Stephanie's crafting obsession |
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Knitting, sewing, cross stitching, my life in general.
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Tuesday, December 31, 2002
(0) comments (0) comments Oops, I was looking through my knitting basket and I found 2 more ufos for my list. I must confess that I also have a sleeveless cotton shell packed away somewhere with only the back finished, but I won't count that since I don't want to work on it until spring/summer. Last night I was cruising along on the RH seaman's scarf and it's almost done. It was originally going to be for charity, but now I'm thinking that I might save it for a Christmas gift for next year. Does that make me a bad person? (0) comments Monday, December 30, 2002
I just finished my second dishcloth and I'm starting to feel ready to do some "real knitting" again. I've decided that in honor of the new year I will list all of my wips and ufos on the left side of this page (hey, eight isn't bad at all)! I need to finish some of them up and frog anything that I'm never going to finish. I'm not counting all the pairs of socks that only have one sock done, and chemo caps don't really count either as they will be ongoing thru the end of February. I think I will get the list down to about four before I start anything new. I finally got Knit It! today and I really like this issue--better than last year. Of course, I'm biased cuz I love cables. (0) comments Sunday, December 29, 2002
Hmmph. I was home alone pretty much all day yesterday as DH went up to L.A. to see a friend. I really felt like I should be knitting but it just wasn't happening. I started 3 different things and then ripped them out. I was tired and not paying attention and kept making mistakes. Then in the evening I settled on a plain ol dishcloth using some pale yellow Bernat cotton tots. Love this yarn and especially the color. I'm going to try to make several of these to give as gifts next Christmas. Dear doggie is sick so I have to keep an eye on him and may even have to make him some special dinner tonight. (0) comments Saturday, December 28, 2002
Well, I may not feel like knitting but I'm always up for shopping. Check out the huge sale at red bird knits. (0) comments Friday, December 27, 2002
I don't want to knit. It's a very odd feeling. I'm sitting here watching stupid talk shows and I don't feel like working on any of my wips. I don't even feel like starting anything new. I'm looking at this large pile of stash that's sitting in my living room and thinking "oh geez". I don't feel like cross stitching either. Maybe I will take a nap or read a book. I guess sometimes you just need a break. (0) comments Thursday, December 26, 2002
All of my knit presents were very well recieved. My sister called me back yesterday to tell me that she was wearing her new sweater and that it looked and fit fabulous. Now she is very picky so that's high praise indeed. She said now that my mom taught her to knit she can appreciate how much time and work must have gone into it! My grandmother really liked her socks and said she has worn a hole in the ones I made for her in woolease sport. That seems to be a trend and since most of my relatives like to wear the socks I make for them as slipper socks, I have decided no more socks from woolease. MIL loved the lace scarf but of course the first thing out of her mouth was that she can't wait to see the look on her best friend's face (can your DIL make something this nice? LOL). DH's aunt loved the Homespun shawl and was touched that I noticed that she's always cold and always has a cardigan hanging off her shoulders. I told DH that his entire family shouldn't expect knit gifts every Christmas. He said no, not everyone, just my mom. LOL Good thing I like to knit. I told him he needs to buy me some more yarn then. Her bday is coming up in February and I am already planning some white cabled slipper socks. I finished my Snowflake chunky hat and it's really cute. I will have to post a pic. I just used some bday money to order a bunch more in pale yellow for a sweater. It would be really soft and cuddly like a favorite sweatshirt. You know, cuz I don't have enough projects to work on. Yesterday while in L.A. I started a pair of socks for my sister in Peace Fleece worsted. This yarn seems a lot heavier than worsted to me because I only had size 5 needles with me and I had to go down to casting on only 36 stitches (and the fabric is very dense). That's ok because they will be very warm and durable (and I'm told that the yarn softens up quite a bit with washing anyway). (0) comments Wednesday, December 25, 2002
Merry Christmas! Life is good--DH is still sleeping, I am drinking some great coffee from a Christmas mug, and there's pecan pie in the oven. Later I will make my traditional brunch of eggs florentine, soy sausages, and sparkling apple cider. Then we will get in the car (with the dog) and drive to L.A. (about 2 hours). OKC: Yesterday I received my sock calendar, which I love. I am going to start the January sock on the first of the year and it will be for me. My sister got me a gift certificate to the knitter so I will use that to buy more sock yarn for other patterns in the calendar. My mom loved her socks and my sister loved her sweater and her socks. Yesterday I started a hat with that Snowflake Chunky magic and I'm almost done with it. The yarn is kind of a pain to work with, but the result is really neat looking and soft. Santa brought me a Timex GPS system for running--it tells you exactly how fast and how far you have gone. Cool! (0) comments Tuesday, December 24, 2002
(0) comments Merry Christmas Eve! I am stuck at work, but since there's hardly anyone here I will probably take a half-day. I mean, they don't give us a Christmas bonus or a real Christmas party and then they expect us to work on Christmas Eve? Pullease! Last night I finished sock #1 for my dad. These go quickly and the socks actually turn out pretty nice. I think I will have to make a pair for my sister too. I took a pic of MIL's lace scarf (which I will post later) and then I wrapped it. Pretty darn nice if I do say so myself. I'm trying to decide what I want to bring along to knit tomorrow when we go up to L.A. to see DH's family. Probably a sock. (0) comments Monday, December 23, 2002
uggh..I really wish I was on vacation this week. Ever since I finished my xmas knitting I've been sitting around uneasily wondering what I should work on. Nothing really calls to me. Then I decided to make my Dad a pair of socks. He is in Wisconsin and has been very ill lately. We don't have the best relationship, so I told DH this is "cheap therapy" for me. The socks are thick using 2 strands of Woolease. I stopped at a LYS yesterday to pick up some dpns that I didn't have. I was the only one in there so the owner was watching my every move and asking me lots of questions, which was annoying ("what are you making?" "why don't you make an afghan?"). This particular store is so small that they don't have much yarn and what they do have isn't enough to make a whole sweater from (except for acrylic and baby yarn). I bought one skein of that Snowflake magic chunky stuff just cuz it's soft and cheery (pinks and purples) and will make a fun hat. Either for me or for a chemo cap. (0) comments Sunday, December 22, 2002
Christmas knitting is done!! I finished the lace scarf, washed it, and it's blocking on the guest bed. I washed the woolease socks and they are wrapped and under the tree. Phew. Now I am a little bit burnt out and I'm not sure what to knit next. I have several wips/ufos to work on, plus my grandmother's bday is coming up in January. Also, I have a good friend who just got her PhD in molecular biology and I have been planning to make something for her using the double helix cable pattern. Last night I just decided to cast on a chemo cap. I found a cute cabled hat pattern at this site and I'm using some fairly soft white acrylic from Mary Maxim. Oh! I got a package from Karen yesterday. She sent me her swift (she's getting a new one) and some pale yellow kid mohair. Isn't she a sweetie? (0) comments Saturday, December 21, 2002
Today is a pretty good day. It's cool and rainy so I'm staying in, watching footbal with DH, and knitting. I really want to finish this lace scarf today or tomorrow so I can block it and have it ready to go on Wednesday. Yesterday I did finish 1 pocketbook slipper and cast on for the second one. They go really fast. Happy Knitting! (0) comments Friday, December 20, 2002
Hallelujah--the woolease hiking socks are an FO. No pic cuz they are pretty boring, although I may post one this weekend anyway. Last night I started a pair of pocketbook slippers for my Grandmother who has been ill. I am using Plymouth Encore in red. Well, Karen received her xmas presents already so I can show you what I made for her. Isn't this the cutest thing? The pattern is from the holiday issue of FCEK. (0) comments Thursday, December 19, 2002
Speaking of stash enhancement--run, don't walk, to elann. They have laceweight cashemere on clearance. (yes, I just ordered some)! (0) comments "Evil Ms. Stephanie, enhancer of stashes everywhere". That is my new name, courtesy of my friend Jen. :) She loves it when I post links to all the places I buy from and she would like me to do it more often. bwahahaha Bea Ellis Knitwear rocks. I ordered that learn to knit kit from them yesterday and just added a comment that it was a gift so could they please not put an invoice in the package. They emailed me today telling me that they gift wrapped it and sent it priority mail to WI for no extra charge. They rock! So be sure to go to their website and spend lots and lots of money. I stopped at Borders last night and picked up the new FCEK. The only things in there that I liked were one of the men's sweaters and the kids sweaters. I don't have any men or kids to knit sweaters for so into the magazine pile it goes. (0) comments Wednesday, December 18, 2002
(0) comments Speaking of poor service, I just got an email from Patternworks saying they not longer carry that learn to knit kit. Umm, well, maybe they should take it off their website then? How annyoing. I just went and ordered it from beaellisknitwear. I just ordered a hat kit from them yesterday and they shipped it already. So poo on Patternworks. (0) comments Last night I did some knitting on the lace scarf. As soon as I get tired I start making mistakes on the pattern row (D'OH) so I had to put it away at around 9pm. I brought the woolease sock to work so hopefully I will finish it up on my lunch hours. I am on the foot right now so there is light at the end of the tunnel! Yesterday I received my Confetti sock yarn in the mail and I had to resist the urge to cast on immediately. This time I ordered some "neutral" colors for socks for my sister. The last order I placed was all kinds of crazy bright colors for me. I also received an order from the Wool Connection that I placed in October. They never even acknowledged my order or told me that it was back ordered or anything so I figured maybe they never got it. Gee, what wonderful service. I am wondering if I will return it, but of course it's yarn so why not keep it! What makes me mad is that part of the order was supposed to be a xmas gift for a knitting friend and I ended up having to buy her something else. grrr. (0) comments Tuesday, December 17, 2002
