Sunday, August 26, 2012

A couple of new titles

added to my library.


Couldn't pass up Barnes & Nobles'
coupon this week.
Saved ~30%
^)
Plus, had a great cup of Starbucks with 
wonderful Hubby. 
What more could a gal want ! ! ! 
***********
Both of these books have been on my wishlist for some time.
I did a quick through last night
and have decided that
Circular Knitting Workshop
offers insight into techniques
I use or would like to use
to improve my knitting time.
You know how much I love knitting in the round whenever I get the chance.
Give me a circular needle and I'm in heaven.
Plus, there are the little practice projects that go with each 'lesson' of the book that will make great
gifting items.
Christmas is less than three months from yesterday.
And, there are birthdays coming up before then.
-  -  -  -  -
Everyone have a great week.
A special wish to those in the path of Isaac.

hugs

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 



Wednesday, August 22, 2012

A Pair of Finishes



Green Thumb Mitts
pattern was gifted to me by
the multi-craftural
and on blip
Knit using Dream in Color Everlasting DK
100% Merino wool
in the colorway Dive.
These fingerless mitts were knit with the leftovers
after I knit a watch cap for Hubby
click here for results for google search for
I just used a knit two-purl two ribbing for the entire mitt except for the 'thumb patterning' portion.
♥♥♥ love how these hug me ♥♥♥ 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Another pair of fingerless mitts
using leftover yarn 
It's a 75% wool 25% nylon yarn
again in a 2x ribbing
with a 1x ribbed thumb.

ZMZMZMZMZMZMZMZMZMZMZMZ

That's two more finished projects taking my total Works In Progress 
to:
Adrift sweater
Intagliata Henley Pullover
Chivalry Colorwork Fingerless Mitts
Wandering Thyme Shawl
Stealth Argyles Socks
ex-Gimli Socks
Trapeze Mystery Shawl
= 7 WIPs

Cool, Gerry, cool!!!

hugs
remember, if you click the button that says:
subscribe by email
you will receive my reply to your comment

: ^ )



Monday, August 20, 2012

Big Bang ! ! !

Sheldon and Leonard is FINISHED!!!


Our Camp Loopy Project 3 Challenge:

must use two or more colors
must use at least 500 yards in one item
must use a pattern new to us
must complete between July 27 - Aug 27
must be posted to the Project 3 Photo Gallery
at The Loopy Ewe website.

My Sheldon and Leonard Shawl
is knit using 540 yards of pashmina yarn
[75% Merino, 15% Silk, 10% Cashmere]
in the colors Lapis and Whitewash

I love the way it's designed to hug my shoulders while staying close to my neck
Oh, how it wraps 'round to snuggle me. 
There's enough shawl to tie in front for accent.
A BIG WIN! ! ! 

Gotta love the Loopy Ewe for providing these three challenges this summer
while treating us like special, special friends.
Whoot!  Whoot!

now I must go post to the Photo Gallery

hugs
Did you check out all those pointy-points at the border's edge?

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Late last night > > >


It's not a pretty sight at the moment.
Took more than two hours to shape and block.
Finished blocking late last night.

This morning Sheldon and Leonard feel dry to the touch.
A bit later, 
perhaps after a couple of cups of
Prima Barista Columbia Coffee
the blocking wires and T-pins will come out.
And, we shall see what we shall see.

Have a TERRIFIC SUNDAY EVERYONE 
enjoy this wonderful turn in the weather.

hugs

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
oh, I do hope you all read my response to each of your coments
to my previous blog post.
I apologize for being late in doing so.
extra hugs


Friday, August 10, 2012

Gorgeous Yarn

Lorna's Laces  Solemate  in Black Purl
55% Superwash Merino, 15% Nylon, 30% Outlast
fingering weight

Isn't this gorgeous !

It's Lorna's Laces yarn Solemate with outlast,
a space-age technology designed by NASA to keep astronauts comfy in their spacesuits.

This technology is now used in yarn 

so the garments we knit will keep us comfy, too.

Below is a quick description
Taken from The Loopy Ewe
This sock weight yarn is made from superwash Merino, nylon, and Outlast (R), a fiber technology that interacts with the body's microclimate to moderate temperature, to help from being too hot or too cold. It's "yarn with a built-in climate control!" 

You may recall,
this pair of sox began as Gimli,
a eye-catching design that truly screams for a yarn with great stitch  definition.  

This yarn base has fantastic stitch definition

 but not in this Black Purl colorway.

So they're being knit as a generic sox
 with hopes that the gorgeous color gets the attention it deserves.

They've a standing rib cuff 
with a few eyelets running down the leg portion.

Love it!!!

I think the heels will be Cat Bordhi's design:  
I've provided a link to  Cat's YouTube instructions 
It's a great way to custom fit your sox to your heel

Love it ! ! ! ! 


Gimli's on the back burner 'til later this year.

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

Thank you all for the lovely comments on my previous post.
Thank you.

hugs

Have a wonderful weekend!



Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Punky



Here's Punky's first photo! ! ! ! 
Knit with my very own hand-dyed yarn.
Punky's body is acid dyed,
beak and claws Kool-ade dyed,
legs Wilton's Cake Icing dyed.
Top knot is a combo of knitted I-cord and gift ribbon and eyes are buttons.

note to self:  Next knitted toy - NO CLAWS ! ! ! !

Punky's little buddie is a Bunny Nugget.



