Still Here

I know it's been some time since I last posted. What could my excuse be? Well I was furiously knitting on a couple of projects ever since my sister visited in October. I think I got caught up in it all. Then I put myself on the Knitting DL at the beginning of November which lasted around 2.5 weeks. Between the combination of typing 12.5 hours a day at work and then knitting like a mad woman, my carpel tunnel symptoms flared. I went to the doctor and have done what I could to make things better. It was hard to put my knitting aside, but I did it. When I picked things back up, I stuck with working on "light" projects like my sock yarn blankie. I'm all better know and moderating my knitting time so the pain in my joints stay away. No more marathon knitting days for me.

Back in October I participated in the Through The Loops Mystery Sock. I have never done one of these before. I was hesitant at first when Kim mentioned it to me. I mulled it over for a bit. I was afraid of not liking the sock once it was done since I didn't know what the pattern looked like. So after looking at the 2009 pattern, I decided I liked it and plunged forward with the mystery challenge. I'm very happy I did because I love it! I managed to finish both socks by the end of October.

Pattern: TTL Mystery Sock 2010 (Rav link)
Yarn: Farmhouse Yarns Fannie's Fingering (Colorway - Plums & Pinks)
Started: October 3, 2010
Finished: October 30, 2010

Next up is the project that put me on the DL. I started the Texturized Tweed Jacket by Stefanie Japel on October 18. After 2 false starts (knitter error both times), the third time seemed to be the charm. You really have to interpret the pattern to get things right.

So once things got rolling, I could stop! In 2 weeks time I got to the point in the picture. I had really wanted to finish this for Thanksgiving but of course that couldn't happen. Maybe New Year's. I haven't picked this back up yet. So we'll see.

Sock Yarn Blankie hasn't made an appearance here for a bit. I snapped a quick photo of it a week or so ago when I had it all spread out on the floor to pick out some yarn for more squares. I actually have 12.5 rows completed now. I'm also getting to the point where I need to knit up more sock yarn so I have it for the blanket.

Finally, I am attending a knitting Holiday party this Saturday with Shameka. I had joined this knitting group a couple years ago but had never attended any get togethers. When the email came out for the party I noticed it was being held in the afternoon. This was perfect for me and I immediately asked Miss. Shameka if she was going. It was one of those, "I'll go if you go" type of things. So her and I have a date.

One of the cool things about the party is the mystery gift exchange. The rules are simple: you must knit or crochet the item yourself and the yarn must come from your stash. Not difficult. After batting a couple projects back and forth, I decided on the Slouched Tuva Hat. I had the perfect single skein of DK yarn sitting in my stash bin. Within a week I was all done. Hope the recipient likes it!

Pattern: Slouched Tuva Hat
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss DK (Colorway Doe)
Started & Finished: November 2010 (Can't remember the exact dates)
Mods: I left out some of the repeats because I was afraid of running out of yarn before it was finished. So instead of this hat having slouch, it is fitted. It comes down over my ears so hopefully it will fit someone else.

Another Craft

I have a new love interest. It's the City Quilter store in Manhattan. I have been wanting to pay a visit to this store ever since I read about it on another blog last year. So while Mary Beth was here we took a venture to visit. From the moment I stepped foot inside the store I was in love! I have never seen so many bolts of fabric in one space that I wanted to take every bit of it home.

I have been sewing ever since my mother taught me as a teenager. I've made anything from clothes, to tree skirts to even a couple mini wall hanging quilts. City Quilter has definitely renewed my interest in sewing. The staff are super nice and they offer a wide range of classes.

So after spending over an hour in the store I didn't walk out empty handed.

I bought a couple small patterns - Little Wallet and Cupcake Pincushion. I thought these would make some cute Christmas presents. So I bought some fat quarters to use in the projects. City Quilter carries a whole bunch of NYC fabric. So for the Little Wallets I loved the taxi cab fabric and to go with it I got the solid black and yellow fabric. The other fabric pictured is for the Cupcake Pincushion. I got enough fabric to make two for right now. The little buttons are for the pincushion.

A couple weeks ago I spent some time behind the sewing machine and within an hour I had this...




