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Better the Second Time Around

The second toe-up sock was so much easier than the first!  After ripping and re-knitting various sections of the first sock a number of times, I was almost afraid to start the second.  However, since I had already decided upon the toe, heel and bind-off, the second sock was a breeze.

After having knit all my previous socks using a dutch heel, I was worried about the fit on a short row heel, but Maddie thought they were comfortable, and they look as if they fit nicely. 

Heck, I may become a toe-up sock knitter yet!

First Toe-Up Sock

Well, I finally finished a toe-up sock and I'm still not completely sold.  I used the magic cast on for the toe and that went fairly well, although I seem to remember tearing it out at least twice.  Then there was the heel.  That was ripped out twice -- I finally ended up using the easy short row heel from here.  Then there was the bind-off.  I couldn't make up my mind for over a week, then today I just googled "stretchy cast off" and chose one of the first ones I saw, which ended up being Jeny's surprisingly stretchy  bind off.

Glad to have the first one completed, and the fact that I have some notes helps since I'll have to duplicate this Frankenstein sock.

Perhaps I'll cast on for sock number 2 tomorrow, or perhaps not.  We shall see.

Turn a Square Hat

A guy hat.  Grey on grey with a bit of brown thrown in -- this might work.

It's not easy to find a hat pattern for a guy in my opinion, but when I saw Jared Flood's Turn a Square, I knew I found something Pete would wear.  For all the details, check out my Ravelry page.

Pumpkin Ridge Scarf

I guess I would have to call this my Olympic knitting project as 90% of it has been knit while watching the Olympics.  I have noticed there is a lot of lull to the games, and I have plenty of time between the moments of action to get in a few rows here and there.

Neither of these photos shows off the color of this beautiful yarn -- Rowan's Kidsilk Haze in shade 596, Marmalade.  It has a nice pumpkin-y warmth in person and thus the name -- the Pumpkin Ridge Scarf.  The yarn has so much personality on it's own that I decided on a simple k2p2 ribbing rather than some fancy lace pattern.  Besides, when it comes to clothing, my style is very simple (although colorful) and I figured this scarf would get more use than something fancy and lacy.  If you have a couple of spare balls of Kidsilk Haze laying about, I highly recommend that you make one for yourself:

Pumpkin Ridge Scarf

2 skeins Rowan Kidsilk Haze

Size 6US Knitting Needles

Cast on 56 stitches.

For every row, k2p2 to end.

Bind off (using a tubular bind-off if you are feeling fancy).

Cute Cloths

I just purchased the Dessert Cloths pattern from Kris Knits. Maybe everyone already knows about her, but I just discovered her a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd share. She also has KAL's, and while I haven't done one yet, they do look fun. Maddie loves handknit washcloths, and now I should be able to keep her well stocked with all these fun patterns.

Lots more at her Ravelry page.

Maddie's Fingerless Mitts

This past weekend I went a bit crazy with the knitting and finally finished up Maddie's fingerless mittens. 

 

Super easy, quick and pretty much mindless knitting, these were an easy finish and Maddie seems to like them.  More info at Ravelry.

I also started and finished another project which I need to steam block and photograph.  More on that tomorrow.

For Maddie

In keeping with the brainless knitting theme, I made this washcloth for Maddie yesterday.  She spied this Christmasy yarn at one of those big discount chains (while I was there looking for a magnifier due to my whimpy eyesight) and demanded (not really, she asked politely, but demanded sounds more exciting) that I knit her a washcloth.

Boring, perhaps, but yesterday was a bad day pain-wise and it took my mind off things a bit.

So there you have it.  A washcloth.  (More at Ravelry.)

Baktus Done -- TV Guilty Pleasure Revealed

Maddie was kind enough to model Baktus for me, and I have to say, it looks quite cozy on her, doesn't it?  I love how you can put the point in front, wrap the ends around and tie it up all snug.

This was a quick and fun knit -- largely plain old stockinette with a tiny bit of shaping.  I completed it in a marathon knitting session last week while I was watching old episodes of Lost at hulu.  Stupidly, perhaps, I believed that I could watch all the existing episodes again before the season premier, but there are over 100 episodes and I started with less than a month in which to complete the task.  Let's just say that I'm not through season one yet. 

And while we are on the subject of TV, I have to reveal my pathetic TV secret -- I love watching The Bachelor.  Really it's more like a family sport (although we have to hide Maddie's eyes at certain points).  But we love having a running commentary about the craziness of the "characters" involved and the over the top dramas that unfold really get us going!  Guilty pleasure for sure.  Do you watch it?  (Or admit to watching it?)

Baktus

Sometimes you want a simple, yet functional knit -- especially during the holidays when you are already crazy busy.  This was my goal when I went searching through Ravelry a while back, and what I discovered was Baktus by Strikkelise.  This is a ridiculously easy knit and she has provided a free pattern for which you can use virtually any yarn at all. Really.

