And the Winner Is?

Thanks for your help deciding which color to use for my Eyelet Cardigan. The winner was the Blue Sky Cotton in Orchid. I love the color. I started the cardigan yesterday and I have the back complete and have started on the right front.

This is a very easy and addicting pattern. I can already tell I'm going to love this sweater. Check out Michelle's eyelet cardigan. It turned out great. She made a few mods, the details are on her blog.

Here is a close-up picture of the eyelet pattern. It's a four row repeat that is really easy to memorize.

I got a new camera (Fuji Finepix S1000fd) about a month ago and have been busy taking pictures of everything. I love this camera it's really easy to use and has tons of great features. The best part is you don't need to be a photographer to take great images. Below are just a few of the pictures I have been taking.

I took this picture of Max in Super Macro mode and in black and white. The camera was only a few inches from his eye. I was surprised he let me get that close. He usually runs from the camera.

This is one of my orchids that is in bloom. This was taken in Super Macro mode also.

This is a bit of a tease because this is my next project. That is once I finish the Eyelet Cardigan. More details to follow. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Decisions, decisions

I actually have been doing quite a bit of knitting lately. Unfortunately most of it is secret knitting. Since I've finished a few projects in the last couple of weeks I'm going to let myself start something new. I would like to make the Blue Sky Alpaca Eyelet Cardigan. Here is the Ravelry link.

The only problem is, I can't decide the color that I want to use. I was hoping you all could help. I have four colors to choose from.

Thistle White Azul Orchid

Place your vote and help me decide. I'll leave the poll up for the next 7 days. I can't wait to see what color you choose. I'm anxious to get started.

Editted to Add: Poll is over and the winner is Orchid.

Spring Cleaning cont'd

My spring cleaning turned up a few unfinished projects from last year. I have so many projects that I would like to start but, I decided that I can't until I finish or frog the items I found. I'm not sure what has happened to me lately but I have become a monogamous knitter. Which is very much unlike me. I've been known for having at least five projects going at a time. Yes I would sometimes forget where I left off on a pattern. Sometimes my gauge would be different when I decided to go back and finish a project. Maybe I just realized that I was making this knitting thing to stressful.

The first so close to complete project is Picovoli. I love this yarn and the color. It's Debbie Bliss Cathay. The only thing left to complete is the cute picot edging. Hopefully I can have this done and blocked by the weekend.


Next up is the Allhemp6 Leaf Lace skirt. I substituted the cashmere canapa in color 034. It's a really pretty chocolate brown and softer than the allhemp6. I lost track on the lace pattern so many times I decided it would be best to put a marker between each pattern repeat.


On to the Summertime Tunic. I decided I had to make this when I found the KAL. There were just too many cute FO's for me to resist. I'm using Debbie Bliss Cathay for this too. Very soft and luxurious and who can go wrong with black. I don't care what Clinton and Stacy would think. I promise I'll wear a pop of color with it just for Stacy.


Finally I'm about three quarters of the way done with my Sizzle. I'm using Berroco Glace in Pomegranate (color #2529). I love the color, I just hope it fits.

There are many more unfinished projects but those are winter sweaters so I don't need to worry about those until I do my winter cleaning. I'm glad I only clean twice a year. Just kidding!

My Other Hobby

So knitting/crocheting are not my only hobbies. I also collect orchids. They are such beautiful flowers and some types of orchids will bloom for months at a time. I have been looking for a local grower in the Cleveland area for quite a while. Martha suggested Borlin's. I had never heard of them but through some investigation I found out that they had moved to a small floral shop. They are still located in Mentor but are now on Mentor Ave. I'm so glad that Martha told me about them. Even though the shop was small they had some really beautiful and well cared for orchids. Below are a couple of pictures of the orchids that I purchased. They were really affordable. The first orchid is a Phalaenopsis and the second is an Oncidium.

I may have gone a little overboard because I also ordered some Dendrobium orchids from Aloha orchids. I had chartruese green dendrobium orchids in my wedding bouquet and I feel in love with them. Below is a picture of all the orchids from Aloha. I was surprised that they made it in one piece all the way from Hawaii. They were packed in a big box with shredded newspaper keeping everything safe and sound.


Now I have to go out and find some new pots and orchid mix. The DH thinks our house is a yarn store/greenhouse. Could be worse!!!

My Favorite Spot

There is one room in my house that I am drawn to. I go there to knit, read or just relax. It's my favorite spot in the house. There's a nice big window that lets in a lot of light and a nice view of the neighborhood. No TV, no distractions and no radio it's just perfect. I did some spring cleaning this weekend and reorganized my yarn/craft room. I even organized the yarn by color. Yes I am a bit anal but it looks so much nicer that way.

Yes, even the closet is full of yarn. In my spring cleaning I found a few summer projects from last year that I never finished. I'd like to finish some of these projects before casting on anything new. We'll see how long that lasts. With all this yarn staring at me I may not be able to resist.

Bad Blogger

This is the reason for my blogging absence. Hopefully knitting content will return soon. The DF is now my DH. We got married in Vegas just the two of us. It was a perfect day. Sorry for the crappy pictures, I had to scan them. We were given the option to purchase the original jpeg images with the printing rights but, they cost more than the entire wedding. I'm still thinking about buying them.

We were married at the Luxor chapel. It's really beautiful inside, even prettier than the pictures on their website. After the wedding we changed into something more comfortable and went to Fusia for dinner. We also arranged to have a small wedding cake after dinner. I got Macadamia Nut Glazed Chicken and Vegetables. If you ever go to Vegas you have to go to Fusia for dinner. It was delicious but way to much food. Of course I made sure to leave room for a little cake. We got a white cake with whip cream frosting. My favorite!!!

Nella

I finally got the DF to take a picture of me in my Nella Cropped Cardigan. He was in the middle of watching a basketball game so I was lucky to get him to take more than one picture. I really enjoyed this pattern and am pleased with the way it fits. I love the length of the sleeves.

Pattern: Nella Cropped Cardigan
Source: Fiber Smarts
Available here on Ravelry
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden (5 balls)
Color: 243 purchased at Studio Knit
Size: Small
Needles: US Size 6
Modifications: Because this pattern was only available
for the medium I modified it to make a small. First I used
size 6 needles instead of size 8. My gauge was 16 stitches
and 24 rows for 4 inches measured over the st st portion of
the sweater. I picked up two stitches under each arm because
I was worried that they would be too tight. Because my sweater
fits a little higher up on my shoulders it ended up being a
little shorter than I wanted, so I picked up stitches at
the bottom of the sweater and knit 4 rows before biding off.
I would have knit a couple more rows but I was affraid I
was going to run out of yarn.

(I swear my hair did not look that bad from the back)

This was my first time doing applied i-cord so I used this tutorial. It was really easy and definitely worth it, it gives the neckline a very finished look. Now I just have to figure out what to knit next.