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Blue Cardie Just finished the

Blue Cardie

Just finished the back of the blue cardie that I am designing. I think it turned out pretty well. It's just a simple raglan cardigan with a seed stitch border at the bottom and a little bit of side shaping.

In other news, I think I'm going to have to rip out Laurel Hill. After losing 50lbs, I think it's just going to be too large. Better to cut my losses than to finish it and never wear it. Speaking of my WIP's, I really need to update that page. I'm happy with my gallery, but not my wip page.

One Skein Done! Finished one

One Skein Done!

Finished one skein. I really need to think about getting a spinning wheel!

On a bloggy note. . . Pete found a nifty little graphical browser thingy from Google. It basically shows all the links from one page to another in a graph form. Kind of fun to play around with!

I have been on a reading kick (so not too much knitting is getting done.) I finished 2 books in the last week and both were very good. First was Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. It is basically about a murder trial, but there is a lot of exploration of the Japanese-American issues before, during and right after WW2.

The next was Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I have to say that I could NOT put this book down. It's over 300 pages and I think I read it in two days. This book is about survival -- I don't know what else to say besides that.

Now I'm starting The Lovely Bones: A Novel by Alice Sebold (generously sent to my by Kerstin) and I'm really enjoying it so far. What luck! I haven't found a book that I was really interested in for months and now three great ones in a row! What's your favorite book? I'm looking to put together my summer reading list!

Rovings and Books Last week

Rovings and Books

Last week was cool in the greater Chicagoland area so I did a lot of dyeing. Hopefully I will have some skiens of this made up later in the week.

And a big thank you to Kerstin for sending me "The Lovely Bones" which I have been wanting to read for months. Stop by her blog to check out all the Tank-y goodness. She just started "Smooch" -- very nice! (Must finish Maude, must finish Maude. . .)

I'm also designing my first sweater -- yikes! I'll post pics when I'm farther along.

Mouse Along Fancy is enjoying

Mouse Along

Fancy is enjoying the little mousie that I made! This was made with Wendy's pattern and was made as part of the Mouse Along. This project was super quick and fun! And as you can see, Fancy is enjoying the end result:

I highly recommend making one for your kitties!

Maddie & Maude Finished the

Maddie & Maude

Finished the back of Maude and got through a couple of inches on the front. I even wove in all the ends and it wasn't too bad. This one is flying along and I'm already contemplating my next project. I'm going to design a raglan cardie -- yikes! I never designed anything before!

Today feels like a dyeing day. Now if only Maddie (see my cutie above) would fall asleep!

Maude & Mother's Day Goodies!

Maude & Mother's Day Goodies!

I had a wonderful Mother's day! I finished the mohair wrap and started the Maude tank from the new Mission Falls book. Look at all those ends I will have to weave in -- UGH! But I like the stripes which make the plain stockinette stitch more bearable. I'm knitting this tank with these:

And here they are open:

Yep -- Denise interchangeable Knitting Needles which were my Mother's Day gift! My husband bought them from KnitPicks -- gotta love that free shipping! This is the second order we have placed with them and I have to say that I have been very pleased. I was on the fence about getting these needles until I read the review in Knitter's Review. They are very easy to use and I have had no problem with them coming unlocked. I also love the VERY flexible tubing. The resin needles were also much needed for the Mission Falls 1824 cotton which was really sticking to the bamboo needles I first tried. So, I would have to say that the Denise needles get a 4.5/5 rating from me.

Mohair Never say never! I

Mohair

Never say never! I always looked at mohair with loathing -- why? I have no idea. I just didn't like it -- too fuzzy, too stringy? I don't know. So about a week ago I walked in to Knitters Niche in Chicago with Theresa and her mom and I picked up some hand-dyed mohair and a mohair/wool carry along yarn. Only one week later I have a beautiful completed shawl! I just could not put this project down! So, now mohair is my friend and it will no longer be getting the dirty looks I used to throw its way.

Knitting Blogs Web Ring Explosion!

Knitting Blogs Web Ring Explosion!

First a picture of the 2-ply that I made with the bfl that I dyed a couple weeks ago. This is from the rovings that I dyed using the hot and cold pour methods. I took one ply of each and put them together to get this. I thought it was pretty nifty!

What a week with the Knitting Blogs web ring! There were SO many new blogs added this week. As of today we are up to 250 sites in the ring! Go check them out!

Take the new poll at

Take the new poll at the Knitting Blogs Home Page!

Spring Startitis? Theresa and I

Spring Startitis?

Theresa and I had a lovely time shopping for yarn on Saturday with her mom. You can read more about it on her blog, but I wanted to post my purchases for all to see! On the left is a lovely 70% kid mohair/30% wool yarn from Bouton d'Or which is being knit with the gorgeous mohair from Wool in the Woods that is next to it. And here is the wrap/shawl thing that I am making with them:

And a close up:

I'm not using a pattern. I just cast on 60 stitches knit three rows then did a whole row of yarn overs. On the next row you just knit into every other stitch (so as not to increase) for a total of 60 stitches. Then knit four more rows. I continued on knitting one row of yarn overs and 5 rows of knitting. And I will continue until I run out of yarn.

The yarn on the right in the top picture is New Tweed from Tahki. It's a blend of 70% Merino, 15% Silk, 11% Cotton and 4% Viscose. Really nice stuff! I got 12 balls and I'm planning to make a cardigan. It's a plain old worsted weight, so I have lots of patterns to choose from, but I just might create a pattern of my own. We shall see.

I also started a pair of socks in Cascade Fixation. (A sock is a sock, so I will wait until they are finished to take pictures.) And I picked up the needles I need for my Mission Falls tank. May have to swatch that one tonight. That brings me to my question -- why the startitis? I have noticed a lot of it going around on the ring. Is it the spring air? All I know is that I have WAY more WIP's than I'm willing to admit right now, but I just can't stop -- well -- starting!

Cashmerino Booties Needed a quick

Cashmerino Booties

Needed a quick interim project since I don't have the needles for my next project (Can't wait for the shopping trip with Theresa this weekend!) So, I decided to knit up these little cuties. They will be going to Pete's best man and his wife who just had a little boy! They are made with Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in color 202. And the pattern is from the Baby Cashmerino book. Quick, easy and cute!