And the other time out of necessity. Well, that could be debated but I won't go into it yet...as someone has yet to receive her birthday gift from me which might explain my "necessary" shopping for myself.

So here is the list of what I must de-stash by actually starting and finishing projects by January, not including the Works in Progress mentioned above.

1. Purple cotton yarn bought 3 years ago for a baby blanket for neice (due at the end of October...I think I can get it done if I can only find a pattern).
2. Rowan wool (1 skein) for baby booties for neice as well.
3. Knit Picks Shine (5 skeins of assorted colors) for dinosaurs, or Mason- Dixon baby bibs or burp cloths for another baby about to be born.
4. Cascade 220 earmarked for Felted Market Bag from Weekend Knitting. Procrastination project due to the color work. I love cabling, I love lace knitting yet I have never done color work...I am afraid, and have no confidence about it. I just need to dig in and go for it, or else it will stay with me for years!
5. 2 Skiens Alpaca with a Twist Laceweight yarn for a gorgeous shawl...yet again my confidence was high at purchase, but has plummeted since then....must.just.jump.in
6. Rowan Aran Tweed yarn that I have had for 3 years for a sweater. First sweater choice didn't work out, then two others have met with disasterous results. Maybe I need to make these 5 skeins something other than a sweater, but what?
7. 2 Skeins Jo Sharp Aran Tweed for a hat or something... who knows.
8. 1 Skeins Knitting Sunshine Sock yarn for the Embossed Leaves socks from IK Winter 05 (I think).

Lots on the list and not enough time before I start the RN program in January. My goal is to destash by then so that I am not too distracted by knitting to study. The only catch is I need to stop finding more projects that I want to make.

So, not an exciting post, but one that might (I can hope) get me motivated and on track!

Happy Knitting.

0 for 2

2006-08-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

I started the lace scarf. Although it is something in my chemise, it isn't on my priority list, but I don't care. I've been wanting to try this for a long time and I have the yarn. (Dani, we need to get you a chemise - a French notebook wherein we keep patterns that are on the front burner.)

Revelation Number 1: I am officially over my need to buy bargain yarn at non-LYS such as Michaels. Acrylic posing as mohair = yuk. I was there. I'm no longer at that place. Thank god. I quickly realized upon starting the scarf that it wasn't going to be pretty -- not the scarf, not knitting it. Someday (soon) when I purchase lovely yarn, I'll be delighted to take up this project again. Maybe I'll wander into a few LYS in Seattle this weekend in search of said yarn. :)

Revelation Number 2: The Kate, take 2. I had a hard enough time starting The Kate since casting on 6 sts and joining in the round was not in my repetoire. I started over many times and finally succeed with something that looked more or less ok. I even got 12 rounds knitted. As it was time for bed I realized Revelation Number 2: knitting with the wrong yarn makes you want to cry. Yes, all that time and effort, and I was knitting with Kate's shirt yarn, not Kate's pants yarn. Waah! I'm chalking it up to good practice. Perhaps I'll start anew tonight.

Princesa and the Pea

2006-08-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

So I've finished knitting Peep's bed. Not quite sure if this is actually going to work once felted, but I'm just going to give it a try. Seems like the 26" diameter of the base won't work with the amount that I've decreased. The instructions said to make sure the bind off wasn't loose, so it isn't...but now I wonder. See for yourselves. Right now it looks like a ginormous rastaman cap with room for LOTS of dreds. And here she is waiting patiently (love the tounge)...

Moving

2006-08-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

takes away time from knitting! I have to knit a second Kate this week, unpack a house, pack for a trip, renew my driver's license and try to breathe! I can do it. I hope to start Kate tomorrow once the kitchen is unpacked. Argh to the kitchen.

The cat bed is ready for the sides. I just need time to add them. That's all I've worked on in recent weeks. Between packing and saying goodbye, not much time for knitting! Cross your fingers knitting time happens soon. If nothing else, I have a great gift certificate from my former co-workers (now just friends) to spend at a great local yarn shop! I can't wait. I'm dreaming of ebony needles (or rosewood), cashmere yarn (or some other yarn I would never buy) and a lot of books. Needless to say, I've spent the gift certificat 3 times over! But that's the joy of dreams!

It's time for photos!

2006-08-02T22:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's my attempt to post some photos -- finally. I know it's been a while since I was all excited about my new camera. Before the blanket Aimee just posted, I finished Booga #2, a 180 degree change in color palate from Booga #1. Muted gray with a touch of greenish/yellow. The gray is Cascade 220 single stranded. The other is Crystal Palace Fjord color Fern.

Here are the hats I just made for my brother and nephew for xmas. Yes, getting a big head start on the gifts. (No pun intended.) This is a pattern going round the library, just a little spiral beanie.

