FO: Tree Jacket

Well, I'm done!

That face isn't my feeling for the sweater; it was really sunny and windy out. I wasn't sure at first about this pattern, but I like it! The sleeves are really roomy, but that will be good if I want to wear a long sleeve tee with it. I wore a black cami for the picture, but I don't know what I should wear under it in real life.

The stats:
Pattern: Tree Jacket by Zephyr Gals
Yarn: TLC Cotton Plus, 6 balls
Needles: Size 8 Knit Picks
Mods: I was a 'tweener size, so I added enough increases to do 20 lace repeats around the body instead of the recommended 19.

Rhinebeck

Rhinebeck was not the major stash expansion expedition my wallet was expecting. We mostly walked around and chatted and window shopped. Although, if Briar Rose Fibers had the right colorway for this, I might have been swayed to purchase it. Audrey, Peggy, Amy, and I went the scenic route (which was only 20 minutes longer--totally worth it) to get there. Peggy & Audrey got their new books signed by the one and only Clara Parkes:

Peggy was very impressed with her penmanship:

We saw some "famous" bloggers, some friends, and a lot of yarn. It was a really relaxed atmosphere this time; even the Fold didn't have super long lines. I bought a couple knitted toys for Rocco, but they are already under the entertainment center, so no pics of those today!

Confession time: I actually kind of missed taking those back roads on the Harley.

8 MORE Random Things

Robin tagged me for a "8 random things" meme like two weeks ago, and so I thought I'd finally play along. I did the 7 random things meme earlier this year, so it took me a while to think of 8 more!
Rules:
Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself.


1. I’m completely addicted to the Food Network. I even Tivo it when I’m not going to be home. So sad.

2. On a related note, cooking was definitely my first love. My mom just stopped cooking after my brothers moved out, so my dad and I had to fend for ourselves. I was pissed at the time, but it really forced me to learn how to cook & I love to do it now.

3. Keeping with the food theme, I love grocery stores. I could grocery shop for hours, checking out new ingredients & imported products. I’m a weirdo; I know.

4. Even though I’m a natural red-head, I am not Irish. People don’t believe me when I say this, so I have just started lying and saying that I am. It’s easier.

5. I think my cat can understand me. He does whatever I ask him to do. It really freaks Joe out.

6. I have ridiculously sensitive skin, but am not allergic to poison ivy, oak, or sumac. I am, however, allergic to everything made by Bath and Body Works, so please don’t buy me any of their crap for Christmas anymore, K?

7. My mom is allergic to shellfish and I am terrified that I am going to be allergic one day. She grew up eating it with no problems & one day she almost died from eating clams & had to get rushed to the hospital for that epi shot thing.

8. Speaking of almost dying, after my brothers were born, my dad went to get a vasectomy. He actually *did* die from the anesthesia, and they had to resuscitate him. He saw it as a sign that he should not get the vasectomy. Five years later, I was born. Spooky, huh?

As usual, if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged. And since I think picture-less posts are no fun at all, here’s Rocco sleeping in my lap the other night:

Yarn hangover

I am sooooo tired today. Joe and I went to Baltimore for Stitches East over the weekend. We went down Saturday morning, shopped for a while, then went to Robin's blogger meetup across the street from the convention center. It was Robin, her husband, Marjorie, Heather, Joe, and myself. Several beers later, Marjorie and Heather needed to head home so I convinced Robin & her husband to walk with us to the waterfront (because it is just WRONG to go to Baltimore & not visit Inner Harbor). We had more beers, some crabs, and lots of fun. OMG, I don't think I've laughed that much in a long time. My throat still hurts from laughing! I didn't manage to take my camera out of my purse the entire weekend, but I did get some pics of my haul this morning:
Knitting Pure & Simple hoodie pattern from WEBS,
Socks that Rock, even though I SWORE I would not buy any,
Some really nice Aussie wool from a vendor I can't remember right this second,

And some of the new grapefruit scented Eucalan, also from WEBS. The Aussie wool is to make the sweater Hermione is wearing here:

I've been pretty obsessed with making it since I saw the movie, so it was such a relief to find the right color wool for it finally.
I took a Steeks class Sunday morning, but I don't think it's worth recapping here. My mommy taught me to keep my mouth shut if I don't have anything nice to say, so that's what I'm doing.

