Rough Night

No knitting content today because I have had a couple of rough nights. It has been raining with thunder and lightening for the last couple of nights. Not that rain is a problem it doesn't bother me, usually makes good sleeping weather. The only problem is my almost 80 lb dog that is afraid of the thunder and lightening. I woke up multiple times with him trying to sleep between the DF and I rolled up in a ball on our pillows. He doesn't seem to care that he is laying on our heads. Once I made him move in between us, off of our heads, we could at least try to get back to sleep. Then a loud crack of thunder and a lot of lightening and he starts shaking. I had flash backs to when my grandparents use to take my brother and I on vacation. We went out west and my grandfather would always stop at these hotels that looked liked the Bates Motel. The best part was they had the little coin box on the wall that allowed you to put a quarter in and the bed would shake for two minutes. My grandparents use to have to limit us to one quarter a piece. Ahh... the good old days.

So as I said no knitting content today but I did buy some knitting inspired fabric. I first saw this on Alison's blog. She made some adorable knitting bags for her buddies. I haven't sewn much in the past 10 years but how hard can it be to make a bag. (I am knocking on wood right now).











I love these skulls with knitting needles. Sometimes I feel like the guy on the right when I have a knitting deadline and it's a project that I just don't want to work on. I also purchased some coordinating fabric to line the bags.

Here is a final picture of all the fabric that I bought. I might use this pattern here. I love it. Hopefully it's easy enough for me.

The Anthrologie Inspired Capelet

As I promised here is a finished picture of the capelet. I am really pleased with the way this turned out. When I was knitting it I thought it was going to be small but it fits perfect.

Pattern: Anthropologie inspired capelet

Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca, sport weight 100% alpaca (held doubled)
Color: Natural Dark Gray (509), 3 hanks
Size: Pattern is written for one size but it could
be easily modified by casting on more stitches.
Modifications: After I split the sleeves and body
the pattern says to knit 4 rows in reverse stockinette.
I knit for two inches because I was afraid that the top
would be too short. I'm glad I decided to make it longer.

I know that I said I was going to cut myself off from any future yarn purchases. Well, I might have to allow some exceptions at least for this weekend. Saturday Debbie and I are going to the 4th Annual Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. It should be a good time, Annie Modesitt is going to be there. Well, it has been a long day I'm off to bed.

Good Food, Good Friends, Good Fun

I had my knitting buddies over last week. We ate a lot, laughed a lot and caught up on knitting projects. There was even a little wine drinking but that was limited because wine and knitting can turn into knitting disasters. Two of our buddies were unable to join us (Christine & Karen). We missed them very much. I met all of these lovely ladies at the Knitting Garden in Westlake Ohio when I taught knitting and crochet classes. The shop has closed but we have all decided that we will have a get together each month. So I decided to have the first party at my place.

(Left to right: Debbie, Robin, Christy and Jackie)

As you can see in the picture Jackie is wearing the Sunrise Circle Jacket that she made. She used Cascade 220. I think she used color (9453). Here is another picture that shows the detail better.

I promised I would post about what projects each of the ladies were working on. Debbie (Ravelry link) was working on the Lace Leaf Scarf. Jackie was working on a Blue Sky Alpaca baby blanket. Robin was working on a Suss Shawl and Christy was working on Drive-Thru from Knit and Tonic. I finished up the capelet that I was working on. The night went by so fast. Too bad we have to wait another month to get together. I will leave you will some pictures of the party favors that I gave each of the ladies. The pink ones are end of row markers.

It's Finally Here

I received my Ravelry invite today. That was fast it only took about a week and a half. I did an inventory of my yarn to prepare for my invite. I think I might have to cut myself off from future yarn purchases. That is until I use up more of my stash. The next two projects that I am working on I'll be using some yarn from my stash. The first project is a cute capelet that I found here. I am using blue sky alpaca sport weight in a dark charcoal grey. I am using it held doubled to get proper gauge. It's really knitting up quick. I should have it done tonight so I will post some pics soon. The second project I am working on is from the cover of Vogue Knitting Holiday 2007 issue. The long red sweater looks so warm yet it drapes really nicely. I am not using the same yarn so I hope I can achieve the same drape. I'm using cascade 220 because I wanted a yarn that I knew would hold up well; this one is going to take me quite awhile to finish.

Boy or Girl

I know that I have said this before but, it seems like everyone is having babies. Another friend of mine is going to be a dad. He and his wife don't yet know the sex of the baby so; I decided to make two blankets. Baby blankets around here never go to waste. I love this pattern because it's so fast and great for mindless TV knitting. I enjoy making them so much I usually have one of these on the needles for that occasion when I loose my knitting mojo and I can't decide what I want to work on.

Pattern: 8 Hour Baby Blanket
Source: Plymouth Yarn Co.
Yarn: Encore Worsted & Encore Colorspun Worsted (1 of each held doubled)
Colors: 208 & 7962 (Top) 0896 &7744 (Bottom)
Needles: US size 13, 24 inch circular needles
Modifications: None this is a great pattern.

The one thing that I have noticed since I started blogging is I have more FO's. I have always been someone who can't work on just one project at a time. The problem is that at times I find myself working on up to five projects. This usually results in several projects that go ignored for months and by the time I pick them up again they are out of season. I have decided to allow myself to work on two projects at a time, one advanced project and one mindless project. So far so good. This seems to be helping my FO quota increase. Below is another FO. It is the first garment that I have designed (Violet). It is a shrug made with Buckingham from Bristol Yarn. I will be working the numbers up so I can make the pattern available in the next couple of week. (That is my knitters block that Violet is drying on.)

Not Bad for the First Time

I was feeling a little adventurous today and thought I would try to make some stitch markers. All that beading and wire wrapping looks so easy on TV. It's not as easy as they make it look but, I think I did OK for my first try. I will definitely be practicing the wire wrapping.

I made two different types of stitch markers. The ones in the middle were made with flexible bead stringing wire. Since I'm not very good at wire wrapping I thought it would be easier to make this type to fit my larger needles. All the other markers were made using a head pin to string the beads and a jump ring. The markers were quick and a lot of fun to make. If I can figure out how to use my new camera I'll get some better pictures of the how to process and post a tutorial.

Knitter's Block

I don't know how you all feel about blocking. I block everything that I knit because I think it really improves the look of the finished product. I have a tendency to have uneven stitches when I knit. A little blocking and my knitted items look 100% better. Usually I use a big towel to block with or without blocking pins. I had been thinking about buying a blocking board but they are so big and I really have no place to store one.

I was really excited when I found this knitter's block. I bought mine here. I love the fact that it fits nicely into a little bag and is really easy to store. You can also make it any shape that you want. Now the only thing I have to figure out is how to keep the dog from laying on whatever it is I'm blocking.

On a side note, I put my name on the Ravelry list and am anxiously awaiting my invite.