My progress thus far on dishcloth #2, using Bramble Stitch. The scanner really doesn't do this one justice .. the texture really doesn't come through.

Ack! I hate ants!!!

I have been dealing with, for the last few hours, a sudden and highly annoying ant invasion into my house. And I don't have the faintest idea WHY they're getting in. I realize it's suddenly VERY hot outside, and that they may be coming in looking for water .. but good god. All of a sudden? Like .. in the last 6 hours? And now I have that creepy-crawly feeling, like they're crawling all over me. I'm going to have to shower before bed, for certain.

Anyone know of any reason ants might suddenly manifest in ones house, and how one might get rid of them, besides highly toxic poisons (which I've already sprayed everywhere possible!)

Another one!

This is the first of Brittany's dishcloths. The hearts pattern doesn't quite work as well for this yarn though .. I think it's probably the variegatedness of it.


Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Key Lime Pie
Needles: US 9 Aluminum straights
Pattern: Heart Squares, from The Knitter's Bible

Yarn: Bernat Cottontots in Wonder Dreams
Needles: US 7 Aluminum straights
Pattern: Heart Blocks, from The Knitter's Bible

Yarn: Bernat Cottontots in Wonder Dreams
Needles: US 7 Aluminum straights
Pattern: Small Gingham, from The Knitter's Bible


I made this on the trip up to my nieces' graduation party yesterday. It's made out of the same baby cotton I used for the towel posted earlier. I think it came out pretty good. I was surprised it didn't use up more than it did though .. I still have baby cotton left. Aaargh! I'm going to try another pattern from the book I got this one from. Maybe Heart Squares. I think that's a good 'baby' pattern.

I enjoyed the trip, though it was ungodly hot. I hid inside a good part of the time, untill too many people I didn't know were inside, and then I ended up back outside, though in the shade. And I knitted in public a lot too. Brittany's boyfriend asked me to make him a sweater. I told him as long as he buys me the yarn, I'd do it! :) And Britt wants me to make her discloths for her new apartment. So I've got to be okay with buying more cotton so I can make them in the colors she wants. And being in the SOSKAL, I'm not sure I really should, but it's a gift, and I won't be keeping any of the yarn.

I started another cloth for the baby, and here's a pic of my progress. I'm liking this pattern .. even though I messed up the center (blue) heart. It doesn't show much though, so I'm not worried.

Dishcloth-Hat

This was supposed to be a round, flat dishcloth. It's not staying flat. I'm unpleased .. but at least I got to use up some of my cotton yarn, and learned a new technique.

Finally Done!

Look! Look! I finally finished it! And there are -so- many things I will do different on the next one (which I already have the yarn for, but I need to work on something else first, to get a break.) but it's done, and it'll look alright I think. And I have to keep reminding myself .. it's a -towel-. It's not like it's haute coteur (sp?) baby-wear or anything. It's a towel. And I have probably 3/4ths of a skein left. Maybe for some booties, and/or washcloths to go with the towel.

This is is all stretched out .. I have no really good place to take pictures without having awful light. This one I did on my freshly-made bed .. and it still looks kinda funny. I probably should have grabbed the knitting inspector - for persepctive or something.

This is my favorite shot I think, showing the hood, lopsided though it is, and the beautiful seaming. I think the hood could have been deeper .. so I maybe should cast off earlier, at a wider point. But I -love- the border on this, even though it likes to fold over. And the colors are just so soothing. So baby.

I'm pleased.

Project Spectrum Blue Kitty

For some reason, Blogger wasn't wanting to add these photos to my last post, so I had to write another one to add them in. Since it's Blue month in Project Spectrum, I thought I'd post these two photos which were the only pics that came out from a disposable camera I recent found and sent in to Snapfish.com. I'm not even sure why they're blue, though I know they must be from sometime around Yule, 2004.


And just look at this precious darling. This is Isis, the house knitting inspector. She's showing off her Winged Isis charm we got for her as a nametag. Well, that, and complaining because I put her harness on her, so she could go outside some.

Knitting Progress

This is how the baby towel looked three month ago .. and I'd been working on it for a while.

