Rip

I found the mistake. I somehow added a few rows on the 3rd repeat.... so the whole side got ripped back. I decided I should use the full (last) ball of yarn so I hopefully won't need to start a new ball during the border. The first corner came out, but now on the second corner I am a row or two off. Can't find the same mistake again, but will have to look more closely. This is going to take a long time if I keep this pace up. I wish there was a way of checking as I go along.

Love the feel of this yarn and I really do like the pattern... enough that I want to do it again. Thinking I may do it in a DK weight so we can have a nice wool afghan for the winter. Someone on Ravelry had a beautiful one with a contrasting border.

Dana got his license this week and today was the first day driving on his own. I'm scared, but gotta let him go. Hopefully he has the skills to save himself and others from major injuries!

Field of Flowers Shawl

I'm coming near the end of the Field of Flowers shawl. I've gotten to the first corner of the the lace edging, but I'm stumped. The (very detailed) directions say I should be on row 18, but I'm on row 13. Ooops. Now what? Do I rip back or fudge it? I don't know what to do. The directions are so good, I don't know how I'm coming up so short. Where did those stitches go?

Love, love, love the yarn which is Alpaca from Knit Picks.

Knitting but no finishing

I've been knitting, but haven't finished anything. Currently working on a shawl. Pictures this weekend since it is raining right now.

knitting rut

I'm in a bit of a knitting rut! Have started and slowly worked on the button cuff gloves... my own version using the Handy Book of Patterns. I have a pinky and a ring finger so far. I'd like them done by the time I go to Paris at the end of January, but it's not looking good. I need to have a project going for the plane ride and it has to be sort of mindless so that I don't need to have a pattern on my lap or a lot of bulk with me, which means socks and that means I need these gloves done so I can use the needles! Plus I am late on TWO baby sweaters..... babies are born and growing fast....

The mittens are a Christmas present for my friend, Eamon. He's 6. They are Malabrigo. Gloves are Colinette Jitterbug, the picture does not do them justice because their color is really wonderful.

Christmas 2007

Christmas was very nice this year. Two new books: Selbuvotter Biography of Knitting Tradition and The Harmony Guides Lace & Eyelets . I plan on making some mittens in red and white with some Madeline Tosh yarn in a red/pink variegated skein and Bretton from Patternworks from my stash.

Sox , Sox, Socks!

So I finished the heel of the second sock while watching the SOX win the ALCS! I wanted to stop and just watch the game, but those Sox were making me too nervous with the potential tying run at home plate 3 times in a row. Thank goodness for J.P. I know I said I didn't think they'd get to the World Series this year, but look at that, I was wrong.

I am really liking the wool for this project. I picked it up at Patterworks in NH over Columbus Day weekend and had initially intended to make plain socks with red heels and toes, but it really lends itself better to cables. I still wanted a fairly simple, quick knit though, so I used just a simple twist stitch all around the cuff and then continued that down 2 sides of the sock. I like them although the cables sort of abruptly stop at the ankle. I think if I made them again I would make the cuff shorter, change to stocking stitch sooner with the 2 cables going down the sides. I have 2 more skeins and I'm thinking I'll be making some mittens or gloves or maybe these socks. Looks like I will have a whole lotta knitting time over the next 10 days....

Meanwhile, I have started some mitts for my son. I bought some Cascade baby alpaca on Saturday in sort of a green/blue colorway and started the Axel Mitts from Blue Garter. I had to adjust the pattern somewhat, because the way it is written makes the initial cables not really line up with the ribbing. Also my son wanted the palm side to be 3 x 1 ribbing. So I reworked the pattern to adjust it and now I am thinking I am not crazy about how the cable is worked. Once the second cross is started it looks a bit wonky. I am thinking that the second cross of the cable needs to start while the first is feathering out to the sides still. I'll have to play with it a bit to see how it looks. It is a quick knit though, so easy to rip back and re-do. Here is the progress so far:

This picture is closer to the true color which is much more suitable for a teenage boy:


More later. I have a Red Sox hangover which needs to be caught up on before Wednesday....

Shawl's done, Sox in progress

The shawl is done! I finished in time for the wedding in August that my husband and I attended. It was perfect shawl weather and I got plenty of compliments. The wedding planner at the hotel was a knitter and recognized the pattern... nothing like a striking pattern to bring out the knitters!

The next shawl pattern I want to do is the Swallowtail shawl also from Interweave Knits. It is much smaller, so I hope it will be quick enough for a Christmas gift. Knitting Sunshine has a really nice one on her blog.

