Not Just a Purl Girl

A New Shop

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 16:24:00 +0000

We got a new yarn shop just down the street, so I had to stop by. It has a catchy name, Flying Pig Yarn Shop. If you get the opportunity to stop by, do so and say hello to Debbie the owner. Since I was there, I ~~had~~ wanted to purchase some more yarn. My temptation on this stop was Frog Tree Meriboo, which is a merino wool bamboo blend. It is super soft and comfy feeling. I actually purchased it with a pattern in mind, the Knit Night Hat by Judy Maroles, that I found on Ravelry a couple of weeks ago. I actually swatched for this pattern. I wanted a hat that was slightly loose fitting so it wouldn't squish my hair as much as some of my other hats. It was relaxing to pick up the needles again after a long hiatus. I think it is turning out pretty good.

After I finish blocking my hat, I am going to attempt to finish up some of my UFOs that have been languishing in the totes in my shelf. I can do this if I stay focused, I know I can.

To Cap Things Off

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 23:51:00 +0000

Dear Ms. Tarasovich-Clark:

As much as I absolutely love the Beach House Pullover pattern that you graciously shared with the populous in the Summer 2010 Interweave Knits publication, this sweater is starting to become painful to me. I know that part of this is a failing within myself (start-itis). Okay, it is all me, if I am really honest with myself. I chose my next sweater far too early and even was so careless as to purchase yarn for said project so it tempts me from the corner of my eye as I slog along on sleeve number one of the Beach House Pullover. Normally I find knitting to be one of the most relaxing hobbies (except when I am frogging of course) but all of these cables, while beautiful, are starting to drive me a little crazy. I wish I was part of the group of knitters that can knit cables without a cable needle, but alas, I have not managed this skill set with any reliability. While I am extremely excited to have reached the cap of the sleeve, I am not looking forward to sleeve number two. I was hoping to be working on the new sweater during vacation, but I am thinking that this little beauty will be traveling with me to my house on the lake. Perhaps apropos?

Your appreciative but cranky fiber correspondent,

NJAPG

Look What Came in the Mail!

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 23:19:00 +0000

Normally I don't get the mail. Not because I don't want to. I just usually get home last. Well, Monday, I was home first so I walked out to the curb to grab the mail, expecting the usual bills and useless flyers and catalogs for things I really don't need. GUESS WHAT? I got a package.

A very special package from my friends at Jimmy Bean's. I could not believe it. I placed my order Saturday and by Monday I had said package in my hands. Very impressed with both the USPS as well as my friends at JB's. Not only was it fast, it was free because of the amount I spent. Now I can justify spending more (thinking hub will not be in agreement).

I wanted to share what was inside said package, my beautiful new yarn Mia by Debbie Bliss. I will be using it to make the Prow Pullover. Nothing like a little inspiration to get the Beach House Pullover finished a little more quickly.

I also got these little beauties from Jamberry. I will be able to look at my fancy nails while I knit with my fancy yarn.

What Was I Thinking??

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 20:59:00 +0000

I was flipping thru my Summer 2014 Interweave Knits and I came across my next project (Squeal!!!) I am in love, love, love with the Prow Pullover by Angela Hahn. Frankly, I am ~~a little~~ a lot confused at the title of this sweater. According to my friends at Wikipedia, the prow is the part of a boat that cuts thru the water. Hmmm....well, I will probably just give it my own name in my Ravelry file. After doing a bunch of searching, I could not get my hands on the yarn that the pattern was made in, Skacel Schulana in merino and cotton. I did, however, find a yarn I liked on Jimmy Bean's, so now I wait for it to arrive.

In the meantime, I figured it might make sense to get some closure....on some unfinished projects. So, I dug thru my UFO box and lo and behold, I discovered the Beach House Pullover. All that is left to do is the sleeves and collar and then assembly. After about 15 minutes of trying to figure out where I left off on sleeve #1 (and I admit, a bit of tinking), I got back in the cable rhythm.

