The Constant Knitter

New Site

2010-06-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

If anyone was wondering why I haven't updated this site since February, I have moved. The new site is at www.knitterditter.com.

Sorry, I forgot to tell y'all! :)

Wednesday

2010-02-18T17:05:00.001-08:00

Day 3. Today dawned bright and sunny. I prayed the sun would hold out for a while and it did. It was gorgeous all day long. The weather had predicted rain for the rest of the week, so I was really blessed that I had such a wonderful day. And what a wonderful day! I spent waaayyyy too much money on clothes and yarn. Oops! I figured that I was not going to let my natural restraint take hold. I usually talk myself out of buying things for myself (except yarn), but I saw things that I never see anywhere at home. Ok, I don’t look for them, but I bought a fun sweater that was completely impulsive. It was ₤29.99. That doesn’t seem like much for such a cute sweater. I bought boots for ₤40.00 and gloves for ₤9.99. I was looking for the boots and gloves. I also bought 4 pasha mina scarves and a plaid scarf for Rex. I’m going to have to stay away from Oxford Road. I discovered Selfridges, a huge store with wonderful things. The kitchen section had these cool cutting boards and sieves in great colors that fold flat for storage. The same designer, Joseph Joseph http://www.josephjoseph.com/ made a pump whisk, and a pump potato masher. Innovative! I loved the window displays at this store. Gee, I wonder why? ;)

The yarn shop, Loop, www.loopknitting.com is in Islington, a cute little arts district northeast of the center of town. Loop is a teeny, tiny store. I missed it when I first walked down the street. It was standing room only. Check out the picture from their web site. That’s pretty much it. No comfy couches to sit and knit awhile, unless that’s downstairs. It looked to me like it was the storeroom. Despite that, I got some great yarns and the shopkeeper was great. I heard her talking to another patron about moving in June or July. I hope the new space will give them room to grow. I loved the way she decorated the shop, hanging handspun yarns in the window and piled on the mantelpiece. I will definitely visit again if I come back to London.

I got 3 skeins of beautiful yummy yarn. Two of them I probably could have gotten in the States, although I have never seen them in person or been able to pet them before. One Be Sweet Magic Ball in the Oceans color way and

Handmaiden Laced Silk in a lovely blue.
The Be Sweet profits go to a good cause anyway. http://www.besweetproducts.com.

The other skein is The Knitting Goddess. www.theknittinggoddess.co.uk. It is a purpley blue. The shopkeeper asked if I was going to combine the three skeins because all the colors look great together. I hadn’t thought about it, but I might. So far I don’t have plans for these skeins. I know, dangerous. They could sit in the stash for a while before I figure it out. I just couldn’t resist. I also bought a Knit Kit which I had been wanting for quite a while. All your tools in one place. Perfect for travel.

I had to hurry back because we had tickets for We Will Rock You, a musical featuring the music of Queen and a tribute to Freddy Mercury. We had a great time. If you’re in London you’ve got to go see it.

Cheryl's London Adventure Day 2

2010-02-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

Day 2 was dreary and wet.
The morning started badly when I realized that I had lost one of my fingerless cashmere gloves. I t must have fallen out of my purse when I pulled out my guide book. I had to keep getting my bearings, so it could be anywhere - in Hyde Park or on the train. Maybe even in the lovely pub I had lunch at. Who Knows? Anyway I spent too much of the morning planning my route and pouting. I didn’t really want to go out but who wants to spend the day in a hotel room?

I finally made my way to the train station en route to Pudley. Luckily I had the foresight to pack an umbrella. Stash yarns was my destination. I misread where the train let out and got a little confused about where I was. I was able to find my way to the shop though, through the puddles and my hat nearly blowing off when I crossed the Thames. Unfortunately, the shop has been closed down. What a disappointment! I passed a little resale shop on the way back and stopped inside. They had the cutest rain hat.

The next stop was I Knit London in Westminster. That’s a fair distance from Pudley. Completely across town, in fact. I finally got there, quite soggy, with another walk across the Thames. The wind kicks up over the water so I was cold as well as wet. I Knit was on a quiet little street a few blocks from Westminster station. I bought some lovely blue Wensleydale wool to replace my fingerless gloves. I wear a lot of blue. It’s not cashmere but it is sooo soft. Now I want to go back and get another skein for a hat and maybe some for a scarf for Rex. Perhaps on Thursday.

As I came back from my day of frolicking in the rain, This scene greeted me outside of the train station. The 30th Annual Brit Awards. The crowds were out despite the rain. I suppose we do the same in Hollywood. This is the British version of the Grammy Awards. All the pop tarts - I mean stars were out. ;)

After Rex and Kiki got done with work, we went out to the Troubadour Club for dinner and some music. This is such a cool bohemian spot for great food and music. Dylan and Hendrix played there. I'm sure many others, but that's who they advertise. Here's the door.

and the ceiling...

Hat Tuesday. Wear a had at dinner and get a free dessert!

Beer anyone? Bud looks different in Britain!

(the) Universal. Cool local music at the Troubadour Club.

psst... This is the Original Troubadour. Doug Weston's got nothing on this one!

Monday in London

2010-02-15T11:01:00.001-08:00

I walked my feet off today! I decided to walk rather than take the tube because there wasn't any rain predicted for today. By the end of the day I found out that I couldn't take the tube anyway because I had left my Oyster card in my other jacket pocket. The weather was great for the most part. A couple of times snow fell, but not enough to make any difference. By the end of the day it rained and I finally pulled out the umbrella. I was glad I had it!

My journey took me down Old Brompton Road, past Harrod's and into a quiet little street where I found Patricia Roberts Knitting. Don't throw tomatoes, but I had never heard of her until I looked up LYS in London. Turns out she's been a knitwear designer since 1962. The shop was filled with wonderful sweaters, scarves and mittens already hand knit. At first I was disappointed because I thought I had stumbled into the wrong kind of shop. I asked the woman at the counter if they sold yarn, and they did have some in the back. Whew! I found a bargain. 20 gorgeous skeins of beautiful lambswool for ₤30. It's in my favorite color, fushia. I see a sweater in my future. Mmmm.... perhaps this gorgeous one that I've been wanting to knit for soooo long?

Then it was across the street for lunch at the Wilton Arms. Shepherd's pie and tea for lunch. It was quite good.

Afterwards I took a walk through Hyde Park. It is HUMONGOUS! I had planned to run there this morning, but I didn't get out early enough. It looks like a great place for a run. If it's dry later in the week I might give it a try.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to find Loop. Maybe I'll hit some museums too.

Hello from London!

2010-02-15T03:29:00.000-08:00

(waving the Queen's wave)

We arrived in London yesterday, 2/14/10 or 14/2/10 as they say over here. It was a lovely Valentine's Day spent wandering the streets near the hotel, lunch at the Troubadour, window shopping, then dinner at Imli, an Indian restaurant off Oxford Street. We opted for the Valentine's Day special. I thought it was good, although Rex thought it was a little bland, and Kiki thought it was cold. Oh, well. For dessert, we had waffles at the Belgian Waffle stand. Yum! Then off for a pint at a pub down the street. I can't remember the name at the moment.

The Troubadour Club is the original, unlike it's counterpart in Hollywood. Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix played there among others. It looks like local bands play and they have poetry reading on Monday. I'd like to check it out if we get a chance. The food was great too.

Today I am off to find some yarn shops. Since it's not raining yet, I may visit some of the parks. I'd better get going before I waste the day away!

Ravelry Party at Unwind!

