Knit1Run2

Good Knit-Wear Recipieints

2012-01-25T15:54:00.003-05:00

They are not lacking in my family, though there has been a lost hat incident and a lost scarf incident which I don't hold against the two people and have knit to replace them.

My brother's girlfriend is a wonderful knit wear recipient who sends extremely grateful thanks and appreciative statements and sends pictures of her wearing what she has received. That is sure-fire get on the knit list for good behavior.

Here's said photo.

I have some FO's to show you, maybe a parade is in order next week?

In other news I have been running a lot and will continue to do so in preparation for an upcoming relay across Massachusetts where I will run 15-20 miles in 24 hours in three legs and a half marathon and the BAA Distance Medley, which consists of a 5K, a 10K, and a half marathon over 6 months.

31 while 31 UPDATE

2012-01-03T12:21:00.003-05:00

I did 6 of the things on my list since I last posted!!

1) Race a trail 5k-Spring/summer/Fall
2) Knit a colorwork project-DONE
3)Knit an adult sized sweater. Picked out Thermal for this project.
4) Knit an entrelac project-will have to finish one I have started.
5) Run a relay race-Scheduled for December
6) Make lamb bacon
7) Make pasta from scratch
8) Take a finishing class for knitting
9)Take a crochet class-DONE, at Gather Here in Cambridge. I made a granny square mostly there and finished it later and then used my crochet skills to do a border on a hat!!!
10) Take a sewing class-DONE, also at Gather Here, where I made an awesome bag I have been using for a bunch of things!!!
11) Take an exercise class I would normally avoid-maybe not trapeze as Sarah suggester, but something similarly out of my comfort zone.-DONE, I went cross country skiing recently in Stowe, taking a beginner class and while I am a very proficient down hill skier, cross country skiing is very different and something I didn't do so well at. It was a good challenge and I will continue to try.
12) Take Michael camping
3) Take Michael hiking
14) Host/Organize a contest involving pie, maybe eating, maybe making?
15) Make a good soy milk based ice cream-DONE, we made dulce de leche soy ice cream for the latke party my dad and step mom had last weekend.
16) Run another half-marathon-already picked out the Run to Remember!
17) Make Pizza from scratch-dough and sauce. Cheese will have to buy
18) Make Madeleines...
19) Make buttercream from scratch-DONE, we made a bunch of cakes and cupcakes for a Girls on the Run event and our running club banquet, including buttercream in a number of colors and two flavors, vanilla and chocolate.
20) Raise money for Girls On The Run as a Solemate for the Run to Remember.
21) Learn three guitar chords-I can't promise I will remember them at the end of the year.
22) Learn rudimentary phrases in Spanish.
23) Knit something for charity.-DONE
24) Make cider donuts.
25) Visit a new city-this will be hard, I've been to most I want to go to. Thinking New Orleans.-DONE, technically done as I drove to Albany, NY for work a few weeks ago and dropped off a few things. Not exactly what I was thinking, but it is technically done.
26) Blog every week. I have completely abandoned it, but will start again and track my progress there and here. I AM MAKING PROGRESS ON THIS BUT HAVE SLACKED SOME WEEKS, WILL HAVE TO DO 52 TOTAL BUT THEY WON'T ALL BE WEEKLY
27) Go to 4 concerts. This may not seem like a lot, but it is for us, which is sad. 1) Smashing Pumpkins
28) Make sourdough bread from scratch
29) Dye my own yarn
30) Watch three foreign language films that are not a romance language
31) Have a cocktail party

Hat Progress

2011-11-17T15:44:00.004-05:00

I tell you, this is slow going because I had to design the hat and now knitting time has been short.

I am making pretty good progress though, as I am 4 to 5 rows beyond this now. I am picking up places where I want the pattern to be different than the chart and taking notes on that so I can easily write up the complete pattern when finished.

It is also time to update my 31 while 31.

1) Race a trail 5k-Spring/summer/Fall
2) Knit a colorwork project-DONE
3)Knit an adult sized sweater. Picked out Thermal for this project.
4) Knit an entrelac project-will have to finish one I have started.
5) Run a relay race-Scheduled for December
6) Make lamb bacon
7) Make pasta from scratch
8) Take a finishing class for knitting
9)Take a crochet class
10) Take a sewing class
11) Take an exercise class I would normally avoid-maybe not trapeze as Sarah suggester, but something similarly out of my comfort zone.
12) Take Michael camping
3) Take Michael hiking
14) Host/Organize a contest involving pie, maybe eating, maybe making?
15) Make a good soy milk based ice cream
16) Run another half-marathon-already picked out the Run to Remember!
17) Make Pizza from scratch-dough and sauce. Cheese will have to buy
18) Make Madeleines...
19) Make buttercream from scratch
20) Raise money for Girls On The Run as a Solemate for the Run to Remember.
21) Learn three guitar chords-I can't promise I will remember them at the end of the year.
22) Learn rudimentary phrases in Spanish.
23) Knit something for charity.-DONE
24) Make cider donuts.
25) Visit a new city-this will be hard, I've been to most I want to go to. Thinking New Orleans.
26) Blog every week. I have completely abandoned it, but will start again and track my progress there and here. I AM MAKING PROGRESS ON THIS BUT HAVE SLACKED SOME WEEKS, WILL HAVE TO DO 52 TOTAL BUT THEY WON'T ALL BE WEEKLY
27) Go to 4 concerts. This may not seem like a lot, but it is for us, which is sad. 1) Smashing Pumpkins
28) Make sourdough bread from scratch
29) Dye my own yarn
30) Watch three foreign language films that are not a romance language
31) Have a cocktail party

Happy Knitting!

New Project

2011-11-08T09:57:00.002-05:00

I am working on designing a hat for M.

Step One is complete.
Step Two is re-making the chart in excel and doing the math.

Step Three is casting on and knitting!

Happy Fall Knitting!

Tough times and good times

2011-10-31T19:39:00.002-05:00

My mother came to visit this past weekend. That was good times. Losing power to a freak October snowstorm? Bad times. Having to take pictures and post my finished projects tonight from the parents house? Tough times.

31 while 31,....

2011-10-24T07:27:00.004-05:00

I recently turned 31 and one of the things I did that day was to make a list of 31 things to do while 31. I completely missed the 30 while 30 bandwagon. Without further ado and in an attempt to be accountable here is the list.

1) Race a trail 5k
2) Knit a colorwork project-already started
3)Knit an adult sized sweater. Picked out Thermal for this project.
4) Knit an entrelac project-will have to finish one I have started.
5) Run a relay race
6) Make lamb bacon
7) Make pasta from scratch
8) Take a finishing class for knitting
9)Take a crochet class
10) Take a sewing class
11) Take an exercise class I would normally avoid-maybe not trapeze as Sarah suggester, but something similarly out of my comfort zone.
12) Take Michael camping
3) Take Michael hiking
14) Host/Organize a contest involving pie, maybe eating, maybe making?
15) Make a good soy milk based ice cream
16) Run another half-marathon-already picked out the Run to Remember!
17) Make Pizza from scratch-dough and sauce. Cheese will have to buy
18) Make Madeleines...
19) Make buttercream from scratch
20) Raise money for Girls On The Run as a Solemate for the Run to Remember.
21) Learn three guitar chords-I can't promise I will remember them at the end of the year.
22) Learn rudimentary phrases in Spanish.
23) Knit something for charity.
24) Make cider donuts.
25) Visit a new city-this will be hard, I've been to most I want to go to. Thinking New Orleans.
26) Blog every week. I have completely abandoned it, but will start again and track my progress there and here.
27) Go to 4 concerts. This may not seem like a lot, but it is for us, which is sad. 1) Smashing Pumpkins
28) Make sourdough bread from scratch
29) Dye my own yarn
30) Watch three foreign language films that are not a romance language
31) Have a cocktail party

I will post here on my progress!

Happy Knitting!

Knitting and Running Update

2011-01-30T12:51:00.009-05:00

Hi everyone!

I have decided this year to participate in or emulate the Yarn Harlot with her self-imposed sock club. I don't need any more sock yarn, in fact, I need less to be able to purchase some yarn at Sock Summit 2011, which I plan on attending. It turns out, I have a lot of people I can knit socks for who will appreciate it. January was my cousin Allison, who really loves socks! I decided to knit the first pair of the year for her, as I promised her socks when I was in Portland, Oregon last time for my grandmother/grandfather's informal memorial. We picked out the Toe-Up Totem Socks and some Dream in Color Smooshy I received in a swap a few years ago. They turned out to be a really good combination. The yarn was a dream and the pattern was easy to follow. I only used the stitch pattern from the pattern, doing my standard toe, heel and bind-off.
I did these in 19 days, which is a record for me for socks. I normally take my time and have more than just the socks on the needles. However, this time, I only had this project going and it went very quickly.You can check out the rest of the project details here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/KnittingDefender/toe-up-totem-socks.
I also finished the baby blanket for my cousin's son. It was difficult to find a spot to take a picture of this. I took the patterns from some dishcloth patterns I purchased on etsy and put them together into a 3 X 3 block pattern with seed stitch in between. You can check out the pattern pictures here http://www.ravelry.com/projects/KnittingDefender/baby-blanket-for-nephew.I have started my February socks already, I'm doing the Manly Aran Socks by Wendy Johnson in String Theory Caper Yarn. It's very soft and a good match for this cabled pattern. You can see the details here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/KnittingDefender/manly-aran-socks.Here is the start...This pattern requires a lot of attention from me at least and so I also started a scarf project to use up one of my single skeins from Rhinebeck. It is Brooks Farm Solo in a green and white colorway. The pattern is the Prismatic Scarf. Here is the ravelry link for the project.
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/KnittingDefender/the-prismatic-scarf
I have been running a fair bit and I have a 5k coming up at the end of February, a 10K planned for April, a 5K planned for July when I am in Portland for Sock Summit on the Nike campus and a half marathon scheduled for the end of August. I admit I have been struggling with my runs, energy wise and my legs have been feeling dead but I stuck it out for 3.5 miles yesterday even though I felt awful. I'm going to start a 10K plan now and jump into a half marathon plan when I am done with that.

I also made meringues for the first time and they turned out great, soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside. I plan on making more as they weren't hard to make.

Happy knitting and running and baking.

Happy New Year..

2011-01-02T21:00:00.004-05:00

I hope that you had a great end to 2010 and a great start to 2011.

M and I stayed in and had a nice pasta dinner and some champagne drinks made with a bottle of the champagne from our wedding. On the first day of 2011 we ran the Hangover Classic in Salisbury, MA. I wasn't expecting a whole lot because of the drinking the night before but I managed to run around a 32:30. I can't say for certain since they can't manage to get all the results up, but I know M came up to me and the clock read 33:06 when he did and told me it had to be a Personal Record. It had been at least 15 seconds since I got to the corrals, where there was a huge back-up and I didn't cross the start line for probably 30 seconds at least after the race started. My previous best time was 35:57, so this was a huge jump for me. I am just glad that the running work is paying off in increased fitness. Then we came back and finished the duck confit and leek, artichoke, and potato gratin and peanut butter and chocolate puddings we were making for New Year's Day dinner. It was delicious but the pudding was a little too thick. If I make it again I will not let it thicken so much. Here are the links for the recipes from epicurious.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Duck-Confit-102313

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Artichoke-Leek-and-Potato-Gratin-238010

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Peanut-Butter-Milk-Chocolate-Puddings-350968

If you make the duck, it takes the full three hours cooking time for it to get really tender.

I have been knitting and I did a lot this weekend. I have been working on these socks.

As you can see I have one done and the second one is about halfway done. I am at the exact point where I need to start turning the heel.

It is the Laurel Socks Pattern from Toe-Up Socks for Every Body by Wendy Johnson.

Happy Knitting and Running and Baking in the New Year!

Catch-Up

2010-10-24T14:05:00.008-05:00

It's been a while. Let's play catch-up.

Here is the baby blanket I am working on for my cousin's baby #2. The baby, named after my grandfather, has been born. He's in Hawaii though, so how much need is there immediately for this blanket? Probably not much. However, after a break from it for too much thought required, I sat down and figured out the question in about 30 seconds. I guess it was the wine making the question seem way more difficult than it actually was?

