Update

Not a very exciting title, but this is truly about updates!

I finished two Prism projects:


A vest/tank top in Wild Stuff Ginger colorway. The trim is Rowan Bamboo tape. A quick and simple knit. It turned out nicer than I thought. At first I was afraid it was going to be to fru-fru for my taste, but it turned out nicely.
And the sleeves on the denim vest:

This is Cool Stuff in Mojave. The vest is a Michael Kors that I got on EBay for $9.99! It was brand new with a tag of $89.99 still attached!

That was only the finished projects during the past two weeks.

I got back to spinning some more and took the comprehensive spinning class at the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival last week. The three-day class was full of information and useful tips. Definitely worth the two-hour-each-way commute.

This is the infamous Capital Beltway from my dashboard:

The Sheep and Wool was fun and full of dazzling merchandise as usual.

I bought more fleece and roving than yarn this time. I bought some supersoft Cormo roving (Merino-Corriedale cross) on Saturday and after test-spinning it Saturday night went back Sunday and bought a fleece! Will show you the pictures later.

What else have I been doing? Oh, the yard is getting a makeover. It looked so old and tired despite some blooming shrubs:

I decided to have to whole yard redone. Stay tuned for more on the work in progress reports. The work is being done by a knitting friend at the Yarn Barn who happens to be a landscape designer. Let me tell you, that Yarn Barn if shock full of resources! Knitting advice, nutrition and diet advice, gardening tips, home remedies, counseling....you name it, the Yarn Barn's got it!

Last but not least, here are some Hokie squares we have done! We are moving right along and hope to have at least one Hokie Healing blanket from the Yarn Barn knitters.

Happy knitting!

Hokie Healing blankets

Knitters of the world, unite to help heal the Hokies!



The Mosaic Yarn Shop in Blacksburg, Virginia, is asking all knitters and crocheters to knit or crochet 8 x 8 sqaures to put into blankets for the victims of the VA Tech killings. For detailed information please visit the Mosaic web page or Got Gauge . In the nutshell:

Knit or crochet 8 x 8 squares (after blocking).
Any yarn. The softer the better. The blankets will hug bodies and souls.
Use Hokie colors: Burnt orange, maroon, black, white.
Send your square by the end of May to

Mosaic Yarn Shop880
University City Blvd.
Blacksburg, Va24060

We'll need about 2,000 squares, so dig into your stash, spread the words to your LYS and knitting groups. We can do it one square at a time.

Sleeves update

It has been a sad week for us here in Virginia.

My heart goes out to the families and friends of those students and teachers killed at VA Tech. Also please say a prayer for the family of the gunman. I can't imagine how one would feel to find out that your child is a mass murderer...
Virginia is notorious for lax gun control measures. Let's hope this will change some of that.

Knitting always provides me peace. I finished a blouse for my sister.

Rowan bamboo tape. Pardon the stitchmarker. I have to get the ribbon for the tie. This bamboo yarn is such a joy to knit and it drapes beautifully. I don't know how much it will stretch, though.

I also finished a vest for myself. Adventure in lace!

"Two-way lace" vest from the Best of Knitter's Jackets book. This was my first lace project. I have somewhat overcome the "yarn-over" mental block. I am going to tackle a lace shawl project this summer. The Charlotte's Web Shawl.

In the mean time I am finishing up the sleeves (and only sleeves!) from the Prism stuff:

They will go on a purchased denim vest. I did one last year but sent it to my sister. The colorway for this one is Mojave. Very pretty painted desert colors.

Last but not least, an update on the Yarn Barn Jacket.

It's getting there. Hopefully I will finish the sleeves this weekend. See, who says I don't do sleeves? Then on to the the collar and the button band. Yeah!!

Happy Knitting.

PRISM

The Prism trunk show is going on at the Yarn Barn.

Be prepared to take out a second mortgage.
Wild stuff, Cool Stuff, Neat Stuff, oh my!



All the Stuff you'll ever want. Also other famous Prism staples such as Bon Bon, Angora, Kid Slique, Azelea... You name it. Penny's got it in the shop until April 22.

