2008 Knitting Resolutions

Dawn had this bright idea to post our 2008 Knitting Resolutions, so:

1. Finish: DH's vest; Handsome Triangle from VLT; Secret of the Stole; any other UFO's in my closet (mainly sewing things together)
   
2. Work on new KALs
3. Do more lace/shawl knitting
4. Make some dresses for niece - knitting or sewing

I think that's enough damage for now. :-D

Design Contest Over

At long last (says she who was running late), the LSSK Design Contest is over and the votes have been tallied. Congratulations to Meghan for her swing dress and JoAn for her Texas Vest (like your daughters, I want one too!!!). I came in second place for my Flower Petal Blanket. (For more information on any of these patterns, please email me at txaes2001atyahoodotcom)


I also entered a purse & cell phone holder. There is a large pocket inside:


In addition, I made an ensemble for my niece for Christmas. I thought it was the right size, but it's not. I went ahead and gave it to her mom so maybe she will get a little wear out of the booties & sweater:


Secret of the Stole: I'm about half-way through clue #6. (Clue 7 was published yesterday.)
Mystic Waters: I've made some headway on untangling the yarn. Right now though, it's all put away. I want to finish SotS and I have a bunch of charity knitting to finish before the 1st.

Stash Enhancement: Yesterday, my friends Birdy, Brenda and I went to Laurel's house. She wanted to get rid of some machine yarn and we needed lace weight style yarn. I'll take a picture of what all I got later and post it.

Untangling update

It is slowly but surely coming undone. I've got two balls working right now. My guess is the smaller one is the beginning and the larger the end.

I haven't worked on Secret of the Stole today. Actually felt good, so I worked on the floors of the house. They desperately needed mopping. This evening, our grandson came over to spend the night. (His dad works in a restaurant and did a double shift tonight.)

Mystic Waters

Whereas the Secret of the Stole is coming along nicely, I had a major "burp" in this one this morning. My dear, darling, lovable, feisty Ashley found a way unto the dining room table in her never ending pursuit of the cat. I guess she got distracted...


At this point, I don't know what I'm going to do. I've managed to get quite a bit rewound and there are still several sections for easy rewinding, but I've hit a major snag. I think I will work on it off & on and restart the project when my Knit Picks order comes in.

I ordered Knit Picks Gossamer in the Caribbean colorway to make another of these. It is currently being processed, so we will see when it gets here.

This has not been a particularly good day knitting-wise. :-/

Secret of the Stole

I won't complain, for long, but it's not been a good week. Had a bad arthritis flare and still recovering from it.

On the happy news, I finished Clue 3 of Secret of the Stole today. Although, being me, as I was transferring to a long needle to take a pic, I dropped some stitches which will require tinking back 6-7 rows. Oh well. I am hoping to finish Clue 4 tomorrow and will upload a photo.



This is a close-up showing the pearls. You will need to click on the photo to enlarge it.

Swatch Done

I completed & blocked my swatch for the Mystic Waters KAL. I used Baruffa Cashwool, #3 Addi Turbo Lace Needles and #8 Mill Hill Beads.

I'm not happy with where I placed my beads. I will have to pay closer attention when the charts start coming (in 6 days). They are kind of hard to see, but since I'm using them as accents, I think they will be okay. They do show more in person.

This yarn is super soft. I'm glad I spent the money on the lace needles because it does "grab" the yarn a bit. I think I would go nuts with any other type of needles.

Gonna Be A Bear

Started the "Secret"

The Nautical Knitter posted the first hint in the wee hours of the morning and I was able to print it out before the rush. I was too tired to start on it last night and am have a flare of my arthritis today. Taking it slowly, I did get through Line 30.

I changed the beads I was going to use. The pearls worked with the crochet hook so I'm using those. I think they will look much better with the navy and give it a more dressy look.

I'm still working on the design contest entry for Lone Star State Knitters. I need to get that finished soon because it's a busy month with traveling, visitors from out of town and life.

Walnut Pasta

I created this the other night. Might need some fine-tuning.

