Knitter in Progress

In a word---Ogden. I guess it's because it is close to where I live, but I seem to spend a lot of my time in Ogden--especially "crafty" time. Shepherd's Bush My first love, as I have alluded to before, is counted cross stitch and there are few shops better than Shepherd's Bush . How many places can you get great stuff AND talk to designers at the same time? I love this shop; it was one of the first places I discovered when I moved here and it continues to be one of my favorite stops. Everwood Okay, I do not really watch Everwood--the few times I have are when I have been trying to catch glimpse of this building. It's part of the set and it's right across the street from my LYS. We have even been attending our knitting group on nights they are filming---it's pretty cool. NPJ Finally, there is my LYS-- The Needlepoint Joint . Sorry I don't have the full shop front picture--I had the kids with me(as you can see by young diva in the picture) and...

As I was checking my bloglines stuff this evening, I found a link to a great knit/readalong-- Knit the Classics . I think it is an absolutely fabulous idea! Then why am I not joining at this time, you may ask. Well, I'll tell you--right now I have a ton of things on needles(socks, blanket, scarf, shawl, sweater) and even more on deck. And as for reading I'm already backed up--I have 4 books I need to read( Seize the Night , Stroke of Midnight , Knitting: A Novel , and Lord of the Rings ) and 2 more coming out this summer( HP and the Half Blood Prince and Eldest ). To top all that off--my interest in actually completing some of my cross stitch projects has been rekindled as of late(more on the long standing cross stitch addiction in a later post). Plus, I have 2 kiddos who require most of my daytime attention, a trip to NY, and a move to another state coming up in the next month. My plate seems a little full to me--that being said I will probably still go out and buy the...

As I enter my last month here in Utah, I find myself reflecting on the things I'll miss most about the place I called home for the last 5 years. When my husband told me we were being transferred to Utah, I thought "Oh man--snow!". We moved here from Hawaii, but I grew up in New York; so I now about snow and I don't really like it. We were pleasantly surprised to find the winters here very mild and the summers were fabulous--hot, hot, hot!! My only exposure to Utah prior to moving here were the Osmonds(I'm probably dating myself there) and the Olympics(which we were lucky enough to be here for). I think this state is one of the best kept secrets in America--it's a beautiful place with a very diverse landscape from one end to the other. Below is one of the views from my kitchen/dining room--cool isn't it? I will REALLY miss that. I love looking at those mountains--it's awe inspiring for someone who grew up where it was flat as a pancake :) The View...

Here is the finished "Candy" tank. I love knitting for little kids--it goes so quickly and it only took 2 balls of yarn! front I felt like the i-cord took longer than the whole top--it's amazing how much you need to make for such a small person. I also thought, instead of i-cord, it might look cute tied with a beaded strand(plus your little one could "express" themselves with their choice of beads) or ribbon. back And here's the little diva modeling--we have about six shots of her "posing"--I'll spare you the details :) young diva I am really pleased with how it turned out--considering it's the first thing I whipped out off the top of my head. The only thing I may fool with are the decreases in the upper body--I think they need to stay wider longer(need to keep certain body parts under wraps, you know ;)!) I also packed up the family truckster and headed to Ogden this morning to meet up with fellow bloggers Miriam and Kim . We took the...

Sorry I've been MIA most of this week. Not that I'm making excuses but the weather got nice and we got out :) I have been knitting in the evenings but there isn't really enough of a difference in the WIP to make it worth posting a pic. And as if I didn't already have enough on the needles; I was inspired by Michele's halter top to try and design one of my own(for dear daughter). I went out and got me some Candy, made some notes/sketches, and started knitting. I hope to have it done with pictures by Sunday, but since I have never designed anything before; if it looks weird or creepy you may never see it. I'll try and describe it, but it may not make sense. I'm knitting it in the round from the bottom up--there's going to be about 6" of tube with picot edging. Then I'll bind of the back(I'm adding some ribbing in hopes of keeping it snug, but not too snug--she's 5 LOL) and begin the decreases in the front. I'm planning on adding ...

What's on the needles? Here's an update on my current "works in progress" (from left to right): 1. "Beginner's Triangle" from A Gathering of Lace for the Gathering of Lacealong. I started it on Friday and I've gone from the cast on of 25 to 66 stitches. The repetition of it is starting to grow on me. 2. Aran Blanket from the book, Baby Blankets (I think). I've finished about 4" of the 36" I need to do. I really like the look of this one(although I'm not sure how much detail you can see from the picture). The only problem I seem to be having is when I knit the stitches off the cable needle the last one seems loose--I'm not sure how to fix that. My sister(who is the recepient) doesn't knit so she won't notice, but I will so it bothers me. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. I've tried knitting tighter, looser, and I've used 3 different styles of cable needles--I'm not sure what else to try. 3...

2005 A Lace Odyssey Here are some pictures of my progress in the Gathering of Lacealong. After 6--count them 6--false starts(none of which getting past row 11), I finally think I'm getting the hang of this lace thing. You know that Zen feeling you're supposed to get when you knit(hence knitting being the "new yoga")? Well, this is putting me nowhere near that zone. I must say that I'm really glad I chose the "beginner's triangle" from the book, because anything else and I would have had some kind of breakdown. close up I do really love this yarn. I don't have any other to compare it to; as I have never knit lace before, but I love the color and now that I've gotten the hang of knitting with it; it's not too bad. I thought sock yarn was small--this seems even smaller--a problem that may be exacerbated by my choice of using addi turbos to try lace knitting on. After swatching a bit I decided to use size 4 needles--I like the texture ...