Isn't it adorable? I am actually using this one right now. The three pockets hold all of the cards I had in my wallet very nicely. Needless to say I am looking forward to spending more time with my sewing machine.

Rhinebeck Fibery Goodness - Part 2

Another Rhinebeck post equals another picture heavy post. But that is ok because I know ya'll want to see what goodies I brought home this year.

First up is what was born from the Beginning Spindle Workshop. I actually produced some plied yarn. It's not the most pretty or perfect thing, but I don't think it's too bad for a first time try.

I had brought the Golding spindle (pictured far right) I bought at Rhinebeck 2008 to the workshop. I must say it did receive lots of ooo's and ahhh's. I thought for a brief moment I might need some security around me to protect it. LOL

As you can see, there is a new spindle addition. I enjoyed myself in the workshop that I wanted to get a smaller spindle.

This Golding spoke to me from the moment I picked it up. It's a 2" Walnut Whorl; Style is Antiqued Rosette I. I thought it was beautiful!

This year I actually made some purchases that didn't include yarn.


(Left to right) (2) Noni Beaded Camellia Flower Hair/Shawl Ornament Kits (I am making 1 as a Christmas present. There is Tilli Tomas Beaded yarn included to make.); Alpaca Bear (There was no way I could leave it on the table); Small handmade knitting project bag from Crippenworks (There are even pockets on the inside); Alpaca Scarf (Ok, so I couldn't leave that on the table either) and finally on the far left front is a pair of glass flower earrings from Shipyard Point Glassworks).

Now the fiber purchases. I didn't want to leave Rhinebeck without some roving. I bought from two different vendors. The one on the right is a BFL in Tomato and the other two are Corriedale in Chocolate and Nutmeg. Once I work on the supply of practice roving, I will give a shot at this stuff. It didn't cost me much, so I thought it was good for starting out.

I bought more sock yarn than I have in the past. I have enough to get me through the year. If I had known that Sanguine Gryphon was vending this year I would have only bought 1 skein at The Fold instead of 3. At least 2 of the 3 were discounted.

(Left to right) STR - Rare Gems; STR Trueblood (Millend); Snowshow Farm Alapca Sock Yarn (It was the last skein in the green and I couldn't pass it up. It was from a small vendor and something new to try.); 2 Skeins of Gypsy Girl Creations in Peach Cobbler (Discounted); The Sanguine Gryphon Eidos Sock Yarn in Empedocles and Zeus (Thought they looked great together so it might grow up to be a Selbu Modern and Endpaper Mitts); (in front) Creatively Dyed - Steele colorway is Spain.

I also made a couple of sweater yarn purchases. I got 3 skeins of Spirit Trail Fiberworks "Nona" yarn. It's lace weight and the colorway is Raven's Wing. It's going to grow up to be the Lettuce Pullover (If I can manage to find a copy of KnitScene Fall 2010). I love the hints of blue/gray in the yarn.

I went to Shelridge Farms and picked up 6 skeins of DKW in Brown. It's going to become the Lightweight Pullover.


I must tell you that this vendor is truly awesome. She overheard me telling Mary Beth about the yarn I bought last year for Manny's sweater and the last 2 of the 7 skeins were all knots. The vendor said to me that she hoped it wasn't her yarn. I informed her that unfortunately it was and that I had also bought 7 more skeins in another color and that I had been too frustrated/scared to wind it for fear of finding more knots. I also told her that I obviously loved her yarn because I was buying 6 more skeins. She told me that what I experienced was totally unacceptable. She said that more that 1 knot in a skein could be expected but over 20 was not. She apologized to me and informed me that if I get that with the yarn I bought last year or this year to give her a call right away and she would immediately send me more yarn. I walked away feeling very good.

On Sunday I stumbled across the Qiviuk booth. I bought a skein of the Majestic Blend (no way I was coughing of $45 bucks for the nicer stuff) in a pretty brown. It's going to become the hat in the pattern below. The ladies at this booth were super nice and they asked me to come by next year with the finished hat. I think I could manage to do that.

My next post is going to be non-knitting but still the crafty type. Mary Beth and I did some shopping in the city while she was here and I have a new favorite store. Stay tuned to find out what it is!

