FO-Piper's Journey

Good Morning!!

I finished Piper's Journey this weekend, washed and blocked it just in time for a cold snap. My craftroom is the basement which gets very cold in the winter. I have a heater going but its still very cold. This morning we woke up to 11 degrees, so I put the scarf around my neck and it really makes a difference!!

This weekend was a lot of starting projects. I began the sweater I wanted to make February Lady by Pamela Wynne out of Caron Simply Soft acrylic yarn in worsted weight. Its a top down pattern which I really like. I can try it on as I go to make sure it will fit. I have had the worst luck with sweaters over the many years I have been knitting. In a drawer I have a sweater of simple stockinette that I knit a few years ago that would fit 2 of me! I don't usually swatch and that sweater is the result. I swatched for the February Lady and didn't get gauge exactly so I went up a size on the pattern.

I also started a pair of socks in a pink yarn that I bought at the Fiber in the Park fest in Earlville, Illinos this last September. It's a superwash merino/nylon blend in a really pretty pink colorway. I didn't save the label so I'm not sure who the merchant was but it wasn't her yarn anyway. I thought I would try one of the textured patterns I found for the December Sock Knitter's Anonymous KAL. Its called Athos-Musketeer Socks by Caoua Coffee. I just have the ribbing and 1/2 of the pattern repeat finished. Just as a side note: if you have never been to the Fiber in the Park event you should go. I live just west of Chicago and Earlville is about an hour's drive from my house but it is one of my favorite events.  Its in a  park in the middle of corn fields with a concrete sheltered area where the vendors set up their tables. The local church hosts a food set up for a charity and a variety of local musicians play-mostly country music. It is just such a country, hometown feel and I don't mind the drive to experience it. That's the place where I bought my first wheel, and another attendee at the time helped me set it up and figure out how to use it.

I had ordered more yarn to make socks for my son. I found some Paton Strech Socks, a cotton/wool/nylon/elastic blend in black. The color might create a challange so I'll only knit when the lighting is good.Its really stretchy yarn. I'm using a size 0 needle so it will take a while to finish them. I'm doing a 2x2 rib, heel flap, and gusset pick on these socks. This style seem to fit him better.

I had ordered some yarn from an indie dyer called Knit and Fiber Creations. I got a lux blend with superwash merino, cashmere and nylon. Its so soft! Its called Bella's Wedding Day from her Twilight inspired colorways. It is mostly white with browns and reds.

 I wanted to make a new scarf for myself called the Chinook Scarf by Ali Green. I knit 2 of these for Christmas gifts for my daughters and they love them.

Well, that's it for today.
Happy Knitting!!

Project Bags, Con't

I finally got pictures taken of the bags that I made:

They aren't perfect but are usable. As I make more, I'm sure I'll get better at it. I printed the pattern from a blog I found and I can't remember where it was, so I searched and found a really nice tutorial here. She calls it a dopp kit which she says is a traditional term for a toiletry bag. This bag is not lined, so try this one if lining is important to you. You can modify the size according to the zipper you have and square off the sides and still have a box like bag.

WIP
Here are some pictures of my works in progress:
First is Piper's Journey.

This is a very easy, and pretty fast shawl. The body is knit in garter stitch and the lacy edging is added to the body. I was at the point of adding the edging before I knew it, and the edge pattern is simple to memorize. I like this colorway and its a sport weight yarn so it will be warm. I'm using Knit Picks Felici Sport in the monochrome colorway on size 5 needles.




The next WIP is the blanket I have been working on for my new great nephew due on 1/15.

The yarn is Lion's Brand worsted in the Denim colorway and I'm using size 8 needles. I'm not really using a pattern, just found the specs for a diagonal pattern that will be a rectangle. I would rather that the blanket was more than just a square. I'm about 1/3 of the way through this one.


That's the update on knitting. Just a quick personal note, my son will be returning to his ship tonight ( U.S.S. Nimitz) and we probably won't see him again until November when he is released. Long discussions with him yesterday really made it clear to me how difficult is it to be a young man today. But, he keeps moving forward and I am extremely proud of him.

Here's EM3 John S Forrester: United States Navy

Project Bags

I am a huge fan of the KnitGirllls podcast. Laura (aka LaLa) and Leslie (aka udontcallmeles) are so down to earth and honest about their knitting successes and failures,  and their lives that it has really given me a good perspective on my own knitting life/obsessesion. When I discovered the podcast, I took a few weeks and watched all the old episodes so I would be up to date with them. One of the etsy shops that they loved was Piddleloop project bags. I put one on my Christmas list based on their recommendations. I'm not saying that its not cute, cause it is but as you can see from my hand in the picture below, its rather small. I can fit a  2-50 gr balls of yarn and a sock on DPN's wip inside it. That is fine for a pair of socks but the cost was $23. The constuction is nice. It's lined and has some interfacing for support. There's a zipper and the handles are ribbon but....$23?

