More gift pins......

Here are the full set of pins I completed today. I have a bit of trouble getting some of the beads I bought to fit on the pins :( I need to find a way to use them b/c some of them I really like. But these turned out better than I thought!

Gift Scarf/Shawl Pins

I finally got the beads to start working on my scarf/shawl pins. This year I want to have a handmade pin for each scarf/shawl that I give. Here are my first two experiements!


This is a purple pin, for my purple crochet scarf.









This is a green and turquoise pin that goes with the Caribbean scarf.

Making the most of it

I have had a yucky cold since Thursday. And on top of being 8 months pregnant - I'm not a happy camper. But I decided to make the most of it and wrap up some Christmas gifts. I am trying to get done before Jada Cherie arrives because she will take priority over knitting and crochet after her arrival!

I also had to change strategy. I wanted to make shawls this year, but shawls take too long. So - I decided to knock out some lace scarves. Lighter and prettier than a "normal" scarf, I thought the giftees may appreciate something that while still functional will be able to be worn longer in the year and dressier as well.

This scarf is made with 100% Cashmire yarn that I had been looking at for over a year. It finally was on clearance and I got 2 balls (all I wanted to spend) so I really couldn't do anything else with it except make a scarf. this one, while short, still took 2 balls! It's very, very soft and lovely. But I just can't afford to work with the stuff very much at those prices.










This scarf is a quick crochet project - started and completed while down with the cold. It is a chrochet lace pattern by Jan Eaton I love. I made a shawl with this patter earlier this year. It's quick and pretty. The yarn is Jaeger Matchmaker 4-ply. It's nice and soft merino. Easy to work with.











This is a tweed fingering weight yarn I ordered from yarn.com. I absolutely love the color. It's 2 ply yarn, a little cruncy but not overly so. I need to soak and block the scarf and see if it softens up some. I want to make a shawl with the yarn I think. I just love the vibrancy of the color.

Grandma's Checkerboard Lace - My latest obsession

I found this pattern in the book "Best of Knitters: Shawls and Scarves" called "Grandma's Checkboard Lace". And I guess b/c it's easy and rather mindless, easy to rip out and correct - I've fallen in love with it. I made a lace scarf and shawl. And I have 2 more shawls in progress. It works nice with both sportweight and lace weight yarn.

The Scarf is made out of Knit Picks Lace yarn Glossamer, color is Caribbean.It was nice to work with - easy and faster than I thought. I made it with size 6 needles. Th e orignal pattern calls for Size 7 needs and sportweight yarn. The merino in the yarn looks like it might pill eventually, so I don't think I would make it in a shawl. I am making a shawl now using KnitPicks Shimmer. The silk added to the yarn makes it seem less likely to pill over time.



The shawl is made with Koigu, one of the yummiest yarns imaginable! It is so soft. I made it with size 7 needles. I made it a bit shorter than the pattern calls for - and it took 6 hanks of Koigu. Boy is it nice. This is a gift shawl, but I promptly started one with pinks, purples and greens for me!

Shawls, Shawls, Shawls

I'm posting some items I've completed a while a go. The first is a crochet ripple shawl made with Brown Sheep Nature Spun Fingering. It was nice to work with and a smooth yarn. I worked it from a cone so no ends to have to work in except the beginning and end of the shawl. Lots of yarn left over too!



The second is a shawl made from yummy, soft Blue Sky Alpaca's Cotton yarn. It's a simple stockenette stich with a seed stich border, but is so soft. Quick to knit too. This has become our church shawl. My daughter and I are always cold, and this is perfect for wrapping up against the chill! I made it pink because I expect to use it as an emergency blanket as well with Jada when she arrives and when nursing.



I have some more pics to upload, but am trying to get caught up on the blog!

"It Doesn't Work Out for Me"

Jason Christopher Richards. Sept. 6, 2006 after 2 days of kindergarden.

Sigh.

I guess he misses Nintendo, they don't quite have Mario time in Kindergarden.

