Christmas Projects

I have been very busy working on projects for christmas. Most have been not knitted. Here is the first picture (this is a queen sized quilt, 90" by 106"):


Here is the knitted project (this is based on Wendy's generic toe-up sock pattern with the double seed stitch for the cuff) using Interlacements Tiny Toes superwash sock yarn in color #207. The yarn does NOT photograph well. The blue is this vibrant, but the darker colors are a green and brown.

Finished Socks

I finished 2 pairs of socks this weekend. These are KnitPicks Simple Stripes in Crayon using Wendy's generic toe-up sock pattern and only 2 balls of yarn for the 4 socks. I am still chugging away on the quilt I need to finish. I did get some Lion Brand yarn on sale this week at Jo-Ann's for a cute bag pattern I saw in their catalogue/magazine. I started a new pair of socks out of Interlacements Tiny Toes yarn. It is sooooo soft compared to the KnitPicks Simple Stripes and the purple color in the mix is very vivid. I think I will really like knitting with it, but we will see how long it takes me to finish the pair.

New Project

I got 6 blocks done on the quilt, so I decided I could start a new knitting project. I selected the Rosebud Shawl from Heirloom Knitting. It starts with a knitted cast-on of 117 stitches. I picked up the recommended needles and did the CO and the 4 rows of garter stitch that follow. The edge was WAY too tight, so rip, try with 0.5 mm larger needles, rip after the same amount of knitting, finally I tried 1 mm bigger for the CO edge. I think I finally got the right tension for the edge. I have done several rows of the first chart. The only problem is that the yarn is cobweb weight and I was just knitting with worsted weight and this feels like dental floss. The 117 stitches fit completely on the needle section of my KnitPicks Options needles.

FO and Feis

Pattern: Fairfax Fibonacci Sweater
Pattern Source: KnitPicks
Yarn: Andean Silk & Andean Silk Twist
Yarn Source: KnitPicks
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 4 and 6

I do love the feel of this yarn, but there were TONS of ends to weave in. The directions were not written the best, but I did my usual trick of writting them out row by row on a separate piece of paper. It is knit from the top down and has no seams, just tons of ends.

Feis info
There were 4 of us dancing and we collected 14 medals for 18 dances and 2 for vocal. I got a second in slip jig and third in reel, light jig, and hornpipe. My treble jig was atrocious, so obviously I didn't medal in that. We were done dancing in about 1 1/2 hours!!! It was a whirlwind and we didn't have time to even think what the steps were or even practice them. We didn't even get to stretch. But on the whole it was fun and successful and no one got injured.

FO and quilt blocks

I figured out how to sew the quilt blocks on the machine, so after finishing 2 blocks I switched to knitting. I finished the Fibonacci sweater. I will post pictures later.

This weekend is the last Irish dance competition of the year. I have to take my son with me, so hopefully he is well behaved and doesn't decide to have a clingy day. I also hope to do well and not fall on my face or cause any bodily harm. It will be the first time I compete the treble jig.

No knitting time, only quilting time

We spent this last weekend redoing the hallway and our bedroom with new flooring, so I got no knitting done. We put bamboo flooring down and repainted the walls a dark yellowish green. Unfortunately this color doesn't match the quilt on our bed. I want to make a new quilt, but I have one started already for my mother and must finish it first. Since the quilt for my mom needs to be sewn completely by hand this is a chore for me. I figure after I finish sewing a block I get one evening to knit so until the quilt top is done there won't be much knitting news, but I will post my quilting progress.

Spinning

Well I think spinning is going to be a new hobby. I really liked doing it. I had 2 oz of finished yarn that measured 48 yards. I have already washed and dried it and will soon wind it into a ball. What to make out of it, I don't know. Maybe catnip mice for my cats? Any ideas? Here is the picture.
I want to start spinning the dark brown merino I bought, but I need to work on knitting the sweater and I have some sewing projects to do. I lost about 25 pounds last year and all of my dress clothes are too big. I have the sewing skills to alter the garments, but I lack the ambition. I fixed one skirt tonight and it only took about 45 minutes, so it isn't really a bad task, but not as much fun as knitting.

WIP, FO, Fiber and Hair

Here is a WIP picture of the Fibonacci sweater. The yarn is very soft and progress continues. The worst part will be weaving in all of the ends from changing colors.
Here is the FO picture of the Cape Cod fan and feather socks.
Pattern: Wendy's generic fan and feather sock pattern
Yarn: Knit Picks Sock Landscape in Cape Cod
Needles: 2.5mm Inox dpns

I went to the Gathering of Wool at Young's dairy near Yellow Springs, OH on saturday. Here are the goodies I bought.

