The Belt

Here is the belt that I made for my grandmother. The angle I took this picture at makes the fringe look way longer than what it is. I'm just too tired to try and get a better one tonight. (I had to unload the truck at work today, and it took four hours!!! Then I got to spend another five hours putting the freight up. Yuck!) I'll be getting up with my grandmother tomorrow to give her the belt, so hopefully I'll get pictures of it in action. One good thing about the picture is that the color came out just right. I'm pretty happy about that :)

Knit Club

The first rule about Knit Club is you don't talk about Knit Club...

I saw this link  at Yarn A Go Go. Hahahahahaha!

Cirque du Soleil

Why is it that every time I have a knitting crisis I am on the phone with Janette. First let me give you some background info. I decided that when I joined the new  yarn I would knit one stitch with both strands held together. This would "anchor" the yarn in place. I've done it before. It shouldn't be a problem.

 Fast forward to Janette and I chatting away and I'm knitting round and round on Soleil. I notice that the stitch where I knit with the two strands held together is very obvious. In fact it made the stitch next to it look funky too. The conversation goes a little something like this...

Me: Ewww I don't like how that stitch looks where I knit with the two strands together. It doesn't look right to me. I think I'm gonna drop down and fix it.

Janette: Oh that shouldn't be a problem.

Me: What the. Uh oh

Janette: Oh no what happened

Me: I don't know what happened but I can't fix. The more I try the more I mess it up. Oh great now I get to tink back like six rows.

Janette: Oh no that would take way to long. Why don't you try this...

Well she begins to explain to me how I could pick up the stitches a row or so below the mistake with a smaller size needle then rip out down to the needle. I was a little hesitant at first but too very little convincing to go for it. Hey I'm always up for a challenge. As I'm picking up the stitches Janette says, "Make sure you are picking them up all from the same row. You shouldn't have a problem because your stitches are pretty even." So I forge ahead slowly picking up each stitch doing my very best to stay on the right row. I take a deep breath and pull out the needle.

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Ladies and Gentlemen boys and girls without the aid of a safety net Stacie will now attempt for the very first time this new ripping technique. And she rips....

[Insert the picture I tried to take but the battery on the camara died. Let down by my camera in a moment of crisis. Typical.]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh something went wrong! I have ripped as far as it will let me and there are live stitches left above the needle! Then for about ten stitches they are on the needle like they should be and then back to having live stitches above the needle! This is really hard to describe and it would have been nice if I had a darn working camera to show you! What it all boils down to is that I didn't stay on the same row while I was picking up the stitches! How do I fix it?!
Let me just say that it is a great thing that I was on the phone with Janette. My redheaded temper would have otherwise gotten the best of me and Soleil would have ended up off the balcony. Janette is great in times of crisis, managed to keep me calm, and Tadah!




Camara's now plugged in to AC adapter
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I fixed it. Don't ask me how, but I did. I can breath now. My stitches are all on the needle, my markers are in place, and I know where I am. Here is a great link that will show you how to do this technique. Please do not let my drama stop you from ever trying it. Have a great weekend everyone. See you on Monday with Show N Tell and Tuesday with Belt and hopefully Angel pics!

Progress Report

I did some knitting on Soleil today. I completed 11 rows this evening. That doesn't sound like too much of a big deal but there are a lot of stitches since this is knit in the round. Did I mention the fact that I love that it is knit in the round? Wahooo! No side seams :) Since 11 rows is hardly picture worthy, I don't have a picture for you today.

I finished my granmother's belt. All I have left to do is fring it and add beads. I had quite a bit of yarn left over. I may just make a belt for myself. Not really sure if there is enough for that though. I just hate to waste yarn. I'm sure that I'll come up with some way to use it.

Sorry for the lame post. I'll make it up tomorrow with a finished belt picture. Hopefully I will add a picture of Angel and another picture of Twist with her new and improved lower neckline before too long. For now it's time for bed!

Slacker!!

'Member when I said that I finished the lace on Soleil, and I could start the stockinette. You would have expected me to get some of that done right? Wrong! Here is poor Soleil waiting for her stockinette. Poor Soleil don't worry I'll get to you soon. I'm off tomorrow and I promise you some quality time.

I had a knitting class on Friday night. It was one of those lucky instances where only one person signed, and I was able give her my undevided attention. She is left handed, so I taught her how to knit continental. I have found that my left handed students pick that up the best. One felt most comfortable "throwing" the yarn with her left hand and that was fine by me. I don't care what style they use to knit as long as their stitches are coming out right. Anyways, Staci (we have the same name that is too cool) did very well and is anxious to start the next class. I've nabbed us another one everybody!