Here is the sock I am working on, when I am commuting or need something small to take a long. This is sock #1. I needed some sunny yarn to work with.
I also started this project, a pair of Dashing (from Knitty.com) for M with yarn he purchased at Rhinebeck. That's right, I went and he came with me. I am a little farther along now and it is a darker blue color but fall light in Boston is difficult for color.

M went with me partially because it was the weekend before my 30th birthday. We also went to the Boston Book Festival the day before and it was fantastic. I highly recommend it next year.

My Portland family sent me flowers for my birthday, aren't they pretty?M got me new gloves for skiing. I wanted and needed these.
He also got me this book all on his own (I picked out the mittens). He remembered that I wanted to get better at finishing and he read reviews and picked it out on his own. It's a great gift for me.

He also knew I wanted one of these: a Namaste Circular needle case. I haven't set it up yet, but I will soon. I have a bag of circular needles just waiting to be neatly sorted.
This is M's Rhinebeck yarn.

This is part of the yarn M purchased for a sweater I will knit for him at some point. The rest of the yarn is being shipped from the seller.
M also got a skein of this super sparkly yarn to learn how to knit socks for our 2 year old niece. We will see how great he does with it!I bought four skeins of this yarn with Cashmere to knit a sweater with. Cashmere. That is all I am saying. You will see more of this soon.
I also got some yummy sock yarn. This is closer to the color but blurry.
This is not the color, it is much deeper, a real dark burgundy type color.
We also saw these puppies and thank god they were already purchased otherwise we may have bought one due to cuteness overload and we could not handle a dog right now.
There were of course adorable other animals, like these:
None of them really cooperated with my photo taking attempts.

I also ran in a 10K and finished under less than ideal conditions for me.

I did it despite eating some of the below peanut butter cup cookies. These are the ingredients and the process.
It is fun pushing the peanut cups into the cookie.M also made us delicious dinner. This was really good.

It included these really delicious twice fried potato slices. If you haven't tried this and don't mind a lot of work, it is worth it.
I also made a peanut butter tart that was the best thing ever but so dangerous to have around. It didn't last long.
That is what I have been up to, running and eating peanut butter desserts to replace those calories.

Happy Knitting!

Finally FO

2010-08-25T17:25:00.003-05:00

I finally finished my "Tour de France" socks. It took me a lot longer than during the Tour de France and I am the first person to admit it. However, I am very happy with the finished product even if it seemed like they would never end. I learned on this project that I like one cable needle type far better than the other. I much prefer and find much easier to work with the fisherman's hook like cable needles than the ones that are like a dpn but bent up in the middle. They just work better for me at the stitches not coming off the cable needle and for ease of knitting from them. The socks turned out to be quite long and I used up all but less than a yard of the yarn I believe. I didn't even do the ribbing at the top, using my scale to judge with great success how many repeats I could squeeze out of this yarn.
It took me a little bit (a couple of days) to start a new project, but I have. It's not the project down below. It's a baby blanket I am knitting using someone else's dishcloth patterns, all of them are Hawaii related, to put into a pattern with seed stitch in between the dishcloth patterns. It's in progress but I only have the seed stitch border going so far since I had to do a fair bit of counting and arranging and math to get the patterns sorted into how I want to use them and what will make a good baby blanket size.

This is not the new project but the start of another new one. It's a swatch. If you know what for, let me know, otherwise I will tell you next time.

In running related news I have started training for my 10k in October. I am using Hal Higdon's Novice plan for the 10k and it is going well so far, except for all this rain we have all of a sudden in the Boston area which is mostly keeping me from running outside.

Happy Knitting and Running!

P.S. Happy Birthday to my Dad and niece tomorrow!

Flowers and Train Knitting

2010-08-01T20:32:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone,

I have been very busy as of late. I did not meet my Tour de France goal. It was an epic failure for me. However, these flowers from M did wonders to cheer me up about that. Aren't they beautiful? They lasted strong for about a week and now some of the blooms are still around, but most have gone away. They were the most fragrant and wonderful flowers.
Here was the socks before I did another 1.5 repeats to be left with only one more to go on this sock and then the border. However, I am still behind this on the other sock, having most of the leg left to go.
I didn't knit on it much this week because Michael ran in a 24 hour relay race this weekend starting at 7 PM Friday night and going to 7 PM Saturday night. Our running club, the Shamrock Runners Club, had the team. We spent the night there in my car, and only slept 5-6 hours that night. It wasn't the most comfortable. The relay was over a 5k course. I ran one lap for M at about 4 PM on Saturday. It wasn't very ideal conditions. It was hot at that point, and while it was not that humid, I couldn't race as hard as I would have liked. I did improve my 5k time to 36:08 by M's watch, since each individual lap was not timed, that is all I have to go on. I definitely didn't hydrate enough during the night and day due to some very questionable porta potties. It was mid day Saturday before we discovered the office park bathrooms were open with running water and real toilets and soap!!!! soap!!!! It seemed like such a luxury at that point. If he does this again next year, we will 1) have a tent or go home to sleep in our bed, as it is 20-25 minutes away, and we would have 5-6 hours in between laps at night as they do 2 laps during the night to let people get some sleep. Today we were both tired, so we went and did some fun things I wanted to do-we did mini golf and got ice cream at Richardson's, which is yummy.

I did a repeat today on the sock however. I'm looking forward to the finishing line with these so I can start and concentrate on the baby blanket.

Happy Knitting and Running!

Will I Make It?

2010-07-21T12:39:00.006-05:00

This past week I didn't get so much knitting done. I am at this point on both socks however. I turned the second heel last night and am knitting my way up the leg slowly. Both socks look pretty much like this, but one has the current repeat pictured and one additional repeat completed. Can I get them done by Sunday around 11 AM when the Tour de France rolls into Paris and onto the Champs d'Elysees? I just don't know. It would probably involve marathon knitting on Saturday because I am missed knitting night tonight. I did knit on the socks while I would have been there, but am not sure I was as productive as I would have been. M is in a team race tomorrow night so that will be cut down on time and Friday night we may go see Inception or something. Can I do it? I probably can, but do I want to?

I did check out Windsor Button's Tuesday lunch knitting group. It's small, but nearby and a good fix if I need to knit. I also picked up some beautiful soft blue Blue Ski Alpaca 100% Organic Dyed Cotton for a baby blanket for a Hawaii baby. I figured wool was just not an option otherwise I would have gone for Cascade 220. I picked up six skeins and it is 150 yards each and it should do it based on other baby blankets I have knit.

Finally, what would the world be if our Big Papi wasn't being cute? Here he is in a box peaking out at me on the couch. We have so many boxes in the living room because we were separating old kitchen stuff to give to our respective siblings.

I have not run since Saturday. I know, I wish I were but ever since I went from running 11-12 minute/mile pace normally to 4 miles on Saturday at 9:30 minute/mile pace my right hip on the front at the crest of illium has been hurting. It's now down to discomfort, but until it is feeling better, I am resting it. I will be taking it slower for my runs from now on. That was way too fast for me.

Happy Knitting and Running!

Tour de France Project

2010-07-10T13:47:00.006-05:00

I love the Tour de France. I don't follow cycling except for the Tour, but I love it. It might have something to do with the fact that I love most things French, but not all, and I love the actual country. I can't stand mushrooms and that is something not very Francophile at all.

However, I love the Tour and follow it as much as possible during the week, watching when I can, and I watch on the weekends. During my last summer without 9 to 5 working, when I was studying for the bar exams I took, I watched every day on mute while studying.
Now, I watch less but love it just the same. It's an incredible feat just to ride it and to win it is to be lucky and skilled and determined.

A fair amount of people do a Tour De Fleece where they spin an entire fleece during the three weeks of the Tour. I am doing my own Tour challenge, of a project to complete during the Tour.
I cast on a pair of socks during the first real stage, not the Prologue, and have been knitting on them ever since. They are my Tour challenge, my mountains to climb.

I made a little more progress after taking this photo. I have three repeats done on the first sock I started and I have one repeat finished on the second sock and am on the second repeat now. I want to have three repeats finished on the second sock finished by the end of the day today at least. I think I will need two more repeats on each sock after that for a total of 5 repeats for the foot. I plan on using wendy's gusset heel for these socks instead of the one using wrap and turns. I think I am on pace for finishing these socks by the end of the Tour. We will see how that keeps going. I think there will be a lot of catch up on the weekends for these socks.

I also went running yesterday. M and I joined a running club, the Shamrock Runners. They are out of Woburn, MA, right near where we lived in Burlington. We went to go do a trail run they do on Saturdays yesterday, but people were only there for the earlier runs. M was going to do the entire 9 mile run, but I was going to do less. It was hot by the time we got there at 8 AM and we were the only ones there. We weren't really feeling it and after a few false starts we did 1.9 miles out in 21:26 minutes and walked back because I felt bad after that. I felt light headed and dizzy and like I was going to get sick. He went to the gym after that and did another 6 miles inside. It was too fast for me, our pace. In the heat, I couldn't go that fast and feel good after three drinks the night before and not properly hydrating. I'll try it again next week maybe when we go earlier and without drinking the night before and will properly hydrate.

Happy Knitting and weekend!

FO! FO! FO!

2010-07-01T21:47:00.005-05:00

This is why I haven't been posting that much.

I ran my first 5k last weekend. The arm you can see to the right in red is my husband, M. I started running 6 weeks before that and signed up for the 5k as a way to motivate myself. M has been running for many years and has been encouraging me. I finished in around 36 minutes, which was my goal, besides running the entire thing. With work and running and life there isn't a whole lot of time. I have been knitting, but not that much.

I did finish the socks for my grandfather. Here is the finished project. I hope they fit him. I'm a little worried about that.

I also lost a weekend to Michael's marathon softball game. Here he is batting during the game. He did well, even though his team lost.

Here is the finished scoreboard we spent all weekend before the game working on.

I have since started a new pair of socks that I started during the first real stage of the Tour de France this morning. The prologue just seemed like a strange way to start it to me. I hope to finish these socks before the final stage in Paris. I'll fill you in on the details of those next post.

For now, Happy 4th of July and Happy Knitting!

Progress, but not too much...

2010-06-13T20:45:00.004-05:00

I did make a little knitting progress this weekend, but not much. I have a really good reason however. This is all I got done-the heel on the sock. I am now on the leg.

This weekend M and I went down to Old Lyme, CT to his cousin's beach house. Did we touch sand this weekend?

Nope, but I did see the beach. It really wasn't beach weather and that was probably good, because then we were not tempted to abandon the really giant craft project we worked on all weekend.

M has been playing in a marathon softball game for at least ten years the day before Fathers Day and this is the fortieth year of the game.

They used to have an old scoreboard and lost it somewhere. This year, in honor of the 40th year and a player who passed away a few years ago, M's cousin decided to re-make it. We went down to help them. I think that it turned out very well.

This is the lovely kitty we came home to. He wasn't there, but was in another of his spots when we came home. He has now apparently had enough of us and is back on top of the box with yarn in it.

Happy Knitting and other crafting!

I haven't been knitting enough to make this interesting....

2010-06-10T19:29:00.004-05:00

I haven't been knitting enough to make this interesting and these are why

I started to run with my husband, Michael. He is a great runner and has been very patient with me, including running with me at my pace outside. I was making great progress, following a runner's world training program for a 5k. It was going along swimmingly.

I am training to run a 5k on June 27. It is around the Charles River and supposed to be pretty flat. I wasn't feeling particularly confident after a terrible running day on Tuesday. On Tuesday, I couldn't even run a mile. I did my 5 minute warm up, walking at 2.5 on the treadmill. I then started to run at my normal pace and a slight incline. I only made it .75 miles before a side stitch did me in. I was also dragging in energy. It was the proverbial set back.

I made up for it today. I did my 5 minute walk warm up and then I ran 3.1 miles at my normal pace!!!! That'y my race distance! Sure, it was on the treadmill and sure it was inside and sure I was sweating like mad, but I did it! I now feel confident that I will run the entire 5k which has been my goal from the start.

Knitting wise?
All I have done is get to the heel for the Grandpa sock and start it. I'm almost done with the gusset. It's going along.

