Check out the other blog

If you are still reading this blog don’t forget to check out sittinandknittin.blogspot.com. I posted there today.

Happy Knitting

 

Another One Over

Just last week I was scurrying around – gotta finish up Christmas shopping, decorating, meal planning – and now it is all over, just like that. I only was able to knit one gift and I was lucky to find a fantastic, quick pattern that I absolutely love. It is Ysolda’s Garter Mitts. I just happened to have in my stash the yarn specified for the mitts.  No substitutes with problems, no running back to the LYS…just sit and knit! These knit up really fast, in fact I finished both of them in 6 hours and they are just as cute as can be.  The pattern is free and can be found on Ravelry and also at Ysolda’s blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed. It is a DK weight and I used US #5 needles. The amazing thing is both mitts used less than one ball.

After I gave them away I had serious fingerless mitt envy so I used the other ball I had and made me a pair yesterday. Love them!

I guess the next thing to get ready for is the new year filled with new projects and new adventures. Happy Knitting!

 

It’s My Birthday

How does 52 creep up on you so fast? I used to get really excited about getting older but that was a long time ago. Now…I would like to forget the whole thing about getting older. And, time does go by faster the longer you are here.

I am in a shawl mood. The first one, the easy relaxing knitting one is another Tuscany Shawl from No Sheep For You. I am using Rayon Metallic from Blue Heron Yarn. Colorway Marshland. This will be a perfect Spring time wrap. There is just enough gold metallic without making it look garish.

By the time it is finished it will weigh a ton. This yarn is heavy.

And this shawl is the pay close attention, no wine, slow going one. It is from the Twist Collection and is called the Gnarled Oakwoods Shawl. I am using a beautiful yarn I purchased while on our recent Montana trip. The yarn is from Mountain Colors, the color way is Ruby River…my favorite colorway. The yarn is lace weight, 50/50 silk wool. Absolutely gorgeous.

I have finished the first repeat set…many more to go. It is a fun pattern, just have to pay really close attention.

Off to do fun things on my birthday! Happy Knitting

 

What’s Next

Ms. Manon is finished. This sweater took me 3 weeks from start to finish. Norah Gaughan has a gift for creating really lovely patterns that actually fit and look great. My manon is a size too large, unfortunately, but still looks great. The sweater is designed to have a little negative ease. I used Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran as a substitute for the suggested yarn from Berrocco. I used 12 plus a few yards out of the 13 ball. It always pays to purchase one extra ball of yarn and this time it turned out to be true. I purchased the yarn in Hamilton, Mt. while on our trip there a month ago (see the last post for the beautiful pictures of our new property). Hamilton has a really nice yarn store called The Yarn Store. They carry just about everything a happy knitter could need or want.

My manon without the hook and eye closure. I am using one of my decorative pins so I can over lap the extra bulk. I think it looks great even though it is a size too large.

I followed the pattern with the exception of not doing the decorative lazy daisy on the rib seams. I didn’t think it really needed that at all. The seams on the ribs joined up nicely. And the other slight modification from pattern, I did a 3-needle bind off on the neck rib.

I steamed block this sweater and slightly pressed the cables and moss stitch texture to refine them. Very pleased with this knit! Somethings you work on and work on and when they are finished there is such a let down…I don’t feel that way with this sweater.

It’s so bright out today!!!!

Just started another Tuscany Shawl from No Sheep For You. I stopped by the new yarn store – Bluebird and purchased 2 skeins of rayon metallic from Blue Heron Yarns. I will show you soon. Happy Knitting!!!!

 

I’m Still Here

This has been one weird year for me. First of the year my beloved doggy gets really sick needing constant care – lots of sleepless nights. He finally dies in April – boo-hoo. We start to run out of money so I start looking for a job. At 51 and out of the 9 to 5 in my industry (interior architecture)…I just couldn’t find a job and the decline of the economy didn’t help either. I ended up taking a retail position at a very upscale gift store. I lasted exactly four months. That was one of the hardest jobs I have ever had and the compensation didn’t weigh out very well either. Standing on your feet for 8+ hours is extremely exhausting.

And while I was working away at that store with no time left over to do anything – barely any knitting time too, we sold our vacation property (we sure were lucky) in the mountains (Sierra’s) and purchased new property in Montana. My husband and I just returned from a whirlwind road trip to see the property I signed my name to (sight unseen because I was busy working). I sure do trust him. The property is absolutely fabulous. The remoteness of Montana will take a little bit of getting used to. Here are a few photos of the 16 acres of a little piece of heaven that we own.

And a river runs through it…

And there are two ponds…this is just one of them

and the view looking at the valley below where the deer and the antelope roam…and soon our alpacas! That’s another post.

So, knitting…I did get lots of it done on the road trip. I am currently working on Norah Gaughan’s Manon. Purchased the yarn and pattern in Hamilton, Mt. at the local yarn store, The Yarn Center.

I have half the sweater knitted up. I will post pictures of my Manon soon, very soon. Happy Knitting all!!!

 

She Be Done

Eastlake is finished. Yesterday, while I was sitting around on my death bed…the flu I guess – sure had me down for the count…I did manage to sew up this sweater. I absolutely love everything about this sweater. Let me count the ways…the yarn is wonderful to knit with [forgiving, forgiving, forgiving]…the pattern is easy once you work through the mistakes on the leaf pattern (front) and it fits great!!!! true to size.

