Sunday, January 31, 2010

Progress is Slow......


Reading, Knitting, Podcasts

The new blue Nano has joined the Ipod Touch and Sony MP3 player.  I plan to make this one the work Podcast listening Ipod.  I have to finish up listening to the podcasts on the Sony and then the Nano will be going to work with me.

Not much progress on the knitting front.  I finished my book (Firefly Lane) and liked it.  My sister has now taken it home to read.  My to read pile has gotten larger.  The Help has been recommended to me by more than one person (hi Kim) so I have added that to my list.  I may borrow it from a friend at work, she is the one who gave me Firefly Lane.  I have borrowed the first three Stephenie Meyer books, Twilight (returned Saturday), New Moon and Eclipse.  I am now on Eclipse.  I know people love these books, me, not so much.  Twilight was ok but these next two, eh, they are ok.  I can't wait to be done with this one and then I can go back to my pile of books.  My friend is still reading the 4th and I don't know if I even want to read it when she is done.

For knitting, it has all been Citron and I am now on the ruffle.  I have 10 more rows of 500 plus stitches and am lucky to get a row done a night.  Then it is back to the sweater.  I still don't know what I want to knit for the Knitting Olympics.  I have it down to a pair of socks (or just one as I have only knit socks once and they were worsted weight), a baby sweater, or the Bella Mittens and a scarf.  Not sure.  I have the patterns/yarn for all of them (or will have by the time I need them) and just need to decide what I want to do.  Work knitting is still the Seafoam scarf.  I think it will go to a friend whose birthday is somewhere around the 10th.

My queue and favorites have been getting longer between some Knitspot patterns (two sweaters) and some Through The Loops patterns (vest and mittens).  I have some other things that I hope to get to that will use up some of the stash.

Monday, January 18, 2010

The brown knitting


The shawlette to be on the left is Citron out of some Malabrigo lace.  The color is really a light chocolate color.  The sweater on the right is the start of a top down seed stitch yoke sweater out of Cascade 220. 

The dog sweater fit and I am waiting for the owner to give me a picture of little Yorkie Peanut modeling her sweater.  I have to eventually make one for her sister, Kylie who is a Yorkie Poo and very cute. 

My Fiddlesticks stole blocked out larger than the pattern and I don't think I will have enough to make the ruffle the size of the pattern so I think I am just going to do a shorter fringe around the edges and call it done.  The body of it was stash yarn and I don't want to buy anything else to go with it so fringe it will be.

I am still plugging away at my book and the two projects above.  Work project is still another Seafoam Scarf, slowly coming along as I listen to Podcasts at lunch. 

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Spring Things Shawl


Here's my Spring Things Shawl by Susan Pierce Lawrence.  The nupps drove me crazy and don't show up as much as I would like but they are done and it is finally blocked.  The Fiddlesticks stole pieces are now on the blocking boards.  I still haven't found the yarn but I haven't looked too hard yet so that is fine.

The knitting is slow moving lately.  I did knit a dog sweater today, have to just do around the armholes and it will be done.  Hopefully, tonight.  It is for a women at work whose little 10 year old yorkie tore her ACL.  Little Peanut is the sweetest dog and was at work Friday and is just so cute.

Still trying to decide what I want to work on for Olympic knitting.  I have been thinking of finishing the Fiddlesticks stole or knitting a Mondo Cable pullover.  Nothing is calling to me right now.  I bought Wendy's Toe Up Sock book so I hope to actually knit a sock sometime in the future.  I have patterns and another sock book but haven't used them yet.  I did knit worsted weight socks once but they turned out a little big and I have no idea where they are.

A co-worker gave me a book for Xmas so I am planning on starting that tonight.  It's Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.  Considering I read a lot (so does the friend), I was excited that it was a book I haven't read yet.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Nottingham Hats


These two were finished before 2009 ended.  One is for a co-worker who will be welcoming a baby girl into the family in February.  The other is for the friend in NY state that I knit up some of her mother in law's yarn  that I mentioned in previous posts.  She sent me a holiday card with a surprise of a quite generous check to thank me for all the knitting I did with that yarn for her little girl.  When she asked me to knit up the yarn for her she wanted to thank me with a gift certificate to my favorite yarn shop but she never got around to doing it.  I am to use the money to buy myself something knitting related.  I am sure that won't be a problem but I am going to make sure it is very special and something that I really want.  I also have a scarf I made that is pink but it is a little large for the little girl (almost 2) so she can save that for her when she gets older.  I eeked out the two hats from one skein of Vanna's Choice baby.  It was close at the end but I made it with a few yards to spare and leaving out one row on the child size hat.  The other one is toddler size.

I ended up casting on the top down sweater around the new year.  I have since also cast on Citron with yarn I ripped out last week.  They are both brown and then my work knitting scarf is a multicolor.

Spring Things is blocking as we speak.  That should be off this weekend and then the two pieces of the Fiddlesticks stole will go on.    It feels like such an accomplishment even though Spring Things has been finished for months.