DIET

I am officially on a self-imposed yarn diet. I was going through the cotton stash and realized, holy mackeral, I have a lot of yarn here. I won't even mention the wool stash. It's obscene! I think the next step is to inventory everything and make a list to hang on the yarn room door (there are other things there as well don't worry...) And mark off when I remove a skein or two for a project. I know I have lots of it earmarked for things to make but, really, I MAY NOT buy anymore until the stash has a serious reduction!

I finished the longies today. They're soaking in the lanolin bath as I type. But before they went in, I snapped this picture of them. As I said before, they're recycled from what I believe was an Old Navy sweater. I very carefully removed the sleeves.


Now I have the body left to frog for yarn. It's a shame that there is one small hole in the front. Otherwise it would make a great vest! You can't see the hole in the picture... oo wait, maybe I could darn it really well with the leftover yarn I frogged from the sleeves. Hmmmmm, I think I'll try that first. Oops, just found 2 more holes. Plus there's not enough yarn to pick up the stitches around the armholes and do ribbing to finish them. Better off just frogging it, washing the yarn and using it for something else. I sleep on it (I'm sure quite a few days)

Now to plan the rest of the Christmas gifts. I found a pattern for the cutest knitted tea set from Interweave Summer 2004 issue. I think I'll whip it up for my cousin's granddaughters. It makes me want to play tea party.

Happy crafting

Dishcloths a plenty

Over the past couple of days I've made 2 cloths. First I finally completed the flower power cloth. I know that I goofed up in one spot, but was too lazy to find the error and rip back. I'll be sure to keep this one for my own dishes.
This was in the Dishcloth Fun October mid-month KAL.

Pattern: Whimsical Knitting
Yarn: Lily's Sugar and Cream Hot Pink
Needle Size: 7:


I'll add this bat cloth to my October collection of cloths that I'm still in the process of completing.


Pattern: BlackRayne's
Yarn: Lily's Sugar and Cream Grape
Needle Size: 6

Other than that OTN is the endless poncho, to which I thought I had lost the directions to (including what row I was on) But after a little straightening of the knitting bag, lo and behold they were there... Thank goodness! I also started a tie for my hubby in Regia Stretch Sock yarn, on size 2 needles... man that's gonna go slow!

I have longies almost finished for DS2, from a recycled Old Navy sweater. Just need to finish the waistband casing and add the elastic. Then they'll be ready for the lanolin soak. I'll post a picture when I'm finished.

DD started to paint a T-shirt today. It's a beautiful outdoor scene that still needs to be finished. We'll have a picture of that when it's done as well. I had to search and search for the fabric paint. I didn't realize that we had so much of it. Found lots of other interesting things during the search as well.... lots of crafting supplies.

Happy Crafting

Rippit

That's what I wound up doing to my cloth from the new KAL group I joined. I wasn't seeing any pattern and frankly had lost track of where I was. Too much knitting in very spare minutes of the day I guess... Maybe I'll try it again when I have an hour or two to devote to it. It was an oversized cloth 50 stitches wide by 100 rows on #7 needles. Oh well!

I did a few rows on the MacBook cozy but I need to wind some more yarn to continue. I'll do that before I go to bed so I can take it to work tmrw and do it at lunch! And I cast on in Sugar and Cream grape for a bat cloth that I'd like to add to my Halloween collection. There's about 3 more cloths I'd like to do for that and the Oct dishcloths will be set. My goal is to have a nice set (about a half dozen or so) for each month.

I've decided to make DDs teachers cloths to wrap around some cute snowmen and snowflake soaps I bought at Michael's. That should be fun too! I have quite a few cloths to make. It's a good thing they're a quick knit.

I was at ACMoore yesterday and picked up some S&C yarn. Well *some* is an understatement. It was on sale for $1.17 a skein and I got an additional 10% off that... so I figured why not go out and get what I want! Unfortunately, they had no black in stock. But this is what I bought: 3 Denim Ombre, 3 Warm Ben, 3 Jute, 2 Dark Pine, Country Brown, Hot Orange, Tea Rose, Westport, Delft Blue, Mistletoe, Rosewood, Early American Ombre, Rose Pink, Pumpkin, Patio Pinks, Over the Rainbow Ombre, Soft Teal, Yellow, and Sunshine. That should keep me busy for a bit!