This was a kit from Mount Ampato Alpacas (www.alpacanation.com/mountampato.asp). It had the book, spindle and about 4oz of wool/alpaca blend to try spinning. I had checked the book out from the library and really liked it so I was glad to see a kit containing this book. I spun what is on the spindle after dinner last night. It is fairly easy, but will take some work to get the yarn even. I also got some other roving to spin. This is 1 pound of a dark gray merino.

And now for the hair comment. I went to get my hair cut on tuesday. My hair was below my bra strap. I asked for 5 inches to be cut off. This would bring my hair to my armpit level and still be easy to put in a bun for ballet class and get the yucky ends cut off. Well I belive she cut about 8 inches. It just hits below my shoulders. I had a struggle to get it in a bun for wednesday's ballet class. I usually have the other problem with haircuts, they don't cut enough. I will admit it looks cute and good on me, but is a lot harder to deal with for dance classes. I had my hair a little shorter than this about 5 years ago when I donated 13 inches to Locks for Love (they make wigs for kids). I was hoping to get the bad parts cut off and then continue to grow it so I could get the required 10 inches to donate again. I guess it will just be a while longer before that.

Mystery Stole 2 as a FO

Here is the MS2 pre-block.




Here it is during blocking. I used wires in the middle and between the body and edging and used crochet cotton and pins for the long edges and just pins for the points. I also used a laser level to get the nice straight edges.




Here is one shot of the finished work. It didn't fit into the frame, so there is another picture from one end.









Pattern: Mystery Stole 2
Pattern Source: Pink Lemon Twist
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr in Mushroom
Yarn Source: Webs (www.yarn.com)
Needles: Inox Express, 3mm/US 3, 2 pair
Knitting time: July7th- Aug 30.

You might also notice that I only have 2 projects on the needles listed. I decided to frog both the doubleknit potholder and the suede shawl. Neither was holding my interest, so they both jumped into the pond. I hope to finish the Cape Cod socks soon as they are also getting boring, but I must finish.

Mystery Stole 2

Mystery Stole 2 is finished. Pre-blocking measurements are about 6 ft long by 15 inches wide. I will have pictures of pre and post block along with all the info later. My ballet class has started up for the year and I am really feeling the 2 week break between summer classes and fall. I have been doing Irish almost every week, but that is very different than ballet.

Still knitting

I have no new pictures yet, but I have started the edging of the Mystery Stole 2. I think I did the cast-on a little tight, so I will be ripping out the 8 rows of edging I have done and hold a sock needle with the main needle to cast-on the 24 needed stitches. I did run a life-line in the last row of stitches before beginning the edge, so I can just Pull the needle out of those stitches.

I discovered that "A Wool Gathering" is coming up at Young's Diary (http://my.voyager.net/~nfisher/). I went last year and had tons of fun. This year I think I will look at hand spindles and some wool to try spinning (not that evil class at the gym involving a stationary bike). I have checked out a few books from the library on the subject and started reading, but I think it will make more sense if I have stuff to try it with.

Back from the Beach

We spent a long weekend at East Harbor State Park. I was did not think the sun would affect me very much, so omitted the sunscreen. My face is very red now and I have burned my left hand and some fingers on my right hand. I spent several hours knitting on a sock in the sun on the beach. I finished one my Cape Cod socks using Wendy's fan and feather sock pattern and KnitPicks Sock Landscape in Cape Cod. The yarn is very nice to work with, but is not superwash, so these will have to be hand washed. I hope to finish the next one quickly as I bought some new sock yarn in Marble Head (Interlacements Tiny Toes). I also have to print the MS2 clue 6 and finish that up.

Owl Baby Sweater info

The owl baby sweater can be seen here: http://www.pennystraker.com/index.html I purchased it from my LYS. The owls are created with horseshoe cables that are very easy to do without a cable needle. There are only 3 rows with cables to create the owls. The pattern is not very well written so after swatching, but before beginning the sweater I wrote out all of the directions for the size I was making on a piece of paper. My mom knit the matching bonnet and it looks cute on my new nephew.

In other knitting news, I am working the the fibonacci sweater from KnitPicks, it is also not that well written, but a little easier than the owls. I love the yarn and I am using the new KnitPicks options interchangable needles. They have very pointy points, smooth joins and are very much like the Inox needles I love and usually use.

