Ornament #3 stitched

I’ve been alternating between cross stitching and knitting today (and tossing in laundry loads, emptying dishwasher so I could fill it again, and a walk in the very crisp cold air to the garbage and recycling dumpsters). So a bit of crafting, a bit of chores and all while binge watching Dr. Who on BBC America. I’ve always been a fan of the show but our local station didn’t always carry it so I’ve seen some episodes I haven’t seen before. So yes, pretty much a lazy day here. 🙂 I didn’t make any holiday treats so I’m thinking I might just go make some Seven Layer Bars and pop them in the oven since they will be quick and easy to toss together.

Sweater back is progressing nicely – it’s a very easy knit – and I love knitting with Wollmeise yarn.

And here is the third ornament stitched (but not yet attached to the sled). This is the second of four cardinals. I decided to change the background color a bit and made the mistake of picking one that didn’t let the darker holly leaves show up well – so I just restitched over top of some of the holly with a lighter shade of green.

On the Needles – 12/5/15

I still need to seam my Loopy Legend Gannets yarn sweater.  The side seams are all clipped together so maybe this evening I’ll get that done so I can wear it.

In the meantime, I started a new sweater – CustomFit Charlie’s Cardigan.   My yarn arrived on Monday (my Black Friday purchase) so got busy swatching.

It’s Cascade 220 (nonsuperwash) and the color is Opal.  The swatch is true to color on my monitor – sort of a slightly pinkish tank.   So Tuesday night I cast on and here’s my progress so far.  I’ve got about 12″ – 14″ knit already.   This is knitting up really quickly so far, but then of course my last two sweaters were fingering weight.

 

 

The other yarn I had ordered was originally for Olethea but I wasn’t thinking correctly when I ordered it because I need to make it larger and longer and didn’t order the extra yarn to do so.  But it all worked out well since Laura Aylor is running another holiday MKAL that uses the same weight (bulky) and I’ll have enough to make the MKAL project for me and enough leftover to make Oppose as a gift for someone else.   That’s my favorite kind of gift giving — one for you; one for me. 🙂  Plus I love the colors of this yarn (which are a bit darker/richer looking that my photo) and Malabrigo Mecha is so soft.  The color is Solis.

So that’s what’s in the works at the moment.  Today, once I convince myself I really should get dressed, I think will be spent doing a bit of cleaning and pulling out the Christmas Tree and setting it up even if I don’t decorate it yet.  And maybe tomorrow putting up the lights outside since it’s supposed to be a fairly nice day  (39 degrees and not windy on  December 6 is pretty good – and no snow on the ground).    But then I also have a quilt I really need to finish so I’d better get busy around here!

Socktoberfest Sock Knitting Challenge

The Socktoberfest Crocodylia  KAL has officially ended.  You can see my single sock at the link ..yes, I know.. only single so far but I have extenuating circumstances excuses.  These were my bus ride knitting project and as I was finishing up the first sock, daylight savings time changed and dark yarn, dark needles are not conducive knitting for the bus ride when the lighting on most buses is this weird bluish light that is not very bright — if you happen to get a seat on the side of the bus that is truly lit.  And I was busy on a sweater at home – but the sweater is nearly complete and the second sock has been cast on so I can work on it at home.

But check out these lovely socks that were completed by those who were up to the challenge and succeeded beautifully!

Karen Petersen

Shirley Soellner

Priscilla Benson

June Canders-Cloutier

 

 

 

 

Thank you ladies for playing along with me (and surpassing me with completing your pair).  June said this was her first pair of knit socks ever – excellent!!

And now to the random number generator (I’ve numbered them 1 thru 4 in the order shown here) and the winner of a hank of Wollmeise sock yarn is:

Priscilla is the lucky winner.  I believe she was also the first person to email me a photo of her lovely red socks which show off the stitch pattern so well.   Priscilla please email me with your mailing address.

Congratulations to all you ladies who now have a cozy pair of socks to wear.

 

On the Needles – Friday, Jan. 18

Many things are on many needles – I still haven’t gathered them all together to figure out my plan of attack for getting the Unfinished Knitty Objects (UKOs) finished.  But the three that I am currently working on are the Drifted Pearls scarf – Camp Loopy 1st Quarter project which you can see HERE in yesterday’s blog post.

Although it doesn’t look like much all scrunched up on the circular needle, here’s how far I am on the Greta vest.

 Both those patterns can be found on Ravelry.

There’s also a pair of SKYP socks I’ve been working on – just another 2″ or so on the foot of the first sock and I’ll be ready to finish that one off.

See what others have on their needles over at Judy’s.

