Abby's Knits

Last Sweater of 2007

2007-12-31T08:51:00.001-08:00

Last night I finished seaming up my last finished object for 2007. The pattern is Oblique from the fall 2007 Knitty. The yarn is Beaverslide Drygoods. More details on raverly.

A November Update

2007-11-26T15:14:00.000-08:00

I just realized today that I hadn't posted since the beginning of October. I think Ravelry is to blame. I update my projects there a lot more regularly.

Anyway... here is what I've been knitting...

Here are some descriptions of the above pictures:
1. Pink Cotton Ease Kid Sweater

2. Zepher Style's Juliet in Cotton Fleece

3. Noro Hat ( Silk Garden Lite) (Holiday present)

4. Noro Hat (Silk Garden Lite) (Holiday present) (

5. Blue and Brown Anastasia Socks

6. Yarntini Anastasia Socks

7. Shibui Embossed Leaves Socks

8. WIP: Knitpicks Memories Embossed Leaves Sock

FO: Juliet

2007-10-12T14:52:00.001-07:00

Pattern: Zephyr Style's Juliet

Yarn: Lion Brand's Cotton Ease, Color: Violet, 3 balls

Needles: Knitpicks circs, size 6

I first started knitting this with the yarn doubled but I didn't like how it knitted up (too stiff and heavy). So I started again and using only one strand of yarn. It knitted up much softer.
I had read that many people find the pattern to be knitting up big. So if I was knitting it double I would do the size S. So I picked the size M to knit with one strand. This seems to have worked for me and I am very happy with the sweater.

Blocking Hemlock Ring Blanket

2007-10-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

I finally finished knitting my Hemlock Ring Blanket. The binding off took me several days.

Here is a picture before I started blocking it.

I am blocking the blanket on a queen size bed and I have also run out of pins to block with. So the scallop edging is not perfect.

Quick Sweater

2007-09-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

Pattern: Knitty's Mr Greenjeans

Yarn: Dream in Color, Classy worsted weight (3 1/4 Skeins), Colorway: Deep Seaflower

Needles: Addi Lace, size 6

This was a very quick and easy sweater pattern to knit! It is top-down and seamless. I loved the cables. I definitely will knit this pattern again.

Plus today the weather was kind of cool and I wore the sweater.

What did you do over the weekend?....I saw the Harlot!

2007-09-17T08:09:00.001-07:00

On Saturday morning, I loaded the kids into the car and drove south 2 hours to my parents house. I dropped off the kids with their grandparents and then drove into downtown Los Angeles to the LA Public Library to see the Yarn Harlot (about 30minutes from Pasadena). I had made my reservation at the library to hear her speak almost a month ago. I got to the library a little before 1 o'clock and the Harlot was scheduled to speak around 2 pm. Inside the library, knitters were already lined up out side the auditorium waiting. The library had security guards (2-4) watching us wait in line. Then they started ordering us around.. "Stand single file against the wall." "No sitting on the floor." Many in line thought this was pretty funny.

One of the guards (a female one) did say she knitted too and used big needles, not tiny ones.After the library checked us off of their reservation list, we had to stand in line again before going into the Auditorium. I think there was almost 230 to 250 people expected.

There are many pretty and interesting details in the building to look at the LAPL.

Inside the auditorium, as I was picking out a place to sit down, a friendly group of knitters asked me if I was here all alone. I said yes and they invited me to sit with them. Funny thing is they were from Pasadena! (Where I grew up! and where my kids were hanging out for the day!) They meet on Colorado Blvd at a coffee house called Zephyr.

Next the Yarn Harlot came out. She gave a very funny and interesting talk. Everybody was knitting as she spoke!
Lots of people wore their handknits to the event and so it made it very fun to people watch.

After the talk, I stood in line about 1 hour to get my books signed. The library had the Yarn Harlot was standing at a "bar" to sign books.

I told her that I used my Knitting Rules book all the time. She said was glad and that she worked really hard to write that book. I also mentioned that not everyone was tall in LA. I'm 5 foot. At the beginning of her talk in the library she mentioned that everyone was tall in LA and was it because of the sunshine?

Overall I had a great time and parking in downtown LA cost $8 on Saturday.

New projects started

2007-09-10T15:22:00.001-07:00

Here is the start of one of my new projects, Brooklyntweed's Hemlock Ring Blanket. I got the yarn (Cascade Eco Wool in Chocolate) on Friday and worked on it all weekend. If it turns out good, I'm thinking of making more of them as presents for the Holidays.

Also last week before I got the yarn to make the Hemlock Blanket, I started knitting a cardigan in Dream in Color worsted weight yarn. It is a wrap type of sweater. I stopped working on it since I got the yarn for the blanket. I'll get back to it eventually.

More Toe Up Socks!

2007-09-06T14:34:00.001-07:00

I've really really been enjoying knitting 2 toe-up socks at the same time on two circular needles. I keep wanting to knit more socks this way. My Pattern for these sport weight socks:

1. cast on for the toe - Judy's Magic Cast On

2. then increase every other round until I get 48 stitches on the needles,

3. knit the foot round and round in plain knit stitches until it measures to my ankle bone

4. the heel: Misocrafty's Short Row Heel

5. leg: knit knit knit....

6. cuff- knit 2, purl 2

7. sewn bind off

Yarn: Union Center Knits, What Not Sport Yarn, colorway Bud

Needles: 2 Addi Lace circs, size 1

Over Labor Day weekend I started another set of toe-up socks using lightweight Socks that Rock in Watermelon Tourmaline color. They are toe-up version of Monkey Socks. I'm using the lace pattern from Los Monos Locos! – The Crazy Monkeys! In this lace pattern there are no purl stitches.
I'm still slowly working on the Print o' the Wave Stole. I have done about 19 repeats in the body section.

Socks again

2007-08-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

I knitted another pair of toe-up socks.

Pattern: same as my pink Chewy Spaghetti socks that I knitted the week before.

Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle, colorway Rhabarber

Needles: size 0, Addis

FO: Pink Toe Up Socks

2007-08-20T15:18:00.001-07:00

To do something different this month, I decided to knit two socks on 2 circular needles. First I started out with some blue Lorna's Laces sock yarn but I frogged them for some reason I can't remember. Then I re-started with some other yarn and now I'm done!

Pattern: a mix of stuff

1. cast on for toe - Judy's Magic Cast On

2. then increased every other round until I got 56 stitches on the needles

3. knit the foot round and round in plain knit stitches until it measured to my ankle bone

4. the heel - Misocrafty's Short Row Heel
5. Leg- knit knit knit

6. cuff- knit 2, purl 2

7. sewn bind off
Yarn: Chewy Spaghetti's Handpainted Spaghetti, colorway: Rosy, bought from The Loopy Ewe

Needles: US 0, Addis

(Picture: proof that I did knit 2 socks on 2 circulars)

WIP update

2007-08-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

In between knitting other projects, I've been slowly working on my Print O' the Wave Stole and my daughter's ripple blanket.

The ripple is so so long. I think I'm crazy.

Also this summer I'm doing Dishrag Tag. The tag started August 1. I got my teams box early this week from knit 't lit with 2 balls of dishcloth cotton, some goodies and a dishcloth. I quickly knitted up a garterlac dishcloth, filled the box with 2 new balls of dishcloth cotton, some goodies, and mailed the box off on to the next teammate.
My last bit of crafty news for the week is my dinning table chairs. With a 2 year old and a 4 year old, my dinning room chair cushions were getting pretty gross with spills and whatnot on them. So I came up with the idea of re-covering them with the material from a vinyl tablecloth. I bought 2 tablecloths at Kmart for $4 each, not much of a selection to pick from :( Then I cut up the tablecloth, un-screwed the cushions from the chairs, covered the cushion, and re-attached. Done! Now I can wipe the chairs clean as spills happen. A cheap fix. Maybe one day when my kids are bigger I'll get nice fabric and reupholster the chairs more stylishly.

Fifi is finished!

2007-08-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today I finished up knitting Fifi. Here are the details...

Pattern: French Girl's Fifi

Yarn: Rowan's Calmer, color: laurel (4 full balls and a tiny bit from a 5th ball for one sleeve)

Needles: size 7 Denise for the body and size 6 dpns for sleeves

Modifications: I made the length of the body longer by 4 or 5 inches. Also, I didn't want cap sleeves as in the pattern. So I knitted the cable pattern 2 or 3 more times to make the sleeves longer.

Socks!

2007-07-30T14:51:00.001-07:00

Over the last week or so, I have been knitting some socks.

Pattern: Mini Monkeys

Yarn: Sunshine Sock Yarn, color Field of Flowers

Needles: size 1

Pattern: Jaywalkers

Yarn: Vesper Sock Yarn in Sherbert color

Needles: dpns size 1

Over the weekend I started knitting 2 socks on 2 circular needles (addi lace needles). The pattern I'm using is sort of based on this 2 Toe-Up Socks Tutorial. The yarn is Lorna's Laces in the Georgetown colorway.

