Finished!

Maybe everyone knits this fast and easy, and I'm just not aware of it. I can't say it enough. This is truly a great knit. I've enjoyed every hour of it. I cannot say that about most patterns I knit. There is always some boring bit with yards and yards of stockinette or garter stitch or worse, there are the ones that I just can't seem to translate the right handed writer of the pattern for my left handed brain. Those buggers make me wanna give up knitting all together. My kids know that when mom says "shit" it means she's got some frogging to do.

Try this pattern. You won't be disappointed. I only used three skeins of Knit Picks Palette in Tumeric for this project. That makes the yarn a little more than 12 dollars, and it took me 6 days to knit.

Blocking (last night)

Its Growing!

This shawl is probably the easiest thing I've knit in a long time. It is beautiful and intricate looking, but looks can be deceiving. The repeats are easy peasy to memorize. I find I can easily answer math questions, break up sibling arguements, keep an eye on dinner and even watch the news while knitting this baby. I highly recommend this for beginners in lace. I'm at the edging now. I've only been knitting this shawl for about four-five days. Yes, I'm a fast knitter (as you see in the video of me knitting), and I've been knitting for a long time. You try it. You'll see what I mean. This is a great pattern. Its easy to modify the size by reducing the repeats which is what I had to do to incorporate the larger gauge yarn. It takes no math at all to alter for size and gauge. I give it two thumbs way up!

Birthdays Coming Up

I have a couple of birthdays on the horizon. My niece and my mother have birthdays in February. I just started the Fountain Pen Shawl by Susan Lawrence. It is printed in the Spring 2009 Issue of Interweave Knits. I actually ordered this to do Eunny's vest in this issue and still haven't knit it. I'm so tired (for now) of fretting over writing patterns I wanted to take a break and knit someone else's pattern. I really like this one. Its fast and easy. Don't be intimidated by the fact that its lace. If you can do deacreases and and yarn over you're good! It woud be a great first lace project for someone. I'm loving it. I'm knitting it in a golden colored fingering weight yarn. Its Palette by Knit Picks in case anyone is interested. Its not the gauge yarn called for, but I love this color and I like a slightly heavier shawl personally. I wear very few things only because of the way they look. I absolutely demand that they be comfortable. This will be more of a winter shawl for sure. She may even decide to leave it draped across her couch. We'll see. I'll keep ya posted on any modifications I need to make while changing the gauge.

Love Ewe

I designed these little sheep last summer. My children love to play with them. I have always preferred my children to play with Waldorf-esque toys to plastic, battery powered junk. Somehow it just seems like they are using their own imagination more without all the fanfare.

These really are a quick and easy knit. It is also a great opportunity to use up bits and pieces from your stash. I used Cascade worsted 10ply, but any ole worsted weight would do.

Working the body.


The inside before stuffing.

This pattern is available on Ravelry for free. Just click on the link to the right.

Enjoy!

Top Ten Things I Learned This Year

10. All increases are NOT created equal.

9. Just because something can be knit doesn't mean it should.

8. When faced with opposition of the aggressive type you'll never lose when you respond in LOVE.
7. I would rather have crab grass than no grass at all.

6. Marriage is work.....no matter who you're married to...if it isn't, you're not doing it right. (The same applies to children.)
5. Having a real tree in the living room is kind of a cruel thing to do to dogs and toddlers.
4. Never leave my toddler alone with a chair. He can get into all kinds of mischief to put it mildly.
3. Neighbors can be good things.

2. I need some Ravelry time limits. :-)

1. When someone comes around promising change no matter how charismatic they are make sure its the kind of change you want before you consent.

Merry Christmas!

There Is No Such Thing As "Spare Time"

There just don't seem to be enough hours in a day to accomplish all I'd like to do. So I'll have to settle for prioritizing my projects and my time. Ugh! Christmas is fast approaching. I've made jewelry for my sisters and mother this year. I think they've gotten a little tired of knitted gifts. We'll see if they are happy or disappointed. My hubby requested I design him a sweater coat. I get tons of wear out of mine and now he wants one. So its not that big of a deal except he wears a 2X and its a COAT. So its getting pretty heavy (100% peruvian wool) eh hm....and I'm really tired of the design pattern already. Thank the LORD I finally figured out how to cable without a needle or this would be a Christmas 2010 present.

We did finally finish the chairs, and they are well loved already baby!



My grandmother requested I make her a bib. Apparently in the retirement community she lives in they are all the rage. Here's a picture. The pattern will be up on Ravelry tonight I'm sure.


Anywho, I have Christmas cookies and yulecaka to make. Hoorah!

And just a peek at the hubby sweater sketch....

Yippee! The set is finished!

I didn't think he'd do it. The first chair took a couple of weeks to motivate him to finish. Lo' and behold he goes and gets the materials for the second chair and even designed the table at midnight to complete the set. I'm blessed. :-)


I'm out in this quarter issue of Cast On. Its the November 2009-January 2010 issue if anyone is interested. You can look for retailers here.


Here is the hat in Trekking XXL.