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!

Show N Tell: Pioggia's Entry

Today's Show N Tell is brought to you by Pioggia who is a blogging friend of mine. You can check her out at Cheap Knitter. She knits and crochets like a champ and often from her own patterns. Today she is sharing a craft that you don't see quite as often now, Macrame. Let me just say, I love Macrame. I have several vintage pattern books, and I have completely enjoyed performing it on a smaller scale with hemp jewelry. But this isn't about me! This is about Pioggia and her cute plant hanger! Here it is...

It makes me want to pull out my hemp and make one myself. Good job Pioggia and thanks so much for sharing. Remember to go and check out her blog. She is bound to inspire some inexpensive yet fabulous creativity!

Shedir In Pictures

I'm a tease...

As usual! I finished Shedir Sunday, but I haven't taken pictures of her yet. I wanted to get some pictures outside in natural light, but I have been working during the day. I don't have to go in until noon tomorrow so I'll get Rob to snap some pictures. I am really happy with the way she turned out. I'm glad that I ripped out the repeats. It would have been too long otherwise. I guess that would have been my punishment for not bothering to make a swatch even when substituting yarn!

The front of Twist is well on it's way to being completed. The right side is on a stitch holder and I am almost done with the neckline and armhole shaping on the left side. Now is the time to decide whether I want skinny straps or wider straps. The beautiful thing about knitting is that I can always rip/add if I change my mind and no harm will be done. Don't you just love it.

By the way, I have some great news. My brother is officially out of Iraq. He hasn't made it to the states yet. I believe that they are in Kuwait at the moment. He should be home in the next week or so! Thanks to everyone for all the good thoughts and prayers sent his way. He made it through a war without a scratch. We're truly blessed. He will be coming down her to visit with his wife some time in March, and my husband's aunt is getting them Disney tickets. My other news is that my husband is finished with flight school! He passed his final test on Friday, and he is up for his interview on the 1st. Life is good!! See you on Thursday with some pictures I promise!

Show N Tell: Casey's Entry

Click On Images To Enlarge

I used to sell my work at miniature shows and some of it is in miniature museums. I did this for 25 years and got kind of burnt out...Thus the knitting!! The garden scene was built a couple of years ago. I found the birdcage at "Big Lots" and decided it would make an ideal garden display. My miniatures are 1/12 scale. In other words, 1"=1'. The wicker furniture is my own design and I build it just as the full sized counterparts would be built. I use real antique pieces as my inspiration. It is woven with #20 crochet thread. The afgan is crocheted from a pattern for a normal sized baby afghan. I used antique mercerized cotton sewing thread and a #14 crochet hook to do it. It measures 3" x 4 1/4". Again, 1"=1'. The brick planter in the background is a greenware ceramic piece that I painted to look like miniature stones. The plants and flowers are all punched from paper with special petal and leaf shaped punches. Each petal is hand colored and formed before putting together in the plants.

Knitty Surprises???

I guess I should have elaborated more about the surprises on Knitty. In their latest Winter issue there have been two slots left open for patterns the patterns, Surprise 1 and Surprise 2.  Yesterday they revealed the surprises. Surprise pattern 1 is a baby hat called Miss Dashwood. Surprise pattern 2 is another hat called Noa 3-in-1. They did the same thing in the Fall issue. If you click 1 and 2 on the entry below it will take you to the patterns or you can just click on the links in this issue. Make more sense now? Sorry about the confusion :oP

I forced myself to put down my new top (I think I'll call it Twist after the yarn I'm using and the little cable twists going down the one side) last night to work on Shedir. Guess what! I only have 22 rows left! Yay! I'm hoping to have it in the mail box by Monday. This would be a very fast project for someone with a decent amount of knitting time every day. I could see it being finished in under a week. After all it is only 83 rows. I have really enjoyed knitting it and I will probably make another one which is unusual for me.

And just because I seem to be on a roll for finding weird hat patterns, here is another link. I still think the Chicken Hat has it beat. You know what I thought of when I saw the Chicken Hat? Do you remember that episode of Friends where Joey got his head stuck in a turkey? Hahahaha! Maybe the designer was a Friends fan? 

One last thing before I go, I was made aware of a website called Yarndex.com. It is a great resource for yarn information. Next time you are planning a new project you can research yarn by brand, name, weight, fiber, texture, and more. You can also become a member and review the different yarns you try. I'm hoping this site will catch on quick so that there will be lots of reviews. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. See you on Monday with the next Show N' Tell.