Just a small break...

But it's for a great reason! My brother Nick and his wife are coming to my house tomorrow! This will be the first time I have seen my brother in over a year. I can't wait to see his face! Thursday we are going to got to Wekiva Springs Park and see if we can see some manatees, Friday we are going to MGM and Epcot, and Saturday Nick and Emily are going to the Space Center. After that, they are going to go on a cruise. I doubt very seriously that I will have time to knit or blog while they are here. I want to soak up every minute with them. I have Monday's Show N Tell all lined up and I will have Twist pictures for you on Tuesday. I hope that you all have a great week. Before I go I'll leave you with some patterns I found. Enjoy...

Knit
Lana Grosa Silk Cardigan and Top
Lana Grosa Tre Sweater
Lana Grosa Multicot, Riso Print and Elastico Sweater
Lana Grosa Twin and Tre Sweater
Lana Grosa India Sweater
Lana Grossa Brillo Top
Lana Grosa Brillo and Silk Top
Lana Grosa Favola and Fumo Sweater
Lana Grosa Dasolo and Tender Cardigan
Lana Grosa Trefilo Cardigan
Lana Grossa Fumo Sweater
Lana Grosa Colore and Dasolo Sweater
Lana Grosa Pep Cardigan
Lana Grosa Opaco Cardigan

Crochet

Julie Holetz's Baby It's Cold Outside
Coats and Clark Flirty Top
Coats and Clark Textured Top
Hip To Crochet's Timeless Tank
DMC Fan Stitch Top
Wool Ease Long Vest
Coats and Clark Summer Breeze Sweater
Lion Brand's Crochet Plush Boa


PS. Happy Birthday Jenn, Jo, and Diane!!!!!

Nice Weekend

Even though I had to work on Saturday, I still had a pretty good weekend. Saturday was Rob's birthday and we went out to celebrate at a little pub near our home after a great dinner at TGIF. We were joined by several of Rob's buddies from flight school and one of Rob's students, and we all had an absolute blast. Rob had also gone out with the the night before, so I got to listen to some pretty funny stories in regards to my husband's behavior the night before.

We got home pretty late, and we were able to sleep in the next morning. Amazingly my husband and I were able to be in the SAME bed in the morning TOGETHER without an alarm clock blaring and one of us grumbling towards the bathroom. It was heaven. We got up very late and Rob made some of his famous homemade waffles. After that we just lazed around the house and cuddled on the couch for most of the day. Well we did do a little cleaning in between. Boy did the living room need it! Our reward was a scrumptious Millionare Brownie. There out to be a law against something beignt hat good!

My grandmommy's scarf yarn came in the mail on Saturday. Talk about super fast shipping. I could not believe that hit got here so fast. It came way sooner than I thought it would. Both sides of twist are done and waiting to be seemed together. I made a couple adjustments to the pattern so that the straps will be wider. I think this is probably the most adjustments I have ever made to a pattern before, and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. The true test will come once I have sewed her up and tried her on. Woohooo I'm getting excited.

Show N Tell: Dale's Entry

   
Click To Enlarge Images
I made this bag from Noro Blossom yarn, the lining is from a shirt I dug out of the bagful that dd18 cleaned out of her closet recently.The pattern is from the book Simply Noro by Jane Ellison and is called Hemp - a blossom bag. I made the bag a bit smaller than the pattern which called for five skeins of Blossom. I only had 4, so I made it 80% of the size called for. The finished size was great, I think full sized would have been too large. I sewed a snap in for closure. I used an I-Cord for the handle but on the next one I will include a strand of the same stuff used to strengthen sock heels to discourage stretching even more. I love the colors in the yarn. It wasn't my intention initially, but based on the fabric produced, I did felt it slightly. It needed a little more body.

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter Everyone!!! I wanted to share a cute little Easter Funny that someone sent me in an email. I don't know where they found it, but every time I look at it I start laughing. I bet it will crack you up too. Click Here

Friday Already!?