I hope you have some happy knitting and whatever you do for exercise! I promise more progress on these soon!

Then, it will be another baby blanket and a bunch o' finishing and the bike thing for my brother, E.

Knitting? Not so much

2010-05-16T09:14:00.003-05:00

I haven't managed to knit that much this past week. I've been very busy dealing with some things that needed to be dealt with.

I have made some progress on my sock for my Grandpa.

It's not that exciting knitting.

However, we did go to Newbury Street in Boston yesterday and walked around.

I am starting to run with my husband, so we went to Marathon Sports and picked me up some running shoes.

They are hopefully going to be good for me, so if this continues, you will probably get some running stories on here too now.

Happy Knitting!

Knitting Galore!

2010-05-09T20:35:00.007-05:00

I have done a fair bit of knitting lately, so I have lots to show you. Unfortunately, I did not take a final picture of the socks I knit for my mother, which is also my first design ever, so I will have that pattern for you at some point soon.

Here is in an in progress shot. My Mom says she will get pictures for me sometime soon of her wearing the finished project.

I did finish some other projects.

I finished a Gail/Nightsongs in Mini Mochi.

Here it is blocking. It's now off the blocking wires and I wore it today. It is so light and warm.

I also finished a scarf for my brother based on the movie Harry Potter, the scarves that the students wore in the later years. Here he is in the scarf, I think you can tell that he likes it.

This is one of my current projects. It is a pair of socks for my Grandpa. I hope they fit since I don't have his foot measurements, only his shoe size.

I am also working on his hat for my niece, who can now say my name! She is growing up so fast!

Happy Knitting....

2010-04-02T20:42:00.003-05:00

I know I have been gone for a while.

I have been knitting.

It was secret knitting for a long time, so I couldn't post on here.

I finished this baby blanket for my friend Heather. It's been gifted at a shower a month ago so it can be posted now. Heather is having a boy, so I picked a good blue in Cascade 220 superwash.

I am almost done with this Harry Potter scarf for my brother. I have now cast off and have to do some weaving in ends and some fringe.

I am almost three quarters of the way done with these socks for my Mom. On this sock you see below, I am up to the point where I will start the gusset and heel.

One is done as you can see. I think I will write up this pattern, as it has been my own design and the people at my knitting group seemed to like it.

Happy Knitting, I will be casting on a little shawlette with my Mini Mochi tomorrow because I need another project and something for me.

I Win!

2010-02-16T21:11:00.003-05:00

Well, I have an FO and I won a blog contest on Grumperina's blog!

Here is the FO!

Yes, I finished the blanket!

Ok, that is only half of it. The finished and unwashed/blocked blanket is 23 X 46.

Here is the entire thing....is it big enough for a baby?

Now that I am done with the blanket I will be working on this scarf for my brother: It's a Gryffindor scarf, the style worn by the students in their later years at school.

What did I win in a contest on Grumperina's blog?

I won this copy of toe-up! It's a new sock bock by Chrissy Gardiner that allows you to take control of your own toe-up sock knitting.

It has excellent instruction sections(6 of them!) and a list of patterns.

It also has some excellent charts in the back for the heels and toes outlined in the instruction sections from the heels and toes parts to make them fit your foot perfectly.

It also has a number of patterns I would like to knit. The one drawback to this book? It only has heels that involve the wrap and turn and an afterthought heel. I avoid the wrap and turn like the plague and use a heel from wendyknits free patterns generally and have yet to use an afterthought heel. I would have liked to see a heel like the one from wendyknits, she has a fingering weight toe-up sock pattern on her website for free that I use all the time in all my socks regardless of what the pattern calls for.

I would still recommend this book for the person who wants to have most of the options for toe-up socks laid out in front of them to use any stitch pattern in a sock and just have to punch in the numbers. Some of these sock patterns are definitely worth it as well. This would be a good book for the beginning toe-up sock knitter as well, it has some easy patterns and very clear instructions.

My secret unpictured project is coming along well, I'm about to start the heel on the first one and that is the last real step before I can write a complete pattern for it. Just have to crunch the numbers.

As always, Happy Knitting!

I've been away from you for awhile

2010-02-07T11:45:00.004-05:00

But I have been knitting

I finished a pair of socks (gifted to my little sister) and a scarf (gifted to my big sister).

I'm 70% or so through a baby blanket.

I am using my new Addi Clicks. I really like these needles. The kit comes with a good variety of sizes for me and three lengths of cord. I wish it came with more but you can buy more. I really like the push and turn method of locking. You take the cord and push the tip down onto it and turn the needle and it locks in place. It hasn't come loose once knitting that entire amount so far. Their is a small place where yarn could snag at the join but I haven't had a problem with it. The needles are very smooth like the regular Addis, which I still use. I think these needles are definitely worth it if you use a wide variety of needle size and like the regular Addi needles. I am probably going to give away my Knit Picks set and use these and fixed needles solely.

Here, you can see the needle and the join.

I have also been fixing Michael's knitting issues since he started working on his blanket for his sister again. He didn't flip his knitting around here and since he was using a circular needle when he started knitting at the wrong end he joined his work into a circle on accident. He isn't comfortable with tinking so I did it for him.

I also started another scarf for my older brother. He wants a Gryffindor scarf from the later years. I am using this pattern (http://crochetandy.blogspot.com/2007/08/honorable-hufflepuff-house-scarf-free.html) and using Cascade 220 in colorway 2401 for the main color and Mirasol Kacha in Shade 1209 for the contrast color.

Ravelry Link for the Pattern http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/harry-potter-poa-scarf-on-the-round

As you can see, I just started it.

Over the holidays we cooked and baked a lot, including these cookies which were finished and looked really funny after we were done. I do not have cookie decorating skills.

Happy Knitting in 2010!

I also have a pair of socks I am working on that is my own design. It's turning out really well, so I may have a pattern up for it at some point. I'm holding off on pictures until I have one done and figured out how to write down the knitting instructions.

2009-11-23T21:50:00.006-05:00

This is what I will probably be knitting this weekend...

Edit: This hat is what I knit this weekend. Now I am on to a pair of socks.....

They were both contained in this new bag Michael got my for my birthday. I love it, the only thing I wished it had that it does not is a zipper for the closure.

Otherwise, it is awesome and pretty cute.

Happy Knitting and Turkey!

A very late Rhinebeck recap!!

2009-11-15T09:04:00.009-05:00

I went to Rhinebeck again this year with Heather, and we had a lot of fun.

Alanna of Tactile Travel organizes a really great and stress free trip.

This year there was no hotel mix-up and the place we were staying was great, a real step up from last year and conveniently located. Not having to do the driving was great and the mix of people was fun. I learned a lot from them and they were all really nice. You should come along next year. You want to see the purchases? Ok, here it goes.

This is two gigantic skeins from Brian Rose Fibers of Pilgrim in a beautiful dark colorway with red, green and blue.

This is a really soft skein of angora and wool that I will use for a hat for the husband.

This is a really soft skein of Brooks Farm Solo in Greens and Creams. It was on sale and was a totally great purchase I do not regret.

This is 6 skeins of Fleece Artist Blue Face Leicester Aran for a sweater. It is a beautiful grey. I think it is for the Owls Sweater.

You can't tell from this picture but this is a dark green larger skein of angora and one small skein of purple angora. It is really soft and for a hat for my niece.

This is three skeins of beautiful purple and lilac Brooks Farm Sport weight Solo.

This is the swag bag from the ravelry party.

What's this?

Oh yeah, Guido of It's a Purl Man taught me how to drop spindle on the car ride down and I left Rhinebeck with a spindle and some fiber.

Happy KNitting and Spinning!!!

Long Awaited? Chuppah Photos

2009-11-11T20:48:00.003-05:00

Yay Over Two Months Married!

My wonderful brother Eli (also a witness for the marriage contract signing) took these pictures.

Thanks E!

HAPPY KNITTING!!!

Yup, it's snowing

2009-10-16T06:03:00.003-05:00

It's October 16, 2009 in Andover, Massachusetts and it is snowing.

Time to break out the winter jackets and the gloves.

A little early, don't you think?

Kitty surely thinks so....

He's all curled up on the couch like this, staying warm....

I'm off to Rhinebeck tomorrow (no, Michael is not coming).

Stay warm and Happy Knitting!

Be warned, my stash is well guarded and shall increase in size!

Clapotis Progress

2009-10-11T12:41:00.007-05:00

This is pretty slow going....but it is going to be worth it.

There is officially no way I will finish this before Rhinebeck (5 days). I would have 4.5 days to knit and 1 to block. There is no way. I am saying this to convince the crazy voice in my head that says maybe you could do it. Then I realize I am still on the first of 13 repeats of the twelve row repeat straight section. 36 rows per day? Maybe if I didn't have a jury trial on Wednesday. Maybe if I didn't have a bench trial on Tuesday. Maybe if I didn't sleep.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Here it is now.

I just dropped the first stitch to create the first line of dropped stitches.

See? It's a fuzzy drop stitch section.

Kitty says, don't expect me to help.

I am busy sleeping. Stop bothering me with your flash lady!

Happy Knitting!

The Old and the New

2009-10-04T14:05:00.003-05:00

Here is the old project, soaking...This yarn (Cascade Eco Wool Plus) ran like crazy. I spent 30+ minutes rinsing it and it still was running a little. I just couldn't rinse any more.
This is 15-20 minutes in...
The water never ran clear. Here it is blocking.
Here is the new project: A clapotis (Knitty, Fall 2004) in Brooks Farm Ellie: Color: E8?
Finally, another new thing: proof that we actually use the new Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.
Happy Knitting/Baking/Cooking, whatever your hobby!

Binding off....interminably.....

2009-09-29T09:19:00.006-05:00

I'm in the process of binding off the Hemlock Ring blanket.

It's taking forever, I'm about 2/3 done, and like everyone else says, it takes a lot of yarn.

Want proof?

This is closer to the true color, but really blurry, but proof that the needles were still in until tonight.
When I am done with this I am casting on a clapotis that I hope to have done in time for Rhinebeck.

That's right, Heather and I are going again! Besides wanting something to keep me warm (show off) at Rhinebeck and the need to knit at least some of the yarn I bought last year before going again, I was inspired by the scarves the Spanish and Parisian women wore, as the designer says she was in the pattern notes on knitty. I also do not have the time to knit a sweater. I know me, and even though I knit pretty fast, it's not that fast.

I'm using this yarn:
Happy Knitting!

Update since I wrote the post originally.

It's done (well, off the needles!)Yay, I have a blob!

It should become a blocked blanket (bingo???) this weekend....

Until then, Happy Knitting!

I'm back...

2009-09-20T14:10:00.002-05:00

from my wedding and honeymoon!!

I wore the wedding shawl to great acclaim and people loved the chuppah.....It is always nice when people appreciate your handknits.

I am taking it as a compliment that someone at the wedding thought I machine knit the chuppah.

I can't find the one picture I know I saw that someone took but I will find it and post it here.

Honeymoon stories to follow in another post.

For now, happy knitting!

Wedding Shawl

2009-08-29T16:01:00.004-05:00

I finished my wedding shawl last week and it blocked out wonderfully I think.

I really love blocking wires but using them takes a long time.

I think it was worth it however.
The stitches really opened up and it about doubled in width.
I also finally blocked my fingerless gloves.

Pretty, and warm.
HAPPY KNITTING!

Sock Summit Stashed Skeins

2009-08-23T13:46:00.013-05:00

Hello and welcome to the land of huge purchases. They aren't huge individually, but it adds up quickly.

I did my best to support the economy.

