Yarn Along

Over the weekend I casted on another shawl.  This pattern was originally written for DK weight yarn and I'm using fingering weight yarn.  I wanted lots of garter stitch (my main obsession) with any kind of edging. This shawl has a ruffle edging.  I am doing some guess work on when the ruffle is started because of the yarn substitution but that is how I get my excitement :D  The yarn is madtosh merino light, so very soft and wonderful to knit with.

I am pretty excited because I've ordered my first yarn from Quince and Co. :D  I have been having shawl envy for this pattern on Ravelry.  Can you believe that I did not have anything in the stash to cast on?  I'm so excited for the yarn to arrive!

I started reading The House at Riverton last week and I already knew I would like the book because her other two books were fabulous.  What was an extra surprise is the servant girl story line.  It is so Downton Abbey-ish so far, I love it!  If you haven't read any of Kate Morton's novels yet, you really should.  There is a mystery that will slowly evolve but I haven't arrived at that part of the book yet.

If you haven't seen my finished wurm hat, the post is here.  Everybody should knit at least one!

Joining Ginny

Wurm Complete

Over the weekend I snapped some photos of my wurm hat.  I have worn it twice and it is very very warm!  I think because it's slouchy?  I really love it and I recommend the pattern.  It's fun, easy and goes wonderfully with TV knitting.

The yarn is by Cosymakes.  It is a DK weight wool that's soft and a joy to knit with!  I'm thrilled to report I also have plenty of left over yarn to knit up a pair of matching fingerless mitts.

I think next time around when I make this hat again, and I will, I think a wool blend would be fun.  Maybe with some alpaca or bamboo or silk, something to give it a bit of drape so it slouches even more.

Weekends

This weekend I realized that I do not kill all plants.  My amaryllis that fell over from over watering survived its extreme conditions and blossomed.   This poor poor plant fell over again from being so top heavy and yet keeps on blooming.  Mind you it is propped up in the corner of my kitchen window sill, balancing gently on the sink edge.

We went into town to the used cd/dvd/gaming store to shop on Saturday.  We saw some very interesting graffiti on an alley wall.  The artist aimed to write "gangsta" but instead penned "gangtsa" ......so sad.....Why oh why did I leave my camera??

Also yesterday was Chinese food (and today!)......so so good!

I started a new project yesterday.  I also made a big mistake.  I am pretty good at dropping the stitches and working them back up.  Not this one.  I had to unknit about four rows....grrrr.....I was quite disappointed in my skills at that moment.  However it's fixed and I'm over it.

Today was filled with: quiet morning with lots of coffee, reading the Sunday paper and pulling the puzzles aside, and best of all knitting with friends.  I had a huge chocolate chip cookie too.

How was your weekend?

Joining Amanda

This Moment

Joining Amanda

Random Thoughts

Mr. Frodo and I took a walk about the yard today and I grabbed the camera.  It feels and smells like spring out there.  Very earthy.  The birds are singing and the air is fresh.  Lovely to be out and having the sun beam down on me.

The first week of March is around the corner and our daughter will be home for her spring break.  The following week our son will be home as well.  This winter (which really is not a winter) has flown by for us and I'm amazed it's almost half way through their semesters.

There will be shopping trips and dinners out.  Frodo will be beside himself with happiness.  Ever since we did the mattress switching we have removed the baby gate to the upstairs....trusting him.  Every day he runs up there and walks around and then comes back downstairs.

Both of the kids live outside their suitcases during school breaks and....ahem....most of their clothes lay on the floor.  I have visions of Frodo finding and carrying around an odd sock waiting for someone to play the "catch me" game.  He loves to be chased!!  He is fast and he is squiggly-his main advantage.  Mind you, if you do not chase him he will drop whatever he has in his mouth.  But where is the fun in that?

Yarn Along

For knitting this week, I finished my shawl and blogged about it here.  I am so thrilled with how it turned out.  I am still working on my wurm hat it, should be done in a day or two.  It is a really easy pattern and it is great to work on while watching TV or talking.  I bought a generous amount of yardage so I could have the full slouch effect from the pattern.  The yarn on the right is madelinetosh merino light.  I am thinking of a triangle shawl but not sure which one as of yet.  So today I will enter the endless sea of patterns on Ravelry and stalk the ideas :)  Of course, while I am reading everyone's blogs for the Yarn Along!