Knitting and Dancing

Last weekend I finished the Mystery Stole clue 1-4 to the right and clue 1 to the left.
Since this picture I have done half of clue 2 to the left and almost all of clue 5 to the right. I have also peeked at the name of this stole and I like the name.

This past Friday was the Dublin Irish Festival and with 3 of us dancing we claimed 10 awards. We missed Kish and another dancer was out of town, but we did our best to kick butt.

Finished items

We got the internet connection at home fixed so here are pictures of what I finished recently.

The Owl Babies sweater: The pattern designed by Penny Striker calls for little buttons for the owl eyes, but that sounded like a choking hazard, so my sister embroidered them in.


The Baby Blocks blanket: The pattern is published in the novel "The Shop on Blossom Street" by Debbie Macomber. It is a good novel about four women and a yarn store.
Mystery Stole 2: Here it is after clue 3. I have now undone the provisional cast-on and started knitting in the other direction.

The Icarus Shawl:
Pattern: Icarus Shawl, with 1 extra repeat of chart 1.
Pattern source: Interweave knits Summer 2006
Yarn: KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Iris, 2 1/2 balls
Needles: US size 3, Inox Express
Knitting time: 2 months
Finished size: about 2 yards wide and 1 yard to the point. (the pink piece in the picture is a yard stick)

Finished shawl

I finished the Icarus shawl tuesday night and blocked it last night. I have no picture to post since I currently have no internet access at home. (We think the modem died and TimeWarner can't get a service visit until tomorrow. We have been without internet since Sunday evening.) I ordered the KnitPicks Options needles and more of the Alpaca cloud in Moss. I am continuing on the Mystery Stole 2 and will be starting a sweater project this weekend as well, so no new lace work for a while.

Icarus Shawl

Last night I finished the 4th chart of the Icarus shawl. I now have 4 rows and the BO left to go!!!! I have set the Mystery Stole 2 aside as I finish Icarus, but I might do some rows on that tonight.

Vacation Knitting

Now that I am back from vacation and partially recovered (we have unpacked everything) I have pictures of the knitting I did.

First the Icarus shawl: I have just started chart 4 after working an extra repeat of the pattern in chart 1 to make the shawl bigger. I believe I have over 400 stitches on the needles right now. The first picture is a close-up of the center of the shawl and the second is a picture of the messy lump of string that is the shawl.

Second the Mystery Stole 2: I have finished clue 1 in the first direction. I plan to wait to go the other direction until I have knit clue 2. I hope this will keep me from getting confused as to whick set of needles I am currently required to use.

Third the Baby blocks blanket: I finished it while on the road and gave it to my sister before taking a picture of the FO. It ended up being square.

Fourth the Dancing Jig socks: I got about 7 rounds done. Not much progress, but I was trying to get the Icarus shawl done because I need the needle to work the other side of the MS2.

Vacation

Last week I was in a tent in WV camping. It was nice 2 days then it started raining. We ended up cutting the trip 1 day short and go to my sister's house early. I finished the baby blocks blanket and I have gotten to chart 3 of the Icarus shawl. The first clue for the mystery stole got posted this morning, so after we get done making the birthday cake my sister and I will get started on clue 1. We cheated and did the provisional cast-on last night.

I love Monday

Yesterday was the Cincinati Feis and I did well (2 first place, one second place, and one fifth). Then today I got to work only half a day then spend the rest with a child who couldn't go to school today. He is no longer ill, just annoying. I haven't gotten much knitting done. I am really trying to get the Icarus shawl done before the Mystery Stole starts. We leave on vacation on thursday for a camping trip then visit my sister. I should be able to get knitting done on vacation. My sister is also doing the mystery stole, so we will cast on together with the first clue. Maybe we will get our mom started as well.

Sock Knitting

Here is the photo for Kish of how I hold the socks while knitting.
Note how the previous needle is surrounded by my fingers as I knit the next one. This keeps the space between the 2 needles small and therefore smaller ladders.
Here is what my Dancing Jig socks look like now. I started the second one before teaching Kish how to do socks and since I am also working on the Icarus shawl and working 8 hours a day in the labs I haven't gotten as much work done on the sock as she has.