Last but not least, the kitty bed. The bottom is just over half done. Maybe when I go to buy the pink yarn I'll be adding to the sides, I'll get yarn for my Kate. Yeah, a little behind on the animals, but what ever happened to the Lucy bag? Unlike others I know (Aimee), I'm trying to work on the projects for which the yarn is already in my stash. But, I can't blame you, that Kate is adorable!

Afghan update

2006-07-31T07:57:00.000-07:00

With all of the other projects, I forgot to update on the afghan for our friend with brain cancer. Lorie and I pieced all of it together. We are now awaiting a crocheter to do her magic and crochet a beautiful edge around it before we present it to him. Here's two photos of what we've done thus far:

I'm not sure what I would do differently next time. This was a project knit with a lot of heart and hands and that means there are going to be problems along the way. Some squares were too big, others a shade too small. Only one square really didn't fit, but we made it work. All of the patterns and personalities and love show through on this project and that is what really matters. We hope it will give him plenty of comfort and joy during these dark days.

And a photo of Lola taking advantage of an empty bag! Isn't she cute!

Miss Kate (and other projects)

2006-07-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

Lorie thought up this great idea to knit a stuffed animal. Dani has completed two. I've completed one. Lorie, where's yours? Where are your posts? We know you've been knitting!

I made a Kate from Knitty. I love my Kate. She is for one of my two baby nieces. I have to knit another, slightly different Kate for the other. I used Cascade 220 for the body and pants, and Nashua Wooly Stripes for the sweater. I love the sweater colors. I'm going to use the leftover for a bowl. A beautiful felted bowl. Here is the progress of Kate:

I loved making Kate. I only noticed one mistype in the pattern and was able to fix it before it showed. I will knit my second with no modifications. However, I want to make a mini-kate for myself and I'm considering knitting all of the pieces and attempting to felt her and then sew her together. What do you think?

Besides Kate, socks, and scarf, I've also started a baby blanket

and a to-be-felted cat bed.

I've accepted a job up north and will be moving in 3 (THREE) weeks to be with my sweetie. I should be packing, but I'd rather be knitting. So I've enlisted friends to come and pack one night next week, so that I don't have to do it all by myself. I will miss my friends dearly. But its only two hours away. Just two little hours.

ROARRRRR!

2006-07-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

The ferocious, scary, mean and not so hairy dino's are here to take over the world, or at least Mr. Fireman's attention for the next many days! The patterns came from Xtreme Knitting (http://xtremeknitting.com). It's a great free pattern that I love, love, love. It's fun and only takes a few hours to make. Stuffing and sewing togther isn't bad either.

There are three options with the pattern. Mr Stegs, Trice and Bronty. I made two Trice's as one is for a friends 3 year old son, and the other is for Mr. Fireman. He originally wanted a green one with a brown belly but I didn't have any brown yarn.. The stats on these little guys are:

Yarn: Rowan handknit dk- not even one skein
Needles: Clover Bamboo size 5 circular (pattern calls for size 6 but I found that I liked a tighter knit)
Size: 11.5 inches long approximately. Managed to be pretty much to the pattern measurements on the smaller needles.
Modifications: Next time, I would make the horns a bit stronger. I think I would end up crocheting them. Also I think I would puth their legs a bit closer together, because at the present time they seem to like to do the splits. Sure it's cute, but not a tough dinosaur move. No body is afraid of a gymnast when he or she is in the splits on the floor routine.

The green dino worked much the same, but I used (not quite) 1 skein of Knitpicks Shine DK. I like the feel of the green dino better, but I think the Rowan yarn will hold up much longer as it is stronger yarn. Only time will tell. I am confidant the orange one will be fine as it is going to the three year old, and Mr. Fireman is going to get the green one. I somehow don't expect a grown man to wear out the softer yarn nor abuse the dino as much.....

So you had a bad day....

2006-07-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

I have that Daniel Powter song playing through my head as I work on attempt #3 of a pair of Pedicure socks. And I realized the other night, on graveyard shift, as I re-started sock #1 for the 3rd time that the recap of my last 6 weeks of knitting has been much the same, save one completed pair of socks.

Now those that know me know that I devour projects. I am one of those fortunate souls that can knit at work. This means when I am stuck at work for countless hours in the middle of the night, I become a very productive knitter. In many ways it is a wonderful thing. But after the last 6 weeks I wonder why I haven't thrown in the knitting towel. Here is a brief re-cap of my last many frustrating weeks, that I somehow makes you feel better than it does me.

