12.31.10

Ben and Lily visited us over the Christmas Holiday

12.30.10

12.29.10

12.28.10

12.27.10

12.26.10

12.25.10

The Hats for Sailors were distributed on the Decatur with extras going all over the place! Read about it HERE. I looked at some of the pictures Shanti posted and I found a picture of the Sleep Socks I knitted! It is a nice quick pattern and the socks look a little bit like ballet slippers  when they are worn.  

HERE is the pattern if you are interested.

Above is the picture I grabbed of the ones I knit in a box of goodies that Shanti received.

12.24.10

 WWWWWOOOOPPPPEEE! Had family for company the past few days. Here are the results of COMPLETED holiday knitting. First is the purple-y blue for a person in the second grade.

 This is for a Kermit the Frog fan of about 10.87 years of age.

 A convertible pink and pinkish hat/neck warmer for a dear, dear sister-in-law.

Baby brother's black WINDSCHIEF, done just in time before the bedtime we selected as the gift-giving day!

12.21.10

Still knitting away on WINDSCHIEF which I love to distraction. Pictures when I finish. Wish I knew for sure what yarn I was using because I like it very, very, very much. It is black and might be Cascade 220 superwash...

12.20.10

Cast on and finished! I took the pictures before I drew threw the last 6 stitches or tucked in the color ends. I had tons of different greens in partial and full balls of that workhorse yarn, Cascade 220 and a hat to make for someone who likes green.

I hope to write up the pattern for it but in the meantime, I am happily ribbing away on a Stephen West hat. It is a PDF that I downloaded from Ravelry called: WINDSCHIEF.

I am enjoying it immensely even if I am NOT using Lantern Moons and even if it does NOT have cables and even if it IS black yarn and even if I have to have my OTT lamp in my lap to see the stitches. I think I am using Cascade 220 Super Wash. At least, that is what I intend for it to be.

12.19.10

More subtle colors and texture. Mitts are not going to make it. There is so much I want to do to customize them and not enough time. I will pick them up again at the end of the week.

Cast on for a green hat. Got a black one waiting for its moment.

12.18.10

Still knitting for gifts. Still photographing my surroundings. How about this one?  It makes me want to experiment with color. But no, back to cables. The only thing that would make the mitts (see previous post) a more fun knit is if I had a set of size 3 Lantern Moons and another cable project with more Cashmerino to cast on.

12.17.10

Mitts for Russell in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran--chocolate brown! Luxurious yarn. Great pattern: The Highwayman by the Knitting Pirate . I believe she may be a genius.

Too bad I noticed my error (it is in the second round of cables). I left it alone for almost two hours then had to rip back to it to fix it. That is just the way I am.

It was supposed to be a sleety, rainy, freezing day but turned out to be just a little drippy. Still, the trees look magical in the fog. Back to knitting.

12.16.10

So. I bought one skein of Cascade 220 in a Heather pink for a ski hat. I used two strands and a provisional cast on for a short rib edge, thinking I would go back and knit it down for a doubled up rib if there was enough yarn. I made it all the way to the last decrease, slipped it on my head and didn't like it. Ripped it back to the first decrease row and took it almost all the way up straight. I thought I had seen a "neck gaiter" that could convert to a hat and thought I would give it a try. I made an eyelet row and finished off the top edge. I had to unravel my swatch to make a drawstring and to use for a single crochet Bind Off  of the provisional Cast On, which I think I may have "unvented" after about sixteen attempts that did not satisfy me. I found out with the live stitches in a rib pattern, knitting down the other way

just isn't that simple for me. I ended up dropping the stitches that would not ravel and crocheting a slip stitch to cover where they might have been.  I fiddled around with size zero needles and two strands of multi-pink sock yarn and "unvented" a puffy garter stitch heart for the ends of the drawstring that I like very much.

12.15.10

I tried to capture the snow blowing around but I need more expertise with the camera for that. I used the sporting events setting but the snow was too fast!  Great day to knit something made of alpaca. Something large that covers the lap...

