Where have I been??

Ok...I know...it's been a long, long time. I'm sorry. Here I was SO excited with this blog and all and just like that..poof..it's like I lost interest or somethin'. Yeah..actually that's it. Anyway, I'll really try to keep up with this stuff. I mean, I do have things I've made and would like to post and maybe even talk about them. I just gotta remember how to do the things I learned to do, like post pics, way back when I was a little more active with this.

Right now, I'm busy with Christmas knitting and am trying desperately to finish them. I have a really pretty shawl for my sister, which I really hope she likes, and a vest for Patrick which is on hold for now until I finish the neverending shawl for Lynn. Here's the shawl when I had only one skein into it. Now I'm on the 3rd and almost 4th skein: It's called the Upstairs shawl which was a Knit-a-long for June in the Beginning Lace Knitters thread on Ravelry. I'm using Jojoland Melody fingering weight yarn.

It's turning out nicely, I think.
This next shawl is the first one I made and finished! Its called the Sunday Market Shawl and I found the free pattern on Ravelry. I used Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, two skeins, which I found while visiting a yarn shop in Banner Elk, NC where my Aunt Ruth lives, and the shop was going out of business. woohoo!

and another shot:

This is my daughter Katie modeling it. This was a gift for the daughter of a girlfriend who is getting married in November. I made it for her bridal shower in September. Katie really liked it, so I'm making her one in some really nice Kauni that I had in my stash.
There are some other things, but adding them all to this post will make it way too long!
I'll try to keep up and add a post about once a week or when I have something to say or show. ttfn!!

Yep, still here

I've decided to shelve my Kiri shawl indefinitely, or until I get a bit better at knitting lace. I frogged that thing at least 5 times. It's official and I've given up for the time being. I also tried the Anya scarf. Nope. I tried the Branching Out scarf. Nope. It seems the patterns I've tried were a bit too complicated for my wee brain and abilities. The two scarves were frogged and not re-started. The Kiri has a lifeline put in and the subsequent rows (three of them) are wrong. There are too many rows in each pattern repeat and I get soooo lost. I mean, I get lost in the ROW. Now, thats bad. I still want to knit lace so looked a little more carefully and found this:
. Its the Leaf Lace scarf that I got online at Knitty.com. So far, its going great! Only 12 rows in each repeat and infinitely easier. I hardly get lost at all. I've had to start over once and have knitted back a few times for a couple rows, but all in all it's fine and I'm excited about it! I'm using this absolutely wonderful Malabrigo Lace in Water Green. This stuff is fabulous. Its so soft and the color is beautiful. If this works out like I think it will, I might try making the pattern wider for a rectangular shawl. The scarf is 6" wide and 60" long, so all I have to do is repeat the width three times for it to be wide enough. eh..we'll see. Typical of me to think so far ahead.
I'm also forging ahead and trying a sweater. I bought some beautiful yarn at Knit Michigan when I was there a month or so ago. Worsted weight, 100% wool merino in a Sage color. Really nice! I got this pattern at the knit shop at the hospital.
.
This is the pattern I choose because it looks easy and shouldn't make me crazy.
. Pretty huh? I really like it. I'm being very, very careful for sizing. I'm not going to put all this time and effort into something that I won't wear because it doesn't fit. I'd hate that.
Yep, I've been busy. I knitted some leg warmers for my daughter, Katie. I had some Blue Sky Alpaca, 2 skeins, and it worked out pretty good. I wanted them just a tad longer than they turned out, so I used up a bit of Universal Yarn worsted with some blues and grays in it for the bottom of the leg warmer. She liked them and thats all that matters!
Here's a pic:
. Modeled by herself. ;-)
I bought some more yarn (surprise!) and I haven't photoed it yet. (is that a word??)
But I'll get to it and post it.
I'm in the Loopy Ewe sock club and the first shipment is due this upcoming week. Not sure yet if I'm excited about that or not. This is my first sock club experience, so we'll see. I get a skein of sock yarn and a pattern shipped to me every other month. I doubt if I'll do the patterns because I'm just not that experienced yet in the fancy sock patterns. Besides, I like the simple ones that show off the yarn better anyway. Why work an intricate sock pattern when you can't see it because of the way the yarn is dyed? Seems like a waste of time to me. Speaking of socks, I got this really nice sock yarn from the Loopy Ewe which should arrive Monday or Tuesday. Its by Trekking, and its called Hand Art because it's hand dyed. It has blacks and reds and a couple other colors in it and I thought of making a pair of socks for Patrick with it. I think he'd like them. Anyway, its just a thought.
I got some yarn from the woman with the Alpacas the other day. She wants me to knit a hood for her brother. A sort of balaclava. I started it and the yarn is totally inappropriate for it. It sheds like crazy!! Making a hood out of this stuff would be pretty awful. Her brother will have fuzzies in his eyes, nose and mouth. I haven't had a chance to tell her yet, but I will when I see her this week at work. Truthfull, I really don't want to knit a hood for her. I've got other stuff I'd rather do!
Because I haven't posted any, here's a picture of our granddaughter and my husband.

