Bill's Hat Update

Well, Bill just loves his hat. It fits, it's soft, warm. DESTROYED! Yup, Max was at it again. Bill got to wear the hat for 4 days. I was so furious, I couldn't look at the mess.

Bella's sweater is completed, it fits her well. She is just adorable in it. )Pictures to come at a later date. I love to visit Trish, the time flies so fast, no pictures were taken.

I haven't posted in awhile. Bad, bad, bad. So much going on for Christmas, not to mention the little ailments I've had. It sure has been stormy lately. Snow, snow, rain, ice, rain, ice, you get the picture. The driveway is like a skating pond. Smooth, shiney and slippery. Had to put sand down today to get to the vehicles.

Max had a blast with the wrapping paper. He helped open all the gifts and then started pulling the paper off ones we hadn't touched yet. If only he would help with the shopping.

I hooked dad up to an internet phone today. It is pretty cool, though we shut the ringer off on that phone. It kept ringing every 2 minutes but no one was there. At least he can make long distance calls for free now.

Christmas decorations

Christmas is fast approaching. The only decoration out is this tiny little tree on an end table.

Forgive the sideways shot, just pretend you're stretching your shoulders. lol

Bill's hat

Bill asked for a new hat. Any color as long as it's black!

Found some wool in the stash, Nature Spun. The label says worsted, but it seems rather thin.

Thought I'd try this Magic Loop technique some rave about. It's okay, still prefer two circulars though.

Bella's sweater is coming along. Turns out she was longer than I thought.

Just have to sew the seam and weave in a few loose ends.

Bella needs a sweater

Bella assists with knitting. As you can see, she has her own techniques when it comes to winding balls of yarn.

She also needs a new sweater. The little tyke outgrew her first sweater. She is all of four pounds now and just as loving as ever.

Her mom, Trish, chose Mauch Chunky for an Aran type sweater.

The first pattern I chose, turned out to be knitted flat, then a bottom panel picked up and just very oddly written, so it got abandoned.

The second pattern is working a bit better.

It is one of those patterns that requires a bit of attention. The yarn is quite nice, it would be good for felting tool.

Buster is quite disgusted by the whole process,

just can't understand what all the fuss is about.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving Eve and I'm cooking up a storm. Just finished the Rutabagas. Bill likes them mashed with brown sugar, milk, and butter. Bill has to cut them up, my hands won't take it.

If you know what a rutabaga looks like, you wonder who EVER thought of cooking and eating these things. They are like wooden bowling balls.

Two pumpkin pies are cooling on the counter, Bill likes one for tonight and one for tomorrow. I actually am not fond of pie crusts, just the filling.

I like Thanksgiving, just wish we had a larger family.

Black Cable Mittens

Bought a new black pea coat and of course, it needs mittens. Cast on last night and finished one mitten. Even though I used a size 5 needle with worsted weight yarn, the mitten was still too wide, so I decreased about 5 stitches.

The yarn is really black though it shows up gray in the photo.

Tylers sweater

I finished a sweater for my nephew, Tyler, for Christmas. It's a cute knit, fast but interesting. Need some fun buttons for the placket. The color isn't really as gold as it shows in the picture, more a toast color.

I used some old stash yarn for it.

Tonight, I decided a nice little hat to match would be nice, so I cast on for that. I'm using the two circulars method to knit in the round.

Max thought the dangling ends of the needles were fun so he got a Kong full of peanut butter.

Snow Bear

Would someone tell this bear to hibernate already? This is what he did to the feeder, when do they go to sleep?

Max thought the snow was great. Wish I had his enery. Sorry for the bad pictures, forgot the flash. The camera will only flash if you put the flash up

CABLE MISTAKE

Argh, I'm merrily knitting along and realize a cable is crossed wrong. Rasum, frasum.

Tore back to the spot and very slowly reknit. Fun, fun, fun.

Patons wool

As promised here is a blurry picture of the yarn for Cassidy. Haven't done too much knitting on it this week, just coughing and coughing.

It is Patons Classic wool in natural mix.

The alpaca shawl is done. Got half of it cast off during lunch. It's not blocked yet. The odd thing is I thought the shawl was knitted from the top down.

