Thanksgiving Update

well - I know it's past Thanksgiving, but that's when I took the pics, so that's what I am really updating! LOL

Very pleased to say that the baby blankie is finished! YAY!

Finished a quickie little boucle scarf for Christmas.

Made HUGE progress on Casino.

Not much progress at all on the Baltic Sea Stole or the entrelac scarf.

Started a pair of socks - Mountain Colors Bearfoot - I am liking it alot.


Started another little boucle scarf - this one in Schaefer Patti - a silk boucle. A little meh about this yarn. It's nice to try these things out on scarves! LOL

Blankie finished out at 24x30, so added 3x24 from last time: 72 sq in
Scarf finished at 5x50, so added 5x20: 100 sq in
Hard to measure Casino as it is a decreasing triangle, but am at about 27" deep and working the border. Someone else can do the math,but am guessing about 280 sq. in
Socks are 9" long by about 8" around: 72 sq in.
New boucle scarf is about 7x10 at this point: 70 sq in.
No pics of that one yet because the colors turned out crappy on the photo and I haven't had time for the redo.

So about 594 square inches for the month. Not too shabby, especially considering riding and working! LOL.

Picked up baby Callas from John's today. She goes off to the sale barn next weekend, but he thought she had a bit of an owie, so I want to get her to my vet before I send her away.

I have been riding tons, especially considering the weather.

Learned how to make a DVD with my Tivo - how fun is that?!? LOL

Knitting Update - Making Strides

Baby blankie is up to 27"! Once I finish off the partial ball of yarn in the pic, I am done. Will wash & dry and wrap up to go off to my nephew's family to await the new arrival.

Baltic Sea Stole - Haven't been doing a huge amount of work on this. But it's coming along. I try to get a little done every night even though I am focused on Casino right now.


Casino Shawl - This is where I have been spending most of my time. It's an Ann Hanson pattern and is absolutely gorgeous in Ebony Sea Silk.









Boucle Quick Ribbed Scarf - This is a cutesy little ball of Boucle Mohair Blend from Sheep and Wool. It will be a Christmas present for a neice. It's a fast knit.










Stash Enchancement! This is a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot. Hard to see in the pic, but it's a gorgeous muted blend of dark green, blue, charcoal and ochre. Destined to be a pair of socks. Then there are two skeins of CTH Fingering silk - maybe diagonal triangle tank or something similar. Then there is one skein of Schaefer Patty - boucle silk. Destined to be a Christmas scarf. And a skein of Blue Heron Beaded something - another Christmas scarf/small shawl.

Angora entrelac scarf - haven't touched it, so no new pics.

Total work done:
Blankie - 24x6
Stole - 15x3
Casino - 40(?)x7
Scarf - 5x30

About 580 square inches of knitting since last report! WOW! And that doesn't include any frogging of which there was a fair amount getting Casino started!

Baby Callas goes to Camp

I have been trying to blog for days, but Blogger has been a bit difficult. Got in this am and here's a pony report!

We started little Callas this summer, but she was quite growthy and there were a few little bugs (bucking and rearing!) that didn't quite get ironed out. So she went off to "camp" at John's place.

She's doing great!


Here she is starting to walk with a connection (that soft bow in her neck).


Then we have a lovely relaxed canter.


Then she and John took a little break! LOL











Then they went for her FIRST trail ride where she learned to walk over a big tire. She was totally awesome.

On the knitting front, zipping along, but haven't finished anything new - will try to post pics this weekend.

Knitting Update - 10/15

Well _ I have been a busy bee! I am glad I thought to put the tape measure on these things because at least I can see that I am making progress!!!

Finished the diagonal Triangle Tank. It's purty! DIdn't make the 10/10 b-day, but will ship it out this week.













Did another couple of inches on baby blankie. Better zoom on this one!

Three(!) more inches on the angora scarf. Didn't think I worked on it that much.

Only one more inch on the Baltic Sea Stole. Another one I had better get moving on. This is for a November birthday. LATE November thank goodness!





And the Casino Shawl, by Anne Hanson. It's in ebony Sea Silk and it's gonna be wazowie! when it's done.

Quick little knitting update!