I purchased one skein of Siren Song by Fiber Optic Yarns last time Theresa and I were out at The Fold just before the holidays and I'm loving it. Since I have one skein, I weighed it before I started, and as I get closer to what I think is the halfway point, I keep weighing it every few pattern repeats.  I think I'm about ready to start the decreases, so I feel like I'm home free. 

I can't wait to have this snugly and functional scarf/kerchief/shawlette finished since it is frigid here in the Chicagoland area and supposed to get even colder.  I've posted this project over at Ravelry too.

Fingerless Mittens

I do still knit -- in fact, I just finished knitting a pair of fingerless mittens!  I used Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn in the colorway Pumpkin Spice.  It is a lovely yarn that was a joy to knit with.  I think this is a fun little project that would be great for holiday gift giving, so I have written up the pattern and am offering it over at Ravelry for only $1.

Something New, Orange and Bumpy

I unearthed some funky, orange yarn from Habu while tidying up the new den.  This is A-48, Color 2 and is 100% silk.  The texture is wild and there is really no reason to use any kind of stitch pattern here, so instead I cast on 30 stitches and started knitting on the bias.  (Rows 1-3:  Knit, Row 4:  Kfb, knit to last 2 stitches, K2tog)

There are places where the yarn is almost as fine as a thread, and others were it is quite thick, so I actually find myself counting on most rows to make sure I haven't lost any stitches, thus it isn't the mindless, knit by feel, project that is best suited to TV watching, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. 

And hey, it's orange!  It'll match my car, and that's pretty cool.

Noro Stripey Scarf

Finished weaving in the ends on the Noro Stripey Scarf just momentos ago.  One more project complete!  More info at Ravelry.

One Pair Down

Update on WIP's -- the Regia socks were finished last night.  I also finished the first of the watermelon socks for Maddie and added some length to the stripey Noro scarf.  More details at Ravelry.

Today's WIP

Today I discovered some socks (or rather 1/2 of one sock + a ball of yarn) that I started quite some time ago.  This project lost momentum when I got to the heel, tried it on and decided it was too small despite being 64 stitches around.  Today I had Maddie try it on and she loved it, so now I'm renewing this project for her. 

Also posted over at Ravelry.

Finishing Stuff

I've made a vow.  I'm going to get stuff finished and clear out the many WIP's I have.  In order to keep myself honest, I'm posting things here as I come across them and all knitting WIP's will be uploaded to Ravelry too. 

Addi Click!

Have you seen the new Addi Click needles? Wow!!

Finished Knitting the Orange Bumpy Scarf

I finished knitting the Orange Bumpy Scarf -- first blogged here.  At first I thought I would block it since it looked like it might end up a little short, but I've tried it on and at this length it can wrap around my neck leaving enough length to be tucked firmly into a jacket.  Since I would hate to lose the bumpy texture created by those drop stitches, I've decided to leave well enough alone.

Very satisfying to go from idea, to hand spun yarn, to finished handknit. 

Orange Bumpy Scarf

As I mentioned, the current issue of Spin-Off really got me in the mood to spin -- and more specifically to spin yarn to knit up into the Morning Surf scarf. 

Seeing as how this is shockingly orange (it's okay -- that's my favorite color) the name just wasn't working for me, so I have christened it the "Orange Bumpy Scarf". 

For those of you thinking about making this scarf -- my yarn was about 11wpi if I remember correctly and I am using a US 8 circular needle and cast on 36 stitches to start.  The pattern is something like 12 rows long, but super easy to remember and the drop stitches are not only fun, they really show off the handspun yarn.  It's a great pattern for even slightly irregular yarn (mine gets a little thick and thin in places).

I'm having so much fun spinning that I just purchased some luscious fiber from Spunky Eclectic and spun up a bunch of it yesterday.  More info and photos soon!

A Wonky Little Piece of Knitting

Okay, admittedly it doesn't look like much but I'm quite satisfied with this little piece of knitting.  I've had a plan to make some scrubbies for a while and even purchased a cute little Japanese craft book with some patterns, but it all came to nothing because I couldn't figure out what yarn to use.  Cotton such as Sugar 'n Cream seemed the obvious choice, but there is no real scrubbing power there.  So when I saw the scrubbie tutorial at Berlin's Whimsy, I knew it was time to get knitting. 

While at Hobby Lobby yesterday buying adhesive for patterns, I decided to walk over to the fabric section and pick up some tulle -- so cheap at $1 a yard -- which led to picking up some Sugar 'n Cream to match.  The scrubbie pictured above is Maddie's combo -- pink tulle and a lavender ice yarn. 