(0) comments Last night I worked on something that's a Christmas present for someone who might read this blog, so I can't talk about it. I'll try to remember to post a pic after Christmas, though, because it rocks. I can't believe it--my sister is going to learn to knit! I guess she is inspired by all the cool things I've been making her (or more likely--all the knit stuff at the Gap LOL). She is home for Christmas so they went to Ben Franklin and got some acrylic yarn and my mom is going to teach her. yippee!!! (0) comments Monday, December 16, 2002
Noooo, I didn't finish the woolease sock this weekend. I know the suspense was killing you. I did finish my sister's hat, though, and I'm very pleased with it. Like I said before, I don't do fair isle that often, but when I do I'm always amazed at how neat it turns out. This is also the first time I did a hem and I think it looks cool. Here's a pic. (0) comments Saturday, December 14, 2002
Last night I finished the gedifra gigante scarf. Ahem, shouldn't I be working on Christmas gifts?? Anyway, maybe I will post a pic later, but it's not that exciting anyway. I'm too lazy to do it at the moment as I haven't had any coffee yet this morning. My goal is to at least finish the woolease hiking sock this weekend. There, I said it--now you all can hold me to it. (0) comments Friday, December 13, 2002
TGIF. I'm so glad it's Friday so I can spend the entire weekend knitting and doing Christmas stuff. I got out our artificial tree but I still have to decorate it. I am taking a break from running because of shin splints. Last night I alternated working on the fair isle hat, Gedifra scarf, and Woolease sock. Short attention span, apparently. Have a good weekend! (0) comments Thursday, December 12, 2002
Startitis. Yesterday I went stash shopping for yarn for a hat, mittens, and scarf for my sis. As the scarf is to be funky/colorful, I am doing a simple garter stitch with dark fuschia Gedifra Gigante (thick and thin bulky wool) on size 17 needles. It's about half done already. That's about the only gauge I can stand for a scarf otherwise it's so boring I will never finish it! Then I dug out some black Nature Spun worsted and some grey Paton's classic wool (love both of these yarns--and they're cheap!) to make the "Norwegian Star" hat from Hat's On! So far it's lots of fun. I find that I really like fair isle, but only in small pieces. I am too slow/clumsy to do a whole sweater. Someday I will get decent at continental so I can do two-handed knitting. (0) comments Wednesday, December 11, 2002
I asked my sister if she needed any hats, mittens, etc. Here's what she wrote back: Oooohhhhhh yes!!!! Mittens and hat in dark grey are preferable, but black would also match my coat. A funky scarf would be nice, too. And socks. Okay, I guess I should have just said that anything would make me happy. I love handknit things. The greatest sister a knitter could ask for! :) (0) comments Well, here I am awake at 3:37am drinking organic Northwest blackberry tea. I think I'm coming down with whatever it is that everyone has at work. I fell asleep at about 6:30 last night and awoke at 3am with chills. So now I'm up and I think I will do some computer stuff and then knit. I'm not sue if I will work up the motivation to run this morning or not. Anyway, I got tons of goodies in the mail yesterday. GGH Aspen from knitpicks, patterns from thknittinggarden, and 2 books from Edward Hamilton (knitting books, of course). A Close-Knit family by Melissa Leapman and Poems of Color by Wendy Keele. (0) comments Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Thanks to Theresa for pointing out the link to the speech given by President Jimmy Carter at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony today. Please go read it if you haven't done so already! (0) comments Last night I started "Little Trees". I'm sorry, but sometimes I just love bulky yarn!! I'm using a size 10 needle and getting about 13 sts/4 in and it just works up so quickly. I started on the back, which I decided to do all in solid blue instead of with the intarsia/fair isle. I'm already done with the increases and I'm working toward the armhole shaping. It's too bad--I think this yarn is discontinued (Crystal Palace Carnival) because I really like it. I may have to snap up some more from One Fine Yarn if they have any. It's cheap, it's 100% wool, it's soft, and it works up fast. Oh, and it's about the same gauge as Rowan Polar so there are lots of cool patterns. I did my Rowan sweater coat with this yarn. Today I am wearing this. I love it so much, but I hardly ever wear it. Actually, I hardly ever wear any of the things I knit for myself (except socks). It's like I'm saving them "for good" or something. Weird, I know. (0) comments Monday, December 09, 2002
Happy Monday. I just had a soy cappuccino and a big lemon scone, so I'm feeling pretty good. LOL Yesterday after I finished up my sister's sweater (yay) and washed my grandmother's socks, I just did some mindless knitting on my Manos shawl. It's neat, though, cuz I really like the yarn--the striations in color (dark red) and the thick and thin of the spinning. I also decided that I want to start the cardigan in the latest Rowan mag called "little trees". It has some intarsia and fair isle, but only along the bottom. I'm going to be doing it in Crystal Palace Carnival instead of Rowan Polar. I also decided that I just have to make another sweater in there--I forgot the name of it but it's in white kidsilk haze and it has pompoms. So cute for winter! So I ordered that yarn today from colourway along with one skein of their new yarn Calmer so I can try it out. (0) comments Sunday, December 08, 2002
(0) comments Well, let's see. Yesterday I swatched some Jaeger Odessa and realized that I hate it. It's a beautiful yarn, but a real PITA to work with. It has the yarn wrapped around a metallic thread, and as you work the yarn gets bunched up along the metallic thread. Back to the stash for you!! Then I got out my Dale Heilo and realized that one color is on backorder, and it's in the fair isle, so I couldn't even start that sweater if I wanted to. I will have to think on it some more. I started sewing up my sister's sweater and did the collar. Hopefully I will finish that today. I received the red striated Manos that I ordered and it's soo pretty! I started a simple garter stitch triangle shawl for me. It really shows off the striations in the yarn and it will be nice to have at work to throw on when it gets cold. (0) comments Saturday, December 07, 2002
Lots to talk about today. First, did you see me in the knitty gallery? Yay! Second, check out Darilyn's new ad-free knitting bulletin board. I think you'll like it! Good news--my grandmother's trekking socks are finally finished! Gee, I only started the first one in April. Now I just have to wash them and wrap them for xmas. I ordered 4 more skeins of Lorna's Laces Worsted for socks from Bobbie at eweknitkits. She's a real sweetheart and has great service so do check her out, especially if you love sock yarn like I do. So now that I have finished a few things I am dying to start a sweater for me. I guess I probably could and still finish up those last 2 presents without a problem. I want to make the red cardigan in _The Urban Knitter_ with my "ruby" Jaeger Odessa. The only problem is that it would be great for Christmas, but I probably won't have it done by then. I also want to make that sweater from the last IK from Dale Heilo--I got the yarn in. Hmmm....I'm sure I will start swatching today. Oh! Yesterday I KIPed during a work meeting for the first time. It was a boring, 2-hour, mandatory safety meeting. I sat way in the back and the lights were out the whole time so nobody even noticed. Woohoo! :) (0) comments Friday, December 06, 2002
Last night I ended up washing the pieces of my sister's sweater after all. I'm glad I did because some of the excess green dye came out in the water and the wool softened up some. It's blocking on the guest bed and hopefully it won't take too long to dry. If it does, I will just have to send her sweater to WI!!! Yesterday I was talking to my mom in WI where it was about 5 or 10 degrees. I told her she should try to stay warm and put on the wool socks I knit her. She said that she already had them on!! She loves wearing them around the house instead of slippers (which she always used to wear) and she says she's going to wear them out. Well golly gee, we can't let that happen! I need to knit her some more socks!!! Now to get more Lorna's Laces worsted because that was perfect. Nice and thick, soft, and washable. (0) comments Thursday, December 05, 2002
(0) comments (0) comments Hurrah! All the pieces of my sister's sweater are done. Now on to the finishing. I wanted to wash it and wet block it, but I'm running short on time and I think it will take too long to dry. I need to mail it out Sat or Mon so she will get it before she leaves for WI. So I think tonight I will steam block it, then I just have to sew it up and do the collar. Can you believe I am getting things done on time? I have quite a bit of Magpie left over so later I may make her a matching hat or mittens or something. Today I am wearing Top Secret and I look pretty cute if I do say so myself! (0) comments Wednesday, December 04, 2002
Well, I didn't do much knitting yesterday but I did do some shopping. Hey, we refinanced my car loan and saved some money, so of course I had to spend it on yarn! LOL Someone mentioned a new-to-me website, the knitting garden, so I had to check it out. I ordered a pattern for felted ballerina slippers, the newest Rebecca mag, and one of those Rebecca special edition patterns. Then I went to knitpicks and ordered some of that GGH Aspen that's dirt cheap. (0) comments Tuesday, December 03, 2002
I had planned on finishing those darn sleeves last night but it just didn't work out that way. For some reason the thumb on my right hand was really hurting so I just gave up and watched Monday Night Football. I did cast on my confetti sock again--72 stitches on US 1s and I'm starting with a 3x3 rib. I'm not sure if I'll do the entire leg like that or switch to st st after an inch or 2. Ribbing actually fits a little better but it's a PITA! (0) comments Monday, December 02, 2002
Well, I frogged my Confetti sock. I was all the way to the gusset and then decided that it was going to be just a bit too small for me. Apparently this yarn is finer than Regia or Opal because my usual 64 sts on US 1s was too small. I think I will have to go to 72 sts. I also worked on the sleeves to my sisters magpie sweater. I finished the increases so now I just have to knit straight for about 2 1/2 more inches and then do the cap shaping. Maybe I will get it to her before she leaves for WI afterall! (0) comments Sunday, December 01, 2002
Sunday. Today is my last day of vacation, but life is good. DH and I had a great day together yesterday as he actually didn't go in to work! I just now took a pan of cranberry-orange bubble bread out of the oven (recipe from Cooking Light mag) and there are good football games all day. I plan to lounge around, watch football, and knit. I started getting out my xmas decorations and I may do a bit more of that today. If I'm feeling really motivated I may start my xmas cards or gift wrapping. Yesterday I ordered some Manos striated in red from Knit Picks. This is from my bday present from DH and I would like to make a shawl/wrap with it. I also ordered some more Confetti sock yarn from here, as she's having a sale where you get 12 balls for the price of 10 (and it's dirt cheap to begin with). (0) comments Saturday, November 30, 2002