Here's the diagonal Triangle Tank. Almost done. I actually had sewed it up, then realized that it was WAY too long in the armscye for my sis, so shortened it about 1 1/2". Left to do, restitch shoulder seams, put on finishing single crochet borders. Whew! Hope to do that tonight and finish for an October 10 b-day!


Baby blankie is at 20" in length. I am on skein #4. I definitely have another skein, but would have sworn that I bought six skeins - wierd. I think it will still be okay - probably about 24 x 30.

Added three inches on the entrelac scarf. I will be glad when this is done because frankly, I HATE this yarn. Like it less and less as I work with it, but I think the gal who is destined to get if for Christmas will love it. (she had BETTER! LOL)

Finally, the Baltic Sea Stole. Another 3" on that too. Too bad it photographs so poorly - it's really neat!

Once I finish Sis's top, I will put my nose to the grindstone on the tank and wrap that up, then probably start a claptois for one of the nieces for Christmas. I got some SWTC Phoenix on deep sale and that might be really pretty.

Okay - off to pack up for a clinic ride this afternoon. I am getting taped, so hopefully will be able to pull some stills off the tape.

Cowboy Shooting

Hub and I went to the Northeast Regional Cowboy shooting champs - held nearby. Neither of our ponies are ready for prime time yet, but we went and rode the course without shooting. What the heck, we looked spiffy anyhow!




What makes this really funny is that both horses are dressage horses for their day jobs - cowboy shooting is not their main "thing". This is a good thing because we are't really good at it yet! LOL

On the knitting front - finished a beaded bracelet, but need to get some glue to secure the ends before I trim. Sis's diagonal tank is seamed up, but haven't finished the edging on it. Added a couple of inches to the entrelac scarf and the Baltic Sea Stole. Great week!

Working away!

Saturday is our Mounted Cowboy Shoot (in Thurmont, MD - let me know if anyone wants details!), so I have been trying to get in some saddle time. Never the less, I have been knitting up a storm!

Here's my stuff....

Diagonal Triangle Tank blocking.






Baby Blankie moving right along.

Entrelac Scarf in progress. I decided not to change colors every row because I had to cut and tie off threads each time. Finishing was gonna be TOO Much work, so I am just carrying the color up the side.


Last but not least, the first couple of inches for the Baltic Sea Stole. I am doing it in Schaefer Andrea - the pattern calls for sport weight I think, so this will be a narrow shawl as I didn't add repeats for width. I think it's gonna be GORGEOUS!

Bad Blogger update!

Well - I have been doing lots of stuff since I last touched base - more riding than knitting, but I managed a few things.

Finished objects - two Christmas scarves for the brothers-in-law. Did these in Louet Merlin - a bit splitty to knit with, but feels great in the hand and I think has very nice stitch definition.




WIPs
That daggone tank for me is still not done.

The diagonal triangle tank for sis is almost done.

The Andrea shawl for other sis is on hold until the triangle tank is done. Front is folded on left, back is on two sets of circs waiting for finishing details, then sew it together and VOILA! Of course, she lives in Montana and it's getting cold there. Guess she will just have to wait for spring!

And started an entrelac scarf out of angora that I got on deep discount. I am glad I tried it on the cheap because I don't like it much. It's actually too soft for my taste. I like a little more body. I think the entrelac will work well though and will give it a little support.

So the question is, I screwed up picking up the first row of green on the entrelac scarf. Frog it? or put some beads on it and hide it? LOL I think I will probably frog it. I hate making mistakes!

Hammerin' Hank models lace

Amazing Lace #6 - Creatures of the Reef in Laceweight Linen

Hammerin' Hank is my horse-shoeing hubby.

Here, he models his lace as he prepares for work.












Horseshoer buns stylin' in lace.















Hank is willing to share his lace. Here baby Lulu shows Hank how stylin' is REALLY done!











(Please note that baby Lulu and Mom Aster are real customers. You can see them on their homepage at www.goodnessridge.com)

Hank has "wrapped up" for the day.

Diagonal Triangle Tank

Front is done. Started the back last night. This is in a really gorgeous hand-painted silk that I got at Md Sheep & Wool.

It's a pretty easy knit. A little boring (garter stitch), but the short rows are kind of fun, and after the shawl a little boring is okay! LOL

I think it will be really pretty! It's for my sis in Montana.

