Another Long Weekend

My first stay-cation this year allowed me to get a lot of knitting and crocheting done. I watched three of my TV series on DVD while working on my projects: The 2008 Idatarod Discovery Channel series, 24 Seasons 4-6, and Bones Seasons 1-2. I still have Season 3 to watch.

My Sipalu bag has required some new skills. At the top is the welting which is like making I-cord in the middle of a piece of knitting. The alternate color palette I am working on does not have enough contrast to make the side panel pattern stand out. But the rest of the bag should be more distinct in the pattern areas. I am looking forward to seeing what develops.



The Candle Flame Scarf is looking great in this Wollmeise. I cannot wait to finish this scarf. My yarn ball is shrinking so I will be done soon.




I did a couple of pattern repeats on the Leafling Socks. I am not sure if they are going to get finished any time soon. I can't work up any enthusiam about them.


I am almost finished with the ribbed scarf. I ended up giving the hat to my Mom, but I will make myself one in wool.



I thought I would give Amigurumi a try. I did not enjoy it. Too much sewing and finishing. Not enough bang for the buck - it takes too long to make one. I will stick to wearables and warmth providers when it comes to crochet.

Sipalu Swatch Practice #3

Practice #3
I have developed a way to easily wrap the non-working color when it is not used for 4-5 stitches. I bring the yarn to the front, as if to purl, knit the stitch in the color being worked, then move the non-working yarn back to the back of the work. This catches and wraps the non-working yarn at the back of the stitch just worked. The chart I am currently working on had a span of 9 stitches in one color, so there would have been a large loop of yarn at the back if the non-working yarn was not wrapped in some way. In previous color stranded projects I would stop the work twist the yarns then continue knitting. This method allows me to continue knitting without stopping the work and re-situating the yarns.

Pitfall #4
I need a longer cable, the pattern called for 16-32 inch circulars. I am using 24 inch and the work is too bunched up. I don't have a US 2/3.00 mm circular though - gee guess I have to go shopping on Knit Picks again 8-] (at least I have satisfied my restriction about not buying any new needles or hooks until I freed at least two from pending projects.)

What, It's February?

February ALREADY??? I would like a rebate on January. I hardly felt it come and go. Speaking of hardly feeling it, I knit two short row hats in just a couple days. They knit up so fast they did not even make it to my WIP list. I started a 4x4 ribbed scarf to go with my hat.


I watched my Fair Isle Without Fear video by Alice Starmore a couple of times. Then I cast on the Knit Picks Sampler pattern, the Sipalu Bag Kit 40060. The bag is a supersized swatch. I am not concerned with a great bag, I am making it for practice and pitfalls.

PITFALL #1 My provisional casting on with yarn is pitiful. I will go back to using an options cable for provisional cast ons.
PITFALL #2 The Palette yarn is splitty and I have to be careful with the yarn I hold in my right hand.
PITFALL #3 Once the yarn ball band is removed it's easy to mix up the colors. I taped a piece of each yarn to it's yarn ball band for reference, and stuck them in the bag with the original copies of the pattern charts.

PRACTICE #1 I discovered I like the purl rows better than the knit side rows.
PRACTICE # 2 I figured out I would need a little snippet of each yarn color to go along with the color charts. Some of the colors are very close and just eyeballing the chart and balls is not going to work.

I started to just make a color stranded swatch with some of my leftover Palette yarns. But this is better. There is enough yarn in each kit to make a couple of bags so I can get in some good practice on this first one, then make the second third and fourth ones with much more skill. I bought two sampler kits, the blues and the autumn color palettes. I love the colors, and the bags that turn out nicely will be great gifts. Once I feel really comfortable with my tension and technique I will cast on the Glenesk sweater.

In reading the instructions it emphasizes blocking the bag over some books and lining the bags so the stranded yarns don't get snagged. I am going to go a step further, I am going to insert plastic canvas frames in each bag. I used to do a lot of plastic canvas needlework and I have many sheets left. I have made several plastic canvas tote bags and they are sturdy and last forever. A plastic canvas frame inside each bag will not only serve as a great blocking tool, but it will also make the bags sturdy and protect the stranded yarns.