Well, I took my mom to the airport this morning and we had lots of fun while she was here. In knitting news, I finished one woolease hiking sock and knit a little on the magpie sweater sleeves. I was feeling antsy and really wanted to do something colorful, so I pulled out some Confetti sock yarn in white, purple, pink, yellow, and orange. Perfect--I love it! This yarn is the sock yarn that's similar to regia but much less expensive. I highly recommend it!!! (0) comments Thursday, November 28, 2002
Happy Thanksgiving! I will be hanging out with my DH and mom, eating, watching football, and knitting! (0) comments Wednesday, November 27, 2002
FUN! I think I may have gotten my mom hooked on knitting again. She used to knit a lot, but hasn't done any in years. So this year for her birthday I got her that "knit a scarf kit" from Peace Fleece and she brought it with her on her trip. She has been working on it during the times when we are relaxing and watching tv or whatever. Then today we went to Knitting in La Jolla. She has never seen all these new novelty yarns and whatnot. She picked out this white iridescent eyelash stuff called Aura (Trendsetter, I think) to make a scarf. Actually I bought it for her, along with a pattern, as one of her Christmas gifts. Then she bought me a K1C2 lace scarf pattern and the accompanying yarn--Richesse et Soie (cashmere blend) in my favorite pale yellow color. It's soooo pretty and soft. I think she was a bit shocked at paying $45 for 3 tiny skeins of yarn, but she said "it's Christmas"! Oh, today I also picked up the new Knitters, the new Knit"N Style, and the Rowan pattern book for Calmer. (0) comments Monday, November 25, 2002
Boo, it's Monday. YAY, I am off for the rest of the week!! Yesterday I got a lot accomplished, but again, not a lot of knitting. I did work on the Woolease sock during the Packer game cuz that's something that I can do without really looking much. Mom arrives tomorrow! She wants to take me shopping to buy my Christmas presents. Yarn store? Yarn store? (0) comments Sunday, November 24, 2002
First, here is a pic of the cross stitch mug I am sending off in an exchange. You must admit that it's pretty darn cute. I did lots of boring chores yesterday. Around 8pm, DH had to go off to work so I cuddled up on the futon with my fleece blanket, turned on "forensic files" on court tv (over 100 channels and this was the only thing on!), and did some knitting on the Woolease hiking sock. Right now I am off to put some vegetarian chili in the crock pot and take Jackson for our 30 minute walk. Later the Packer game is on and I have to work on that ugly RR cross stitch. I'm sure I will sneak in a little knitting somewhere. Have a good Sunday! (0) comments Saturday, November 23, 2002
Well, I decided that I have been so tired because of a cold--DH has the exact same symptoms as me. I think I'm starting to feel better and I'm ready to do some knitting. The only problem is that I have a million other things to do! I finished the cross stitch mug and will hopefully post a pic later. Now I have a cross stitch round robin to work on that is supposed to be mailed out on Monday (I only had a mere 7 weeks to work on it and I wait until the last minute) and the subject is ahem, butt-ugly. Oh well, it shouldn't take too long. I also have tons of cleaning and what-not to do since my mom will be here Tuesday afternoon (yay)! But I WILL KNIT THIS WEEKEND!! (0) comments Friday, November 22, 2002
I know, my knitting blog is pretty boring lately. I didn't knit a single stitch yesterday! I'm trying to figure out why I've been so tired lately--meds, allergies, cold? I guess I should go in for a physical sometime soon. Last night I watched lots of tv and worked on some cross stitch. I am making this really cute mug with a cross stitch insert with gingerbread men and a cup of cocoa. I will have to post a pic when I am done. Yesterday I recieved my 365 knitting stitches calendar but I think I only looked through January. Can you believe how much everyone on the knitlist is bitching about the new Knitter's magazine? Sheesh, if it's a lame issue I just don't buy it. That's why I don't subscribe to Knitter's. (0) comments Thursday, November 21, 2002
OK, so I didn't make it to the knitting meetup last night. I was too tired, had cross stitching stuff I needed to do, and *ahem*, I had to watch The Bachelor. It's all DH's fault--he watched the first episode so then we were hooked. I did recieve some goodies in the mail. 2 of my knitting books: "A Passion for Knitting" (which I like) and "Knitting Pretty" (not so much). "Knitting Pretty" is really for the airheaded person who has never knitted but wants to try it because it's "hip". Lots of easy stupid patterns (beer cozy? paperweight?) and ones that don't even have pictures with them. But hey, I'm a sucker for knitting books. And I do like the simple seamless pullover pattern they did in Lopi. I also got this crochet kit that was on clearance on qvc.com. It has 5 skeins of Plymouth Encore, a crochet hook, and a pattern book. I'm not sure if I will actually try to learn to crochet or just use the yarn to knit something. Either way who can pass up a clearance? (0) comments Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Well, today is "international knitting meetup day". Our meetup is going to be at a coffee shop at 8pm. I'm going to try to make it, but that's a little late for me--I've been so tired lately! :p (0) comments Tuesday, November 19, 2002
Oh my gosh, I was so busy working that I almost forgot to blog! Silly me. I've been tired and preoccupied lately so I think I only knit 2 or 3 rows last night. I did receive my SOTM from the knitter.com and it's very cool. They're like these little red wool slipper socks with black sparkly eyelash on top. The will be fun to make for the holidays so I think I will start them after I knock out at least one more xmas gift. (0) comments Monday, November 18, 2002
Yesterday I finished the cross stitch item I was doing for an exchange and then I realized that I have another one to do that needs to be mailed out on Friday. D'OH! In knitting news, I did a little bit on the sleeves of my sister's sweater. They will go pretty fast because of the gauge. That's about it! (0) comments Sunday, November 17, 2002
Here's a quote from an email from my sister: I got tons of complements on my new socks Friday when I wore them with my Birks! I just said "my sister KNIT them!" Is that the best or what?? (0) comments Yay! I can mark another xmas present off my list. Last night I finished the Homepun triangle shawl for DH's aunt--it just needs to be washed. So, here's what remains on my xmas knitting list: socks for grandma (75% done), lace scarf for MIL (50% done), magpie sweater for sister (65% done), socks for cousinIL (25% done). I think that's it. I don't want my list to grow any more than that. As soon as I finish this cross stitch project I need to get back to my sister's sweater. She's going to Wisconsin for Christmas on Dec. 14 and I would like her to have it before then. (0) comments Saturday, November 16, 2002
Gee, I finally got my Vogue Knitting mag in the mail last night. How irritating to receive it 2 weeks after it hits the newsstand. Even more irritating, the one sweater I really wanted to make is only written for a size small. GRRR! And it's the one with tons of cables, bobbles, laces, whatever, so there's no way I could adapt the pattern. Of course I knit so loosely that I could probably do it in the recommended needle size and it would turn out a size L. I'm not sure how much knitting I will get done this weekend cuz there are a million other things I should do. Laundry, grocery shopping, vacuum, workout, etc. I also have a cross stitch project for an exchange that needs to go out on Monday and I just started it last night. (0) comments Friday, November 15, 2002
TGIF! A strange thing happened last night. DH was on the phone with some family members and when he got off he informed me that everyone (more specifically, his cousin and his mom) wants handknit socks for Christmas. HUH?? I can't decide if I should be flattered or really irritated. His cousin was actually admiring mine and wants a pair to keep his feet cold at night. Ok, I can do that. His mom is another story. Everything with her is about being better than everyone else--my son has a PhD, does yours?...my DIL knits beautiful socks, does yours? You get the picture. Well, I'm sure her "friends" will be even more impressed with her lace scarf and that's halfway done so that's what she's getting. (0) comments Thursday, November 14, 2002
The most exciting thing I did yesterday was find the Ocean Beach People's Food Co-Op. It's a nice place, but it's not in a very convenient location for me. According to Yahoo maps, it should only take me 16 minutes to get there from work. Yeah, right. Tons of traffic. I didn't get to knit on my lunch hour because we had a Pharma group staff meeting. We did get free lunch, but come on, that's work, not lunch break. Last night I started the sleeves of my sister's magpie sweater. But I was really tired and brain dead so then I took out my Homespun garter stitch shawl and worked on that a little bit. (0) comments Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Wow, I didn't do any knitting last night. That hasn't happened in a long time. I was just too tired and had other things to do. I did do some shopping with my birthday money, though. I went to amazon.com and bought 3 new knitting books, 2 books on running (I'm going to try to start), and the new Maeve Binchy novel. I got "365 Knitting Stitches a Year Perpetual Calendar", "A Passion for Knitting: Step-By-Step Illustrated Techniques, Easy Contemporary Patterns, and Essential Resources for Becoming Part of the World of Knitting", and "Knitting Pretty". My eBay auction ends today, so if you know someone who wears a 2x or 3x check it out! (0) comments Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Lessee, I got some nice knitting-related goodies for my birthday. My sister got me a skien of Lion brand fisherman's wool (among other things) and a coworker got me a Michael's gift cerificate which I immediatley used to buy _Knitting the New Classics_. One of my gifts from DH was a gift certificate to Velona. He wasn't able to physically get there to buy one so he made one with the color printer, a picture of a fake dollar, and a picture from inside the store. Very cute. I finished the front of my sister's sweater Sunday night. Amazing how quickly things go when you only work on one project at a time! I think I will start the sleeves tonight (both at the same time, to avoid second sleeve syndrome). (0) comments Monday, November 11, 2002
(0) comments Sunday, November 10, 2002
Today is my mom's birthday--HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! Btw, she really liked the Lorna's Laces worsted weight socks I gave her--especially the colors (miata). She seemed a little suprised about the "knit a scarf" kit from Peace Fleece, but I think she will enjoy it some weekend when she's snowed in and bored to death. She used to knit lots, but I know she's never used bamboo needles or fabulous hand dyed wool. I also got her a great intarsia cardigan sweater that I *ahem* bought. It has ice skaters on it and she really went on about it. I am continuing to work on my sister's sweater and also a cross stitch Christmas ornament for an exchange. Last night I went to Michael's and picked up a Lion Brand pattern booklet for WoolEase Thick 'n Quick and another basic pattern booklet from Leisure arts. (0) comments Saturday, November 09, 2002