1. This is from Knitted Wit. So is the next entry. They are the same base yarn. This is their Superwash merino. It is 410 yards, knit on a 2-3 and is 4 oz. This is the colorway Lion.2. This is the colorway I also bought. I have the ball band around here somewhere.
3. This is from DyeDreams and is their Dream Sox. It is 75% superwash Merino and 25% nylon. It is 464 yards and 3.5 oz. This is their Cranberry colorway. Oh the red. Be still my beating heart. 4. This is from Dicentra Designs. It is 100% superwash BFL wool in the colorway Charlene.
5. This is from a Verb for Keeping Warm. This is colorway Vermillion, it is 100% superwash merino and is 100g with 385 yards. 6. This is from Kitchen Sink Dyeworks, their Luxe Merino Fine. It is 80& washable merino wool, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon. This is the Scout colorway, she is one of my favorite literary characters of all time. I suppose they could have meant a Boy Scout or Girl Scout or someone who scouts in the military or tracking sense. I prefer my interpretation. 7. This is from Purl Up & Dye. This is 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon.
8. This is from Abstract Fiber-their Supersock. It is hand-dyed in Portland, Oregon and I had to support the home-town dyers. I went to high school there and middle school. This is the Burnside Bridge colorway. 9. This is from hazel knits. This is their Artisan Sock, it's 90% superwash merino and 10% nylon. It's really soft and squishy. This is 500-Rogue and it is one of a kind according to the label.10. This is from Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks. It is their Naturally Dyed Sock Yarn. It is 100% superwash merino wool. It is called Danny Smanni's Garden and is #36.11. This is from Yarn Love. It is 100% Tussah Silk and is their Cleopatra yarn. It is 665 yards and 5.2 oz. It is the colorway Sparkling Pool and it is the most incredible mix of blues and barely tinted almost white-blue.
12. This is from Yarn Love. It is the Joan of Arc yarn, which is 50% merino and 50%. It is the colorway Maiden. It is deeper than what you see here.13. This is from Abstract Fibers. It is their Mighty Sock. It is 50% superwash merino and 50% tencel. It is their Andromeda colorway. I never thought Andromeda would be so light and full of spring. I had a rat named Andromeda as a child.

14.
15. This is from Black Trillium fibre studios. They are on etsy. This is BFL sock, 100% superwash BFL wool. It is 100 grams and 509 yards. This is the Coraline colorway.
16. This is from Chestnut Bay Fibers. It is a Superwash Merino Wool, 400 yards. I think it is called Galloping Colors.
Happy Knitting!!!! I have wedding knitting to show you, but I figure this is more than enough for one post.

Portland Trip Redux!

2009-08-13T19:27:00.013-05:00

I got back last Sunday from a trip to Portland, Oregon. I went to middle school and high school there and I was there for 8 days. I did a lot as you can see.

I went to my 10 year high school reunion. It was great to see everyone. We took this picture at the end of the night. These are some of my friends from high school.
This is Jessica Christopherson and me. She and I did a lot of drama activities and shows together in high school. She seemed to be doing really well. I went to the Hillsdale Farmers Market. It moved to the parking lot next to my high school. It was interesting to drive by and see nothing had changed physically.

I tried to get a picture of this really interesting yellow moon. It did not work out so well.
I went to Sock Summit. I scored two classes by just showing up at registration on Thursday. The people working there were really nice and helpful.

This booth definitely had the best display of yarn I thought, they wrapped the poles with it.

Waiting to get into the marketplace was fun, there was a line on Thursday and when the doors opened people cheered like for a rock concert starting.
One of those classes that I scored was a One Hour Wonder with Cookie A. I learned some good things and managed to make an idiotic mistake with her but she still took a picture with me. I bought her book and got it signed and can't wait to try some of the patterns.
I participated in the hopefully new World Record for Most Knitters Knitting.
I saw and felt a lot of fiber that made me want to spin, but I don't have time to do so. This stuff in this booth was so soft.
As you can see, I purchased a fair bit of yarn in Portland, some at Twisted, but most at Sock Summit. It is all from small producers, I did not understand people buying stuff you can get anywhere or online from many stores when there was so much good small producer stuff. I do want to check out Mini Mochi yarn however.
I will tell you more about each one next post.

I spent a fair bit of time with these people: My Mom, sister and niece and brother. Fun times.
Happy Knitting!

The latest project in the Can Rebecca finish this in time for her wedding game....

2009-07-27T07:31:00.005-05:00

Here we have another contestant on the Can Rebecca Finish This in Time for her Wedding game?

The first?

The Chuppah

Done.

Second?

A secret.

Done.

Third?A wedding shawl knit in fingering weight yarn (because the 100% silk thread that masqueraded as yarn was just undoable on this deadline.

Can she do it in just 41 days folks? She has three repeats done-they take about an hour and needs roughly 31 more, or until she runs out of her 800 yards of fingering weight yarn.

So can she do it?

Follow her progress her and we shall see whether this ends in bitter defeat or stunning success!

Forward progress after ripping back....

2009-06-28T08:35:00.019-05:00

I have made some very welcome forward progress on the Hemlock Ring after some very backwards sliding. I had to rip out completely again, not because I had made mistakes in the first fifteen rows but picking up the stitches in this project without a lifeline wasn't worth it for the short time it would take me to re-knit. However, there was cursing involved. I am now however starting the feather and fan section (a third lifeline will happen before that does).

I can't wait to show my progress to the other person in my knitting group who is doing the knit a long with me. This was hard earned progress.

I wrote that about a week ago and now I am here: Almost to the end of the regular size throw and just added the second skein on row 50 of the feather and fan section.
The other thing that was hard-earned?

This pay off shot for you that you get now. I will not post any more pictures of it until the wedding. Sorry, but I want the full effect.

I am making slow progress on the scarf for my stepfather, I do a few inches every week but that's slow progress for something that will be 70 inches long at the end.I got a little bit of work done yesterday sitting outside in the sun (gasp!) watching Michael play in an ultimate frisbee tournament (they made the semi-finals!!). Here's proof it was sunny.Happy Knitting!

I may have a new project to show you next time.

Ripped and Restarted

2009-06-17T21:47:00.004-05:00

A friend from my knitting group and I are both knitting the Hemlock Ring blanket right now. She started two weeks ago and so is ahead of me. I had to rip out my attempt #1 and restart. I did that tonight, see!
Happy Knitting everyone!

Chuppah Knitting Finished!

2009-06-07T15:37:00.004-05:00

I bound off the Chuppah today.

Here is the pay-off shot of a crumpled up mess pre-blocking.

Here it is with no needles! This is the join at the end to prove it!

Next weekend I will weave in the ends and block it. I finished three months before the wedding!

This is all I had left.

It took a year and a half with a four month break in there. I am glad we had such a long engagement!

Now we can get married!

Good thing we finally sent out invitations! This is an invitation below, with some yummy chocolates M brought me from New York City. Yummy!

Happy Knitting!

I think I may be casting on another big project soon, with a friend from knitting group!

Gardening...or why there were no posts last weekend.

2009-05-31T14:26:00.001-05:00

Happy very late three day weekend and Memorial Day to those in the U.S. of A. I went to two barbecues, ate yummy food, watched people play badminton and did a lot of gardening.

The before of our yard was not so pretty.
These trees were not thriving. They were yellow on the bottom.

This area needed to be weeded and the stones have a sort of war rubble look. Not welcoming.
Also, we needed to weed. I spent most of the time doing that.
The after is far superior, in my estimation. About 4 hours worth superior. I know that is not a lot of time, but it made a world of difference as to our happiness with the place. Now we just need a table and chairs and grill out there.

Everyone who knows me knows that I do not have a green thumb. So, this was a big step for me. The two bushes along the top should grow to be 6 or so feet wide and 5 feet or so tall to give us a little privacy when we are on the patio.

Michael has since mulched the area around the new plants and it looks great! He did such a good job.

I also did a little knitting and finishing.

First, I finally wove in the ends on my fingerless gloves. It had been roughly 4-5 months since I finished knitting on these. My gauge varied greatly with both of these. However, they both fit. They are soft and warm, so I count it as a success and got to cross a UFO off the list just in time for summer.
I am still knitting my stepfather's scarf Take 2. It's Take 2 because I knit him one before and it has been lost. The saddest thing that can happen to a hand knitted object. I hope it warming the neck of someone out there.
I have been working on the Chuppah. That's side 3!!! of the border, almost done....8 repeats on this side to go roughly.... I can taste the end of the knitting on this project.
I also added to the stash at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool.

I got this 50% merino, 30% mohair, 20% angora. It's much more purple, all varying stages than this picture shows. It is so soft. It's 400 yards of fingering weight and is beautiful.

I also got this. It's 750 yards of beautiful and soft yarn. It's DK weight and I cannot wait to knit with it. Once I figure out what to knit that is. It is 100% alpaca.
Then there is this beautiful angora and superwash merino blend. It is so soft and so pretty. It has subtle gradiations in color.Then Michael got me some beautiful purple and green skeins from Tucker Woods. I had never seen their fiber before, but these two skeins sucked me in. It is mohair sport weight according to the tag, but I bet it is more a fingering weight. There are 3778 yards in each skein and it is 90% mohair and 10% cormo. You can see their fiber at tuckerwoodsfarm.com. I think this will look great as something using both these color.

Happy Knitting!

Sock pictures (done and upstairs in the sock drawer) next time!

New Hampshire Sheep and Wool, a Bridal Shower, a Book, and a Happy Kitty...

2009-05-17T19:20:00.005-05:00

I actually have fun things to show you but not any knitting because I only have an almost FO-2 repeats, ribbing and some binding off on a sock to go.

M and I took our annual trip to the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend.

I noticed this in the parking lot as we entered and I am sure I am not the only person to take a picture of it that weekend.

I bet this woman knits in public.

In no particular order now, I saw all of this last weekend:

Sheep, all lined up in a row. These sheep ate in unison, then moved forward in unison, then ate again in unison. It was like they had a hive mind.
No hive mind here, just some seriously awesome looking fiber animals I wanted to smuggle home.
This guy has quite the expressive face. He looks like a wise soul.
This guy had really cool horns. Looks like a shofar to me.
Michael likes to pet all the animals.
This guy had cool horns too.
This guy has dreadlocks. He's the coolest most laidback one in the bunch I bet.
These two were just so cute.
This guy was being herded.
I got this a couple weeks ago and it does not disappoint. It's seriously jam packed full of awesome information and great patterns. It's a must buy IMHO.
I had a wedding shower this weekend. The result:
A bunch of parcels full of wonderful things to go with the soon to be wonderful husband. I need to move those boxes upstairs.

There were some very nice personalized M and Ms at the shower, all in all it was very nice.

The flowers were very nice as well, I love the purple tulips in particular. This arrangement came home with us.
Now we have a very happy kitty to be back sprawling on his people.
Happy Knitting, I'll have pictures of the yummy yarn from NH Sheep and Wool and a finished sock to show you next time.

I know it's been a while since a.......................Chuppah Update!!!!

2009-05-03T20:54:00.005-05:00

I don't have any new decisions made because there really aren't any more to make.

I do have something new to show you however.

That is a corner! I finished one quarter of the border and turned the corner to the second of 4 sides on the border. Each side is about 30 hours of knitting. Wish me knitting mojo because every repeat of those 18 rows makes me a little more bored with the pattern. I will get it done, I will get it done!

Happy Knitting!

One sock down!!!

2009-04-26T21:17:00.003-05:00

I finished one sock! It went really quickly once I buckled down.

Forgive the white, white legs.

Happy Knitting!

Marathon Monday, now with actual participation..

2009-04-22T20:19:00.006-05:00

The third Monday in April in Boston is always Marathon Monday aka Patriots Day. This year, 2009, Michael ran in the marathon. Here he is on the course with a friend/running partner from the Liver Foundation team. They both ran for the charity.
Michael finished in 4:09:31, a steady 9 and a half minute per mile pace. I was able to follow him quite easily with text message alerts so that I could time it exactly when he passed me and get this picture of him and his running partner on the course.
Here we are at the end of the race where we met up. He started to be sore a little while after this, but I am so proud of him for finishing!

I am still in the midst of my Chuppah Knitting marathon and sock and scarf knitting.

I hope you are chugging along, I know I am! Here is a sock picture with a heel to prove it...

Here are some good pictures I got from Monday.

Here are the elite women runners.
Here is a woman dressed as Wonder Woman!!
Here is a guy in a pink tutu!
Happy Knitting!!!!

Dilemma

2009-04-17T08:18:00.001-05:00

I have a dilemma....

The wedding is in the first week of September.

I have a lot of guests coming from the Portland, Oregon area (family and friends and family friends).

