What I Learned This Past Weekend

ZK Classes are free and taught by Attendees.  The classes are are up ahead of time so you know what you are going to be taking.  D and I signed up for Cori and Megan's class where they talked about their new book, how it came about and it's birth.  We got to see all of the sweaters in the book and at the end, we were treated to a scrumptious bar that the recipe is in the book, and I am totally going to make! Of course, I bought the book and I already have a couple of the sweaters on my to knit list.  You know I'll be blog about them as I get to them.

 

The other two classes we took, were taught by Cori of the above book fame.  She brought tons of sweaters in both classes and put them all on for us, talked about the designs, the yarn, the fit what to do and not to do, some short cuts she uses and then at the end, we all got to try whichever ones we wanted to, take pictures and make some notes.  

And with the help of D, I was able to make some decisions about upcoming, selfish knitting for me.  

Hands down, the one that looked the best on me was Hiro, buttoned up!  I bought the yarn for it two years ago at January Thaw.  Something that is evident to me from this picture is that those bright colors look pretty damn good me.

I have loved this sweater, Anhinga, since I first saw it a few years ago.  Even though I love it,  sometimes you just have to pass up the sweaters you love, in favor of ones that look good on you!

And, if you have hips, you should not accentuate them with decor.

This one is still on my list, but of course, I would need to lose the blue top under and maybe make a longer sleeve.

And one that I would not have normally put on a list for me, but with some alterations making this so it meets in the front,

I am thinking I might leave this on the list, for now...

I like this one both from the front

and from the side, without my arm being raised.

This is no, despite the bright colors.

And without the purple top under, I really like this one.

Really!

Cori taught this same class in our area a couple of years ago.  I was working and could not attend, but was so glad I got to sit in this past weekend.  She is a hoot and is able to laugh at herself and help us all not take our flaws so seriously!

I'm ready to knit some sweaters!!!

ZK 2017

On a whim, my friend and I decided to attend ZK in Rochester.  We had a great time and it was so relaxing, we met some new friends that we are going to be keeping in touch with and are already planning next year to go again and sit with them and hang out.  

The goodie bag was unbelievable!!

Food was on our own, but on Thursday night we had smores.

Friday night,  Susan B. Anderson was the key note speaker. Saturday was the market.  A couple of new yarns to me (upper left and center), a brand new book hot off the press, yarn kit from Leading Men Fiber Arts for Salt and Pepper Sweater and a couple of really cool shawl pins, along with a shawl pattern in two weights from Daisy Chain Knits.

 and then we had a dance by video and desserts.  An take note of Amanda, center in the pic below.  A new designer that D, I and our whole table became fast friends with.  I will be blogging about her soon and showing off one of her designs.

Every one came home with a door prize, mine was a sweater's worth of Knit Picks Cotton!  It will be perfect for this sweater from Cori and Megan's new book!  I'll blog about it later this week and tell you about the classes D and I sat in this weekend.

We had a fantastic weekend, despite my couple of episodes with an issue, but in true form of a good friend, D rolled with it.  And we've decided that we are making this a yearly trip for us to meet up with our ZK friends!  Now for work re-entry, do I have to?  Said with a whine.

Road Trippin

I'm off to Rochester for a very long weekend with a dear friend.  I'll probably just blog when I get back, but definitely will be posting on Instagram.  Catch you on the purl side.

What's On The Needles

I am making some progress on the Ombre Tank this week.  Just like Heavenly Heathers, I just love seeing what comes next with this tank.

When I can, I am diligently knitting on the border of my Lerwick Harbour Hap Shawl.  Just this morning, I tried out a no cable needle cable and it worked quite well, I'll blog down the road if I really am in love with it.  

And last weekend, I got a wild hair to cast on Nordic Wind.  I had all my colors of Unspun Icelandic down in the real light and decided on these four which happens to be the colors of my tennies.  It wasn't until today when I was taking pics of the Lerwick Harbour Hap Shawl that these are almost the same colors in it except for the blackstone.  Alas, this one is just too close, so it is going to be off the needles and will re-think it.

Which narrows this weeks main knitting into just two projects, for now!  

Friday Finds

Sock Yarn as part of a fundraiser for a shelter.  A new dyer to me.  And I just love the colors.  Will be perfect for St. Patty's Day next year, won't they?!

Just because!  These were too cute to pass up.  I knit a puppy one last Christmas for Poppy.  These I'll save for future baby presents.

Happy Friday Knitters!

