Stashalong windup

Okay - here's what I used up during the Stashalong...
Seaman's Shawl (Myrna Stahlman)- 2 Sk Araucania Nature Wool.
Shari's Socks (Actually Wyvern socks Marnie McLean - very nice!) - 2 Sk Koigu
Peg's Scarf (self designed) - 2 sk Koigu
Horseshoe lace scarf (self designed) 1 sk Lisa Souza Cashmere
Baby blanket (self designed) 5 sk Koigu
Hank's Vest (not quite done, self designed) 6 sk Alice Starmore 3 ply

So counting Hanks vest - I think I am allowed it's only the neckband left used up 18 skeins of yarn! Not so bad!

On the sticks -
Dancing Leaf Shawl (Sivia Harding)- 3 sk Koigu
Trellis Lace Scarf (IK Winter)- 1 sk CTH Possum Lace
Linen Lace Shawl (Nancie Wiseman) 1 sk Blue Heron Sparkly Rayon
W - (knitty.com) 1 or 2? , not sure Schaefer Lauren

In planning stage -
DLS shawl for my mom - planning to get some Euroflax and try that
Kuba Vest - Kit from LaLana is in my stash.
Wyvern socks - for me - plan to use up the Lorna's laces for these.

Vest Q and DFS WIP

Otay - here is the WIP Diamond Fantasy Shawl - in Koigu. It looks pretty nice when you pin it out! Kewl!


I have a dilemna too though. Here's the samples for the front/neck bands for hubs sweater. One is garter stitch (on the right), one is seed stitch (on the left). I like the buttonholes I practiced in the seed stitch swatch way better than the other buttonholes, so ignore the bad ones! LOL


Whaddya think? Garter/seed? I am leaning a bit towards the garter, but like 'em both okay.

Here's a closeup to help you decide...

And the almost finished object below!














And from Knitter in Progress...

A is for Age: 49
B is for Booze: Not a big drinker, but microbrews, white sangria, Merlot, Shiraz
C is for Career: Network Engineer
D is for Dad's Name: Mervin
E is for Essential Item to Bring to a Party: Dessert
F is for Favorite Songs at the Moment: The Wind (Warren Zevon)
G is for Goof-off Thing to Do: Web Surf & play computer games
H is for Hometown: Great Falls, MT
I is for Instrument You Play: Mandolin
J is for Jam or Jelly you Like: UGH. Does Peanut butter count?
K is for Kids: None – 2 pups (gunner/Rowdy) 3 horses (Pro, Shadow, Callas)
L is for Living Arrangement: Small Farm with hub and critters
M is for Mom's Name: Carol
N is for Names of Good Friends: Shari, Mel, (Randy, Shelley, Kaja, Jo - sis’s)
O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: ? Maybe for tonsils when I was two
P is for Pets: See K is for kids
Q is for Quotes you Like: "When will then be now? Never again." –Space Balls
R is for Relationship That Lasted Longest: DH – going on 8 years
S is for Siblings: See N for Names of good Friends
T is for Texas: AustinU is for Unique Trait: Like to clean the barn!
V is for Vegetables You Love: Brussel Sprouts, broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.
W is for Worst Traits: Sometimes bitchy!
X is for X-rays You've Had: teeth, knees
Y is for Yummy Food You Make: Fudge, stir-fried chix, Pork loin in mustard sauce
Z is for Zodiac Sign: Aries/Taurus cusp

More on the Blankie story

Well - just got back from Fla. The wedding was err.... spectacular!

They held it outdoors on the beach, scheduled for sundown so that they would be married against the backdrop of a sunset. It was a beautiful idea and was beautiful to watch, however, the temps were unseasonably cold and a vicious north wind was whipping!

Bride's mom had provided her with a white hoodie sweatshirt with Just Married spelled out on the back in rhinestones (cuter than it sounds!), so after the ceremony, she hopped into her sweatshirt, but she was sooo cold. I made her open her present a bit early, so it spent the evening wrapped around mom!

She loved the colors and it certainly proved useful on the day!

I decided to go with #5 - the medium blues for the shawl. I was leaning towards the Lorna's laces, but someone commented that it might prove too stripey and could look a little funny, so maybe I will make a pair of socks instead. I liked the light blue also, but I am making it for me and with the farm life I am afraid it would show the dirt too much.

