It's crazy, I know!

Nobody even wants to think about a scarf, let alone make one. But hey, the next winter is coming for sure!

I'd like to make His & Her scarves and this would be the Her scarf (little flowers might be the give away).

click picture for a close up

I found out that it's VERY hard to take a picture of a scarf when nobody is wearing it. Not even Sam could help to get a better one. He says Hi by the way!

yarn: Queensland Collection Kathmandu DK, 85% merino 10% silk 5% cashmere, 2 1/2 balls ( ~ 368 yds) without fringes, with fringes 3 balls

4mm needles

size: 6.5" x 76" blocked without fringes

Pattern: my own Free pattern coming up soon!

I'm not buying this yarn again. I don't like yarn which is thick and thin and it breaks easily. I liked the color though. For the flowers I had some leftover yarn from the scarf I made for a friend. It's mohair blend and makes cute little flowers. Embroidery is not my forte though!

Garterlac dishcloth!

Last night, through a roundabout way I found Dave's blog with this dishcloth pattern. I've tried entrelac several times and failed miserable. I've even tried a garter stitch dishcloth several weeks ago, but got confused in the middle of a row and all went horrible wonky. So I gave up. I was always interested in entrelac, but did not like how the wrong side looked. With the garter stitch both sides are nice looking. I saw a baby blanket with "garterlac" on another blog, can't remember which one it was. It was made with Noro Silk Garden and I wanted to make one too. So until last night, I didn't get it, but I'm no longer an entrelac virgin!

These dishcloth are 7" x 7" but you can make them whatever size you want.

Thank you Dave!

Circle of Fun - Bathmat

As soon as I saw "Absorba, the great bathmat" in the Mason Dixon Knitting Book, I wanted one, but I did and do enough log cabining with my blankets, so I'd rather took the circle of fun pattern and - voila - the circle of fun bathmat was in the making!

I've used Lily sugar'n cream, double strands and after many short rows a circle was created - and it was fun too! The color is Key Lime Pie, yummy, I love this pie!

I ran out of yarn knitting the outside border and had to wait until yesterday, for the yarn to arrive. Be warned, the outside border eats up the yarn like nobody's business. In the end I had only a few yards left. The orange border was small enough to bend around quite well. On the outside border I had to do some short rows in the end, so it would not stretch too much and curl up but be flat as a bathmat should be.

Here are the specifics:

yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream 100% cotton, 4-ply worsted 14 balls (56.7g) key lime pie, 1 1/2 balls orange. Use double strand throughout.

needles: 6mm

size: 31" diameter

I had troube putting it down, but it's a mat isn't it, so in trying to get a good picture outside (which didn't happen, since there's a thunderstorm coming), I threw it down on the boards. Guess what - there's the understanding between my dogs that every fabric, knitted or otherwise put on the floor is there for their enjoyment.

I swear I have two dogs, but only Sam is always under foot. ;o)

A couple of FO's!

This is Nicole's "Not-Quite_Straight scarf". (People, it's hot, let your fingers do the walking - one post down for the pattern). As you can see, I ran out of yarn, but I didn't want to rip it out again, so there's this green little corner, which makes it OH so special! ;o)

I've got almost as much yardage out of three balls of yarn as a roll of toilett paper. See the little holes in the beginning and the end? That's from blocking. Yes, I did block it. Here are the specifics:

yarn: Queensland Collection Kathmandu DK

85% merino wool 10% silk 5% cashmere

3 x 50 g and a little bit of green (in all 450 yds)

4mm needles

pattern: Not-Quite-Straight Scarf by Nicole Hindes

pre blocking: 6" x 73"

after blocking: 5 1/2" x 94" !

These socks, decoratively thrown in the bushes, are for DH. These are made with my compiled toe-up, dutch heel socks recipe you can find under "free pattern" on the side bar. I've washed them and they are so stretchy, they could fit on an Elephants foot! The pattern is Garter rip from the book "Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch. I like the color and hopefully they'll fit.

"Gimme a break!" (Sam)

Just in case anybody is wondering (not that anybody would)

I'm working on several things, a little bit at the time. That's why nothing gets done any time soon.
On the left are the four main squares for a blanket. I'll repeat them until the yarn runs out. I've deceided to knit them in fours, weave in the ends and so on. I just couldn't face all the ends in the end!
On the right you see my courthouse steps. Growing very slowly. I'm afraid I'll have to order some additional yarn to make it a decent sized blanket. At least this one's soooooo soft and warm (cotton/microfiber) But I'm taking a break from blanket knitting for a while. I need to do some small projects I wanted to do for some time otherwise I'll be too restless to enjoy the knitting process.

The Not-Quite-Straight Scarf is my latest project. I've started it last night. You can find the pattern at Nicole's blog. Thanks Nicole! I'm using Queenland Collection Kathmandu DK a blend of merino wool/silk/cashmere from my stash. Had this yarn some time now and it was indented for a scarf anyway.