Talk soon!

Adventures in Lace

I've actually lost count on how many times I've started my lace project over. I started the Kiri shawl and frogged it at least 6 times before I got it right and decided it might be best to start using "lifelines". What a lifeline is, is dental floss, or mercerized cotton, or an equally thin yarn thats knitted into a row where you are certain there are no mistakes on that row or anywhere below it. That way, when you make a mistake in the following rows/pattern repeats (and I definitely will) you only have to frog up to the lifeline instead of starting over from the beginning. Fixing mistakes in lace knitting is very, very different than fixing mistakes with regular worsted or DK or fingering yarn. Lace yarn is thin, thin, thin and hard to see and with all those YO's and k2tog, it's close to impossible to knit backwards to fix a mistake. I think I'm going to love lifelines. The picture of my Kiri beginning that I have in Flickr has been frogged too. This time, I started over using a CO 1 stitch and knitting in the back and the front of the stitch to increase, knitting a plain row, and then increasing until I got 13 stitches before the lace pattern starts. I no longer have a straight across edge to the shawl. I'll take a pic and post it when I have something more to show.
Here's my Loopy Swap project that I made for Karen.

She said she really liked it and that made me very happy! I loved the shades of green in the yarn. I sent her the extra skein of the yarn I had because I never paid attention to the yardage requirement to make the fingerless mittens and I ordered two skeins, when all I needed was one. duh.
I really should have taken some more pictures before I started my post here. I'll do that tomorrow before I go to work. I have to work afternoons tomorrow. yuk. I really hate working afternoons because I get off shift at 11:30pm and I don't get home until about 12:45am. Yep, I live that far from work. I also have to take my car to the dealer in the morning and hope I can get a rental. arrrgg...There be grinding sounds coming from me undercarriage. Maybe I should look under there..might be dragging an igloo or something. ;-)
Have a great week!

Just a bit

This is just a short post today. Its my daughters 25th birthday. Can't believe my baby is that old..or that I am old enough to have my youngest child be 25. I went to the Knit Michigan gathering today for a little while to look around. It was pretty nice! I bought some gorgeous green yarn from a Michigan spinner. I'll post a pic of it when I get it taken. Also..I have a new avatar on Ravelry. I got a button at the Knit Michigan and thought I'd use that for my new ID.
.
Pretty cool, huh?? lol..I'm thrilled with it. More to come soon!

Movin' on to me-stuff

I finished the things I was feverishly knitting: My Loopy Swap project is done and I'm this close to keeping it for myself. Of course I won't..lol..but it turned out nice especially after I washed it in Eulalan. I took a pic of it and I'll post it on a future blog after I ship it to Karen along with the other goodies I got her. The Alpaca yarn I received from the two women I work with was knitted up into two scarves. They've been given, and I didn't take any photos of the finished work because I was so anxious to get the scarves to them I forgot. One scarf was done in a Mistake Rib, about 5 inches wide and about 42 inches long. Just long enough to wrap around and hang down a bit. The other scarf was a double cable pattern, modified from the Irish Hiking scarf. That one was longer because it was narrower. It turned out about 4.5 inches wide and about 48 inches long. They were both very pleased with them.
Now, because I'm completely out of my mind I've decided to try knitting lace. I mentioned that in a previous blog and I actually followed through. I got my Schaefer Trenna yarn, which is absolutely gorgeous. However, knitting lace is HARD. It's something I have to get used to and learn properly. I was using US 7's and knitting such a fine yarn with relatively big needles was like knitting with tree trunks. Very difficult. I sought some help and advice from the wonderful people on Ravelry in the lace postings and one of them suggested I try using US 4's instead. It will alter the pattern, I think quite a bit, but I'm going to try it to see if it makes it easier. Here's a pic of it so far still on the US 7's. By the way, this is my 5th try.
.
The colors of the yarn are so pretty, and I really want to do this for Lynn, my sister.
Also, I thought I'd try a smaller project, the Anya scarf, using my Dream in Color Smooshy fingering weight yarn. Its not any easier because the pattern is on both sides of the scarf, instead of the pattern being on the RS (right side) of the scarf and a plain row such as K2, P across, K2 on the WS(wrong side). Here's a pic of that attempt.
.
It's really pretty yarn and easier to work with because its a heavier weight than laceweight.
And..because evidently I don't have enough to do, or enough yarn, I went to Bridget's fabulous yarn shop "Have You Any Wool" in Berkley the other day and she had just got in some Berroco sock yarn. (groan).
.
and I got some of this, which I'm knitting up now and I love it. Look at the cool patterns made by the yarn!
.
The wound around the skein yarn was caused by a severe case of yarn barf when I tried to fish out the starting end of the yarn within the skein. I hate that! I'm also making a helmet liner for my nephew, Drew, who is over in Iraq and will be there for the next 14 months or so. Hopefully not any longer than that. I hope it turns out ok. I don't understand part of the pattern so I'm going to have to take it into the shop where I bought it for some 'splainin'. It's knit out of Cascade 220 in a militarily approved charcoal gray and I'll post a pic of it when its more done. I've only got about 2 inches on the neck part completed so far, so it doesn't really look like much.
One of my friends that I work with, Katie, has joined Ravelry just this past week. Its an overwhelming site, for sure. I hope she likes it as much as I do. I'm on Ravelry at least once a day looking around at all the yarn and patterns and asking questions if I need to.

