Sign Off

I have entered a new era of my life. As such, I will no longer be blogging. I have really enjoyed being part of the online knitting community and will continue on Ravelry. Thanks to everyone who has been a reader!

"The man who goes out alone can start today, but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready." --Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau is on to something there.

I am excited by what God has in store for me in the future. With that in mind, I want to share this final video link, which I think is fitting for my blog sign-off. I'm proud of Kylie, rock on, sistah!

I can't resist posting a kitty video :) They are wild things, Fruit Cat and Monkey. (Fruit Cat aka Gibbs eats strawberries out of my hand, and helps himself to any fruit on the countertop)



Having Kitty-kids is great fun, they run to greet me at the door just like my doggie Fizz...a sweet end to the workday!

"People often miss opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." --Thomas Edison

Here is my final blog project, the 'Not A Drop' scarf I finished a couple weeks ago in Yarntini sockyarn called 'Sweet Honeytini:'

Upward and onward in my Christ-directed life.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."--Helen Keller



Keep your hands busy,





-:¦:-.•:*¨¨*:•.-:¦:-.•:*¨¨*:•.-:¦:-.•:*¨¨*:•.-:¦:-




"You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take." --Wayne Gretzky

A crown, a surgery, a full moon...and Betty Neels

A dental crown put in, a surgery, a full moon, a couple of Betty Neels novels, and that caps my week! Whew! I spent the day post-op on a lounge chair on my flagstone patio, knitting and reading Robin Cook's "The Cure." I used to love his books before my career in medicine...let's see if I still do! (But I do loves me some sweet, sweet Betty Neels)

I resumed working on a scarf that is a copycat Sea Lettuce Scarf (Rav link). I wanted to try to figure it out on my own, and so far I like it a lot. I hope-hope-hope I have enough yarn in that one ball of bamboo silk to make a decent length. Did I post this photo before? I started this scarf in July, then put it aside to work on doilies. Cranked on it at a recent conference for 4 days. It's about twice this long now....


I have been adjusting to cooking for one, though occasionally DS will eat what I make. Can you believe an Italian kid won't eat any form of pasta?! Even when it is wrapped around meat, and there's meat in the sauce! Sheesh. But I remember how I ate at 22!

I have been using my Vitamix again; very handy for the cooking-for-1 quandary I find myself in. I was just at the same conference where I bought mine last year, and watched their demos again and got inspired. I got a smaller blender container this time (again, the "for-1" theme) and I already lost 3 lbs drinking a smoothie a day since then!!! Smoothie flavor of the week: cherry-plum-banana. MMMMMMMM. Don't forget the yogurt and the flax-seed. With either OJ or water to help start it off, this tastes great, and doesn't need sweetening. (Sometimes I even use leftover coffee as a liquid base, just a bit, and it gives the fruit smoothie an earthy component. Yum)

This weekend is already beautiful and warm! Just went outside under the gorgeous full moon while my doggie tinkled. Late October in Chicago is not usually this balmy; I'm so happy it coincides nicely with a weekend! Though post-op I will likely not be doing too much yard work :( I still have so much left to do out there....Plenty to do inside though, and I could paint some of my bits & pieces of furniture (which would get me outside!) I have to go to the farmer's market and get some different fruits for my smoothies. I want to try making applesauce too, and apple-carrot juice is the bomb!

Or, I could just lay around in the sun and read :D




Happy Autumn, y'all and Happy Weekend!


Aim

Such a Peaceful Morning

Rock River Illinois, 6/10

It is such a peaceful morning. End of summer bugs singing, not much birdsong, a slight breeze randomly tinkling the windchimes outside my bedroom window. Perfect temperature. How could anything be wrong on a day like this?!

Latest WIP: my attempt at sealettuce, which I believe is a Lucy Neatby design (that I am trying to duplicate.)

I'm using Silk Bamboo yarn from Knitpicks, very very drapey, no body to it at all, but that makes the ruffles lovely and pendulous!

I also started Shiri Mor's lace cardi from the summer VK issue 2010. Yarn is Melody from yarntreehouse on Ebay, something I'd stashed several years ago. I'm hoping the FO looks wonderful b/c i'm not sure of the overall color of this yarn! I hope that the color shadings show up a bit for some interest w/o distracting from the lace pattern.

Hmmm, looks like a thong...painful even to contemplate! But rest assured, it is one of the triangles for the back of the sweater (after I blocked the crud out of it, I realized I had missed out on two repeats of the pattern, which several more rows. Duh, no wonder I didn't get gauge!!!) Sigh. Good thing I had the epiphany...I simply went ahead with the same needles and made the next triangle (which is identical), and it was to gauge. Woohoo!