12.14.10

Leaves against the sky. Who says blue and brown do not "go together"?

What a lovely day this was--just before a few days of snow.

In the picture below, see how the leaves take on the look of fine grained leather?

The shift in the saturation of the blue really brings in the greyed, lichen covered branch.

Today has a sky like this one, but everything is covered in 6 inches of snow!


It is hard to get warm again after going out with the dog but homemade pumpkin soup with HOT SAUCE sure helps...

12.13.10

Snowy and cold, today. When I  warm up later I will get some photography on this page. In the meantime, I will be knitting with my granddog on my lap.

12.12.10

Is there anything else to add to this?

12.11.10

Wahoo! I bought new yarn for a Kim hat. I finished the pink hat that was to be hers but turned out to be a cowl/hat with hearts--possible for a niece.  Here is the yarn for the new hat. It is the one on the far left. It has much more lavender than the photo shows. I suppose I will have to get my camera out and redo this picture.

Maybe by tomorrow, I will have the whole hat finished and take photos of that AND the pink one.

12.10.10

I finished the Cascade heather pink hat. I decided to make it a tube with a drawstring at the top so it can be worn as a neck warmer. I used every single inch of the Cascade that I had in that one skein. Now all I need to do is knit the little hearts I want to put on the drawstring ends and needle in the yarn tails. I have some sock yarn scraps in pink tones set aside for that. Then it will be ready to photograph.

I started another pair of wrist-warmers in the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in a beautiful chocolate color. I also have some gray which might make a nice cap for someone. I am going to lunch and then knitting, and I hope to have cast one or another hats before I go.

I have tried to photograph the vest yarn but it will not cooperate. Imagine a strand of red barber-poled around a strand of black, or vice-versa. It looks like equal portions of each color but photographs like a RED yarn with a little black here and there.Come back and check this weekend and see if I have uploaded any kind of photography at all.

12.09.10

I am back knitting again. I have two hats on needles and plans for two more. I have not cast on for my Christmas vest but I have started writing about it on my Ravelry Project List. I can't seem to find a picture of the yarn anywhere so I will take a photo myself some time this weekend.

12.08.10

See my new KnitMeter over to the right? I spent about an hour trying to get this gadget on the blog and in the meantime, deleted my SOCK YARN DOESN'T COUNT gadget. Oh well, I think everyone who has knit socks and liked it knows that about sock yarn. I am still working on the Blueberry sweater but very slowly. My wrists are somewhat painful today.

I finally figured out a little more of my Ravelry account and even edited it to include a link to this blog. In the process, I switched the editing process on the blog so pictures should be easier to post.

Well, it works, kind of. The pictures are easier to move around the post but the size adjustment is now simplified to small, medium, large and extra-large. I liked being able to select the size manually. Those are yellow flowers of some kind from sister-in-law's villa in The Villages.
I will try it out right now by adding a picture between these two paragraphs.

12.07.10

Back in the mountains! It is snowing and 20 degrees but sunny. We got here Thursday but it has taken me until today to finally acclimate. This time I had the altitude AND the temperature to master. When we left Florida it was just days after getting sunburned at the beach.

I am working on the sweater I started in the summer using Berroco Vintage in the Juniper colorway which makes it look a lot like blueberries. I call it my blueberry sweater. I have about a sleeve and a sixth to go and something to figure out about the neckline. I think I am getting carpal tunnel symptoms so I am trying not to overknit without taking a break every now and then.

Today we are going out to get a replacement string of lights for the "pre-lit" tree which is only prelit in three of the four sections. We also have a few other errands to run. The summer curtains on the windows are not very good insulation against the outdoor temperature!

I will bring my knitting but the snow is still entertaining and I am enjoying it.

We are expecting relatives over the Christmas break so my studio will get aNOTHER clean up.

My cousins visited from France and gave me a cookbook. Tonight I am planning to make zucchini au gratin. Wish me luck!