I'm still here. To pregnant and too busy to blog. I'll have to catch this blog up soon.

Cheers,
Janet

Where am I????

No blogs, no updates, no nothing! Where have I been.

I don't know, just tired and preggers I guess. I've been to lazy to update or even visit other people's blogs. I am knitting - that's good right....

I'm excited about baby blankets. I have 2 on the needles and one on a hook - and my sister is making me one!!!! I think these hand knitted/crocheted blankets will be a special treat to use with a new wee one. And something that she can treasure for ever.

Oh - and that is an update, it is a she. Jada Cherie. Our Wise Darling One.

I also completed a shawl - made out of soft, soft Blue Sky Cotton. It sheds a bit, but it is so yummy to wear. It will make a great nursing shawl too. And I finished crocheting a gift shawl - this will be a Christmas gift.

So - I guess this will suffice as a quick update. I do have some pics of my FOs. I'll have to post them shortly.

Take care cyber-world.....

FOs!!!!!!

Here are slippers that I made for Janeen. The front panel has a simple lace pattern. I messed up a bit on one of them, but it's not too easy to spot :) LOL



I have been looking at baby socks and booties patterns. This was a slightly different pattern that I got from the Socks, Socks, Socks - Interweave press book (also the lace slippers above). I used a sock yarn I happend to have. And baby booties for Jada or Jaden:



And baby hats are also a facination at the time - I got a book in WA with a simple hat pattern, and have been experimenting with it. Different yarns, different needles, different edgings, different, CO stitches. So here is my current collection, experimenting with baby hats. Most are knitted, but the baby helmet is crochet (my own pattern). I like these because they are so fast!






I finally finished some items. :)

Pride and Joy

This Saturday we went to a friend's wedding. Jason was the ring bearer. He was a little character - he did well, walked up nice made a few mistakes (like going to stand next to dad vs. the groomsmen ) but he did well. But during the ceremony - he just couldn't let his personality hide - he showed out a bit. A little dancing, a little retying the shoes, a little waving to people in the audience, a little comedian.

That's one of my pride and joys :)

Janeen was a little lady too - she wanted to practice carrying a pillow so she could be a ring bearer for the next wedding :)

As for knitting and crocheting - of course I'm still busy. I've got tons of WIPs and just finshed a shawl. I'll get some pics posted when I get back from Seattle.

Now I'm trying to find baby patters -yes - I will have another pride and joy soon. A bit later in life than I had expected to be expecting - and we hadn't really decided to have 3. But life has a way of making up your mind for you!

Shawl Progress

I am making shawls. I while I love making them, they take forever. But I decided to post a few pics of them in progress.



The first shawl is made out of Jaegar Trinity. It is a cotton silk blend, DK weight. And I really like working with it. I thought I liked Silky Wool, but this is even softer. I am using the traditional feather and fan pattern. I'm also making a linen one, but I feel in love with the Trinity yarn and have made more progress on it.



The 2nd shawl is the KnitPick's Sock Memories Shawl (http://www.knitpicks.com/Projects/itemid_50416220/projects_display_yarn.aspx). I'm using Sock Garden from KnitPicks since their sock yarn is on clearance. It is very, very soft and affordable if I considered making this with something like Koigu or Cherry Tree Hill, although it would be stunning. Unfortunately - you cannot see the patter in my picture, but it looks like little houses. This is my most challenging, large lace project yet. But it is repetative and easy if you know lace. It's just challenging for me because I am new to lace. But I'm getting it. I like lace, it has replaced socks right now for me as what I love most to knit.

Last but not least - of course I have to add another picture of Janeen. My little girl is growing up so fast.

Miss Janeen

We finally let Janeen get a texturizer. She looks like such a lovely little lady.

Scarf and Shawl

A LOT has happened. I can't update everything on the blog - a girl has her little secrets you know. But I can update knit and crochet right?
This is a little lace scarf I made to practice knitted lace. It was pretty quick, made with Brown Sheep Cotton Fine. It was super soft to work with, but doesn't hold it's shape really well no matter how much a block it. Probalby would be better in a sweater instead of lace.


