Bean Counter's Knitting & Stuff

Jalapeno Steek - WIP Introduction

2009-11-07T23:27:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I am going to knit this cardigan in the round, take my very sharp scissors and cut up the front. This is also known as steeking. Stay tuned for more details as this project unfolds. The pattern is Bountiful Bohus found in More Big Girl Knits. The yarn is Jalapeno Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks.com.

Rocking Birthday!

2009-11-03T10:26:00.016-05:00

I love this time of year. What do I love about it you ask? The leaves. I love watching leaves change from green to brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow. I hate when leaves change to ugly shades of crunchy brown though. When leaves get to the crunchy brown stage I am finished with fall/winter. I am ready for spring. The crunchy leave stage usually occurs right at my birthday. It is like the grand finale of a good fireworks display. This year is no exception and I was spoiled.

It started oh about 3 or 4 weeks ago. Krisite gave me this amazing Blue Moon sock yarn Socks that Rock. That alone is enough to cause me to sequel however then she told me she bought it at Sock Summit in Portland. WOW...... This yarn is amazingly soft and RED! Did you know my favorite color is red?

I am pondering making the My Vampire Boyfriend socks with this yarn. Those tomatoes were the last harvest from my garden right before our first frost.

Molly's gifted me with Neighborhood Fiber sock yarn. This yarn is dyed by a local artist and she produces her product in the basement of Wonderknits.

The colors in this yarn are amazing. It reminds me of fall that has been iced over with a light gloss. I haven't found the perfect pattern to marry this yarn with yet. I am on the hunt. Also in the package was a ceramic mug from the Renaissance Fest (thanks Dave for the torture). I wonder if Molly has some how tapped into my brain here because three times I have clicked on a tea mug to purchase and for some reason been distracted to not purchasing. Also included was some Earl Grey Spicy tea and so yummy.

Tami's gift included a bottle of my favorite white wine, Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, wrapped up in a hand felted cozy with leather handles. Also along the wine theme is a wine cork with leaver opening allowing wine to pour without having to take the cork out.

Have I told you I love the sock that Trekking produces? Well Tami certainly got the message and gave me my second skein. I haven't found a worthy pattern yet but continue to hunt. Perhaps a simple pattern out of Sensational Knitted Socks. Something simple to let the colors pop!

As for my birthday, Jimmy put together a few of our friends and we went to dinner at Casa Patron. Arla and Steve gave me an Apple Blossom Amaryllis plant. I was acting a bit immature by refering to it as my "Dick Plant". Hey it was my birthday and I can act immature if I wanna. I can't wait until this beauty blossoms and will post pictures!

There were many margaritas consumed and chips inhaled. It was a lovely evening of talk and laughter.

On Saturday Jimmy, Kristie and I went to Nazareth's for lunch. Rachel, one of the owner's daughter, gave me one of her hand made rice bags. What is a rice bag you ask? This one is made of flannel material and has several cups of rice sewn up inside. Pop this into the microwave and place it on any sore spot that is ailing you. Moist heat that works out the pain. You can also place it in the freezer for a cold pack. If you are interested in ordering one of these, and I highly recommend them, leave me a comment with your email address and I will forward Rachel's contact information. These make GREAT gifts.....

This is the card Jimmy gave me:

Inside the card suggests as we get older to limit ourselves to a couple glasses of wine ~ it doesn't perscribe the size of the glass. ;-)

My mom and mother-in-law gave me some cash. With it I have ordered some yarn. Big surprise! Right? It hasn't arrived yet but I will post it when it does. I have big plans for this yarn. Stay tuned!

Thank you everyone for a wonderful birthday. You all ROCK!

One Guess....

2009-11-01T07:01:00.001-05:00

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Anyone know what this yarn is going to be knit into?

Drum Roll......

2009-10-30T07:12:00.001-04:00

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Snickerdoodle Luxe is finished! I love it!

Let me in Daddio.....

2009-10-28T15:52:00.003-04:00

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I received this picture from Jimmy today. He is in a training class behind closed doors in his home office this week. This is a picture of Poo trying to scratch (without claws) into his office from outside. How frigging cute is that?

Snickerdoodles for my birthday!

2009-10-27T11:32:00.001-04:00

This post begins with a prayer. Last Tuesday my father-in-law passed away from complications due to cancer. Jim had been fighting cancer for a couple years now and he is no longer suffering. God please let him rest in peace.