This is how it looks now. I've been working on it pretty steadily for the last moth or so .. especially since I joined the SOSKAL. And I'm bound and determined that I am going to finish this in the next few days, if not today.

Now, there are a few issues. The pattern I'm using has you bind off the 'body' of the towel, then knit the hood separate, then sew it on. Well, seaming and me aren't friends. Sorry. Seaming and I. So I figured out that I could quickly decrease from the 100 stitches of the body, to the 75 of the hood. Not so hard, right? Except it's made these funny places, especially on the right-hand side of the towel.

They're not a -hugely- bad thing, but they annoy me.

Also, in making up the hood, the pattern has you knit for 26 rows, then begin to decrease on every other row. I've been doing it on the purl side, as the whole shebang is stockinette with a seed border, and so I'm getting this nice shaping on the left side:

But on the right side, it's remaining perfectly straight.

Again, not a big deal. It's a towel, after all. But I would like to figure out how to remake this pattern to have a more symmetrical look to it. I have yarn to make another towel, in slightly different colors, so I would appreciate any suggestions. I'm by -no means- a knitting designer, and have been pretty much flying by the seat of my pants with this project.

Project Spectrum - June

I love having things growing with my help .. though, my beautiful hydrangea is starting to sprawl a little .. I may need to tie it up a bit, keep it from taking over what little yard I have. But look how pretty!

The new Magknits just came out .. luckily, the one projects I -really- want to make from there I already have a cone of cotton yarn for (Sugar & Cream). But I just got email from Berocco, with their new pattern books, and there are several things I want to make already. Soleil is beautiful, and I've wanted an excuse to use the Berocco Suede for a long time .. damn them! And I love this Fleur cardigan, knitted with their new Foliage yarn. And there's a bunch of new booklets for all their new yarns .. all of which I -have to have- ... which in turn is making me want to go out and buy yar. Argh!!

I took the baby towel with me to the movies lastnight, well, yesterday afternoon, though I didn't get more than two rows done. It was X-Men 3, for Lady's sake! How can you knit through that!!! I'm 13 rows in through the hood though .. I'd take a picture, but my husband drove off with my knitting bag in the car this morning, and can't come home at least until lunch. *flop* It's looking good though. I'm on the home-stretch now!

I think, since I have the knitting bug bad right now, I might start on the baby blanket. Or maybe on the Market Bag pattern I found in MagKnits this month. Yay! I've been looking for one of those. And I don't have to worry about needed yarn for it, that's for sure. I have a whole cone of Sugar & Cream just for that purpose!! It's ecru, and rather boring .. but that's okay. The only problem I'm seeing is it calls for US15 circulars, which I don't have. But .. 45 stitches .. I can probably make it on straights, dontcha think?

WIP: Hooded Baby Towel #1

I have reached a point on the first baby towel I'm making that I need to come to a decision.

First of all .. here is the pattern I am using .. losely .. to make these:

Materials:
Size 10 US needles (6mm)
5 x 100gm balls worsted weight Lilly Cream and Sugar 100% cotton

Gauge:
16sts and 26 rows to 10cm (4 inches) over garter st worked with Size 10 US needles

Size:
31" (77.5cm) x 27" (67.5cm) (excluding the hood)

Towel Body:
Cast on 100 stitches on #6 mm needles
Knit 200 rows in gater or seed stitches, cast off.

Hood:
For the hood, cast on 60sts and knit 5 rows in garter or seed st.
Knit 25 rows straight

Cast off 1 stitch at the end of the next 2 rows.
Repeat this every 5 rows until you have 40 stitches on your needle, cast off.
(Note from Deloris: I would change the pattern a little and cast off the hood at 44 stitches rather than 40)

Making Up:
Fold the hood in half vertically and sew the cast off edge together.

Fold the towel in half and mark the middle. Sew the cast on edge of the hood to the towel, matching the centre of the towel to the centre of the hood.

To finish your towel you can do some embrodery on it or crochet all around the towel and hood. You'll have a softer result if you wash it (before you do the embroidery or crochet) with a special mild washing soap for babies or kind of "zero".