Lazy Weekend

My goal for this weekend was to knit, shop for yarn, nap, get some sun, and grocery shop. I got it all done. Well I didn't buy any yarn, but I pet some and my friend bought some. I got the swatch for the Mystery Stole done in Mushroom Zephyr:
I really liked working with it and can't wait until the first clue. Until then I am working on the Icarus shawl in Iris Alpaca Cloud from KnitPicks:This is also very nice to work with and I have (since the picture was taken) finished the second repeat of chart 1.

My cats were very interested in a chipmunk the other day:

I also finished the first of the dancing jig socks and started the second one as I was teaching a friend how to knit socks. I think that was lots to do in one weekend. Now I get to relax by going to work tomorrow morning.

Celtic Dreams is finished

I finished the Celtic Dreams sweater with some modifications.

Pattern: Celtic Dreams by Beth Brown-Reinsel
Pattern Source: Black Water Abby Yarns
Yarn: Jacob Wool Yarn, about 12 oz or 900 yds
Yarn Source: Ohio Valley Natural Fibers
Knitting time: about 6 months
Modifications: I shortened the sweater and the sleeves and made the skirt pattern continuous on the body and repeated on the sleeves.

Since I finished an item I got to start something else. I have chosen the Icarus Shawl from Interweave knits to keep me busy until the Mystery Stole 2 starts in July. I am using KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud for the Icarus shawl and it is wonderful to knit with. For the Mystery Stole I ordered Zephyr in a mushroom color from WEBS (www.yarn.com).

Not much knitting

This past week has been busy with not very much knitting. Last sunday was the Cleveland Feis (my group got 14 medals total). Yesterday was taken up with dancing, not a competition, but a dress rehersal for a recital. I am doing both Irish and Ballet so I had to be at the theater 2 different times. This morning was a trip to the Zoo followed by a much needed nap.

On the knitting front: I got the new Interweave Knits magazine and love the Icarus Shawl pattern. I will have to finish the Celtic dreams sweater, suede shawl and baby blanket before I start that. I have spent most of my knitting time this past week working on the Dancing Jig sock since most of the knitting time has been away from home. I have also given in and placed an order with Heirloom Knitting. My sister wanted the Wedding Ring shawl for her birthday present and since I was placing an order I ordered myself the Rosebud Shawl, why pay twice for shipping.

And now on to sleeve island.

After a week of tons of knitting, I have finished the body of the celtic dreams sweater. I modified the pattern a bit to make it shorter. I will post a picture this weekend. Now I have to write out the pattern for the sleeves and get started. There might be a few problems since the pattern says the sleeves are 19 inches long from the shoulder. Either I have freeky long arms or I am measuring and counting wrong- 19" from my should is only a 3/4 length sleeve. The sleeves are knit from the top down, so I will need to get everything written out to verify length before starting. I am not a fan of doing that much math before knitting something. Maybe I will just stop and call it a sweater vest instead.

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend has been very good. First on satuday at the Queen City Feis in Cincinnati I won second place in the Reel and third place in the Slip Jig. The final medal count for my teacher was 11 medals for 5 dancers in 4 dances. Then for Mother's day I got a Dyson DC14 vacuum, a Calphalon One 12" pan, a 5 1/4" Henckels Santoku knife, a bag of jelly beans, and a card. What a wonderful time. Now time for monday and work.

Record time

I just finished the second sock. It was a record time of 9 days from cast-on to sewing in the ends. Now that pair is done, I have to work on a pair for my son with some crazy striped yarn. Good thing small socks don't take long to knit (if you actually work on them).

No new pictures, but the sock foot is all done and I am working on the leg part. This week starts the weekends of tons to things to do. Irish dance competition season has started.

Thursday

I am a weak person. The sock yarn was calling to me, so I cast on for the second sock last night. I get some extra knitting time today since I came home early with a sick child. I wonder how much knitting will occur tomorrow while I watch Noggin all day.

Slowly, but Surely

I have no new photos to post. I have been working on the garter stitch triangle shawl, but it doesn't show the progress as other shawls do. I have also done more on the baby blanket, but once again the progress doesn't show. I am fighting the urge to start the other sock until I have one of those 2 projects at least half done. We will see how that goes. Today is knitting day at work so I get an extra hour of knitting time.

Currently on the needles and just finished works

One sock done, one more to go:
Celtic Dreams sweater for me:

The owl babies sweater for my sister's comming baby:
Baby blocks blankie for my sister's comming baby:

Suede shawl for my Aunt:

Farose style shawl for my Aunt from Stahman's shawls and Scarves:

Now I just have to finish the started work so I can get to other planned projects.

My new BLOG

Well here I go starting a blog.