The Latest Cast-Off

That's The Way The Cookie Crumbles

2008-12-25T16:50:00.000-08:00

December snuck up on me really quickly this year and yet now it's nearly over...
Today is Christmas, at least what we celebrate in our household here in New England...Despite some recent rains, it
still is a white christmas outside....Quite recently we had a rather horrible
icestorm and lost electricity close to 24 hours. There were some branches
hanging pretty low over the pool out back, photos all taken from upstairs
open windows as I wasn't venturing outside anytime soon!

About this time also, had my second cookie swap and had camera along with the cookies. Took some closeups of cookies, a view of table, and could not resist
a quick sneak photo of this hostess' lovely staircase all decorated...She reads
this blog, so sure to spot it! Hope she does not mind me sharing a quick peek
with rest of world!

Was poking around for an interesting pattern to knit and suddenly came across
the following site, which I actually had never heard of and absolutely had to
share this great find.
It's called Pop Knits and can be found here:
http://www.popknits.com

There's a brief description on site by them as follows:

"Over the past few years, knitting vintage items has become popular again.
Whether the item is a revamped sweater from the pages of Vogue Knitting 1955
or a new take on doily patterns as shawls, vintage knitting is taking a modern
turn. Inspired by the thrift store finds sitting on our bookshelves, Popknits challenges you to take a new look at all things that have come before".

This site was recently created by avid knitter/blogger Stephanie J Pajonas.
They are already on their second issue and not only is this free to subscribe
to for their online site, but all the patterns are free also. Be sure and
check out the "La-La-Love-You Cowl" by Sandra Park which is most
definitely on my must knit list!

Finally a finished knitting photo to share...and how appropriate...a cookie man.

I would claim he's made of just molasses and assorted spices...but in reality,
he is yet another pattern from I guess one of my ultimate all time favorite
designers Alan Dart and of course out of my Simply Knitting magazine.
Frosting is a simple back chain stitch...and the coal like decorations are black
chunky misshapen beads...oh so coal like.

Ho Ho Ho
and hoping everyone whatever holiday they celebrate, including Boxer Day, got
lots of lovely yarnish goodies!
I got a few special fiberish treats myself, which I will have to photo for next
blog and share!

Christmas Lights Gone Wild

2008-12-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a long eventful week with loads of things to post, but
since it's after 10:30pm on a Monday night and photos are still all
on camera, I think I will do my week of lotsa stuff to share on
Tuesday night-tomorrow.
Had found this questionnaire that lots of folks are doing, so
previously had started to do it myself...here goes....

SP 13 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you
absolutely *not* like?
Favorite yarn: I particularly loved knitting with Baby alpaca Grande
and Blue Sky Alpaca...is there an alpaca theme going there...hmmm.
I am not crazy about knitting with fun fur type yarns...who can actually
see your stitches or even if you dropped one and
when it comes to seaming these projects...don't even get me started.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
sewing up needles- a tic tac mint container and knitting needles- a very
old sewn needle holder that have had for many years.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider
your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I have been knitting since a child, mother taught me basics, and self taught
all the more complicated stuff, i.e. lace, fair isle, cables...
I consider myself intermediate...have been told I am a beginner and others say
advanced...who knows.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? nope, should I guess.

5. What’s your favorite scent?
lavender, and jasmine.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
NO, But weakness for taffy, especially banana. oh and barley pops.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I am a new spinner, have a loom, but not crazy about weaving...love beading and
jewelery making, card making, and crochet. oh and fimo.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Any music especially European hits and broadway musical tunes. I am ok with MP3.

9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?
I love purples and greens.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am married, 3 sons, one elderly dog, 3 cats, 3 fish. Yes it does sound like
I am two dogs short huh.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, yes, yes and yes.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Currently fair isle. Hats, mittens, misc. probably top choices.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Do I really have to fess up to all of them...
gingerbread man, fingerless gloves, hat, scarf....plus whatever else I've
forgotten...yarn fumes affect my memory that way.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Absolutely!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Double points are my weapon of choice, usually bamboo, but if size 0000-1, I
have to use aluminum as I just break those bamboos left and right. Sigh!

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes, I have both.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
gone to get tissues as crying over this...thank goodness for yarn fumes...having
memory loss again...certainly longer than I want to admit to. How long has it
been since the dinosaurs roamed the earth?

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?
Probably Halloween. celebrate Christmas.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Sheep, not real ones, but trying hard to figure out a way to, knitting
magazines, at least it appears like I do, Dickens Houses, and cookbooks,
have about 300 is that considered a collection, insane or actually normal
for most folks....just wondering.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get
your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
If I could have any of books by Alice Starmore or any Alan Dart patterns
I don't already have...that's a hard one, i've pretty much got them all
covered. I subscribe to Simply Knitting from UK costs a small fortune...
think son's college payment is cheaper...lol but do it for Alan Dart
patterns and find myself knitting other lovelies as well.
But I adore any knitting books or mags, especially Australia mags,
British mags, and Japanese books.

21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?
Everything! Hot on my list is double knitting, and shadow/illusion knitting.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes, but not obsessed at moment. foot is size 7 shoe USA

23. When is your birthday?
February 3

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what’s your ID?
yes, sheepish1, same as Plurk, same as blog, same as facebook, same as Stickam,
same as Skype, same as Twitter...am sure it's elsewhere too.

Finally recently....
Found on U-Tube ...Christmas Lights Gone Wild

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmgf60CI_ks

Trading Places

2008-12-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

Okay so just home from my Monday night knitting group that meets in a Starbucks
in Sudbury. We are a rather large group, meaning we basically take over most
of Starbucks, and it's great fun as we are all in multiple directions with our knitting. I find we all inspire one another and it's not uncommon to go in a
week or two later and found someone knitting precisely what another person just successfully finished previously. i.e. I wore my calorimetry one week to group,
I think last year, and went back following week to find at least 4 members had
made one too. What a great group photo.

Anyway, Starbuck's has these new awesome must have cabled knit ceramic mugs. I
bought one tonight for one of our many group knitting yankee swaps coming up, but....I am rather in love with it....so thinking I might have to just go back
and pick up another one.

Also they had these lovely wreaths, yarn themed (balls wrapped in yarn)
too displayed around store.

They don't appear to be for sale...but it sure does make you feel welcome as a
knitter to have your favorite coffee shop decorated with lovely yarnish things.

Knitting Tip of the Day:
I learned yet another cool new knitting trick on my current project. I love
to knit on double points, but this would work too on circular needles.
When casting on and you go to join in one continuous round, it's always
difficult to get a secure joining. I have tried several tricks, and my
favorite up until now, was to cast on one extra stitch more than pattern
calls for. I always knit first row according to directions, and when I
get to final (extra stitch), I slipped that stitch purlwise then knit
first stitch of new second row and slipped the extra stitch over this
first stitch.

The new way is called "Trading Places."
1. cast on number of stitches called for in pattern.
2. then use tip of right needle to move the first stitch on left needle
to the right needle
3. then use tip of left needle to lift current second stitch on right
needle up and over the first and put it back on left needle. This will
now become the first stitch you knit.
It pulls work all up together nice and snug. I gave both ends a further
tug just to help close the join. I think I prefer this way to above,
but both work like a charm.
I found this latest great tip in the Knit Socks! book by
Betsy Lee McCarthy.

Blog of the Day is Crafty Pod and can be found blogging here:
http://www.craftypod.com/

Evidently it's also a podcast, so I will have to go to I-Tunes and check
this one out. There is something on this blog for everyone.

I especially like these salt dough cookies.

What's on the Needles for me:
actually a tv nonconcentration project....lace scarf, 100% very soft alpaca
lace pattern actually very simple, 4 row repeat so easy to remember. and it's
almost done and ready to photo plus use....as it's COLD outside!
Am I ever glad I knitted all those really warm hats!

I also have a strange (nonwearable) item going, slow progress though as I am
writing my very own sock pattern...of course it's fair isle.
Staying with just 3 colors....slow going as I have been having gauge issues.
Even though it was meant to be a sock, it initially would have fit around my
head, so have been doing a whole lot of tinking and swatching and now
I think I may have it.. at least it looks like a sock.

Besides these projects...ah hem...is there a rule about how many
projects you can have going at once....and please don't run over to
Ravelry and poke into my WIP list there...anyway, am also doing fingerless gloves...fair isle of course.
and remember it's gotten far too cold here!. They are all wool. One is
finished. see photo.

The pattern is from Classic Elite Yarns the Inca Alpaca Fair Isle Mitts.
Pattern can be found here:
http://www.classiceliteyarns.com/WebLetter/32/Issue32.php
and yes it's a freebie, and for me was rather fun. I hope there isn't such a
thing has second mitt syndrome...I am pretty sure that is just limited to socks.

An Eggceptional Usage of Hats

2008-12-01T15:13:00.001-08:00

Day 30 is here and plan on going out in a big way...ummm...actually a
miniature "I guess" way, but eggceptional none the less.
and before you tee hee and giggle, I just want you to know it's really
cold in my refrigerator and yes I do feel everyone should have a nice
warm hand knitted hat.

As you can guess by all these photos, there were no takers for any of my
knitted hats amongst my relatives at Thanksgiving get together. All my
wonderful arguments in favor of hats went on deaf (and now soon to be cold)
family member ears. Sigh!

On that note, and since I've now run out of heads to dress. I've resorted to
making hats for my pets and household food products.

Okay so I thought about this yesterday, that on Monday it would be my last
official hat and 30 days of posting, and of course I am itching to knit anything
now but hats. Everything else looks good to me, even socks these days.
Did i honestly type that part about the socks...hmmmm.
Anyway, it's gotten really, really cold here in New England, and I have
decided to knit warm and comfy things, like hats...but yes my personal
collection of hats is now bursting at the seams...so have turned to gloves
and mittens...and of course, they have to be fair isle...yup still obsessed....does that wear off?

Anyway, today Monday the final day, it's actually warm outside...go figure...
so I planted my bulbs, I had given up on this idea as thought ground was
already frozen or so I thought.

And then in a short break, I started yet a new project....those that are new to
my blog would not know that I have a certain weakness for knitting the strange
and obscure....I have no idea what the wierdest thing I've ever knitted before
has been.
It usually begins with a thought and then I wonder if I could make that. and so I do.
From actual working wall clock, random Nintendo game figures, to knitted
garden tools, to 3-D parrots life-size on hanging ring, to water (yup knitted water) to rare breed spotted salamanders, etc....and many more, these patterns and
ideas (some no patterns) just call to me. So of course some of these
new creations snuck onto my needles today and all I can say is let the wacky knitting begin....stay tuned for a new weekly blog. Current project is a
little extreme, but perfect for December!

Also planned for December, is gloves and mittens...not such a stockpile of
those and sadly I believe the cold will be back soon...and if I run out of
takers for fair isle mittens, there are always the pets....perhaps the 3 little
kittens will find their mittens!

Oops Blog of the
Day nearly forgot: I searched Cat and Knitting and Blog for fun to follow up
my cat theme and came up with this....

http://www.xanga.com/csusch
Cat's Blog

I can't believe she is spinning Qiviut and there are photos of it too...love her things.
That Morning Surf scarf is gorgeous and also love, love that Mystic Light shawl, amongst other projects.
Nice eye candy here!

One More Day To Go

2008-11-30T17:27:00.000-08:00

Coming to the end now of 30 days of Hats...and almost done NABloPoMo....
others are done today...but I started one day late...so I plan to post
my last day on December 1st and hope to go out with a bang...Fun hat
planned for tomorrow.
Today's hat is what to do with that leftover sock yarn hat...

Yup this is my go to baby hat done in self-striping leftover sock yarn with
a contrasting pompom added also made from same yarn.

Hat 2 (yes am posting two today)
still not finished is a more complex fair isle project only two colors.
I especially like the braid edge...my first. It's a twined herringbone edge.
This hat is the Turkish-Patterned Cap from Hats On! by Charlene Schurch.
I am eventually planning on posting finished pic, but as it won't be done today
or tomorrow and I have another hat set for tomorrow, will post it as a partial
hat as of today.

Blog of the day is: Fig and Plum
It's a little knitting, a little travel, and some yummy, yummy food...Love this
blog!
This blog is by Jessica from Brooklyn, NYC and can be found here:

http://www.figandplum.com/

Yummmmy!

In Which I Meet Louisa Harding

2008-11-29T15:55:00.000-08:00

Today's hat is another low budget hat, which anyone could make. It is yet
again from Hip Knit Hats...yup really love that book.
It's called the Nina Hat.

My hat is knit with Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair yarn in Rainforest
most likely purchased with a coupon from AC Moore, although had been in
the stash for awhile. It has a cute roll brim and fits me nicely and as
I like the colors, it is in my own personal collection. I added the
crocheted little flower and leaf with added little buttons.
I am forever adding doodads to finished items.

Today's blog is: Feltmeupdesigns.
I was reading the special issue of Interweave Felt Magazine, and found this blog
listed under notables and had to have a looksee...It's really a lot of fun and
of course want to be sure and share it with everyone else so the perfect choice
for today's blog. How cute are these little felted birdies.

I could not find much of a bio on her...but seems we share same nickname, we
are both Mel's...how cool. She can be found here:
http://feltmeupdesigns.blogspot.com/

Back to Knitting Guilds and special speakers they sponsor who come and teach us
new things and even let us model their latest knitted treasures. This past
month, November, my Boston, Massachusetts Daytime guild hosted none other
than Louisa Harding of Knitting Little Luxuries fame and also ROWAN....
She is not from the US but from County Yorkshire England...
very lucky us.

She presented to our guild then had a small impromtu fashion show of our members
wearing her garments. She then stayed thru Sunday, and taught classes in a
lovely little yarn shop in Salem, MA. about 1 1/2 hours from my house.
Yes Salem the home of the famous witchcraft trials in Massachusetts.
It was my very first visit to Seed Stitch Fine Yarns yarn shop.
My initial impression was very bright and airy. Staff were very
helpful and so nice.

First two photos are of the yarn shop.

Next up is Louisa showing us and explaining how they came to be her
Miss Bea Collection books. I actually bought one of these and had her
autograph it along with a few other books, will blog about those another
day, as no photos tonight.

a few pics from fashion show.

Then some pics from our class, including a finished pic of bag we were making
in our class. First photo was Louisa showing us how to make cording for our
bags, her assistant Adam (aka one of her yarn reps) was holding other end of 5 strands of yarn at once to make the cording. I also forgot to mention this
class was held on same day as my first cookie swap. Lucky for
me a friend swapped my cookies for me. I made them Sat. and since Louisa said
her favorite cookies were peanut cookies to me on Thursday at our guild meeting,
I made peanut, chocolate, and caramel cookies for the swap but brought
along extras for Louisa and the group. This is now my family's new favorite
cookie, which they claim is "way too good for a cookie swap."
They did go very quickly in class and folks there wanted recipe too.

Oops almost forgot my way too good for a cookie swap cookies...Yummmm!

That Wild and CRaZy Colored Stash Busting Hat

2008-11-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

Hey there that's one funky hat you're sporting there...
okay so I found this new hat pattern, which called for bulky yarn scraps...
which I had of course, did they match or harmonize together...not exactly,
so here goes.

I knitted this one on car trip yesterday, along with my regular fair isle
project...still in progress.

It was fun and fast to knit...
It's from Knit Hats! by Gwen Steege...and is actually the cover hat from
same book. Hat is called appropriately....Color Me Bright.
I cannot tell you any of the yarns used...as they were only bits and pieces
and labels long since gone...but any bulky weight scraps will do. Knit on
#10 circ.'s or double points it goes really fast.

