It's here!

My yarn order finally showed up yesterday. Now I understand what everyone’s been raving about! The Koigu Painter’s Palette yarns are gorgeous! The yarn is soft; the colours beautiful. I’m really looking forward to working with it!

The other yarn I got is from Fiddlesticks Knitting and is called Country Silk. It’s a blend of 50% silk, 30% wool and 20% nylon. Again, the colours are gorgeous. It’s a large skein: 250 grams or 800 metres.

Now to get a few other projects done so I can start working with these yarns…

In addition to the yarns, I also bought a bamboo circular needle for the Meadow Flowers shawl. It was just at the point of being too wide for the straight needles, so this order showed up at just the right time. I’ve transferred it to the circular and have enough room to work comfortably now. I’m up to 167 stitches on it now. When I reach 181, I’ll be ready to work the border. That means, it’s nearing completion… in the home stretch.

I love my husband

I really do. He's such an encouragement when I most need it. He seems to think that when I can't sleep, I'm worrying about something and need to talk about it. He's very willing to listen and help try to "solve" what's bothering me. The thing is, sometimes it's a creative process. When I told him that, he admonished me to get up and write out my ideas.. or draw them out, as the case may be.

Remember the sweater I described earlier? Well, here's a rendering of it. I drew this tonight after he told me to "get it on paper!"





Impressions??

Another batch

I'm not sure why, but today I'm feeling just a little off... yanno? Restless, unable to really concentrate on much. I think I prefer working mornings, rather than afternoons. At least when I work mornings, I'm focused on getting ready for work. Then, when I get home, I can relax. When I work afternoons, I'm constantly watching the clock, not really wanting to get too involved in anything that I'd have to leave.

I did, however, sit down with the bucket of beads, wire and tools and came up with these:

It took just over half an hour to make up these four sets. I'm happy with the results; too bad I'm not knitting anything that needs stitch markers at the moment.

Too much inspiration, not enough hands

...or time!

I have so many design ideas in my head right now and, as much as I'd like to implement them, I know that I simply can't. I keep looking at the yarn in my stash and I can picture the sweater I'd like to make. It's a cardigan with k2, p2 rib down each side (which would help to pull the waist in), set in sleeves, button front, no collar, just a neckband. Basically, a simple cardigan. I can see it in my mind's eye. I just don't have the time to do it.

And then I look at all the projects I still have on the go and tell myself to finish some of those off first.

I took the stitch markers to the store yesterday; there were four sets in total. I decided to give them to the ladies I work with. That was a good way to see how they'd go over. Well, dare I say, they went over even better than I expected. If I make more, Sally's more than willing to sell them through the store. When I asked (at SnB last night) what the ladies thought they could sell for, I was blown away by their suggestions. Let's just say that I greatly undersell myself! They all agreed that the stitch markers would make a wonderful gift for that special knitting friend. I agree. Back to the bucket of beads....

The good thing about all this is... I'm never bored!

It's all too odd

Well, I haven't been able to figure out how to get my profile and sidebar information back where it's supposed to be. In the meantime, I'll just keep blogging on as I normally might and see if it doesn't fix itself. I can hope, can't I?

I didn't quite get the wavy scarf done this morning, so I wore a warm sweater under my jacket and walked anyway. By the time I got home this afternoon, the sun was out and the jacket was too warm. I guess it IS spring after all. My yarn didn't come today, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow. Tonight is SnB. I wasn't planning on going, but a friend called the store and asked if I was planning on coming; she doesn't normally come but is having a problem with a pattern that I've knit up, so she'll come tonight so we can brainstorm. So, I guess I'm going.

I was asked in a comment where it is I live. Elisabeth was commenting on the pictures of our new house. We live in Kelowna, the heart of BC's Okanagan, one of the most beautiful places in the world, as far as I'm concerned. We have it all; there are mountains for the skiers, the lake for those into water sports, temperate climate. It's British Columbia's wine growing area, with vineyards and orchards all over the valley. In the summer, it gets hot (up to 40C); in the winter it doesn't get REALLY cold. All in all, the best of everything. I love it here!

And.. by the way... I did finish the wavy scarf tonight. Here's the pic:

It's snowing???????

Shortly before I got up this morning, my husband came to the bedside and informed me that it was snowing outside. Sure enough, I peeked out the window and could see bits of white stuff falling from the sky! It's NOT supposed to do that. Doesn't Mother Nature realize it's spring now??? Now, however, at almost 8:00 a.m., the snow has stopped and it's just another chilly, gray day.

And where are all those scarves I've been making? You guessed it, on display at the store. Well, all except the Wavy scarf, which is almost finished. I should go work on it for half an hour or so before it's shower time. I've decided that 3 balls of the alpaca is long enough for me and I'm almost done the third ball. So.... away I go, flexing my fingers, ready to hit the needles at a furious pace......