Knitting Progress

2007-07-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

I'm happy with how my Fifi sweater is knitting up. At first I was worried about the pattern because I like charts for knitting cables and this pattern has no charts. As it turns out, the cable pattern is so repetitive, I don't mind not having charts.

One sock done on my Sherbert Jaywalkers and one in progress.

As for my Mystery Stole 3, I finished clue one but I don't feel like knitting anymore on it. I may frog it. I'd rather knit my Print O' Wave Stole instead.

Five WIPs

2007-07-07T16:05:00.001-07:00

I realized today that I have 5 projects on the needles! Here they are...

Here is WIP #1 -- Mystery Stole 3. I'm on row 64 of the first clue. I started this last Thursday night after going to my knit group. Three of the women who came to knit group that night are working on it too. I'm using handpaintedyarn.com's merino lace yarn in the indigo color and my addi lace needles, size 4. I'm skipping doing the beads. So far I'm living dangerously because I have no life line.

WIP #2 -- Fifi knit with Rowan Calmer in a green shade. It is the SKC Summer KAL.
WIP #3 -- Jaywalker Socks in sherbert color Vesper Sock Yarn. I got this cute bag at Target for $1 and it is perfect for carrying my sock knitting in.
WIP #4 -- Print O Wave Stole in Sea Silk (no picture). I haven't worked on it for 2 weeks.

WIP #5 -- Ripple blanket (no picture). I haven't worked on it for about 4 weeks.

I did finish my Green Gable sweater in Rowan Calmer yarn. It took only 4 balls of it. I'm happy with it but I don't think it is a good color for me.

Jaywalker Socks with Stripes

2007-06-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

I finished knitting my stripe socks. I really love the stripes!

Pattern: Jaywalkers

Yarn: Vesper Sock Yarn in the Crew color

Needles: double pointed, size 1

So today I started another pair of socks made with Vesper Sock Yarn in the Sherbert color. I'm going to knit the Jaywalker pattern again too. (Of course I need more wool socks for summer in California!)
The other day this week I got my last Secret Pal 10 package. It included a great selection of yarns, patterns, and notions. My pal also revealed who she is. Also here is a link to my spoilee.

Stripes!

2007-06-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

On Friday I started knitting these new socks. I love the self-striping yarn. It keeps me easily entertained! The yarn is the Vesper sock yarn I bought a week or so ago. It is the Crew colorway and it is the Jaywalker sock pattern.

Also, this summer I am going to be a part of Dish Rag Tag! It should be fun and easy.

New Stuff

2007-06-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

Have you joined Raverly yet? I did about a week or so ago. My username on ravelry is moochie2003 and if you friend me, I'll friend you too! Ravelry is really kind of neat. I really like how you can search different yarns or patterns and see what other knitters have made. Plus I like the notebook section of it, where you can organize your projects and stash. The only thing I kind of don't like is that you can only upload pictures from flicker. Last Friday, I indulged and bought 3 skeins of Vesper Sock Yarn ;) I usually always miss when this sock yarn goes on sale.

FO: No Sweat Socks

2007-06-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here are my new socks!

Pattern: No Sweat Socks, designed by Kate Atheriey in No Sheep For You

Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too's Wick, 2 balls in columbine color

Needles: size 2 bamboo dpns

I'm looking forward to washing them to see if they will soften up.

A quick baby sweater

2007-06-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

A cousin last week had a baby so I decided to knit the new baby a sweater. I love baby knits because they are so quick. I really like this pattern because it is top down and almost seamless pattern. The only seaming is the top of the hood.

Pattern: Easy Baby Cardigan by Knitting Pure and Simple (it is a free pattern)(size 6 months)

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted (approx 1 1/2 skeins) in the Continental color
Needles: Denise size 7 and size 8 double pointed

Also in the last week or so I've casted on a couple other projects. First is another lace project, Print O' the Wave Stole by Eunny Jang. I'm using Sea Silk in the Ivory color for it.

My other new project is another Green Gable and I knitting it with Rowan's Calmer.

Socks and Buttons

2007-06-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I started knitting the No Sweat Socks from the No Sheep for You book. The yarn is the recommended yarn in the pattern called "Wick" by Knit One Crochet Too (53% soy and 47% polypropylene). It is pretty much a basic sock pattern and is knitting up pretty fast. The socks are thicker and heavier in weight than I'm use to. So I probably won't wear them until summer is over and colder weather comes again.
Also I finally finished my Lorna's Laces Ankle Socks yesterday too. I first started these socks way back in March. I used less than one skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn that I had left over in my stash and size 1 needles.

Then the third thing I did yesterday was sew on four button to my Ariann sweater. Now I'm thinking of making a second Ariann out of Cotton-Ease in the Lime color.

As for the Pea Pod Cardigan, I finished the right front but I'm annoyed with the pattern. For the left front, the directions simply say to "work as for the right Front, reversing the shaping and stitch patterns." Basically I'm a lazy knitter and like knitting directions to be completely spelled out with all the "reversing" done for me (so I don't have to think too much). You will have to wait and see if I get motivated to keep working on the sweater.

Off the needles...Ariann

2007-05-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I finished knitting Ariann. I'm pretty happy with the sweater. It just needs some buttons. The only thing I might have done differently is that I would have made the sleeves a tiny bit shorter. Here are the details...

Pattern: Ariann by Bonne Marie Burns of Chic Knits

Yarn: Cotton-Ease (5 skeins)

Needles: Addi Lace needles, size 6

New WIP...Pea Pod Cardigan

2007-05-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

I have about 3 or so inches still to knit on the collar of my Ariann sweater and then I'll be finished with it! These last few inches on Ariann are just garter stitch but they are taking me forever. I'll post a picture of the sweater when I'm done.Because I'm feeling impatient, over the weekend I started knitting Pea Pod Cardigan from Knit 2 Together. I like the pattern and it is relatively easy so far. The above picture is of the right front. The sweater is knit on size 2 needles and I'm using Rowan Cashcotton 4Ply RYC Yarn.

A ripple blanket from my past

2007-05-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I took a photo of a ripple blanket I crocheted during my freshman year in college for my dorm bed (about 15 years ago). I have no idea what brand of yarn I used. It is probably some type of acrylic. I do remember walking into to town and buying the yarn and crochet hook at a drug store. The pattern was on the label of the yarn. At the time I had never done any crocheting before. Today my mom uses the afghan and she told me that if I wanted it I needed to make myself a new one. She's not parting with "hers."

My Ariann sweater is knitting up nicely. I just joined the sleeves to the body and started the raglan decreases. While browsing through the Ariann KAL I found some helpful advice on how to do the decreases and maintain the stitch pattern.

No knitting!

2007-05-18T14:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I wasn't in the mood to knit, except when I went to knitting group in the evening. Instead I felt like sewing with my sewing machine! I made two Tiny Happy's Shoulder Bags. The pattern is really easy and they sewed up super fast. I made my bags about 2 inches deeper in size than the pattern. Also the neat thing about these bags is that they are reversible too. Now I'm thinking of buying one of Amy Butler's bag patterns. Maybe the Frenchy bag or the In-Town bag or the Chelsea Bag.... (in my pictures, the two bags at the top right and top left are the same bag. then the two bags below them on the right and the left are the other bag. I hope that is not too confusing to figure out.)

Also about 3 weeks ago I started a ripple blanket for my daughter. I'm using this pattern and Simply Soft Brites yarn. I'm an extremely slow at crocheting. Crocheting makes my arm really really tired. This is different than knitting for me. I can knit and knit with no problems. So far I do a row one day and than another row a couple days later. At this rate I who knows when I'll be finished.

Ballband, Absorba, Ariann sleeve, & SP10

2007-05-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I did a little Mason Dixon Knitting.

First I made a ballband dishcloth. I kept knitting the dishcloth until I ran out of the variegated yarn - "Gumdrop" from Peaches & Creme. The orange yarn is Sugar'n Cream's "Pumpkin." Second, I knitted a Absorba Bathmat from the Mason Dixon book. I used 3 strands held togetherof Sugar and Cream in the "Natural Ombre" color to knit it and size 13 needles. I'm slowing knitting the sleeves of my Ariann sweater. One sleeve is done and I'm just starting the second. Then my SP10 sent me a wonderful package on Monday. For the yarn there is Regia
sock yarn, a skein of Discontinuebrandnameyarn.com sock yarn, and an esty shop yarn that is 65 % wool & 35% silk. The other treats in the package are a cute sheep tape measure, some needle point protectors, a Knitsimple magazine, a pattern pamphlet, a book for my kids, a dark chocolate bar and some yummy maple sugar candy. Thanks Secret Pal 10!

