Happily Tilted!

Yeah, all in all pretty happy with it, despite almost fainting from the warmth from wearing it right now. Also a bit snug, the worst being my arms, hoping further blocking in the fall will help.

Presenting....

Tilted Duster from IK Fall 2007, size 44
Berroco Peruvia Azul Colorway, 5 skeins
KP Options, US 8's, most people knit this on 10's but me, nope, got gauge at 8's! :( No wonder it took a while. January 08 to April 08. Well I do admit to a lot of sewing going on and a few other knits got in the way too. One can only knit so much of K2P2 ribbing now! ;)

No mods other than I knit the sleeves with Magic loop until the caps were needed. I really didn't need to adjust stitch count for knitting sleeves in the round as they are snug. I was forewarned, but truly thought they would block a bit bigger. Since it won't be wearing for a while, I'll try blocking them again. Learned how to knit M1 Lefts and Rights. No holes! :)

I ordered 9 skeins even though my size called for 7 and only used 5! I was really nervous as I saw an XS knit with 5 skeins. So why does my XL have 5 skeins too? I'm thinking it could have been a bit longer. I finished all pattern repeats, but was about 1 to 1.5" short pre-blocking. At that point, trust me, I was so done with that skirt part. I figured I could steam block it into submission. Knitting with the Peruvia was just like knitting with Lamb's pride worsted as it's single ply as well. But it isn't nearly as soft as the LP is! Not sure I'd knit anything else to wear in this yarn, but I'm sure it felts well, and with 4 skeins leftover, I'm sure I'll find out.

A pretty straight forward pattern for a newbie sweater knitter like me except when I started it, knitting the front bodice pieces was a bit frightening. The way the directions are, you think you are knitting the right bodice, but it's really the left...I knit 3 bodices as 1 was the swatch. I looked everywhere to see if I was totally crazy, but no one mentioned it. Oh well...as you can see I conquered that problem.

I found lots of tips from Ready, Set, Knit Podcast and Ravelry.

The pensive pose.


Yeah, I wanted to show you the side! I bound off as suggested in the pattern, on the WS and I don't mind the bottom flaring a bit.


(now the sleeves aren't that tight, it's just my pose)
The back, geesh, mine looks huge! But you can see that upper area is a tiny bit snug, but not painfully so. This yarn is warm...um..really warm and itchy. Hoping the cold weather takes care of that..oh yeah and a long sleeved shirt! ;)

Close up of the buttons I got at SAFF. I don't remember the vendor, she was on the floor level near the sheep shearing. She was great, I brought a bit of this yarn for matching purposes and she let me take my selections outside to double check in the sunlight. How cool was that, I walked out with like 6 sets of buttons too. That wouldn't happen at your local fabric shop for sure! I really like them, they were a little big for my buttonholes, but I made them work. Still need to add the hook/eye to keep the sides a bit closer together.

For my 3rd sweater, not bad. The first one Green Gable, was too big and has a new owner who loves it!! Sweater 2, the Everyday Carptigan is ok, not happy with the fit, but a good sweater for around the house. Sweater #4 is on the needles now!

I'm pretty happy with it. I knew all along it would be a bit snug in the chest/upper arm area which is a problem area for me, but I'm working on it with the help of some friends from the Fitness along. I think that will help the fronts be a little closer together too. The style, isn't what I should probably wear either due to my extreme chest (well extreme for me ;) why peeps want more there I have no idea!) but I don't care! I've always like the sweater and look forward to a better fit in the fall, stay tuned for a fall post on this one!

Yeah I'm done, watcha gonna do about it!!

YPF-Reversi Edition

Hehe..confused yet? Well this week I'm going to first show you the sock pattern I'm going to use for this weeks YPF.

Reversi Socks Designed by Jen (my co-designer of my interchangeable cases, which btw is almost 1 year since it's inception). I was watching her progress while she designed them and I like the patterning of the it. You know, the look of it! Plus a chance to knit socks a bit different then I normally do is cool with me ;) Yeah...I'm weird like that, I like to be a bit unpredictable...ask hubby!

So go on and get your pattern! (photo used with Jen's permission :)

Oh..yeah, you wanna see what I plan on using for them...

Sundara Sock Yarn
Charcoal over Cobalt
100% hand-dyed superwash merino wool
350 yds
7-9 sts/inch
US 0-2 needles



Yeah...more sock yarn, but stay tuned, I have some good summer yarns coming your way...from the stash as I've been plotting the summer knittage! Dang it, I'm gonna get some tops done iffin it kills me!

WIP's I got

So here we go, another Wednesday, hump day!