2010-01-10T19:23:00.000-08:00

On Thursday I went to the Ravelry meetup at Unwind Yarn. I wish I had some pics, but I didn't even think to bring a camera. D'uoh! It was really fun. I got to meet Casey and Jess, and talked to Casey for a while about programming. He's very cute and kind of shy. Go figure, a shy programmer?!

The place was packed when I got there around 7pm. I didn't know anyone there except Stephanie. I was hoping I'd run into a friend, but I guess I should have brought one. My brain just doesn't work that way.

After a while I decided that I just wanted to sit and knit so I took out my RSS (Really Simple Socks). Here's a pic of the leg. It's a little hard to see the detail. Right now I'm at the point of starting the heel. These socks are my own design with a little help from a pair of store bought socks that I've had for years. I've been looking at them since I picked up knitting again and I've been wanting to try the pattern. Well, they are finally wearing through the heel, so I thought I'd give it a go. These are one repeat shy of the store bought ones. The yarn they use is much thinner.

Designing is a goal I have for myself this year. This is the first project, other than the Sky Wrap Scarf that I designed quite by accident. By the way, I have uncovered the directions for the original Wrap/Scarf that I thought just couldn't be what I saw at the store. Attached were directions from the web that I used as a start, but even they are not what I ended up with. I will write up what I did. I remember most of it, but I'll have to make a sample just to be sure.

Back at the Ravelry party, as soon as I whipped out my socks, I got lots of comments and compliments. I talked to Laura, tinkknitter on Ravelry who I hadn't seen for a long time. She works at Unwind sometimes. I met Lucky Penny who I can't find on Ravelry right now, and a couple of gals from a church across town. One of the women was really outgoing and saw that I was knitting two socks on two circulars. She was intrigued by this and asked if she could watch because she had always wanted to try it. Her friend is a crocheter that she's trying to convert into a knitter. As we talked we discovered that we know some people in common. The choir director at our church used to give lessons to their kids and a woman that started the walking group at our church are friends of theirs. Small world, huh?

After the crowds thinned out I was able to move around and bought this beautiful shawl pin and these yarns. I'm trying out the wrap again in this Tough Love sock yarn from sweetgeorgia. The color is just gorgeous! I'm not sure it wants to be the wrap though. I think it may be calling out to be Pomatomus. The colors remind me of a beautiful Hawaiian ocean, crystal clear water and the scales of a fish. We'll see...

I'm not sure why I bought the Manos de Uruguay except that I kept picking up the skein. It's so soft, and the colors... Alright, you got me. I bought it because it was love at first sight. I don't know what I will make with 175 yards yet. They only had the one skein because it is a prototype. I think it might be a spring scarf of some sort.

The shawl pin was complete impulse. Ummm, weren't the yarns too? Anyway, I needed a shawl pin. I have a wooden one, but I never wear it because it needs finishing.

So silly of me. I was telling the ladies that I was trying to use up my stash yarn before buying any more. That was before I saw these wonderful yarns. Also, the entry fee to the party was to be used toward any purchase made that night. I couldn't let that go, could I? ;)

New Year, New Habits

2010-01-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

Happy New Decade! So many things to think about. This is the year I turn 50, so of course it's a milestone year and makes you consider creating some new habits.

I have already created the habit of running, although for the last month I've really fallen off the wagon. I've had a cough, a cold, and earlier in the month the winds were kicking up the ashes of the Station fire and creating such an environment that I wasn't thrilled to be outside. But for Christmas I got a Wii Fit and now I can work out in the house. I did work out to DVDs before, but sometimes you just have to change things up. The Wii Fit has so many fun exercise games that it will be a long time before I get bored! I've heard that the hula hoop burns lots of calories! ;)

A habit I need to get back is gardening. I haven't taken it seriously for many years. This house doesn't inspire me to garden because there isn't much room. The back yard is mostly concrete with a small patch of grass. There are borders around the edges which are wild and overgrown now. That's where I will start. I think I will work on flowers and bulbs for spring.

I need to create a habit for practicing the guitar every day. I've bought a few programs and taken lessons, but I rarely think to pick it up like I do the knitting needles. I got a beautiful new guitar for Christmas from DH. It is much easier to play than his Takamine, and it has a beautiful tone. Playing guitar is something I have done on and off since I was 13 or so. Mostly off. I often think that if I had kept it up over the years I would be pretty good by now.

Scrapbooking is another thing that I need to create a habit for. I haven't done it for quite a while, but I keep collecting digital downloads from Gotta Pixel. I do love the digital scrapbooking. I take a long time to do it though. If I do a little bit a week, maybe I can learn what I like and create pages faster.

I definitely have the knitting habit down. ;) After Christmas I finished my Clandestine socks. I finally took a picture of the shopping bag before I gave it away as a gift. I finished Josie's Little Miss Greenjeans Sweater and gave it to her for Christmas.

I also need to create a habit for cleaning up after myself. After eating/cooking, working, knitting, dressing, etc. Yep, I'm a messy person. It's actually much better since the kids moved out. Now it's only my mess! I notice that in the weeks DH is gone, I tend to be a slob. So this year I resolve to clean up after myself.

While I'm at it I could get in the habit of organizing my time better. Calendars and timers might be good. I tend to rebel even against my own rules. What?!? I know... Pathetic.
So this year I resolve not to rebel and teach that rebellious kid in me to stay on track.

I've got lots of stuff there, not to mention choir/vocal practice and school homework - oh yeah - and blogging. ;)

Daily stuff to do would be Bible Study, exercise, guitar knitting, voice, homework, clean up after myself.

Weekly stuff could include cleaning house, gardening, blogging and scrapbooking. Not bad.

Now that I've got myself somewhat organized for the year and spent way more time blogging than I meant to, I'm off to practice guitar! See ya!

Programming Makes Me Fat

2009-11-09T23:11:00.000-08:00

I'm convinced that programming is bad for the waistline. Besides sitting on your butt most of the day, it makes me want to eat.

I am in the second semester of Java programming, so I don't know a whole lot yet. It's really frustrating. It takes me a week or two to get through some of this homework. Especially when all the examples are for int arrays and we are working on String arrays. Besides the fact that I'm trying to make a object and the examples are shown in procedural programming. Have your eyes glazed over yet? Mine did. That's probably why it takes me so long to figure it out. If I don't have coffee before class I want to go to sleep. I've caught the guys next to me napping behind their screens too.

So, if this is so incredibly boring, why do I want to do it? Maybe I'm just weird. I like to figure things out. I like puzzles. I like a challenge. Maybe that's why I picked up knitting, why I'm currently into lace. I guess next it will be entrelac, but I'm not really crazy about the look of the finished product so it will have to be something really pretty.

Ehh, skip entrelac. I just got EZ's Opinionated Knitter and there are some gorgeous Fair Isle sweaters I'd like to try. I haven't attempted Fair Isle yet. I've dabbled in Intarsia. I really need to get into some color work.

Currently on the needles: 1 CounterPoint Scarf (Almost done, but it's taking forever because I only work on it once every two weeks during the video at Bible Study.)

2 Clandestine Socks. I have about 4 inches left to complete. I've made the leg and turned the heel. I'm currently working on the feet, two at a time on 3 needles. Three because for some reason I have one long needle and two short ones. It was easier to turn the heel with the short ones and keep the long one for the top of the foot. Hmm. These are taking a while too. Probably because of the Java homework. Sigh.