As I was knitting, I was reflecting on the sweater and wondering to myself, why did I stop working on this sweater, so close to completion? Granted, this is definitely not a travel sweater, but I didn't think that would be enough to make me stop on a project. I continued on my merry way, knitting in the round (because I hate to sew) when all of a sudden, one of my double pointed needles slipped thru the couch cushions and onto the floor with a clank. Ahhhh, now I remember why I stopped. I absolutely hate those aluminum dps. With a Passion. Capital P. I scampered off the couch and crouched down to get the offending needle out from amidst the dust bunnies. George was disgruntled that I woke him up. I guess the next time I am at the store, I better pick up some bamboo dps.

A Little Flashy

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 13:43:00 +0000

I am ~~a little~~, ok a lot behind on posts showing my work. I was pulling some things out of my closet to get some more space and I realized I never showed pictures of this little beauty.

It was a quick knit and easy, although you have to pay some attention. Once you get the rhythm you can crank these out, though. It is a fun scarf. I could see someone using this as a trim on the edge of a cardigan, how cool would that be? I made mine extra long so I could loop it, it is a good 70" and will likely stretch as I continue to wear it. Alas, since it is the middle of summer, it will be sitting and waiting for me until fall. But what fun to look forward to.

Autumn Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 16:21:00 +0000

The weather has cooled off, hitting the 40s in the nights and high 60s during the day, which means that fall is under way and winter isn't far behind. The leaves are just starting to turn colors, but we have a couple of weeks before the true beauty is shared with us. For some strange reason, when the weather turns cooler like this, my thoughts always turn to knitting. I do knit in the summer, don't get me wrong, but I love to snuggle up on my recliner and knit when it gets cold. It also seems like I am more inspired to get my UFOs finished as well for some reason.

While I finished the oatmeal cardigan last week, it really wasn't done done until today when all ends were weaved. Although, to the purists, it isn't blocked yet, so I guess you could say yet another step exists, but for my purposes, it is finished.

It is not a WOW I love it sweater, but I think it makes a cute accessory. I should know better than to make a boxy sweater. If I made it again, I would have made it longer, maybe hip length and used something like a hook and eye shawl clasp to hold it together. There are some cute ones on Etsy.

Onto the next project. I think this will be one of my own designs, so watch for it soon.

A Fruitful Day

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 17:30:00 +0000

I think I might be turning into my mother. My son invited a friend over and I found myself cleaning the house to impress both the boy and his parents. That is just plain weird. I am pretty sure an 11 year old boy does not care if my knitting is sitting on the couch or if my laundry isn't all upstairs in the closets yet. Or at least I choose to believe this. (I base this on my own 11 year old who could probably go without showering for a week or two and not be terribly troubled by this.) And I guess if his parents don't like my messy garage, I am fairly certain they won't tell me to my face. I do live in Western Michigan, after all. I will just be fodder for their dining room table talk. So, let there be a big cheer out there for the moms who don't have an immaculate house. (like me)

With some additional time off, I managed to finish the right front, so here is the front of the oatmeal cardigan, side by side. I think I am going to add some shaping to the sleeve as opposed to just a straight sleeve since my lower arms are kind of skinny and I think it will look funny to be all floppy.

Between knitting, laundry, helping out at my mom's garage sale, baking peach pie and picking tomatoes, it was a pretty fruitful day. I guess I better get out there and get some beans picked.

All Righty Then

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 16:34:00 +0000

I had a supplier visit scheduled and we decided it would be a car trip (whoo hoo!). Car trips ALWAYS mean knitting, because it is more likely than not that someone in the car wants to be the driver, at least more than I do. Our destination (drum roll please) was Pardeeville, Wisconsin. Have you heard of it? Or have you been there? It is a little town outside of Madison, which I am sure you have heard of, population of about 2100, give or take a few. It takes us about 5 1/2 hours to get there, so plenty of knit time. I packed my oatmeal cardigan and away we went.

