Saturday, December 8, 2007
Knitting Flood
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Clapotis Completed-at last
- 5 hats
- 4 pairs of socks (this is probably NOT happening)
- 2 pairs of mittens
- 1 baby blanket that is STILL a WIP!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Big Thanks from Knitting Club
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Knitting Dilemma-It's Always Something!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Cold + Rain + Wind + Bored Teacher = Yarn Store Spree
The final 3 hours of the day dragged on and on. All I could think about was some yummy yarn. How nice it would be to go to the Woolie Ewe and buy some yarn and hold some yarn. It would be so nice to walk in and hear the peacefulness and look at all the yarn just waiting for someone to buy it and knit it up. These are the thoughts going through my head while in my workshop. Yes, it was hard to concentrate.
After the workshop FINALLY ended I made my way to the yarn store and bought 7 hanks of Cascade 220 in this beautiful jewel toned teal. In case you're wondering it's color number: 7920. The problem I now have is what am I going to knit with this? I'm going to go and get on Ravelry and try to find some patterns that I may be interested in. The main thing is that I don't want to waste it. I want it to be good. Since it is cold here (well...at least for Texas...57 degrees with rain), I was kind of in the mood for sweater knitting. I'll be sure to let you know what I come up with but if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Late Night Knitting with The River Wife
I had planned to knit on Friday night with my knitting compadre, Rose. However, we went out to eat and had drinks and well you can't very well knit after drinks. You CAN but not well. So, I came home and went to bed. Saturday morning I woke up at 6 AM!! I have no idea why. But once I'm up-I'm up. I couldn't go back to sleep so what to do? KNIT!
I began The River Wife last weekend but didn't finish. Mainly because I didn't sit on my couch the whole weekend knitting. This weekend was different though. After getting into the Mason-Dixon knitting, I've become so addicted to it that I've made 3 washcloths, working on the baby kimono, and also starting the Log Cabin Blanket. Maybe I'll actually run out of yarn and have to buy more(much to the dismay of my husband).
Saartje's baby bootees found a home on Friday. One of the pregnant girls at work was the new owner. Of course, the ones for the twins are now 75% done-the twins are now 4 weeks old. The next baby shower should be in about 2-3 weeks so that will be plenty of time to finish the baby kimono. Oh...and another girl I work with is pregnant. Just like I said in the last post...there must be something in the water at our school.
If you aren't on Ravelry yet...you really need to be on there! I think I mention this every single time I post. It is my newest obsession and I love looking at all the projects. The best thing about Ravelry is probably that it's all on one website. That's the greatest thing!
Ok. Well, since I do have to work tomorrow I should probably log off soon and go to bed. So, until next time when I get the urge to blog-but you can always find me on Ravelry(mandijb)
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Mason-Dixon Knitting and Me
Monday, October 1, 2007
It's Fair Day
Today I'm working on the 2nd sock to a pair of socks I'm making. I'm not sure if I will keep them on pass them on as gifts. I'm making them using the elongated corded rib in Charlene Schurch's book Sensational Knitted Socks and Knit Picks Essential Solid in Grass. I absolutely love the feel of this yarn. It's soft and squishy and the color is beautiful. They are definitely greener in person.
I also finished a pair of Saartje's bootees. The pattern is super easy and they are probably the sweetest little bootees EVER! Easy and cute. What else could you ask for?
I guess now, it's back to the knitting and listening to audiobooks. This is my new obsession. Now that I know I can download books to my PC from the library, I'll sit here all day and knit and listen to books. I do tend to neglect other things though. Oh well...it's Fair Day!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Knitting Support for Middle School Knitting Club
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Knitting update-finally!
If you're on Ravelry, do you ever feel like spending time on there and ignoring your blog? That's the way I've been since I was invited to join Ravelry. I have ignored my blog for too long so I suppose it's time to get back on here.
My husband just had his wisdom teeth cut out yesterday. Oh what a day we had! He's much better today but wow do men whine a lot!
Today I decided to give the Center Square hat from knitty.com another try. After my first fiasco with this hat, I've had it put aside and ignored it for almost a year. Thanks to Ravelry and looking at so many using that pattern, I've decided to give it another go. The first time I made it it was too short. I made quite a few changes to the pattern. This time I decided to try and follow the pattern. I still think it's going to be too small. I'm a little less than half done. It sure does look small.