Jimmy and I left for Huntington early last Tuesday after getting the call from his mom. While we were packing he turned to me and said something like, "make sure you get your knitting projects in order and pack them." If anyone wonders why I love this man this is a good indication of one of the many reasons. :-)

We spent a lot of time sitting with family, in waiting rooms, and just car riding, which afforded me a ton of knitting time. I worked on two projects while we were away. First, was the 3.14159... Shawl and this sucker has grown to over 1,000 stitches per round. Yeah this is a great knit, knit, knit and more knit stitch project when you don't want to concentrate but need to keep your hands busy.

Second, was the Snickerdoodle Luxe Sweater. I spent a fair amount of time knitting on this while in the hotel and at my Mother-in-Law's house with family. Sunday I finished the knitting and seaming on this beauty. Last night I finally finished weaving in the many ends. Tonight I plan to soak and block it. I hope it will be dry so I can have wear snickerdoodles for my birthday. I will take some pictures tonight while blocking and post.

Saturday I took a break to The Yarn Shop to knit and buy some yarn for a couple projects I have been wanting to knit. First, I purchased some Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette to knit The Vine and Leaf Beret. This hat is on the cover of Fall 2009 Vogue Knitting and I fell in love hard. I wanted to knit this hat right then and there. Well I contained myself. Saturday I decided it was time to purchase the yarn.

Picture obtained from Vogue Knitting Website.

I have been itching to knit Bella's Mittens. I love, love, love these chunky cabled mittens. Bonus, the pattern was created based on the mittens Bella wore in the movie version of Twilight. I didn't care for the movie and probably wont see New Moon unless I become so utterly bored someday and just need a good laugh. I will keep the book versions alive in my head at least for now. Anyway these mittens rock. At the time of writing this post I have finished the first and working the cuff on the second. The yarn I bough for these Reynolds Andean Alpaca Regal. This yarn is amazing and the first mitten fits me perfectly.

Guess what this means?

2009-10-26T20:52:00.001-04:00

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And the world will come to me.....

2009-10-19T23:44:00.002-04:00

So lately I have been yearning for an exotic vacation, which would include sand and salt water. I hope sometime in 2010 Jimmy and I will take the long over-due honeymoon we never had when we married in April 2003. In the mean time I can bring exotic places to me through my Sony eBook Reader.

I have had my reader a year now and I attempted to make a felted sleeve for it last year. That sleeve fell short of my expectation. My stitches were not loose enough, which didn't allow enough friction during the felting process. The resulting pouch allowed things to poke through when in my purse.

Saturday night I cast on 50 stitches using leftover Harmony bulky wool. The reader is about 5” by 6.5”. The yarn gets approximately 3 stitches per inch and I added about 30% for length and width for felting.

I should have knitted a few more rows before binding off half the stitches to create the flap but I am ok with the finished result. I decreased 5 stitches and then increased on the next row to create the button hole. I went button diving and found one that reflects a partial view of a globe. I thought it was appropriate.

I am happy to say there aren't any holes to allow things to poke at my reader while in my purse.

New Year a Comin'

2009-10-19T08:11:00.003-04:00

I realized this morning there is a new year chasing me. Time to start thinking about goals for 2010. What are you thinking about for your goals you would like to accomplish next year?

Deux Elm Row

2009-10-13T20:23:00.003-04:00

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Pattern: Elm Row
Designer: Anne Hanson
Yarn: Misti International Pima Cotton & Silk

This scarf is amazing. I can't wait to wear it tomorrow!

Poo says, "Oh Darn"!

2009-10-12T20:03:00.000-04:00

Darning socks again......

Snickerdoodle Luxe Update

2009-10-08T09:20:00.001-04:00

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To date I have placed the front, back, and both sleeve stitches on scrap yarn so that I can work the collar. I want to try this on to determine how much longer the front and back should be and where I want to start the sleeve decreases. I added some stitches into the sleeves to accommodate my chunky upper arms but I don't want to carry that many stitches down to the lower arm.

Deux Elm Row

2009-10-05T13:41:00.002-04:00

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Molly, for my birthday last year, gave me two hanks of some soft yellow Misty Pima Cotton & Silk. I have spent a great amount of time petting this yarn. It is so darn soft. I was having a very hard time finding a pattern that was worthy of this lovely yarn until this weekend.

Last year when I knit the Elm Row I knew I wanted one for myself. Over this past weekend I finally connected the dots. Why not knit the Elm Row with the Pima Cotton & Silk yarn?