It's sabotage, I tell ya!

So, here I am happily knitting along on my Loopy Ewe swap project and I see the light at the end of the tunnel when along comes this 100% Alpaca. Two women I work with raise them and I think they have about 20 in their flock. The animals had their first shearing a couple months ago. I said to one "when you have it spun I'd love to make you something out of it!" About 10 days ago, one of the women, Nancy, brought it to work and asked if I could make a scarf out of it..did I have enough yarn? I stared at it. Soooo pretty. A taupe/gray kind of color. Too thick to be worsted, too thin to be bulky. I said...sure..without really thinking. Something I'm very very good at. Nancy said..um..maybe two scarves? One for me and one for Kim? (the other owner/raiser). I said...sure..without really thinking. Nancy didn't have the yardage, only the weight. 8oz altogether in 4 2oz hanks. I couldn't believe my luck! Not only did I have homegrown yarn to work with it was beautiful stuff. Handspun. Expensive if I were to buy it. I practically ran with it.

It looks a little bluish and thats my fault. I'm not really great at pic taking yet. Anyway, I have one scarf done. Just a plain one in mistake rib and thankfully she didn't want it long. It's about 42 inches long by 5 inches wide. I did not have enough yarn for both scarves, so Nancy gave me another 4 ounces and that should do it. The second scarf is a double cable. I modified the Irish Hiking scarf pattern to make it narrower, CO 30 sts instead of 42. Its moving along nicely and I should have it done by Friday, barring any interruptions. THEN I can get back to my Loopy project and finish it!
I'm also gathering stuff for my partner for the goodies. Kinda fun actually. I got some stuff from Sheri, of course, but I want to find a couple things from me.
After I finish my present WPI's, I'm gonna take the plunge and attempt a lace shawl. Oh. my. God! This is a scary thing for me because I have a terrible time reading charts. I found some tips for chart reading at Knitty.com. They're very good and that's what I'm going to do. Until I get the hang of the pattern, I'm going to write out each row on an index card and use a small metal ring to keep it together. The pattern is Kiri http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kiri. Its so pretty and I think I can do it. I bought this amazing laceweight yarn from Little Knits called Shaefer Trenna. http://littleknits.com/products.php?cat=375 It was the most beautiful laceweight yarn I've seen and I've looked at pages and pages of it. When its delivered, I'll take a pic of it and post. I'm making this with Lynn (my sister) in mind and the colors of the yarn: seafoam green/silver/cream ought to look beautiful on her with her red hair. I truly don't care if she ever wears it, although it would be awesome. I just want to make something special for her. If I succeed there'll be no living with me. LOL!
Lastly, I also got some Sheepaints Bamboolaine for socks. I have more sock yarn than I'll ever knit, I think. I got it from Sheri at the Loopy Ewe. . Pretty, huh?
This is a long post, I know. It's been a while since I've written anything and I tend to gab a lot. Plus, I finally figured out how to put links on my blog here. Good ol' Ravelry!!
Busy week ahead. C-c-cold here today! Going to make Chicken Noodle soup from a recipe I found in Cooks Illustrated Soups and Stews magazine. It looks good, not too hard to make and its a perfect day for it. Got laundry to do and bills to pay. Ya know..life getting in the way of knitting again. Have a great week!

Catching up

Trying to be good and finish my Loopy Ewe project and its coming along really nice. I hope she likes it..and I hope she doesn't look TOO closely at it. lol..might be a teeny mistake or two. I've got a lot of things waiting to be knit up but I'm going to behave and actually finish something before I start another.
I got this gorgeous yarn from WEBS, Di'Ve Zenith. It was $3.99 a skein, which was half off, I think. Anyway its the yarn I want to use to make that Irish Hiking scarf I've mentioned before in an earlier post. Heres a pic of it:

If the yarn knits up as pretty as it is in a ball, then I'm getting more of it, not the same color, to knit a sweater!! Yes, folks...shes gonna try the big time. I'm going to knit one that actually fits! I have a pattern for a basic knit-top-down raglan sleeved sweater. I just need to find a stitch pattern that won't bore me to death, and at the same time doesn't frustrate me. Not easy to find.
Things are back to normal around here. I'm slowly putting away all the decorations from Christmas. Bummer!