Only one slight issue on the way there, when we stopped at the oasis (rest stop) in Chicago, I dropped my row counter and I could not figure out for the life of me where it went. I searched the floor and around the ground outside the minivan, but it was nowhere to be seen. So, I just grabbed a pen and proceeded to use the old fashioned hash marks. They work, just not as convenient. Interestingly enough, at the next stop, it was discovered in the back seat. Phew, very happy. While on the trip I managed to finish the left side and a good portion of the right side. I spent a lot of time noodling on the sleeves. The pattern has you sew the shoulder seams and then pick up the sleeve stitches and knit from there. I find it kind of inconvenient to have a whole sweater connected to the sleeve when I am knitting, so not sure if I will do them separately and then sew them in? I am not super fond of sewing either, so it is a bit of a dilemma.

Always Read The Directions......Always!

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 23:06:00 +0000

I am guessing you are reading the title of this post and thinking, "Well duh!" I know it ~~makes~~ ~~sense~~ seems ever obvious, but it is ALWAYS good to get a reminder. These types of reminders typically occur in the example of a story. And this one is no different.....I call the title of this story "A Tale of Two People Who Didn't Follow Directions"

Left Side of Oatmeal Cardigan

As I mentioned in a previous post, we traveled to the U.P. for a long weekend. On the way, I took my Oatmeal Cardigan (latest work in progress) to get some knitting in while on the road. After all, its a good 6 hours to Munising from my house. And a TON of knitting can be done in that amount of time, even considering that it will get dark at some point. I know some of you are saying,"Just bring a light with you." I guess I could, but I never have done this, so its just a habit not to at this point. But I digress; I am on the part where you do the neck shaping and now I have to pay attention. Previously, the back was just stockinette. I look at the directions and much to my ~~surprise~~ dismay, I did not circle the size I was planning to knit. I frowned to myself. Did I choose to knit the medium or the large? Hmmmmm......well, it is a boxy cardigan without a lot of shaping, so I ~~decided~~ guessed that I must have knit the medium. So, I knit my 18 shoulder stitches, switched to the new pattern for neck stitches and then got to the other shoulder. Oh boy. I have too many stitches left. I recount the 18 original shoulder stitches, yup, there are 18. I recount the neck stitches, yup, that is correct. Therefore, I deduce that I must not have decided to knit the medium but the large. At this point I get out my tape measure. Hub looks over because he can sense my agitation. What about gauge? Yikers! What if this sweater is H U G E ??? As I look at the measurements, I remember that I was getting the size medium measurements with the size large stitch count. I give a sigh of relief and then begin my favorite task of tinking my way to success.

Story two starts with me coming home from work one night. I open the door to the stench of smoke. I run in, full panic mode kicking in. "Welcome home, have a good day?" Hub greets me. "THERE IS SOMETHING ON FIRE!" I screech as I push past him. The kitchen just reeks of smoke even with all the windows open. Hub explains that our son decided he wanted meatballs for lunch. So, he pulled some out of the freezer, put them on a microwave safe plate, read the directions and heated them up. Sounds simple, right? Apparently he did not read the directions closely enough. Instead of the microwave directions, he followed the oven directions to heat for 15 minutes. Yes, 15 minutes. In a microwave. Thankfully, he decided to stop the microwave at 7 minutes.

Like mother like son. And the moral of the story is: always read the directions!

How Superior

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 23:38:00 +0000

Back from a wonderful few days up north with the family which gave me the opportunity to get some knitting in. This time I made a much smarter choice and went with a really simple cardigan from the spring 2013 issue of Creative Knitting. I had been eyeing the pattern for a while but I STERNLY told myself no more new starts on anything until you finish at least 1 WIP. AT LEAST 1! As I was humming along on the back which is garter or stockinette, I ignored the fact that this appears to be a very boxy pattern, so we will see how flattering this turns out. At least I won't have a ton of time invested in it so I am thoroughly frustrated at the end. Well, I will keep at it for now. I am using Plymouth Encore Tweed in an oatmeal color. They call it granola. It sounds yummy to me. But back to my trip. When I say we were up north, I mean, the U.P. To those not from Michigan, that means Upper Peninsula. Past the bridge and onto the beautiful shores of Lake Superior where the water is a strangely beautiful turquoise that you don't normally see. Since blue is my favorite color, I think it would make a fabulous yarn color, don't you?