I W O N

I WON. My Crochet by Number Portrait of Davi won the Crocheted Finished Object of the Year (CFOY08) 2008 Grab Bag category. I have moved on to the Grand Prize level. Voting for this level ends on Saturday Jan. 31, 2009 so if you are a member of Ravelry go and vote for me this round !!

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/crochet-on-ravelry/500249/1-25#10

I have not had this much fun since I received my badges in Girl Scouts [troop 1390 btw 8-D]
My Mom was with Davi yesterday, unfortunately it was at the funeral of her Great Aunt Charlena. She asked how I was doing in the contest. I cannot wait to tell her when she gets home. Aunt Charlena is being flown back to South Carolina for her final home-coming so Davi will be gone for a week or so. Condolences to the entire family.

Hmmm

It's Monday, and it feels like MONDAY. This weekend I finished the book I was reading, and I have maybe enough yarn for one more row on my Magnolia Afghan before it too is finished. Again I had to put it down, the weight was really bothering my wrists and right hand. So close, and yet so far. I should be able to finish off the last skein tonight. Two of my pics are being used in Ravelry on the main pattern pages for the Magnolia Afghan Pattern and the Carol Duvall Short Row hat.

I made the hat for my Sis. The hat had its' debut this weekend and she loves it. She would like one in black now. Of course I am going to make her one - spoiled?!? Just a bit. I am going to make a black one for me too. I am looking forward to getting back to my knitting. The temperatures are back down in the low 30s again, so I am also glad that my afghan can be put into service.

My Forest Canopy shawl came off the blocking boards, I love it. I still don't know what I am going to do with the left over yarn. I plan to frog something. Yep, I am going to frog the bookworm vest. I was never in love with the yarn. I could not find the yarn called for in the pattern and had to find a substitute. I never really liked it. Now Knit Picks has the perfect tweed yarn in black. But Do I Want To Start All Over. Just the thought of casting on 325 some odd stitches again is really turning me off. I think I will just continue with my other projects. Maybe some day I will go back to the Folk Vests book and die to have that vest again - maybe.

I have been told by several chess players that I would be good at the game. Many have offered to teach me and I have flirted with the idea of purchasing one of the electronic versions and teach myself. My little mind meandered down this path again last week. I read the Magic Circle and The Eight by Katherine Neville, and now I have the latest book in the series The Fire. The character Lily Rand has a baby blue Corniche. Okay, that is probably what first interested me in learning chess. Illogically thinking if I were a chess master like Miss Lily maybe I could finally buy that Corniche. So I looked around Amazon and Barnes and Noble at the how-to and instructional chess books again last week. I ended up buying The Chess Machine by Robert Lohr instead. Really, I don't need any more hobbies that will take away more of my crafting time!

So Easily Distracted

I was looking for a copy of the Alice Starmore video I taped. I am preparing to start one of my color stranded projects and I wanted to review the part of the video where she shows how to carry the yarn and keep the work and tension even. I came across some tapes that were unmarked.


What is that you ask. That odd bit of knitting is a hat swatch. One of the tapes was of Carol Duvall's HGTV show and it was an episode on which she knitted a very simple garter stitch hat. I put everything aside and cast on immediately. The shorter section is an attempt on size US 8 needles, which the yarn label suggested. The fabric was a bit tight and the number of cast on stitches would have yielded a child sized hat. So I cast on an additional 10 stitches and went up to a size US 10 needle. Voila!! After a few hours of knitting I have a hat. Actually it is for my Sister, to go with the scarf I made her for Christmas.

Once I was done with that little diversion I finally blocked my finished Forest Canopy Shawl in Wollmeise. I also cast on a Dimple Shale Scarf in my most favorite yarn, Karabella Aurora 8. Super soft yarn with amazing stitch definition. Another digression, but I really want a Dimple Shale Scarf for myself, I need a black scarf, I have a ton of this yarn, and I love it.

I also crocheted 4 of the 6 skeins of Tudor Homespun that came. I have completed the border on all but the bottom section. I will crochet 4 more rows and save the last skein to finish off the border. The Magnolia Afghan is nice and big now, it completely covers the top of my queen sized bed. It is really heavy and my wrists hurt a bit from turning it as I worked the border, which is why I did not finish off the afghan this weekend. I had to switch to knitting for a bit. Glad I found that super easy hat pattern! I will make a black one for me, to go with my new black scarf.

