Birthdays

I had a birthday a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately, with recovery of surgery, and a major health scare in our family, it was very difficult to celebrate or even think about a birthday.  Since then, things have improved with the health scare for which we are very thankful.

Some of my knitting friends, came to visit the week after, and were there to cheer me up and they brought gifts!  It was a wonderful day, and helped me think about other things.  That is the kind of friends one needs, dontchathink?!

And so I have to brag on all the gifts:

You have seen this pic last week, but the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Fall figurine was part of the gifts from Becky.

Along with new jammies for ZK

And this adorable hand painted plate and fired by her hubby

Debbie brought me some super cool yarn, dyed by a young girl in Florida.  What shall this be?

Brenda gave me this super cool assortment of gifts:

A new mug to have a cuppa on the podcast and to add to my collection
And this super cool knitting needle holder from Knitting I Love ( I follow her You Tube Channel and her on instagram.

And finally, before all the turmoil began a week or so before my birthday, I bought myself a birthday present from La Bien Aimee in Paris (cause that's what we do at Chez PJKnits)

And another year of birthday celebration has ended.

Episode 34 And I Have A Special Guest

Check my You Tube Channel - pjknits
We had so much fun!! And the second day in 5 1/2 weeks that I actually dressed and put all the makeup on!

Show Notes next week!

Finally, this week, we are getting back to more normal Fall temperatures, rather than those pesky wintery temps and snow.  This pic is the entirety of my Fall decorating this year, since I am unable to lift any big objects, but I think it is pretty cute, none the less. 

Last weekend, I decided that the EPS sweater I had been knitting was just not what my 4th of July yarn wanted to be, so I recast on The Weekender by Andrea Mowry.  I am so happy I made the change, as the yarn just screamed to be a Weekender.  

I have plenty of this color way, so I am not super worried about having enough, but am saving my EPS yarn just in case, it needs to be used here later.  In the meantime, I do have another 4th of July yarn from BriarRose Fibers in a green that I will be incorporating into an EPS sweater that I will talk about later.

Until next time, Knit On!

Finally Finished Friday

Here are some  more 40 months/40 cowls (which with the numbers we have coming will exceed my 40 #)  that I have been working on in the last few weeks!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Just Checking In

Every day of recovery gets a bit better here at Chez PJKnits, I am happy to report.  If all goes well, I could be back at work the first week of December.

How about some knitting?

The 40 months/40 cowls project is winding down, and with the help of some friends, I should have about 48 by the end of the month.  I am so happy that project will soon be done and I can have fun knitting on some other things.

Before surgery, I set up my spare room with projects, drawers open and somewhere easy to access patterns and books.

And though, I have not made as much headway as I thought I would, I do have a stack of knits that I am concentrating on, at least for this week.

They include a couple of sweaters that at this point are all stockinette, so I knit on them when catching up on some You Tube Podcasts or other t.v.

The No Frills Sweater

My EPS sweater that I will be talking about on my You Tube channel in a few weeks, when I am feelin like it.



For now, there is just a lot of sitting around in comfy clothes, no makeup, watching the ever changing weather here in Central Illinois.

That is all I have for now, time to go sit back with a cuppa and maybe take a short nap.

Knit on with confidence and hope, until next time.

Hi all!  I will be away from the blog for a couple of weeks while I lay around after some surgery.  I am off work for at least 6 weeks maybe more so I hope to accomplish some knitting when feeling up to sitting up in a chair.

Until next time, cannot wait to see what you are all knitting.

Catch you on the purl side.

Episode 32 PJKnits Sweater Project

#pjknitssweaterproject   on instagram

You  can watch Episode 32  Here

Show Notes:

Finished Object - Ranunculous from one strand Madtosh Light and one strand mohair from Nice and Knit

Episode 7 - My Sweater Project 1st introduced   Here
Questions and Answers on June 3, 2018 Blog
Episode 14 - MSP  Here
Episode 15 - Styles. Here
Episode 20 - My Binder. Here
Episode 21 - Sweaters I want to knit Here
Episode 22 - What Styles I turn to, What I need in my wardrobe and Body Issues Here

Blog post where I show my body in a tank top for measuring Here

From Schoolhouse Press
EPS - Elizabeth Percentage System
The Opinionated Knitter
Knitter's Workshop

Knit Picks Tutorial
Knitty.com
Briar Rose Fibers - Fourth of July

Brooklyn Tweed
Ease
Sweater Size

Sweaters I Want to Knit
No FrillsNo Frills - watch for my upcoming blogpost about this sweater in progress from
A Homepsun House


The Weekender
Turtle Dove II
Friday Over Again
Gracious
Mountain High

Check these out
Spring Leaves on Block Island by Sheryl Hill
Oh! Loops
Drops Air - I purchased mine from   Espace Tricot

Podcast to check out for a sweater fashion show on You Tube - chevyrell  Sweata Weather


"If you already knit, you can knit a sweater.  There are no new skills, you knit, you purl" -Unknown
                   

Finally Finished Friday

Ranunculous is finally finished.  The color way of Madtosh Light is Buttonjar Blue and the Nice and Knit mohair is Seaside.  The sweater and the color ways are so reminiscent of a sweater I had in high school!

After thinking I could wear a crop sweater, and discovering that I am 62 not 26, and that crop sweaters are no longer something I should even try wearing, I ripped back the 3 inches of ribbing, reknit some added length and another 3 inches of ribbing.

I like the fit as is, so when I blocked it, I only let the yoke sit in the water and soak to open the lace.  This is my first time working with mohair in a sweater, and I have my next one all caked up and ready to go for swatching.

Stay tuned!

Episode 31 - The End of Summer

Finally, the show notes from Episode 31 which you can watch Here

And later this weekend, Episode 32 where we start talking sweaters!