Addendum: Sent to GLBT-knit March 3rd 2000

I made a few corrections to a better fitting hood
Cast on 75 stitches.
Knit 5 rows in garter or seed stitch.
After 30 rows, cast off 1 stitch at the end of every other row until you have 45 on your needle, cast off. (You can keep casting off one stitch until you have 4 left, then cast off)

Then, fold this piece in half and sew the diagonal line and the top. Sew the bottom of the hood to the middle of the blanket top.

This pattern is Copyright © Paskale Soucy, mimigazon@hotmail.com, all rights reserved.

Now, I say I'm using it loosely because when I began the towel, I started it with a smaller needle than it calls for. I'm using an 8US I believe, when it calls for a 10. Thus, my gauge is totally off. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, as it's probably a much closer knit fabric than I would have ended up with .. good for a towel, yes? But now I'm a little unsure if I should continue with the hood or not, and if so, how I should do so. I'm not sure how the hood will look/feel if I make it separate and sew it on after. But I'm not sure how to go about going from 100 stitches to 75 withough a whole lot of funkiness going on. And I could try knitting the hood separate and then grafting the two together, but I've not tried that at all before now, and I don't want to mess this up.

I'm going to knit another 10 rows or so (1000 stitches .. yikes!) and see if I can figure out how to quickly drop 25 stitches. I really don't like the thought of sewing the two together.

Summer of Stash 2006

I joined the Summer of Stash and so I pledge to knit from stash from today to Labor Day.



1. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, no yarn purchases allowed. You must knit only from stash.
2. Each SoS team member may have up to two exceptions to their rule this summer. For example, if you find us after Memorial Day, you are welcome to join later, and simply designate a later start date as your exception.
3. Challenge yourself to reduce your stash in creative or generous ways. Share your projects and ideas with other SoS-ers.
4. Rules apply only to yarn purchases. Books, patterns, and needles/notions needed to complete projects are allowed and encouraged if it gets you through the summer.
5. Plan and post about special Post-Labor Day Reward.

Have a great Summer of Stash!


I have to confess that I have been horrible about buying a bunch of yarn without truly needing it. I have tons of cotton for dishcloths, actually .. and while I do intend to make them, I've gotten sidetracked. And baby-yarn has been a real bad sin of mine .. with D soon having her baby, I've been buying a lot, but haven't finished a single project. So this Summer of Stash will be very good for me .. and Jason will be happy about it too!

Nothing really new on the knitting front. I've been grumpy and moody and emotional for several days now ... I think I finally beat it, but we'll see how today goes.

But look ... Green!

I have come to the conclusion that I am definitely a process knitter. I just enjoy the act of knitting. I went to B's house today for a few hours, and while I was there I had to rifle through his yarn and needles and start something ... I didn't even pay attention to the stitch, or anything .. I just had to be knitting -something- ... and it wasn't at all anything I was going to keep working on. I just wanted to keep my hands busy.

Wish I'd have had this hobby when I was quitting smoking!!

I'm probably about halfway done the baby towel .. no pictures yet because I can't find the dern USB cable for the camera. It's in the house somewhere .. I'll find it tomorrow for sure, since I'm stuck at home without a car tomorrow. J needs to take the car so he can drive to Fort Mill tomorrow for some festival thing that Griffen is sponsoring. It's a good thing for him, as it means he'll get exposure. Not to mention his GM asked him today if he'd be willing to take over the Internet Sales position ... which would be a promotion.

I found my Knit It magazine that has the baby blaket pattern .. and might need to buy some more of the Bernat LuLu I'm using to make it. We'll see. I can get it through Herrschners.com, without trouble I'm sure, but I'd hate to have to spend twice what I paid. It looks like it might be a similar gauge to what it calls for in the pattern, so I -should- be okay. *crosses fingers*

Best Of Moog

Moog? Who the hell is Moog? All's I know is a song just came on my XM Online by Hot Butter. The song's name was Popcorn. And everyone must find this song from their online source of music. (Or gods forbid you actually have it on a cd somewhere!) And you must listen to it. You must!

Oh yeah. A knitting update is needed.

Well, I haven't started on my Booga yet, mostly because Honey has been home, and I've been busy entertaining him. It's a lot of work to keep a husband busy! But he's back to work ... I dropped him off at 8:30 this morning, and he's there until either 7 or 8 pm. I have to run him lunch after the dishwasher guy comes buy to finally fix my dishwasher.