And finally, the craft of the evening. Trick or treat is tomorrow night and I'm ashamed to say that all three kids are wearing store bought costumes. So where is the craft you may ask? Here in the carving of our Jack-o-lanterns:



DD chose the faces along with her brother's help. The youngest had absolutely no say in the matter, although he pulled a chair up to the counter to help. DD and DS1 helped trace the faces on the pumpkins for mom to carve. DS1 really wanted to get his hands on those pumpkin saws in the worst way, but I prevailed.

Happy haunting and fun crafting!

What Color Sharpie Are You? (25 Different Colors)

Aqua Sharpie Element: Air Sense: Sight Gemstone: Aquamarine Some Qualities: Motivated and Self-Expressive Fact: Legend says that sailors wore aquamarine gemstones to keep them safe and prevent seasickness. Take this quiz!

Day late and a dollar short

Seems that I can't keep up with my house, my knitting and this blog. Full time job keeps getting in the way! LOL
Don't have pics of my handspun yet... I need to finish spinning it, and get myself a niddy noddy. Trust me, it's far from stellar... but it's a start!

Some pics from our voyage to the pumpkin patch yesterday at Amore Farms in Bath. The pumpkins were mostly either past their prime or it was a bad year for pumpkins. For sure they were picked over, but there were too many rotton ones on the ground and not enough good ones :-(
Anyway the kids loved it.



We wound up taking home 6 pumpkins, of which I had inspected 2. When I brought them in the house and set them on the kitchen counter, I noticed one had a strange bottom.....




See any resemblance? Minus the feet of course!






This was as close to a fiber fix as I could get at the farm. Llamas truly have the most beautiful eyes. This one was hoping for food as I was sweet talking it.


Finally, [insert drum roll] I present to you the ballet sweater! I finished knitting yesterday, sewing seams last night, button and ribbon on this morning - hence the day late and dollar short. She has ballet on Saturday mornings. DD tried it on and declared "ooo it's so soft and warm!" YEA!!!! Hope she wears it now. It fits perfectly!!!!

What I learned with this project:

• how important gauge is to altering patterns to fit
  
• my math skills are great
  
• but most importantly.....the mattress stitch
  

My side seams are completely invisible. :-) Thank youknittinghelp.com for a great video tutorial on mattress stitch
Pattern: Lion Brand Ballet Style Sweater
Yarn: Bellezza Collection Tesoro 100% wool
Weight: 50 g, 80 m
Color: 954 (pink)
Gauge: 4" x 4" = 18st and 21 rows on sz 10 needles
Needles: sz 8 on waistband sz 10 on the rest
Amount used: approx. 5.5 skeins


I'm now back to dish cloths and Christmas gifts. I joined my third dishcloth KAL group Mary's Knitting How many knitting forums/groups can I belong to anyway???? Never enough I say.

Happy knitting and crafting

Spinning....round and round

Last night I went to P's house, taking along my chickie masla roving. P has a few spinning wheels and she's teaching a few of us how to spin. It's a bit harder than I expected, although I should not have been surprised considering how coordinated I am (ha, ha) I could only stay a little over an hour so I didn't spin the whole lot. It'll have to wait until the next time. But now I'm getting the spinning bug... watch out.

On the knitting front, the ballet sweater is being sewn up now. Unfortunately DD's ballet class was this morning. She had to wear a regular sweater. I could have finished it last night (well OK... early this AM) but DS2 hasn't been feeling up to snuff. As a result his cough wakes him up, then he cries because he just keeps coughing. Poor guy. So of course when a baby (OK not a baby, he's 2. But he'll always be MY baby) doesn't feel well, he wants mama to hold him. Ever try to knit while holding/nursing a 2 year old in the wee hours of the morning. Not to mention the fact that he hates the feeling of yarn draped across his body. So it should be finished by evening, which is still less than one week from cast on. Not bad considering I'm not even home for about 50 hours a week and have 3 kids 6 and under.

