sneak peek

i'm a big fan of rowan, and here you can see why.

edit: using a different link now, directly to rowan.

runaway diet

edit: how does one get free yarn? well, one is a friend with the devilkitty, and she's been very busy this summer with school, with minimal crafting time. she did, however, organize her stash, and found some things to part with. i was only doing my job in helping her find some of these gems a new home.

the road to hell is paved with good intentions

.... i think i'm a KAL flunkie. i seem to just gain and gain, barely losing grams, ounces, yards or meters ... or miles! what's a girl to do when someone tempts her with free yarn?!
any smart knitter would do as i did, ... snatch it up, and start knitting or crocheting it, use it up before anyone notices.

my weakness this time?



muench's string of pearls . 6 balls of worsted wt. red hot sizzling sparkling cotton, perfect for another chickami.

i cast on last night, and am almost finished with ball #2. it should only take 5 balls + a smidge of #6.

i also ended up with about 10-12 cakes of classic elite's rockland cotton. this is an aran wt. cotton, each cake has about 173 yds. i think i'm going to use it for making washcoths, dishcloths, chickens and such. i contemplated crocheting it for a lap blanket, but ... it would be so heavy!





icarus is still on the needles. i am actually on chart 4! i don't see finishing this anytime soon though, as each row takes a ridiculous amount of time, and i'm paranoid of making a mistake. .... since i'm too stubborn to use a lifeline. lifelines are for sissys!

a knitterly christmas

all i want for christmas is ....

1. a ball of trekking xxl color 100

2. a gift certificate to WEBS

3. a gift certificate to target

4. some lt. wt. or med. wt. socks that rock !

5. a shopping trip to ikea

6. i also like shopping at crate & barrel

7. and williams sonoma

icarus has entered the phase of not so mindless knitting. i am very much enjoying the knitting still. if you are familiar with this shawl pattern (from the summer issue of interweave knits), i am on chart 3. if you are unfamiliar, i'm getting closer to the end!

though the knitting has slowed down, with the number of stitches spanning across each row, i still am making steady progress. i'm still knitting mistake free too. i had considered using a lifeline, but decided against that. i'd never used one before, and like the idea of knitting dangerously!

keep in mind, my next knitting post could be some humble whimpers or negative progress ...

so, when i'm in a situation that distracts me from counting my repeats, i knit on this instead ....



my scarf is about 3.5' long now. it's simple seed stitch, with slip stitched edges. though it appears totally monotonous, it's not. it's actually quite a challenge, as i've been trying to teach myself to carry the yarn in my left hand. therefore, every stitch is a challenge, and i'm contantly trying to figure out another way to get the yarn around the needle, especially for the knit stitch.

and, what could be more satisfying than knitting up this wonderfully soft and pretty malabrigo?

no pictures from me today, so go check out what jamie has been knitting in iowa .... she converted a crocheted topflappen to knitted.

these buttons are mighty powerful !

click on the picture to see where these fishes took me ....

ps. i made a mistake on icarus, a couple of rows back. false alarm! it's okay!
i'm thinking about ripping my jaywalker back to make a shorter leg.

eating crow

see these beautiful socks? these are not my beautiful socks. i wish they were my socks. hint hint. ... these are the socks of a certain agent aubergine. she is, at the moment, blogless, but i hope she will start one sometime so i don't feel compelled to post pictures of her knitting and claim it as my own!

i have seen jaywalkers. we have all seen more jaywalkers than we could imagine.

i had resisted. i said, "no ! everyone is making jaywalkers ! i'm not making jaywalkers !"

but then, i saw agent aubergine's, and i was sold.

it's not as simple as monkey see monkey do though. this event coincided with me beginning chart 2 of icarus. therefore, icarus is no longer in the realm of mindless knitting ... and i needed a mindless project ....




this yarn is regia cotton tip & top color. i bought this yarn via elann last march. it's been patiently waiting to be knitted.

chicken feet!

the best thing about the chickens is their feet ... i don't know why i like their feet so much. i just do.

this fat fellow was finished yesterday ....

oh! and i'm only 7 rows away from beginning chart #2 of icarus!!!

i have been slowly plugging away with icarus. i wish i had never timed myself for how long it takes to knit one row, because that's all i think about when i'm knitting on this! but, the end is insight. i'm only about 20 rows (or more) from beginning the 2nd chart of the shawl. now, how long will it take me to knit the last rows of chart 1? hmmm .... 20 rows x 13+ minutes = forever.