Well, I didn't want to deal with that cable on the front of my sister's sweater so I frogged. I'm just going to do the whole thing in st st, which she will like. Maybe next Christmas she will get a fisherman's sweater or something, you know, if I start now. I'm off to celebrate my last weekend as a "twenty-something". GAK! (0) comments Friday, November 08, 2002
It hardly ever rains in southern California. When it does, residents freak out and it's all over the news and there are tons of car accidents. Jackson is prepared, though! (0) comments The good news is that I finished the back of my sister's sweater. The bad new is I started the front but I don't like it. I decided I wanted to put a big cable up the front (12 sts), but since I have a rolled edge and no ribbing, the edge is sort of wavy from the cable. Now, will I be able to block this out or is it hopeless? Anyone? (0) comments Thursday, November 07, 2002
Staying home rules! The mailman just brought me a big box of light yellow worsted wool that I got dirt cheap from eBay. Sweet! (0) comments I am off work today so I am hoping to make some progress on my sister's sweater. I'm pretty sure I will finish the back today. If I get a chance to start on the front I may decide to put a cable up the front. I really should get out and go to Michael's and the grocery store, but it's much more fun to sit home and knit and watch cheesy talk shows. Oh, I also need to send out some resumes. I just went to monster.com and found 4 suitable openings. (0) comments Wednesday, November 06, 2002
I've decided to sell my Rowan "Rosa Reef" sweater on eBay. I know, how tragic, what a shame, yadda yadda. But I'm really more of a process person rather than a product person, and it's just too darn big on me (bad Stephanie! didn't swatch)!!!. What a shame to see it sit in my closet, no? Check it out here--the bidding starts at a measly $15!! (0) comments I am working on the back of my sister's sweater. I really like this yarn and I think she will too. Something about a hearty wool tweed that is so great in the fall and winter. I am tempted to go get some more from colourway before the sale ends! Last night I received the new Cast On and I really think it is improving a lot. I love that cabled cardigan made with Lion Brand fisherman's wool, and the "teaching" articles look really good (I suck at fair isle). But the best part is that I got the registration booklet for the TKGA convention next spring in Burbank so I will actually be able to go to it! and maybe take some cool classes! yay! (0) comments Tuesday, November 05, 2002
My sister basically said she either wants an intricate cabled fisherman's sweater or a plain forest green wool sweater. Since Christmas is quickly approaching and I have other gifts to make, I chose the latter. I'm using my Rowan magpie aran in ivy (dk. green tweed) and making a basic st st pullover with rolled edges. I'm using Ann Budd's _Handy Book of Patterns_ as a reference (yes, it's quite handy)! (0) comments Monday, November 04, 2002
(0) comments YAY!!!!! Top Secret is finished AND I love it AND it fits perfectly. I am so happy. The non-knitting houseguests were even impressed when I finished it and tried it on. I will try to post a pic tonight. Now to get back to my Christmas knitting. Just when I decided I wasn't going to knit for BIL, CousinIL, etc, etc, cousinIL was over last night really admiring my Opal tiger socks and talking about how he would totally wear socks like that, yadda yadda. AND he's a really nice guy, so.............. I also really want to knit my sister a sweater, but she's SO picky. I emailed her and told her to tell me what she will actually wear or not wear. (0) comments Saturday, November 02, 2002
Here I am secretly blogging while the houseguests are at Scripps Aquarium. I am happy to report that I finished sleeve #2 of top secret, joined everything together, an now I'm working on the yoke. Not much longer now! Be sure to check out the sale at Red Bird Knits just through Monday--everything is 25% off. So of course I just had to order the Dale Heilo to make the Old Norse Ski Sweater in the new IK. I even bought the colors used in the pattern, which hardly ever happens. (0) comments Friday, November 01, 2002
Nothing much exciting to talk about today. I ripped out the little bit I had done on the sleeve of Sophie. I dropped a stitch like 10 rows down and when I tried to pick it up it just looked ugly. I made a bit of progress on sleeve #2 of Top Secret and I think I should finish it tonight. We have company coming for the weekend and since they will be staying in the bedroom where the computer is, I may not blog again until Monday. Have a good one! (0) comments Thursday, October 31, 2002
Happy Halloween! In non-knitting news, here's what we did last night. Fun! I cast on for the Rowan Magpie aran sweater, which is called Sophie. I started with a sleeve. (0) comments Wednesday, October 30, 2002
A month or 2 ago I made this ridiculously long list of things I wanted to knit before the end of the year (like 18 things)! Now, that was just dumb so I went back over the list and wrote down things that I want to finish by the end of the year (5) and then other things (11) that are maybe, if I have time, or I can do them next year. Much better. Here are the 5 items: 1) Socks for my grandmother for xmas (1 sock done, 2nd one started) 2) White lace scarf for MIL for xmas (about 50% done) 3) Homespun shawl for A(aunt)IL for xmas (about 50% done) 4) Top Secret (maybe 60% done) 5) Rowan magpie aran sweater for sister for xmas (haven't started, but did swatch) Now this is maybe at least possible (we'll see about the magpie sweater, though). (0) comments Last night I received my new IK and I think it's fabulous. It seemed like there were more patterns in it or something. I really like that green sweater that's done in Dale of Norway yarns. I'll put it on my "to do" list and start it sometime in 2008. Heh. Last night I continued working on my lace scarf and I also made another little sock Christmas ornament. How cool is it to finish an entire sock in less than an hour?? (0) comments Tuesday, October 29, 2002
Yesterday my grandmother sent me a Halloween card with some money in it. Within about 30 minutes I was online ordering yarn with the money. You know, cuz I don't have any yarn. I worked on the lace scarf some last night and I have decided I really don't like mohair all that much. I don't care how high quality it is, you're still going to get some on your black pants and up your nose. Look at the little Christmas ornament I made before I went to bed! Love it! (0) comments Monday, October 28, 2002
Startitis. Yesterday I was bored with doing st st so I decided to start the lace scarf for MIL for Christmas. I have some beautiful GGH soft kid in white and I picked the basic feather and fan pattern posted on knitters review a while ago. Note to self: don't just jump into lace patterns without checking them first! There was a mistake in the only pattern row. But once I got past that I made some progress and you can see it here. It's such an easy pattern yet it always looks so nice. Then I was looking at that beatiful dark green Rowan magpie aran that I got from Colourway and I started looking through Rowan mags thinking about what I wanted to do with it. Sweater for DH? nooooo, he doesn't "wear sweaters" grrrrr.....sweater for me? maybe....I know! sweater for my sister! She would like this color and she would really appreciate and use a wool sweater. I am thinking about Sophie from Rowan 30. I started a moss stitch swatch which is here. The only problem is, I'm never going to finish all this stuff before Christmas! gack! I said I wasn't going to do this...... (0) comments Sunday, October 27, 2002
I didn't get much knitting done yesterday because I baked banana bread, put gas in my car, went grocery shopping, and did some cleaning around the apartment. Today it's looking dreary and rainy and there's football on, so I think I will make myself some coffee and knit the day away. The only other thing I have planned is carving our pumpkins! Maybe later I will post some wip pics (an possible jack-o-lantern pics)! (0) comments Saturday, October 26, 2002
Well, I got a lot of knitting done last night as I left work a little early and of course DH has been working later and later every night. Soooo, I am taking Karen's advice and making socks for BIL and C(Cousin)IL for Christmas from Woolease. I needed something that would work up quickly and have easy care. Here is the basic pattern--hopefully knit at a really tight gauge they will hold up well. I also finished sleeve #1 of top secret! This really is working up quickly. (0) comments Friday, October 25, 2002
Tee hee....I am causing quite a stir here at the new company. I have decided to knit on my lunch hours right in the lunchroom and my friend Jackie sometimes cross stitches. Well, I had one person say she'd like to crochet with us and today another person sat down and did her cross stitch. Someone else was admiring my finished sock and said she has done lots of knitting, but never socks. After seeing mine, and hearing another person say hand knit socks rule, she said she must look into it right away! (0) comments FO! Ok, it's a small one, but it's the first one I've had in a while. Here are my mom's Christmas socks. Pattern: theknitter SOTM July, yarn: Lang Jawoll. I am pretty pleased with myself, especially since they are in her favorite color. Yesterday I started sock #2 of the April SOTM, which will be for my grandmother for Christmas. Today is Friday and I'm wearing the first socks I ever made. Life is good! (0) comments Thursday, October 24, 2002
What the ?????? I was standing in line at Michael's yesterday (had to get some cross stitch supplies) and what did I see at the checkout counter? A new knitting magazine called Ultimate Knitting. I picked it up and glanced through it--it reminds me of Knit 'N Style a little bit but with more machine knitting stuff and a little crochet. There was one sweater in there that I liked, the purple Paton's one. Then I got home and opened my final package from the Coulourway sale--Rowan Magpie Aran in ivy. I like it, although I had, ahem, forgotten what color I ordered. I didn't do any knitting last night because of my carpal tunnel. It feels better today, though. I did work on my mom's Christmas socks on my lunch hour and today I will finally finish them (these are the SOTM for, ahem, July, and I'm pretty sure that's when I started them). (0) comments Wednesday, October 23, 2002
I tried working on the top secret sleeve last night, but my left hand and forearm have been hurting--apparently trying to knit with a size 10 16" circular along with spending a lot of time on the computer is not good. poo! I need to start doing yoga again--that always did wonders for my carpal tunnel problems, etc. Anyway, I started a cross stitch project that I have a deadline for. I am in a 4-person round robin so I bought a table runner made from cross stitch fabric and divided it into 4 parts. My theme is Christmas so in the first part I am stitching a candle with holly leaves. Then I will mail it out and 3 other people will stitch the rest of it and it will come back to me all finished. Cool, eh? (0) comments Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Last night I started on sleeve #1 of top secret. How great is it there there will be hardly any finishing on this sweater??!! I also dug out some projects I started last year and frogged them. Most importantly, the cabled cardigan I had started in Jaeger Chamonix. My gauge was off so I'll just look at it as a swatch. I can't decide if I want to make the cabled cardigan with this yarn, or go with something more basic. I was looking at some of the designs for Rowan Cork since (as pointed out by Clara in Knitters Review), they are about the same gauge. It's funny how whenever I get really *nice* yarn, I tend to "save it for good" because I can't decide what to knit with it. Silly, silly Stephanie. Oh well, the Chamonix will have to wait until after the new year anyway. (0) comments Monday, October 21, 2002
