Kinko's is my friend

I've been wanting to do this for a while. I've found so many free patterns on the internet - especially now through Ravelry. They quickly get out of control. Especially some of the new shawl patterns are several pages with charts. Interweave Knits also published a multi-page 5 Top Patterns. I have them all saved on disk, but I like having the hard-copies. But don't want to kill to many trees, reprinting them. What to do?



Bind those babies! FedExKinko's is about 1 mile from my house. The trip was worth it - I brought my little expandable folder of patterns. And 9 bindings later I was a happy girl. I bound several lace shawl patterns, a great Shetland Lace book I bought on Etsy by Elizabeth Lovick. A great little mini-lace class with scarf, bookmarks, shawl, charts, lots of great info. But 65 pages, too much to manage loose leaf.

I'm going to bind some more when I have time to sort it out. It's easier to work with. I might even bind some knitting magazines - it would be much easier to work with the pattern when I can fold it flat. I wouldn't want to do it for every magazine. Just the ones with several patterns I love.

I'm making progress on my socks - Two of my socks who started the week at the gusset are now almost to the toe! Here is one of them, an Opal Rainforest yarn with colors I Love. Why did I take so long to get these on my feet!



Opal yarn is as good as it's reputation. It's deceptively soft, and I believe it will wear well. It just looks solid and durable. But the colors are lovely. Especially in their Rainforest series. This sock was the Peacock yarn, I need to decide what animal I will knit up next. I like the caterpillar yarn - a nice green with browns and yellows. Maybe that one.

And Doreen reminded me of a project that is over 10 years old. I dug it out to post pictures on Ravelry. I had one of these given to me as a little girl. I played with it in church, and Doreen did too. When I saw the pattern - before I had my babies - I knew I had to crochet it.



Everything except a bit of cardboard inside for stability and the doll is crocheted. I made this 10 years ago before I knew of "nice" yarn. I want to make it again with some lovely fingering. Maybe some hand-painted sock yarns?



It has a hidden basket in the bottom for extra clothes and dolls.


I
This tells you how much I used to crochet before I discovered knitting. It's a great art form - and I love it for projects like toys. It's sturdy and durable. Even though this is over 10 years old, and endured a toddler/little girl play from my oldest. It looks as good as the first day, except a few ends I need to weave back in. Of course - Red Heart yarn doesn't hurt. You can't damage the stuff from what I can see. Back then, Red Heart was all I knew!

I have several afghans I need to photo and upload to Ravelry, and I know I gave several away that I don't have any record of. It makes me a bit nostalgic for crochet. Maybe I need to find a nice crochet pattern to mix into my WIPs.

Hemlock Anyone?

She's done!!!!



And I get to use my Mother's Day gift - Knitter's Block! It's not big enough - so she spills over the sides. But I love it!



Jada loves Hemlock too!



As previously mentioned, the cast off takes a while, but after you get used to it, it is not too bad. I will still use the crochet cast-off for any future versions.



And - Hemlock has a sister Rona that is coming along....




I lurve Rona. She is silky and sexy.



And she is not boring, while it's pretty easy to see what is going on. Each row is sort of different. There is some knitted lace, some lace knitting, even some ribbing which I had not done in lace before. She keeps you going each round. I only wish she had a chart - too many words! But not to difficult to visualize and follow what is going on.

Baby girl has rice all over her face, Babee Tenda and bib. I question how much is in her stomach. Back to being a mommy.

Me-o-mi-yo Tiayo

Noro has struck gold with it's new cotton blend - Tiayo. What a totally yummy yarn - with surprisingly generous yardage. It's a cotton/silk blend that I would say is almost a chunky to heavy worsted. It feels like cotton, but has a sheen to it so you can see the silk. It is a great spring/summer yarn for someone in the South like me. When I saw Stacey's, I really liked the yarn. When I saw the color way #1 in Cottage yarns - I could not resist. Lovely browns, Greys and Pinks. It will go with so many colors and outfits - dressy or casual.



And using the Anthropologie Inspired Caplet pattern it was a fast knit. I did make it larger - casting on 74 and knitting it a bit longer. I used size 10 needles too.



I used about 1 and 3/4 balls perhaps? I bought 3 and am not sure about the last ball. Perhaps a hat? Or, I can take it back and get another colorway. I'd love a caplet with blue in it for jeans. I'm not sure if I would repeat this pattern or find another one, perhaps a bit more boxy?



I like the reverse side too - so I won't put on a button. I need a smaller "shawl" pin though as I will stick myself or someone else with the long one!

