SomerKnits

So here it finally is! The Greetings From Knit Cafe skirt done in KnitPicks Cot-Lin Morracan Red. Ta-da! First we have the bound off and ends woven in version, still in need of somekind of a drawsting at the waist and possible decoration through the eyelet row. Then we have the finished version complete with ribbon just waiting to be worn. And I think the rest of the pictures can speak for themselves. We have the Christmas Eve family photo and then some my sister took at home in front of the christmas tree, trying to get every angle of the skirt. **Edit, the published post ended up with the pictures in a different order than I put them in, so reverse that. I may be biased, but I think the skirt looks great! I was really happy with how easily and how well this pattern worked up. The measurements were pretty accurate, so the fit is pretty close to perfect. So if someone asked if I would recommend this project, the answer would be definitely yes. :-) I wish I had more time to write, but...

The red skirt is completely finished. All the ends are tucked in and its ready to go for Christmas Eve. Yay! I promise there will be pictures soon. I just love how it turned out. And it was pretty quick to make. The hardest part was the lace panels at the bottom and those weren't really hard at all, they just took a little time. Ok, off to work!

I finished another Christmas present last night! I was suprised at how quickly that particular present knit up. I may have to make more of those! I know, very vague. There will be a lot of picture posting and a lot more explanation after Christmas. I've been riding into work with my mom because of the ice storm, so thats given me a bit of extra knitting time everyday. When you are doing the big Christmas push, every little bit counts. The fact that it is super cold does not help my knitting though. Its hard to knit with frozen hands. So much to do, so little time. And I'm missing all my Cali friends as I read about their Christmas parties and whatnot. I got a package in the mail from Shelley the other day. Thanks, Shelley! I love it. Yes, I already opened it. Didn't think I'd wait, did you? :-P This hasn't been a particularly informative or interesting update, but thats whats going on here. Oh, and my new boyfriend is distracting, but I'm ok with t...

So, the Greetings From Knit Cafe skirt is done! Well, its bound off, but I haven't tucked in all the little ends yet. I promise a picture as soon as I do. I plan to wear it Christmas Eve, so there will definitely be pictures from that. :-) Its such a pretty skirt and I felt soooo good when I finished it. I was seriously so happy I stood up and tried it on over my pants in the living room of some people I had just met. Luckily, I think the wife understood. In other news, major ice storm last night! I took a bunch of pictures this morning, here are but a select few: The view out from the kitchen, my mother's fish pond. Luckily the fish don't mind the cold as long as the water is moving. The house from the front. The flags are frozen down to the pole. Part of the front yard. It looks so pretty and sparkly from inside where its warm. And next, here are the pictures of the toddler dress I made for Kim Burns' baby shower. Its from the book Speed Knitting and only took me ab...

My main focus recently has been cranking out that skirt from Greetings From Knit Cafe in the red knitpicks cotlin. And I'm 16 rows from being done! YAY! I wanted to work on it last night but I ended up baking about a million cookies for my mom instead. I have also been working on some baby and christmas presents, other wise the skirt might have been done. In facr, I just took a really cute little toddler dress to a baby shower last weekend. The pattern was out of Speed Knitting and it was so wonderfully simple and since it was knit in the round there was no sewing and very few ends to weave in. SUPER YAY. The skirt is going to have about a million and one ends because of all of the lace panels at the bottom. This weekend there is another baby shower so I am working on a quick gift for that one as well. And I've thought of a couple things I'd like to make as Christmas gifts if I have time. Where did the time go? Compared to all the time I used to have to knit, I ...

In California most people who knew me also knew I was an obsessive knitter. They had all grown accustomed to the fact that I usually had some knitting either on my person or very close by and that I would pull it out without hesitation at just any old time. Sometimes they would laugh, or they would shake their heads, but mostly they were used to it. All the guys from work would give me crap for it, but that was mostly for show (yeah, I can see right through you guys). And it also made it easier that I had surrounded myself with a core of knitters almost as completely obsessed as I am. Here in Tulsa I am back to explaining that always having knitting on me is "just what i do." Just because I am knitting doesn't mean I'm not paying attention. When I am out and about with non-knitters I usually work on things I don't even have to look down at. So it doesn't mean I'm bored, doesn't mean I'm not interested, it just means my hands thought that the...

