Thursday, December 27, 2007

Finished Floral Lace Anklets

I can't believe it but Christmas night I finally finished a the Floral Lace Anklets I'd been working on since August. I had two repeats of lace pattern left and knit them after everyone went home while watching Lifetime Christmas (sob) movies.

Everything else I'd been working on was finished in time (except Dashing) but I didn't grab any pictures. Too bad, 'cause the Tomten would've been good to get a photo of.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Snow

I wish you could see the snow falling here. It's just beautiful. The birch tree out back is shining silver and full with it and its just the prettiest thing ever.

My knitting list has been modified extensively. I haven't left out the chicken though. A Tomten has to have a chicken.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Lovely

This would be the perfect time to take a week off and finish presents. My list seems to get longer. I don't normally do a lot of knitted presents because I get caught up in warped thinking (particularly halfway through) that a knitted gift might possibly be considered the most egotistical present ever. What if they don't like it? What if they hate the color? What if they feel like they have to wear it just because I made it? Will they notice a wrong facing cable cross? Will they notice and entire wrist of wrong facing cable crosses?

Anyway, I've finished little things: Two hats, two cowls, two scarves.

I have still to knit: Socks, chicken, pouch for chicken for Tomten; Fetching, Dashing, Quant and Delicato two machine knit scarfs for two Bills, and a baby blanket.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Wild

Christmas knitting over here, no pictures yet. So far I've finished: Two moebios cowls, one and a half of Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hats, half a beautiful chunky scarf and a Tomten who only needs socks and a bag to hold the felted rooster I haven't made yet either. I made a Just Like a Peasant Cap too but am having a hard time gathering and sewing the back down so it looks just right.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Off early

Got off early today which is a good thing when one implodes at work. Cleaned the house, fed the dogs/cats, did some laundry and made a pumpkin pie for Uncle Bill on the Hill (how you are supposed to tell if a pie is done without sticking an ugly butt knife hole in the middle). Now I am frantically rooting through the stash to find something to knit for someone by the 2nd and thinking of Christmas presents. The fog is rolling off the roof into the windows in thick ropes and its almost a full moon. Everyone is sleeping and safe and I'm just waiting for one to get home safe so the house and me can settle into the night before Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving. May yours come home safe too.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

One Skein Shawl


I didn't do the pretty trim like the pattern (Knitters Review One Skein Shawl) calls for. This is the best shot I could come up with. It was a bear to take a photo of.

My mom bought me the ceramic pin at The Rooms when we were up there. It's handmade by A.C. Guest and she called it "Ode to Newfoundland" after Sir Cavendish Boyle's poem:

When spreads thy cloak
of shimm'ring white
at winter's stern command.
Thro' shortened day
and starlit night
We love thee frozen land.

We love thee, we love thee,
We love thee frozen land.

Orion is back. I was looking for him two weeks ago and Friday night after knitting, I looked up and there he was. We're supposed to get 1-3 inches of snow tonight. It's toes up to the woodstove for three months now.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Shawl

I finished a plain, simple garter shawl with the blue glitter stuff on Sunday (thank you Beth for the idea!). Blocked it by threading a curtain rod through the top loops and hung it from the living room window with a hammer hanging to extend the bottom point. The curtain rod is ruined but the shawl is beautiful and done and I don't have to torture myself by saving that tangled bit and I even have the most perfect pin for it.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Good grief



I just can't get out of the way of myself.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

I got it!

It got a bit ugly at the end and I lost a yard, but they are ready to wash. Isn't it amazing how if your hands are the tiniest bit tense, knots pop up where you didn't have them before.

Gus

Every Day is Gustevous Day.

Foul

There is a foul wind blowing out of the east tonight. Spinning has been off and on and in the last year more off, so with a quiet sense of accomplishment (my spinning isn't that great still), I finished plying the blue stuff with glitter this evening.