Also the newest models. Come take a look!

I am going to knit this jacket

Here is my loot:

Penny is also an accomplished artist. You can see some of her paintings at the shop. Here is an example of one she was commissioned to paint.

Stop by if you are in the area.

April snow

Whatever happened to April showers?

In Thailand, where I hailed from, it never snows. April is the hottest month of the year where temperature can easily top 100 F. April 7th is my birthday. The last time it snowed on my birthday we were in Moscow.

Definitely not in Northern Virginia.

But on Saturday I woke up to this:

And the daffodils greeted me with a bow:

It was cold. It is still cold. But at least the snow didn't last and we were a lot luckier than those folks in the MidWest or up in New England.

Good knitting weather. I finished the body of the Yarn Barn jacket.

That doesn't look much like a jacket, does it? Here is the front:
and back:

Now I will have to add the sleeves and collar and button band, but will need to wait until Wednesday to ask Penny.

I cast on and started knitting the Juliet sweater using Classic Elite Classic Silk but I was off gauge and it was huge. Rib it I will and redo the math to match my gauge since I want to knit in in Classic Silk. I don't want a summer sweater in wool and I can't seem to find cotton that knits to 22 sts/4 inch that I like. Any suggestion?

Off to work. Weather permitting, I will attack my back yard today. We are redoing the landscape and I want new vegetable beds made. The ground is probably still hard as rock but we will see.

Happy knitting.

Must knit immediately

I cam across this pattern in Debbie Bliss's latest book "Rialto" and did a back flip.

I have to have this sweater. Never mind five other projects on the needles. It is called Juliet and is knitted with Debbie Bliss's new yarn Rialto, an extra fine merino. I don't want a wool sweater, even though there are several other patterns in the book that I will knit with wool. But not this one. I want to knit it now and wear it now. And summer is coming. This one will be done with Classic Elite Classic Silk. I cast on. It doesn't look much like anything yet since it is knitted in one piece to the underarm in garter stitch. Knit, knit and knit.

I have not abandoned the Penny jacket. I got the two front panels done.

I went ahead and knitted up the back just to realize I needed to pick up more stitches. Ribbed it. It will rest for a couple of days while to tackle Juliet. Maybe next week.

Happy Easter and happy knitting

Mystery square revealed

Here we go, a couple of days late, but still in time for Easter.

The bunny was made from the 8-inch square. You fold and sew up the four corners as four legs, make the ears, stuff it with fiberfill and voila! Here is the link to how to make it.

More bunnies and a knitted Peep.

Happy Easter!

Take Two

To the frog pond and back..

Thought for the day: Measure twice, knit once.

We were so happily knitting along the Penny jacket that we neglected rule number one of knitting: measure.

Here is Penny on all four measuring:

As a result all of us ended up with a humongous bottom piece. Mine was 52" (as opposed to 42 intended).

To the frog pond we go.

This is what we got left:

And started back again. This time I measured and measured and measured.

Runty was a big help:

Take two is coming along nicely. I hope we can write a pattern for it. In the meantime I have a couple of finished objects to show. This is a vest I knitted for the husband. It is a take-off from the "beginner sweater" Penny teaches at the Yarn Barn except mine has three cables instead of one and no sleeves. (I am allergic to sleeves and yarn-over, but that is the subject for another post.) It fits Bill nicely. Too bad the weather is getting warm!

The yarn used in Noro Kureyon. Another Noro product is the "Sursa" shawl from the Jane Allison Naturally Noro book. Noro Silk Garden. The trim is Manos del Uruguay. This will go into the gift stash for Christmas.

And finally, here is my Clapotis hanging on the back of my chair at work. Lovely and soft Plymouth Royal Bamboo.

Here is a close-up:

That's all for now. Check back Monday to see what the "Mystery Square" turns out to be.

Happy knitting.

Mystery square

What will it be?



This is an eight-inch square of plain ol' stockingnette knitted with Lana Grossa Baby Kid and Trendsetter Joy.



Stay tuned and check in next Monday to find out what you can do with it.