At Long Last!!! CotR is finished!!!

Creatures of the Reef Shawl is completed! Whoo Hoo! What a project that was.

I don't remember when I cast on. Late May? Maybe June.

This is in laceweight linen (Euroflax Milan) in lichen on #4 needles. It's a very beautiful subtle sage-y green. Took one 100 gram cone (625 yds) plus a little bit of the second cone. Now I have to figure out what to do with about 600 yards of laceweight linen!

Here it is on the blocking board. The board is 36x48.

Here it is draped over the balcony. It's amazing!!!

And here it is on the bed, so that you can see some of the patterns better. From the bottom, sea shell border, then a row of eyelet "bubbles", then some crabs and sea horses, more bubbles, some starfish, some bubbles, some fishies swimming left and some fishies swimming right and finally some frothy sea foam.

I did NOT feel the love starting out with this pattern. Made a mistake early on and had to tink back stitch by stitch over 800 stitches! Argh! But it gets easier as you get into the swing of it and each row gets shorter by 4 stitches, so the end actually gets very exciting! LOL

Anyway. DONE!

Sunshine, the Palomino Filly

Here she is! Just 60 days under saddle. What a cutie pie!

Where's Waldo?

Fruit n' Lace. CotR fresh picked from the garden.

Just a quick update.

Plugging along on CotR. Am now on the fish motif, row 105 or thereabouts. I am sure there are a few mistakes scattered about. I keep winding up either short a stitch or with an extra on the motifs, but hey - if you can spot it, more power to ya! LOL

Tank is languishing.

Baby blankie went with me on a short road trip yesterday and I got another inch or so done. It's so nice to have a "take-along" project. CotR - NO WAY. Tank would be okay, but I am at the yoke and will need a little more focus than I can offer on a car ride!

Rode Shadow in a REALLY good lesson Saturday, taught on him yesterday. Rode today and he was a dog. I am going to have to rethink using him as a lesson horse. OTOH, it is so freakin' hot that I wasn't very high energy myself. We didn't do much, but I did want to get him out. Pones are tucked away in the barn with their fans blowing. I always debate out or in, but I think it's less buggy in and at least they are assured a breeze with the fans on.

Then I put on my plantkiller hat and went out and applied round-up to the extensive weeds in the riding ring. I have tried the more natural method of pulling them up and I just can't keep up. So I apologized to the weeds and then squirted them.

Now to shower and off to work!

Yahoo!

The camera is back in action!

This is the koigu baby blankie - wrong side on top, but I think both sides are pretty!






This is the Vittadini tank - I know it's hard to see - need better pics - but all I need to do is finish up the yoke.
And here's the Creatures of the Reef Shawl. Again hard to see, but you can at least see nice progress.

Onward and upward.

Saturday Update

Okay - so I ordered new batteries and a new charger for my camera. I am suffering too much with no photos! LOL They should be here soon.

Have only been working on the CotR shawl this week. Kinda dropped everything else. But making good progress. Finished the seahorse and crab motif and am almost done with the bubbles separator row. I like these things that start out huge and diminish. The rows just go faster and faster! Yay!

On the horse front, little Callas had a tummy ache this am. She seems better now, but that's always very worrisome. Shadow and Pro head off to a clinic this afternoon. NO PICS until I get my batteries. Next time!

Amazing Lace Entry - Contest #4.

Well, I should really have entered Contest #3 because my camera is broken and I can't do pics. Did you know that Mercury is retrograde? It means that communication is difficult.

But I will try anyway - I can do WORD pictures with supporting illustration (all real pics are pre-broken cam) so here goes....

I am doing the Creatures of the Reef shawl in lace weight linen. It's a gorgeous willow green that is cool, airy, slightly slubby, threadlike, flowing and a real pain to frog when mistakes happen.

Here is an early incarnation - about 6 rows worth (that's 6x400+ - 2400+ stitches).

It is now about 4 inches deep by 400 stitches long. It's loooooong. (figure about 6 rows to the inch - 6x4x400=9600 stitches) Why am I obessessing about how many stitches? Dunno. Except maybe there is some "whine" factor involved for when I goofed up and had to tink back one stitch at a time for two whole rows. But we are on track now and a lifeline is in place!