Looking forward to washing and setting, I tried a niddy noddy for the first time instead of pulling out the clock reel. Completely screwed it up and to make things worse, I looked at the freaking skien before taking it off the noddy.



I'm itching to work on a sweater I started on the machine, but there is a very large bear holed up in its growelry that bellows in some kind of language only I can unfortunately understand that the machine sounds like thunder. Cozy Vest is plotzing along about an inch a week but I don't feel like it tonight.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Fleece Artist Celtic Cardigan

I cast on for Fleece Artist's Celtic Cardigan when I finished Moriah and it turned out to be a
quick knit. I absolutely adore this sweater. It was one of those fun
knits you can't get enough of. It's Scotian Silk, color Mahogany. The button is really a labrinth
belt buckle my sweetheart had gotten for me years ago. It had been
sitting in a drawer and when I saw the photos for this sweater online,
I bought the kit for the button.



The color is much better here. Tough time taking photos today.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Holy Cow

I finished a sweater. Here is Moriah's Wildflower Cardigan, from Green Mountain Spinnery, Mountain Mohair, color Patridgeberry. The wool is so soft I was touching it even while he was taking the picture.

\]

Friday, September 21, 2007

Finished Sleeves

For reasons beyond me, I got up at 4:30 this morning and finished the sleeves of Moriah with my morning coffee. I added the project to Ravelry (without a photo), but was too embarrassed to add the project start date. If there was a place to mark how many times I picked it up and put it down, that mark would be longer than my actual knitting time. It's grand getting this far!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Getting there

As much as I wanted to, I didn’t finish the sleeves this weekend. This morning I got up at 5 and it was 42 degrees. We all crawled back into bed with coffee and I knit the last bit to 15 inches. At lunch I can begin shaping the caps and maybe by Wednesday I can start sewing up! Can’t wait to sew the buttons on.

It’s absolutely gorgeous out today.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Loosey Goosey

I'm knitting as much as I can over here, and really having a nice time. I think it is because fall is coming. I finished these plain vanilla socks:





They are too loose I think. My gauge has changed so much in the last two years that generally I have to drop two needle sizes now.

I'm halfway through Jackie E-S's Scotch Thistle Lace Shawl. I've always loved her patterns.



Green Mountain Spinnery's Moriah's Wildflower Cardigan has been my main knitting since week before last when Beth and I met for lunch. (I still can't believe we're so close at work!) I bought Mountain Mohair for wool and the pattern at their booth at Rhinebeck two years ago and have picked it up off and on since. The back and fronts are finished. I've finished 13 inches on the sleeves so far (which I'm working on at the same time or I would definitely screw up the pattern) and I'm hoping to finish them this weekend between housecleaning. Sorry it is blurry and the color is off.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Summertime Sknitches

I can't believe it but summer is almost over. Since vacation, I've managed to finish another pair of socks and half of a shawl I'd already had started, but that's about it! I'm trying to make sure I knit at least an hour a day, but have only been able to manage a half hour or so. This doesn't include sknitches at lunch or in the car.

Had our first new local knitting circle a couple of weeks ago. I'd signed up at meetup.com and called the cafe's marketing director to spread the word a little. About 11 people showed up! I was nervously envisioning sitting alone knitting by myself all night but when I got there, most were already there and knitting away. Good times.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Vacation

Back from Newfoundland! Finished a pair of socks and started a new pair, finished one Delicato Mitt and am halfway through a shawl. The Highland Triangle was too bulky to bring. My knitting has been so scattered this summer that I'm now working on only one project at a time. I've done this before and its pretty effective for me. Maybe I'll have finished photos soon to look back on.

