I'm Beached.....

well it should be more like...I'm FINISHED!!

Here is the ruffle preblocking, over 600 stitches in that there ruffle...

The colorway is pretty neat. Not as bold as I often go colorwise, but I just loved it when I first saw it..over a year ago!

367 days....on the needles! Very embarassing for a garter stitch shawl huh! Oh well, what can I say, I often get distracted ;)

For the record, I have no idea how to wear a shawl...I do have a pin though, will have to figure it out someday..when it's not in between thunder and lightening storms and not 90 plus degrees...


So, you get to enjoy some interesting shots.

The wrap me up so I can't use my hands/arms shot...


This one is the holy cow how did it grow 10" wider shot...

Hey, you likey my special foggy effects? That's courtesy of Mr. Humidity, he likes it around here lately.

Have I mentioned yet that this ruffle was over 600 stitches...

Not only can you use Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off for ribbing, you can use it for just plain ole' garter....remember those 600 plus stitches..yeah..2 plus hours of bind off. But totally, definately worth it!! It's perfect. I had more than enough yarn. Actually had 32 grams left. hmmm..

And my babushka look just for you Bezzie!

Shawl that Jazz (her pattern page is under construction, but should you want it, get it here
Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted, Beached Colorway 2 skeins, 32 grams left
US 9's for body, US 10.5's for edging....600 plus stitches..
Size: Pre-blocked 62w x 23h
Post-blocked 72w x 23h....10"!!! whew that's a lot of growth! It's ok, it'll keep me snuggly warm this winter...wherever I may be..I wasn't going to block it, but this shawl has been to Maine and back, a few movie theater's, work, car, etc...it needed one.

No mods, I knit it as per pattern except for the needles. I went up to the 9's for the body and 10.5's for the edging (so I could finish it faster, and it truly looked better). The pattern is pretty neat in how you use the short rows. If you knit this, use markers (fyi!) for those short rows, helps a lot! The yarn...well, I do like the colorway.

The yarn itself is made up of many plies, one of which takes the color of the dye a bit darker. It's kinda neat. It is a bit splitty though and was ok to knit, I just didn't enjoy it as much as some other yarns. Mine wasn't too soft until after blocking.

Ahhh..the thrill of finishing...

10 on Tuesday

Oh boy, this week's Ten on Tuesday is what is on your summer reading list.

Well, I read a lot of different genre I guess you call it. Often times I am waiting for an author's new release in some series too. I go through reading spurts too. Sometimes I read a lot, sometimes not. It's a great way to escape and relax for me, especially if I don't want to knit or just can't. I usually go to the library as I'm really not interested in collecting a lot of books.

Anyhow, on with the list:

1. State Fair by Earlene Fowler, quilting mystery series. Love this author and I think I've read most all of her books. I am about 1/3 of the way through this.

2. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris, been waiting since last year, this series got me through last year's vacation (10 out of 14 days with rain!)

3. Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich, just love the character Stephanie Plum. Her escapades make me laugh a lot!

4. Whiplash by Catherine Coulter

5. Knock out also by Catherine Coulter, I'm a bit behind on this series of FBI thrillers.

6. Blood Game by Iris Johansen, bit behind on these Eve Duncan mysteries too.

7. Skein of the Crime by Maggie Sefton. I've been waiting for this new release, love her knitting mysteries.

8. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer what can I say, it's my daughter's fault ;)

9. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner. I've read almost all of her books, some are pretty funny and some serious. Either way, good reads :)

10. Needles and Pearls by Gil McNeil, I read the first one and really enjoyed it. Knitting by the sea in England.

I already have 3 on request from the library. I love this feature. I find a book I want and request it to be picked up at the library by my house. No matter where in the county it is, in a few days usually, I have it. Ok, your library PSA is over ;)

As you can see, I do love a good mystery, knitting related or otherwise. Figures either knitting or medical too. Yes, I do love a good hot romance novel...but these were the top of the queue ;)

Tomorrow...maybe a certain 600+ stitch project to show...maybe if it ever dries in this humidity!

So....close...

Hiding away from this heat allows me to knit on this....



1.5" left of the edging...US 10.5's, quick no?? Um..er...at 600+ sts per row...soon...

I want to start another shawl...not allowed to until this is finished....hmmm :(

Ten on Tuesday

So, I joined Ten on Tuesday something interesting to do and maybe you'll find out all sorts of things about me...hmmm...or yikes!!

This weeks topic is 10 ways to entertain a child. Since it doesn't say if "I" have to entertain them or how old the child is, I'm a winging it!

1. Give them empty boxes, because if you give them a box with a toy inside, they only want the box.

2. Play their favorite cartoon, movie, etc. Hey..who hasn't been guilty of this, especially if you wanted a few more minutes of sleep, etc. ;)

3. Dance to music, any kind. The wilder the better.

4. Talk in funny voices. Especially if you are reading to them.

5. You know those little red LED pointers that speakers use during a presentation..um..er..the wee ones love to chase that red dot around the house...I don't "personally" know..I may have seen it happen though ;)

6. Sing in funny voices...

7. Old photo albums of yourself...yeah..depending on the age of said child, they will most likely laugh for a while...days maybe ;)

8. Catch fireflies, well, maybe this isn't for everyone ;)

9. Teach them how to use two lids from saucepans, bang them together like a cymbal and wake their sibling up...

10. Fill balloons with water on a hot day and if young child, play pass the balloon while getting further and further from each other. If older child, show them how to peg their sibling...or Mom...or Dad...or the dog..with them...Hey, around here in these hot parts, I'd volunteer to be pegged with one...or two.** (btw....peg is what we called it when we threw something at someone and it actually landed on them.)