The tulle was easy to cut into strips with a long ruler and rotary cutter -- I think my strips were about 3/4" wide.  Knitting the yarn and tulle together was a bit tricky because the edges of the cut tulle are easily snagged on the cotton yarn.  It was also easy to knit too tightly -- thus the wonky little scrubbie.  And casting off was difficult -- I did it way too tightly -- as everything wanted to snag but it's a scrubbie, so who really cares?   It was quick and satisfying and ended in a usable item, so I'm happy!  I think I'll use the tulle/cotton combo to make some cuter scrubbies -- maybe it's time to pull out that Japanese craft book.

Knitting New Scarves

I was in the library a few weeks ago and I came across a knitting book I hadn't seen or heard of before.  It is called Knitting New Scarves and it was written by Lynne Barr.  When I picked it up to page through it, I figured I'd see the same old rehash of the usual scarves, but I was really quite surprised and shocked by what I saw here.  Instead of knitting in the traditional way, Barr presents some interesting new techniques that push the boundary of knitting.  I brought the book home for a closer look and was further inspired after having time to really check these techniques out.

First of all, many of the scarves aren't knit using two needles and more than often are three dimensional as a result.  Variety and unusual forms are the norm in this book and some of the scarves look like they would be a lot of fun to make.

I especially like the technique section at the back of the book that illustrates the steps involved in many of the projects.  This is definitely a well illustrated book with many photos to help you work your way through these scarves. 

I haven't started any scarves from the book yet, but I think I'll be playing with some of the techniques and perhaps tweaking them for use in my own designs.  It's a pleasure to see something really new in knitting after all these years.  Take a look at these scarves and find a little inspiration of your own!

Tiny Mitten!

I saw some tiny mittens on someone's blog (so sorry, I can't remember whose!) and followed the link to this pattern.  They looked so cute and goodness knows I have lots of extra bits of sock yarn around!  So I cast on last night while watching the Survivor China finale and had this little cutie finished before the show ended.  Wouldn't it be cute on a holiday gift tag or card?   Super easy too -- since it isn't going to be worn or handled much, I just tucked all the ends up into the mitten instead of weaving anything in.

Other than knitting tiny mittens, I've been making cookies with my mom & sisters and reading voraciously.  I'm loving The Golden Compass and I'm really glad I bought the whole set so I can continue reading this trilogy during the holiday!

Maddie's Annual Winter Mittens

Every year I make Maddie a pair of handknit mittens.  Her favorite so far were these knit back in 2003. (OMG -- how long have I been blogging?!  And isn't she the cutest little thing!  When did she grow up so much?)

Other years we've had varying success (complaints that the yarn was too scratchy or not the right color), so this year when we made an unplanned stop in Geneva, IL and found a parking spot *right in front* of Wool & Co., I decided it was time to start this year's mittens.  I let Maddie walk around the shop and decide on the yarn that she wanted and the girl has good taste.  She picked out a ball of Nashua Creative Focus Worsted -- 75% wool/25% Alpaca -- in a lovely, saturated teal blue aptly named Brilliant Blue. 

I've never knit with this particular yarn before and was a bit worried since it is just a single ply yarn, but after knitting about an inch of K1, P1 ribbing for the cuff, I was impressed.  This yarn has lovely memory -- making the ribbing nice and tight -- and is very soft.

I took the easy route (maybe I'm learning) and pulled out Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.  I just love this book for simple items like mittens.   I knit a wee swatch and found my spot in the table for mittens and I was off.  Sizing for 6-8 yr old girls was spot on and I had mitten #1 knit in no time.  If you have some holiday knitting to do for a girl or boy, I highly recommend mittens -- quick easy and fun to knit!

Chevron Scarf

I've been seeing lots of Chevron Scarves from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts -- and I started to have a craving.  You know the one. . . the air is getting cooler at night and one's thoughts turn to knitting. . .

So.  I ordered up the book from the library (we have a great library catalog system that allows you to order books from all different libraries -- and it's quick too!)  and dragged out my bin of Koigu.  Yes, I have a bin.  It's a small-ish bin, but a bin nonetheless.  I had a bit of a Koigu obsession for a while about 3 or 4 years ago and purchased a skein or two at nearly every yarn shop I visited that stocked it!

I'll show you two color combos and you tell me which one you think would work best. 

Combo #1


Combo #2

Okay, so what do you think?  Combo #1 or Combo #2?  I'll tell you what I thought -- Combo #1 hands down!  In fact, that's what I chose and I started knitting away.  After about 2 inches I thought it was going to be a problem, but I figured I just needed to knit a bit more. . . so I did.  And it got worse.  Muddy pools on one side and bold striped sections on the other -- how weird is that?