Equally wild colors is this really cool blog I found while surfing around
in blogosphere Zebra Knits.
This is by far one of my favorites, her colours are awesome...wait until you
see the way she photos her knitting and general everyday life. It appears
to take on a life of it's own and kind of floats across her blog pages!
Fantastic job! She can be found blogging at address below:

http://zebraknits.typepad.com/zebraknits_a_knitting_jou/

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T05:35:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving in our house means all of us being thankful for once again
to be able to go see family and catch up on everyone's goings on.
Many of my relatives actually the majority of both sides are
in New Hampshire, so we travel by car to meet in a relative's home...this is
bonus knitting time for me about 2 hrs. one way, so can't wait.
I also hope to persaude family members that they really would like
knitted gifts this year...wish me luck.
It would not be Thanksgiving without...in fact, I was told I have to have
this item as my holiday entrance ticket my Trifle.

This is a very popular recipe so probably most recognize this and I always
make it by just putting it together -no recipe...By the way, if anyone is
interested in recipe, will write up and post to blog...just let me know.
have lost count number of times I have made it...certainly way more than say pancakes.
Yup every Easter and Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember.
It's basically Chocolate fudge cake, layered with coolwhip,
layered with a special brand of dark chocolate pudding,
layered with crushed Heath Bars, and repeat...I used to put Kahlua in
the layers, but then the kids came along, and somehow now that they are in
high school and college, the Kahlua never made it back in again. Strangely,
it's one dessert I really don't care for, but then I am a fruit lover...
so someone usually brings cherry pie...which has the same reaction for me!

i.e. I am going home now and am taking this whole cherry pie with a fork
for long car ride back home as a snack if I get hungry. Of course, I really
just have my token king-sized piece...but I always think of that
just the same!

I hope to be able to blog when I get home late Thanksgiving night...but if not,
I will be back again on Friday...that insane holiday shopping day of the year,
happily blogging instead! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone that reads my blog and
even those that don't!

The Husband Hat

2008-11-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

Okay so I have blogged that the family so far has turned down all hats offered.
Perhaps if I threw scratch lottery tickets or game tickets inside they would
at least look at the hat.
and Tim, oldest son, if you are reading this you are excluded as you actually
requested a hat from me at one point...He's the one that his head was in Ohio,
and still is, and hat for him to be sized was in Massachusetts...Makes sense.
Anyway, I made the comment I would be giving some of my hats to friends, and the
husband said, you never make anything for us.
Well whoa pony....stop all knitting in progress and leave on those needles.
I immediately got out my most husband colorish yarn and decided subtle stripes
was my best approach...and I knit that hat up so quick, my needles are still
smokin'.
I bound off yesterday, and quickly put that hat right on his head...He seems to
like it....It is gnormous....but then I have a tiny head and he is definitely
men's LARGE...so it works...seemed pleased with results. It is not my favorite,
yet it cleans up pretty nice in a photo shoot! Must be those lucious husbandish
colours I chose.

The pattern I chose that would seem most mannish and acceptable to my household
was the Ribbed Cap pattern which can be found here:
http://tiajudy.com/ribcaps.htm
I added my own stripe pattern, I did not rib all the way through as in
pattern, I did stockinette instead...I used my new found method of Jogless
Jogging for the stripe rows, so they would be horizontal and not "Leaning
Tower of Pisa" stripes. I also forget the decrease instruction part of hat at
home, so I did mine completely different. I did however cast on same no. of
stitches and use sized needles pattern called for, but I think that's it...so
nope not too much like original pattern.
HOWEVER, important thing is, he appears to LIKE it...true test is if he
ever wears it....It is screaming to be blocked...so that's my next step.

Today's blog...did not spend too much time poking around as I have to get
baking for tomorrow's big day is: All Tangled Up...unsure too much about
author just that she is across the pond, so definitely not from the US.
http://www.alltangledup.com/
I did not realize that the Kiri Shawl was her original pattern until after I
had posted her blog on this site...I do love her scrolling galleries.

You Are Not Moosestaken

2008-11-25T19:05:00.000-08:00

Today's hat is colorful, was fun to knit, is very, very warm and is made
out of yarn spun from....
wait for it....of course....Buffalo, you thought I was going to say
moose...personally thinking that this shade of buffalo equally exotic
to idea of knitting moose.
It truly is as warm as you would think, and not rough at all but quite soft.
I am envisioning the buffalo as bathed in a lovely bath salts and
creamy lotion applied liberally after his bath...unsure about all this,
but very soft yarn just the same.

The original yarn for this hat was purchased at the Ohio fiber fest, and have
currently misplaced buffalo clay button in pic to go on hat...so when it's found
I will finish hat with button.

Important to note that yarn unknit is most true to actual color...Today
was hat photo day and it rained...even playing with the lighting, I could
not make the indoors replicate the true colors...so what you see on unknit
yarn is exactly the correct color...it came out rather striped...this is a
new hat and due to cost and my secure belief that buffalo will be very very
warm, I do plan to keep this for myself.

Pattern is yet another freebie, the Button Band Hat by amazingly Kathleen
Taylor...I guess I do like her patterns, I had no idea, but liked the button
part, which I plan to add at a later date. Pattern can be found here:
http://kathleen-dakotadreams.blogspot.com/2007/10/freebie-friday-button-band-hat.html

In the news, if you haven't heard of this already, the Lion Brand Flagship
Premier Store opened this week in NYC...take a peek.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/knitting-through-a-downturn/

By the way, our neighbors across the street from us had a delivery truck the
other day...curious I watched a new washer being unloaded from the truck...I
immediately noted it was the kind that had the opening on the side of the washer
and my mind quickly thought...."front end loader, going to be much harder to felt
with that kind of washer, should have stuck with a toploader."
~and she doesn't even knit...now that I am a knitter 24 hrs./day/52 weeks/yr.
has my mind switched over to formatting all my thoughts based on how it will
directly affect me as a knitter....next I will probably rationalize that the
recent drop in gas prices is now more than enough reason to make that short
1 hour plus trek to WEBS...shucks...but gas is so cheap now....
hadn't really dreamed up the gas argument one but now that I read what I've
written on the blog, it's a pretty rock solid argument to me...just fascinated
that my brain was in "knitter mode" about the washer...even if the owner doesn't
knit at all. hmmm.

Blog of the day is Bowerbirdknits and can be found here:
http://bowerbirdknits.blogspot.com/
A very bright and colourful and well done blog. She has some amazing
patterns also, including HATS too!

Bunny Has a Tummy Ache

2008-11-24T18:51:00.000-08:00

Okay here we go again, home tonight at 10pm...I did prewrite today's
blog, and have a lovely hat to post, but no photos yet...tried my old
approach to squishing hat into scanner and doing photos that way.
"Don't laugh, I have been known to put baked items, i.e. cookies
squashed into scanner to photo in same way"....less crumbs with hats
though.

Anyway, THE OTHER hat has lovely colors, but scanner shows
it as very drab and depressing colourway.
Thus, Monday's hat will have to be Tuesday's hat and will take proper
camera lens photos tomorrow as rather late at 10pm for good outdoor
camera lighting.

Therefore, I will pull up a hat I made a while ago, but not yet included in
my 30 days of hats...this is another one of my personal favorites.

The Banana Republic Hat Knockoff by metaphysical_muse on Ravelry.
This was first posted on Craftster, another website I also post to often.
Smaller pic is showing closeup of da button.

This is a free pattern and can be found here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=197572.0
This is what the original from Banana Republic looked like, so the pattern
creator rather than shelling out all the money for this hat, just recreated
it based on what she saw.

By the way, there are only 25 pages of photos of finished hats from this
pattern as of today on Ravelry.
Also this pattern calls for a bulky weight yarn, and I used Noro Silk Garden NOT
doubled, and not bulky, so cast on far more stitches and basically had to play
with pattern for awhile, but happy with results, love the colors, and it fits
great...This is also in my personal collection still. Nice hat for spring/fall.

Today's blog that I chose after having a lovely time new blog surfing
....is to me just eye candy...
will definitely be coming back to visit here again...please note that some
of her rabbits are knitted, otherwise
I would call this an all types craft blog.
But so nice!

Rachel Rabbit can be found blogging here:
http://rachaelrabbit.blogspot.com/

How cute is this rabbit from Rachel's site, she also has an Etsy store...
strange but still have not been able to figure a way to link over to any
other site yet from my own blog.
I am holding out for a copy of the book, Blogging For Dummy's, just as soon
as someone writes it! Can you preorder on Amazon a book you wish someone
would publish?

There's a Cat In My Coffee

2008-11-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

Okay once again find myself not home from my long day until 8pm, and since I
am a huge Amazing Race fan, will need to sit and watch my show before I can
blog tonight. I have 2 t-shirts of this show which proves what a fan I am.
It's the travel part that appeals to me.
I have talked one of my kids into competing with me if we ever had the chance...however would need to get a lot more in shape before I would ever
take that event on...but would be great fun!

Regarding today's weather update...actually just checked thermometer 27 degrees
Farenheit...suppose that's balmy compared to yesterday, think it was 24.
Still too cold for me and am using all my scarves, hats, and
mittens, and wool socks too that I've knitted all year....
....brrr it's getting cold!!!
Speaking of winter on it's way and the holidays rapidly approaching...

"Workers hoisted this year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree into place
November 14, 2008 in New York City. The 72-foot (22 meter) tall Norway spruce
comes this year from Hamilton, New Jersey, where it was planted nearly 80 years
ago. The Christmas tree has been an annual ritual in midtown Manhattan since the origins of Rockefeller Center in the 1930s. (Getty Images / November 14, 2008)"

As far as today's hat, as it's late, will post a simple hat for today...it's my
go to baby hat yet again, this one was the first hat I gave to one of my little
patients. I have actually made several for them now, each one has been different. This one kind of reminds me of a teletubby and it looked so sweet on. It was so tiny, thank goodness I think
this baby may have grown out of it by now.

Teletubby Hat and actual Teletubby pretty close

Blog of the day will actually be two blogs....one my children absolutely
adore and use as screen savers for their computers and a knitting/fiber one
of course.

First up you have to take a peek at this one:
it's kid tested and recommended, of course my boys are older...so not sure
about language content, but can imagine, some of them would need some screening
for younger viewers.

website is here:
http://icanhascheezburger.com/

The blog I chose for today is found here: http://idreamofthesea.blogspot.com/
I Dream of the Sea blog is by Kendra of the United Kingdom.
Be sure and take a peek at her lovely pastel baby block blanket.

There are so many awesome blogs out there, you can spend hours just looking.
Loads of wonderful ideas, such clever crafters!

I did by the way make it to my class today and I did meet a new to me yarn
shop, so will have photos and review tomorrow when I have much more time to
blog properly!

In Which We Finally See Cookie A

2008-11-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

Today's hat is a strange little number called Cal by the creator of the pattern
but I simply refer to it as my pink bobble beret. When you look at the photos
you will see why I call it that and not Cal.

This is yet another hat from Hip Knit Hats
by Cathy Carron

Two different yarns are used in this hat and are knit together...
the off white yarn has little nubs of gray in it and is called Lou Lou
by Classic Elite and is a bulky weight wool yarn.
The pink is Montera by Classic Elite an aran weight wool and llama mix.
So it was very neat knitting these two textured and different weight
yarns together.

This hat is still in my collection as I have no one in particular pining away
for this unusual beret...Yarns if I remember right, were rather expensive, so
prefer just to keep in my private hat stash...yup it's growing all the time as
you can imagine.

For those of you reading my blog from Hawaii or Australia (where they are
celebrating spring right now~so envious of you), or any other warmish climate,
the temp. outside my house right now is a rather cold 20 degrees F.

The blog of the day is by Crowing Ram. I had surfed around reading many blogs
and then I often look to see what other blogs others are reading and it just
keeps mushrooming further and further and so found this one. The pictures are
spectacular, they are very vibrant, the best I've seen so far.
The site can be found here: http://www.threadbearfiberarts.com/cram/
Some interesting photos of Cookie A teaching a class and a nice write up...take
a peek. She is not as I had pictured her, but funny most folks never are to me.
Not sure it this is the same for others. I would imagine you picture me as someone
not at all as I appear in real life, but then again, maybe not.

By the way, I have an early morning class tomorrow on Sunday with a very famous designer, and am bringing along camera so don't let me forget to share all the lovely details on tomorrow's blog ~ the highlights of my day!
~and this is my only hint...

~The Weather Outside Is Frightful....

2008-11-21T15:49:00.000-08:00

Hat of the day is my first ever attempt at a Fair Isle hat created by myself
adapted from a mitten pattern. Of course I had to monkey around with the
stitch count and play with motifs I wanted to use and add some extras,
but overall thrilled with outcome...
I took the basic premise of the skull hat by knitting a lining, then
you do a purl row (your turning ridge) then you go into pattern for
front.
The fair isle portion with floats actually creates a double layer of
knitting and since this is wool, double thick warmth...with the added
lining, it now has 3 layers...thus even warmer!
I am proud to claim that this hat is for me!

I got the original idea by pouring over patterns on Ravelry for mittens
and came across this clever designer, Kathleen Taylor who took a knitted vest
and turned
it into mittens.

see here on Ravelry:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stranded-snow-mittens-child-size
I also did a blog peek of her blog back on November 10 which can be found here:
http://kathleen-dakotadreams.blogspot.com
Below is her mitten pattern, which is available for free.

This is my version done as a hat pattern, which I just emailed to Kathleen.
She asked to see any finished mittens, so thought she'd like to see the hat
as well.

Photo was taken while blocking and came out more fabulous when completely done,
but was anxious to get photos out, so just assume it tightened up nicely
and stitches were no longer loose as they are during the blocking process.

I did not cast on same number of stitches as in skull hat nor follow any of
pattern, nor use decrease finish, just created my own...I did however use
same needle size and idea of added liner. I also added beaded eyes and mouth
felt it looked better than the embroidery floss.

Speaking of the weather...it's 26 degrees farenheit outside right now in
Massachusetts where I live...I have a feeling it's going to be another long
cold and snowy winter again....We have no snow yet, but I drove by the local
small ski place a few miles away and they have been making snow for some time
by basically spraying water up in the air from pipes and because it's so cold,
it turns to snow, crystalizes before it reaches the ground.
I am thinking when finished Hats 30 days of posting...my next 30 days of
knitting had better be set aside for knitting woolen mittens...perhaps even
the snowman/snowflake pattern which could
match my lovely new hat.

Blog of the day is: Kathryn Ivy
She has loads of great patterns and ideas...check out the homemade mitten blocker
which could also be fashioned into a sock blocker pretty easily...I first found
her sometime ago for her delicious mushroom patterns...but I like the how to on
the little knitted felt patches, also ruffled scarf pattern, dyeing tututorials,
and particularly cool how to go about making your own yarn scrapbook/knitting
journal...I keep one of these myself, and sadly...do not post every project as
I should, but the ones I have posted are a great resource whenever I want to
revisit them.

http://kathrynivy.com/

Still Hat It Day 19

2008-11-20T14:51:00.000-08:00

It's my 19th straight day of posting and surprising am still HAT IT.... And still not out yet of hats to share.

Today's hat is officially called the Vera Hat by Cathy Carron
and can be found in the book Hip Knit Hats.