I went through an intensive "principles to get out of debt" seminar at our church yesterday. I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey; have seen him speak in person, have read his book and started his "Seven Baby Steps" to get out of debt last year, but lost impetus. It's so easy to get distracted. This seminar reinforced good planning and budgeting principles. I am ready to get into this fully now, let's jump in the deep end!

There is a Ravelry Group called Gonna Be Debt Free, which is wonderful to use for a pep-talk when you need to be reminded of your goal. That's where I first heard of Dave's principles.

Did you know that the Bible has >2,400 scriptures related to money management?! And, I never knew that prior to the 1980s credit cards were not common! Now the average american household has 10 credit cards. Holy moly.

I'm tightening my belt, but I still have my magazine and book fix to conquer. I did good this time, I passed on the fall issue of Vogue Knitting--instead of just adding it to my collection, I decided that all my other queued projects will long forestall any possibility to knit the Vladimir Teriokhin sweater which was the only interesting piece in that issue. So, I treated myself to only 2 yarn magazines this time--good girl.

I need to whittle the grocery bill down too. Things cost so much, and I hate waste. I have been buying fruit all summer, and not eating it. (Don't know what the deal is with that. I just haven't wanted it once I get it home.) I need to adjust to one less mouth to feed around here and stop buying so much quantity. I shop once every 2 weeks....because I really can't stand going to the grocery, and can't see the benefit of going more often than that.

I like the idea of tee-shirt yarn, and loved the photo of this yarn from aqualight's Etsy shop:



There is a group on ravelry about t-shirt yarn. Polka Dot Pineapple has a cute tutorial about making it yourself. That's a cool idea for bathroom rugs, rag-rugs, etc...but I really love that black and white striped version!

Look at this clever way to make your own shawl-pin! What a great idea!

'Nuff recycling for one day. Happy Sunday everyone!

Summer Hiatus

I'm BACK!

And, I have a few FOs to show off! Yay for productivity!!

Here is Aim's "granny" poncho:

This was from a free DROPS pattern here, meant for little girls. I started with an opening large enough for an adult (I chained 128--I think it was an "I" hook), then worked around and around til it was the size that I wanted, which was also when I ran out of yarn! Cool! I used RYC Cashsoft DK yarn ~9 balls. A fun stash project.

This poncho has been great for walking the dog in our early fall temperatures. So glad I made it!

Next, I made a Baktus out of Mint Chocolatini colorway sock yarn from Yarntini.

I love the way it looks with the bobbles, which I copied from a Raveler.

This scarf is a great way to use up one ball of sockyarn.

I also started and finished a Chanson en Crochet, a cute little shawl-ette that really keeps the chill off!


I made it in Brooks Farm Riata yarn, a nice mohair/wool/silk that worked out very nice. Because I only had one ball, I had to skip several rows of pattern, but you can't even tell. I already used it last Saturday morning when it was FREEZING out the morning of my garage sale. It really kept me warm enough, with a short sleeved tee underneath, until the fog cleared midmorning and the sun came out and then we were baking!

As the Nana Slippers go, I finished 1 and 7/8 of the pair, but ran out of yarn. Grrr, I have to find the calorimetry I made in that yarn and frog it (I don't like it anyway) and then I can finish the slipper. Very frustrated with that!


As usual, I've overextended myself to the point that I can't keep up. I have promised multiple great things from this blog, but have been unable to deliver. So sorry about that. I am thinking of taking blogging hiatus, but before I do I'd like to finish up some of the promises....like the tutorial I promised long ago (it's very minimal, but I DID promise!) and finish the nana slipper pattern. So I'm gonna try to do some of these things prior to signing off!

Knitting!

Woo hoo, I get to go to a conference for 4 solid days of knitting while I attend lectures! Yahooooooooo! Though I can think of better things to do with my Saturday, I really need my CME credits. And think of all the knitting I can get done in 4 days!!!

Last night I knit a hat (for me!!!) See my new haircut?

It matches the Reversible Cable scarf. Of course, the hat is not reversible, but I made the cables match.

It was really fun to hide the decreases in the cabling. I'm proud of designing this one!

And today at my lunch hour, I finished the scarf!! I will wear them both tomorrow with Meinstein--I'll be walking down the street in magenta and peuce.

Yeah, baby I'll be stopping traffic! Heh.