1/2 lb whole wheat angel hair pasta
1/2 cup walnuts
5-6 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup (unpacked) sundried tomatoes in oil, cut into strips
lots & lots of fresh basil, cut into strips

Start water for pasta. Just before adding pasta (which takes about 6-8 mins to cook), add about 1 tbs oil to a frying pan (I used walnut oil), garlic and walnuts. Cook and stir until pasta is done and until garlic & walnuts are toasted. Watch careful because both the garlic and walnuts will burn easily.

Drain pasta. Toss with a bit of olive oil. Add tomatoes & basil to walnuts and heat for just a moment. Add to pasta, toss & serve.

Notes: the first time I made this, I did not add oil to the pasta. I thought there was enough on the walnut mixture, but I was wrong. You could also use some of the oil from the tomatoes. I didn't use any salt in this recipe, but it didn't need any.

Secret of the Stole Swatch

This is my swatch for Secret of the Stole which starts this week (finally!!!). I just kinda threw the beads on there since I didn't get them until after I had knitted up the swatch.

I still haven't decided if I'm going to use these, use the pearls or use none. I am tending towards the pearls but they will be harder to do since they have a teensy, tiny hole. I'll probably decide once I get to that point and see if I can get the pearls on with a thin wire.

Some pictures.

Nothing much in life happening right now, but do have some new photos.

The first is Joseth with his dog, Benjamin. Joseth & his Aunt Lindsay were having fun with cameras one morning when she was visiting. The last is of Ashley and me. I really, Really, REALLY need to lose some weight before Lindsay's wedding in April.

Finally done it

I finally figured out how to upload a video onto YouTube. This is of the baptism of my youngest nephew and niece.

Quiet

Not much has been happening around here. Still working on the "secret" project and devoting most of my knitting time to that.

Had a bit of a flare-up over the holiday weekend. I tend to blame TS Henrietta for that, but I was able to get some knitting done. Went with DH on Sunday to get him some new shoes since Ashley took a liking to his Dansko's (Birkenstock) and they are now at the shoe repair shop. That is the only one now in the area so it is taking about 5 weeks. *sigh*

Heavens, it's been so long since I last posted. It's been a busy summer.

Yesterday, I joined the Secret of the Stole KAL and am really looking forward to it. It starts on Oct. 5th and I am using a merino lace weight in navy. Still need to get some beads.

We have a new dog (Ashley) & cat (Emma). Both are from the Humane Society of Bexar County. They are finally settling in.

Last weekend was the baptism for my nephew and niece. I'm going to try and figure out how to upload it either onto to here or onto YouTube.

JPB's rucksack was completed recently. I started it when I thought his Spiderman backpack had been lost in a flash flood, but luckily it wasn't. At first, he didn't like it but decided it was okay when his dad told him it was "cool". :-/

The other picture is from one of the very last cross-stitch pieces I've done. It's for one of the plethora of nieces in my extended family.

Knitting wise, I've been working on a sweater for Christmas for JPB as well as Christmas gifts for other family members. There is a "secret" project underway but I can't talk about that until after the design contest is over.

Thoughts

I've had some ideas on the yellow & white baby blanket. It will be squares of Texas themes. I am thinking of making rows of small squares between the themed squares and then doing the border the same. Sewing --- arggghhhh.

Good & Bad day

I went to the urologist today and things are looking better but I'm still hurting from the lovely test. So, I decided I needed some retail therapy. :-)

I picked up 2 more skeins of the Karabella lace weight Mohair but in dark lavender. I'm going to use that with the pale, pale pink to make the Feather & Fan stole from Folk Shawls. It will be wider than what she has though since I want to cover the bootie.

I also picked up some short Brittany #7s and some size 6 bamboos from Cyrstal Palace. I was going to get some Addi Turbos to try to make socks but I think I will hold off on that for now.

The Beginning

I have decided to create this blog to keep track of my knitting, mostly.

WIP:
vest for DH
"A Handsome Triangle" from Victorian Lace Today
"North Sea Shawl" from Folk Shawls
Hooded towel for nephew

It's actually kind of rare for me to have so few WIP and I actually have a couple other things I'm sort of working on. I need to finish the trim of a baby bonnet and make the sacque. The booties are done. I need to sew up a toddler sweater but just bought the buttons for it.

I am planning a baby blanket in yellow & white but haven't quite decided how I'm going to make it yet.