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Dang, I need to start knitting socks faster! Today in the mail I got my sock of the month for October (which again, I don't really care for) and some Lorna's Laces fingering that I bought from Judy the knitter on eBay. Colors: neon (2) and embers (2). I love her yarn--it's so soft. (0) comments Interesting thing happened to me at work yesterday. A woman from the new company came up to my cube and said "I heard you were knitting in the lunch room! I crochet! Show me what you're working on!" So we had a nice little discussion and she said we should get together for lunch sometime and knit/crochet. Cool, huh? Plus my friend Jackie has recently taken up cross stitch so we can have our own cozy little Sequenom craft group. Heh. I worked on Top Secret a little more last night. I have decided I want to wear it on Thanksgiving. I can show it off to my mom. yay! (0) comments Friday, October 18, 2002
Yesterday I left work a little early and was able to make some progress on Top Secret. Maybe I will take a pic this weekend. Oh, I also received my Jaeger Odessa in ruby. I am hoping to make the buttonless cardi in _The Urban Knitter_ for the holidays. We'll see. I think it would be fab with my new black velvet pants and a silver shell. (0) comments Thursday, October 17, 2002
Well, last night I frogged the Lamb's Pride raglan. I'm not sure why, but I really didn't like working on it. Plus I don't know if my mom would like a sweater with mohair in it--she has so many allergies. Anyway, frogging is very liberating. I then swatched for Top Secret and cast on for it. This is going to be fun. I like the yarn and the sweater will definitely be cozy and comfy and soft. Thanks Kate, for introducing me to it! :) I'm also rethinking all the Christmas presents I was going to make. Do I really want to make socks for BIL who wears size 14 wide? Do I really want to put the time into knitting a scarf for his gf who got me 2 cheap bars of soap from Sav-On last Christmas? Probably not. I'd rather make cute sweaters for me! Of course my sister, mom, and grandma are still getting socks. They deserve them and will appreciate them (not to mention they live in a much colder climate). (0) comments Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Yesterday my yarn arrived to make Top Secret from knitty. I desperately wanted to start swatching for it, but I just couldn't. Our apartment was a disaster area because they came in during the day and tore out some of our old carpet and linoleum and put in new linoleum. It looks nice and I'm glad to be rid of that old carpet. But we had to spend all of last night cleaning and trying to get the place back to normal. We just have too much "stuff"! But when I mention that to DH he points to the 8 million rubbermaid containers of yarn so I better keep quiet. Heh. If I start on Top Secret, how am I going to get all my Christmas presents done? Oh well, some people may have to get store-bought presents! (0) comments Tuesday, October 15, 2002
We have moved into the new building here at work. No big deal, I have a slightly bigger cube and there's a free soda machine upstairs. Ha. Wait, this does relate to knitting! Often times on my lunch hour I will quickly eat something that I brought from home and then knit for 30-45 min. In the old building I would either knit at my desk (because my old boss was nice and wouldn't bother me on my lunch hour) or I would sit on the big couch over by the coffee machine. Here, I can't knit at my desk because people continue to bother me and pretend they don't know that I'm on my lunch break. There is a nice little area out behind the building with picnic tables and such where I have been going. The only problem is that the benches are like concrete and it's not very comfortable to sit there and knit! It hurts my back. I will have to continue my search for the perfect spot. (0) comments Monday, October 14, 2002
I did get some knitting in on my yellow alpaca socks yesterday, but it's slow going with 72 stitches on 1s. I decided to do a short leg (I think it's about 3 inches) all in K2P2 rib and I think I will do the top of the foot in the same. Since alpaca isn't quite as stretchy as wool I think this may help them to be more comfortable. The yarn is soooo soft! (0) comments Sunday, October 13, 2002
Yesterday was lots of fun. We went to the Harvest Craft Festival and I bought this cute tote bag for carrying my knitting in. I also bought a caramel apple and a cute handmade wedding Christmas ornament. Later I finished my Opal Tiger sock while we watched the LSU Tigers beat Florida. Obviously, these are now LSU's lucky socks and I have to wear them whenever they play. I cast on my yellow alpaca socks! I don't know how much I'll get to work on them today because I have to watch football and finish up a cross stitch Christmas ornament for an exchange. (0) comments Saturday, October 12, 2002
I love fall!!! This weekend there is a Harvest Craft Festival and a Pumpkin Festival. Pure bliss. I think I might have to skip the Knit Together today. Yesterday I got my knitty knittying bag in the mail (love it) and last night at Borders I bought the new book _Knit Lit_. It's so cool that there are so many new knitting books coming out now. (0) comments Friday, October 11, 2002
More yarn in the mail yesterday la de da de da......I got part of my Colourway order--2 bags of Rowan Wool Color in a dark neutral called beechnut. But the best thing I received was this. Isn't it gorgeous? Isn't it fablulous? Karen brought if back for me from the Taos Wool festival. It's alpaca, it's my very favorite color (lemon curd!), it's sock weight, and it's really, really soft. I can't wait to finish up one of my other socks so I can use the needles to start one from this. (0) comments Thursday, October 10, 2002
Umm, last night I got more yarn in the mail. You know it's bad when you forgot you ordered it. heh. I got a box of Katia Terra from elann in light brown heather--it's eco-grown 100% natural pure wool. It's nice. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it, but some bargains just cannot be passed up. I also started my mom's raglan sweater and I am excited about it. I even swatched first so this thing better fit her perfectly!! I got up early this morning so I could work on it. Once I get the neckline/raglan part done, it should be fairly mindless knitting from there. In case you haven't seen the pattern, it's here. (0) comments Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Yippee, last night I got yarn in the mail. A skein of Opal Dalmation I bought from eBay, and some Lamb's Pride worsted in deep mauve that I ordered for a mere $3/skein from the wool connection. The color is very pretty and I'm going to use it to make my mom "The Incredible Custom Fit Raglan", hopefully for Christmas. She sent me all her measurements and everything so I just have to make my swatch and I'll be off! I'm on the heel flap of Opal Tiger sock #2. (0) comments Tuesday, October 08, 2002
Between having a good day at work yesterday and reading some inspiring knitting-related stuff online, I am feeling a bit re-energized as far as my knitting is concerned. Of course last night I still had to focus on the game (WOOOOOOOOOOO PACK), but I did start my second Opal tiger sock and worked on it during pregame, halftime show, and after the game. I even did a few rows this morning before work. That Opal Tiger is just so cool. I'm glad I ordered a second skein so eventually I can make my sister a pair too. (0) comments Monday, October 07, 2002
Yesterday I did a little more on the seaman's scarf until I ran out of yarn. I just have to do the 2nd "tail" now. Then I worked on my cross stitch Christmas ornament for an exchange and my Homespun Shawl. Wow, my WIP list is small at the moment! I figure I should get some gifts out of the way before I start anything else. I won't do much knitting tonight. The Packers are on Monday Night Football!!!! (0) comments Sunday, October 06, 2002
Yesterday was a very productive day. Mostly I did stuff around the apartment, but I did finish my mom's LL socks. One more gift down--yay! These are for her bday next month. I also worked on my seaman's scarf and I am about to run out of yarn (RH aran fleck) so that will have to be put on hold until I can find some more. I noticed yesterday that Michael's was out. Today I will probably work on cross stitch and maybe my Homespun traingle shawl--something mindless during all the football games! (0) comments Saturday, October 05, 2002
Weekends rule. It's early Sat. morning, DH is still sleeping, and I have a loaf of banana bread in the oven. Soon I will start some split pea soup in the crock pot and later I will make bread in the bread machine. DH will be gone all day to some motorcycle show so I get to lounge around and do whatever I want. I think I will do a little bit of housework and a lot of knitting and cross stitching! yay! Oh, I should also take the dog for a long walk. Last night during Iron Chef I worked on my Seaman's scarf. (0) comments Friday, October 04, 2002
Yesterday I went to mary maxim and ordered the yarn to make Top Secret from knitty. I got "natural" and woohoo it was cheap! Last night I finished my Rowan Cork hat while watching must see tv. It's pretty cute. I didn't wear it today, though--I'm wearing a roll brim hat in Kitchen Cotton that I made a while ago. (0) comments Thursday, October 03, 2002
(0) comments Yesterday I whipped out my hat in Homespun and I don't like it. Well, it's ok but I don't think I really want to wear it to work. Then I found my 2 skeins of red Rowan Cork that I had forgotten about and started the hat that's in the new Rowan mag (I think it's called Elsie). It's sort of a beret, but it looks neat I think. Maybe I will finish it in time to wear it to work Friday or Monday. Today I am wearing a hat that I sewed from some black patterned velvet. (0) comments Wednesday, October 02, 2002
The doctor told me that for at least the next week or 2 I need to wear a hat whenever I go outside (long story). I have been looking around at free hat patterns on the net and trying to find something that's in bulky yarn and doesn't really look like a "winter hat" (ie I can wear it to work and look "quirky", not insane). I mean, this is southern California and I know the locals think this 67 degree weather is cold, but..... Anyway, I think I found something that will work and I am using some leftover LB Homespun and size 13s. So that's the plan for today. (0) comments Tuesday, October 01, 2002
So, today I had an appointment with the opthamologist and I came prepared with a sock-in-progress in my purse. Wouldntchaknowit, they called me in almost right away. Then of course the dr dialated my eyes so I couldn't see to knit for the rest of the afternoon. hmmph! (0) comments Monday, September 30, 2002
