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 ...