While Waiting

Somedays, it just doesn't pay to try and knit.  The start of the week did not bring much productive knitting.  Seems like everytime, I tried to knit on something for the baby, I ran out of yarn.

 First, I tried finishing the baby kimono, but ran out of yarn.  Hopefully, I'll be able to find a skein of this pink DK Comfort this weekend over in Morton.  I bought this lonely skein at least a year and a half ago.  So the prospects don't look all that good, but one never knows.  Worst comes to worst, I do have some brown that I'll rip back this to before the sleeves and make a two color one out of.

For the first time ever, I tried doing the three needle icord bind off on the Tweed Baby Blanket.  I really like the technique, but this is going to take awhile to get around all four sides.  Unfortunately, I only have enough of the silver to do it in, and after giving it a few inches, decided thats not really what I want for the bindoff.

I've ordered another skein of the lilac and the brown from Jimmy Beans Wool out in Vegas.  I'll use the lilac for the bind off.  With the rest of it and the lilac, I have a mind to knit the Saartje booties and maybe the Surprise Sweater to go with.

While waiting for the yarn to come, I thought I would haul out my Long Collared Coat and work on it.  In a fit, I started to give it up and rip out the yarn, until my other kinder, gentler side told me to just let it sit. 

After looking at Ravelry finished projects, I decided to give it another try.  It's amazin what a little distance from a project can do. I figured it the handful of people on Ravelry have finished it that, certainly, I could as well.  I have said it before Knit One Knit All is not a book, you just sit down and knit from.  It requires a little thinking too.  It's more of a study in knitting and not for the faint of heart. 

And I love it.

Window Shopping

Windows on knitting shops intrigue me.  When I see one online that I like I save it in a folder.  One never knows when one will need to steal an idea from another shop.  This shop window just so happens to be about 5 minutes from work.  How cool is that?  I really should take advantage of it being so close, shouldn't I?



Let the Summer Begin

Happy Memorial Day!

Let the Summer fun begin, oh and the summer knitting too!

It's Race Day

Starting around 10 am on the fourth Sunday in May and until around 3, I am glued to my t.v.  If the phone rings, I don't answer it.  If you step in front of the t.v. during the race, be prepared to have your head ripped off.  Just saying.

It all started back when I was in 8th grade.  I, finally had a sister-in-law who made it possible for me to actually go the races.  Before that time, it was always just my dad and brother.  Mom and Dad wouldn't let me go because there wasn't another female.  After my first race, I was hooked.  We went every year, driving 4 hours+ with traffic to get to the race.  Then we would hurry home, so we could watch the replay at 7:00. 

We continued to do that until my Dad passed away.  We all went one year beyond that, but things changed and then we just stayed home to watch on t.v.  Something I do almost every year.  I love the race still, and hope one day to go back again.  You just don't understand what it is like, unless you have been in the stand.

Right before my senior year in high school, Dad was transferred to Indianapolis.  It was a tough time, starting out that I was going to spend my last year in high school where I knew absolutely no one. Couple that with the fact, that I was real irritated that we moved to Carmel and not Speedway.  I always thought I would get a job at Speedway some day.  Might have, but Dad was just as homesick as me and Mom, so around Thanksgiving that same year, he wrangled a transfer back.  Probably not as good of a job at Krogers that he got when we went to Indy, but the family card trumped that.  Memories on a Memorial Day Weekend, what can I say.

It's great knitting t.v.  for me and today, I am trying to finish Jared Flood's Tweed Baby Blanket.  I'm down to the I-Cord Bind Off which I have never done.  It may take me the whole race and then some to finish it since, there is somewhere around 560 stitches.

Had to throw some knitting content in to this post, after all.

Jumping on the Band Wagon

or rather off of it!

Sometimes, I need to take a short break from knitting.  Usually, it is when a particular is giving me a problem or I'm just tired of knitting on it.  Sure I could pick up one of several that are sitting around, but, I really am trying to finish somethings.  If I am flittin all over and around my knitting, that does not happen.