Two Steps Back, Four Steps Forward

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 17:19:00 +0000

I have finally finished the Sea Shawl, inspite of all of the interruptions of life. Like work. And laundry. Especially laundry. I really wanted to complete it this week so, I did meet my goal. The picot cast off takes a crazy long time and I had to come back to it twice, even though I don't like leaving my knitting in the middle of a row. As I look back at the project, I wish I would have cut the stockinette portion in 1/2 and done 3 more repeats of the lace scallops. Not that it doesn't look great, because I think it is a great design, I just think it could be even better. I saw one person on Ravelry make it in total lace and that was an interesting twist on the pattern as well. I want the lace to open up so I intend to block the snot out of it, we will see how much it grows since it is only 42 x 24, which isn't very big. My daughter offered to model it, but apparently she is not as impressed with the pattern as I am since she asked me, "what is this, a bib?" Thanks, Elizabeth for the vote of confidence.... My blog program isn't working very well today, so I don't know if this is going to look strange when I post, it only lets me type in HTML, not standard compose mode(whatever standard is).

Sea Shawl

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 21:01:00 +0000

I am still working away at the Sea Shawl, amidst the typical distractions of books, genealogy, vacation (in Spring Lake with the family), work and just life in general. I finished what seemed like the endless stockinette portion and should have been thankful for the easiness of it. Not that the lace pattern is hard, its just that you have to pay attention. This is not a multi tasking project, unfortunately. I thought to use the chart for the pattern, but after looking at it and not understanding the concept of "no stitch" I decided to just ignore it and use the written directions that Mindy so helpfully provided with the pattern.

I spent quite a bit of time tinking on this pattern before I got the rhythm of it and what it is supposed to look like. This is definitely a pattern you can read once you get going on it. I suspect the tinking was also due to me attempting to multi task when I shouldn't be. Well, its always good to give it a shot.

After chugging along, I finally laid this out and looked at it and realized, hey, this looks like feather and fan. It also gets my design gears spinning. I think I might be designing a shawl in the future.

Red White and Very Blue

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 13:13:00 +0000

Happy Independence Day to all of my friends in the United States and happy Thursday to those outside of the US. On my day off it is wonderful to note that it is sunny with a clear blue sky. Lots of opportunity to be outside.

Blue is one of my favorite colors (even though black is a close second for clothing and shoes). My new project I am working on is (you guessed it) blue. The pattern is the Holden Shawlette, by Mindy Wilkes, which is offered for free on Ravelry. My friend Jane mentioned it to me and it has been in my queue, struggling to get to the top. Well, it is finally there.

The yarn I am using is Elegance by Loops and Threads. The pattern recommends sock yarn but I am kind of picky about what touches my neck and I just could not find anything at that weight that I really liked. The color way is Ocean. As a play on words, I have named it Sea Shawl.

The beginning section is garter and stockinette with yarn overs added in. Easy stuff. The lace part looks complicated, I guess I will find out soon enough. I am in love love love with all of the pictures of everyone else's projects so I think I will use this shawl a lot.

At Loose Ends

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 00:26:00 +0000

I am back.

Not sure what took me so long, but, I am back. I think what finally kicked my butt in gear was looking at my boysenberry tunic sitting forlornly (can a sweater be forlorn?) on my knitting shelf. Finished and yet not finished. Every day I would think, "I really need to get that finished." And every day I wouldn't. I have no excuses other than I simply hate finishing. I hate the tediousness of finding every little loose end and weaving it in. And so, my project sits and waits....but Saturday, I snatched it up and did it. I weaved in all of those loose ends. While I was on a roll, I washed and blocked it. Aren't you always amazed at how much better your stitches look after blocking? But I digress.....

So I am excited to share (ta-da) the boysenberry tunic.

Glistening Wisp

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 20:43:00 +0000

It has been a slow summer of knitting (yes I realize it is now fall) due to my acquisition of a Kindle Fire. It is extremely tempting to read and my knitting is falling to the wayside, unfortunately. The Kindle was a great birthday gift, so I do thank my family for their thoughtfulness.

I finally sat down and actually finished the glistening wisp scarf and I really like the results. I almost made it a cowl, but since I really envisioned it as a scarf, I stuck it out and here are the results. Close up it looks really fancy although it is a piece of cake to work up.