Car! Yay car! Tim and I washed the car and made it all purdy and then took a bunch of pictures of it, mostly for him to have because he had all the work done on it. I gave Cheryl B. another washcloth for her collection while I was out in Cali. I just happened to find this varigated yarn that exactly matched the colors I had already used to make her a variety of cloths. Here is the back of the baby dress. The whole dress was done with 1 skein of Bernat Softee Baby. :-) Front of the dress. The bow and the cast on edge were done with Bernat Satin, but the pattern didn't call for that. Front pre-end tucking in. So thats it for the super picture post. I am going to go see Ring of Fire downtown this afternoon and I should get some good knitting in during that (don't worry, I'm sitting in the booth not the audience) This morning I started a christmas present for my mom, but I thought I might work on my nevember knitdishcloths exchange cloth today or tomorrow. And the...

I finished my skinny scarf exchange scarf last night between periods at a Tulsa Oilers hockey game. My friend Molly and I went and it was a good game, even though they lost. (It went back and forth the whole time) And some of the hockey players were pretty cute (we sat down near the ice, just to the side of the penalty box so we got a good look at a couple of the fiestier ones they locked up ;-) ) So anyway, I can't post a picture of the scarf until after I've sent it to Stacey, my exchange partner, but I will post it eventually. I can't find the whole bag of yarn I got to make christmas presents with. Elaine, Shelley, Emily, and Cheryl might remember that HUGE bag of goodies I bought just before I moved. All of it I found 50% off. And it was really nice stuff, angoras and rayons, ribbons, cottons, and silks. Its gotta be somewhere in storage, the question is where. I bet it got packed in the top of a box as "soft stuff" to protect or cushion whatever wa...

Baby blanket for Laura. I'm sorry I couldn't be at the shower, but I really hope she liked it! Thank you muchness to Miss Lisa who took it for me (and happens to be sister of the mommy to be and one of the coolest people I know) One of the sun cloths found a home. I gave it and a bar of lavenday soap to my friend Diana and it turns out her bathroom and kitchen are both yellow! That worked out well, huh? This is the little car seat blanket I sent to my friend Liz who I went to nerd camp with way back in the day. Nerd camp is also known as the Joseph Baldwin Academy of Eminent Young Scholars. Of course, I have NO idea if I spelled that right at all, the eminent part, I mean, but I'm going to go with it. Yup. Anyway, I hope she liked it! Ok, bonfire now!

And it was so great to see everyone!!!! The trip was way too short, but I'm so glad I got to come. I really enjoyed the spinning and weaving festival that a few of us went to on Sunday. I got a FABULOUS deal on a whole crap load of wool/silk blend lace weight yarn. Like, enough to maybe double it and make a knee length dress. :-) We'll see what I end up doing with it. I do kind of dread having to wind it. :-P Seriously, its a whole lot of yarn. Maybe I'll take a picture and post it. Speaking of pictures, Shelley, I really will post the pictures of the white baby dress, but since I spent yesterday seriously not moving for anything sick, I just haven't gotten it done yet. And I have a few other things to post. Maybe I'll do it in a few minutes if Tim isn't ready to leave for the bonfire. I made a washcloth on the drive home and worked on my skinny scarf for the TeaTimeKnitters Skinny Scarf exchange. Its almost done. I'm going to take it with me to...

Well, the baby dress is done, I finished it the night before I left and I'll post pictures of it as soon as I get home. I used pretty yellow buttons on the back, a flower, a circle, and a triangle. I left it with my mom to wrap up and take to the shower on sunday and I really hope the lady likes it. On the plane I finished the Not-So-Vintage bubble bag I was making out of the SWS. And then Shelley let me felt it in her washer! Its pretty. :-) Its at her house drying right now. I hope it hurries up so I can use it! I want to take it in to show Eva. :-) I brought the red skirt with me as my main project for this trip. I finished the whole front lace section and started on the back. I think I am going to convert the pattern for the main body of the skirt into the round. I read through the pattern and don't see any reason I can't do it that way. The sides attatch just above the lace section, right under the eyelet row, so I am going to get the back lace section finished and the...

The baby girl dress is all knit, now I just have to sew itup, put on the buttons and add the ribbon. I hope to get it all done tonight. Knitted Kitchens exchange item has been done except for tucking in ends for a couple weeks now. I hope to also finish that tonight. Tea Time Knitters exchange is also done except for tucking in ends and taking a picture for the contest. I hope to finish that either tonight or tomorrow and mail it off before going to Cali. Not-So-Vintage Bubble bag is down to the decreases. I hope to finish that tomorrow, but if not I'll take it as my plane project and maybe Shelly will let me felt it at her house. :-) Now I need to work. :-P

YAY! Its been at the repair guy for a couple weeks, but now its home!! Quick update, then I have to go to work: Went to War Eagle Mill Arts and Crafts fair in War Eagle Arkansas last friday. Love going there, hadn't been in years. Probably since I was in high school. Anyway, I bought a scarf dress (its like 2 huge silk scarves sewn together with strings to tie it behind the neck and around the middle. Its sooooo pretty, a really bright turquoise. And I bought a necklace and earrings set thats pretty. I saw a basket of crocheted dishcloths for sale for $2.50 a piece. I don't know how many the lady sold, it was early in the morning when I walked by her booth. All in all a really good day. The only dissapointment was that the apple place down the hill from the fair that we usually stop at told us they lost their whole crop of Arkansas Blacks to the freeze last spring. So we bought some regular red apples and sweet potatoes instead, which were really good. I guess we...