We're off to the pumpkin patch to pick out the victim for the jack-o-lantern. I'll be back to post pictures later.

Halfway there

I have DD's ballet sweater about half done. The back is finished and the left front. I'm working on the right front now.. then of course 2 sleeves and putting the whole mess together (o my favorite part... NOT) I've either been knitting or sleeping when I'm not working, doing laundry, cooking , or keeping the kids occupied.I know it's gonna be a late night tonight and tomorrow to finish this by Saturday morning. If only I could have a few extra hours built into Friday night, that would really be super helpful.

I've been trying to post those cute little icons that fill in depending on how much you have completed. I found them originally on indigirls site as well as some others, but can't get them to work. Guess it will have to wait until this sweater is finshed. Also if anyone can tell me how to U/L those cute little avatars for websites onto my sidebar I'd appreciate it. :-)

I joined another dish cloth KAL. THis is another mystery one, but I won't let myself knit the days until this sweater is finished.. Then I'll do about 3 days worth in a sitting!

OK.. I have to get back to the needles. Hopefully I'll have a great picture to post on Saturday.

Happy crafting!

Too many projects....

and not enough time. Why are there only 24 hours in a day? I could easily fill 30 and still only sleep less than 5!

The MacBook cozy I CO for my nephew on Sunday has now been ripped out 3 times. The last time was the worst by far. I had taken it to our in-service day to work on while I listened to instructions about a computer program called Performance Tracker. I had finished almost 9 inches of the body. When I took it out the next day at lunch to work on it, I noticed that long about the 3rd row above where the stitches had been picked up I inadvertantly increased one stitch... poo! so I ripped back and started over from there. This is what I have done now. I didn't get to knit again until this morning while DD was at dance (well technically yesterday AM, but who's counting?)

It's knit on a 10.5 circular now and is recycled wool from a sweater I got at the Boutique at the rink back in June. Nifty thrifty! ;-)

When it's finished I'll needle felt his initials in orange. He works for the Geek Squad and I thought about doing the whole geek squad symbol, but then rethought it... so I designed a cool logo for his initials. And what will I use to needle felt those initials? Well it just so happens that today in the mail, I received my last ebay purchase.

24- 4 oz bundles of Peace Fleece roving. MM MM MM.. Look at all those yummo colors. It was an incredible price and I love Peace Fleece yarn, wonderful cause to boot. So I thought between needle felting and hoping to learn to spin, I couldn't pass it up. Along with that came 2 kits for the kids to make felted balls, 2 kits for them to make felted balls that look like the planet earth, 1 kit to make felted snowmen, 1 kit to make pot holders (all of which you can find here just keep scrolling down) and 3 kits to make a Mid East shopping bag crocheted from rug yarn (scroll all the way to the bottom for this kit). The yarn in the shopping bag kits is blue...actually the color called Bagdhad Blue. We're just learning to crochet in this house so that could be very fun to do when my MIL comes up to visit. We 3 girls can crochet together (she already knows how to!)

DD and I also went to Michaels today to use a 50% off coupon they e-mailed me. I bought the Mason Dixon knitting book. I've been eyeing it for quite some time now. Just what I need more ideas for projects.

Well now that the colder weather is upon us, I have lots to catch up on in knitting. It was 32° F on my way to work Friday morning. DS2 needs more longies and DD needs a ballet sweater for class cuz the building she takes lessons in is very old and she's there first thing in the morning, so it's not too warm. I decided to use the Lion Brand Ballet-Style Sweater pattern but in a different yarn. I measured her then did a gauge swatch and lo and behold found that I could use the pattern with some quick calculations on my part. That made me really happy. There's a cute pattern on Maggie's Rags but I was too impatient to wait for snail mail to deliver the pattern from a store I found on-line that carried it. I want her to have it next Saturday, so I need to start it yesterday, if you know what I mean. I'm using JoAnn yarn called Sensations Bellezza collection Tesoro 100% wool. It's light pink (her choice) and VERY soft. Fortunately, we bought it a while back on sale at less than $3.50 per skein.

