A Little Distraction

One can only do so many flying geese before one needs a break. So I decided to cast on a very simple yet summery tank top. I'm actually knitting it out of the called for yarn (get out the history books, this hardly ever happens). Echo by Berroco. It happened to be on sale at Webs a while back and I picked some up.

The Geese Flew

All four borders are finally complete!

Ideas

Have you ever had a good idea? OK let me rephrase that. Have you ever had an idea that you thought was good? I get them all the time and then I have to admit later that most of them are brain farts.

It all started when I wanted to knit something really really special with my Christmas yarn from a fairy yarnmomma. Something that I would not only enjoy knitting but wear as well. And wear often. Something that I could put on my shoulders as I sat in my adirondack chair on the front porch and knit during the summer. So this made me think of a shawl. The problem is, I'm not really a shawl kind of girl. But I do like stoles. Alot. I think its the triangular shape of the shawl that I'm not all that crazy about. But the rectangle shape? I'm soooo there.

So I go and consult Barbara and found the fir cone pattern. Wanting to keep my options open, I went through all of the books but kept coming back to fir cone.



I charted out the pattern, re-arranged the stitches so I could get the yarn overs to fall in just the right spot. Counted the # of stitches that needs to be casted on and then re-counted them. I figured out how the stole can be knitted in the round and then have a seam in the middle of it. This would allow for the edging to be just perfect and I would not have to add on a knitted edge. I'm feeling pretty good about myself right about now. All this figuring and such, I'm thinking I'm on to something.

Then self says "Libby I really think you should knit a prototype."

Libby: "What? a prototype? I never knit prototypes."

Self: "Yes, but this is some pretty special yarn and we don't really have extra for your messups"

Libby: "Fine, I'll humor you. I'll prototype it in some Elann.com baby cashmere."


And its a good thing I did too. Please don't tell self or I'll never hear the end of it. The stitch count was right on, as was the general plan of it. The problem you ask? Well its not exactly a rectangle. Its more like an elongated square.


I know what I did wrong and if I want a rectangle out of it then I'll have to cast on more stitches for the middle section. So back to the drawing board. I measured the rectangle thing and figured that 8 repeats is about 17 inches. So I'll add 8 or 9 repeats to the middle section which calculates to about 163 - 193 stitch cast on (depending on how many repeats I decide on).

This morning when I showed Ray my latest creation he asked "Is that a baby blanket?"

"Well yes, thats what it is!" (Thats my story and I'm sticking to it)

The baby will have a personalized, made just for her blanket from baby alpaca/cashmere!

Diving

I wanted to share with you all my crazy wonderful husbands recent diving picture. They are diving off of Harsens Island where the water temp was at about 35F. Please notice the humongous freighter boat that is really there in the background and was not photoshopped into the picture for effect. Yes fellow knitters, that boat was about 500 feet from the dock (about 1 and a half skeins of yarn). Now is it just me or would you guys also decide to not dive and let the really really big boat pass before you jumped into the slightly above freezing water? I thought so too.

Happy Easter

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy Easter!!!

Kiri Pics

Last Christmas I made Kiri for my MIL. At the time, I couldn't post pics or even talk about it because I was not sure if she read the blog or not and wanted to be on the safe side. Well it is certainly past Christmas and I can safely share the results.


Kiri was a delight to knit. Very simple stitch pattern which translates to "easy to memorize." I did however make some modifications. The first being that I substituted yarn. Instead of using Kid Silk Haze the pattern called for, I used Austermann's Acapella, a lovely mohair acrylic blend. Secondly, I added beads to the edge. This addition really enhanced the shawl by leaps and bounds.



This is the first time that I have actually added beads to a knitted item and what a pain in the arse it was. You have to add all of the required beads to your yarn and then keep sliding them down as you need more yarn. In addition to sliding the beads every 3 yds, you have to make sure you are adding them in the correct spot. I chose to add them at the YOs and I couldn't figure out how to get them to be close to the knitted part and not the hole part. Of course I figured out the trick after the border was all the way done. Am I going to remember how I did it if I make this again? Probably not.

Baby Update

The bundle of joy is expected on July 23, 2007. However we are going to be having a scheduled C-section so the baby will most likely be a week early.

She has been kicking quite a bit today!

Ray and I still have not picked out a name. We do like the names: Audry and Joelle. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Huge Congratulations

CBM deserves a huge congratulations for getting her blog up and running again! Poor thing has been blogless for 504 hours (3 weeks). Glad to have you back!

Knitting Buddies!

I MET TRISH!!!!! I'm sooooo incredibly excited I can hardly contain myself!