All in all - a satisfying project. I've enjoyed this KAL - I'll have Pi, Hemlock and Caplet out of it! Stacy picked great projects!

BTW - this is the first time I've used Ebony on my blog. I picked her up when Rave Knits closed. I had wanted a "model" for my projects. She is a bit small. Her shoulders a bit narrow. I have to clean her up and polish her up a bit. She is destined for my office/crafting room when we get our bonus room done and I get the furniture and couch out of my "Office".

A Jada update - her leg was worse than I thought. She has a little square of pink flesh that really grosses me out. But the brave little girl - who was tearless during the event - turns positively hysterical when you try to remove her band-aid. The mere mention or sight of a band-aid has Jada running and screaming in the opposite direction. Her hands very fast to hit you if you get any where near her leg.

Go figure - scraping her skin off - no tears.

Band aid removal - freak out.

sigh.....

Atlast, a Swallowtail

I've wanted to make this scarf/shawl forever.
I started out strong, and faded in the face of THE NUPP.
But at last I finished it.
Success at last.



Patiently waiting for blocking.....



Nupps, nupps, and more nupps.

Flu revisited

It's baaaaaack. Yes, the yucky flu 2008 came back, meaner and nastier this time. At first - it was just sleep and rest for me. I was miserable with fever and body aches. I'm starting to get over that - just a few moments of being unbearably hot here and there - but I've got no energy and little appitite. Maybe I'll loose weight? :) Let's hope for a bright side of this experience.

It's so great you can knit when you are sick b/c TV is really terrible. I can't stand realtiy shows or the talk shows and soaps now get on my nerves. Had I of known I would be housebound for a few days - I would have stocked up on DVDs. Thankfully there was some political drama on March 4 to keep me a bit glued to the TV, although I wasn't happy with the outcome and am afraid to see the Democratic race degenerate into negative nitpicking. All the nonsense drove me straight to www.barakobama.com to make a donation for a new day in America. Instead of just getting angry, I had to do my part to bring some common sense back into the discussion.

In the midst of the fever, the thought of so many UFO - Unfinished Objects - drove me nuts. So I was inspired to knit on some of the items hanging around waiting for the last few stitches.

First of all was my Malabrigo Loafers, which I stalled on during the first bout of the flu. They are a bit big and I'm thinking about slightly felting them, but don't want to over do it.



I love both of these colors independantly - having them together is growing on me. Not my favorite, but not terrible. They need a crochet flower on top, but I didn't have the energy. Maybe later.

I also rescued my Swallowtail shawl from the bottom of my bedroom yarn stash bin where it had fallen in it's little zip lock bag. I was working on this (and another SW that I'm not sure where it is actually) like mad when on vacation in August! But the nupps drove me crazy with the super fine JoJoland Harmony yarn. But for some reason this week it wasn't so bad, I blew past the last 6 nupp rows and am on the edging! Yah! This will replace my lost Flower Basket Lace scarf.



Hopefully - will wrap this up by end of the day.

I also have been working away on my SKP 2008 sock - my first toe up!! The gansey pattern is enough to keep it interesting, but it's not difficult. I like the diamond pattern and the little ladders on the side. I'm loving the handspun BFL, I have a few BFL hanks in my stash but this is my first time knitting it. It's sooooft. And the sock feels really springy. I can tell it's wool, but it feels different than my other socks. I love it. I'm glad I have another hank from this spinner in blue. Maybe by then I'll be good enough to make my own handspun sock yarn. What a refreshing change of pace for socks. Also - I love the subtle color changes, no set pattern, but very pleasing. I just love the way the yarn is behaving in this pattern. It probably wouldn't have been as nice in lace, so it was a good chose for a knit/purl pattern.



I didn't realize SKP 2008 would be a gansey pattern and had previously started (on a whim) another gansey sock - this time with the pattern in the cuff. I decided not to carry the texture down the instep and onto the foot as I was afraid moss stitch on the top of my foot would drive me crazy. I like this yarn to - it's a handpainted yarn, frogged from a failed scarf attempt. I'm trying to finish both of these pairs of socks this month. My green sock month!



I put the mystery shawl on hold to finish swallow tail. I hope to get back to it tomorrow.

I also have to cast on Mr. Greenjeans - but need to FU some of the UFOs and get them into my FOs. :)

Last note - on Stash Burning 2008 - last week was a mixed bag. I did so well in Seattle for a while. No yarn, just a bit of fiber. But I slipped up on Ebay. My friend Jill showed me her Kauni hat, and then I found some on Ebay. It has a shetland feel, and the slow color changes remind me of Noro but the yarn is a 2-ply (I think) fingering weight. Yummy. There is a pretty cardigan made famous by Yarn Harlot using this yarn. I'm not sure what I will make with this - it would be beautiful in anything fair isle. I also have some some really pretty lace made out of it. What you can't see in the photos is these babies are huge - the smallest one is 700+ yards! The largest is ~1200 yards. So many choices!