I have a pair of longies that I'm making from a recycled Old Navy sweater (the arms) for DS2. They're in army green. It will be his 3rd pair in this exact color. He has another pair in a forest green that were originally a beautiful merino mens sweater from JCrew. Another Boutique at the Rink purchase! The pair in progress still has a bit of work to do on it. I think it will be put on the back burner until the ballet sweater gets finished though.

Well having said all that, the mid-month KAL in the monthly dishcloth KAL group starts Monday... and Michaels yarn sale starts Sunday (technically today!) My needles should be burning up! Wish me luck and happy knitting!

The treadmill

Today it felt like I was on one... all day. We started out late for school/work. I did manage to get there on time but without my lunch and I left the wet bag for DS2's diapers at home along with his cloth wipes. I forgot that I had scheduled a chorus sectional rehearsal during my free period which I had planned on making up my order to spend the rest of my budget... guess I can squeeze that in before my first class arrives. Today (day 4.. don't ask, the reasoning isn't worth it) is the day that I teach both of my little Guatamalan friends. They're too darn cute, but don't understand enough English to know what's going on im music (after all it is an AURAL art) so I have 2 bi-lingual classes to teach. I wish I was more bi-lingual! I had 5 extra minutes at lunch and I pulled out the bag for my nephews computer cozy that I had been working on during the computer class yesterday only to find out that about 3 rows after picking up the stitches to start knitting in the round, I somehow did an increase... ARGH!!! so I frogged back (the third time it's been frogged now) probably about 8 inches... guess it won't be finished tonight after all.

Seeing my chillin's at the end of the day made everything feel better.

And now for another look inside me…

You Are Indigo

Of all the shades of blue, you are the most funky, unique, and independent. Expressing yourself and taking a leap of faith has always been easy for you.

What Color Blue Are You?

Well on the positive knitting side. The dishcloth fun KAL is finished and I have pictures to post!

Looking straight at the cloth... DD says it looks like a strange bumblebee!


Looking at an angle. Do you see what I see?
Could it really be?
Yup it's.....
candy corn!
Pattern: Knitting Knonsense
Yarn: Lily's Sugar and Cream, Black, Yellow, Hot Orange and White
Needle Size: 7

Personally I don't like to eat the stuff. The kids of course love it cuz it's pure sugar. Last year DD won a big container of it last year at her school's fall festival. You had to guess how many pieces were in the Jack-o-lantern jar and she came the closest! I tried to convince her that the noblest thing to do was to take it to school and share with her class. Her sweet tooth won. It stayed home, but between her and her brothers, it didn't last past mid December!

I really need to get some work done! Happy crafting everyone.

And who'd have thought

that I would be my favorite needle?

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are "turbo" charged.Fast moving and classy, you get things done with power and grace. Your expensive tastes can be deceiving, since what you really value is quality and efficiency. As you're careening around those corners in life, finishing a dozen knitted objects each month, stop and smell the roses. Don't miss the beauty of process! Take this quiz! Quizilla |

Lost post?

I thought I had posted late in the week last week, but somehow it never got on the blog!
Well it's been very busy around here with a birthday party and a family reunion both over the weekend. Phew, I need a day off from all the excitement!

On a knitting note, I finished the Monthly Dishcloth KAL and mine just didn't look right. No wonder, it wasn't. I think I skipped a row on day 3. That's what I get for trying to do it at work during lunch when all the other special area teachers are together yakking. So I redid it on Friday night/Sat AM (while waiting for DD at dance). It still needs to be blocked but here's how it turned out!



Knitpicks Shine - Black
60% pima cotton 40% modal
Needle size 6 (4.25 mm)

What I particularly like about this cloth is that you can see the design equally well from both sides. This yarn is incredibly softI think I'll include this in my niece's Christmas package. Her dishes are purple, black and white. So this will be great! Plus they have a cat. I'll post the rest of her gift later. I'm sure she won't be reading my blog.