Saturday I actually got paid to sit and knit in the store to promote my classes. How cool is that! I decide to make a drop stitch scarf much like the one I made for my grandmother. I use Lion Brand microspun and size 13 needles. Almost everyone that came up to see the scarf ended up walking out of the store with some microspun. Boy I wish I worked on comission! LOL! Unfortunately I didn't have anyone sign up for a class. Better luck next time.

Sunday I just worked and didn't do a darn thing crafty. When I got home Rob and I went shopping for dinner and then went on our walk. I am really getting into this walking thing. I even jogged a little bit and was surprised that I didn't get all winded. I'm seriously starting to see the benefits of not smoking now. I love my new lungs! Inspired by my renewed interest in physical fitness, I joined a new Yahoo! group called Knit 'N Fit.


Since our beloved obsession involves a great amount of time sittin' on our booties, I think this is a great idea to inspire and support fellow knitters with physical fitness. Now someone needs to come up with a Crochet N Fit.

Speaking of Crochet, have you ever tried Tunisian Crochet? Do you realize that you can create a knit stitch with this method? I was just looking through my bookmarks, and I came across this. That sure does look like knitting to me! Make sure you check out the other tutorials they have on Tunisian Crochet. This website is a wonderful resource.

Well my eyes are trying to close on me. I'm off tomorrow (or today however you look at it. it's 1am!) so I plan on getting some knitting done. I'm also getting together with my grandmother, so I'm hoping that I'll get some pictures of Angel. See you soon :)

Show N Tell: Nancy's Entry

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Nancy made this American Doll pattern after she found the link on my poncho page. Isn't it adorable! I like how she put the fork in the picture to show just how teeny this poncho is. Great Job Nancy!!

Jennifer aka Major Knitter made the pattern. She's a great lady and an excellent knitter. Stop by her blog and say hello. She just got back from vacation.

I'm So Jealous!!!!!

Just in case you don't read the comments on this blog I had to make sure you read this one post so I'm not the only one crying in ENVY!!!! Join me now in my pain.

Yvonne writes

Can we talk stash enhancement? Yarn is the last thing I need, but: Holy cow. My daughter's band held a rummage sale today, and someone there pointed out to me that there were two garbage bags full of yarn. So I mosey over and look inside. There were skeins and skeins of Phildar Pronostic (acrylic/wool blend), Phildar Pegase (acrylic/wool blend), Nessi cotton/rayon/acrylic, Pinguin Pingora, Andean Alpaca, Reynolds Fleur de Lis, Patons Cotton Top, something called Slicque which is a metallic shiny novelty yarn, some without labels that are ribbony/shiny, a huge HUGE bright red lace-weight mohair which must be 1500 yards at least, Bernat Cott'n Silk, Phentex Mohair, and a bunch of other regular dept. store kind of yarns that I gave to my daughter. The only thing in there I couldn't find a use for was some crewel yarn, so I took that stuff out. So I go to pay for it. They say, "What do you think?" So I go, "Um...I'll take both bags out of here for......$15.00?" I paid $15.00 for all this. Don't you just wanna KILL me?? I want to see if that red mohair will work for making the Tie One On pattern from Knitty. Gonna go look, drool and check my gauge.....

In the immortal words of my friend Janette, Un-Buh-Lievable.

Moving Right Along

I managed to sneak in some knitting before I went to work today and after I got home this evening. The lace part of Soleil is finished and I'll begin the Stockinette tomorrow. I totally enjoyed knitting the lace on this top, and I'm almost sad that it is over. I wish I were a speed knitter, because I really can't wait to see this top finished. I think it is going to be beautiful. Did you know that the designer has another pattern available for sale that uses the same yarn! I will definitely be buying it. I love getting patterns for free, but it is very important to support our designers :) Here is the link to her site and the pattern I want to buy. Go check it out. It's very cute.

Twist

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 Sorry about the lack of a head. I was not happy with my face in this shot. I'll try to get a better picture for the gallery. Overall I am happy with the top. I am super happy with the seaming. I have the most anxiety over that. You can click here for a look at the seam if you want. I'm actually thinking of undoing the straps and making them an inch or more longer. I'm not sure if I will, but it is a possibility. I'll see what Janette thinks when she sees it on me. I would like to have a second opinion. Now on to Soleil :)

Show N Tell: Birdsong's Entry

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The purses are made with Cascade 220, which feels wonderful while you are knitting it and felts up beautifully. I am in the process of finishing my second clog to felt using Lambs Pride worsted, which also f elts wonderfully and has mohair in it adding fluff to the appearance. Doubled and felted, it makes a very dense fabric. I am making a few red and purple purses like the red and black one (as soon as I get through a few things on the needles, LOL) to sell at our local crafts cooperative, where they have a Red Hat Society table going. We get a lot of tourists through our area late spring through fall, so I am also whipping up fun fur trimmed flip flops for the Red Hat ladies. You can find the pattern for these purses in Pursenalities: 20 Great Knitted and Felted Bags.