1. Interweave Knits Sunrise Jacket: Started this one with stash yarn that I had a project in mind for but couldn't get the guage to work. So it has sat for years now waiting for a project. I was thrilled when I saw the jacket. Absolutely, fantastically giddy over the prospect of using my great orange tweed yarn that I adore. So after three guage swatches and needle changes, I thought I had it just about right. Sure the pattern would be tweaked here and there, but I am not someone who just joined the knitting world, so I should be able to manage. Done it before.....WRONG. Somehow the guage issue is back. So it sits in the guest room/knitting storage taunting me evertime I look through for other things.

2. Green socks: Tried to use a toe up method on circulars. Figured if I was going to make socks on cirulars for the first time might as well go for the gusto and do it the most complicated way possible. Two attempts, not happy, moved on to dpn's and a lacy pattern. Then determined after getting done with the leg of the first sock and to the heel gusset that this sock yarn, no matter if it is labeled superwash is way to scratchy and itchy to work with and that there would be NO WAY that I could wear them or give them as a gift. So....yarn is in a bag to go to goodwill- of course after I ripped out all my efforts.

3. Embossed leaves socks, from Interweave knits winter 2005 with Socks that Rock Lightweight yarn in Farmhouse colorway: I did an initial swatch and determined that size 1 worked best for the pattern and then proceeded to knit, as a way to de-stress over the problems with the black and gray pedicure socks. Turns out that "de-stress" didn't really work as my guage on my swatch was that of a de-stressed woman but when it came to make the socks suddenly my 8 stitches to the inch decreased in half...okay not quite but enough that it meant another sock ripped out at the heel.....argh....

4. Pink Trellis Scarf from interweave knits (do you see the theme here, interweave and knitty are two good friends of mine): Started one afternoon when I was home alone. All progress was fantastic once I found the right type of needles. Susanne's ebony needles are a dream for knitting light colored lace weight yarn. Well worth the cash. All went well, until I decided to knit while on delay for a flight to Portland, where I lost a stitch in the middle of a knit 7 together and there was no recovery. RIPPPPPPPPPP. Sure, I will pick this one up again, when I have a good light and a table to knit at.

5. Alpaca with a Twist Shawl: This lovely lace weight shawl pattern and yarn was purchased with birthday money. The whole idea was that I wouldn't start it until I was further along on my evergrowing stash and had the time to sit ALONE and knit. But then one night on graveyard shift, I decided that since I sit alone there it should be fine. I was wrong. The evening when something like this: start stop rip, start stop rip, start stop rip, STOP.

6. Aforementioned black and gray pedigree socks: A last minute belated gift for a friend. Completed sock number one! Yippee! Only to look at it critically then decide to place it on my own foot for comparison of how it will work for her. After attempt number 3 of pulling it around the heel I decided that I made it more for a 12 year old than a 32 year old.........Oops. RIP and begin again.

So all I have to show for myself from the last 6 weeks is one pair of socks and a lot of frustration. But since they were the first pair of socks I designed I should take stock that I managed to make something work. Hope your knitting is more productive than mine!

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Super extra long post!

2006-07-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since my last post, so this one will be extra long. Where to start? Dani's socks are beautiful and inspiring. I finally finished my second pair of socks. It only took a year and a half! I hope the next pair is done in time for present time.

I'm working on an afghan with Lorie and 16 other people at work for a friend's husband who has been diagnosed with brain cancer. It is a slow project, but will hopefully be finished by the end of the month. Here are a few photos of what we have so far. Ultimately it will be 4 squares by 6 squares. I'm still waiting for two squares before we can finish it all up. It looks a little rough right now, but I hope it will improve when it is all together.

During the wait, I'm working on socks and a scarf. The scarf is a pattern from Hilltop Yarns in Seattle. I love it! It is a fun lacy project.

I've bought yarn recently for gauntlets (armwarmers), felted vases, a bag for my sister, and a felted cat bed. I'm up to more projects than I can handle. All while job hunting and hoping to move soon! No stress like lots of stress.
My obsession with knitting books continues. Dani brought me Cat Bordhi's "Socks Soar on Circulars" which I adore as this is how I knit socks. I just bought "Alterknits". I love the creativity, encouragement, and new ideas in this book. I have "Wendy Knits" checked out from the library. I'm not so fond of the patterns, but I love her writing style. My new favorite must buy book is "Knitting Nature". Talk about creative. It is a fabulous knitting book. Wow! I highly recommend picking it up and looking at it.
I've also started teaching Rich to knit. He's taking to it very easily. I'm not sure if he likes it yet, but he's a natural! Either that or my teaching is getting better and better!
Dani, Kendra (she will declare herself "Knitter" soon--she just started purling), and I went to the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene last week. What a great event! You get to meet the sheep, see the wool, watch the entire process of wool to yarn right there. That was where I convinced myself (with Kendra's help) to buy sock yarn to knit gauntlets with!