FO: Sea Silk Tuscany

2007-05-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

Last I blocked my Sea Silk Tuscany Shawl. When I woke up this morning it was all dry. I immediately unpinned it so my kids wouldn't play with the pins and I tried the shawl on. I extremely happy with how the shawl knitted up and blocked. Here are some details of the shawl...
Pattern: Tuscany from No Sheep for You
Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Silk (1 full skein and 1/4 of second skein) in the Paris color
Needles: new Addi Lace Needles size 6US
Size: 31 inches long at deepest point and approx. 80 inches across the top
I have read on other blogs about how wonderful Sea Silk smells. Well.. as I was knitting Tuscany, I noticed that my Sea Silk had no noticeable smell at all. I was a little bit disappointed and I hopefully thought that when I blocked it would change.

Guess what? It did!

Last night after I pinned the shawl out to block it and I started spritzing with water, a lovely smell emerged from the shawl. (It still smells this morning too.) Yeah!! I love this smell a tons more than the smell of wet wool blocking.

How big should I make it?

2007-05-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to decide how big to knit my Tuscany Shawl. So far I have used up exactly one skein of my lovely Handmaiden Sea Silk. The pattern calls for knitting the 16-row pattern repeat 11 times and I've done it 17 1/2 times. I'm sort of thinking I will keep on knitting this shawl and make it bigger with my second skein of Sea Silk. What do you think? My Ariann sweater is coming along too. I switched from using my Denise needles to some metal Addis. The Cotton-Ease sticking too much to the Denise and was hard to knit. With the metal needles the Cotton-Ease moves along nicely.
The picture above is the completed body section waiting for 2 sleeves to be knitted. Below is the beginning of a sleeve.

A New WIP...Ariann

2007-04-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

A week ago I was at Michael's and saw that they finally had Cotton-Ease. Without thinking I bought several of balls of it in the Berry color. I decided to make a sweater with it and the pattern is Ariann. It is knitted from the bottom up.

I'm still working on the Tuscany Shawl but it doesn't look much different from the picture I posted last week.

Shawl Progress

2007-04-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

Here is my progress on my Sea Silk Tuscany shawl after about one week of knitting on it. I still love knitting with Sea Silk and Addi lace needles, and I've bought more of each!

New Shawl, Yarn & Needles

2007-04-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I splurged and bought 2 skeins of Sea Silk in the Paris colorway. It is now absolutely my one of my favorite yarns.
Next I pruchased some size 6 Addi Lace Circular Needles. I love the points and how light the feel in my hands. I plan on getting more in other sizes.

So what shawl should I knit with my new yarn and needles? Then I remembered Kim posted about a really pretty shawl from the No Sheep for You. So I splurged again and bought the book too.

The Shawl is called Tuscany and designed by Amy Singer. There are several other patterns in No Sheep for You, such as Tomato and Cables and Os, and No Sweat Socks that I might make too.

2 FOs

2007-04-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Forest Canopy Shawl and Green Gable are finished! All they need is some blocking.

Some New Things!

2007-04-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

All those rounds of just knitting knit stitches on the Green Gable got me thinking that I wanted to start a new shawl. Here it is. The pattern is Forest Canopy shawl and the yarn Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters in the Indian Corn colorway. I like the colors of the yarn but I'm finding to be a little scratchy on my fingers as I knit. The other Mountain Colors yarn I've used is their 4/8's wool and Bearfoot and they are very soft in comparison.Also new today is my first SP10 package! My pal noticed I've been into knitting socks and included a sock pattern called Railroad Rib Socks by Evelyn Clark. For the pattern you can use either fingering, sport, or worsted weight yarn. I love patterns like that. To knit some socks is some Sockotta yarn and also some soft Queensland Collection's Uruguay DK yarn. For holding a small project like a sock she included a little Lantern Moon bag. The last bit of goodies in the package were some candies, a coloring book, and crayons for my kids. Thanks SP!

A Sweater for Spring

2007-04-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

This morning I finished sewing on buttons to my Top Down Sweater. I really happy with how it turned out. I love the lightweight and softness of the Lorna's Laces yarn.

The pattern is a variation on Glapmyre's Bulky Cabled Sweater.

The differences between my sweater and that pattern is the yarn weight, mine is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, not bulky. Next mine is mostly stockinette stitch and no cabling.

I used 2 skeins and maybe a third or a quarter of a third skein.

For the button band I crochet it. I did this instead of picking up stitches and knitting. Here is my Green Gable. Right now I'm knitting endless rounds of knit stitches and I guess I'm making progress on it.

Last day of the month knitting

2007-03-31T14:53:00.000-07:00

My Top Down Sweater using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted is almost finished. All I need to do is get some buttons and make some button holes. Do I get wooden buttons, silver buttons, or something else? Yesterday I got in the mail 3 skeins of Cotton Fleece in the "Candy Apple"color to make Green Gable by Zepher Style. So far I've just finished the lace section at the top of the sweater.
The Lorna's Laces ankle sock I started last weekis going slowly. Yesterday when I picked it up to knit after putting my kids to bed, I noticed that one of my dpns was missing. My knitting had been on the sofa all by itself and that is never a good idea in my house with a toddler and pre-schooler. I immediately knew my daughter had done something with it. My husband went back into my daughter's bedroom and asked her what did she do with mommy's knitting needle. Their conversation went on sort of like this.
"I was playing with it."
"Where is the needle?"
"It's hiding."
"We don't what you and the baby to get hurt. Where is the needle?"
"I'll give you a clue."
"Okay."
"It's with the dollies."

What have I been doing?

2007-03-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

On Thursday last week I frogged the wrap I was knitting called Lake of the Woods. I really like the pattern but I didn't like the yarn picked for it. The yarn was Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in the Ice House color. The colors were not working for me for the wrap. However I really really like the Shepherd Worsted yarn. It is so so soft!

So I decided to use the Shepherd Worsted yarn to make a top down seamless sweater. I love top down sweaters !!! It is loosely based on the Bulky Cabled Sweater that I recently knitted. I've made a number of changes. First it is mostly knitted in stockinette, not garter stitch. Second I've left out the cables because of the busy variegated colors. So far I have only used 2 skeins of the Shepherds Worsted. I have one more skein to finish it up. Next, I did a little knitting on Lady Eleanor. I haven't touched it for over a month. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden Lite.
Last up is another sock. It is an ankle sock out of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in the Lakeview color. The yarn is from some leftovers in my stash. Based on my kitchen scale I have enough to knit some ankle socks. For my pattern I'm sort of using the sock recipe from the Knitting Rules book by the Yarn Harlot.

Quick Fixation Socks

2007-03-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

Today I finished another pair of socks that I started last week on Friday. These were pretty quick to knit up using size 3 dpns and Cascade Fixation yarn in color #9490 (which is 98.3% cotton and 1.7% elastic). I used the pattern posted on the Cascade Fixation Ankle Sock KAL. The only changes I did with the pattern was to cast on 40 stitches instead of 36 stitches.
On Friday last week I got a surprise in the mail from Kim, who I spoiled during SP9. She sent me a sweet package of dark chocolate and three pretty colored skeins of Knitpicks Memories sock yarn. What a treat! Thanks!

One Hank Socks

2007-03-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished knitting up my Lorna's Laces One Hank Socks. I love the colors and the picot edge is kind of cute. The colorway is Iris Garden from Lorna's Laces and it really only took one hank of yarn. On the right in the picture below you can see how much yarn I have left over, not much. The pattern is relatively easy but I did make a few changes. I only knitted 30 rounds for the leg section, decreased every other row in the gusset, and did not knit a star toe. If I had followed the pattern and had done 48 rounds on the leg section I might not have had enough yarn.
Also the weather cooled down a bit and I was even able to wear my new socks with my birks around town. They are quite comfy together.

Sock in Progress

2007-03-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

I've been slowly knitting this sock. The other night around 11:30 p.m. I noticed I had dropped a stitch in the decreases in the gusset at the instep of the sock. I had a hard time trying to pickup the dropped stitich and so I ended up frogging the entire sock. Why I felt I needed to frog the entire sock I don't know, except it was 11:30 at night and I was tired and not thinking straight. So I've now re-knitted to wear I was 2 days ago....

So far I've not followed the pattern exactly. I knitted only 30 rounds on the sock leg after the picot edging, instead of 48 rounds. Also for the decreases in the gusset, I did them every other round, instead of every round.

I don't know if you noticed but on my previous post the Yarn Harlot left a comment about the socks I made using her sock recipe. I love getting comments from everyone but she sure surprised me...wow.

Another Hat and Socks

2007-03-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

Here is my knitting from the past week...

Completed is a pair of socks made with Schaefer Yarn Co's "Anne" yarn. The pattern is a "Sock Recipe" from the Yarn Harlot's book Knitting Rules. These socks are a for my sister. She tried them on yesterday and they fit her perfectly. They are a tiny bit too big for me. The colors pooled a little but I don't mind.

