Knitting into the Mystery

I want to thank everyone for their warm wishes and congratulations on the new baby. It means alot to me. Thank You!

Like lots of people, I'm always up for a good mystery. It goes without saying that there are a great many mystery authors but mystery knitters? Well I must say that Melanie is knitting herself into this position. She is the author of the Mystery Knitting series. Currently we are on Mystery Stole 3!

I got suckered in by the intrigue and suspense of the whole thing during Mystery Shawl 1 and 2, so when I heard about Mystery Stole 3 I signed up right away. And it was a good thing that I did because I just about missed the cutoff date.

Not wanting to go and get more yarn, I decided to raid the stash. I found some Elann.com Super Kydd. Its a lace weight mohair and nylon blend. I have never knit with such a fine yarn before so this is a challenge. Luckily I have my Knit Picks Option needles (I'm using US4) and the pointy tips are coming in quite handy. I got some glass size 6 seed beads at JoAnn's in a milky blue color.

We are in week 4 of the clues and I'm still plugging away at clue 1. I am almost done with chart 2 of clue one but its still clue 1. I was hoping to catch up this weekend. I got sidetracked with birthing babies and nursing and making sure the 2 yr old feels important.

I've decided to not post pictures of my stole progress because I want to preserve the integrity of the mystery. Ok lets just face it, its one more picture I have to take and I'm the lazy sort! So you will see a picture when its all said and done.

More Sydney

Sydney Marie

Sydney Marie Grant
8 pounds 11 ounces
Entered the world on July 17, 2007

Welcome home baby girl! You gave mommy quite a scare at the hospital, getting a fever and all. I have a feeling that this is just first of many scares throughout your life. Just try to keep the scares to about one a year and I'll be OK with that.



Let me introduce you to your family. You have a great big sister, Karolyn, who I'm quite certain will be able to show you the ropes like how to avoid eating and chase the dog around. She is also really good at having to go potty when mommy does. Her other interests are finger painting and helping mommy.


Your daddy loves to dive in the Great Lakes and fix his cars and build things. Try not to touch his tools and all will be well.

Your mommy loves to knit. I would greatly appreciate it if you were able to stay out of the stash and the needles. Your big sister is not able to understand this as she seems to think that all of the yarn is hers. Mommy is able to share the yarn but lets just wait until you and your sister are able to do the knit stitch. I'm told that kids are perfectly capable of doing this when they are about 5, so until then please refrain from the stash. Other than that, you can get into what ever you want to. If you could pass that on to your big sister mommy would greatly appreciate it.

I love you baby girl.

Mommy

Parrot Bay

I finished my Parrot Bay socks from the Lorna's Laces yarn I got at City Knits!



I just love the results! These little numbers are going to the hospital with me on Friday!

Michigan the Great!

Michigan is a wonderful place to live. Its full of so many things that one wonders why we would ever want to leave the state at all. We are home to the Motor City and Cereal City. We are known for our blueberries and cherries. Holland Michigan has beautiful tulips. Unfortunately we can't claim the Simpsons, VT beat us out of that one. D'OH! But we do have Bigfoot!

According to today's Detroit News article, Michigan is home to Bigfoot. He has been spotted in the Michigan's Upper Peninsula over quite some time now and is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, a California group running the search, will be more than happy to have you along with them for a mere $300. Its a small price to pay for a chance at spotting, or at least hearing, a legend.

Crocheted Steeks

I have been doing steeks by using my sewing machine for awhile now. Its very simple and easy. Fast and convenient. However its also very messy. The results are just not as professional as I would have liked the finished product to be.
One day while reading the Zimmermaniacs blog someone posted about their crocheted steeks. Shortly thereafter Jared did the same thing. I was sold.

Both people said that Eunny had an excellent tutorial on how to perform the technique and they couldn't have been more correct!

I found a crochet hook a size smaller than my needle as suggested and started putting in my single crochets in the exact spot that I wanted to cut my cardigan.



I crocheted down the one side and then up the other. This was quite time consuming but I was assured that this is a much cleaner and neater method than the sewing machine. Besides I already started so I might as well finish it and see how it turns out.

Now its time for the cutting. Due to the fact that I can't have an adult beverage, ice cream was involved. Alot of ice cream. Breyers to be exact. One must have a steady hand and be on a sugar high for this surgical operation about to take place.



Holy God it worked!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. Perfect little stitches that had been stitched together and then cut and are not going anywhere!



Everything is clean and neat and the blue crocheted steeks blend in with the rest of the sweater.