Yummmmmmmmm:

Go Giants!

What a stunner - I left my parent's house with the Patriots ahead and came home to SHOCK! The Giants win.

Score 1 for the good guys.

During the low scoring (but exciting) Superbowl - I finished a little vest I started yesterday for Jada. I actually picked up the pattern to use some Baby Grande Alpaca in my stash for me. But when I read the pattern - I thought it would be easy to convert to a baby or kid's vest. And it was.

I CO 60 instad of 120 and use Size 10s instead of Size 11s. I also didn't use Alpaca because I didn't want to mess up nice yarn on a big mistake. It took two evenings to knit, really quick.

Here she is:



She actually won't be able to wear this very long. I need to make a bigger version now that I know how it works and better how to gauge the size. I think it may also need a button or toggle since I can't put on a pin.

I tried to take a picture of the back, but she wouldn't stay still!



I made it with a huge ball (100g) of Bernat Softee Chunky I picked up at A.C. Moore for kids sweaters and things. Basically yarn to experiment with.

That was a nice instant gratification project, now back to completing some of my scarves.

Why I am a dog person

I know I will get in trouble for this. When I look at blogs, Knitters all seem to like cats. Why?

A friend and worked shared this with our team and I thought it was funny. I wanted to share it with my knitting friends.



Here's a bit of yarn p0rn that made me drool and break my yarn diet. Why was I at a yarn store while on a Yarn diet? Especially Weaving Works one of my favorite shops in the USA? If you have to ask, I wouldn't be able to explain it to you!



Yes - that is Noro Sock Yarn. I saw it online and was like that sounds intereting. I saw it in the shop and the colors just POP. The single ply yarn looks differnt too. It knits up so pretty. I can't wait to wear my socks!!! Too bad for my current sock projects with 1 complete - I will have to put them on hold to get these done. :)

And one other knitted update - let's start with a question. Why does the most simple projects get the most rave reviews from total strangers (who don't knit)? I made this super quick Calorimetry (my new instant gratification project - LOL) and super, super quick, tiny scarf (using only the yarn I had left in the ball) for my trip to Seattle because last time I was so cold. It's in the 20s to 30s this week, so I am very glad to have it and wear it everywhere. I have been stopped and asked did some one make it for me. Everyone is so surpised that it isn't a hat but a headband when the see the back. In a knit shop - since this is Moda Dea Tweedle Dee yarn - I was asked what yarn it is b/c they haven't seen it before. And I was suprised that they weren't aware of the pattern. I thought I was the only one in the knitting world that hadn't knitted one yet looking at the number on Ravelry! I can wear the most complicated lace with *no* comments but a simple head scarf and scarf get's the most attention. Not that I wear my knitting for comments, but I'm just saying.....

2008 is Shaping up to be a Year of Knitting

This week I've been on a hat obsession. You saw my knitted and crochet Tams. But the I saw the pattern Three Tams on Knitty and it fit exactly what I was looking for for my first Fair Isle project. Easy Fair Isle!

I used King George a Wool, Alpaca, Cashmere yarn for the Black solid yarn. It was a very soft and luxurious yarn. I had never seen it before, but could see myself using it again.

For the Colorwork - I used Colorchanges by Ironstone. Again, another new yarn to me. Very, very soft - a wool/acrylic mix. I really liked the vibrancy of the colors and pace of the color changes worked well for this hat.



It was my first time knitting with two yarns. I had been practicing trying to knit American style so I could use both hands when I decided to plung into Fair Isle. It did make it easier than picking up the yarn each time, but it took a while to get used to. Especially in the ribbing, it seem very slow at first.



But once I started knitting and didn't have to purl it speeded up quite a bit. I found it was very addictive because I wanted to see how each row built out the pattern. Plus - you uncover new colors in the yarn and it's sort of exciting. As a result - I finished it in a couple of days pretty much knitting only on this hat. It was faster than I thought it would be. I'm very happy with it and will make the other 2 versions.

Here is the hat post blocking on my daughter.



I also wanted to make a hat for my sister but she said she would prefer Calomitery another Knitty pattern. Now this was a fast knit. I started it today while at the hairdressers and made most of it there while getting my hair done! I only knitted a few more rows at home and cast off tonight. I like it and will have to make one for me too. But this one is for Doreen, the new mom.