More Lace

I worked on the Tiger Eye and Candle Flame Scarves this weekend. The rows seem so short after completing the Forest Canopy Shawl. The Tiger Eye scarf is now about half as long as I want. The Candle Flame scarf is using more yarn than I expencted so it may end up being a neckwarmer. That is fine, it is so pretty. I did not block my shawl because we are having the carpets cleaned this week. I don't want anyone shuffling my blocking boards around - would'nt want to lose any pins either. I also did a bit of swatching.

I bought Lucy Neatby's Knitting Essentials 1 & 2 DVDs from KnitPicks. I may take a peek at one during lunch time. I am looking forward to watching them both.

Wollmeise Forest Canopy Shawl

I cast off the Forest Canopy Shawl n Hollerstaud'n and it is lovely. I will be blocking it this weekend. On to the next project.

Magazines

This is kind of a cheat to #5 on my restrictions. I did not buy a knitting book, but I bought lots of knitting and crochet magazines. I also pre-ordered the reprint of Alice Starmore's Fair Isle Knitting book, even though I own a copy of the original hardcover book. This cute little 2009 Knitting Diary was the gift included with Simply Knitting from the UK. I stopped calling them "free" gifts because we have to pay $9.99 for the magazine in the US. There are some really great articles and patterns in all of these magazines. Color and/or stranded work is definitely the wave of the future in knitting and crochet. I have already put several stranded and mosaic color work projects in my queue for 2009. The Jade Starmore sweater kit and the three Knit Picks bags are first and foremost on my mind.

In the background I will be working on Heere Be Dragone - I intend to devote 2 years, or however long it takes to complete that shawl. I know it is going to take a very long time to complete because I plan to go very, very slowly. I want to avoid ripping back as much as possible, and I abhore working with lifelines. I plan to use a dark yarn, indigo or black and I bought an Ott Lite to help me see the stitches better. This is an extremely expensive project for me, the original pattern cost $12.00 and I had the charts enlarged at Kinkos for an outrageous sum - I won't even put it in writing, but it was per foot pricing for 10 pages of charts. Then I bought the Ott Lite, luckily it was half price at Barnes & Noble - $20 instead of $39.99. The least expensive component so far is the yarn, which is Zephyr wool silk cones which I bought from Sarah's Yarns before Jaggerspun increased their per cone prices.

The other background projects will be the Mystic Series of shawls: Mystic Waters, Mystic Meadows, Mystic Ice, Mystic Star, Mystic Fire, Mystic Earth by Anna Dalvi aka Knit And Knag. My resting projects will be socks of course. I have lots of sock yarn that needs to be knit up. I had toyed with the idea of selling some of my stash - sheesh, what silliness. I love my stash, I may add to it but I won't be parting with any of it!!!

I will eventually finish my Jacket and Vest projects that are currently in hybernation - they are both mostly stockinette and can be considered resting projects as well.

This is my third post today and I am trying to figure out what order to put them in.

Bigger is Better

10 Skeins of LB Homespun Tudor
K - 10.5 Crochet Hook

I finished the last row of the Lion Brand Homespun Magnolia Afghan in Tudor last night. I was extremely disappointed in the size. I logged right on and ordered another 6 skeins of Tudor yarn. Thankfully Joann.com still has the yarn on sale for $4.49 per skein. It takes one skein to crochet 10 rows on the bottom half of the afghan. I want the bottom portion to be twice a long as it is right now. The original pattern only called for 7 skeins of yarn and I have already used 9 skeins. I intentionally ordered 3 extra skeins because I wanted a longer afghan. But it still is not BIG enough. I like my body and bed both to be covered by the afghan. I will finish using the last skein and 4 of the ones I ordered to complete the body, then use the last 2 skeins for the single crochet border. I hope to get 3 full rounds of border out of 2 skeins. The 2 row border in the original pattern is a little skimpier than I like. I have other homespun in the stash, which I may add as an additional border.