GaryVee in Pasadena

2009-10-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

I just came back from the most inspiring talk. Gary Vaynerchuck of Wine Library TV is currently on a book signing tour for Crush It! Pardon all the links, but Gary's got what it takes in getting the word out, and I don't mind being a part of it. When we first started watching Wine Library we thought he was a little wacky. He talks about wine smelling like Twizzlers and tasting like sheet rock among other bizarre descriptions. The thing is though, he really nails it business-wise. He took his dad's liquor store and built it up into a multimillion dollar business. And he will tell you that it didn't happen overnight. He says, "You've got to work your face off." He also says, "Just be you. You are a snowflake." I like that. I asked a question specifically about this knitting blog and the fact that there are so many others out there. He said "Just do it. It will work because you love it." That's the truth. I haven't gotten in nearly enough knitting time this week. I've been studying for a midterm. (I think I got an A.) I've got another one next week, so things have been a little hectic around here. Plus, our daughter and granddaughter came over on Sunday for DD's birthday. We had the family over. DGD is getting big! 6 months now and so cute. I really need to start some baby things....

I was able to work on my illusion scarf today at Bible Study. I'm almost finished with it. The Clandestine socks that I started at HSB are still on the needles. I've done 3 repeats of the leg pattern. I need to get a picture of it. There is one part of the pattern that stumped me during the first go round. It's marked like a double decrease on the chart, but the key says, "sk2p" which I read as, "slip, knit 2, pass slipped stitch over." That leaves an extra stitch, though. I decided that it really should be slip, k2tog, pass. It works much better that way...

I will be blogging more about the knitting now that I got a kick in the pants from Gary V. I'll also be seeing a bunch of you guys on your blogs to see what you're up to and I promise not to lurk anymore! ;) Off to read the rest of Crush It! BTW, buy the book! It's great!

Cheryl :)

Our Hardly Strictly Adventure

2009-10-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

I spotted this amazing jacket as we were leaving the airport on Friday to go to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco. I want to make it. The lady was kind enough to let me take pictures. She calls it her Sherpa Jacket. If I write the pattern I might just share....

Back to the weekend.

The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival is an amazing FREE concert. It is three days long with 6 different stages going all at the same time. Our wonderful benefactor is Warren Helman, who just does it for the love of the music. And it's crazy, but it is FREE to the public. He books these amazing acts every year. Of course we couldn't see them all, but those we did see were outstanding. We got a surprise guest appearance by Robert Plant. He played with Buddy Miller on Friday night at the Great American Concert Hall, so we were hoping he would show up at the festival. I heart Robert! sigh...

There was a sock monkey sighting right in front of us. Aren't they cute?!!!

The girl made them. They are only about 5 inches tall.They got to watch the concerts too. I think they are boyfriend and girlfriend.

Saturday evening we hopped on the party bus. I hope no one's mom was watching. I haven't laughed so hard in years. We did the wave on the bus. I think we scared some lady. She got off in a hurry.

My project for the weekend was Cookie A's Clandestine sock from Knitty's Fall 09 issue. Unfortunately I didn't see the link for the chart when I printed the pattern out, so I was stuck after the cuff. I had to wait until we got back to the hotel and I could get the link on DH's IPhone. Then I took a picture and used that for Sunday's knitting. Some lady behind us said, "Oh, you brought your crocheting?" I said, "No, it's knitting." "Oh, little baby knitting," she said. I said, "...Uhhhh....Yeah..." Never mind. She had already scored negative points with us when we were just setting up and she and her boyfriend come up behind us after we already had our place and she whines that shes not going to be able to see because our chairs are too tall and they have little bitty chairs. "Do you want to trade?" she says. DH says, "No." We kept hearing her complain about how she couldn't see. Then they left for half the time. When they came back their huge dog howled every time a certain pitch was hit. Uggghhhh. Thankfully they left early.

This is Emmy Lou Harris getting her honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music. Linda Ronstadt was there presenting as well. Unfortunately they didn't sing together and my camera battery went dead right before Emmy Lou performed.

What a great, amazing weekend in a gorgeous setting. This is just the crowd at the Banjo Stage on Sunday, looking back from where we were sitting. I can only imagine how many people were there. Everyone was amazingly well behaved too.

Well, back to work....

Firmaments is Finished!

2009-08-26T14:56:00.001-07:00

I am finally done with my tablecloth. I think it ties the room together. ;) Lebowski, anyone? I did choose the color because one of our pictures has a lot of this blue in it. The blocking took nearly all day. Apparently my gauge was off by a couple of inches. I tried to stretch it to the pattern's dimensions, but the pins kept popping. At first I had it on the bed, but couldn't get it to stretch enough, so then I laid it out on the floor. I bent my lace blocking wires all to heck by putting them around the edges, but I don't care. I think it looks beautiful. It seems to fit the table nicely too, and I think 4 more inches would have been too much for this table. I wonder how you are really supposed to block a circular knitted piece?

Fritter and Waste the Hours...

2009-07-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

I didn't get much done today and it all started because I just had to start the edging on my Firmaments Lace Shawl. It set me back on starting the day because I knit in bed before I even get up. Probably the first mistake, but if I didn't, I might not get to the knitting. Such a dilemma. So just as I was about to get going, DH needed to talk about something work related. By the time we got done with that I decided it was too late to go out and run, so I just ate breakfast and figured I could do a little Pilates instead. What happened to that? Well, never mind, I need to get some work done. As soon as I sat down at my desk I realized that my computer had rebooted itself and gotten stuck. Reboot the reboot. Finally got some stuff done. Anyway, here's the latest pics of Firmaments. I love how this is coming out.

You Should Be Knitting, Yeah!

2009-06-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

Fountain Lace

Knitting is so good for what ails the soul. The rhythmic click of the needles, the concentration on a lace pattern, counting stitches. It relieves my mind of things that are wrong with the world even as I am listening to the news or reading Twitter. The situation in Iran is especially upsetting. I watched a video of students who had been shot and beaten the other day and I sobbed. I can't watch any more. Just knowing that is going on and hearing the voices like the woman who called CNN yesterday and begged the US for help is heartwrenching. I feel powerless and yet I want to do something. It seems all I can do is pray. Keeping me occupied lately are the Firmaments Lace Shawl and the Montavilla Market Tote from Knit Picks. This is how the shawl looked a couple of days ago. I have about 4 1/2 repeats of the Fountain lace pattern done today, so the pattern shows up much better.

Center of shawl Starlight Lace Pattern

I love lace. It keeps my mind occupied. It is one of the first things I do when I wake up in the morning. According to my DH, I should make it my occupation since it is what I am obsessed by. That makes sense since knitting is one of the first things I think about in the morning and one of the last things I do before bed. I haven't quite figured out how to make money at it yet. It seems I only spend money on it! I did have a look at Etsy.com and discovered that folks are selling hand knit garments. I wish there was a way to tell how many sold. In any case, my big dream is to design. I started on a fingerless glove several months back but it is currently hibernating. I think it will be a case of carving out specific times that I can work on design rather than simply knitting other's designs. I learn a ton from other people's work. The Firmaments Lace Shawl is one example of discovering how to make wonderful lace. It is almost a sampler. I don't quite get how the movement of the stitch markers doesn't throw the symmetry off. It just works. I want to use some of these lace patterns in other garments. One of my friends has a sweater she got from Mervyn's that has a lace pattern in the yolk. I have been trying to figure that one out for months and the Fountain Lace pattern is pretty close to her sweater. I will try some modifications and see if I can't figure out what is going on. I think I am closer now for having worked on the shawl. I was particularly inspired by Cookie A's new book, Sock Innovation.

She talks about the design process and particularly about how socks can be the "perfect first step toward learning to design." I think I could probably do the same kind of thing on an even smaller scale with gloves and mittens. Off to lunch with DH now. I'll talk at ya later! I just found out that you can look at the number of sales a shop has on Etsy. Off to do some research...

