Major Knitter

Finishing Friday - Red Sampler Blanket

Thanks for all your input yesterday.  I really enjoyed hearing your picks and your rationale about which WIP/UFO you wanted me to finish next.  Many of you are pining to see me fall back in love with the Floral Jacket.  Lots of you picked Faery Ring - since I'm so close.  A whole bunch of you thought like I did - finish the Palindrome scarf since it's a quickie and then move on to one of the three sweaters.  So that's what I'm doing.  

1. Palindrome Scarf - because it's a quickie.
2. Faery Ring Sweater - because I'm so close to the end
3. Well... then it gets tricky.  I guess I'll wait and see how I feel after finishing those first two and see which speaks to me.  I am enjoying checking some of these projects off my To Do List and I'd like to keep this up.  But I don't want to make promises I can't keep.  It's already bad enough that these projects have been in the UFO pile for oh-so-long.

So, now, let's focus on the 3rd FO of the week.  I proudly present a project I cast on in June 2008.  Now after three years and two months, I've finally finished the Red Sampler Blanket.  

* APPLAUSE *

Hmmmm....I put three blankets to Zzzzzz on Ravelry and am starting to think that perhaps I should pull them out of hibernation and finish them... someday.  For now I'm going to finish the two UFOs I promised to finish above.  Then I'll make a decision about what to do next.  Who knows which project will speak to me then.

 

 

Pink is Perfect for Shopping!

Here's Take II on the Market Bag

This is Beth's Re-Usable Grocery Bag with optional side seams.  The pattern is quick and easy so I highly recommend giving it a try.  I opted out of the optional side seam because my brain got distracted and erroneously decreased the size of the bag on my first try.  This time it's absolutely perfect and my pink bag can hold lots of groceries!  It's also very happy.  I think I should make some more.  How about you?  Have you cast on for your market bag yet?

Details:

US Size 7 circular needles
US Size 15 circular needles
Worsted weight Brazilian cotton yarn from my stash (or use Sugar n' Cream, etc)

It's quick and easy.  I hope you'll make several, too. 

Finishing Friday - Julie's Tessarae Socks

I am happy to announce a FO for Finishing Friday.  More specifically, I finished my niece's socks - aka - Julia Bulia's Tessarae Socks.

Please disregard the funny angle - I know it distorts the socks and makes the feet look larger than life.

I plan on shipping these off tomorrow, so they should arrive sometime next week.  Wear them well Julie!

Finishing Friday - Fish Hat (Dead or Alive)

It's Finishing Friday and I made a Bright Shiny Object that also qualified as Instant Gratification.

I knit up a Fish Hat (Dead or Alive) by Thelma Egbert from Knitty 2008 for our upcoming winter Klondike campout.  It's going to be great fun with the 2+ feet of snow on the ground (and more coming this week).  I can hardly wait.

I used Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Worsted in various leftover bits and bobs to make this whimsical little guy for my little guy.  I can't wait for the snow games to begin!

What I Did On My Snow Day

Aside from shoveling, that is.

Is a lot of knitting.  In fact, I finished the hood on the Orange Wonderful Wallaby.  

It's such a bright ray of sunshine on such a snowy day.

Oh! Odessa

It's Friday and I took a break from the Faery Ring to finish an object in my queue.

For all of those who take self-portraits in the mirror, I am in awe of you.  I found it very challenging.  

I laughed my head off!

... and tried again.

Focus, focus

OK - that's about as good as it gets.  This is much more difficult than it looks.

But the good news is that I have correctly knit Odessa this time (patient counting was the secret to staying on track!) and it's ready to go to my friend to warm her during her chemo treatments.

Be well!

Frogging Friday - My Very Own Socks!

I am back in the swing of things.  Whew!  (Now if I could just catch up on my emails I'd feel complete).  My knitting group is back in session; my charity work is back in swing; Scout season has begun; school is settling into the normal routine; friends are resurfacing; and my Craft Clutch (not to be confused with my knitting group) is also back together.  We kicked off our Craft Clutch at my house this morning and Julie asked me about my finishing or frogging every Friday.  While I haven't really finished anything of note all summer, I am catching the knitting fever again and am ready to knit up a storm.  In fact, I found a beautiful blue, purple yarn at Westport Yarns this summer and immediately cast on for a pair of socks for yours truly.  

