Happy Anniversary to Me!

Blog Anniversary, that is. Well, my goodness, how time flies. Today is my Blogiversary; I started doing this one year ago! Now, I am up to 3 readers! (I do need to get one of those nifty site counters one of these days.) It’s amazing to think back over the last year and all the things I have learned. I can say I’m much braver than I was and I don’t get as easily intimidated by patterns. (Wish I did, then I wouldn’t have so many things going on!) I’ve designed a couple of things and I’m really enjoying that process. Hats are easy, I feel confident making them now. Sydney’s little jumper dress was pretty easy too, thanks to the Stitchionary.

Right now I’m working on a mermaid. Sydney is in the princess phase (when does THAT go away??), and her favorite is the Little Mermaid, aka Ariel. I’m hoping this will be a pattern that I can sell. How to you know that it’s ‘good enough’ for sale?? There is still so much I don’t know, I’m afraid someone who’s more knowledgeable than myself will think “why did she do it like THAT?” when they see my pattern. Hopefully I’ll have some test knitters that can help me out.

What else am I doing? Well, let’s see. I have 4, yes 4 sweaters in progress. All for me. Boy am I getting selfish. The poor Wicked sweater has been in limbo for a while now, but it’s still there. The cool thing is that they are all constructed differently, there’s a top down (Wicked), the fitted sleeve colorwork cardi (Arietta), the origami wrapped odd construction (Jane), and lastly, the one I started yesterday with no good excuse, the semi-fitted (not a cap sleeve but not a drop shoulder) cardi with some great texture stitches (Deborah’s Biking Cardigan).

Part of the reason I’m doing so much knitting for me is that I’m getting more and more confident learning all these different techniques, and I like to practice on things that aren’t gifts. I’m already thinking back on some of the gifts I’ve made and cringe. Oh well.

I’m also going to be taking a spinning class for 4 weeks during the month of October, I’m so excited! It will be interesting to understand the whole process is yarn making.

Hope you are all knitting and making beautiful things, thanks for reading!!

Pics are as follows: some cute shots from the Western North Carolina State Fair last weekend (since when are there camels in a petting zoo?); the "Bainbridge Scarf", a cute free pattern; the mitered purse I finally got around to putting in a lining for made from Peace Fleece; lastly the aforementioned cardi 'I don't need to make'.

Feelin' Kinda Mellow

Happy Friday. It's a gorgeous day here in the mountains, there's a breeze, the windchimes are blowing out front and the kiddo is napping. Ahhhh. Went to the playground this morning, by the library, we checked out some books. Got this really good gem that I wasn't expecting to be anything great, it's called "Knitting Today's Classics" and it was put out in 1997 by Classic Elite yarns. There's some older (obviously) Norah Gaughan designs in here and a super cute cardi I like by Deborah Newton. I love the Library. My own problem is I usually want to keep all the books I take out and there's this sinking feeling when I have to drop them in that little box again.

I'm on a yarn diet. It stinks! We really need to buy another vehicle, which we may we doing next week. Also, a house would be nice someday =;) My wrist/hand have been bugging me, so yesterday I did something I used to love doing....sew. I've been weaving, weaving, weaving in ends, ends on the two finished sleeves of Arietta, which are still not done. I also finished the 50's Lacy Shrug I posted about ages ago. The knitting has been done, I just needed to weave and seam the 'sleeves'. Boy, do I like it!! It was perfect wearing it last night with the little chill in the air.

Tried calling Tangled Web up in Philly to get the rest of the yarn for Arietta (I think buying for an UFO doesn't count on the yarn diet). Oh no!, they don't have the brown. They are getting an order in soon, and may have some them.....I sure hope so. I've spent so much on this cardigan it's pretty silly. I already know I'm going to love it when it's done, I get happy every time I see it.

Looking forward to some hiking this weekend, I'm ready for fall!!

How 'bout a little Eye Candy??

New Knit Picks Harmony needles, DPN's size 4 came today. I just had to order some and try them out. I LOVE these needles! They have a nice grip, are smooth and lightweight, are a true joy to work with. They are my new favorite, and I don't even think I've really HAD a favorite up until now. Try them, you won't be disappointed!
It seems the colors are not as bright as on my monitor when I bought them, a good thing, I think. They are just absolutely beautiful, on top of their other good qualities. Ummm, can you tell I really like them??

They are pictured with Shine yarn, which is much brighter than the actual needles. Now, go get yourself some!

Now all I need is a Wedding....