And this another lace shawl - made with a cotton/wool sock yarn. I like sock yarns for shawls. Just the right weight and a lot of yardage in the ball. This one took 3 balls - and it's over 60". I got the pattern from Jan Eaton's 200 Ripple Stiches book. I love that book and will definately make more items from it. I love this shawl but I think I am going to give it to someone who is having a rough time right now.

I can make lace!

It almost made me give up - but I just couldn't let that happen. I guess the first step toward victory is understanding I was twisting my stiches. You can't make lace with twisted stiches! I was also twisting my Yarn Overs - same deal. Then the *@$* ssk was driving me crazy. So I stopped doing it! I slip a stitch, knit the next stitch, then slip the slipped stich over the knitted stich, voila - left slanting decrease w/o the headache. The last victory was the easiest - rememer to count! The stiches need to add up - at least in the easy lace I am doing now - so count, and recount. That way - when I ended up w/ 40 stitches instead of 41 - I had only 1 row to frog vs. frogging the whole thing. Which had been my previous lace experiences. So this is a lace bag - made in a dk weight cotton. That is my other tip - cotton is great because you can see everything! It also doesn't felt or tangle the way something fuzzier sometimes does. A good beginning lace yarn. Also something other than lace weight. I had thought - lace knitting, lace weight, right? WRONG! the holes are all so big you can't tell what you are doing at all. So - cotton dk weight on size 2s worked perfectly for my first successful project. I'm going to start a scarf now while I work on my pie shawl (done in stockenette b/c I didn't want to risk lace yet). All of this is just working my way up to using some Helen's Lace my sister and I bought (each of us bought a skein). I don't want to waste it - so I want to master lace and the pi before starting my masterpiece :)

My penguin & birthday girl

Janeen at her birthday party. We had it at Fry's Roller rink. A lot of her school friends attended. Let me see if I can remember - Chase, Jessica, Alexis, Alexandria, Sean, Lisa, Katelyn (neighbor and classmate), Robbie, AJ, Jonathan, Victoria, Jason and I will try to remember the rest!



Janeen's class had a play at school. The little costumes they made were too cute. I just had to show her off.

Koigu socks

I finally finished my Koigu socks. They were too far done in the now infamous stockenette twist to turn back. But I like them anyway. The yarn feels so good on my feet. I've got to make more of these - of course with the correct stitch! They will be more strechy w/o my little twist.

Here are some other socks I've been working on:

And my sister's birthday socks:

>

Just call me twisted

I took my lovely koigu sock to a LYS today - and learn something new. Pretty amazing given I have been knitting for year and NEVER KNEW I TWISTED MY KNIT STITCH. Boy does that explain a lot. It explains why when I knit and purl it looks weird. My solution was to avoid it when ever possible and knit in the round. It also explains why knitting lace and the kitcheners stitch was so difficult. I knit continental, and after looking on the web apparently this is a common mistake for self-taught continental knitters. Good - I'm not too weird. I've done a bit of practicing to re-learn and I know how I do it now. And it does make the fabric look completely different!

I feel a bit silly - I'm dying to make something now that is knit correctly. Problem is I have too many projects 1/2 done with a twisted knit stitch!

Well - lessons learned:

1. You are never to old to learn, well relearn.
2. Just because it feels good, doesn't mean you are doing it right.
3. It's always good to ask an expert (although lots of people have looked at my knitting and didn't comment on what was wrong! Although my sister did come close a couple of weeks ago.)
4. Knitting the wrong way is still fun and addictive.
5. You can wear a lot of items that are knitted with a twisted stitch.
6. Now I can twist and untwist at will!
7. The fact that I now know my stitches in existing garments are twisted bugs me.
8. This explains why I had such a hard time with picking up stitches (the right leg would NEVER want to go in front), knit lace, and finish the sock with kitchner's.
9. Maybe I was sending a subliminal message to myself.
10. I'm glad I didn't teach more people (including my daughter) how to knit!