Red Sox are still hanging in there, but the "believe" factor is not there like it was in 2004, so I can't see them pulling it off this year. It sure is good sock knitting though, I've finished one pair and am onto a second pair.

It turns out I am not the only crafter in the family... Today my son needed a birthday gift for a friend at school. We walked on over to Beadworks and found a necklace and he actually made a set of earrings to match. He and I picked out some matching beads to the necklace and the girls at the store taught him how to use the tools and make the earrings. They came out really great.

















Not that I need another diversion for my spare time, but what a great idea for gifts. We'll definitely be back there before Christmas time. Here is a picture of the necklace he matched:

testing

testing

what progress?

Oh my word, it has been a long time. I am working on the other shawl.... the Icarus shawl. I am at the lacey edge, but it is slow going now because there are so many stitches. I like it alot though. In fact I can see myself knitting both these shawls again. Except that I have a Fiber Arts pattern for another shawl that I may try. It's really hard to get a picture of any progress because I can't stretch it out well enough, so that'll have to wait.

The baby sweaters are starting to need attention though.... and I am already behind. My attention has been diverted to gardening at the moment. My backyard fence is up. But the mud is sort of taking over! Pictures tomorrow.

Finished Object!

I've finished a shawl.... not the one mentioned below, but one that I had started a while back (like maybe last year, I forget). It is the Kiri shawl from All Tangled Up.




It has a fern motif and a simple edging suitable for beginning lace knitters. The pattern was easy to memorize, it was started at the neck edge and gradually got bigger (so less intimidating than casting on a huge number of stitches) and no fancy lace edging to knit on at the end. I got close to ending it several months ago, but made an error right at the point that required ripping back to the previous pattern repeat. I finally got brave (or maybe bored) enough to stop tinking back and instead pulled the whole thing off the needles and ripped. Ripping kid silk haze is a nightmare, but I managed not to get a pile of knots. Then I realized that I was at the point where I should have been doing the edging anyway, so I commenced with the edging yesterday and it's done. I'm very pleased with it.

This:



is the shawl I talked about below. It's the Icarus Shawl from Interweave Knits (Summer 06 I think). This is also a fairly easy pattern. The yarn is Helen's Lace (silk, merino wool blend) and it is very nice to knit with. I am using size 5 Clover needles and have moved right along. I am nearly at the point of starting the bottom lace section. This shawl also started at the neck edge and has gradually gotten wider.

My great Aunt Dede is turning 100 years old next month and my intention is to give her one of the shawls. So at least one is done and blocking which may make the final decision as to which one she will get, but I am hoping to have the Icarus done by then too. That one will really look good with her blue eyes.

I have already ordered some more lace yarn from Knitpicks....

Finished Object!

I've finished a shawl.... not the one mentioned below, but one that I had started a while back (like maybe last year, I forget). It is the Kiri shawl from All Tangled Up.





It is advertised as an easier design than Birch for new lace knitters and I think that is true. The pattern was easy to memorize, it was started at the neck edge and gradually got bigger (so less intimidating than casting on a huge number of stitches) and no fancy lace edging to knit on at the end. I got close to ending it several months ago, but made an error right at the point that required ripping back to the previous pattern repeat. I finally got brave (or maybe bored) enough to stop tinking back and instead pulled the whole thing off the needles and ripped. Ripping kid silk haze is a nightmare, but I managed not to get a pile of knots. Then I realized that I was at the point where I should have been doing the edging anyway, so I commenced with the edging yesterday and it's done. I'm very pleased with it.

This:



is the shawl I talked about below. It's the Icarus Shawl from Interweave Knits (Summer 06 I think). This is also a fairly easy pattern. The yarn is Helen's Lace (silk, merino wool blend) and it is very nice to knit with. I am using size 5 Clover needles and have moved right along. I am nearly at the point of starting the bottom lace section. This shawl also started at the neck edge and has gradually gotten wider.

My great Aunt Dede is turning 100 years old next month and my intention is to give her one of the shawls. So at least one is done and blocking which may make the final decision as to which one she will get, but I am hoping to have the Icarus done by then too. That one will really look good with her blue eyes.

That Mistake

I discovered the mistake on St. Brigid without having to rip more than one row. It turns out I reversed direction in the middle of a row, while knitting at a soccer game... Obviously the soccer must have been more interesting. So I am back on track. I need one more pattern repeat I think for the back to be done. I am making this a little bit shorter than the pattern states.