I also finished the boysenberry tunic, although I have not weaved in the ends yet and "officially" finished it in the sense that I can actually wear it yet. Since I am in a finishing mood, perhaps I will pick it up and get that wrapped up as well.

I took my knitting with me on our family trip to Florida but did not get much knitting done. I chose a pattern called Adrift from the website Stolen Stitches and while I love it, unfortunately it is made from sock yarn, which means a row takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I am wondering if this sweater may be relegated to the never be done pile???

How Big is 10 Centimeters Anyways?

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 01:19:00 +0000

I just started working on a sweater pattern called Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier that I found on Ravelry. It is a loose fitting short sleeved tunic with feather and fan lace at the neck line. I am using Amy Butler's organic cotton and wool blend, which is simply delightful to knit with. I am into my 3rd ball and no knots! This is a great pattern for first time sweater makers as it doesn't really have anything difficult going on with it. It was perfect for my car ride to the Detroit area this past weekend.

The only struggle that I am having has to do with the measurements. Heidi uses centimeters. I don't think in centimeters, I think in inches. You know what I mean, when someone says 4 inches, I can hold up my thumb and first finger and gesture 4 inches. So, I got past the lace portion of the sweater, got the sleeves off on stitch holders and then read the line "work to 10 cm." I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how long 10 cm might be. It seems silly that I would not know this. But I don't. I really don't.

Thankfully I am saved by my tape measure yet again. Some wonderfully intelligent person has printed both centimeters and inches on my tape measure. And now I know that 10 cm is 4 inches.

Cast The Net Wrap

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 15:43:00 +0000

Wrap yourself in the coziness that is kidsilk haze, a gorgeous blend of mohair and silk.

The wrap was inspired by the visual I had of a fisherman standing in his boat preparing to cast his net into the sea. It is a loosely knit stockinette stitch which creates the mesh look.

Size: 20" x 66"

Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze 581 Meadow 3 balls

Supplies: #10 US/6mm circular needle, #6 US/4mm circular needle

Gauge: Is not critical

Glossary:

K - knit

K2 tog - knit two stitches together (decrease)

M1 - make one stitch (increase) lift strand between stitches with left needle and knit it

P - purl

Sl 1 - slip one stitch as if to purl

St St - Stockinette Stitch - knit one row, purl next row, repeat

YO 2x - wrap yarn around needle two times

Pattern:

Cast on 160 stitches with larger needle

Note: On the first stitch of every row, slip first stitch as if to purl

Work st st for 5 rows (end on knit)

Work one row of purl with smaller needle

Sl 1 K2 tog across, K1

Purl

With larger needle work 6 rows st st

Drop Stitch Section:

*Sl 1 , YO 2x, K1 across

Sl 1, drop 2 wraps, P1 across

Work 12 rows st st*

Repeat drop stitch section (from * to *) 5 times

Work st st until piece measures 50"

Repeat drop stitch section (from * to *) 4 times

Sl 1, YO 2x, K1 across

Sl 1, drop 2 wraps, P1 across

Work st st for 5 rows

Work one row purl with smaller needle

Sl 1, M1, K1 across

With larger needle work st st for 5 rows

Bind off loosely

Happy Mother's Day to Me

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

If you are a mother or grandmother or step mom or foster mom,

Happy Mother's Day to you!

Enjoy your special day and bless you for taking care of the children in your life.

My kids got me one of my all time favorites that will never be a disappointment, chocolates! Thank you Elizabeth and Daniel.

They also got me a new flag for my flower garden with cardinals on it. I can't wait to hang it up. Don't you think the colors are beautiful?

Green Fluff

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:41:00 +0000

I am working on a new free pattern that I hope to finish and post some time next week. I felt like sharing a sneak peek. All I am going to say is that it is kid silk haze, which is a lovely, lovely yarn not only to work with but also to wear. Are you intrigued?