So on to combo #2.  While it doesn't give the the bold contrast that I see in some of the scarves I have been admiring online, I do love the effect:

It's simple and quick and I'm feeling the return of my knitting mojo!  Here are some more links concerning Chevron Scarves:

• Chevron Scarf Flickr group
• Chevron Scarf KAL
• Last-Minute Knitted Gifts

Dale of Norway

So Dale of Norway *finally* got a new website.  (They may have had it for a while now -- I got so sick of checking the old site only to find it hopelessly outdated that I hadn't done it in ages.)  And while the US / English version is still under construction, the Norwegian version is up and running and looking pretty nice!  I was diggin' the new "Cafe" booklet that I have pictured above.  Just look under "Kolleksjon" at the top to get to the currrent booklets  and then click, click, click on the photos to get into the good stuff. 

I also like this more fitted yet traditional looking ski sweater:

Now I just have to finish my current Dale of Norway sweater -- that would be Ingeborg which I have been working on for several years.  And I also need to start and finish Pete's Dale of Norway sweater -- I don't even remember the name of his!  (I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I am not a sweater knitter.  But Dale of Norway makes me want to aspire to be one!)

A new knitter!

I am very proud to announce that there is a new knitter in my household!  This week Maddie learned to knit!  She's been asking to learn for quite a while and has even had her own knitting needles (the cute Lion Brand ones with the kitty faces on the ends) for a couple years, but I didn't want her to try too early and get frustrated.  Now that she's 6, I decided that it was time.

Since I knit in a kind of strange way, I used the book Kids Learn to Knit to get her started.  It has a lot of cute easy projects that got her interested (although she was already eager to learn, so that wasn't much of a concern in my case).  The cast on taught is the backward loop method -- which was easy for Maddie, who just turned 6, to master.  The only problem is that this cast on makes the first row on knitting very difficult, so I stepped in and knit that row so that there was no frustration.  After that she was off!  There are plenty of pictures and easy to read directions (she read them all herself, so they are simple enough for child to read).  I'm very happy with the book so far, and we both can't wait to get to the projects!

So far she has knit a couple rows -- one row takes pretty about as much concentration as she can muster in one sitting  :)  But she always seems very proud after she is finished and yesterday she came and asked me if we could knit, so I'm taking that as a good sign!

Oh yeah -- Maddie's been doing more than just knitting. I just updated her homeschooling blog too!

Great Knitting Video

Sock knitting it is -- and more Chocolate reviews!

Well. . . looks like socks are the favorite by a long shot coming in at 43% as of just a minute ago.  Speaking of socks, I'm making good progress on Pete's STR socks (er, sock -- I'm still on the first one.)  I'll post a picture as soon as I finish the first one. 

Since I have a pile of wrappers in the drawer, I thought it was about time for a chocolate update!  So without further ado. . .

Okay, I know there are a lot of Green & Black's fans out there, so this may not be popular, but I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the Green & Black's Caramel bar.  First let me tell you that it's an organic milk chocolate bar with a soft caramel center.  The little pockets of caramel are nicely divided so that you don't have to eat the bar all at once, so that was convenient -- it's a pretty large bar after all.  The chocolate was rather soft, sticky and sweet though -- this is where they lost me.  You almost couldn't discern where the chocolate ended and the caramel began.  I guess I wanted a more distinctive chocolate and a saltier caramel maybe?  I shouldn't have been surprised since the first ingredient listed is organic cane sugar and the second is organic whole milk powder, but I love a good caramel bar and I thought G & B would come through.

So far I've loved the Green & Blacks White Chocolate bar, liked the Green & Black's Maya Gold bar, disliked the Hazlenut & Currant bar so much that I threw half of it in the trash (I bought it at Target and discovered it was past it's sell by date, which could be the reason for it's "off" flavor), and found the Caramel bar dissatisfying.  Hmmmm. . . I'm holding out for the Butterscoth bar, which I hear is *awesome* -- but I have yet to locate one.  Any ideas where they are sold in the States?

The Violet Crumble is an Australian candy bar made by Nestlé that is unlike any mass market bar in the US that I can think of.  The slogan on the wrapper says "It's the way it shatters that matters" and it did shatter!  Actually the first thought that came to mind as I took my first bite was -- smores.  It had that toasted marshmallow taste, combined with the chocolate -- then there was the crispness of the bar.  I have to say that I'm usually not a fan of mass market candy bars, but I loved this one!   

I've also tried the Cafe-Tasse Blanc -- White Chocolate Bar and it wasn't nearly as good as the Green & Blacks.  I don't have much else to say, so I'll leave it at that.  More reviews coming soon!

Knitting Poll!

All my talk about the type of things I like to knit got me thinking. . . What do you like to knit?