The only thing left to do is to hand sew in the sleeves, time consuming but the results are worth it, add the neck and button bands, and tack down the insides where the sweater was steeked.

Best Laid Plans

Cate the next 2 posts are for you! I'm gonna tell you how I did my steeks for the Fair Isle.

Before one can actually take scissors to a knitted sweater that is 2 years in the making, one must plan for the event.

My sweater cardigan needs to be planned out. I have 300 stitches in the round which means that there are 150 sts for the front and 150 sts for the back. Out of these 150 stitches I need to figure out how many I'm going to use for the shoulders and for the neck hole.

Being a fan of Mrs. Zimmerman, I decided to employ the percentage system and adjusted it to suit my needs. I also have to remember that this cardigan is meant to have the shoulders drop onto the arm so I'm going to need extra shoulder stitches for that.

150 stitches = 100%

Shoulders
40% x 150 sts = 60 sts
2 shoulders x 60 = 120 sts

Neck
Remaining 20% x 150 sts = 30 sts

Now that the calculations have been made, I took some left over cotton yarn and blocked off the stitches.



All of the separate sections of stitches are on individual waste yarn holders. For example, the 60 shoulder stitches for the front are on a separate waste yarn than the back shoulder stitches.




Next, I decided on where I wanted to cut open the front as well where to place the sleeves. I then ran waste yarn down these areas so I knew where to place the steeks.

After all the stitches are on the waste yarns and I know where I'm going to place the steeks, I turned the sweater inside out and did a 3-needle bind off on the sleeve area.

This was enough work for one day. Tomorrow, steeks!

City Knits

When searching for the perfect button, knitters know that JoAnn's or Michael's will just not do the trick. These big box stores are fantastic for a great many things but not for the perfect button which is to be placed on a Fair Isle sweater that has been worked on for the past 2 years. Try explaining this to DH.

Me: Honey? Can you take me to City Knits so I can get some buttons?

DH: Can't you drive?

Me: I can't fit behind the wheel.

DH: Where is City Knits?

Me: Downtown Detroit in the Fisher Building.

DH: Can't you just go to JoAnn's?

This is the point in the conversation that we all just take a very very deep breath and remember that this is the man that you love and adore.

Me: Are you kidding me? You want me to go to JoAnn's for some buttons that were made in a third world country that everyone else on the planet has to put on Maxine's sweater that I have been working on for 2 whole years?

DH:

Me: Never mind, I'll take myself.

DH: No you're not! Its dangerous in Detroit and I don't want you down there by yourself in your condition. Get in the car.

So off to City Knits we go!

City Knits is located in the Fisher Building, which has been recently refurbished. I'd be willing to be it was the cat's meow back in her day. Brass door pulls, marble floors, high painted ceilings, the works. Spared no expense. I'm so glad that she is being restored to her respectible self.

The shop itself is wonderful! Full of great yarny selection and buttons from local artists as well as from artists around the world. The book selection puts other LYS book selections to shame. Not only do they have the trendy books but they also have the stitch dictionaries and the OLD how to books. This totally impressed me!

Of course I couldn't just get the buttons I originally came for. I found the Lorna's Laces sock yarn.



I've never used such wonderful sock yarn before so I thought I would splurge a little. And then they wound it for me as well!!! That was great cuz it meant no sitting on the floor with the skein on my feet, trying to reach past the over extended belly that can't possibly stretch more than it already has, and ball it up.

I'm going to call the resulting socks "Parrot Bay" as they remind me of the vibrant colors of Parrots and I could really go for a drink right about now!



I also got a book!



Where is the picture of the buttons you ask? I forgot to take them. I'm sorry and I'll do better next time!

Little White Boxes

I love little white boxes. Especially if the little white box was left by the post man on my front porch with a postmark from Washington State. My little white box always contains goodies and other treasures any knitter would love to have.

Here is what my little white box contained today!



20 hanks of Berroco Softwist! I have absolutely no idea what the luscious blend of wool and rayon wants to be when it grows up but I'm sure it will let me know. A spring time top? Or maybe a fall 3/4 sleeve pullover? Only time will tell.

In addition to the yarn, I received some books.



I have been wanting these books on lace for quite some time now and I'm glad that they just happened to make it in my inbox during check out time. Both are loaded with inspiration and some great lessons on how to knit and properly block lace.

These goodies as well as the rest of the stash will need to keep me satiated until the next little white box makes its appearance!

Results Revealed

Several months ago the question of stashing came up at the chat site. It was started because one of the chatters saw a survey somewhere and we had all agreed that it was very unrealistic. I think that the greatest number of accumulated stash was the ridiculously small amount of 20 balls. This is a sweaters worth people! So this discussion led me to start an informal survey of my own.