My 10 year high school reunion is July 31 in Portland. Sock Summit is August 6-9 in Portland, Oregon. I would really like to go to them both and the economically and environmentally friendly thing to do would be to stay in Portland for the week and see my family (Mom and Brother included) all that week. It would involve taking off a week of work right before the wedding-I have the vacation time, but still, not that responsible. I could always fly out and back twice but July 31 is a Friday so I would definitely miss that day and honestly flying across the country twice in two weeks for minimal time is not my idea of fun....

What's a girl to do??

Chuppah Update!

2009-03-30T17:45:00.003-05:00

I am writing to update you on the Chuppah because there has been no knitting on anything else at all. I started on the border (twice!!!). Here is what I am going with.

They are little leaves and are turning out so well. I omitted the first three stitches of this pattern-because it was just garter stitch. It looks better without it, trust me. This is just the leaf from the swatches down below. It's better this way.

However, it will take at least 120 repeats of the 14 row pattern for the border and I have 6 done. 6. Good thing the wedding is not for a while.

Happy Knitting!

Happy Knitting!

2009-03-22T20:34:00.003-05:00

I started a new project. It's a sock designed by Wendy of Wendy Knits blog. It is a free preview of her upcoming sock book, for which I am very excited. I have already asked my local yarn store, Ewe'll Love It in Nashua, to make sure they order it and they are. It is called Socks from the Toe-Up (amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307449440?tag=wendyknits-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0307449440&adid=1HYCNE2NSXMM4EC4926C&).

The sock is the Diagonal Lace Socks. It is a super easy pattern to memorize, but there are no instructions for the even rows in the charts or pattern, it's not really a problem, since you just knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches as you would in any sock. I think it looks great in the ShibuiKnits Sock yarn I am using.
Happy Knitting!

P.S. I had a great vacation, lots of good family time and skiing!

Vacation.. I'm off for a week!

2009-03-14T13:46:00.001-05:00

I am on vacation for the next week, but I did get to decide on the border for the Chuppah. That's the swatch up above!

Happy Knitting!

Chuppah Choices...

2009-03-08T21:07:00.002-05:00

I made a choice for the Chuppah. This motif will be the border. I want just the leaf out of this pattern.

I want just something like the stitch at the bottom to go where the garter stitch pattern is in this leaf pattern. I have a lot of patterns to swatch, it will have to start tomorrow!I made some progress on the replacement scarf for my stepdad. I don't know why the text is underlined there. This is one of my major problems with Blogger. It randomly does that. I still have a long way to go on this. It makes great TV knitting though.
HAPPY KNITTING!

Swatches...

2009-03-01T14:40:00.006-05:00

I have finished swatching for now for the Chuppah border. This is not the yarn for the Chuppah, but some yarn for baby things that I have in my stash that I didn't mind using for this.

These are the 9!!! options I swatched. I am leaning towards #1. What do you think?

#1 I really like how this one turned out, and if I did use it, I might want to do something in between the body of the Chuppah and this pattern-something very simple for a few inches, such as a simple feather and fan pattern or other simple and short repeat.

#2 This is the one Michael prefers out of these two. I wouldn't need to add an all around border before this border because it includes the row of holes on the bottom in the pattern.
#3#4#5

#6

#7

#8

#9
So, which one would you do? Please let me know your opinion!

I wish I had more to show you....

2009-02-23T10:52:00.007-05:00

I don't have a lot of actual knitting progress to show you...

I spend most of my knitting time at home swatching. Swatching for what? The Chuppah border...I did a couple that did not work out and those were ripped without even pictures for posterity. The swatches were of my original plan for the border, a nice leaf pattern. It didn't look so hot in my own knitting. I am now swatching about 9 different motifs involving leaves in some form or the other for the border and pictures will come when I have them all pinned out to show you and get opinions on.

I did however, get some totally picture worthy things recently.

One came in the mail...
Some were delivered by M to make me smile:

Yes, that is Wollmeise, the holy grail of sock yarn. I scored some from yarnissima in a kit. I don't know if I will knit the patternt that came with it with the Wollmeise, but I will use it sometime. It's beautiful yarn and a beautiful pattern.

Then, I went to Friday Night Knitting two fridays ago and I won this:

It's sooooo soft. I highly recommend getting yourself to Ewe'll Love It in Nashua, New Hampshire and getting yourself a skein of this to keep near you at all times to fondle and love and make yourself happy.

Here is my progress on my take along project: a second scarf for my stepfather (since he lost his first one).

It's made with Blue-Grey Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a basketweave pattern I had to think of on the fly on a train. It's just 5 stitches stockinette, 5 stitches reverse stockinette, over 10 rows then switching. It's 30 stitches wide.

It's turning out pretty well and is easy, mindless knitting. It is also very nice and soft yarn.

I will be starting both a set of socks soon (for my grandfather) and a shawl for my Grandma.

Unfortunately, addressing save the dates for my wedding is taking up a lot of at home time right now so there is less knitting time. I did have a neighbor come over and get a refresher on how to cast on. She is making the most beautiful afghan and knows how to do knit and purl but needed a little refresher on the long tail cast on. I referred her to knittinghelp.com as well, it's videos are such a life-saver!

Happy Knitting and pictures to come of the Chuppah border swatches when I have them all finished!!

4 rows to go...

2009-02-12T13:36:00.000-05:00

4 rows to go on the body of the Chuppah....

The anticipation is eating me up!

Happy Knitting

I won the race!

2009-01-30T16:11:00.008-05:00

I wrote this on January 30, 2009.

I completely and utterly won the race!

I finished this section of the Chuppah last night (the night of 1/29/2009) for those of you who want dates. This smashed my goal of by February 13, 2009 and my what I thought was unrealistic goal of the end of January. I think I get a day off.

This is from today-I took two days off completely from the Chuppah...

Where am I now?

I am right here:
That "here" is 24 rows into the 49 row border (and about to add a life-line, thankyouverymuch). The Chuppah is folded into fourths there so what you see there is not the real width. It's huge and keeps me warm while I knit it.

I had enough problems with this border the last go-around, something about the ten stitch repeat makes me make mistakes, in conjunction with my mind playing tricks on me. I figured out my one mistake this time and fixed it-no harm, no foul, but I am definitely putting in that lifeline to nix the potential for losing all this progress.

On my next post I will show you the Wollmeise I got in the mail-it's so pretty and the completed fingerless gloves-which have been sitting around whining for me to weave in their ends. Maybe tomorrow.....

For now, Happy Knitting-I am off to add a lifeline.

I'm winning the race!!!

2009-01-25T22:21:00.005-05:00

I am totally winning the race of the Chuppah. Now that I have said that, something will come along and bite me in the butt.. I have one more repeat (20 rows) on this section and I will be finished! Then I do the flower section again. It kicked my butt the first time around-I went one stitch off and it went to heck.

Here it is good right now...
It was at this transition point this evening. That's three cones down and one to go. That means I have knit 3,360 yards on this project so far. I am also about 85% done with the body. I can't figure out how much percentage the border will be-so my calculations are all about the body. I am leaving about 10% off how far I say I am on ravelry for the border-but I could be wildly underestimating how much knitting it is to go around the entire thing in a border. I mean, it's huge already. It keeps me warm while I knit it. I definitely want this sucker finished by the summer.
Wish me good knitting vibes and Happy Knitting!

HOPE

2009-01-19T21:40:00.003-05:00

I have hope for the future, for a better future. I hope that when I look back in 100 days, in 100 months, and how ever many years I have left, that I can look back at my country and be proud of the direction the country has taken and its place in the world. I have hope that tomorrow will be the start of that again.

Here's to hoping!

Happy Inauguration Day Knitting!

How quick can I get this done???

2009-01-14T17:33:00.005-05:00

I am racing, racing, racing! I am halfway done with the Lighted Torches motif on the Chuppah. Even though we are still 7 and 3/4 months away from the wedding, I want this done well in advance so I am working hard on getting it done. I have 4 more repeats of this motif, that is 80 rows and then I have the 50 or so row flower pattern that is on the bottom and then the border. I should be done well in advance as long as I don't slack off.
I am halfway done with the second fingerless mitt as well.

I also bought some more sock yarn-but I had a gift certificate, so it cost a grand total of $1 for me. It's hard to get a good picture of it however.
I came down with a stomach bug so I took this day off after I was done with court. That's why I got to this point of the chuppah. I am unfortunately missing knitting this week because of it.

Happy Knitting!!!

I finished a hat!!! Also, one fingerless mitt...

2008-12-30T21:00:00.002-05:00

I finished Michael's hat (Part Deux). I think he looks good in it. It is not itchy as well, which is good.
I also knit one fingerless glove. It doesn't do me a whole lot of good right now, being one fingerless glove.
It's Spirogyra in Malabrigo Silky Merino in Plum Blossom (the short version). Here is a link to the pattern.

HAPPY KNITTING AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2008-12-21T21:02:00.003-05:00

I finished the Cowl-Hoodie.

It turned out so well!!!!!!!!

I am as happy with this project as I have been with any in a long time. It serves its purpose admirably. It is long enough in the back to cover my neck and tuck into my coat and clings to my face to keep the wind out. I wore it out yesterday into the weather we have been having here in New England this weekend. It needs to stop snowing already.

Look, it's a tube!!!
I hope everyone is having a Happy Chanukah!!! We didn't manage to get potatoes today due to the aforementioned weather-it is gross out there.

I did some knitting on another small project-I started another hat for Michael because the other one was too scratchy.

We spent a fair bit of time grouting the rest of the tile today.

Here is the result of that darn snow.

We used to have stairs now we have a slide!!!

Happy Knitting!

I've been busy knitting!

2008-12-13T18:01:00.003-05:00

I've been so busy knitting. I have done a lot of work on the Chuppah.

First, I picked the new stitch pattern for the top lace pattern. It's the Lighted Torches pattern. It's again, picked for symbolic reasons and because it is so pretty.Here is the "money shot." It's grown quite large. Soon it shall take over the entire house and we shall be swallowed up in white yarn. Garrr, I am the Chuppah coming to eat you!
Here is the new stitch pattern at the top, then the middle candle tree pattern, then the bottom stitch.
Here is a close up of the first repeat of the new stitch pattern.

I finally washed and am blocking Michael's socks. They are drying as we speak!

I am about 80% done with the Hoodie-Cowl. It is so warm and soft and this yarn is luscious. I am going to knit a pair of fingerless gloves/mittens when I am done with this. My top choices are marked as favorites on my ravelry page-under KnittingDefender.
Happy Knitting (and Holidays!!!)

Rip and Restart!

2008-11-30T10:08:00.003-05:00

Isn't it funny how the word Rip-which in my case this past week meant to rip out my Cowl Hood is also spelled with the letters Rest In Peace initials. I did not let this yarn just rest in peace. I restarted the project.

I've now got five inches done of this 1X1 ribbing. It's pretty soothing and mindless to work on and is pretty nice feeling. I knit it onto a larger needle than the 24 inch one I am using so that I could try it on and it is a good size. I knit it back onto the 24 inch needle after trying it on. Here you see it propped up on our wine cooler.
Here it is laying flat. The color here is really washed out, sorry!The reason for the restart? I didn't like the way the stockinette edge was curling up. Happy Knitting!

BEHOLD THE POWER OF RIBBING!!!

2008-11-26T07:07:00.006-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for lots of things. I have a new house this year and a fiance that loves me (I cannot figure out how to get the correct accent above the e with blogger). I have a wonderful kitty and good friends and a job that satisfies and challenges me. I have a good and strong family who will celebrate with me in the coming year and I have a really cute niece.

I am thankful for easy hat knitting. I might start another one of these to give away to charity. It was so quick and Michael really likes it.It looks small, doesn't it? Below we shall BEHOLD THE POWER OF RIBBING.
It stretches!!!

I did start a project for me! It's a Cowl/Hood that I am basing off of this pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pashmina-cowl but instead of stockinette in between the top and bottom 6 rows, I am doing 1X1 ribbing because I think it will be more useful that way and keep the cold out better that way. It's a modification taken from this version: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/purls-cashmere-cowl. It's a combo of the two because mine is partly stockinette and partly ribbing.
The top picture is much better for color. It's the Malabrigo Silky Merino in Plum Blossom. This is not normally my color palette, but Heather (Hi Heather, if you are reading this) convinced me recently on our trip to Rhinebeck to step outside my normal color palette. This is out there for me. It's a trip back to grade school when I wore all pink. Now I don't have any pink. ANY. This will be the first thing. Hopefully it turns out well.Happy Knitting Turkey Day!!