Today, the first day of my 4 day weekend, is off to a slow lazy start.  I got up early, turned on the coffee pot, snuggled up in a chair with a quilt and have been knitting and looking around me thinking what a mess!   But you never want to jump right into that cleaning – you must plan your attack, right? LOL

Spent some time perusing the Hancocks of Paducah catalog – there are too many fabrics that I think — that would be perfect for this project, or that project or……… put down the catalog lady and step away!!  ROFLOL

 No I did not immediately (or as of yet) place an order. LOL  I’m not saying I’m out of the woods yet tho since my current fabric combination love is yellow and gray and there are some oh so pretty shades that I keep thinking wouldn’t one of my bid blocks look so pretty and springy in those  (we’re headed toward single digits next week so I’m trying to think ahead to spring!).   It was a bit disappointing tho that inside the catalog, where they show the fabric line that I designed the quilt pattern for, someone goofed and they gave credit for the “quilt design” (mine) to the “fabric line designer.”  But I’ll get over it – mistakes happen.

So several cups of coffee later, and many more rows knit, I’m still contemplating my plan of attack for the day.  The maid has not come to make me breakfast so I may have to find something myself to eat and  Mother Hubbard has not restocked the pantry so there’s not much to choose from.  (Thank goodness there was coffee!).    So I think another cup of coffee while I figure out a grocery list and then I may actually get dressed and get busy around here.   The only really true plans around here today are to go out to dinner with a friend and then to the grocery store – it’s a vacation day so I don’t want to work toooo hard. 😉

                                                                                                                                                                        

Don’t forget that tomorrow is the first Stitchin with Justquiltin 2013 free project.   Button in the sidebar is the place to find all info on this project.

I haven’t decided yet if I’ll go pull more fabrics for this one in this size or if I’ll just concentrate on getting the smaller version I made last weekend quilted.  I’ve got so many tops waiting to be quilted and I generally don’t repeat making a quilt design even in a different size. 

But remember — in order to qualify for drawings for some of the “Justquiltin swag”, you need to actually stitch along , since at some point in the future I’ll ask you to post comments on a particular blog post with a link to share your progress on a project so we can see some eye candy and what fabrics you are using.

Tote bag, mouse pads, pens — just little goodies to give away.   Okay -time to get seriously busy around here. 

Whoooo Are You???

First – I just remembered it’s the first Stashbusting Reporting day on Judy’s blog. And yes!! I actually have something to report!  5.5 Yards busted for the Coloring Outside the Lines quilt top.  Now to get it layered so I can count backing too but that may have to wait until next weekend.  Need to clear off the table so there’s actually room to layer a quilt. 😉  And Yes — waving hand madly in the air — I was one of those people trying to entice her into buy fabric but I found the most perfect fabric for the backing of one of the bird quilts so my telling her about it was just a “public service announcement.” ROFLOL  She stayed strong tho, even when I told her I don’t think any fabric purchased and paid for in 2012, even tho it doesn’t arrive until 2013, does not have to be counted as an addition to the stash since it was paid for last year. 😉  

Whoooo Are You????

One of the bird designs I’ve had floating around in my brain was an Owl.  Remember the Owl from the Tootsie Pop commercials who tried to figure out how many licks to get to the chocolatey center? I suffered from his same weakness — loved the chocolate tootsie pops and never made it to the center without biting them to get there quicker.

Anyway – enough rambling – I woke up this morning with the Owl in my head and decided to see if I could get him drawn up.  I don’t know that he’s finished yet but here he is so far.  I think his name is Egbert – he’s shaped like an egg.

 I never did really get to the laundry yesterday (I did throw one load in around midnight but there’s more to do).  Instead I managed to get the first draft of a pattern for Hoffman Fabrics written — it too, uses one of my bird designs which goes great with the lovely cardinal prints that they do for the holidays (and next year’s holiday fabrics will be no exception).

Just need to double check all that pattern info before sending it off and once that job is done, I can concentrate on writing up one of the blog projects,  either a Strictly for the Birds design or Stitchin with Justquiltin project, so we can get started.

I did get several hours of knitting in late last night so there has been progress on the Greta vest.  It doesn’t look like much right now but it’s progressing.  In addition to the socks I’m also working on, I did a bit of knitting yesterday afternoon on the red linen stitch cowl in my UFK basket.   I love the way it looks like it’s woven rather than knit but it takes longer to make progress since the stitches are more compact.

I picked up fresh blueberries at the store yesterday so I think some blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs would be just about perfect for brunch and while they are baking, a bit of laundry and cleaning and then my plan is to spend the rest of the day sewing or knitting.

