Love My Sister

I talk about my sister a ton here on my blog. I love that she and I are so close. We are actually twins born three years apart. While we do have our differences, we have way more in common. Our knitting is just an example of our commonality. We have, and will continue, to knit the same patterns. She just has to mention a pattern to me (and vice versa) and I will take one look and want to pick out the yarn to make it.

MB has been extremely busy with work, but knitting has been happening in her neck of the woods. She shared a couple pictures with me of stuff she's knitted. The patterns are very familiar here on my blog. For I have knit these items too. I am so proud of her that I wanted to share her work here with you.

First up is Selbu Modern. This hat was her first foray into Fair Isle knitting. I think it turned out spectacularly.

After her success with the hat, she began Vagabond Fingerless Mitts. Like me, she is making the mitts to match the hat. And yes, like me, she will be wearing both items at Rhinebeck this year. You won't be able to miss us this year.

I am not sure how much further she has gotten with the mitts, but she has told me she is really enjoying the pattern. Kudos Misa!

So as you can tell, I must love my sister for dedicating a post on my blog to her knitting! I just think her progress was too great not to share with our mutual friends.

XOXOX Sis

FO Really?

It feels like it's been forever since I've had an FO and in reality it has been. I honestly can't remember when I finished a knit last off of the top of my head. So I am thrilled to finally have one to share. May I present Selbu Modern:

I actually finished this hat on May 9th. I didn't want to share it until I had given it a good washing and a blocking. Unfortunately, I have yet to get my hands on a Brainless Betty for the blocking so a craptastic modeled shot will have to do.

I can see the pattern a bit better now that it's finished and expanded on my noggin. The green still doesn't pop like I had originally hoped, but I am very happy with the finished product. It was fun and quick, even with holding only one yarn at a time.

Here's the stats:

Pattern: Selbu Modern
Yarn: The Sanguine Gryphon Eidos in "Zeus" (Main Color); Sundara Sock Yarn in "Pine Over Gold" (Contrast Color)
Needles: Knit Picks Fixed Circs, Size 0 and 2
Started: April 25, 2011
Finished: May 9, 2011
Mods: None

I had quite a bit of leftover yarn from this project. So I have already started my next project with it. May I introduce to you Vagabond Fingerless Mitts:

I am very excited about these mitts! Not only were they designed by the superuber talented Misa, they also are knitting up quickly and beautifully! This design has truly let my color combination work well. With the color blocking of the pattern, the green pops very nicely, even when you aren't looking at them in an over exposed picture.

I have reached the point where I need to put the thumb stitches on waste yarn. I told Misa I wanted to have these done for Rhinbeck this year and I now have no doubt they will be done long before!

Shawl Time

When one is in a knitting slump why not go for lace knitting?!?!?! I casted on for the Chinook Shawl the night before I left for Myrtle Beach. I tried to work on it during the car ride down, but didn't get very far with it. The yarn was very slippery, and the car felt every bump, so I only completed a few rows here and there.

However, once I was back home all I wanted to do was knit on it. As you can see from the picture, things have progressed very nicely. I am actually about 75% done. You hold the lace yarn double so it feels like knitting with fingering yarn.

The Chinook Shawl was a Knit Picks Kit that my parents gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago. The kit came in a few color combination's and I love all the pink in mine. I think this will block out to a very nice size. It will be a perfect summer addition!

Fair Isle What?

The last time I checked in with the ol' blog I was about to head down to Myrtle Beach to visit family. Manny and I took off around 6:15am on Friday morning and 12.5 hours later we had arrived at our destination.

Much was accomplished during the two days we were there. Unfortunately Manny had to work the whole entire weekend (he spent his days at the kitchen table tied to his computer and on conference calls). He did manage to go out to dinner with us both nights though.

Anyway, MB and I successfully cut out all the fabric for the future duvet cover I will be sewing. This fiasco, I mean adventure, will have to get a blog post all of its own. All I will say for right now is that we had to go to the store to buy additional fabric to make up for shortages (not my fault...I blame it on the writer of the pattern).

Day 2 of our visit, MB and I took a couple old top sheets that I had and converted them into a duvet cover for my existing queens size bed. MB was awesome in that she did all the cutting and sewing while I assisted with ironing, folding, measuring and learning. As of right now I just finished off the inside seams and placed it on my bed to be used starting tonight. If fit perfectly.

The day before I headed down to Myrtle Beach, I started a new knitting project. Believe it or not it was a lace shawl. A kit my parents had given to me for Christmas the year before last. In just less than a month I am halfway through it. I will talk more about it next time. Will even have a photo for you.

What I am going to share knitting wise right now is my latest project. I started Selbu Modern on April 25th. I attempted to knit this hat last year but frogged it because I felt Fair Isle challenged. I struggled with holding both yarns at the same time and hated the result I was getting. After my sister started hers not too long ago, and after seeing Misa's most awesome fingerless mitts pattern, I told myself it was high time I got over this fear of colorwork. I mean I had done a Fair Isle project before when I first started knitting. I had no idea what the heck I was doing at all, and it was a success. So what is my big freaking problem? Apparently as I get older I seem to fear more things. Colorwork was one of those things.

So here is my hat...


