Wednesday, July 23, 2008

FO!! :o)

I finally finished a shawl I have been working on for a couple of months. For some reason, this just seemed to be the Eternal Never-Ending Project. I knit and knit on it, and it never seemed to get any bigger.

I think maybe it was the row repetitions getting to be old hat that seemed to make this take forever. And, I was also slowed up by having poison ivy down my right arm. I had to wrap my arm in a pillow case to be able to knit for about 3 weeks. Annoying!

But, fortunately, I did finally get it all done!

It got a nice lukewarm bath in the sink with some fabric softener, and now it's blocking on our dining room table. It definitely takes up the whole table! And the dining room smells like Snuggle fabric softener. :) So does Bruce the Cat since he (of course) had to give the drying shawl his Butt Blessing. Just proves how obsessed he is with sitting on all knitting or crocheting in this house....he sat on wet wool that smelled like tropical passion scented fabric softener AND that had multiple very sharp pins stuck in it. Silly cat!




And here's a close-up of the basic pattern.



I received this pattern in a mailing from the author Debbie Macomber this spring. I liked it, but used a heavier yarn to make it more of a fall weight shawl. The yarn I used was Red Heart Chunky Shetland in Heather Green. Chunky Shetland is a 75% acrylic/25% wool blend. I'm not sure if it's available anymore. I've had 20 skeins of this yarn in my stash for about 4 years or so, and just never had a project that fit it. It was just the perfect yarn for this shawl, so I was very happy to finally get to use it! I still have quite a bit left...the shawl used up 9 skeins. So I guess I have enough yarn to make another one! This one is going out to my SP as soon as it is dry. :)

So, that's one WIP down, several to go!

I pulled out a pair of socks I started in the spring and didn't finish. I'm using a simple cuff sock pattern that I got off the Bernat website a couple years ago. And I'm using Bernat Sox yarn in Hot Tamale. Both the pattern, and yarn, aren't available anymore. I don't usually use Bernat Sox since it is 100% acrylic....I just find it too hot for my tootsies. But, this pair of socks is for a little girl, and I figured it would be better to use yarn that won't shrink in the regular wash.



When this pair of socks is finished, I have one more pair in my WIP pile to finish up. Plus, I need to seam a pair of fingerless gloves, finish up 2 scarves and a hat. And I have a purse to make for an exchange.

I'm on a new project diet until then -- no new projects until all the old ones are done!!!

TTFN!!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

I'm loving this yarn!

I love trying out weird, new and different yarns to see what I can make from them. Different textures, weird colors, any sort of novelty yarn.....just fun to try all of them out. Some are duds, but some I really like!

A friend sent me 2 skeins of a yarn I hadn't heard of before....Aunt Lydia's Madison Avenue Crochet. It's an interesting mix of fuzzy colored yarn, thread and little nubs. I knew right away that this yarn needed to be knit into an airy summer scarf. I saw online that others had taken darker colorways of this yarn to make vests and other wearables....but to me, the mix of textures just screamed SCARF.... Who am I to argue with the all-knowing yarn muse?

And, since the name of the yarn said Crochet....I knew it must be knitted. Rebel, eh? :)

The color I was given is called White Rainbow. The thread and nubs are white, and the fuzzy color changes between red, blue, yellow, and turquoise.



I'm using #13 needles and cast on 10. Basic knit stitch. I think it's making a really cute, summery scarf! :)

I will definitely be buying more of this yarn to add to my stash! Fun to knit, and the mixed texture works well. :)

Kudos to my friend at c'ville who sent me this yarn!! Love it!!

And the knitting needles you can see a bit of in the photo are size #13s from Turn of the Century (also a gift from another c'ville friend several months ago). They make crochet hooks, knitting needles, pens/pencils....all sorts of wood items. I just LOVE this set of needles!! They work smooth and have a perfect point for picking up stitches. I also have one of their wooden crochet hooks that I really enjoy using. If you want to try out wood hooks or needles, I really recommend TOTC....(no affiliation, I just really like their work).....reasonable pricing and top notch quality!

Ok...commercial over.... :)

I seriously need to clear out a few WIPs that have been sitting around getting dusty. I finally got around to listing some of my projects on Ravelry, and noticed how many I had hanging around that aren't done.