I am going to try to finish and block the Wollmeise Forest Canopy Shawl today. I have satisfied one of my "restrictions". I have knit up all of a yarn colorway and I can buy more yarn, but other than the homespun needed to finish my project I don't plan to buy any. I have the Winter Year of Lace 2008 kit on its way. There are two more Wollmeise sock club kits in my future. I did not join any yarn-pattern kit clubs for 2009. I did join the Mystic Star Mystery Shawl KAL which starts January 26, 2009. I cannot resist those, the shawls are absolutely wonderful. I still need to finish my Mystic Waters shawls. I look forward to knitting the entire Mystic series, but for now I am just making sure I have all of the patterns and access to all of the KAL groups. I also took advantage of Sharon Winsauer's 2/1 pattern sale on etsy. AuroraAlpaca.etsy.com.

Status of My Restrictions

The terms of my restriction - and public declaration should shame me into sticking to it -

(1) no more yarn until I knit up all skeins of a colorway [DONE= TLC Brownberry and Tudor Homespun]

(2) no more patterns until I complete a project using a pattern I have never knit or crocheted before [DONE= Magnolia Afghan and Posh Pooches Doggy Sweater, Miniature sweater, vest, mitten and stocking ornaments] (only exception is downloading the weekly clues for the two Mystery Kals I purchased - see I already own them, so they are not technically new ;P)

(3) no more needles or hooks until I free two circulars, and 2 crochet hooks from works in progress [DONE= finished socks, sweater, scarf and ornaments]

(4) no more books until I read a knitting or crochet book all the way through, AND make the pattern(s) I bought the book for - wow that's a big one for me, I love me some books

(5) no more casting on until I finish all of the WIPS currently in the sidebar of this blog - whew, I am starting to sweat. [Finished two projects from the sidebar, but cheated and casted on the ornaments, doggy sweater and a scarf for my Sister.]

Brrr

It is wet and cold today. I ventured out to Barnes and Noble and Target to make some exchanges and pick up some essentials. I bought lots of Knitting Magazines, got some delicious caramel macchiato and showed real restraint in not strangling any parents or children screaming in the aisles. I am working on my Magnolia afghan and although I promised myself I was going to switch to a lace project today, I cannot put it down. I am on row 19 of 30 of the last section. Then a single crochet border goes around it all and I am done. I am currently using the in progress project to keep my lap warm. I am looking forward to having the whole thing completed and keeping all of me warm. My gas and electric bill is 3 times the usual amount. Sigh.

There is a Tuesday Night knitting group at the B&N now. I have contemplated going but cannot seem to get enthused about it. I did enjoy the Chicks With Sticks group at work, but I never made any progress on my projects. Several times I was the only one to show up. The other consideration is that since I don't drive I would have to impose on my roomie to drop off and pick me up. I will think on it some more.

I just finished listening to the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (translated from Swedish). Very interesting, the hardbound book was on the new arrivals table at B&N, I would have bought it if I had not already picked 6 knitting magazines and an Ott Lite. I spent much more than my store credit and gift card. However, the B Dalton across the street from my office is closing and they are at 40% off. I will take a gamble that they have a copy. It was well read by Simon Vance, but I suffered several interruptions while listening to the audiobook. I would like to read the print copy for myself.

More FO's

I finished the baby's sweater, doesn't he look cute in it? I am making great progress on my afghan. I have completed the magnolia medallions which make up the center strip. I have crocheted half of the top portion of the afghan. With the next 4 day weekend coming up, I should be able to finish it. Yay. Although it is warming up, we are in the mid 30s now.

My cake is excellent and everyone LOVED their gifts. The kids said awesome a lot and the adults were speechless. Davi cried when she saw herself in the crocheted portrait. Sydonia and Harmony wanted to started learning to knit right away. Harmony finished her cast on row and one knit row and Sydonia knit 5 or 6 rows of her scarf before they left. Her Mom said she has been knitting non-stop and is very proud of her scarf. I have created a new knitter!!! Courtney and Dominique made their Grandma take them to McDonald's Friday to spend their gift cards. We had two winners in the lottery scratcher game, Mom won $7 and cousin Michael won $3. It was a lot of fun.

I hope this two and half days goes fast at work, I really am looking forward to being at home. I am slowly de-decorating. I have taken down the wall decorations and removed the holly garter from the banisters. We still have too much food leftover, but that's par for the course.