I'm going to make up some cabled pattern for them. I did resist all other urges however. I especially loved the sheep. And goats as we learned some of the sheepy looking critters really are. Hmmmmm. I need lessons. And the fluffy bunnies. Here's some photos.

Meanwhile, Rich and I put a flowerbed in at the Portland residence this weekend. We also bought grown-up furniture! A rust-colored sofa and loveseat are coming our way soon. The 70s non-descript duplex is getting some style!
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Lorie--you're it!

Pomatomus! What fun!

2006-07-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

I had no idea how hard it was to take good pictures of your own feet? Did you know? Here are the Pomatomus socks I made in May. Sure I should have posted them then, but I was distracted by who knows what. Aimee has seen them up close and personal, so this is for you Lori. And speaking of Lorie....

I demand photos! You said you had a fancy new fangled camera, and some great projects to brag about....yet weeks have gone by and nothing! I want to see what you've done and the skills of that newly acquired camera. Am I asking too much? :)

It's Almost Time...

2006-06-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

I am now the proud owner of a digital camera! During my trip to San Diego I should have plenty of opportunities to practice using it. Then it will be time to upload some of my knitting projects and chat about them. Dani, I hope your trip up here doesn't overlap with my trip to CA. Aimee and I are almost ready to Lucy!

Finally felted

2006-06-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

Before I went on vacation to Virginia, Lorie and I met and felted four bags. Three were mine and one hers. Lorie, I expect a posting on all of your projects!!! Here are the photos of mine--pre-felted.

This bag is for me. Finding buttons was a great Seattle challenge, but I found them and love them.

This is a bag for a friend of mine who does too much for everyone but herself. I hope it helps her enjoy some me time.

This is a bag for my mother. She picked out the yarn. You may notice that the handles seem slightly off. By the time this was felted, they were way off. I didn't take a photo, but trust me, it would take an oddly fingered person to have carried this bag. I ended up cutting off the handles, resewing them (invisibly after two tries) and adding the buttons. I think it worked! Hopefully mom won't read the blog and she'll never know. Here's the finished one, followed by the others!

That's all for now. I'll post later about Virgnina Beach yarn shops, socks and heels, and my penchant for buying sock yarn!

The Shopping Gene

2006-05-30T03:19:00.000-07:00

So, here I am sitting at work feeling quite inadequate at being a girl. I just crammed in a bunch of knitting to a boring night of nothing. Thank goodness because my projects unfortunately won't knit themselves. I ran out of yarn (more at home) to finish the sleeve of a sweater that I have been working on for far too long. Long enough that the sweater has it's own To Do list....It's that bad. I am still hoping that I will be able to finish it and the crocheted edging (did I mention I don't really know how to crochet) before I come to Oregon, in just a couple short weeks.

I am hoping to wear it to a graduation ceremony (and that's if it fits at all....yikes!) on June 16th along with a skirt and heels that I don't own.... I am not sure when I will find the time to go shopping, but I have no choice. I am backed into a corner with no where to go. My closet holds nothing worth wearing and those things that are "wearable" I have owned since college. Considering my last birthday catapulted me into my thirties and I graduated at the 22, it's a pretty sorry state of affairs. Aimee (a born shopper) would agree with me when I say, I completely lack the shopping gene. It's as though it is passed down through generations and it completely skipped over me.

You see, my mom is quite the shopper- a Bargain shopper to be exact. Too many Christmas holidays have involved me opening a present with a crinkled up expression on my face as my mother exclaims "Isn't it great. It was only $7.00!" Finally after the 10th Christmas in a row of yet another gift not even worth returning for the dinero, I am to the point of saying "I can see why."

I can't stand it really- shopping that is. I haven't bought clothes for myself since January of 2005 (that is NOT a typo). Oh wait, I had the 10 minute "shopping spree in Old Navy in April in which I purchased 2 t-shirts for $15 because I needed something to wear while visiting friends and didn't bring along the right clothing, but I don't think that can count. I spent less than it costs to fill my econo car with a tank of gas and I literally spent less time in the store than you do standing by the pump filling said tank of gas.

Some people have a shopping addiction. Maybe some could say the shopping gene is linked to the addiction. I on the other hand, completely lack the gene, thus have no chance of being addicted. Well maybe for yarn but not for clothing for myself, unless it's clothing I have to make on my own...Sure I am addicted to sugar. I have a quadruple dose of that gene, but not the one that allows me to go out and buy clothes that I will only like for a few months, that is if I can find anything I like to fit my 5'1" frame. It would be one thing if I was a 5'1" Eva Longoria body double, but alas I come from good German peasant stock...you can make your own deduction. Tread lightly please.