First off, I want to thank the 59 people that took the time to take the survey! Of these knitting gurus, no one can quite open up a store. Granted I have no idea who voted and who didn't so I am left with my imagination and I can imagine quite a bit. When I met Bri while I was in Florida, she admitted to having seen stashes larger than some local yarn stores. Of course they were pretty small yarn stores, possibly closet sized, so it probably didn't take much to fill it up. However her DH Charles did comment on this. Now I'm thinking if a guy is gonna take the time to mention that someones stash has more in it than a yarn store, then I'm guessing that it is a pretty small store.

2 people have just started knitting so they don't have a stash. I want to welcome you guys to the wonderful world of knitting and stashing!

The majority of the voters said that they have several 20 gallon tub full (38 people, I was one of them). This does not surprise me. Its quite easy to fill up a a 20 gallon tub especially with all the great yarn sales out there. And every knitter knows that you have to get the quantity right up front because its not going to last forever. In fact when its gone, its gone and thats the end of it.

12 people said they have 1 20 gallon tub full. My theory on this is that that they actually have more than the 1 tub but its in boxes and not in a tub so it doesn't count. OR its sock yarn, which everyone knows by now doesn't count. Of course they could just have the one tub and I'm reading too much into the situation.

The remaining 5 people have a box full. I attribute this to them being new knitters who have recently found the great savings to be had on the internet. I'm quite certain that they will have a sizable yarn stash before too long!

Once again I want to thank everyone for participating in the survey it was great fun! If you have an idea for another survey let me know.

Mission Accomplished!

Miss Maxine in her brand spankin' new wool sweater! (I think she likes it!)

They Call Me...

Sausage Fingers




Do you see the size of those things? They are famous for swelling up overnight and then unswelling (is that even a word?) throughout the day. Its really putting a damper on the knitting.

Speaking of knitting. I officially have 23 inches completed on the sweater. This leaves 3 or 4 more inches to go before I start to steek, which I'm totally looking forward to!

On your mark, get set...

GO!!!

Today is the official start of getting into shape for the 2010 Knitting Olympics!



Remember this? Me either. Its the basket that the Fair Isle has been living in for awhile now.

I took some measurements and it is currently almost 19 inches long. I have another 7 to 9 inches to go. Then the steeking.

Michigan Scuba Treasure Shipwreck Diving

Ray and his dive buddies went diving again up at Marine City, Michigan. They found this wreck, which they are calling "The Jefferson St. Wreck," on a drift dive last year and are now checking it out. This year Ray got a side scan sonar that he can hang over the edge of the boat and take pictures of the bottom of the river. Well he found not only this wreck but another wreck about 50 feet away! How cool is that?



Rick, the bald guy with the camera, did a fantastic job of capturing the excitement of the day. In the video, "Tiny Bubbles" is our boat and DH is the guy getting it all together and situated before they take off!

Now lets talk about the loot. He found a small fishing weight for down riggers, some triangle things, and a small bottle. The bottle he brought home for me!

Getting Into Shape

Is been a year since the last Knitting Olympics and I think that its time that we start getting into shape for the next one. The next Winter Olympics according to the site I found will be in Vancouver in 2010. I'm choosing the Winter Olympics, as opposed to the summer olympics, because the first Knitting Olympics took place during the Winter Olympics. I would hate to break tradition after all. This time the games will be held for 17 days which, if memory serves correctly, is a couple days longer than the last Winter Olympics.

Here is what I'm proposing. Get your oldest WIP and finish it in 17 days. For me, this is the Fair Isle. I completely understand that it is already started and mostly complete. However this is just for getting into shape purposes and I have to work up to starting and finishing an object in 17 days. I figure I may as well start here.

I'm starting the timer on June 18 and ending on July 5.

Wish me luck.

Big Girl Bed

Now that Karolyn is 2 1/2 years old, we decided it was a good idea to get her a big girl bed. (That, and we needed the crib for the new baby.) The bed we decided on is incredibly special indeed. It was made by her great grandpa for her grandpa. Which was then passed down to her dad. And daddy is passing it down to her.

The bed had been sitting in the basement since we moved in collecting dust. We brought it upstairs, cleaned it up and made the necessary repairs.



It was then put together by K and her daddy. She was incredibly excited about getting a new bed that all she said for the next 2 hours was "big girl bed," "big girl bed!"