Oh...just remembered... I should be getting my order today from Four Seasons yarns. I ordered some Koigu, a bamboo circular needle and another yarn for making a shawl, perhaps. It sounded good at the time. *keeping my fingers crossed that it arrives today*

My apologies to all

I had to change the template of my blog. That means I'll have to take some time to update everything else that was on my blog as well. I'm not sure how that will work, so please bear with me. *big sigh*

...and more inspiration!

Wow! Imagination gone wild! Who knew that when I opened that bucket of beads, it would lead to this? This is SO much fun! Check it out:











Do you think there might be a market for these? They really are fun! Some beads, some wire, a couple of tools and your imagination; that's all it takes.

Get your inspiration where you can!

Thank you, Jane! You inspired me to make something and helped to remind me that I still had all the equipment and supplies I needed left over from my days with Lewiscraft. For those of you who are Americans, Lewiscraft is a Canadian craft company; I was both an assistant manager and manager for them before moving to Kelowna.

Check out Jane's creations at her blog... the link is in my sidebar.

And here's what I did with the supplies I unearthed:

We went for a drive today...

...and took some pictures of the new house! It was a gray, rainy day, but it was nice to just get out for a few minutes. If you'd like to see what the new place looks like, feel free to click here---> (pictures). Be warned, though, the pictures are a little on the large side, so they may load a little slowly. My apologies for that.

What can I say? I'm eager to share!

Waving

Bad pun, bad pun! Yesterday ended up being a do nothing but sleep and/or mindless knitting kind of day. I did both. Because I didn't feel like working on anything that would overly tax my hurting brain, I started a new project, rather mindless, but not totally.

I had three balls of Luxury Collection's Alpaca Peru just lying around, so I decided to turn it into Knitty's Wavy Scarf. As of this morning, I've knit up one ball (100 metres). The pattern calls for ten repeats of the 44 row pattern; one ball got me two and a half repeats. That means I won't have enough yarn to finish it to the stated length. I'll have to decide whether to make it shorter or buy one more ball. I think I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Here's what it looks like after one ball.


(click on the picture to get the pattern for yourself)



Doesn't that yellow and green tablecloth absolutely scream SPRING?? Looking outside, though, it doesn't look like a spring day. It's gray and rainy out there today. Blech!

Good Friday

Today is one of those do-nothing kind of days. John's gone to the new house to do a bit more yard work and I'm here puttering, working on various projects, but not getting very far on anything.

I did post to my other blog and have done some work on Essencia (click here to see what I'm talking about), but other than that, not much happening today.

I hope everyone has a good Easter weekend, keeping in mind what Easter's all about. Blessings to all.

Ruffle Pic

Well, I'm trying something new, so please, if there's no picture here, let me know and I'll go back to the old way of doing this.


The ruffle scarf
(My husband informed me tonight that, in his opinion, it looks like a snake that's had some digestion problems... LOL...Too bad! I like it!)



Ruffle Scarf FO

I finished off the ruffle scarf yesterday! Finally! As much as I loved working on this scarf, after a while it got a bit boring. In essence, it's almost 6 feet of short-rows. I'll try to get a picture of it a little later and will post it. It will definitely be a fun scarf to wear.

Other than that, I really didn't do a lot of knitting yesterday. With making the creams, doing some laundry, pampering myself and generally puttering, I just didn't get into the knitting. Oh well, there's always this morning. I work this afternoon, so I have the morning to myself. (And I've decided I definitely need spoiling and pampering right now.)

1:22 p.m. and all's well

My day's not even close to being over and I'm feeling VERY productive. Knitting-wise, I haven't done much, other than working on the ruffle scarf a little more. I think I'll have it finished by tonight; it only needs a few more inches.

However, I've made two different creams today. One is for John's poor, aching body (see my other blog... click here) and the other is for my dried out, aging skin. I've just been finding that most of the creams and lotions I've been making are fine for every day use, but now and then I want something really rich and decadent. That's what the last cream is. All the best oils for your skin and lovely scented hydrosols instead of just plain water.




Now, I feel like pampering myself!

(I wonder what the rest of the day has in store??) *wink*

Moebius experiment

Have you ever seen or made a moebius strip? You know.. you take a strip of paper, twist one side and tape it to the other end? Then, when you draw a line on it, there's only one side to it? If you've never done that, try it! Now, think of a scarf like that, no right side, no wrong side. Well, that's what this is:

I have Cat Bordhi's book, "A Treasury of Magical Knitting", and decided to sit down with it yesterday and experiment. I found some yarn in my stash that I've never done anything with and thought it might be a nice yarn to "play" with. After about 5 hours of knitting, this is what came off of the needle. It's definitely got potential. I'm not the happiest with this attempt, but it is, after all, an experiment. For one thing, I should have used a larger needle for the cast off, as it's a little snug; and I'm not really happy with the way I blocked it (too hastily). Oh well, as stated, it's an experiment, just to see how a Moebius scarf really knits up. I have my eye on one of the patterns in the book, one that calls for a lovely yarn that's available at the store I work in, a combination of cotton, linen and rayon.