Holy Cow this week went by like a flash of lightning! I can't get over how time flies. It is kind of scary actually. What if I blink and turn 80? Yikes! My friend Janette emailed me to let me know that my book has arrived! I guess you know where I'm headed this morning, and I'll be arriving with yarn and needles. I'm guessing the pattern will call for either size 2 or 3's so I'll just bring 2-4 to be on the safe side. Poor Twist is lavishing across my knitting basket screaming for her straps and I'm itching to start this new project. The silk is calling to me! Hopefully poor twist will have her straps this weekend so that I can focus all my attention on the yummy goodness that is Peruvian Baby Silk!

Now for some blog updates...

I have yet to fix the broken links on the Poncho list. Why did Lionbrand and Berroco move their stuff around. Don't they know I'm busy! I also haven't completed very much of my inventory. This project has not been forgotten. I think I'll make a goal to create one inventory entry a day including a picture of the yarn. I will make a main page that either has a list of the yarn inventoried or a thumbnail. I haven't decided which. Show N' Tell is still going strong. I just had another entry emailed to me today. I get so excited every time I get a new submission. I really like Show N Tell, and I see that you do as well since 100% voted yes. I will keep this going until I stop receiving entries which I hope will be never.

That's it for today. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a very Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. I plan on biting the ears off at least one chocolate bunny! Yummmm!

Yarnin'

Up until a couple of days ago  my grandmommy had been out of town. We got to have one of our Girls' Days on Tuesday, and we had a blast. We started the outing by making a trip to Panera Bread where we promptly pigged out! I had my favorite Turkey and Artichoke sandwich and a Cheese Danish! I have promised not to reveal her consumptions. I'll save that for blackmail later. Muhahaha!

After we ate, we waddled out of Panera Bread and headed out to go "Yarnin" (that's what we call yarn shopping) at two of the local yarn shops. As you may know, Grandmommy does not know how to knit, but throughly enjoys and appreciates the scarves that I make for her. Especially the ones of the non neon variety. Haha! She loves to go "yarnin" with me to find inspiration for her next scarf. This time we were actually on a mission for a specific yarn. Remember this scarf? She loves that scarf, and as you can see from this picture so does her friend Terry. He loves it so much that he wants one of his own, so we went to Sip & Knit (love the place!!!) hoping that they would still have some. They did...

Click To Enlarge


I am planning on casting on twice as many stitches for this one, so we bought twice as much yarn. We also bought some fun beads to use on the fringes of future scarves. We picked these because they pick up the color of whatever scarf you use them on. Pretty nice don't you think. While looking around she fell in love with one of the sample scarfs knit in Berroco Crystal FX. Unfortunately they were out of the beautiful Titanium color she fell in love with so our quest continued.

We left Sip & Knit and headed over to Knit! a yarn shop that opened up a couple of months ago in Longwood. That is where I bought my yummy Berroco Cotton Twist. Alas, Marnie didn't have Crystal FX, but the trip was still worth it. She let me look through her yarn sample books which was too much fun! I was able to see and feel all the yarns that Berroco offers which was a little too much temptation for me! Can you believe I walked out of there empty handed even though Marnie said she would order any yarn I wanted for no extra charge!? I thanked her profusely and told her that I would definitely take her up on that once I have finished a few projects. Ugh that was hard.

Finally we went to the mall in search of the perfect birthday card for Rob at Hallmark, and you know the rest of that story haha! You'll be happy to know we did not end up fruitless in our search for the elusive Crystal FX Titanium. When all else fails there is always the ever useful internet. Within minutes I acquired a ball on Ebay, and it should be here in a couple of days. I think it is safe to say we had a very successful day of yarnin' ;)

I Blew It!

The gig is up. Today I was hanging out with my grandma and I ended up blowing the surprise I have been working on for her. We were in Hallmark looking for a birthday card for Rob and I noticed that they had magic scarves. She was over at the rack checking them out while I was paying for my cards. I walked over, asked if she liked them, and she replied, "No. They aren't for me". Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Well I didn't actually scream, on the outside. I said, "Oh no! That is what I have been making for you!" She says, "Not in that color I hope." I reassured her that it wasn't blinding neon like the scarves in the store but a nice subtle black. I brought it out to her when she dropped me off at my apartment, but before I went up to get it I told her not to worry about hurting my feelings. I would just rip it out and make it into something else if she didn't like it. When I brought it down, her face lit up. "What a difference color makes," she said and I breathed a sigh of relief. It's not like the scarf was a lot of work,(The thing could be knit in one evening)I just like knitting for her. It makes me feel good to make her smile.