So I can wear this beautiful shawl!! Will some get married please? And invite me? I bring great gifts! Seriously though, this baby hasn't had it's proper photo shoot with a model yet (that would be ME) since hubby works all kinds of crazy hours and I went to knit night at Purl's last night. (Will you look at that, I finally figured out how to make a 'small' link! Woo hoo.) Aside from the fact that Alison Hyde is a super nice person, her book (Wrapped in Comfort) is great for anyone who has wanted to knit shawls. I can attest that they do indeed stay on the shoulders extremely well (it's not going anywhere!) and are beautiful as well. Don't forgot to click on the pics for enlargement. I preferred the line by line instructions, but found myself looking at the chart when I got to the end of the row. The Silky Tweed was a pleasure to work with, just know that you have to be very mindful since it wants to split. It was amazing to see how pretty it is once blocked, my final measurement came out to 18" in height (the one in the book is 22", but I only did one repeat of the edging). Lovely, if I do say so myself. I think I'll do a scarf with this pattern, I enjoyed it so much.

The other pics are a couple of vintage pattern books I acquired from hubby's Grandma when her friend passed away. I'm debating on the little cardi in the middle on the Bernat book or the Pixie Hoodie on the Wonderland book for my Sydney, what do you think?

A Temporary Distraction.....

In the form of a kid's two front teeth. Now granted, she' s only 3, therefore not due to get her permanent teeth until the age of 7 or age (warning, graphic pic ahead!). Then there was a little accident at her school last week and BOOM! my little sweety almost got them knocked out. She's such a little trooper and is doing really well a week later. Here they are after a visit to the dentist to push them back up and apply a little 'splint' on them:

After all the drama, of course I had to give her this little elephant that was supposed to be for Christmas.....oh well. She likes him for now.

In other knitterly news, I have finished "Kathy's Shawl" from Wrapped in Comfort!!! Well, it's nearly finished, it's blocking on my floor now. I couldn't resist taking a couple of pics, even though it's still super wet:

Still not sure if I will keep it. I'm seeing my very special Aunt Michele wearing this. Hmmm...... Well I do have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed knitting this shawl and will certainly make more from Alison's book. The shawl won't budge while wearing it, it's such a great design for staying on the shoulders. I'm just not completely sold that it's for me! But I do love that pink. I'll let you know what the finished size is after it's blocked. I ran out of yarn and just completed one repeat of the border. I think I'm more of a process knitter, because once it's done I have no trouble giving it up!! It that silly?? Well, if you have any fear of shawls, you need to try one of Alison's patterns, all but the very newest of knitters can complete these, with beautiful and amazing results. I'm looking forward to seeing the other shawls that people are making. Have a lovely night.

Now what??

Here's the story. It was Saturday morning, September 1st. I packed up the kiddo to go look at some yard sales, in hopes of finding treasures I could sell. Instead, I found what I hope is a treasure I can use!

The woman who owned this wheel knew nothing about it. She had only displayed it and had bought it from another woman in New York who also had it displayed. Does anyone out there know what kind of wheel this is? It's a total mystery to me. I just thought it was so beautiful, I couldn't pass it up. I got her down to $45, so I have no clue if this was a 'good buy'. I just want to make some yarn! It measures 44" high and the wheel itself is only 12" in diameter. The only other thing I can tell you is it spins!

Anyone know anything to help me?? Thanks so much!! (Click on pics to enlarge.)

A Rainy Sunday

I finished up the triplets hats yesterday. I was inspired by the fact that their grandfather was visiting my MIL (her brother). SO I finished them up and here they are! The little sweet peas are names Colin, Quinn and Rhys. I loved the Touche yarn and am already knitting up a little stripy elephant with the leftovers, since I'm so creative and all. (Not really, I got the pattern on Ravelry.)

Sunday is always a day on reflection and contemplation for me. Today is not different, especially with it being all rainy & dreary. I've just been trying to enjoy all the little moments that make up my life. Some days are good, some days not so good. All are a gift. As knitters we are forced to 'live in the moment'. What a blessing!

Namaste,

Elizabeth

P.S. In the picture, Sydney is 'reading' to Zuki, our bunny.

Will this Heat never end???

Alright, I’ll admit it. I’ve been slacking on my blog. Wanna know why? The answer lies here: http://www.ravelry.com/ . Yes, it’s an evil, evil place. And a whole lot of fun. You should join in the fun! (I’m such an enabler.) If you’re already there, drop me a line! My user name is CountingSheep.