I finished the baby blanket, right on time!

2008-11-22T12:43:00.002-05:00

Two projects down! I am down to some finishing on a pesky baby sweater I didn't finish and needs some re-working on a sleeve and the Chuppah. That means it is time to start Michael's long overdue hat project.

Sorry for the less than ideal pictures, I forgot to get pictures before bringing it to work to give to my co-worker on her last day before maternity leave (she is due the 24th!) and my co-worker and his trusty iPhone helped me get some pictures of the Finished Object. I didn't have time to get ideal lighting or display conditions.

Happy Knitting! I am off to find a hat pattern!

I knit a pair of socks...

2008-11-17T17:24:00.005-05:00

One project down!!!!

That leaves the baby blanket to finish. I have made the executive decision due to time constraints and absolute boredom with this project to stop at five rows of hearts and squares. It will be 5 across and five up that way. I think it will be plenty big and hopefully ready to give to Sarah on her last day before maternity leave, which is Friday. I am going to have a fair amount of this yarn left over and it is not my favorite, but it is good enough to knit a gently cycle baby sweater with for my niece.

Happy Knitting!

I voted, did you?

2008-11-04T16:43:00.002-05:00

I know there are some of you out there who did not vote today (almost all of the world), but for us here in the United States that have been depressed and worried and angry about the direction our country has taken over the last 8 years, today is big. Today is so big, I have been anxious and nervous and shaky for the last few months and especially the last week.

I voted this morning, showing up right at 7 and ran into one of my fiance's ex-colleagues. I didn't just run into him, I asked him where to park, then stood in line and we figured out we had a connection through M and chatted throughout the long!!! line. It was long in number of people, but not time, thanks to the very prepared people at Andover High School. It was quick voting too, maybe ten races and three ballot questions. I hope the way I voted carried the day. This country needs change. Oh yeah, F-you to the person who took my political magnet. You suck. It was my car, my $10, and my freedom of expression you interfered with and this country would be better off without you.

I hope you voted, and I NEED SOME RESULTS NOW!!

Patience is not my strong point right now.

Happy Knitting!

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-02T08:22:00.008-05:00

Halloween has come and gone and we did not get a single trick or treater. It didn't help that we were only home for about an hour on Halloween night. It was just enough time to have some dinner and get into our costumes.

Then we went to a party. We went as Sally and Jack Skellington from a Nightmare Before Christmas. I think it turned out pretty well.The political costumes were definitely the top picks this year.

Here we had McCain and Palin at the party.
We had a Joe-Six Pack and another Sarah Palin.
Two Sarah Palin's in the same room-that's too much. One Sarah Palin is too much IMHO.
There was a very Macho Man.
Two friends from law school were there as well.
There was Bob Ross and a happy little tree. I was really impressed by this costume.
There was a Marlboro Man, complete with emphysema, I really liked this costume.

Next is my birthday loot:

The best thing was a hand drawn card from my little sister, she has quite a talent.
Michael got me this limited edition Namaste bag and the matching clutch. It's an awesome knitting bag.
My parents got me a new toy-the iTouch. Yay!

Now, what you actually come to this blog for....that's knitting, right?

I turned the heel on the second (third) sock...I'm happy to be in the home stretch. I like toe-up socks, but I do not like the wrap and turn, is there any way to do a toe-up heel without short rows or short rows toe-up without it?
I finished the middle motif on the chuppah, it's hugenormous now.....and will be twice as big by the time I am done.
Here is the Candle Tree motif in the middle, which for me is symbolozing the Tree of Life. It was my first time cableing.....I am glad it turned out ok....
I joined a new cone (number 3!!!!!) at the end of this Motif...
I am re-addressing the decision for the next motif. I am therefore swatching with some cheap acrylic type yarn and trying to decide what to use. The problem is that all of these motifs (the candle ones I am trying) have parts where the motif starts that are the top half of the motif at the bottom and the bottom half of the motif at the top of the motif repeat. I don't want that. I think I can re-engineer some of these patterns to fix that by knitting stockinette during those parts, I just have to figure out which stitches to switch to knits/purls from the pattern stitches. I will probably swatch the pattern as written and the pattern as I can figure it out and then write that down and knit from that.
The kitty has finally been using his house and looks like a possessed kitty in there, just in time for a Happy Halloween to all of you!
HAPPY KNITTING!!!!!

Rhinebeck!

2008-10-23T21:22:00.015-05:00

I am sure that all of you knitters out there have seen posts about Rhinebeck before today.

This is what I did at Rhinebeck. I'll keep it to mostly pictures to spare all of you a super long post!

Amazing fiber tapestries:

Wheels! Whee!

Soft and large angora bunnies: they sold very quickly.
I saw lots of fiber animals.

I saw cashmere goats: they aren't as soft as one would think.

I saw animals made out of fiber.
I saw lots of animals made out of fiber. I thought these were really amazing. Such craftsmanship.
I really love these pumpkins made out of roving.

Teeny tiny little sock earrings. Awesome.

Specialty molded soap. Cool, no?

Little fiber gnomes! I swear they sneak into my house and bring me yarn.
I looked over on Sunday and who was standing next to me squeezing the same yarn? It was the Yarn Harlot! I said something, super embarrasing and stalkerish, like "I love your books" and then didn't get a picture with her. D'oh! Then I kinneared her which made her friends laugh. I can't be the first to do it to her?

These guys were interesting-not fiber related, but look at those shirts!
I tried my hand at weaving and liked it. I think I might want a loom!
I watched the fleece to shawl competition. There was an amazing group led by a 13 year old! They had a really beautiful woven shawl with lots of detail. It's below. I hope she won. I didn't get to see-we had to leave.
There were these blankets for sale-really amazing.
This kangaroo has a baby in its pouch. Can you make yarn from kangaroo fur?
I ate some deep fried artichoke hearts-super delicious.
This was the finished shawl from that 13 year old. Jeez. Talk about talented.

This sweater was just a masterpiece.

I saw a leaping llamas competition-there were alpacas too but it was totally not fair. They did not have height classes and they need to.
Here are some more llamas/alpacas in the competition.

We saw some beautiful colors. I can't get these pictures to come up the right way. Dang.
Heather and I fed the goats!
This is some yarn I bought. It doens't show the color well-it's a deep blue.

It's more like this.

This is a mohair/angora blend and is really soft.

Socks that Rock. Enough said. This my first STR and I picked up two regular price skeins and one mill end. The booth was crazy. Barely civil, but just.
I picked ups ome Brooks Farm. All of this will be going on my ravelry stash page and details will be there. This is a wool-silk blend.
I found this random skein of mohair. It's 180 yards and so shiny I thought it was silk. It feels like silk. I have no idea how they got it this way.
I bought a lot of sock yarn, can you tell?
More sock yarn!I did some work on my chuppah last night. I am over halfway done with the cable portion. I cannot wait to be done with the last cable rows. It should speed along after these last six rows where I have to cable-after that it is just yarnovers and such for this middle section. Part of the reason why a single row takes me almost an hour right now is following the pattern, another reason is that the increases in this pattern have it up from 35 stitches a repeat (10 repeats per row) to 51 stitches a repeat, so 510 stitches per row.

I am also at the point of turning the heel on Michael's second (third) sock. Pictures next post!

Happy Knitting!!

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-10-20T20:32:00.001-05:00

I'll update with the ridiculous amount of yarn I bought at Rhinebeck soon, I promise! This is a crazy week work wise and it's my birthday today, so I spent a little bit of time enjoying myself and now am working!

I'm off to Rhinebeck tomorrow!

2008-10-17T17:28:00.000-05:00

Have a great weekend everyone!

Back to Massachusetts

2008-10-13T10:23:00.004-05:00

I am heading back to Massachusetts today, and here are the pictorial highlights of the trip that I have. I managed to forget my camera for the reunion and for the rally but this was what I wore to the rally.

Then we came back and I held the baby and the kitty sat next to me.
Then a few days later we made baby burrito.
I did a fair amount of knitting on the sock-it is almost done. It's almost time to rip the first one.
I bought some yarn at a local yarn shop in Cherry Creek. It's really beautiful, different tones of red and very soft.
I bought another skein as well. It's beautiful and soft too. And now, I am about to leave for the airport for my flight. Happy Knitting!
.

Colorado, it's the land of memories for me!

2008-10-11T09:47:00.002-05:00

I am in Colorado right now, yup, you guessed it from the title of the post.

My big sister just had her first child, and boy is she a cutie. They just happen to live in Denver, where I lived for a year after college (coloradocollege.edu) and it is nice to be here for a short visit. I have Monday off from work and took Friday off and am here for about three days total. I will have a picture for you of me holding her in the next post, promise. Right now the only pictures are on J's camera.

It just so happens that my 5 year college reunion is taking place an hour south of here in Colorado Springs this weekend too. That made two great reasons to come out here this weekend.

I was very apprehensive about the reunion. I haven't been very communicative with people from college since law school and now work and wedding planning have swallowed my life, so I didn't register for any events, I didn't plan in advance what I was going to do, and I certainly didn't tell anyone or e-mail them back about me going. In fact, I was on the fence about going until I actually walked out the door of my sister's apartment, and did the 70 odd mile drive I used to know so well. That was the first sock it to you memory lane moment I had on this trip. College friends and I did that drive probably a 100 times and I did it alone a bit too. I went through Denver, down to Castle Rock-at that point you know its only 40 miles to go. Then you hit the Black Hole in between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs-it's still there-15 or so miles of nothingness. Then you hit the top of Monument Hill-18 miles or so to go until what used to be home-the campus. Then you hit downtown and get off and there you are!

I was at a bar off campus-I didn't even drive through campus-it was too dark and I won't get there.

I walked into the downstairs after easily finding a parking spot less than a block away-C Springs is nothing like Boston, and walked in. Downstairs there was NO ONE I recognized-uh oh was my first thought, this is going to be the bust I feared. I walked upstairs and the room was full of people I recognized. I was afraid I was going to spend a half hour to an hour at that point still walking around the room awkardly saying hi to people and doing the what have you been up to in the last 5 years. That was thankfully not the case. I had a great time. I wandered around upstairs for a minute or so, looking for the nametags, I was going to violate my no nametags policy but they were out-when I was greeted by a friend saying "Oh my God, it's Becca!" From there, I spent the night catching up with that group of friends and talking to a few other close friends here and there and all in all, I am glad I went.

I also learned that none of that group of friends have really talked to a particular friend in a good while. She's kind of disappeared off the face of the earth from all of us who were her closest friends. I was sad about that for a while and now I am going to try again to get in touch with her again just to see if she wants to get in touch with me at least again. It's weird going from talking to or seeing someone every day to having no idea where they are in the world.

Today, I plan on going to an Obama rally then look at bridesmaid dresses with Jess, then come back here to watch the Red Sox hopefully beat those (Devil) Rays again! We might get Thai food from my favorite Thai restaurant here too!

Happy Knitting! I did a little work on my second sock-what will be the first when I rip the now first one out, it's nearing completion.

Debate and knitting, it's keeping me from yelling at the TV!

2008-10-02T21:04:00.003-05:00

I am not sure that the line "I've only been at this five weeks" is a good point for Sarah "I am totally unqualified" Palin. As she said, we must learn from the "blenders" of the past.

Here is what I have been working on:

The Second Sock for Michael. I think this one is going so well it is just highlights how the first one was a working one and was a lesson for me. I think I will be ripping the first sock out and knitting it again. I like this toe a lot more.
Big Papi agrees with me. He even leaves the sock alone as you can see.
HAPPY KNITTING! May it keep you sane and happy in these difficult times.

Oh, Happy New Year!

Phishy, Phishy, Phishy!!!

2008-10-01T20:48:00.002-05:00

Phish is back together, now my brother and I will travel to concerts again soon!

Toe by Turkey!!!