I started out knitting these socks with my new Knitpicks metal double pointed needles and I got really annoyed with them. I kept dropping stictches and the needles would constantly slip out and fall on the floor. So mid-way through the first sock I switched back to using my bamboo needles. I don't think I'll be using the Knitpicks dpns again even though I really like their pointy tips.
Next up is another hat using the Live Dangerously, Don't Swatch pattern. It is the smaller hat on the left. I had a lot of yarn left from the one skein on Mountain Colors 4/8's Wool that I used to make the bigger hat (which is on the right in the pic). So my husband suggested I make another hat for one of our kids. As it turns out my husband prefers the wearing the smaller hat, it is more snug fitting.

I've also just casted on for another pair of socks. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in the Iris Garden colorway. The pattern is called Lorna's Laces One Hank Socks It is the first time I've knitted a picot edge on socks and not regular ribbing.

Another sock?

2007-02-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

I don't know what's gotten into me but I feel like knitting more socks. Until last week, the last time I had knitted a pair of socks had been in December of 2005.

The yarn for this newest pair is Schaefer Yarn Company's "Anne". I love the color variegation and the size of the skein of yarn, 560 yards!

Also, I'm using some new size 1 double pointed needles from Knitpicks. The tips on them are great, nice & pointy. However I do find these needles very slippery. At least 5 times, I have accidentally dropped a stitch. This never happens with my bamboo double pointed needles from Crystal Palace.

For the pattern, I'm using the Yarn Harlot's "Sock Recipe" in the book Knitting Rules.

SP10 - The Questionnaire

2007-02-27T21:18:00.000-08:00

I thought about for a little while and I decided to participate in Secret Pal 10. I had fun with SP9 with my pal Kim (and even despite some bumps along the way) so I decided to go it again. Here are my answers to the questionnaire.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I enjoy knitting with soft wool, varigated yarns, cotton, natural fibers, blends. Fibers I can't stand are acrylics, fun furs, & noveltie yarns.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
My Denise needles are in their case and the rest of my needles are in ziploc baggies

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
In 1998, I taught my self to knit using a book (I can't remember the title). I'd say my skill level is intermediate-advanced.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Nope!

5. What's your favorite scent?
I'm an unscented type of person, but I do like lemon or citrus scents.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Yes, chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I really only knit and I don't do other crafts. I don't spin either.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like most types of music except heavy meetal and rap. I don't know if my computer play MP3s.
9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
My favorite colors are green, purple, pink, blue, brown...I guess I like most colors. However I can't stand sunshine yellow.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I'm married with two little kids and two cats.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I love to knit lace shawls, seamless top-down sweaters, hats, socks, etc....

13. What are you knitting right now? Socks, a hat, & a lacely wrap (Lake of the Woods)

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I prefer circular needles and I love my Denise needle set. I also like Inox Grey coated aluminum circular needles, & bamboo double pointed needles (Crystal Palace).

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes, both.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
My oldest UFO is 2 1/2 years old. It is a aran cable sweater from The Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving.

19. Is there anything that you collect? Yarn.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I would love to try knitting some of Zephyr Style patterns like Green Gable, Rusted Root, & Wicked or Stitch Diva's Simple Knitted Bodice & Sahara. I have a subscription to Interweave.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Magic Loop

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes. I am a size 7 1/2.

23. When is your birthday?

Hat & Socks

2007-02-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

The other day my husband asked me to knit him a hat. I had read about a hat that you knit from the top down and don't need to swatch and I immediately thought this would be the perfect time to try it. The pattern is called Live Dangerously, Don't Swatch Hat (at this link, scroll down to find the pattern). I had a good time knitting this hat and I plan on using the pattern again. The yarn used is Mountain Colors 4/8's Wool in the Wilderness colorway and size 7 needles.

My daughter's Snoopy is modeling.

New socks are also just off the needle too. The pattern is called Horcrux Socks. These are quick to knit because the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn and a gauge of 5 sts per inch. I'm planning on giving these to my mom because she likes loose & stretchy fitting socks to sleep in at night. These socks are exactly that. Yarn is "Hot Foot" that I bought at Village Spinning and Weaving.

Also I have been slowly knitting on the Lake of the Woods. It is growing little by little.

One Sock...

2007-02-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

I just finished knitting up one sock from this pattern from the blog I'm Knitting As Fast As I Can.These socks are a quick knit using worsted weight yarn with size 6 needles. I used "Hot Foot" Superwash Merino Wool that I purchased at Village Spinning & Weaving in Solvang. I now need to knit the second sock.

Bulky Sweater ...block it?

2007-02-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

Over this past weekend I finished knitting my Bulky Cabled Sweater. I haven't blocked it yet and I don't know if I will. What do you think? I know the button band will lay a little smoother if I do but I don't know... I think I'm being a little lazy. (my daughter was sick most of the weekend with the stomach flu...vomiting...yuck!) Overall I'm really happy with the sweater. It knitted up quick on size 11 needles with about 4 skeins of handpaintedyarn.com bulky merino wool. It feels super soft and comfy. The only modifications I did with the pattern were with the sleeves. For the sleeves I didn't do any of the decreases and I knitted the sleeves on double pointed needles (no seaming!). Also for the buttons I knitted the buttons into the sweater using a technique I saw on an episode of Knitty Gritty (no sewing buttons on!)

I casted on to knit a pair of socks. It has been over a year and a half since I last felt like knitting a pair of socks. You can find the free pattern here. It uses worsted weight yarn and so it should knit up fast.

In other knitting news, this afternoon the mailman delivered a package from my Secret Pal 9 Angel, Brooke. Included in this sweet package is a SF messsenger bag which will be great for putting stuff in, the super One Skein book, Crystal palace circular needles, and some lovely soft Misti Alpaca yarn. Thank you SP9 angel!

Knitting Another Sweater

2007-02-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

Since knitting the Forecast sweater, I am becoming addicted to knitting top down raglan sweaters. I love the no seaming to do and how quick they are to knit. So on Friday last week I started knitting Bulky Cabled Sweater. This sweater and Forecast were both designed by Glampyre. I'm using Handpaintedyarn.com Bulky Merino in their Lettuce color with size 11 needles.

Also last week I started knitting the patternLake of the Woods by Ilga Leja. It is bascially a feather and fan pattern that you knit from the bottom up. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted in the Icehouse color. I love how soft the yarn is.

Forecast is Done

2007-02-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

I completed Forecast on Tuesday this week. Knitting the sweater took about 2 weeks. It is the fastest sweater I've ever knitted. I used Cascade 220 and size 8 & 6 needles. I blocked it kind of aggressively to make it a little more roomy. Also I used 5 buttons, rather than the 10 recommended by the pattern. I prefer to wear it unbuttoned. It is just a little too warm for me to wear a wool sweater buttoned up (I do live in a relatively mild climate here in CA) The weather forecast is for a bit of rain this weekend so I should be able to get some wear out of the sweater :)

Leaf Lace Shawl Blocked

2007-02-06T08:27:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to blocking the Leaf Lace Shawl for my mom. It feels really soft and is a quick lace pattern. I'll be doing the pattern again but in a different color than black.

If you have read my blog before, you may notice that I have changed the look.

Secret Pal 9 is over and now you can go meet my spoilee Kim over at her blog love is all you need. She inspired me to knit Clapotis.

Oops!

2007-01-31T21:31:00.000-08:00

I started knitting the sleeves on Forecast. For the sleeves I switched from my size 8 Denise needles to size 8 double pointed needles. After knitting a couple of rounds I noticed my gauge was really off. (You can see it in the picture below) Why was my knitting so different? Was it because I changed needles? Oh well, I thought. I guess I need to get some bigger double pointed needles, maybe size 9. Off to my local knit shop I went.
At the knit shop, the owner pointed out to me that I had reverse stockinette going on in the sleeve (see pic below) and that is why my gauge was so off. (The sweater is suppose to have the garter stitch bumps on both the inside and outside) When you convert a flat pattern to knitting in the round you are suppose to change the wrong side stitches from knits to purls and also the purls to knits. It even reminds you to do this in the Forecast pattern if you switch to knitting with double pointed needles! I had only followed this advice for the 9 stitches making up the cable section. Oh well...
Back at home I frogged and started again on the sleeves. I didn't need to change needle sizes. I'm still using size 8 needles and reading the directions more carefully. The picture above shows the color of the yarn the best (less glare).

Here is the sleeve knitting up nicely now.

A front view of the sweater with the lower body and border completed.

Forecast is ....

2007-01-29T15:05:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend it was quite rainy and I did a bit of knitting on Forecast. I'm really liking how it is knitting up. I'm now on the Lower Body section of the sweater with the k2 p2 rib.

The first picture below is of the front of the sweater.

This next picture is the back.

New Sweater in the Forecast

2007-01-26T15:03:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I casted on for a new sweater. The pattern is Knitty's Forecast. The yarn I'm using is Cascade 220 and size 8 needles. I really like the pattern. It is knitted from the top down. The cable and bobble pattern is easily memorized and makes the knitting entertaining and not boring. There is a Forecast knitalong for the pattern and I'm planning on joining it. There is some alterations to the pattern posted there that I'm thinking of doing.