I Need a ReTouch ...... Crochet Tam

While on vacation I picked up this cool crochet book that I just had to start using. Hip Hats and Cool Caps by Afya Ibumo. It's rare I find a book where I want to make everything. But I do with this one. My daughter has picked out her favorites and I have to make Baby Jada some cool caps too. This book has crochet hats that are in fashion and doesn't take expensive yarn to look good. I'm not usually a Red Heart type of person, but it made sense for this hat as I wanted to make it immediately and wasn't near my stash or a yarn store while on vacation. And It's durable and long lasting.



This hat may end up as a gift as I know a young lady who will love it. I still have to add the bill, but it was too cute and I hat to post pics. I have many more of these in my plans for the future because it was super fast and easy crochet. And did I mention cheap? As it's super cold in NC this week & I really need a ReTouch - I bet I will be working some of these hats by end of week too!!!



I decided it would look better with a brim, so I added that on afterward.



Plus - it's my first finished object of 2008!!!!!

On a sadder note - I seem to have returned from vacation with out my lace scarf. I really need it this week and am so sad to have lost it so soon :( I hope I left it at my friend's place. It was my most prized knit and I wore it everywhere - it's so sad to loose something you have spent so much time creating :(

Christmas Presents - Caterpillar Scarves and Hat

I decided to make these cute scarves and hats from Merino Farms for Christmas presents for the little kids in my life. I still have to add the eyes and eye brows but they are a quick cute knit. I love using bright colors. The Brown/Yellow is knit in the Merina Farms 3-ply worsted. The Green/Blue is knit in Malbrigo. Ahhhh - that is such a lovely, soft yarn. Doesn't feel anything like wool. I have GOT to make a sweater in it. It's a pretty big hank too, 2X as much yardage as the Merino Farms at about the same price. I like MF too - it's very soft. But I like the variation of color in the Malabrigo and you can't beat the price for the ultra softness. It's almost like knitting roving though. Be careful - I broke the yarn trying to bind it off twice!!

Jada's Silky Socks

I found this yarn at AC Moore. I know - and me being the yarn snob that I am couldn't believe I found something I like at a non-LYS. It's Moda Dea Silk N' Wool - 85% Wool and 15% Silk. Worsted weight, has a tweedy look and great colors - especially the Green and Dark Pink (Sangria).

So - I got some balls to make Jada some socks. I wanted to use them to make the great new style of socks in Cat Bordhi's book - New Pathways for Sock Knitters ().

But I couldn't wait and decided to make up a sock using a standard knitting formula.


They knitted so fast and are so soft and so cute on her. I started last night while Colin was playing at the Grape - yes, I knit in a wine bar while my husband's band plays!!! That makes me a die hard knitting freak, I know. I have brochitis, so I was sitting by myself - so that's my excuse. If I was sitting with others - I would have not knit...........as much.

Anyway - I started last night and wrapped up the last one today.

Isn't she the cutest in them?

Here's my attempt at a pithy pattern if you are interested:

Yarn: 1 Ball (you will only use 1/2 half) Moda Dea Silk N' Wool - Sangria
Needle: Size 5, 32" (if you use the magic loop method as I did)

CO 25, Join in a circle and knit the first and last stitch together.
K2P2 for 16 rows.
Heel Stitch on 12 stitches for 14 rows.
Heel Stich is:
R1: *S1, K1*, repeat stitches in * * to end of row.
R2. S1, P all remaining stitches to end of row.
Repeat R1 and R2.

Turn heel:
S1, K 6, SSK, K1, Turn.
S1, P4, P2tog, P1, Turn.
S1, K5, SSK, K1, Turn.
S1, P6, P2tog, P1, Turn.

Hmmm - I hope I got that right. I'm going by memory!!

Anyway - I had 8 stitches on the heel not 9 so something is off......note to self to edit blog later!

K 8, Pick up 8 stitches on the side of the heel for the gusset.
K 12, Pick up 8 stitches on the other side of the heel for the gusset.
Decrease 2 every other row until there are 14 (not 12 b/c babies feet are fat!!) on the sole.
Knit another inch or so depending on the babies foot.
Then make your favorite toe. I made a wide wedge toe. But the star would be nice too. I decreased to 8 stitches and just drew them together b/c I didn't want to graft it. These are quick remember!! Total - maybe 2 hours knitting time. I did them on a magic loop with my Harmonies since I don't have Harmonies DPs in 5s.

If you haven't made worsted baby socks, they are quick & satisfying, and with lovely, silky yarn - so cute!! Next - I will make the Green sock the Cat Bordhi way - I can't wait!