In addition to knitting up the moebius, I did type out the pattern for the entrelac scarf. It's available in the sidebar under the Patterns section. I've included both a .pdf file and a Word file. Please let me know if there are any errors or omissions that I should be aware of.

Devan Update

Yesterday was a knitting day. Off and on, I knit all day. I finished the back of the Audrey top, worked on the Meadow Flowers shawl (I keep referring to it as meadow blossom, but it's flowers, not blossoms), and made progress on the Devan sweater for Trinity.

(click on the picture for the pattern)

The front is done, the back is about 2 inches at the moment; I figure it's a good project for SnB tonight, as it's straight stocking stitch for 8 inches. Mindless knitting. As well, I cast on both sleeves. John was very impressed with the colourway of the sweater, loved it, as a matter of fact. Then, as he walked into the living room he commented that it looked like the socks I've been making. He laughed when I told him that exactly what the sweater's made from. I'm using Fortissima and the colours should look very nice on a little strawberry blonde. I'll be working on it some more tomorrow.

Newborn Socks Pattern

It occurred to me this morning, while reading through the various Yahoo groups I'm in, that it might be a good idea to post my newborn sock pattern here. I use this pattern for sock yarn I have leftover from my socks. It works up quickly, which is always nice. If you do make these, let me know if I've made any mistakes in the pattern.

Infant Socks

(to fit 3-6 months)
Materials: Any 4 ply sock or fingering weight yarn (socks pictured are done in Supersocke 100, Sierra Collection)

Set of 4 2.75 double-pointed needles, or size needed to obtain gauge.

Gauge: 8 stitches = 1 inch on 2.75 dpn in stocking stitch

Cast on 32 stitches. Arrange stitches so that there are 10, 12, 10 stitches on 3 needles. Join. Work 5 rounds in K1, P1 rib.

Work 20 rounds of stocking stitch. Move last two stitches from first needle and first two stitches from third needle on to second needle (instep). Knit the stitches from the first needle onto the third needle (heel flap), so that there are 16 stitches on each needle. (If desired, slip 8 stitches from instep onto another needle to make it easier to knit heel flap).

Heel flap: Beginning with a purl row, work 7 rows of stocking stitch, slipping the first stitch of each row. End with right side facing.

Turning the heel:

Row 1: slip 1, knit 9, slip 1, k1, psso, k1, turn
Row 2: slip 1, purl 5, p2tog, p1 turn
Row 3: slip 1, knit 6, slip 1, k1, psso, k1, turn
Row 4: slip 1, purl 7, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 5: slip 1, knit 8, k2tog, turn
Row 6: slip 1, purl 8, p2tog
Row 7: knit across all stitches

Gusset: Along left side, pick up and knit 6 stitches, knit across instep, pick up and knit 6 stitches across right side, knit heel stitches. Rearrange stitches so that instep stitches remain on second needle and heel stitches are evenly divided on first and third needles.

Row 1: Needle 1 – knit 8, k2tog, k1
Needle 2 – knit
Needle 3 – k1, slip 1, k1, psso, knit 8
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: Needle 1 – knit 7, k2tog, k1
Needle 2 – knit
Needle 3 – k1, slip 1, k1, psso, knit 7
Row 4: Knit
Row 5: Needle 1 – knit 6, k2tog, k1
Needle 2 – knit
Needle 3 – k1, slip 1, k1, psso, knit 6
Row 6: Knit
There should now be 8 stitches on first needle, 16 stitches on second needle, 8 stitches on third needle (32 sts)

Continue working in stocking stitch for 18 rounds.

Toe:
Row 1: Needle 1 – k5, k2tog, k1
Needle 2 – k1, slip 1, k1, psso, k10, k2tog, k1
Needle 3 – k1, slip 1, k1, psso, k5
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: Needle 1 – k4, k2tog, k1
Needle 2 – k1, slip 1, k1, psso, k8, k2tog, k1
Needle 3 – k1, slip 1, k1, psso, k4
Row 4: Knit
Row 5: Needle 1 – k3, k2tog, k1
Needle 2 – k1, slip 1, k1, psso, k6, k2tog, k1
Needle 3 – k1, slip 1, k1, psso, k3
Row 6: Knit (20 stitches total)

Knit stitches from first needle onto third needle. Break yarn and graft toes closed.