I gave it the public test today…Safeway wasn’t exactly the place to be getting compliments but when I say the public test I really mean how does it wear, can I stand to have it on my skin, does it shift and act weird, stretch, etc… it is a great sweater!!!!

A happy picture

 

Yikes It’s Ike

Yikes…Ike certainly made a mess of things. I live in California and my Mom, sister and nephew live in The Woodlands, TX, just north of Houston. They still have no power but survived that terrible storm without much damage to their house. I went through the storm, vicariously, with them the past couple of days…I am exhausted! I can’t begin to imagine how tired they are.

On the knitting front, I have finished the front of the Eastlake Sweater and about a third of the way into the back. This yarn, Berocco Inca Gold is fabulous to knit with. It is so forgiving, has just a titch of sheen without being slippery.I am knitting it exactly as the pattern states without any modifications and even though there is a sea of stockinette it really isn’t that boring. It makes a great sweater to knit while watching a movie!

 

Another One

Just couldn’t wait to start another sweater….

I stopped in at my LYS with pattern in hand. Yesterday I was on a mission to find the yarn for this lovely sweater. My first stop was at Marin Fiber Arts but Warren did not have the yarn, or sadly, any appropriate substitutes. He has lovely yarns so a trip back there for sure for other projects on my up coming list.

This is the Eastlake Sweater from Norah Gaughan’s Vol. 3 collection. I found the yarn at Dharma Trading Co. and they had the model sweater to try on (much too small for me, but the look was good) and the yarn in the color I wanted!!!! I was so excited that I promptly went home and wound one skein in a ball and started in. So far I love knitting with this yarn. I started in with the front side instead of the back because of my incredible excitement with the leaf pattern. Guess what??? there are errors in the pattern, already. So I am going to rip out the inch 1/2 and start over. I went to the Berroco website and sure enough there are quite a few corrections to the pattern. Glad I found out now. This sweater will be perfect for this Fall.

I am still plugging away on my second Tuscany Shawl. There is something so meditative about this pattern. Simple repeats but the yarn really makes it interesting and a surprise with every stitch.

 

Time Flies

Amazing how one week just flows into the other and before you know it……

Work, it just gets in the way of my knitting time. Sadly, I still have not finished The February Lady’s Sweater. I am so close to finishing that last sleeve but when I come home after a long day I’m pooped. Saturdays are reserved for errand running day, along with everyone else in the world. Yesterday I was in a hot pursuit to find the perfect jean, a jean that I could wear to work, a jean that was not too casual, a jean that fits well. Well, let me tell you that is not a very easy task. I went to store after store trying on ridiculously priced jeans with a fit to match. Low rise, pencil thin legs and just way too long. I was starting to feel really “out of it” (and I consider myself knowledgeable about current fashion too). Am I just getting old? Anyway, I did find a great fitting jean and it didn’t cost me anymore than $80. Take that you over priced $198 jean that fits like crap!!! And incidentally, I found my great fitting jeans at J Jill.

I am going to start another Tuscany Shawl with this just as soon as I finish up the February Lady Sweater.

The yarn is from Pagewood Farm and it is Hand Dyed Sock Yarn, Glacier Bay and the color is Prism. It is a 3-ply 100% merino superwash. This is the same yarn I made the Camo Tuscany Wrap with. It knits up sort of stiff but after it is washed it blooms into a lovely soft knit that drapes beautifully.

Hopefully I will blog again before 3 weeks goes by. And, hopefully I will have that sweater finished.

 

Among Other Things

I am just thrilled about the new knitting buzz...the Twist Collective Check it out! I also went to Border’s yesterday and picked up the latest issue of Vogue Knitting. This one looks like a good issue. I always buy Vogue Knitting but rarely make anything from it. The last project I started from VK ended up in the frog pond. The Russian Coat. Sadly, the thrill wore off, besides other problems with the thing…sleeve issues. Oh well! This issue is more realistic to most of us who knit on a regular basis. Can’t wait to dive into it.

I haven’t finished the February Sweater yet but here is a picture of my progress to date. Just down to finishing the sleeves. Just do it I keep telling myself as I look at it staring me in the face!!!!

It is always those last little steps that just become big mountains to climb.

I started this baby sweater from Debbie Bliss’s Simply Baby. It is the Lace Edge Cardigan. I am using DB yarn, Cashmerino that I had from my stash.

The size I am making is the smallest, 3-6 mos. Personally, I think it is huge! But what do I know, I’ve never had a baby and have not been around them all that much. Most Debbie Bliss patterns, from my experience, run really big. Maybe babies in UK are just bigger than here in the US! The pattern is super simple. The yarn is quite splitty and hard to keep a consistent tension on. However, it is very soft and squishy.

I jumped ahead in the pattern – gets a little boring just knitting and endless sea of garter. The lace edging is going to be lovely.

My plan is to sell this at the store I currently work at. A very high end gift store that sells exquisite baby things in addition to the pricey other things – Match pewter, Simon Pearce Crystal, etc…

I polled the blog about what to charge for this item. Marie of Knitted Gems had great information on the subject. I think what will work will be to calculate the yardage and times it by 10 cents a yard. My store will buy it at wholesale and put a 2.25 % markup. So, that will be about $30 to me and the store will sell it for around $68.

That sounds reasonable to me. What do you think? Don’t be shy, really, what do you think!