So picture it - mostly border, just the teeniest edge of the seahorses and crabs in place.

/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8

So if I cast off right now, it could be:

Picture this.

A sofa dust ruffle.
~~~_______________ ~~~
~~(_______________) ~~
~~[@@@] [@@@] [@@@] ~~
~~/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\ ~~

Or maybe:

A bandolier
~~~~ _____] ^ ^ [______~~~~
~~~~( (.'.'. /*\ .'.'.'.' /8\.'.'.) ) ~~~~
~~~/ / .'.'.' /8\.'.'.' /*\.'.'.' \ \ ~~~~
~~/ /~ .'.'.'.' /*\.'. /8\ .'.'.'~\ \ ~~~
~ [ \~~ .'.'.'.'.'/8\/*\.'.'.'.'.'~/ ] ~~~
~~\ \~ .'.'.'.' /*\.'. /8\.'.'.'.~/ / ~~~
~~~\ \ .'.'. /8\.'.'.'.' /*\.'.'. / / ~~~~
~~~~() \\\\\\\\\//////// () ~~~~~

Still have to get the Camera Fixed...

I have been diligently working away on three projects.

1) Vittadini tank. It's coming along nicely and I think will be very cool. Not the most interesting knit on the planet, but I think it will be nice. I added a teeny bit of shaping, so we will see how that does. I am about 3/4 done on this one. Back is complete, front is done almost to the armholes, but the yoke and bobbles take a while. My sis wants one too - going to make it out of some golden yellow Silky Wool - but sis is MUCH more amply endowed than I am, so I am thinking it might be fun to experiment with short row shaping for the bust.

2) Creatures of the Reef Shawl. I really need to make an Amazing Lace report on my trials and tribulations for this one. Stay tuned. I will write it up separately.

3) Baby blankie. Another koigu baby blankie on #4 needles. I am so nutz!!! I started this off in the same lattice pattern I used in Hank's vest. Love the pattern, but it didn't show off the yarn, so I frogged it, started again with the Swedish block pattern, which looks fabbo! But then I realized I had made it too wide and I was gonna run out of yarn (only I think I have another skein somewhere...) Anyhow, frogged again and restarted with fewer repeats, but now I am cooking along. Unlike the first baby blanket, which had a complex 18 row pattern repeat in which every single line was different (!) and in which I never got the flow of the pattern sufficiently to just buzz away, this is a very simple 6-row repeat. Whew!

I really do need to get batteries because I soon will have FO's and I want to publish pics of my progress anyhow!

So once these are knocked off. I have a linen top for youngest sis, the yellow tank for oldest sis, and some scrumptious silk I bought at MDS&W for yet another sis. I also have some silk/linen that I want to make up into a cropped jacket for moi, but haven't found a pattern yet that I love for it.

So I have been a busy bee.

Not much on the riding front. It is SO freakin' hot that the thought of long pants is ACK! Maybe will try to get up at 5:00 tomorrow am and ride in the cool. Baby Callas does come home today from Mel's. She has been under saddle for about 30 days. I may force Henry to ride her a bit - I am not so bold with greenies, but am going to see if I can get her bred, so she will have the year off to have a baby, then go back to work.

That's it!

Have to get that Camera Fixed.

Knitting

A friend came by on Thursday and I was showing her my WIPs. She hadn't seen the Barbara Walker books, so we were flipping through - saw the Swedish block (or is it check - can't remember) in book 1 and mentioned how elegant it was. Then I was showing her baby blankie and I wasn't pleased with how it was knitting up - the variegation and the pattern were clashing with each other, so I had a little aha moment, ripped it out back to the garter stitch edge and restarted it with the Swedish block pattern. Ahhhh. Easy to stitch and I like how it's coming out.

So even though I worked WAY too many hours yesterday, I am back to where I started when I ripped. Feels good.

Tonight I will do a little on the baby blankie and see if I can get the CotR shawl back to where I goofed up.

Riding

Mel had a good day with Callas - a little bit of breakthrough in getting her to work and concentrate through distractions. Going down tomorrow, so should have some pics.

Haven't ridden all week myself. Between rain and work, ugh! Have a lesson today - am really enjoying the new teach.