Sunday, Sunday

Stew is simmering on the stove for dinner, dumplings to be added just before we're ready to eat. It smells yummy! John, Rob & Carol have gone over to the new house to do a bit of yardwork and I'm here. Knitting. Working on three projects. That's typical.

The Audrey top has one strap just about finished and the other's ready to finish off. I'm a little disappointed in the pattern. It's more than a little ambiguous. It's not a difficult pattern, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to a beginner. There are things in this pattern that you just have to know. For instance? After you cast off the neck stitches, the pattern reads "work shoulder strap for 9 3/4"... it's not explained where you measure from, so I was happily knitting along when I realized that it really did look long enough to reach the top of my shoulder. The 9 3/4" is from the beginning of the armhole shaping, NOT from the cast off. When I measured, I had 10". *sigh* It will be very pretty though.

I've also started Kristen's second sock. There's a picture somewhere in the beginning of my blog of sock #1. I want to be able to send her the socks and the sweater for Trinity before the end of April (Trinity's birthday is April 23). And then, there's the shawl. I did put it on bamboo circs, but the one I have is just too long for where I'm at right now. I was fighting the cable, so I've put it back onto a straight needle. I did order a 24" bamboo circ which should be arriving some time this week.

I managed to get out for a few minutes yesterday and went to the other yarn store here in town. I bought some cotton sock yarn, something I've not yet worked with. Here's a picture of it. I kinda like the colours and am looking forward to casting on (not yet, though).

Now, the stew smells like it needs stirring, so I'm off... back to the knitting, too.

Update, update

It's time for a progress picture of the Audrey sweater/tank top. I finished two pattern repeats and it's looking good, now that I have the pattern figured out. So, here we go...

This is the top so far, and here's a picture of the pattern detail...

I don't think I'll be doing much more on it tonight; Rob and Carol are coming over for dinner (and drinks, no doubt) so we can talk about the move and the new house. Enjoy your weekend!

Going crazy!

Getting close, at any rate. Remember I wrote that I'd hit a snag in the Audrey top? Well, I hit another one. For some reason, the leaf panel pattern at the armholes wasn't working. I ended up frogging back almost two inches, and I REALLY hate frogging!

After looking the pattern graph over very carefully and knitting it several times, I discovered there's a mistake in one of the rows. There's an extra k2tog at one point; in other words, a typo. Now, I'll just "white-out" the extra symbol and keep going merrily on my way.

For the Meadow Blossom shawl, I picked up a 5 mm bamboo Addi circular needle this morning. It's getting to the point of being just a little too wide for the straight needles. I probably could have kept going for a while yet, but it wasn't safe to put my knitting down at the end of the row anymore. I was afraid I'd start losing stitches. I've seen some discussion about the bamboo circs, but have only just moved the knitting on to the circ, so I haven't really knit with them yet. Once I have, I'll give you my opinion on the Addi bamboos.

...and away we gooooooooooooo!

Another started object

This time it's the Meadow Blossom shawl from Knitter's Stash. I started it yesterday afternoon, and already I'm at the halfway point. The first half, however, starts with only 3 stitches. The second half will take a little longer. Here's a picture as it is right now.

It doesn't look like the perfect triangle at the moment because of the way I draped it over the couch.

And here's a close-up taken against the light so you can see the stitches better.

Because it's a garter stitch pattern, it's working up very quickly. I'm doing this one in Laine du Nord's Kiddy Prints Mohair. It's a pretty soft mohair that's knitting up very cozy. The colours in this yarn perfectly match the Audrey sweater, as intended. I'm thinking this shawl will be the perfect thing to wear with the Audrey top on those days it's just a little nippy around the shoulders.

Speaking of Audrey, it's hit a small snag, but I think that between Dianne and myself, we've figured it out. The pattern isn't the clearest in a couple of spots, but we agree on what the pattern's saying, so it's onward with Audrey! I'm up to the armhole shaping and the first row of the leaf pattern. Pictures to follow soon.

Now, it's time to vacuum this house. It's pretty bad when the dust bunnies take over. *sigh*

Now it's an FO

Now it IS a finished object.

I wore it to work today as the weather turned a fair bit cooler today. It rained and according to the weather forecast, there's even a possibility of flurries this week. It's a good thing I'm making scarves. ;)

An almost-finished FO

Yeah, I know... I shouldn't post it as an FO (finished object) until it really is an FO, but the knitting's done, the scarf has been blocked, so for all intents and purposes, the entrelac scarf is a finished object. The reason I wrote "almost-finished FO" is that it's really begging for tassels. John, Sally (my employer) and I agree; it needs tassels. Not fringe. Tassels. That means it needs one more ball of Silk Garden. At $12.95 a pop, this has become one expensive scarf; four balls for the scarf and one more for the tassels. I'd better enjoy it for many years. Or, if I decide it needs a good home, the person receiving it had darned well better appreciate it.

