Neato things on Etsy

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

My new hero....


Thanks to Sister Diane for sharing this picture from Allison Hoffman!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

A few weeks ago I attended my cousin's wedding in Hawaii.  It was an elegant and touching celebration, with a bunch of fun sprinkled throughout.  To this day I'm still amazed by how gorgeous Stella is.  All right, I confess, I'm a little envious too.  I mean, look at her?  Who wouldn't be?


There was a special special photographer just for the guests during the reception.  This picture should give an idea of the mood of the occasion (I'm the one red, on the left).


Oh what fun we had!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Our friends Elaine and Craig just welcomed their first baby into the world. So cute!


Thursday, October 27, 2011

Sweater so far

The pattern is a take off of Pink by Wendy Bernard. I added the cable down the front; most likely I'll do something similar to the sleeves.  The raglan sweater is knit top-down, in the round (read: no seams!).  Yarn is Malabrigo Merino Worsted in the Stonechat colorway.  (It is s SOOOOO soft. I kept petting it as I knit.)


I'm hoping to finish this in another couple of weekends.  The weather has turned and I can't wait to wear it!


Saturday, October 22, 2011

Rows and Columns



Oooo.  It's been a while.  I've been knitting but haven't had time to put up pictures.  Here are 2 of the most recent projects.  The bunny is a gift, and the hat is unclaimed.  I made it on a whim to try a new technique.  Isn't it cool how the colors came out?  In knitting, it's easy to make rows of changing colors but columns are harder.  This "knit-one-below" technique I used on the hat allows me to make columns with relative ease.  Neat, eh?

But now I'm done,  I'm not sure what to do with the hat.  I'll probably donate it. 





Monday, September 5, 2011

Ruffles

About 3 weeks ago I had to fly to Florida for work.  The 7+hours-each-way flight gave me plenty of time to knit. Prior to the trip, I had restarted a pair of socks I first tried to make 3 years ago.  Back then I didn't have the best of instructions and I messed up several times before finally putting it aside. But I never gave up. Recently I decided to try again, this time armed with a better understanding of socks and a good technique book. This trip provided the necessary opportunity to focus.

Result? Hee hee.  I learned lots and had lots of fun making up the pattern as I went.  Maybe I'll wear it out to dinner next time.  I mean, who doesn't love a bit of frilly ruffles on their feet?


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Finally, a picture!

I finished Sandy's cardigan a while back but finally I have a picture to show!


Sandy looks so naturally cute!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Quick one to share

Work, work, chores, chores, Tim, Moose, and perhaps knitting.  My life in 9 short words.

Did I mention last time that the cardigan was finished?  Sandy promised me a picture when the weather becomes bearable for the wearing of a wool sweater.  I must say it looked nicer off the needles than on the needles.

Now I'm making myself a pair of toe-up socks.  I tried on the first sock last week and, boy, it's too big (again!). While I love the colors of the yarn, I'm not so happy with my gauge.  Oh well, I'm not ripping this sucker out again.  I'll plow through and give it to the first person whose feet fits.  This pair taught me a lot and I (think) I will be ok letting it go.




And one more for the road (I did not make this):
From Mochimochi Land
http://mochimochiland.com/2011/07/simons-family-photo-crew/

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Time proves elusive once again

One of my favorite quotes is by John Lithgow.  He said "Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug."

Two whole months zips by in the blink of an eye, and yet I never seem to quite grasp this reality.  Can someone please make people quantum mechanical?  Then it'll be natural for us to be in two states at once. No more having to decide between chores and knitting, walking Moose or relaxing with Tim at home. Yes? Please??

Back on Earth, some knitting updates. I am still, yes STILL! working on Sandy's cardigan. I'm almost done with the second sleeve, and next I need to block and sew the pieces together. A few more weekends...sigh.

My knitting time has been relegated to a few hours on weekends, and I spend a lot of that trying to figure out where I left off.  Not very efficient, and I'm so tired of this project. But the dogmatic finisher in me plows on.  I will do a happy dance the day the cardigan is DONE!

I am also knitting a creature.  Sometimes I want to keep my hands busy, but I need to pay attention to something other than the pattern. So brainless projects like dish towels or creatures come in handy.  I've cast off a dish cloth already.  Wanna see?
Creature needs a name!


Dish cloth
Oh, and some pictures of past sweaters.  They were Christmas gifts, and finally I got to upload them.

