Finally Finished Friday

This is the Mini Weavers Shawl out of Miss Babs Yowza from Stitches Midwest 2015.  (I'm on a quest to use a few of last years purchases before this years Stitches rolls around, she says with a grin)

 The pattern is  free  on Ravelry and is done in garter stitch, but I decided to do it all in stockinette.  It was a shawl for Hospice yesterday.  I took advantage of the few moments of sunshine yesterday to get a pic of it outside.

We had 54 shawls and blankets yesterday.  What a delight it is to see each and everyone as they are being held up.  So many wonderful new patterns are swirling around in my brain to do.

Happy Start of the Weekend!

When The Hose Matches The Yarn

Not those kind of hose, you silly you.  The color way is Glowstick and I just could not resist photographing it with the hose that you cannot miss.

The yarn is Hedgehog Fibers sock yarn and it was another purchase from StevenBe that arrived earlier this week.  I've heard some great things about Hedgehog Fibers and had to try it out.  I'll review later, once I get the current socks off of the needles.

Wednesday Website

A Homespun House

I May Have A Bit Of A Bag Problem

It's a sickness, but not a bad one.

Karyl made this one for our Knit Away this year.  I had the bottom fabric printed and she put the bags together and monogrammed them.  A lot of time and effort went into these which makes them extra special.

A favorite bag maker is The Silver Shed USA.  I follow her on instagram and she comes out with the cutest fabrics and now, I see she has a printer for fabric.

Whenever I spy a project bag with Snoopy on it, you know it is going to be a part of my collection.  I love the drawstring bag from Little Skein in the Big Wool.

And my new fave bag maker is Mrs. Browns Bags out of Canada.  You have to jump on her updates when they happen and yes, it takes a bit longer to get them from Canada, but I love her fabrics as well that she knits and then has printed.

This is another one of hers that I snagged on the last update.  Jodi of Mrs. Browns Bags is half of the sister team of the Grocery Girls podcast that I love love listening to.

I could not resist this sock monkey bag for my socks in progress.  My dear friend, Norma made us sock knitting bags several years ago, but since she passed away, I wanted to keep hers for my sock knitting tools and not get it all dogged up carrying it around.  I thought this bag is perfect for socks.  The little sock hanging from the ribbon did not come with the bag, but rather was a gift from someone at one of the events I went to.  I thought it had to be a part of my sock knitting bag.  This bag is from Stitched by Jessalu

And I may have enough project bags for now, but I do love them as much as I love a bright and shiny new tote bag.

I do love a good collection, don't you!

It's Hospice Week

And along with an always heartfelt reminder from our leader, I'm knitting on what hopefully will be a shawl that will be ready to block by the end of the day.  I've got just a bit of this Miss Bab's Perfectly Wreckless color way left in her Yowza base.  

I've used the Mini Weavers Shawl pattern and just tweaked it a bit.  Instead of doing it all in garter, I am knitting it in stockinette.

There is a bit of yarn chicken going on for the bind off, we'll see how it progresses if I have to add something to this to make it through the bind off.

After I finish this one, then I'll have to decide which one of my many ideas for Hospice Shawls should be next.

How I Spent My Friday and Saturday

Too short of a trip, but so much fun!  

Wednesday Website

http://www.stockinettezombies.com

Happy Birthday!

Baby Boy A and Baby Boy B!

The Mailman Cometh

So, I get this email from StevenBe last week. You know the one where they entice you with something fabulous.  You go to the website and end up buying some other things.  The tour book for last year and the first volume of the Ponchini were the add-ons.  StevenBe has this cool little video that first turned me onto the Ponchini How To Rock Your Ponchini .  Well, that may not be exactly how I first found out about the Ponchini.   Susan Rainey really first started the Ponchini thing for me with her pos http://theraineysisters.com/?p=6797  but, either way I've got yarn in the stash for it later this Summer or I can pick some up at his booth in Stitches Midwest in August.