2008-09-28T19:55:00.003-05:00

I managed to start the second half of Michael's first pair of hand knit socks using the Turkish Cast-On method. This was so much easier for me than any of the so-called Magic Cast On methods. I don't know why, but I could do this easily the first time following these instructions and I cannot get the Magic ones to work at all. Here are the instructions: http://fluffyknitterdeb.blogspot.com/2005/10/knitting-made-easier-turkish-cast-on.html

Thank you fluffyknitterdeb!

Here is the toe:
I have made a little bit of progress on the baby blanket. I am through two of the 7 repeats of the pattern sections.
It's better than how it appears here.As always, Happy Knitting!

Baby Blanket Bingo!

2008-09-22T21:09:00.003-05:00

I did a medium amount of knitting this long weekend that I took to go down to Florida.

I did most of it on the baby blanket for my co-worker.

I have finished the first section of hearts and stars. I think they are adorable. It's about 20 percent done if I added up the number of rows correctly.

Here is a heart!

Here is a star!

I am really enjoying this now that I have seen the results of the first completed section. I don't love knitting with this yarn-it's kind of tough on the hands, but it creates a beautiful result. The discomfort is worth the result.

Happy Knitting!

Florida!!

2008-09-22T20:59:00.005-05:00

If you don't want to see the pictures from last weekend, you can skip right past this post!

I went down to Sarasota to see the grandparents.

I ate alligator.
I saw tons of plants at the Marie Selby botanical gardens.

This one had spikes.

This one was about to eat Michael.

This one had a complex.

This one was sad.
This one was a gaudy showgirl.

These little gecko type beings loved these signs.

I saw my favorite flower.

I saw Mangrove trees.

These pitcher plants collect insects down at the bottom then make them into a slurry that the eat.

I knit a little too, want to see? It's in the next post up!

Florida!!

2008-09-22T06:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I was in Florida all weekend-visiting the two remaining grandparents, so I didn't get to post. More to come tonight hopefully!

So, I didn't post Sunday........

2008-09-16T06:11:00.005-05:00

because we finally painted the living room! As you can see, we still need to do the trim (and some touch-up around one outlet).

It went to this:

From this:On Sunday, and we managed to have dinner with my Dad and watch the Pats-Jets game for them and discuss wedding guest lists.

Michael did some manly work with my uncle Frank this Saturday as well.

I didn't post last night because I made a chicken curry for dinner and then made Mint-Chocolate Cupcakes for my knitting group.

I did finish a sock on Saturday! Now it needs a mate.
Kitty of course tried to get into boxes and managed to do so. Here is the exit strategy.

As always, Happy Knitting!

Interrupting your regular knitting content....

2008-09-13T07:39:00.003-05:00

For some serious things I feel the need to get off my chest. If you don't like politics, skip this post, but come back tomorrow for some knitting content, please.

Sarah Palin and McCain must not win. It is simple as that. I can't handle it if they do. If McCain wins this election this country will continue down this path of alienating the rest of the world and will amplify the problems this country is already facing because of this. It's not just the economic issues this country will face and already is facing that I worry about, but for many years, America has stood for something more. America stood for democratic principles and in the world's eyes and my eyes America has lost that. It is already going to be an incredibly uphill battle for this country to redeem itself. We can't live in isolation from the rest of the world-it just doesn't work. For the rights the Constitution guarantees, McCain must not win. If he does, warrantless spying on American citizens will run rampant, freedom of speech will be trampled upon, your choice will be taken away from you, and hard working people will continue to be trampled and trodden upon economically to enrich the few incredibly wealthy Americans McCain hob knobs with.

This is all besides the point of how the environment will be raped in 4 years of McCain.

This is all besides the point of the blatant hypocrisy spouted by the Republican talking heads.

I urge you to register to vote if you have not already: the easiest way I have found is here: https://www.voteforchange.com/index.php?secure=ofa#

You fill in answers to questions and they fill out the form for you. You print it out and sign it and mail it in or deliver it and voila you are registered to vote. The deadline is October 15th. Go do it. NOW!

Also, your employer is required to give you time off to vote. Demand it or vote in the evening or morning. It's important, now more than ever.

UPDATE (EDIT): Someone on ravelry was kind enough to enlighten me about the actual last date to register. Here is the information they kindly passed on to me.

Anyway, your post about registering to vote by October 14th … and the last day to register actually depends on which state you live in! I’d hate for people to miss the deadline! You can click on your state on this map: https://ssl.congress.org/congressorg/e4/nvra/ and see what the deadline is.

Happy Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T20:42:00.008-05:00

I had a great one, how about you? M and I spent the weekend on Chappaquiddick.

I went to an Farmers Market and an Artisans Festival with my sister, her friend and my stepmother.

Here my sister is with some fun yarn providing animals.

I bought a skein of sock yarn at the farmers market.
After the Farmers Market we went to the Artisans Festival.

I saw beautiful pottery.

I saw wooden toys.

I saw beautiful jewelry.

I saw more pottery.

I saw amazing garden planters.
I saw the brochure.
I saw more garden planters.
This one was really amazing and tall!

There were amazing wooden cutting boards-no prices listed, which means, if you have to ask, you can't afford it!

More beautiful pottery!
Then I saw old fashioned brooms, and they were beautiful.

They were beautifully handcrafted and beautifully displayed.

Then I got caught up looking at these unique necklaces.

I listened to some live music.

I then bought some more yarn-homegrown sheep, handdyed, and handspun and very, very reasonably priced.

Then in Oak Bluffs, I visited my favorite store there and saw the garden sculptures.

The next day the weather was better, so we went on a boat ride!
We saw the beach but didn't get out of the boat.

I did some sock knitting.
Here is all the yarn I purchased. The left three are from sheep raised by the woman who also dyes the yarn and spins the yarn. She was spinning at the Artisans Festival as well. I got 7.5 ounces of handspun (the turquoise yarn on the left for $32! The next is 3.5 ounces and was $15. The purple was 2.5 ounces for only $13. It's pretty and incredibly well priced. The yarn on the right is my Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm sock yarn. They also have worsted weight yarns, but I only got the sock yarn. It's color Red Socks Nation and is a really vibrant red. It's washed out in this picture. It was $17 for 400 yards and is soft but feels resilient.

HAPPY KNITTING!

FO Update-Baby Sweater and Blanket and a Baby!!!!!

2008-08-28T21:37:00.004-05:00

Baby Blanket It's dry and waiting to be sent off to my sister who has her own FO. She finished growing a baby, and on August 26th, 2008, had a little girl who came three days early. Zoe Abilene Bagwell, born 7lbs 2 ounces after a 9 hour natural labor. Mother and baby are doing fine and I hope they will soon be warmed by my giant blanket. She's a convention baby, born during the convention and in Denver. Thankfully it did not mess up getting to the hospital for my sister.

In about 12 months, she should finally be big enough to wear this sweater.

I used my Knitter's blocks for blocking this sweater, and I can't rave enough about them again. Go buy them. Seriously.
This sweater has really cute ladybug wooden buttons-purchased at AC Moore.

I finished my My So Called Scarf just in time for the Olympics to be over. Here it is!

Happy Knitting and have a wonderful long weekend for all you US kids!

To be serious for a moment, I'm watching Barack Obama right now and I support him now that he is the democratic nominee and is the best choice out there right now. Please, please vote. Our country has become a place of fear and hopelessness and has suffered many setbacks because of the failed policies of the last 8 years. We can't risk another disastorous conservative president.

Halfway!!!

2008-08-17T21:05:00.003-05:00

I am halfway through the only project I managed to get signed up for the Ravelympics. It's turning out pretty well, despite some frogging due to combining wine and knitting this weekend.

I think that is turning out well, but it appears here that the pink is a much more dominant color than I expected from the skein.
I will soon have a finished object for you-the baby sweater I started for my sister is almost done. I am in the process of weaving in ends-having finished seaming tonight, and then I have to block and I have adorable ladybug buttons for it.

The devil kitty made me finish the seaming.
HAPPY KNITTING!

The Attempt at Equalizing

2008-08-11T20:50:00.002-05:00

I am trying to keep the number of WIPs equal or decreasing but not increasing. Therefore, I finally forced myself to do some weaving in ends and seaming. I loathe both of those things.

I wove in the ends on the baby blanket. It's really done.

It better be a large baby to fit this monster blanket.

I seamed the sleeves to the sweater. I had to do one twice. It needs the sleeves seamed shut, ends woven in, blocking, and buttons. I have another baby sweater that only needs a hood seamed up and ends woven in and buttons. I think I can knock the two of those off my WIP page/list this weekend.
I better knock those two of my list because I started two new projects for the Knitting Olympics/Ravelympics.

This is the Stars and Hearts Blanket from Adorable Knits for Tots (ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/KnittingDefender/hearts-and-stars-blanket)

This is the border plus a few set up rows.

Then I started a My-So Called Scarf. I will finish at least this during the Olympics. I want to get both done but it won't happen. I already have about four times as much as this done. It looks a lot better with more done, but it will definitely require blocking.

HAPPY KNITTING!

2008-08-03T20:56:00.002-05:00

Knitting-Going, going, GONE!

One baby blanket went from this:

To this: (Only the borden remaining)
To this: Knitting Done! I need to weave in the ends and give it a soak, but it's done knitting wise!
This is the yarn I have left-it might be enough for a lacey scarf?

I therefore started something new: socks for Summer of Socks 2008 and for Michael! He doesn't have any hand knit socks- not at all right for a knitter's fiance. This is the Wendy Knits pattern for the Summer of Socks participants-it's my first pair of toe up socks and the cast on is tough!
I have a project out of this beautiful Manos planned for Ravelympics-I'm doing the scarf stroke event with this yarn-making a My So Called Scarf out of it.
I signed up for the Mystery Stole 4- do I use the blue yarn below-a wool blend or
do I use this lavender cashmere?
I have enough of both yarns and I love both colors-I guess I just need to pick one. Decisions, decisions.

HAPPY KNITTING

Not so Knitty?

2008-07-27T08:26:00.004-05:00

I haven't been able to be as knitty as I would like lately. I've missed more knitting group meetings than I would like and have had less time to knit. A house/home is a jealous mistress that gobbles up your time.

I have been knitting on the Baby Blanket however.

As you can see I passed the halfway point. This is an easy project-really quite mindless and much more impressive looking than it actually is. It's great TV Knitting.
Here's a close-up of the unblocked transition point. It's just switching the side you are doing stockinette versus reverse stockinette.

I went to a pool party for my knitting group yesterday and this cat getting into Heather's bag was the only thing I took any pictures of. He would not leave that bag alone.
It reminded me of another kitty you may already be familiar with-he likes to get into small spaces too. This was taken last night after we got home. If he were a lolcat-he would be the one saying I iz in your cablez-controlling your Tvez.

Happy Knitting!

We Moved!

2008-07-14T21:31:00.004-05:00

We are done moving!!!! We are almost unpacked, too, but the fixing up and the realities of home ownership are just beginning.

Kitty made sure he came with us.

I is in your boxez.

The Chuppah made the trip as well and work has recommenced on it. It's only the top 8 lines that are new, 4 set-up rows for increasing to 350 stitches for the middle motif. It's a tree pattern that symbolizes the tree of life. It's a 52 row repeat. That's 350 stitches times 52 rows for a total of 18,200 stitches for just that section.
Here's the entire beast.

Don't worry, kitty made the trip!
His namesake, Big Papi, though not participating in the Home Run Derby or the All-Star game, though he was voted in as the DH, was on TV tonight with his big smile.

All I have to say is Holy Hamilton!

Happy Knitting!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T15:36:00.002-05:00

I am down on Chappaquiddick once again and I am on the family computer and completely without a camera or anything.

Happy Independence Day to all my American readers, and happy 4th of July to everyone else. No matter what you are doing this day, Happy Knitting!

I am also celebrating that in 199 days, 20 hours and 18 minutes or so, this country will no longer be saddled with George W. Bush as its "leader."

I randomly ran across a cute gift shop/yarn store in Falmouth today and took home, well, only to my car so far, three luscious skeins in a turquoise color (it was not the worsted and not the lace-I had never seen this weight before!). It will make a pretty scarf for me or some other pretty. I know they had the mishap and such and were not producing, so I snatched this up as I could. Here's hoping something good knitting related happens to you too today.

