Square One

Here is my first block for the Greensburg afghan. It's kind of boring-looking, but the size is right. I'd like for my next one to have a stitch pattern in it.

Meme ?

I was tagged for a meme several days ago. http://naplover.blogspot.com/index.html I am just now getting the time to make my list.

7 Random Facts About Myself.

1. In September 2002, I and 7 family members spent two weeks visiting 5 countries in Europe. For some time after this experience, I felt like I could do anything.

2. The winter after I graduated from high school, a friend and I ran away and joined the Army. It changed my life.

3. I have a wonky toenail on my left foot. It's my only birth defect.

4. I am a licensed Tarot reader.

5. I believe there is only one sin: self-hatred.

6. I've read Atlas Shrugged three times. I will probably never read it again.

7. I believe in having a box of Puffs and a pair of scissors in every room.

Valpuri

I LOVE Berroco patterns. I want to make this one next. Well, not really next. I need to finish my Greensburg square - and Cindy - and Halloween - and maybe the white tank. Who knows? http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/valpuri/valpuri.html Valpuri is made with Bling Bling yarn from Berroco. I won't use it because it has some kind of metal flecks in it, which my hands don't do well with. I might try Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. A knitter in my group highly recommends it.

Cindy Sleeve

I just can't seem to work on any one thing for very long. Here is the first sleeve for Cindy. I haven't worked on it for awhile. It's almost 3" long here. Maybe I'll finish Cindy and then work on Halloween! It could happen . . .

Silly Me

I had begun to knit a square for Rebuilding Greensburg http://specialstuff.typepad.com/sugar_bunny_boulevard/2007/05/rebuilding_gree.html . I must have been in such a hurry to get started that I didn't read the pattern closely enough. (Embarrassing because it's a very short pattern) You're supposed to start out with 4 stitches and increase at the beginning of each row until you reach 8". For some reason, I was increasing at the beginning AND the end of EACH row. It was Friday evening, with the group, at Panera, that I realized, with the help of another knitter of course, that it was not looking right.

The next morning at Panera (yes, I do like to knit at Panera), it was decided that I should take a picture of the frogged square and post to my blog. I took a picture with my phone and emailed it to myself. Well, when I tried to retrieve it for my blog, I was unsuccessful. :( By that time, I had already re-started. Well, you can see a little bit of the frogging in this picture.

Puppy

This is Cooper. She's six weeks old, part Chocolate Lab, part Border Collie, part etc. She relocated from her original home in El Dorado to my home this past Thursday night. She's smart and already knows she's supposed to potty outside. We've had very few accidents. She's a sweetheart!

Beading Etc

Here are two pairs of beaded earrings that I finished a couple of weeks ago. The upper pair is coffee beans to go with the coffee bracelet. The lower pair is basketballs for my supervisor in the colors of her daughter's soon-to-be college basketball team.

I have another picture of each pair of earrings closer up, but when I tried to upload the next picture, it went to the top of the page and I can't figure out how to make it appear here instead.

The Never-Ending Bag

I'm wondering if I will ever get this bag done. It is to be felted and, according to the pattern, will need 224 rows in order for it to end up being about 12" tall. I'm only on row 72 and in about 20 rows, I will begin increases every 12 rows. Will it ever end? Here is the pattern: http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/bags/s-on-t-tote.html

For awhile, I've been thinking that I would try really hard to finish this before I start (or continue) another knitting project. Well, there is an all-day, outdoor knitting event being planned for June 9 and I'm thinking I need to go ahead and get started on the sleeveless sweater that I bought yarn for on my vacation. I'm trying to hold off knitting that swatch, but I don't know how long I can control myself.

Strawberry Hat

Well, I did it. I finished the strawberry hat - late last night. I shouldn't have stayed up, but I was driven! :) It's not the best picture; maybe I'll have someone snap me in it one of these days.

Guess I'll work on the bag to be felted for awhile. I really need to start the pair of beaded earrings that I was asked to make awhile back. I need to have those done by the end of May.

I finished my pair of black socks a few days ago. Alas, one of them had a couple of mistakes that needed fixing. I'm grateful to the ladies at Saturday morning knitting at Panera for their assistance and encouragement. I made the repairs yesterday afternoon and am wearing them today. I was worried that I wouldn't like the fit: the leg part didn't turn out as tall as I thought it would and the foot part is looser than I expected. It turns out that they are comfortable and feel very good to wear. I'm relieved!

