Finally Finished Friday

Today's finished objects are not what I hoped for, but they are finished, just not quite sure what I am going to do about the results.

The Top This Hat - Bunny Edition - It was too small for my granddaughter and I thought it probably was too small for a 6 month old too.  I went down a size needle and probably should have used the size I used before for one of these.

After a nights sleep, I decided to rip it out and start over again.  Much better the second time around and perfect for a one year old to be.  It wasn't until I looked at the picture that I realized the subtle chevron at the bottom.  Now, isn't that kind of cool!

And since the first two were such a quick knit and I still had one more in my stash, I knit this one up this evening for the six month old gift I am behind on.

My No Frills Sweater.
From afar, not so bad, but...

The closer you get...

See what I mean?

But, sometimes, you just have to laugh it off, hide it and live with it.  And don't show up in public in it... or rip it.

Just not today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful here at Chez PJKnits this year, you just would not believe how much  just in the last three months has happened, from sadness to happiness to frightful health scares to the many blessings.

This Thanksgiving, I am truly counting my blessings!

Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

A Little Sweater

You all know I am a planner, right?  So, it should be no surprise that I had to sit down and plan this sweater knit.

First the yarn.  A new to me yarn I picked up at Stitches Midwest in August.  

Another simple knit, but with a trend that has been going on all Spring and Summer, (mohair held with finger weight yarn) that I am finally jumping on, even though, the great Gianni Versace said
 " Don't be into trends.  Don't make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way you live."

I am going for it again as I do like the soft feel of mohair, we will see how the wearability is of it against skin.

 But first, I had to calculate centimeters to inches, and decide which size I needed to knit since there is a lot of ease in these patterns (another trend of the Spring and Summer).

And then to swatch!

I had heard about this quick swatching technique at knitting camp, but this is the first time I actually did it.

Amazingly simple and quick.  I am so glad I used it!  Not my usual big swatch, but I'm adapting.

Cast on!

Look at the halo on this mohair, can you stand it?

After a few short rows and the yoke of the sweater, I am off on the body, which goes on forever.  I have went down a couple of sizes of needles in the waist, and now back out a bit for the hips.
The progress keeper was a birthday gift, and I love seeing it every time I come around to it.

And currently, I am on my last sleeve, and hope to have a Finally Finished Friday object for you later this week!

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.