This past week was the Tulip Time Festival in Holland and my son marched in the parade on Thursday afternoon. The weather was pleasant and sunny, about 60 degrees, which is just great for marching. By the end of the route, he was pooped out, but agreed to pose for one picture. Unfortunately, since there are no tulips left, he is just standing in the crowd. Yes, that is a palette and a paint brush in his hand, the theme for their class is floral fantasy.

Another great thing the festival is known for is food. There are many booths with non healthy foods to choose from like deep fried Oreos, Twinkies, as well as elephant ears, fries, gyros and funnel cakes. It makes my arteries harden just thinking about it. Our family went down one evening and indulged and it was awesome. Sigh......

The Booty

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sat, 05 May 2012 17:54:00 +0000

I finally managed to get to Lizzie Ann's today. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for my wallet, the shop closes at 5:30 most evening, so Saturday is the one day I have available to yarn shop. I even had my Christmas gift certificates with me. A whole 75.00 of free yarn, not that I ever stop that soon when I am there it seems. After dodging many wet tourists in to see the tulip festival (which currently resembles a stem festival) I managed to get to the shop. And there was much to be had still, even with a 25% off the whole store. I managed to snag up 4 balls of kid silk haze and a pattern for a shawl/wrap, 10 skeins of Plymouth Encore, 2 hanks of Art Yarns mohair splash, 10 balls of Amy Butler and last but certainly not least, one hank of S. Charles Collezione Celeste and a pattern for an awesome ruffled scarf. What an awesome trip even in the rain.

On the home front, I spent some time organizing my yarn corner in the family room. Previously, I had piles of needles and books and buttons and various things on my shelves. I decided to use fabric totes from Target and I really like how they look in my shelves. I am half way organized (not really).

In the Nick of Time

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:07:00 +0000

I don't always like to work on a deadline for a project as I tend to get stressed instead of relax, but I am happy to say that I managed to get the azalea mesh scarf finished in time for the basket. Whew! The pattern, which I got from Ravelry, was super easy and I used some Lion Brand Cotton Ease from my stash, which made hub happy as well. It is really cute as well and I would recommend it for new knitters that want to do something a little different. The only additional skills needed are knit two together and yarn over. Piece of cake!

I hope the recipient likes it as much as I enjoyed making it for her. Here is my daughter modeling it for me.

Work In Process

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:49:00 +0000

I have been a little distracted from my knitting lately it seems. Books and movies have been catching my attention instead. I watched The Lake House for the first time (yes, I realize this is an old movie) and I really liked it a lot. While it definitely is a "chick flick" it touched me deeply. Sandra Bullock is an excellent actress in my opinion. There was the right amount of chemistry between her and Keanu Reeves, which always makes it work.

I have managed to work a few more rows on the baby cable socks, however. I turned the heel and am on my way down the foot. While the colors for the stripes don't quite match up, I don't think it looks terribly off. At least not enough for me to rip back and start over again. I think my next pair will be a solid color though :-)

At the same time, I am trying to finish a mesh scarf for a friend and co worker who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Our team at work is putting together a welcome back to work basket for her when she returns after surgery. I have a deadline of next week so I really need to knuckle down and finish the scarf this weekend. Even though it is a terrible thing, I am gratified to see how it is bringing the ladies of our supply management group together in support of one another. We now have regular meetings to rally support around our work sisters who are going thru rough times.

On another sad note, I received an email notification that one of my favored yarn shops, Lizzie Ann's Wool Company, will be closing at the end of May. The owner has decided to retire and spend more time with her family. We will definitely miss her and her shop.

Well, back on the topic of movies, I am heading off to see Chimpanzee, but at the theater, which I generally don't do because I hate to spend that amount of money and possibly be disappointed. Yeah, yeah, I am cheap, but if I could spend 10 bucks on a great ball of yarn or 10 bucks on an uncertain outcome, I already know which I would choose.

That's A Wrap

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:35:00 +0000

We are back in Michigan after our spring break get a way. Our last stop was New Orleans. It was pretty neat to see the city in person. The cathedral was awesome and the aquarium was great fun for the kids. We even took the ferry across the Mississippi. This paddle boat was crossing when we were coming back.

Man is it cold here! Funny how your perspective changes thru the year. In the winter, 60 is a heat wave. After having spent a week plus in 85 plus degree weather with high humidity, it suddenly seems chilly.