She's Come Undone

2009-04-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

I'm almost finished with my Herringbone socks from Interweave Knits Winter 2008! Yeah! A couple more modifications and I'll be done. This has taken me a while to finish. Mostly because I had my new grandbaby's blanket to finish. She's almost here too! If DD doesn't go into labor by Sunday evening they are going to induce. Not quite sure why this is necessary, she was 10 days late herself. I guess the Dr. doesn't want an overdone baby, heh heh. Ok, back to the socks. In this post I told you about the modification I made on the heel. I didn't like the way the stripey goodness broke because of the short row heel. So I ripped back and inserted a heel of chocolate brown. I like it. Now at the top, I went up a needle size, 3s, to make sure my ribbing would stretch enough. Instead of using the multi colored yarn I made a contrast with the brown again. I'm loving this. (They fit well too.) Here's a riddle. How do you knit a toe up sock and finish at the toe? I decided to unravel the toe and make them brown too. I love knitting. It's the first craft in which I feel I can be truly creative. I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog especially since I update it so sporadically. Last night we went to see Anivl at the NuArt Theatre in LA.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

What a compelling story! They are the real Spinal Tap. If you live in Southern California, the show will be playing there for a couple of weeks. If not, go see it when it comes to you. Buy the DVD. It's funny and touching and REAL. Lips and Robb were at the theatre to answer questions after the show. Here's a review of the movie. I hope it is huge for them. Sacha Gervasi who wrote the screen play for The Terminal is the director of this amazing documentary. I felt tempted to laugh at times and then I realized that these are real guys and this is their life.

I don't know why, but you really fall for these guys. They are just normal family guys, - following their childhood dream. I don't even like the genre of music. I thought hair bands were silly. My (70s) music was much better! ;) I had never heard of them before last night. Now I'm a fan. I hope they get what they're after. It seems really promising. Gervasi says: “The only way you can fail is if you give up.” I have to agree.

Today's Sweater is a Wrap - "Literally"

2009-02-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

Apologies to Brenda Dayne and Saturday Night Live for that title. A while back I wrote about some lovely yarn that I acquired at my LYS. I had my eye on a wrap that one of the girls was wearing and noticed how lovely it was draped across her shoulders. I couldn't stand it so I bought the yarn. I know, I'm weak. Who could resist this? The yarn is Schaefer Laurel in the Susan Sontag colorway. I noted at the time that the colors reminded me of the beach. I also noted that when I got home and started working on the pattern that they wrote out for me, my brain decided that it couldn't be right. My memory kept thinking that the ribs were thicker and there was more substance to it. It kept looking like a shopping bag to me. Actually, this would be a great stitch pattern for a shopping bag. I think the yarn might be overkill for a market bag though. Anyway, it was driving me crazy. I went to the web to look for stitch patterns. I found Lacy Diagonals and that was better, but still not giving me the thicker ribs I was looking for. I modified that and came up with the pattern below. Actually, this is the first pattern that I have written out. I named it Sky Wrap because it reminds me of clouds in the sky.

By the way, I was wrong. I went back to the store and compared my wrap to theirs. Stephanie's wrap was exactly as she had written it. She liked what I did though. My ends slant, hers were straight. My memory thought that her ends were slanted. What a brain fart! Anyway, mine's an original and I love it! I wore it all over Amsterdam in September.

At some point I'm going to post the pattern, but until I remind myself of what I actually did, I'll have to leave it off. Remind me to remind myself to refigure it out.......

Confession Time

2009-02-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. In church last Sunday the lady in front of me was wearing a sweater that distracted me so much I couldn't concentrate on the sermon. I spent most of the time looking on my Ipod for a fern leaf knitting pattern. She got the sweater at Mervyn's. I want to make one. It was a wrap type sweater with the leaf pattern on the yolk front and back. The bodice was plain stockinette and had a few pleats at the center back. Probably on the front panels too. I don't remember. I spent all day yesterday trying to work out the pattern. I found something here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/leaf-bookmark. There were only 4 "leaves" on each stem and it had a clover like pattern in between the leaf. It's driving me nuts!

2009-02-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

I just finished Josie's baby blanket.

I bound off using a size 7 needle and the 6th bind off on this page: http://weebleknits.blogspot.com/2003/05/stretchy-bind-offs.html

I want to keep this handy because I keep referring back to it. I hope someday I'll remember how to do this automatically. The easiest thing is to just use larger needles.

My daughter didn't want traditional pink or yellow. She chose purple for her new little girl. This yarn has a pearly white strand running through it that adds a bit of "glitz." I think she'll like it.

I finally got the invitations to the shower mailed.

I had forgotten that Monday was a postman's holiday. Hopefully everyone will forgive me that I asked them to RSVP so quickly. It's ok, in all we have invited about 60 guests. If the laws of invites hold true, 75% of them will come and that leaves us with about 45. Now to figure out the food. Do I make it myself or buy pre-made? I'm being a little Martha Stewart-y about all this. I have to count tables and chairs and tea cups. I'll probably end up buying paper ones. I wish they were shaped like tea cups rather than coffee cups. Other than that I hope it doesn't rain. It would be nice to do this in the backyard. Martha would have a conniption about my back yard though. Maybe she would get up early in the morning to plant petunias!

Update on the Knitting

2009-02-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

On the needles right now are Herringbone Rib Socks from IK last issue (Winter I think.) It all started with a plane ride to San Antonio. Here I am casting on and watching a podcast of LetsKnit2gether.

As I was working these I noticed that the color was pooling into diagonal stripes. The cool thing was that I seemed to have cast on in a slightly different spot for each toe and now the stripes look like they are moving from one sock to the other:

After working the heel this didn't happen anymore. To continue the coolness I decided to make the heel out of a complimentary color and WALA!

We're back in business! Dang! I just realized that I probably didn't need to go out and buy another skein. I have virtually the same brown in a different yarn. It's just as well though. The socks I made out of that yarn have since felted. The yarn for these socks is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the colorway Roadside Gerry. I didn't even think of going back to the stash for the heels because I originally wanted a color to match the orange. They didn't have that but they did have the lovely brown in Shepherd Sock, so at least the fabric is consistent. Josie's Blanket

Underneath the socks is a baby blanket I'm working on for my future granddaughter. She's due on April 4. I've got to get crackin' on the invitations for DD's shower. Here's what they look like and where you can get them too:

Gina Jane's "Little Cards" Pansy Garden Tea Cup Card

The cutting is a B-word since I sprained my wrist on our snowboarding trip last week. But I think the card is so cute!

Here's the blanket so far:

I've done this one before in blue. I liked the yarn much better for that one. This one's Bernat Baby Coordinates. I should have used bamboo needles for it because my Knit Picks keep catching on the fiber and snagging it. I'm stubborn though, so I haven't changed yet. Happy Birthday to me! Yesterday was my birthday. Before I whine I should say that I'm too old to whine about a birthday. It was no one's fault, but I can't help but feel, um, whiny. There. Hey, it's my birthday and I can whine if I want to! DH put his back out last weekend and had an impossible deadline for work, so we didn't get to go out like he said we would. I had to take my mom to the doctor and it was pouring down rain. At the parking kiosk, the window wouldn't return to it's full upright and locked position, so I had about an inch open with rain coming in. Thank God it didn't stick all the way down. My attitude was so bad He could have made it do that. When we got back to her place I was able to pull it up manually. DD called to wish me a happy birthday and asked what we were doing for it. Um, nothing. Well, we got Chinese food and that was ok with me. I had actually decided I'd rather do that before DH suggested that it was too late to go out. The killer for me was when this comedian, Andrew Dice Clay came on TV. I don't like him. Now I remember why. DH snickered at some of the jokes and I asked him to turn it off. He went back to work and I went to bed. The end. My mom wanted to buy me a card right there in the store with me standing there since she hadn't had a chance to earlier. (I'm her means of transportation.) I wouldn't let her. Too embarrasing. MIL just called to wish me a happy belated birthday. She said she didn't get a chance to go out and get a card yesterday because it was pouring down rain. I said, "I know." DS 1 & 2 didn't call. Probably overlooked it. Can I get a WHAAAAAAAAA!?!?!?!?!?!? or maybe just some WINE!