What's your favorite type of knitting?
	Socks, socks, socks.
	Lovely Lace.
	Make mine colorwork.
	Felted things.
	Scarves and other accessories.
	Sweaters, silly!
	Something else entirely (leave a comment to tell me!)
Free polls from Pollhost.com

WIP Confessional

It's time to lay it all out.  Well not all. . . I know I have more wip's than I'm showing here, but these are the ones I'll probably finish.  (Well mostly. . .)

Keepsake Shawl knit in many colors of Koigu.  I started this in 2004, I believe and I came up with a great system for knitting it so that I could just pick it up and remember exactly which yarn to use and which row I was on.  So why does is sit?  Who knows.  I really want to finish this one up, so I think I will make it my #1 knitting priority.

Ingeborg, oh Ingeborg.  I started you back when the knit-along began.  Was that 2004 also?  And every winter I pick you up and get re-invigorated . . . for about 15-20 rows.  Maybe this will be they year that you get finished!

Trekking socks started for the "Trek along with Me" knit-along.  I never did take a picture of me trekking along.  Is it still going on?  I'm *awful* with knit-alongs (see Ingeborg above) and should never, ever join them.  These socks will get finished though.  I love Trekking yarn!  It just takes me several months to finish a pair.

New felted bag design I'm playing around with.  It's a smallish bag and I'll finish it up in the next week or two.

What is this thing????  Why am I making it?  Okay, this is the Amineko and I decided to make it with Encore from the stash.  I should have gotten a different yarn.  I didn't really want a red cat and I don't really care for this yarn, so I never work on this project and the featureless head is all that has been made.  Time to rip this one out and start over with a new yarn, I think.  This was my only crochet project in the works and it's a failure.  Ugh!

Oh!  My quilt!  I love these fabrics and want to get back to work on this soon.  The last month has been so busy and I really need time when I want to quilt, so this has been neglected.  I know that cooler, quieter weekends are on the way though, so it will progress!

Mountain Colors woven scarf.  I love how the weaver's wool from Mt. Colors is sort of striping, sort of not in this scarf.  A free hour or two and some good podcasts to listen to and this will be finished!

I'm still making good progress on that lovely pink fiber from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  The third bobbin is well on it's way to getting filled up and then it's on to plying.  I have no doubt that this will be finished up very soon.

Paradigm Lost cross-stitch sampler.  I often want to work on this but there are several impediments to my progress -- First, I don't have good lighting pretty much anywhere in the house and I really need it to work with this dark thread on linen.  Second, it's in a small basket, so I have to keep it stored off it's stretcher bars.  So I can't just pick it up and stitch a bit -- it requires set up time.  Third, my eyes get tired at night and that's usually when I find time to craft.  Hmmm. . .

Elsa Williams Jacobean Crewel Embroidery.  Not sure why this has stalled, other than the fact that I have so much going on. 

I realized that I haven't listed the Kumihimo braid I'm working on either.  And I'm sure there are other things.  Maybe posting photos of my wip's on a regular basis will get me excited about them again.  It seems to have worked.  I'm already looking forward to getting in some rows on the Keepsake Shawl!

In other news, guess what tomorrow is.  It's not my birthday, or wedding anniversary, but it is *an* anniversary for me. . .

Habu Silk Yarn & Japanese Linen Ribbon & Thrifted Buttons!

What a busy weekend!  On Friday, Maddie & I headed out early and went to the Joliet Farmer's Market to pick up some fresh fruit.  I got some lovely peaches and blueberries -- fresh from Michigan.  Then we hit Starbucks and any yard sale we could find on the way back home.  All we found was an old copy of Richard Scarry's Going Places for only 25 cents which Maddie thought was a very funny book!  Friday night I pulled out my King Arthur Baking Book and made a peach cobbler, which was really yummy!  So far that book hasn't let me down.

Saturday morning found Theresa, Bonne Marie & I at Stitches Midwest.  I think one of my favorite booths was Habu, where I picked up this orange, slubby 100% silk.  They only had 4 cute little balls/bails -- whatever you want to call them.  I love them because they are neat little center pull balls and they have a nice piece of tissue in the middle that you pull to get the starting thread out.  How clever! 

But I digress. . . So they had 4 balls in this perfect orange color and I decided that I'd just make a shrug.  So far I swatched and the texture is quite nice due to the slubs.  Hmmm. . .

My other favorite booth was the ribbon & button booth -- Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods in RI -- where I got this super-cute linen ribbon.  It's a japanese import and it cost way too much, but I had to have a yard of it.  She also had lots of vintage buttons that were not matching but went well together and were carded together.  Not sure I'm explaining this well at all, but they were so wonderful!  I could have just spent the day in this booth.

And since I was thinking of buttons, I took a picture of the buttons I got from Goodwill a few weeks ago for 99 cents.  They were all taped up in a bag and you couldn't see what was inside, but I figured I couldn't go wrong for that price! 