But I just refer to it as the Chenille Hat...actually this is
probably the cheapest hat I've ever made, as the chenille yarn in
this hat was an acrylic purchased at Ocean State Job Lot,
and the pink isn't fun fur, but a similar readily available
lash type acrylic.
This isn't a recently knitted hat,
but one that has never been posted to either blog or Ravelry before.
I have made many hats from this book.
On Ravelry you can find some information on errata for this pattern, but
I either self-corrected as I went or never had a problem with pattern.
I remember it being a simple and rapid knit but that it came out a little
large for my small head...perhaps due to the stretchy nature of chenille.
Colors are certainly bold. The flower attached was one of my self
created gizmo's to add a little extra to hat.

From book description: A bit of a flirt, this eyelash-trimmed, flared-brimmed
hat goes easily from city to country and back again. Extra texture and color
nuance can be achieved by blending yarns from the same color family.

The following blog is today's peek and review, the wet felting is incredible!
Katie I am assuming it's her first name, is an amazing artist from the United
Kingdom who works in many mediums including batiks, but I am particularly
impressed with her highly creative felting...be sure and scroll down to bottom
of her blog and not miss these apples and other things she has made.

Her blog is called What Katie Did
and can be found here:
http://whatkatiedid.typepad.com/what_katie_did/

How to Joglessly Jog

2008-11-19T17:26:00.000-08:00

Okay hurray it's finally done...and it was a sunny day and I was able
to take it's pic! Things went my way today in hat finishing/photo land!

Hat of day is by Jared Flood, called Turn a Square.
I actually made this hat twice, first time looked lovely but my jogs
were not quite jogless...however I had it figured out by decrease
round...so opted to pull out all my knitting back to very first
stripe and do it right throughout hat. Not too painful and a whole new
skill now in my pocket.

Jogging if you look at the hat...is the part where you make these lovely
stripes going around sides of hat...when you switch a color you basically
get this stair stepping, where one row of color is off from next...well they
invented a way...(knitter's are such clever thinking folks) to avoid this
jogging. so see further in post for details along with some good pictorials
on how to do this and note close up of hat...stripes look pretty behaved.
going around and around in the same line, it really works!
Yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca color 6205 and Noro Kereyon or Silk Garden,
not a 100% sure which as I tossed the label...silly me.

let's just say the alpaca is so soft and lovely...I may just knit
with alpaca from now on.

There are currently 886 projects on Ravelry as of today for this hat
pattern, and 61 pages of finished photos. Another more popular pattern.
By the way, this is a free pattern and can be found here:
if you are on Ravelry
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/turn-a-square

or at his blog, follow link on bottom of page
http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/

I was thinking of making Jared of Brooklyn, New York aka Brooklyn Tweed
be the blog of the day...but that seemed like cheating...
so instead will choose another see later in posting.

Speaking of jogless jogs, the best explanation I found and there are many
online was by Meg Swanson (no surprise there). See note here and good pics:

http://www.socknitters.com/kickback/joglessjog.htm

I definitely plan to knit another Brooklyn Tweed pattern as love them all,
very well written and easy to follow. Being a process knitter, I find I learn
new skills with each of his patterns...I love the challenge!

Okay poking around in blogosphere again and thought wouldn't it be lovely
to find a blog based outside the US as many visitors to my blog are from
other countries. So I found the following out of Australia, Monster Knits
and think it's a keeper to regularly follow...very interesting...love the gnome on the stocking, or at least think it's a stocking and also love those raspberry fingerless gloves. It does look a little bit like a shop's blog, but still
pretty interesting overall.

http://monsterknit.blogspot.com/

A Knitted Self-Portrait

2008-11-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

The very first knitted item I ever sold was a hat. It's the pink felted
baby hat. I embroidered details after felting and added little flowers
and leaves. It's lined with a very soft pastel colored polkadot baby
flannel. This is one of my all time favorite finished knitted projects.
I remember bringing it to a guild meeting where a woman there asked me to
make an adult version and she would buy it.

Blog of the day is Color Joy! by Lynn H. of Lansing, Michigan
It is located at:
http://colorjoy.com/weblog/
Loads of cool stuff can be found there...but don't forget to scroll down
and check out the gorgeous purple polymer clay button. Also be sure and
go to this link and check out her own self portrait..
KNITTED and then done all in duplicate
stitch. Simply amazing!
http://colorjoy.com/weblog/archives/1419

Tomorrow with any sunlight help for photo taking...I can finally post my very
first finished Jared Flood pattern aka Brooklyn Tweed!!!
Oh and of course...it's a hat...goes without saying!

No Calories in This Calorimetry

2008-11-17T18:46:00.001-08:00

Okay it's 9:45pm...and home late from work with loads to do
before I go to bed and get up and start my day all over again.
And remember I am a nurse, so I need to get my unwind time
in order to face Tuesday. Add to that hat I am working on, had
error, pulled out most of it...looking really fine now...but not
done...so should make it for Tues. post...so this is a recap
and the posting I typed out last night for tonight...will be
airing when that hat is done!

Today's hat is the Calorimetry. And I will admit to date, this is
my very favorite hat I've made for at least myself. It never messes
up your hair. It's warm as can be particularly nice for those very
late season soccer games when the weather has turned to its coldest
and you are freezing to death on the sidelines, wishing your highschool
son's game was just televised on NBC or something.
It's made of Noro Kureyon...one skein, so many lovely color changes and
too much fun to knit!

I have had nonknitting friends request me to knit them one, as soon as
they saw mine...so Emiko if you are blog peeking again...one's on its way this
winter for sure.

and Jana if you are blog peeking, I promise to bring mine to next guild mtg.

Since I have lots of blog peeking friends, it's quicker to get messages
out this way.
by the way, this is a Knitty pattern from the winter 2006 issue and can be
found
here: http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter06/PATTcalorimetry.html
Pattern is written by: Kathryn Schoendorf an art student from San Francisco

who also explains a calorimety as the following:
"Calorimetry is a scientific term describing the measurement
of heat lost or gained".

by the way there are a mindboggling 5,951 calorimetries posted to Ravely as of today's date. Noro Kereyon yarn was selected 292 times, and they are posted to
490 pages of finished pictures....YIKES!

Okay this is the part where I am guilty of Blog Peeking and this is the blog
I'd like to share.

Today's blog is Maglia! Confessions of a Knitholic "my kind of person!"
and can be found at:
http://knit4ever.blogspot.com/

Well end of posting for today off to peek at blogs and catch up on Plurk!
Do you Plurk? perhaps I had best do a blog post about Plurk soon!

Gryffindor is My House

2008-11-16T12:55:00.001-08:00

Today's hat is the Harry Potter House hat for the Gryffindor House.
Which if I could choose my wizarding house, would be my first choice.

Yarn used was Plymouth Encore worsted weight...less than one skein each in
Burnt Sienna and Butternut colorways.

I found the free pattern online here:
http://media.wiley.com/product_ancillary/14/04700673/DOWNLOAD/0470067314.pdf

but I believe it's the very same pattern in the book Charmed Knits by
Alison Hansel
This hat did go to charity.

Today's blog peek and review is about woollywormhead aka Ruth
and can be found here:
http://woollywormhead.blogspot.com/

I was poking around in the blogosphere and found several interesting ones,
and in particular came across this link.
I have many of Woolly (name she prefers to be known by)
patterns for HATS queued up on Ravelry so knew she was an innovative
and prolific designer already...
but I had absolutely no idea that she had no one home base
but instead spent her life
~travelling~
around in a self-built house bus. I cannot even imagine yarn storage in this case.
She writes in her bio that she is a sheep whisperer. also cool, very cool.
This indeed is a blog to check out in more detail!

~and for those of you emailing me to write up pattern for Harry, as I am
all hat obsessed, it will not be happening in 2008, as I virtually will
have to reknit him from scratch.

"By George I Think She's Got It"

2008-11-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Have just finally discovered that fair isle is fun, fair isle is
fairly easy once you do it right...and fair isle is
addicting, when you've finally got it.

Today's hat is the Skull Hat...as seen first on Ravelry of course
pattern by Gina Doherty and can be found here:
http://knittwotogether.typepad.com/
had trouble linking directly so
when you get to her blog, just type in on Right column if interested in
free pattern...skull hat.

Yarn for hat is Patons wool, white and black...so with double layer because of
floats plus it's lined...there are 3 layers of wool...so will be very warm.
Unsure who will get this hat...hopefully one of my son's will finally claim
one of my knitted projects.

Photo is of youngest son with hat and cat...kinda like a Dr. Suess kind of thing.
Hmmm.

This is ta da my very first successful fair isle pattern
and actually came out looking pretty much like other's finished pics on Ravelry...hooray. I think I finally caught on...

I needed to do two color stranding one strand in
each hand...tried every other way and this actually worked!!
I am a thrower...who knew before I started knitting, I would be termed as a
thrower...if the shoe fits wear it I guess.
So in my right hand, I throw, in my left hand, I hold less dominant color and I
pick it continental style. This took some getting used to, however going pretty
quickly now, and it's too much fun...a great knitting friend of mind, she is a
great person and a greater knitter...(hello Barbara)...hee hee...
said that this style of knitting tends to be addictive
because you can actually see pattern developing while you knit
which in turn makes you tend to knit faster and faster.
I think she hit the nail on the head so to speak...
that is so true...My only problem is I knit so rapidly, that I tend to go
right into a second row of same pattern, and have to tear out stitches
and move my marker up a row...such an eager beaver.

I went to my third guild meeting this week...and someone
there actually commented on current hat...another fair isle project, and she evidently also loves fair isle and discovered it years ago...
told her I was a total addict and could
knit nothing else now....
~So how long does this addiction last?, I asked her...she said she is
still hooked many years later...

Also wondering if I will ever return to just one color stockinette knitting
ever again...
She also warned me that soon I would go past two colors...
but I was born with only two hands so can't fathom yet just how
this will work out for me.

But husband claims absolutely never is he going to be coerced into knitting. was secretly plotting that with his extra hand could actually work in third color but no....
He does however willingly stop at Patternworks in NH and sits dutifully in car
reading paper and is quite patient, and also xmas and birthday gifts are of a
creative and most importantly unsuggested fiber type gift....hooray...
Holidays in my house are going pretty spectacular fiberwise!!

Blog of day is by: Grumperina aka Kathy from Massachusetts
and no, I do not know her even though she lives in same state.
I bet most folks if you haven't seen her blog before will recognize her as she writes awesome patterns.
But her latest beaded hat is a must knit for me of course. Okay not
fair isle, but still part of major hat obsession....
She is guilty/most known for her patterns of Odessa and Jaywalker socks...yup
now you know who I mean.
http://www.grumperina.com/knitblog/

and by the way, it's still raining again today...

Now Isn't That Just Ducky

2008-11-14T13:14:00.000-08:00

Raining outside today and kind of raw weather wise...I miss the sun.
But at least it's not snowing instead as we would have had some
accumulation. I know I should love the snow, but last winter here in
Massachusetts was a particularly long and rough one...so once it starts
to snow it just keeps up for many months.
All this rain reminds me of ducks, as they actually like it.
One of my early futile attempts at intarsia was the little ducky hat.

I actually did this in a stranding style aka fair isle when I didn't have
a clue how to do it right. Thank goodness the little ducky is such a
tiny motif or I would have majorly screwed up on my floats (a knitting term
for non knitters [as have a few that read my blog], floats are carrying yarn
across the back of work...floats or yarn trails should lay smoothly,
but the tendency is too pull work tight
as you knit so it looks good on front part).
~Long story short...Duckie sits pretty good on hat as he is a lone ducky...had
he had buddies going around sides of hat...they would have looked all squished
up, and squished up ducks is just not a good look to go for.
The pattern for the ducky hat can be found in Creature Comforts by Amy Bahrt
This hat did go to charity.

Addendum: I have since learned to do proper fair isle and intarsia. It is rather
amazing when done right. I liked how they wrote the pattern on this one
to have ducky's little wing be 3-D, and if ducky were smart he would have flown
right off this first intarsia attempt hat, but a good learning experience.

I love to look at blogs. One of my all time favorite designers is Kristin Nicholas.
I have been lucky enough to take classes with her and have all her books. Her blog
is such an inspiration and there are always new things going on there.
It's called: Getting Stitched on the Farm and can be found at:
http://www.kristinnicholas.com/

Moi Pooch Wears A Beret

2008-11-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hello, it's 10:45pm and I am finally home from my day...so if you thought
yesterday was a short post, this will have to be shorter...
I plan to stay home one of these days and post properly.

Today's hat was tonight's hat...I had just made a hat for a special
friend. I saw her in my cooking group I attended tonight and was able
to present it to her. I think this is my favorite type of knitting of all now,
where I make a gift for a special specific person and try to create something
unique for them.
This is again another one of my wishes hats where I wish into my knitting for all things healthy and happy and things to go well for the person that the
hat is intended for.

This jaunty little number is called the

Super-simple fast
and easy chunky hand-knit beret!

by none other than
Crazy Aunt Purl (Laurie Perry) and the free pattern
can be found here:
http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives/2008/01/supersimple_fas_1.php

I included three photos, top view, person wearing hat but showing back of head,
as said person did not want to be photographed, but agreed to back of head shot,
and my favorite shot, moi pooch, my ShiPoo dog modeling hat....he is a cross
between shitzu and peek-a-poo, only a medium sized doggie. Oh and his name
is Wags...it's a tail thing again...most of my pets over the years have been named
because of their tail action. yup strange...but then the man that I married
had a beagle as a child named Tippy, which also was a tail thing...go figure.
Just means we are well suited for one another.
I used exactly one skein of fall shades colored yarn Patons Shetland Chunky
for this hat, which is a bulky yarn.

The blog of the day, one which I peek in on from time to time is:
http://blog.craftzine.com/
There are some strange things going on over at that blog, pretty much all of
the time...but loads of interesting ideas...had never heard of a bacon shawl
perhaps it's to wear to brunches...but there is always something fun going on.
As I have 3 cookie swaps this year, I particularly like their posting on how
to create your very own cookie cutters...take a peek, some interesting things,
more crafty, not just knitting things.

Short But Sweet

2008-11-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today's hat is the Lydia Hat from Hip Knit Hats by Cathy Carron.
This is a felted brim hat. I used two skeins of yarn held together thruout...
Baby Alpaca Grande and Reynold's Lopi wool, two different shades of teal green. They felt so nicely...I then added a flower
that I made from scraps of wool with a beaded center on flower.
I placed flower on top of a lace doily.

My blogging will seem a bit skimpy this week, but as many of my friends follow
my blogs, they undoubtedly will know I am on a full plate schedule this week. I am back blogging finally after 10pm after a late night at my second
guild meeting of the week...I actually have 3 guild meetings this week, 2 knitting
group meetings and one recipe club meeting...most of these meet only once a month
and this is the week they all meet...so blitzed...plus I work days.

I hope to talk more in depth about guilds hopefully by Monday, as I have a lot
of interesting things to share.

Have several interesting blogs to share...but as I just came from one of my
knitting guilds, I think I will share a blog I like to follow of a fellow
guildmate...who knits really cool stuff....and in particular funky kid's hats.
Her name is Kate and she is minisoup on Ravelry.
You can find her blog at http://minisoup.blogspot.com/

Feeling guilty blog is so short tonight and very very hungry...so sharing cookie
pics...such a sweet ending!

By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea

2008-11-11T17:26:00.000-08:00

Blog peek of the day is Knitting by the Sea
This looked so interesting to me. She has many ideas for knitting that she
has seen on other sites...particularly cute are the little christmas stockings
she plans to knit...great to put on little packages...so take a peek.
I too posted the u-tube video of the Last Knit...if you haven't seen it, check
her blog as she has it up and ready to view...It's a hoot!