After casting off, the left side was actually what was being cast off. If you look closely, I placed a small loop on the upper left side to show which was the cast off edge. Weird.

NEW KNITTER

I've been teaching a co-worker, Koriann, to knit. She was twisting the stitches by wrapping the wrong direction, but we worked that out. Last night, her Great Dane puppy grabbed her knitting off the nightstand, shredded it and broke the cable. I felt so bad for her, but she persevered and started again with gusto. Yee haa, welcome another knitter to the world.

LIGHTING

Since we moved into this house, I've hated the chandelier over the table. The kitchen has a cathedral ceiling so the chandelier hangs from the main beam which runs across the room.
This week, we got a brushed nickle track type light to replace the ugly chandelier. I angled one light onto the fireplace, which one wouldn't notice before, so dark,; another light onto the table and another one towards the other end of the room onto the spider plant.
Hooked up all those wires, flicked the switch and ta da, we were blinded by the light! It literally was like being on stage in flood lights, now we need a dimmer switch. One thing leads to another!

Bella

T'his sweet little girl is Bella. All four pounds of her. Her parents are my friends, Trish and Les. I just love her.

Cassidy cables, buck

Got myself confused on the cables. One of the charts runs over 6 rows, the other three charts run over 4 rows. Now I have 2 counters on the needles.

This guy was wandering around the back yard today, checking out the ladies. We border a hunting club, don't know how long he will be around. The back yard is fun, like a bit of a wildlife preserve.

Well, I cast on. Love the yarn, have to get a picture of it. The ribbing is kind of cool, it extends all the way up the sweater. It immediately has waist shaping included , which I like, it could be left out if one doesn't care for it.

Of course Max had to try and steal the yarn, pulled about twenty stitches off the needles. Thank goodness it wasn't on a cable row.

The pattern is pretty easy, had to enlarge a copy of the charts, the eyes aren't what they once were. Reading glasses? umm, had Lasik done 2 years ago and dread putting any type of glasses back on. When I can't see the stitches any more I may give in.

Cassidy

The alpaca shawl is coming along, can't wait to wear it, so soft. Got alot of knitting done at the hospital last night. Hubby had an asthma attack, the second time in two weeks.

Have this awful cold, thank you to whomever shared it. The tickle in the throat is making me cough which is the worst. I'm going to lick it quickly, do you hear me germs??

Next on the list is Cassidy, by Rose Marie Burns. http://www.chicknits.com/catalog/cassidy.html

Cables, cables, and more cables. Love 'em. Not too bulky either. Found some Paton's Merino in the stash calling out to me.

Swatched last night and got gauge, amazing. Of course, I always go down one needle size; I am a loose knitter. Don't spread it around though!

Alpaca Shawl

Got this gorgeous alpaca yarn at Rhinebeck. It is soooo soft.

It wants to be a shawl. With the blend of colors the pattern had to be simple but not just plain stockinette or garter. This is what I came up with

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/60301.html?noImages=0


The alpaca is much finer so I'm adding repeats. I want this shawl to be large and snuggly.

Funny how lacey knitting looks like a blob until it's blocked.

The tale of the Central Park Hoodie

Oh, the coveted Central Park Hoodie.

I waited with baited breath until the pattern was upsized. Finally, it occured.


October 2007, Found the perfect yarn at Rhinebeck, a steel blue-gray wool. Oh so cushy.

I cast on, the gods were smiling upon me. 98% of the way through the back, stragedy struck; the lab puppy snapped the bamboo needle in half. I MUST have another needle! NO????? no.

Ordered another one through my friend, Patty, who gave it to my friend, Trish, who delivered it to me. Love my friends; always there when you need them.



I continued on, new needle at the ready. Put short rows in the upper back, short rowed the girls, lengthened it a bit. LOVE IT. It fits.

Now the second tragedy struck; Trish recently block her shawl and put it in the washer just to spin. I thought, "Good idea". Wellllll, I have a front loader washer, it sounds like a jet engine, and boy did it do a job on my sweater. It FELTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cried. SIGH



I tugged and pulled and yanked on that sucker to no avail. It was above my belly button. I learned my lesson. My friend, Patty, now has a new sweater. Did I mention it is a Central Park Hoodie, felted, and in steel-blue gray?