Newfoundland was absolutely gorgeous and the people were amazingly friendly. My only regret (even though I had a lot of knitting time) is that we spent so much time in the car. I'd fly closer if I went again.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

41

As luck would have it, I have Lyme's disease again. I'm forcing myself to rest (though I do get to knit while I rest), despite feeling just horrible even resting. This is a time when I wish I had Elizabeth Zimmerman's dvds to watch. I have to get better by August, because I am taking a trip to Newfoundland. Typically, I haven't thought much about what clothing to pack, but have thought a great deal about what projects to bring. It's a lot of knitting time from here to Newfoundland.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Spinning Again

Well, the wee little kittens have all died, despite antibiotics, other medicines, water injections, etc. I think maybe the mother knew that there was something wrong. I never did find her or hear her look for them. At least I know they weren't hungry or cold when they went. They were the dearest little things.

I've been spinning again and have two bobbins of Frustrated Creativity ready to ply. Consistency is still difficult but then I haven't been consistent in spinning. My shawl knitting is very, very slow. I wish I could show pictures but it would be pointless.

It's a beautiful day out today and I hope the same for everyone.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Blurry

I don't know why I didn't realize it, but bottlefeeding kittens is a time consuming affair. My morning/evening knitting time is spent with them for now until they can eat solids. Highland Triangle has another two inches finished and I've managed to traffic knit to the heel flap on a second sock (the blue/black ones). Last Saturday I indulged myself at my LYS and bought a few things:
  • Bamboozle in Ember Glow to make Shaped Lace Tee from Knitting Lingerie Style. I swatched, got great gauge and cast on. I knitted about 8 inches of the back and thought it a bit small. I hadn't noticed the ball band has a notation "Due to elastic content use one size larger needles than you might expect to use". Arrrr. I don't like tight fitting tops much anymore so will have to rip and try over. I may try it in the round this time also.
  • Yarn and pattern for Annie Modesitt's Ruffled Roses Scarf. This scarf is just adorable and chic and knitting the ruffle - what an ingenious idea!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Busy

We've been having a neighborhood cat problem for the last year and a half. Someone across the street "let out" a bunch of cats (rumor has it 30 or more). We've spayed 8 or 9 so far and placed I don't know how may kittens in homes and/or shelters. I found an abandoned litter yesterday (won't get into where) and look at this wee fellow:



He's purring! There are three (one died last night) and they are only a week old. The mother is gone so I have been bottlefeeding them. Believe it or not, it is easier to bottlefeed than it is to catch kittens or semi-feral cats. Still, it is an awful situation that could have been remedied so easily. I've been trying to trap a pregnant female for a week now and she's been the trickiest little thing.

I finished a sock last Thursday, and cast on for the second. I just love Opal sock yarn! I can't believe how fluffy and soft they are compared to the ones I knit four years ago though.



Highland Triangle is going to be very big I think. It is coming along nicely. The wool is very hairy so it is hard to see the pattern but it will block out beautifully.



If there is anything I love as much as knitting, its gardening. Flowers are starting to bloom, broccoli is coming in and we've had strawberries and lettuces for a couple of weeks now. Yellow squash is on its way, and tomatoes.



The wigelia is blooming, the roses and bridal wreath.



This is a smaller garden that is a mix of perennials and annuals. My gardening is kind of like my knitting. I do well with small areas, but have trouble "seeing" big. Come to think of it, both are rumblety-tumbley too.



Off to clean the wool room. I have Dulaan things to get out this week and need to finish them up!

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Women in Art

Amazing

Oh my goodness - look at these cupcakes! What genius!

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Contradictions

Renovating your house can be the worst experience ever and yet you are so glad that a decade of waiting is finally being accomplished. We did the bathroom this week. I won't bore with details of color choices, wall textures, etc., but suffice it to say, with only one bathroom in the house last week was the absolute worst experience in home repair I have ever had. It doesn't help that if your husband is a contractor, friends come to do the work so you can't behave normally when things are taking five days too long. The toilet commuted in and out of the house each morning and night. The old tub sailed out and the new tub back down the stairs (but didn't exactly sail at 450 lbs). One of my jobs was to haul out the old wood, nails and sheetrock. I managed to bag 12 contractor bags of the stuff from one 6' by 5' space!