Shortly after beginning the leg of the first sock, I realized that the Plymouth Yarn - Zino - runs a little thinner than the average fingering weight sock, so I'll have to add more sts to my basic sock pattern and go down a needle size (possibly to a US Size 0!!!) to get a perfect sock.  

With nothing to compare the sock to, it's difficult to tell how small it's turning out, but this sock might fit a 4-5 year old.  I love this yarn too much to not turn them into My Very Own Socks as planned, so I decided to frog them and reknit them.  Fortunately, I hadn't gotten very far.  But at least I have something to present for Finish or Frog It Friday. 

Ah, the ramen noodles of frogging.  I love the way this looks.  Isn't this yarn pretty?  Have you knit with it?  How did it work for you?

Wilma loves having things back to the normal routine, too.  She's thrilled to have people constantly coming to the house.  In fact, she gets a little too excited.  Here she is making herself at home on top of Michelle's bag.  We even asked if Michelle had a steak inside her bag.  Nope, just a cell phone.   Wilma decided it was the perfect spot to sit and scratch her ear (and chew her hind paw).  There's my wackadoodle.  

Finishing Friday - Roman Rib Socks

I learned a very important reason why you shouldn't put down a WIP for 6 weeks.  Well, I'm certain I've learned several reasons why you shouldn't ignore a work in progress, but for now, let's focus on this week's lesson.  What did I learn, you ask?  Well, it's quite simple.  If you don't work on a project for six weeks and then resume, it is likely even at the spry young age of 43 that you might actually forget the pattern.  Of course, you're just cocky enough to be certain that you have memorized this fairly easy pattern.  But lo and behold, when you're just about to start the toe, you realize you have 39 pattern repeats on the finished sock and 45 pattern repeats on the second sock... yet somehow the second sock seems to be shorter.  How bizarre.  OK - you can see where this is heading, can't you?  I looked and looked to see what had happened when it finally dawned on me.  I have a pattern that repeats ever 8 rows and I had turned it somehow a 6 row repeat.  Since it took me about twenty minutes to notice the difference while looking closely, I decided that the recipient would not notice at all.  (And since she doesn't read this blog, I'm not worried about spilling the beans).  So with that in mind, I proudly present Angel's Roman Rib Socks which are actually packaged and en route to Portland as I type.

 

 

Finishing Friday - Wonderful Wallaby #8

This morning I was up very early and while the rest of the house was quiet, I decided to watch a movie on my computer from Netflix - What's Eating Gilbert Grape - with Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio.

This moving story of a young man (Depp) who takes care of his disabled brother (DiCaprio) while supporting his family in small town Iowa is a moving tale of brotherly love and small town America.  I had never seen it before and am glad I happened across it this morning (despite the fact that I now have puffy eyes from crying).  It was just the thing I needed to finish knitting the final Wallaby of this series.  

OK - if you look closely, you can see that I've really only finished knitting this sweater.  I still have to weave in the loose ends and kitchener the underarms.... then I'm truly finished.  That will happen later this morning, but I wanted you to start your day off with some FOFIF pictures for Finish or Frog It Friday.

Hope your Finishing Friday is successful.  Enjoy the weekend. 

 

Finishing Friday - Wonderful Wallaby #10, aka Pinky Tuscadero

This was a good week for knitting.  I had lots of travel time and sitting time - The Bahamas, Wood Badge BSA training, and a trip to Iowa.  All this sitting gave me a reason to sit and knit and knit.  This is a good thing for my Finishing Friday post.

Here is my 10th Wonderful Wallaby - aka Pinky Tuscadero.  It's a size 2 Wonderful Wallaby and will be packed and shipped to a brand new mother/baby in the Bronx.  I hope it will bring the family much health, happiness, and joy.