Trish is a regular at the chat site and lives about an hour from me. With her hectic schedule, she still drove all the way across town to meet up with me and knit with the St. Clair Shores knitters.



The St. Clair Shores knitters meet up at the The Galley, a cafe attached to the St. Clair Shores Library, every Thursday night. Along the back wall a local artist is featured. It is rumored that the waiting list to get on the famous wall is 2 years.



Each week, the fiber artists meet up and have ourselves a great time. There are the knitters and crocheters and spinners. One lady even weaves baskets.



There are young knitters and old knitters, beginning knitters and knitters who have knitted their entire lives, knitters that love the fun yarns and those that stick to the classics.

We ate. We talked. We knitted. We pretty much had a great time. I'm looking forward to driving to her side of town to check out the knitting action over there!

Fingerpaints

Tonight was fun filled! It all started when Karolyn and I had ourselves an adventure at JoAnn's.

Originally we went to see if they had any patterns for bassinet covers and sheets.

After dinner we head off to the store and immediately found the pattern I wanted. Then we found the thread isle and then yarn isle and before I knew it I was smack dab in the middle of the fingerpaint isle. Fingerpaints sure have changed alot from when I was a kid. They have special paper and all these cool colors, and glitter paints, and paint pens, and all sorts of fun stuff. So I just HAD to get in on some of this action!



As soon as Karolyn and I got home we tore into that stuff like the dog devours a good steak!



She's telling me to "open" and "help" and I'm opening up the paint jars and getting the paper out and she's getting her little hands all over and around and in that wonderful gooey paint! We had a blast!



3 masterpieces were created tonight before she was tired and needed to get her beauty rest!

New and Exciting

Webrings. Does anyone know what a webring is? I sure don't but it does sound like fun. Especially at 2:30 am while I'm eating some frosting. Nutritional, I know. (Is there anything to go with the frosting? Nope, just the frosting. Vanilla in case you were wondering) Anyway back to the webring. Joan put together a webring so we just have to click on the next button and it will take you to the next site that is also hooked up to the ring. Cool huh?

There isn't much going on this week with the exception of my ever exanding belly. I havn't done much knitting either. I did however finish another border strip and have 1 more to do before I can sew it on to the main part of the blankie.

A friend is having a rough time of things these days so go and give her a hug. She could use one right about now.

Barbara started an iteresting thread on the discussion board dealing with stash sizes. The general consisus was that the poll was simply rediculous. Not the actual poll itself mind you, just the answers. So I created a poll that made more since. You can see it on the side bar. Vote. Its fun!

The Day for the Wearing of the Green

The long awaited day is finally here. Is everyone as excited as I am? I'm wishing everyone good luck!

Help was recruited.



And the winner is...

CONGRATULATIONS TRISH!!!


You won Stephanie's book as well as some earrings I knitted out of Swarovski crystals. I'm hoping that you enjoy your loot!

I'm asking that you send me your addy so I can get this in the mail for you pronto! Congrats again!

Green

In honor of St. Patty's Day, I'm going to host a contest. Up for grabs is one of Stephanie's' books as well as a little something else that I think you will enjoy!

How do you play you ask? Well the rules are quite simple. Leave me a comment and your name will be placed in a bucket with everyone else that left a comment. Karolyn will pick the winning name. Winners will be announced on the day of the wearing of the green!

Knitting News

I have finished the second strip for the baby blanket border. I just have 2 more flying geese strips to go and I can knit up the corner blocks and sew it all together. I'm getting nervous as this border sure is taking quite a bit of time. And did you see the counter at the top? Time's a ticking!!! I better hurry up or this kid won't have a blankie.

Do we have a name for the baby yet? Nope, not yet. However I have been informed that names based on fruits, vegetables and values are most definitely out. I'll keep you posted on other name groups that have been eliminated.

Home Front News

Karolyn is sick. She woke up this morning with at 101F fever. Ray stayed home with her today and took her to the Dr. He said that she has what every other kid in the area has as well as a sore throat for which he prescribed antibiotics. He also said that one of her ear tubes is working its way out but not to be concerned about it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Devil Made Me Do It

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

If you go and take a look at the side bar, the stash has been enhansed by 25 balls. I just couldn't resist on the Louisa Harding Kashmir offered at Elann a week ago. I didn't actually take it out and play because it was in the original factory sealed bag and I didn't want to mess with that. However, that is not to say that I didn't get a good touch of it. I stuck my finger in one of the holes and experienced pure luxury. This stuff is to die for soft! I was truely tempted to rip that bag open and fondle all of that yummy yarn right then and there but I knew if I did the baby blanket would never get done. I need to be nominated for sainthood for showing such restraint. In addition to the Kashmir, I got my beloved Highland Wool in natural.