Part of the conversation at Panera was about how to avoid jogs when knitting stripes in the round. I'm working on a bag to be felted, so I thought I would look through some books to see if I could find the technique. I found it in the Knit Socks! book. I also found some other things I was tickled about.

On page 9 is a technique for doing a swatch for knitting in the round. I had heard of a couple of other ways of doing that, but this is the first one that appealed to me. I'm already trying it for my next pair of socks.

On page 13 is a fairly easy way to determine how long of a tail to have for long tail cast on.

The jogless striping is on page 127 and on page 133 is how to wrap and turn to avoid small holes when turning in the middle of a round. This was on of the problems on my black sock.

On page 96 is my next sock pattern: Checkered Textures.

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I enjoy Saturday morning knitting at Panera so much that sometimes I go back on Sunday morning, but usually by myself. So, that's what I did today. I was knitting along on my bag to be felted when suddenly the needle broke. Oh my goodness I couldn't believe it. This was a Denise needle, too! Apparently, I was using too short of a cord which meant I had too many stitches bunched up, so when I pulled them to slide them around, the pressure was just too much. I'm hoping that I'll be able to order a replacement cord, but I haven't checked into that yet.

I've decided that I have too many projects going again and I need to finish something. I choose the strawberry hat to finish next. We'll see if I can remember that long enough to make it happen.

Finished Socks

I finished my first pair of socks last night. I used Patons Kroy Socks yarn, size 2 dpn, and the Garter Rib pattern from the Sensational Knitted Socks book. They felt good when I put them on for the picture, although they might be a little loose in a few places.

There are a couple of problematic spots that I'm going to have to get some help with from a more experienced knitter. Then I can wash them and wear them!

A heads up: I pulled out the Halloween cardigan from the pile in the corner, and dug around for the pattern, so will be working on that soon. I'm still on the first sleeve, but I don't think I've posted a picture of it yet. Maybe I'll do that today or tomorrow.

Cindy Sleeves

Here is my pitiful little start for the sleeves for Cindy. I'll be taking Cindy, the tote, strawberry hat, and black socks projects on my trip. I'll have hours and hours to work on whichever project I feel like at the time.

Felted Tote

I guess I thought I didn't have enough projects going, so I started a tote that will be felted. http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/bags/s-on-t-tote.html I will be using the teal Cascade yarn I bought in KC and some pink for the stripes.

Strawberry Hat

Next month at work, we're going to have Spirit Week leading up to our annual awards dinner. Thursday will be Crazy Hat Day. I selected the Strawberry Hat from http://thegoldenfleece.com/free_patterns/strawberry_hat.htm to knit for my hat for that day. The pattern says to use green for the seeds. I just can't do that. When I made a pair of beaded strawberry earrings a couple of years ago, I did some research and discovered that strawberry seeds are neither black nor green, but various shades of light brown. Silly people.

First Pair of Real Socks

Here is my first pair of real socks, in progress. I'm using the Garter Rib pattern from SKS.

The process is going well. Some people have said a beginner should not use black yarn. I can understand they they say that, but it hasn't been too bad for me. I'm just excited about the prospect of wearing a pair of socks I knit myself.

From The Studio

This is the yarn I purchase at The Studio in Kansas City last weekend. It's Cascade 220. They were nice enough to roll it for me at no extra charge. I was worried about not having the labels until I set them up for the picture and discovered that they had tucked the label inside each skein.

My plan for this yarn is to make a felted bag. This isn't enough for the size bag I want, so I may add a pinkish shade of wool as stripes.

An Olathe Purchase

Here's a picture of a spontaneous purchase I made while on my Olathe trip. Strawberry flip-flops. Those who know me well know that I can't stand flip-flops. I like me feet to be completely covered and protected, as a general rule. But they had strawberries on them! How could I resist?

I certainly won't be wearing them to work. I'll probably just wear them around the house, to take the garbage out, and maybe a quick run to the store.

'Class' Sock

According to SKS, I am now a sock knitter. Woohoo! I have measured my feet, chosen my needles and yarn, and cast on for my first 'real' sock.