Had to do it!

I saw this on Mason Dixon Knitting and Passion Knit, and I just had to do it. This is too cute! Oh wait, I want to do  my name too!

How adorable is that!! Go try it yourself here.

Good Question

I usually answer questions that are asked in the comments section in the comment section, or if I am emailed a question I just reply to the individual. But the other day I thought to myself, there are probably other people that would like to hear the answers too. So I decided to answer some of them in my entries. This also benefits me, because it gives me something to blog about haha! For those of you that have a blog you can definitely relate to this. Sometimes it is really hard coming up with something to blog about five days a week(let's face it i'm not that exciting haha), and I feel bad when I skip days.

Anywayssss, another really good question was brought up in comments, and I thought other people may want to hear the answer. Nancy writes...

I'm just a beginner so point me in the right direction. Knit and Purl are it for now. Easy patterns. Just finished a poncho and feeling brave. How do I know which ones are easy from your list? Would love to try your new yarn.

Honestly Nancy I never let it cross my mind if a pattern were appropriate for a beginner or not. My very first project was a striped sweater and my second project was a pair of socks. You know how to knit and purl so believe it or not you are way more prepared than you think. Knitting is based on variations of knitting and purling together. Once you know how to do that the rest is a piece of cake! I say pick a pattern you would love to do, and then go for it. When you run into something you don't know how to do, you can go to the links I am providing below, and I bet you will get your answers.

I am a self taught knitter. Everything I know has come from information I have aquired via the internet and books. This is one of the reasons I was compelled to start the link lists on my blog. I know some people can become overwhelmed when looking for information, and it is nice to have it all compiled in one place. Any time I learn something from a website I will post a link. Any time I make a mistake and learn how to fix it, I will blog about it.

The most important advice I can give you is to remember is this is all for fun. I always tell my students,"Relax! You aren't knitting for world peace, and noone's life is depending on a picture perfect stitch. Just enjoy yourself!" And the beauty of it all, is that when you mess up (and you will trust me everyone does.) all you have to do is rip it and start again. Tadah! It's like magic. Nothing is lost, and you get more practice. Or you get a striped sweater with arms way too long and you just roll them up!

I make a point to learn new things as often as I can. This means that I will inevitably make mistakes along the way, have to rip and start over, run across something I don't know how to do, etc. I'll never let me skill level stop me from making something I love, because I know I have a world of information at my beck and call.

So I'll say again, Go for it! Have a blast. The worst thing that will happen is you'll have to knit more! Perish the thought!


Knitting At Knoon
Knittinghelp.com
Philosopher's Wool Video
Stitchguide.com
Socks 101

Yarn Info Request (This is how the inventory will look for my yarn)

Peruvian Collection Baby Silk
Spun in Peru exclusively for Elann.com
80% Baby Alpaca 20% Silk

28 STS / 30 Rows on US 3 (3.25 mm)

23 grams 109 yards
Source: Elann.com

Answering Questions

Happy Saint Patrick's Day Everybody!!! I figured for today's entry I would answer a couple of questions. A few of you wanted to know where I ordered the Jaeger Handknits JB35 book from and how much it costs. One place you can order it from is Patternworks, and it costs 16.50.

 When I went to order from them, I discovered they were out of the book until May 20th. (They are back in stock now) My friend Janette told me she was placing an order with Ram Wools, and she asked if I would like her to order my book when she did. Thank you Janette! Hopefully it will get  here soon because I am dying to knit with the Baby Silk! I told her to not be surprised if she gets a knock on her door right after she calls to say it is here. Yesterday I linked to the other site because it had better pictures of the patterns that were included in the book.