I've also started a Clapotis. I'm not using any fancy yarn. I guess I'm kind of testing it out to see how it all works. If all goes well, I'll be ordering some yarn from KnitPicks. It's their Gloss and is in the colorway, Woodland Sage.
Well, back to my Ravelry obsession! Where my stitches at?
Thursday, August 2, 2007
I'm on Ravelry! Just a short snippet
LOVE THIS SITE!!!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
I Love KnitPicks.com!!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Entrelac at last (and UPS stalking)
While I stalked the UPS man online I decided to finally try entrelac. I referenced a site online, The Yarnpath which has a very easy to follow entrelac tutorial. I had no idea what I was doing going into it but I feel like I've got it down now.
I think I will be making a wide entrelac scarf. I'm using Patons SWS in "natural plum." I'm knitting on size US 8 bamboo needles. This entrelac thing is so addictive! I can't stop. Once 10PM came and I realized the UPS man can be "in transit" all night and that Harry Potter will not be arriving before Saturday I decided to stop the entrelac. I will need about 2-3 more skeins to finish the scarf.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Socks!
Finally!! I feel a sense of accomplishment with my knitting. I've been trying to unravel the mystery of the sock for about a year now. My first "sock" was more of a tube. It didn't fit very well. I think I knitted it on size 5 DPNs. I used a Lion Brand sock yarn. I didn't really understand gauge either. They kind of fit but were loose and slipped off all the time.
As I became more involved in knitting, I began reading more (more than the Internet). I learned how to knit on 2 circular needles thanks to Cat Bordhi's book- Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles. I LOVE this method since it makes sense!! I was finally able to understand sock construction using two circular needles.
After I read Cat's book (and LOVED it- have I said that yet?) I bought the book Sensational Knitted Socks
I was a bit hesitant about the book since I knit my "tube" sock from a sock instructional book and everything else didn't make sense. I bought it though. It was wonderful!! I understood what I was doing. I bought some new sock yarn from the LYS (The Woolie Ewe). I believe it's by Opal and a cotton yarn. I loved the striping.
Anyway, lots of rambling and these are the results. I can't recommend Sensational Knitted Socks enough. Even if you aren't a fan of the 2 circ method there are charts to use for 4 DPns and 5 DPNs. Try it!
Now I'm addicted to socks and have ordered about 8 more skeins of various sock yarn and have spent way more than I needed to spend.
Family, if you are reading this just know you may be getting a pair of socks for Christmas!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
We're baaaack!
Here's how we were welcomed to Pennsylvania. More to come later!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Road Trip
The next leg of our 2 week excursion will be through Ohio and Michigan where Rose's family lives. Then through Chicago-where we'll spend a couple days. After that, we'll be headed back to Texas via Branson, Missouri. We aren't sure why we're going but we're going to stop there anyway.
I don't know how much blogging I'll be doing during the next two weeks but keep checking in. I know I'll be posting some pics of our trip to my flickr page by special request from my dad.
You never know...some knitting might actually get done too!
Bon voyage!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Bubble stitch bag
Yesterday, I worked on completing some bags. The clutch I was working on from One Skein is knitted but I need to felt it. I've never felted before and I'm a little hesitant about doing it.
This bag is from a pattern by Jessica Fraser. She posted this on the Craftster forum and I fell in love with it. It's knit with 2 balls of Noro Kureyon. I don't remember which colorway it is(Maybe 159??). Once I figured out how to do the bubble stitch, it was super easy! Imagine, dropping stitches on purpose- kind of a scary thing but very liberating once I worked it.
I still need to line the bag. I don't have any fabric right now. I will update later when I have lined it. I'm still not sure what kind of fabric I should use.
I ordered 6 more balls of Noro so that I can make 3 more of these bags. I'm obsessed!! So sad really...
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Update on knitting and life
Ester is finished! Hooray!!! Here she is blocking. As soon as I can get someone to take my picture wearing it I will post. I also need to buy a shawl pin or something to keep it shut in the front. If it were cool enough I would be able to wear it but as the weather is quite warm here in Texas in June, I probably won't be wearing it for awhile. The Cascade 220 yarn is soft and warm. It's also not too heavy so I think the drape of it is very nice. This is the first wearable item I've made so I'm pretty happy about it. I had been working on a sweater from a Knit.1 magazine from last year and gave up on it when it was giving me a headache. Some of the directions seemed unclear to me. Basically, my patience ran out with it.