Weekend Recap

It was a pretty quiet weekend. Joe had to work, so we didn't do anything too crazy. We did go to the local fair Saturday night. I was a little put off by the $12 admission, but I wanted a pulled pork sandwich in the worst way so I was not turning back. They have a baking, quilting, sewing, knitting & crochet competition every year (which I always seem to forget about until it's too late). I was looking at this pair of blue ribbon winning socks and admiring them when I noticed the name on them said Karen C! OMG OMG OMG! Yay Karen! I actually saw more of her stuff (all with ribbons!), but I don't want to steal her blog fodder. Plus, all the items were displayed in huge chicken cages & my camera kept focusing on the chicken wire & not the knits. Ugh!
I had started my Mirepoix bodice on Monday, but the ribbing was starting to make my left eye twitch, so I decided to take a break & start on Tree Jacket. I never really liked this pattern until I saw it on Green Apples blog a few weeks ago. Hers came out so cute; I just had to make it. I ordered yarn for it, but it didn't arrive on Friday, so I just bought some Cotton Plus from AC Moore's on Saturday. The Zephyr Gals suggest Cotton Ease as a good sub, so Cotton Plus should work too.
I'm loving it so far. I needed some instant gratification BADLY after hours and hours of never-ending, never-growing ribbing & this was just the ticket.

Knitting in Advertising

Joe got home late last night. Another too dark picture:

But, we went to the mall & this huge store-blocking wall piqued my interest:

It's for a store called Martin & OSA. It looks like another version of Banana Republic. Like a grown-up American Eagle. Anyway, that chick is totally knitting in that picture! What's up with that?

Making up for last weekend

Last weekend sucked. This weekend ROCKED! I got so much done & we went to Jersey for the day on Saturday too! Joe's godmother/great aunt turned 85 last week, so we all threw her a surprise party Saturday. She is in very good shape (works out every day for 2 hours), so we weren't too concerned about her having a heart attack or anything. She is always complimenting my knitting, so I had to make her something:

I used the waffle stitch that I used in the Back to School Vest, and what I'm calling the "dunkin donuts" colorway of Sugar n Cream. We also gave her some DnD coffee & a mug to stay with the theme. She was ecstatic. She is such a great lady.

On Sunday, I did all the laundry, cleaned our bedroom, made a pie, made stuffed peppers for supper, and finished my shrug from the Fitted Knits book. All without Red Bull!

(Sorry for the crummy pic-it was getting dark). I am really loving this book. I want to make the Cozy V-neck sweater next, but I have too many other things I need to make first.

Shrug details:
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (7 balls) purchased from Needleworks during their going out of business sale. I actually bought it specifically to make a shrug like this & could never find a pattern worthy of such great yarn.
Needles: Knit Picks Options size 9
Started: Sept 16
Finished: Sept 30
Mods: Sleeve length; that's it. It's a great design. Just don't kid yourself with your measurement. Mine was 17, which was the 5th size up. I'm usually the 2nd or 3rd size in patterns, but I went with my measurement & am so glad I did.

What a great weekend. I got tons done, had fun, and even cranked out a FO!

Ridiculously Unproductive Weekend

So, I made the mistake of surfing the internet on Saturday morning. I clicked on some ad for Old Navy so I could peek at their fall knitwear. That's where I started my downward spiral. They have this scarf that I figured I could make for Joe's daughter for Christmas. All I have to do is figure out the lace pattern & I'll be all set. Yeah, right. I spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday trying to figure out that damn lace pattern, perusing stitch pattern books, making charts, testing swatches. I finally ended up going to Old Navy so I could get a close up look at it. Good thing I did. There is a knit SEVEN together in the middle of it, then those 7 stitches magically re-appear on the next row, and there's no holes there either. Luckily, I'm pretty sure I have it figured out now. Sometimes I love my obsessive nature. Sometimes I want to take it out back and beat the shit out of it. This weekend was the latter.

Sunday afternoon I took a break from the insanity & went to the Coventry farmer's market so I could see my SnB buddy Kris at her first fiber festival (well, first one as a vendor, anyway).
It was a really nice little festival, and from what I could tell, it went really well for Kris. Another SnB buddy, Paula, was there helping out with the booth & she made the most awesomest banner for the shop:

P, I know I keep going on and on about it, but I am constantly impressed with your talent & creativity. You rock!

A few FO's

I went to a baby shower this weekend for Joe's cousin (his Dad's sister's daughter, if you're curious), and I made her one of those Zodiac sleeping sacks. It might just be my standard baby gift for a while. It takes about 3 days to make, plus one day to make the chart at the bottom, screw up the duplicate stitch, rip it all out, start over at least 2 times, then finally get it right. But, if you know how to count, you can skip that last part. ;)
The new mom & dad both went to the University of Notre Dame. They loved it! The only problem I had was figuring out WTF to do with the remaining 5000 yards of this:
I also got around to blocking & getting a pic of my Back to School U-Neck Vest from Fitted Knits. Before I blocked it, I tried it on and absolutely hated it. It sat in a pile in the floor for WEEKS until yesterday. Of course, after blocking, it looks fine. Why I haven't learned this yet, I can't tell you.