one thing that i bought, since i'm not suppose to be buying yarn, is a set of little circular needle point protectors. i use to think they were stupid, but now, i don't exactly think that. usually i would say that just slipping the stitches down to the cable is enough when i take my project with me, but i'm not taking any chances with lace and addis.

and now, for the non-knitty ....


hey pinky, be sure to move the mouse over!

those are my new topflappens! they have not been for a test drive yet, as i haven't turned my oven on in many many hot days here. though, the thought of cookies is tempting.

the right side is sewn from some of the scraps of my denyse schmidt scrap bag. the back is that silvery fabric that is used sometimes for ironing board covers. in between are two layers of cotton batting ... i hope that's enough to keep me from getting burned! the bias binding was made from some of my scrap. the potholders measure about 6" square.

mom has been getting into the action as well, and made a second holstein ... but this time in blue.

... a new addition ... in chartreuse cotton, crocheted with a C hook. one must ask, what is a cow doing with all these chickens?

and how is life on the rest of the knitting front? well ... i swatched today.



that's classic elite's newport cotton. it's discontinued. it's an aran wt. cotton, with a recommended gauge of 4 sts/inch on size 9 needles. i did get gauge, when i tugged on it a little. i'm not sure what this might become, as i do have a lot of it. i think i was dreaming last night of crocheting it up into a bunch of different squares ... all different patterns in the same red cotton.

i am still knitting along on icarus too. i only work on it when my head feels clear, as each row is taking me at least 13 minutes to work across.

these two little fellows are from a couple of pieces of cotton given to me last night. there's just enough for me to make a nice pillow case .... with the white fabric as the main body, and the blue as the flange.

these fabrics are from the lightning bugs and other mysteries collection, designed by heather ross for FreeSpirit.

now, if i'd just go into my sewing room and put away all my knitting patterns, i could use the cutting table!

this is yolanda. she's much bigger than the rest of her peeps, as she was crocheted with classic elite's provence on a G hook. i didn't have enough of the black to do her backside too, so she's hot pink on the flipside. also, she has french knot eyes! this was my first attempt at french knots, and i think they turned out fine. because she's 100% cotton, she is totally oven safe. all her other peeps have plastic safety eyes.

speaking of her other peeps, star daisy was adopted by corbett yesterday.

this fabric reminds me of pigs in space. this is the latest addition to the farmyard potholders and pads. i'm calling her star daisy.

Corbett said...
Um...
I know I COULD make one myself, but it would be ever so nice if I got one made just for me by someone else..................................

Could I get a turquoise chicken with emerald wattle and comb?

Wouldn't that be lovely?

... well, that would be lovely, and is lovely. and look! she has legs!

i lifted this button from erica, as i'm not that savvy with the photoshop skills. she just happened to hit the nail on the head with a simple alteration.

nothing says summer to me like a pair of legwarmers!

moooooo

look what came to live with me today! mom sent me a package with a small necessity, and a big holstein hotpad.

thanks mom !

knitterly notes ....

this is one of the charts from the interweave aran heirloom blanket. someone had a question about one of the stitches .... this part of the chart shows the "bobbles" or, ... "trinity stitch". i feel the chart is very clear as to what's happening with those stitches that are increasing and decreasing, but notice that i have made a correction on the chart with red ink. you only do the twisted stitches every other right side row.

interweave did publish an errata regarding this project, so be sure to check that out and make the corrections on the charts.



but, back to the "bobbles". the bobbles are also called, according to my barbara walker book, the trinitiy, cluster or bramble stitch.

it is a simple 4 row repeat ....

multiple of 4 sts.
row 1 (right side) --- purl
row 2 --- *(k1,p1,k1) all in the same st; p3 tog; rep from *.
row 3 --- purl.
row 4 ---*p3 tog, (k1,p1,k1) all in the same st; rep from *

repeat rows 1-4

i suggest working a small swatch before diving into the blanket if there is any confusion as to what's happening with those stitches.

cast on 20 stitches.
row 1 --- p2, place marker, p16, place marker, p2.
row 2 --- follow above instructions, but keep those two outermost stitches in garter stitch. the stitches between the markers are your multiple of 4, where you will be working the pattern stitches.

on my own blanket, i've yet to correct my mis-cabling. i am thinking of putting that section on hold and casting on for one of the narrow panels. the narrow panels are full of the trinity stitch with a braided cable down the center.



see the blue book there? that's the barbara walker _a treasury of knitting patterns_ book. there are 4 books in this series, my green one is elsewhere on the mantle. i love the first three books in the series, the ones here in the photo. i'm not a big fan of the 4th book, but wanted my set to be complete. i'd hate to discover, years down the road, that i become a big fan of it and can't get my hands on a copy.