I'm A Broody Broad.

2009-02-07T11:01:00.000-08:00

Here I am again. I've become inspired to update my blog while reading other's. One post that really rocked my world this morning was Christine Kane's blog. I stumbled on it from Cast-On. I'm new to Brenda's site, but I've been listening to her podcasts for quite a while now. I started with #1 and am finally up to #69. Anyway, now I'm a Christine Kane fan. You've got to watch the videos on her site, especially the one called "There's No Such Thing As A Girl Like That." It just cracked me up. Here, in case you just want to see that one:

The reason Christine's post spoke to me this morning is because I've been feeling really broody lately. More than lately, I'm a broody broad. They used to say that about me when I was 5 or so. I don't suppose it could be that I'm naturally shy and my parents were always fighting and I probably saw and heard more than a small child should. In my 40's I've learned not to be so moody. Dennis Prager helped with that. His Happiness Hour on Fridays is always a must listen for me. I keep digressing. I have been feeling like I don't know what to do with my life. I've been drifting. See, DH and I have had our own business for 25 years. I haven't had a "real" job (meaning corporate) for that long. I've made it up as I went, using the skills a 20 something had learned from Accounting I and working as a clerk in an insurance company. I learned to be good at customer service, (the customer is always.....?) I learned how to do craft services (we had a video company), I'm a real good go-fer, (I really resent that one, but who else would do it?) receptionist, (don't call me if you're a telemarketer!) dabbled in marketing, shipping clerk, and of course CFO. I was a boss once. I wasn't good at it. Not a good delegator. We closed the video-for-hire side of our business probably about 10 years ago and were left with our product line of instructional videos. About 5 years ago, that started to fail. This was also about the time that our children were ready to fly on their own. God is good! He sustained us for all those years, got us through raising 3 kids and then He said it's time for something new. Only we didn't listen right away. We kept slogging along until our lease on the building was up and we decided to move the business home. Now our offices are in the bedrooms our kids used to occupy. There's still an empty room which is becoming a catch all. It has been available for the rebounders, but I think they are finally done with that. The garage is packed with outdated video gear, and tape, remnants of a past life. DH never was that interested in the instructional video stuff we did. We did another couple of videos and then he decided that he needed to get a job. He now works for the company that we did the videos for. The videos are on their software product. He seems to like what he's doing most of the time. It's like production for him again. Me, I'm just dealing with the remnants of this company, shipping orders when they come in and getting depressed when they don't. My days have become less about business and more about wasting time. My thought process is why promote a business that doesn't put out new product? It's not evergreen. The stuff is getting old. We should just stop, but I haven't wanted to let go either. If I get a sale or two why stop? Probably dumb. I guess I like self flaggelation. It really would take the two of us getting our heads together and saying, "This is it. We're done. It's over." Oh, that makes me want to cry. I'm tearing up right now. So I've got to move on. I've been brooding about this for too long. It's time to move. One of the things I learned along the way is how to make a web site. I've been doing that since somewhere around 1994. Unfortunately, I really only know how to hand code stuff. That takes a long time, but I love it. I also know that I need to get up to speed on the newest ways to do stuff. I used to try WYSIWYG programs but they always messed up my shopping cart. I haven't tried one in years. Lately, I,ve been working on a site for R-Ranch, which we are members of. When they ask me to update the pictures it it tedious and painful. The guy who started the site used some template that I am unaware of and I got into it and figured out how to add a few pics. Last time there were 50 or more and I decided that there has got to be a better way. I know that I could learn from the internet or reading books, but I have tried and I'm not very diciplined. I always want to jump ahead. So I decided that I will go back to school. There's some more brooding attached to that. I'm old now. I know some stuff. Will I be wasting my time? Do I really need to get a degree? I'd like one but it's a big time investment. I need to get a job. I need to pay for my knitting habit. On and on and on.... Last week I had a dream about this that said I should sign up for 2 classes, one online and one on campus. So I did. It's only 4 units. Maybe I should sign up for more. The classes are filling up. On and on and on..... Nope, stick to the 2 and see how it goes. Then next semester you will be in and can get the times and classes you want. Ramp it up, girl. Dip your toe in the water and see if you like it. Big sigh. Ok. If anyone is actually reading this I hope you don't mind all the ranting. It's hard to let my underwear show, but I guess I need this. This blog was only supposed to be about knitting, but I need to let off a little steam now and then. I'd love to have a job where I knit all day, but that's not likely to happen. ;)

Finished!

2008-08-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

Today I finished the Oriel Lace Blouse! Whooo Hooo! I'm going to wear it to church tomorrow. It looks great if I say so myself!

I had it done except for the placket and buttons for several weeks. I even got the sleeves done and sewn in a couple of weeks ago. In fact, I was working on them when I lost my cat. He sat with me while I sewed them in. On 8/7 I had the back door open because it was so hot. I heard the dog chase him, but I thought he went upstairs. When I went to bed I noticed that he was missing, but he always shows up in the front yard, so I didn't worry. The next day he didn't show up and I got concerned. The dog looked so guilty when I asked him about the cat. After a few days I made up missing cat flyers and took them around the neighborhood. A few hours later I got a call from our neighbor 2 doors down and she said,"I've seen your cat. He's in Buellton." I said, "excuse me?" Buellton is 130 miles away from my house. Turns out he had gotten into the storage compartment of thier camper and rode all the way up there with them. He jumped out and scared them to death when they opened the door. They tried to get him back and he hung around for a couple of days, but wouldn't come to them. I called the animal shelter, but they haven't seen him. Every couple of days I check www.petharbor.com, but he doesn't show up. We went to Buellton the next weekend, but didn't find him. We left missing cat flyers around, but haven't heard anything yet. I really, really miss him.

Finished Another! Yesterday I had to take my mom to the doctor and the grocery store. It's warm out but when we go to the grocery store I always freeze. I was looking for something to wear and remembered that a couple of summers ago I made a sweater out of a heavy cotton yarn. I ran out before I made the sleeves so I wore it without them as a tank. Turns out the cotton was so hot I didn't wear it much after that. I did go back to the store to get more yarn and finished the sleeves but I never set them in. When I decided to wear it I found the sleeves and decided to sew them in. Yay! Another sweater done!

Front Back It's funny, now that I'm more experienced I noticed all the imperfections in it. It looks ok. It's a little loose, but that's perfect since I overdid it on the carbs this week. It was great for the frigid grocery store. And Yet Another! Today was the day for finishing. I finished my Coupling socks too! I had them done for a couple of days except for the bind off. I did the same bind off that I used for RPM. See the post below. I love them! I'd wear them tomorrow too, but they don't exactly go with the blouse. Oh well, I'll definitely wear them in Amsterdam.