I am proud of myself for getting this far with it. I am actually on row 37 of the pattern. After multiple tries of holding one yarn in each hand, and then both yarns in one hand, I have failed at holding both yarns at the same time. I have to hold one at a time. I'm really not minding it and it is progressing pretty fast for me. My only two concerns are that you can't see the pattern (I feel I needed a brighter color to go against the black) and that maybe it won't lay flat when done because even though I am holding the yarns loosely between color changes there seems to be some puckering. I almost frogged this baby a few rows ago because I was feeling like it was going to be a *Fail*, but I have decided to keep going because it is what it is.

When All Else Fails

My knitting has been off and on these days. I find myself knitting with gusto and can't stop at times and then not even wanting to pick up the needles for weeks on end at other times. There are a multitude of reasons for this but last weekend I decided I had to sit down with some sort of knitting to feel grounded. So in my mind when all else fails, you go with comfort knitting.

For me my comfort knitting has been my Sock Yarn Blankie. I love it because with every square you get to knit with a new yarn. I find the various colors can be really mood uplifting. The blankie has been exactly what I've been needing and this past week it has seen great progress.

It's been awhile since I've given an update on the ol' blog about it. I think the last time I posted about it I didn't even give real stats on it. I know I just posted this...

...and today it looks like this...

You can tell between the two pics, even with them being from different angles, that a nice amount has been added. The first picture there are just over 11 rows completed and right now I have 15 rows done. I believe I've added just over two rows during the past week. The blanket measures to 21.5 inches and there are a total of 293 squares done.

I'm definitely going to be needing more sock yarn scraps soon. All my loot is now compressed into a one gallon Ziplock bag and the variety of color choices to spread out are dwindling. I have some sock yarn projects in mind. I'm currently halfway done with my Bacon Socks and am planning a colorwork hat soon.

Sewing Adventures

Ever since I finished sewing the Christmas Tree Skirt in December, I've been wanting to spend more time working with my sewing machine. I had bought Amy Butler's "In Stitches" book a while back in hopes of one day making a few things out of it. A couple weeks ago I dusted the book off and began thinking about what my next project would be. My selection was the "Patchwork Duvet Cover". I went over to fabric.com and spent a couple days piecing together my fabric choices.

All the fabrics are from Michael Miller and I just have to say I had a hard time narrowing down which ones I wanted to use. To me this collection is just divine. I first fell in love with the Tulip fabric and wanted to build everything else around it. I needed a total of five fabrics for the front. I think my choices compliment each other very well. For the back panel of the cover I chose the green flannel.

Manny and I are planning a visit down to Myrtle Beach in April to visit with family. I am planning on bringing the fabric with me so MB can help me cut all the pieces out. She has the proper setup that will make cutting them out much easier. The sewing will begin once I return.

I also have another project in mind. On my way into work one night I stopped by a magazine store and came across the Spring Issue of "Quilts and More." In it I found the perfect project for the fabric bundle I purchased at Purl Soho last October.

I thought this "Patchwork Pouch" was just adorable. I know the example is using all patterned fabric but I think that incorporating the solid fabric will be just fine. I'm excited to start this project just as soon as I get a working iron. My old one died over Christmas and it was to never steam again. I recently bought a new one, but now need to return it to the store because it is used. Uhhh ewww!! Anyway, I will exchange it this weekend and maybe by Monday or next weekend I can get this project in the works.

I am still knitting away. I have made great progress with the "Texturized Tweed Jacket". I will have an updated picture on my next post.

Sugarloaf Heaven

Oh Sugarloaf Mountain. How I long to be back there with you. It's been three weeks since our snowboarding trip and I still find myself looking at Sugarloaf's daily photos and snow report on their website. It was so hard to leave such a beautiful mountain. Manny and I had a wonderful week together, even with my only being able to snowboard for 2.1 days (I still count the 1 run I did on the 3rd morning).

I wanted to share some of the photos from the trip (all of them are on my facebook page). So of course, this is a picture heavy post.


A small part of the Village with the slopes in the background. You can see the snowcaps at the top of the mountain. Manny went down them.

We arrived during the night so I didn't get to see the mountain until we opened the curtains of our room in the morning. I was mesmerized.

These are our happy faces before we head out to the slopes on Day 1.

I needed a rest from the walk up the bunny slope.

Lets make a snow angel while I'm there.

This is my "I survived day 1 dance!"

Bonding with my board on the morning of Day 2.

Watching Manny leave for the lift by our Inn on the afternoon of Day 3 because I couldn't snowboard anymore. At this time I had a severely bruised tailbone from 2 really hard falls and we didn't want to risk injuring it anymore.

I loved watching the Snowcats climb the mountain every night.

Our lift tickets gave us free access to the Outdoor center. On the afternoon of Day 4 we decided to try our hands at snowshoeing. We covered 4 miles in just under 3 hours. It was a beautiful day to be trekking through the woods.


"Can you hear me now?" It's amazing just how well Verizon service works. Nothing like being in the woods, looking at all the animal tracks and then hearing your cell phone ring and it being work.


Once we emerged from the woods at the end, we came across this awesome view of the slopes at Sugarloaf.

We also had access to ice skates at the Center. Manny hadn't been on skates since the 5th grade. I wanted to join him but again, we didn't want to take the chance of falling on my tailbone again. So I stayed on the sidelines and enjoyed watching my honey.

I am really looking forward to getting back on the board. Hopefully it will be this season. My tailbone is much better but still sore if I hit it just right. I want to be able to finish what I started on this trip. We shall see!