Happy Knitting!

Closed!!!!!!!

2008-06-29T20:07:00.003-05:00

No, I am not closing down the blog, but we did close on our new townhouse/condo/home on Friday! It's just a relief, because, according to our realtor, this sale was a difficult one because of the sellers' shenanigans. It's just a relief. I can't wait to be moved in.

We did a fair amount of damage to our bank accounts this weekend as a result and I didn't do a whole lot of knitting, but I did manage to get the bottom stitch on the Chuppah DONE (or you could say closed).That's 154 rows times 312 stitches equals 48, 048 stitches just for that stitch pattern. That's not counting the roughly 300 stitches per row for 50 rows for the bottom border.

I have the middle section to do, a beautiful tree pattern called the Candle Tree. I'm not starting that however for a couple of weeks I think because I could use a break from this project for a little bit. It's coming at the perfect time as well, because we are in the process of moving and it is not a portable project at all. I will be working on another large project instead and one small one. The large one is my sister's baby blanket and the small one is M's first pair of hand knit socks.

HAPPY KNITTING!!!!

Packing, a fair amount...

2008-06-18T19:49:00.004-05:00

We've been doing a lot of this:
It doesn't leave a lot of time for this:
They are done however!
There's been a tiny but of work on this:
There was a fair bit of work done on this: It's the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch n' Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook using Cascade Eco Wool, knit double stranded. It's for my sister's first born.

It makes a wonderfully thick and soft knit, but the pattern is a little boring when compared to all the lace and socks. It's good TV knitting and whenever I knit on it the Celtics did well. Maybe it will work for the Sox as well?

Happy Knitting!

OPINIONATED

2008-06-10T21:28:00.002-05:00

I am opinionated and this is a warning: strong opinions ahead. If you read this blog for the knitting, skip this post.

I am watching the NBA finals (Go Celtics!!!). I have declared my allegiance. That being said, even if he wasn't a Laker, I still couldn't stomach Kobe Byrant.

He's sleaze. He cheats on his wife (we'll never know what really happened with that) and buys her off with a giant diamond ring. Then today during the game the TV people show this obnoxious puff piece he somehow talked his wife into particpating in, in which he said something like "I'm a laid back guy, I like just spending time at home with my family" and then they cut back to him and his children and his wife.

THAT'S DISGUSTING. You are not a family man. You are a cheating jerk who bought off his wife after you were caught cheating on her. In the "ad" for Kobe Bryant he made a big deal out of her being his wife of 7 years.

I only need to Kitchener the toe...

2008-06-08T22:27:00.002-05:00

I only need to Kitchener the toe and weave in the ends on the Monkeys. You will have to trust me on that because my weekend was taken up by an entire day (10AM to 9:30PM) of furniture shopping yesterday, and packing and sorting and getting rid of paper accumulated over 11 months at the current apartment. I did not take pictures. We did get a new bedroom set, with a King! bed, mattresses for the king bed, and a couch and matching chair. Now the Celtics are playing.

In lieu of pictures of my knitting here you go: I found a meme I like.

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

If you want to do this, do it! It's fun.

Alas! I have SSS!

2008-06-03T19:30:00.003-05:00

I am only 34 rows from the toe on my second Monkey sock, yet I am now hitting SSS. How did it stay away for so long and why is it hitting now that I just want to be done with the sock but don't want to work on it.They are even more done than it shows here.

Other things are calling to me. Namely, the siren song of the Chuppah. I want this half of it DONE!

I went to the hair salon and got a haircut and as happens pretty frequently when I see a new stylist, she wanted to straighten my hair, they normally want to do it to see if they can do it.

I always feel like a completely different person for a day or two after they do it.
It looks good curly too! Yay for good haircuts.

Oh yeah, we signed the P & S for the townhouse too. If all goes well, we will own a townhouse on June 20th. Scary.

Sock!

2008-05-26T20:27:00.004-05:00

I wish I had more knitting to show you, but I have half a pair of socks!

I am getting an early start on the Summer of Socks 2008.

It's a Monkey in Daffodil Lorna's Laces .
I added two repeats on the leg to make it longer and I still had a fair amount of yarn left over.

Happy Knitting!

Oh, I also bought my wedding dress this weekend. I can't post pictures of that because M might read the blog and see it. I got it at a new store in Edgartown, MA on Martha's Vineyard and it was serendipity, pure and simple. We were walking around town and I spotted a wedding dress in a window of a store (I knew there was no wedding dress store there last summer!) and they were a wedding dress store. It's called Tulle and the owners are great, no pressure at all. I walked in and they were selling their samples and there were two I loved, both of which were in great shape, they only opened in January. They were both strapless, A-line with natural waists and both 50% off. I walked out with one of them!

I hope anyone else who is looking finds their dress soon and they love it as much as I love mine.

New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Purchases

2008-05-18T16:19:00.005-05:00

I totally forgot to tell all of you about the purchases I made at New Hampshire's Sheep and Wool Festival.

I got some beautiful alpaca. Over 600 yards of sportweight in this tan color. It will become a fabulous wintery scarf and hat set for me at some point.
I also got this incredibly soft half LLama! half merino yarn to make someting for M. It is so soft and wonderful.
I also got some alpaca sock yarn for an incredibly decent price. It will be so warm. As you can see, I had to stick to the neutrals to get mostly environmentally friendly yarn. Its ok though, I love these colors.

Speaking of Socks, I have a head start on my Monkeys. I am through the number of repeats (6) the pattern calls for on the leg, but I like a longer leg than this on my socks and I think I have enough yarn, but I am just not sure of whether I will have enough yarn to do more repeats. What do you think?
A close up of the M's. If I made this in blue and white and red they could be Mario socks! Yay Nintendo. We've been playing MarioKart at least once a day on the Wii.
Does it loks like I have enough yarn to do more repeats on the leg?
This is what the kitty did all day.

We had the inspection on his (and ours) new home yesterday! Oh, yeah, we are also buying a townhouse!

Happy Knitting!

Two FO's and some serious progress on the Chuppah!

2008-05-11T21:12:00.007-05:00

I finished two projects, blocking and all!

I finished my first overall design: the Lace Slanting Scarf. I picked the stitch pattern, picked the yarn and the number of stitches and then the edging. I am very satisfied with the outcome. It has one error, but it shows it is homemade and I am ok with it.

I've never thought of myself as an artistic person, but I guess designing this shows I have some of my Mom and Brother's artistic talents even if I can't draw a lick.

I also finished the Take II of my brother's hat. It's the same pattern but without mistakes and hopefully won't come apart like the last one (because the skein had a knot tied in a break in the last one). This skein did not have a knot and so it should be ok, so I hope it doesn't come apart as the top.

The top star pattern is really pretty, but my brother likes it mostly because it is warm. I am just happy he likes it.

I am 1/3 way through on my Chuppah I think. I went from the cone on the left to the cone on the right. I used up an entire cone but am not halfway through the entire Chuppah, so I bought two more cones, I will need at least 3 for the body and if I do an edging, I will need 4.
It's too big to take pictures of anywhere but the floor, the bed, the couch or the ironing board.

I started a pair of Monkeys, but I only have an inch on them so far so no pictures.

I am getting a head start on participating in the Summer of Socks. I'll be participating to use some of my sock yarn stash. It's about 10 or so pairs of socks at least and I have only ever knit one pair. Here we go!

Happy Knitting and I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.

New Hampshire Sheep and Wool

2008-05-11T07:49:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, M and I went to the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival to do something fibery related (for me).

There was so much to see and some of buy! I stuck to my natural/environmentally friendly fiber choices even though there were some gorgeous yarns that could not come home with me as much as I wanted them to.

On the way up we saw this truck: those guys must have been having fun somewhere very muddy!
There were tons of animals everywhere . This guy was very friendly and very soft.
He also has a face like an Ewok. Now we know where George Lucas really got his inspiration.

There were some unusual fibers there as well, like this Paluca (which is very expensive btw).
This llama was not so interested in my attentions or making for a good photo op.
I'm not sure what this person is trying to say, because a vanity plate isn't randomly chosen. Self-indulgent, annoying attempt at irony maybe? They could just be having fun, but still, it's a little irksome for some reason.

There was yarn, including this stuff: talk about eye-catching. I have a fear of clowns so the bright colors wouldn't work for me, but I know there are plenty out there who will love this incredible variety of color.

There was Buffalo yarn again (also very expensive) and not as soft as I remembered.
There were so many more sheepskin rugs than I remembered from last year.

There was Llama yarn.
There were adorable kids stuffed toys everywhere!
There were so many sheep and surprisingly, I did not see one goat!

There were dogs, we watched the dogs for a good while. We both really want a dog.
The dogs were hearding sheep and these sheep were uncooperative.
We saw a lot of this because the sheep seemed to like the spot right in front of us! Not a bad deal!
There was beautiful yarn I wanted and couldn't have because of my eco-yarn buying pledge.

There were exhibits set up.

There was sheep shearing, this sheep is bahing as she gets sheared.

She's naked, somebody call the cops!
Ok, I lied, I did see one goat.
I saw really cute sheep.

I saw really cute bunnies for sale.
I saw more sheepskin rugs.
This is one box out of 100s, 1000s of fiber I saw for sale. If only I spun.

There were more exhibits.

I bought stuff too but that has to wait for the next post, pictures need to be taken, ok?

HAPPY KNITTING AND HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I've been lazy and busy!

2008-05-04T20:22:00.003-05:00

I went to three Red Sox games this week! Wednesday, Thursday, and today. Yesterday we went to a housewarming party and this past week I had two days of training. That was the busy.

The lazy? Not wanting to put in a lifeline on the chuppah so I didn't knit on it until today.
I am knitting on it now!

Now, I have finished the knitting on my scarf! It's off the needles! It needs to be blocked.
However, another person from my knitting class liked the combo of the stitch pattern I chose and the yarn, she is knitting one as well! I'm very flattered someone liked my own design choices so much!

I didn't have enough yarn to do fringe, so I did a picot edge which should really flesh out in blocking hopefully.
I'm thinking of writing the pattern up and putting it up on here or ravelry as a free pattern, what do you think? I would probably leave off the picot edging and leave the edging decision up to the knitter-fringe might make this really pop, and I didn't have enough yarn.
HAPPY KNITTING!

It's off to see the Yarn Harlot!

2008-04-27T07:27:00.002-05:00

Today I am off to see the Yarn Harlot with 6-7 other members of my awesome knitting group.

Yesterday M and I went to the Wrentham Outlets. I picked up two suits, a must in my profession/specific job and a variety of work shirts, etc. You truly know you are an adult when your shopping is all for professional clothes. I wear work clothes 5 out of 7 days a week now, it's a big change even from law school.

M completly outdid me, buying his wedding band (yay), two suits, two pairs of dress shoes, a work shirt, two pairs of cedar shoe trees, shoe care products and some other stuff.

Happy Knitting and there will be tales from the Harlot trip to come.

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T21:08:00.001-05:00

Be Green!

To fringe or not to fringe, that is the question...

2008-04-20T16:27:00.004-05:00

I'm halfway through my Slanting Scarf (real name TBA). I am really digging the yarn combination and pattern . It's pinned out below using my new knitter's blocks (referenced below). I just don't know whether or not to add a fringe to it or not.
This is the cast on edge, what do you think about the fringe question? I think it could really add something, but I'm not sure it needs it.
I've finished all the knitting for the Peapod baby sweater for my still in utero niece. I already knit the sleeves, and it's ready to go once I attach them, weave in ends, block it, and attach buttons. This is the cardigan sans sleeves.
Look, it's a vest!
After that, it's matching hat time and since I am going to have so much of the yarn left over, maybe a diaper cover? Or little pants?

Here's the obligatory Chuppah shot.

Happy Knitting!

Happy Pesach!

2008-04-19T11:04:00.003-05:00

Last night I went over to my Dad's house and learned how to make my Grandma's brisket. It's so yummy and I can't wait to have some tonight at Seder.

For those of you who aren't so familiar with the holiday, here's the Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover.

Tomorrow: Knitting updates.