Well, I spent almost the entire day today in waiting rooms of doctors offices and I didn't bring any knitting! That was dumb. But I didn't have anything sitting around that was small and at the "mindless" stage. That's what I get for not having 16 different socks on the needles at one time! I think I will cast on a basic sock tonight, maybe the mate to my Tiger Opal, cuz I have another appointment tomorrow afternoon. (0) comments Sunday, September 29, 2002
Ok, I'll admit it. I haven't done much knitting this weekend. I've been doing some fall-type projects: cross stitch (jack-o-lantern) and sewing. Look at this adorable halloween fleece shirt I made for Jackson (that's candy corn, btw). I made a matching poncho for me. Trick-or-treat, here we come! (0) comments Saturday, September 28, 2002
knitty is cool. I like it and I can tell that a lot of work was put into it. I am going to frog my halloween socks. I'm just not feeling it. I was thinking about making one black sock and one orange sock, or maybe I will just skip the whole thing and wear some store-bought socks (gasp!) on Halloween. I can't decide what I want to work on this weekend. I am thinking about making my mom "the incredible custom-fit raglan" (free pattern) using some mauve Lamb's Pride worsted I got on clearance. It's definitely her color. Of course I just ordered the yarn and it isn't here yet and I really want to start it. (0) comments Friday, September 27, 2002
I am working on my Halloween socks. I think I will do an orange and black striped foot. I hate color changes though--all those ends hanging around and loose stitches. Yesterday I finally got my order from amazon: VIntage Knits, Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook, Vogue Socks 2. I skimmed them and they look neat. I really like some of the patterns in Vintage Knits and the fact that they use Rowan yarns. (0) comments Thursday, September 26, 2002
Last night I started my Halloween socks. I figure I need to get cracking since it's almost October. I bought 2 skeins of Regia--one black and one orange--so we'll see what I come up with. So far I just did a short black leg and am working on an orange heel. Oooh, yesterday I got a catalog from the Wool Connection. It's kind of cool that they have "kits". I circled a bunch of things I want and gave it to DH for my Christmas list. Heh. (0) comments Wednesday, September 25, 2002
I didn't do any knitting last night because I was working on a cross stitch project for an exchange. I did make some progress on my lunchtime sock yesterday, though. The heel is done on sock #2 so I have to pick up those gusset stitches. I forgot to bring my little crochet hook today so I guess I will do that tomorrow. (0) comments Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Last night I basically just watched the game, but I did take some pics at halftime. Here is the koigu sock I finished the other day. The colors are actually much deeper and more vibrant. Here is the progress I've made on my aran cardigan. Here is the fab-oo cashmere I received in the mail from L. (0) comments Monday, September 23, 2002
I am totally insane. I just made a list of all the knit items I really want to finish before 2002 is over. Um, I listed 18 things! Granted, some of these are single socks to finish a pair, but...??? 2 sweaters, 1 tote, 2 lace scarves, 1 Homespun shawl, and the rest are socks or pairs of socks. (0) comments Well, Saturday wasn't a very good knitting day. Sunday was much better. I basically plopped in front of the tv and watched football and knit all day. I made some progress on the back of my aran cardigan and also cast on for sock # 2 in LL worsted miata. I finished sock #2 of my autumn sock which you can see here. I washed them and as soon as they are dry I will mail them to my sister. (0) comments Sunday, September 22, 2002
Um, I just spent something like $200 at the big Colourway sale. But the prices are ridiculously low, so I don't feel too guilty. Be sure to check it out. No more yarn buying for me for the rest of the year, except with bday/xmas money!!!!!! (0) comments Saturday, September 21, 2002
More shopping. Yesterday I stopped at Michael's and picked up 6 skeins of LB Woolease in a blue multi color. I want to make my mom a vest for Christmas and I think I will sort of design it myself. We went to Barnes and Noble and I got _Zen and the Art of Knitting_, FCEK Holiday, and Knit 'N Style. I haven't bought K 'N S in a long time, but it contained a shawl pattern that I really like and also that cute Mary Maxim cardinal cardgian (I am a sucker for holiday-ish patterns). FCEK had some cute things, like the little gift projects. I think I will make that little snowflake purse for my sister. There was also a charity article and a simple seaman's scarf pattern so I started one last night. I have some leftover acrylic that I was going to give away and I needed a mindless project for when I'm tired or whatever. Oh, I also bought Woman's Day mag (10/8) at the grocery store and there was a little knitting article in there (p. 109). DH is at work all day today so I have lots of knitting planned. BUT I also have some cross stitch I need to do plus various domestic responsibilities--bleh. (0) comments Friday, September 20, 2002
I just got back from donating blood at the blood drive. I am feeling very virtuous and um, lightheaded. This morning I finished up my koigu harvest cable sock and I just need to weave the toe. I think it will go in the orphan sock bag for a while since I have other gift socks to work on. Yesterday I received the infamous "Peak Experience" sock pattern in the mail. I'm still pondering which yarn I want to use with it. Oh, and L. picked up 4 skeins of dark green hand-dyed laceweight cashemere for me in NYC. I am so excited. I so want to use it for the peace shawl, I just have to work up the nerve. (0) comments Thursday, September 19, 2002
Aha! I now have a button that you can use to link me (see left hand side)! A big thank-you to Darilyn! (0) comments (0) comments Well, I didn't do much knitting yesterday but I did do some shopping. I went to Smiley's and ordered some Patons Clasic wool in grey (enough for a sweater) and some Lion Brand Alpaka to make some socks. Then I got home to a big box of random yarn from elann. What was I thinking when I placed this order? Well, I did get some more nice superwash wool for socks, but I also got 4 balls of Gedifra Gigante in magenta (???) and a big cone of laceweight Jaggerspun wool/cotton in white and dark cherry (????). Oh yeah, some dpns too. (0) comments Wednesday, September 18, 2002
I'm pretty sure I like shopping for/buying yarn more than I actually like knitting. For instance, right now I am looking online for yarn to make that bell-sleeved sweater in IK. Then I decided I want to knit my mom a vest for Christmas so I'm looking for a pattern and yarn for that. Somehow I don't think I'll get all these Christmas presents done if I keep buying yarn to make things for me. It's a sickness. (0) comments Tuesday, September 17, 2002
 I'm the tie dye Doc Marten... play me some Grateful Dead, alter my consciousness a little and I'm a happy camper! Which Doc Marten are you? (by *coffeebean*) (0) comments I have decided to keep going with my orange aran cardigan. I like it. I worked on it a little bit last night while watching Monday Night Football (zzzzzzzzz). I am busy looking online for the perfect buttons for it. I need six, one inch, and I am thinking pewter. If you know of any great online sources, let me know. I am also thinking about the sweater in the current IK with the bell sleeves made from Baabajoes Wool Pak. I might actually use the yarn called for--gasp!! (0) comments Monday, September 16, 2002
I have a problem regarding my aran cardigan. I keep going back and forth as to whether I want to continue with it or not. I love the pattern. But I'm wondering about this yarn. I love the color, but I'm a bit unsure about the quality. I mean, it's 100 wool, but of course there are varying qualities of wool. Part of me thinks that it's very cool to take this wool that's in a color that I love (and most people can't stand) and that I got a good deal on, and make it into something beautiful and unique. The only thing is I'm wondering how this yarn will hold up and I probably shouldn't spend lots of time knitting this intricate pattern if it's going to be a nappy finished product. Maybe I should splurge on the yarn recommended in the pattern (Reynold's turnberry tweed), which would be about $70. But I really should stop buying yarn as my stash just keeps growing and growing. Does any of this make sense? What do you think? Email me and let me know. (0) comments Sunday, September 15, 2002
(0) comments Time to reduce my number of active wips again. I am really liking my aran cardigan in bright orange so that's going to be my main focus for a while. I will try to post a pic later. Oh, and I found out the person I bought the yarn from does have more so I guess I should buy some just to be safe. yay! (0) comments Saturday, September 14, 2002
Yesterday was not a good knitting day. I stayed home from work because I wasn't feeling well and figured I'd get a lot of knitting done. But I realized I've been in kind of a rut and didn't feel like working on anything. Did a few rounds on a sock and got bored. Did a little bit on a cross stitch Christmas ornament and got bored. Took out my sleeveless cotton shell, worked on the front, screwed up the cable pattern, and threw it back in the knitting basket. Then I started looking through old knitting magazines to try and decide what to do with that orange wool I got from eBay. It's really starting to grow on me! I kept thinking poncho as suggested by K, but I saw this aran cardigan in the winter 01/02 IK and fell in love with it. Imagined how cool it would look in orange, so I cast on for it. I am still deciding if I will continue with this project, if I will have enough yarn, etc. (0) comments Friday, September 13, 2002
WOOHOO, I finished my LL sock yesterday. See it here. Note to self: use worsted weight yarn to make remaining Christmas gift socks! (0) comments Thursday, September 12, 2002
Last night I was fairly brain dead so I decided to start a plain sock in the LL miata worsted. I did K2P2 rib for the leg and a typical slip stitch heel. I am already doing the gusset decreases--gotta love the instant gratification of doing worsted weight socks. (0) comments Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Not a lot of knitting going on. I'm too busy sulking about my job situation. Ha. I got a 10% raise and I was going to buy myself some yarn, but I didn't even do that. I bought some ready-made clothes instead. gasp! Well, I ain't knitting a velour jogging suit any time soon. snort. Actually I'm not feeling that great and I'm not sure if it's a cold or just allergies. Anyhoo, last night I frogged that darn September SOTM. There was no way I was going to do inch after inch of lace pattern with a really tight gauge and size 0 needles (and then have to repeat on sock #2). Very liberating. That beautiful yarn will have to become socks in some other pattern. Wound my lorna's laces worsted "miata" into a ball as I want to make my mom some boot socks with it for her birthday in November. Did a bit of knitting on the koigu sock and the autumn sport sock. (0) comments Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Last night I did a little bit of sock knitting during Monday night football. I also got a skein of Lorna's Laces worsted that I bought from eBay. It's "near solid" in "carrot", which is a very good description of the color. Of course I will be making something for me as I don't know anyone else who would wear that color. ha! Right away I thought socks, but sheesh, I think I'm going a little overboard with the socks. Then I thought hat, but I don't really need a wool hat in Southern California. Oh well, we'll see. (0) comments Monday, September 09, 2002
