Wow!

It's been a really long time. I have Knit so many things that have gone undocumented it amazes me. Countless Scarves, hats, socks and wraps which are no longer around to take pictures of. I do happen to have pictures of the two last scarves that were birthday presents.

 

 



 This Scarf is the Mock Burberry I made for Tricia's Birthday. It is heavy but that is how she likes them. "Like a Big Warn Hug" is how she describes it.

This is a scarf knit for a Friend who has not seen it yet. The pattern is Lazy Katy" by Berget Fryer. I just love her patterns. I have knit several of them and they are always a challenge, but I am always pleased in the end.

 

 

This jacket is one my Grandson Jaxon will probably never wear. Due to the fact the California has such a short winter. 

 

 

Thank Goodness Hats last longer.

 



T

 

 

 

Hats for everyone to wear to England where its cold and damp.

 

Grandson Max is now 3 and in the "No Pictures Please" phase of life so I have no pictures of him wearng anything. You pick up a camera and the kid runs!

 

I do have a new project coming up that I will try harder to blog on. I am actually going to knit something for myself!  It  is called Winter Wrap from Bad Cat Designs. I am pretty excited about it, more in March!

 



Arrrrrgggghhhhhhhh! This is all that's left!

This is all that's left! That's right......after ripping back 64 rows more than 7 inches stitch by stitch to get to a dropped stitch! Aaaaarrrgggghhhh! Of Course I don't use "Life Lines" it would have made this too easy! So it had to be "unknit" stitch by stitch so I did not disturb the already disturbed pattern. It took longer to unknit those 7 inches than it did to knit them. Will I start using "Life Lines" now? No I hate them. I will have to watch more carefully and stretch the pattern to look more often. I shouldn't complain too much since I have loved seeing the lace come to life. I don't have time for more mistakes like this I have a Deadline!

The Wedding Shawl!

This was the Big Secrete Project!

From the moment I saw the dress at the first fitting I Knew she needed a shawl to go with it and "I" was just the person to knit it! The dress is called "Mermaid" style but I am old enough to think "Mae West." Those women always had some type of stole  to remind them to keep the shoulders up and elbows back.

Then I got to thinking about what I wanted it to mean, and what I really wanted to give her. The wedding dress she would never wear again, but I wanted to be something she could wear again and still have special meaning. I choose a segment of pattern stitch from the "Simurgh" pattern because the shaped of the scallops went perfectly with the lace on the dress.  It's a start in the center and work to the end pattern. As I worked I thought about adding beads to the edges "of Course".
I had boxes of  Antique beads from her Grandmother and Great Grandmothers who use to knit fine beaded purses in the 1920's.      We ended up with a stole that was a gift from her generations past with new crystals added by me.There was Old, New, and a Borrowed Blue bead from another project hidden in one corner. It is something she will always be able to wear.

I gave it to her the morning of her wedding BEFORE makeup! She was so surprised and happy.

Tootie Testing.

   This is Tootie one of my "Fur Children." He is sitting in a basket of knit squares that will be a blanket for my Grandson max. He is the official softness tester. He finds a way to get on top of almost everything I have ever knit. It's a tough job but someone has to do it!

   Well since moving to Arizona I have certainly changed my knitting habits. I no longer knit tons of socks.......it never seems cold enough to wear them. I have been knitting more lace than anything.  I knit a special Wedding Stole for my daughter which I will do a whole post on. I couldnt talk about it since it was a secrete. I have been knitting these mitered squares but I  can only do so many.......then I have to stop they make me crazy!  I started a peach lace piece I have enjoyed working on and I am about to start another piece which might just be a birthday present.  I hate to say too much too soon.

  I also have a baby sweater to start........PINK! I am so excited a friend had a Baby Girl and I finally get to knit something in Pink! I have everything, I just need to sit down and start it. It's a good thing I like to have more than one thing on the needles!

Knitting in Hell

 I have not posted in several months, there was obviously a great deal of work to be done with all the moving. The Day we arrived in Arizona it was 95 degrees F. The next  day  it went up to 105 F,  then 110F and stayed there for several months. I had no desire to touch any fabric. It was so hot I would have taken my skin off if I could. It was too hot to go in the pool until the sun went down.! It finally cooled off in November and I am liking the Winter Just Fine! I know by summer the Chicago Sludge I have in my veins will have thinned out and next summer won't be so hard on me.

This lovely Red Scarf is a gift for a friend of my daughter. I originally downloaded the pattern probably from Ravelry but I don't remember it was the Christmas Rush!. I kept the main body but changed the ends and added some beads. I just can't seem to stay away from them can I? I like to Torture myself!