I made it!!! Christmas was wonderful, family and fun. Christmas Eve was at my sister's (http://mom2rays.blogspot.com) and Christmas after church was at mine. I love the time of year with lots of family and fellowship. And I really enjoyed giving handmade gifts again this year. This has been a huge outlet for me in allowing me to express my creativity.

Here are a few project's I've complted in my week off. I probably could have completed more if I had not started a new project everyday. This break I was a complete homebody and very unfocused. I wanted to use every yarn I own (which is a challenge given the size of my stash...) all at once and couldn't wait to start many projects. As a result, very few got very far along and I finished none of the projects I had started before Christmas. I can see what January is shaping up to be - a FO month!

Here are Jason's socks, of course I made them like just big enough to fit him. So chances are they will be Charmie socks very soon! And yes - they don't match on purpose!

And from the Twisted Sister's Sock Workbook, they had the idea of treasure bags. Basically a chance to play with sock patterns and techniques, but not have to do a heel or two of them!! I love sock yarn and I wanted to try out some new techniques so this was a great idea. Here is my first treasure bag!


And two more treasure bags in progress:


And lastly - I have not stopped with crochet. I read an idea for a crochet scarf, so this is it in progress. My plans for it is a lot more exciting than it looks right now, but it is taking a loooong time with sc with fingering weight!

Will I or will I not.....

make Christmas.
Will all the gifts be in their boxes, wrapped with names and cards?
Will they even all be off the needles or hooks?
Why that is part of the fun, leaving it until the nail bitting, hurried end.
And with the house 1/2 full of Seattle travel gear that has not been returned to the proper place.
And of course none of the food purchased, or even for that matter well planned for Christmas dinner.
And decorations, well - who needs decorations when there are family conversations to be had.
Who's worried, not me.
Merry Christmas.

Christmas Shrug

I made this shrug as a Christmas present for my sister, I wanted to suprise her but then had doubts....what if she doesn't like. So I showed it to her. She likes it :)

But I'll hold on to it until Christmas!

I found the pattern on knitting pattern central - here is the link: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=62184.0. I'm very grateful to the creative person who wrote out the pattern!!

I made it with Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky that I had in my stash. I had been wondering what to do with it. It was almost perfect, but I ran out of it on the sleeves! I bordered them in Debbie Bliss SuperCashmerino. Wow - that is a really nice yarn. I wish I could make a sweater in that - but that would be very pricy!

I am definately going to make more of this pattern for my nieces - but with less expensive yarn. I have some some woolease chunky that I think will work great.

Socks!

Can you guess my new knitting obsession - socks! Now that I have learned both magic loop and 2 needle method - I have a perfect portable project. DPs didn't work for me - they would always fall out while I was out and about. 2 circs or ML works great! Now I Loooove socks. The Paton's Classic Merino pair is for my grandma and the other one is made in magic strips and for me. It's a bit loose in the cuff, although it snugged up in the foot area. I'll have to wear it and it's mate w/ my clogs :)

A few more

Gift scarf in Moda Dea Dream yarn. Edit to post - the yarn is Aeire not dream :)

Poncho in Moda Dea Dream yarn. Sooo soft and yummy - but a bit too big :( Got to figure out how to make it smaller. so I can give it as a gift.

Yet another gift scarf - in baabaajoees. long and warm...

Too busy to blog!

I have been busy! Mostly too busy with work, and destessing with crochet and knitting. So I haven't blogged like I should. Here are some picks of my handiwork.

Gift scarf made out of soft stripping yarn.

Scrap lap robe granny square made out of yarn scraps. I can't believe how soft it is. I have to make another one of these.

Gift scarf made out of Alpaca yarn, yummy and soft!

Gift scarf made out of moda dea yarn.

Gift scarf made out of Mountain Colors sock yarn, double strand.