I did end up getting some knitting done on Sunday. I worked on socks through most of the games (except the Packer game, of course). I finished sock #1 of the autumn cabled check and cast on the second (I put a pic in my photo album). Then I started the September SOTM from theknitter. This yarn is absolutely gorgeous. It's going to take a while thought as it's cables and lace on US #0 needles!! (0) comments Saturday, September 07, 2002
Ooooooh, the mailman brought some great yarn today. First, the Mountain Colors weavers wool in evergreen that I ordered to make socks for my sister. "Friday Harbor" in the book _Knitting on the Road_. My sister lives in Bellingham, WA and has spent a lot of time on Friday Harbor. I also got my SOTM for September from theknitter. The yarn is a beautiful handpainted wool in purples and blues and the pattern is a lace cable clog sock. Perfect! I just got a new pair of Birk clogs in the mail yesterday. I decided to do a cable check sock pattern I got free off the internet with my autumn sport weight. I am working on the heel right now. Probably no knitting or blogging tomorrow cuz it's time for FOOTBALL!!! (0) comments Yesterday I received a box of yarn I got from eBay. 8 skeins of "vintage" bright orange wool in worsted weight, I think (label doesn't give yardage, gauge, etc). Still trying to decide what to do with it. Also a ginormous skein of "straw" colored wool, again probably worsted weight. Maybe thick boot socks and a hat for my sister or something. I finished one Opal tiger sock. Also printed out 2 sport weight sock patterns and cast on again with the autumn colored sport weight wool. Just did the ribbing and now I have to decide what pattern I will use. (0) comments Friday, September 06, 2002
well, I haven't been able to concentrate on knitting much since I'm too busy being stressed about my work situation. Anyhoo, last night I ripped out the sport weight sock because I just couldn't face a plain sock. I need to find a pattern that I like but isn't *too* brain-bending. Maybe I'll do blueberry waffle. (0) comments Thursday, September 05, 2002
um, I started a new sock this morning. I have 3 on the needles, but they are all on US 1, and I wanted to do one on larger needles. I am using the "Autumn" colored sport weight wool that I got from blackberry ridge. I cast on 48 sts on US 3s, and I think I might just do basic K2P2 for the entire leg and st. st. foot. I want to send these to my sister soon so she has socks for when it starts to get cold. She will have to wait until Christmas to get the rest of them! (0) comments Wednesday, September 04, 2002
Got lots of cool stuff in the mail yesterday. From eweknitkits.com I got a set of #4 brittany birch dpns, lornas laces worsted in mineshaft, and the new Knitter's mag (one word--blech). From red barn farm in Wisconsin (via eBay) I got 2 large skeins of hand dyed sport weight wool (for socks, naturally). One in "northwoods green" and the other in "autumn". Very nice. I just finished the gusset decrease on my Opal Tiger sock. (0) comments Tuesday, September 03, 2002
I'm back from the 3-day weekend and here's my knitting news. I finished the back of my sleeveless cotton sweater and cast on for the front. I finished the cabled socks for my sister so I just need to wash them. They are so nice. Stopped at Velona on Sunday and picked up 2 balls of Dale Falk to try for socks (green & gold--Packer socks!) and 2 balls of Regia Stretch. I bought some Caron acrylic at Michael's in green & gold to make some Packer slipper socks for my mom (she needs ones that wear like iron and can go in the washer & dryer). But I just can't handle knitting with it--yuck! To the charity bin with this yarn! I started an Opal tiger sock and just got to the heel last night. These are really cool looking. I think that's about it! Oh, and I also received an order from Carodan farm--one ball Regia in black and one in orange (halloween socks), Port Orford sweater pattern, reinforcing thread, Regia knee socks pattern. (0) comments Friday, August 30, 2002
Yesterday on my lunch hour I finished the first of my July SOTM (Lang Jawoll). I tried it on and wow, does it feel nice (note to self: no, you can't keep these, they are for mom). I even cast on sock #2. Last night I also frogged my Fortissima cotton kool-aid dyed sock. I think that yarn had to go to "time out" for a while and decide what it really wants to be. Anyway, to celebrate all of this I started a new sock for me. I've been saving my first 2 skeins of Koigu for something special. I got it out because it's a beautiful autumn colorway--oranges and browns. I figured the perfect pattern would be the sockguy's Harvest Cable socks that everyone has been raving about. This yarn is so yummy.....I keep stopping to admire the wip so I don't know if it will ever actually get done. The pattern, by the way, isn't "all that"! (0) comments Thursday, August 29, 2002
Last night I played around with my ball of Big Wool and made a hat. I decided 2 things: 1) This is some darn nice yarn (soft!) and well worth the money--poo on anyone who immediatley hates "big knits"! 2) I don't like the way the hat turned out so I'm going to rip it out and do it again. I don't feel bad about this at all cuz you can whip out a hat in like 2 seconds on size 19s!! Today I am wearing my Fortissima cotton socks and I am a little disappointed in them. They fit great when I put them on and feel wonderful, but they bag and slouch and don't retain their shape. Of course I knew this about cotton, but since this yarn is made specifically for socks and contains 25% nylon I guess I thought they would be ok. I bought a bunch of this stuff when it was on sale so I'm not sure what to do with it. Put it away for baby clothes? I was also thinking about just doing the heel and toe in a wool blend. We'll see. (0) comments Wednesday, August 28, 2002
Last night I did a little knitting on my sleeveless cotton sweater because I think I should finish it while it's still warm. Naturally, that made me get bored of it instantly and start cabled sock #2. I am almost done with the back of the sweater, though, so the front should be much more interesting. I think I will steal a cable pattern from a Rebecca magazine! (0) comments Tuesday, August 27, 2002
(0) comments Yay! Last night I finished the cabled sock. It's beautiful and feels great on the foot. I really think I need to make a pair for me after I finish these! (pic in my album--"knitting", "new stuff"). (0) comments Monday, August 26, 2002
Lessee, yesterday I stopped in Common Threads in Encinitas after hitting the farmer's market in Solana Beach. Nothing too exciting there, but I did pick up a set of #19 needles to make a hat from the ball of Big Wool that I have. I was also a sock knitting maniac yesterday. I started the cabled sock and am already almost done with the gusset decreases and that's with a 7" cabled leg. It's a bit tight on me, but my sister has smaller ankles/feet than I do so hopefully it will fit her ok. If I made these socks for me I would use a #5 instead of a #4. They are turning out to be really beautiful socks, though. (0) comments Sunday, August 25, 2002
Yesterday was a very good knitty day! I received two pairs of socks from Esther, my sock swap partner on socknitters. They're beautiful and I put a pic in my album. Then I finished the Summer in Door County sock and realized that the foot part was huge. I had to use a large needle/lots of stitches for the heavily stranded leg (which fit fine), but I should have gone down for the foot. So, I decided to block it out to an even bigger size and make it a Christmas stocking for my sister's bf Jens. I was planning to knit him a stocking anyway and this one fits his personality perfectly. Yay! Photo of this in my album as well. I also finished sock #1 for my sister in red emu superwash dk. I did the heel and toe in stripey regia crazy color. Very nice. I think today I will start a cabled sock for my sister from a pattern I found on the internet and I will use my LB fisherman's wool. Very much my sister's kind of sock plus it's something a little more stimulating than st st! (0) comments Saturday, August 24, 2002
Yay, it's Saturday!!! Yesterday I received my 1 ball of Rowan Polar from Colourway. Wow, is this stuff soooooooft! Last night I realized that I have about 10 wips going and they are pretty much all st. st. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz So this morning I picked up my "Summer in Door County Sock" which is fair isle. I am on the foot so it would be nice to just finish it up. I'm also thinking about working on the intarsia xmas stocking I have going or starting a lace scarf for a xmas gift. (0) comments Friday, August 23, 2002
I have a confession to make. I started a new sock last night. So much for my "rules". My hands started to hurt from knitting with that cotton on large needles (for my sleeveless sweater). And I was really bored with the Fortissima cotton socks. Sooooo, I got out a ball of my new Emu Superwash dk in red and started a pair of socks for my sister. I guess I'm a little bit tired of doing fingering weight socks on 0s and 1s so these socks on 3s will be like instant gratification. Besides, snowboarding season is quickly approaching and my sister really needs these socks right away LOL. I took a pic of my Rosa Reef sweater and it's in my album. See the link on the left hand side of the page and go to "knitting", "new stuff". Now it just needs to cool off a little so I can wear it! (0) comments Thursday, August 22, 2002
YEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAW! Rosa Reef is done! I washed it last night and it's drying on the bed in the guest bedroom. It's a bit big on me--someday I will learn to pay attention to the fact that I knit loosely. D'OH. Not a problem though, I think it will be nice and comfy. If I really want to I could always throw it in the dryer for a few minutes as it's 100% cotton. I will post a picture shortly. To celebrate, I started a new sweater for me. I am designing a sleeveless sweater for me using yellow Novita Maxi (cotton/acrylic). Plain st.st. back and I think on the front I will put 1 or 2 large cables. I alos received my package from elann yesterday. Lots of Emu Superwash dk for socks. yay! (0) comments Wednesday, August 21, 2002
oooo, I almost forgot. I am doing a little trade with someone who owns an alpaca farm. She's sending me enough yarn for 4 pairs of socks and I'm sending her back 2 knit pairs. Then I have enough yarn for 2 pairs for myself. I know, it may not be the greatest deal for me, but I don't care. She seems like a very nice parson, I like knitting socks, and I am dying to try her yarn. Now I don't have to spend more money and feel guilty! (0) comments Ummm...last night I did some sewing and weaving in ends on my cotton sweater. I hate finishing! I still have to do one sleeve and one side seam. blech. I put it down in disgust and did some reading. Then I picked up my koolaid anklets and did a few rows on those. (0) comments Tuesday, August 20, 2002
