What's up Wednesday!

Hiya! Been a wild week or so!  Daughter has started school already, and is doing ok.  A lot larger school than she's used to (Senior class is bigger than her last school)  but she's hanging in there.  We're both still looking for jobs as well.

We also found our house!!! Awaiting the final contract signing, then the rest of the closing stuff. Fingers crossed we'll be in it the end of Septemeber, early October time frame.

I've been knitting, have a couple small FO's to show you later this week.


Whiz Banging socks going slowly...all that spinning and shawl knitting kept them a bit on the sidelines.  Good for group knitting though. I'm about 1" from the heel turn....

I want to start a new shawl, however, trying to be good and finish my Roses are Pink Too! If I can stop tinking, I'll get more than 2 sections done in a week!



Ahhhh, more garter!! Currently test knitting some mitts.

The coffee color is Cascade 220 superwash....


The "other" yarn is my handspun!  GLBLF Polwarth in Autumnal Rite from one of the first spin-a-longs. It matches pretty well. I think these mitts will be a great way to use up small yardages of handspun....stay tuned for these!

Yes, there is still knitting going on...

Despite the packing and uncertainty of just when certain home repair projects will start...what to do with the animals when the house is painted, then carpeted...I know it'll all work out and thank goodness we still have a few weeks to go...

One needs the knitting to keep her wits about her that's for sure!

Here are some interesting socks! Eye blazing colors for sure!


Another pair I'm attempting 2 at a time via magic loop.  They are plain jane socks so we'll see how long I last this way...

They are my handspun too!  :)

Finally a shawl with just a wee bit of detail to keep it interesting...


Off to knit a little bit more.....reward for packing boxes and preparing for a yard sale in a few weeks...yes...we....are....crazy...my in-laws will be back in town that weekend too...actually happy I'm on call then...um..er....I think...

Have a good week everyone!

WIP Wednesday--New Year edition

Whew...a new year and some people take some time to reflect on their wip's...meaning finish or frog. I plan on finishing my many this year...that is my goal! These lovelies are patiently awaiting their turn to become FO's!

A cuff...of a sock!!

My sock mojo just took a vacation, extended ;) Although this hasn't been touched in a few weeks...I plan on finishing soon... Uncle Frank socks for hubby.

Here's the progress on my Dark & Stormy cardi

Been neglected too! Son visiting, holidays, and test knitting...oh and house stuff, not much knitting time lately!


Close up of the back cable. I so want to finish this cardi this month...will she or won't she...

Lastly, this tangled looking knit is a Special Olympics Scarf for 2011 Another longwise knit one, my favorite! Size 10.5's yeah!

Using the required Red Heart yarn in required colors...sigh..the thought of how much it will be appreciated helps me along :)

What's up Wednesday!

Lots going on around here let me tell you!

I'll start with some Wip's, well the only ones I'm confessing to this week! My goal is really to finish some...it's a goal right ;) I did frog a sock on Friday...sigh it was too hard to get the cuff on, but I ignored that wee voice thinking it'll be all right I'll just upsize a needle...fastforward to the gusset decrease and um..not working. So what does one do when a sock is frogged, start another one!

Charybdis complete with cat butt/tail!

STR Lightweight Pepe' La Plume, wonder if she knew it was a feline colorway (well I'm calling it that!)

Gaenor Shawl

Smooshy in Happy Forest, this green is so nice!! Right now it's portable and an easy to follow chart. (BTW, how do you like my bunge cord chair! It's pretty comfy!)

This one however...is a stay-at-home knit! Why, because just watching the tv can through my count off...lace newbie here...
Wandering the Moor

Only a newbie would have 2 shawls OTN too! hmmm

Dishcloth mania will be starting...you'll be seeing many done for our Knitting Guild charity knitting this year.

Plus, sign ups for the Revenge of Dish rag tag start Monday. I hope to be on a team where no one flakes :( we did finish though, eventually!

Other news..hmmm hubby is still travelling on/off for work and hoping for a promotion soon. Please send new job hunting vibes. In this economy, we are really thankful to be employed....however, for my sanity, pulease let him get a promotion. Pretty pulease!

My son is currently en route home from Singapore where he spent 3 months on a Navy supply ship. It was part of his college requirement. He'll be home less than 2 weeks, than back to school. Wonder if I'll get the interesting version of the trip or the "clean" one ;)

Where's the fall huh...I...want....fall....tired of being cooped up in AC all the time! Besides, then I can wear my handknits. How about you? Aren't all of you about tired of this heat wave!