My DH socks are coming along nicely too. One's got the gusset done, the other's still waiting for it. I like sock knitting again. I see many pairs of socks in my future - hard not too with all the sock yarn piling up around me. ;o)

This green squirly thing is a mystery project. I'd like to show it when it's totally done. It's made of cotton and it seems I've gotten a blister or something on my finger where the yarn runs over. It's knit with two strands and I've run out of yarn, drats. Have to wait for more supplies to arrive. But I can tell you, that I love this project, even though it hurts my fingers.

Last but not least, this is a multidirectional flying V scarf (by Iris Schreier) from her book "Exquisite Little Knits". Made with two balls of mohair/wool/acrylic blend. It's 5" X 76" long and will be nice and warm for the recipient I'm sure. Hope she'll like it.

So, you see, there's lots going on. Making progress on all fronts. Thanks to A/C the heat is not bothering me much. And a dunk in the pool makes life that much easier too. Have a nice summer day y'all! By the way, I friend of mine started her own new blog. You can see Sybille's nice projects here. She makes wonderful shawls (and has the cutest dog-after mine of course) ;o)

Forget about Hannah, this blanky will be mine! Grrrrr.

I'm so glad Sam approves of my knitting. It's not like he has the whole house to find a place for his afternoon nap! This can't be comfortable, can it?

(Notice the ears-he's listening to the sound of the camera)

A friend has a birthday coming up ...

... so you have to drop everything else and start knitting a special gift! Right? Well, that's what I did. The above is a picture of the gift, but I can't show it in full yet. I've asked her what her favorite colors are and she said yellow, orange and dark red. I was very happy because I had this mohair blend in my stash!

Here are the socks I'm working on. They will be for my husband. As you can see, I'm knitting both simultaneous, so I can remember what I did. I'm knitting until the start of the gusset before changing to the second sock.

My favorite project is this blanket I'm knitting for my daughter. She's chosen three of the colors. She seems to like teal a lot right now. I've added the bright blue to freshen things up a little.

On the right is the first finished square. As you can see I'm not especially good in picking up stitches, but I'm not obsessive about it. I'm more interested in the end result and how it will look.

I've almost finished the forth square, but couldn't wait to show you what I'm working on right now.

Of course don't forget that there is also the courthouse step blanket floating around somewhere, but I haven't touched it in a while. Still, it will be done also, just not sure when.

There are so many sock patterns I'd like to try and I have so much gorgeous yarn for them it's hard not to cast on. My to do list is a mile long. Sigh!

I almost forgot to mention: Abi made a wonderful summer top and is nice enough to give us the pattern for free! Have a lock at Abiknits .

Curve of Pursuit is over ...

This is how it all began...
... and a good month later here it is: "Curve of Pursuit".

I've finished it yesterday, after a 3 hour weaving in ends session and of course sewing the corners. But it was raining all day so I coulnd't take a picture.

Here are the stats:

pattern: Pat Ashforth and Steven Plummer from Assign Publications

yarn:Endless summer - Connemara - mercerized cotton (elann.com)

green: 18 balls (1638 yds)

lilac: 6 1/4 balls (569 yds)

blue: 6 1/4 balls (569 yds)

I had a few yards left over from the green and wanted to use it for the corners but I couldn't find it anymore. I had, thankfully left long ends and could use them to sew the corners together.

needles: 4.5 mm

size: 52" X 52"

start: June 2, 2006 finish: July 12, 2006 (but with many side projects in between)

Until the 9th square it seemed like I'll have some yarn left over. After that it was slow going, the blanket was (and still is) very heafy on the lap. I would not make this blanket with mercerized cotton anymore. This is a very clever and fun pattern. Mariella at Knitting Nonni (please see side bar, since blogger doesn't let me make a link right now) is making another one. She's using lovely colors (Cranberry, misty blue and rainbow) and I'm looking forward to see her "Curve of Pursuit" come along.

For those who would like to purchase the pattern here is the Assign Storefront at e-bay (thanks to Mariella). It's called Assign Designs and they are on vacation right now. They will be open in mid August again:

http://stores.ebay.com/Assign-Designs-and-Publications_W0QQsspagenameZL2QQtZkm

Anniversary flower basket still useful without the flowers!

I've found the flower basket very useful to store some of my sock yarn and look pretty at the same time. Here you can see Schoeller& Stahl Sockina Colori in 100 gram balls.

And here are Scheoller & Stahl Fortissima Colori in 50 gram balls and Regia 4 faedig. I'm looking forward to knitting up all these beautiful colores. I've also got new bamboo needle sets, so I can knit both socks at the same time. That should be interesting!

I'm on the last leg of my "Curve of Pursuit" blanket. I'm hoping to finish knitting today and sewing the corners and weaving in the ends tomorrow. There will be some pictures soon.

Watcha gonna do on a rainy day?

Well, knit a sunflower tam of course!