Seriously, no ideas for the white elephant exchange. If you are my exchange partner and you are reading this, I am soooo sorry. I hope I come up with an idea soon! Its supposed to be a true white elephant gift, but still knitting related. Something silly, ridiculou, unnecessary, recycled, etc. Its a DDD exchange, so if you are a memeber, maybe you've read about it an have some ideas. If thats the case, please help me!!!! Or anyone, with any ideas at all, please, please, please. Arg.

Ok, so I finally have all of the pictures together so I can make one big post about the exchange. My partner's name was Stacy and she's my age. Can you believe it? Anyway, I made her this lovely ice cream sundae cloth, and thats the mug I got her sitting there with it. Ain't it cute? And this is the whole package before boxing it up and shipping it. Some stash tea and dishcloth yarn and stickers and buttons and stuff. :-) And I think she really liked all of it, so that made me happy. Here is the awsome package I got from her. I got some organic English Breakfast tea and some Stripes yarn and feltable lion wool and needles and adorable little stitch markers (see them in the corner of the cloth?) And black licorice sticks and coffee and a cool ceramic mug. Here's a better picture of the cloth. Its a tea cup and one I've been meaning to make forever! :-) Thank You, Stacy!!!! I admit that since I've been out of town I haven't tried the tea yet, b...

Ta-dah! Here is the afghan I made on size 50 needles! It was a wedding present for Amanda and A.C., who got hitched this past saturday. :-) The wedding was a lot of fun, as was my trip to Colorado Springs and Denver. I got to see some really good friends from college, which made me super happy. Above is a picture with no flash because its easier to see the stitch pattern. Its pretty much a moss rib. The pattern is one of the free patterns specifically for Speed Stix on the Lion Brand website. I used 4 yarns held together: blue, maroon, green, and cream. Each one had a different texture as well. :-) I love texture. Here is a picture with the flash so you can see the colors a bit better. I really enjoyed making the blanket, but it did take me quite a while to adjust to holding those giant needles. I really like how it looks and feels when its done though, so I do see other speed stix afghans in my future. Now, I knit what for the bride? Oh yeah, undies. :-P As some of ...

Comments make me all warm and fuzzy. Thank you to those of you who leave me comments here on my blog. :-) I miss all of the wonderful ladies I knit with in Cali, and I still don't have any pictures from any of the woderful going away parties they had for me, but I do have a picture of the lovely cloths I was given as going away presents. I don't need them to do dishes right now, my mom has plenty of her own, so I am going to put them all in the bathroom to use in the shower. :-) I know they'll look so pretty all rolled up and sitting on the little metal shelf in the bathroom. :-) And everyday I can think about the wonderful people who took time to make me a little something to take with me. I tried to take a picture of the stitch markers Della made me, but they are so small and delicate that they are hard to focus on and the pictures all came out blurry, so I will have to try again later. Once again, if you have pictures of any of my going away parties, please, pleas...

I learned something vitally important on the drive from LA to Tulsa at the beginning of the month. I learned that, as long as I don't look at it, I can indeed knit in the car! Awesome! And I so took advantage of that this past weekend on the 13 hour drive to Chicago / South Bend and the 13 hour drive back. This is the stuff I sent Mark. Its a soap sack with an all natural Hemp soap already inside and a set of 6 coasters. I made 4 of the coaster during this drive and I examined them closely after arriving home. No mistakes that I could find! Which is especially good because I knit two of the in the dark (after sunset) so even if I had wanted to look down, I couldn't. Here are the 6 coasters all laid out so they are easier to see. The granny and the nubbins are the two I already had done before the trip. This is a close up of the coaster I made using the lionbrand dishcloth pattern that is just a simple 4 row repeat. This is just a basic seed stitch coaster And the Gra...