I have maybe ten pages to go on Rebecca--I know that it has taken me forever to read this book.  It will be finished today, promise.  I am glad that I've re-read it.  I must say that I continue to be a tiny bit disappointed in the heroine's lack of a back bone but it was written generations ago.  Maybe women with backbones was not the "in" thing.  However, the mystery and the creepy mood of the book is wonderful.  You tend to suspect every character in the book-fantastic!

Joining Ginny

Periwinkle Frost Shawl Complete

The Periwinkle Frost Shawl is done.  I finished knitting on Friday night but it took me a couple of days to get around to soaking and blocking it.  Busy days!

The yarn is Madelintosh Lace.  If you like to knit lace, I highly recommend this yarn.  The subtle tonal colors are beautiful and it is oh so soft!  Once it is soaked, it blooms a little and is a treat to hold.

The pattern is Cold Mountain and has three charts to follow along.  If you are familiar with chart reading then this shawl is a piece of cake.  There is a rhythm to the first and last charts because of the repeats.  All the wrong side rows are straight purling, what could possibly be better?

Now to begin wearing it!!!

Weekends

This weekend was filled with lots of shopping.  Now the shopping might be boring for some but maybe not.  We were on the search for a new bed.   There is a small furniture business that we have bought from previously.  They were hit with the flood last September (five feet!!).  A handy coupon and flyer arrived this week to persuade us that we need a bed :)

While we shopped the beds, there are many to choose from, I felt like Goldilocks......this bed is to hard, this bed is to soft etc...after selecting and paying they delivered the bed on Saturday (did I mention excellent customer service?).  My husband insisted we keep our old set and we place it in our daughter's room.  The rest of the weekend was bed switching, vacuuming, and rearranging.

Today we went to church, and I hope I don't sound like a broken record but AGAIN the people behind us were coughing. sniffing, and clearing their throats (different people). Sadly, I forgot my hand sanitzer.  So during the sign of peace we waved enthusiastically to avoid the germs.  My husband and I are thinking maybe we should try Saturday night service.  Barely anyone attends and if they do they are old.  I'll keep you up to date on the germ avoiding saga.  And yes, I have a germ phobia.

Oh and I finished the blue shawl !!!

Joining Amanda

This Moment

Joining Amanda

Baby February Sweater Complete

I wish I had a baby here to model this sweater.  A borrowed baby that is.  I finished knitting this sweater on Sunday but then had to find buttons and bury in the ends.  I made this sweater before and posted about it here.  I will probably be making one more before winter is over.  Seems to be a baby season.

This little sweater is for my husband's previous graduate student.  He and his wife are expecting a girl.  I do not know when and my husband probably doesn't remember either.  So hopefully my dear husband has an address so we can ship off the gift close to the baby's due date.

Yarn Along

While I was visiting my sister and being bombarded by delicious yarn at the knit and crochet show, I was on the look out for some DK weight wool.  I tried very hard to be open minded on color and dyeing technique.  I tend to be so specific of what I want in a yarn that I never find it.  Above is the yarn that I discovered and immediately when we got back to my sister's house I nagged her to help ball it up with her winder and swift.  I am making the wurm hat for me!  The yarn is wonderful and it is made by cosymakes.  It is quite soft and the color is beautiful!

I also have on my needles the never ending periwinkle shawl that should be done next week.  At least I hope it will be done.  My sweater has been woefully neglected this whole week.

Rebecca continues to adorn my nightstand and has entertained me overall.  I do not think I am loving it as much as I did when I read it as a teenager.  I think because the husband, Maxim, can be quite insensitive at times.  Funny, I love Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff is a psycho (as is Catherine) and still I love that book!  So maybe I'm being critical of Maxim?  I received the new issue of Interweave Knits.  I did a quick flip through and nothing caught my eye.  I usually do not get interested in spring knitting until spring arrives.