In progress, only about 5 rows in is,

Mr. Greenjeans or as I'll probably call it Ms. Lipstickjeans hehe...well, the colorway name is Lipstick Lava, it's Dream in Color Classy, and compared to the peruvia, what a dream to knit..as you can see I allowed myself to swatch (yeah, gauge was spot on!) and cast on, as a reward for getting sleeve 1 done. Soon to be worked on as I have a June 1 deadline for it, and yeah, it'll probably go into storage too, but will be brand new for the fall!

Yes, I do love red, thanks for asking ;) Toe up footies, my own pattern I'm winging in Cascade Fixation. More on them later.


Cedar Creeks are stalled a bit so I can finish a pair of footies.

Oh and yeah...why does 5" of ribbing seem to take for-freakin'-ever

4 buttonholes done....1.5" or less left of ribbing......then...stay tuned!

Out with the Old and Disorganized

What a weekend! We've been in this house for 18 years and the original windows left something to be desired, let alone the one that was here I broke trying to open it after I let the paint dry it shut..eek!

A view of the opening. I didn't replace the 1/2 circle one as it was in good shape and it would have cost a lot more to include it as one unit.


Sapphire checking out the new window and the repaired leetle ledge.


A view from DD's room, note the HP scarf on the right, my first in the round project, I learned how holding your needles correctly made the difference in the stitches...you know knit every stitch is stockinette, but if you hold the needles away, and knit..um..purl bumps show where v's should be ;)

See, no painting required, well except on the top semi-circle.

Also 2 new doors, the other one looks the same ;) Some bad news though. While repairing a falling gutter, the contractor found what looks like major water damage to the chimney that we never use. When this house was built, they never put anything to vent the water away from the chimney, a lot of houses around here are in the same boat and most have had work done. Mine will have to have the vinyl siding removed to truly know the extent, yeah, that little estimate could double or triple after this. Therefore, I'm waiting a claims adjustor's call, you know just in case. Worst part is my siding is 15yrs old...so no matching it at all.. :(

Ok, so while this was going on I decided to tackle this mess as I couldn't do much else with people coming in/out of the house. I have so much sewing to do and I was tired of struggling to find stuff or the cat finding it for me.


I just love these cubes! From AC Moore, called Simply Built.(can't see it on the website though, gotta love the coupons too!) They have a few more varieties and I'll be using a few more of them when I make the move this summer to the room that used to be her's. All full with my sewing and quilting supplies and easy to get to, well they will be when I put the labels on the front!


So much better, I can move and see everything so well now!

Oh, not out with the old, but geesh about darn time huh!!
A few more inches on the collar, massive steam blocking, and buttons, and maybe an FO shoot this week..you know before it goes in storage!!

Well, off to sew in my new space!

Me??? a Glam Girl??

Hardly! ;) But when I saw this colorway on someone's blog, I knew it was for me. A few of my favorite colors and a little bling.


Tempted Handpainted Yarns
Glam Girl Yarn
Ragdoll Diva Colorway
63% Merino Superwash Wool, 20% silk, 15% nylon, 2% Silver

Also coming soon to The Loopy Ewe

It's like all of my favorite colors in one yarn!

Duh, it is!

With a little bit of silver touched inside. Not sure if they'll ever be socks...hmmm to pretty to do that I think, or not ;)

Oh, and I'm not responsible if you decide you need some Glam Girl in your life....hehe...

The Scoop that was...

frogged. Yes folks, my oldest WIP is no longer. It truly was inevitable.


Scoop du Jour
I cast on in 2005 and used my very first Addi needles knitting the back. I didn't know much, except how to knit and purl, and it was my first attempt at a sweater. I also knit my first decreases on this back. For some reason, I just didn't work on it for a long while. 1 year later I picked it up and worked on the left front, and attempted the right front. But for some reason, I just didn't finish. I wanted to..but just didn't. Then the sock craze began.


This tiny area that has a row of knits instead of purls in my ribbing is what actually brought me to Knitty. I wanted to know how to fix it. They told me, but I was chicken to purposely drop a stitch. So it stayed as a design element.

The decision to frog instead of knit on, has been a while coming. I finally had to admit to myself that my knitting gauge has changed dramatically, and there must be some inner hidden reason why it never interested me to finish. Plus, that ever fear of "will it even fit". There is nothing wrong with the pattern, it was just me!

So onward I went, used my niddy noddy for part of the frogging and then my swift, once tied off, into the water it went.

Looks like it's walking on water, hehe, all crinkly looking.

The larger skein was on the niddy noddy so that was easier to dry and was straight. The other one needed the weight of the can to get a bit straighter, not the best, but it'll do.