 

Sticks ‘n Strings – Finish #1

Okay now it’s getting really trickey to load photos. I can’t see them after I added them to the page but if I view a draft of the page they are there.  So in the end, there may be a photo on this page….. or not….. when you see it.  I don’t know what the heck WordPress did but I am now officially annoyed.

But back to the point of this blog post –  it’s my first finish of 2013 – completed on January 2 – just two days into the year not bad. LOL 

It’s the One Row Handspun Scarf Pattern from Yarnharlot which can be found on Ravelry.  I used two sock yarns held together.  One was Painted Tiger (love her hand dyed yarns) Bengal Twist in Blue Spruce and the other was a Poems Sock yarn that changed colors.  It will go into the gift/donate stash since I didn’t make it for anyone in particular until I decide what I want to do with it.  Since I finished a project – I can start a new project!   But since I don’t know what I want to start, I’ll keep knitting along on some socks in progress.

I’m also going to keep track again of the total yards knit  — adding them in only when a project is completed — simply because it’s fun to see how many miles of yarn you have knit.  I knit (completed) over 5 miles of yarn last year — hmmm wonder how much it would have been if I didn’t have all those half finished projects that weren’t counted!

On the Needles Friday, August 17

What’s on the needles? Glad you asked — lots of stuff.  Now if I could just get some of them OFF the needles.

  This is my Stephen West Rockefeller KAL.  I’ve fallen way behind since I was working on Camp Loopy stuff but I hadn’t really planned to get it done by the deadline – there’s prizes being drawn from among those that finish by a date later this month but I’m not really going to worry about that.  I’m sure I’ll run out of the Zauberball Crazy Socks yarn (the bright crazy one of course) so just ordered another ball of that which should arrive Monday.  I’m working on the I-cord bind off along the lower edge — which takes FOREVER! but I’m getting there.  Then it’s on to the last clue.  I’ve, of course, peaked ahead at all the lovely finished projects on Ravelry from this pattern so it’s no longer a mystery to me how it ends up.  I think it’s going to look great with my bright red wool coat.

My last Camp Loopy project is done, Scalene, and still needs to be blocked — this weekend — so I can get the final photo loaded before the deadline the end of this month, too.

Then I pulled out an old pair of socks I had started a while ago and knit a bit on them.  This was after I discovered that my Honey Dew socks had a major mishap.  I had dopped stitches off the needle while toting it around and with all the slipped loops in that one and the fact that the stitches had ripped back several rows, I had to totally rip it all out.  There was no way I could figure out how to carry those stitches back up the rows in that pattern.  DRAT!!  The yarn I was using was going to be a bit tight on yardage so I think I’ll try them with some different yarn at a later date that has more yardage to it.  So the plain jane’s got a bit of stitching while I stewed about messing up the Honey Dew socks. 🙂

But then I started flipping through my Socktopus sock book (yes, I’ve told you before I love this book) and came across a pattern I wanted to try.  In keeping with my idea for the 12 in 2012 socks, one of the things I wanted to do was try some different techniques/patterns.   This one was toe up.  I’ve never done a toe up pattern.

It’s the Om Shanti pattern – which said it was designed as a bed sock so the pattern has a shorter cuff on it.  Well I don’t wear bed socks – ick – I absolutely cannot sleep with socks on – but I can always adjust the cuff.  So I decided to give them a shot and as you can see, I’m doing well.  There was a provisional cast on to do the toe and shape it with wrapped stitches and once that was knit, you’re ready to fly along the foot.

I’ve just turned the heel here and am starting up the cuff.  I was more interested in seeing “if” I could do them than paying attention to the number of stitches used.  The needle size is a bit larger than I normally use but the number of stitches  are a good number less.  And it’s not real stretchy due to the stitch pattern (which I really like – a simple to memorize stitch that gives a bit of texture and helps stop any pooling) so I need to see if I can try these on.  I think I’ll be ripping them out tho and starting over since I think these will be too tight around but even so, not a big deal.  I now understand how the toe up on this pattern works so I can adjust to more stitches go get the fit I want.  I’m not sure I like the garter stitch toe but will think on that a bit.

So hop on over to http://www.patchworktimes.com/ to see what others have on their needles today.

June 8 – On the Needles

Judy has started On the Needles Fridays – an update of what is currently on the knitting needles.  Check out the link to see what other people are knitting on right now.

This pair of Simple Skyp socks are currently on the needles – just turned the heel and am on to the foot.

  There are of course other projects on needles but I plan to only show you the ones on Fridays that are seriously being worked on at the time.

This next project I have been very seriously knitting on! 🙂  Started it on May 27 at 12:01 a.m. — the start of Camp Loopy and  tonight I will be casting off — it’s nearly done!