Joining Ginny

Sisterly Visit

We arrived at my sister's place around dinner time.  My sister graciously invited us for a weekend visit since we had a great time together at the cabin.  Also during this visit, there was the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Show.  We attended just on the Saturday to do some yarn shopping, and drooling at the expensive stuff.  Did you know sequins are big in knitting?  Not my style but it apparently is hot right now.

These violets sit on her window sill.  Aren't they pretty?  I am not very gifted in the growing plants department.  Right now I am killing an amaryllis.  I just do not think it is going to bloom now.  Over watering is my downfall every single time.

Whoop!  This is what I bought at the show.  Lovely lovely yarn.  As you can see I was in a gray/purple mood and a green/yellow mood.  I have no idea what I am going to knit yet.  The green on the far left is becoming a hat and that is as far as I thought about it.

This is my sister's sewing/craft room.  I thought it would be neat to share.  She has an entire wall of shelving.  See that yarn?  Yeah.  I want it too.  That top shelf of yarn looks pretty nice to me-and the wool wash near the bears.  You can never have too much wool wash.  The raggedy Ann and Andy were made by our mother.  I have a set of them too :)

We all had a great time together.  We usually have all of our children when we visit and although we missed them, we had a fun time just being the four of us.

Weekends

Oh boy was this weekend full of fun!  There was sister visiting (more on that tomorrow).  Yarn shopping. Dessert eating.  Pen and paper buying!!  Seeing my Favorite Aunt and Uncle.

Tell me which is better, buying a new book and smelling the fresh ink?  Or.....buying a new notebook and pen and writing in it?  I think both are filled with bliss.

The ride home today was filled with snow, wonky windshield wipers, low windshield wiper fluid and a visit to a gas station to solve that problem.  One lane driving on an interstate because of snowy roads.  A four and half hour drive took almost six hours....but I'm home and there is barely any snow here.

Late this afternoon we picked up Frodo who was wiggly and happy to see us.  Unpacking, laundry sorting and scrounging around the freezer for a meal (I found curry!).

I will post some photos of our visit tomorrow!!

Joining Amanda

This Moment

Joining Amanda

Winter Returns

I took these photos right before daybreak.  I love how still and quiet they look.  Frodo and I always get the newspaper together every morning.  Most of the time I do not take my camera.  So in he goes and I grab my camera and go back outside.  I'm going to count that as exercise.

The above photo is just unwanted growth (aka weeds) but it is so beautiful with the snow on top!

This is our beloved white pine that is probably planted too close to the house.  I'm not worried until it reaches full height and that is many many years from now.

I will be knitting this afternoon and hoping that the snow stays for a bit.  I will also be nestled inside where it is warm with a cup of hot tea in my hands.

Yarn Along

I have made some progress on the baby sweater.  I am almost done with the first sleeve.  It's a top down construction by Elizabeth Zimmermann.  The yoke is first, sleeves, and then body.  Last week when I started it, I was eight rows in and forgot to do buttonholes.  Yep.  I started over.  I am so thankful that I thought of the buttonholes at eight rows!!!  My other knitting project in the photo is the forever Hawthorne Cardigan that I have barely barely touched.  I think I did one or two more waist shaping decreases, that's it. Not in the photo is my periwinkle shawl that I blogged about yesterday. Oh and I did finish the Sprouts shawl.

I was very eager to get into Rebecca last week.  So after starting the book I never realized how SLOW the beginning is/was.  Really, the first couple of chapters were not interesting and I seriously thought of shelfing the book.  I stuck with it and thankfully the plot thickened and our dear heroine is living at Manderley, and is properly being spooked out of her little mind.  Gothic romances are pretty good :)

Joining Ginny

Busy Hands

I am on chart C of the periwinkle frost shawl!  Why am I so excited to announce this?  Well it is because this is the last chart of the pattern.  Yep.  I am almost done with this shawl.

That means that I can wear this shawl within the next two weeks.  Unless I get sidetracked by another project. (who me?  sidetracked?)

I could knit this pattern again and again and again.  But not soon.  I have some other ideas swirling in my head of what to knit next.  Of course there are many shawl patterns just waiting to be casted on.  However for now I will keep diligently knitting on this one.

