FIADE Question #3

Autumn has now officially begun here in the States!! What is your favorite thing about Autumn/Fall? Why?

Vacation, my birthday, cooler weather, new clothes, nice warm knitwear, soup, actually cooking dinner again, wearing socks that I've knit, apples at the farmer's market, oh, I guess I was supposed to pick one (1) favorite...

Sorry, I don't read directions to well. lol Guess that explains my difficulty with Jen's mittens, ROFL!

I'd have to say my favorite thing about fall and cooler weather is that The Saint and I can snuggle comfortably. He's very snuggly but when it is hot, me and snuggling - not so much! lol

Bring on the cooler temps! I love it!

Ok I'm off to the 2nd Anniversary Party at City Knitting! Maybe I should leave my credit card home...nah!

testing....testing... & did anybody see my mojo?

Well, here's a pic of my test knitting for Jen's Rippled Fingerless Mittens. I seemingly I can't count, or read, lol!

Check out the picture and see if you can tell what I did wrong and more wrong...

No, there will be no prizes for the lucky guesser, ha ha ha, ah-hem...

I knit the one on the right first.

See my problem?

I missed an entire ripple up near the thumb. A closer look and you'll notice that the thumb is a bit stumpy and the twisted rib of the thumb is inside-out! The inside out thumb would be a throw-back to my days when I used to knit socks inside out. I have since mended my ways with the socks but it came back to haunt me when I did the thumb on the first mitten.

Ah well, practice makes perfect. The second one turned out really good. I'll be starting over on the first one tomorrow. Then I'll write up my notes for you Jen and get them off pronto.

This was a really fun project that knit up quickly and they are nice and toasty. Thanks again Jen for the opportunity to test them out.

And now for a sewing related interruption...


In this time of missing mojos (Cass can't find her housework mojo) Hey Cass, I didn't find your mojo here either, rofl - my sewing mojo seems to have taken a hike (possibly insulted by the knitting mojo, but I'm just guessing, lol).

I have done some things with my sewing machine in years passed that amazed even me (in addition to countless relatives and friends) lol.

If you go to Rena's Room you'll see my greatest accomplishment, (aside from raising my children) Rena & Chef Wes's wedding quilt circa 9/06. It's made from fabrics called, drum roll here, Bistro! Ha,ha,ha,ha...Wes being a chef and all, well, I thought it was pretty creative...the fabrics have names like Saucy Swirl, Fetucinni, Lasagna, you get the idea...

Go, go there now, you have to see it, I'll wait right here for you...
and would you say hey to her while you're there, please? She could use some company, she's been working way too hard lately.

Oh, thanks for doing that, and how did you like the quilt?

I've been trying to get motivated to quilt again, especially after looking at the beautiful quilts that Dave has made. I'm not feelin it so this morning I tried to force it to come around by hauling out my Mariner's Compass and hanging it in my newly painted bedroom.

I told myself that this was merely for the purposes of taking it's picture and show it to all of you so maybe you could motivate me to finish this piece. It's just the top, no batting, no backing, no quilting...poor thing.

When I got it pinned up and stood back I was amazed by how well it looked with the new green walls. I had planned on hanging this piece in my office at work but it's going in our bedroom. lol

It just doesn't really go with the leopard print comforter, mwa-ha-ha-ha! Dammit! Guess I'll have to buy a new comforter if I ever get that Mariner's Compass done :)

Here's the Mariner's Compass,



watchu think?









I know it's not knitting, but anyway...we all have secret hobbies besides knitting don't we? tee-hee

Thanks for hangin with me and giving me some opinions. I love opinions!

Toodles

I'm gonna be a test knitter!

How exciting is that? I'm feeling all wiggly inside.

My friend Jen W sent me the instructions for her Rippled Fingerless Mittens and I'm gonna knit them up and give her a report on the instructions and how I like the mittens. Yay!

Thanks for the opportunity Jen! I feel honored.

Here's my choice of yarn and needles. Whatchu think?

Here's a little closer-up picture so you can see how really pretty the yarn is.

We have a set of size 7 Crystal Palace dpns - size 6 is suggested in the instructions but I tend to knit a bit tight - and approx 4.5 oz of 100% Romney Wool handspun by Sue Ann Carpenter of The Sassy Ewe in Barryton, MI.

I purchased this yarn from Sue Ann at the Fulton St Farmer's Market the first Saturday I went this year. I'm hoping to see her again but the veggie farmer's haven't let up enough to make room for the Artisans yet so I'll have to keep waiting.

Just for grins - and to give you a feel for the size of this cake of yarn - here is a picture of the yarn with my 8" dpns and my checkbook...isn't it huge?

I'm thinking this should be plenty of yarn...