But I'll be warm. Parking is about 1/2 mile from the convention center unless I want to pay $11 daily. That would eventually cost more than the actual conference by the end of the week! I would rather park in the bus station and get some exercise for about 1/4 the price. Call me cheap if you want....

Almost done with bird in hand mitten #2. But I won't even try to take charted knitting to the conference to work on, that would just be silly!!! I need something I don't have to look at. I should try to start the feather and fan comfort shawl, or some garter stitch thing, like washcloths!

Gotta go now and block that scarf in prep for tomorrow! I'll post scarf pics soon!

Finishing up

So, it is difficult to pick up and move on after such a blow to the family. But life continues....




I finished my Bandage for Lepers in Vietnam, and mailed it to June at JunieMoon: I was reading her recap on using smaller thread; I really liked the FO made in size 10 crochet thread on size 2 knitting needles. I wonder what was used before?


The bandage was fiddly to make, but extremely satisfying when it was done! Wierd, must be my medical bent.

I knit a Kerlix!

I hope it got to her in time...as usual I mailed it late and had to send it express-mail to get it there by the deadline! Expensive charity knit--Sigh.

I finished up my first Bird In Hand mitten while traveling for my grampa's funeral. And on 2/20, I sewed the picot hem. These are really warm and cute! I don't know if I'm going to have enough red yarn to make the second one...we'll see. I think I bought another ball of that and stashed it somewhere.



Another B-I-H tidbit: I saw and fell in love with natsuko's bird mitten, so I charted it from her picture and am putting that motif into the palm of the left hand like she did. Too cute!

I have also been working on the reversible cable scarf from "Cables Untangled" by Melissa Leapman.

I started this a couple years ago, then put it down as the color was all wrong for the gift I was planning. Now I'm making it for me--it contrasts oddly with Meinstein (whodathunk.) I decided to make a matching hat with the last ball, then add to the scarf from whatever is left. For the hat I cast on 90 stitches and knit several rows of k2p2 rib, then switched to 6 k and 2 p across. Several rows into that, I began the first cable twist. This sure takes up a lot of yarn!

Here's a pic of a cute machine knit tammie I picked up at the local drugstore for 5 dollars.

I bought it knowing there was no way it's one-size-fits-all-craziness was going to fit my huge noggin. But I think it's cute for a teddy bear (if I had one) and it might even fit DD's American Girl doll. I want to chart the words on it, to make one for myself in thicker yarn.

Other textile news: look what I spun up yesterday!

I spent hours during the icky snowstorm, spinning and then plying this nice wool, while The Young and The Restless weekly recap played on the TV. (So glad I tuned back in last night of all nights--Cane just found out his newborn daughter is really his brother's....heh)

I'm getting better (less kinks), my crazy uneven spinning doesn't look half bad when it is made up in very colorful wool! I'm proud of this skein, made from 4 oz merino wool hand-dyed by Gale Evans in her 'Crayon Box' colorway. I can't wait to see what I can knit up in this lovely happy yarn! Looks like sherbet =)

And, last but not least, I just recieved my cashmere laceweight yarn from China, and with luck it'll match the Summer Sampler Lace Shawl so I can finish that up before this summer!!!



That's it for my knitterly recap. Hope everyone else is having such a textilicious February.

Until next time....

Dyeing....for warmer weather

I took an indigo dyeing class today. What fun! That dye is like magic when you pull the yarn out of the pot, and it's yellow, but then turns to dark blue before your eyes! What a cool thing :)

The photo above is where my damp, dyed yarn is maturing for the next 24 hours (it's stinky)! Isn't it a kick? (I'm sure the neighbors are enjoying this.) This is my first handspun, all chunky and gunky, but it was the only undyed yarn I had...I got to practice on the shop owner's yarn though, and so I got a lot more dyeing experience than dyed yarn. I love the indigo color, and the dying is not difficult at all! Wheeee.

I got roving when I bought my Ashford, and I think I will spin it up, and purchase some indigo dye and do some dyeing outdoors. I can't tolerate the fumes inside, my house is too freaking small to stink it up like that, but I love the results.

Okay, other news: I FINISHED MY RIPPLE BLANKET!!!!! Finished it on Easter Sunday, and here's a pic:
It was too big to even lay it out flat in my living room, I had to fold it over by 1/3 and measure it that way before I shrank it. Unfortunately, it came out of the dryer COVERED in gray crumbly lint, so back into the wash it went before I could measure it again (it was literally leaving a trail on my floor)! I have yet to measure it again :P

I'm also in the process of making "My So-Called Scarf". I bought some fun thick and thin yarn in a bright colorway:
Then, there is Meinstein without sleeves or collar:

Pretty unimpressive.

