Little bit of this and a little bit of that...
I have some finished things! CaraMia is done, she went from 25 inches to just over 6 feet once pulled. Here's a picture of the scarf about a quarter pulled:
And a close up in the hosta beds:
A storm knocked down a tiger lily branch, pretty, no?
I started another magic scarf using
Paton's Grace in Tangelo. It's actually finished, but I forgot to take a picture before I dropped the stitches and started pulling, the pattern was almost argyle looking. I haven't taken a finished picture yet, but here's an in progress picture taken last Saturday at our favorite watering hole:
I also started a lace scarf,
Paws to Remember , a pattern from
Fiber Trends. I'm using a 100% wool laceweight yarn form Davidson Corporation called Domy Heather in Charcoal.
I think I might need to invest in a yarn winder. I sat in a very unladylike position with the yarn draped across my knees while I wound 475 yards of yarn. LLLOL
My sweet cat Max crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge in April of this year and this yarn is just a bit darker than his fur. I wanted to make this scarf as a remembrance, we were together for 17 years and he was 19 years old when he died. I miss you every day, Max!
Magic Scarf
Wadda bum I've been in blogging... Or, not blogging, as it were.
Last weekend was the
Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee and it was a non stop three days of shopping and visiting with friends that I only get to see once a year. Good times.
Remember the
CaraMia Magic Scarf I started a couple of weeks ago? I brought that along to knit on the train and during any down time (read, in the mornings befor the show floor opened). I realized on the train that two 30 gram tubes of beads weren't going to be near enough and, although I was able to get more beads at the show, this meant that once I knit up the beads I had already threaded, I had to add the new beads at the end of the skein and push them aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way back to where I ended. That took me a whole evening, not so much fun.
Here's Cara checking out the Hostas in my front yard:
And here's Cara bound off and ready to have the stitches pulled, it's currently 25 inches long, I wonder how long it will get:
Soleil is finished!
Soleil, she is finished:
The V neck is lower than I would like, so I did two rounds of crochet around the neckline. Still lower than I would like, so I'll need to wear something under it (a bra camisole) or find a nice pin to pin it together a bit more.
Stats:
Lion Brand Cotton-Ease (Pistachio)
Clover size 6 needles
Knit size 36
Now, when I knit my swatch on Susan Bates US size 6 needles, the gauge was a bit larger than called for, so I knit a size smaller than I would have had my gauge been right on.
So far, so good... Until I get to dividing the front from the back and then dividing the back. I thought it might be easier to switch to straight needles rather than continue using the circular needles. So, I go get the Susan Bates needles. But, wait, I must have grabbed the wrong ones, they're definitely smaller.
Upon further investigation, Clover US size 6 needles are 4.25mm whereas Susan Bates, Lion Brand and Boye (the 3 brands I checked) are all 4.mm.
So now, coming down the stretch, not only is my gauge bigger than called for, but I've been knitting on needles that are .25mm larger than called for. Not the US size 6 I'm used to, but a US size 6 1/2.
So... If I make this again, and I probably will, I'll make the same size, but on true US size 6 (4mm) needles. I will also cast on my first row on a size or two larger needle to try and avoid the curl that happens. I ironed the begjeebers out of the lace, but I'm afraid that it's still going to curl when I wear it.
Also, the ends that I wove in are already peeking out, I'm tempted to get out my Tacky Glue...
Saturday score!
Soleil is almost finished, I have the left front done up to the last of the decreases and I'm working on the right front. When I get the decreases done on that side, I'll put them both back on the circular needles and knit them up to the correct length at the same time. Then I don't have to keep track of how many rows I'm doing and both sides will be the same.
I started a scarf that I've been wanting to make. It's a version of this
Magic Scarf . I'm not knitting it the round and I've added beads, but the principle is the same, dropping every other stitch at the end to make the lacy effect. I'm using
TLC Cara Mia in the 2501 Aqua. It's really more of a seafoam color, I think. It took forever to string all those beads.
Here's a picture of the beginning taken at
Don Pablo's:
I also stopped at
Value Village to see what was new there. I always look to see if they have any knitting needles that I don't already have. I try not to look at the yarn as I already have a ton yarn to use up for charity projects, but today I scored!
Someone cleared out their stash of better yarns and I picked out a few nice yarns, most priced at $.69. With my volunteer discount, I paid $3.48 for everything.
I got 2 balls (20 grams, 154 yards) of Nevada super kid mohair (originally marked $6.95 each) for $2.29 for both. That's the only yarn I got that was labeled, but I also got some cotton yarns and (I think) some fingerweight wool. I'll have to try the match test tomorrow and see if it melts or burns.
I also signed up for a sock class at
Needlework Unlimited. Socks are something I haven't tried yet and, while I think I could learn on my own, I'm looking forward to the class environment. Theyre also having a 20% off sale on all their yarns, 15% off needles and books, patterns and magazines are buy one, get the second one at half price. Great for the stash, bad for the wallet. :-)
Hmmm... I wonder if there's anything I forgot to get, maybe I better go back tomorrow...
Soleil gets a mammogram...
Here's where Soleil is now:
And getting a mammogram:
Have you had yours?
And, for my first post...
This is harder than is should be. I'm using the WYSIWYG text editor and it's giving me HTML errors. I thought it would be faster that typing up my own HTML. Go figure.
Anyhow... Welcome to my corner of BlogLand. My first love is
beads and I've been creating with beads for the past 15+ years. Needing a break after a couple of major projects this past year, I dug out my knitting needles for something different.
Who knew that, instead of a temporary diversion of a few Fun Fur scarves, I woke up a sleeping muse! After reacquainting myself with the basics and making several scarves and a couple of ponchos and shawls (OK, really
BIG scarves), I'm making a tank top.
I'm making
Soleil in Lion Brand Cotton Ease
Pistachio. Last Saturday, I took Soleil with me to Don Pablo's:
I'm quite a bit farther on this, I've divided the front and have them on stitch holders and am working on the back. I need to get a close up picture of the front as the technician at the Dr's office and I decided that, in its current state, it's the perfect mammogram top. I did take a picture of Soleil on the mammogram machine. Ya know, that machine would be really good for pressing when this is ready to be blocked... Heheh :-)