My real purpose for ordering from StevenBe are these super cool color ways based on Willy Wonka.  They are so wild that I had to get them.  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my fave books back in my younger years.  As an adult, almost every afternoon of Christmas Eve, the original movie would be on t.v. and I would get a kick out of watching it every year before the festivities.

Every timeSucreSucre's has a post on Instagram of something new,  I find something I just gotta have.  This time, though, I asked her to make them right into stitch markers.  The ones on the left are cheeses, the ones on the right, top to bottom is a turquoise peep, a strawberry hoho with a bite out of it and a chocolate sprinkled donut.

I love a good mail day that brings goodies, don't you?!

Finally Finished Friday

Although the pattern is Mocha Ripple, I am renaming it Red, White and Blue Ripple.  This one went to Hospice yesterday.

It is beautiful out today, I'm knitting outside for my lunch hour today, soaking up the sun.  What about you?

It's Hospice Day

I thought you might want to see the many lovely shawls and blankets that came to Hospice today.

They are all so different.

Many colors, crocheted and knitted.

Amongst the door prizes.

The day was sunny and bright and it was just a beautiful day to be knitting.  You would never know we were at the Hospice Home except for  tears of sadness and hope at times.  And I am already looking forward to the next Prayer Shawl Ministry.

Wednesday Website

Legacy Knitz

You will love this mother/daughter knitting video cast.  I look forward to it each week.

Some Cuteness for Tuesday

Starting May 1st!

I am so super excited!  A couple of weeks ago, I got some new to me yarn,  from Lost City Knits.  I am a fan of Denise's yarns and have several in my stash for future shawls.

Denise and Chris of Lost City Knits have published the most beautiful book of patterns by Denise and Chris' photos from their trips to Shetland.   I had been coveting the book, waiting anxiously for the second printing since it sold out at Stitches West.  I want to knit all the things from the book.

I am starting with the Kailyard Shawl first.  It is a beautiful pi shawl.  Denise showed us the original at Meg's Knit Camp two years ago.  I loved it then and now I get a chance to knit one of my own.  It is going to be a lot of knitting and it is lace weight yarn, but I am always up for an adventure.

But best of all, we are doing a KAL on the Fans of Lost City Knits Group on Ravelry and we would love to have you join us.  There is still time to get your yarn from Denise and if you let her know it is for the KAL, she will make sure you get it in time and dyed from the same batch.

It is going to be so much fun and I would love to have you join us!

Seize The Good Moments

I have come to realize that saying I am going on a Yarn Diet or for that matter a diet of any kind should just not be in my vocabulary.  The minute the words come out of my mouth, I know they are a lie.  My Saturday realization is that I need to be content with how I am and just seize every good moment, because one never knows how quickly or slowly for that matter, life can change. 

And keeping with my new attitude, here is this week's Stash Enhancement!!

Koi Pond from Must Stash Yarns.  My friend Sue was at the Dallas Fiber Fest this past week and went shopping for me.  I've always wanted to try yarn from Must Stash and Sue could not have picked a better one for me.  I am anxious to cast this one one, but my needles have a sock on them right now, sooooo I am going find another set of needles and cast it on pretty darn quick…seize the good moments.

On Tuesdays for lunch, I head down to The Fiber Universe (seize the good moments) to meet up with some knitters and knit a bit.  While we were there, a new dyer to me, brought in some newly dyed yarns.  I could not resist the color ways in this one, so I picked up two skeins of it.

 The dyer is Chicken Knits, and just look at this up close, there is some aqua in it as well as some coral. I am seeing a trend in my purchases with the coral!

Before the newly dyed yarn came in, Erin had this lovely sitting on the table just as you come into the shop (seize the good moments) .  This is now currently being knitted up into the Art Nouveau Poncho.

I had already bought a yarn for the poncho and had cast it on a week or so back. But, the yarn just was not saying to me that it really wanted to be a poncho, it really wanted to be a top or a tank.