I had a good time in Olathe. Lots of laughing happened. My sister took me to The Studio in Kansas City. They are very friendly there. I bought some blue-green Cascade 220 wool there that I will make something to be felted with. We went to another yarn shop (can't remember the name) that I wasn't very impressed with. By the time we got to the one in Olathe, it was closed. I'll just have to get up there again. Now, my sister is not a knitter, but she was very impressed with what she saw in the stores. Both of my nieces know how to knit. I helped the younger one a little bit.

Cindy & Dishcloth

Here is my first dishcloth. I think it turned out better than the two washcloths I've made.

Here is a link for what the Cindy pattern looks like. http://www.berroco.com/239.246/240/240_cindy_pv.html

I might get started on those sleeves this evening. I'm already packed for my weekend trip to Olathe. I'm going to hate missing Saturday morning knitting at Panera.

Cindy Front

The front of Cindy is done. I'm more hopeful about this sweater than any of the others I've made. The challenge of the sleeves is next. I won't get started on them today. I woke up tired this morning - some kind of crazy dream with a lot of walking in it. Maybe it's trying to tell me something. I did, however, exercise this evening. But now I need to get to bed. Hopefully, restful dreams for me tonight.

Sock Books

I went out for breakfast this morning. When I got home, I just didn't know what I wanted to do. It's not like I don't have enough things to do--there's always housework! and knitting and beading--I just couldn't decide which I wanted to do at the moment. So, I checked my budget and decided I could go looking for the Sensational Knitted socks book. I had a coupon for Jo-Ann and a coupon for Border's. I went to Jo-Ann first since it's closer. They didn't have the Sensational book, but I found Knit Socks! It looked good and I wanted to use my coupon.

Then, I went to Border's. They did have the Sensational book. I needed a cup of coffee, plus I had a coupon for a free dessert, so I got a cinnamon roll and coffee and started reading. Oh, did I mention that I also picked up my favorite knitting magazine? Simply Knitting from the U.K. And this month it comes with a free magnetic needle case. I'm not sure why this is my favorite mag; I've never made anything out of it. Maybe it's just all those pretty pictures.

So, I'm all set for sock knitting, except I might need to buy some more dpn's. I read somewhere the suggestion for knitting two socks at the same time on dpn's, section by section. That might work for me.

I think my next step might be to make the Class (mini) sock from the Sensational Knitted Socks book in all of the methods. Then I can pick my favorite method and plan carefully my first actual pair of socks. That means I might just rip out the two I've already started. Yikes!

Lunchtime Shopping

I decided to go to Hobby Lobby at lunch today. I wanted to get some more double-pointed needles. I've been looking at different sock patterns. Some call for a set of 4 needles and some call for a set of 5. Some call for size 2 and some call for size 3. I already had a set of four size 2 dp's, so I decided I wanted to buy another one plus two sets of size 3's, four each, so that I would have plenty of needles. They only had one size 3 set left, so I got it and the size 2 I needed.

Fortunately, I planned ahead and had printed my Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon. I wanted to get some sort of sock knitting book, but I didn't see any. So, I got this Modular Knits book instead. I got to pay 10.77 (plus tax) rather than 17.95.

This is crazy, but I remember that there was some pattern in the book that caused me to want it, but I can't remember what it was right now. I left the book in my car, so I wouldn't be tempted to read it instead of working this afternoon.

One Step Forward . . .

And then guess what! Yup - frogging.

I had the upper left of the front all done and it was just fine. Not so with the right front. From the time I started it, I had problems. Here you see that I have ripped out clear back down to the beginning of the armholes. I was so hoping to be able to get the front finished this evening, so I would be ready to start the first sleeve. :(

Fingerless Gloves

Here are the fingerless gloves. One is done and the second one just needs to be seamed. I wanted to take a picture of it before seaming. I plan to finish that as soon as I get off the computer.

Then, on to Cindy.

Cindy

I started getting close to finishing the second wristlet, so I decided to get Cindy out. I finished the left front, so now I just need to finish the right front and the sleeves. Then I get to seam it together! :) As always, I hope it fits.

I wish you could see the cable detail better. Maybe I will have to take some close-ups.

Now that I've digressed from the wristlets, I can let myself finish them.

