Perfect!

Can a Christmas gift get any more perfect than cute little stitch markers, a mini-wood swift, a yummy candle, and a offer of personally dyed lace-weight wool of the color(s) of my choice?

Thank you sis!

Don't join the Rat Race

I have a friend who has had a job roller coaster this past year. I saw this pattern on Morehouse Farm and just had to make it for her. I'm barely getting it done before Church tomorrow when I will give it to her. I still have to sew on some more beady red eyes, but I will do that later. I hope she likes it!

P-R-O-C-R-A-S-I-N-A-T-I-O-N

Why did I wait until the last minute to realize I only had 2 teacher's gifts made and I needed 4!!!

Time for the One Skein Book by Leigh Radford. Her book is a life saver. I decided to make the 2 cable Scarf - part of her 4 Cable scarf options. Last year I had made a ton of the 3 Cable version. This was just as quick and satisfying a knit. I love these scarves because they look at lot more difficult and complex than they are!!

I made the Blue version with some Lamb's Pride I had, and then I purchased some 1824 Wool at Rave Knits. Wow!!! I love that yarn - it is fabulous!!!

Speaking of Rave Knits - my stash swelled after a trip to Rave this Tuesday. Unfortunately - the store is closing. I hate it when a Local Yarn Shop closes. And this was our only option in our town. It hate it for the owner, because she was really working hard to make it work out, but owing a LYS isn't easy I hear. She offererd a few of us loyals first dibs at a sale and look:



And this is just the yarn!!

....Yes....I have a serious yarn habit!! But I wasn't the only one! :)

I also picked up a few needles, notions and fixtures.

So - Please, please support your LYS!!!! We don't want any more to close!!

Brrrrr - It's Cold in Seattle!!!!!

During my last trip to Seattle I was cold. I picked up some $1 gloves to keep my fingers toasty, but I couldn't bear to buy a scarf when I have to hands that love to knit!!!! I found some Casacde 220 in the colorway Celery - a nice heather color. And decided to make one of the Evelyn Clark shawls I have been wanting to make, but to impatient to wait for the shawl to be done! It knits up much faster in a Worsted Weight yarn - the scarf size! But it is suprisingly big. It is really a small shawl size after blocked. I love it. I can crunch it up under my coat to keep my neck warm, and I can use it in the office for a shoulder shawl if I get a bit chilly. Best of all - I started and cast off in a week!!

Yes, it was a bit of a diversion from Christmas knitting which is in a bit of a crisis state right now. But it was just so much fun to see it grow :)

I have all the details on Ravelry user name 'jc3smama' for those of you in Ravelry. If you are not - what are you waiting for? It's the best way to blow a few extra hours on the computer :)

My Funky Circle Vest

I am done with my Funky 70's vest. I saw the Circle Vest pattern in Silk Knits and just invisioned it in 70's blues, browns, Orange, etc. I saw this yarn that was so yummy at Charlotte Yarn called Scotia Silk by Fleece Artist. One of the yarn companies I love. I bought to skeins in to complimentary colorways and decided to knit two rows in each color. I wasn't sure how it would turn out - but I love the look. I would have wanted it to be a bit larger, but I used up almost all of the yarn and since each round was getting longer and longer was afraid to start another increase.


The pattern is pretty easy and not to boring because you increase every other row. So you have to pay attention. The increases are a bit strange, since you are increasing ribbing. But once it's all down it looks better than when you are knitting it and it is sort of spreading out a little bit each row. I will make this vest again. I saw one in another LYS made in a light cotton yarn that would be great for a summer vest. I don't think I will use the 70s colors for that one, maybe something with the striped yarn this vest typically calls for.


I finished this vest on our trip back from Florida. We drove all night last night and into today so I can make it back to fly to Seattle tomorrow. We were blessed and I just have to share that in my closing thoughts! We heard a knocking sound about midnight last night that we hadn't heard before. We decided maybe the car engine was cold (yeah, in FLORIDA, we were a bit tired I guess). Today it got worse and Colin decided to check it. The van had NO OIL. We drove all last night and through 3p today with NO OIL in our engine. We are truly blessed to not be stuck in Florida, Georgia or South Carolina. Our mechanic couldn't believe our engine didn't seize. We started our return trip with a prayer. And it was answered. We didn't get too sleepy and we arrived home safely. My vest will always remind me of that trip. Oh - had we had a wonderful time visiting Colin's family and some college friends. Check out the family blog for photo albums of both vists. I have to post a blog on that site with more details of the trip, but after I'm in Seattle and can gather my thoughts and get some sleep!

My Karalund is done!

I hate sewing, but I buckled down and sewed up the Karalund today at Stream Of Praise (SOP) practice and Charlotte Purls.

First of all SOP was a real teary session today - I love the SOP prayers and today Dad really prayed for all of us. It was needed as this week was not a good one for most of us. But we all knew who brought us through. Thank God for friends to cry with when you need a good cry.

Karalund has been done since Monday, and blocked since Thursday. Today I stitched her - although I noticed a few places she needs better stitching. I made the sleeves too long though - and I'm trying to work up the enthusiasm to take her little sleeves apart to reknit that part of them. I sort of like to be done with projects when my little brain thinks I'm done. But I know I wont' be happy with it looking like a little kid that borrowed her mother's sweater. I love the feel and look for Karalund and I want to wear her a lot, so I need to suck it up and do the sleeves correctly. Thanks Stacy for helping me realize this :)

Here she is:




She is knit out of Moda Dea Silk n'Wool, which is fairly affordable and available at a non-LYS *gasp*. It is one of my favorite yarns actually - I made my daughter socks in this and have washed them several times with great results. It's a great sweater weight - not too heavy or thin. And the drape is fabulous. I will knit with this yarn again.

Most Karalunds are made with striped yarn, but I'm glad I went with a solid. You can see the stitches very clearly and I think it makes the sweater a bit more dressy. I can see myself with some sexy jeans and spiky boots in this baby. It's date night tomorrow with Colin - and Miss Karalund just may get to go out on the town. Long sleeves and all!