That's one of my pet peeves: people who receive hand-crafted gifts but don't realize how much time, effort, cost (some times) and love has gone into the gift they've received. And when you don't even get a proper thank you, well, that person just doesn't get hand-crafted gifts ever again. End of story.

So anyway, the entrelac scarf has been blocked, but it hasn't got it's tassels yet. I work this afternoon, so I'll pick up one more ball of SG and do the tassels tonight. Once that's done, I'll post a picture of it. I must admit, this is one beautiful scarf. The next thing to do is type up the pattern. I think I can manage that.

Now, to finish the ruffle scarf. Last night was SnB (read the Art of Yarn blog to find out how that went). I worked on the Audrey top. It's not much farther to the leaf border at the armholes. That's the part I'm looking forward to. If I keep going at this rate, I'll actually be able to wear it this spring/summer. Once I've started the leaf section, I'll post a progress picture. Now I'm keeping my eyes open for a simple cardigan or perhaps even a shrug or shawl to wear with it when it's just a little too cool for a sleeveless top. Just looking. I haven't seen anything that I really, really like so far.

That's enough for today. I have a little bit of kitchen clean up to do and then I can sit and knit for a couple of hours! The ruffle or Audrey? Audrey? Ruffle? .... hmmmmm... decisions, decisions.... OR there's that cardigan I started for Trinity's birthday.... oh dear...

Yes, I'm pleased with myself!

I've been meaning to do it. The inspiration just wasn't there, though. Today, it was! I designed my very first pair of socks. (Well, other than the k2, p2 rib, round toe socks for the store, that is.) I haven't knitted this pattern up yet, but I have drafted it. If I do say so myself, I think they will look quite nice. I won't be starting them right away, though. I want to finish the two scarves first.

I did do a little more on the entrelac scarf today and, depending on how much of the last ball is left by tonight, I may take it along to SnB tonight. If this last half of the ball is next to gone by tonight, I'll take the ruffle scarf and see how far I get on it. Then I can work on the socks (but I should do the other two socks first, I suppose... they have mates anxiously waiting).

Borrrrrring.... *yawn*

It's Tuesday morning. Life's gotten boring all of a sudden. Not that it needs to be exciting all the time, but when there's very little going on, there's very little to write about. Catch my drift? Boring.

I'm chugging along on both the ruffle scarf (didn't work on it yesterday) and the entrelac scarf. The fourth ball of Silk Garden has been added. I think that will be the end of that one. It's starting to look like an "under the jacket" kind of scarf, not the kind you joyfully fling around your neck in a carefree manner. It will be a subdued scarf intended to keep the wearer's neck and decolletage area warm.

The Audrey top has just over 8" knitted. I've decided that it's a project that will be staying at home, not coming with me to SnB tonight or to work on at the store when things are slow.

One of the things I did do on Sunday was to come up with a logo for my little venture into business. As stated earlier, I make creams and lotions. I've never actually set up a company (that will come), but I do need to have a name and logo. It used to be "just for you by edu" (that's e.d.u., which were my initials, but I've remarried since then, so they're no longer my initials... now it's e.s.), but since the name change, that doesn't work, besides which, it was way too long a name. So..... after months of agonising research and testing of names, I came up with "essencia". And on Sunday, I played around with watercolours and came up with a logo. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

Another glorious day in paradise!

Spring has definitely arrived in the Okanagan. It's another glorious, sunny day, about 14c. Not bad for the middle of March, still winter if you go by the calendar. John's gone out to the new house to start on yard work; it's a way for him to stay busy. He likes it and I don't mind him being out of the house for a little while. Since he left a couple hours ago, I've made a batch of bran muffins, backed up information and photos on the computer and got some knitting done.

I've completed the second ball of Silk Garden on the entrelac scarf. It's now approximately 26 inches long. That means, if I want a decent length scarf, I'll probably have to use up at least another two balls. That will make it just over 4 feet long. Do you think that's long enough to wrap around my neck and throw it over my shoulder? I've also completed the second skein of Silky Tweed on the Ruffle scarf. It wraps once around the neck, but isn't quite long enough to be a decent length hanging down the front, so I'll attach the third skein but won't use the whole thing. I think another two feet or so will finish it. It certainly gets a lot of comments when I take it to work with me.

No pictures today; you've seen enough progress photos on both scarves and the Audrey top hasn't made much progress yet. I've been working on it a little bit, but only did about 4 rows; that doesn't warrant a progress picture. Besides, until I reach the armholes and the leaf patterning, there's really not much to see on it. So, you'll just have to wait.