Black Hat Felted

The black hat, felted. I had the receptionist at work take this picture this morning. I was getting tired of the same old home backgrounds.

I"m glad to have it done and now Jackie can have the first one.

I finished the first wristlet yesterday. When I get the second one done, I'll post a picture.

Black Hat

Here I am modeling my second felted black hat attempt, before the felting process. It's in the washer now.

The brown and cream throw on the right is one that I made on my knitting machine back in the 80's. I don't have the knitting machine anymore, but wish I did.

Gotta go check the washer.

I Want To Make Socks!

Every time I open my sock drawer, I think about it being filled with handknit socks someday. I'm beginning to wonder if I need therapy. Why do I have to start so many projects?! What am I avoiding, besides housework? Oh, well, who cares? I'm getting close to finishing the second try on the felted black hat. So, what do I do? I go and buy a set of double-pointed needles for making socks. So what if I didn't find any sock yarn I wanted to use! I've got a skein of sport weight Sinfonia in black that I haven't used for anything else yet. It's not really recommended for socks but they probably won't turn out anyway since it's my first time. So, I've start my feeble attempt at sockmaking. Meanwhile, in the corner, neglected, sits an unfinished Halloween cardigan, an unfinished Cindy sweater, barely-started wristlets, and the black felted hat. I know other people have a lot more projects than that sitting around - are they as bothered by it as I am?

Washcloth

I finished the washcloth! It's made with Lily Sugar N Cream in a 5 x 5 basketweave stitch. It's about 8" x 8".

I want to finish my second black hat next. I'll work on it tomorrow evening at KIP.

Coffee Bracelet

As promised, here is the picture of the beaded coffee bracelet I recently finished. For some reason, you can't see the little loop of brown beads on the right that loop over the button on the left.

I looked for a brown coffee-related button, but couldn't find one. I've alread made one coffee-bean-shaped earring. I've gotten distracted by another beading project, so who knows when the second bean earring will get made.

Saturday Night

I don't have any pictures to post today. I took several of the felted black hat I made, but I wasn't happy with how they turned out. Don't want anyone else to see them. Even though several people have said that the hat looks good on me, I'm not happy with the way it fits. So, I've started another one.

I finished a beaded bracelet a few days ago. Soon, I'll take a picture of that and post it. I finally decided to get a Patternworks membership. Looking forward to receiving yarn samples and coupons!

The knitting group has been lots of fun. We're growing and having such fun at our get-togethers. This morning at Panera, we took up a good part of that back room. Missing Allison, though!

Book Bargain

Check out this bargain book I got at Border's the other day. It has about 590 pages and weights 6 lbs. I only paid 7.99 for it. Yeah, I weighed it; isn't that silly?

It has loads of basic information, patterns and pattern stitches. It's from Leisure Arts. Maybe I'll make something out of it one day.

Hallowig Picture

Goofy me: uploading pictures has nothing to do with my scanner. It's my Kodak Easy Share program that was messing up. I can't get it to open. I even got out the disk and tried to reinstall it. Still wouldn't open. Then, I found out that I can upload pictures from my camera without actually opening the program. So, here is the recipient and me, both modeling Hallowig.

Finished Hallowig

The good news is I finished the orange Hallowig. The bad news is my scanner isn't working right now, so I can't post a picture of it.

I finished the back of Cindy this evening and I'm getting ready to start on the front.

Ta Da!

I finally finished the dreaded gloves. Here they are being modeled by the recipient. She seems to be pleased with them. I'm just glad they're done.

This is my first finished project of the year. I purchased the December issue of Simply Knitting a few days ago. It came with a free Knitting Diary, so I got to write down that I finished something.

Next in line to be finished is the orange Hallowig that I started back in July or August.


I'm expecting sock yarn that I ordered to be delivered any day now. I'm looking forward to taking sock class. Since my sweater-making has been challenging, I'm hoping sock-making will go better.

Two Finished Objects

Here is the left glove, finished. I decided to take a short glove break and finished a washcloth I had started before Thanksgiving. The washcloth ddn't turn out square, like I expected. I made it exactly according to the pattern: http://www.stitchersneedle.com/article1008.html

I guess it doesn't really matter. It's just a washcloth.

I suppose I will start the right glove today sometime.