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 :(

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"

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

Just the sleeves please....

Yup! Finally there!

When I got here to you know...sleeve island... the realization that that were so big about made me..well let's just say a bit upset. Then after conferring with some friends, I started the decreases immediately to make the sleeve cap/opening/armscye...whatever you call this area, smaller. I surely don't want a bunch of fabric under my arms. So far, so good. We'll see how this goes.

Ribbing..

The buttonband ribbing went pretty well. No buttonholes were planned or made. I like how the colors ended up. I didn't even tweak that. I did run out of yarn from that ball about 6" from the end of the bind off....thank goodness for the russian join is all I'm saying...more on that later.

2 three-quarter length sleeves from this lone ball of yarn...

can she do it....time will tell...

Well it's Wednesday....

Some progress made on my sweater I showed you last week, but not enough to photo it. Almost at the sleeve separation and almost done the 2nd out of 5 total skeins. The rows are getting longer!!

I did cast on a new sock for the month though...For the Ravelry Socks that Rawk Quarterly KAL and of course SAM 9.

Everyone Outta the Pool by Artsygal. When I read the title of the socks, I wondered what they had to do with a pool. Um...duh! It means stopping the pooling of varigated yarns! Socks that Rock multicolors are often very pooling depending on the pattern and your needle/gauge. I like this pattern, so far just a few minor tinking due to not paying attention...um..really not counting right...sigh. ETA: Colorway is Waterlilies


The biggest WIP around these parts this week is...

holes in the wall! 2 out of 3 of them.

(hmmm I seem to like blue walls huh?)

Our house is 20 yrs old. When built, the contractors used a cheaper piping that was the "thing" at the time. Yeah...wonder why there was a lawsuit for it. (FYI PCB-aka Quest piping) Of course we had no problems when the time to claim was open. Now 3 pipe bursts, and a new water heater later (over the last couple of years) this years tax return is used for the entire replumbing of the house. Hubby says it went well, but these holes needed to happen to ensure all old piping was replaced. So...guess who gets to spend Friday at home while the drywall guy fixes these...well at least I wasn't stuck at home on Tuesday, with no working water or bathroom ;)

Sure hoping this is the last major house repair for a while, over the last 5 yrs we've gotten new windows/doors, new floors in half the house, new heat pump, and water heater...now plumbing.
Guess what we get to do this weekend? Make a new gate for the fence and prepare for the great clean out of the garage, happening in 2 weeks...on a better note though, College guy comes home the end of this month for a bit, until his summer co-op starts...I have no idea why we can't wait to clean the garage out when he comes home though...hmmm...
Gah! ETA: the great fireplace debacle!!! How could I forget that!
Oh and 90 degree weather in early April...bites!! Send me some rain too please...too much pollen!

Long time no see...

A WIP post! Well the only WIP's I'll admit to or are currently being knit.. ;)


16 Cable Hat in Plucky Knitter in Superwash merino worsted. Love the colorway, Charcoal and Cordial. Definately using a cable needle, even though I love cabling without one, but 8 stitches each time (total of 16 for the cable) ...um...no way!!


Does this yarn look familiar? Well that got frogged due to fit issues. Currently becoming a Sockhead Hat almost done with the 4" of ribbing, then we have 5" of stockinette. Slow going on US 2's...but with this hot weather already, not like I'll be wearing it anytime soon.

Haven't seen this one in a while huh?
My Shawl that Jazz is being knit on here and there, and so hoping to be done sometime in April...that is a goal. I won't allow myself to cast on any other shawls...so I gotta get going! (yes..I have quite the queue of shawls)

Something new!

When I saw Cristi's O-Wool cardi, I knew I had finally found a pattern I wanted to knit with my Noro Taiyo . I've collected a few skeins on sale and I hope to have enough. It's knitting up pretty well with my Zephyr's, cotton seems to go better on them. That's why I have different tips. I never bought the entire set at once, just got some tips here and there.

Whew...I have another cardi about to go on the needles, but that is a definate stay at home knit. Everything else is portable. Well gotta go...dinner and knitting is calling me!