I did a tiny bit more on Lady Eleanor but now I'm mostly knitting the sweater.

Leaf Lace Shawl Finished

2007-01-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I finished my Leaf Lace Shawl for my mom. I just need to block it. With two little ones running around and touching everything in the house, it is hard to find the time when I can do all the pinning and blocking for the shawl without them getting into it.

Yesterday I casted on to make Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style. Online I've seen a bunch of Lady Eleanors made out of Noro Silk Garden. I'm knitting mine with Noro Silk Garden "Lite" which is DK weight. A month or so ago I got the yarn on sale at about 50% off from Loop.

Finished Anyway

2007-01-20T13:40:00.000-08:00

I didn't have enough pink yarn to finish Clapotis exactly but I did it anyway. I had about 3 decrease sections to go and I was completely out of yarn. So I decided to bind off in pattern dropping stitches as needed. I couldn't find any pink Artyarn Supermerino at the local knit shop and I didn't want to buy a whole skein online somewhere. I only needed a tiny bit more and didn't a partial skein left over sitting my yarn stash. I'm happy with what I decided to do. You can't easily see that I ended a little early :)

As for Leaf Lace Shawl, I have about 13 more rows to go and it will be finished. I love how you can't see the pattern until it is blocked.

It's Here...Finally

2007-01-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

I had been waiting for over a week for my order from Knitpicks to arrive. There was some sort of mix-up here in town at the post office with my package. It had been sent to a post office across town that doesn't do delivery to my house and no one knew exactly where the box was for over a week. Anyway.... it arrived today! My new ball winder is here! (Last week my swift arrived) Some yarn and books were also a part of the package. The yarn is Knitpicks Shadow in the Jewels color. With my new ball winder and swift, it went so fast to wind 440 yards into a lovely center pull ball.

Yesterday while looking for some totally different, I found a tiny ball of Artyarns pink supermerino. I don't know if it will be enough to help finish my clapotis or not but I'll try. If it ends up not being enough yarn, I might just bind off early or use some other color.

Look a Poncho!

2007-01-12T15:04:00.000-08:00

Last night at Knitting group Chauntel brought a big bag of yarn than she didn't want and everything in it was up for grabs. The only thing I took was this small knitted poncho that needed to have its seam sewn together, hood attached, and yarns ends woven in. Later that night at home I sewed everything up. Then this morning my daughter wore the poncho to preschool. It was really cold this morning too. My daughter usually will only wear her other poncho that she has. She simply refuses to wear sweaters or sweat shirts. Thank you Chauntel for this "new" poncho.

Yeah! SP9 Goodies

2007-01-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

Today the mailman delivered some goodies from my Secret Pal. In the package was Plymouth Yarn Fantasy Naturale (cotton) in green and purple and a variegated skein of Mountain Colors 4/8's wool. Also included in the package was a IK magazine, a Lantern Moon bag (which will be great for carrying a project around), a yarn cutter pendent, a sweater key chain, and some extremely dark tasting chocolates. Thanks you SP. Now I need some ideas on what to knit up with the yarn :)

My Leaf Lace Shawl is growing. I've done eight repeats of chart 2. The pattern suggests doing 10 repeats for the small size shawl. I'm not sure how many I'll do, 10 or 11 or 12 repeats. I have 650 yards of this yarn. The pattern calls for only 550 yards to make a small shawl. I really don't want to run out of yarn again. The picture below is a close up of some leaves.

The farmer's market bag is still knitting up slowly. (So I don't work on very often) Every time I work on it is seems as if I am never making any progress. Round and round I knit but it never seems as if it is getting any bigger than before.

Not Enough Yarn

2007-01-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I ran out of pink yarn for Clapotis. I thought 7 skeins of Artyarns Supermerino would have been enough. I only need a little bit more. I was so close to finally being done with it. Now I'm too lazy to want to frog it back to the straight row section and have fewer straight sections and then having enough yarn to do the decrease portion. A trip to a yarn shop should help. I think I saw this yarn at BB's Knits. I had origionally bought this yarn online and on sale. Oh well to using up yarn from my stash. My cat enjoys laying on my knitting. I'm no longer knitting the Forest Canopy Shawl. I frogged it on Saturday too. Now I knitting Evelyn Clark's Leaf Lace Shawl I really really love Evelyn Clark's patterns. The Forest Canopy Shawl is a nice pattern but it wasn't clicking with me and the black yarn I am knitting with. I'm using a 3-ply Prime Alpaca Yarn which is super super soft with size 8 needles.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-02T15:22:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend I did a little shopping online for some knitting stuff that I have been wanting for awhile. With a 50% off coupon that I got at Coupon Cabin I purchased this. Then from Knitpicks I purchased this to go with it. Also at Knitpicks, I splurged and got this book that I've been eyeing a bit. I also bought some yarn :) While reading one of Mason-Dixon Knitting December posts on their blog, they offered free "ultra cute" autographed book plates. I couldn't pass this up. So I emailed Kay asking for 2 book plates. (One for myself and one that I am going to send to my Secret Pal.) On the December 21, the 2 bookplates arrived in the mail and I promptly put one of the book plates into my Mason Dixon Knitting book.

Also over the weekend I really felt like working on my Clapotis. I've completed 9 straight row sections. I love knitting it up with Artyarns Supermerino.

Also last week I finished knitting and blocked a scarf for my husband with left over yarn from my Pimlico Shrug. It is the Double Cable scarf from One Skein. The scarf measures about 43 inches long and I knitted it up with my size 9 Denise needles.

Lastly I did just a little knitting on the Forest Canopy Shawl for my mom.

New Stuff

2006-12-28T22:02:00.000-08:00

My mom asked me to make her a shawl. She really liked my Swallowtail Shawls and wanted one of those in black. However I need a break from that pattern so I'm making her Forest Canopy Shawl So far I've done one chart repeat. It is an easy stitch pattern with 8 rows that repeat. I'm using some Superfine Prime Alpaca 3-ply sportweight yarn that I bought at Village Spinning & Weaving This yarn is super super soft.

Next since we've had some cold weather lately, my husband requested a new scarf. I'm knitting it up with left over yarn from my Pimlico Shrug. The pattern is the Double Cable Scarf from One Skein.

Shrug off the Needles

2006-12-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I finished the Pimlico Shrug. I'm sort of happy with it. The yarn I used is Artyarns Supermerino in color 248, a dark chocolate brown. Needles were size 7 for body of shrug and size 6 for the rib edging. Usually I don't wear sweaters this dark. Also the sweater is a little long. I'm on the short side, about 5 feet tall, and if I were to make this sweater again I might make the body section a couple inches shorter than the 34" call for in the pattern.

A back view....

Now on the needles is another ruffle scarf (picture below). It is a holiday gift for my sister-in-law. Last year I made my mother-in-law and sister-in-law "Elegant Gauntlets" from the The Purl Stitch book by Sally Melville. I used Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock yarn for them. They came out really lovely I thought (I never took a picture of them), but I don't think my in-laws really appreciated gift. (I don't think they ever wore them either) They always seam so "surprised" that I knit. So this year it will just be simple ruffle scarves for them. (I've had a cold/sore throat for the last few days and I'm kind of grumpy)
I was going to make farmers market mesh bags as holiday presents, but the pattern wasn't clicking with me. Now the bag is just for me. I work on it when I take my kids to the park to play or maybe knitting group when I don't want to concentrate too hard on a pattern. So the bag is coming along slowly. I'm using Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn in bright variegated colors that I like.

Some Knitting...

2006-12-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

The Pimlico Shrug is coming along. I have about 2 inches of the 3x3 rib to finish up and then I'll be all done except for sewing the sleeves into the armholes. I hope to finish the shrug this week.

Here is a finished photo of the ruffle scarf for my mother-in-law made from 2 skeins of Linie 194. I finished it a week ago but didn't get around to taking a picture of it until today. It was a very quick knit. I need to still knit a second scarf like this one for my sister-in-law.

Knit 2 Together Book Signed!

2006-12-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

I got my copy of the book signed! Today at the store Knit and Purl in downtown Santa Barbara there was a book signing with Mel Clark of the Knit 2 Together. Mel Clark is very nice and there were several samples of items knitted from the book on display in the store. I love the sweater she was wearing. In the book it is called Rowena Cardigan. I might need to make it for myself too. Last night I finished the body section of the Pimlico Shrug which is from Knit 2 Together. (below is a picture of it) I was too shy to pull it out of my bag to show it to Mel Clark. Oh well...

Starting Holiday Knitting

2006-12-06T21:57:00.000-08:00

I finally decided on knitting my mother-in-law and sister-in-law this year some ruffle scarves. Yesterday I took a shopping trip with my kids to Target in Ventura which is about 30 miles away(there are no Target stores in Santa Barbara). After loading up on stuff like baby wipes, toilet paper, slippers, shirts, a sweater, etc...at Target, we went to Anacapa Fine Yarns It is a really nice shop that I learned about at my knitting group. I had never been there before. They have a really nice selection of yarns and they are located really close to the Target.