Thursday was the worst day of all. Hot and humid - still no shower or bath since the Thursday before - it was 10:45 p.m. when I looked up to see friend contractor's 110 pound German Shepard running around the house with the resident Attic Cat hanging out of its mouth. (Attic Cat meaning the poor little thing was found very young and deprived and hence is sorely deficient in brain cells.) Hoo boy, I bellowed to holy heaven. Attic Kitty was thankfully fine, but for getting squeezed and wetting herself. SHE got a bath that evening and we spent a bit rocking in a corner.

The rotting floor has been replaced. The north (cold) wall is insulated! The tub is now a new/old claw foot tub six feet long with a proper shower enclosure. The rest of the walls are half finished. The toilet turned in its EZ Pass. I didn't get one single stitch of knitting done this last week, but I'm okay with that.

I bought an absolutely lovely knitting book last week! Knitting Lingerie Style, by Joan McGowan-Michael. Wonderful stuff.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

I won't write about laundry

Finally! Here is a picture of Charlotte's Web finished.



The color choice has been around before so I am afraid it may not be anything new for some. I bought the pattern and wool from Kaleidescope Yarns.

Here is a picture of the Wild Indigo I planted last year but it didn't have time to flower. This blue is my favorite color.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

peace.

it does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise, trouble
or hard work. it means to be in
the midst of those things and still
be calm in your heart.

(unknown)

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

So much time, so little to do. :)

The garden is lush! The few vegetables we eat are in and it turns out the flowers all survived the winter. Our local nursery had nicotiana (lime green and pink - I've forgotten their latin names) and I'm very excited to see what it is like growing.

The basic triangle in Highland Triangle is still on the landing pad but getting there with three repeats out of five finished. I can't work on it with my eyes closed so it doesn't work for TV knitting and also it has been difficult squeezing knitting in between housecleaning and outside stuff (stacking wood, lawn mowing, brush trimming, weeding - you know the story). This morning it was chilly so I climbed back into bed and knit for an hour while the sun came up. If I could do that every morning, I'd be a happy mama!

I finished an Opal sock but haven't cast on for the second yet. Hopefully today I'll be able to do that.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Possibilities

I am thinking about knitting Pacific Waves and I particularly like the color Cypress Grove. Twenty bucks for the cotton from Elann but I will poke through my stash first. Those wings are 541 stitches!

Highland Triangle is cruising along at about two inches a day. Progress photos would be nice but not having a router is still an issue.

Friday, May 4, 2007

Highland Triangle

I don't know how long it will last but I am still on a shawl kick. I cast on for Cheryl Oberle's Highland Triangle last Monday night. I'm using size 8 needles and old stash yarn I had gotten on E-bay eons ago. It is Annabelle Fox and very shaggy and rough - reminds me of a rough coat terrier's fur. Socks are potzing along and I am I think halfway through Adamas.

Our router died and it has been difficult to get on as much as I would like. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before I can replace it.

On gardening notes, I planted my first blueberry bushes last night and am very excited. There are two high and two low so they can cross pollinate. I found a wonderful local nursery who supports only native plants last weekend and also bought wood poppy, St. John's Wort, trillium, sundrops (!), dutchman's breeches and goldenseal.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Finished Charlotte's Web

I finished Charlotte's Web today! It is *very* bright and would look good with white I think, or turquoise. A little too funky to wear to work though. I will have to post a picture this weekend.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Charlotte's Web

I am halfway through the last color repeat! It's vivid blue - just like the sky today. I decided that I will not be putting a fringe on, rather I will find an edging that's round and smoother. There is a great deal of wool leftover from the earlier repeats.

The Autumn Hill socks are finished. I cast on another Opal plain stockinette (size 2 needles, 64 stitches, black and white with turquoise stripes) and am knitting the heel flap.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Briefly

I've been knitting Charlotte's Web in the brightest possible colors I could find. One more color repeat and it is finished.