Folk Shawls
Feather and Fan Triangle Shawl
Birds Nest Shawl
Kimono Shawl
Simple Garter Stitch Prairie Shawl

Other Cheryl Oberle Shawls
Downover
Faroette
Best Loved Shawl
Fundamentally Faroese #1

New Patterns
Wrapezoid
V-Neck Vests, Wool Gathering #101 from Schoolhouse Press

Cocoknits
Maker's Keep
Cable Needles

Yarn Guide Ring

Wednesday WIPS

This Wednesday's Edition of Wednesday WIPS is Baby Cocktail's Ouzo and is over a year old.  It is the perfect Fall sweater vest to throw on these days of October.  

,

And since the back is done, and I was not very far into the first front when Susan Rainey posted about doing a pocket other than a patch pocket, I ripped mine back and am giving her tip a go.

I’ll let you know how that goes!

Tuesday Tip

Apologies to the unknown person, but I think this message rings so true, just think about it.

If you already knit, you can knit a sweater, there are no new skills.  You knit, you purl.

                                      ---Author Unknown

Lets knit some sweaters this Fall and Winter, how about it?

Monday Mail Call

I actually forgot that the latest Wool Gathering was coming out until it hit buy mailbox.  I am super excited to put this on my want to knit list for Winter!

And to assist me in my color work, I could not resist ordering this ring from Finland.

Not that I have to use it, I just thought it would be fun to see if it made my color work any quicker, since I have a couple of different methods that I use, depending on my mood.

Finally Finished Friday

40 Months/40 Wraps

This simple garter scarf is a bit funky.  The yarns were all pre-wound together and just knotted.  I did trim the knots out because it just was giving me too much of an unfinished look.

Another simple garter scarf out of my Veronika leftovers in navy.  I thought there needed to be a scarf in the collection that was super simple and a plain navy.

From a kit that I picked up from Knit 4 Together when the were going out of business.  The yarn is Cash Vero and I am sorry that I didn't knit with this yarn before Cascade stopped carrying it.  It is so super soft and I would totally have loved a sweater out of it.

Another simple garter scarf in red.  The yarn is unknown, but I think a perfect red for the season.

As If

I don't have enough on my knitting plate, I decided to play along with the Oh! Loops Harry Potter Knitalong this Fall that kicked off today.

I have been sorted into the Hufflepuff House.

Stay tuned for Harry Potter goodness!

It's Here!

The First Day of Autumn!

What's your plans for Fall Knitting?



















I have some:

And then there is this -

Catch you on the purl side for some Fall Fun!

The Last Day of Summer

It's the last day of Summer!  How can that be?  There are so many things I wanted to accomplish during our Summer of Shawls.  I did have some fun, showing  off just some of the shawls that I love on my You Tube Channel pjknits

There are so many more things I wanted to talk about on the subject of shawls, so Shawl and Tell will be a regular segment in the next year on pjknits.

Later this week, I am going to cap off Summer of Shawls on the podcast with some shawls from my favorite designer and her book lanFolk Shawls that is obviously one of my favorites!  And we will chat about what is coming up this Fall.

In the meantime, here are the show notes from Episode 30 Fun Shawls - Have a great Knitting Week!

Fun Shawls - Why They Are Fun
Colors
Yarn
Texture
Shapes
For Me, they are a staple for my Winter wardrobe to wear with turtlenecks to work
And you can always throw them over your Winter coat

Fun Shawls I Have Knit
3 Color Cashmere Shawl by Joji Locatelli from Republic of Wool Twist Fingering
 Snozzberry, Fizzy Lifting Drink, Candy is Dandy

Drachenfels by Melanie Berg from Rosy Green Wool Cheeky Merino Joy
  Moss, Wilde Mauve, Sand

Quick Silver by Melanie Berg from Sun Valley Fiber MCN Fingering
  Ocean, Frost and Ambassador

Find Your Fady by Andrea Mowry from
  A Whimsical Wool Yarn Co - Always Be Yourself...unless you can be a unicorn
  Fiber Story - Aqua/Yellow
  Hedgehog Fibers Sock Yarn - Potluck
  Sun Valley Fibers - MCS Fingering - Onyx
  Vivid Yarn Studio - Aqua
  Vivid Yarn Studio High Twist Fingering - Berry Crush

Finished Objects
Le Petite Parisien from Espace Tricot out of Schulana Angora-Fashion
Purl Ridge by Stephen West out of Madelinetosh Holi Festival
  and Llama
Sock Tubes

What's On The Needles This Week?

I have to admit, I really want to get these things done, so I can have some fun with my knitting!  But, until then, knit, knit, knit.

A super simple garter scarf for the 40 Months Project, out of my leftovers of YOTH Father in Concord Grape.  This is going to be such a long, generic scarf!

This is probably going to be the oddest scarf in the bunch.  The yarn is tied together as you see it.  That is the way it came.  And yes, some are skinnier than others and there is a chenille one that is going to stick out.  But, I am going with it and hoping, an artsy lovin person will like it!

This yarn is so soft!  I just wish I would have started knitting with it before it was discontinued by Cascade!  It has some acrylic in it, but it is a dream to knit with - Cash Vero.

I have to admit, I really want to get these things done, so I can have some fun with my knitting!  But, until then, knit, knit, knit.

Finally Finished Friday

More 40 Months Projects

A simple garter scarf out of a super soft fun yarn.  Yarn is from Plymouth and aptly called Heaven.

Simple Hugs Cowl out of Universal Yarns Bamboo Bloom yarn.  This yarn and pattern I bought years ago at a Knit Away in St. Louis.

None of these were knit or crochet by me, but rather the other Hospice Prayer Shawl Gals.  It was a wonderful Thursday morning of knitting and seeing beautiful shawls and blankets, as always!

Wedding