We are going to Amsterdam in a couple of weeks. DH is working, but I'm going to hang out with the boss's wife. I'm looking forward to it. Hope I can find a yarn shoppe! Currently On The Needles The latest project is a wrap. I call it my Simple Sideways Wrap. I got the yarn last week at Unwind. They gave me a pattern for a wrap they have in the shop, but when I got home and cast on it wasn't what I remembered. I fooled around a little and came up with a pattern of my own. It is knit, left leaning decrease, knit, yo. I say "left leaning" because I knit combination and for me it's k2tog, but if you were to do that with western style knitting it looks different. So If you want it to look like mine you'd have to ssk. Or you can slant it the other direction. I think you'd start with the yo, but I haven't tried it myself yet. I started a cozy for my Zen with this pattern and the sock yarn from coupling. It's a yarn called "Maizy" and it is made from corn fiber. The only thing I don't like is that it was spun in Taiwan. Why did they have to do that? I believe that Crystal Palace Yarns is an American company. I guess it's cheaper, but is transporting the fiber back and forth worth the savings? I remember when things used to have a made in USA label on them. Now you don't see that much if at all. My next quest will be to find fiber that is manufactuered in the US.

Knit Knite Out

2008-08-22T09:55:00.001-07:00

Last night I went to socialize with other knitters at my LYS. Seems that most LYSs have knitting groups that meet on Thursday nights. I tried to connect with another group, but this one for some reason is comfortable. I also ended up buying a new skein. Oops, that wasn't on the agenda. $40 bucks, but I couldn't resist. I love the weight of this yarn. It is Laurel, 100% mercerized pima cotton from Schaefer Yarn. The colorway is Susan Sontag. It reminds me of the beach. The silver, light brown and white are so soothing. There was a shawl/wrap made from it in the store and it just hangs beautifly.

I cast(ed) on as soon as I got home and quickly discovered that the instructions don't seem to be the same as the wrap in the store. It has a wider rib than what the directions say. Since I couldn't sleep, I fooled around a bit and I think I've got it now. I want to go back and look at the original just to be sure. Also since I knit combination style, I decided that I don't need to k2tog by flipping the stitches around. I did that for like 10 rows which slowed me down and looks kind of crappy. It doesn't matter which direction my rib goes! It's a shawl and it's mine, all mine! ;)

Happy Socks!

2008-07-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my RPM socks last night. They are from Knitty.com Summer 2006. I made some adjustments to the pattern. First of all I made them toe up, two at a time on two circular needles. Then I made them much longer than the pattern. They fit pretty good, but when I went to bind off it was too tight. I originally did the sewn bind off, but it was too tight. So I did some searching and came up with the Russian bind-off. You can view the info here: http://wendyknits.net/archives/1152 This bind off came out much stretchier.

I forgot to mention that I also worked the design opposite on each sock. I thought I might look fun and interesting that way. They are made from Knit Picks Felici, colorway Pebble.

Brown, Brown, Everything Is Brown... During the winter I decided that I needed some brown socks to go with my brown slacks. Now I've got 3 pairs and I'm bored with brown! Not exactly a summer color. Think I'll go buy me some new sock yarn. And while I'm at it I need some yarn for the trim on my Origami purse from Folk Bags. I'm not showing you 'till it's done, but it's made from Noro Silk Garden. It seems a little thick, but we'll talk about that later.

Another Fine Mess

2008-04-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

Alp Premier is a beautiful yarn I found in San Antonio a few months ago. I couldn't resist the yumminess. It was approx $30.00 a skein. Since I had nothing better to do while DH was at work, (yep, he works there, we live here...) I bought it. It sat in the stash for a month or so while I finished MIL's socks for Christmas. Lately I saw it made up into a shawl at my LYS. Silly me, I thought I could get away with only 1 skein. I have already knit this poor yarn 3 times. 1st time was Cat Bordhi’s Mobius cowl scarf. It looked more like a clown collar. No pics, please. Then I tried to knit a shawl, but the needles were too small. I think they were 11s. So I tried again on 13s, my largest. Ummm… It’s way too small. I noticed that one person who made a shawl out of it on Ravelry used two skeins. I’m not willing to go for another skein. The next reincarnation will be a plain straight longways scarf. I better like it this time. What possessed me to buy it in this colorway anyway? I know it must have been the brilliantly colored ribbon yarn. As I’m knitting it I think of Masquerade. My kids did the song in High School show choir and I sewed all the costumes in brightly colored lame. It was beautiful. Well, at least I thought so. ;)

Ambrosia

2008-02-28T21:46:00.000-08:00

I just finished my Ambrosia Socks. This is a beautiful sock pattern, carefully designed and documented. I knit them in Knit Picks Gloss in Cocoa which is very soft. The stitches are well defined and make a wonderful sock. Too bad I don't follow directions very well... I ripped them down about 3 times, so I should have been done a month ago. The first time I wasn't happy with my short row heels. They had holes at the turn, so I used a different method that I had used on my MIL's socks. Everyone seems to have a different way to turn the heel. I think I like this one best.

The butterfly rib pattern is so easy, I didn't think I needed to look at the directions after the first repeat. Just knit, and knit, and knit - Oops! I realized that I had not added the 4 additional stitches as I started the pattern up the leg, and I knew it wasn't right, but I kept going... Finally I looked at the pattern. Since I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I do like the knitting, I frogged down to where the pattern starts. Then, I kept knitting and knitting, thinking I must be almost done when, wa la, I looked a the pattern again, and I was supposed to move up a needle size 4 pattern repeats down. Again I frogged. Moral of the story, read the directions all the way through and pay attention! Anyway, I'm happy with them now. They are so comfortable and I love the pattern's detail. On to the next pair...

What Brought Me Back

2008-01-31T16:21:00.000-08:00

This is the project that started it all. It was approximately 4 years ago. The woman who lead our bible study wanted to have it at her mom's yarn shop one night. I was immediately taken in by the small store in Pasadena, CA. I wish this store had a website. The name is Elegance Designer Yarns on Green St. You can Google it for the address. It was so artfully arranged. There was a comfy couch in the bay window, antique hutches and side boards with yarn spilling off the shelves in a riot of colors. I think I was taken back to when I first started knitting at about 8 or 9. I didn't stick with it then. The sticks were awkward and I couldn't keep my tension straight. If only I'd learned continental first. I think I only tried to knit a scarf at first and I quickly became bored. Besides, the yarn was something on the order of a Red Heart yarn. (Not that there's anything wrong with that... Seinfeld) Just not very comfortable to work with. At any rate, I heard that there was a workshop the next Saturday, so I signed up for it. Barry Klein from Trendsetter was teaching a pattern for an afghan. I think it is called Anniversary Plaid. It ended up not being a knitting project, but a crocheted one. That was fine with me because at that time I was more comfortable with crochet. Since my SIL was pregnant, I decided this would be the perfect project. It took a while, and after I had a few color changes I decided that I didn't like my choice of yarn. I hopped on down to my favorite LYS, Unwind, and there bought the yummy yarn for the blanket.

Drinkin' And Knittin'

2008-01-29T01:47:00.000-08:00

Remember how I thought it looked so much better after I changed all the purls to knits?

Well, I wasn’t happy with that either so I frogged the panel down to where you start adding stitches again and really worked on replacing them with the pattern. The stitches look all wonky now because I used a size 0 needle to redo them and I just found two dropped stitches. Ya know, it ain’t easy to repair dropped stitches in lace. They are probably about, oh, 20 rows or so down. They aren’t even in the place I repaired. I’m thinking that was the other night when we had wine with dinner. Caution, don’t drink and knit lace!!!

I’m about ready to tear my hair out with this! I got to thinking that I probably increased the body the same way I tried to do the sleeves. Maybe I can just make a couple of wine cozies out of them...

A Few Finished Objects

2008-01-21T22:07:00.000-08:00

Embossed Leaves Socks from Interweave Knits, Winter 2005

Hedera by Cookie A. These were done a while back, probably 2 years ago now. I've just had the pictures lurking on my computer. I'll post some more later. I've got lots more.....