The weather changed this weekend thankfully. I even did a little bike-riding on one of my favorite bike paths: the Minuteman bike path in Lexington. Not only is it very scenic, but also Wild and Wooly is nearby. And I just so happened to find a gorgeous skein of lace yarn in turquoise to start the shawl. Or maybe I should make something more interesting.......mmmmmmmmmmmm.

The wayward travelers are home, exhausted with plenty of stories to tell.

Second Sock, Shawl anyone?

I am sick of the "spring" already. It doesn't help that my husband is in France for the week enjoying 80-85 degree sunshine while I am left here in the cold and drizzle making sure the sump pump still works and doing laundry in my snow boots.

I'm working on the second cable sock. J's gymnastic meet on Sunday left me 5 hours to get it started. Since I added a few stitches to the first sock, I had to use that one to figure out where I added them (naturally I didn't write anything down the first time). This sucky spring weather has me looking at pretty things to make for the summer... I am inspired by this and am thinking of ordering the yarn in the green/purple colorway. I'm not really a shawl kind of person, but maybe I will become one. Also, my great Aunt Dede is turning 100 years old in June. Maybe she deserves a pretty shawl.

Bella Bunny

Isn't she cute? I think this might be the first toy I've ever made.... which is amazing because I really have been knitting for more than 20 years. I had a lot of fun making her and the little top and skirt. I think there might be another one of these in my future.

Happy Easter

I need a camera phone I think. Once again no pictures today. Wednesday I promise!

I was working on the very cute Bella Bunny from And So to Bed for my daughter for Easter. It came out so cute. I changed the pattern to make it in the round so there would be less seaming. It was pretty easy, even sewing on the ears, arms and legs. The skirt took much longer than I expected, and so did the crochet edging, but I am glad I did it because it completed the outfit nicely (even though I finished at 1 am). It was not at all hard, just seemed to take a long time. The book has some really cute projects in it all in different yarn weights. The other Lucinda Guy book is really cute too. I like the edgings she uses and the color patterns. There is a great dinosaur sweater for a little boy that I can see making for my friend's son. I am not a huge fan of intarsia, but that sweater is something he would really love.

Still haven't seamed that cute sweater from Sublime Knits, but since the baby is soon to be here and probably will only wear it for a month I'm thinking I better get on it. Stay tuned...

Yarn choices

Sadly I have nothing to take pictures of. I made some good progress on St. Brigid, but found a mistake about 7 rows down and needed to drop down and try and fix it. Not good soccer-watching knitting. The cabled sock number one is done and I have not cast on yet for number two... because I started a tea cozy. My LYS is having a contest on the best tea cozy and entries are required by the 31st. Mine is for my little two cup tea pot that I use nightly. I always wished I had a cozy for it. I have cast on 3 times and ripped back twice. 3rd time's a charm I hope. It will be totally impractical because the tea will drip down the spout and stain it, but I didn't want one that I had to take off and put back on every time I poured a cup. I actually thought about knitting it up in a brown yarn, but a pink alpaca won over. I'll post a picture later.

The baby sweater pieces are blocking before I sew them up. Meantime I did some surfing last night and found someone who knit a beautiful sweater in some Sublime yarn (not the baby yarn) that has totally pilled and gotten fuzzy with very little wear. I hope that doesn't happen with the little hat I made, but I am going to run it through the wash a few times to see if it is worth using that yarn for a baby sweater. In the past I have used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran for baby sweaters. I thought it was great because it was machine washable, but since all the sweaters I made were gifts, I never really saw how well they stood up to multiple washings until I made my son fingerless mitts with the same yarn. He wore them to school in the winter for several weeks and then I noticed them on his desk, ignored, looking shabby, pilly and old. I could not believe how horrible they looked. I used the sweater stone on them and it did revive them, but now I have re-considered my choice of wool for baby items. Maybe the microfiber in the cashmerino is what makes it so pilly? I don't know, but a mother of a baby has lots more to do than have to use a sweater stone on a baby sweater. Also, if one is going to spend the time to knit a sweater (especially an adult-sized sweater) with fairly expensive yarn, it had better hold up through several wearings/washings. I love knitting blogs.... I get so much useful information!

Sick Day

Yesterday was a total washout weather-wise, but I was home with J. who was sick with the stomach bug. I spent half the day with a headache probably from poor sleep during the night, but managed to do a few things later in the day. Here is the picture of "Sunday Best Cardigan" from The little Sublime hand knit book. I just love the bottom edge (and the fact that you don't have to do all the edging at the end by picking up 300 stitches).