Yesterday, my friend Kandi came over to pick up a table (so I can get a new one!) and she brought her son, Chance. Chance and I have a special bond since he was born on my birthday. I haven't seen him in a few weeks and wow has he grown! He's almost 5 months old and very advanced for his age. So, here are some pics we took of Chance yesterday. We (Kandi, Rose, and I) think he's the cutest baby ever! We had dinner at a sushi place. Chance was very interested in what was going on outside on the patio.
Next knitting project: Well, the next one was going to be entrelac, right? Right! Well, I'm not getting it. I need detailed pictures. I'm very visual. If anyone knows a good resource please let me know.
So, I'm moving on and trying to a clutch or purse from the book One Skein. I love this book! I made Chance the Baby hat. However, he can't fit into the baby hat anymore. So, in all my infinite free time I will be working on this. Now, which yarn in my stash will I use...
OH!!! I almost forgot! I now have a blocking board. Yes I do! This makes me all the more eager to work on projects that need to be blocked. Is that a weird statement? Joann.com was having a sale on their Sew E-Z Boards (and btw still are!). I bought the 33"x51" board. It came yesterday. If I had only had this while I was blocking Ester, I think it would have been a lot easier on me. Anyway, I think it was a great deal. I also took advantage of the "20% off one item" special that they had on that particular day. Right now they are having a coupon for Free Shipping on $35 or more.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Ester(with Socks' help)
Ester progress!!!
I'm almost finished with Ester. Yesterday I finished all the cables. Thank God!! I am a fan of cables- LOVE them. However, after this project I must say that cables every 7 stitches and every other row was a bit much. I have 8 rows remaining and then I will be blocking this shrug. I don't think I'll be wearing it until November or December since I live in Texas. Maybe I can turn the air way down and wear it around the house. Hmmm...
The yarn I used for this project is Cascade 220 in The Heathers. I substituted this for the Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran. When I went to the yarn store I didn't like the scratchiness (is that a word?) of the yarn. Oh, and the price of $16.95 per ball also was a turn off since it required 4 balls. There are some yarns I would gladly pay money for and there are some that I won't. Scratchy yarns-no matter who makes them- will never make me shell out $17/ball.
I used almost 3 hanks of the Cascade 220 at $6.95/hank. I don't know if the yarn substitution will be right on until after I block and seam it up since there's no way of trying it on right now. We will have to wait and see what it looks like.
I believe I will use some of my stash Noro to work on an entrelac scarf. I've never done entrelac but have seen some beautiful knitting work done with it.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Ester
After throwing my needles away, I went to my LYS and bought some new needles and some new yarn. I bought new needles (Addi Turbos) in sizes 7-10. The woman who was checking me out asked if I were teaching a class. I told her that I had thrown my needles away during our move. She kept repeating over and over "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." I don't know what I would say if someone told me that!
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Purging is good, right?
It was then that I thought back to the crazy weekend before we moved that we packed and purged many of our things. Including my knitting needles and a TON of yarn. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Well, this will be less we'll have to move. I don't really need this. Of course, it was less to move. It was also less to unpack. However, now that I want to do something (knit) with some other needle sizes and circular lengths, I'm unable to since I threw them away. I can't believe I threw them away. As I look at those words I am dumbfounded at my stupidity and the reality that I'm going to have to go and buy new. The only good thing that I see with this is that I can go buy some really nice needles. I guess tomorrow I'll be making a stop at the LYS.
Friday, June 1, 2007
School's out for summer!