The yarn is Valley 2/14 Alpaca Silk and I love it. I  used this yarn for a Cream colored Shawlette (forgot to take pictures! it's gone) and it came out wonderful! Warm, strong, and light. I think I need one now. (yeah we'll see how far I get with that !)



The Richness of the browns is not showing in this picture of the socks. The yarn is STR lightweight in "Petrified Wood" colorway. Just Love IT! Since my hubby has huge feet the heels and toes will be in black. I ALWAYS have a skein of STR Black for this reason. One skein isn't enough and two has SO much left over! One Skein of Black will do a whole lot of heels and toes!

These Red Hot Little Socks will Be MINE! There are no birthdays coming up fast so they won't be a last minute gift to someone else. Anyone else know how that goes?We did get a bit of cool weather all the way down in the 60's for the day time high! Brrr. (snigger) But when the days were in the 60's some of the nights got below freeing and THAT'S when we found out the Heater part of the thermostat was broken! Can't get a repairman out over Thanksgiving weekend! Out of all the Socks I have ever knit I had 2 pair in my drawer, some how that just did not seem right.So this pair is for me! The kids have all let me know they would like more socks. Funny I was thinking they were tired of getting socks for Christmas. So I can see a great deal of sock knitting in my warm weather future.

  Since it cooled down enough to finally handle some nice fiber I would really like to dig into another wrap or shawlette while I can.  I have thought about knitting "Simurgh"  (Big Blue Bird) again in a finer yarn like the Valley2/14 so it would be more open. But I always like to take on a new challenge. 

   The other thing on my mind has been using all of those sock yarn remnants to make a mitered square blanket for my Grandson. Something big enough to cover him and small enough to drag around if he wants. The sock yarn will wear and wash well. Another one of those sock bag size projects you can carry around since the pieces are so small.

THIS is my Beautiful Birthday Cake!  My daughter Sarah had it made for me. She has a friend who is a Pastry Chef and I think he would put  the "Ace of Cakes" to Shame.There is a scarf over the top, socks on the sides,  and balls of yarn on the top.  You can't see the sides but is a woven knitting basket. It tasted just as good as it looked! Yum!

Traveling

I don't know why I was so worried about "Travel Knitting". Did I forget I was going to be the only one in the car? Did I think that after a solitary day driving with the sun in my eyes or torrential rain I was going to do anything other than eat and then pass out? What was I thinking????

I did pick out two vanilla sock projects and two scarf projects to take with me. If I had an unpacked camera after choosing them I would have taken pictures of them. IF I could get the mobile blogger to work with my Phone I could upload pictures. So my next projects will have to be a surprise.

Arizona in July is Crazy HOT! I go out early in the morning briefly and usually late at night. The stars are amazing away from the lights of Chicago. I truly understand the reason for "Siesta" now and understand the old saying "Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the Midday Sun." I have to run any errands early in the morning and get home in the cool air. We unofficially hit 120 degrees F the other day and it made quite an impression on me. That was my "Siesta" afternoon, and I Thank God for every Ceiling Fan in my house! I have that Northern Sludge in my blood veins and probably won't be comfortable until I have a full year here to thin it out. I am thinking this winter is going to be a breeze! I'll be in shorts when everyone else is in a Parka!

I did finish a pair of the socks in the evening this week and they will be a perfect "Thank You" for a friend. I just can NOT imagine working on anything bigger than that at the moment. Hopefully I will come to the end of my boxes before too long, and find a camera.......

Limbo!

I hate being in Limbo!

We have been put in Limbo over the sale of our home and move to Arizona. This puts my KNITTING in Limbo! I have 90% of my knitting products packed. I have items I don't work on because I don't want them spread out, beads are are involved. I look to start new projects but.......are the materials I need packed away? Do I need to keep it small? I have never needed urging to purchase yarn (snicker) I feel S Unproductive!


I always have a pair of socks in my purse, just in case. I am running out of sock yarn. Scarves? Do I want to use some of the yarn I have put away for a light weight shawl? Then have left over yarn. I hate to break up a quantity of yarn purchased for a specific size project.
.
My Son Finally tried the socks I made for my Grandson on his fat little feet. I have not seen him (except on Skype)in months so I could only guess on the size. They fit his fat little feet perfectly. I could take all the odd little balls of yarn and make More socks for him. That could get boring VERY Fast, add matching mittens?

I need the perfect travel project I can pick up and put down, and will not be finished too quickly. It needs to last a couple of weeks and not be something I can lose my place too easily. I think I just need a small suit case of knitting projects to have available to me. I can work on them while we are in Limbo land. Then I will need something in the car while traveling, in hotel rooms, AND in my new home while all the other stuff is still in boxes.

Any suggestions? Is there any one perfect project?