It can be found at:
http://www.morecambesands.com/knitting_by_the_sea/

My hat of the day is another guild request for a men's hat...actually
went to a lovely knitting friend of mine for one of her family members. I was
listening to one of Yarn Harlot's books recorded onto cd by Stephanie herself,
a great way to knit and read at the same time.
On this tape she discussed about special knits for people that are sick or
ill in anyway and how as we knit the item for a specific person, our thoughts
and wishes for them to have a healthy recovery or less pain and suffering go
into our knitting. So I send this hat with all of my best wishes and
prayers that they may recover from their illness and be pain free.

I believe this is the Classic Ribbed Hat by Frugal Knitting Haus
and is a free pattern. It's being modeled by a knitting group friend.
I am unsure of yarn I believe it may have been Encore, definitely a worsted
weight.

Actual Pattern can be found here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060127052904/www.frugalhaus.com/scripts/ribbed.asp

What Kind of Yarn Are You?

2008-11-10T05:20:00.000-08:00

In all the excitement of my weekend classes, I believe I forgot blog of the day yesterday and there are so many, many inspiring blogs out there....this is one
I've personally been haunting recently as I am now completely obsessed with fair isle. Kathleen Taylor's Dakota Dreams blog...I first ran into Kathleen's
knitting on Ravelry and am blown away with her designs. She also is blogging daily, so perhaps is participating in NaBloPoMo also. Her blog can be found at:
http://kathleen-dakotadreams.blogspot.com

Hat of the day (before this gets too past Halloween) is the following hat I knit
for another one of my special little children I take care of...the whole child
wearing the hat is really, really sweet and he is all dressed up in matching
outfit, but as this is my only photo, and need to protect identity, will sadly
have to show mostly just the hat.

This is my go to baby hat pattern for all of my preemie hats and will show up
from time to time in my many hats, with a revised version by me of same
original hat...
They fit all my babies beautifully and it's a well-written, simple to knit
pattern.
This pattern is called the Sweet and Simple Baby Hat by Debbie Bodmer.
http://www.knitfoundry.com/patterns/SweetSimpleBabyHats.pdf

Take the What kind of yarn are you? quiz. Created by bisybackson on 05/07/2008

1. What is your favorite season?

Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Who cares what season it is?
My world is climate controlled.

2. If you could only choose one, which type of pet would you own?

Cat
Dog
Rabbit
Sheep
Fish
I have terrible allergies that prevent me from having pets.
I abhor pets, too dirty!

3. Your perfect day would feature:

A roaring fire, hot tea, and a cozy blanket.
A raging party, a hot hook-up, and a cozy cocktail.
A long walk by the shore.
A hard day's work in the kitchen.
A shopping spree on 5th Avenue.
A brisk walk through the countryside.
A long snuggle with my honey.
Whatever you want to do!

4. How would you cheer up a friend in her time of need?

Buy her a fabulous gift, diamonds are a girl's best friend you know!
Take her out on the town, I can get in anywhere!
Cook her a delicious meal, chicken soup soothes the soul.
Ask her what she wants me to do for her, I aim to please!
Listen to her problems, maybe just talking will help.
Do I look like a shrink? I can't stand needy people.
Take her to the beach, that always cheers me up!
Take her to a movie, that'll get her mind off things.

5. What is your favorite Christian Slater movie?

Heathers
Gleaming the Cube
Pump Up the Volume
Untamed Heart
Bed of Roses
Christian Slater is a no-talent hack.
I love all Christian Slater movies so much, I can't pick just one.
Who is Christian Slater?

6. Pick a motto:

All's well that ends well.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
What up, Yo?!
Can't you see I'm busy?
Just do it.
I didn't do it!
Money solves all ills.
Can't we all just get along?

7. Which apple dessert would you choose?

Apple pie
Apple crumb cheesecake
Caramel apple
Apple flambe
Apple-flavored sour candy.
Depends, how many carbs are there in an apple?
I'll just have whatever you're having.
Ick, I hate apples.

8. Which of these topics are you most likely to discuss?

What hot new clubs we are going to hit tonight!
How to roast a chicken.
How the world is going to hell in a handbasket.
The basketball standings.
How I am never wrong. Oh, and world peace.
My super-duper kids/grandkids!
Stories about my volunteer work with stray animals.
My new Jimmy Choos.

9. Ideally, where would you live?

NYC, is there anywhere else that matters?
L.A., I'm going to be the next big thing!
The Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard in the summer, my villa on my own tropical island in the winter.
Montana, where there are still wide open spaces.
I dunno, Omaha maybe?
The Florida Keys, twelve months of summer, baby!
The Carolinas, its so picturesque!
San Francisco, I like that scene.

Okay the questions were kind of bizarre in spots...but oh so lighthearted and
quirky fun...go to site below and plug in answers and have fun!

http://www.quizilla.com/quizzes/281864/what-kind-of-yarn-are-you

~Type in above address or copy and paste and put in your browser to see
what kind of yarn you are and be sure and share if you want when done...I think
I turned out being a cotton yarn...Yikes...was at least going for angora!

Are Your Stitches Happy?

2008-11-09T13:29:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday and I spent day no. 2 at the restored Slater Mill and brought
my camera and got a few mill photos....

Today's class with Annie was all about how to knit lace....so today's
hat must therefore be a lace hat...naturally

I made this hat for one of my very special pediatric patients...
and of course each of them are all special....and many of them
are getting custom made hats from me.

Let's back up, I am a pediatric nurse...I take care of mostly preemies
in their homes...children that require RN care. Most have more than just
oxygen, and some are even on ventilators...enough said...this hat was made
specially for an adorable little girl patient of mine who needed something
warm but not too heavy (for indoor use) that framed her face in an
exact way....
This pattern is called the:
"Garter Lace Diamond" Baby Bonnet by Knittin Kiti

I used size 6 needles and only a fraction of some oh so very soft pink yarn
which I bought just for this pattern....pattern calls for worsted weight yarn,
but I instead used Softee Baby Solid Yarn Baby Pink Marl. It comes in skeins of
455 yards each and is actually a dk weight acrylic yarn. I only used about
2 oz. for this pattern.

The stitch pattern looks complicated for some but works up very quickly.
The pattern is free and can be located at the following link:
http://people.delphiforums.com/knit_chat/knitchat/patterns/babybonnet.htm

Now back to the Heretic...aka Annie Modesitt

If you are lucky enough to take a class in the future, be prepared to have
your knitting world shook up, actually turned upside down.
After yesterday's class, I was wondering how she could top herself with
today's class...I am not new to lace, but very open to any new ways of
doing things...I could write a five page blog on just these two Annie
classes alone...Let's just leave it with:

1. One of Annie's major mottos. ~Your stitches must always be happy.
2. That Red Carpet emmy gown she knit her friend is incredible. see blog.
3. I am so going to knit one of Annie's patterns right away.
4. There are 16 different ways to make a knit stitch.
5. If your stitch is on the needle backwards (leaning wrong direction),
knit into back of it if neccessary, don't force the stitch...see #1
6. Offering prayers and best wishes for Annie's family as they struggle
through the difficult times of husband's diagnosis of M.M., see blog.
7. Annie especially likes Oreos.
8. Annie is a huge movie buff and does excellent
Katherine Hepburn impressions.
9. When doing a right or left decrease, the direction the knitting needle
points,is the decrease you need to do
10. If you have the opportunity ever to meet her, she is a do not miss.

Of course Annie's Website is at: http://www.anniemodesitt.com/patterns/rcc.html
and her blog can be found here: http://www.modeknit.com/

The Green Shrub or Perhaps It's a Hat

2008-11-08T09:58:00.000-08:00

Well now that you've viewed today's hat...you may well ask....is it a
shrub, or simply say to yourself just what is that green bushy thing?
also of note...this is an early photo of a knitting project...back
when I had no imagination whatsoever and actually posed this knitted piece
on top of a lampshade...hmmm now that was interesting!

This is actually my very first chemo hat...so long ago...unsure of pattern
but was a very common one at time...It was a knitting guild request...I belong
to several guilds and there is always a charity request from each guild or
perhaps a few throughout the year. The yarn was of all things fun fur...
I can say now it's interesting...If you knit, you could not tell, if you purled
you could not tell, if you make a mistake you could not tell....you get the
picture...but if you dropped a stitch, yes you were completely doomed...

I do remember this went to one of the hospitals in Boston and was slated for
a child, as they preferred the wild colors and fun fur most mimicked actual
hair. or at least that's the way I remembered it being explained at the time.

While we are on Guild Charity requests....and impossible to knit items...
I will share a non hat item...this item actually got shipped to my Crochet
Guild this week....they provided the yarn....and I knit the Baby Yeti jacket
http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/baby_yeti/baby_yeti.html
with it...it was knit all in separate pieces...and of course needed to be
seamed together...
Using a high definition microscope and a bottle of Advil later....
actually not...but was almost as much a blast to sew up as was the green bush
hat....my next charity piece will most likely be out of Cascade 220 yarn for sure...a harmless little skein and oh so easy to knit with.

I live in New England, the north east most corner of the United States...
the states here are relatively small and tucked close together,
so I can easily get to say Boston, MA or Providence, RI in an hour
or less (traffic depending) from my home....fortunate for me,
many of these bigger cities often host famous knitting personalities...
so there seems to be a steady flow of them to meet (Franklin Habit),
hear speak (Yarn Harlot) and take classes from (Kristen Nicholas).
I am unbelievably fortunate to live in such a part of the country
that enriches our current fiber know how and entertains us in a such a
lovely yarnalicious way!

So today's blog I picked out is... my next teacher of a class that I am signed
up for tomorrow morning. I am taking a combination knitting class with
none other than Annie Modesitt. Her blog is the Knitting Heretic at
http://www.modeknit.com/

I will be sure and bring my camera and share annedotal yarny stories
and if Saturday were not enough...I am also taking a lace class with
her on Sunday.
By the way, these classes are sponsored by Slater Mill, one of my guilds....
Will elaborate more about guilds in next week's blogs as I am attending two
other of my guild meetings next week and plan to elaborate on the goings on
of what happens at a guild.

Okay go ahead and add #11 to list of why I knit and post about hats...
they can be entertaining and are known to crack me or others up...

The Night of the Living Tiny Hats

2008-11-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

Today was exhausting...so will be a brief posting...drove from Massachusetts
down to Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island this morning (see photo)
for Annie's combination knitting class...thinking it would be a
two-handed two color type of technique....well
it was nothing at all what I expected...
It basically is a whole new way to both knit and purl...and it takes some
getting used to...but I love it...creates a much denser knitting.
she also taught us to long tail cast on, without prefiguring out how long
to make tail and how never to run out of yarn when doing so...
how to increase a stitch without creating a raised bump...as you would
normally do example...
by knitting front and back of same stitch...
and how to do cables without a cable needle....
If you ever see a class with Annie Modesitt as the teacher,
run don't walk and sign right up....she is funny, warm, and you learn far
more than you ever sign up for...
Tomorrow am is lace with Annie and hear we have a full class! cannot wait.
no photos today, as too much on my agenda for today...will hopefully tomorrow....
the antique looms in the mill itself are worth a photo at the very least...

After leaving Rhode Island, I then drove into Boston, MA...another almost
one hour trip with a friend to go to the annual Christmas Craft Festival...
Bought lots of family xmas gifts...love to start early and get them done.
Here are some photos from this year's gingerbread competition from today:

Today's hat is a cute little baby hat, one of my personal favorites...
I know it was made out of sport weight soft white wool/acrylic blend and had
small crocheted flowers added on with white pearl beading on flowers.
It was a basic beanie pattern...most likely the Sweet and Simple
Baby Hat pattern. This hat ended up going to one of the charities.

blog of day: I chose the Mason Dixon Knitting Blog
unusual knitting and switching up the crafts appeals to me...this twosome is
always pushing the boundary and giving me new inspiration....
If you visit their blog and scroll down to the:
"The Night Of the Living Tiny Hats"
I am especially loving the smallness and detail of so many little tiny
hats...inspiring...for a hat lover such as myself!
http://www.masondixonknitting.com/

Does Your Paperboy Look Like This?

2008-11-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

Yes the hat of the day...may just possibly be a flashback to an
earlier blog, but as there are a lot
of new blog viewers...thought I'd bring this oh so special
photo back...I have 3 cats.
(The calico...is called Tic Toc her name is to do with a tail kind of thing.

The next cat is Piper an orange cat.

Final cat is Crespo, also orange and brother of Piper...
named after soccer player by my middle son.

I know this pattern is from an Alan Dart doll pattern...
and was supposed to be knit on smaller weight yarn with
tiny needles probably 2's, but instead knit it
in worsted weight with 8's probably...which is a fun option
for hat patterns.
You can go up and down in size by just changing up the gauge...
the yarn for this project amazingly was scrap yarn from JCA from
last year's sale... Is there a pattern going on here....hmmm...JCA again
loved the neutral color and have used it in lots of
small craft items such as these tiny hats.

You may ask am I knitting anything else but hats these days.....
and the answer is yes I sneak in an occasional thing or two
absolutely love fall things (actually all things seasonal)
...so made up a basket of small pumpkins....

of course the idea was from Ravelry first, but oh so cute
and fun to do. They are supposed to all be felted pumpkins...but
one turned out to not be feltable wool, but think it's just as cute
unfelted.

Pattern is the Miniature Felted Pumpkin by Tracy Batchelder
Pattern can be found here:
http://woolwindings.blogspot.com/2006/09/pumpkin-patch.html

In keeping with the tongue in cheek humor today's highly recommended
blog is none other than

CRAZY AUNT PURL

and can be found at:
http://crazyauntpurl.com/
Yes she does knit...but she writes a lot about not knitting...please run
don't walk to her blog if you have never seen it...bring kleenex...as you
will be rolling on the floor laughing and crying your eyes out....
She is absolutely hysterical!

Day 4 in which you find me knitting up some of my stash

2008-11-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

It's Day #4 and am still happily blogging away...
Hat #4 is actually my very first ever knitted gift for an extended family
member...(i.e. not one of my sons). I can happily post pics and
write about it and it will still be a surprise...as most of my
family a. does not acknowledge my knitting as anything useful, simply
something to keep me busy. b. do not blog or know what a blog even is
and c. would never even guess there was such a thing as a knitting blog
or just why someone would want to do something like that....

so other than my son, Tim in Ohio (who does read my blog so would not post any projects for him here....and if you are reading there is nothing in the works right now)
send photos or suggestions if you want anything (Tim only...otherwise will
get mile long wish list from Rae and other friends). lol....

Ahem...so anyway... this is my first attempt at giving a knitting gift at Christmas time.
My father in law is an avid snowmobiler...and I saw the perfect hat on
Ravelry.....The Helmet Liner
this pattern is by Bonnie Long and was recently also published in the
September 2008 issue of Family Circle magazine....
This same pattern is an official pattern acceptable for the troops overseas.
If interested, be sure and check the yarn requirements first.

It was an easy knit and should be very warm for under a snowmobile helmet.
He often goes to northern Vermont and NH and I believe Canada too...so this
should be a welcome gift for those cold rides ahead.