The Yarn Barn Jacket

Last summer Penny Sanford, the owner of my favorite LYS, the Yarn Barn in Burke, Virginia, designed and knitted this jacket:



Several of us, including the intrepid Phyllis , fell in love with it. Penny didn't write down the pattern so we dicided to reverse-engineer it.

Here is the yarn I picked out:

Nashua cotton, Clip and Trendsetters.

So far, so good:



This is a quick knit -- all garter stitches multi-directional triangles. The fun part is you decide as you go. Each one will be different, and individual. We are writing down all we do so that we will have a pattern available for those interested.


All the time Runty was supervising from his perch:

Stay tuned.

No it is NOT a beach umbrella

Honestly, this is not a beach umbrella.






This is my pinwheel sweater. I am knitting it in Noro Kureyon #52. It was a fun knit and was going pretty fast. Round and round I went until I got to the garter stitch edge with over 500 stitches each round! It then slowed down considerably. I will plod along though. I have no idea what it will look like or whether it will fit. I googled it and found an old knitalong in which everybody was happy with their sweater. No pattern error was posted. I decided to increase until I got 40 stitches for the armhole opening, though. At 4.5 stitches to the inch I found a 30-stitch armhole opening way too small. I took it off the needle a couple of time to lay it out and see what it looks like/how it has grown and so forth. So far so good. I like the pattern, the yarn and the color very much. Can't wait until I get to the I-cord edging/bind off!



Spring has finally come to Northern Virginia:





It's time to get out in the yard and plan the gardens. See you later.

SSS -- S!

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Second Sock Syndrome -- Solved!!

Need I say more? Let the picture speak for itself.

That's two socks on one circular needle, magic loop style. Thanks to an excellent tutorial from the Boy Who Knits, there will no longer be an orphan sock around my house.

Happy Two Socks Knitting!

Noro Fever!

There is a Noro virus raging around my knitting neighborhood. It started at my LYS, the Yarn Barn in Burke, Virginia.

The Noro yarn there has been flying out of the shop as fast as Penny can get it in. And we all are knitting as fast as we can.

Here is my latest acquisition of Noro yarn:

Kureyon, Silk Garden, Iro, Transitions and even a skein of Daria Multi.

What have I done with it? How many Noro projects can one have on the needles at the any one time?

Here is a jacket from the Nasua booklet that I am doing with Iro #70 instead. I like the pattern but not the Nashua Equinox yarn, so I altered the pattern and the guage to fit Iro. So far I have the back, front and sleeves done. I will now put the body together and start the hood.

It looks good on (or under) Runty, doesn't it? He just has to check out and put his marks on every knitted object!

This is another jacket from the Debbie Bliss Noro 2 book.

The pattern calls for Noro Shinano but I decided on Karabella Soft Tweed instead. It is very soft. The stars and the border designs are Noro Kureyon 170. I only have one ball of the Noro; the rest is on order so this one is put on hold for now.

I finished a multi-directional shrug (a Yarn Barn exclusive!) with Silk Garden held with Lana Grossa Baby Kid:

A sweater for the husband. Not Noro! This one was done all in Lana Grossa Royal Tweed. I love that yarn. I added the "design element" on the left sleeve as I discovered I did not have enough navy to finish the whole sleeve. It turned out wonderfully. Bill loves it.

Back to the Noro. Here is a vest I started for DH. This one in Kureyon. It has three cables down the front. Being a relatively new knitter I did not really how much cables pull the fabric in. I have had to recalculate and reknit several times befor I got the front and the back to be the same size.

Hmm, you can't see the cables very well in the picture, but they are three horseshoe cables with seed stitches in the middle.

An ongoing project -- this is the start of the Lizard Ridge afghan in Kureyon that will be a Christmas gift this year for my stepdaughter. I decided to knit in strips in stead of blocks and then will join the strips together. You don't get to play with rearranging the blocks, but it cuts down on binding off and seaming.

Twelve people at the Yarn Barn are knitting this. I have only got four blocks done so far, but this is not a race...

Looks like it is going to be a busy knitting year.

Last but not least, here is a very cute picture of Runty modeling a sweater I knitted for a friend's doggie:

Happy Knitting!