I've waited so long to post the pictures because I wanted to post them all together and some of them were still on my camera and now that I finally have it all here, I'm just too tired to write much. This is the exchange package I received from Michele through the knitdishcloths group. I love the sweet puppy notepad. I mean really, look at those little faces! I like the dolphin cloth and tea as well. I drink a lot of tea, especially after it cools down Here's the stuff I sent Michele. Nothing big, just cutesy little stuff, but I think she liked it all. I read that she loved yellow and green, so between the cloth and the slippers I figured I had a good thing going. I just love this pattern. Its so pretty and fun to knit. I need to make myself one of these. I had excatly enough yarn when making this cloth. It was the second cloth I'd made from that particular Super Skein of Sugar and Cream, and I seriously had maybe a yard leftover when I finished binding off. ...

So yesterday I started my first adventure knitting with size 50 needles. Or, as Lionbrand calls them, Speed Stix. I am using one of their patterns, but I don't want to say more than that as this is to be a gift and I wouldn't want to spoil the suprise. All I want to say is that holding the size 50 needles made my hands hurt far more than knitting with teeny weenie size 1 needles. I think I worked on them for about 2 hours and then I seriously had to stop. The results look great though, so I think its worth it. I will just only work on this particular project for an hour or two at a time and always have another project around to pick up when stretch my hands round the ginormous needles starts to get painful. I do think that if you have bigger hands than mine that it would be much easier, the only part that hurts is that I have to literally stretch my hands to hold the needles. And the first row on the big fatties is really akward but totally do-able. I'm supposed to ...

I had to wait to post about it until after I gave it to Miss Becca, and since I gave it to her the week I was frantically packing to move, the post just got put off. I found this free Jolly Roger dishcloth pattern on-line and decided it would be the center piece to Becca's birthday present, and I really think she liked it. It knit up very fast. I think I know a few more people who need Jolly Roger washcloths. I didn't have time to block it before I took the picture, but I think the design is easy to see none the less. Here the washcloth is hanging out with its fellow present items getting ready to be wrapped in tissue paper and arranged in a cute little bag. The socks say Rock Princess on them and there are four pairs, each different. And who can resist raspberry sorbet lotion and glitter gel? In other news I have started the baby blanket that I spent all summer meaning to start and its working up very quickly. Its really really pretty and I hope the girl I'm making...

Because I miss everyone so ridiculously much I can't even say, I'm going to post about the dishcloths I gave Cheryl, my super wonderful manacurist, the last time she did my nails before I left. I'll post about the trip later, cause I did knit on the road once I realized that if I can knit without looking it won't make me motion sick. And I only dropped 1 stitch the entire time! But more about that later, with pictures of what I made. This first one is a free pattern called "May you find peace in your heart" and I think it came out beautifully! Cheryl loves peace signs and I had already given her the regular one, so I thought this one would make a nice addition to her dishcloth collection. Next we have the Monthly Dishcloth Knitalong mid-month KAL. Between the cables and the varigated yarn it is a bit busy, but I think Cheryl liked it and I love cabling, so it was really fun to make. And the bernat organic cotton is super soft. I think I would recommend...

It was brought up yesterday at brunch that I started my blog after the dress I made in the spring was done and therefore never really posted about it. And I was asked where all the pictures of it went, there was concern that they were left out of the slideshow. So, I sat down and watched the entire slideshow, start to finish. I had no idea it had gotten that long! It took 12 minutes to get to the point in the slideshow where the blue dress is and it took over 15 minutes to get all the way through it! Wow. I seriously had no idea. Its all those washcloths, I'm sure. They are so quick to make and I add pictures every couple weeks and eventually the slide show will take half an hour! (ok, that might be an exaggeration) Anyway, thank you Shelley's Mom for taking the pictures of the blue dress when I wore it for the first time. :-) This dress was super quick to make and I love wearing it. Oh, and since I brought up brunch at the beginning of this post, have I ever mentio...

I was gonna wait to post it until after I had a picture of me in it, but I've gotten impatient, so here you go: The Venezia Dress!!! Except I didn't use Venezia, I used Collinette. Isn't it purdy? The pattern is free on the Tahki Stacey Charles website. I just love the drop stitch hem and neckline. see? Its kind of hard to see what it really looks like on a hanger, but I think the drop stitch neck is very flattering. And purdy. And I love the hippie tie dyed effect of the beautiful handpainted ribbon. Here's a close-up of the place where the stockinette skirt changes to the garter stitch bodice. See all the pretty colors on the lovely wine background? Ok, instead of typing about knitting, I think I'll go off and knit for a bit. :-) I'm going to work on the Kat's Pretty Pink Dress I'm making in blue. Its out the Greetings From Knit Cafe, which is a wonderful book, despite the insane number of corrections. The photographer for that book is ...