I actually used some all wool yarn (washable, as he does his own wash) and we
don't need him felting or shrinking it....the color was navy and I purchased 3 skeins of Reynold's Dover Washable Wool at the JCA annual warehouse sale in Townsend, Massachusetts. Dover is an aran weight yarn with 87 yards in each skein and is now a discontinued yarn.
I actually purchased this bag with 3 skeins in it for an
unbelievable $4. a bag for the three skeins.
The hat actually only needed 2 skeins... I put a contrast
burgundy yarn (from stash) around the border to break up all
the navy and add a small splash of "mannish" color. I know it was
most likely Encore, so should make it completely washable.

Pattern can be found at following 2 websites:
http://www.geocities.com/helmetliner/
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/helmet-liner (Ravelry)
This hat has been made 214 times so far (at least posted on Ravelry as such) as of today's date...amazing! It was an easy hat to knit and a well-written pattern.

Regarding JCA/Reynold's...for those living in New England and many of you know
of this already....JCA opens its Warehouse each fall (September) for one time only a year to the public for 2 days Friday and Saturday and also by special invite only on Thursday to a select few....

This annual event (which has been compared to on Ravelry as "akin to the Filene's Basement Wedding Gown maddness" and this comment;
"When I went last year at door-opening time, it was a madhouse! Lines to pay were so long."

There is a huge selection of Brands you know:
Reynolds, Jo Sharp, Artful Yarns, Final Closeout of Adrienne Vittandini
Hand Knitting Yarns, Needlework Kits and Yarns
Finished goods:
hand stitched needlework, hand knit sweaters, Xmas stockings, pillows
as well as...
Miscellaneous: Frames, Mat Boards, Material, Lace, Cording, Beads,
Miniatures & More…………..
Prices are 50%-80% off retail. There are some silk, cashmere,
and merino yarns, too.

Major bargains can be had. You do have to dog paddle hard your way thru the constant swarm of yarn shoppers, but I always find the hunt worth my time and effort. Most people go for the large prepacked bags of 10 skeins of yarn,
which cannot be broken up...but then that's what knitting buddies are for....
Here are some pics of some of the lovelies and best bargains I came away with...there was actually more (purchased) but it gives you
an idea of the kinds of bargains to be had.

As you can see. the cartoon yarn was $10. bag of 10 skeins each in a bag.
and the Dover yarn was also marked $4. for the 3 skeins, and the two bags
full of Saucy yarn great for gift bibs, washcloths, and such were
$4. and $2. a bag ~
Unbelievable!

I also scored some lovely Lopi singles in the bargain
section for a really good
deal....this was my second year, and for me it's a not to
miss event. and with photos and comments you get the picture....
only wish I had bought some of the bags of Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra
at $40. bag of ten skeins....sigh....but then I was on a Rhinebeck
budget at the time....

Oops nearly forgot the blog of the day....
http://knittingasfastasican.com/

I'm Knitting as Fast as I Can by Susan Pierce Lawrence. Susan used to live in the Boston area but now lives in Utah.
I think I probably first discovered her thru her free hat pattern I admired on
Ravelry the Amber hat

This has been knit by 26 people on Ravelry already and is in my queue to knit one
of these days...
I was also impressed with her Nantucket Basket knitting pattern as well as to
follow what she is currently working on. She is probably most known for her patterns such as the "Branching Out Scarf Pattern" and the "Lombard Street Socks" and "Forest Canopy Shawl" which have knit a longs of their own. As well as their own private groups...aka Forest Canopy Shawl KAL group on Ravelry with over 100 members strong. I especially love to follow great knitting designer blogs just to see what they are knitting now and what may be in the works for the future.

A Pitable Attempt at Intarsia

2008-11-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

Day 3 of hats finds the "Baby Car Hat" from the book,
Creature Comforts: Cozy Knits for Wee Ones by Amy Bahrt.

This was one of my ealier hats where I attempted to do
intarsia, but by stranding such as in fair isle...
I had no idea about floats (tiny individual wrapped
sections of colored yarn) and as I wildly carried
my colors across each other...I pulled along to
keep it nice and straight on the row....so of course
when finished...I had a fairly squashed up car...
kind of like they had crashed into each other
driving around the hat...with an unusually large amount
of agressive blocking...it looked moderately passable.
Since this time, I have signed up for classes in intarsia
and color work when I found them available and
was amazed that a. it was nothing like the way I had
attempted it and b. it really wasn't so difficult when
someone showed you how to do it the right way.

Look closely and you can still see some fairly pulled stitches...aka car wreck/squished car syndrome. I believe this hat went to charity.
I do however love the tires...you cannot go wrong with cute little black buttons!

*Today's blog review would have to be the Panopticon by Franklin Habbit

http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/

known primarily for his wildly popular Delores the sheep satire.
Of course, Delores is in the thick of politics...even though a sheep (see cartoon).
Why I chose his blog, a. I love sheep, b. love humerous blogs, c. he (Franklin) and Delores
are concentrating heavily on election right now
(and of course today is big day!)

DID YOU VOTE???????????????????????

oh and finally d. Some of my knitting friends
who happen to read my blog have not heard
of Franklin.

I recently got to meet Franklin in person....my knitting guild
in Boston sponsored him and he came to speak about his new project
1000 knitters project http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/2008/01/1000-knitters-at-purl-diva.html

He did an incredible slide show presenting how he went about
selecting knitters and the various interviews he had. He had many,
many famous and infamous knitters
such as Meg Swanson and the Yarn Harlot to name just two of the 1000.
It was such a fun night (Thank You Guido and the Common Cod Fiber Knitting
Guild) and Franklin himself is both very humble and personable behind
the podium (and away from his blog)...what a treat to meet him!

Photos are of Franklin taking his token camera shot (aka the
Yarn Harlot does this
at each of her public group speaking engagements).
Franklin with Jess of Ravelry.
Franklin showing slides of famous knitters from his 1000 knitter project
Franklin with the actual knitted scarf mostly rolled back up at this point.
It was GNORMOUS and fascinating. Knitters were able to put their
own stamp on their portion of the knitted piece. ....and they did!

What's all the "hype about hats?"

2008-11-03T18:42:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of blogging and finally the answer to the pressing question,
yes what is all the hype about hats? and just why do I choose to
knit/share/review hats on my blog...Here is my personal top 10 list
in no particular order:

1. Hats only take one skein of yarn...generally...that makes them
faster, and unlike with sweaters, I do not have to go out and
buy yet another skein because I am short on yarn (yet once again).
2. Hats are the only item I actually ever sold in my Etsy Store
(*however worth noting, hats are the only category of knitting
I've actually posted there).
3. Hats are the one request people ask me to knit for them.
4. Hats are the single knitting category I've definitely made
the most of, so I can speak of them in greater detail....
(i.e. I know them well).
5. Hats are my go to charity donations.
6. Hats challenge me as I was formerly challenged with socks,
i.e. cables, bobbles, lace, fair isle...hats have it all....
7. Should be no. 1 probably....I actually look good in hats...
many people think they don't but I am a hat wearer, so can
personalize however I want.
8. Hats generally economical to make as they do only take one
skein of yarn.
9. Hats, especially made of wool (lined with more wool) are
very very warm and I live in VERY VERY COLD NEW ENGLAND!
10. and the top ten reason for choosing hats for my month
long subject is WITH HATS THERE IS NO SECOND HAT SYNDROME.....

Speaking of which...the hat of the day was a special request
from my son in Ohio...he sent me a photo of this hat...no pattern
for hat of course, but would like one in same style and same colors....
so matched it up best as I could from photo with yarns...and came up
with a pattern...however when needed to measure hat, realized the head (his)
was located in Ohio, so luckily his dad has similar sized head and this
worked out fine....overall, son is happy with special request hat and
as far as I know hat is still happy and well and residing with my son
in Ohio, another really cold place in the winter time.

Also thought I'd start a Blog of the Day post...will peek at different
blogs and pass on a site to check out if you are inclined.
Today's featured blog is a funny new knitter friend of mine...even though
she has not knit for very long...she keeps challenging herself with socks and
all kinds of projects I never attempted in the beginning and is doing an
awesome job. Rae lives on the opposite side of the country from me in Washington
which fascinates me, as it is a place I've never been to, but sounds so lovely.
....she is a member of NaBloPoMo, which is 30 blog posts in 30 days...
so cheer her on in her quest! Hooray Rae. She can be found at:

http://rknwa.blogspot.com/

She's Back.....with a hat challenge

2008-11-02T18:10:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone...finally back...a really funny knitting friend of mine, Rae
is doing a special blog project for the month of November called NaBloPoMo
which is National Blog Posting Month where you have to blog every day for
a month.
As everyone that knows me well, I love a challenge and will try most of them
that come along.
found out about this one too late...but if it gets me blogging again,
I will do it for 29 days or into December...
seems like the other bloggers are looking for topics or a theme to last a month...
and it did not take me long to come up with mine....
HATS....staytuned to my reasons tomorrow for picking hats.
I also plan to recap Rhinebeck 2008....lots of news from that one...
also photos and update on my new best friend... MY LENDRUM DT
and other exciting recaps....
have loads of knitting FINISHED stuff to share.

DAY 1, actually Nov. 2 (but who's keeping track...
am blogging finally again right)

Hat #1 is the Rolled-Brim Hat by Vanessa Montileone
I love new knitting books...and often will take them out of the library...
then drool over photos, perhaps knit a project and return them...
and often turn around and buy the must haves for my own collection....
one of these that I prerequested was:
Vogue Knitting on the Go: Cables: Mittens, Hats & Scarves

Although there were several projects in the book I liked...
I was drawn to the cables and bobbles of the hat...
an interesting challenge. This was a really fun and a great
hat to knit...the intricate cable with bobbles hat band is done first
and then stitches are picked up around top of band and knitted
in the round to the crown of the hat...
Lately it seems like a lot of our local yarn stores are going out of
business very sadly...
and this hat has actually turned out to be knitted from
the result of two of my favorite stores final discount yarns....I used Naturally
Nazareth yarn by Kraemer (one of my favorites, as it felts beautifully) for the base
from Wright's in Sturbridge, MA...a lovely store, sadly missed...and the top part was Cascade 220 wool from Fabric Place in Framingham, MA...soon to be gone and another great loss for the community...this trend seems to be occuring everywhere.
Anyway, came out awesome...love this hat, and plan to keep this one for myself...it's all wool so will be great for COLD New England weather.

tomorrow is Day #2 blogging...with Hat Story #2

CGOA & TKGA Conference

2008-08-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

CGOA & TKGA Conferences,
Plus CGOA Chain Link Special Annual Events
July 25-27, 2008 (Fri., Sat., Sun)
PDD event is Wed. July 23
Education begins Thur. July 24
Radisson Hotel Manchester at
The Center of New Hampshire
Manchester, NH

Okay just back from 3 full days of classes in Manchester, NH
I joined the Crochet Guild of America...as I hope to get my
master license for Crochet, as I don't have a prayer of getting
this in knitting. Crochet for me is easy and I can do pretty
much anything from pineapple doilies (can't spell it though), to
hairpin lace to 3-D stuff...Knitting is loads of fun, and a
tremendous challenge to me....yes I can knit and purl too...but
the scope of how far it goes is beyond me...
also by joining either guild, you get first dibs on signing up
for classes and discounts with your membership. (some of my
classes were completely sold out.)

Took loads of photos...wish I had brought my camera to all of my classes.
Took a class with Edie Eckman on Intarsia Without Fear...no photos...
she is a sensational teacher and would not hesitate to take another
class from her...I do feel that I am ready to take on any Intarsia project
now, and actually would like one, just to practice my new skills.
next class was knitting with copper wire with Nancy Wiseman, and all I can
say is WOW....I finished my necklace all beaded...and need to get some
photos for a future posting...then I did a freeform all day workshop
and also a Creative Knittng Class with the famous Valentina Devine.
will try and post some additional info. on my next posting....
but wanted to get in some sites and sounds from the show on this one.

this was a back view of a lovely embroidered sweater...most of
my photos are backviews, as personally I hate my photo taken,
and that's why you never see
photos of me on my blog...so I always ask people if they mind
if I take a photo
of the back of their outfit. Sounds odd, but they never turn
me down that way.

a lovely beaded shawl. Click on photo or zoom in for a close up
and hopefully you can see the beads

Precious Pals a Charity project at the Market Place

There were lots of free classes at the Market Place....

a view down one row of the Market Place

needlefelting in the Market Place; sunflowers and making pumpkins.

OH and HABU from NYC was there in the marketplace...so oh yes,
I had to buy the
pineapple that had been made into yarn....

Have you tried knitting on size 50 needles, they are also megalong besides
being so wide.

Of course since there was going to be a Ravelry meetup there had to be
a Casey & Jess sighting...but no Bob...where was Bob?
Does he have a Bob sitter?

Now there's a great bag...just gotta get me one of those....

Lots of pins on the Ravelry table...I finally got mine!

Margaret Hubert, my oh so very wonderful teacher, is modeling her own jacket
of scrumbles...this was my favorite of all the ones she had brought...
she kind of had her eyes closed, so I hope she does not mind this photo...
but her jacket is absolutely stunning, or at least in my opinion.
I ran around the Market Place buying lucious yarn in purple hues,
just to try this one out myself at some future date.

Another sneak peak from the yummy scrumbles class...of course our focus was
on purses...could not help turning around in my seat to take a quick photo of
girl behind me & her classwork project...she was very new to this and could not even crochet...she had
a friend do her crochet homework, but look at this arrangement.

Off to SPINNING CLASSES on a Lendrum...went from sock obsession to my
new Ravelympics KAL

I am on the shawlrelay team...Knitter's start your needles
but not until August 8 with the opening ceremonies...What will be on the
needles...no secret....my first shawl....the beloved...clapotis
made from Dream in Color Smooshy...have dreamed about it, and obsessed about
this yarn after reading about all the love it generates on Ravelry, and it was
at the market place at the convention...of course in purple hues. close up below as taken from Knitty site where this great pattern originated.

But this spinning thing...could have an effect on my current knitting/crochet
works. I've heard spinning is rather addictive, and there are only so many
crafting hours in a given day....
but then...sleep is so overrated!

WWKIP Belated Update

2008-07-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

I hope most people got out to knit in public back on
JUNE 14. There were 13 locations in my state alone of
Massachusetts...It's an annual event and so much fun.
I brought 2 girlfriends with me and we chose a spot
closer to our house in Bellingham, Mass....
we were a small gathering, but
I knew no one there and met some really lovely people
and made some great new knitting friends...
The weather was perfect and we were located on a town
green complete with bandstand with nearby (across the
street) coffee shop and bathroom.
http://www.wwkipday.com/

The whole event was put on by a wonderful "LLL" from Ravelry
"Lovely, lively, lady" who brought a tent all decorated with knitting
items to help attract potential knitters over to our spot.

Thanks Mimi for all your organization of a great event...we'll be
back next year!

52 Pair Plunge Sock Update...
knitting fast and furious...finished Campfire Socks by Cider Moon. Absolutely
loved this pattern...

Had leftover yarn so made a little boy's hat. Used a
brand new cast on for this hat...The Stretchy cast on done with a crochet hook
and knitting needle, perfect for kid's projects that require lasting stretching.
see Utube for how to do this by Scarletzebra.com....she explains it perfectly!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAaOQb03wec&feature=related
Had leftover yarn still, so made a pompom using all the colors that were in
the socks for the pompom for hat. Another great charity project.

and of course had more yarn left...so started a rug on the style of
braided rugs, but using soft cording I bought at a local upholstery department
and a crochet hook. Since the sock yarn is lighter weight...I crocheted it
double stranded. Plan to keep adding to my rug as I finish up sock pairs...
and so far I am using up each skein to the very end with no leftover thanks to
all these cool side projects that use just the scraps.

