Ta da!

10-21-08....11:45pm..

cast OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope...

So the other day I stumbled upon a knitter's blog, and as i was scrolling down, reading her past posts, I noticed she had completed the shawl that I am currently working on. I thought that was pretty cool and read/studied intensly the post and the pictures that she posted. Check it out on her blog here: Team Knit.

Anyway, what sparked my interest is this: I loved the size of her shawl. It was exactly what size I want mine to be! Up until this point, I was unsure how many pattern repeats I would want to do. The pattern as written, if knitted to the creator's specs, would be something like a 6 foot wide shawl... in other words, HUGE. I am looking for something more of a shoulder warmer, not an afghan!

Anyway, I looked at the picture of her holding the shawl out behind her back... and noticed i could count the "leaves" along the center spine. She had like 12 leaves! I thought, surely I am at least HALFWAY there, no? So I got my shawl out and counted my leaves... i had 8.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you know what this means???

I MIGHT have it DONE for the WEDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine? Me, in my dress (in 2 weeks, eek) with a handknit lacy white shawl???? *sigh*



It is all very exciting... I just had to share. I shared with Cynthia almost immediately because we are both at the same point in our shawls (we are knitting them together)... so we were both almost giddy with the potential to have the shawls done SOON!

I'd post more pics, but it doesn't look like much... not until blocking :-)

So yeah, my wedding is 2 weeks from today. I can hardly believe it... it is the oddest thing in the world to think about. I was never one of those little girls who planned out their wedding or dreamed about it. In fact, when my fiance popped the question and I told people at work the next day I was engaged, they immediately asked when the date was. Like I had any idea! Needless to say it has been quite a year. I don't even know where the time went! It FLEW by. I am even a year older this week (26!) and it doesn't feel like it should have happened.... my poor fiance had some trouble giving me a birthday present, which is his own fault... (if you don't know, he gave me an engagement ring on my birthday last year). :-) He will never top that birthday!

Also, I am loving my new home, but good LORD there is a lot of trees and a lot of raking! Good think I love fall!!!!!!

I hope the next year goes a bit slower so I can enjoy it!!!!!

Hope everyone else has a nice relaxing weekend.

YAY!!!!

I got my copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines!



Lets just say I have DEVOURED it and have already read it cover to cover....and it's GREAT! (What did you expect! I loved the first book!) I already want to knit literally EVERYTHING in the book. I love knitting books like that!!!!!



The pictures are gorgeous, the patterns seem to be very well written & explained... the new ideas and creative things are amazing! I mean, look at this COAT!



I would have said a knitted coat would just look like a big sweater but that definitely looks like a COAT! I want one! lol

And this BAG... zomg... i would have to learn how to felt AND duplicate stitch but I totally think it would be worth it to have that. I love it.




Anyway, enough gushing... I am going to cast on some cabled fingerless gloves for one of my friends :) Have a great weekend!

P.S. Bridal shower #2 tomorrow with my fiance's family! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scarf

I was itching for a new project, something simple and fun. I decided to see what I could make with this giant ball of mystery wool that I bought off of Cynthia when she was having her stash sale.



I finally settled upon a 2x2 ribbed scarf. I am happy with the progress so far, I am just worried that it won't be long enough when I run out of yarn.



It is just something mindless to knit on during law & order... haha. Of course I am neglecting a knitted tie I am working on for my dad...



I am making that up as I go, using a storebought tie as a template. So far its OK... just hope I can get the increases right for the "fat" part of the tie.



Anyway, hope everyone had a nice labor day weekend. I was a total bum and didnt do much! Which is too bad because OMG ITS SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 wedding showers, being a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding, meeting with my florist/DJ/caterer, dress fittings, getting the boys to go to their tux fittings, finding shoes, finding a place to get our HAIR DONE ZOMG!!!!!!!!!

OK time to lie down now :-)

More squares...

I have another square nearing completion for Jesmy's grandpa's blanket!



I call it "waves" but its actually "ripple stitch" or something from my Treaury of Knitting Patterns (barbara walker)

Woot! I also have worked on my shawl, ill try to get a pic up later! it would be bigger if i would stop making mistakes and have to rip back LACEWEIGHT yarn. Blech!

FINALLY

THANK YOU SO MUCH to my newest best friend, YarnThrower, over at Pickin' and Throwin'.

Ladies and Gentlemen, she has FINALLY CAME UP WITH A SEAMLESS BABY BOOTY PATTERN THAT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes... you heard me right... booties that look like the ones i have been knitting only WITHOUT my akward/horrible/ugly/bumpy SEAMS! OMG!

So without further ado, please go to their blog and leave her some comment love. Because it is about damn TIME! :D

Grandpa Blanket 08

So I heard the unfortunate news that Jesmy's grandpa has cancer. I thought, hmm... what can I do as a nice gesture? And as a knitter? How about start a blanket!!!!!

I have made 2 squares so far, and have a promise from Cynthia to get some contributions as well. Then ill mail them off to Jess and she can sew up a nice blankie for her grandpa!


