The Heart Scarf

Here it is on the blocking board. It didn't need much fussing, just a bit of dampening and drying flat to remove a bit of curl from the edges. I'm rather pleased at how it turned out, although with the variegated yarn that is slightly thinner than the alpaca that pattern called for, the hearts don't stand out quite as distinctly as they do in the Knitty photo.




Here it is spread out so that you can see a bit more of the pattern. The yarn is Skacel Schoeller Stahl College and is lovely and soft for a scarf. It is certainly a step up from swiping my daughters' crayon coloured scarves as I dash out to the minivan in the morning.



I've finally fallen into a rhythm with Clapotis...(after a few false starts with the pfb stitch) Hopefully, by the end of the weekend I'll have some noticable progress to post.

Thanks Laurie!

I scampered to my mailbox today, hoping to find my new 12 inch circular Addis but expecting to find some horrifying utility bills. Imagine my delight when I spotted a package from Laurie

Woo Hoo! A second Christmas for me!

Look at what was inside! A lovely zippered bag in a pretty floral chintz with checkered lining. Much nicer than the Rubbermaid containers I'm currently using to house my WIPs!


And inside the bag...Cascade 220 (a favorite of mine) in a luscious blue/green shade (another fave!)


Some Addi-Turbos! Who could resist?


and Handmade Stitch Markers! Almost too pretty to use for my knitting!


Thanks Laurie, everything is just wonderful!

Two finished objects...

Here is a little, ribbed scarf for Clare. It's made out of Jellybean-coloured Lion Brand Boucle. Very simple and quick on 7mm needles and most importantly, it matches Clare's yellow jacket and cabled toque! (It drove me nuts when she wore the magenta scarf with the Big Bird yellow coat!)



Clare took this picture of her scarf:


Oh, and I finished the mystery object!



I have noticed that I have quite a few "stalled" projects cluttering up my home. (In addition to having to jot down the pattern for the completed mystery object.) But, I have a very valid excuse for not finishing each one!

Heart Scarf - 2/3 finished (reason) I need to watch the pattern just closely enough that it isn't great Stitch and Bitch or car knitting, so it is waiting for a good TV/Knitting night.

Clare's Top-Down dress - Done except for the sleeves (reason) I'm waiting for my new, exciting 12 inch circular needle for the sleeves! Woo Hoo!

Clapotis - Ok, I've just cast on for this. I really just need to share a TV/knitting night with the Heart Scarf.

Sleeved Wrap - knitting swatches - I still haven't found a stitch pattern that works with the merino that I have on hand.


Well, maybe having this written down will inspire me to finish something!

Guess What I Got for Christmas!

A ball winder!

This is a double strand of some old Pingouin wool/acrylic blend that I'm thinking of using for a top-down sweater dress for Gillian. The mango colour will look nice on her and the machine-washability of the yarn is a major plus!

The yarn calls for 3.0 mm to 3.5 mm needles (22 stitches by 30 rows for a 4 inch guage swatch)which isn't very close to the 4.5 mm needles (20 X 26 swatch) that the pattern requires. I'm knitting swatches with single and doubled strands on a variety of needles to see what might work. The pattern is simple enough that I figure I can fiddle with the pattern a bit to accomodate any changes that I make.

The doubled strands produce a fairly stiff fabric, but since it is going to be a little dress worn over tights and a camisole, the garment should be fairly thick and warm.

Anyway, Clare has been under the weather for so long that we have exhausted our arsenal of "quiet activities". Thankfully, the ball winder provided some distraction yesterday afternoon. Clare's illness has made her rather cross and peevish, otherwise I'd be teaching her to cork (spool knitting). It's a perfect couch activity for kids and she is old enough to learn (5.5 years old), but she has no patience with anything this week.

I'm hoping those antibiotics kick in soon!

Stitch N Bitch Last Night!

A Scarborough Stitch N Bitch...and people actually attended!

It was great to get out, drink fancy coffees, talk to adults (who knit no less) and chip away at a couple neglected projects.



