boogaj

Round and Round I just

Round and Round

I just love knitting in the round. No side seams to worry about, less purling, quick quick, quick! Fuchsia is flying along despite the smaller needles (US 5) and the ribbing. I actually like doing ribbing (this sweater is k3 p1), but I do think it is a bit slower than plain old knitting. And did I mention how much I like this yarn, even though it is 50% cotton?

Yesterday I took a knitting break to make some pillows for the couch. Not little throw pillows, but great big pillows! Kohl's was having a 50% off sale on their pillows, so I got 4 for $20. I used some extra fabric I had around the house to make the pillow covers, so these two pillows together cost only $10 + about an hour of sewing time. Since these were scraps of fabric from another project, I ran out. The other two pillows will have to wait until find more fabric.

eBay Auctions

Any rubber stampers out there? I'm selling off part of my stash on eBay. There are Christmas and Holiday stamps here and a bunch of other stamps here. Thanks for looking!


Knitting news: I'm making good progress on Fuchsia. I just love knitting in the round!

eBay Auctions! Any rubber stampers

eBay Auctions!

Any rubber stampers out there? I'm selling off part of my stash on eBay. There are Christmas and Holiday stamps here and a bunch of other stamps here. Thanks for looking!

Knitting news: I'm making good progress on Fuchsia. I just love knitting in the round!

Yahoo Group for Beta Testers

Good Deal

I have absolutely no affiliation with KnitPicks, but I have ordered from them several times in the past and I think they are great. So, when I saw that Tahki New Tweed is one of their new special offers, I had to share. I bought 12 balls of this in a light blue color (at Knitter's Niche in Chicago) to make Blue Cardie and I just love the yarn. It is 70% merino wool, 15% silk, 11% cotton, 4% viscose. Very soft and so easy to knit with.

On another note, Fuchsia is coming along nicely. I am finally down to 200 stitches (you start by casting on 500!!) and I'm knitting in the round. Pictures when I have more to show.

Good Deal I have absolutely

Good Deal

I have absolutely no affiliation with KnitPicks, but I have ordered from them several times in the past and I think they are great. So, when I saw that Tahki New Tweed is one of their new special offers, I had to share. I bought 12 balls of this in a light blue color (at Knitter's Niche in Chicago) to make Blue Cardie and I just love the yarn. It is 70% merino wool, 15% silk, 11% cotton, 4% viscose. Very soft and so easy to knit with.

On another note, Fuchsia is coming along nicely. I am finally down to 200 stitches (you start by casting on 500!!) and I'm knitting in the round. Pictures when I have more to show.

You asked for it!

Free Felted Bag Pattern

Enjoy!

You asked for it! Free

You asked for it!

Free Felted Bag Pattern

Enjoy!

Kureyon Felting

Wednesday I came down with Startitis. Despite my previous bad experience with felting Kureyon, I decided to try again. This time things went right. It's okay to make mistakes, but it's really great when you learn from them. I love my new bag and it is happily carrying my current sock in progress.

Startitis struck again on Saturday:

Here is Fuchsia from the 2001 Dale of Norway Svale book. I'm verry happy that this is knit in the round up to the arms. The flouncy part on the bottom has been a challenge though. You have to cast on 500 stitches to start. Ugh. That is a lot of stitches to have crammed on one circular needle. So, while it might not look like much, I am almost through my first skein of yarn (and this only takes 10 skeins!)

Here's what it will look like when I'm all done:

Kureyon Felting Wednesday I came

Kureyon Felting

Wednesday I came down with Startitis. Despite my previous bad experience with felting Kureyon, I decided to try again. This time things went right. It's okay to make mistakes, but it's really great when you learn from them. I love my new bag and it is happily carrying my current sock in progress.

Startitis struck again on Saturday:

Here is Fuchsia from the 2001 Dale of Norway Svale book. I'm verry happy that this is knit in the round up to the arms. The flouncy part on the bottom has been a challenge though. You have to cast on 500 stitches to start. Ugh. That is a lot of stitches to have crammed on one circular needle. So, while it might not look like much, I am almost through my first skein of yarn (and this only takes 10 skeins!)

Here's what it will look like when I'm all done:

Maude

Finished Maude yesterday and she fits like a glove. I'll model it later in the week perhaps. Now I am anticipating my next project -- but what should it be? Decisions, decisions.

*Beer note*
Bottled our beer last night. Not as difficult as I feared, but quite a bit of beer apparently got on my tennis shoes. I noticed this while sitting at the Joliet Public Library's storytime for toddlers. Maybe not such a good idea to smell like a brewery while bringing in your child for for "Toddler Time" -- ugh!

Maude Finished Maude yesterday and

Maude

Finished Maude yesterday and she fits like a glove. I'll model it later in the week perhaps. Now I am anticipating my next project -- but what should it be? Decisions, decisions.