The coiled rug pattern can be found in Knit Simple Magazine Spring/Summer 2008 issue.
The cute baby hat is from http://www.knitfoundry.com
The Pom Pom how to is from http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/tips/pompom.htm

A Tribute To Brenda Dayne

2008-07-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

Anyone familiar with knitting podcasts has probably heard of "Cast On"
a very popular podcast with fellow knitters. Well at the end of every
podcast, Brenda always closes off her podcast by saying, "And remember,
If you are cold...put on a sweater, that's what they are for."
She is always so supportive and encouraging to knitters to try and knit a sweater...and though I have tried and tried in the past to make a sweater...
I always got stuck somewhere...mostly at the seaming point,
or I ran out of yarn, or the sizing was wrong...but this time I persevered
and with a lot of help from my knitting guild friends I was able to seam,
do a button band, and collar, and amazingly the finished product
really fit me just right and I love it....so thanks to all of my friends
who helped me particularly with the button band, and especially
to Brenda for your monthly words of wisdom and encouragement...
and if I can do it then I think anyone can successfully knit
themselves a sweater too! I live in New England, a sometimes very cold
place, where I will put on my new sweater, that I made because that's what
it's for...Thank you Brenda.

Also some improved photos (or at least not scrunched into my scanner!) of the blueberry picking time socks I just created for the 52 Pair Plunge II KAL
on Ravelry right now... and my very first toe-ups...hurrah!

Blueberry Picking Time Socks

2008-07-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's been such a long time since my last blogging...
and so many things to share...between me working almost
every day, and the weather being mostly overcast or rainy
(so no photos)...it's hard to share all my new knitting...
I have to admit I love, love, love the 52 Pair Plunge challenge...
it is a little nutty knitting so many socks...
but the way I approached it, has made ALL the difference!
I am trying hard to make new patterns, and have a huge list of
techniques I hope to accomplish before I reach either my 52nd
pair or the time I finally call it quits and raise my little white
flag (knitted of course).
My knitting want list for socks is to knit first ever toe-ups,
socks on circulars, two at a time socks,
cable socks, lace socks, round toes, other toes, assorted
heels, my own original sock pattern, and as many cast-on's and off's
I can come up with.
And so far....I am thrilled....the very best part is I now just pick
a skein of yarn from my STASH, and go to Ravelry and see which socks are
possible...and once the sock is finished...the new rule is to use up
every last scrap of that yarn before going to the next sock...
So another great feature of this challenge is that I have turned it
into an AWESOME STASH BUSTER as well....
photos as soon as rain stops of things to do with leftover sock yarn...
But for starters...I have started the Babette Blanket, a Crochet project,
and also a braided rug (GREAT for sock yarn), another crochet project...as
well as baby socks and baby hats. (all to charity of course)
Today's sock...since it's blue scrap yarn, which is blueberry colored, and it's
now July and Blueberry picking time here in Massachusetts...I did as my first
ever toe-up sock...yee haw! this is my second attempt and it WORKED!
when I got to the leg of sock, I thought I can knit whatever I want...so I did
a bobble blueberry motif with leaves and named it the Blueberry picking time socks.
I did a lace cast off, as they were my first toe-ups and really did not have
a clue as to how people go about casting off for these.
No good photos unfortunately...my usual squish the finished product
into my scanner and hope for the best.
If tomorrow is sunny...will photo sock and other 4 pairs and my finished
sweater tribute to Brenda Dayne.

Just Plunged Off the Deep End

2008-06-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine-who is also one of the biggest Boston Red Sox fans that I know
told me the other day that she's joining a brand new KAL "Knit A Long".
Which knit a long is this I asked? Why the "52 Pair Plunge 2" on Ravelry. Basically the challenge of this Kal (52PP II for short) is to Knit 52 pairs of socks in one calendar year (midnight 1 June 2008 - midnight 1 June 2009).
Socks may be any pattern, any yarn, any size (baby, child, adult) – leg warmers, knitted boots, slippers, etc. do not count because they are not socks!

That's CRAZY I thought....so of course....I SIGNED UP.

My First Entry....think that's 51 pairs of socks to go, 51 pairs of socks
on the wall, 51 pairs of socks, take one down and pass it around...
you get the picture...if you know the rhyme...
I look at this as a challenge to learn toe up for the first time,
2 socks at once on circulars, and some good charity knitting!

Spinning...or as my friends would say, sucked into the vortex

2008-05-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Either you view it as crossing to the dark side...
or I've gone Little House On the Prairie...
I've just discovered a whole new way to blow
a yarn budget and a whole new stash to acquire
to excess...
I have roughly half a sheep stored in --my soon to be home --
college son's room
(so just where do you hide your new yarn purchases,
other than your car trunk of course)
Note: not my trunk, see haldechick's post on Flicker for this one

........raw merino wool
which now only needs washing,
carding, spinning, and plying oh my....

For anyone in the Boston/central Massachusetts area,
I would recommend Fiber Loft in Harvard, MA...
as they teach all day classes and have you start with
wool straight off the sheep...and teach carding of the wool,
spinning in the grease, plying, etc...there are also many
wheels to try out to see what fits best...with loads of
valuable advice as to easiest fibers to spin, how to wash wool,
use of Niddy Noddy, etc., etc. We also tried spinning fiber
that was all ready to go had been carded & cleaned,
a ready to knit once spun fiber.
Great spinning books were reviewed
and a list given of must-have books for new spinners.
A really thorough and incredible class.

I would recommend a spinning class for any die hard knitter/crocheter...
it is a whole new take on the whole process...
whether you continue on with a more natural and less expensive way of producing your own yarn
or at least learn how your stash became a skein,
essentially from sheep to shawl...I truly recommend it.
For me, I have discovered I am a process crafter,
and consequently far more interested in how
and why things are done, rather than the end result...maybe that's why I have so many UFO'S...sounds
good in a sentence here, but then probably not a really good reason.

For me, there's something rather unique in knowing
my next knitting project has been contributed directly from Molly
the part Merino/part Corriedale...who grazed tranquilly
in the fields of NH.

So yes, I think I am hooked...
Oh and if you have read the past two blog entries...
you will note no real roving for spinning purchases so far...
But recently attended yet ANOTHER
Sheep & Wool...Yes, call me obsessed,
it's true, that makes 4 wool festivals...
and now have lots of lovely fiber pix from that one too, stay tuned...

Oh and from my prior postings, finally...the spoils of
the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival...or at least the ones I am willing to acknowledge and post for anyone in the world to see...

The annual T-shirt design (it changes every year here)...
actually had to wait 1 1/2 hours in line for this one,
as well as for my other
souvenir goodies from Maryland
and by the way, that line never seemed to get any shorter all day-
they just ran out of popular t-shirt sizes over time.

Button, button, who's got the buttons. some from Maryland,
and some from elsewhere...the collection is growing...

My 3-cool sheep ceramic coaster

Of Course it's not a sheep & wool with out a sheep purchase
for my own personal collection...
like any of you could pass
this cutie up

and here's a close-up...

And The Yarn Goodness that came home with me in my car....

my first Socks That Rock... and yes...those hand-dyed colors rock my world...
wow and it's so soft....

Ellyn Cooper's yarn sonnet hand dyed yarn. could not get a good photo..
It has strands of sparkling glitter type yarn within the skein.

2 skeins of JaggerSpun Superfine Merino from Australia for my new summer shawl project in a gorgeous teal... Yum

and finally
Tilli Thomas beaded silk yarn sprinkled with glass beads...oh yeah...this one is exciting...

Ohio Fiber Fest...another wool festival?

2008-05-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am finally back from Ohio with hundreds of photos, loads of knitting and knitting related news...if I post daily....hmmm...I might catch up.
I am starting out with most recent photos/adventures.
Saturday I borrowed son's car and found my way to Wooster, Ohio
and went to the Great Lakes Fiber Show....much different
than Maryland, Rhinebeck, and NH...this was mostly Ohio and
surrounding states & lake area businesses
with a few far-reaching vendors. This was more about the sheep, buying and
selling, and a big focus on 4-H as well and local contests of wool and sheep themselves. Indie sellers/dyers were plentiful.
amazingly, there were only a couple of traditional food vendors...
no fried artichokes aka Rhinebeck,
no lamb burgers, lamb kabobs, lamb u-name-it aka Maryland.

There was a skein competition among the area locals

There was a 4-H animal contest for children and met two adorable girls with
their animals patiently waiting their turns. also a boy showing his animal.

A few of The Animals

Mama and just to be seen in back of her the baby.

There were outdoor stalls and indoor stalls

There were oldtime antique looms

Sites and Sounds around the Fiber Fest

a felted denim skirt

cute mini spinning wheel

But the largest part of the fiber fest, seemed devoted to buying and selling
of the animals. there were several barns of sheep all numbered and ready to be sold.

I personally would have been quite happy with any of them,
like #20 or #237 for instance

OH yes and my personal LOOT...

Briar Rose Fibers ~ http://briarrosefibers.net/ ~
Hand Dyed Fibers

were there, and yes, I asked-- they are the same company
that sponsors none other than Cast On, Brenda Dayne's podcast.
I just looked and looked and could not choose, please see their website
for they capture the yarn colors much better. Oh and did I mention
it is really really soft...

Creatively Dyed yarns....an EXTRAORDINARY Indie dyer
of unbelievable talent...
Please visit her blog, she is a really cool person, as well as an awesome
hand yarn painter.
http://www.yarnsforever.blogspot.com/

Buffalo spinner & dyers were there, complete with a
motorized tabletop spinning wheel

I bought buffalo yarn, hand dyed and a ceramic buffalo button to accent
whatever I knit.

oh and bought a really comical t-shirt, nope that's not milk,
just a cute way to display their t-shirts:

clay button found in 50% off bin and cute ragwool sheep, and a little roving
for doll hair, a great color.

and finally, the reason I was in Ohio, my son's graduation from
Oberlin College...

CONGRATS TIM!

Away from my blog

2008-05-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

posts are less frequent...but have loads of photos
and yarny adventures to post, but...
off to my son's graduation at Oberlin College in Ohio...
check back end of May for all those great photos...
more sheep and wools, more new yarn shop reviews,
more famous knitting personalities recently met.
and photos of my very first sweater finished and it's wearable too!
plus some zany projects too of course...

Little Bo Peep I Found Your Sheep

2008-05-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

More Yarny Goodness from Maryland...

fleecy goodness by the bagful on table after table

antique sock machines on display and on which you still can produce
a rather speedy sock.

Yak Yarn on display, now say that 3 times fast...

The Medieval Weavers were there complete in costume

There was a truck that drove up complete with a portable ATM in place,
now this was a first for me

and where are my spoils/purchases...stay tuned for part III

misc. things to be seen around the festival...

...there were cars all over the cornfields as far as the human eye could see.............
Okay has anyone seen my car?

Gettin' My Daily Dose of FIber

2008-05-11T15:11:00.001-07:00

MARYLAND SHEEP & WOOL

Okay folks, IS this the largest sheep & wool festival in the US?
I think I really need to know this, as I seem to be gravitating
towards them these days, and I guess the ultimate
would be to attend the mother
of all sheep and wool festivals...

Well in any case, the t-shirt/souvenir line here was
1 1/2 hours long just in itself.
And getting yourself a Maryland t-shirt is
like getting a Ravelry pin...
it's a must have accessary for us knitter's/crocheters/spinner's alike.
Every where you looked someone was sporting one of these very shirts,
all colors all designs, since every year they design
a brand new logo.

Note t-shirts in the many color choices available
with the current year's design
waved merrily above us (as we waited)
across the telephone pole wires to view in advance
as you weren't going to be moving anytime quickly in that line.

the line.............

there were boyscouts with signboards hawking (like a baseball vendor),
get yer lambburgers....

too many sights to post in one blog entry...

a herd of sheep

and a herd of Ravelers...

Get your stitches on

~This is part I of a 2-part blog on Maryland Sheep & Wool...stay tuned.

On another note: never got around to posting my stash
acquired recently at WEBS during the Yarn Harlot's visit a few weeks ago.

Cascade Heather Yarn

2 skeins chunky Bollicine yarn, Victor from Cascade Yarns

Kangaroo Dyer Hand dyed Laceweight Yarn Alpaca and Silk
950 yards

Wildwood yummy sparkling yarn by Valley Yarns

Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Lace 874 yards of baby alpaca

Off on a Yarny Adventure

2008-05-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

Don't look here for any blog entries...
I'm off to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival
with a loaded camera....stay tuned for lotsa photos....

I made it into the Yarn Harlot's Blog !

2008-04-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

Went to WEBS in Northhampton, MA on Sunday...
my first ever visit to WEBS...
my second visit to see the Harlot....
just finished another knitted doll,
which I made into a Stephanie Pearl-McPhee doll....
All of my photos, a rush job, were done on a
stormy overcast day, so came out dark and mostly unuseable...
But I did manage to get one good photo of Stephanie holding the doll
at WEBS itself, and then Stephanie posted a good pic on her blog today
of the mini books and pencil I gave for her to sign them....

(see photo below from her blog) and also the direct link to her blog & article
she wrote about WEBS and her visit there.

http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/

The knitted doll has on a sweater cut and sewn from
an old patterned sock. She is holding up a mini sock
partially knitted in one hand, and originally had
a tiny camera in her other hand
which somehow got lost in the Calvin Theatre....it was rather
dark in there...and a little tricky to knit with the lights so
low...
But what a day....WEBS itself is amazing and so overwhelming...
I just wandered around the store for 2 hours in some Zen like state...
lost in row after row of lovely soft, beautifully colored yarn...
will photo some of my yummy alpaca lace weight
hand dyed lovelies for a future blog post...
but as it's raining here in New England, cannot photo anything
decent right now.

and a few quick shots of WEBS itself and Stephanie at the Calvin...
Roving

Yarn and even more yarn

and the famous back room...can you spell discount...
but this stuff is too nice, certainly not acrylic

and finally the Calvin itself...kind of dark as the photos
also came out dark, despite the flash...
it was packed, even up in the balcony...

and even though this was my second Harlot adventure, it seemed
all new, and she is so unbelievably funny...
If she ever comes to a town even close to your area...don't miss it!
and bring Kleenex...

No I did not fall off a very steep cliff while knitting on and on and on...

2008-04-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring everyone...and a big welcome to these warm, sunny days....
I'm back finally no photos this time, very brief update just to say
have many exciting things to share from April.
3 new yarn store reviews.
Several famous yarn people that I have met this month
or have taken classes with....but not tonight....

off to see the Yarn Harlot this Sunday...

will post again Sunday or Monday with lots of news and Photos....
and I wrote 2 new patterns....
PS if you don't understand the comment about the cliff, go back
to my February entry about the Last Knit or just click on
link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ZjMWLqJvM

Does your paperboy look like this?

2008-04-04T13:21:00.001-07:00

April is finally here. Hooray!
So far just showers and a few bulbs
trying to brave the cold...but hoping soon,
flowers will be everywhere! Just a mini post
as am off to this and that until Sunday night,
mostly just riding from here and there in the car...
so lots of great knitting time...have some really nifty
projects going on, much better than what I usually create...
so hopefully will be posting photos the beginning of next week.

In the meantime, does your paperboy look like this?

or perhaps one of these guys:

Updating March... a month of yarny goodness

2008-03-31T13:34:00.000-07:00

March is almost gone, and having so many yummy yarn
adventures that I am almost sad to see March go...
however April has many exciting things happening...
so as my kids would say...bring it on...
March's one new yarn shop visit was quite nice.
This time I got photos of my yarn purchased...

