jeannie's hands at work

Knitting, crocheting, other handwork, and personal.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Bragging Rights

My tall, handsome DS had his first date Saturday night: "It's NOT a date, Mom. I'm just escorting a friend to the dance because she has to go, and she shouldn't go alone." I found him a tux on 24 hours notice and shoes, shirt, cumberbund, and tie. We got a corsage for her and everything. So- here he is ready to pick up Aki and I wanted to take pictures. "Turn around, Son, and I'll get your picture." I have several of these.


So we finally established that he needed to FACE THE CAMERA!


And finally, here they are together. Sorry about the red eye -I don't know how to get rid of that. She has the prettiest blue eyes. :)


I'M THE MOM, I GET TO BRAG!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

On the Needles & Still on the needles


Lion Brand Baby Sweater knit in one piece for a baby born in my apartment complex. I like this pattern but I had to frog back to the cuff cast on because I only cast on four sts on each side instead of eight. {grinding my teeth in frustration}




The back of the Shawl collared sweater-jacket pattern from 25 Gorgeous Sweaters for the Beginning Knitter (or close to that title) from Aran weight Katmandu color 113, wool, silk and cashmere. It's supposed to be 25 inches long before I shape the shoulders. I'm not progressing very fast.



This is a Kombu scarf pattern that I started and then for some reason, took off the needles. I didn't however, rip it out. I had a skein of Cestara wool that I split in two for some reason...beats me now. So when I got one repeat done on the pattern, I decided based on looking at the half skein I was using, that I didn't have enough to make the scarf long enough. I think I also decided it was too rough for a scarf. I'm going to finish it up and use fabric softener in the final rinse and see how it is then.

The yarn was a bargain and I'm sorry that I didn't buy more of it when I could. It's by the same company that the wool/yak scarf is and there were lots of skeins of yak & wool in not so great colors, but now I want "manly" (read dull, not pretty) colors. It was on sale at the high end LYS for $8.00 a skein and the Irish Hiking Scarf was one skein! I actually got a discount on those two skeins because they were marked down more the day I bought them. :)


I've made progress on the Paisley Shawl from IK. S & I started it this summer as a co-knitting project. She got a big headstart because she managed to get DPN's that didn't fall out and she didn't have to limit her knitting time to evenings like I did. :)

13 cast ons or so later (actually, I lost count) and bamboo DPN's and I was off and knitting sloooowly.

I'm now finished with my second repeat of the eyelet pattern. Only 11 repeats to go till the paisley border. LOL
As soon as I put in the lifeline, I can start the 3rd repeat.

A Day to Blog -Amazing! Finished Objects.

WARNING, WARNING, REALLLLY LONG POST - LOTS 'O PICS.


So I've been busier than I think. I took pics of all the stuff I've finished, and begun and completed since the State Fair. This first picture is of the Cutie Patootie sweater I made.
[www.berroco.com/exclusives/cutie_patootie.html - 20k] Started about the 30th of September and totally finished this weekend the 9th of October. FAR TOO LONG! I would have finished really fast, but sewing it together was the pits! I grafted the shoulders and matress stitched(I think) the side seams. I'm really happy with the sides, but the sleeve seams - aghhh!- I must've done them 3 or 4 times. They just did NOT look good. I ended up just sewing them any which way. They're lumpy and not very great. I suppose no one else will care -eventually.
The other thing is that the trim, while really "Cute" makes the edges curl up and not lie flat. I don't suppose it'll make any difference once it's on a baby and once it's washed a few times. :)
I made an Umbilical Cord Hat and One-Hour baby booties (from Stitch 'n Bitch) to go with it. I'll to make the CP hat sometime and see how I like it.
This will be a donation item.



This is my first attempt at short rows - a "Multi-Directional Scarf" [douma.net/Karen/knitting/Accessory-Scarves/Multidirectional_Diagonal_Scarf.htm - 7k] This pic is not very well done- I didn't see how well the reds blended in to the carpet in the view finder. (Oops.) This is for my son - no particular reason, other than I haven't finished his socks that I started - I can't remember when, and got lost on the toe short rows-I'm that close to finishing.
This is two partial skeins of Noro and Lamb's Pride from the yarn swap. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's very soft and fluffy and he likes it.




This is one of my favorite projects this fall. It's called What Is It? scarf. It's scarf, capelet, muffler, etc. I really like it. I made it with Paton's "Be Mine" yarn. I wish they had more colors. Right now it's just baby pastels, but other colors would be great -all nylon and washable and soft, soft. This is a Christmas gift. So no more info. :)

In fact, I liked this pattern so much, I wanted to make myself one out of another kind of yarn. I found some cool yarn at Joann's-their own brand of nylon-mohair-like stuff. I wish I could remember the name - I'll add it later. I thought, "I'd like this capelet to hang longer over my shoulders and maybe cover my elbows and be kind of "three quarter length" like 3/4 sleeves if you can picture that. I also liked three colors instead of two the pattern called for. It worked out on the first one I made, so why not?



You can't tell here but it turned out awful. It's a nylon thermal blanket gone amok. It's too long, too ruffley, too everything. There must be more than 500 stitches on the bind-off row. It looks like the bottom of a Flamenco skirt and it's jumbo long width wise. It doesn't hang down to my elbows.
It will be frogged and divided in to other things this week. I have six balls of this yarn - that's maybe two or three scarves. (Whimper)



I'm very pleased with this scarf. The Irish Hiking Scarf (http://www.helloyarn.com/irishhikingcarf.htm) is another Chrismas present. This knit up fast considering it has cables. I don't think it took more than 3 weeks- keep in mind that I do 4 or more projects at the same time. This is made with Cestara yarn, wool and yak (the warmest fiber, the most expensive even more than cashmere). Great pattern- masculine and classy.