I've been swatching

I spent several hours at City Knitting Saturday swatching yarn for the crochet dress I want to make. I'm thinking about this blue...

And see that crochet hook? I am truly in love with it. It's an Addi Turbo, my first Addi crochet hook. The link is purely for illustration I got mine at City Knitting for $6.50 which seemed quite reasonable. It's an amazing tool! If you crochet, you have to try one. I'll be getting more ;-)

I'm not sure that I'm crazy about the blue yarn after giving it a few looks. I think it's gonna be like the peach yarn I used for the tank top I crocheted - then sold to a co-worker because I was tired of looking at it. I'm thinking I like the shine and texture of the cream Microspun better. If you look at the top of the following picture you'll see the swatch I made with the cream Microspun. It's shiny and very soft. The Gedifra yarn, while woven and not splitty like the Microspun is heavier and has no shine.


Here's a side by side comparison...please ignore the guage! I did the Microspun on a "G" and the Gedifra on an "E".

Any and all opinions would be appreciated. Thank you


Killer Biller, completed 3/23/08. Scout's Swag, Kill Bill colorway, size 1 circs, Cat Bordhi's Simple Sock. One is ever-so-slightly shorter than the other but I'm trying to stretch it to match, lol.

I actually like this pose better...

so now it's on to Charlene Schurch's Ribbed Lace socks with that luscious eggplant color yarn I showed you a few days back. Hope I'm up for the challenge.


Hey, everybody, there's a really cute swap you can sign up for here . It's gonna be fun! Go sign up by March 27th! Maybe I'll get to make you a wee tiny sock!

Thank you for stopping by and have a great week!

edited to correct link and info for Ribbed Lace sock

So much for spring...

This is my back yard this evening...



hope the Easter Bunny has snow shoes, LOL.

I am painfully close to being done with my second Killer Biller sock. A good long day at City Knitting tomorrow and I should be finished. Isn't this Scout's Swag yarn super cool?!

Eek, I just caught sight of Lederhosen, mmm, love that color combo! Isn't it beautiful? That Scout has a way with the colors.

An now I've been distracted by this it's so lovely, I want to knit lace. Like I have nothing else to do, riiiiight? Ah, I'll add it to my list and hope that I get through all the patterns I have stacked up sometime before I can't see good enough to knit anymore, hahaha. I wish Grace lived closer to me so she could show me how. She's a wiz with the lace!

Since it's been a bit sloooooow at work this week I was surfing around and now I've been sucked into the world of podcasts. Not sure how I stumbled onto this but once I got there, there was no turning back. They've got me! Oh, wait! I know how I got there, Ravelry! It's such an enabler in so many arenas. If you're not signed up for Ravelry yet, go, do eet, you'll love eet, I promisss (in my best Peter Lorre voice)

And speaking of scary things (in a funny scary kinda way)...have you read Cass' blog post for today? Go over there and read it, be sure to go potty first though. This morning I was ROFLOLTNTPMP while reading it. She cracks me up!

Have a great holiday weekend if you celebrate Easter. If not, just have a great weekend! I know I'm going to!

Ah, Spring!

scroll down for knitting and crocheting content as there actually is some

Greetings! Welcome to spring in West Michigan. There's lots of mud for the dogs to run in.
The lillies are coming up in our backyard and the fence has been put up til said yard dries out, much to Max's dismay.

Otherwise, Sam will run across the soft lawn kickin up clods like a horse and all The Saint's hard work putting down the sod a couple of years ago will be for naught...can't have that. Just a small area with snow left, in the shade by the garage. If we're lucky, there will be no more this year. ...Max surveys her kingdom from the deck. The pets have access to the driveway and a small patch of yard for their "business doing" but the majority of yard is off limits for at least the next few weeks. We'll be taking walks again. They'll be so excited I won't be able to get them in their leashes for at least 10 minutes, why don't they realize we can be on our way faster if they'll just be still for a second?

I have this...








and I'm gonna cast-on this...Ribbed Lace
from this book...









I have 50% of the body done for my first, and not last, one of these...

and the second Killer Biller sock is about 40% complete.

I've also been dabbling in a bit of crochet...

using the remnants of my EZ ASJ.

And I've been swatching









for this...
I find my thoughts in a swirl. It's difficult to concentrate, I have way too many things going and on Thursday I actually bought a book! When do I think I'll have time to read, you ask. I don't have a clue. Even a few quilty thoughts have crossed my mind lately too. Must-resist-the-quilty-thoughts. There is no room for any more stuff to be out in my office/sewing room. I'll stick with the knitting for now. It takes up less surface space.

I'll leave you with this last item I started Thursday evening and completed yesterday for a baby shower gift (twin girls)...


I was hoping to be able to stylishly pose these little gems but since I was sewing the buttons on them at 11am and the shower invitation said that the festivities were to start at 11am I figured I'd better snap a couple of quick shots and be on my way. I'll make another pair and pose them artistically at a later date, lol.

Everybody have a great week. Hope you have sunshine where you are too.

Happy Anniversary Tammy & Jared

Six years ago today my son and his wife took the big leap at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas...
all photos biggy-size if you click on them
pretty spiffy, don't you think?

I'm sorry that we missed being there in person. The practical side of me decided it would be better to give them cash for the down payment on their house than to take a trip to Vegas....why do I have to be so practical sometimes?

Greetings knitting friends...excuse me while I'm distracted for a bit from my knitting projects by this...picture #5 is the cutest crochet dress for summer.

It caught my attention last Saturday when I was hangin out at my fav LYS. I let it stew for a whole week trying to resist and yesterday I couldn't fight it any longer. I had some Lion Brand Microspun hanging around and thought I'd give it a go. I bought the book and spent a few minutes last night working on my gauge...fiddled around a bit...and this morning I got it figured out and got the right # of stitches chained and now I'm off!