I finished the two front pieces and the back, started a sleeve while watching Ballykissangel series 3 and realized I had decreased instead of increased (not once but twice). So sleeve one is still only about 2 inches. Obviously the dynamics between Fr. Peter and Assumpta who recently got married held my attention far more than the directions did.

I also made these:

It is a chocolate cupcake with brown sugar icing from the book Perfect Light Desserts which I received from my friends Brigid and Kate at Christmas. (They know me so well.) I am not usually much of a cake fan but these cupcakes are so moist and delicious. They are a perfect chocolate pick me up. They have 280 calories, so not exactly light when you eat two of them, but not so bad if you eat just one (a real challenge). The texture is dense but not heavy and the brown sugar icing is a perfect compliment to the rich chocolate taste.

March

I hate March. The month of mud. Because in New England you get these teaser days where everyone says "spring is here" but you know that is never true. It always turns back to winter several times before spring sticks. The crocuses pop up and it looks hopeful on that sunny day until you get this:

Winter storm warning in effect until 12 pm edt Saturday. flood watch in effect from 8 pm edt this evening through Saturday afternoon,

Tonight: snow and sleet this evening, then freezing rain and rain after midnight. Precipitation may be heavy at times. Snow and sleet accumulation of 4 to 8 inches. Brisk with lows in the upper 20s. Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.
Saturday: rain in the morning, then rain likely with a chance of freezing rain in the afternoon. Rain may be heavy at times in the morning. Brisk and cold with highs in the mid 30s. North winds 15 to 25 mph, becoming northwest 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.
Saturday Night: mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries. Lows in the lower 20s. Northwest winds around 15 mph.

There is no place for all that water to go when you live in house without gutters... except for the basement. Now why, you ask don't we put gutters up? Because this house is old and has a hip roof that is slate. In order to put gutters up and to not look ugly, someone would have to figure out how to attach them to these strutt thingys and it would probably have to be made of copper. Not an easy job = expensive. Maybe we should do it ourselves? Hahhahahahahahahahahah surely you jest.

In knitting news, I put aside St.B. for a new quick project. I was browsing AC Moore the other day and they had all their yarn on sale at 25% off. So I picked up some cotton blend yarn to make that little sweater from the Sublime baby book. I had read on someone's post that a particular brand of cotton blend yarn worked up great for baby items because it was washable and held up well despite multiple wearings/washings. I didn't find that yarn, but I found something similar I think. It is 51% cotton and 49%Acrylic. I like to use natural fibers, but with baby clothes washability is important, although not so important that I would use totally man-made fibers any more.

I don't know what posessed me to knit these in pieces like it says to. It makes more sense to knit a raglan in one piece I think. But I didn't do it that way, so seaming will be in my future. I hate seaming almost as much as March. Progress pictures later, as the camera is out of batteries again. (I know, I know, rechargeables!)

One foot of Saint Brigid

Saint Brigid is slowly progressing. I have a foot's worth and it is getting easier to knit, still checking the chart but not nearly as closely as before. I have even ventured to bring it out for knitting in public.
I also found the most adorable baby knits book from Sublime . I bought 2 skeins of yarn intending to do this sweater, but cast on for this hat instead. It was super easy to make. I adjusted the pattern a little to work in the round once the ear flaps were done.

It looks a little like the crown of the hat is too shallow, but I think it is just the angle of the picture. I also started a bootie, but I'm not crazy about the shape. I think I didn't pay close enough of attention to the rows as a I was knitting it, so I think I'll be frogging and redoing. Also, it seems like I should do a provisional cast on so that I can graft the edge together and it will more closely match the other side of the sole. More on that later.

Saint Brigid at One Week

This is all the progress I have on St. Brigid. It is slow going, but I love the feel of the yarn and am determined to get to the finish line even if it's a while from now. I am already on the 3rd ball of yarn which is a bit anxiety provoking. What if I get to the sleeves and I don't have enough after all this work? I started with 20 skeins and the yardage is similar to the pattern yarn. I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Here is a picture of my progress next to the pattern picture...


I don't plan on making mine quite as long as the pattern and I am omitting the fringe. While knitting last night, I watched my latest Netflix dvd: Ballykissangel. It's good motivation to watch while knitting an Irish jumper! I really wish it was still in production, it's a very well done series set in Ireland with a whole mass of great characters living in an idyllic Irish town. I used to catch it here and there on PBS on Friday nights (I think), but at the time my kids were much younger and I never got to watch it every week. So my Netflix queue has the whole series lined up. I love the quirkiness of the characters and the relationship between the priest and the athiest pub owner. It's great, I love Netflix.