If you read the blog you may remember seeing the yarn when I first got it for the Spectra scarf —

Even tho I really liked that Zauberball (the multicolored yarn) I wasn’t sure how it would look in this scarf (oh yes — an my Camp Loopy T-shirt arrived yesterday with the same logo on it as that button in the picture — too cute!)

But take a look at this scarf — I absolutely positively love it!!  I have yet to figure out exactly how I’m going to block it but about 5 more rows of black will finish off the end — which is good since that little ball of black is all that’s left.  I made it a few more wedges longer than the pattern called for.

A busy week

I can’t believe it’s  been a week since I last posted.  It’s been busy and even busier towards the end of the week since the last couple days I’ve been working on a new pattern for Hoffman California Fabrics — or trying to come up with a new pattern 🙂  Sometimes I can look at the fabric and know what to do with them and other times it can take a while.  Knowing the look they want to go for and getting there are sometimes two different things tho. LOL   It’s crunch time — the faimages of the fabrics  I’m working with will come out at spring market which is next month!  So I’ve got to get a pattern design approved, written up and back to Hoffman in short order so they can get the quilt made up in time for market.  But I’ve got the weekend off – so to speak – since I won’t hear back on design approval until Monday so am catching up on a few things.

You may recall from last weekend’s stashbusting report if you read it, that there was part of a conversation between friend Judy, stashbusing quru, and me where we were discussing our fabric choices, or possible choices, for the Christmas Town Sampler – A Collaboration Among Friends project starting in July.f  You may also recall that she told me to go buy fabrics.!

Well Judy is a wise, wise woman (and every bit the enabler for shopping for fabric or yarn for me, as I am for her — we’ve got a very good mutual enabler society going on!).  Anyway,  of course I shopped — on line tho.  My package arrived yesterday from The Fat Quarter Shop and here’s the fabrics I plan to use in that BOM project.  Unlike friend Susan, a collaborator on this project with Judy, Sheryl and I, I do not do “scrappy” well.  Susan is the queen of scrapiness!  Anything goes and her quilts look fantastic.  I need to maintain a little control so this is about as “scrappy” as I get — lots of colors but there are only two different fabric lines below in the photo.

  My town will definitely be bright and cheery – no gloomy town for me.

 

The fabrics are all tone on tone.  The blue and cream at the bottom of the photo both have subtle snowflake prints on them and those will be my background and border fabrics.

Ran a few errands this morning — one very important purchase – a new wastebasket for my sewing room.  Just why have I always had this piddling tiny wastebaset in there??  Fabric scraps, batting scraps, etc – always overflowing — so now I have a nice big one.  But now the sun is out, it looks rather nice out after several days of gray and rain and damp, and has warmed up a bit so think I’ll take a stroll up to the park and peruse a few knitting patterns I recently purchased (purchased all because of that enabler Judy).  She was talkin about Mad May on Ravelry and the various pattern categories they had — among them were two patterns I’ve looked at several times over the past week but hadn’t bought yet.  Then she had to mention them again so I had to buy them, along with a cute sweater.  Did I buy yarn for them — NO — there’s probably yarn here in the stash that I can make them all from since I can make them all in sock yarn.  So I think I’ll go claim the picnic table at the top of the hill, where I can survey the whole neighborhood and watch the dogs playing in the park, and decide what pattern to start on first. 🙂

 

 

 

Design Wall Monday

 Woven Ribbons is still up on the design wall from the weekend – awaiting it’s borders.  Those I hope to get on this week sometime.

I was digging in the knitting basket yesterday afternoon.  When I organized the yarn I put the various scarves, mittens and socks in progress in one basket so I can just pick one up and work on it when the mood strikes.

Yesterday afternoon I pulled out this scarf – which only had about an inch done  at that point.  But between last night and the bus ride to and from work, it’s grown about 12″.

The colors look a bit harsher than they are in real life (due to the lighting in my living room) they are a bit softer looking.  I love the colors in this yarn.  It’s a Lion Brand Yarn I picked up at a local shop called “Amazing” and the color is Regatta.  The pattern is  found at the SSYC blog http://simplysockyarn.typepad.com/simply_socks_yarn_co/2008/08/noro-wave-scarf-pattern.html.  The pattern is written for sock yarn but what I’m using is heavier so I opted for the part of  the directions with few repeats/stitches across it.  I used the same size needles as called for in the pattern so since I’m using thicker yarn, it’s not quite as lacy looking as the original but I really like it.  It’s super easy with just one row of four where you have to remember the pattern stitch but after a repeat or two it’s easy to remember.  Another great project to work on while riding to and from work.

Denise