I also finally got a picture of the cloth I made for DS2 for Christmas. The boy loves ANYTHING with wheels. This yarn is so soft, it feels like cotton chenille. Which I think will make a great bath cloth. The only problem is that loopiness makes the design almost imperceptible. It's actually harder to see the design IRL, but it's a train.

KnitPicks Crayon - light blue
100% Cotton
Needle Size 7 (4.5mm)

On Thursday my package from Joann.com came. I had ordered size 11 DPNs, so that I could start his MacBook cozy. Which I started 3 times. Yes that means I frogged it twice. However, today I worked on it during our teacher in-service. So I have a good chunk of it started and it's large enough now to do with my circular and the magic loop technique :-) I much prefer that to knitting with 5 DPNs. I'll post a picture of the progress after I take one.
This project makes me feel old... picking up black stitches with fuzzy doubled worsted weight.

Along in the same package came some Patons SWS. I had half price coupons so I thought I'd try this yarn that I've been hearing so much about out. I've heard it felts very well. Oh what should I use it for????

Hug your children

and tell them how much you love them! All day my heart was breaking for those Amish mothers who lost their children in the horrible massacre in Lancaster County. I can't even imagine how they must be feeling. And the worry for those moms of the 5 girls who are still in the hospitals in critical and serious condition. Perhaps the most shocking part is that such violence was handed to such a pacifist community. My DH told me that he heard a news report quoting one of the mothers of a murdered girl that she has to forgive the killer. If she didn't she would go crazy! And my thoughts also go to the wife and children of the perpetrator. Not only are they suffering loss of a husband and father, but the inevitable ostracism that his acts will incur for them. What a world we live in today. Sometimes it's all I can do to not cry!

The bright part of my day was a package that came from a wool coop that I joined for merino wool from Uruguay. This is by far, the softest wool I have ever felt. So feast your eyes on this eye candy. The colors aren't always true to the computer screen and I particularly found this to be the case with this batch

This colorway is called Samba and I really like it, but the sample photo that I saw before ordering showed a bit more blue and less yellow, which of course I prefered, but that's what happens when you buy not IRL.


This colorway is Aquisgran. This one was really a surprise. Again more yellow than I had expected. But it's a happy color at least!

These next two are VERY similar. More so than I expected. Winter Joy and Pacifico. Winter Joy is the picture on the left, which has more brown in it.
Pacifico, on the right, has more greys in the colorway. Both will look great on both my DS. I think I'll use Winter Joy for DS1 as he has the biggest brown eyes on the face of the planet. I melt when I look into those eyes. Pacifico will match DS2's eyes better... for they truly are like looking into a deep ocean of blue.


And the one that is for ME..... (drum roll please) otoño fantasia.
This is exactly as I expected and I really love the colorway. There are 8 100g skeins of this delicacy and I think it's calling the name of some type of soft yummy sweater! Looking on are DDs lambies. She received this as a birthday gift last year from a classmate. With the Eric Carle book, the Lamb and the Butterfly. For show and tell this year they had to take in something with the short a sound in the middle, she wanted to take in a stuffed cat, but I convinced her that her lambs would be unique and fun. Plus she got to share who gave it to her and made her classmate's day!

I feel so blessed to have 3 healthy, happy, intelligent children and a wonderful DH to share my life journey with. I pray that my peace could be shared with others and that I could in some way make a difference in their lives to ease discomfort of either body or soul. Life is far too short to not touch each other in the best way that we can.

Happy crafting!

Happy Birthday to you!!!!!

Today's my baby's birthday. He's two now... where did the time go? Last night he took a very late nap so after everyone else was asleep he joined me in the kitchen to make empanadas for his birthday dinner... pushed the chair into the corner of the cabinets just like his big sister does, climbed on it and proceeded to help... well sort of. It really was too cute. He's growing up way too fast. Seems the older I get, the faster time flies!

