In the Home Stretch

I've been subbing a lot lately in grades that just require me to keep control of the room while they read or do work packets...this lets me knit on mindless knitting. So my Coraline 2nd sleeve was finished and the whole thing was assembled.

Now, I'm to the yoke which has this wonderful smocking. This is a lovely knit and I'm hoping to finish it very soon so I can wear it before it becomes too warm.

I was listening to the Webs podcast and they have their BIG anniversary sale starting on April 1st. I heard that Cascade 220 will be on sale - my favorite workhorse yarn. I must have shopped that sale last year as that is where I picked up my Annikki yarn super cheap. I'm surfing my Ravelry favorites and finding some projects to do with Cascade. Can't wait to "hit the sales" on Thursday.

And the Winner Is....

Jean!

I learned that Norah Gaughan booklet as a contest prize certainly brings more visitors than I've ever had before. I hope you all keep visiting my blog - thank you for all your comments.

Jean, you can email me your name and snail mail at niceknitsct@yahoo.com.

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone.

PS If you ever need a random number generator go here.

Being in The Right Place at The Right Time (and a spur of the moment contest)

Ravelry really continues to amaze me...there is this group called The Destash & ISO Library which is an amazing resource to find books/patterns for sale or to sell your stuff too. I often check it out and have found it's all about the right timing. You have to be very quick!

Anyway, the other day I found these three Norah Gaughan publications up for grabs and I snapped them up for a great price. Thing is I should have used Ravelry to confirm that I already own the one on the far right (Berrocco: Norah Gaughan Vol 1) as I used it to make my Annikki sweater.

Oh well, let's see if you want it leave a comment and on Saturday at the end of the day I'll do a random drawing for the winner! I'll announce the winner on Sunday.

What A Find

Today I was on Ravelry and I clipped an ad for WineMakersSister...the name struck me (I love wine) and then I followed the ad to Heather's wonderful Etsy Shop which has all sorts of thing for people who love to knit (she has other fun stuff too). She's also on Ravelry and has a blog.

Here's a sampling of her lovely handmade items...

I think this has inspired me to feature a different Etsy seller every now and then...there is so much wonderful work out there and lots of products just for us knitters.

New Knitty

The new Knitty is up and there are few winners that made it into my Ravelry queue...





First is this lovely sweater by Kirsten Kapur called Que Sera. I love the color, love the texture and have to show it to Miss America as I think she'd love it.








This shawl/wrap called Summit immediately caught my eye - the color is fantastic and the way it is knit is amazing. I have to find some yarn to make this...perfect for cool summer nights or over-airconditioned buildings.

This sock pattern rocks! It might just be the thing to make me try making socks again...even though I vowed after making Jaywalkers I would never, ever knit socks again.

However, these are just awful...who in their right mind would even agree to model them? Absolutely unflattering. Okay, I'll stop as I have a few more choice comments but I hate blogs that bash a lot. Needless to say, they are not in my Ravelry queue.

Still working on my Coraline - 3/4 of the way through sleeve #2 then on to the yoke. Pictures when I join it - right now it is boring.

Enough To Make A Grown Woman Cry...

Remember this lovely Ingenue I made? One of my favorite sweaters...



















Imagine my repertoire of 4 letter words when I opened the washing machine and found it looking like this! Totally felted. It was my own damn fault - in the laundry room for days and swooped up with the 7th load I had to do after no power for 3 1/2 days.














My DH was home when my cries of frustration, fury, foul language echoed through the house. When I told him I had ruined one of my favorite sweaters his immediate reaction was "not the one with the ruffle!" God love him for knowing that is a special sweater. I told him no, and thank God the yarn for this one only cost $15.

Then Miss America came home and I had an idea - yes, she now has a hip trendy sweater which she will probably outgrow before next winter. I'm tempted to hope for more cold weather but I can't bring myself to do that.

Lessons learned - NEVER put sweaters in the laundry room. Have a special basket just for them.