Birdsong
http://burrobird.blogspot.com Small town life and politics, lots of knitting,
and travels with and without my five burros

Super quick post

I am finished with Twist. I just have to weave in the ends. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Pictures will be coming soon! Yippeee!

**Update**

Twist is officially finished. I tried her on and she fits!! I am very happy with the side seams. It took quite a while to weave in all those ends. Berroco Cotton Twist's hanks are only 98 yards and most of them had breaks. This means more ends than normal for a small top like this. Pictures will be posted on Tuesday. See you on Monday for Show N Tell. Have a great weekend!!

Where was I...

Yesterday when I was at Sip and Knit, Donnie and I chatted for a while as my grandma looked for yarn. She was telling me how she has a locked shoulder and she may have to go in for sugery. This is seriously bad news for a yarn shop owner. She has comissions and samples to knit, and surgery isn't exactly conducive to that. I told her that I would be happy to knit some samples for her store if she needed me to, and she said she would probably take me up on it! I'm soooooooooo excited!! I left my phone number with her, and I hope she will call soon. She said that she has some new yarn coming in and that there are quite a few people interested in Felted projects, so she might need me pretty soon. Now if it isn't already awesome enough that I get to knit without paying a dime, I get yarn for my "trouble". Life is good!

Later on we went to Target and I finally saw the knitting kits everyone has been talking about. I must say that they are actually pretty cute. They come with a learn to knit DVD, needles, yarn needle, pattern, and yarn. The most expensive one was only 19.99. They had a bikini, halter top, yoga mat holder, dog toys, a dog bed, ummmm cell phone holder, scarves, and a shawl. I am sure that I left something out. Most of the yarns looked like cotton, but I think one was Paton's Brilliance. I couldn't tell for sure, because they don't package it with a wrapper. For those of you that are beginner knitter's, I think that these kits would be perfect! You should go and check them out.

At the end of my great knitty day, I sat down and started working on my grandma's belt, and I knit a few inches of the coordinating scarf yarn. They look pretty cute together if I do say so myself. I have already knit about 36 inches or so on the belt. She wants it to be 52" long so that she can tie it and then  have the ends hang a bit. I'll knit make the belt 40" long so that it will allow for the 6 inch fringe I am going to put on it. I'll probably bead the fringe as well. I'll be finished with this tomorrow I'm sure. I just love instant gratification projects! They can be so refreshing, but they are distracting me from sewing up Twist. I really need to stop procrastinating on this project. Anyone else ever have this problem?

Yarnin' Again

Don't you just love those wonderful knitting-centric days? It's a lovely kind of day where every nook and cranny of it is crammed with knitting goodness! Today was one of those days, and I happily soaked it all in!

I began the day by adding the finishing touches on another scarf for Grandmommy. You didn't even know I was working on that one did you? Remember when I bought the Berroco Crystal FX on ebay? Well last night knowing that I was going to get together with Grandmommy, I decided to whip up the scarf for her as a surprise. She knew she was going to make her one with that yarn but she didn't know when. This afternoon when I went out to her car, I was sporting a very pretty drop stitch scarf that I decided to call Angel (it is a lovely white sparkly yarn and the sparkles create a nice halo look) around my neck. She says, "Don't you mess up my scarf!" and promptly took it from me :) I think it is safe to say that it is a hit. She promises pictures of it very soon.

After I finished the scarf I went downstairs to check the mail and I found the latest KnitPicks catalogue. What is it about a yarn catalogue that gets me so excited?! I swear I think those and knitting magazines are a knitter's equivalent to, heehee you know! I slowly page through them drooling over all the beautiful pictures. Um I mean I get them for the articles. Yeah that's the ticket! Anywayyysssss inside this yummy drooliness (omg is that a word) I found this!

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Yarn samples! They included samples to four of their yarn lines with enough yardage to knit a small swatch! How cool is that! I haven't swatched them yet, but I can tell you that they all feel wonderful and the colors are gorgeous. I especially love the feel of the Andean Silk and the Andean Treasure. You'll have to forgive me if I stray from my diet. I think this temptation may prove to be more than I can handle.