Last night when I was finished my chores, I took some pictures of the yarn I picked up at ACMoore 25% off sale on Saturday.
So here it all is
In the basket we have Lily Sugar and Cream. After I took the picture I found another skein or two. This hardly represents even a small percentage of the cotton stash, but was a nice addition.









The Patons Merino is for longies for DS2. I was hoping he'd be out of dipes by now, but I can see that he's not going to cooperate and I don't think daycare really pushes the potty training issue, so it probably won't happen now until next summer

The Caron Felt It is for a felted purse for DD. She chose the color. Although I'm partial to it as well... guess mom can always borrow it, since I'm making it!



The Magic Stipes sock wool is for ME! Need some toasty socks to keep my feet warm in my Birks this winter.... love the blue colors and the other is just for fun :-)


DD also decided she'd like a hat and mittens made from the Lion Wool varigated yarn. She couldn't decide on the color so I got both. I've wanted to try it anyway. I've heard some good reviews about it and at the prices they were offering I figured I can always come up with some project to use it on ;-)

Today was day 2 in both the Monthly Dishcloth KAL and the Dishcloth Fun KAL. I had to post pics of my progress so far.


The all black is for the Monthly Dishcloth KAL, a yahoo group. We have no clue as to what it will be. The suggested colors were black, grey, white or tan.

The stripey one is for dishcloth fun. I have no clue what that one is either... It's a surprise month! I'm wondering if it's one of those patterns where you have to hold it at an angle to see. I think it's called illusion knitting. The yarn behind the cloth is all for this particular cloth. 4 colors. You had a choice for color #3. I chose orange. I think the combination will work well together.

ARGH!

OK... it's easier for me to write a web page than to do this blog!

This is a picture of the felted cozy I made for DH's MacBook. I designed the pattern myself and needle felted his initials on it. It was my first attempt at needle felting so I'm fairly satisfied with how it turned out. One of his students suggested mass producing it HA! My nephew saw it and wants one, of course in a different design. He'd like his to be portrait instead of landscape with a handle... so I'm designing and knitting that one now. This is made from recycled wool from a sweater that I bought at the boutique at the rink in town a while back. I doubled the yarn to make it about Lopi weight. Felted it makes a nice fabric. The buttons are from my LYS Tangled Yarns on Main Street. She has some great wooden buttons in there... love that place


Next are some dishcloths that I've made since joining the Monthly Dishcloth KAL:
This one is the September pattern of Oak Leaf.. knit in Lily's Hot Apple Green... I forget if it's Sugar and Cream or Peaches and Cream... I'm sure if you're reading this though you have some idea of the cotton yarn I mean. This was the firstreal KAL I had ever done. I had participated in a KAL for a felted purse (which was my first felting and disastrous I might add!)

This is the mid-month KAL... pretty pattern in a pastel ombre that matches my Corelle wear.. a long retired pattern of peach hearts and flowers and mint accents that is reminiscent of PA Dutch designs. The design is along the border. The rest of the plate is off-white. As you can see, I ran out of yarn with 2 rows to go and didn't have this color in my stash, so I finished it with what I had on hand... which was hot orange. The only hands that will be using this one are mine, so to me it doesn't matter. I think I'll make this one again and gift it to someone on my holiday list!

This one I found the pattern on the net. It's a Jack-o-lantern.... good for this month! I forget where I got the pattern though. If I remember where it came from I'll post it. My students don't call me Dory for nothing!

The Oct KAL started today and I'm knitting mine in KnitPicks Shine worsted weight in ebony. It's 60% pima cotton, 40% modal. I've heard that it works beautifully. I love how it shows the stitch definition and it's so soft as well. I think this yarn would make a wonderful cotton top for someone!

Yesterday DD and I went to ACMoore for their 25% off yarn sale. They had some ladies who work there showing off their skills. One was knitting with one of those circular looms, another with needles and one crocheting and helping people with questions or teaching them how to do it. DD decided she'd like to learn to crochet.... which I can't really do, so we're learning together. I have the SC down now.... Who knows when I'll have time to do more?

Well that's all for today. I want to figure out how to add a FO section. (if indeed that's possible)