 When I do take that break, my mind still thinks about knitting.  Recently, I decided to pull out some books and other references that I have been saving about sweaters that look good and fit well.  I took a weekend and perused them and made some notes.

You see, I knit a lot of sweaters for me.  They fit pretty well, because, years ago, I took a 6 week class from Judy Chan at Mosaic Yarn Studio.  She truly helped me with making a sweater that fit and looked good on me. We took measurements and I have used her expertise many times. Judy was in Peoria a couple of years ago and I took a shortened version of the class which for me was a great refresher of the really long class I took with friend Julie over the course of a summer.  Judy gave me the most important advice I have received on sweaters for me....NO DROP Sleeves.  Drop Sleeves are not my friend!!

Of course, a couple of years before that I went to Meg Swansen's Knit Camp where I learned all about EPS, which really helped with the whole gauge thing.

One of the first books I ever bought about knitting was Maggie Righetti's Knitting in Plain English.  When she came out with Sweater Design, of course, I bought it.  At the time, I thought it might be fun to design a sweater.  Even though, I have bought several design books, I still prefer to knit other people's designs. 

Lily Chin has a great article about sweaters in this old Vogue Knitting.  I sure am glad I have an extensive magazine collection at times like these.  Lily, probably was the first person I heard say that we should actually take something out of our closet that we like that also looks good on us and use it's measurements for the basis of  our sweater knitting.

I remember at the time, pulling out a red sweatshirt that I wore the death out of to use for my measurements.  Now that I think about it, the sweatshirt probably didn't look that great on me, but I sure wore the heck out of it!

Lily, however, dealt me a low blow.  Raglans may not be the best for my shape either.  That is so sad, because I adore Knitting Pure and Simple's patterns and a lot of them are raglan sleeves.  Now, I am not so sure I am going to give them up even if Lily says I should.  I may need some more convincing.

 Ah, and there is Sally.  I bought her book sight unseen.  Because it was Sally and I had all of Sally's other books.  Mainly, I bought it for the Fit and Flatter piece, but there is a sweater or two I would like to someday knit from it.

The best piece of advice I got from Sally's book was that I need to draw attention to the half of my body that is slimmer.  Well, at the moment, I guess that would have to be my shoulders, cause anything below the waist is Not!  A lot of the information in Sally's book makes good sense, and I am glad that I spent a few hours reading it again.

The point of this post.  Yes, my sweaters I think fit, because I do a hefty gauge swatch.  I calculate, I make changes to patterns where I need to.  But, if I am really honest, I don't think the sweaters look that great on me.  Sure, they feel good on, because I like the sweater I've knit, and I love the yarn.  But, brutally honest?
I need to take the advice of these reference materials I have, and knit sweaters that I love that look good on me.  Instead of knitting a sweater for the sake of knitting a sweater.

Too often I jump on the band wagon of sweater knitting...that's gonna change real soon.  Stay tuned.

It's Friday Night

and it's a 3 day weekend and there is no place I have to go until Tuesday morning.  I'm going to enjoy it.  I'm going to knit lots.

Tonight, I'm going to catch up on my computer time and look at knitting patterns and yarn and projects and stay up late, drink coffee and just enjoy the start of a great long weekend.

It's like being on school vacation!

Wednesday Website

http://www.knitaway-one.blogspot.com/

I use this technique Cheryl talks about.  I learned it from her.  It saves me time with my swatching these days.  Never thought about using it for designing.

Enjoy.

Doggin It

I've listened to podcasts, caught up on Ravelry, Facebook and Pinterest.  I've done the laundry, swept and did the scrubbing thing with my new Norwex mop.

I've swatched a couple of sweaters that I would like to do for spring/summer.  I've given thought to some new Faroese Shawls that I would like to be doing.

 And right after dinner, I'm going to have to do it.  I am going to have to pick up 440 stitches around the baby blanket and get busy on the lace borders.

Could I talk someone in to doing that for me???