Mike, my Father-in-Law
Francine, my Mother-in-Law
Lastly, my brother a new baby girl.  Everyone in my family is going nuts over her, and the women have lost control at stores buying every girly outfit ever made. Melanie is a cutie though, and her baby powers are immense.  Behold!

The dryer just buzzed; back to work...

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Wow

Is it really April? Did I blink one too many times yesterday? What happened?!?!

This seeming-time-warp is marked by my progress on Sandy's cardigan.  I started the project 2 months ago and it is still not done.  I've worked on it fairly steadily almost every night, but man, it iss slugging along and I so want it to be done.

So here it is so far.  Back, left side, and most of the right side are done (picture was taken last week and I've progressed).  Now I have to power through the sleeves then sew it all together.  Then I will do a little happy dance!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Late night mistakes

Wow...it is March.  I am reminded of a quotation I read a while back: "Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug." (John Lithgow).  Any who, moving on otherwise I'll start anticipating Christmas (in 293 days by the way).


I was working on Sandy's "Lace and Cables" cardigan yesterday.  I knitted most of the day, then some more before bed.  At about midnight, I looked down and...woah...where are the last round of cables?!?!


I started to "fix" the problem by dropping the stitches down 4 rows then reknitting the cables.  But my eyes were droopy and the lacy yarn-overs got in the way.   So in a fit of frustration I ripped the stupid thing back.   All the while mumbling to myself "don't fix mistakes when you are tired.  Go to bed. Tomorrow it'll be less tangly and easier to fix."  But I can't leave a knot or unfinished business alone, so how can I let a mistake be? 


Well, my brain went on strike so I had to set it down.  And it was a good thing.  


This morning I woke up still thinking about the cardigan.  (I'm not obsessed....I'm not!).  I reviewed the offensive row and it's not so bad!  1/2 hour later the cardigan is fixed and all's right with the world again.  Yeah!  Wanna see?






Also, I took a break last week and made myself a cowl.  It was cold and I wanted something warm around my neck.I made up the pattern and used up some left-over yarn.  2 New Years goals in 1 project.  How awesome is that?



Sunday, February 6, 2011

A family of hats

I'm amazed by how far one can stretch 2 balls of yarn.  I made 2 adult hats and 2 preemie hats all from the same 2 balls of Naturally Caron Country.

My favorite is the pink and gray preemie hat because I made up the “design” (if you can even call it that).  I used some leftover Lion Brand Wool-Ease for the pink stripe, and just LOVE how the colors  contrasted. Very cute!  It is such a freeing feeling to make your own designs.  The phrase "I can do anything I want!" kept popping into my mind while I was knitting.  =) What a thrill!







Thursday, January 27, 2011

Mitts for Me!

I finished the fingerless mitts last week. It was a great way to use that odd ball of yarn I had lying around.  I used the mitten pattern in Ann Budd's "Handy book of Patterns" but left out the finger-tips.

I had enough yarn left over to fool around a bit.  So I made an impromptu mug-cozy-bookmark-headband-thingy. Fun!


Next up is hat #2 for my mom.  This time the darn thing better fit or it will become a hand bag.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

2 fingerless mitts at the same time

I'm making myself another pair of fingerless mitts.  I love my first pair but it is (or is it "they are") so worn out!  These things are great at keeping my hands warm while allowing me to use my phone-and-podcast-player.

I decided to make both mitts at the same time, on 2 circular needles, from the same ball of yarn.  In other words, frequently tangled needles and yarn causing much gnashing of teeth.

Here is the beast, in its "harmless" state:


I hope to be done with them today so I can start my mom's hat (#2).

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Half an inch

Ahh... I learned the significant of 1/2 inch yesterday.  I made a hat for my mom that turned out gorgeous.  Great colors and not bad knitting for my first fair-isle project.  But when my mom put it on, it was 1/2 inch too tight and 1 inch too short. Sigh... Back to the drawing board. I *will* make her a hat that fits!
Here's is the hat, which I shall be wearing now.


And poor Moose had to wear a cone for the past week.  He scratched his right eye somehow and it got all red and swollen.  For 4 days Mr. cone-head wobbled around and bumped into everything.  On one hand it was super  funny and cute, but on the other hand it was sad to see him so flustered.



But the cone is off now and his eye is all better.  Thanks to Dr D at Companion Animal Hospital!