**disclosing I am not responsible should your child decide to do this to you ;)

There you have it, my first Ten on Tuesday!

Love my daisies...

I know I show them every year...but they are just beautiful and hey, still alive!! They thrive in this heat down here! Even being replanted a couple of times.

This poor one looks like someone's been playing...he loves me...he loves me not...



These 3, they are magical...


Take a picture from above and they change colors!

I love the one on the right...looks so...well can't find the words, just wild...

These 2 are my lollipop ones...they have long stems...


and breath taking color...

no wonder I love them....

What's up Wednesday!

Well, since the frogging of the sweater, I kinda lost my mojo for any sweater knitting for a bit.
Instead I decided that almost a year on the needles...um...this needed to be finished.

It's great comfort and tv knitting. I have 16" done and I'm hoping to have the body done by the end of the weekend, so I can work on the ruffle. Not sure if I can get it done by the 25th but I'll try.


Shawl that Jazz

I'm teaching a toe up sock class for the knitting guild this Saturday.

I better get crackin' on 4" more of this sock so I can show them just where to start the heel.

Thanks for your comfort food comments. I see a lot of similar ones I like too :) Why the comfort references lately? First of all, we are all healthy so it's not that. Just a lot of change that may be coming our way in the next few months. Rather than stress myself out too much, I am just trying to knit it away. Stay tuned, life may get pretty exciting around here. "gulp"

Sometimes...

A little comfort food is needed......



What's better than your favorite peanut butter and your own homemade jam!! (Strawberry Rhubarb)



It was delicious...well one of them. A certain girl child teenager took off with the other one!!


What's your favorite comfort food or drink??

Bfl & Silk....

Is an interesting mix.


This fiber blend is pretty soft.


It's 75% Blue-faced Leicester wool and 25% silk..

Hey, a plate of fiber! It's supposed to be good for you right?

Here is about 1/2 of one roving strip done. I split the 4oz roving in half, then halved those halves...

which leaves me with the 4 bumps you see on the plate ;) (wait! I can't add, you only see 3 bumps here, one is currently a bit busy ;) I didn't get a picture of the braid, that's ok, I like these better.

This colorway is from the All Spun Up Spin Along for April/May (shhh..it doesn't know I'm not spinning it on time ;) If you ever want to join the SAL's check out the group on Ravelry.

BFL/Silk in Ice Caves 4 oz
I plan it to be a thin 2 ply or a possible n-ply. We'll see how the singles go.

Denial....

Knitting denial that is.....a project that you have a little feeling isn't quite "right" but you go on...blind faith that it will all work out. Then one day, you decide to really check things out after spending a little over 2 months on it as you just can't deny it any longer.

I had started the sleeve decreases immediately. There was no way on earth I would decrease enough to fit me. I decreased every 5th row....just not enough...


I only had to knit until mid forarm for my 3/4 length sleeves, but seriously, who was I kidding. The sleeves are more than 3" too big for my arms. I don't wear 3" thick shirts...not around here anyways... Let alone the "extra" fabric around the armpit was a bit uncomfortable.

You see it wasn't just the problem above....

Neck back ribbing....yeah it looks a bit big here. Not talking about the 2plus inches of it either.


I'm talking about the poufiness of it!!! WTH! Why didn't I see this before! If this would have been the only problem, I would have ripped back and started again.

The sweater is knit on US 8's, the ribbing also. Big mistake on that. Plus I think i picked up way too many stitches...you think ;)

Oh and if that wasn't enough for you to feel sorry for me...

Um...see here...like 2" too big on the sides...ok, maybe only 1.5" (I don't want it that tight ;)
so only 3" vs 4" too big around!! I don't normally wear anything on top with stripes around, they normally aren't very flattering on me. I just love this colorway so I took a chance.

Um..no I'm not a linebacker thank you very much, and I'm not that big either...not skinny but you know...


So I pondered for a little bit and decided I wasn't happy and would never wear it, so I started frogging it. I planned on frogging every stinkin' stitch! It was as tough to frog as it was to knit with my hands. So I took a break or two.

I frogged down to where the start of the sleeve split and thought..hmmm wait a minute, this is top down, maybe if I try this on and see if this meets the underarm area enough...I'm knitting not sewing...maybe, just maybe I can get this to work.


You see that black stripe at the bottom, surrounded by the beige. I never did like that stripe anyways. It was my attempt to "make" the colors go the way I wanted to. Yeah..me telling Noro yarn what to do...

As you can see...

It's back on the needles and that Charlie Brown center stripe is gone. I'm going to knit a few rows to make sure I've got my raglan markers in place (I'm on a purl row now) then split for the sleeves, and try on again. Doing this should take almost 2 or more inches from the underarm. I'm starting to realize, I don't need the pattern for this or the stitch counts...that's what got me into trouble. Gauge was fine, I picked the wrong size I think. Either way, I'm winging it from now on!

I did try it on before I put the needle back on and I'm thinking very positively for the first time in a while with this project. But...I am a bit sick of this project right now too...thinking I'll take a wee break and work on this

Fiber prOn

This just arrived today!


It has no name, just a dyelot....


The colors are listed as bright pink, acid green, muted violet, and smoke brown....


Oh, yeah...great looking colors....


So cozy on it's bed o'tissue paper...


Ha! Stuck it's tongue out at me...acid green at that! ;)

4.2 oz of Polwarth from Woolgatherings , they have some pretties there! I still can't believe it arrived in 3 days from the other coast. Will be high in the spinning queue that's definate. Spinning a bfl/silk blend now and have 2 bobbins to ply...so much to spin...bye!

Wordless Wednesday!