This week I've been knitting Punky
 and
Sheldon and Leonard

This is a fun, fun knit.
Designed by Wendy D Johnson
She's made provisions in the pattern for this to be knit by weight rather than yardage.
I know I must use 500 yards for this Challenge.
I'm using two separate colors 
at approx 116 and 119 grams each 
and 360 yds each.
Doing the math so that my project doesn't use all seven hundred twenty yards
 but rather a bit more than the 500 yd requirement.

Worked sideways 
this shawl takes 25% of the 500+ yds for the increase side, 
50% of the 500+ for the body and the remaining 25% for the decrease side.
I've knit almost 75% right now.
I told you it's fun!  I ♥ it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mom and I

She's very much in my thoughts today

 August 7, 1915  -  October 19, 1999


hugs


Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Potholders & . . . .

. . . and this insulated casserole-sized hot pad

 Our local quilt guide is having another potholder swap 

I really enjoyed last year's swap, I decided I'd do it again.

Picked out two leftover chisel strip blocks 
and some fabric 
I posted a photo of the entire piece here
Ended up with this hotpad
and two pot holders, too.

V
V
v

Had to take time to stitch up a couple of labels before finishing the three pieces

I had such fun creating these as I was at my Bernina.
I 'em.

You may have noticed that these pieces are finished with a 'pinked' edge with triple stitching.

Not the traditional edge finish
so they won't be part of the guild's swap.

Not to worry, they won't go to waste, that's for certain.
Into the basket with the rest of my creative giftables.
: ^ )

While I was making these I found a couple more pieces that would make a great .  .  .  .  .

hugs


Sunday, July 29, 2012

My hand-dyed and what it's becoming

 Oranges


 Blues 'n Greens


 Pinks 'n Purples



Makes me think: Happy Birthday ! ! ! 


This colorful bit of yarny goodness
is teaming with Bare White
to become
Punky Rooster
I'm joining Knitabulls Podcast/Diane's
Ravellenics KnitAlong
during the Olympics July 27-August 12.
We're knitting monsters during the 17 days of
the Olympics in London.
Oh, yeah, everyone completing and posting a monster 
to the Knitabulls Ravellenics Thread
becomes eligible for the random number draw for three different super-terrific prizes.


*******************


Here it is this afternoon:


Filet-0-Chick

it's in the bag!



hugs


♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The State of Gemini

You may remember
Gemini 
I made earlier this summer.

I was so thrilled that I had finished such a project.
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

However

:^(

It didn't live up to my expectations relating to fit.

So what's a gal to do ?  

Well, the only remedy was


to hook it up to the Swift
and
even with a slight defugalty 
that took help with
Hubby to the rescue during the frogging process.


So it goes ~~~
here's a photograph of Gemini in it's present state.


Yep, that's the Gemini.

The sweater that was.

:^)

hugs



Monday, July 23, 2012

Progress to Completion

Camp Loopy is keeping me on my toes this summer!
As are a couple of KALs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

First Up!




Franklin's Journey


Next:

omg, I look like my Mother

Blueberry Vodka Lemonade Sweater.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ 

Now, if I add other projects 
I've completed this summer -



   
   

By the way,
have you taken notice of my newest widgets on my right hand sidebar?

These two track my current knitting totals.
In Yards
&
In Miles.

Can I hear a 'Whoot!, Whoot!'

****************
Thanks for stopping by
for a visit, I love hearing from ya!

Stay Cool ! ! ! 

hugs
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Friday, July 20, 2012

It's KAL Season ! ! !


Progress on my second Piper's Journey Shawl

This one goes by the name of Franklin's Journey

The body is GnomeAcres' sock yarn in the Franklin colorway
The border is Fibernymph's Charcoal colorway.

Last night I made it past the half-way mark on this fun, fun border.
It'll be a FO before too long.

This shawl is eligible for three kal's.
How much more fun could a gal ask for this Summer !

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Camp Loopy Project 2 is finished 
but still needs to be 'soaked' and blocked before you get to see a finished photo.
That's the Blueberry Vodka Lemonade Sweater, just to jog your memory.


In the meantime, gals,
CL Project 3 begins on the 27th.
Here's my pick of yarn for the Project.




   hmmmm, 
do we notice a shift in color preference???
blue !  ! !


Madelinetosh Pashmina
Sport / 5 ply
75% Merino, 15% Silk, 10% Cashmere
360 yards / 100 grams


yahooooo!  what! ! !  silk - - cashmere
luxury if there every was ! ! ! 


Project 3 must use 500 yards, 
two colors, 
one project.

My MadTosh will be knit into
Sheldon and Leonard  by Wendy D. Johnson

Wendy describes her shawl:
"This sideways garter stitch wrap 
has short-row shaping 
and a lace edging 
that is worked as you knit the body. 
Short rows in the body 
give a gentle curve at the neck 
so the shawlette stays put when you wear it."


Sheldon and Leonard - ! Big Bang Theory !


* * * * * * * * * *
It's been a busy 
knitting and sewing
month
- - - 
my attempt to ignore the heat

Have worked on
one sweater
one shawl
three drawstring project bags
four box bags
and
V
V
v


this is for our Quilt Guild PotHolder Swap

! ! ! ! ! ! !

I'm sitting here at the computer talk with you gals and Hub's is waiting to take me to lunch
. . . . . .
talk with ya later

♥♥♥♥