Inez asked for information on knitting machines. Unfortunately, I don't really know too much about them. I can tell you one thing though, around Christmas time I start wishing I owned one or a machine that slows down time. Since I don't know enough to really answer any questions, I did a google search to see what I could come up with. Hopefully these links will be helpful.

About.com Machine Knitting Patterns & Information
Bond Knitting Machine Patterns
Knit Addicted's Machine Knitting Links
KnittingAnyway.com
Machine-Knit.com

I hope you all have a great Saint Patty's Day. Make sure you wear green so you don't get pinched!

It's Not Cheating If...

someone else buys it for you. Right?? I would like to introduce you to the newest member of my stash, Peruvian Baby Silk in Salmon.

Click To Enlarge

I watch my Grandmother's house while she is out of town, and this is my wonderful reward! Let me tell ya, this yarn is absolutely exsquisite! When I pulled it out of the box and touched it, I nearly died. It is one of the softest yarns I have ever felt, and I can't wait to knit with it. This book is on it's way, and I'll be knitting Rosita the cover pattern. But not until I finally finish this...



Click To Enlarge

The front and back are nearly done. I just have to make up my mind about how I want to do the straps. I'm pretty sure that I will keep them wide so that I can wear a bra. I don't think I'll be making anything with straps too thin until I find a strapless bra that won't end up around my waist in 15 minutes.

I played around with a pretty crocheted cardigan from Rowan #25 over the weekend. While flipping through the magazine the cardigan caught my eye, and I wanted to see how the stitch pattern looked in person. I don't have any pictures to show you since I ripped it out after playing with it for a little while. I will more than likely pick it up again.

Well that's it for today. I need to get myself into bed. But before I go, I want to thank everyone for the suggestions on the new look of the blog. I think I like the font that I am using now a little better than the others I have tried, and I'm going to stop messing with it for now. We'll see how long that lasts haha! Have a great day!

Show N Tell:Judy's Entry

Project: Garter Stitch Shawl from Folk Shawls
Needles: size 6
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Sportweight in White Frost 501
Comments: Judy says that this shawl was very easy and fun to knit. The yarn is has a little bit of a halo and some sparkle. I believe she ordered it directly from the Lion Brand website.
 

Still Working On It

I'm still trying to get this blog together. As you can see the header image has changed yet again. I took Diane's advice and made it smaller. I wish I could do something about the banner, but that out of my control. If I buy one of the upgrades, I could get rid of it. I'm not sure if I am ready to do that yet.  I also changed the yarn that the faery was sitting on. I didn't really like the first one, and I think this time it looks a little better. I can't seem to make up my mind on the font either. I'll get it together one of these days. In the meantime, if I change something and it looks bad. Please feel free to tell me. I don't mind constructive criticism.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I know I will. I'm off all weekend so that makes it great by default. I'm hoping that I'll have some yarn inventory progress to show you by Tuesday, and some picture worthy progress on Twist. See you on Monday! One of the lady's in my knitting group will be showing off her new shawl. Until then...

Random Thoughts

I am dead tired and I am having some serious writer's block this evening. Also, I don't have major progress to show you on Twist (80 rows), so I'll remain pictureless for today.  I figure I'll just start posting some random things that I have been meaning to tell you, and all together they'll make a halfway decent post. Cross your fingers...

The main thing I want to discuss is my free pattern lists. I don't get much time to update them or even check on the links. Rachel has been very kind to inform me when links break and what not, and I am very grateful for that. Unfortunately, a bunch of the Lion Brand and Berroco links have changed. This means I have to go back and change them. I can't promise that I'll be getting that done any time soon. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day! I just wanted to make sure everyone knows that I am aware of the link issues and I'll be repairing them shortly :)

As you have probably noticed, I have been working on the layout of this blog. After a long night of fighting HTML and CSS, I was able to get the sidebar on the right. I'm sure there was probably an easier way to do it, but at least I got it over there. I have also been playing around with the Header Image. I am really interested in what your opinions are about the header. Does it look ok? Did I do a bad job sitting the faery on the ball of yarn? Should I just put the faery back in the leaves? Does the whole thing stink all together? If you hate it, what could I do to improve? I'm seriously running out of ideas, and I would love to hear from you on this.