So I went online and found a pattern for a similar bag and for a drawstring bag (which I did wrong but who cares, and another bag that is longer) that uses just under 2 fat quarters. I paid $.99 each for the fat quarters and the zippers I have on hand from when JoAnn's Fabrics moved their store a couple years ago, I think I paid like $.50 ea for them. Now that I know how simple it is to make the project bags, I don't think I'll buy them again. I'll get some pictures of the bags I made to post soon.

Also for Christmas I asked for a couple books that I will review as soon as I have had the chance to really look at them. One is a book of knitting stitches that is awesome, and the other is of baby knits. I'll try something in there for the new great nephew coming any day.

That's what I have to share for today. Happy Knitting!!

Happy New Year!

It's starting to feel as tho things are beginning to get back to normal. Our family Christmas was held on Dec 30 to accomodate our son's leave from the Navy. It was a wonderful day, as most of our Christmas' are. We have 2 new additions this year: Dave is my oldest daughter's new boyfriend. Very nice young man who is well liked by the family. The second is our youngest daughter's boyfriend, Justin. They have a very sweet story. Justin has been our son's best friend since middle school. In high school they were together all the time so it was common for Justin to hang out at our house to play video games, etc. Our daughter had of course developed a crush on him some time ago but last summer when Justin was invited to her graduation party, a relationship began to develop. They have been dating exclusively now for 3 months. Justin is really already a part of our family.

The day after Christmas was New Year's Eve which was a busy night for us. Neighbors joined us and we had a fabulous time playing Farkle. I do have to say that I felt like I had been cooking and washing dishes for days and days!! Things have calmed down but since our son is still home, we have a few more days before the normal quiet sets back in.

I got the kids to stand still long enough for pictures yesterday so here are my kids, their special people and our youngest grandson Luke.

Nice looking crowd!!

So, on to more important things: Knitting

I wasn't able to get pictures but my holiday knitting was good. I finished the hats for the big boys, 2 Chinook Scarfs for my girls, the Advent scarf for my mother, socks for Mom and the youngest daughter. I had to IOU the afghan for Justin, not enough time.

I just finished a pair of socks for my son- a superwash/nylon blend sock yarn from Hobby Lobby knit on size 1 needles in a ribbed pattern, turned heel.  I wanted him to be able to take them back to the ship when he leaves this week.

I have a niece due to have a little boy next week (yes, I'm behind) so I started a diagonal blanket in a Lion Brand worsted denim blue yarn on size 8 needles. The yarn is wonderfully soft so will make a nice blanket for him. I will have to really get busy and then get it mailed to Las Vegas where they live.

I had started a child's sweater before Christmas for the World Vision group on Ravelry that I would like to get going. Below is where I left off. I'd like to make several sweaters to send.



I have ordered a lot of sock yarn so that is in my future and I really wanted to knit a sweater for myself soon. I have in my library on Rav the February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne. It's an older pattern but I think it will work nicely with my body type and my needs. I'll have to look at my stash to see what worsted weight yarn I have available.

Well, I guess its time to get to work so here's wishing everyone a great day and Happy Knitting!!

Back in the Swing

It has been a couple difficult weeks in my household so I have been lax in posting my efforts. But, as Christmas approaches and illnesses have diminished, I can once again begin with my blog and keeping up on events and knitting progress. I don't have photos to share but I will describe what I have accomplished (or set aside) and set a few goals for the coming weeks.

Just as many Americans are doing now, I have been in the midst of Christmas preparation. Handmade items are being completed and wrapped to give as gifts. The crocheted afghan for my daughter's boyfriend has been tabled because I have to make it fit such a large person. He is 6'3" so I had planned on making it 54 x 72. I made 4 squares of a modified log cabin pattern and then put them together-2 on each side- with alternating rows of 2 colors. Then I started to frame that whole section in a 3rd color. But time is running out so Justin will get an IOU for a afghan and a store bought blanket until I can get that one finished.

I found myself infected again with another illness, possibly flu, so I got behind on the Advent Scarf KAL from the Ravelry group. But in the last few days I have almost caught up and should have it finished tonight. I'll wash and block it for wrapping for a Christmas gift. The daily quotes that came with the patterns will be bound to go along with the scarf. I hate to speak ill of anyone but I have to say that I am disappointed with the pattern for this KAL. There were several days of patterns that  were written wrong or had to be modified to fit stitch count. I would have thought that the test knitters would have picked up on the mistakes. If this was a free pattern, I wouldn't say anything but I paid for it and some people even purchased yarn from the shop to knit it. It seemed like the pattern instructions and recommendations just weren't right for this pattern and many of the people in the group found they had to change things like recommended needle size and yarn requirements. But, even so, the scarf is pretty and I think my mother will enjoy it.