Rhinebeck Reloaded - Part 1

It was another successful Rhinebeck adventure this year! Mary Beth and I headed up early on Friday morning for the Beginning Spindle Workshop. Can I just say that OMG it was so worth it. I walked out of the class feeling like I could conquer the spindle world. Donna Kay was the instructor and was absolutely delightful. My next post will have pictures of what I created.

The weather this year was perfect! There was a slight chill in the air but you didn't need to bundle up to stay warm like last year. It was nice being able to see what everyone knitted as their Rhinbeck sweater this year. This was actually the first time I had complete strangers tell me they loved my sweater. Made all the last minute hard work on it worth the effort.

I didn't take as many pictures this year as I had in the past. However, I did still have a hard time pairing down what I wanted to share with you all. So, unfortunately, or fortunately (however you want to look at it), this is a picture heavy post.

Rhinebeck is all about the friends...

Kim, Mary Beth, Me & Yvonne

Michelle and Me (Love the Red Hair Streaks!)

Misa and her "Owl and the Pussycat" dress she made! Total Awesomeness!!!!

Me, Misa and Mary Beth. Umm we didn't realize just how Misa's jacket framed the front of her dress

...the animals....

...the yarn & sights around the festival...

Since Mary Beth and I had attended the workshop on Friday, our passes got us into the festival before the general public on Saturday. SOOOOO, we positioned ourselves right in front of the "Socks That Rock" booth. They even opened 5 minutes early to let the 6 of us there make our purchases before the herd came.

Sara and Gryphon of "The Sanguine Gryphon" yarn! These ladies are AWESOME! They were a last minute addition to the festival. The 30-45 minute line we stood in to pay for our purchases shows just how wonderful their yarn is.

A ginormous cupcake I stumbled upon in the food building.

One of many pumpkin sculptures.

...and of course me and my sister.

The Alpaca Bear was sooooo soft!

Mary Beth finally made it to the front of the Sanguine Gryphon line!

Mary Beth waiting patiently at Spirit Trail Fiberworks to pay for her purchase.

We did end Saturday evening at the Ravelry party. I do not have any pictures this year. We didn't stay long at all. After waiting in the bus line for almost an hour to get to the party, we were both really disappointed that they had run out of all 550 gift bags. We didn't care about the contents, we just wanted the commemorative bag. Hopefully they will plan better next year. There was also no place to sit and we were both tired, so we just decided to beat the crowd for the bus back to the car and head to the hotel.

My next post will share all my purchases from the festival!

At Last

She just had her bath and is now drying. The next time you see her will be on my body. Hopefully she blocks out enough to fit nicely. Even though she needs buttons (getting them on Wednesday), I am calling her an FO!

Pattern: Girl Friday Knitty Fall '09

Yarn: Brooks Farm Mas Acero (Rhinebeck '08 Purchase)

Needles: Knit Picks Options - Size 8

Started: April 4, 2010

Finished: October 11, 2010

Now I am off to bed. Gotta work tonight!

One Week Away

Can you believe Rhinebeck is only a week away? Will I have a finished sweater to wear? I am happy to report that as of today Girl Friday is completely off the needles. All I have left to do is weave in those pesky ends and give it a good soak. MB and I will be making a trip to M&J Trimming on Wednesday afternoon to find the perfect buttons. So it looks like I will have something to wear after all.

My head will be toasty warm too. I finished Sockhead Hat #2 yesterday. I am happy with how it turned out. I can't see those two blob spots so I'm fine with it. I also had a nice amount of yarn leftover so you all know where that's gonna end up.

Pattern: Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure

Yarn: Socks That Rocks - Gingerbread Dude

Needles: Knit Picks Fixed Circs Size 2.5

Started: August 1, 2010

Finished: October 8, 2010

Mods: Same as the last one. Knitted a total length of 10" and then started decreases.

I'm so excited about this upcoming week. I only have to work two nights. Then I pick my sister up on Wednesday morning. Thursday we're meeting Kim for lunch. Friday MB and I are heading up to Rhinebeck early because we decided to sign up for the Beginning Spindle Workshop on Friday morning. I bought a spindle two Rhinebeck's ago and am super excited to finally get some help/knowledge of what to do. BIG week!!! Can't wait to see some of you very soon!!!