Dark brown "baby cables" square. (cable pattern from Barbara Walker's Treasury of knitting patterns)


Blue cascade "boat" square (he's a navy man), pattern here.

Get well soon, Grandpa Jess! Pop over to her blog for more.

My Knitting Place

Cynthia posted a pic of her knitting spot, so I'd thought I'd post mine!



(knitting at lunch as usual!)

Also I finished the blanket square... it turned out pretty good:



Pattern: sailboat cloth
Yarn: Cascade 220

Happy Friday everyone!

Dishcloths!

Cynthia and I finished our dishcloths for charity, and we got some dish soap to include with the cloths for a nice present for some needy person!!!!

We even got matching ribbon to make it all pretty:


Nice, eh? I hope someone enjoys them!

Not much to show for the shawl, although the other day Cynthia and I each knit 6 whole rows in an hour! Thats a pretty good lace shawl speed, if I do say so myself! :-)

Have a great friday!!! TGIF!!!!!!!!

Bad Blogger

... that I am. I have been a busy girl these days, since I moved to a new house! It is so much fun but also there is so much to do! :-)

Me and my DF on the stoop of the new house!


I love it though... so much ROOM! Yes... yes... I even have a knitting room. YAY! (at least until I start having kids, then it will probably have to be a playroom or something)

I have done a few knitting things in the meantime....

Knitted a baby hoodie for a friend's baby,... i'd show you a picture but that would mean I would have to find the hoodie, and who the heck knows what box or what room THAT is in.... eeek...

Almost finished a red dishcloth, I am knitting dishcloths with designated knitter to give to a charity drive at work!


Pattern is "eLoomanator's Diagonal Knit Dishcloth" found the PDF on Ravelry.

AND.... (drumroll please).....


the shawl has progress! Woot!


See the "leaves"?

It is very tiny yarn... sometimes I can barely feel myself knitting with it, but it is strangely fun! Designated knitter is making hers in a beautiful red color. Our knitting speeds are pretty evenly matched too, so it is a lot of fun at lunchtime at work to go in the conference room with her and knit on our shawls. It is awfully quiet in there though, haha... we have to concentrate so we dont miss a yarnover! :)

Anyway I will try to post again soon.. now that things are a bit more settled! Hope everyone had a great weekend... I will just leave you with a picture of me, my fiance, and our 2 super adorable nephews that we got to visit....


love those boys!

Ut oh...

What is that???? Laceweight yarn??? LACEWEIGHT?!?!?!!!!!!!???

What have I gotten myself into now.... heh heh heh. Perhaps... some sort of lacy shawl?!?!!!!

Don't worry, I am making DesignatedKnitter knit it with me (so she can be my tech support) :-D

Stay tuned... I may even be knitting from a CHART! Dun dun dun!!! Horror!!!! lol

Booties

Thanks for your comment YarnThrower... I forgot to link to the bootie pattern I use!

It is Perfect Baby Booties, and believe me they sure are close to perfection! They do have a seam along the bottom and back (I always photograph their good side) but its really not too bad even with my crappy sewing skills. Plus with only 2 ends to weave in, I love it!!!!!


And I forgot I finished a pair of secret booties, which cannot be disclosed until I gift them to their recipient... :-)

Knitting wrap-up!

OK so here is what I have been doing this past month (besides planning the whole wedding thing and trying to buy a house)

1. Chenille washcloth for a mother's day present:


I wrapped it up real cute with a fancy lemongrass soap! Mom loved it :)



2. Cotton Baby Sweater


A cute summery cotton sweater for my little nephew :-) It still needs a button (toggle)!

3. Baby shower hat & booties - for friends of ours having a shower next weekend (what??? im done early??? no way!)





Not a bad little baby set, although the hat came out a leetle bigger than i'd hoped. Oh well, babies grow!!!!!

What I am working on now:

Well... I have some socks im knitting myself. Haven't touched those in a bit...

Otherwise...???

Time for a new project! lol

Busy Bee

Sorry I havent posted in a freaking MONTH... but my life has suddenly become even more hectic...

on top of the impending wedding, we decided to MOVE to a new house TOO! Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I promise I will get a real post up soon... I have already turned the cotton yarn I got from the knit stop into a cute sweater, I have finished several booties and a baby hat, and hmm what else... not much else but thats pretty good!

Hope everyone is having a good week.

TIME FOR BED!

Here is a pic of some beautiful clematis growing in our backyard... just for a nice cheerful pic to end this post on....

Oh also...

While I was in Indy to see the Harlot, we swung by the Knit Stop yarn store to browse and kill some time.

I bought some soft cotton yarn to make my baby nephew some sort of summery sweater...


(Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton) Pretty!!!!!

Also, in the back of the store on the floor... we saw a GIANT BOX OF DREAM IN COLOR SMOOSHY JUST SITTING THERE UNATTENDED.

My plans to drag it secretly out of the store didnt work, but I definitely wanted to climb inside that box and bathe in the beautiful colors for awhile.