This pattern is stunning all by itself but with this yarn it is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

3.14159... Shawl

2009-10-04T10:25:00.000-04:00

It was one of those weeks where it seemed like I was busy but looking back I can't really call to mind what I was busy doing. I know I was able to spend a couple evenings in my studio and I love it! Been knitting up a couple of humble dishcloths.

The front of my Snickerdoodle Luxe has reached the same length as the back so those stitches have been slipped to waste yarn. I have cast on the right sleeve and had to frog it back last night. It has been reknitted past the point where I had to frog and it is on the right track now.

I finally cast on the EZ Pi Shawl I have been itching to knit for months now. We drove down to Huntington yesterday, Jimmy went to the Marshall game while I hung out with the in-laws, so I had lots of knitting time. I am calling it my 3.14159 Shawl.

Thank you Aunt Dar!

2009-09-30T14:25:00.002-04:00

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitterThe other day Aunt Dar sent me a note telling me there was a package of buttons on its way to me. It arrived Monday. I can't wait to sort them out. There appears to be some interesting little boxes in there that might hold little treasures. Thanks again Aunt Dar!

Black September Finished

2009-09-26T20:38:00.003-04:00

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I finished the Black September Shawl and blocked it today. I am very happy with how it turned out. I ended up short yarn for the last repeat but I am very happy with the finished product. My friend Heather designed the pattern ~ September Scarf. (Pattern for sale on Ravelry.) Great pattern Heather!

My Grammy would have loved this...

2009-09-24T15:48:00.004-04:00

http://www.crochettoday.com/crochet-patterns/stitchy-gingerbread-house

This is featured in the current issue of Crochet Today. I did not make this but I know Grammy would have.....

Knitting Hands

2009-09-23T15:13:00.001-04:00

As you may have noticed recently I have been renovating my blog. The latest addition/change is the title picture which I have named Knitting Hands. Original huh? Anyway I scanned through my digital pictures and cropped to create this picture. I am excited how it turned out. I have been working on it since the beginning of the blog construction project so it has been a while coming to fruition (knitting kept getting in the way).

I am one step closer to the end result of all the modifications I would like to make to the blog. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Got a beater?

2009-09-20T14:05:00.001-04:00

Recently a knitting friend invited me to join her and two other knitters on a trip to A Wool Gathering. We had a good time but we all agreed that A Wool Gathering wasn't as plentiful as our trip in May to Great Lakes Fiber Show. There was a fair amount of roving to be had yesterday but the yarn selection was less than desirable.
I have been considering/reflecting/dreaming about weaving for many months now. I have always been fascinated with the way thread/yarn can be manipulated to make lovely fabric. I knew I wanted to start out small to try it out to see if it is something I really would stick with so I purchased a couple looms yesterday. At the fest I purchased a small table top tapestry loom. I was disappointed last evening when I unpacked it to find the directions were not included in the bag as the selling vendor promised. I have asked another friend attending the fest today to stop by the booth to ask for a copy of the directions.

The picture above is the loom pieces as well as some weaving notions I picked up. I was in another booth looking at the weaving notions when the seller asked me "do you have a beater"? My mind immediatly kicked in thinking ~ no he doesn't beat me but I didn't say it out loud thankfully. The paddle with teeth thingies, on the bottom left, is called a beater. It is used to push the woven yarn down tight against the woven yarn below. Or filling the gaps to create the woven fabric. I am currently in the process of learning weaving vocabulary. Like knitting there are many terms and I am finding I might be more successful if I learn them now rather than later. Next to the beater are five tapestry weaving needles and some yarn bobbins.

True to form when I start a new craft I picked up a couple tapestry books. One is for techniques and the other is directions for projects. The first picture is of the books and the second shows a couple project ideas. WOW look at the detail! I think tapestry weaving is more of a free form weaving.

I did pick up about 1,500 yards of some Knitting Notions Classic Merino Sport weight yarn on clearance for 50% off. The colorway is Maple.

On the way back from the fest we decided to stop into A Tangled Tale in Powell. I just love this shop. Dorren and her mom Elaine are fantastic, good people. Very helpful and totally enabling. I picked up a ball of Ty-Dy sock yarn. Very pretty pink, green and brown colorway.

Elaine is a weaver and stocks some small weaving Weavettes in the shop. I picked one up yesterday and have already made 7 pieces from left over wool in my stash. I can see where weaving will be great at stash busting.