And my Ballet Wrap sweater progress, this sash is interminable! But you can see how it is curving for the body-shaping and neckline. It's a cool pattern that way.
Gotta go to bed, I have a doozy of a headache.....

Eat My Hat....

Guess I have to eat my hat. We got about 10 inches of snow Friday and into this morning. It was wacky to have it coming down when I awoke, then all day the sun was brightly shining and the snow was melting!!! Very strange, short-lived little storm there.

I am sick. Grrr. I have caught a doozy from work. I have been sleeping most of the day, and sneezing until forced to take meds to make it stop! In between there, we went out to dinner, where it was fun until our table became intolerably hot and I had to stand up and get out of there before I hurled! Nice, huh? My poor family was still sitting at the table for about 10 more minutes, while I stood outside in the fresh air. We were supposed to go to a book store for a bit after that, but I needed to go home and lay down, and just got up after another 4 hour nap.

I was gonna knit for a while, but my nose won't stop running and I can't stop sneezing. Poor me. The hazards of my job make me wonder sometimes if I'm getting paid enough!!!!


I am working on the Ballet Wrap from Norah Gaughan in the Interweave Knits Spring 2005 issue. I purchased someone's old stash of mags online, and have started that sweater in a solid blue yarn (similar in color to my Blue Beauty Sweater, go figure!)....I'm on the curved part of the sash right now, and it's really fun to see how you bury the short-rows in the ribbing pattern stitch!

Also, I made a really fun scarf with some of the swap yarn I recieved from Carola last fall! It is mohair, and I only had one skein of this pink color, so I made a really cute fluffy scarf in lover's knot crochet. That thing took about an hour to make!


I was so pumped about that, I began another one, in the navy blue color of the same yarn from Carola. Unfortunately, the dark blue color came off on my fingers! So I decided to set the color by soaking the FO in vinegar water, then drying it. I was a bit more aggressive than I should have been--the darn thing felted! So I have a felted navy blue version of the same scarf >:|


I have also made a fish tawashi pattern I found online. It is cute, but I used the wrong kind of acrylic yarn to make it, and it's limp and floppy! It was very fussy to make up, so I'll probably not do another one. I had also made a circular scrubbie, and took it to work...that was a success, in regular acrylic. Finally a good use for acrylic yarn!!! It makes great dish scrubbies!


Here's how badly the Sugar 'n Cream Stripes yarn bleeds when washed. Very annoyed with the now "Red, Pink, & Blue" washcloths I got out of it.


I was gonna try and make a matching dishtowel, but now I think I might return the other balls of that yarn. There are plenty of other yarns to use that won't bleed like that.



I have been busy, as you can see. I'll try to be a better blog-sistah! More photos to come....

winter kitty/winter Knitty

Look what DD gave me for Christmas! Wheeeeeee.

I wanted to show some pics of some of the holiday treats my Italian FIL fixed for us christmas weekend:

Look at all the traditional goodies! The cannoli I helped fill--that was a first for me. It's pretty fun to do that part of it :) Then I had to eat them all so they wouldn't get soggy, heh. I must diet now....



The winter KNITTY has some great patterns. I want to try this one. What a neat Fair Isle pattern. Not that I really want to start another scarf--I almost don't care if I never see another scarf! But that pattern is wild....maybe I'll make a bag from it. We'll see....

I am about 25% into the Hemlock Ring Blanket. I did not have the right size needles, in fact I am making due with a 60" circular US 10.5 needle and 10.5 DPNs. It works okay, but the excess loopiness of the cable on the circular needle can get in the way sometimes. I'm just too stubborn to wait until I buy appropriate needles :) Wanted to start this RIGHT NOW, if you get my drift!

It's a pretty fun pattern so far; I cranked on it while I watched City Slickers this morning at 1 AM when DH's RLS woke me up after 5 hours of sleep. Yes, I admit I went to bed at 8 PM; it's been a "long" work week, even if it was a short one! I think it's post-Christmas stress disorder.

I am also into Ballerina, the Hanne Falkenberg kit I bought in August. I was a good girl, I waited until after Christmas to start it :) I have sooooooooo many projects planned, and so little time. And the ideas are tumbling around in my brain like lotto balls in the cage--which pattern will be the winner, the next one to make it out into the light of day?! Heh.