*Beer note*
Bottled our beer last night. Not as difficult as I feared, but quite a bit of beer apparently got on my tennis shoes. I noticed this while sitting at the Joliet Public Library's storytime for toddlers. Maybe not such a good idea to smell like a brewery while bringing in your child for for "Toddler Time" -- ugh!

Froggin', Finishin' & Spinnin'

I know, the picture has nothing to do with the title, but it's been so cloudy here that I couldn't get a decent picture.

Froggin' -- Laurel Hill is no more. I got out the swift and spun away all my hard work. So what will the 20 skeins of dark olive green Jo Sharp wool become? Probably not another Jo Sharp design. I recently purchased A Season's Tale by Kim Hargreaves and there are some gorgeous sweaters that I have my eye on. Since Jo Sharp wool is DK weight, I should be able to substitute easily.

Finishin' -- I have been making a little progress on the blue cardie, but the second sleeve apathy has kicked in. Ho hum. However Maude is near completion. If only cotton weren't such a pain in the a**, I mean hand.

Spinnin' -- Okay, I have a picture for this one. At this rate I might have enough yarn for a scarf in three months!

It is pretty though, isn't it?

Froggin', Finishin' & Spinnin' I

Froggin', Finishin' & Spinnin'

I know, the picture has nothing to do with the title, but it's been so cloudy here that I couldn't get a decent picture.

Froggin' -- Laurel Hill is no more. I got out the swift and spun away all my hard work. So what will the 20 skeins of dark olive green Jo Sharp wool become? Probably not another Jo Sharp design. I recently purchased A Season's Tale by Kim Hargreaves and there are some gorgeous sweaters that I have my eye on. Since Jo Sharp wool is DK weight, I should be able to substitute easily.

Finishin' -- I have been making a little progress on the blue cardie, but the second sleeve apathy has kicked in. Ho hum. However Maude is near completion. If only cotton weren't such a pain in the a**, I mean hand.

Spinnin' -- Okay, I have a picture for this one. At this rate I might have enough yarn for a scarf in three months!

It is pretty though, isn't it?

TypePad Here I Come! Did

TypePad Here I Come!

Did you know that there is a new blog tool coming? It's called TypePad and it's from the makers of Movable Type. I have been chosen as a beta tester for this new service and you can see the TypePad version of my blog here. Let me know what you think by leaving me a comment on my new blog!

Decoupage and Beer

It was a very busy weekend! I finally felt like doing some spring cleaning and I found this box that I got at IKEA a while ago and decided to decoupage it. I just took some decoupage medium that I had sitting around and a bunch of origami paper and went to work. I'm pretty happy with the results and it was very easy to do. Here's what the box looked like before:

Last weekend was the huge IKEA shopping trip (pretty much an annual thing with us) and the furniture arrives tomorrow. This little box will go on top of my new computer center and my printer will sit on top of it -- yipee!

What's that about beer? Well, Pete and I decided to visit the Home Brew Shop in St. Charles, IL this weekend. We came home with a beer making kit and the ingredients for some Brown Ale. Yesterday we cooked everything up and started processing our brew! The above picture was taken yesterday before the addition of the yeast and . . .

this picture was taken this morning after the brewer's yeast started doing it's thing. This stuff is ACTIVE! More updates as the process progresses.

Decoupage and Beer It was

Decoupage and Beer

It was a very busy weekend! I finally felt like doing some spring cleaning and I found this box that I got at IKEA a while ago and decided to decoupage it. I just took some decoupage medium that I had sitting around and a bunch of origami paper and went to work. I'm pretty happy with the results and it was very easy to do. Here's what the box looked like before:

Last weekend was the huge IKEA shopping trip (pretty much an annual thing with us) and the furniture arrives tomorrow. This little box will go on top of my new computer center and my printer will sit on top of it -- yipee!

What's that about beer? Well, Pete and I decided to visit the Home Brew Shop in St. Charles, IL this weekend. We came home with a beer making kit and the ingredients for some Brown Ale. Yesterday we cooked everything up and started processing our brew! The above picture was taken yesterday before the addition of the yeast and . . .

this picture was taken this morning after the brewer's yeast started doing it's thing. This stuff is ACTIVE! More updates as the process progresses.

Summer Reading Finally got around

Summer Reading

Finally got around to getting the Knitting Blogger's Reading Group button uploaded. The first book is going to be The Life of Pi by Yann Martal which I read a while back. That's okay because now I will be free to re-read East of Eden by John Steinbeck for the third (I think?) time. I re-read The Grapes of Wrath last year, so I was due to re-read East of Eden even if Oprah didn't decide that she liked it.

Speaking of reading, I just finished The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood yesterday. While it was a very good book, it was too long. I would still recommend it though. The novel within a novel idea was interesting.

Knitting? Well, I picked Maude back up and finished several more rows, but business has been booming, so there hasn't been much time. Oh well, more money for yarn, right?