Thank you to everyone who has commented about Nelly. I saw her last Monday. We spent some quality time together. She was so excited to see me and I gave her all the love I could. My mom told me that when her pain medicine runs out she will be putting her to sleep. I completely agree. She's not herself anymore. Her left shoulder is all bone because of the muscle atrophy. She's lost a ton of weight and she can't seem to get comfortable when she's down or up. Bone cancer is a horrible disease and she would be suffering even more without the medicine.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Nelly again
Saturday, May 5, 2007
6 AM on a Saturday
Well, I have made progress with the baby blanket. Although it is not finished. It is about 16" right now and needs to be at least 30". I'm planning to have it finished around the middle of next week if my plans go well. We're taking our 6th graders to Austin, TX so on the 3 plus hour bus drive down and back I think I will be able to get some knitting done.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Hump Day Blues
Nelly update: My mom emailed me on Monday to let me know that Nelly does NOT have bone cancer. She's a very healthy 12 year old dog. YEAH!!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Baby blanket? Huh? What baby blanket?
I found some X's and O's to make on the blanket above the hearts. Oh how cute! X's and O's and hearts. Awwwww. Or that's how it would have come out. Somehow between listening to Billy Joel's "Leningrad" and "We Didn't Start the Fire" I miscounted my stitches and couldn't get back on track. Okay, don't panic! You can still take out the row. Sure it's a lot of work, but you can do it. I began the tedious task of working my way backwards across the row removing the stitches I had just made. Then I realized, I don't think I did the pattern correctly at all for the last 3 rows. Oh crap! Now I have to rip it out. Continue to stay calm. You can still put all the stitches back on the needles. Just don't have a complete meltdown. I took the stitches off and ripped out the appropriate length.(Sigh) I feel good now. I look down at my knitting. How am I going to put all 167 stitches back on these needles? PANIC HAS NOW SET IN!!!!! And I can honestly say that Billy Joel is of no help in putting stitches back on circular needles. Stitches were dropping left and right. I didn't know what was right or wrong, up or down. Frogging was the only decent thing to do to the poor blanket.
So now what am I left with? I'm left with where I started. One skein of pink yarn. I think I will be trying another pattern but this time without seed stitch (which I don't like) and instead with cables. Cables make me happy. I need some happiness.
Sad news today: My parents told me that my Nelly dog, who lives with them, may have bone cancer. She just turned 12 and is a yellow labrador retriever. I've had her since I was 16. They don't know if this is what she has but on Monday they are taking her back to the vet to see. She's on pain medicine right now and doing well. I don't want her to be in pain but at the same time I want her around.
Friday, March 16, 2007
The Day After
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Scissor Sisters
What have I been doing for the past few days? Nothing. It's my break. I have the right to do that. I will have to work on the baby blanket some more. It's just going so slowly. That's part of the problem for me. A blanket is such a tedious project. I will suck it up, listen to the Scissor Sisters on my iPod, and just get to work! The baby shower is the 30th!!! No pressure though. Here's a pic of the progress so far. Obviously, the cats enjoy my knitting. I couldn't get them off of it!
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Spring Break!!
I've been working on the baby blanket for my friend's baby girl. It's bubble gum pink. I'm less than awed by it at this point. It's pretty plain. I am doing a seed stitch border and stockinette middle. I wanted to add little footprints to it. I don't know if I will. I have a good chunk done so far.
Now for the really exciting news--The Scissor Sisters will be in town on Thursday and I will be going to the concert!!
This will have to be all for now. My in-laws should be here in an hour and I still need to get cleaned up.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
No knitting
I finished the one sock on 2 circular needles and was quickly working my way through the other sock. That's when I went back to work. I took it to work to work on it during some down time and what do you know? I lost my place and had no idea what I was doing. I've put that off to the side and now currently do not have any projects to knit.
One of my friends is having a baby so my mom suggested I knit her something. I don't think my mom realizes how much time it takes to knit something. I will have to go to yarn store since I don't have any yarn to use for something for a baby. Now I'm also at a loss of what to knit. Another friend of mine who had a baby I knit her a blanket and duck hat (it went with an outfit I bought).
So, today in order to break the trend of not doing anything on Saturdays and getting back into my knitting I will have to get my butt up and go to the yarn store. Maybe along with the new yarn I can buy some new Addis. That would make me happy!
Friday, February 2, 2007
Socks-No, not the cat
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Yarn, yarn everywhere and nothing to knit!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Snow Day!
So, what will I be doing today on my snow day?
Playing in the powder? No...
Making snow angels? No...
Making a snow man? No...
I will be knitting.