Finished two repeats of the lace patten now - about 70 rows - and it's very pretty. Not much to look at in process, but when you stretch it out, you can see that it will be very nice! No pics til later in the week. Next task - TAXES!

Blankie Complete!!!

Wrapped up baby blankie just in time! "Designed it" myself (a Barbara Walker pattern with a garter stitch border) and am soooo pleased with how it came out! I even washed and dried it to be *REALLY* sure it would work before I gave it to my neice. Snuggly soft and scrumptious feeling. It's in Koigu on #4 needles and finished size is 28x36.

Now I am on to the Diamond Fantasy Shawl by Sivia Harding. Since I am being a good destasher, these are my choices! Help me out with which one I should use. I like 'em all, so the winning vote gets made! LOL



1) Dark Reds/blues/purples. Washable wool. Koigu
2) Purple/green. Washable wool. Lorna's shepherd sock.
3) Amber/gold. Merino alpaca blend, handwash. Haneke.
4) Pale blues/greens. Koigu
5) Medium blues/greens/purples. Koigu
6) Dark Purple/green. Washable wool. Bonkers

What do you think?

Just a little ridin' stuff

Thought I would post a piccie of me and my boy from a clinic we rode in this weekend.


No I wasn't knitting, but I am about at 26" on baby blankie with one more ball of koigu to go. WHEW!

Happy Saint Paddy's day

Movin' right along! Picked up buttons yesterday. Swatched a little piece so that I can experiment with a seed stitch and/or garter stitch border and blocked it last night.

While that was drying, charted baby blankie pattern, figured out where I went off, tinked back to that point and then proceeded full steam ahead.

Whew! Will do the neckband experiment tonight and maybe get started on it. Fingers crossed.

Have a dressage clinic this weekend. Maybe will bring one of the projects with me and work and watch. Haven't mastered knitting and riding together LOL!

Vest ALMOST wrapped up!

What a "doh" moment! Picked up a little potty reading (knitting without tears) and EZ spells out in there how to pick up armband/neckband stitches. Why do I buy all these books anyhow????

Anyway, armbands are done. About to start neckband and feeling a bit more confident - will go by a somewhat local fabric store today (reco by the knittyboard folks - great idea!) for buttons! With all systems go, I figure I can do about half the neckband tonight, the other half Friday night and get buttons sewed on Saturday.

Yay! and AUGH! That gives me less than a week to finish baby blankie. We fly Friday at oh dark hundred. Maybe I will take Monday off and knit all day.

Will try to get vest pics up soon. It is gorgeous!

Another quickie 3/15

ARGH!

Did one armhole band with a little twist cable. Didn't like how it looked and there was a bit of buckling, so I left it for the time being and did the other one with straight k1p1 ribbing. 84 stitches. Nope, frogged it did it again with 102 stitches. Nope. Finally did it with 120 stitches and it's okay.

Now have to frog the first one and redo.

Then on to the buttonband/neckband - I guess I will put in lots more stitches than I think belong there!

Baby blanket is languishing. I MUST finish this vest! And I have to go get buttons somewhere!

Joined a Sivia Harding Diamond Fantasy Shawl/Scarf KAL. Koigu or Haneke Merino/Alpaca - that is the question. Can't start it until baby blankie is complete, but it might be a nice take-along project to the wedding.

Just a quickie - 3-12-06

3-10 Finished the back of vest! Fronts blocked last night. Will block the back tonight and sew together over the weekend, then it's just finishing up! Pics soon!

3-12 Vest Yay! Back blocked. Fronts & backs sewn together. First armhole stitches picked up and ready to go. Two armholes and the fronts/neckband to go. Plus I need to find some buttons. But this is getting really close!

Mini vest ugh. I think I blocked this a bit too aggressively. Once I am done, will pin it out with a little "fluff" room, mist it and see if I can revitalize it a bit. Lesson learned - conservative blocking with the Starmore yarns.

Blankie Ugh! Somehow I got "off" on the row count. It's an 18 row - every row is different- pattern and I have been following it blindly rather than doing the analysis to figure out where I am, so now I have to go chart it or something and figure out where the hell I am! And the last thing I want to do with blankie is go backwards!!!!