Hmmm let me see what else did I want to tell you about. Oh yeah! MagKnits just came out with a new issue. You should go and check it out. They have a cute felted Fair Isle bag called Misty that looks like it would be pretty easy to me. That Brooks Jones is a great bag designer. We are very lucky to get her patterns for free!

Lastly, I haven't gotten very far on my yarn inventory, but it is not forgotten. I actually have this weekend off, and I hope that I'll get a bit done. I think I'm going to focus on logging the information first and taking the pictures last since that seems to be the hardest part. Did I happen to mention that I HAVE A LOT OF YARN??? Maybe I did once or twice.

Well there we have it. A full post! I hope I didn't bore you silly. Have a great Thursday everyone. We're almost to the weekend! Only one more day to go. Can I make it?? I think I can I think I can I think I can...

Cute Story

Rob went home to pick up our car over the weekend and spend some time with friends and family. He called me up one night because he wanted to tell me a story he thought I would like. His mother had gone to a yarn shop in Williamsburg called The Knitting Sisters. She wanted to buy some yarn for a scarf that would match one of the colors in the bag I made her. Naturally she brought the bag in so that she could match it up. Someone in the shop (owner or worker I don't have a clue) asked to see the bag. His mom said that she looked it over pretty good and also turned it inside out to check out the back of my work. (Not sure if these were the exact words spoken since it was literally a game of telephone and Rob is telling me what his mom told him) After looking it over she tells my MIL, "This is really good work. You know I have only seen one other bag like this..." She pauses, looks at my MIL, her eyes get big and she says, "Hey! You're the mom from the website!" Rob's mom says, "Oh you must read Stacie's blog!"

Isn't that neat! It just goes to show you how small this world is. Who knows she might even be reading this right now! If so, Hi there and thanks for the compliments on my bag! Next time I go home to visit, I'm gonna have to stop by that shop. I really miss it anyways. If you ever end up in Williamsburg you should definitely check it out. There is even a great wine and cheese shop next door that serves incredible sandwiches. You can shop till you drop, go eat a yummy sandwich to recharge, and go back for round two! How convenient :)

Show N Tell: Erin's Entry

Hi there! I've been reading your blog for awhile now and decided to take the plunge and submit something for your Show & Tell segment. I have on my blog a picture and pattern for a knitted bag I call "Quadulation." I used bits from a knitting resource book, rewrote everything to suit my love of knitting in the round, and came up with something that I think it quite lovely (and not violating any copyrights). You can get to a good picture of it here, and the pattern can be found here.

Please let me know if you need any additional information. And THANKS for providing so many great links on your blog! I've found lots of great things there and always check your lists first when looking for a new pattern.
-- Erin
http://titaniumrose.blogspot.com

Thanks :)

I usually don't blog on the weekends, but I really want to say thank you. You all have to be the best readers ever. I look forward to reading your comments when I come home from work every evening. You always lift my spirits and put a smile on my face. Sometimes you make me laugh out loud which makes my husband look at me funny. (You wouldn't think he would be phased by that after living with me for nine years. I do much stranger things) I'm just glad I'm keeping it interesting enough to keep you all around. I wish that I had the option for you to enter your email address so that I could respond to your comments individually in an email. Maybe that will be a future upgrade. In the meantime, I'll continue to reply in the comments section so make sure to check back. Speaking of which, my sister-in-law Emily has left a comment for all of you wonderful well wishers. Wonderful Well Wishers. Wow say that three times fast. Heehee! Big hugs to you all! I'll see you on Monday with a new Show N Tell!

Oh Happy Day!

 Welcome Home Nick  

Great News Does Come In Threes!

First of all my brother Nick is finally on American Soil!!!! Thanks so much for all the prayers and good thoughts! The placed a bubble right around my brother copter and brought him home safe to us! My sister-in-law has promised pictures of the ceremony, and I will share them with you.