1st Weekend of Competition

Reveals a finished stockinette portion of the Travelling Woman shawl, which is now called Macintosh Woman, because the colors remind me of my favorite apple.

I only forgot 1 YO, which was fixed on the next row very easily! Woot and go me! Now onto chart A....



I've been watching/recording as much of the games as I can! I love winter and love the winter Olympics especially! The skiing and skating has been fabulous all weekend. The next 3 nights will have me glued watching the skating events....

Oh, and lest you all think I'm going to try to kill myself with all the stuff I have planned. I am not knitting every minute, I don't plan too, one still has to work, clean, cook, sleep...so try not to worry ;)

I present a non-Olympic knit. The MIL scarf..

30" of the Scrunchable scarf. Yay for chunky and US 13 needles! I showed her today, she loves the colors and I just need about 50" more..


Another shot of those gorgeous colors....

Things are looking red around here....

Well, that is my favorite color.....

Norma posted about the urgent need for scarves for the Red Scarf Project this year. Sadly, they are at barely 1/2 their goal. In years past, they have gotten thousands more. I usually knit at least 1 and this year I just didn't think I could do it....well that was until I saw the numbers. I found 2 skeins of Cascade 220 in Zinnia and cast on. Yes, you are seeing a scarf knit back and forth......at least that's what I call it. For some reason, I really dislike knitting scarves like this, but I really felt the need to do this. Call me a softy or the fact that I have a kid in college.


Scrunchable Scarf --only about 54 more inches to go...

Yes, the deadline to receive them is December 15th. More details and color/pattern/yarn weight ideas here. Hey you fast knitters out there, come on! If pokey knitter me can finish one, you can too!

Another red in progress, good for mindless, not having to pay too much attention knitting....

I call them my Big Red Stripe Socks...and yeah....I have 5 days to finish them....you all should know by now...I'm more of a crunch time knitter when I need to be. :)

Oh and to maybe make you drool...and it does have red in it...

homemade meatball subs and fries....

WIP Wednesday-New/Old Knits

Some new ones, some old ones, and some frogged ones...sigh...this was a week for it. But it was also a week for an FO, which...you won't see until we get some sun/daylight time to photo it.


New Knits
French Press Felted Slippers

Knit in my very first Cascade 220 purchase 4 yrs ago...perfectly marinated I'd say ;)


Old Knits

Toe up, afterthought heel (see the green yarn) and 3 x 1 ribbing. Started this sock in June 2008. Will finish November 2009 :) Yarn is sKNITches Syncopation in Loopy's Red Socks, it was a limited edition colorway from the Loopy Ewe.

Never seen here before either...

Felted Christmas Trees from Mason-Dixon's Knitting Outside the Lines
Started in Oct/Nov 08, have the perfect buttons for them too. Hoping to knit 3 or 4 of them for this year at least. I've been collection green yarn for a bit for them.



Frogged, but will be knitting again soon


Colonnade Shawl, I was knitting away on the lace/column section. The way some of the columns are started from the fronts and middle if you are off, say one or two stitches in the start up rows...it makes the whole column not line up. Yeah..of course it was wayyy down there too. It's ok, it is fun to knit, love the YO2's.

Hey, here's Liesl..
.
She didn't make it past row 15...yeah, she decided to put a row of YO's where she wanted to. As you can see from the picture, those YO's have to be in specific places....

Now you wonder why I've not knit a lot of lace patterns huh! Stay tuned, I'll either finish these two or poke my eyes out...well, maybe not that drastic, but I will win this YO battle!!!

Still Tuesday...

And you're getting my WIP's that are being knit on right now....

10 rows on my next sweater.....Liesl

Wild..purple for me huh...I got this yarn, Miss Babs Yowza last year at SAFF. I purposely wanted purple, and now finally getting around to knitting it.

Colonnade Shawl

The little pile to the right is my tinking result. only 2.5 rows...but picky me would have noticed the little error. A stitch slipped off and those cross stitches you see..well, one off would ruin the look I think. Yummy, Malabrigo on this one.


Shawl that Jazz

What....2, you never seen me knit 1 shawl here before, now I'm knitting 2...yes...and I have a 3rd one to start as soon as one of these is done! This is perfect to take out and about and just mindless knitting right now. It's 7" so far and I have a looong way to go.

Seems like it'll get a lot of action tomorrow while waiting for hubby to have some tests for a possible kidney stone.... :(