These have been blue days. Sometimes they go on and on until I wish that it doesn't last much longer. Once in a while breaking out is quick and sudden - like getting jostled by the universe - and this morning I got lucky. Garrison Keillor read the most beautiful poem on WNPR:


Briefly It Enters, and Briefly Speaks

I am the blossom pressed in a book,
found again after two hundred years. . . .

I am the maker, the lover, and the keeper. . . .

When the young girl who starves
sits down to a table
she will sit beside me. . . .

I am food on the prisoner's plate. . . .

I am water rushing to the wellhead,
filling the pitcher until it spills. . . .

I am the patient gardener
of the dry and weedy garden. . . .

I am the stone step,
the latch, and the working hinge. . . .

I am the heart contracted by joy. . .
the longest hair, white
before the rest. . . .

I am there in the basket of fruit
presented to the widow. . . .

I am the musk rose opening
unattended, the fern on the boggy summit. . . .

I am the one whose love
overcomes you, already with you
when you think to call my name. . . .

~Jane Kenyon

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Simplify

In an effort to simplify my life, I'm giving my acrylic stash to my friend who loves to crochet. I have never knit with it and realized I never will. I used to crochet blankets with acrylic but it has been 10 years and that portion of my stash is taking up space I could use for spinning fiber.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Adamas

Adamas is knitting very quickly (for me anyway).  Even though I'm working on it only at home and even then between housekeeping, I have five repeats finished out of fourteen.  I'm having a great time with it.  I realized I am not experienced enough yet to work knitted lace which may be why it was so frustrating last weekend. 
 
Last night it was cold enough to start a fire but I am still excited to see flowers coming along, albeit slowly. 

Sunday, April 1, 2007

rainy sunday

rainy, knitty Sunday!

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Winter Knitting

I knit quite a few socks this winter. Some were already given away as gifts and some need their mates still. Go With the Flow socks from Interweave Knits Summer 2005 with Trekking on the left and Evelyn Clark's Floral Lace Anklets from the new Lace Style on the right:

 


These are Tangerine Toe Ups on the left
(generic pattern) and Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' Dresser Scarf Socks
from Interweave Knits Spring 2003 on the right:

 


A beautiful Autumn Hill standard wool sock:

 


As for my rudimentary spinning efforts, I spun
this fat green stuff that is a wool/silk blend. I had the toughest time
getting a picture of it and it is still blurry.

 


I am now spinning another silk and wool
blend, with Angelina threaded through. It's very pretty and reminds me
of stars at night. This wool made me think of the name Knitting Moonsilver.

 
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This is the completed back of the only sweater I worked on last winter. It is Norah Gaughan's Nantucket from Interweave Knits Winter 2006 (I must seem like an IK freak over here). I have the right side finished also.

 


Goodness, I forgot about my felting efforts. I have just tried two bowls out so far. This one is made from Noro Kureyon (I forget what shade) and is my favorite:

 
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I think this one has a terrifically ugly shape. I used a mishmosh
of stash wool to knit it. These bowls are the most wonderful thing to
store balls of wool from working projects in, especially laceweight. The balls stick and don't roll around.

 



The lace is a scarf I started and have not finished yet. The pattern is very pretty and fast, but so narrow I did not think I would wear it and so put it down.

Yesterday, I cast on for no less than four lace projects from Victorian Lace Today (XRX). Botched every one at the fourth or fifth line and felt miserable about it. I ended up casting on for Adamas (from Knit Picks) and it is going well. I had knit the Flower Basket Shawl and Shetland Triangle last summer and Adamas has the same construction so it's been more relaxing to knit for now.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

A Woman Knitting

A Knitting Blog

I love to knit. I like to think of it as traveling. Except for socks or a scarf or two, I rarely wear the things I make.

I'm starting this blog to keep a record of sorts of what I have been making and of course to share and participate in the knitting world. Nothing fancy - just a few humble pages over here. It's nice to keep things simple.