Back to the knitting...........

Oh, by the way... make sure you check out the Art of Yarn blog. All of the staff has "posting power". The address is in the left hand margin of my blog, under Links. Let us know what you think!

Saturday evening.. Now it's the weekend!

Because I worked the full day today, I really didn't spend much time at the computer this morning; hence, no blog entry this morning (for those of you who anticipate my morning blog). My apologies.

Here is my knitting update for the day. You were holding your collective breath, weren't you? The first is an update picture of the entrelac scarf. It doesn't look like I've done a lot, but the second ball is past the halfway point. I have a feeling it will demand more yarn that I first anticipated.

The second picture is the first picture of the Audrey top from Elsebeth Lavold. I'm liking it. It's a nice yarn to knit with; if I have any complaints about it, it's that it does contain some sharp little nasties that I pick out as I knit along. I can't imagine how crazy it would make me to feel those sharp little points against my oh-so-tender skin.

For your viewing pleasure...

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On another note, the hand lotion I re-did the other day... it worked. No more separating. It's good to go. I think I'm going to have to work on that end of my "business". It seems demand is growing for my humble products. Hmmm... perhaps I should start a blog devoted to THAT part of my life. Sure, go ahead and ask. :)

On the road again...

We're going to be moving! We went with Rob & Carol to look at a house yesterday morning and decided it was perfect for us. We'll be moving in on May 1. I'll post a few pictures of the house when I can, but for now, just let me say it's on the lake. Right on the lake. With two docks, a fire pit, a view.. and it's on the lake!

I didn't do a lot of knitting yesterday, but did choose a pattern and yarn for a sleeveless top for myself. It's an Elesbeth Lavold pattern (Audrey) and I'll be doing it in Silky Wool in a light lime green. Once I get it going, I'll post regular progress pictures. As well, I did do a little bit more on the entrelac scarf. I'm thinking now that it might be a little wide for a scarf, but that's not really a big problem. If I were to do another one, I think I'd make the "squares" a little smaller, perhaps 6 stitches instead of the 8 I'm doing now. Other than that, it's going to be quite a beautiful scarf, I think.

Did I mention the new house is on the lake??? ;)

Finally.. it's done

The brioche vest is finished!

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And progress pictures of the entrelac scarf. I've finished one ball of the Silk Garden; I bought three balls, but I have a feeling it will be wanting more.

That's it for me for tonight. Early tomorrow morning, we're going to look at a house to rent and I need my beauty sleep.

Today's the day... brioche vest to become an FO

That's right. Today is my day off, so it's the day the brioche vest will be completed! I've been working on the buttonhole band this morning and have it almost done and half sewn on already. Once that's done, all that remains are the arm bands and sewing on the buttons. I must confess that I'm alternating the vest with an entrelac scarf that I started yesterday because the bands are just so darned boring!

So, what is it with scarves right now? It's nearly spring; it's almost 15c out there today and I'm making scarves that I really won't need until the fall/winter. What can I say? Like socks, they're a project that knits up fairly quickly, there's a minimum of finishing and they're a great project for experimenting with techniques and stitch patterns.

I'll post a progress picture of the entrelac scarf when I post one of the vest and eventually (when I get around to typing it out), I'll post the pattern as well. It's an alteration of the Lady Eleanor stole in the Scarf Style book. I've never done entrelac knitting before and I'm rather enjoying it. I'm using Noro Silk Garden again, in a more muted colourway this time and I think it will be a very nice scarf, rather rustic looking. I'm just not sure how long it intends to be.

Now, back to the knitting. *sigh* I really don't like that yarn........

Caution: non-knitting content!

As stated in my profile, I'm a grandmother of three. I have two beautiful grandsons and a gorgeous little granddaughter. Eventually, I'll get pictures posted of all three kids, but for now, here are a couple of pictures of my granddaughter, Trinity. Can you tell, I love them dearly?

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Finished object!

The feather and fan scarf is done. I managed to finish it this morning; that didn't take long at all. I used 3 balls of Noro Silk Garden and worked the pattern until I had just enough left to cast off. I'm happy with the result, but may not have much chance to wear it anymore this winter. It looks like spring could be here (which is a good thing).

(click here for the pattern)

Corkscrews, ruffles... whatever

I've had a couple of people ask me about the pattern for the corkscrew scarf. It does seem to be available online and in other books, so I don't think it will matter too much if I post what I'm doing here, but it has been pointed out to me that it may well be copyright infringement so I've deleted the pattern. I'm not sure a technique can be copyrighted but... I've deleted the pattern and referring all readers to the book "Scarf Style" published by Interweave Press, edited by Pam Allen. I do not want to be stepping on anyone's toes. There. Enough said.