I digress. Why can't clothes that work great with those you knit suddenly appear in your closet? I don't even mind paying for them, I just can't get my self together enough to go in and out of stale dressing rooms. I have too many memories of my mother attempting to get into the dressing room where I am wearing ill fitted jeans and crying my eyes out.

Please keep the pity at bay. I am sure not everyone loves shopping. I can't be the only one. Straight men don't typically like shopping for clothes, unless they are metrosexual...So maybe I am a man trapped in a woman's body who likes to knit and is in love with a wonderful manly man. Would that make me a gay man? I guess I would have to be a non-stereotypical gay man because of the whole shopping thing....Is there such a thing?

Waiting to felt

2006-05-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have three bags ready to felt. Why the wait? I don't know. I just haven't gotten to it. Between work, bronchitis, and trying to find Rich a place to live in Portland, I haven't had time. Hopefully Tuesday morning will lead to felting time. Meanwhile I have decorated a few pairs of thongs. Here are two:

If you wear a size 8 and like black, let me know. A pair may be yours! Off to knit and cuddle.

Neurotic

2006-05-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I decided I would make a baby hat for a co-worker who is having a baby. I was convinced that a baby hat would be plenty and that it would be fine, just to give a hat. Then the day BEFORE the baby shower, I changed my mind. I became convinced that I needed to give something more. So, without any knowledge of the pattern, I pulled out a top-down baby cardigan pattern that my Aunt Sandy gave me and started knitting. It all began friday morning and was done by noon on Saturday. The buttons weren't put on until a week later because I thought the baby shower started at 4pm and it started at 1:30pm. So, it isn't perfect, but turned out pretty well. I used some left over balls of Rowan Calmer that I had for a shawl that I made.

And of course, I decided that the pattern wasn't quite what I wanted, so I changed a few things. The original pattern had a 1x1 rib on the bottom and a hoody. But I really wanted it to be with a rolled edge on the bottom, so I followed that through with the rest of it. I actually like the results and so does the recipient. YAY! A success.

Hope all is well and your needles are happy!

The Lamb Shoppe Denver CO

2006-05-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a lovely day in the Denver Metro area. After some morning studying, my friend Jinger and I chose to venture out into the great unknown....After hearing rumors of a fabulous new yarn store opening, we decided we had to see for ourselves what The Lamb Shoppe was all about. Just as a little background Jinger and I met at another to be nameless yarn shop where she is still employed and I am not (for various personal reasons).

In The Lamb Shoppe (www.thelambshoppe.com), we found a haven. It is situated on a quite street in a residential neighborhood in downtown Denver near the University of Colorado Health Sciences University. Dangerous territory for me as I will soon be a student at that very school in the near future.

Once inside the store, we laughed at ourselves when we walked in to see 5 people knitting. We both exclaimed in loud voices "there are people knitting here!" You see, where we worked together, it wasn't exactly encouraged to linger and knit. I don't know why, I never understood it. It just wasn't the most gracious environment, for lack of a better way of saying it. Further, unlike the other yarn store, food and drink are encouraged in this one, especially since it is also a coffee shop. They sell all kinds of coffee drinks of your liking, all in "sken" and "hank" sizes. Also, in a week or so, they will have their permit to sell food.

And the yarns is wonderful. They have a great selection of Debbie Bliss, Noro, Alpaca with a Twist (new to me), Cherry Hills sock yarn which rival Koigu, Mountain Colors sock yarn, Lambs Pride, and I am forgetting many others. If this place had a bookstore attached it would be what I pictured as Aimee's dream business. When you come to visit you can tell me if I am close at all. The hours are fantastic-open until 9pm many days as well as open on Sundays.

The trip would not be complete without my spending money. I found a great spring sock yarn from Cherry hills that I will make the Pomatomus socks from Knitty.com and two skeins of Alpaca with a Twist Fino (lace weight yarn), that is on display in the store as the most beautiful shawl. I have to return sometime in the next week or so to get the pattern from Alpaca with a Twist. Oh darn, I have to go back!

I will post more photos later, of the actual yarn I purchased. Hope you all had a fabulous weekend as well.

Yarn shops in Seattle

2006-04-19T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend (Easter), Lorie and I trekked up to Seattle to play and shop. For what? Yarn of course! We went to many yarn shops. I lost count. But I fell in love with two. Hilltop Yarn (http://www.hilltopyarn.com/) is a gem of a shop on top of Queen Anne Hill. They also have Hilltop East, which used to be Skeins by Bellevue Square. Both shops are a delight of yarn. I fell in love with a scarf and finally had to buy the yarn in order to make it myself. Well, they didn't have the yarn I wanted at the original store, so that provided us an excuse to go to the new East store. The staff were super friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. They had a fantastic supply of yarns, used in new and innovative ways and exciting colorways. If you are ever in Seattle, these stores are a must.