Well, I suppose I should hit the hay so I can make it to work one more day this week. Thankfully it will be FRIDAY! Those sales reps have driven me crazy this week! I need a weekend and maybe a nice glass of Merlot with some 5 year old Gouda...mmm, can't think about that now, must go to sleep...

Toodles

I GOT MY INVITATION!!!

"frecklegirl has invited you to Ravelry!" 


Thanks frecklegirl!


Wow, I've got a lot of work to do.  If you don't hear from me in a couple of days you better call the authorities, lol...or maybe Rena so she can come and give me an intervention.   ROFL

FIADE-Topic #2 and BSJ WIP

This is the Topic #2 part...
When you knit or crochet dishclothes, washclothes or face clothes, what do you use?
KnitPicks circs. Prior to this day I have used the metal Options but yesterday I got these...
KnitPicks Options Harmony - aren't they pret-ty? Go check out Poppy Sassypant's review, it's a hoot!

What size needle or hook? US 7
Wood? what type? Clover bamboo
Metal? Plastic? I've never used plastic, metal is ok but I really like my circs
A specific Brand? as previously stated - KnitPicks
Why do you love that needle or hook so much? smooth, pointy and circs are easy to transport and you can work well in a small space if necessary
Is there one you are dying to try? No
Is there a particular yarn you love and use all the time for cloths? Only brand readily available here in GR is Sugar N Cream although I did get a ball of Peaches n Cream from a very generous swap partner and I'm looking forward to trying it out.
What is so special about it? It's readily available but I'm not sure that makes it special.

And now for the work in progress part...

I am speeding along on the BSJ, can you believe how cute it is? People keep asking me if I'm making it for someone special...the answer is NO! There are no little people on the near horizon. Or the far horizon for that matter. lol And that's ok. But, anyway, how do you like my little sweater?

Thankyouverymuch!

You're the best! I appreciate all of your Birthday wishes so much.

Clarabelle will get a surprise from the postman if she'll send me an email at allybelser at comcast dot net with her mailing address. She wished me a Happy 51st Birthday and that is how many I was yesterday. Yay!

There were presents and knitting.


Last weekend The Saint and I picked out this super cool new knitting chair for my favorite spot by the window. It's big enough for me and Winston, the grand-dog, to fit in comfortably. Allowances have to be made for the little animals too.

Notice the handy-dandy drawer for stuff! The theory being that all the stuff will be in the drawer instead of surrounding the chair...not sure it's ever gonna work out like that, nice try though Honey! lol


I was able to get some knitting in while The Saint checked out the fishing situation on the river. The sun was shining and the temperature was about 70 and I got to sit in the truck in the park near the Sixth St dam and knit for more than an hour in the peace and quiet, aaahhh.

Here's what I accomplished...It's the beginning of a child size Baby Surprise Jacket designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I'm working it in Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in the Stormy colorway. I got a 10 pack of this yarn super cheap on eBay eons ago and this seems like the perfect project for it. And probably about 3 more sweaters, lol. It's practice before I start the Adult Surprise Jacket for myself.

Yes, I'm actually following the instructions from the Adult Surprise Jacket that say "we recommend that you knit a baby version first to give you a rudimentary idea of what you are doing". Since I have invested a nice sum of cash in the yarn for the adult version I don't want to be wearing it out trying to learn the concept of this design.

Sometimes others know best. This is a hard concept for me to accept in most situations. LOL

I got cards, and a gift card from Rena to use at KnitPicks! I'm going shopping as soon as I'm done posting this today. he-he-he
She also presented me with a copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting which I have been coveting at my LYS. What a happy book it is. And, a ball of self-striping Sugar & Cream in a very pretty pink. She spoils me!

Jared returned from his trip to St Louis in time for my birthday! The Saint, Jared, Rena and I headed over to Bombay Cuisine where we enjoyed a fabo dinner and a nice bottle of Little Penguin Pinot Noir. Loved it!

It was a marvelous day. I am blessed.

Have a great day everybody!

Happy Birthday to Me!

The Pixie haircut was popular in 1961...when I was 5.

How many does that make me today? hmmm? There might be a prize involved...

When I found this picture in the photo album I had thoughts of my Grama, who departed this world 9 years ago and who I miss every day. She made the fabulous book this picture has been in all these years. All of the pictures are labeled with cute captions and the dates they were taken. A lot of the tape is yellow and brittle and the front cover has separated itself from the rest of the book but it is still one of my prized possessions.

My Grama taught me how to do so many things. She was a great role-model and a good person. Thanks to her I can sew, knit, crochet and cook a pretty good meal.

This forum gives me the outlet I lost when she passed. I can do "show and tell" to all of you and it makes my effort more rewarding knowing someone besides me sees the results.

Thank you very much.

Now let's have some cake!