Knitter in Progress

I am in love with these . Talk about two epic projects to stitch! Darn the "internets" ;) I ordered Arwen and Aragorn and I'm still debating on Hope Returns. I have all the floss kitted up for A/A but I had to order the fabric(25 count laguna is hard to come by--at least the size I need is). This is a solid cross stitch project done over 1 on linen--which probably means nothing if you don't stitch, but if you do you'll understand my fear of going blind before I finish it; those stitches will be tiny :) I finished with the chart for the first sleeve of Rogue and it will be put away for a week; so that I can concentrate on my preemie project donations. Here's the progress pic: Sleeve cable

Yes, I am about to eat crow. Remember a couple posts ago when I said that I probably wouldn't buy yarn for a sweater from String(the new LYS). Well, apparently that was a lie. It all started Thursday when I cast on for my Rogue Revisited and after completing row 15 of the sleeve I realized that my gauge was 6 stitches per inch(needs to be 4.5). I ripped and knit a gauge swatch with size 9 straights and my gauge was now 5 stitches per inch--better, I can live with that. Unfortunately, I do not have size 9 circs or dpns(nor do I have size 7 dpns)--I wanted dpns because I'm knitting the sleeves in the round instead of straight. Therefore, I needed to find those needles. Obviously a trip to the LYS was in order, BUT little diva had school yesterday and I had a ton of running around to do--there was no way I would make it to A Knitted Peace and back along with everything else I had to do while Diva was in school. So I thought I'd check at String. Sure enough the double p...

Booking Through Thursday Today's questions brought to us by Nicki , who has come up with a ton of fun ideas, this being the first that struck me. Which 3 authors would you invite to a dinner party (they can be dead)? JKRowling, Edgar Allen Poe, Christopher Paolini(and his Mom) Why? JKRowling for many, many reasons. First, to thank her for writing books that get kids(and adults for that matter)to read. Second, to pick her brain about the backgrounds of certain characters like the Mauraders--I mean really pick her brain about them, I'd love to know more/all of their story. Third, to talk to her just in general; authors fascinate me because I so admire their ability to come up with such interesting ideas and ways to present them. Edgar Allen Poe so I could find out if he was really as "out there" as he was rumored to be; I mean you have to be pretty messed up to write some of the stories he did. Christopher Paolini and his Mom--Christopher, so that I could talk to h...

Cyn--I started Rogue for you :) I'm starting with the sleeves and I'm doing them in the round this time. I'll post a pic when I get a little further into it. So yesterday I go to the bookstore to pick up a copy of Eldest and guess what---they don't have any. . .none, zero, zip. Now the first book was pretty popular but I really didn't anticipate a sellout on number 2(at least not the second day after its release). So I go to the information desk to find out the deal. After much searching the clerk says "we don't have any"--okay, duh, I can see that. So I ask if I can order one; just call me when it comes in. He looks at me like it's a completely foreign concept, but finally says okay and we get the ball rolling. All I'm saying is you work at Barnes and Noble for goodness sake--HOW is it possible that you know nothing about books or store policies? By the way, another store employee told me they were supposed to receive 500 copies, but ...

This Branching Out scarf has had to carry the weight of my blog world on it's shoulders. I did it for the BO Knitalong and for Knit the Classics . Now it's all done :) Here it is blocking Here it is done :) I actually finished it a week or so ago, but it took me a while to figure out where to block it. Because of the varigated yarn the pattern does not photograph well, but you can see it really well in person. This was a fun pattern; pretty easy for lace. Happy knitting, aloha:)

Last week I got this pattern from Patternworks: Shoebox Pattern Then Little Diva and I went to JoAnn's and I let her pick out supplies. After one day of stitching and two days of finishing we have this: Shoebox Doll I had NO control of the color choices here; the white hair and odd colored eyes are all Little Diva's doing. She marches to the beat of her own drummer; she's the same way with her clothes--she loves to wear two different colored socks("because I can, Mommy"). The pattern was lots of fun even with the loads of finishing I had to do. We plan on picking out fabric for "Lemon's" shoebox bed this week. My husband actually had the weekend off--it almost NEVER happens. SO on Saturday I said I was going out ALONE(a rarity for me). Of course, Saturday + out alone=yarn shops :) I went to A Knitted Peace which was a big mistake as it was "Western something Weekend" and it took me longer to walk to and from the shop than the actua...