WIP Wednesday...okay, I just remembered it is Thursday

Okay, I'm all confused after these past few days - I am not sure what day of the week it is as we didn't have school for 3 days and the kids had a 90 minute delay today. I started with WIP Wednesday and then realized it is Thursday. This week has been a blur. It was so good to sleep in our own beds last night - every one is glad to be back to normal.

As I was throwing things together to take on our campout at my godfather's I HAD to take my knitting too. I was able to work on the first sleeve of my Coraline.



















The pattern calls for an icord edge on the sleeve - you knit the icord and then pick up the stitches and start the sleeve.

















Saturday afternoon I had a terrible case of "cast-on-itis" and I started a new project for Miss America. This is Elspeth using some Jo Sharp Summer Soho. The color is off in this photo as it is more mauve.



I have been working also on my Scroll Lace Scarf by Ysolda Teague...I'm using Aurancania Ranco which I got on sale at Webs. You knit the edge and then pick up the stitches and do a series of short rows to make it full and rounded (kind of like Just Enough Ruffles).

No Knitting to Show but I Have Been Knitting

As most of you have seen on the news, our area was hit with a wild storm on Saturday night. We lost power at 7:30 pm. Miss America had 2 friends over (identical twins) and we ended up playing charades. It was wild as one twin would start a clue and the other would guess it almost immediately.

Sunday afternoon we went to my godfather's for a much needed shower (we are on a well so water becomes scarce without electricity). School was cancelled on Monday and we decided that since it was 48 degrees in the house and the phone lines were out too that it was time to bug out - we went to my wonderful godfather's house and appreciated heat, running water, electricity, good company and kind hearts.

School was cancelled for Tuesday and I emptied out the fridge/freezer and returned to my godfather's only to receive yet another call from the school district saying no school today, Wednesday. We got a call late last night that the power was back on. We returned today to a mess of a house - 2 loads in the dishwasher, laundry has been started, etc. However, the fridge is nice and clean and empty with new food in it (it broke my heart to throw out so much food that spoiled).

I'm hoping for school tomorrow and I'm so thankful we didn't have a tree fall on our house/car like so many - also, I'm thankful that our basement didn't flood either. I'm thankful for my godfather and his wife who took us in and kept me sane.

I did get some knitting done - I'll show you tomorrow. For now, I have to get back to the mountain of laundry.

Go Dog Go!

Every time I make a hat or wear a hat I think of PD Eastman's book "Go Dog Go!" It was one of our kids' favorites and our favorite lines involved the hat the female dog was wearing. She'd start the conversation with a male dog and it went like this:
"Do you like my hat?"
"No, I do not like your hat."
"Goodbye!"
"Goodbye!"

Then at the end when she has a great hat on the male dog enthusiastically likes her hat. Sounds silly but we loved it and we all recite the lines above when it comes to hats.

So, I was making a Darkside Cowl and it wasn't big enough so I turned it into a hat (details on my project page). I put it on myself and my husband did the "No, I do not like your hat". However, Miss America liked it very much. I don't think it looks good on me as I have supershort hair and all you see is hat. What is good about it is it covers your ears and is warm. I'm hoping to grow my hair out (I'm working on growing it right now). Perhaps next winter, my husband my husband will be like the male dog in "Go Dog Go!"

I Don't Think I'd Do This With My Knitting

I was listening to WCBS - 880 yesterday and heard a bit about knitters going wild in West Cape May, NJ. They were called "Midnight Knitters" and would leave their calling card all around the little town...here's how it looks. I don't know if I could do this with my knitting! That's a lot of work for a tree...it reminded me of the tree I saw in Baltimore and posted about but that one was outside a knitting store.













Then I learned of another artistic knitting revolution that happened last year in Brooklyn Heights - it was called Knitta Please. They covered 69 parking meters...I don't think I'd like having a dog pee on my knitting like this one is!

I think I'll stick to knitting for people!

A Time to Knit, A Time to FROG!