I'm using Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Tweed on 4 mm needles for my scarf and I'm really liking it, but it would be really nice done in just about any yarn that has a little bit of body. Changing the yarn and needle sizes will, of course, change the width of the scarf.

I'll work on mine a little more today, but I really want to finish the feather and fan scarf, as I'm down to the last quarter of the third skein. My arm and shoulder is bothering me today, though. (Let's just call it a recreational injury... enough said.) I shouldn't be knitting at all today, but I will anyway. Wednesday, as stated earlier, will be devoted to John's vest. I'll post pics of the finished vest Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.

After the two scarves and the vest are done, it will be back to socks. I'm working on two pairs, one for my daughter and one for myself. Here's a pic of the two socks that need mates.

The one on the left is for my daughter, made with Regia Multi Effekt Color #5376, in a k2, p2 rib and round toe. The sock on the right is from the Spring 2005 Interweave Knits and is made with Regia Silk in brown. Below is a closeup of the cable detail.

If you've never tried making socks with Regia Silk, I recommend trying it. It's a nice soft yarn that washes and wears well. It's only drawback is the limited colour choice.

Now, on with the day. I work this morning. I wonder what today will bring.

Innovation Socks

In an earlier post, I posted a picture of the cover of a sock book that a fellow employee gave me. I believe I mentioned the Innovation socks that were in the book. Well, here's a picture of the page describing the socks. If anyone out there reading this has ever made these socks, let me know. I'd be interesting in finding out what they're like. I will probably knit one just to see what they're like, but it won't be for a while. I have too many other UFO's to finish.

And to give you the feel of the age of this booklet, here's one of the pics inside. Classic '50's, wouldn't you say?

Another day, another project

I'm one of those people who can't simply start a project and work on it alone till it's finished. I've got 7 or 8 projects on the go at any given time. Here's one I started on Friday afternoon.

It's a Feather & Fan scarf that I'm doing in Noro Silk Garden. I love the colours; they're definitely my colours. Someone in the Clapotis KAL (knit along) commented about all the little threads and sharp things in the yarn. She was right; there's a lot of it in this yarn. I'm just going to go ahead and knit with it anyway and then wash it and see what happens.

Here's a close-up of the knitting. You can probably see some of the threads.

If it doesn't soften up after washing, I'll probably just us it as a decorative scarf rather than a wrap-it-round-my-neck-to-keep-me-warm scarf. I'm enjoying the knitting process, though. I've never done anything in the Feather and Fan stitch. It's simple. Here's how, for those of you who'd like to know.

CO 38 sts
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: k1, {k2 tog} 3 times, {yo, k1} 6 times, {k2 tog} 6 times, {yo, k1} 6 times, {k2 tog} 3 times, k1
Row 4: Purl
Repeat to desired length.

That's it. I'm using Noro Silk Garden on 5 mm needles, but you can use any yarn of your choosing and needles to match. Use a fuzzy yarn, use a smooth yarn; use a plain colour, or use a variegated. It's all up to you.

The corkscrew...now, where's the wine?

The corkscrew scarf, that is. Here's a progress picture.

It's Friday

And that means it's almost the weekend.

Tonight we are hosting an appy night. It's a tradition that started at the last house we lived in. The upstairs suite (us and our boarders) and the downstairs suite (Rob & Carol). It was a way of enjoying the great deck and the great company. We don't have it every week, but it is a nice evening with good appies and way too much booze. Tomorrow (Saturday), we're bottling wine at Rob & Carol's. I think it's 60 bottles this time, both red and white.

On the knitting front, I didn't do much last night. We did watch two episodes of CSI, both of which were repeats and I went to bed by 10:00, when Law & Order: the Jury came on. For some reason, that one really doesn't interest me as much as the regular L&O or SVU or CI. It's the detective/cop part I enjoy rather than the courtroom part, I think.

Oh, Priska gave me a really interesting pattern book. It probably dates back to about the 1950's. It's a Paton's Beehive book called "Men's Socks". It contains an interesting pattern for "Innovation" socks (patent applied for, according to the book). Step 1 is a T-shaped piece; step 2 picks up stitches for the heel; step 3 makes the back of the sock, the heel and the sole and picks up and knits the toe. I may just have to try one for the fun of it. I'll post a pic of the book and the page describing the sock once I get all that figured out.

At the store, incidentally, I'm becoming known as the sock lady. I'm not sure why, though. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I've become addicted to making socks?

...and in addition

Did I mention that I also make creams, lotions and bath/beauty products? I do. However, this blog is not intended to be a sales platform. If there is mention of those products, it's only because they're part of my day; as they are today.