Okay, well things have been slowing down a bit here. Sorry for the lack of posting. Little Diva started Kindergarten and it's made for a hectic week. She is loving every minute of school. I crack up watching them when we drop them off. I used to teach middle/high school and elementary is a WHOLE different ball game. Everyone is in lines(like little ducks) and the whole day is about setting up the routine. It's so different from older kids where the first week of school is about getting to work--no hand holding, no coddling. It is so alien to me--give me the older kids any day of the week. On the knitting front, I'm suffering from a case of knitting ADD AND lack of time to do everything I want to do. Unfortunately, the time thing isn't going to get any better. Things seem to get busier and busier until Christmas(yes I'm thinking that far ahead). Here's what I'm working on this week: 1. trying to finish the sleeve and start the hood on my hooded T ...

Branching Out is finished. I'll post a pic when I can find the space to block it. I had a whole room for that very purpose in the old house(actually it was a guest room, but it served as a good blocking space) and that is not the case here. I also finished a square for the memorial quilt project over at Knitty Gritty ; it didn't take long at all and I really felt I needed to do something. Afghan Project Square So with two things done there is room in the rotation for something else. Which means Rogue Revisited will be starting shortly :) I'm using Merino Stretch in Cavalier Grey from Elann . I wonder how it will go the second time around? Rogue Revisited This summer was the summer of lace(or for me summer/fall/winter of lace) and, for me, this fall will be the autumn of sweaters--I have quite a few on the list--hopefully they will all be done by Christmas(my goal is to have our family Christmas photo done with everyone in hand knit sweaters--considering that I'm...

Okay, first let me leave a comment for Miriam because there was nowhere to post one on her blog last night--hopefully she stops by during her bloglutions. I admire the fact that you are out there going for it with your designs and I wish you all the success you deserve for your work :) I know what goes through my mind when I "think" about submitting my writing for publication--notice I said "think" because I haven't actually done it. You're putting your baby out there for everyone and you only hope they love it half as much as you do. There are a bunch of us rooting for you. Okay, heading into rambling now, suffice it to say I admire you and I'll be sending good thoughts your way! Tuesday I met with our Littleton knit group and I had a great time. Four of them are working on Rogue and I took mine in for them to check out. I have yarn for a second and although I hadn't planned on starting it for a while--after Tuesday I decided it's time...

Yesterday I was cleaning and unpacking(big surprise there) and my daughter said, "Mommy, there is a box on the front steps." Well, I couldn't for the life of me think of anything I had ordered, so I figured it was something my husband got. I went out to retrieve the package and it was addressed to me. I looked at the return address and it was from none other than my awesome knitting buddy, Andrea . You see our LYS in Utah was having a sale last week--they hardly ever do. Well, obviously I couldn't be there(sniff, sniff) SO Andrea brought the sale to me. She sent a nice card, some crazy knitting needles(one is pictured), and some yummy Noro. I had to laugh at the needles--they totally remind me of the needles they use to insert an epidural(I mean doesn't the needle seem that big and scary when they are shoving it into your spine). And the yarn, well what can I say, what knitter doesn't love yarn in all its delicious forms. Noro, no less, one of my fav...

Check it out. It's from Cara's blog ; it's cute; it's a good cause--what more is there? Happy knitting!

Without further ado, SBQ and Booking Through Thursday: Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" is: Have you hand-dyed your own fabric? Why or why not? Would you like to try to do so? I have never hand-dyed my own fabric. I'd be petrified of messing it up--linen isn't cheap and I really wouldn't trust that I could come up with something that would do the pattern justice. That being said, I do love some of the new dyed fabrics I have seen out there and with the right pattern I think they would be gorgeous! Booking Through Thursday: The knights of the round table Whether based in fact or fiction, the legends of King Arthur have been the inspiration for many novels including Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, The Once and Future King by T. H. White, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Arthurian Saga series by Mary Stewart, and even A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain, to name just a few. Do you enjoy reading th...

During my morning bloglutions , I find Margene's post about her knitalongs and in that post I find a link to Eris . I love her patterns. I finished Rogue earlier this year and I LOVED knitting it--it has been my favorite thing to knit, by far. SO of course I'll need to get Eris. Now begins the quest to decide on what yarn to use. I'm going to get the pattern after I get more color ink(and probably more black as well)considering the pattern is 40 pages long. It sounds daunting, but she writes her patterns so well that all the pages are actually a blessing. Here's my Rogue. It's being modeled by my sister when she was out to Utah for a visit. And there's the beautiful view from my old house(sniff, sniff)--God, I miss that house. Anyhoo, I made my Rogue with Patons Classic Wool which I would NOT recommend to anyone for anything other than felting. It was great to knit with, it was very soft, BUT it pilled like there was no tomorrow. So now I have this b...