Oh yeah. Knitting.

So I've spent a lot of time working on the baby towel. Even though I'm knitting it at the totally wrong gauge ... don't think it's going to matter really. It's a towel, after all. A warm snuggly to wrap a darling baby in after a bath. And there are a few mistakes I've seen farr too after the fact to go back and fix, so I'm leaving them. Somehow in the middle of the stockinette section, I purled instead of knitting. No reason makes itself apparent. Apparently, my hands just make certain I can't offend Minerva.

I really should whip up a few more dishcloths ... but since I'm going to have a fixed dishwasher again, I don't think I'll be needing quite as many. Yay! But they are good practice for working other things, so I need to do a few more, and get rid of the crappy bits of cloth they call dishcloths at the Wal*Mart.

I found a pattern for the baby blanket yarn I bought .. but now I can't find the dern magazine it was in!!! I know it was in the stuff we bought at the airport waiting for L.'s plane to arrive ... I just don't know where that is. I'll have to peek in the back of the car.

Oooga!

I've decided on the stripe pattern for my Booga, and I already have the yarn. So ... I'm posting it, before I lose it again.

9 of gray O O O O O O O O O
3 of deeppink O O O
3 of gray O O O
9 of deeppink O O O O O O O O O
3 of gray O O O
6 of deeppink O O O O O O
3 of gray O O O
3 of deeppink O O O
6 of gray O O O O O O
3 of deeppink O O O
3 of gray O O O
15 of deeppink O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


I'm making this first Booga out of yarns I already have, a hand-spun brown-grey wool, and a bright fuschia 100% wool. I've been eying the Noro Kureyon at the LYS I love, but I figure I should use some of this up first.

Jason finished the bunny he was making on the vacation trip ... a camo orange bunny, but a bunny just the same. And because it was knitted on large needles, and had some .. erm .. holey features in the knitting, we decided to felt it. So, my first felting project was done today, and it looks like it worked out well. Now he just needs to dry, and be stuffed and seamed. I'm actually very pleased with how it came out, and very proud of him!

Lots of news to post, not all of which is knitting related.

First of all, I bought a new car. I bought a 2006 Pontiac Torrent, after trying out the Saturn Vue and the Chevy Equinox also. I found the Torrent was better than the other two for what I was looking for .. and the color I got was far better than any I could have gotten from Chevy. It's a beautiful vibrant blue .. called Blue Streak .. and the car is just a dream. I got a sunroom, and XM radio, and a 6-CD changer in the dash .. it's perfect. I couldn't ask for much better in a car for me.




Also, we're going on vacation next week. DH is in-between jobs right now .. though he's been offered positions at 3 separate dealerships now, so it's just a matter of who will give him the better deal ... and so we have time right now to go on vacation without worrying that he's missing a sale. And though I will have to get a job when we get back so I can make my car payment ($380/mo), I should have plenty of time to do that when we get back from the mountains.



We've rented a cabin up in the Pigeon Forge area of Tennessee. DH and I have been up there before, with his folks. This time we're taking B with us, as we often go on vacations with friends rather than going it alone. It's a beautiful little cabin, with a hot tub, and a pool table, and even a n old-fashioned arcade video game machine! And we'll be there until Saturday, when we check out and head home. But this time, we're not spending $4-500 on a rental car, since my Torrent is big enough easily for us to take on long trips. I still have to baby it a little, but it's more than capable of handling the drive.

On the knitting front, I've found the perfect LYS. It's about 20-25 minutes away, in Pineville NC. They have classes about every day for something, on a somewhat rotating schedule, and most are only $10 for 2 hours. Felting classes are $20 for 3 hours, so it's not bad at all. And best of all, of all the places I've seen in the area, they've the best selection and prices around.

My dust bunny is nearly completed. I'll likely finish it up tonight, get him seamed and stuffed, so I can take pictures. He'll be done just in time for Easter!! He's going to be utterly adorable, I swear. And happily, I found the yarn used to make him $5 cheaper than where I had been buying it .. at the new LYS. So I can make him a little more affordably for others!