Since Grandmommy had a new scarf, you know what had to happen. We had to go yarnin'! Oh darn! Twist my arm why don't ya! Here is the bounty of today's yarnin' adventure.



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That is the beginnings of a belt made from Lana Grossa's India. It's a beautiful ribbon yarn that we bought at my favorite LYS, Sip N Knit. It is 100% Microfiber Nylon and it feels devine! We stumbled across the Red Heart Tiki at Walmart. It was a steal at 4.97 a ball, and it just so happened to match the belt I was making her perfectly. Don't you just love it when things come together like that :) Know what else I love?



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I love the extraordinary ebony needles that she bought me! How could I not!? I have always coveted a pair of these needles, but couldn't bring myself to spend the money. Now I know why they cost as much as they do. For one they are made from wood recycled from musical instruments. The romantic in me loves that they once created beautiful musical art, and they will now create beautiful fiber art. They found their way from one type of creative hands into another. Don't they sound fabulous when you think of it that way. Secondly they feel wonderful. They are light as a feather and warm with the touch of your hands. Donnie told me that as you knit with them the oils of your hands absorb into the needles "seasoning" them, and that is when they really show their worth. The more you use them the better they become. I say they are worth every penny and if you have ever wanted to try them, you should just splurge and get them. You won't regret it.

This isn't all that happened today, but I seriously need to get in bed! Six am comes early especially when it's less than five hours away. I'll save the rest for tomorrow. Have a great Wednesday!!

Show N Tell: Linda's Entry

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The ChicKnit's bucket hat on that adorable girl up there was made by one very resourceful woman! The navy blue wool she used came from a sweater she bought at a thrift store and recycled, and the brim of the hat is knit in Crystal Palace's Squiggle. I have always wanted to try sweater recycling, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll put that on my list of things to do :) If you would like to try sweater recycling here is a link to a wonderful tutorial. Great job Linda! Thanks for participating in Show N Tell.

I have really enjoyed Show N Tell, and from the looks of the poll so do you. If you would like to participate, all you need to do is send in a picture of something you made along with a description. It doesn't have to be something knit or crocheted. It can be any craft as long as it is made by you. All skill levels are welcome as well. You do not have to be an expert and if you don't feel comfortable writing the entry give me the specifics and I'll take care of it for you. I hope that I will have enough entries to keep this going for a good long time. I think it is too fun!

It's Happy Dance Time!

Cause the new Spring Knitty Issue is out! If you haven't seen it yet, go!! Don't even bother reading the rest of this blog entry! It will still be here when you are done. You're back? So soon?  Hi there! Let me just say that I loooooooooove this issue! I think that this is my favorite Knitty issue ever. First of all I love the home page picture. It reminds me of something you would see on the cover of Vogue or Cosmo, and the header and color scheme are so very refreshing, so Spring!

The articles are informative as usual. If you ever wanted to knit socks but were afraid to try, check out Socks 101. You will be knitting socks like a pro in no time. There is even a basic sock formula to get you on your way to designing your own!  I really liked the tutorial on how to chart images using Photoshop 7. This would have come in handy when I was making my sister's cherry scarf.

Last but not least, holy mother of pearl the patterns are absolutely fabulous! (did anyone every watch the bbc series absolutely fabulous? I loved that show! sorry had to go there. back to knitty)  There are at least five patterns that I want to make. Two of them will end up on my future project list for sure. Soleil and Branching Out are so very pretty, and I already have yarn in my stash for both. As a matter of fact I have the exact yarn that Soleil calls for (in two different colors no less), and my good friend Dale gave me a skein of lace weight yarn that will be perfect for Branching Out. Here is a list of my favorites. What are yours?

Branching Out
I do
Ribbon Xback
Soleil
W

The Magic Scarf That Ceased To Be

So here I am talking on the phone to Janette and trying on the magic scarf.

Me: Oh Janette this is sooooo cute! She's gonna love it.
Janette: That's great!
Me: Ooooooh let me try it on like a hood!
Janette: How does it look?
Me: Oh wow this is sooooo cute! Now I'm gonna make it a dress!
Janette: laughing
Me: Oh this is too funny! She's gonna get a kick out of this. Hey wait what is that?
Janette: What?
Me: Oh darn I just found a dropped stitch.
Janette: Uh Oh get a crochet hook
Me: No worries I got it. Hey! Wait! There are more dropped stitches!! What the heck is going on???

Well the conversation kind of deteriates from there as I find numerous dropped stitches. The culprit? All the tugging and pulling you do to change the scarf into it's various stages pulled out the ends where I added the new balls of yarn. I didn't tie a knot when I did this. I just wove in the ends which is what I always do.

