Saturday, November 24, 2007

Knitting, Eating & Boobies

Alright Norah, you got me. I resisted the Tilted Duster, lovely as it is. I resisted the Cabled Coat from Vogue’s 25th Anniversary mag. Then, thanks yet again to Ravelry, I found the Russian Coat from the Vogue Holiday issue. Must...make....this....coat. I can’t really justify buying more yarn for a new project right now……but…..well isn’t it nice that I make the Christmas shopping easier on my hubby??

I’m using Plymouth Boku in the colorway #6; the colors are tan, black, gray, rust, and deep purple. Lovely. This yarn does behave nicely after washing, and softens up, and you can see in the hexagon on the left. This is a really fun knit. It’s kind of like potato chips; you just want to keep eating (knitting)! My only concern with this yarn is that it’s not spun very tightly; in fact it comes apart quite easily when you pull on it. I have to take extreme care when sewing the seams. I just hope it holds up well in the long haul.

On a funnier note, after I finished the second hexagon this morning, Sydney asked me if I was making boobies. I had to crack up laughing! Maybe it's because I kept refering to the gathering in the middle of the hexagon as a 'nipple'. Too cute. (Yes, Sydney, Mommy is making a long coat with LOTS of boobies on it.) Ahh, to be 3.
For the main body, I’m going to use the Peruvia recommended in the pattern. Lindsey at Purl’s is ordering just the right brown for me. Also in progress is the Fun Cardi, almost done with the first side, also Farmer Fox is slowly coming along. Christmas knitting is coming soon!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving at my in-laws, turkey with all the trimmings and I made a pumpkin roll for dessert. I’m avoiding all the stores right now; I have absolutely no interest in the whole Black Friday thing!! I prefer to either make gifts or support other individuals who make things as well. Etsy is one of my favorite places to shop online, though I have a number of indie artist links. Copacetique, Cut + Paste, Orange Button, Indie N.C., and Trunkt are just a few! Happy Holidays to those in the U.S. and I hope you all have a great week!!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Gobble Gobble


And here we go again….with another spinning wheel! This one is (yikes!!) from eBay, I know, I know, it’s such a gamble getting a wheel there, but I couldn’t resist this handcrafted one. It was made by a very nice man name Joel Pellani, and he even made an extra bobbin for me! After some ‘getting to know you’ pains, I’m making some nice, even yarn (well, as even as a newbie can!).

Here are also some pics of a couple of scarves I’ve sold recently from my website. Pretty, pretty! The one with the brown yarn was my first attempt last year at a drop stitch pattern. It’s a great way to stretch those special skeins of yarn!
I’m making a hat & mitten set for Sydney, since the weather has finally turned chilly here. It’s called the “Candy Hat & Mittens Set” since she’s still stuck on Halloween. The yarn looked kind of ‘candy colored’ to me anyway, so I modified a bobble stitch pattern to kind of look like little candies on the hat. The hat is done, mittens hopefully this week. Pattern to follow!
What else, let’s see. I’m working on Farmer Fox for Sydney for Christmas. Other Christmas gifts will be a hat for the bro to match the scarf I gave him last year, and a second Droplet Hat from Knitting Nature. I’m also plugging away on my ‘Biking Cardi’ (Deborah Newton design), and I know I will love this one.

Then, just when I thought I had enough sweaters in progress, I fell in LOVE with this: Russian Coat. MUST MAKE THIS COAT. Now, so far I’ve resisted the Tilted Duster and that gorgeous cabled coat in Vogue’s 25th Anniversary mag, but Norah Gaughan has snagged me with this one. After mulling around my LYS yesterday, I’ve decided to do it in Plymouth Boku, rather than the Berocco Jasper, mainly for cost reasons. I need to find a solid color to compliment the Boku, and the YS owner wasn’t there to help me.

Other than that, I’m just working hard, looking forward to having two Thanksgiving celebrations this week (one being at work). Should be a great week! Hope you all have a good one, I'll leave you with a link to a cute little turkey.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Presenting....The Stranded Shedir Hat!!!





Woo Hoo! It's done. Hubby loves his new hat. I'm VERY glad the thing is off the needles, 'twas a wee bit tense there at the end.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Saving Jane......

























Well, let’s see. Life in general has been really great the last couple of weeks. Hubby and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary on Oct. 20th; we went for a weekend away to Hot Springs, NC. I can’t say I was too impressed with the little (tiny) town of Hot Springs, but our cabin was nice and private and had its own hot tub, which we enjoyed immensely! It was so weird getting there after running around so much that week, then we where like “OK, now what?” It was just nice to reconnect with that man I married.

Then, my parents came down from Philadelphia for a week long visit. Sydney and I got to spend a lot of time with them doing all sorts of different things, including a gorgeous fall ride up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I dragged my mom to SAFF on Friday, and it was wonderful! I am definitely getting a wheel as soon as I can. OH yeah, that was my other news, I MADE YARN! It was awesome. The instructor, BJ, at my Earth Guild class was great. At SAFF, I got to try out some different wheels, including a beautiful antique one I decided to pass on. It took me the longest time to buy any yarn; I was just sort of overwhelmed by all the beautiful fibers/yarns/wheels/stuff to buy there. I eventually decided on a few skeins, two handspun and two commercially spun from a merino farm in TX called Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Co., really lovely stuff.

The bummer for me about SAFF was that I was REALLY looking forward to seeing the animals, and I can only guess that most people don’t bring them on Friday, since there were only a few alpacas there. If my parents weren’t in town, I would have gone back on Sat. or Sunday. BUT, it was fun and I highly recommend going if you can get here.

It was kind of good that they left on Halloween, since I had to work, then run home and take the kiddo out that night. It kept me from being too depressed that they left! Sydney was a Candy Fairy for Halloween, the only costume she liked in the costume store, and she’s been wearing it every day since then.

On to the Jane saga…..knitting has seemed to suck lately, here’s why. I worked hard to finish up the Jane Crossover sweater by Fleece Artist to have it in time for SAFF. (Was too warm for a sweater anyway!! I saw someone wearing the Lotus tank from IK!) It’s good to have goals anyway. I finished it, and I’m not happy with it. The neck is too high and tight, and it will be a pain in the butt to rip out the seams for it. The other issue is gaping at the armpit area, which you really need to see the pattern to understand this one; it’s quite an unusual construction. The other thing that irks me is the rolling stockinette!! Why, oh why, do designers insist on these designs where half of your knitting is rolled under. That’s one of those things I’ll never understand. Bleh, bleh bleh. I can sew up those underarm areas easy enough. I CAN undo the seams, I’m sure. I just think I’m not that happy overall with the design, for me. I think the yarn could be something more beautiful. Ugh, not a trip to the frog pond!! All that work! I’ll give it a couple weeks and see what I think then.

On top of that, the two-toned Shedir has been having its own issues. The top came out way pointy, like to fit a giant-headed gnome, maybe. Rip, rip rip, I re-worked the top last night and made up my own (shorter) ending. Then onto the cast-on edge, which is too loose. I couldn’t figure out how to take this out other than cutting it off to where I needed it. Now I have a million little pieces and I’m trying to find the loops that aren’t cut to get back OTN. Argh! It’s the week of the lousy knitter. Live and learn, right? At least I got him to try it on last night and he really loves it, says it feels great on his head.

I’m going to make a huge batch of cabbage soup today, for the Cabbage Soup Diet, and oldie but goodie that was revamped in Good Housekeeping magazine recently. This one seems a little easier to follow, since you can have regular (small) meals in between. Wish me luck! I’m hoping to drop a few before Thanksgiving.