Quick Post

It's my Friday - so there, I am taking Christmas Eve off. Our Vanpool is not running tomorrow and the firm closes at noon - didn't make sense for me to commute 3 hours to work 4 - so I am staying home. I have to make two German Chocolate Cakes. I use the recipe for both the cake and the frosting from inside the wrapper of the Baker's German Chocoalate bar. We only cook from scratch in my house so that means separating eggs, whipping egg whites and slowly stirring caramelly frosting on the stove until it is thick and rich. And yes, I make the 3 layer cakes - no flat square cakes or short 2 layers. I have to make two because that's just how we roll.

I created a game in my mind and will try to make it a reality. We dote on the children in our family and oftentimes forget the adults. So I came up with a game for the adults. I am calling it penny smart and pound foolish. I will pass out pennies to all guests over 18 years of age. Then I will pass out one California Lottery Scratcher ticket to each adult. I will allow a one minute trading period. During the trading period they can swap scratchers with someone else. We all have our favorites, I like the Big Spin Scratchers and my Mother likes the Millionnaire Scratchers. My guy at the Lottery Store had 15 different $1.00 scratcher games for sale. I bought 40, we are supposed to have 35 adults, so I got some extra tickets in case we have a few drop ins. Back to the game, after the trading is done everyone will scratch off their tickets and see what they have won. If you traded away a winner you are pound foolish, if you traded for a winner you are penny smart. I will try not to be too upset if I have bought someone a Million Dollar ticket, after all we are all family.

Wonderful Winter Wonderland

I am so enjoying this rainy stormy weekend. I finished my Austermann Step socks last night, and I finished and wrapped my Sister's scarf. There won't be any finished photos of that project, it's just a longer version of the photo below. I am back onto the Forest Canopy shawl because it is the next project on the sidebar that is almost complete.

I finished something else this weekend, my Commemorative Collector's Book of State Quarters. I got both Alaska and Hawaii quarters yesterday so my book is now complete. 1959 was a very good year !!! I am actually collecting $10 rolls of every state quarter, I finished 4 more states: Delaware, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan. My Mother plays a game called Pokeno with her girlfriends once a month and they bet quarters for different combinations on their playing cards. She got coverall last night and I ended up with $15.25 in state quarters for my collection.

The baby boy dog child has a grooming appointment tomorrow and it is time for his annual shot. I have four 8 row repeats left to finish this FC Shawl, then I will finish his little sweater. I have 3 inches of the body to knit then there is a chest plate which enables you to custom fit your pooch. I am not sure how many rows or inches that will be. But every time the baby comes back in the doggy door he is soaking wet, so I must get his little sweater finished before he gets doggymonia or something. I am making him the Posh Pooches Basic Sweater.

I watched my favorite version of A Christmas Carol last night, the original 1951 black and white version staring Alastair Sim hosted by Patrick MacNee. Tonight I am going to watch the Albert Finney version. Tomorrow night the George C. Scott version, then the night after the Patrick Stewart version. Aw Christmas, I just love it.

I am wrapping green this year, I did not purchase any wrapping paper or gift bags. I am a shopaholic and I have boxes and bags galore, so I recycled and put gifts in what I already had on hand. Hope the recipients aren't too disappointed when they find no Louis Vuitton or Coach items in the bags and boxes. Teehee, I warned my Sister up front because I often give her Coach bags and accessories for Christmas. Did not want to disappoint her, she is getting . . .oops, I almost slipped. My BIL reads my blog and he is a tattler.

I bought myself a sewing machine for Christmas, but for knitting purposes. Let me explain. I bought three of the Knit Picks colorwork kits, the Agouna Laptop Bag Kit in blue which requires steeking; and the Cool and Warm Palette Fingering Yarn Sampler kits with the Sipalu Bag patterns. I also have the Jade Starmore Glenesk sweater kit, more steeking. Steeking is scary enough without trying to do the sewing part by hand. So I bought a little sewing machine to help me over the hurdle. It is a Singer 7470 and it sews alphabetical characters too. I am determined to stitch my username on my Ravelry tote. I wrote my name on another unofficial Ravelry tote from Zazzle, using fabric markers, but it faded very quickly. I also like to put zippers in my tote bags and linings in my knit and crocheted bags, which I have been doing by hand. Now I can do a much better job of finishing.

