A Wing and A Prayer

This is the Bias-Sleeved Top from Schoolhouse Press' new book. You have to keep your wits about you when knitting EZ, but then most of you knew that already. No straight forward patterns here, but some great knitting designs that keeps you wondering, how did she come up with this? What a knitting mind!

I'm winging this along as I have made some modifications to mine. With the cotton yarn, I know that it is going to stretch, so I am not even knitting to the suggested width on the body.


The bottom has short rows to cinch it in. Now I just have to remember the front is not exactly like the back. For a moment, I had a little panic when I was almost done knitting on the back body. I looked at the schematic and looked at the front and noticed the short rows were suspended for awhile. OY!

With a little closer look at the directions, I discovered I was ok. (wipes brow)


I've added to both the width of the sleeve and the length of the sleeve. This is on a wing and a prayer. Hopefully, it will hit at a good spot and be short/long enough.

The clincher came last night when I went to knit on the other sleeve, having to think a bit about how I was going to reverse that shaping. I had a false start, but seem to have it back on track.

Throughout, I been praying there is enough yarn to do it, and it appears there will be. I am hoping for a finish for Knit Camp in a couple of weeks....

Happy Birthday Debbie P.

The Short and The Long

I love this jacket. One pattern two ways...I think I have to have it.

I Have No Self Control

Or at least not right now. I am looking at the calendar and seeing how quickly Knit Camp is coming up and there is so many things I want to knit before we go. I am already thinking of the projects that I want to take with me.

I am also thinking about my plan to finish some spring/summer things thereby maybe cleaning out a bin in the yarn room....okay so that is not going so well.

I am doing okay on the no buying yarn, well except for the Dale Baby Ull I ordered for a Christening Shawl yesterday...no there is no baby for it, but someday there will be and it may take me a while to get it done, especially with all my other plans!

Tomorrow is a new week.....

I Could Not Resist


While in Memphis, these beauties caught my eye. Last night while knitting on a little something that required a size 2 needle, I became very aware of how much I dislike that both Addi and Knit Picks don't have the smaller size needles in their sets.

I really like the fine points on both sets of needles, just wish that the smaller ones were available to....yes, I'm whining. Maybe, it will help.

Edit: While taking a shower(where I do most of my really good thinking), I rememberd that I bought the fixed Harmonies from Knit Picks in sizes 1,2,and 3 in both 20" and I think 40"+...I think those will work just fine. Tantrum over.

I Know It's Friday

But somehow, I missed Wednesday when it was actually Wednesday.

So here is Wednesday's Website on Friday....only those who love Caribe Blue will appreciate this one.

http://www.everythingturquoise.com/

Look Ma, I'm Spinning

But don't look too closely. I have this problem with going thick and thin. This is the first attempt at spinning a little every day.

I'm armed with my tools and several you tube videos that I keep watching to get the hang of it.



Most days it starts off really well. Then, all of a sudden, out of the blue, bing, it becomes frustrating.

I'm not sure I'll ever spin enough to actually do something with it. But, for the momentm I'll keep practicing...at least until camp is over. The plan is to spin a bit at camp at night. There will be some expert spinners at camp so who knows.

Funny story about spinning. Over on Facebook, one of my friends posted that she had started spinning again. At first glance, I thought, how cool is that?! Someone from high school and in the area spins....maybe we could get together and I could get some pointers.

You guessed it, she was talking about spinning, like in exercise.l

Oh vell,

I'm Not Apologizing


These are my colors, but regular readers already knew that. It just struck me as most of these pieces were sitting together on my little table, that they looked good together sitting there. Add the wallet and the shoe and you have an ensemble!

A QVC host once said that when she goes on vacation, she takes khaki, red and navy with her. Then she can mix and match them all and it cuts down on the amount of shoes, purses and accessories that she has to pack.


It just hit me, if I took her advice, and did the same thing with my fave color, I too could pack economically as well. I could add either black or blue or brown to this mix for camp. Definitely blue jeans.

You know what that means? More room for yarn!

It's The First Day Of Summer


Why oh why didn't I take one more day off?

Of Course I Found Yarn Shops

The worst part of the kids moving from Memphis is that Yarniverse is literally just around the corner from them! The Tall Guy kindly waited in the car for me while I shopped on Friday afternoon. The ladies in the shop were kind to offer him a chair in the shop where it was cool, but I interceded for him...was that cruel?