At the store I bought some yarn called Linie 194 Solo. It is bascially like a tape with a loose weave that you can knit with that creates ruffles. The tape is 2 colors, 1/2 navy and 1/2 gray and you poke your needle through one edge to create the ruffles. I'm not using any pattern to make the scarves. I simply casted on 4 stiches with size 5 US needles and simply knitting away in like a garter stitch. It is a easy knit. The picture above shows one skein of the yarn knitted up and is about 32 inches. I'm going to use up the second skein of the ruffle yarn for the scarf. This scarf is for my mother-in-law. I bought 2 skeins of it in the purple and magenta color for the scarf for my sister-in-law.

What's Up?

2006-11-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

Well...I don't have any new knitting worth taking a picture of right now. I mainly have been working on the eyelet body section of the Pimlico Shrug. It is about 6 inches longer than the picture I took last week on Monday. I'm now at 19 inches and the pattern calls for 34 inches... So I am a little more than half way there, yeah! With traveling, Thanksgiving, and a wedding in the family last week, I didn't get much else knitted.

I thought about knitting some mesh farmer market bags to give as holiday gifts to my in-laws. I started a pattern that I bought at a LYS. The pattern is by Cedar Post Knits. After 2 days of knitting Monday and Tuesday this week I had barely 2 inches completed and all I could think was that I'd rather be knitting something else. So I've now tossed that idea out the window and now thinking of maybe making some felted bowls from the One Skein book. If I do that I'll need to buy some bulky wool yarn that knits up quick.

My Secret Pal who I'm spoiling got her first package last week. On her blog she seemed extremely happy with what I sent her. I'm glad.

Knitting New Stuff

2006-11-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

New on the needles is the Pimlico Shrug. It is from the book Knit 2 Together. There are so many great things in this book that I plan on knitting. So far I've knitted about 13 inches of the body portion of the shrug. The body portion of the shrug has an eyelet pattern that is rather pretty and keeps me entertained. The yarn I'm using is Artyarns Supermerino #248 in a dark chocolate brown color, I love it. Below is a picture from the book of the shrug.

Here is a photo of my finished Clapotis with my cat sneaking across. I used a sock yarn called "Hot Foot" that I purchased at Village Spinning and Weaving in Solvang. I used size 8 needles and 560 yards of yarn. Because I had less yarn than called for in the origional pattern, I did a couple fewer increase and straight sections. In the end I ended up using all the yarn with barely a few inches left to weave in.

Back in October I knitted up a corset-t. I wasn't happy with it and over the weekend I frogged it. Now I'm knitting it into another Clapotis. I've read on some other blogs that 7 skeins of Artyarns Supermerino can be used to knit up a Clapotis. Well, I've got the seven skeins and here I go. My other cat joined in this picture too and you can see my new pair of pink Crocs that I bought today at Nordstroms.

My November Calendar

2006-11-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

There is a calendar contest over at Chappysmom This is my entry into the contest in which you to take a picture of your November calendar page, post it on your blog, and then leave Chappysmom a comment with a link to that picture. Every year I always get a Kliban cat calendar. These cats make me smile. My own two cats are big and fat like Kliban kitties.

Today I just finished my Clapotis. I'll post pictures sometime soon. I just barely had enough Hot Foot yarn to finish it :)

UFO now a WIP

2006-11-13T21:59:00.000-08:00

Back in early 2005 when I was pregnant with my son, I started knitting this sweater called "Diamond Cable Pullover" from The Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd. I think because I was so big and pregnant at the time I got tired of knitting this sweater and I put it away. (I think I just couldn't imagine ever wearing normal size clothing ever again, plus summer was approaching)I had completed the back and more than half of the front. For some odd reason over this past weekend I pulled the pieces out and started knitting it again.

The picture below is the front and I did the armhole shaping on Sunday. I also taught my self how to cable with out a cable needle. The cable knitting now goes along much quicker. Grumperina has good pictures and info on Cabling with out a cable needle

Picture above is the back of the Diamond Cable Pullover. Below is a picture of Clapotis that I'm still knitting too. I have one more Straight Row section to do and then I start the decrease rows.

Swallowtail Shawl #2 Finished!

2006-11-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

Last night I finished knitting my second Swallowtail Shawl and then this morning I blocked it. I'm very happy with how it turned out. I will be wearing it to my sister-in-law's wedding at the end of the month. I did make changes to the original pattern because I wanted a larger shawl. For the "Budding Lace 2" section I knitted 19 repeats of the chart instead of 14. This worked out perfectly in increasing the size. Here are the details:

Pattern: by Evelyn Clark in Interweave Knits, Fall 2006

Yarn: Regia Silk in Burgundy (55% Merino, 20% Silk, 25% Polymid) 220 yards; 3 skeins and 1/4 of a fourth skein

Needles: Denise Interchangeable, US size 6

Finished size after blocking: 39" depth, 79" width

Knitting Shops & Mom with Babies

2006-11-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

The photo above is an update on Clapotis. Below along with my son's feet and mine is Swallowtail Shawl #2. All that I have left on that shawl is the Lily of the Valley Border 2 and the Peaked Edging which counts out to almost 30 rows remaining to knit.
In Santa Barbara there is a new knitting shop called Knit and Purl. In the back of the store, the owner has a corner full of toys and stuff just for kids. My daughter and son really love it and they make a big mess that I always clean up when I am done shopping. They spill boxes of crayons everywhere, blocks, etc... Of course I feel always feel obligated to buy something because my kids make such a mess.

North of Santa Barbara about 35 minute drive, there is a little shop that I also like. They have some handpainted sock yarn and alpaca that is really lovely. One time I was in there without my kids, I overheard the owner talking about women with babies who come in to shop. She went on to say that when the baby starts to cry or fuss should really make time for themselves without their baby to do their shopping. All I could think of was that I can't easily just go shopping at a knitting store without my kids. My husband is at work during the week and usually when I want to go to a knitting shop he isn't around to watch the kids anyway.
Well... Yesterday on Thursday morning at around 10:30 to 11:00, I went to this shop again but with my kids to buy some yarn. My kids were both sitting in the stroller eating rolls I had just bought at a nearby bakery. I was the only customer in the little shop. My kids were constantly talking to me as I shopped. My son did make a crumbs on the ground that I kept picking up. I definitely noticed a difference in this shopping experience with my kids. The owner was not as friendly or chatty with me. I did spend money on yarn. But I kept having a feeling they would have asked me to leave if I hadn't been their only customer that morning. Also I feel if they were more friendly towards moms with toddlers and babies, their shop wouldn't be empty of customers. I'm not asking for toys for my kids to play with but only friendliness. I won't be back to that shop until sometime next year with or without my kids, I don't know...

Boo to You! Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T13:07:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of one the pumpkins my kids and I carved up today for Halloween. Kind of funny looking :)
On Thursday last week, we went to the Santa Barbara Zoo to see the Pumpkin Smash. The zookeepers put pumpkins all around the elephant yard and then at 10:30 in the morning they let the elephants to go smash the pumpkins. My daughter really enjoyed it but my baby started crying. I think he enjoyed seeing the pumpkins and didn't like seeing them get smashed and gobbled up.

Also a part of the pumpkin smash at the zoo were the gorillas. The gorillas were given a burlap sack with a pumpkin inside it for them to smash and eat up.

More about knitting on another day. Happy Halloween! Trick-or-Treat!

Shawl Knitting

2006-10-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pictures of the shawls I'm knitting away on. The burgundy is another Swallowtail Shawl. The yarn I am using is Regia Silk sock yarn. I'm making the shawl larger by knitting 19 bud repeats in the pattern instead of 14 as in the pattern. So far I've down 16 repeats.
The next shawl is Knitty's Clapotis. The yarn for this shawl is a superwash merino wool sock yarn called "Hot Foot" that I bought at Village Spnning & Weaving Shop in Solvag. I really like the colors of this varigated yarn.

I Got Tagged! ... Four Things

2006-10-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Laura tagged me on her blog with Four Things. So here are my Four Things....

Four jobs I've had:
*library page (high school)
*library assistant (graduate school)
*holiday gift wrapper at William Sonoma
*elementary school teacher

Four movies I can watch over and over:
*Harvey
*Pride and Prejudice
*Forest Gump
*Sound of Music

Four places I have lived: (all in CA)
*San Marino
*Arcata
*Riverside
*Long Beach

Four TV shows I love to watch: (usually on DVR)
*Food Network (I'm not picky)
*Grey's Anatomy
*Martha
*Trading Spaces

Four places I've been on vacation:
*Kauai
*Yosemite National Park
*Grand Canyon
*Big Sur/Carmel

Four of my favorite dishes:
*Chicken with rice and cream of mushroom soup
*blueberries
*cheesecake (rich and creamy)
*mint 'n chip ice cream (has to be green)

Four websites I visit daily:
*yahoo mail
*The Yarn Harlot
* yahoo groups
* Knitter's Review

Four places I would rather be right now:
*my parents house
*in bed
*Hawaii
*at home

Four Bloggers I am tagging:
*you
*you
*you
*and you

Frog It?