Sunday was spent at the river for my sister's birthday.  The water was wild!  We took my mom's boat up the river to a restaurant and just had a nice afternoon, but everyone was exhausted from their various weekend activities so we weren't a very lively bunch. 

This week is for organizing.  My office is a mess and it's time to take control!

FO! Brooks Farm Scarf

I finished up the Brooks Farm scarf that I started while at MS&W. It's a shame that I won't have any need for it until October or thereabouts. Here's a closeup so that you can see the lovely colors in this yarn:

I finished something else in the last couple weeks, but I'm saving that for when I have time for a decent post. (hint -- remember this?)

I finished editing the first episode of Booga Talk too, but it's not up yet. Pete still has to have a listen first. I warn you, we are liberals and it shows.

Brooks Farm Scarf

Ya know when they have the good chocolate at the check out at Target and you buy a bar even though you had resisted it even when you were in the candy aisle?  Well . . . I didn't really plan to buy any yarn at the Brooks Farm booth, but this followed me home.  They had these scarves hanging all around the booth and I couldn't resist.  I got up to the register and asked if they had the pattern and she whipped out this little half sheet of paper -- I was hooked. 

The yarn is called "Four Play" (and the scarf pattern is aptly called the "Four Play Scarf") and it's a 50/50 blend of fine wool and silk.  Really lovely stuff, I tell ya!  The colors are so pretty and my photos do it no justice at all because we are on day number two of cold, rainy, dark, dreary weather.  (No, I'm not bitter about this at all -- brrrrrrrr. . . .)

Oh yeah, I had to start knitting this scarf immediately and believe it or not, it requires two -- I said two! -- different needle sizes.  So I walked on over to see Toni (of The Fold) and bought the needles.  Yep, the needles ended up being about as expensive as the yarn.  But I was caught up in the moment!  I couldn't help myself!  (Why did I talk myself out of throwing the Denise Needle set into the suitcase?)

*** Update ***  I just went and checked and the pattern for this scarf is actually available as a pdf via the Brooks Farm website.

Knitting Rules is now available!

Where have I been? Or did this just happen in the last day or two? Stephanie's new book is now shipping from Amazon! Woo-hoo!

I'm feeling a bit. . .

. . . under the weather.  You know, that feeling you get just before a cold?  I'm planning on drinking lots of hot tea this afternoon.  After all Saturday is my birthday and I really don't want to be sick on the day I turn 36! 

So needless to say I'm kind of floundering through the day.  I wanted to show you that I have been knitting though:

I've been working on a new bag design!  I just love knitting felted bags.  There's something about Cascade 220 and size 10 1/2 circs.  It's my mac & cheese knitting.  It's so comforting to me.  I don't know what it is.  So that's what I've been working on during the Olympics.  It's perfect because I don't have to look at what I'm doing.

I also wanted to tell you about the yarn shop that Theresa and I got a chance to visit last weekend.  It's called Peggy's Strands of Heaven and it's in downtown Plainfield, IL.  The selection of yarn was really nice and shop was cute.  It's an old building and she kept a lot of the original fixtures.  There were places to sit and knit too.  I didn't buy much as I'm trying to work down the stash, but I couldn't resist this summery Trekking yarn:

That's Trekking XXL in colorway 107.  My Trekking 100 socks are my favorites to wear, so I think this is probably a good investment.

Now I'm off to finish up some work so I can get some rest this afternoon.  I will not be sick on my birthday -- I refuse.  (Me stomping my foot on the ground and crossing my arms.  Hmph!)

Alpaca, a knock-off and a great big pile. . .

In an effort to find some balance, I have been trying to relax a little more and this involved a bit of weekend crafting.  First of all, I spun up a bit of some lovely alpaca that I had sitting around for ages.  After the CVM fiasco, this stuff was like buttah'!  I'm going for a lace weight and hoping to make a shawl with the resulting yarn.  It's a gorgeous soft cocoa brown, which may be difficult to discern from my crummy picture.

And I've even been knitting!  Shocking, isn't it?  This is two pictures of the same thing.  On the left with flash on the office floor and on the right with no flash on the radiator below the sunny window.  The color is probably somewhere between the two but leans toward the darker picture.

What is this strange balled up mass of yarn?  Why it's Morehouse Merino laceweight yarn in some unknown colorway which I purchased at MS&W last year.  Now I bought this because of the color, but I didn't like the pattern that came with it.  So I thought and thought and cast on and tinked and thought and thought some more.  Then I decided I would make Melody.

Now I didn't have the pattern for Melody and I knew I didn't have enough yarn, but I just cast on a bunch of stitches and started knitting and I haven't looked back.  This is just how I do things.  Sometimes it works (& we don't talk about the other times -- ha ha.)

