A bunch of FO's

I've been knitting up a storm. Since starting work at The Knitting Bee, I've been trying to finish a bunch of projects. These first three are ones that I've actually started since I started at the shop. 

Vintage Fremont by Jami Brynildson. This was the free pattern from The Knitting Bee during the Rose City Yarn Crawl. I dug through my stash and found some beautiful green Malabrigo Sock yarn. It was a fun, addictive knit. I've already started the next one with some dark Dream in Color Starry. 

Norwich from Berroco.com made out of Berroco Floret an acrylic and cotton yarn. This will be a shop sample. 

Just a silly Ruffle Scarf. I've never used and ruffle yarn before so decided I needed to try it out in case I ever had a customer come in asking about it. I used a yarn called Euro Yarns Broadway. Pretty purple and blue with the silver bling in it. I may never wear it, but it was a fun knit. 

This sweater I finished a long time ago, but didn't get a picture until this week.  Flint by Samantha Roshack. I used Woobu in Manly Yes, But I Like It Too. It's a perfect gray color. 

I have a couple of other hats I've made, but haven't taken pictures yet. Maybe next week.

A couple of finished items

I started this Hoodie last year around the end of September, got the back done, one of the fronts and started the second front. I put it down to do some Christmas knitting and didn't get back to it until March or so. I thought I would get it done fairly quickly, but you know how life gets in the way. I finished sewing the seams earlier this week. It is very comfy and toasty. I need to find buttons for it, and I plan to do some little crochet closures. I also need to block it quite a bit. It is a snug fit and could be longer. I made the 40" size too and was good on gauge. I think it makes an excellent Fall cardigan.

Specs: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky
Yarn: Alpaca With a Twist--Highlander
Colorway: It must be a number, but it is a rich dark chocolate brown with cream flecks.
Needles: US size 4 for my loose gauge.


I hadn't made a Clapotis yet, and upon freezing at the convention center during Sock Summit, I realized I needed a wrap of some kind for future events.

Specs: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Silkie Socks That Rock
Colorway: Blech
Needles: US 6

I've been busy canning more stuff in the last couple of weeks. Tons of peaches, peach jam, spiced peach jam, peach chipotle sauce, apricot jam, apricot chipotle sauce, salsa, dilly beans, picked Elderberries and made a large jar of syrup for cold and flu season and froze 5 qts for later use.

Now, I'm working on a cute lace pair of socks for Kim. I've never knit with Cherry Tree Hill. I like it, but the tiny needles are killing my wrists so I don't knit on them for too long.

Please keep my mom and dad in your thoughts and prayers. Dad is in the hospital again, possibly with a heart related issue, we aren't sure yet. I may end up driving the kids and myself down this week to see grandpa, as John starts classes next week and won't be able to get away until Christmas. He hasn't seen grandpa in over a year so it's past time!

Wow! No substance......

I just took a look at my blog for the last couple of months. What a bunch of hoooey. There's been no substance at all. Ok, so the snow posts and Kim posts are important to me. But, there's been not a lot of knitting going onto the blog. I wondered about that when I joined Ravelry well over a year ago. Ravelry has stolen all of my knitting. In fact, Kim has gotten after me to blog more. So, now I need to go find some pictures of what I have finished in the past month or so.

This is the Leaflet Scarf and Mitts by Anne Hanson of Knitspot. It is for my ISE7 pal. I found online a sportweight from Miss Babs. Love it!! This colorway is called Ironweed and I bought a total of 5 skeins. I used 2 full skeins and a few yards of the 3rd one, so I have almost 3 left. I am thinking Spiraluscious and the mitts to go with them, also by Anne Hanson.




Some spinning I did in January. It was 4 oz of Alpaca, Merino, Silk from Abstract Fibers. I picked it up at OFFF last September. It was heavenly to spin with and I don't think I have shared it with you here. I think I am going to make some bulky mitts with it, or maybe mittens.


In January we went to the coast. Newport to be exact. We went to the Aquarium and the Marine Science Center. Oh and the beach as it was something like a -2 low tide. It was pretty awesome!! We are going back in June for another low tide and camping.






Tomorrow or so I should be back with some Spring pictures, just as the weather changes again. I found crocuses in the yard this week and got some neat pictures of them. Just need to get the pictures onto the computer.

A scarf, some socks and tamales, Ole'

I finished my scarf for the International Scarf Exchange. I don't want to go into too many details, because I want my friend to be surprised when she gets it.

It is made from Handmaiden Sea Silk, I don't know the colorway because I can't find the tag, and I know I saved it!! I used the feather and fan pattern. It measured something like 70 inches once it was done and blocked out. I think it wil be a nice spring/summery scarf. I also sent her a bunch of goodies and I hope she enjoys all of it.

I also finished Kim's socks. She's wearing them today, so maybe I can get her to do a photo shoot with me. They are Lorna's Laces Sock, out of Black Purl. Very pretty!! The pattern is from the booklet "Calendar of Socks" I think. I want to say the pattern is called "Autumn Equinox".

We made tamales yesterday for our own little Cinco de Mayo. Oh they were good. Tamales aren't too hard to make. It's time consuming, but that's the wrapping part. I have made them one time before, several years ago. I saved the extra sauce and froze it, so I didn't have to make that this time. It was a green sauce, using canned tomatillos and a spicy pepper of some kind. It was good having been frozen for such a long time. We used grilled chicken and sliced it up instead of shredding it, and I just followed the recipe for the masa harina that was on the package. I steamed them for about 2 hours. It was delicious!!

Finished Items

Project Spectrum: My color is Gray, and a little bit of Blue.

This block is about 9 inches tall, it took one skein of Wool of the Andes to get there. I need another 3 inches, but blocking it won't pull it up that much. I will pull out to the sides though to make it 12 inches across. It is an easy 6 stitch cable, much like the hat below.



Here's John's finished hat. I took out one cable section. It could stand to be about 4-6 stitches bigger, but when he tried it on the other day, it seemed to fit just snuggly.

Tada!! We threw it in the washer last night for two heavy duty cycles. It came out perfect. I think the straps are a little long, but Kim says she's not done growing, so it will work for her.

With the MP3 player in it!!
Have a super busy weekend ahead of me!! Tonight Kim and I are going to a jewelry party for a friend. Mostly just to be present, but who knows, I might see something I like. Tomorrow morning, we have a 10:30 preview of "Bridge to Terabithia". Kim really wants to go to that, so the two of us will. I really hope we get in though. The tickets say that they purposefully over book these events, and you may not get in. Then we will stop for lunch somewhere and go to Mabel's Cafe for a small knit-together. I set up and sent out invitations to several groups, so I am hoping we won't be the only ones there. Sunday, I have a class on flower-arranging and need to get the other child to a birthday party. Fortunately Monday is an easy day, with one Drs. appointment in the afternoon. I really need to clean house today and I keep putting it off. If I could at least get the vacuuming done, it would help.