Progress

Between yesterday and today progress has been made on Girl Friday. I have proof that I haven't forgotten how to seam, nor how much I dislike doing it. The front and back pieces have been attached at the shoulders and both sleeves have been inserted. Oh why does the second sleeve ALWAYS seam up easier and look much better than the first? I know the answer. I just felt the need to ask it.

Anyway, I'll hopefully be seaming up the sides in a little bit.

I feel more confident now that I will have the sweater finished in time for all the festivities in two weeks. I think I'll be on a button finding mission soon.

So during the past couple of months between procrastinating finishing Girl Friday and knitting on the Sock Yarn Blankie (and oh yeah knitting a pair of knee highs), I did cast-on for a Rhinebeck hat. My sister informed me that the one hat I made that she really liked on me was my Sockhead Hat. Well that was all I needed to hear. As you can see below I am almost finished with hat #2.

The yarn I am using is Socks That Rock in the Gingerbread Dude colorway (bought last year at Rhinebeck). I chose this yarn because the maroon spots match my Girl Friday. I wanted to try and be all matchy matchy.

I at first hated it, grew to like it and then kind of became eh about it once I started the decreases. There are two spots at the top where on one side there is a big pool spot of white and on the other side a big pool spot of brown. It kinda bothers me. I feel like some horns or something should be sprouting from these two spots. I'm hoping that once it's done and on my head the spots won't bother me as much. Mainly because hopefully I won't see them. We'll see.

3 Weeks

I had lunch with YarnyoldKim yesterday and I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful afternoon. We ate a delightful lunch outside on the cobblestone street behind my old work building. Amongst all the *catching up* talking, we did knit a little. Kim gave me rave reviews of my Sock Yarn Blankie. It was fun watching her point to the yarns she gave me and say, "I know this one. I knitted such and such with it."

Another topic of conversation was that we couldn't believe that Rhinebeck is just three weeks away. Kim asked me about my Rhinebeck sweater. Uhhh. Well, I am still planning on making Girl Friday my sweater for the festival but it will only be if I can get it out of this state...

Sad to say I took this picture probably at the end of June. It was my intention to block the pieces to size, seam it and then pick up for the collar/buttonband.

So what are my intentions now? Pray for a miracle? Hmmm, well I am now going straight for the seaming and picking up stitches for the collar. Blocking will take place once it's all done.

Now I need to figure out when I am going to accomplish all this so I don't have to wear a half done sweater being held together with safety pins.

160

As promised, this post is all about what's happening with the Sock Yarn Blankie. The title of this post tells you that I have reached 160 completed squares on the blanket. There are a total of 8 rows completely done and 4 squares done into row 9. It seems my obsession with this blanket has taken over again. It's the only thing I have been working on since I finished my knee highs.

I placed the blanket on my bed, instead of having it blend into my black carpet, to try and give you a better idea of what it looks like. I don't have a wide angle lens on my camera so the first picture is taken from a distance.

These 3 pictures give you a close-up of all the squares...

I thought I would place the blanket across my queen size bed to give some perspective on the width of the blanket. As you can see, the blanket curls just over each edge of the bed. I think the width is perfect. Now if I can just get some length on this baby.

I'm having lunch with Yarnyoldkim next Friday and I can't wait to show the blanket to her. I started creating squares with the butt load of yarn scraps she ever so kindly gave me. It's truly become a Frienship Blanket.

FO Friday

One would have thought that I would have blogged about finishing my first pair of knee highs as soon as they were done. But no. For some reason I have waited almost two weeks to share them with you. So here is what I am now calling Night & Day...

Did you by any chance figure out why I am calling them Night & Day by looking at the picture? Yes, I have socks that are in the same color family but one is light and the other is dark. I must admit that I am a bit disappointed that they are opposite in light values. When I picked out this yarn I was totally in love with the deep autumnal colors and I thought the whole skein would contain those deep colors. But alas that wasn't too be. I have found out from my sis that her skein of yarn is the same way. So we have concluded that this is just the way the Dyer chooses to dye her yarns.