Speaking of Morehouse Merino, did you know that they have a book coming out?  I'm eagerly awaiting it's release!  And I'm eagerly awaiting another visit to their booth at this year's MS&W.  (Why, yes!  I plan on being there again this year.  How about you?)  Yes, right, back to the book. . .

Looks like it's going to have 40 designs.  And I have to tell you that from what I've seen of their patterns, they are just nice simple things that you want and need to knit.  Very much looking forward to this one!

And speaking of books. . .

Many have been arriving at the house (some as the unlikely result of a power outage -- may that poor squirrel rest in peace).  I need to find time this week to tell you more about them!

OMG!

I'm sitting here listening to WBEZ, my local NPR station, online and I hear Stephanie come on The World talking about The Knitting Olympics.

Wow!

And the link to the actual article. (Thanks, Chris!)

Process or Product? (a little poll. . .)

Process or Product?
	Process -- all the way!
	Product, are you kidding me?
	A little a both.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

** Update **  The "Process" and "Product" knitters are dead even!  How interesting!  I thought it would be all one way or the other.  And the majority of you say you are ambivalent and have answered "a little a both."  Please feel free to leave a comment too!  I find this subject fascinating for some reason.

A Pair!

Finished!  (I would have posted them sooner, but TypePad has been messed up for the last couple of days.)  These were so quick and easy!  They were made using the seed stitch stripe variation of the mitten pattern in Holiday Knits.  I used Galway yarn and size US 6 double points (because I didn't have the US 5's the pattern called for.)

Maddie has tried them on and declared that they are warm & comfy -- so I think they are a winner!

Seed Stitch Stripe Mitten

Maddie has been in need of some new mittens for a while.  She's still wearing these which I knit 2 years ago!  So last Thursday when we were at B&N, Maddie and I glanced through some of the newer knitting books (you know the 2 or 3 that I don't own yet -- ha ha!) and she saw a cute pair of mittens in this book:

Holiday Knits by by Allison Isaacs & Sara Lucas.  So of course I had to get the book.  The mitten pattern is kind of nice because it is written with three different cuffs and two different patterns for the mitten part.  And there are 7 sizes!  This mitten was knit up in just a couple of hours and uses hardly any yarn.  I'm using the leftovers from the Princess Hat.

There are no earth shatteringly original patterns in this book, but for some reason I really like it.  I'll post a full review over at Two Friends Collect Books as soon as I find a free moment.

Kid's Knitting Kit

How cute is this?  Great gift idea!

Silk Garden -- DK Weight!!!

Is this so new that it's not in stores yet?  Because I want some now!!!  Yep -- Silk Garden Lite.  The new yarn crack.

Silly Hat Day!

Apparently I finished the princess hat just in time because Maddie came out of her room this morning with an armful of hats and declared that it was silly hat day.  She has informed me that the hat isn't finished because we need to find some sparkly fabric to attach to the top like princesses always have. 

For this project I used Galway wool for felting for the first time ever and I think it turned out nicely.  As you can see it is solid enough to stand up straight, although it felted a little more than I would have liked.  I suppose with wearing it will stretch out a bit though. 

This project was from New Knits on the Block by Vickie Howell and I have some fun news!  Vickie  is going to be a guest blogger on my blog in early December! I'll give you more info when I find out more details!

Princess Hat

On Thursday Theresa came over to keep my company post-surgery.  And believe it or not, I actually finished something!

Well, technically it isn't finished since I have to felt it, but the knitting part is finished.  It's the Princess Hat from New Knits on the Block.  The codeine did cloud my mind a bit and I made a mistake in the decreases somewhere about halfway though, but I fixed it a few rows later.  After felting I expect that noone will ever know  :)

Fun Saturday!

Sometimes you just need to get out and do something fun with good friends!  On Saturday Theresa & her husband John met Pete, Maddie & me at Intelligentsia up in Chicago.  We went on the roasting tour which was very cool.   

After that it was off to the DIY Trunk Show which was in the old field house in Pulaski Park.  Lots of cool stuff to be seen.  I had to bring home this hand-made book:

It's a soft cover with hand sewn signatures.  Here's a view of the spine:

This book was made by Emily of Orange Beautiful.  I'm hoping she opens up an online shop soon because I loved her stuff!  I'm a sucker for handmade books.  Theresa and I have even taken a few classes on bookbinding at Paper Source together. 

Which is a nice segue for a gift I received in the mail from Freecia. . .

A cool box kit from Paper Source!  Thanks Freecia!

And finally I leave you with proof that I have been knitting.  I received this cute book last week:

It's New Knits on the Block by Vickie Howell.  I'll try to get my act together and post a full review over at Two Friends Collect Books sometime soon!  It's has a bunch of cute designs for kids.  Including hats:

I'm making the princess hat for princess Madeleine!