The knitting library has been enhansed as well. I ordered "Knitting Without Tears" by EZ and "Knitting from the Top" by BW. Both are books I have been wanting for quite some time now and am quite glad I splurged.

Elizabeth's book is the last book I needed to finish my collection of her books. I'm so glad I got it as it is chalk full of her wonderful prose and great phrases. She just gives such freedom to knitting that no stitch-by-stitch pattern can provide.

Barbara's book is without a doubt simply genious. She is knitting all types of clothing from the top down. Although I have made several raglan garments from the top down, I read through this section first. Mostly because Barbara told me to. Now I'm not very prone to being obedient, just ask my husband, but when Barbara says jump I'm asking how high. This section completely explains the math behind all sorts of raglan type sweaters. Amazing. Next is the secion on set-in-sleeve sweaters from the top down. I'm anxious to see how she masters it.

Knit Simple

I got my Knit Simple magazine this week and I actually like it. This suprises me mostly because I have not been pleased with what the magazines have been publishing lately.

I didn't actually read all of the articles, but they looked interresting. There is an article on knitting and riding, one on reading crochet chart patterns, and one entitled "The Good Stuff." I'm assuming that it is about good yarn but again I didn't read it.


The patterns are all about fun in the sun. Definately geared toward summer! Some are cute and some are not so cute. I really liked this pattern and I'm considering making it out of some Katrina I have marinating in the stash. I was looking at the pattern and am thinking of adapting it to be knitted in the round to the gauge I get with my yarn.



I really liked this cover up! I have a couple of yarns in the stash that I'm thinking would like to become this. There is the Kroy Patons (superwash sock yarn) or the alpaca yarn from the Idaho Alpaca farm. And lets not forget the Sea Silk from Benne. However I do have special plans for the Sea Silk so I'm thinking its out of the runnings for this competition.



There is a section on knitting for your guy which I could have done without. It was quite horrific and I could not imagine Ray ever wearing any of these items. Ever.


Then there is the baby section. Now I'm really partial to baby stuff as I'm pregnant so naturally I found all of the items to be adorable. The booties were especially darling as were the toys. I have added the booties to the list of required knitting for the new baby.

All in all, I think its a good issue!!

Christine!

For awhile now I have been hearing nothing but good comments about the movie "Little Miss Sunshine." It was up for all of those awards and I think it actually got one (I don't actually know as I don't watch the award shows. Mostly cuz I really don't care one way or the other.) Well I finally got it from Netflix last week and just could not stop laughing. And I'm not talking about the chuckle kind of laugh where you just shake your head and do your uummmm hhhhmmmmmm's. I'm talking about a full fledged belly laugh that you have to pause the movie so you don't pee your pants.

The movie is about an extremely dysfunctional family that has to get their daughter to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in California. They live 700 miles away. The question of transportation arises and they settle on driving the family's old beat up VW van. They eventually make it to the pageant in the nick of time.

Now being the kind of person that was raised in a family that constantly had car issues, I could appreciate what the family went through. Mostly cuz I went through the same situation. I can't say that the clutch exactly went out on my mint green 1980 Honda Accord but the starter was involved.

My best friend Jody and I were in Christine. At this point I was calling the car Christine cuz I had just finished reading Stephen King's novel "Christine" and I swear, this car knew when pay day was. She knew exactly, right down to the very minute, when the MacDonald's paycheck was deposited into the bank. Cuz at that exact moment, she would decide to not work. And she would continue to not work until I spent at least a hundred bucks on her. God I loved that car!

Anyway Jody and I and Chrisine were going through Wendy's drive through late in the evening during middle of winter. All we ordered was the blizzard we were craving all day. We pulled up to the window and this is when Christine decided that she needed attention. Of course she died and would not start no matter how much I swore at her and turned the key. Jody is laughing with hysterics which causes me to start laughing hysterically. Meanwhile cars behind me are blasting their horns. Jody suggests to jump start the car. So she gets out and starts pushing while I'm holding the clutch down and praying my "Hail Mary's." Christine realizes she better start co-operating and we get enough speed going to pop the clutch. She starts to purr as if nothing at all happened. Of course I can't stop the car and Jody has to make a run for it! Finally she gets into the passenger seat in the nick of time before the Wendy's drive way ends and I'm forced to go out onto the busy street. We laughed all the way home. Payday was the next day and Christine promptly received her usual hundred bucks!

The Border ~ Part 1

Since we have last discussed the baby blanket, I had managed to knit up a tube and then cut it open. Exhilarating fun that was!