Now that the weather is getting better, knitting is gonna be tough!! Rode in a quadrille yesterday. Shadow was a star - he hasn't worked in close quarters before and these horses were all strangers.

Latest Project Pics

Hank's vest. Armhole shaping complete. Headed up to the back neck shaping. It looks short to me, but we will see.






Baby blanket. Just a bigger rectangle than last time! LOL









Trellis lace scarf. Lacy blob with lifelines. Once I finish one of the others will dig in on this a bit more. (And just for scale, those lifelines are from a bit of scrap koigu!) Yarn is CTH Possum lace in Old Rose. Yummm.










Lavendar Linen Lace Shawl from Nancie Wiseman's book. Only it's in Blue Heron. This was a Christmas project to be that got dropped. Thought I would take a pic anyway. It will go back in the loop once I have flattened a couple of other things. I like it.















Now I gotta go ride the tractor for a while and hopefully will have time to plop my fanny on a horse too!

First week in March!

Friday-

Didn't ride last night, but taught a lesson.

This weekend is gonna be a bear. I need to:
Farm - call the guys who did some work on my barn and bug them to come and finish. Make a list for them of remaining tasks.
Drag, lime and seed one of the fields.
Drag and seed a portion of another field.

Pick up feed.
Drop off saddle I had on trial that didn't work.
Drive down to VA and video a horse for a friend.

Riding Club:
Finish up the Show omnibus and send to printer. How did I get dragged into this?
Update web page. I am about a month behind.

Sister:
Got get pics up on my sis's web page too.

House & Garden - I really need to clear out old debris from the flower beds. Bulbs are coming up and I should also mulch around them. I am gonna call a gal that used to do yard work for us and see if she can give me a weekend of work and blast away at some of this stuff. When we bought the place a retired couple owned it and there were flower beds everywhere. It was truly gorgeous, but there is no way to maintain it when you are working full time!
Ironing. Ugh.

And somewhere in there, I want to ride, sleep, eat, and knit - and oh yeah, I also have to pay bills. And book a hotel for a wedding we are going to at the end of the month. (Baby blankies final destination - and yes they did jump the gun a bit! )


Did a little work on the baby blankie, but I have been getting up early and I am pooped in the evenings. What an old fart I am getting to be!

Baby blankie is at 17+ inches - needs to be 30" before the 23rd.
Hank's vest is at about 10 inches - gosh I would like to finish this before it's too warm for him to wear it!
The Trellis scarf is at about 1 inch and holding since I am waiting to finish at least one of the others before digging on in.

Staying good on the Stashalong, but Earthfaire is having a 13% off sale. (? dunno - I will have to email and ask why 13%, why not 17% in honor of St Paddy's day? LOL)

She has some beautiful alpaca/merino blend stuff, but I will try to be strong. I still have some that I got on Valentine's day, so why do I need more? I need to keep practicing knitting obsessively more than I practice acquiring yarn obsessively! The Stashalong has actually been great, because it shows me how much I knee jerk and get anything that catches my fancy even though I have oodles of yarn. I hope I can stay strong after the stashalong too and be more disciplined in how I buy yarn.

I am planning to take a continental class this spring - will have to see if I can be more zippy. If I knit more stuff, then it's okay to buy more yarn! LOL

Quick Riding Update

I am finally getting back in the saddle again...or should I say saddles? My pal Shari has persuaded me that I need to change my saddle, so I have ridden in three different saddles this week, not including my regular one. One fit me great and fit my horse badly (and had a bad squeak). One fit my horse great and me badly - he went so fabbo in it that I would even consider keeping it - or maybe trying to find the next size up - it's just too cramped for me. The third one fit my horse badly and I didn't even sit in it - it was kind of beat up too and would need some work to whup it into shape.

I have two to pick up tomorrow and will try to ride in them before the weekend. Riding in the one saddle that really fit Shadow was quite an eye-opener - he felt so light and forward - he tends to be a little phlegmatic, but now I feel like I have been driving him into the ground with bad tack. What a bad mom I am!

Saturday Update - No pics

Hank's vest is coming along nicely. I like how the pattern is playing out on the back - I have about 6" done - 18" to go - ACK! I am starting to worry that I might run out of yarn. That would be a serious annoyance!