The Tall Guy was very impressed with the small bag that I carried out to the car. At first, he asked if I was having the rest shipped home? Nope, I answered. It's a good thing he doesn't know what needles cost!

Just two balls of yarn joined the stash, which I am pretty pleased about. They are going to be a little shawl from Ravelry I believe.

And brand new from Lantern Moon, a set of nesting zip bags. They were at the front desk and almost the first thing I zeroed in on the minute I walked in...of course I had to have them, even though I don't exactly know what I am going to do with them right now.


On Saturday afternoon, the Tall Guy and Baby Boy B helped me find this shop in Cedar Rapids. Village Needleworks has a lot of different needlearts, and I came managed to come out with just my purse. I'm pretty proud of myself.

We decided to come home late last night so Crazy Girl didn't happen today, but the nice thing is there is always the next time, by then, I should have the stash down a bit more.

Happy Father's Day

Not A Fun Day


10 1/2 hours following this....and I was all by my lonesome, so there was no knitting involved.

I'm sitting out the unpacking this morning due to a flare up of a stomach problem. There is no rhyme or reason to it, I have some un scientific thoughts on it, but when push comes to shove, I think it's time to go back to the doctor and try something else.

Guess I'll get my knitting out while I wait for my ride.

I've Got It Tough

The rare occasion is that I get to sit in the back seat and just enjoy. I had all the comforts on our way to Memphis. Baby Boy B and the Tall Guy did all the driving. It made the trip seem not so long.


I had everything I needed. My knitting. My pillow and blankie. My IPod with Gabaldon's Outlander on it. The Ipad was close at hand until I lost it down the back of the Jeep (the Tall Guy found it later for me).

It will be a different trip to Iowa....I'll have to move to the front seat and will require I drive a little....the only thing that surprised me is how far I didn't get on my many knitting projects I brought with me. With the exception of about an hour, I was knitting the whole time.

Wednesday Website

http://crazyknittinglady.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/well-its-speedier-at-least/

I always swatch and over at Knitting to Stay Sane's blog, the June 8th post is particularly helpful for a couple of different swatches.

Five Days Not Five Weeks!

I like driving when going places...then you can take whatever you want without feeling like you are leaving something at home. You knitters know what I mean, but I'll blog about that later.

We are going to Memphis tomorrow to help Baby Boy A and wife move to Iowa. It's hot in Memphis...it will probably be hot in Iowa by the end of the move. So, I have to be prepared. Problem #1, I don't have many pairs of shorts so I am reworking a pair of old jeans for shorts. I prefer capris when out in public so I am packing some of those. T-shirts, more than I need but when you are hot, it might be nice to have a spare for the night...did I say I haven't even got to the knitting yet?

And, the tall guy's stuff isn't in here yet. Got my baggie for snacks in the car (Vera on left), bag for drugs, tennis shoes, toiletries (Vera next to suitcase), suitcase for us, small Vera bag for all the chargers, and my laptop cause I gotta be able to work too.

Then there is the knitting bag just for the car. Whats in it? Three in progress from the Knit One Knit All book. I am hoping to really accomplish alot on the Bias Top tomorrow. What I am really hoping is to not have to have to drive so I should have a good 7 hours of knitting...that is if I stay awake.


Then there is the bag that has the extra yarn...you know just in case I get stranded in Memphis! Like there isn't a yarn shop there! And my blankie and my pillow for the car. The blankie and the pillow were my mom's, she took them with her the only time we took her to Memphis. She was pretty smart and ever since I have thought it was a pretty smart of her. As I recall, I used the blankie more than she did.

And finally a sweater cause I get cold in restaurants and it's nice to have one to take along.

See you in 5 weeks...I mean 5 days.

My First Crocs


I like them and they are pretty comfortable. Too bad I don't have more pink and brown! It is a nice color combo though.


And while we have the brown thing going, I think I finally have a thought for my seafoam and brown Baby Bunny. It will more than likely require some extra yarn of a different dye lot to be purchased, but I think I can handle that.


What I am going to try and do is make the taupe a little longer on both the sleeves and the hip. Then, shave off some of the total length on the sleeves and body.

Keeping my fingers crossed X.

Just A Quick Tip


I like my magnetic bookmarks. I use them to hold my place in magazines and books for the pattern and directions I am knitting on.

Only problem is, well not really a problem, but I am accumulating a few of them. Used to be paperclips did the trick.