And, ---AND--- Joe finally modeled his Cheezy Puffs sweater for me:

You say tomato.....

I finished this one so quick, it made MY head spin. I finshed most of it in about a week, then spent the next week trying to figure out what to do with the sleeves. I decided to go with 3/4 sleeves, but chickened out when I got to the elbow because I was terrified of running out of yarn (this yarn has been in the stash forever, so I knew I wouldn't be able to find more in the same dye lot). I ended up having enough anyway, but am too lazy to rip back & fix them, plus I really like them the way they are.

I only knitted this to get practice with fair isle, but I totally love it. Wendy Bernard is just an amazing designer. Her patterns are so simple, yet so detailed, and so basic, but always have that little special touch that make them LOOK complicated. What can I say? I'm a fan.

If anyone wants to know, I lengthened the sleeves like this: I picked up 6 stitches in the underarm, knit one plain round, decreased 2 stitches in the underarm the next round and every 5th round thereafter. When I got to 1.25 inches before my desired length, I decreased my stitches to get to a number divisible by 4, then did 8 rounds of ribbing & bound off.

Latest me-me

Stolen from Robin's blog, this one mimics the "Are You Experienced?" game I'm sure we all played as teenagers. I always won at that one; let's see how I do now. hehehehee.

Here’s what the formatting stands for:

Bold = have already tried this
Italicized = Plan to try this
Unemphasized = Have no desire to try this

• Afghan (haven't tried Afghan knitting; but have knitted an afghan)
• I-cord
• Garter stitch
• Knitting with metal wire
• Shawl (made one for my niece before I knew I had to take pictures of my knitting)
• Stockinette stitch
• Socks: top-down
• Socks: toe-up
• Knitting with camel yarn
• Mittens: Cuff-up
• Mittens: Tip-down
• Hat
• Knitting with silk
• Moebius band knitting (didn't mean to, though)
• Participating in a KAL (oh,yeah)
• Sweater
• Drop stitch patterns
• Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
• Slip stitch patterns
• Knitting with banana fiber yarn
• Domino knitting (had to google this-it means modular knitting)
• Twisted stitch patterns
• Knitting with bamboo yarn (love!)
• Two end knitting
• Charity knitting
• Knitting with soy yarn
• Cardigan (I made my mom a vest that buttoned up the front, so I'm counting that as a yes.)
• Toy/doll clothing (I made a scarf for a gingerbread man decorating contest at work. I won.)
• Knitting with circular needles
• Baby items
• Knitting with your own handspun (Quit pressuring me! I don't want to spin!)
• Slippers
• Graffiti knitting (I don't knit clothes for trees. Just gingerbread men.)
• Continental knitting (Thank GOD!)
• Designing knitted garments
• Cable stitch patterns
• Lace patterns
• Publishing a knitting book
• Scarf
• Teaching a child to knit (I helped teach my mom how to knit, so I'm counting this one. We're pretty much at that stage where I become the parent and she becomes the child, so I think I'm justified.)
• American/English knitting
• Knitting to make money(I made scarves for a craft fair and all the money went to Alex's Lemonade Stand)
• Buttonholes
• Knitting with alpaca (I love it, but it's just too warm for me)
• Fair Isle knitting (finally!)
• Norwegian knitting
• Dyeing with plant colors
• Knitting items for a wedding (don't get me started)
• Household items
• Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars (I no likey)
• Olympic knitting
• Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
• Knitting with dpns
• Holiday-related knitting
• Teaching a male how to knit
• Bobbles
• Knitting for a living
• Knitting with cotton
• Knitting smocking
• Dyeing yarn
• Steeks (so nervous about this!)
• Knitting art
• Fulling/felting
• Knitting with wool
• Textured knitting
• Kitchener BO
• Purses/bags
• Knitting with beads
• Swatching
• Long Tail CO
• Entrelac
• Knitting and purling backwards
• Machine knitting (meh. I returned it.)
• Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegating yarn
• Stuffed toys
• Knitting with cashmere
• Darning
• Jewelry
• Knitting with synthetic yarn
• Writing a pattern
• Gloves
• Intarsia
• Knitting with linen
• Knitting for preemies
• Tubular CO
• Freeform knitting (it was crochet, to be honest)
• Short rows
• Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
• Pillows
• Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine (Knitty.com)
• Rug
• Knitting on a loom
• Thrummed knitting
• Knitting a gift
• Knitting for pets
• Shrug/bolero/poncho
• Knitting with dog/cat hair (I don't know if Rocco would like this or pee on whatever I made him)
• Hair accessories
• Knitting in public (probably too much, actually)

Well, that was a fun way to spend an afternoon. Better than working, right?