My other favorite store is So Much Yarn (http://www.somuchyarn.com/) in Belltown. For my tactile self, this was a yarn shop of addiction! The lines were luxurious and the prices were average. They had a great selection of books and patterns, buttons and yarn, and more. We liked it so much we went back. My delight was finding out the carried Mountain Colors, a Montana line of yarn that is stunningly beautiful. I bought a sweater pattern to knit any sweater from the neckdown. I haven't tried it yet, but the people who worked there raved about it. Another must visit.

The first day we were in Seattle, we visited Store X. I fell in love with this rich red scarf made out of Karabella Boise, a blend of Cashmere and Merino. It was luscious and soft. It was stunning. I wanted it. But how much? Store X, also friendly and helpful, found the yarn for me and said, "You only need four skeins!" Four skeins at $32.00 a piece! I can buy a premade cashmere scarf for $128.00 (or less) or I can buy Mountain Colors Cashmere and make it myself. I kept a straight face and we soon left. I had noticed earlier that all of Store X's yarns were at least $3.00 higher per skein than what I was used to seeing, so I wondered if that was going to be the Seattle experience. Happily not! We found most stores to be on par with what we are used to in Oregon. Anyway, we were at So Much Yarn and I found the Karabella Boise there for $17.25 a skein!!! Now this is still pricey and out of my price range, but I did consider purchasing it, just because it seemed positively cheap in comparison. I've seen it now online for around $25.00 a skein. So Much Yarn could charge so much more....If you have money to spend on yarn, this is a great yarn to do it with!

Below is a photo of our last breakfast with my friends, and future knitters, Kristi and Kathleen. It was great to have time with good friends, relax, eat well, and see new yarns. Who knew Cascade has superwash wool? Not Lorie and I, since our stores don't carry it. Seattle was a great time and I can't wait to go back.

P.S. I just priced Mountain Colors cashmere online and compared it to the Karabella Boise. I'm calling So Much Yarn and ordering two skeins. Their price is by far the best! At 160 yards in DK weight, I think I can make a beautiful cabled scarf with two skeins double-stranded and still have luxury around my neck. Four skeins my ass! Now I just have to buy the new Vogue Stitchionary on cables. Argh.

Mason-Dixon Thumbs Up

2006-04-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

I just read Mason-Dixon Knitting and loved it. I'm talking about the book, not the blog (although I like that too). This book is my kind of book. It's a knitting book you can read cover to cover. The design, photos, asides, patterns, anecdotes and stories make for a lovely hodge podge of entertainment, like sitting down with a friend for a nice chat. I applaude the designers, photographers, font picker-outers and layout people for the colorful photos and text. They give the book a blog-like feel while showing off all that books can offer that blogs can't.

I'm the type that enjoys reading cookbooks cover to cover, including the recipes, even though I probably will never make the dish. With Mason-Dixon, I'll probably never make the lace curtain or the many log cabin blankets, but I liked seeing them and learning how they are made. More than anything, however, this book make me think that someday I might be a creative knitter experimenting with my own patterns, yarns, or being surprised by inspiration where I least expect it. This book is a keeper. Enjoy!

Projects Abound

2006-04-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hey there,

Here are a few photos two of the things I have been working on lately. The pink sweater is from Knitting for Two. Even though I have no need to be knitting for "two", I just liked the pattern and thought it would be cute on anyone, and I got the yarn for 65% off at the shop I work at! Yay for Bag Sales!

The small swatch of light pink and olive green is for a cardigan from the Spring/Summer 06 Vogue Knitting International. There are three girls at the yarn shop knitting the same cardigan in all different colors. It should be fun to see how they all turn out! It calls for a Classic Elite yarn but we have substituted Butterfly Cotton Super 10 for it. I will hopefully add more photos as it grows!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

A Challenge

2006-04-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

Hey Girls,

Since I will be headed your direction in June, I thought it would be a good idea to start our knitting challenge in mid-May to start of June, so that we can all felt our newly made purses together when I am there. Does that sound like a plan? We have a couple options:

1) all knit the Garden Party bag as originally thought, each coming up with our own ideas/plans.
2) knit any noni bag we want, with the idea that we could all get a better view of how the bags turn out and then exchange the patterns. I already sent the Carpet Bag pattern and Garden Party pattern to Aimee for us all to use.
3) If we find one of the spring patterns that we like better (due out in May) then we could all do that one. I volunteer purchasing the patterns due to my discuenta at work. And I can photocopy and send anything to you all. I will even break down and find a place that does color copies (if I can).