2006-10-21T07:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I finished the corset-t except for the crochet edging and some buttons. I tried it on and I really don't like how it fits on me. I should have used a smaller gauge yarn but anyway I'm thinking of frogging it. I'll wait a week or so before I do this, in case I change my mind.

WIPs photos

2006-10-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my corset-t from the show Knitty Gritty. It is knit all in one piece and is super easy. I'm using Artyarns Supermerino which I really love. I just love the ribbing for the body of the corset. The picture below is how the corset will sort of look when finished. I have about 5 inches or so of ribbing to finish, then a crochet border and little buttons. A close up of the lace work at the top of the corset

This week my order of Regia Silk yarn arrived. Regia Silk is sock yarn and I am knitting it up into another Swallowtail Shawl. For this shawl instead of 14 repeats of Budding Lace as the pattern calls for, I'm going to knit 19 repeats. I want the shawl to be big. I'm planning on wearing this shawl to a wedding this November.

No More Barefoot Knitter...

2006-10-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

I decided to change my blog's name from Barefoot Knitter to Abby's Knits. I was never really happy with the name Barefoot Knitter. It had been something I had quickly thought of when I first started my blog (I had my Barefoot Contessa cookbook sitting next to me at the time). So today I simply decided to make a change. I hope this doesn't confuse anyone.

Swallowtail Completed

2006-10-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

Here is my finished Swallowtail Shawl. On the grass here it looks like it is ready to take off and fly away. I blocked it on Saturday and only got around to posting a picture of it today. I used Classic Elite Inca Alpaca (about 4 1/2 skeins) and size 7 Denise needles. This was a relatively quick knit and the pattern I would definitely knit up again with some other type of yarn.

Here is a shot of the shawl as it was blocking on my daughter's bed. Unfortunately I had to take it off the bed before it wasn't completely dry (my daughter wanted to go to sleep). Then I had to finish blocking it on my dining room table. Now I thinking about making or buying a blocking board.

Secret Pal 9

2006-10-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

Here are my answaers to the Secret Pal 9 questionnaire...

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I enjoy knitting with soft wool, varigated yarns, cotton, natural fibers, blends. Fibers I don't enjoy are acrylics, fun furs, & noveltie yarns.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
My Denise needles are in their case and the rest of my needles are in ziploc baggies :)

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I learned once as a kid to knit and hated it and stopped. Then about 8 years ago using a good book (which I don't remember the name of) I taught myself to knit again. I'd say my skill level is somewhere between intermediate and advanced.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
I'm an unscented type of bath person but I do like citrus scents.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yes. Dark chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
In the past, I used to quilt and do needlepoint. Now I mainly only knit. I don't spin either.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
I like most types of music except heavy meetal and rap. I don't know if my computer play MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
My favorite colors are green, purple, and pink. I usually can't stand knitting with yellow and orange unless it is a gift for someone else.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I'm married and have 2 kids and 2 cats.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, sometimes when the weather is cool.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
My favorite things to knit are shawls, blankets, rugs, dishcloths,socks, hats, etc... there are very few things I don't like to knit.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I'm knitting a corset t-shirt, a Sophie bag, and a Mason Dixon Circle of Fun Bathmat.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I prefer curcluar needles. I love my Denise neeles. Other needles I like to use are Inox Grey coated aluminum needles and Lion Brand plastic circulars.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
My oldest UFO is 2 years old. It is a aran cable sweater from The Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Thanksgiving.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Yarn.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I would love more Evelyn Clark patterns like Flower Basket or Zepher Style's patterns like Green Gable or FiddlesticksPeacock Shawl or Romance Shawl. I don't have any magazine subscriptions. I usually go to a book store and look over the new knitting magazines to see if they are worth purchasing or not. However I am thinking about getting a subscription to Interweave.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'd like to learn mobius knitting, like Cat Bordhi's which I saw on Knitty Gritty. (However I'm not in a hurry to try it out)

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Once in great while I'll knit socks. I have a size 7 1/2 foot.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
April 20

Swallowtail Flying Fast off the Needles

2006-09-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

My Swallowtail Shawl is knitting up quick. I have only 10 more rows of the "peaked edging" to do and I will be all finished (except for blocking it too). I haven't been knitting anything but this all week.
Here is a close-up of the Budding Lace(above).
This is a close-up of the nupps in the "Lily of the Valley" borders. A nupp is basically a K1, yo,k1, yo,k1 all in the same stitch on the right side of the shawl. In that same stitch on the wrong side you pearl all 5 if those stitches together. It makes like a bobble. Pearling 5 stitches together can be tricky but I googled "nupps" and found the The Knitting Doctor with a helpful tip. The tip simply involves "pushing the stitches down to the cable part of the circular needle, then purling them together." This worked out great for me and is so simple.

Started Swalllowtail Shawl

2006-09-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Last night I started knitting the Swallowtail Shawl from the Fall Interweave Knits I'm using Classic Elite's Inca Alpaca and size 7 needles. Its been fun so far knitting it up. I find that I end up counting my stitches after every knit row, just to make sure I haven't goofed up in the pattern. I found a knitalong for the shawl and I just joined it too.

Beginning of Circle of Fun

2006-09-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm done with my log cabin, here is the start of my Circle of Fun Bathmat. I am really enjoying the short rows to create this. In the Mason Dixon book, they use some type of wool for the rug but I got the idea from Smoking Hot Needles to use Sugar & Cream cotton yarn to make a bathmat. I'm knitting with 3 strands of yarn and size 13 needles. The colors are natural ombre and ecru. I started out using size 15 needles and did 3 triangle segments but I didn't like openness of the stitches. I frogged it and switched to smaller needles. Be warned, it is no fun to unravel this rug and the tangles that can be created are awful.

Because knitting this bathmat makes my arms tired, I've got 2 other projects going too. First is a Sophie Bag. I started out following the pattern but it just seemed too small for my needs. So I've double the size of it. It looks like a blue blob in the picture here. I take this knitting with me when I take my kids to the park because it's mindless knitting and can be easily put down to run after a kiddo and then be picked up again.

My third project I'm working on is a Corset T-Shirt. I saw it on Knitty Gritty. It is a really simple pattern and I'm using some soft merino yarn that I have. I plan on adding some short sleaves to it too.

Hip Hip Hooray! My Log Cabin Blankie is Done!

2006-09-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

It was my goal to finish my log cabin blanket by the end of August. It was really close, but it ended up being in the evening on Sunday, September 3rd instead. I'm really really happy with how my log cabin finished up. My husband even said it "looks beautiful." The final measurements is 50 inches square. I used Sugar & Creme yarn. I bought 2 balls of each color and I have a several balls left over which I plan on using for knitting up dishcloths. I can't say exactly how long it took to knit up because I had been working on the blanket all summer and stopping to knit up other things. The other things I completed while knitting the log cabin were several dishcloths, a superfancy potholder loop hallway rug, and 2 felted bowls.

Now on the needles I have started a Circle of Fun Rug from the Mason Dixon Knitting blook and a Sophie bag.
My calico cat Moochie rests on the blankie.

A view of the blanket on a queen size bed.
My other cat Munchkin sneaks a turn on the blanket.

Purple Nine Patch & Ballband Dishcloths

2006-08-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

I made my first nine patch dishcloth. It is a great project for using up little bits of yarn. The only downside of it is that there are quite a few ends to weave in when finished. I also made a matching ballband cloth too.

Here is a status report on my log cabin blankie...one side of the border is done! Only three more sides to go. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it...

Mason Dixon Swapcloth Pal's package arrived

2006-08-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my package from MD Swapcloth partner arrived. I learned my partner is lauriec. She made to bright pink and green ballband dischloths and some soap. She even made some lovely stitch markers. My daughter was also very excited as you can see in the picture she wanted to touch everything. My partner also wrote a sweet note to me and I learned we have several things in common. We both are stay at home moms. She has a toddler and I have two toddlers. And we both once lived Long Beach, CA.

I'm currently finishing up my MD Swapcloth partner's dishcloth and will probably mail it out on Monday or Tuesday.

For an update on my log cabin blankie, I am now going to start on the border. I hope it goes fast and I will be done! I think it is looking great and I'm really happy with it. I'll post pictures soon too.

Procrastinating on Log Cabin Blanket

2006-08-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

This dishcloth is part of the Monthly Dishcloth group KAL for mid-Aug. They give only 10 rows of instructions for the dishcloth each day for 6 days. After 2 days of the KAL I was able to figure out the pattern and yesterday I simply finished the dishcloth. I like learning these new stitch pattern that use 2 different colors and slipping stitches. The yarn for the cloth is Sugar & Cream "Cream" and "Summer Splash."