Cheryl Was Right

Blocking a shawl is a must!  It make take me a couple of tries, but it is well worth it. 

I Learned Something Last Night

Actually, I knew it all along, but it became evident when I came home and looked at my Fundamentally Faroese Shawl that was dry.  What was really driven home, was that I don't really have a clue as to how to use blocking wires and T-pins to block a shawl. 

What is not seen in the picture below is what it looked like when I took one side off of the wires and pins.  It was grossly midshapen and had scallops running down one side.  The top wasn't so hot either.

I just kind of tossed it all on the table and went to bed and looked at it with fresh eyes this morning AND armed with my Ipad and YouTube, I searched on blocking shawls with wires and came up with a great video.  Almost in the first few minutes, what did the video say to me?

Be sure to run the wires in as many stitches as you can, other wise, you may get undesirable scalloping?!

With a little more patience this morning, I put a wire back in the offending side, spritzed it and let it dry all day with the wind blowing in on it.  On the top edge, I placed a few pins pushing back a few stitches that I had over zealously pinned while blocking.  I spritzed them too.

Before I unpin it tonight, I can see by the picture that the widows peak in the middle needs a bit more tweeking so it looks better.  I'll spritz it and let it sit until tomorrow afternoon and then I'll unpin it all and see what we get.

I kind of want to start another Faroese shawl, but not ready to cast on all of those stitches yet. 

What A Nice Weekend

After a couple of snafus, we finally made our way to Iowa for the baby shower.  I got there a half an hour later, but no worries, I didn't miss any of the fun stuff. 

Believe it or not the Pea Pod was a hit.  This from something I wasn't sure I was even going to give her.  Who would have thunk!  An extra special present she received and I couldn't resist taking a picture.  You see she is a Cardinal Fan, he is a Cub fan. 

She is looking even more pregnant after just one week!  We came home Saturday night, which was kind of nice.  We could sleep in our own beds and enjoy Sunday.

The Tall Guy washed my car for me.  Baby Boy B vacuumed it. We ordered pizza for lunch and
Baby Boy B picked it up.  I spent the afternoon and most of the evening making lists and trying to decide what I wanted to be knitting out of a couple of yarns that I bought at camp last year.  I finally nailed it down.

It was such a nice relaxing Mother's Day, just doing what I wanted to.  And it was just beautiful out too!!

Happy Mother's Day

Taking The Weekend Off

From baby knitting.  Finished putting the buttons on the Peapod for tomorrow's shower.  It wasn't what I had planned on having finished for tomorrow, but it will be enough.  I have a plan for when the baby arrives and I hope I can get it all done.  If not, it will be okay.

 I'm doing a KAL with Knit Circus over on Ravelry.  It's the Silk Moon Crescent Shawlette by Jaala Spiro. The pattern is supposed to be knit out of Noro Silk Garden, but since I am really trying to use stash this year, I thought I would give the Liberty Wool a try.

Not super crazy about this, but I am committed for now.  It's going to be my knitting project for over and back to Iowa tomorrow.

I'm noodlin on the next two yarns for a version of the Cusco Jacket from Knitted Jackets by Cheryl Oberle.  This one is 4th of July and is closest to the gauge for the jacket and I think I might have enough of it for Cusco.  Only problem is, I think it would be cool in the Traveler as a vest too.

The second possibility is my Three Irish Girls that I have had for over a year.  I want it to be just the right sweater, since I LOVE the color and it is so squishy soft.  I want it to be something I just love wearing all the time.  I've had so many sweaters knitted out of this in my mind that it sometimes drives me a little crazy!

 And the final item in the queue, is my Camp Contest (I think) thingy. 

I'm giving me just the weekend off from baby knitting and then on Monday, it is back at it.  That and Camp knitting, for the next 8 weeks, thats what I am concentrating on.  Before you know it, it will be time to knit for the Fall/Winter!

I Should Have Left It Closed

But, no, I thought I just thumb through the Summer Patternworks catalog real quick.  Mistake, big mistake.