I know. The last entry was my frustration with knitting patterns and yada yada yada. But I decided to work on the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation by Debbie Stoller. I'm not using the recommended yarn (Noro- although I do have some) and have decided to use the Tahki New Tweed that I bought for $2.50 instead. They seem to be coming along nicely (although so did my last hat project) and will probably be very fitted.
I also wanted to post a picture of the shawl I made for my mom for Christmas. Who cares if it is mid January. I really wanted to keep it for myself. I used Wool-ease in an oatmeal color. The pattern comes from Knitting to Go by Chris Percival. If you don't have this box of knitting patterns you should because they are wonderful! And yes, the patterns are well written!! Hooray!!!!
Monday, January 15, 2007
FRUSTRATION!!!!
This is how I currently feel about knitting patterns!! Why are they all written so differently?? Sometimes there are mistakes and things missing, etc. The fair isle hat I was working on is once again shelved. Now I've made the hat too big. If it were stretchy enough I could probably make it into a mini skirt.
I am too frustrated to even put all my thoughts into words right now. GRRRRRR
Saturday, January 13, 2007
What a Week!
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Quick Update
The original pattern I followed called for a purl, knit, purl edging but I thought a ribbing would be more comfortable and stretchy. So, I did a 2x2 ribbing for 3 inches and then followed the rest of the pattern as it was written. It seemed to go very quickly.
I don't remember where I got the original pattern for the arm warmers. However, this is a great link for a ton of different patterns for arm warmers, mittens, and gloves. Enjoy! http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/mittens_gloves.php
Friday, January 5, 2007
Starbucks, Sushi, Half-Price, and Knitting! What a great combo
Since today is Friday, my friend Rose and I did our typical Friday knitting at Starbucks. Where we met some interesting people. It seems as though when we knit, we always meet interesting people. For instance, the time at Starbucks when we were asked to be part of the cult Mary Kay (sorry if I offend anyone)and to try their wonderful skin lotion-even though I told her a few times (at least 5) that I was allergic and that it makes me break out. Anyway, I digress!
Rose showed me her knitted hat that she had completed. Pretty neat pattern since I don't create patterns I only follow other people's patterns. I'm too concerned about making mistakes and having to begin again. I guess Rose doesn't think that way and seems much more free with her knitting. I like that. Here's a couple of pics of her with her knitted hat.
I continued my arm warmers. I think I could have had them finished at Starbucks had we stayed a bit longer. But, we didn't so I don't have them finished. What I really like about KIP is how people get so excited about looking at your work and they talk about knitting. It's such a social thing. I love it.
Sushi
We next went to have sushi for dinner at the wonderful Sushi Loco which was having Happy Hour! WooHoo!!! This means 1/2 price sushi! Some more pics of happy hour.
After Dinner Entertainment
On to Half-Price books! Yes, at Half-Price where we played some more in the aisle with the craft books. I was disappointed to see their selection of knitting books. Most of the books had patterns in them that I wasn't interested in. Don't worry...you didn't miss out. Once again, there are pictures of the action at the bookstore.
Good times.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Steelers Hat-DONE! Other projects too
I finished the Steelers hat last night. Although the pattern was simple enough, the directions I didn't care for. Common sense would have told me, "Do what you know when moving stitches to DPNs." Instead, I chose to follow the directions.
That said, I had more dropped stitches than I have ever had in one project. I am usually very careful when I'm knitting not to drop stitches. In fact, I can name the times on one hand when I have dropped stitches.
This pattern told me to switch to DPNs and move all 100 stitches to 3 DPNs. They were packed! I should have continued the decreases on my circular needle and then moved them. Hindsight is always 20/20.
Here is the finished hat minus Socks. Here is the link to the hat in case you want to have the adventure I had last night!
http://www.crumpart.net/patterns/chocribhatpattern.htm
Current project started last night: Curl Up & Read Throw from Knitting to Go
Also started Easy Mary-Jane Slippers. We'll see how easy they are.
Half finished Arm Warmer
Tonight I just finished this arm warmer. My hands get cold when I'm on the computer. I'm too cheap to go turn the heat on. This solves the problem. Keeps my arm nice and toasty. I will get the pic posted of both when I have finished. Until then you will have to make do with the one handed shot. I knit these with Patons wool (LOVE).
I'm also including some WIP shots.
Finished! Pictured with Sassy