I decided the only thing left to do is rip it all. It was just too big of a mess to fix. This is fun fur we are dealing with here. I then find that I wove in my bind off end so well that it can no longer be found. Usually I would not be complaining about this. What does a highly irritated knitter do when she can't find the darn end to start ripping?

She grabs the scissors! That's right folks I cut the whole bleepin bind off edge off! That'll teach this stupid scarf! Hah! Take that! I must say that it was pretty satisfying to hack away at this flippin' thing, but it sure did make a mess! So in the course of let's say 15 minutes I went from a modeling session with this super cute magic scarf to this....

So what is the moral of this story?? Tie knots in this stupid stuff when you add a new ball of yarn. Tie knots and tie 'em tight!  Knots! Knots! Knots! Hahaha! How can I laugh at a time like this? I'm laughing to keep from crying!

Good News!

I went back to my doctor today and he said he was very impressed with my healing. My inflamation is 100 times better and my ulcers are healing nicely. I will have permanent damage on my cornea from scar tissue, but it will not affect my vision. Thank God the ulcers were on the sides of my eye and not the front. I am very very blessed! He gave me the ok to open my eyes, and I can go back to work on Wednesday. I don't have to use the dilation drops, and I'm down to using the antibiotic drops three times a day until Thursday.

It was really strange using my eyes after having them closed since Saturday. My left eye is still dilated so my vision is still very funky. The funky vision combined with the realization of how close I came to losing sight in my eye made me a little dizzy and a lot queasy. I had to lay down and take a nap. I'm feeling a lot better now and I'm sure everything will be back to normal soon

Thanks so much for all of the good thoughts and prayers. See how well they worked :)

Eyeball Trouble

It's been quite interesting here the past couple of days. I went with my brother and his wife to MGM Studios and Epcot on Friday. WE had a great time, but all day long my eye just didn't feel right. The contact in my left eye was driving me nuts and I couldn't do aything about it. I didn't have my contact lense solution or case with me.  I put up with this aggrivation all day long, but around six I coiuldn't take it anymore. I bought a bottle of water and took my contact out. I put it in the cap with a little bit of water but the relief I was expecting did not come. My eye just began to hurt worse and worse no matter what I did knocking me out of going to dinner with my brother. To top it off I started getting a migraine. I gave up and went to bed. I didn't really sleep though because my eye felt like it was on fire. By morning I couldn't even open it up. Those with weak stomaches look away now. My eyelashes were glued together with yellow/green puss! Ewwww! Needless to say Rob took me to the doctor We were lucky to find someone that was open on a Saturday and had an appointment slot available. I went in convinced that I had pink eye, but after the doctor looked at it he said that I would be lucky if it were pink eye. My stomach sank. He went on to say that I had two Corneal Ulcers and my eye was severly infected. This is not good news. If left untreated, this could lead to permanent blindness. He sent me home with strict orders for my care. I was to stay in complete darkness and keep my eyes closed. My husband had to put antibiotic eyedrops in my eyes every hour on the hour, and he also had to dialate my eyes twice a day for the next two days. My doctor said he would call on Sunday to check on me. He said that usually if the infection was going to take a turn for the worse it would by then and I would have to go to a specialist. Fortunately this is not the case. Even though my eye still hurts it has not gotten worse and I think I'm out of the woods. Can I just tell you how boring it is to not be able to open my eyes for this long. I am going nuts. I can't check my blog. I can't check my email. I can't knit anything because my projects are too complicated. I can't sew up Twist! I'm going looney tunes! i have earned a deep appreyiation for people who are without sight, and have learned to never take your sight for granted. The only reason I'm able to type this entry is because I can type without looking and my husband is standing over my shoulders fixing my errors. Say hi Rob....HELLO!!!!!! You can blame him for any spelling errors or typos. I go back to the doctor tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed for me. I hope this was caught in time and no permanet damge was doen to my eye.  Ok I just mess that sentence up royally and Rob is laughing and saying he isnb't going to fix it! He stopped editing after I said I was going to blame him for the typos. He is now gigglling  over my shoulder like a bad little boy. If I could see him, I might five him a little smack! Ok he's laughing again so I must have messed that up. I would like to see him type blindfolded. All kidding aside, Rob has been wonderful and taken better care of me than I could ever ask for. He is the best husband ever. He just told me no amount of kissing up will get him to go back and fix my typos. Haha! I'm hoping that after tomorrow I will be allowed to open my eyes and life will go back to normal. I just might miss all the pampering. I will let you all know how the monday appointment turns out. Keep your fingers crossed.

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

   
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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...

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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.

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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...



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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!