Tomato Season

I got started on my Tomato over the weekend & made a LOT of progress!
Since this is now a free pattern, and I'm a free pattern ho, I just had to make it. I wanted to get practice with the scary fair-aisle, so this was a perfect way to start. I love that since I learned to knit "throwing" and then switched to continental, I can do that two-hand method easily. The only hard part is the tension, which is really hard as a tight knitter.
I also finished my vest from Fitted Knits over the weekend, but the pictures of it are just a green blob, so I'll have to get Joe to take some of me in it.

Mitred Square Source

Since I got a couple requests for the pattern for my little blankie, I figured I'd go dig up the magazine I got it out of. It was a Knit It magazine that I bought from Joann's. I have no idea where you can get this now that it's out of print, but here it is anyway:



I'm sure this is absolutely no help at all. Again, sorry.

FO: Mitred Square Blankie

Our company picnic was this weekend, so I dragged out the blanket (that has been languishing in my cedar chest for MONTHS) to give to our VP's newly adopted daughter. They were accepted as her parents before the adoption ban went into effect for Russian children, but it took FOREVER to get her. I made the blanket back in February right after I heard they got accepted, and just never wove in the ends or put the border on it. They picked her up from Russia and brought her home in June, but this would be the first time I met her, so I had to get that blanket ready. I whipped out the fray check and my darning needle and finished it just in time.
Another satisfied customer:
She loved it! She also seems to have good taste in friends, because she hung out with me all day. The VP came in this morning and said she didn't stop talking about me all weekend. [AWWWWWWW!]
When we got home, this was on my doorstep: It's for the Mirepoix bodice from the new interweave. I guess I needed a challenge? Or maybe Robin is just a bad influence! Either way, I love the colors & I think it's going to be soooooo pretty.
Sunday we went to another Yankee game where we listened to this guy scream his head off the entire time.
He has to be related to Sam Kinison. They could be brothers. Seriously. I made some progress on my other WIP's, but I think they might be disasters, so I'm not showing them until I know for sure. Whoever wrote that Teva Durham's new crochet book was a good coffee table book is starting to look really smart right now.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday, Joe!
I know I promised I wouldn't post this picture, but it is SO cute; I couldn't resist!

Jenny Simpson

No, that's not my real name, but I've been Simpsonized.
I just checked my Ravelry status & I only have 22 people in front of me today. 'Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow!' I am SO EXCITED!

Weekend Shenanigans

We went to Virginia over the weekend to see my parents & stopped off for a quick visit and to deliver Sahara to my friend Aimee. I forgot to take her picture in it, but it looked so great on her and she really loves it! Then, we went to my parents' house where I found this on their stove: I love love love home grown tomatoes. I tried to eat all of them, but I only managed 4 (Yes, that is a little pot of bacon grease behind the tomatoes. -I used to have one on my own stove because I thought everyone did- until I realized just how WRONG that is). On Sunday, we went to G Street Fabrics in Falls Church where I found these little treasures:
The green print is Marc Jacobs cotton with some sort of stretchy content (I forget what), and the white was a remnant I couldn't resist. Both are destined to be skirts.

Sahara Returns

So, I was stupid enough to show off my Sahara to my best friend a few months ago and she said she would like one too. I said, "great, what color?" She said, "same as yours. Same yarn, same everything. Just a little smaller and shorter sleeves." Um, WHAT? Knit the same exact sweater again? Well, she is my best friend.......
I think it came out better than mine! Bitch!

I'm leaving in 15 minutes to go personally deliver it to her in Virginia. Have a good weekend!

Pictures, Finally

So remember that little dress I crocheted last year that was going to be my wedding dress, but then I chickened out and bought a different one, then took a lame picture on a hanger and then never mentioned it again? Well, lookie what I wore today:



Ha! Just kidding! Here it is:

And a close up:

We also went to WEBS this weekend where I got yarn for my Back to School Vest from Fitted Knits. I also got yarn for my crocheted skirt from Teva Durham's new crochet book, Loop-d-loop Crochet. Wanna play? Join the KCAL!

(Cascade 220 Superwash, Classic Elite Star & some fun stuff)

Joe fits right in with the ladies.

No Knitting, Just a Shameless Advertisement

I have got to stop reading knit and tonic. Every time I go there, I swear it costs me 50 bucks. This week's wallet sucker was the Furminator.
It's some fancy pants pet brush that supposedly gets all your pet's 'dead fur' off of them and makes them shed less and get less furballs. I was skeptical. But, now I'm a believer! This thing is really (REALLY) awesome. But really (REALLY) expensive. Rocco actually gave me thank you kisses after I brushed him with the thing. We got at least 4 kittens' worth of fur off of him. He had us cracking up--he was turning around and around so I didn't accidentally miss any spots. He likes!