SO here’s what I’m working on. The second sleeve of Arietta is nearing completion, should have it done today. I messed up a bit on my decreases for the sleeve cap last night, was a bit distracted by the scantily clad men in 300 parading their 8-packs around. (On another note, someone at work the other day mentioned they were wearing boots in the movie, and I was like ‘oh boots? I hadn’t noticed.’ Guess my eyes never made it down that far =;) SO last night I looked, and I think they wear their sandals the whole time.)

I’ve also been working on a little sweater called Jane: http://www.colorsongyarn.com/jackets_sweaters/jane_crossover.htm . I think $55 for a sweater kit is not bad, especially when it has yummy Fleece Artist yarn. I think they should have called this colorway “Berries and Chocolate”, because that is what it looks like to me. I love the little ‘snow’ flecks in the yarn and the fact that it feels so much like handspun. Think this will be a ‘live-in’ sweater this winter.

The Kathy shawl from Alison Hyde’s book “Wrapped in Comfort” is near completion. I just need to get my butt over to my LYS and grab one last ball of the Silky Tweed. I’m so bummed I missed out on Webs having the Silky Wool closeout; I want some of that stuff!!

Just when you thought I was behaving myself, I bought another pattern for this cute little guy named “Farmer Fox”: http://www.ariadneknits.com/index.html . I see some toy knitting in the near future. Here’s an interesting toy designer on Etsy called hansigurumi: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5162135 – I love her octopi!
Hope you all have a great weekend! I’m looking forward to an end to this 95 degree weather in NC, that’s for sure. Oh and a pic of the Lucky Grasshopper found on my house. I know, crickets are supposed to be the lucky ones, but I thought he was cute. Hey, maybe I can knit one.....
TTFN.

And then there were 3......

Here are the 3 cuties I am knitting for. They are my hubbo’s cousins’ babies, if you can follow that! I’m making up my own hat pattern for them, using Berroco Touche yarn, a lovely cotton/modal blend that is machine washable. I’ve learned how to knit jogless stripes in the round, after a botched first attempt. Thank-you Meg Swansen! Then I am using the ‘Hugs & Kisses’ cable (just two cable repeat) for the border. I really wanted to do the raglan decreases at the top of the hat, but I have three cables, so I did a triple decrease instead. Lastly, a duplicate stitch "C" for little Colin. I have 5 different colors, so they will all be different. I’m hoping I’ll have enough left over to make some matching booties. I really love this pattern I saw over at Brooklyn Tweed called ‘Saartje’s Booties’ (http://members.home.nl/tdpj/Patronen/Bootees/Saartjes%20bootees.pdf) We’ll see how much I have left over.

I really like the new IK for fall. Of course I love the Norah Gaughan pattern on the front cover; I’m getting to the point now where I just know it’s her pattern when I first see it. She loves those geometrical shapes! Also the Norah pattern in the new Vogue is just gorgeous! I’m sure it’s not quite as complicated as is appears. Can’t decide which one of those two I prefer (of the two swingy coat patterns).

Overall, I was kind of disappointed with the new Vogue. I only like one of the patterns in the ‘Top 10’, the one that was a sort of short cardi with circles in the back of it. I really like IK better, it has a homier feel to it. However, there was one pattern I felt like I wanted to knit in Vogue, the lace hoodie in the chevron pattern. I liked that a lot.

Anyway, we’re trying to stay cool over in the mountains of Western North Carolina today. It’s pretty darn hot. Sydney is sick so we’re trying to keep her happy. Hubby is kind enough to be grilling steaks so I don’t have to heat up the kitchen. I’m trying to sew handbags, but want to be doing other things. Like blogging!

Oh, I looked up my Ravelry spot; don’t you love how the link to that page is called ‘antsy’ and the end of the link? Too funny. Well, antsy me looked and is said I am #9,266, there are 1,539 people in front of me and 13,495 behind me. Only 33% of the list has been invited! Wow, that is going to be one big happy party in there!

Confronting Fair Isle

I will not be afraid, I will not be afraid.....actually I feel much more confident about tackling stranded knitting, aka fair isle, I'm not a stickler for the exact term. Arietta has helped me realized I can do anything! I am going to conquer knitting with two colors at a time. The pattern is found here: http://www.halcyonyarn.com/newstemp/knitscene_fairisle.html - I think this is the best picture of it online. The name of it is "Road to Golden", by Lisa Shroyer, who is the editor of Knitscene magazine, where the pattern is found. I love it! I like the way it looks like a cap sleeve T-shirt with a longer shirt underneath. So cute!