I am so excited. I finished all the knitting on my Rosa Reef sweater. I even started sewing it up and did the neckband. I held up the sleeves to the sweater to get the perfect length as my row gauge is usually way off. Now I just have to finish sewing it up, weave in 1/2 million ends, and decide if I want to duplicate stitch the centers of the intarsia flowers. This is definitely going to be my new favorite sweater. Now my head is going crazy thinking about what sweater I can start next. I'm also thinking about all the different socks I can make for my sister. I think I still need to finish some of the wips in my knitting basket first. Then I might design a sleeveless cabled sweater from some Novita cotton. Yesterday I finally received my sock of the month kit for August. Tres ugly, IMNSHO. I'm thinking about cancelling my membership. (0) comments Monday, August 19, 2002
waddayaknow....2 blog entries today to make up for no entry yesterday. This afternoon I ventured to Michael's and picked up a skein of LB Fisherman's wool with my 40% off coupon. I figured I could make my sister some nice thick wool socks. Good idea--I asked her and she said she would love more wool socks, especially thick ones for snowboarding. Ahhh....someone who can appreciate my crazy socknitting obsession. I am very close to finishing the sleeves to my sweater. I don't think I will have enough yellow since I did the back in all yellow instead of intarsia. Oh well, they are stripey so I will improvise. (0) comments Saturday I received my order of Confetti sock yarn. It's supposed to be very similar to Regia, but much cheaper. I'll get to it eventually! I actually got a lot of knitting done on my Rosa Reef sleeves over the weekend. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. (0) comments Saturday, August 17, 2002
Yesterday I received my order from Colourway. Love the new Rowan mag and the Cork pattern book. Not sure how I feel about the Cork yarn yet, but they do have a hat pattern for it that only uses one ball so I will probably make that. They sent me a ball of Big Wool instead of Polar so I don't know what's up with that. I am starting to feel overwhelmed by the number of wips I have and how little time I have. I feel like I never finish anything other than socks, which I really don't even need here in So Cal. Plus I need to get cracking on some xmas presents. I've decided to only work on 2 projects at a time--a sock and something else. The sock I have at work of course doesn't count. (0) comments Friday, August 16, 2002
Last night I finished my sock swap socks! I hand washed them and they are drying right now. I told myself that next I have a cross stitch I need to finish and then the sleeves of my sweater. But, I just can't be without a sock on the needles so I cast on my cotton kool-aid dyed fortissima socks. So cute! I don't know how much knitting I'll get in this weekend cuz we have lots of cleaning to do before the in-laws come on Sunday. blech. (0) comments Thursday, August 15, 2002
ooooooo! I am excited. Just when I decided not to buy any more yarn (yeah, that's what I always say). I've decided to make the sweater pictured in the advertisement for Fortissima Mexiko. I can get the yarn from Martina for $30 instead of $60 or more here in the U.S. plus she gave me the pattern for free!!! I think I might faint. Yesterday I also ordered some dk weight superwash from elann for socks. (0) comments Wednesday, August 14, 2002
I didn't get much knitting in last night. I was too busy trying out a new vegan recipe, turnovers from "Living Among Meat Eaters". It was puff pastry filled with chikn & herbed cream cheeze. YUM! DH said they were awesome. I also made some steamed broccoli with garlic & olive oil. I did knit some on my sock swap socks--I'm not to the toe decreases on the second sock yet. (0) comments Tuesday, August 13, 2002
I finally received my "Cast On" mags yesterday. I didn't think the regular issue was totally super awesome and fabulous like everyone has been saying (except of course for the beee-utiful pic of darling Karen). The accessories issue was really nice, though. Lots of basics that I might end up making and some nice sock patterns. Let's not forget the awesome Kureyon gloves by Liz (lizknits)! (0) comments Monday, August 12, 2002
Yesterday I placed an order with Colourway, which I do believe is my favorite online yarn store. I'm just getting so addicted to Rowan & Jaeger now that I can afford them. I got the new Rowan mag (#32), the pattern booklet for the new yarn called "Cork", 2 balls of Cork in red to see what it's like (maybe I'll make a scarf), and 1 ball of Rowan Polar in winter white. (0) comments Sunday, August 11, 2002
The knit together yesterday was lots of fun. It's always nice to sit under a big tree in the park and knit and eat lunch and chat. Someone was even spinning and there was another person there who brought a bunch of fiber from her sheep and angora goats! I worked on my swap socks and Karen helped me on turning the heel as I forgot my pattern. d'oh. I'm continuing to work on the sleeves of my Zoe Mellor sweater (both at the same time). They have stripes of 4 different colors so I will have lots of ends to weave in. So cute, though. I really adore this Rowan handknit dk cotton. That reminds me, I need to go place an order with Colouway... (0) comments Saturday, August 10, 2002
My Crystal Palace Carnival came in the mail and I think the colors will be really nice for the "little trees" sweater--the only thing they didn't have is the winter white. Now I still need to order the pattern! Last night I got bored with my sock so I started on the sleeves to my Rosa Reef sweater (Rowan #31). This is going to be such a cute sweater if I ever finish it. Oh well, it's too warm to wear it right now anyway. Karen is going to pick me up in just a few minutes and we're heading to the vegan fast food place in Ocean Beach. Then to the San Diego Fiber Folk "knit together" at Balboa park. It doesn't get much sweeter than that on a Saturday! :) (0) comments Friday, August 09, 2002
(0) comments Thursday, August 08, 2002
SOCK YARN! I received a pkg. of sock yarn yesterday from Germany. 6 balls of Fortissima Kolibri which is the same as Opal bumblebee and each ball makes a pair of socks. Fabulous! I was dying to cast on a pair for me, but I was good and instead cast on my second sock swap sock. Poo on SSS! (0) comments Wednesday, August 07, 2002
Yarn Substitutions. This has been a hot topic on the knitlist lately. It has become an issue for me as I'm kind of on a yarn budget right now. So I decided I just *had* to make a sweater from the new Rowan mag (I think it's called "Little Trees"). It's in "Polar" and would run me about $100, which of course isn't in my yarn budget at the moment. BUT! I have substituted Crystal Palace Carnival (100% wool) for Polar in the past with good results. onefineyarn.com has some for super cheap in several colors. score! $30 is much better for my VISA!!! Last night I finished sock #1 for my sock swap partner--just have to weave in the ends. Yay! I think I will cast on #2 immediately tonight to head off SSS. Today I am wearing my red white & blue Fortissima cotton socks with my birks and they are very comfy. Life is good. (0) comments Tuesday, August 06, 2002
(0) comments Woooo! Yesterday I received my 3 skeins of Noro Kureyon in the mail. I had to fight the urge to immediately cast on for my xmas stocking as I have a million other things started at the moment. I'm still working on the foot of the sock swap sock and I also did a few rows on a simple Homespun shawl that if going to be a xmas present. (0) comments Monday, August 05, 2002
Yesterday I finally picked up the new issue of FCEK. I like the cover sweater, but it's a bit too warm for Southern California. I also like the Big Wool tank top thingy, but I think it would be a bit pricey. Oh well, it's not like I don't have a million other things to work on. Yesterday things got in the way of my knitting--cooking, cleaning, shopping. The horror!! But I did finish the heel and gusset on my sock swap socks. Today I am wearing my summer tweed top. I love looking down at it and seeing all the bright colors that make up the tweed. Cool. (0) comments Sunday, August 04, 2002
Yesterday I finished my summer tweed sweater and to prove it I put a pic in my album (see new link on this page! "knitting", "new stuff"). While I was sewing it up I wasn't too sure how I would like it, but it turned out cute. I like this yarn--the only thing is because of the fiber composition it's very inelastic. I also started a pair of socks for my sock swap partner on socknitters. I will have to keep them a secret just in case. :) I am working on the heel of the first sock right now. (0) comments Saturday, August 03, 2002
Last night I picked up the new Interweave Knits at Borders. The cover looks different so it freaked me out for a second. It was a cool issue and somewhat inspiring, but nothing in there that I just have to knit. Yesterday afternoon I was working on Coral in Rowan 31 (Summer Tweed). I started this a long time ago and it should be a really quick knit, but I keep getting bored with it. I will finish it this weekend, though. (0) comments Friday, August 02, 2002
Yum--vegan junkfood for breakfast! Vegan donut and chocolate soymilk. Who says vegetarians are healthy? LOL Last night I did finish my cotton sock--yay!!! I was too tired to weave the ends in, though, so I will have to wait and wear them on Monday. Today I am wearing some handknit socks, though. I'm sporting a denim dress, opal Mexikos, and doc marten mary janes. I'm just too cute. Yesterday I received Barbara Walker's first treasury in the mail. I got a really good deal on a used copy through amazon.com. Very fun to look through. Now, to decide what to knit this weekend?? I really should finish some wips, but of course if I say that, I won't want to. I do need to start a pair of socks for a sock exchange and work on a cross stitch piece for a round robin I'm in. Hmmmmm....... (0) comments Thursday, August 01, 2002
Last night I baked peanut butter cookies and worked on the foot of my cotton sock. I think I'm going to shoot for wearing them to work tomorrow! I am starting to feel like I have too many WIPs/UFOs and of course there are other things I want to start. I need to get some things finished. (0) comments Wednesday, July 31, 2002
Well, I had a doctor's appointment today and yes, he was running a little late. Actually it was only 30 minutes and that's unusual for him--he's usually right on time. Lucky for me I had an "emergency" knitting project in the trunk of my car so I ran out and got it. It's a simple triangle shawl in LB Homespun. Yay for me! (0) comments Last night I worked on my June SOTM, which is red white & blue in Fortissima cotton. I finished the leg and the heel. I really want to finish this one so I can wear these nice soft *summery* socks! (0) comments Tuesday, July 30, 2002
I just ordered some Noro Kureyon to make the felted Christmas stocking in my new book. I've been wanting to try this yarn so here is the perfect excuse. The color I ordered is #75, which appears to have some red & green in it (although it's hard to tell from the computer screen). Should be festive & fun!! I want to make several other stockings from that book, but I think I will try to use up some stash on those. Of course DD (dear doggie, Jackson) *needs* the doggie stocking! Oh, yesterday I also ordered the Vintage Knits book from Vogue. Free with my Crafter's Choice points. (0) comments |
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