I am on the 2nd sock of the short sock pattern that I have been making for my youngest daughter. Originally I have intended to make it toe up with an afterthought heel, but time constraints for Christmas were not condusive to so many new techniques at once. So I went back to the tried and true top down, and gusset pattern. I'll work on learning the afterthought heel when time allows.

There are just a few rows to go for the hats that I had started some time ago. Then 2 more gifts will be completed. All the dishcloths have been completed and gifts given to co-workers. I ended up with a callous on my index finger from knitting with the cotton. I really didn't enjoy knitting with cotton so I won't do such a large project again.

Another event last week really affected our family and left a bit of a hole. My oldest daughter who was about 16 weeks pregnant suffered a miscarriage on December 10. It is really amazing how quickly a child becomes an intregal part of your family and all future plans include the expected addition. We have had to rethink and replan to adjust for the changes. Life does go on but this baby will always be remembered. She will in my heart be my first granddaughter.

As the final days for Christmas are counted down, so many things still need to be done. Baking, gift wrapping, house cleaning, etc. But as always the time with family is the most important part of the holiday. I love the joy the kids all share with opening gifts. The best Christmas is when the paper flies!! If I don't have the opportunity to get back to my blog before Christmas, I want to wish everyone a safe and happy day. Keep those who have experienced such tragedies in your thoughts this holiday season.

God Bless!!

It's Monday again!

Another week has passed and I have been so focused on work, and the items that I am knitting, that I have not taken the time to add to my blog. But work is not caught up and I did complete some things over the weekend.

The 24 dishcloths that I knit have now be added to the soap that I molded into pink hearts, with the candy cane mouse and the beaded candy cane ornament (kits from Oriental Trading Co). I will add a few pieces of candy and thats the gift for office people.

I also finished 4 of my Christmas Washclothes that I started earlier in the week. Those are gifts for my direct co-workers along with items from Bath and Body Works.

I still have to catch up with the advent scarf. I had trouble with the stitch count on day 6 and haven't started back up. There was an error posting so I will give it a try again.  Today is day 10 so I have a good bit to do.

I have worked some of the modified log cabin afghan. I'm almost done on the 2nd square with 4 more to go. I hope I'm able to finish before Christmas. Still have the hats, fingerless gloves and the short socks to finish. As usual, I have bitten off more than I can chew. I read on Rav where a person posted that having the deadline of Christmas for gift making ruined her knitting mojo for months afterward. The truth is that the people I give handmade gifts to do not really appreciate the time, effort and money that goes into making them, but I really love sharing. So I think I should resolve to either make fewer items or start earlier in the year!

Here's to a wonderful week of knitting!!
Happy Knitting all!

I'm Back!!

I have to apologize for my extended absence from my blog. We had a trip over the Thanksgiving weekend to Atlanta Georgia for a celebration of my husband's grandmother's 100th birthday.
Here's a pic of this incredible woman:

From our house, it is a 13 hour drive. We rented a bigger vehicle so the grandkids and our  daughters were with us and drove through the night on 11/21. We had a wonderful time visiting with family and sharing the incredible occasion, but I also came down with a cold. Most people wouldn't have the problems with a cold as I do (I suffer from lung disease) but my cold became a 10 day ordeal. Traveling probably didn't help. So though I had planned to return to work on 11/29, I didn't until 12/3 so work is a little behind as well.

But tho I was ill, it didn't stop me from knitting!! I finished 24 dishcloths to give as gifts to the folks who work near me:

I have also started the advent scarf---3 times now. The patterns are wonderful, I just can't seem to find the yarn I would like to use. First was in a sport weight Hobby Lobby yarn that was soft but just didn't have enough body. Then I used a superwash/nylon sock weight but it wasn't soft enough. Now I'm using  Knit Picks stroll in the Frosting handpainted colorway. Here's what I have done so far:

I also am working a pair of socks in a the Knit Picks Felici yarn (self striping) in a toe up, afterthought heel pattern on 2 circular needles for a short sock. The whole process is new to me because I always do top down, long top,  gussett socks on DPN's. It's a Christmas gift for my youngest daughter.

I also have a pair of socks on the needle, the 2nd square top hat, a simple pair of fingerless mitts, and a modified crocheted log cabin pattern afghan. All have to be finished for Christmas! I am nothing if not ambicious!!. I also was hoping to have the time to make a couple monsters for my grandsons as gifts too but I'll wait until I have the rest of my projects completed before I try.

So that is my update for today. Thanks for you patience with me.

Happy Knitting!!