Now its time to add the first border. I got a great idea from the Mason-Dixon gals' book. Inside it describes a blanket made out of garter stitch squares and bordered with the flying geese pattern. The results are just spectacular. So I decided to copy them and use this as the first border for the blankie.

Essentially you are knitting 3 triangles: 1 big one and 2 small ones. This will form a rectangle. Then you repeat the process until the cows come home.

The first step is to knit 15 stitches.



Then knit across the the row to the last 2 stitches and then knit 2 together.



Repeat this row until you have 3 stitches remaining. Pass 2 stitches to the right hand needle, knit 1 the pass the 2 slipped stitches over. Bind Off.




Next pick up 11 stitches along one edge of the triangle and repeat the same process of decreasing one stitch every row.





Repeat the process for the other side of the first triangle. Congratulations, you have completed your first flying geese rectangle!



Now we just make like the Energizer bunny and keep going and going and going, until you have a strip long enough for one side of the border.



I ended up needing 13 rectangles. As awesome of a border as this is, it does have its drawbacks.



See all these ends? I would definitely consider this to be a drawback as they all need to be woven in.

I'm gonna need 4 border strips so I'll be making the triangles for awhile. I'm sure the result will be quite worth all the efforts.

The Great Lakes

Here in Michigan we have great diving opportunities in our back yard. The Great Lakes are also known as the second Bermuda Triangle due to all of the shipwrecks. From my husbands research, the whereabouts of about 2000 wrecks are known and he has charted about 1000. He has been on several of the wrecks himself. I have not due to being pregnant but am anxious to get back into diving shape and get a piece of the action!

Now Great Lake diving is not Caribbean diving. Its challenging requiring 7 mm diving suits. Most people prefer to dive dry. Deeper dives require dive lights and other specialized equipment. Visibility is poor providing about 10 to 40 feet on a good day and only inches on a bad day. Furthermore its cold. In the summer time the surface water temperature is about 50-60 degrees F. When you hit a thermocline it is about 40 degrees. Now of course this is all relative to where you are at and what time of the year you are diving.

People here are known to dive all year round. They dive in the summer when its warm and during the winter when it is crazy cold. So cold that the water temperature is less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the air is 17 degrees not including the wind chill.

These people include my husbands dive buddies as seen in the video. They are suiting up at Rick's house in their dry suits, walking out on the ice and jump in the water, drift dive a mile down the river, then drive the awaiting car back to Rick's house.

I'm glad that you guys had a great and safe dive. I'll join you after I have the baby and its a bit warmer!

Welcome Home Aaron!

The war in Iraq has been incredibly controversial in the media as well as in our homes. We realize that something needs to be done to rectify the situation in the Middle East but we also want our boys home. Its difficult to discuss current events without it coming up. Most everyone has been effected by the war as well. We all either know someone or have a family member has been there, some of us have lost loved ones and some of us have had some great tearful reunions.



Today I received an email from my sister telling me that her dear husband is finally home after 14 month of deployment in Iraq. This is his second tour. Words can not express how happy I am for her and her family for this joyous homecoming.



Welcome home Aaron and Thank You for all you have done!

The Knitted Apron

I received my IWK magazine this week. What a shocker it was and I don't mean in a good way. The layout changed: it was hard to find out who designed what, patterns are in the back of the book now. Overall, I have to admit that I do not like it and want it changed back.

As far as the designs are concerned, it was not much of a shocker that most of them just plain sucked. I'm starting to think that truely awful designs are the requirement to get published in a magazine.

Magazine: "How about this design?"

Publisher: "Does it suck?"

Magazine: "On the suckiness factor of 1 to 5 I say this gets a solid 4."

Publisher: "Well don't keep me in suspense Bill, what's it supposed to be?"

Magazine: "An apron I think"

Publisher: "Call up that designer and let them know they are in."

Now why I ask, would anyone knit an apron let alone spend good money on the Collinette yarn it calls for? This question has been driving me crazy. So I came up with a list.

Why I would knit an apron:

1) I need to practice my stockinette stitch.

2) If I put on a strand of pearls and some heals, I'll look just like June Cleaver.

3) I'm substituting the Collinette for the acrylic I have marinating at the bottom of the stash.

4) You mean not everyone wants a knitted apron?

5) Its a great way to hide my voluptious back side.

6) I need a challenge. I'm trying to figure out how to get all of the food stains out of expensive yarn. I call it research.

I'm glad that I came up with the list. I can clearly see why one would find it beneficial to actually knit an apron. However that person is not me!