I'm so glad I switched the yarn up.  It was perfect and so what I imagined the poncho looking like!

Here's hoping this weekend and always,  you seize the good moments!  I am!

Finally Finished Friday

Miss M will have her Holi Festival Poncho when next we see her.

Wednesday Websites

For the next few weeks, Wednesday Website is going to feature Podcasts and Videocasts that I love, listen to and watch.  Enjoy!

Grocery Girls

It's Opening Day!

And when you cannot decide what you want to start knitting on (now that you have a project off of the needles), you knit on a little bit of everything to get a feel for what you might want your next main focus to be on.

Currently, the sun is shining in Central IL, it is windy, but not as windy as yesterday, the temp is 73 degrees which is the warmest it is going to be here this week and there are a few more flowers on the bushes out front.  And we've got some windows open for some much needed fresh air!

Spring will stay eventually, I know it will!  Until then, Happy Sunny Day!

Oh No, Not Another Sweater Post

The other morning on my way into work, I was listening to a new podcast that I stumbled upon.  I just loved the title, Knitting Boutique's Saturday Morning Breakfast Club Podcast.  Isn't that a cool name?  It so much would be a title of a podcast, the Saturday Knit Wits could do, since some of us get together  and knit almost every Saturday around 10 am.  Back in the day, when the shop in Dunlap was open, we would meet there, then we moved to Thirty One Coffee downtown (which I liked, but more times than not, we were fighting to get a big table for all of us), and now I think we've found out new home at Panera's at Westlake.   There is a nice oval table that more than accommodates us, they have coffee (the absolute essential for me) and food, a really nice perk as well.

Sorry, I had a bit of squirrel moment, back to the podcast that I was listening to.  The shop, the Knitting Boutique had just sponsored a retreat and their guest was Amy Herzog.  During the podcast, they interviewed Amy and it got me to thinking once again about sweaters.  Amy and a few others inspire me to knit sweaters, but that is another post.   I've not been knitting any sweaters lately, rather waiting until I lose weight.  What a waste!  There are so many cool sweaters out there to be knit and seriously, I've got plenty of yarn for multiple sweaters in multiple yarns so why wait until someday to knit them!

At work, when I do training for our purchasing systems, I can occasionally get on my soapbox about staff learning the systems.  I believe that, yes, you should train for the job you have, but more importantly, I believe staff should learn the skills for the job they may some day have.  You know, so when that golden opportunity arises, they will be ready to test and interview for the job they always wanted.  Kind of like the Dress for Success mentality.

I know, I can hear someone somewhere saying, geesh, long post - get to the point.   I'm going to knit sweaters that fit me now.  Sweaters that look good on me now.  And should I lose the 20 pounds and my Spring sweaters not fit me next Spring, well you know what?!  I'll knit me some more in a new color or a new yarn.  Maybe, I'll donate the ones that don't fit, or hey, maybe I'll take them on the road with me as a traveling sweater show, who knows.

I'll just call it, training for the job I may someday have.

No Foolin It's Finally Finished Friday

Some of this post was slated for over a week ago, but it just didn't happen.  Partly, well you know, I was sick, and the other part, well, a couple of the items were not blocked yet and well, the others weren't done.  But, now we have a fairly nice assortment of Finally Finished Friday Projects this week.

The 3 Color Cashmere Cowl that is not out of Cashmere but Araucania Mana.  The yarn pools to look like velvet.  I like the finished project, but next time I would do it out of a yarn that would show off of the patterning in the mulberry spot and the lace section.

I had every intention of having this Hospice Prayer Blanket done for last week's ministry, but that didn't happen, but it is all ready to go for the next one.  The pattern is a simple one from Stephen West, his Garter Squishy Blanket.

And finally, the Big Girl Yellow Blanket.  Although not done in time, for Miss M to take back with her, but it is all ready to go for later this month when we head over there!  

There are several things on the needles for next week's Friday edition already. All of them just need a bit of knitting to complete.  Happy April Fools Day!