Finished Hat

This is the hat that I designed and knitted for my son, who is modeling it. The motif is modeled from his personal website logo. He said he likes it and I believe him. :) Who wouldn't believe that face?!

I'm on the index finger of the first glove. There's only the thumb after that.

First Glove

This is the first glove I've ever tried to make. A friend requested I make her a pair of gloves to match a scarf she already has. Mittens and/or fingerless gloves just wouldn't do. They have to have fingers and the cuff needs to be extra long to keep her wrists warm. (This is my hand.) I hope they're not going to be too big for her.

I'm using the pattern on page 208 of Big Book of Knitting by Katharina Buss. This is a great book; it has a lot of helpful information in it.

Bob Finished

Here's Bob finished. Another disappointment. Can you see the stripe? I thought I was being so careful about making sure all the skeins had the same lot number. Well, I missed one. And I just had to pick that one for the middle of the sweater! It turns out the yarn wasn't right for this pattern, either. It sags and gets stretched out. Oh, well, another one for my knitting museum.

Bob 1

I've been working on Bob http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring03/PATTbob.html for about a week and a half. I'm just now ready to begin the front top ribbing. I can hardly wait to be able to wear it. I'm using Lion Brand MicroSpun. It is SO soft!

I haven't totally given up on the Halloween cardigan. I took it to the LYS yesterday to get some advice. It turns out that I made my first row on the top of the sleeve too long. I need to rip out, do some math, and start over. I have 11 months . . .

I got a crazy idea that I could knit a red tunic for my work Christmas luncheon on December 13 with big yarn and big needles and it won't take very long. I got some yarn to try out and got the swatch made. Can't find a pattern to use, so I'm just going to make a simple one.

Back to Bob . . .

Crazy

Well, I've finally given in to being Knit-Crazy. In addition to the Halloween Cardigan, on which I'm stumped right now because I've trying to figure out how to knit sleeves from the top down, and the orange Hallowig, I've swatched for my next sweater and I just started a scarf for Knit Your Bit.

I guess that's not really very many projects compared to some knitters. It's just more than I've allowed myself so far, since February. It looks like the cardigan won't be ready for this Halloween afterall. I really wanted to knit the sleeves from the top; I've just never done it before. I know I have to use short rows, and I've actually done that before, I'm just not sure about specifics. I've ordered a book by Barbara G. Walker about knitting in the round from the top. When it arrives, I hope to learn more about what I need to do.

The Hallowig is on double-pointed needles. They're a little clumsy for me because it's been so long since I knitted with dpn. I just have a few more rows of ribbing and then I will start the decreases.

The next sweater I want to make is Bob at knitty.com. It doesn't have a low neckline, so I'm hoping that it will be alright.

The Knit Your Bit is a sweater project for veterans. I've been thinking about knitting a scarf because I know someone that wants one. I looked through my thick knitting patterns file folder and found a pattern that I had printed about 10 years ago. It's a waffle rib pattern. When I get more than four rows done, I'll post a pic.

Oh, and I've been working on a beaded bracelet this weekend.

Three Seams

I thought I was getting the whole back when I took this picture. By the time I get it uploaded and where I can see it on the computer, I realized it wasn't the whole thing. Oh, well, I did get the whole front.
It looks like there's a difference in the flash. I finished sewing the left side seam this evening. I pinned the other seam together and decided that I didn't feel like sewing it. I took a break to work on another project and am wondering if I have the motivation to finish the cardigan before Halloween. That orange thing up there is Hallowig that I'm making for a friend. Some day I'll get the hang of where to put the pictures in relation to the text.

Well, my knitting mind is wandering to my next project: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring03/PATTbob.html I wish I could find a few others who would like to knit this with me.

Since I don't feel like knitting, and I'm about done with this post, I guess it's time to exercise. Gonna go pop in a bellydance video.

Back and Left Front

Here is the wrong side of the back of the Halloween cardigan, with the almost-finished left front laying on top. I now have the left front done and am about halfway through with the right front. I'm still hopeful that I could finish in time for Halloween, but am trying not to worry about it.

I typically am challenged with finishing projects and find my mind wandering to my next project - or even the other two projects that are already started.

But, I'm going to try really hard to stick with this until it's done.