Other new knitting books I receied in the last few weeks and haven't had a chance to review:

Handknit Holidays
Wrap Style
Yarns to Dye For

I'm on a bit if a knitting book buying spree I'm afraid  :)

Up and Down

I feel like I'm manic depressive these days.  One hour up, one hour down.  Today I had an appointment with a neurologist who diagnosed me with migraines.  He seems like a great guy and he shares my philosophy on medication -- only in moderation and only when lifestyle changes won't do the trick -- so I was really up after that.  Then I had a pre-surgery visit with another doctor.  Followed by a visit with the surgical consultant and down I went.  I know it's just a minor surgery, but I was once again reminded of how painful this will be.  I'm sure that has me stressed.

So I guess I'm all over the charts.  I'm really looking forward to the holidays (for a change) because that means that the worst of this will be behind me.  The tonsils will be out, I'll have a handle on the migraines (hopefully!) and life should settle down.  (During the holidays?  What am I thinking?)

I did start a new knitting project and I'll take pictures as soon as I'm a little farther along and it actually looks like something.  I will say this though, it's for Maddie, it's magenta and it's from New Knits on the Block.  Any guesses?

Surgery

Well, I finally went to the "big city" to see a specialist and I have to have my tonsils out -- at 35!  I'm not looking forward to that.  Any other adutls out there who have had a tonsillectomy?  I hear there is a lot of pain afterwards. 

In other news. . .

Maddie turned 5 on Sunday!  I really can't believe she is already 5.

While riding in the car up to the hospital, I did a bit of knitting on my Ruffles scarf.  Not much progress on Ingeborg this past week due to the party preparations and such.  I did get a couple of new knitting books in the mail though!  I'll be reviewing them soon!

Ruffles

Last night I pulled out Scarf Style because I wanted to review it over at Two Friends Collect Books.  (This is the new blog Theresa & I are authoring together!)  And look what happened -- STARTITIS!

I saw the "Ruffles" scarf.  I remembered the big hank of Brooks Farm Harmony in the stash.  A new project was born.  (I'm sorry Ingeborg -- I'm still planning on keeping my two row a night commitment though!)

Quickie!

Now I know why people love Colinette!  I had this Pt 5 (colorway Blue Parrot) in my stash for ages.  I got it in trade -- the one where the boxes were going around the country (I forget the name of that now).  Anyway. . . I was looking for a quick little project and picked this out.  I cast on 10 stitches on a 19US needle and away I went.  It took two hanks and I'm loving it!

Orange KSH

I did a trade with Deb and got two balls of this lovely orange Kid Silk Haze in the mail.  Now what does it want to be?  I took a look at the list of suggestions I received before I started Birch.  I'm thinking that I will see if there are any designs from A Gathering of Lace that will let me substitute the KSH.  Barring that, I may make the Flower Basket Shawl.  Will I have enough KSH?  Anyone out there use KSH for this shawl?

I'm Back!

New York and Boston were lovely! We had gorgeous weather and got to see lots of friends. And since we drove (well, actually Pete drove) I had lots of knitting time. Charlotte was completely neglected as I knit this pair of socks:

These were made using the generic sock pattern that I always use (Classic Socks for the Family by Yankee Knitter Designs). I did try a little different heel on this pair. I think it is the eye of partridge maybe? Basically I slipped alternating stitches on the knit side. (slip knit) repeated on the first right side row and (knit slip) repeated on the next right side row. It is difficult to show the effect in my photo, but I really like how it looks and feels.

The yarn I used is a wool/hemp blend from Dzined in sport weight and colorway WH1287. I picked this up at the Michigan Fiber Festival. Bonne Marie, who was there too, turned us on to this cozy stuff.

But our trip wasn't all driving. I did get a chance to visit a few yarn stores. The first one was Woolcott & Co. in Cambridge, Mass. It was a nice little store with lots of high end yarns. The salesperson left little to be desired though. I picked up a few skeins of Kureyon in color 91 to make another Booga Bag which is almost finished too. (Did I mention that we did a lot of driving?)


And here is the incredible alpaca that I got at Northampton Wools, located at 11 Pleasant St., Northampton, MA 01060 (no website). This was a wonderful shop with helpful salespeople. I have never seen the Frog Tree Alpaca anywhere else. Frog Tree is made by a women's co-op in Bolivia, and is reasonably priced at $7.00 for 130 yards (at least at this store). I'm planning a super soft scarf, possibly with cables for this yarn. I am an alpaca addict.

I'm getting caught up on Knitting Blog Ring business and trying to settle back into the regular routine. I think one of the best tings about vacation is never having to cook a meal, sigh. . .