Here is Clare's top-down sweater dress. I'm waiting for a set of 12 inch circular needles to arrive in the mail before I start the sleeves. Yeah, I know that dpns would work, but I'm anxious to try the short circulars (possibly working up to a sock!) and I figure that child-sized sleeves aren't too much of a commitment if I don't like them. So now, this project is on hold as I eagerly race to the mailbox everyday looking for my new needles. How sad is it when the mail is a major highlight in your day?



Here is the heart scarf from Knitty's Breast Cancer Awareness issue. I'm not having the symmetry issues that Stephannie described in the pattern text (since it's just a scarf for me and all!) so I'm knitting it in one piece rather than two pieces.

I'm also making some progress on my secret project, but of course because it is a secret...no pics yet!

Clare continues to make a slow recovery. Last night she was up with a cough from 2am until 6am...so neither of us are bright-eyed or bushy-tailed today. Forgive the spelling!

I'm such a klutz...

Not much knitting content lately, cuz not much knitting.

Last weekend, I used a dishcloth instead of an oven mitt to remove a cookie sheet from a 450 degree oven. The cloth slipped and I branded my thumb. Knitting, typing, opening mayonnaise jars and many other simple pleasures of life have been temporarily curtailed.



It's been a week and it still looks and feels awful. I can't imagine how painful it must be for burn victims with burns covering large portions of their bodies!

Also, the sick pup fairy has revisited. Gilly had a mystery virus last weekend, which caused her to stop eating, run a fever and spend two days on the sofa staring at the world through glassy eyes. Yesterday, Clare succumbed to the illness.



Anyway, the knitting hiatus has given me a chance to plan my next projects. I have a few things on the go, as usual:

1) I'm trying to work something up for the maiden issue of Spun Magazine "Spun Lite" (a surprise!)

2) I'm trying to figure out what to do with a couple balls of luscious Skacel Schoeller Stahl College (cream and caramel twist, thanks Haley) I'd planned to make a scarf for me (since the colour would co-ordinate nicely with my leopard hat) I might try the heart scarf from Knitty's special "breast cancer awareness" mini-issue. I think the gauge is close enough. (If I can ever hold needles again, I will confirm this!)

3) There is a sleeved wrap in the fall issue of Vogue Knitting that looks suspiciously like the DKNY sleeved wrap belonging to a friend of mine that I have coveted ...(very different yarn/gauge, but similar design) I've been playing around with a yarn in my stash to see if I can make it work with a bit of pattern tweaking. I like the design in VK, but I can really live without the funfur...something about women of a certain age dressing like Persian kittens...

So, if I can't knit with any speed or accuracy, I can use my time to dream about and plan knitting projects.

Eighties Flashback

Let me explain...

Here is my progress to date on Clare's pullover:



It's a pretty basic top-down pullover, but the yarn has enough texture that it suits stockingette.

Anyway, I was flipping through k.1 and tripped over the "vintage 80's knits". Frightening how many of those monstrosities I not only knit, but wore!! I remember wearing long sweaters with tights as dresses and thought that Clare might get more wear out of that than a simple sweater. Any thoughts?

Oh, and since I posted Ellery and Clare pictures this week, here is Gillian's school picture. This is the better of the two poses...in the other one, she looked REALLY scared! LOL

Flappy Bag!

Voila! A mini-Flappy Bag (www.indigirl.com) in the wool/recycled sari silk blend!

I used a piece of plastic canvas to create a flat bottom for the bag. I have to finish it properly, I haven't decided about lining and closures yet. Any thoughts about buttons/toggles or external finishing?



Oh, and because I posted Clare's school picture yesterday, Ellery says I have to post hers today.

Going, Going, Gone!

Another finished object! A poncho for a 7 year old. Clare, who is 5 is the model for the picture, so the poncho is a bit large on her. I was scheduled to meet the purchaser tomorrow afternoon and had planned to finish the poncho yesterday and let it settle while pinned to my drying board today, but our appointment was moved up one day and I had a race to the finish line.





Ignore the silly smirk on Clarebear, I don't know what's up with that? On the other hand, smirking is becoming a bit of trademark with Clare...




Note the missing front tooth. Nope, no toothfairy for Clare. She bonked that out herself when she was 18 months old. Nary a sniffle either. "Tomboy" doesn't begin to describe that one!