What'cha all think? Let me know what concept works best for you all.

Take care and happy knitting. At some point I will get some of my recent project pictures up.
Dani

Yarn stash

2006-03-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

Lorie and I went yarn shopping. My intention was to purchase yarn for the Lucy bag and the garden party noni bag. I bought yarn for the Lucy bag. I didn't find the yarn for the garden party bag. And then I saw the sale sign! Squiggle on sale! I've never knit with squiggle. But I love it. I had to have it. And then I saw Noro Kureyon on sale! I had to have that too. Argh. $80.00 and more projects than I have time for. And still no yarn for the garden party bag. Triple argh. I need to find a job I can knit at like Dani has.

Lorie bought yarn for the small booga bag. but she got sidetracked too. I'm glad to be a good influence on friends!

My yarn stash is out of control. I have enough yarn to knit projects for at least one year, maybe two! I need help. Between yarn and books, my house is overflowing. I'm off to knit and catch up on dvds.

aimee

Save the blog

2006-03-22T09:10:00.000-08:00

Since no one has written an entry in a month, I guess my role today is to save the blog! I haven't been knitting much, but I have been reading a ton. Allow me to share a few books with you.

Marley & Me by John Groban: a touching memoir of a man and his dog. Whether you have a dog in your life now or grew up with dogs, this book is laugh out loud funny, touching, and in the end, sad. Marley is a crazy golden lab who is untrainable. He is loyal, devoted, and loving to make up for his loopiness. This story of a dog and his family is charming and I thoroughly enjoyed it--even if it made me cry.

Hungry Planet: What the world eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio: This book looks at different families across the world and looks at what they eat in a week. In a word: fascinating. There are photos of each family surrounded by the food they eat. There are discussions of countries, culture, and social life. It will make you hungry to read. I loved the statistics comparing each country to our life in the US so you could get a real sense of what food costs, as well as life there in general. My only complaint was that it didn't cover more countries. I hope for a sequel.

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore: another funny book in the world of Christopher Moore. If you need a laugh and don't mind crude humor, this is the book for you. Due to a major earthquake, an ancient being is rudely awakened from the ocean depths and starts to terrorize the town of Pine Cove, CA. Meanwhile, the local psychiatrist has given all of her depressed patients fake antidepressants. The two events cause major ripple effects in the community and the results are hilarious. If the winter blahs are holding on and you need some lightness before spring, give it a shot.

Back with knitting soon,
aimee

Felted Bags part two

2006-02-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

Here are the photos of the finally finished booga bag. I'm now happy with the results. Eight feet of i-cord is a lot!

I also felted my buttonhole bag. Here are the before and after shots. I love this bag. I'm going to make one more (at least) with the purple on bottom and green on top as a surprise for a friend of mine at work who loved the bag too.

I haven't knit at all this week. I had a plumbing emergency on Tuesday and fell on concrete on Wednesday. Today is the first day I've been able to type without pain. I'll start knitting again today or tomorrow. Right now I'm glad nothing was broken!

Rich and I are headed to Bangkok on March 5th. I can't wait to see the sights. Dani, you haven't gotten me your shopping list yet! He gets home tonight from Caracas Venezuala. Check out his blog for stories of men with guns.

That's all for now. Maybe humor will happen when the pain pills wear off!

I'm in LOVE

2006-02-20T13:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know that we all know that the sexy man I go home to is the love of my life, but when it comes to my knitting life, I fall prey to lust and love in the needle and yarn world. It truly is a separate world, with different wishes (time alone with only yarn and needles and chocolate) and desires (unlimited supplies of beautiful breathtaking FREE yarn). But right now, I feel on many levels that my yarn world is complete...for the moment. I have found Noni bags. Oh the joy, oh the spirit, oh the love of felting. Check them out. They are wild, whimsical and wonderful, while still maintaining a tailored demure that is so classic. Tell me what you think. I hope you all are as giddy as I am after viewing the site.

The Olympics and Knitting

2006-02-18T10:34:00.001-08:00

Welcome, Dani! Aimee, I think there is hope for the hat.

So for some reason, I thought my addiction to the Olympic Games would be beneficial to my knitting. You look up now and then and it's a good way to get through the commercials. However, lately I've been spending my evenings elsewhere and taping the games. So instead of knitting, I watch the events and fast forward through the commercials. Good thing I didn't enter myself in the Olympic Games of Knitting. Oh well, as long as I get the baby blanket done by mid-April...but there's also my dad's hat in there too.

Aimee, thanks for coming to the dance show. Maybe knitted legwarmers should be on my project list!