You Know You're Addicted to Knitting When ...

You have a room in your house devoted just to knitting. - Not yet, but I'd like to!

You buy yarn just because it's pretty, even if you don't know what you'll do with it. - I try no to do this, but I'm good at thinking up things to do with it!

You have been to at least one trade show (convention) or knitting camp. - Not yet. It's not until October.

You have traveled across state lines to increase your stash. - Regularly.

You have spent over $100 on knitting (yarn/patterns/books) in one day. - Not yet.

You have spent over $400 at a knitting trade show (convention/camp) market in one day. - Can't see myself doing this ... unless I get honey a spinning wheel.

You have lied to hide the fact that you have bought more yarn. - I don't lie about what I buy, thankfully.

You have put the name of a grocery store in your check register for the check that was for yarn. - What's a check register?

You try to beat your husband (or significant other) to the mailbox (so you get to the yarn deliveries first). - I always beat him. I'm home, he's not!

Most of your friends are knitters. - And if they're not, they will be!

You have called in sick to stay home from work to knit. - I'm blissfully unemployed, thank gods!

You have called in sick to go on a knitter's field trip. - See above.

You stay up at night to knit, even if it means you only get a few hours of sleep. - I've so done this!

The employees at the local yarn shop know you by name and have memorized you credit card number. - Not my credit card number (that'd be bad!) but they no longer ask for ID.

You find it hard to sleep because of your UFOs (unfinished objects) or new ideas whirling around in your brain. - It has happened, yes.

You get up in the middle of the night to work on projects. - I have. But only when I can't sleep.

You get up in the middle of the night to read online knit list messages. - I'm not -that- bad!

In your dreams, you are knitting. - I haven't remembered any yet.

You have more than two knitting totes. - Much to my honey's chagrin, yes.

You have an email address that reflects the fact that you are a knitter. - Of course I do!

You have a personalized license plate that reflects the fact that you are a knitter. - Umm .. no.

You have some kind of knitting accessory(ies) in every room in the house. - Guilty!

You are the only one in your family who knows what a yarn bra is. - I'm not even sure I know what a yarn bra is ... ?

You can recite the names of more knitwear designers than past presidents. - Umm .. yes. Sad, isn't it?

You knit and read at the same time. If you are unable to do this because of a complex pattern, you will forego the reading. - No, only because I don't read. But I do knit and watch TV or play computer games at the same time.

You have used knitting and the acquisition of yarn as the theme for a vacation. Here's an idea - let's look for all of the yarn mills in (Prince Edward Island, British Columbia/ Virginia/Wisconsin/etc. - place your destination here) for this year's vacation! - We're planning on going to the NC Fiber Fair in October .. does that count?

You joined a knitting Web ring and keep a knitting blog. - Guilty!

New Knitty Gritty episodes are coming!!!!!

I'm not sure exactly when, but I read about it on KNittingHelp.com's forums, and double checked on the website .. and indeed, there are new episodes listed!! No dates given for them just yet, but how fnatastic is that!

I forgot to mention the haul I picked up the other day. We went to Hobby Lobby (our el-cheapo LYS .. where we get stuff like Sugar and Cream, and lots of my baby yarn comes from there) on Wednesday .. to pick up something for B's scarf. Well .. we got in there to learn that all the needles were on sale. And I drooled a little over the bamboo, but J mentioned it might be better to wait to get a full set of those ... so I completed a set of aluminum 10" needles instead, and got a bunch on 6" DPN's also. Not a full set of those, but I'm not a sock monster yet. So now my de-lovely needle case is truly useful. I'm so deliciously pleased. And yes, I'm a horrible completist. I hate not having complete sets of things. It was eating at me to not have at least 1 pair in every size.

The needle case rolled up and closed, now.

The needle case 2 weeks ago, open and rolled up.

The needle case now, open.

Also, I've been working some on my new rag-bunny. This yarn is very interesting to work with, but I'm enjoying it. I only fear that it's going to take more than the 1 skein to complete him .. this is the most expensive yarn I've ever used .. $15 a ball. I only bought 1 ball, but it looks like it's going to take at least 1 more to complete him. Not a -huge- deal, though it is a bit frustrating.