Uh-Oh

I forgot to add a pic of this lovely scarf (same as Jan 13 post, but without the fringe). Enjoy it, Brit!





And a pic of pair #2. (heeheehee, I'm on track...for now.)

Knitting along

Whenever I hit a lull in knitting, I'm always afraid that I'll give it up completely and never come back. Then, in 30 years I'll find UFOs from now, mothy yarn, and things that will make me scratch my head and ponder, "why did I do this?" But this KAL has fixed me up once again. I'm back to my knitting self, finishing wonderful items left and right. I stayed up late last night watching Stargate season 2 and finishing Mom's lovely lace scarf. Pics will be added after blocking has taken place. But, I must sleep at some point; I'm ahead of the 52 PP knitting curve now with pair three on the needles, planning a trip to LYS, but who knows when life will throw me a curve ball.
Lynn

My first KAL

Hooray! I've wanted to join a knit along for a while and I found one that happened to be opened when I was ready to join: the 52 Pair Plunge. I was having a hard time finishing a pair for me (why is it that I can make something really well for others, but anything for myself is crap?) so I made a small pair for a bookmark called Opal mini-socks. I'm excited, yet filled with dread over the fact that I have agree to this but have no idea if I can actually accomplish it. Here goes nothing....

It's...Surreal

IT SNOWED ON EASTER SATURDAY!!!!

Here's a snow bunny for Easter.

I love knitting lace! Here's a pic of "Print of the Wave" table runners that I'm doing for my set of antique bedside tables. It's not done yet, but I love the result so far.

Here are some socks from Christmas 2005. I just found the pics this week.

I have been inspired to make some more lace. I inherited some bedside tables from my great-grandmother's house and they are just SCREAMING for some custom lace runners. I'm going to modify a lovely pattern called Print o' the Wave. I found a great link to a lovely lace knitter here.
In the meantime, here are some photos of some work I did over the fall. I used Berroco for the sweater and the leftovers for the scarf.
I just threw in some yarn overs to make a kind of ladder and the threaded ribbon yarn through it. I love this sweater.

When it's warm, I wear it alone. When it gets cold I throw is on top of a long sleeved button up shirt. My boyfriend brags that it only took me 20 minutes to make. I actually had to start this about five times before I could decide on the size and pattern I wanted to use.

Here is some detail of the shoulder back. (My model is so easy to work with.)

Here are a few things I made around Christmas time. The blanket was made as a commission. Although the color isn't traditional, it's for a girl, and the cotton is so nice a cozy. I love the way the pattern came out.



The scarf and hat were made for the daughter of the same person who ordered the baby blanket. The girl likes red but her coat is pink, so it had to be just right.

The blue scarf was made from Lion Brand's Lion Wool. I got the pattern from Nicky Epstein's Knitting on the Edge. The fringe was knit at the same time as the main cable pattern and unraveled at the end. I have to make another one without the fringe for a friend in Maryland. Hopefully it comes out as well.

Not knitting related but important:
A prayer of peace and understanding for my father and the frustration he's facing at work today...

Oh God,You are peace.
From you comes peace,
To you returns peace.
Revive us with a salutation of peace,
And lead us to your abode of peace.

Yea!
Kinky's on the ballot with more legitimate signatures than 'Grandma' Strayhorn!

Let's take him all the way to the mansion!

Well, it's been some time now since I've written. I created a class at my local community college to teach knitting: "Not your Grandma's knitting." NO ONE signed up. Since I also created an essay writing class at the same time and I have nine people enrolled in that class, I took it as a sign that I should teach to support my yarn habit.
I went to my sister's graduation from culinary school last week and I got to go to The Celtic Knot Yarn Shop in Ellicott City, Maryland. They told me of a yarn shop in Austin that's supposed to be great. Imagine that! I had no idea. I'm planning a trip soon. But in Maryland I got my first set of Addi Turbos. I was hesitant at first when I found that size 10, 24" circulars were $16!!!! but that was my reason for coming so I got them anyway...and now I'm in trouble. I LOVE THEM!! I don't want anything but them. They have re-inspired me to pick up the needles and be patient with the yarn.
(Finished blog 14 July 2006)
I also got some great yarn and have knit a lacy-esque sweater with it. Beautiful shades of blues. I'll enclose a picture later. For my birthday, my sister gave me a BEAUTIFUL skein of a dusty blue bulky alpaca yarn that I made a Tam and wrist warmers with. Can't wait for fall! The blue matches the Bluebonnet Tartan so I need a Tartan scarf to match it. The gathering is in November and I always get inspiration there. Here's the site: http://www.ctam-salado.org/Gathering/Gathering.htm And here's the tartan: http://www.tartans.scotland.net/tartan_info.cfm?tartan_id=2303

Bears for Catie (on left-its name is Hannahlynn) and Sarah (on right-named Sam)

These two teddy bears were made from special requests from Catie and Sarah. They were so specific in what they wanted. Sarah told me she wanted a brown bear with a white circle on his belly. Like the colors I used in a ski cap for her brother. Just recently Catie asked me for a teddy with lots of colors. I found some of her favorites in a boucle yarn that I found at Target for a dollar a skein; I got the pattern from a book called Knitted Toys by Fiona McTague. I used about half of each color (yellow, pink, multi). With Sarah's, I used Lion Brand WoolEase that was leftover and I got the pattern from a link on About.com in the knitted toys section.

Well, I've been asked by a friend to make five pairs of socks for her female relatives for Christmas. I'm using Lion Brand WoolEase for the body of the sock and several different brands of coordinated fun fur-type yarns for the top borders. I'm trying to get a little creative with all of these so it's not so repetitive. In between I'm making a multi-colored teddy bear, a lace wrap from a pattern off of Knitty.com and trying to start a few more baby blankets and teddys for some other friends who are pregnant. I'll post more pictures next time but check out the links I've added.

A new blanket for my friend Ami. I made the entire layette out of 100% cotton yarn on size 6 circular needles. I am learning the value and efficiency of circular needles and if anyone wants to get me the Boye circular needle system I will be happy to accept it.


The blanket is about 20 inches square and the booties and hat will, I hope, fit in at least a few months. Just in time for winter winds. I used a slip stitch over purl pattern from a book published in 1952 and just varied the idea into a basic bootie pattern. The yarn is soft and quite cozy and it took me about 4 days to make the whole set. I had it over my lap when I was knitting and actually had to put it down because I was getting hot.

I like this yarn (Caron baby yarn) because it is washable in cold water and won't shrink or bleed on the first wash and comes in such lovely coordinating colors.

I knit the body and the top and bottom borders of the blanket first and then picked up stitches for the other two sides after casting off. I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's method of joining yarn to eliminate waste and knots in the blanket. Knitting without tears is one of the greatest little resource books any knitter could ask for.

I have been procrastinating in starting this blog and now it's finally here. I hope that I can keep this updated so my friends and family members can see what knitting work I've been doing. I occured to me that since I give most of my projects away, I don't get a chance to show off my work.

This blanket was knit in one piece (border and body together) on circular needles with varigated yarn from corner to corner. I'm not sure of the dimensions but it was almost square of about 25x30 inches. It was for Leia's new baby boy. Congrats Jason and Leia! I wove ribbon through the yarn overs that separated the border from the body. I think that it spiced it up a bit. Hope you like it Leia.