I'm using Valley Yarns Northhampton, which is a newer part of their own line, of course the link to them is http://www.yarn.com/ . I've decided I wanted to throw caution to the wind and pick my own colors. I've included my swatch here, what do you think? Please be gentle, it's my first stranded swatch. It's definitely going to take some getting used to. At least I don't have to purl over this sweater, since it's knitted in the round. I'm using a chocolate brown for the main color, mainly to help camoflauge the arm area.

On another note, this reminds me that I owe a post about the color help recommendations I've found/received from my friends at Knit Talk. Here they are, there's not a whole lot, but it may help some of those who are wanting to step into color knitting:

-Here is a great blogger who plays with color a whole lot: http://knittingincolor.blogspot.com/ - this blog is a treasure trove of good articles and resources.

http://impulsivearts.typepad.com/knitting/2007/03/playing_with_co_1.html - this post tells you about a great photo editing software (free!) and then proceeds to teach you how to do cool things to your pictures to get interesting effects.

-The link below brings you to a cool website where you can play with colors, there are many lovely color palettes to get the creative juices flowing!

http://www.colourlovers.com/palettes/search?sortType=rank

-What would we be without Knitty? Of course there are some great articles there:

http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter06/FEATcolortheory.html
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall04/FEATcolor.html
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/FEATtechnicolor.html

Some advice from Knit Talk friends:

-“What I do is take all the colors I am thinking about using and find a way to put them in more or less the proportions I would use them in...more on that in a minute...and put them at least across the room. Further than that if I have a long unobstructed view of them together. You can see things at a distance you don't always see right up close.”

-”Okay, the best way I have found is to take a long narrow strip of cardboard and wrap the yarn around it to make "stripes" of the colors in more or less the proportion and order in which they will "appear" in the item I am making.”

-”Putting one ball of each color in a pile only works if you are using the exact same amount of each color. If something is only an accent then you need very little of it in your sample.”

-”Or if it is something that I will investing either a lot of time or a lot of money on then I will make something small from the choices. Mittens, a hat, a headband, something large enough to see what I am doing but small enough to get done.”

Meanwhile, in other knitterly news, I am still plugging away at my lace shawl from Alison Hyde's book, the "Kathy Shawl". I haven't forgotten about Arietta, I'm working on the second sleeve and I need to order the rest of my yarn. I've included a couple pics that I wanted to try to show the texture of this pattern, it is so cool. I love Lana Grossa Cool Wool!! Awesome yarn, such a treat. Wish I could get the great shots Jared over at Brooklyn Tweed gets. Guess I need a better camera. Alright, need to run and take care of that kiddo. Have a great weekend.

Life of a Knitter

Hey there! It's Thursday, which means I'm at home with the kiddo. Still plugging away on the shawl from Wrapped in Comfort, it's looking very pretty. I'm thinking about my poor Monkey socks (Cookie A. pattern). I really need to finish those so I can see if all the hype about hand knitted socks is really true. There are just a TON of great sock patterns out there, I must be missing something big.

I'm wanting to do one of the sweaters from the new Knitscene magazine http://www.knitscene.com/ . I really like the Cactus Blossom Pullover by Kate Jackson and the Road to Golden Pullover by Lisa Shroyer. David of course doesn't like either of them since they have colors in them. (He's a dark, solid color type of guy.) Well, phooey on him. Am I really ready for Fair Isle?? I don't know. If I had any type of willpower I would finish poor Arietta first. We'll see. Plus I need a substitute yarn if I do Road to Golden, since the yarn used would be over $120, and I can't really justify that right now.

I have this huge, beautiful Rose of Sharon bush in my backyard. It's blooming now, and that means I've been back in NC for almost 2 years. It's blooming earlier now, since it was in bloom when we moved here on August 19th of 2005. Boy, was it hot that day, I think it was over 90, which is high for these mountains. Wherever our first home is, I want to plant on of these bushes. It's amazing how the birds/bees/butterflies all love it.

On another note, I finally got to teach David how to knit....look at him!! Isn't it great?? I figured I had to take a pic in case it was a one time only event. So I taught him, he picked it up right away, his stitches were so even and nice it really looked like he was a seasoned knitter! I'm sure my first attempts did not look that good. The best part was that he took a break to take a shower, then when he came out, he picked it up again! We'll see if I can convince him yet of the wonders of being a knitter =;) At least I have a picture.