Picked up the baby blanket again and did one 18 row repeat. Need to get crackin' cuz the wedding is 3/25 and it needs to be finished by then.

I am waiting to bind off the cashmere scarf until I can figure out how to make the finished end look more like the starting end. ie - zig zag vs flat. I suppose I could try to block the beginning end flatter and the ending end more zig zag and maybe we could meet in the middle... Hmmmm. Anyway - it's done except for binding off and blocking. Very pretty too!

Trellis Scarf is gonna be beautiful, but it's now the back burner project until I finish Hank's vest, then it will share with the baby blankie.

I picked up the new Elsebeth Lavold book. (Ha! Went in the yarn store and didn't buy a shred of yarn - I am woman, I am strong! LOL) She sure does some beautiful stuff. I am thinking about the tulip sweater. I have 10 sk of blue and 10 sk yellow Silky Wool in the stash. I wonder if I can find someone to swap it for a different color. They are beautiful, but neither is my fave.

Saturday update with pics

Fronts are done on Hank's vest and the back is cast on with about an inch of ribbing done. I think it looks fabbo, even if say so myself!


Here's the Horseshoe Lace scarf - a detail. It's about 6" wide and I don't know why I keep picking these yarns that are so hard to photograph! LOL I think it will be very pretty. This is the cashmere - it just looked ooky as a clap - didn't show off the yarn at all, so I swapped to this.

Finally, just for grins - here's the Trellis scarf from IK spring. Barely started, but you can see the nummy possum lace.










Baby blankie is on hold until I wrap up Hank's vest- but hopefully the back will go pretty quickly - cuz the blankie has to be ready for a March wedding.

That's it. Cold, windy and dreary in Md this am. Ugh!

PS - Sunday Stashalong update. I resisted temptation and didn't even go to the Dancing Leaf/Kiparoo sale. I think that would have clobbered me for sure. Instead I filled in an old pond with the a) the loader and b) me and a shovel! I am pooped!

Taking advantage...

of our free day on the Stashalong. It is a good thing to have a little break halfway through! Got some Haneke Gold. I just love the color of that stuff and it sounds scrumptious to work with. But I only got that even though I had my eye on a few other things on the site.

On the knitting front instead of the buying front, Hanks' vest right front is nearly done. Just need to finish the V decreases. Will take a pic when both fronts are done - that will be cool!

Baby blankie is languishing.

Cashmere scarf has morphed from a clapotis, which wasn't showing off the yarn much to a horseshoe lace scarf. That's coming along nicely - I should be able to wear it by next week. It's OHSO SOFT! I don't know how it will photograph as the colors are very subtle variations on blue, but we shall see.

Snow, snow, lotsa snow

You would think with all the snow this weekend, I would have snuggled down and knit up a storm.

It would have been a great day for it except for one small detail - we needed to dig out! So I hand dug the path to the barn, the path from the barn to the field, the sidewalks around the house, and the path to the woodpile.

Then I jumped on the loader and plowed the path to the hydrant (water for the horses), the manure pile and did a pass up and down the driveway. Then hub took over the loader and "detailed" - cleared out the parking pad for the house and the barn, dug a path to the hay barn, cleared out the driveway loop (mostly - the horse trailer is parked in the way!

In the meantime, I fed and turned out the horses, and cleaned the stalls. All I wanted to do was NAP! However - the storm did keep me from wandering off to the yarn sale at Dancing Leaf/Kiparoo, which was probably a good thing for the stashalong and I was able to get some stuff done.

Hank's vest - right front is about 13" - arm hole is done, need to shape the V neck and then I am ready to start the back.

Baby blankie - nada. Rolled up another skein of yarn for it last night, but that was optimistic as I won't need it for a bit.

Horseshoe lace scarf - Did I start a NEW project?!? Well yes I did. After talking about the Lisa Souza cashmere, I just had to do something with it. It's only one skein, so I swatched up some options for a scarf and picked this one. I have about 20 inches done. It's a narrow scarf with two repeats of the lace pattern. Very pretty in the cashmere. I will probably finish it by next weekend, so pics then.

Friday am Update

Pics added. Here's some pics of Peg's scarf. I really am diggin' on this scarf! "Designed" it myself. It's a Barbara Walker leaf lace pattern and I just edged it with a touch of garter stitch.