2008-01-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

I was wondering how others work on their blogs. Mine seems to go in fits and starts. Sometimes I have the words and no pictures, and other times I don't know what to say. At the moment I'm blown away. I went looking for inspiration at Grumperina's blog and this is what I found. She's married! Woah. That is so cool. I haven't checked in on her blog for a while and, well, I never suspected. Anyway, congrats! I took some pics of the repair I'm doing to the sleeves of the lace blouse.

Before and After

I think it looks better after. I wouldn't be comfortable with the pattern interrupted under my armpits. Just a little distracting, I think. I ended up just knitting all the way. There didn't seem to be room for the purls to show up except to continue up the center of the pattern. Ahh, now that the holiday rush is over I can concentrate on getting my own stuff done again. Mmmmm, more socks perhaps? I got this yummy yarn just before the holidays and I can't wait to start something.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

I know it doesn't look like I've done much lately, but believe me, I have. Christmas was super busy knitting socks for MIL, a scarf for my mom (on Christmas Day!) I finished the sweater for my SIL. Really it had been done since July, but I never bought the buttons. So I was sewing those on the week before Christmas.

Since Christmas I have almost finished another scarf. Nothing too fancy. I had the yarn left over from the "Homeless Scarf Project" that our church did this year. The yarn is Lion Brand Homespun. I have mostly shunned the fiber available at stores like Michael's but I am discovering that even Lion Brand is producing some nice product. Homespun is all poly/acrylic, but very soft. Unfortunately it ravels a lot. I made tassels for my mom's scarf and it is now getting fiber all over her. Oops. I don't think she minds. She was telling my MIL that she wanted me to knit her something. This was while I was in the kitchen hiding away trying to finish her scarf! I was late on this project because I started MIL's socks 2 weeks before Christmas and there was more knitting than I thought. They were actually a full size sock, but the picture has the cuff rolled. I thought the cuff was just decorative. I hope they are not itchy. I made them from a Lana Grossa sock yarn that I found in Texas. It seemed soft when I bought it, but after working with it for a while it felt somewhat itchy. I also made them rather large because she complained that she can't find socks that fit her. Well, I hope these do. I haven't heard anything about them yet. I'm sure I will. I have also gone back to my Oriel Lace Blouse. I'm working on the sleeves and am almost to the sleeve cap. There's something I want to change though. The place where you add on stitches I have used purl stitches and it looks funky to me. So I think I am going to switch all these stitches to what the pattern should be other than increases and decreases. Knits for the knit rows and purls for the purl rows. Hopefully it will blend a little better then. I got a new camera for Christmas. Now I just got to upload the pics! Pictures uploaded 1/6/08

California Wild Fires

2007-10-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

In the aftermath of the California wild fires...

Scrappin the Night (and day) Away...

2007-10-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things I've been working on lately. I went to a crop night at my LSS and got quite a bit done. This was at our choir workshop earlier this year with the Gary Bonner Singers. The workshop was in Arroyo Grande. The layout was done probably a couple of years ago, but I hadn't filled in in yet. I came across these pictures in my box 'o pictures from the kids high school years. I've got tons of them. Way more than I can put in a scrapbook. This is from 1999. The choir was singing Africa by Toto. The costumes were made by a Hollywood costume designer.

This is what I worked on today. The pictures are from my daughter's solo performance in the BHS Pop Show 1999. She performed "He's a Tramp" from Lady and the Tramp. The pictures were scanned so that I could do a digital layout. I love the background. I'm a little slow at digi, but I'm getting it. The background is Bittersweet from Dahlia Co Designs.

This one is my testimony. It's my first digital layout. I did it for the FaithSisters challenge last week. Unfortunately I couldn't get it in on time. Credits to Krystal Hartley's FaithFreebie embelishments, embelishments from Linda Holt's Persian Rug kit available on polkadotpotato.com, background by Cheryl Olson.

Journaling: I don’t remember a time that I didn’t know the Lord. As a small child I remember praying to Him, asking for favors, making vows. When my Barbie doll’s leg got broken I asked Him to heal it. I anxiously awaited the next morning when I would wake up and her leg would be miraculously healed. He said no.When I heard my parents fighting in the next room I vowed I would never do that to my children. It was painful to listen to and He heard my cry. He provided me with a wonderful husband who loves me as I love him. We have been together since 11th grade and married 26 years. I have always felt that God led me to him. I feel pretty lucky and grateful for His hand in our lives. He is my rock who I lean on in the tough times as well as the good. Sometimes I see His sense of humor and I laugh with Him. I marvel at the beauty of his creation and the sky paintings He sends me every morning.I haven’t always walked so closely with Him, but he uses life circumstances to bring me back to Him. I’m hanging on to Him for dear life. Psalm 107:10-15 (NIV) 10 Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, 11 for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. 12 So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. 13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. 15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.

IN OTHER KNITTING NEWS The sleeves for the Oriel Lace Blouse are coming along. I haven't got any pictures of them yet. They are about in the same place as before I frogged. Umm. Not quite. I haven't gotten that far, but close. I finished the scarf for the church ministry. I'll start another one. Maybe even as soon as I get off the computer. The orange light isn't a golden sunset glow. It is the light filtering in from the smoke of the California fires. Today it is almost clear again. I took that picture a couple of days ago. It even rained (if you can call it that) a little today. It would be nice if it just poured for a little while. Well, I need to clean up my scrapbook mess, knit a little and off to bed. I've got an early day at church tomorrow. Singing on the worship team. Yeah!

Some Crafty Ladies

2007-10-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

I just joined a great web site called Faith Sisters. They are into scrapbooking and like to scrapbook their spiritual journey. There's lots of inspiration to be found there. One of the founding members of the site is a friend of mine that used to live here. :( She's very talented in all things Kreative. Another member used to live here too. Now she's far north of me, but sometimes comes to visit.

Last night was scrapbook night at my church. So far I'm fairly lame at my pages, but I hope to get more creative. I just have to figure out how to shoot good pictures so that you can actually see what they're supposed to be. I should know Photoshop pretty well by now with the help of these DVDs. It's always a good idea to take good pictures in the first place. I seem to always have lighting issues.

Knitting Notes:

I finally downloaded some of the pictures I took of the Oriel Lace Blouse. Here's how it looks so far.

Here's the front, a shot of the back, and a close up of the pattern.

It even looks good without sleeves. I am going to finish the sleeves though. I ripped them back to row 16 and now am almost half way to where I was before.

In the mean time I have been knitting a simple scarf for my church's outreach. They want to give scarves, hats and gloves away for Christmas. My first scarf is a 2x2 rib made with Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky. It's almost 3/4 of the way done. I don't have pictures of it yet, but I'll post when I do. I did my first Russian join on this scarf. I think it came out ok. You can't really see it; well I can. I don't think anyone else will though.

The yarn is leftovers from a Christmas project I started in February while my mom was in the hospital. I only need to sew it up. I'll post pictures after Christmas just in case.... ;)

Tomorrow Never Comes...

2007-10-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

Boy, I must have been tired. Seems like I had a Rip Van Winkle moment. I never posted the picture of the baby pants,

aren't they cute?!?

I never came back and told you about my Oriel Lace Blouse.

Damnit, Jim, I'm a knitter not a blogger!

Just kidding. I apologize. Can't say I won't do it again. I am a SHE and time just seems to get away from me. Even now I should be working, but here I am trying to catch up with my blog because it has been weighing heavily on my mind since I discovered that I just wasted a whole bunch of time on the sleeves of my blouse. I was thinking this morning as I finished up the last two rows that I might just get this done in time to wear when I go to Texas next time, the home of this beautiful silk yarn. We'll see if that actually happens now. :( I read the instructions wrong. They say"Work center 61 sts according to Oriel chart, working the next 54 rows..." There is no period there after 54 rows. AAAAHHHHHHHH! I worked to 54 rows and guess what the rest of the sentence says? "...changing needle sized as foll: 16 rows with size 7, 16 rows with size 6, 14 rows with size 5, and 8 rows with size 3, ending with chart Row 26. A frogging I will go... 38 rows worth x 2!!!! (I'm working both sleeves at one time in the round. A thrill seeker, I know.)