Love the pretty raspberry shade of the 100% wool
Bartlett yarn...also since I did not have my notes
when posting last post...they also carry...
among others....Aslan Trends, Kertzer, Sheep Shop Yarn,
Misty Alpaca, Gran mohair, Sirdar, Cleckheaten,
several brands by Plymouth haven't spotted before,
and lots of lovely mohair...wasn't looking for sock yarn,
but they seemed to even have that too...as well as some
unusual knitting needles and a few knitting toys I
haven't seen before. Once again noted the prices
seemed more than reasonable to me, and even ran a
little less on some items than other stores.
One more shop visit for the month, which was really
a revisit, but haven't been there in quite a long time
was to Windsor Button (photo from their site online)
in Boston...located quite close to Boston Common...

They are still in the same old building as before, a bit run down,
but the yarn collection has grown enormously with some very
high end yarns there now...if you are looking for any kind of
craft book, that is probably not a place to miss...
they had everything...prices are fairly standard for
the yarn shops around the Boston area.

Also earlier this month attended a Knit-a-thon in our area...
Betty Christiansen of Knitting for Peace spoke...

Then Kristin Nicholas spoke to us and showed us
slides of her farm and talked about her colorful knitting,
current and future projects.

Up after this was Wren Ross of Changing Patterns:
Discovering the Pattern of your Creativity spoke
along with Andrea Price of Knitspeak.
Wren wore the most fantastic floor length knitted coat
which she knitted herself. ...Thank you to the posting
by Guido from It's a Purl Man...you can actually see
the exact coat Wren was wearing (as I forgot my camera that day)...
awesome huh!

There's quite a long story to go along with the coat
as to what all the symbols meant. She also sings, writes music,
and plays the guitar, all of which we were treated to,
she sang us a great song she wrote about knitting.
Andrea Price was another fabulous speaker,
and I would not miss either of these ladies if they
came to another function. Of course I snagged her new book,
which she autographed too. fits so nicely into my knitting bag,
as it's pocket sized, perfect for such a great resource tool.
All 4 women were available for questions and autographs.

Also this month, one of my knitting guilds had an author come...
Barbara Delinsky who wrote Family Tree, among many, many other books.

It was very relaxed, small group of women,
and we were able to ask her all sorts of questions
about writing and her own personal knitting projects...
what an interesting person. I really enjoyed this.
She also autographed books for people.

Well that probably is generous for one month...
but I also attended a knitter's breakfast
at a local fabric store, where Encore yarn presented a trunk show.
Did not win any raffles,
but came away with lots of lovely free things,
and even more ideas...Hooray! Yes March was really cool!

As for that guy in the fatigues without a head
from the last post...I feel like I've really lost
it this time in regards to strange knitting.
He is a revolutionary figure from Cuban named
Che Guevara and on Time Magazine's top 100 list.
He was actually a knitting request, and I thought
it would be a fun and different challenge...
anyway here are the photos...and because it's my way,
I did a couple of poses with him knitting,
which will certainly make him turn over in his grave...if he
could only see himself depicted that way!

...if only he didn't have to smoke that little cuban cigar
while knitting that expensive yarn!

New yarn store review and a headless person, bet you can't guess who I will be...

2008-03-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Went to yet another... new to me...yarn store today.
I live in Massachusetts where we have more lovely
yarn stores than one could ever imagine, many of
which are fairly close to my home...unbelievably
lucky and blessed!
So goals for 2008, is to visit at least one new
store monthly...today I trekked over to Milford, Mass.
to a lovely, but small shop called Knitting Pointers.
I think it may have been one of the smallest yarn stores,
However they did have the new Malabrigo lace weight yarn in
some really yummy colors...they also had quite a few
unusual brands of yarns, some of which ...were from both Australia
and the UK....I bought some absolutely lovely Bartlett yarn
100% wool, it was a yummy shade of raspberry, and as all yarn
does in most yarn stores, it called out to me like that puppy
in the shop,
please take me home, so of course I did.
I also scored some Galway, so lovely for felting in a color
that was sold out in other stores in the area...
I felt the prices were more than reasonable,
the lighting was excellent to see all the colors well,
the store hours were better than most, as
this shop unlike most Mass stores is actually open on Mondays.
and although the shop was tiny, the selection was very good,
and she had some very high end yarns such as Blue Heron.
One more important note at least for me, staff was
very friendly and helpful and new the product well.
I will definitely go back there again. This one is a keeper!

On another note...I am making a doll, and am at the sewing up stages...

and sometimes, if you're the doll, just sitting there, headless
you have to take things into your own hands and just finish
sewing yourself together, or at least it looks that way.
...headless man with needle and thread in hand....

on the other hand, great says the headless doll, so she made
me a shirt....Wheeee.

Oh great so now I have pants but where's my head?
Stay tuned....should be sewn up by tomorrow.

How the Easter Bunny really delivers those eggs

2008-03-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

Today managed to photo Easter Bunny
evidently out delivering eggs.
So now I know, he uses a backpack.
Rabbit is a Debbie Bliss pattern
Woven look (actually knitted) backpack
is from Alan Dart, latest Simply Knitting Mag.
Eggs pattern-also Alan Dart...note Alan Dart
does not decorate his eggs with crazy colored
embroidery, however I was sitting in a class
by Kristin Nicholas attempting to sew up my eggs,
and I would say her wild colors/embroidery just
rubbed off on me.

Happy Easter from da....Bunny

"Say cheese" for the camera and Flower Show #2 (BOSTON)

2008-03-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

More photos than I can post,
and lots of new yarny adventures
to share as well, so will spread them out
over a few days, or would be just too many photos
to take in....

B e e n k n i t t i n g ,

s e w i n g , crocheting, needle felting,
yarn dying, bead making, jewelery making...
and just started rug hooking...
so lots of varied things to share...

Work continues on my d'oeuvre plate project...
& was able to come up with a fairly good
knitted, felted swiss cheese which goes pretty well wrapped
and skewered with knitted felted olive.

Then I made some felted beads from wool roving,
which I did as a needle felting project,
not a soap and water version of beading,
made project into a necklace, was going to use chain,
but had some fine silver thread like yarn
(believe it was Berroco)in stash,
so just incorporated that into the project...
made several beads, so used two of tiny ones
for matching earrings, however photo each time
was still blurry...but you get the idea.

Final note for this blog entry...went to Boston Flower Show
The theme this year was Rhapsody in Green so will post a few
of my favorite pics here: the first two were artistic expression category

Just gotta love it, still cold outside,
even a few patches of snow left...
ground is bare otherwise and these lovely smells
and all the beautiful colors of the flower show.
~ can't wait for Spring!

Quick update

2008-03-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

unable to upload photos on camera at moment
due to technical difficulties
but lots of fun March yarny adventures to share.
will try again on Wednesday...so check back.

More Cat Capers

2008-03-08T15:22:00.000-08:00

Hey it's finally March...and it's that time again...more cat capers.

So Top O' The Morning To You from Mc' Tic Toc

Mc' Crespo

and Mc' Piper...

and yes Mc' Crespo does look like he indeed
had too much Irish special in his cat bowl
and is sleeping it off in his little party hat.

As for what's on my needles,
still struggling with the sweater,
and it's now time to consult the sweater gods
(my local knitting guild, wiser souls than me)
to check this pattern for me, as there seems to be
some errata, however cannot find any posted anywhere.

Also still working on a rather strange purse project...
scrumbling, loads of fun...but not so portable,
as it uses so many different yarns,
and now has grown rather out of hand...
but a few work in progress photos to post for now...

As always lots of fun little projects up my sleeve, stay tuned...
~And as you can see only Piper would agree to wear the Irish beard.
Beard is crocheted as is shamrock on hat.

Recapping February's Yarny Adventures

2008-02-29T19:37:00.000-08:00

My New Year's Resolution continues that I made
back at the beginning of the year...
~At least one new yarn adventure monthly
till the end of the year.
February was a yarn crawl month
to neighboring states to check out new yarn stores...
Last week, I found a lovely discount store in Rhode Island,
and today I was off to New Hampshire to visit Nashua and Ewe'll Love It http://www.ewellloveit.com/

Lots of cute little store signs, both out front
and inside the building directing knitters down
the hallway to the shop

And finally just one quick shot of part of the store:

Not sure what my favorite thing was...
this was a very spatious store, with absolutely no crowding anywhere...
There were lovely couches to sit on,
and a knitting group was actually going on while I was there,
and there was so much room, I could easily walk around pat yarn,
and sit and look at their many books...
There are a few books I just can't find in either
the large book stores in our area or any of the local yarn stores,
and have just decided to order them online,
until I came into this store, and there they were
right on the shelf...amazing.
They have a lovely selection of Rowan,
as well as all the popular mags, but also Cast On and Rebecca (past issues too)...they seem to have a lot of overseas books especially.
The yarn selection was huge, and I really needed more time,
they also have a loft upstairs with marked down yarn some of which
I just can't believe has been discounted.
I can't resist pretty unusual needles or new gadgets,
both of which they had loads...so also picked up
a few trinkets I had never seen before...
Oh and must mention, staff very pleasant and eager to assist..
this is a definite return visit.....!
Now part II got a swift for Christmas...lovely gift and still
in its box, as don't have a clue what to do with it.
saw a lady winding a skein with swift and ball winder today...
however don't own a ball winder...so spent better part of the night
with help from my wonderful (nonknitting) husband with the mechanics
of the project and made my own ball winder and thread feeder thingy.
Not sure if the photos will help... It's mostly K'nex, some Lego's,
and a toy motor, so it's motorized...and works quite well...will need
a little tweeking...but it works! Hooray!

Fairies, socks, and a wolf in grandma's (flower?) bed...

2008-02-23T15:09:00.000-08:00

Day late...and too many photos to print...
will just have to pick out the best.
First up...what's on my needles, lest I get
too much away from knitting...I am deep into a
free form project, and now that I am halfway
through, I must say it is so addicting!
Hope to have photos up on that one by Friday.

First up: went to the Rhode Island
Spring Flower and Garden Show
in Providence, Rhode Island this weekend...
this was my first visit
to this particular show...and I would classify
it as a Keeper!
This year's theme was Fairy Tales,
and they all seemed to be well
represented and the whole show was
most enchanting...
My major purchase was a large bunch of
pussy willows for only $4.
and we all got free flower seeds,
mine were "forget me not."

A few more photos of more commonly known fairy tales:
Hansel & Gretel, the 3 Little Pigs, and even the Big Bad Wolf
in Granny's bed, which is depicted here as a "Flower Bed."

And a few final lovely flower scenes...

I went with a girlfriend and we squeezed in time
for just one yarn store
experience in Rhode Island...we chose the Yarn Outlet
in Pawtucket, R.I.
as it was actually on our way.
We were both pleased, and went home
with several new purchases...
they have loads of books, most of which
were on sale...and lots of lovely sale yarn also.
my favorite purchase was a skein of
filatura di crosa party yarn, which looks
exactly like green grass knit up...
Easter is coming folks....need that
green grass...for my knitted eggs and
knitted bunnies..........

Finally, I am currently back to knitting socks,
found an ankle sock pattern that I really love,
and knits up really quick too, just grabbed some
crazy Easterish colored yarn from my stash...
and now I have some lovely socks for the spring.
Worsted Ankle Sock Pattern can be found here:
http://www.kraemeryarns.com/patterns/pdfs/ttw_anklesocks.pdf

then I went into my new Kristin Nicholas book,
Kristin Knits and made some of her wild colored
socks with her signature embroidery.

Honey I shrunk the kid's....... slippers

2008-02-15T17:17:00.000-08:00

Oops, making fuzzy feet for yet another son.
as usual huge when finished knitting, would
fit a small elephant....so off to washer
for felting....

Sadly, they now would fit a SMALL child...
needed to be about size 10 men's.
Instead now a child's size to fit probably an 8 year old,
or a small stuffed dog, or even your house cat...

Last photo shows cute little slippers next to
my own slippers size 7 women.

No before photos taken, as never really
had a felting issue...this is the perfect
example, of not doing washer quick checks
as you felt...always have, but was online
with Ravelry, and just lost total track of
what I was doing. but they came out so nice
and do have a good home all planned for them.

~As for my son, well guess one of these days
I'll attempt another pair...but for now I have
Socks Fever...............

The Last Knit & final February items

2008-02-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

A knitting friend of mine, posted this to her blog last year...
so it's been around for a bit, but if you haven't seen it...
you have to check this one out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ZjMWLqJvM
Just copy the above address into your browser window and hit go.
It's called THE LAST KNIT.

Finished up my February Valentine knitting with two last items:
first is my red felted flower vase...
need to get some flowers to put in it still,
it's decorated all around the side with
little nonfelted knitted white hearts.

Final item is a knitted heart with bobbles
(it's two-sided sewn together) with lavendar
inserted for a sachet...but I decided I would like
to hang mine in a window, so I attached a beaded hanger,
and put a crystal at the very bottom to catch the light.

Very excited, got some lovely green wool today.
and yes... the holiday crafting fever continues.
St. Patrick's Day...hmmmmmm

Ya Gotta Have Heart

2008-02-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

February 1st is finally here...
time to knit & crochet lovely red things with hearts...

My Valentine's lace scarf is done...
This is the "Heart's Scarf" pattern
by Andrea Mantler, and can be found on her blog.
Used yarn I actually had, a stash buster, who knew...
Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky in Red
less than one skein, for all of lace part,
and Patons Wool Classic Gray for crocheted
scalloped edge...this really was a lot of fun
to knit and a very well written pattern too.

Wouldn't be February without one more appearance
from Cupid...he showed up a little early
on the blog back in January...now what was he thinking...
Cupid and the Cat...Tic Toc really liked this
knitting project for some reason and
it wasn't even stuffed with catnip.

Going Green

2008-01-28T18:55:00.000-08:00

Well everyone's doing it...Going Green...
so here I am knitting green stuff.

or perhaps I am just getting ready for March...
since I really still haven't finished
all my holiday knitting...but then
there's another way to view it...
it's now 2008, and I've got eleven
whole months now to get it done...hooray!

Recently found this lovely new book at the library.
Knitter's (put on horse blinders through this part of blog entry)

And since after paying the overdue library charges...
I still wanted to make almost everything in the book,
I went off to Barnes and Noble and bought it
for my growing shelf.
The tiny green bag, I whipped up at the retreat..
Intriguing, as it's made with nylon cord...
and I am always looking for unusual items to knit
or crochet with...
I will say it's a little rough on the hands...
but then it was a tiny project.
I had expected it to come out even smaller,
it was supposed to be a keychain purse..but pleased....
would make a lovely brief case for
an American Girl size doll.
I plan to find a tiny zipper and
line it with a nifty contrast fabric
to use as a cute coin purse.
The quarter in photo is to show scale.

Please note: button close up...we are so lucky
to have such a gorgeous button supply store
in our area: http://www.buttonboxquiltshop.com/index.htm
For anyone in Massachusetts or New England,
they are such a wonderful resource for lovely buttons,
and a great place to match a missing button
from an expensive jacket (been there done
that, at least a few times).

My other green item...I now have forgotten how I came across
this pattern, but so unusual, had to give it a try:
Knitted Celery...of course I could not resist this one:
see below for direct line to the pattern and the artist.
http://community.livejournal.com/crafty_tardis/46613.html

Four more days till February...
think I will be in a red knitting mood.