Lorie

Yay Dani's here! Now the party is started

2006-02-17T09:38:00.000-08:00

I'm so happy that you're here Dani. Now we can get down and knit. I love the lucy bag. I want the pattern. I still need the clogs pattern. Rich has decided he could use a pair if I make them out of Alpaca!

My brother sent me photos of the chewed up hat. Repairable or not? You vote. They are sending it to me and I'll let you know. Here's some pics.

This is what happens when bad dogs happen to good hats.

Have a great weekend. I'm off to felt my buttonhole bag and some coasters. Must finish mom's project. Must finish mom's project. Must finish....

Aimee

finally

2006-02-15T18:44:00.000-08:00

After some technical difficulties and some blogger issues, finally a post! Yay! Quite the accomplishment at the moment. Love the booga bags. Here are a few pics of what I have been working on, including my Lucy Bag made with my wonderful Christmas present from Aimee (on the far right). Also included is a morning market bag from Fabulous Felted Handknits made with yarn that did not work with one of my christmas presents - see what I mean about the green Aimee? (left). And finally a gorgeous teal shawl (if I do say so myself) that is very much still in progress from Vogue Knitting magazing Fall 05 (middle). I got the yarn on a uber super deal and have become a huge fan of Rowen Calmer. Rumor has it that it's been discontinued...so I am quite sad. Hope you girls are doing great, much love, Dani.

hats, dogs, and nieces

2006-02-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

Ashlynn and Brynn's hats

I made these cute earflap hats for my nieces who live in Montana. Considering they were my third and fourth attempts at colorwork, they turned out surprisingly well. They are made out of Knitpicks Andean Silk, which is a dream to knit with. Very fun patterns to knit and I got to practice my pompom making skills. Alas, the purple one (Ashlynn's) has been eaten by a dog. Super aunt to the rescue. I will knit another soooooooooon (and watch my list of projects grow longer and longer). But for Ashlynn, anything. I hope she keeps the next one out of the reach of the dogs.

And now a photo of the cats, as requested by a reader. In this photo, Spike is sitting on top of Lola trying to force her off the perch, but she's not going anywhere!

Update on Dani. She's alive and well, but has had email issues. She should be joining us shortly and showing us pics of her great knitting. She's super-knitter!

aimee

Valentine's Day

2006-02-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

My sweetie sent me beautiful flowers and chocolates to celebrate the day. He's in Indianapolis freezing his tuckus off, but he remembered romance! I hope he likes his wee giftie.

The bags are felted, dried, and put together. One small problem. This yarn felted well. Extremely well. Better than any yarn I've felted before (not that I have much experience--this is my fourth project). And the strap felted down too short. So now I have to find a contrasting yarn to knit into super long i-cord and try again. I'll post a photo later. But check out the current finished projects.

Lorie's Bag (beautiful colors)

My bag (nice colors, crappy strap)

I have Olympic fever. I'm sad for Michelle Kwan. On NBC, they said, "When did she get old?" Old? She's 25. She's been in the sport longer than the majority of athletes. I want to learn Snowboarding slang and apply it to knitting. Doing a 1080 fakey will have a whole new meaning. work with me here.

I've started another bag. Which means I'm ignoring my mother's Christmas present, my socks (over a year now) and various other projects. This bag is the buttonhole bag from masondixonknitting.com. What a fun project. Then back to the Christmas present and socks. Argh.

Dani, where are you?

Aimee

Where's Dani?

2006-02-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

Hey Dani, you were there when I started out on the baby blue yarn and you were knitting the beautiful green cabled sweater. I can't say I've mastered, or even attempted anything complicated like fair isle (Aimee you have to post pics of your hats), but I've knitted quite a few things since that summer. Aimee should be putting up pics of the finished felted bags any day now. We're waiting to see your felted creations from the gorgeous New Zealand yarn. Ok, gotta get out my knitting...

Drying

2006-02-11T19:29:00.000-08:00

They have been in front of the heater all day. Lorie's is almost dry. Mine is still damp. By tomorrow night? we hope to sew the pockets and place the straps. I think its a go.

How's the drying going?

2006-02-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

Do you think the bags will be dry by tomorrow eve and ready for the strap placement?

Fun with Felting

2006-02-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

I bought some great wool yarn while on vacation with my sweetie in New Zealand. I bought enough for my cousin Dani and friend Lorie. We all decided to knit bags with the yarn. Lorie and I knit an extra large Booga Bag. Yesterday we felted them and they are still drying so no final pics yet. But I promise they turned out beautifully. We had enough yarn to make matching accessory bags. The photos are pre-felting. Mine is the purple and Lorie's is the reds and yellows.