What can I say I love about this yarn? This was my first time ever to knit with a Creatively Dyed yarn and I must say it was very nice to knit. It stitches up beautifully and feels great on your skin. I also love the generous amount of yarn that comes on each skein - over 500 yards. Even after knitting a pair of knee highs I still had a nice amount left over to put towards my Sock Yarn Blankie. Would I buy it again this year at Rhinebeck? Yes, but I will look more closely at the coloring to ensure I get light and dark colors that I like.

Here are the FO stats:

Pattern: On-Your-Toes Socks by Ann Budd (Interweave Knits Mag. Summer '07)
Yarn: Creatively Dyed - Calypso; Colorway: Blocks
Needles: Knit Picks Fixed Circs. - Sizes 1.5 and 2
Started: August 5, 2010
Finished: August 29, 2010

After I finished the knee highs I did cast on for my next pair of socks. I got as far as the cuff and 1 round of the leg before I put them to the side for knitting on this...

I'll have a blankie update in my next post.

Rebel Birthday

Another birthday has come and gone (Tuesday the 17th). One last year in my thirties. I know some people can't wait for me to join the 40 club, but I am going to not rush it and enjoy whatever is in store for me during this year.

Since I had to work on my birthday (didn't make any sense to take it off since it fell in the middle of my work week), Manny and I went back to one of our favorite places last Sunday. We headed back out to Greenport, LI for the afternoon. The day was cloudy but it gave us some relief in the heat department which was really nice. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Claudio's again and even indulged in an ice cream desert prior to lunch since we had to wait 20 minutes for a table at the restaurant.

On our drive back home we took a bit of a scenic route. We pulled over at one of the small town beaches to enjoy the ocean for a few minutes. Manny and I were trying to decide if the water was warm or cold. He voted for cold and I voted for warm. I couldn't resist it and had to find out...

Manny snapped this photo of me and titled it "Rebel". You can see in the photo there is a designated swimming area and I am outside the zone. What can I say? I was living on the edge that day. LOL BTW, I was right. The water was warm and I wished I could have taken a dip.

I have been knitting and have made great progress. I restarted my knee high socks and it took me 2 days to get back to where I was before frogging. Now today I have an almost completed sock.

This is what it looks like on me...


...and this is what it looks like off...

It's unbelievably long. As I'm knitting I can't help but think this looks like a long sock for a snake. It's amazing how something so off looking fits just right. Anyhoo, as of this writing I have completed the cuff and just need to do the sew bind-off. Hmmm, I wonder where my sis stands with hers? ;-)
Oh, and I may have picked out another stashed sock yarn and matched it to a pattern already.

A Foot and a Half

Yesterday when I took pictures of my "knitting in progress" items, my Buttercup Socks looked like this...

I had a foot and a half done on them. Today they look like this...

A pair of completed socks!

I must say that I absolutely love this yarn and the color. Back before I got laid off from my job I had enrolled myself into the Sundara Sock Yarn club. Unfortunately, two shipments into the club I had to drop out because of no longer having the money for it. However, I did get some awesome skeins of yarn before I stopped the shipments.

This one is called "Tuscan Rose Over Lemon". It reminds me of a beautiful sunset and I thought it was a perfect match to the Buttercup Pattern. I knitted these socks as is with no modifications at all. I started them on July 29, 2010 and finished them today, August 14, 2010.

Now that Buttercup is off the needles, I can return my focus to this sock...

This is the Creatively Dyed yarn from my last post in which I said it was going to become a pair of knee highs. It's going to be a basic 2x2 Rib sock. My sis and I are actually knitting these together with the same yarn (different colorways) to wear up at Rhinebeck this year.

It will be interesting to see who finishes theirs first. Her and I have opposite days off from work so we always know where each other is and where we have to get before heading back to work ourselves. Right now she's ahead. I believe she is at 5" (or very close to it) on the leg of sock #1.

As you can see in the above picture, I am only at the ankle, but I will actually be starting over because I'm not happy with the "snugness" of the foot. I used size 1 needles and realized I should have used 1.5's on the foot like I did on my Mustang Sally 2x2 Rib socks. But alas, I am not worried about sis getting too far ahead of me. I completed what's in the picture in 2 days. So I am confident I can catch up to her and take the lead soon. :-) Lots of love to my sis!!!