Weekends

My weekend was kind of boring but in a very good way.  We went for a drive on Friday and really enjoyed seeing the countryside.  As always the llamas (yes llamas) were basking in the mild weather.  I'd own a llama but I think my neighborhood would not appreciate one.  Sometimes I think my husband and I would like buy a farm when he reaches retirement.

Saturday was sitting and knitting.  We had a plain dinner-he had steak, I had left over millet patties.  The millet patties were better fresh, but still tasty.  Oh and ahem.....there were donuts again.  Could this be a weekend treat?  We watched two episodes of Star Trek.  We are almost half way through the first season.

Today we went to church and instead of paying attention I was totally focused on a man and his daughter behind us.  They were sniffing and coughing-the sound drove my husband nuts.  I was freaked out that I would catch it.  Why oh why do people go to church sick?  It is mostly old people at church (older than me, ha ha) they really do not need to have a nasty cold or the flu.  I do not need a nasty cold or flu.

Later today we will be watching "the game" and eating really yummy food! Chocolate chip cookies!

Joining Amanda

Millet Success

Yesterday I finally got around to making the millet patties from the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook.  I took some liberty and changed some of the ingredients.  Instead of green onions I used celery and I used lots of spices because it was a little bland for me.  I must say that they were tasty!  I also really like that I did not have to worry about an egg being completely cooked through because there was not an egg in the recipe.  Do check out their website- They has some delicious items listed on their recipe page.

I also made a peanut sauce (from the same book) that my husband loved.  The sauce was supposed to be served with the steamed kale.  Well.......I over steamed it!  So that did not go over well.  Also my husband informed me that he does not like kale.....I did not know that and I am amazed that I missed the information at some point during other meals when I served it.  I think I need to put on my listening ears.

Anyways back to the peanut sauce...he loved it!  I am not a huge fan but it was tasty in teeny tiny dippings.  I would definitely make it again. I also served a green salad to balance out the meal-YUM!

Sprouts Shawl Complete

Forgive me for putting up so many photos....I like each one for different reasons.  Well it is finished!  I managed to have a personal photo shoot with the shawl and myself.  Self portraits are difficult for me but it does get me thinking outside the box and that is good for my age, ha ha

The ravelry notes are here.  I used Malabrigo sock yarn and it was wonderful to knit with.  I highly recommend the yarn for a lace project.  It's springy and the dye variations are beautiful!

The pattern is Alcyone by Romi Hill.  The directions are written out perfectly.  There is charted as well as written out directions.  I always go for the charted.  It is so much easier to "see" the pattern on a grid for me and I think I knit faster.

It was my first time knitting a shawl from edge to edge and I did like that type of construction. Blocking the shawl really brought out the lace detail especially the border.  Although I never memorized the pattern, I did get into a rhythm of knitting and was able to find my place easily on the charts whenever I picked up and started knitting.

I enjoyed the challenge of this shawl and it was fun whipping through the charts and thinking "just one more row"....that's when you know you have a good knit in your hands :)

Yarn Along

I've decided to start another baby cardigan like this one. The yarn is Cascade 220 and I think it is nearly a full skein.  My husband and I know two couples who are expecting babies and I cannot remember when they are due.  I have a feeling it is sometime in the spring so yesterday was a good day to cast on a quick easy project.  I finished the sprouts shawl and it is still drying in the guest bedroom.  I think today will be its photo shoot and the post will be tomorrow.

My other knitting projects, periwinkle frost shawl and the hawthorne cardigan are still on the needles and have been progressing very slowly.  I apparently have a hard time dividing my attention equally.

I finished The Kitchen House this past week and it was a very good book and I would recommend it.  The whole storyline was sad and contained frank realities of pre civil war slavery.  I really enjoyed how the author did not go into graphic detail to any of the violent scenes (and there were many).  I am sqeemish.  And yet without the detail, I still felt awful and empathetic to the characters of the book.  This book also read easily and quickly went from one event to another.  Never a dull moment.

I started Rebecca last night because I was in the mood for some traditional gothic romance.  I've read this book a long long time ago.  It is like a new read because my memory has dimmed as to the specifics of what happens.

Joining Ginny