My Blog My Grandkids

Just got back from seeing the grandkids and Mona Lisa's Dance Recital.  Oh what Fun!

The Bakers - scones for Sunday breakfast.

Make-up, Hair and Everything - so grown up, but not

Green Acres Father Daughter Dance at the Recital

Waking up to these kids is always so much fun!

And Uncle Rog loves it too!

Poppy is such a good eater!

Take one of us both, Grandma Penny, she says.

Tomorrow, back to knitting, but today, I am going to kick back and enjoy!

Finally Finished Friday

From Folk Shawls, The Simple Garter Stitch Prairie Shawl for Hospice.  The yarn is Three Irish Girls Springvale DK, in the color way, Gulf of Mexico. There is a bit of gradient look to this shawl, but it reminds me of the ocean.

The Girl from the Grocery Store shawl out of Leading Men Fiber Arts yarn.  This one is going to the 40 months/40 cowls bin.

It did not turn out as wide as I thought it would be, which is perfect for the Girls party scarves and shawls.

Scarfy Thing for 40 Months/40 Cowls.  The yarn is 2 Guys Yarn, a super soft merino, cashmere, nylon sock yarn.  What I am loving is that I still have a skein of each color way left for something for either me or hospice.

Scarfy Thing is so long, meant to wrap a couple of times around.  It also is supposed to have tassels on the four corners, but I decided to leave them off.  I love love the color ways here, Blue Curacao and Tiger Lily Orange.

I've been doing a lot of finishing and blocking this week as you can tell.  Best of all the weather has been so cooperative for picture taking this week.

And now that I have these under my belt, it is time to finish something for Camp that is just five weeks away and to knit just for meeeeee!  

Have a great weekend, catch you on the purl side.

40 Months 40 Cowls

Last year I decided that I needed a time line or at least a plan of attack for retirement.  I figured about 40 months at the time.   Years ago, I along with my good friend Norma, knit scarves for the Girls Holiday Bash that I co-host with two other work ladies.  We were kicking around ideas and one of the mentioned that it would be nice if I did scarves again since we have so many new people.  It was a lot of work some years back and at the time, I had help.

So, I decided that for my last holiday bash, I would knit some scarves and cowls.  Which instituted the 40 months/40 cowls project.  40 is about the number of ladies we average any given year. I figured I would knit one a month for the next 40 months, you know like knitters who knit a pair of socks a month.

I am just a few months behind, but managed to finish a couple this week for the project that I will show tomorrow.  What I am loving about the project, is that I have a nice project always at the ready in my purse, I am getting to knit some relatively quick projects, but also using my stash yarn up to.

Stay tuned to see how I progress!  Happy Thursday Knitters!

Summer Sweaterin

Last weekend, Summer made a bit of a debut, when we turned the air on, albeit for just a couple of days.  At this post, the windows are open and it is drop dead beautiful!  When it turned hot last weekend, my Summer Sweater need surfaced.  Now, normally, in the Summer I would do a Summer of Shawls because they are so versatile for when in the AC, but not so practical for work because, well, they just don't get the being cold when it is 90 degrees and above.  So, come Fall, I'll start up my Fall for Shawls, for now, my public knitting is going to be some Summer Sweaters.

I've still got a couple of shawls that are time sensitives to be knitting on, but are not easily carried around.  To travel with me, I picked out four summer sweaters that I've been dying to cast on.  Problem was, I couldn't make up my mind which one to start with.  So, I wrote them all down on little pieces of paper, and put them into a bowl, stirred them up and blindly picked one out.

The winner is Espace Tricot's Ombre Tank.  I am just itching to cast  it on.  And yes, I should do a gauge swatch, but since it is in the round, I am going to cast on with one size smaller needle and use that as my gauge swatch.  After I got a few inches on it, I'll dip it in some water and block it right on the needles.

Why yes, I am living dangerously!

Friday Finds!

I just had to have these two bright beauties when I saw them at

They were hanging there next to each other and I knew I wanted them for some sort of shawl

And the Dyer, A Whimsical Wood Yarn Company has named them:

Left:  The Seven Yarny Sins - Gluttony: Hoarding up so much yarn that you eventually cannot find your stove, your toilet, your bed, your clean underwear or your cat…

Right: Greed:  Buying up all of your favorite yarn at the LYS so that no one else can have it…who cares that its 100 skeins and you'll never be able to knit it all.  You can still talk to it, name it and pet it…just saying.

Perfect!