I made some hand lotion a couple of weeks ago and for some reason, it separated; not just once, but twice. So now, I've emptied the bottles once more and am about to warm up the lotion and re-whip it. Hopefully, that will fix it for good. If not, I'll just have to dump it and start over. Frustrating.

On the other hand, I did start the second skein of Silky Tweed on the corkscrew scarf. It's zipping along nicely, but I have a feeling it could become a boring project after a while. There's very little variation to it and it goes on for about 86". I suppose it's a good watching tv kind of project.

Incidentally, I'm off next Wednesday so that's the day John's vest will be finished. Then all I'll have to do is get buttons for it and that is no big problem. I don't mind checking out Fanny's Fabrics, after all. Who knows? I might just find another deal like I did for my knitting bag (half a meter of ultra suede for $5.50... it was enough to make a bag with some left over). It might even inspire me to start doing some sewing for myself again (not slacks, though; never could get them to fit right).

7:20 a.m. and the sun is shining

Another beautiful day in paradise!

Ok, we had some cloud yesterday and there's supposedly some rain in the forecast for this week. Right now, though, the sun is making it's way into my "computer room", which is in actuality, a kitchen in the upstairs suite. There are those (Jane, you know who you are) people out east who are still buried under the snow, but it seems spring has arrived in the Okanagan. We did have some frost last night, but we've already had a couple of frost-free nights. I like that; I'm definitely a spring person.

On the knitting front, I didn't get a lot done yesterday. I did knit a couple of inches on the corkscrew scarf (which, incidentally, is a multiple of four rows, not six as I posted yesterday...even easier to remember) and learned to knit backwards for the purl rows. Sounds insane, doesn't it?

One of the suggestions made in the "Scarf Style" book for working shortrows is to work the purl rows backwards on the knit side. It took a few minutes to figure out how to do that, but once I caught on, it became easier to knit backwards that to keep turning my work to purl back. After all, the maximum number of stitches I'm purling back is only 9. I do like learning new things!

When I got home from work last night, John asked me what yarn I had chosen for my next project. You see, it was very slow at the store in the afternoon and that's usually when I scope out the yarn and match project ideas to yarn. However, I assured him that I hadn't done that this time and have no future big projects in mind. He has a vested interested in the topic; I started a vest (catch the pun?) for him in 2003; it's the man's brioche vest from Interweave Knits Spring 2003. It was intended for his birthday. Well, the back is done; the fronts are done; the shoulders are seamed; I did finish one button band last week. It's in a basket beside the couch where I can pick it up at any time to finish it. All it needs is one button hole band and two arm hole bands; so why don't I finish it? Good question. I hate the yarn. I hate the colour. I hate the texture. I hate the weight. (*big sigh*) He keeps asking me when he'll be able to wear it and I keep promising him that he WILL be able to wear it before the summer.

Alright, here's the deal. The next full day I have off (not this weekend... we're having appy night on Friday night and bottling wine on Saturday and Sunday is our last day off together before John starts his new job), I'll finish the darned thing. There! I've said it; it's in print. That means I'm committed. You are my witnesses. I'll post a pic when it's done.

Speaking of pics, do the pics show up on my blog? Barb graciously emailed me with some lovely comments about my blog (thanks, Barb), but couldn't see the pics. Is anyone else in the same boat? If you're one of those really smart, computer savvy people (I'm not computer illiterate, but posting pics confuses me for some reason) who could help me figure out how to do it right, please feel free to contact me. It would be much appreciated! I wouldn't mind knowing how to put stuff in the left margin, too... you know, if you're helping me anyway and all.

Enough for now. I'm off to play a bit of trivia and then get ready for work. Enjoy your day!

It's Wednesday

All day, no less. Twenty-four hours of Wednesday.

We had SnB last night and I didn't really have a project I could take along so I started a new one. If you've seen the book "Scarf Style" from Interweave Press, you will have seen the corkscrew scarf. I started it at the store yesterday in Silky Tweed, a lovely combo of wool and silk. The pattern is an easy one to remember, only 6 rows and they make sense. After about 2 repeats, I had it memorized. I have almost twelve inches done and I'm loving it! If I can figure out how to post pictures to this blog, I'll post pics of it. (With a little help from Jane, I've managed to get pictures up, so here we go...)

The Jolly Green Giant slippers before felting.


...and after felting.


The finished Clapotis. I'm loving it! Would I make another one? Probably, but it would be as a gift for someone special, not for myself. After all, how many clapotis (what's the plural of clapotis, anyway?) can one woman use?

Ok, first post

Yay! Here's my first post, nothing knitting related, but it's a post. It's just about shower time and then it's off to work at my horrid job... HA! I must admit, going to work is not a chore at all. After all, I work in a yarn shop. Could there be a better job for a knitter?

I will get back to this later today, probably. If not... well then, when I can.