Knitter's Retreat Weekend in Rhode Island

2008-01-21T15:06:00.001-08:00

Hi...I'm back and starving....
I have been away for a long weekend
with some of my knitting guild members
to a knitter's retreat...
pretty much all you do is knit, eat, knit,
some sleep, knit, eat, knit...you get the picture....
Starving now...because
my gourmet chefs from our wonderful weekend
would not come home with me....
the food was truly unbelievable...My favorite was a delicate
flaky pastry multi berry tart. Yummmm.
Our dessert finale was
Reeses Peanut butter cup pie, and there was also foie gras with our lunch...incredible.........anyway...
lots and lots of lovely photos to share..
so a few of them here...

The cottage I stayed in for the weekend was called Nettles.

Inside of Nettles, lots of lovely places
to sit and just knit...so relaxing.

The room in Nettles where the majority of us
gathered to knit as it had the loveliest light.

On knitting breaks, a few folks worked on this lovely
"KNITTING" (of course) puzzle...

And it was finally finished rather late,
the night before we had to check out in the am

Everyone wore their knitted best or were working on
amazing pieces or using amazing yarns...
and yes I had to pat many a yarn project.
So much inspiration everywhere...
Note the luscious beaded scarf in the making

view of my room and the beloved buffet....three times a day folks...
oh and great fruit/cookie snacks in our own quarters in between meals.

The whole location was surrounded by lovely ponds and
trails everywhere you could just meander around...
I even saw 2 deer rather close up, and took photos, but as it was getting dark,
it basically came out as though I had filmed the inside of a closet-
minus the deer.

Oh and yes I worked on several lovely things,
but as this blog has been my longest to date,
will be posting those to a future blog.
Almost forgot, in case everyone on the planet
missed it, just one more... hip, hip, hooray,
a final shout out to Peggy for all her planning
for this wonderful trip for all of us...
Thank You!

New Years Resolution #1
a new knitting adventure each month....
January was so satisfactory...will be hard to top this,
but can't wait for February's knitting adventure...
Can you spell yarn crawl?

Cupid in time for February

2008-01-16T16:22:00.000-08:00

Yet another new member to the Monday Night
Mini Knitting Group...
Cupid is finally finished....

Pattern is from Simply Knitting Magazine, a lovely mag.
from Britain, February 2008 issue.
Designed by Alan Dart
I did have a rather funky time getting the face right, his
cupid is almost babyish age, very angelic, and mine, well
I guess he is an older, more mature cupid.
On a side note, the hair is rather strange also. this yarn was the closest I could find to the discontinued yarn called for in the pattern...plus the name of the colourway was "HEAVEN"....how could I go wrong with that.
well it was cartainly NOT heavenly to knit with...but it's done now.

In the future when knitting doll's hair,
I think I will use the same hair as I did
on the Harry Potter puppet, an experiment,
but came out even better than I had hoped.

Photo 1. Cupid posing with other knitting group members, mouse and Shaun.
Photo 2. Cupid taking a break reading Simply Knitting Magazine and drinking Starbuck's...yes I do think Starbuck's is a heavenly coffee...

Tic Toc the cat and cupid

Crespo playing with cupid's bow

Three other Valentine's Day/Feb. items in my knitting bag & partially done...have finished the lace red heart scarf, just needs the crocheted edging and to be blocked...photos by next week.

Monday Night Miniature SnB Knitting Group at Starbuck's

2008-01-09T16:38:00.000-08:00

My new virtual reality knitting group at Starbuck's of course.
Where else, would I host this.
As in other online SnB groups, this group has already been
joined by other miniature members from Ravelry...
known to show up
with miniature chocolate chip cookies even.
New Members always welcome...and yes we do like cookies.
Stay tuned as new mini members will be joining
in the future.
Please no one over 7 tall can come...Starbuck's mini
building code regulations....7 inches that is.....

Cupid update:

Finally found the right type of yellow yarn for his hair...and it's called Heaven...can you believe it. that's gotta work!
Photos coming soon.

An In Between Post

2008-01-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

Hello, still here, still knitting...posting will be a tad late...as I am working a bit extra these couple of days...stay tuned.
but the weather has been unusually balmy and the snowman are melting....

Had to post something crafty...made this on the bus trip to New York to Rhinebeck (Sheep & Wool Festival) and never got around to felting it...it was a crocheted teapot cozy, cream colored...which I felted first, then I dyed in the pot on the stove...
luckily it was just food color, the cake dye type...as husband took my pink dye spoon to serve up dinner. maybe I shouldn't have written that in...but there's your knitting/craft chuckle for the day!

It's 2008!

2008-01-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

Can You Believe It, it's 2008 and it's snowing
AGAIN....
But then it's New England.

More knitting.............
Banana Republic Knock off hat pattern by metaphysical_muse from Craftster
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=197572.0
can you believe 98 people on Ravelry have this posted from a single free pattern
Mine is made from Noro Silk Garden

As it is still snowing... back to my knitting...........
Oh and this year am making
Knitting New Year Resolutions....thank you
Brenda Dayne from the wonderful Knitting Podcast,
"Cast On" who has done this very thing in the past....
by the way,
For those who listen avidly, Episode #59 is up!
and for anyone that has never heard her podcast...
She has such an elegant speaking voice and
there are lots of things to learn about
knitting as you listen
Her podcast can be found on
http://www.cast-on.com/

Anyway, My resolutions
1. Try artistic knitting.
2. Fair Isle knitting.
3. tackle one of those Japanese language only patterns.
4. and finally...Work on Da Stash...
If you think No. 3 is impossible, I have grave concerns
myself about #4.
I have very exciting ideas for #1,
believe me it won't be wearable...
but exciting, stay tuned.
Happy 2008 Knitting to All!

Too many photos to post

2007-12-30T15:31:00.000-08:00

so many photos so little space...
first off a really incredibly awesome
new knitting accessary bag...and this was
the smaller size too, there was a larger
one with even more pockets, very light
weight, can be carried or
worn on the shoulder...so great...

Can you believe all those pockets...really great!

Next up is what is currently on
my needles now, actually 2 projects...
the first one is Alan Dart's newest
toy figure from Simply Knitting
Magazine February 2008 issue,
which I just got. The Cupid pattern.
At this point don't have the yarn,
so only finished cupid's bow, so cute...

My next WIP is also a Valentine's project...
my new heart scarf using Brown Sheep Lamb's
Pride Bulky, so should be warm in red.
minor lace work, but much less boring
than a straight stockinette.

Finally, a finished project,
actually a late Christmas gift...
Fuzzy Feet, for my oldest son...
He's a Brown's fan of course.
and they actually fit too.

And a really cool christmas present
I received is Kristin Knits...
oh what to make first...such a really great book,
loaded with great patterns...

no pics, just a brief check-in

2007-12-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

Hello, it's been a week, and what's on my needles or in my case, what is the latest cast-off.
Well....finally finished my last knitted christmas gift...perhaps I am still in time for christmas somewhere out there in the world. it is felting as I write, so I may need to dash off to washer, as I don't want it to overfelt...what a disaster, then it might be a 2008 gift instead, as I reknit it. also have bought with my xmas money the absolutely most neatest knitting gadget ever, also have started the latest Alan Dart pattern from the February 2007 Simply Knitting mag. and finally just started making a brand new item for the next holiday...thank you Ravelry for the idea...so please tune into Sunday-tomorrow pictures pending of all of these.

"...Twas the Night Before Christmas When All Through The House Not a Creature Was Stirring Not Even A Mouse...."

2007-12-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

However, actually the mouse was kind of... sort of
stirring, or at least you could clearly hear
the click click of knitting needles...and what...
you mean you yourself aren't right now still frantically
finishing up
last minute knitting gifts for family and
friends right this minute as you are reading this blog....
well mouse and I are at it. maybe it's just me,
but I've never frogged my knitting so much
as I have these last two weeks, am I alone on this one...?

Knitting Notes: this particular mouse pattern is by
Alan Dart from Woman's Weekly Magazine sold only in Great Britain,
October 06 issue. He and his fellow mouse friends
are an addition to the Dickinson Mice that are available
as a brochure, which can be found more easily. Background
is the florist shop, shown in earlier blogs, now decorated
for Christmas, and yes as it has snowed for real in my neck
of the woods...then of course, it has also snowed at my florist
shop as well, I did leave them a very tiny (to scale) shovel,
which I hope the miniature people take a hint, as it is piling up.
as for what's on my needles, since it's xmas gifts,
I can't post them here,
silly... as people would not be surprised...
and as for what's on the mouse's needles, he claims
it is something for me, however, not sure if that will ever fit...
hmmmm.

A Little Knitty for my Kitty

2007-12-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

Finally made a cat gift my cats really enjoy...
it's a knitted throne, have not finished
back part yet...base is worsted weight wool,
royal purple, sides are purple chenille...
top is a lovely, very soft fuzzy white yarn,
that they really enjoy, and used a cushion
which is much lovelier on the inside than
stuffing, so no lumps. cats really love it,
and seem to take turns..
Piper, a very large boy, doesn't quite fit,
but still seems to like it...

And Tic Toc my other cat, a smaller feline,
has just completely adopted the new cat throne...
still needs its back piece done, but the cats
don't really care, and seem to like it just as it is.
They think it's an improvement over cat hats...but I am
not so sure.

...And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

2007-12-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

As for what's on my needles
am still frogging that other project...
and wondering is there a prize or anything
for the most pull-outs in a single project...
somehow this is one of those things
I just don't need to know...
so last count I am somewhere at about 5 or 6 pull-outs,
but as not really keeping close track,
it's only approximate...maybe it will be ready
for my next posting...I have however made a
really nice gift for the cats...and they do love it...
have photos, coming soon......

Happy Shopping One and All.............

frogging lots this whole week...sigh....

2007-12-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

It's Friday, and as I am too busy
merrily pulling out my knitting over and over,
I have not seemed to have accomplished much or
finished anything this week,
or at least it's not cast off the needles
so to speak...
Please check in again on Saturday
when I hope to have some photos to post.
meanwhile two quickies...a fast candycane pin and...

a holiday watch band, all beads no knitting or crochet...sorry

Lost in christmas card making land....

2007-11-30T19:16:00.000-08:00

oh where oh where has that crazy knitter gone...
well it's that time of year again...
and well I always buy my cards and then I thought
why don't I try making them this year....
well there's a reason people buy cards...
although I think they are quite gorgeous,
they take absolutely forever, and
there go all my knitting projects
right out the proverbial window...
christmas gift knitting and all...
so normally I would have had lots to post tonight, but
all I have to show is a lot of pretty cards,
so here goes... and yes, a few cards don't take that long
but I am handpainting and adding snow and stuff,
and the inside with photo of children
is as decorated as the outside and
oh have to make about 80...well we'll
see how that goes..........

as for what's on the needles,
I am once again writing yet another
new pattern and here's a hint,
it is straight from a recent
Anthropologie catalogue. so far
so good, and for anyone that thinks
I've annoyed my cats far too much...
I am making them an unbelievably
extravagent gift...something
Crazy Aunt Purl would just purr about...
or at least all her cats...
pending............

as for finished projects...
I did the one skein of yarn
experiment, and thanks to Ravelry once again,
I had one skein of Noro Kereyon,
which I always say and spell wrong,
but the Noro people understand
what I mean...anyway made my first
Calimetry and love it...it is so warm
on cold days and I love the colors...
it won't be my last one, and it did not
take a whole ball of Noro, wondering
if you could get 2 of them out of one skein...
but anyway highly recommend this pattern,
it is from Knitty.com.

Santa Hat for Your Kitty

2007-11-23T18:13:00.001-08:00

The Photos:

Pattern for Kitty Santa Hat

2007-11-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

Santa Hat Pattern For Your Kitty by Sheepish 1

Used: size 8 needles

Scraps of worsted weight red yarn, most probably Patons wool

White boucle type yarn, guessing it was from Caron, simply soft boucle

Using white boucle type yarn

Cast on 27 stitches.

Row 1. Knit

Row 2. Purl

Row 3-8.Change to red yarn, and knit stockinette stitch, starting with a knit row for 6 rows, ending with a purl row.

Row 9. Decrease Row #1. *K2, K2tog.,K1* Repeat from * to * until last 2 stitches, K2.

Row 10—12. Stockinette stitch 3 rows, starting and ending with a purl row.

Row 13. Decrease Row #2. *K1, K2tog.,K1* Repeat from * to * until last 2 stitches, K2tog.

Row 14-18. Stockinette stitch 5 rows, starting and ending with a purl row.

Row 19. Decrease Row #3. *K1, K2tog.* Repeat from * to * until last stitch, K1.

Row 20-22. Stockinette stitch 3 rows, starting and ending with a purl row.

Row 23. *K1, K2tog.* Repeat from * to * until last stitch, K2. (should be 8 stitches)

Row 24-26. Stockinette stitch 3 rows, starting and ending with a purl row.

Row 27. *K2tog.* across row (should be 4 stitches)

Row 28. Purl

Row 29. *K2tog.* across row (should be 2 stitches)

Attach white boucle yarn. K2tog. (1 stitch).

Knit in front of, back of, and then front of same one stitch on needle. Cut yarn leaving long tail. Draw through remaining stitches on knitting needle with a wide-eyed sewing needle and pull up tight and secure. Sew up side seam.

Please note this is my first ever online pattern, and is not yet second time tested…if any errors, please feel free to email me any questions…comments also welcome…and would love to see any post photos, particularly of hat on your cats.

Happy Thanksgiving to all !

2007-11-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

Our furnace recently died.
so started knitting slippers,
and all manner of comfy warm things.
Furnace is all set now,
but the slippers were fun.
the pink and purple slippers are thanks to RAVELRY....
first spotted there
the fuzzy feet pattern actually from Knitty
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/PATTfuzzyfeet.html

Mine are made from scraps alone, leftovers of
Lopi, actually ran right out of the purple
completely at the end. so this is a great
scrap project. only had a partial skein
of each color, hence why I striped them.

same slipper not yet felted...amazing how huge it is

the next slipper I made was from Nicky Epstein's new book
Never Felt Better.

I made this one exactly as they called for
in the pattern using Patons Wool yarn,
which I actually also had in my stash already.
did not get the custom fit I was after,
but liked them overall, would improvise
pattern next time around on this one.

My cat actually tried them on,
but not only were they too large,
but he felt they just didn't match.
smart cat!

His favorite, as you can see are the fuzzy feet,
looks like he's letting you know
exactly what he thinks. the little add on
embellishment is felt cutout and buttons.

Camera on the fritz

2007-11-14T18:19:00.000-08:00

It's time to post yet again,
and lots of fun things to share...however,
camera is not up to snuff, so will post
some previous photos, and hope I get the
problem resolved before my next posting:

First up, a friend for Alan Dart's
snowman pattern, Mr. Melty

a felted pointsetta from Nicky Epstein's patterns:

and 2 lovely cat photos:

My entry for the Holiday Kal-Cal

2007-11-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

Yarn Thing and friends started yet another awesome Kal-Cal http://holidaykalcal.blogspot.com/
and this time I actually made it into
the sign up. Finally just finished crocheted
and felted bag and was able to post it.

actually working now on a new bag,
next one will be a winter theme.
Hmmm...I think I see a pattern
developing here...anyway, this is my entry:

It's appliqued with wool, some which I had to dye to get the right colors, and hand sewn...

and what's on my needles,
as usual the list is long
and varies considerably
from project to project...but one thing
I am having lots of fun with is the following:

Stay tuned, whole lot of fun things in the works.