After I washed the dishcloth from the mid-July KAL for the Monthly Dishcloth group, I thought the mock cables and lace really came out nice. So I'm posting another picture of that cloth.

All these projects, the Superfancy Rug, the felted bowls, and all these dishcloths are simply my way of avoiding working on my log cabin blanket. I have about 2 more "logs" to knit and then a border. It measures over 47 inches by 47 inches. Maybe this week I finally finish it, unless I find something more enticing to knit up.

Fun with Felted Bowls

2006-08-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

My Grandmother's 95 birthday is this weekend and I want to give her something homemade so I decided on felted bowls that I had seen in the book One Skein. The bowls were quick and easy to knit up. For the small blue bowl I used Lambs Pride Bulky as suggested in the book. I already had some of that yarn in my stash and it felted up really fast. For the large green bowl, I used Cascade 220 which I doubled stranded the yarn. Felting the green took longer that the blue. I can easily see making more of these bowls for myself and as presents for others. Also, I don't think I'm going to use the Cascade yarn again because I found it a pain to double the yarn. I interested in trying Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky yarn or using the Lambs Pride Bulky again. My grandmother loves to crochet and knit and I think she is going to really like these because I don't think she has ever felted yarn before

Garterlac Dishcloth and more

2006-08-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

I saw on two different blogs references to a pattern for a Garterlac Dishcloth. I immediately knitted up one dishcloth in a varigated yarn by Sugar & Cream called "Swimming Pool." I've always wanted to learn how to knit entrelac. This is all knitted in garter stitch. I love this pattern and can see playing with it to make a poncho one day. Next, I played with the pattern a little by adding a few stiches to make it bigger and I also used 2 colors instead of just one. Yarn for this cloth is Sugar & Cream "Summer Splash" and "Hot Green." I much prefer the first Garterlac dishcloth to this 2 colored one.

I've joined Monthly Dishcloth KAL. They have 2 dishcloth knit alongs a month. I completed the mid-July dishcloth here which is kind of like lace. I prefer their mid-month KAL which involve some type of knit pattern. The beginning of the Month KAL involves knitting a picture of something (like dolphin, heart, etc..).

Superfancy Rug Finished!

2006-07-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

I finished my superfancy potholder loop rug! The final measurements come in at 24 inches by about 68 inches. I loved knitting with the potholder loops and would do it again sometime. I used 13 bags of cotton blend potholder loops that I bought at Michael's for $2.49. This made a really affordable cushy hallway rug. I now need to go purchase a rug pad to go under the rug to keep it from sliding around. My daughter was dashing about the house and slipped on the rug.

Loopy for potholder loops

2006-07-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I've really enjoyed making the superfancy potholder loop rug. So far I've used 12 bags of loops that I bought at Michael's for $2.49 each. Instead of a small mat rug, it is turning into a hall runner. I have only 1 bag of loops left. I should measure it. The knitting goes really fast with size 35 needles. My kids enjoy touching the loops and my cats love to sit on the rug as I knit. (my cats are in hiding when my babes are about)

Log Cabin Update

2006-07-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here is my log cabin update. Four more rounds to go and I try to do at least 1 "log" a day. Maybe in a couple weeks or three I'll be done. Yeh!

*note..several people have asked about the yarn... I'm using simple old Sugar & Cream, I bought 2 balls of each color that I'm using. I also sometime post pictures at the Mason Dixon KAL.

Starting the "Superfancy Potholder Loop Rug"

2006-07-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

I decided to take another break from my log cabin blanket and start the potholder loop rug from the Mason Dixon Knitting book. So today I went to Michaels and bought several bags of cotton blend potholder loops and some pretty green size 35 needles. When I got home I started chain linking the loops together. I did two bags and then I casted onto the green needles. The book suggests casting on 26 stiches but I casted on 29. Then just started knitting in garter stitch. My picture shows how much 2 bags of loops knit up and the ball of loops is 2 bags chained together. I like how fast the rug is going.
(*note.The loops cost $2.49 for a 10 oz bag.)

Mitered Square Dishcloth

2006-07-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

I needed to take a break from the log cabin blanket that I'm knitting, so I made a mitered square dishcloth. I followed the mitered square directions in the Mason Dixon Knitting book and then made a "log cabin" border. I got the idea for the log cabin border from Domino Knitting by Vivian Hoxbro. In Domino Knitting there is a section of making potholders while learning the modular knitting techniques. I decided my mitered square would be more useful as a dishcloth and not a potholder. If it were to be a potholder I would double the yarn to make it thicker and then it would be better for picking up hot stuff.

Peaches & Creme Pick-up

2006-06-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I was driving home from visiting my parents down south when I hit a lot of stop and go traffic. When I needed to take a break from the slow drive, I got off the highway in Oxnard and went to a Walmart. I never shop at Walmart and always feel uncomfortable in there. In the store I headed to the craft section to check out the yarn. They had a small selection of Peaches & Creme cotton yarn. I bought a small selection of the varigated yarn and a cone of white cotton to make some more washcloths or something from the Mason Dixon book. The yarn feels a tiny bit softer than the Sugar N Cream that I am currently using on my blanket.

Log Cabin Update

2006-06-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

Here is an update on my log cabin blanket. The sides are getting bigger and taking longer to knit. I'm still enjoying deciding which color to pick next on each "log." I'm planning to do 6 more rounds of color and so far I've done 6 rounds which makes me half way finished.

I'm inspired to knit socks again. I was surfing some knitting web rings yesterday when I came across someone who had knitted some socks with some self-stripping watermelon colored yarn made by Freshisle Fibers . It is so cute the yarn that I emailed them to find out availability of the yarn and they emailed back that I'll probably will have to wait until August sometime. I'm happy to wait.

(The little bit of arm and leg in the picture with the blankie is my daughter)

Ideas to do someday soon

2006-06-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm using my blog to journal my knitting projects. My current project is still my log cabin blankie which I'll post a picture soon. I've been getting ideas for other projects (many from the Mason Dixon KAL) and just writing them down on scraps of paper and today I thought I should just put these ideas into my blog. So here some ideas for my future projects.
1. knit placemats
2. use MD Baby Genius Burp Cloth pattern for a dishcloth
3. do a MD ballband dishcloth in just one varigated yarn
4. make a water bottle cozy with a dishcloth pattern
5. some color combinations for MD Ballband dishcloth:
a. Sugar n Cream : pumpkin + soft violet
b. blue and brown
c. Peaches n Creme: Fiesta + Faded Denim
d. PnC: Fiesta + white
6. Use MD Big Dottie pattern to make dishcloth

(side note: My baby walked 3 steps today without holding on to anything!)

My New Shoes

2006-06-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

I've discovered a new brand of shoes called Crocs (www.crocs.com). They come in all the colors of the rainbow. A few weeks ago I first saw these shoes(in the color purple) when I was at the park with my daughter and baby. Then at a mommy and me class, one of the other moms was wearing them, I asked her about them. She said they were "Crocs" and that her mother-in-law one time tried on her crocs and never took them off. I needed a new pair of shoes and I didn't want to spend $100 on another pair of Birkenstock. The next day I went into downtown Santa Barbara and got a pair. They only cost $29.99. Now I'm hooked. They are so comfy. I even got a pair for my daughter at Payless shoe store in a knock of brand by Airwalk. Her's cost twelve bucks. For myself, the Airwalk ones aren't as comfy. My daughter is forever taking her shoes on and off and she can sort of put them on herself. So they are perfect for the park and walking around and waterproof. I think these are perfect for knitters because of their variety of colors they come in. You could match your shoes to whatever you are knitting.

Shopping trip to Michael's

2006-06-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

The Mason Dixon Knitting book suggests using Peaches n Cream cotton yarn, but its not sold locally. So, I'm using Lily's Sugar & Cream cotton yarn for my log cabin blanket. It is suprising easy to use with metal needles and feels soft. About half the colors I have I bought at Michael's for $1.49 each. However they don't have a great selection of colors. So I've gotten the rest at a local independent craft store which charges about 75 cents more the Miachaels. They also don't have a full selection of colors. So they even each other out.

Today I went to Michael's and they actulally had a color of blue I didn't have, "Hot Blue." So I was a big spender and I got 2 balls of it. I love that the yarn is so affordable and that I don't feel guiltly buying any.

Log Cabin Knittin

2006-06-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

My current knitting project is a log cabin blanket from the Mason Dixon Knitting. It is going along great. It is so simple to just count 9 ridges, bind-off, and pick-up stiches. I can easily put down my knitting to take care of my baby or toddler and then pick it up again and start knitting away again. The picture is of only 3 days of knitting progress.

First Post!

2006-06-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm currently doing Mason Dixon Knitting. I just love the book and the blog. So far I've completed 2 dishrags. They are so easy to do. I plan on making more for myself and as gifts for family and friends