Later mommy and K went shopping for just the perfect sheets and blanket. First we went to JC Penney's to no avail so we headed off to Sears. There we found a very large section dedicated to toddler/ little kids bed sets. Of course there was the Disney and Sesame Street selection but I really wanted something a bit more generic but fun at the same time. We eventually settled on a butterfly print with a matching pillow.



As soon as we put those sheets on the bed she climbed right up and played on her new big girl bed for quite some time! I am also proud to say that she managed to sleep all through the night on the new bed. I, on the other hand, had some trouble sleeping as I was worried about her falling off the bed. She did of course at 5:30 am and survived the incident with no injuries!

Ultimate Compliment

A while back Marie left a comment on my blog saying that she found a picture of my hat on someone else's blog. This of course excited me to no end as I just love seeing other's interpretation of my designs.

Immediately I cruised on over to the site to check it out. Turns out that this knitter is German and her entire blog is in German so I couldn't read a thing that she said, just stare at the picture. Then I Googled her site and sure enough it was my lucky day, directly next to the link to her site was a translator provided by Google. Naturally I clicked on it and magically what I could not read a minute before was transformed to words that made since to me.


She said she made it as a chemo cap and it was relatively easy to execute. I'm extactic that it turned out so great for her and that whomever the recipient is will have a warm head to make her life a bit easier. Thanks Christiane, your hat turned out great!

Mrs. Zimmerman's Baby Surplice Jacket

I subscribe to Vogue Knitting Magazine and while I usually don't like the majority of the patterns published, I find the articles to be fascinating. The Spring/Summer 2007 issue was particularly special as it had Mrs. Zimmerman's pithy instructions for making a baby surplice jacket. This is of course a variation on a theme of the famous BSJ.

Fairy yarn mommy sent me some really great machine washable yarn in an outstanding colorway and just knew it had to be this jacket.

I casted it on, blindly followed the instructions, then casted off. After it was all said and done, I completely understood where Elizabeth was going with the design. If I haven't said it already, Elizabeth is a genius!



Altogether I used 3 balls of Cascade Yarns Bollicine. This is an incredibly easy and fast knit. I'm already planning on making some adjustments so it will fit a toddler. Hopefully it will be done in time for fall when the weather starts to get a chill in the air and the leaves transform to their artistic display of colors.

Tuesday's are wonderful...

...because I'm due on a Tuesday. This means that on Tuesday's is when the magic number of weeks remaining becomes 1 less. This Tuesday marks the beginning of week 7. Not that I'm counting or anything, I'm just sayin'.

Edited on Wednesday:

I went to the Dr yesterday and we now have a date for the baby. The C-section is scheduled for Friday July 20, 2007 at 8:30 am. The lady who called to let me know said that we have to be there at the hospital at 6:30 and that I can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight.

Of course I asked her if she was crazy about the food thing. Then I explained to her that I'm usually up in the middle of the night (about 3 am) eating and then I get breakfast at 5 am. She told me that this is standard operating procedure for major surgery. I'm gonna have to have Ray get me something to eat after we have the baby.

We are pretty sure we have a name! Ray picked it out and its growing on me. Now we just need a middle name. I told him that he was in charge of that. I'm not even gonna tell so don't ask. Something needs to be a surprise!

Also, the Aunties at Elann chatsite have decided that they need to get a pool going. They were originally going to bet on the date and time of the arrival but then I botched that up for them. So they are needing something else to bet on. Wt maybe? I don't know but if you can think of something go and tell Betsy about it so she can get it all set up.

Priscilla

There is always a time in a knitters life when all they need is an easy knit. A knit that you don't have to think of what your next move is. A knit that all you have to do is follow the pattern. And hopefully that pattern is well written.

I found all of these elements present in Priscilla. The pattern is in Berroco book #223. This book is wonderful. It shows how one can take the same identical pattern, switch yarns, adjust the gauge (if needed), and have a completely different top! All of the tops are quite easy and I'm planning on making more of them in the future.

As luck would have it, Berroco Echo was on sale at Herrschners a while back and I picked some up. To be completely honest, I actually bought the yarn for this pattern and then followed through with the the plan. This is monumental because I normally never use the yarn the pattern calls for as it usually costs the GNP of small countries.

I made the L sized top and I think it will fit. I did try it on but the belly got in the way and everything is out of proportion so I'm not sure if it looks good on me or not. I have hope as the top part actually fit! The belly part, on the other hand is a different story altogether. I'm excited as I now have a cute and soft summer top to wear.

Now for the specs. I used 7 balls of yarn and knit it on Options US10.5 needles.