There are quite a few Spring/Summer sweaters that I would love to knit for myself.  Even though, I know this is way to fluffy for me, I still like the cover sweater.

 Tahki Ripple in lots of colors.  I've really had a hankering to knit with this yarn, since friend Sue knitted a tank from it.

How about a Spring/Summer scarf?  Wonder if I could pull it off?  It may be too late for Central IL though. 

The Koigu Linen  Stitch Cowl.  I've got some colors in Koigu that might go for this one.  I bought them years ago from Threadbear Fiberarts in Lansing.  I started knitting Charlottes Web shawl with them, but I am thinking that they could be repurposed for this.  Again, not for this Spring season, maybe Fall.

 

And my fave from the catalog -- this little number.   But, then you knew that was coming didn't you!?

Unfortunately, there is still some baby knitting to finish up, but soon very soon, it's going to be all about me.

What A Lovely Shower It Was

My niece and sister-in-law had the nicest shower yesterday for Baby H.  After, we celebrated Mother's Day at my sister-in-law's house.  It was a really good day!  It started out frantic ( me knitting into the wee hours and early morning), but was just a really nice day.  Today, I've been doing some knitting thinking while just enjoying the day.

 She is finally starting to show.  Only 9 weeks to go.  How did that happen.

The cake was scrumptious!

 My nieces were all there.  The one on the left hosted the shower with her mother.  I just realized we didn't get any pictures of her!  We really should have.

 My friend Jeannie came.  We've been friends since before Baby Boy A and Baby Boy B were born.

 My autnies (the last of my mom's sisters) were there.  I had to bend over for this pic.  When did they get so short?  Aunt Ivy on the right is 91.  She is simply amazing and still living in her own house.  How cool is that?

 The mom-to-be got a lot of diverse gifts.  Nothing was duplicated.

I didn't know, but I have been known for knitting for babies in our family. 

 This is the outfit I stayed up late and getting up early to finish.

My sister-in-law made this diaper cake as  the gift table centerpiece.  Those are hand rolled disposable diapers.  How clever is that?

I'm taking today off from baby knitting.  Tomorrow, I'll be back at it.  There is one thing I want to do for next week's shower and then the rest of the knitting will be for when the baby arrives.

I Lied!

I wasn't really done with the shower knit blocking when I posted yesterday.  I wanted more for my shower present (sure I had enough but I wanted more) so around midnight last night I remembered that I had this sweater done for quite some time and was just waiting for an opportunity to finish knitting the hat.  I had only a couple of rows done on it so I figured if I stay up late and get up early, I could have it done in time for the shower.

I then realized that the sweater front edges needed a little more blocking and the button still needed to be sewn on.  The button I sewed on just minutes ago.  But, first I had to take a hair dryer to the front bands to get them dry.  Sitting in front of a window on a coolish night doesn't do much for drying so I resorted to the fast blocking method I sometimes use.

And voila!  A sweater for Baby H.

 Sure, there is quite the assortment in this present, but thats just me and I ain't apologizing for it.  You know it is my first grandbaby, don'tcha?!  I am entitled as a new grandma.  And yes, Tall Guy, I will remember it when Baby Boy gets married and has his first child!

The ensemble is all wrapped up and if I do say so myself, this is just too darn cute for words.

Time to do some knitting for next Saturday's shower!!!

Last Minute Shower Gifts Drying

Evidently my eyes are bigger than my stomach.  There are so many more things I wanted to have knitted for tomorrow's shower.  Unfortunately, there are only two more for this one.  A couple of baby burp cloths.  I'm not real sure that they will get a much use, but I'm sticking them in the basket for the shower anyway.



Next week's shower is in Iowa and I don't have any finished knitting for it.  I'm gonna be knittin a lot for Baby H this week.  I'm sort of looking for the break that will come after next week's shower.  If you can call 8 weeks a break.  That be 8 weeks until the baby is/should be here.  And 9 weeks until Knit Camp!  OMG!  Gotta go....got knitting deadlines.