There is a mistake in it - but I didn't see it until I had finished and blocked it, so it stays!


2/10 -

I should be okay through April EXCEPT kpixie is having a sale and Dancing Leaf/Kipparoo (local hand-dyers) are having a sale. ACK! Who knows who else is going to tempt me! I had better go stroke some yarn!

Anyway. Henry's vest right front is up to 8". Maybe I will cast on the back ribbing too - just so that I am REALLY full steam ahead!

and I started a mini-clap in the cashmere. I have never knitted with cashmere before. Hope it's not blasphemy to say that I don't like it much! Let me clarify that! LOL The yarn is gorgeous and the feel is very soft, but I really like the boingy elasticity of wool. The cashmere knits up like cotton. Wierd. Anyway - doing the mini-clap with garter stitch instead of stockinette so that ought to add some bounce to it. Haven't dropped a stitch yet to see how it will look. That will decide if I continue on this path or try something else.

Patted the baby blankie, but didn't knit on it.

Quick update. No pics.

Finished up Peg's scarf last night. It's blocking now, but I had to double it up on the blocking board because it's too long, so pics would be goofy. Will try to get some snaps tonight or tomorrow morning. I am really pleased with how it came out. Hope she likes it!

Poor Hank - he has been waiting so patiently for his vest. Now I have cleared the decks of all the Christmas stuff but his and it's time to get rolling! I think I am going to use the basketweave twist texture on the front as an allover pattern on the back with a big horseshoe cable down the middle. Maybe a moss stitch panel at the sides to tie the front and back together. I was originally thinking of a triangle shape from the shoulders - similar to the German clock vest out of Folk Vests - which I would do something with, but I think that this will a) be simpler to complete and b) be more appealing to hubby.

Haven't touched the baby blanket - really wanted to get the scarf finished for the weekend. Actually, I have touched it - I keep picking it up and admiring it! LOL

This weekend, I will either swatch/cast on for the toddler gansey or maybe will work up some cashmere from Lisa Souza into a scarf for MOI! I was tempted to do the gansey for the knitting olympics, but I don't think I can finish it in time. Or maybe I will swatch some of that Karoke, or the totally indulgent Great Adirondack silk/wool that I splurged on before Christmas! So many options!

I am doing good on the stash. Peg's scarf used up 1.5 balls of koigu. And my planned projects (gansey & scarf) will use up 6 more balls of yarn. And my vague future projects...

This should definitely tide me over until April!

WIP Update & Socks finished!

Shari's socks are done and in her hands (or on her feet!). They were the Wyvern pattern from Marnie McLean's site. They are my second pair of socks - first ones were done long long ago. These were toe up, which I really liked and I did them on two circs, which I also really liked.

Next - Hank's vest - no pics as photographing that thing is so frustrating! but the right front is about 4" along.

Baby blankie - ummmmm! I am at about 12" and the thing is simply gorgeous. I think it will be great, soft and light enough for a Florida baby in all seasons. (maybe not outside in the summer, but certainly in an air-conditioned room).


Finally - new WIP - Peg's scarf. This is a Q&D little stash eatin project - two balls of a gorgeous blue Koigu - making them up in a narrow little lace scarf. It's coming out very pretty! Hope to have this one done & blocked before next weekend. It's her Christmas present. I had originally started a blue triangle shawl (which OMG is yet another WIP! I will take pics of this another day), but I think this will be more usable for her.












Off to the barn - cleaning stalls mmmm! & general horsing around.

Update with pics

'Puter is still not 100%, but we are quite a bit more stable, so let's see if I can post some pics of WIPs.

1) Hank's vest. I love this yarn, but can't photograph it to save my life. It is brown and purple and green flecked with a bazillion colors. From Alice Starmore. I love it. This is the left front. My own design. 1/4 finished.

2) Shari's socks. This is the Wyvern pattern from Marnie McLean. Very fun to knit. 3/4 finished.

3) Baby Blanket. Is this gorgeous or what? I am so glad I went with this yarn - it is simply stunning. Photo is a somewhat darker than real life. Pattern is an embossed diamond pattern from Barbara Walker #1. 1/5 finished. 20+ more inches to go! Yikes.