Last but not least ( I want to get back to my knitting!!), I bought the Knit and Crochet Today DVD set. We no longer get the DIY channel and I wanted to get this set because it comes with a 28 pattern CD-ROM. Pretty cool!!

Chilly Dilly

I fell down and started two new projects. So much for good restriction intentions. My excuse - it's COLD. We are experiencing temperatures in the 30s and it's SNOWING. This is California after all, what goes on?!?!? So, I fell off the wagon and started two new projects. I am crocheting my sister a scarf and knitting my dogboy a sweater - it's COLD. I must keep the babies healthy!!!

I cast on and knit the cuff of the 2nd Austermann Step Sock. I made some cute ornaments, a stocking, vest, sweater and mitten.

Photo Op

I had some time to snap some shots.

Completed Davi, bordered and backed. It still amazes me that you can get this result with single crochet stitches. The finished piece is larger than I expected. The upholstery fabric I used as a backing is perfect. The loose ends of the yarn ties is not noticeable. The only thing I would do differently is crochet the border from the very beginning. Picking up the stitches on the top and bottom left a very irregular kind of messy row. This can be avoided easily by crocheting the border stitches as you go, there will be no yarns tied on at the top or bottom. That allows for a much neater and finished edge. Todd is currently offering a pattern promo for the holidays which I completely plan to take advantage of. I want to do my Mom and Dad next.
















WIP - Candle Flame Scarf in Wollmeise Buxkranzl (box wreath). Love this yarn!!!























The latest Wollmeise Sock Club installment.
1 Hank of Saami
1 Hank of Jultomye
Both are superwash merino, 574 generous yards. There is a star cookie cutter, gummie bears and a special surprise inside the ball of yarn included. The sock pattern is called Little Brother and it looks like a challenge - I have put it aside for now. I think the Saami will become a bag and the Jultomye a neckwarmer.























The four flowers that make up the center panel of the Homespun Magnolia Afghan in the Tudor colorway.

I am on Restriction

I mean really now!!! Every time Renee (Goddess Knits) releases a new pattern or Miriam (MimKnits) has a new pattern available on The Loopy Ewe, there I am hitting the BUY NOW button. It's ridiculous. I have more patterns than I have yarn - and that's saying something!!! My queue is about to max out on Ravelry, it takes me three or four clicks to get to the most recently added to move them to the beginning (temporarily) of the line. Some people have no control - raising both hands. So I am putting myself on restriction.

I just finished my crochet by numbers portrait, including sewing on the backing and adding a cabachon ring for hanging. I finished another pair of socks - which unfortunately does not count towards my 52 pair plunge because they were a pair I finished and had to rip one out and reknit from the heel. I started my magnolia afghan which is a must - it dropped below 30 degrees last night, gotta have my afghan y'all. But other than that I am on a time out.

The terms of my restriction - and public declaration should shame me into sticking to it - (1) no more yarn until I knit up all skeins of a colorway [DONE= Tudor Homespun] (2) no more patterns until I complete a project using a pattern I have never knit or crocheted before [DONE= Magnolia Afghan and Posh Pooches Doggy Sweater, Miniature sweater, vest, mitten and stocking ornaments] (only exception is downloading the weekly clues for the two Mystery Kals I purchased - see I already own them, so they are not technically new ;P) (3) no more needles or hooks until I free two circulars, and 2 crochet hooks from works in progress [DONE= finished socks, sweater, scarf and ornaments] (4) no more books until I read a knitting or crochet book all the way through, AND make the pattern(s) I bought the book for - wow that's a big one for me, I love me some books (5) no more casting on until I finish all of the WIPS currently in the sidebar of this blog - whew, I am starting to sweat. [Finished two projects from the sidebar, but cheated and casted on the ornaments and a scarf for my Sister.]

These may sound more like new year resolutions than a crafting to do list. But really I need to get some control over these areas. I love to knit and crochet, so it is time I started KNITTING and CROCHETING and stopped shopping and searching and browsing for yarn, tools, patterns and such. You know what I mean?

These are not resolutions however, the restrictions only apply until each of them are accomplished. Then I am free to be me.