This sunflower tam is in the "Knitting Nature" book by Nrah Gaughan. My daughter chose it and by chance I had the Lopi Lite and color which is in the book. It's a very fast and statisfying knit. I've used both circular needles and DP from 5mm-6mm. At first I had to make a swatch to understand the RT and LT stitches since the Lopi was not very forgiving with the ripping.

As you can see I've figured it out.

Hannah also choose the Asymmetrical Cardigan from this book and I've got the yarn for it already, but to tell you the truth, it scares me a bit. It's knit in one piece, which is always good, since I hate sewing knitted pieces but the bands and collar are knitted seperately, lots of sewing there! We'll see. I'm not going to tackle this project right now.

Done and ready to go!

Another Birthday gift gets crossed of my list. I will not know if they fit well until September though. Doesn't matter. Now back to the never ending garter stitch border. Only two more sides to go.......

First finished sock of many first's.

1. First time non-sock yarn used.
2. First time magic cast-on used.
3. First time gusset with a toe-up sock.
4. First time reverse dutch heel method used.
5. First time heel stitches used.
6. First time increases in the back of the leg used.
7. First time very stretchy ripping used.
8. and finally, first time sewn - cast off by E.Z. used.
   

This sock is mens size 12 1/2 and I'm alreday working on the second one. In the future I will knit both socks at the same time on DP needles. I'm just waiting to get the new sets in. I will use the magic cast-on in the future as often as it's possible. I've increased with M1 (make a loop) and it shows no holes, it's almost invisible - I like it. As long as I'm knitting toe-up socks I think I will use the reverse dutch heel method as well. The sewn casting-off works great too!

Supplemental: I will put a description of the socks in my free pattern folder on the side bar for those who would like to try a toe-up sock with a different heel version ( as opposed to the short row heel).

One thing's for sure!

If you try to finish a knitted blanket it's not a good idea to start a pair of socks or anything else for that matter unless you are Lord Vishnu and have four hands. But I couldn't help myself. I'm at the border of my "Curve of Pursuit" blanket and the endless miles of garter stitch makes me almost comatose. Really, I have trouble staying awake, my eyes fall shut. So, I've started a new adventure. I'm on a mission. I'm looking to find the perfect toe-up sock. I've knitted 2 paires of toe-up socks so far with the help of Wendy's directions (short rowing) you can find her instructions at knitty.com. It was fine to get to know this technic but I wanted a better heel version and even the cast on of the toes could be better.

So, thanks to the internet (damn it, hail it) I found the Magic cast-on for toe-up socks by Judy Becker also at knitty.com. I've started twice. The first attempt was too wide even for the men's size 12 1/2 I'm knitting. The second time was fast and I liked it. The yarn I use is not real sock yarn, but I think it's blend will work (cotton/acrylic/wool) It makes you work every stitch (no slip slyding along the needles). I like the pattern which emerged. The next thing I wanted to change was the short row heel or Boomerang heel. I found it at the sock knitters website, with the help of a well meaning friend. It's Denise's Toe-up socks and the instructions are great. This is the result and my very first Reverse Dutch-Heel I made with real heel stitches no less.

I'm at the leg now thinking ahead how to cast off the thing. My two previous pairs where a bit tight and not stretchy at all. So I will try Elizabeth Zimmermann's sewn cast off this time.

Of course I took notes so that the second one will be the same. Especially around the gusset I made. The next time I have to start for that a little earlier but I think it will be enough for the foot I'm making these socks for. I've also increased four stitches in the back of the leg, all new to me. I've never put so much thought into a sock. It's a sock hidden in a shoe most of the time! - but I do want it to fit well.

Since he's so cute one last pic of Sam and the snow shovel, no longer in his possession, since he's "killed" it off. We'll see what his next target will be.

One Skein Secret Pal Exchange is here!

My secret pal blew me away with her wonderful yarns. I'm still breathless because I have NEVER touched Angora wool before and let me tell you it's unbelievable soft! The other yarn is sensational as well. My secret pal handspun this Black Baby Alpaca herself!!! And you know what else - she recently moved and had a lot on her plate and still, here it is.

THANK YOU SO MUCH SECRET PAL!

I've started a pair of socks today. And NO - the "Curve of Pursuit" Blanket is not quite done yet, but almost. (Pictures of it within the week) But I wanted to learn something new. So I've made the Magic cast-on for toe-up socks by Judy Becker (can be found at Knitty.com). I like it a lot better than Wendy's toe-up cast on because there are no ridges to be seen. Anyway it's tough going knitting the first row, but after that it's great. I'm using 3.25mm needles for Sirdar Denim Tweed DK, 60% acrylic, 25% cotton and 15% wool. Have never used this yarn for socks before but since I had it in my stash and the socks will be size 11, I needed a heavier yarn. It'll do, I think. More on it later, as soon as there will be actually something to see. :o)

And once again my Sam with his favorite toy, the snow shovel. He brought it inside twice so far and of course I had to take it away. But he's so cute running around with it.