Now for good news number 2. My husband walked in the door today looking like this...

Whooo baby! Wowsers I'm a lucky girl. No the good news is not that my husband is totally HOT! The good news is that he told me HE HAS A JOB!!! Today he landed his first official job as a pilot! He will be a flight instructor at this school until he hears back from the Academy he has been training with so far. If he is hired there, it will be a couple of months before he gets started, and now he can build flight hours while he's waiting. We should hear in the next couple of days whether or not he is hired at the Academy. He told me today that even if he isn't hired he won't be too disappointed. All he really cares about is building hours so he can apply at an airline.

And now for good news number three. Rob's parents are giving us one of their cars!!! That is just utterly amazing. Things like this do not usually happen to me.  I have been driving the same car since 1993 and it doesn't look so hot. I've just been happy to not have a car payment and get from A to Z. Now we'll have a car that we can be proud of.

I didn't get much yarn logging done today. I spent about three hours trying to get the proper light to catch the true color of this yarn. I have mentioned before that I am a little obsessive haven't I. Then my husband came home lookin' all good and telling me his great news, and the yarn inventory was pretty much forgotten. We headed over to Boston's Lobster Feast to celibrate, and I'm not gonna tell you how much I ate. Let's just say that lobsters all over the world will now shiver at the very mention of my name.

Yarn, yarn, yarn...

Well it's already Wednesday. Another week is just flying by. Where does the time go? Does anyone know? I have completed 50 rows on the back of Twist so far, and I'm starting to think about what my next project may be. I know one thing I need to do is get working on poor old Eeyore. So far I have only finished his ears. I also need to finish the rest of that Lopi cardigan I was working on. The problem with that is that I can't find the darn thing! Have any of you ever lost a WIP? It is so frustrating! I must say that I'm not really anxious to work on it since Spring is here. I have the urge to work on cute little sleeveless things instead. I'm sure that my Lopi Cardi will understand. She *R-U-N-N-O-F-T'd  anyways!

Janette gifted me with a pattern for a fabulous shawl not too long ago, and that will definitely be a project I start on soon. Unfortunately I don't have any lace weight yarn in my stash so I'll have to buy some. When I told my husband this he exclaims, "You need to buy more yarn!? The only place I have seen more yarn is in a yarn store!" While he doesn't understand a thing about the situation, he does have a point. I have a ton of yarn!

I have toyed with the notion of doing a yarn inventory for a while. I would like to take pictures of each type of yarn and list it along with info about it. This project will prove to be quite time consuming, but the obsessive compulsive side of me is getting the goose bumps! Of course, I will be posting the inventory here which may be a little embarrassing. Did I mention that I HAVE A LOT OF YARN!?

This brings me to one conclusion. I need to go on a yarn diet! Today March 02, 2005 I officially declare that after I buy my yarn for the shawl (hey I can't quit cold turkey!) I will not buy another skein until I have put a significant dent in my yarn stash. You are all my witnesses. You know, I think this may end up being harder than quitting smoking. I already feel the withdrawls!!!!

*Ever see Oh Brother Where Art Thou?If so then you don't think I'm totally crazy. If not, you really ought to see it and then you won't think I'm crazy either ;)

Thanks!

I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful compliments you gave me Shedir and me! They gave a nice little boost to the ego, and I think everyone needs that from time to time. I know I sure do at least! I have Shedir ready to send out in the mail, and hopefull it will find it's way to the right place. Now I just have to find a way to get to the post office before it closes! That's gonna be trickier than knitting the hat!

After Pioggia's Macrame entry yesterday, I decided I would find some links for you. I managed to come up with a couple of good ones...

Handcrafted by Elaine
Knot Work
Tses Macramé page

I am almost done with the front of Twist and I have 30 rows into the back. I have the straps on stich holders so that I can decide how wide I want them to be.I think that I am going to stop decreasing now so that the straps with be wide enough to hide my bra straps. I feel like I should type more, but I'm falling asleep sitting up with my computer in my lap. That's a accident waiting ot happen. I'll just have to make it up to you tomorrow. Have a great day!