Travel knitting

2009-09-18T15:46:00.001-04:00

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During our trip to New York I was able to knit the back down to the 19 inches called for and start the front. I moved the back stitches to scrap yarn since I want to knit the front to the same length and work the collar to determine if the length is where I want it before binding off. Speaking of the collar I think I am going to knit it with a "v" in the front. I am not a fan of things up around my neck so I think the opening will give me the space I need. Also I don't like to work garter stitch in the round and this will give me a better result for my preference.

Clambake 2009

2009-09-15T11:51:00.006-04:00

Saturday was my family clambake at my Mom's on the shore of Lake Ontario in New York. There were about 30+ people in attendance and a great time was had. Some folks recently asked me how the clams are cooked so I decided to do a little photo "how to" posting. We were lucky enough to find a vendor selling clams already washed and bagged. This saved a couple hours of work on Saturday morning. Normally Mom heads to the public market around 6:00 AM to buy clams on clambake day. Then we gather to rinse them, count and bag them. But thankfully we didn't have to do that this year.

Here is a picture of how they came to us. NICE! The clam steamers.

The propane tank is connected to the burners on which the steamers sit to steam cook the clams. Check out the flame on that burner!

You can also see the water in the base to be heated to steam the clams. I believe the 80 dozen clams were put on around 12:30 to and by 4:30 they were ready to eat!

The clams are ready when they open up..... This is my Mom putting the 2 pounds of butter on to melt for clam dipping.

FO - Kauni Ribbed Mitts

2009-09-15T08:19:00.000-04:00

I finished my Kauni Ribbed Mitts while on a trip to New York this past weekend. These will go perfectly with the Kauni Raha scarf this fall. :-)

Yoke finished and 1/3 of the back knitted

2009-09-10T18:35:00.002-04:00

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There are some projects that just grab hold of my attention and just will not let go. The Snickerdoodle Luxe is just such a project. I cast on as soon as I got home with the box of yarn on Friday and have hardly knit on anything else since. I wonder how I will feel about it Sunday evening after 14+ hours of car knitting?

We are heading to my Mom's for the weekend. She is hosting our family mostly annual clambake though it has been several years since the last one. I am looking forward to seeing most of my maternal family that is still talking to each other. The trip is 7+ hours each way and Jimmy will probably do the driving since I suck at driving distances. I am charged with keeping him awake. The knitting will help keep me awake! We also have a couple audio books to help entertain us.

Maybe it is the equipment!

2009-09-09T13:17:00.004-04:00

Recently I have been voicing my "opinion" that I HATE lace weight yarn. Hate is such a strong word I shouldn't use because it usually bites me in the a$$ as you will see very soon. Besides there is such a fine line between hate and love that it is often blurry anyway.

I had almost resigned myself to knit with only fingering or heavier weights of yarn for the rest of my life after I finish my current Leaf and Trellis project. However, I have taken a step back to look at some facts. Is it really the lace yarns fault because I was angry?

I was knitting on the Leaf and Trellis while visiting with a couple knitting friends recently and though "geezzzz I really hate these rubber stitch markets." They were dragging on the needles and the lace stitches were getting caught up together and wonkified. The yarn didn't seem to move nicely over the wooden needles either. So I asked the gals if they wanted to take a ride over to Temptations so I could buy an Addi Lace Turbo Circular and off we went. Just that little change of needle was enough to make me not hate working with the lace yarn so much.

I plan to change out my rubber markers to some brass markers I received in an order from Knit Picks last week. One other change has been made. I realized the chart size was killing my eyes so I have since blown up a copy of the sections I have yet to work and my eyes are grateful.

So I think with some minor adjustments to my knitting equipment I won’t have to eliminate lace weight yarn from my available resources. This is a good thing since I have a good pile of lace weight yarn in my stash....

French Pressing Tea!

2009-09-06T23:26:00.001-04:00

What a weekend it has been already. Last night we went to a Columbus Clippers game. It was a beautiful night for Baseball.

Today we met up with Molly @ Staufs for some knitting and conversation. Lately I have been drinking tea more than coffee. Tea doesn't seem to bother my stomach like coffee does. Staufs sells many loose leaf teas that are so yummy. Well this little French Press caught my eye today. A few weeks ago someone mentioned using a french press to brew tea and my mind just went nuts when I saw this little guy. How could I resist it when it is all red and cute even! I have brew 4 cups of tea since getting it home tonight and it makes a darn good cup of tea!

I harvested the last of the catnip crop for this year. The cats have been going nuts tonight. I wonder why?

Below is the blocked Raha scarf. I am very pleased how this project turned out.