Back in September, I cast on a sweater that Miss America and I were designing together. I was knitting it from the bottom up and it had a lace panel in the center and a pleated effect just above the bustline. The neck would have been scooped with 3/4 sleeves which flared. However, I hit a wall. I wasn't feeling the love. It wasn't going to work...I should have knit from the top down.

It lay there for months...mocking me, taunting me, haunting me. I wanted to frog it but Miss America kept saying "Mom, you put so much work into it!" Not really and not enough to let me know this was a failure from the start. So today it is a time to Frog!















I did cast on another project with the Montana yarn I bought back in January - I saw someone had used it to make the Darkside Cowl. It's a bit smaller than a cowl should be and I didn't want to frog yet again. I pulled it on my head and it is looking like a fantastic hat. Now I just have to do some creative decreases at the top to keep the pattern looking right and I should have a hat very soon....yes, this is a time to Knit!

Now this I LOVE!

I finished my Inca Marl Coat last night and donned it this morning. Here's a photo using the self-timer. I have to tell you that for all the trouble this was...it was SO worth it. I love this sweater! I really, really love it. I felt beautiful when I wore it and it was the shot of spring like color with the warmth I still need.

What was even better was when people who don't know I knit told me "I love your sweater". That just made my day.

I might have to do a photo shoot of it with Miss America my photographer. For now, this shot will have to do.

I Did It, I Did It, I Really, Really Did It!

Here it is! My finished ruffle. I bound off last night and it is blocking right now. I had trouble finding a spot big enough for this monster-ruffle. Now it is drying in the family room underneath a ceiling fan. I'm hoping to seam it on Sunday. I can't tell you how good it feels to get this one off my plate. Now back to my Coraline!

Good for a Giggle

I was listening to a podcast which had an interview with Rachel Herron (Yarn-a-go-go) who has written her first book called "How to Knit A Love Song". Jennifer wrote about the book today on her blog and after hearing the premise I think I'll be reading it soon too.

I always learn little tidbits as I listen to these podcasts - I usually listen to them in the car then rush home and check out whatever was mentioned online.

Rachel mentioned this blog she participates in call Romancing the Yarn which combines the world of romance writers and knitters. I went and checked it out and had to share this cartoon...it gave me a giggle and made me think if my special skein of Qiviut which is nestled in my stash and I should do something with it but I tremble at the thought. I want it to be right and then I fear after knitting with such gold it will be hard to go back to other fibers.

Fiberlicious and Precious

I always get in trouble when I get an email from Webs with their new clearance items. I saw this yarn called Fragrance by Artful Yarns. The yarn names are after perfumes and I fell in love with the one called "Joy". This photo is quite true to color - I'm learning that cloudy days and no flash help with true color pictures. I got 9 skeins and am thinking of making this.













Then I saw this Ranco by Auraucania - lovely fuschia for a pop of spring. I'm thinking I can use my Whimsical Little Knits patterns and make a Scroll Lace Scarf to usher in the spring.

I'm still plugging away on my ruffle - 75 more yards and then I have to block the hell out of it to make it stretch.

Now for the precious part of my post. The other day our dog Missy was lying in the sun while I was on the computer. I looked down and noticed she's a lady even when she is asleep - her paws are crossed! She crosses her paws when she's laying upright and it is always left over right paw - here it is too.

Isn't she precious?!

Just Short of the Finish Line

Well, as hard as I tried knitting during the FOFI Olympics, I came short of the finish line probably because I chose not to watch the closing ceremonies.

Here's my Inca Marl Coat with the ruffle loosely pinned around the edge. As you can see I still have a bit to go. Fortunately, my 2 extra skeins arrived and I've already dipped into one. I think I'll be doing a bit of pulling and tugging during the blocking of the ruffle so that it fits around the whole edge.

I don't think I would have gotten this far if I hadn't committed to knitting only on the ruffle during Olympic viewing. Yesterday I had to put it down after team USA sent the gold medal hockey game into overtime - I was worried I was knitting too tightly over the edge of your seat action. Sadly, Team USA lost the game and my Olympic knitting came to an end.