Bias Sleeved Pullover

When I first saw this sweater in the Knit One Knit All book, I immediately thought this would be a good one for a nice cotton yarn for Spring/Summer. I've got a couple in the yarn room that would be a good choice but not sure if they are too heavy or what they would feel like on the body.

The first attempt was with the Fantasy Naturale from Plymouth. It was just a little too heavy for me, so I ripped it out and returned it to the yarn room for another day.


The next and current try is with Classic Elite's Flash yarn. I've had this forever, originally bought with a tunic pattern for it from Webs at a Stitches Midwest event, probably the first one that I ever attended.

So far, I am liking this try, but will need to knit a bit more on it. The real test will be when I get to the body section to see how it hangs.


I had a small epiphany late last night as I sat knitting on this top. Knit One Knit All is less of a pattern book and more of a study session in knitting. You need to think, you need to calculate, you need to stretch with this book.

Ahhh EZ from the beyond.

From "The" New Book


I resisted for awhile to cast on, but like food, when it comes to knitting I don't always have willpower. I'll be fine for awhile, but then I go nuts and just start casting on.

The neat part is for three out of the four projects, the cast ons were small enough numbers that I could call it a swatch. If it worked out on the first cast on, I already would have a good sum of rows cast on for the sweater. If it didn't, I wasn't out much knitting.

While knitting, I am using my Schoolhouse Press Knitting Journal to keep tabs on what I am doing. The only projects that are going into this journal are from Meg or EZ. All the rest are going in my Vera Bradley journal.

I'm not a hundred percent on most of what I have cast on from the book, but I am going to knit on and see how it progresses. Stick with me and you'll know how it goes too.

Sad News

The husband of one of our Knit Campers passed away Wednesday. He had been battling illness since right after camp last year. He and his wife were a staple at camp. We will miss both of them at camp this year, but will think about them often.

Wednesday Website

http://knitpurlhunter.com/blog/

Unusual Saturday

I remarked to the Tall Guy about 10:00 in the morning on Saturday, how unusal a Saturday morning we were having. I was at the hotel at 7 to help set up for the wedding reception. And at 10, I was in the car, not to my usual destination, Knit 4 Together, but to the gun shop.

I am not going to show you what I got, but will leave it at that it wasn't yarn. Very interesting morning.

The cake was very good....I could have used a tak-homa-sak.


The ice sculpture made for a good picture. The bride and groom had their pics taken through the ring part and a couple of people (read as kids) just had to lick it.




There was a lot of planning and work that went into this reception.



But was pretty beautiful anyway.

Tomorrow, it's back to knitting.

Happy Birthday Jo!

Even though you are in Italy....hope you are having a great day.

Wedding Pics

We rarely get a good picture at weddings, but for once these didn't turn out too bad.

The Tall Guy and I

Baby Boy B and Baby Boy A

Baby Boy A's wife had another wedding she had to go to.

Changing Horses


It is supposed to be a 2 pc set, the first piece being a striped top down vneck cardigan from Knitting Pure and Simple. I'm just not loving the stripes. I am sort of limited by the yarn amount. At the moment, I am kicking around Ce Ce from Chic Knits, but I would be really close on the yarn and the dye lot does not seem to be available.


When I just wasn't loving the project, I went into the yarn room and hanging out of the bin was Dakota On the Side from Cheryl Oberle's Knitted Jackets. A couple of months ago, I resisted the urge to rip out what I had already knitted on it ( one pattern repeat) for possible other projects.



I hauled it out and thought I would just knit a couple of rows and see how I liked it. And now, I find myself knitting on it quite a bit. Now, I am not sure if it is because Knitting Camp is coming soon and I would like to have it finished for that or what the thought is, but it fits the Stashdown criteria for me - it's on needles already and it's from the stash.

No, it's not from the spring/summer yarn bin, but I am enjoying knitting on it and that is what really counts.

Stashdown!

Over on Ravelry, Dramatic Knits is doing a Stashdown for the Summer. The idea is to knit from the stash as much as possible between June 1st and September 1st, keeping track of each ball/skein that is knitted up.

I had already decided to do something similar this Summer. Actually, it was a couple of plans. The first plan was to knit from projects that are on needles so I get my WIPS down. The second was to knit as many things from my Spring/Summer yarn stash as I possibly could and hopefully empty at least a bin of yarn.

The Weekend Hoodi was a good start.

Watch and see how I do!

Wednesday Website

http://www.knitmap.com/