I settled for a hug. :-)


Sigh....

Harlot n Me

ZOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Yes... that is me and the one and only YARN HARLOT! Look, we are totally in a picture together like we're buddies!

She came to Indy on her book tour and I was SO GLAD I finally got to hear her speak in person and meet her!!!!! She is SO NICE and freakin' hilarious!!! I barely stopped laughing during her speech!


Here you can see her signing my book, and you can see the beer I brought her! Its a Mad Anthony beer, brewed right here in Fort Wayne. Woot woot!

Also I have started my first "real" pair of socks, and I took it with me that day to meet the harlot and get "sock pics" just like she does... lol...


Sock on left, Harlot on right. ;-)

I freaked out over the size 2 needles initially but now they aren't bad at all!!!!

Anyway it was a great trip to Indy and now I have my very own signed book, and some great pics. Hope any other harlot fans out there get to go see her!

OH! AND I want to give a shout out to my first random blog fan, JULIE! HI Julie!!!!! Apparently she knows my knitting guru and coworker Cynthia, and they ran into eachother at the Harlot signing. Julie made a comment wondering if "Knitting at Lunch" was around... of course Cynthia knew who that was! I was totally amazed that I had blog stalkers!!!!!!!!! :D

I also got to meet Rachael, who ive met through Ravelry... we both made it to the harlot signing and BOTH made it (our pics) on the yarn harlot blog, Rachael for her washcloth and me for my first socks! See if you can find us!

http://yarnharlot.ca/blog/

Anyway, TGIF, hope everyone has a great weekend... I know I am sure ready for it!

More glovies + YH!

Well after making that first pair of gauntlets, I learned of a package being sent to a friend and was asked to contribute. Not wanting to give up the cranberry colored gloves I was hoping to keep for myself, I took up the challenge to knit ANOTHER pair before the "due date"!!!!

I win!

I used the leftover yarn from my sweater. I think they turned out nicely!

Also, tomorrow Designated Knitter and I are going to see the Yarn Harlot in Indy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am super pumped. I am bringing my copy of her book, my pair of first socks (maybe ill make it on the website) and hopefully a sock in progress (gotta get on that tonight, lol)

Hope everyone else had a good weekend... I got to play with my nephews. It rocked. :-)


<3 baby boy <3

Hugs from the big brother!

Gauntlets

Whipped these out not long after the sweater was done... I guess I just needed a small project to "take the edge off"... hahaha



Pattern is Symmetrical Braided Gauntlets, used Rowan Cashsoft Aran on US7's. Love that yarn!

Still a little damp...

But I had to put it on. :-D



Yay :)


Sleeves were a little big, but besides that it fits great! I consider that a huge success for my first sweater. Now the whole world of sweater knitting has opened before me.... ;-)

ITS A MIRACLE

THE HOURGLASS. IS. DONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



(Blocking)

OMG ITS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Start Date: Like Feb of 2007?!?? Or earlier? WHO KNOWS?
End Date: April 12, 2008
Yarn: 7 skeins of Knit one Crochet Too Parfait Solids in "Dusty Lilac"

YAY!



Yes. It is off the needles. I spend the whole day weaving in ends and kitchenering the armpit holes shut and tacking down the hems and ALL THAT JAZZ. Whew.



But: its BLOCKING. its DONE. I could WEAR IT TO WORK MONDAY OMG!!!!!!!!!!

<3 My First Sweater <3

I am proud.

Oh, and I made this little bear lovie/toy for a friend's little boy:



Yarn: 1 skein of Crystal Palace Puffin in "Dotty Blues" and some scrap black wool for the face.
Pattern: Lion Brand's Bunny Blanket Buddy



Only mod was I didn't knit bunny ears, but fashioned bear ears by just knitting a few rows and then doing a few decreases. It was well received by the little guy (he started chewing on it). Lol.

Not quite ready yet

So I have my hourglass in the yoke, and am decreasing merrily around the shoulders.

Today, while knitting at lunch with my knitting guru/coworker Cynthia, I got the bright idea to "try" my sweater on.

I put the rubber stoppers on my circular, and proceeded to try and wiggle into the sweater. First, cynthia had to come help me pull it on. Second, when cynthia was going to get her camera, the rubber stopper popped off one end of the circular and i lost a few stitches. Third, I couldn't really put my arms down because I need to knit a lot more in the yoke LOL.

But all that aside, I got to try it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


(I am holding one end of the circular cuz that darned stopper flew off)

And more importantly, from the halfway try on I feel that the sweater is going to fit around my middle. The sleeves are a smidge baggy (I even added a decrease and ommitted a few increases) but they will be more comfortable this way.

Now I am even MORE excited to get it done! WOOT!

Also, when is spring coming? Because I am tired of still having to warm my car up in the mornings. Sheesh!

30th

Happy Birthday Greg :)



The present you gave me for my last birthday will forever top anything I could get you! (He got me an engagement ring!)