Butterfly Kisses

For about 2 weeks, every now and again, I have been feeling sensations in my belly. I have been second guessing it. I'm pretty sure its the baby but how can you know for absolute positive certain? Is it maybe gas? Nope, it can't be that cuz I don't have to fart. Is my tummy grumbling? Nope, I just ate.

Then this morning I felt a distinct kick. There was no mistaking it! Just a simple thump on my left side to let me know that he is there but not enough to make a full fledged announcement.

Thanks baby for a great Valentine's Day present.

Cuttin' Cotton

As you all know I'm having a baby! So far this pregnancy is completly different from my first one. You would think that because I have been through this before I would not worry as much but the exact opposite is true. I'm worrying about everything! For example, I have only gained 1 pound in 4 months. Is this a bad thing? I am overweight to begin with but still. Then at the 12 week Dr. visit, we were supposed to hear the heartbeat and didn't. So we had the ultrasound and found out that everything was all good. Then again at 16 weeks we didn't hear the heartbeat (granted I was coughing so much it was hard for the Dr. to actually hear anything), which warrented another quickie ultrasound. Again everything is OK. And then there is this whole being sick thing. I have a bad cold and cough which is getting better thanks to OTC meds. And lets not forget the occasional morning all day sickness.

Well I decided to do something about all of this. I decided to knit the baby a blanket. That will bring good luck right? It just has to.

Now not just any baby blanket will do. It has to be a one of a kind original blankie. One that is really soft and cuddly and that no other baby on the planet has.


I found a poem that I like:

Matthew Mark Luke and John
Bless the bed that I lie on
Four angels round my bed
Two of them stand at my head
Two of them stand at my feet
All will watch me while I sleep

I'm using Knit Picks Shine and I really like this cotton. Its machine washable and soft and cuddly as all get out. I'm gonna use the left overs to make a matching hat.

I decided to knit this in the round as I am more proficient at knitting with colors than with purling. Of course this means that when I'm done, steeking will be involved. Now I hear that it is possible to be successful at cuttin' cotton and I'm going on sheer blind trust here cuz I have not actually done this myself.



Suprisingly enough, the knitting went fast. I think it took about a week.

OK Now let the fun begin!!!



I'm securing the stitches with my handy dandy Brother. Of course I double stitched just to be on the safe side. This is cotton and not wool after all.



After both sides of the knitted stitches are double machined stitched in place we must prepare for the cutting. Right about now I'm really second guessing myself and I'm hoping that I'm right. Isn't there a yoga exercise or pose that can prepare you for this kind of stress? And wouldn't you know it, there isnt any chocolate in the house.



Scream with me now. AAAAAWWWWWWW AAAWWWWWWWAAAAAAWWWWWWW



Holy God that was painful yet successful! I have to say I get a rush every time I cut my knitting. Good God that was fun! I'll have to do that again sometime.

Having Some Fun

I have decided that a change of pace is in order. I have been bitten by the design bug and it sure is fun. However there is a downside to it. I can't be posting pics or talking about what I'm wanting to submit to be published on the off chance that the publishers will want it. This is what is really really hard cuz I'm just dying to tell ya'all about it and say "See? Look what I did!"

Well thats all gonna end right here and now. From now on I have decided to have a bunch of fun with my knitting and let you all in on a piece of the action as well. I'm gonna start posting about the process and then have a free pattern section on the side bar!

Remember that hat that my sister asked me to make for her? Well this is what I came up with and she loves it!

I was inspired by Elsebeth Lavold in her Viking Knitting book. There are some gorgeous cables in there. Tons of eye candy! Anyway I'm getting off track. I had some Highland Wool lying around in just the right amount and decided that is what I was going to use. Now I didn't swatch (you would think that I would have learned my lesson by now) but I have used this stuff often enough to know what my gauge is. Next I did the math for how many stitches I needed to fit around a head and worked it all out from there.

I found the cable that I just fell in love with, charted it, then re-charted and then charted again. I didn't use any fancy computer software, just a plain ol' paper and pencil. And you wanna hear something completely crazy? I actually liked the process. It was fun trying to figure out what should cross and where and how and all that stuff!!

When it was all said and done, I have a hat! I'm calling it "Garmisch" because my sister wanted a hat to ski with in Germany. Well Jean often tells us about Garmisch and how much fun she and her family have there! I'm hoping that you like my hat. Now I really need one of these babies for myself considering we are having ourselves a heat wave over here in Michigan. I hear we are supposed to get up to about 8F today! WAAHOO!

A Poem

I found this beautiful winter poem and thought it might be a comfort to you.
It was to me, and it's very well written.
" WINTER "
a poem by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre


SHIT!
It's Cold !