Look what dropped onto my doorstep today! Four skeins of Shimmer(turquoise splendor) from KnitPicks . I'll be using this for the Gathering of Lacealong(see sidebar for link). Since it is STILL cloudy and miserable here in Utah, I could not take the picture outside, but I LOVE the color of this yarn. It reminds me of the tropical ocean(which I always long for this time of year). This is my first journey into the world of lace knitting--I'll keep you posted on my progress. I'm going to be doing the "beginner's triangle" from A Gathering of Lace . I saw quite a few pieces I would love to do in that book, but I'm nowhere near ready! I finished the dreaded second sock for my sister. I'm not posting a picture; because, frankly, I'm still bitter about having to rip it back and reknit the foot. Suffice it to say that it looks just like its twin and it(and its partner) will be heading out in the mail tomorrow or Thursday. I like to keep a sock on the needle...

The sock was done. Notice that "was" is the operative word here. Last night I sat down with a pot of coffee and the unfinished sock. At midnight the sock was finished and I was weaving in the ends when I noticed the dropped stitch in the heel :( Don't ask me how it happened--I should have learned the caffeine lesson after the ball winder incident a few weeks ago. The picture above is where I am at now--I had to pull it out to the cuff, I've just turned the heel, and I'm in the process of finishing the gusset decreases. I'll just repeat the mantra I learned from Margene --"it's the process, it's the process, . . ." Maybe I should try the opposite approach tonight--I'll drink a bottle of wine and see how things progress from there :)!! Happy knitting! Aloha :)

The sun came out this morning and since we can't be in Maryland, Merino and I decided to have a mini-fiber festival. Here's a peek at part of my sock yarn stash(I didn't put in doubles or things that wouldn't fit nicely in the basket). Bask in the sunlight and the fibery goodness :) Happy Mother's Day! Aloha :)

On the Needles

Well, I wanted to post something today to give all of us that aren't in Maryland something to look at. I was going to take my stash outside and get a good picture of it basking in my green grass BUT it's cold, raining, and generally not a good place for yarn. So you'll have to settle for a shot of my sister's sock that I feel like I will never finish. The sock you'll notice is resting on my new t-shirt from cafe press . So the big question is can I finish the sock by Monday? Before you answer there are a few things to take into consideration: (1) I have 2 kids under 5, (2) my house is for sale and I have an anal retentive cleaning schedule to stick to, (3) I'm tired and out of coffee, and (4) for some reason I have been dragging my feet on this. On the plus side: (1) I'm pretty good at knitting socks(especially self striping ones), (2) I have become somewhat of an insomniac, and (3) I have baby blanket #3 to get done. So we shall see--I am starting...

First, I'd like to thank everyone who has stopped by for a look at my blog and a special thanks to everyone who commented :) I don't really have a lot of knitting content today I just popped in to recommend that you check out Lion Brands new e-cards they would be a great way to cheer up someone having a bitter day--I'm thinking of you, Margene :P It's great old artwork of people knitting--I've already sent out a couple. Enjoy! As an aside, I'm sitting here listening to my new Nine Inch Nails CD(which I can do right now because the kiddos are still asleep). I bought it yesterday and I had to laugh at the clerk who rang me out. She couldn't have been more than 20(probably less). She wasn't looking at me when she started to ring it up and she looked up, saw the kids, looked at me, and said, "You do realize that this has explicit content." I started laughing, because I've been listening to this stuff since I was in college--I got Pretty Hate...

You can't knit all the time :)

What?!?! Did I just say that? Well, unfortunately life intrudes on your knitting time. Last night I allowed myself a pleasant intrusion. I loaded up the kids, snacks, the portable DVD player and headed to Salt Lake for a book signing. Last year in Knitter's magazine, I saw an ad for a book called The Shop on Blossom Street . It was knitting fiction; so of course, I had to check it out. The author of that book was Debbie Macomber and she was in town last night signing copies of not only that book, but also her new one called A Good Yarn . If you're looking for some light summer reading, then I would definitely check these out--I mean if you can't knit all the time; you can at least read about people who are. And as an added bonus each book comes with a knitting pattern--in A Good Yarn there is a sock pattern by Nancy Bush. Debbie was really sweet and she gave everyone a small gift for coming out--you had a choice of coffee, tea, or a notions bag. I, of course, took ...

Baby blanket #2!!

Yes, it's true. Baby blanket #2 is finished and here's a shot of it--notice the majestic Wasatch in the backround :)!! The blanket is the "Hearts and Stars" pattern from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for tots. I only did 6 of the seven repeats so that the blanket is almost square. I used the "Pound of Love" yarn from Lion Brand---I know all of the fiber purists out there are cringing and possibly finding another page, but let me just say that I 've done 2 other blankets with that yarn and those blankets have held up to the constant washing a baby blanket gets(and the earlier two are over 2 years old). You also don't have many ends to weave in(unless you have an insane ball winder moment, like I did) and I had enough left to make a matching baby hat. Now it's onto baby blanket #3!! It's an Aran blanket made with Plymouth Encore in Denim. It's the last one I'll be making for a while so I'll keep you posted as to my progress!...