Not sure why crochet projects grab me every so often, remember this?, but the simple action of the hook going in and out and around this slippery, shiny yarn is mesmerizing. Even The Saint was entranced watching my hands last night. I guess it's the steady rhythm of it and I am a much smoother crocheter than knitter. Could be all the extra years of experience with crochet. I have always had a strong emotional connection with the crochet, can't explain it and won't even try to figure it out. I'm just gonna ride the wave while it lasts and hope I can get a super cute summer dress out of it.

As for the knitting, I finished 1 of my Killer Biller Socks...

Scout's Swag Kill Bill hand dyed Cat Bordhi's Simple Sock from Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles, size 1 Knit Picks circs..cool huh?

I've got the second one cast on and hope to get it done yet this week during my mental preparation time before work in the morning. What? Doesn't everybody have mental preparation time in the morning? I get to the office 45 minutes early, sit in one of my comfy wicker chairs and knit til time to start working. Sounds heavenly doesn't it? You should all try it this week. Unless, of course, you don't have a comfy wicker chair in your office, hahaha, oh sorry, was that just a little too snotty? Well, the sun is shining and I'm feeling a bit peppier than usual today.

Let's go do some crochet...it's still too cold here in West Michigan (28 degrees, brrrr) to play outside.

Hey to all the peeps who've stopped and said hey this past few weeks. You're the best!

The list is growing and I'm sure I'll miss someone but here's a sample, go check out their blogs...Nichole, Purl, Clarabelle, Gnat, Wildflower, Cass, Grace, Birdsong & Rachel

A Worthy Cause

I found this contest and thought I'd pass it along to all of you.

Contest closes at midnight on March 10, 2008 so hurry over there and get your chance at that bag!

You could win a super cool Nemaste Jetsetter in black and the donations go to benefit Hope Lodge in Grand Rapids, a place where out of town cancer patients and their caregivers can stay during treatment here.

Go, now, your donation will be a great help to some deserving folks. And you could win a fabulous new bag!

Thanks

Max and Sam (above) are just eye candy for today. Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to say hey while you're here.

Ode to my LYS

How I love thee, City Knitting...

You're a hive of activity on Saturdays,you stock lots of yarn and provide comfy seats to entice me,

you've attracted lots of knitting friends for me to hang with, hey to Carol, Roselyn, Maureen, Brandon and Christine...just to name a few...











You inspire me...

Yesterday within your yarny walls I actually progressed on my Scout J Kill Bill sock

and The Saint's Bigg A$$ Sweater in Berroco Ultra Alpaca.
This shot is of the back half with the bottom rib. I think it gives a good representation of the color and the texture of the fabric. It's super soft and slippery-like. mmm-mmm


Thanks Lorilee, Jessica, Darlene, Kathy, Ruth and Kim for working so hard to give us all such a great place to hang out and be inspired!

I actually took a Saturday lunch break with Carol and Christine. Which I don't normally do since I want to make good knitterly use of every hour possible on Saturdays, lol We walked around the corner to Szechuan Garden for some great Hot & Sour soup and an egg roll.

Brandon was doing a great job of promoting the book 50 Baby Booties To Knit, here are the ones he's finished already and he was working on the duck feet yesterday. Too cute! And they're all for their little one that's on the way. Congratulations Brandon and Maureen! We couldn't be more excited. We all better get started on those baby gifts huh?




















I'm sorry that Rena had to work. She missed a fun day but I know there'll be lots more.

Love you Rena! Everybody says hey!

embracing the bathroom color scheme

I finally decided to quit denying the existence of the black and white hexagonal tile in the bathroom. The fact that it's been there about 50 years is undeniable. I've tried to overwhelm it with insanely different colors on the walls over the years. Right now it is a really yucky gold color, I'm not sure what I was thinking when I did that. So I'm trying a new tactic with that ugly bathroom...I'm gonna go black and white! Here's the first step...



my version of Nana's Bathmat from the Lion Brand website. The distance from the sink to the potty (which you have to step between to get in and out of the tub) is quite small so I wanted the mat to be small too. I think I've succeeded, lol. It took 4 skeins of Sugar & Cream cotton in white and a smidge of black. The black is 3 rows of single crochet.

I want to thank my friend Carol who hosted a knitting sleep-over at her beautiful Heritage Hill home last Friday night. Thank you, Carol, for letting 14 knitters take over your living room for the evening. We had drinks and snacks and talked a lot. It was great fun. I didn't get to sleep over as she has a couple of adorable kitties that would have made for difficult breathing in the night, I'm allergic. And I didn't get to go back for breakfast on Saturday morning because I had to go to work for the big move, gah! I'm hoping we will be doing it again soon.

There was a nice toasty fireplace that was perfect on a cold Michigan night.

Patrick & Emily took a break from knitting to put together the breakfast casserole

Patrick was knitting a beautiful sock and don't you love his clogs?

He and I were partners in the first class I took at City Knitting. Felted Clogs. We each made one half of a pair of children's size clogs that day. The pair we made were the same color as the ones he's wearing here. He's the smarty that told me I needed to start over on Marialis because I had failed to work 4 rows of seed stitch to start, lol. Love him!

And yet another reason why I love our lava lamp...


sometimes it's just too weird for words...

My friend Marc from work is recovering nicely from his heart attack and subsequent stint placement surgery at age 44! Thanks for your kind thoughts on his behalf.

The Saint has an appointment with Grand River Endoscopy tomorrow so nothing but clear liquids since noon today, he's not a happy camper. I'll have to drag him over there kicking and screaming, I'm sure. Wish me luck! hahaha