I finished up The Black Swan today. I decided to photograph it hanging on the deck rail outside since it is relatively pleasant outside, even though it is overcast. I really feel like I should have been able to finish it more quickly, as it was not terribly difficult, but I seemed to get distracted a lot during the week. I did get a great stretch of knitting on the way home as well as on a business trip earlier this week. I just need to weave in the ends and block and then it will be all ready to go. It was a great pattern and I feel like this technique will definitely inspire future patterns.

Restlessness

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:35:00 +0000

Well, I am back from a wonderful vacation and yet I scarcely feel relaxed....I think the restlessness is still bothering me. You would think 55 games of Bejeweled Blitz would help me unwind after a long day at work, but alas, I am not (although I am happy to admit I am the top scorer). Next, you would think adding 5 new connections in Linked In would make me feel more fulfilled. But it still doesn't. Especially when I can admit that I am too chicken to go to a new knitting group because I am afraid of not knowing anyone. It is just ridiculous. I feel like I am waiting for something, but I am not sure exactly what it is. One would almost think I was 14 again (yikes). Enough whining about me.

One thing that really made me feel good today was reading an email in my cluttered in box about getting your knitting mojo back. I really think the author is onto something, especially her comment about cleaning out your stash. I am seriously considering purchasing some of those fabric totes from Target to store some of my stash stylishly.

The cats are especially happy to have us home and follow us around relentlessly. You have to wonder what goes on in their little kitty brains while we are gone for over a week (my brother stopped by and fed and watered and chatted them up while we were gone). Normally Georgie sleeps at the foot of our bed on his blanket, but the last 2 nights he has slept right next to me. It is always nice to be needed.

I made good progress on the black swan on the drive home from Louisiana. I am starting the 7th triangle. I opted to follow the pattern and not wrap the turns. It makes for a nice sort of lacy look between the triangles. I may do a little single crochet trim around the perimeter, still pondering. I didn't work on the baby cable sock during vacation, but I think I will take it with me this week on the road to a supplier. I better turn the heel first though as I don't think I can follow all of the directions while riding in the car as it makes me sort of car sickish.

Hot Spot

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:07:00 +0000

It has been all quiet from me lately, so this might be an extra long post. You may (or may not) remember that I was working dilligently on the beach house pull over when suddenly Holland was hit with unseasonably warm weather for about 2 weeks. It was in the 80s, no kidding. Well, when you get nice weather like that, you just have to go outside and enjoy it. So we did. At the same time, was going thru some tough stuff at work and I would just go home and not want to do anything. So I didn't. Consequently, I didn't make much progress on the beach house pullover. Frankly, it is hard to be motivated to work on a 100% wool sweater when it is 85 degrees. Maybe its just me, but I could not stay focused.

Well, we started to get close to spring break time and I wanted to take some knitting with me, so I packed away the sleeve and pulled out the yarn for the matching baby cable sock. I learned a few lessons on this that I want to share right now.

First and foremost, unravel and match up your yarn before you start knitting socks made of varigated yarn. (Enough said)

Second (and equally important) remember what size needles you were using for the first sock. Especially if you have a bunch of needles.

Third, remember how many stitches you cast on the first time.

After a bit of dinking around, I got the second sock going and it is a fairly good match to its sister sock. I am just about to the heel flap, but I decided that would wait until I got to the hotel to manage, I am not experienced enough to do the heel flap in the car yet. At the same time, I was searching thru patterns on Ravelry before I left and I saw the most awesome pattern, called Wingspan. Please take a second to follow the link and check it out as there are many versions and all are equally beautiful in their own way. That is one thing I really love about Ravelry, you can see how others make a pattern and revise it as well.

I have started work on the Wingspan pattern, but mine is going to be called The Black Swan, pretty dramatic, huh? So far, so good, I only had to frog once because I forgot to put the marker on and when I attempted to tink back I dropped a bunch of stitches, doh! I wasn't that far along, so it made more sense to just try again.

In the mean time, we are enjoying the local weather. Pretty awesome, huh?