I need to seam one pair of fingerless gloves (they've been awaiting seaming for about a year....YIKES!). I have one pair of mock smock socks (pattern from Knit Socks, whatever the yarn) that have been on dpns for months now. Another pair of cuff socks I'm making for a friend's child that have been sitting idle since about April or so. In a knitting tote zipped up and lonely, I have a Samaras hat that has been feeling unloved since about March or so. I'm also working on two gift projects, the scarf pictured at the top of this post, and a filet bookmark.

I will be starting NO new projects until I get all of those listed above finished. And then I will allow myself to start TWO and only TWO new projects. I get started on something and get bored with the repetition and start something else (knitting ADHD??)....then the WIP pile gets out of hand, and some poor projects never get finished. I have too much time (and money) invested in these incomplete knitted goodies to let them sit around.

So.....my goal is get busy and finish them all. And then, I can have two new things to work on....and will also begin finishing up the Grand-Daddy of all WIPs......my Scraps of Beauty afghan that has been in a large plastic storage bin since we moved here in 2004. It is GORGEOUS....but involves lots of color changes, and working with a huge container of scrap balls of yarn. I actually started crocheting on it in 2002, but I stopped working on it when I moved to NC. When we moved from the city to where we live now, it got stored in a big plastic bin and hasn't seen the light of day since then.

By the end of the year, I want that afghan FINISHED!

First things first.....finishing WIP gift items...then on to the rest of the list!!

I shall triumph over the dusty WIPs!!

Monday, July 14, 2008

All I need is Pins and Bruce....

Finished a filet doily and some bookmarks this week and decided to block them tonight.

As soon as I had all the pins in and turned the ceiling fan on above the table.....here comes Bruce.

Bruce is our stripey cat. He's massive. A John Wayne of Cats. And, for whatever reason, whenever I try to block lace or thread crochet, he has to sit or lay on it. And I mean right on it. Not just a portion of his body, or just his rump.....he has to do a full body repose on it.



I don't see how that can be comfortable....but he's obsessed with sitting on anything that I pin down to my blocking foam. I guess the extra weight will just make the picots lay down flat. :)

Too bad I can't get Bruce to weave in the ends for me..... :o) Maybe if I offered him a cat treat....it's worth a try!

Friday, July 11, 2008

All done!

I finally blocked the Wild Roses Doily!

I think it came out better since it was blocked on a Spiderman Beachtowel :)






The pattern is on the Celtwitch vintage thread website right here:
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/celtwich/WildRoseDoily.html

I already printed a new pattern to start on, now that this project is finished.

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/celtwich/Ripe.html

I have some size 30 thread that will just be perfect!

I'm making handmade presents for Christmas this year. If it keep this up, I will actually be ahead this year instead of rushing around at the last minute!! :o)

Hugs! Juli

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Bad, bad blogger!!!

I have been such a BAD blogger!! This year I haven't updated things as much as I should. I'm going through all my links and removing dead ones and updating. And I'm going to start posting regularly again.

Give me a couple of days and things will be all cleaned up and spiffy again! :)

I've been busily working on all sorts of things....

I finished the Wild Rose doily...



But it isn't blocked yet. It's waiting in a ziploc bag for me to get in a blocking mood. The pattern is from the 1950's and is on the Celtwitch site here: http://www.angelfire.com/folk/celtwich/WildRoseDoily.html

I took a basic filet class at Crochetville this month. Here are my first two samplers:



I've always avoided filet because I tend to lose my place in charts, but I saw the Laura Ingalls Wilder doily (pattern in June's Piecework magazine) and knew I just had to learn to do filet! And there is a butterfly shawl in filet that I want to make as well!!

I'm finishing up a filet doily now, and I found lots of Doctor Who inspired filet charts on Ravelry. If you are a Dr. Who fan, check it out! I found a chart for The Ood, an adiopose, K-9, the Tardis, etc. Now on Fridays when Dr. Who comes on, I can put on my scarf and crochet on a Dr. Who project! :) Gotta get my geek on somehow!

Well, gotta get back to updating links! My blog is a mess!!!

Hugs!
Juli