Once dried, it was soooo soft. Oh..the yarn is Cotton Ease in Ice blue which is no longer available, but I bought a ton of them when they were on clearance.


All wound up and ready to go!

It's next life will be this sweater below, I'll be knitting with my pal. :)

Saturday Fun

Yesterday, DD had an Algebra class review for upcoming big 8th grade test so I found myself with a few hours free waiting for her (and I wasn't on/call), so Christine and I went to Pots and Patches in Dunn, NC.

A cute little store with 2 of my favorite things in one place, yarn and kitchen things. Mostly cottons there (almost every colorway of Peaches and Cream cottons and a few of their other lines of yarns as well), I got 3 cones of double worsted that will make 2 small Absorba bathmats for my bathrooms (they are small bathrooms)and a couple more for dishcloths. The lone acrylic is for more...Meathead hats! Stay tuned for them.

See no sock yarn! I'm proud of me!
A new Santoku knife, sea salt and black peppercorns to fill my grinders, coffee and teas.

While we were there Christine's sister called to let us know there were strawberries to be picked. So onward we went.
You can see she filled her pail better, but I had some issues...could have been serious issues LOL.

See the shoes that used to be lime green..well..um..those rows in between the strawberry rows, they looked innocent, but you can see they weren't! At one point both feet were on the sides of these strawberry lanes trying to avoid the mud. So picture me, legs apart trying to straddle over the muddy lane and try to still move along and pick my berries. Well, they both got stuck and I looked up for help to pull my feet out no one was near. So I put the bucket o'berries down and pulled each leg out. Only a few berries were dropped in this incident. ;) Made it home by driving in bare feet, that was wild. Shoes didn't fare well, can't get the mudstains off.

So, 1 bucket o'berries equals 3 qts of sliced berries, none gone to waste at all which was a first.

1 qt used for 2 pies (recipe below FYI)

close up of the pies! Pam lookey here! I was drooling last nite looking at her sign of Springtime, well this is mine. (sorry for all of you in snowbound land, I truly wish I was there with you)

Strawberry Pie
This recipe makes 2 pies, for 1 pie ½ it
2 baked pie shells
1 quart (4 cups) strawberries, sliced
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups water
2 small 3 oz boxes of strawberry gelatin (or 1 6 oz. box)
Mix together sugar, cornstarch, and water in saucepan and boil until thickened. I love using my whisk for this part.
Take off burner and add strawberry gelatin, mix until all is dissolved.
Add strawberries and pour into already baked pie shells and chill until firm.
Enjoy!

YPF-'tini Pom Edition

Yarntini Fingering Weight
Pomtini Variegated


A gift from the lovely Cpurl when she sent me these fabulous socks!


Ahhhh pinky/red goodness


Um..now I want not only a Pomtini to drink, but a grapefruit as well...hmmm ;)

WIP Wednesday!

Hi there!! Sorry for the break, geesh, sometimes the days go by fast huh! :)

TD is so close I can taste it!!

Collar started and sleeve 1 done! I so need to finish this! It's already too warm to wear it...sigh, but maybe I can get a day or so in this year. Must knit sweaters faster, or smaller (shorter) sweaters, or with larger needles....hmmm (Mr. Greenjeans, I am close to being able to cast you on!!)

My next sock project, which you may be seeing a lot of lately, a bunch of us from the Socks that Rawk group at Ravelry are in a KAL.

Cedar Creek Socks from my Rockin' Sock Club 2006 first shipment. Also, *blushes* the first pair I've knit from the club. I'm always so far behind. The yarn is gorgeous...no? It is STR Lightweight, Gypsum Colorway I didn't even get a chance to highlight it on a YPF, so here's a little midweek treat!



Love the colors, picked out by my swap pal Carrie. :)
I do have 1 other pair OTN, but that's for next week. It's a lovely yarn that's been marinating way too long in the stash, waiting for the "right" pair of socks. After a few frogging attempts after trying to knit lacey socks...well, you'll see! ;)

YPF-??? Lace Version

??? Laceweight yarn! On this blog...wait, come back, you aren't at the wrong place LOL!


Malabrigo Laceweight
100% Baby Merino Wool
Marron Oscuro Colorway

I say chocolate!! Yes, I got this skein while visiting Charlotte Yarn for my DK and Fair Isle classes. Like I said before, it's the fumes in there, they make you "want" to knit lace. I did get a pattern and one day will cast on!


So soft! I mean I love their worsted weight, but the laceweight just seems too delicate to me. Hoping knitting it isn't.


**stumbling off to find my chocolate stash...must find some now!**