This really sucks, but I love knitting so much I don't really mind. My DH thinks I'm nuts. I was so mad that I wanted to fix it right then, but alas, I have to get some actual work done. What really makes me mad is that I started with the sleeves and decided I didn't like they way they were coming out, but it gave me a chance to get used to the yarn and get a swatch going. The sleeves are the hardest part of this project and I think I might rewrite the instructions or put a big flag on them saying "beware" if I ever try this again. All in all it is coming along beautifully. I can't wait to get it done. But in the meantime I have to finish a Christmas present and make some scarves for my church's outreach.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

2007-09-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

It's about time I got back to my blog. I've been remiss about posting, but I have been knitting. More about that in due time... Last week my sweetie and I took a trip to Northern New York via the Finger Lakes and Niagara Falls. We did some wine tasting in the Finger Lakes wine country. (Didn't know they had a wine country in New York.) I have to say we are spoiled Californians. We didn't like the reds they offered at all. They all seemed a little thin to our taste, some were even medicinal. We like the bold and fruity wines, specifically Old Vine Zinfandel. No Zin in New York. The white wines were very nice, in fact we brought home some Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay. So back to the knitting. (Isn't that the point?!?) Of course I needed an airplane project. Conveniently enough my friend was having a baby shower a couple of days after I was coming home, so I thought, aha! A baby project! A quick look at my email and behold! My favorite LYS owner, Stephanie, had created a pattern for baby booties called "Angel Feet." They are made with Lorna's Laces "Angel." I rushed down to the store and picked up the pattern and some yummy Angel yarn in the Camouflage color. I couldn't leave well enough alone though. The booties would knit up quick and I felt like I needed more of a gift than that. I found the last skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in the color Envy. I bought it not knowing exactly what I would make with it. It's only 200 yards, so I couldn't exactly make a sweater even for baby. Maybe a vest or hat. Possibly a bib or wash cloth. I did a quick web search and up came the cutest baby cargo pants you ever saw on Bella Knitting. They only take 200 yards, so I printed up the pattern and packed it in my knitting bag. I'll bet you're wondering why I chose Camoflauge and Envy. You're not? Well I'll tell you anyway. The theme for the baby shower was Safari. There, you see? I think it worked. Her colors were green, brown & blue. I don't remember choosing colors for my baby shower when I had kids... Oh yeah, we didn't have a nursery. But I digress. LA to Cincinnati

As we waited to board the plane at LAX, I quickly cast on and for the booties. Sooo soft. This is the cuff.

and this is the first bootie...

By the time we landed in Cincinnati, I had two. So cute!

I need more practice with the picture taking. Forgive the bad lighting.

Syracuse to Niagara Falls via the Finger Lakes

The first night we spent at the Waterloo Holiday Inn near Seneca Falls. By the time we got there I had cast on the baby pants. Since it was dark I gave it a rest until morning.

The next day we got into our little PT Cruiser rental and cruised near Cayuga Lake. We had lunch at Knapp Winery. We immediately noticed how quiet it was. We are used to the roar of the city. You don't notice so much until you go to a very quiet place. Then your ears ring with the quiet and your body just relaxes and says, "aaahhhh."

We stopped at Goose Watch Winery, Cayuga Ridge Estate Winery and Hosmer Winery. Cayuga Ridge was in this old barn, and the young guy serving was playing Pink Floyd Meddle when we walked in. They had these great wine carrier purses. I wish I got one. They were round, just the size of a wine bottle and covered in fabric. I've never seen them before, but they could hold knitting needles when you're not using them for wine.

Ha! I found a picture here http://www.initialpresents.com/silkwinecarrier.html. Same price too. I might just have to order one. ;)

Niagara Falls

This is the scene from our window at the Embassy Suites Niagara Falls. You can't see this view from the American side so we spent the night in Canada. The baby pants are coming along. I couldn't get enough pictures of the falls, so here's another:

I've actually got some outdoor shots, but they're on the other camera which is currently in Amsterdam with DH. He flew directly from our vacation there for business.

We took the Maid of the Mist boat ride into the falls. It's pouring down so hard that you can't even open your eyes. Needless to say, I got soaked in spite of the plastic poncho.

From Niagara we had the Very. Long. Drive. in Friday evening traffic to Alexandria Bay in Northern New York. Did I mind? Not one Knit!

This is the whole point of the trip, the Alex Bay Blues Festival. Our friend who is also in DH's band was the MC. He comes from Watertown, NY. He spent summers in Alexandria Bay and the 1000 Islands. It's such a small town. Everyone knows everyone else. The locals wondered why we would come from California to Alex Bay. The weather of course! Apparently it got to about 113 over Labor Day in the SF Valley! Egads! We were very comfortable in 76 - 78 degree beautiful weather.

We had a great time at the Blues Festival. Music is everywhere in the small village. There is a main stage by the dock, and bands that aren't currently playing there are at one of the bars or restaurants. Kal David & the Real Deal featuring Lauri Bono were the headliner on Sunday. We were lucky enough to have dinner with them and our friend, Steve. What nice people.

On Monday the owner of Cavallario's Steakhouse got us a ride in his cousin's boat. We cruised around some of the 1000 Islands. We've got some great pictures on the other camera...

By the way, Cavallario's has the most delicious food if you're in the area.

My reading for the trip was Debbie Macomber's Between Friends.

This is getting really long and I'm tired, so I'll save the rest for tomorrow.

Summer Knittin' & I'm Havin' a Blast

2007-08-04T00:37:00.000-07:00

I couldn't wait to finish the socks so I could get started on this:

Kind of hard to tell yet, but it is the Oriel Lace Blouse from Interweave Knits Summer '07. I'm modifying again. This time I am knitting the body in one piece in the round.

I started a sleeve and wasn't happy with the way it looked. I think it was because I was having trouble getting used to the fiber. It is 100% Silk Tussah from TexScape Fibers. It is another yarn from Rosewood in Boerne (pronounced Bernie) Texas. The colorway was so beautiful, I couldn't resist, and the price was right too. Just $15.00 a skein. I figured 3 skeins will do it - 500 yd/skein.

Anyway, the fiber is a bit uneven. Some parts are very thin, and others are kind of fat and fuzzy. Almost like it wasn't spun evenly. It looks pretty in pattern this so far. I wasn't happy with the sleeve because there are many needle changes starting with a large needle at the wrist to create a bell shape. I love the idea, and I think it will look beautiful once I have worked with the pattern a while.

July Sockfest

2007-07-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

Here's what I've been working on this summer. Baudelaire socks for my SIL. I modified the heel with short rows. I don't really like gussets.

Here's another pair I knit with some yarn I found in Boerne, TX.

Not quite finished in this photo, but they are now! This picture made me think about making toeless socks - Sandal Socks! Hmm.....

This is a top down pair from Interweave Knits Winter '05, Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt.

Again modified with the short row heels. Did I mention I don't like gussets?

Here's a closeup of the pattern.

This superwash wool was from Rosewood Yarns. I discovered this cute shop while I was exploring Boerne when DH was working in San Antonio in June. It's really yummy. I might have to get some for myself the next time I'm in TX. That may be fairly often since DH will be going there every other week or so.

I made these socks a couple of years ago in Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK. My SIL was admiring them then, so they seemed like the perfect birthday gift. Happy Birthday Lori!