I've been working on a UFO baby surprise sweater that I had started last summer. My niece is expecting a baby and her shower is in April.



The baby surprise is fun to do every once in awhile. I'd also like to knit a smaller lacier pink sweater since she's expecting a girl. The babies in that family tend to be bald, so lots of pink might save some well intentioned admirers a little embarassment.

Finally, a few photos to show what I've been knitting these past few weeks. First is a necktie that was made with a ladder type yarn, I think it was made by Berroco and even though I just made it two weeks ago, I can't remember what pattern I used. I know it took less than 100 yards of yarn--one skein.



Now that I think about it I may have found the necktie pattern at Crystal Palace. I wore it loosely tied around my neck with a white shirt and blue cardigan.

Here is Ene's scarf using Alpaca Cloud. I've knit through Chart 1, which is the edging and am ready to start Chart 2, the body.

I started Ene's scarf from Scarf Style and I love the Alpaca Cloud yarn. I wound two skeins into balls and neither had any knots or flaws of which I was aware. The yarn is so soft, it's a dream to knit. The scarf has 375 stitches so it's taking a long time to knit one row, but since it's triangular, I'm decreasing stitches on every row. By the time I get home from work I have only about an hour to knit before I'm too tired to concentrate, I hope to make some progress this weekend.

I bought five skeins of Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud, 2 of Mist, 2 of Stream and 1 of Midnight, all destined to be shawls or scarves.

I also bought 12 skeins of the Wool of the Andes, I don't have a pattern picked out for it yet, and haven't even opened the plastic bag it came in.

The felting fiasco I was mentioned in the last post was in reference to the Gansey from a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, I haven't really recovered from that mistake.

After the felting fiasco, I needed some immediate gratification and bought a skein of ladder type yarn to knit a tie--bought it Saturday, finished it Sunday. I like it and wore it with a white blouse to work. Since then I've been working on the cabled turtleneck, so close yet so far away because I ordered some of the knitpicks yarn everyone's talking about, and it came in the mail today. After winding two of the skeins of Alpaca Cloud into balls, I cast on for Ene's scarf from Scarf Style by Pam Allen. Some day when I get home before dark I will have photos.

I really should show some discipline though and finish that turtleneck...

Okay, I've recovered from yesterday's mishap. I did actually wear the sweater for about 5 minutes before it went in the washer. I haven't ordered any yarn yet because I can't make up my mind about what I want to knit. For now, I'm working on the maroon cabled turtleneck that I started last winter. I think I can be trusted with washing that one--it's 75% acrylic.

Remember that Gansey that I posted about a few weeks ago? Well, it's had a very tragic accident. I had it completely finished, put it through the washer for the slight felting that's called for in the directions, but it was still too large. So, I put it through again, this time with hot water and let it agitate longer--BIG MISTAKE!!!! It's now small enough to fit a small child.

I think I'll go order some more yarn to console myself.

Perfect knitting weather today--as soon as I get my housework done. This afternoon we are expecting blizzard conditions with 40 mph winds. Living 4 miles in from Lake Huron, we are also getting some bonus lake effect snow. The best thing about it is that it's the weekend, I don't have to go anywhere!

Poor St. Francis...



I guess I should have knit him a sweater, too.

My mitten is now wound into two balls of yarn, it was just a bit too snug. That's okay though, Knitting in Estonia came in the mail today and I can try a different pattern.

Working at a seasonal job has a lot of advantages, but the biggest disadvantage is that I don't feel like knitting at night. So, instead I go internet shopping. Yesterday I ordered Nanette's Stranded Knitting book. Maybe I should read it before I start my next mitten. ;-)

The body of the Old Way Gansey is almost completed, I am shaping the neck and ready to start the first sleeve.

In the meantime, I was seduced by a Latvian mitten. Actually, I was curious as to how to make the braid. So I searched through pattern books and magazines until I found Latvian Refinement in Knitter's Winter 1997. My mitten is a conglomeration of a few patterns but I'm using the chart in Knitter's. The braid is from a sock pattern in Folk Socks



Initially, I didn't think there was enough contrast between the gray and the purple (Lavold's Silky Tweed) because of the tweed. Now that I see it in the daylight, I'm pleased with it. I was madly knitting these because it is downright frigid and I didn't think I had any mittens, but in cleaning out the coat closet today, I found a pair of felted wool mittens I made last winter and had forgotten about.

This is the Old Way Gansey from IK Winter 04. It's knit in the round and I'm about 4 inches from finishing the body. I had to run to Mary Maxim yesterday (yes, Mary Maxim does carry a limited amount of wool yarn) to buy another ball of Brown Sheep Nature Spun, because it looks like 5 skeins isn't enough. I'm hoping when it's finished it will fit me, it's knit a little large then run through the washer two times.

I am already thinking about knitting my next project--Latvian mittens. I almost ordered a pattern book, but I found a mitten pattern in an old issue of Knitter's Magazine. I bought Silky Wool in purple and gray and will do a swatch to see if it's suitable. The pattern calls for 00 needles, but the smallest I have is 0.

We're back from Florida. Wow what a long drive that was!
I started and almost finished one sock while I was gone. Now, I've started the Old Way Gansey from IK Winter 2004. Tomorrow will be my knitting marathon while DH goes to his brother's house to watch football all day.

This is the Backyard Leaves scarf from Scarf Style


This is made with a sport weight acrylic yarn. I used one less repeat of the pattern because I wasn't sure if I would have enough yarn. Still, it's long enough--about 72 inches.

I should look back in my archives and see what knitting resolutions I made and didn't keep, then I won't have to think of any new ones.

I finished the Backyard Leaves scarf from the Scarf Style book. I don't like the way the two strips are joined together, but I'm going to have to live with it. If the lighting had been better today I would have posted a photo.

Tomorrow we leave for Florida for two weeks--I have 12 hours to decide what project I will take with me.

Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller is a terrific book for lace knitting. I received mine yesterday and it is loaded with lace patterns, projects and general information. I ordered mine through Sandy Terp at Moonrise, but it can also be ordered through the author in the UK.

Finally, the finished Cherry Blossom Shawl...



I haven't pinned it down yet. I don't have blocking wires or anything that I could use to make a perfect circle so I hope it doesn't turn out too lopsided. I'm relieved that it is finished, but I am somewhat disappointed in that the outer edges seem too tight to stretch out the way it should. Maybe after I work on it, it will be okay.

I've been trying to find the right scarf pattern for my MIL and it seems to be more work than I'm willing to put into it. Unless I find something soon, I won't have time to make it anyway. There are a number of other projects I would like to make. The Tilted Jacket in the Winter 04 IK is intriguing. I would need 2000 yards of yarn though, but I don't have that much of one color in my stash--and I really want to use up some of my stash. I guess I'll spend the afternoon deciding what I would love to knit next.

I bought some variegated sock yarn to make a scarf for my DS girlfriend, but I didn't like the looks of it so I ripped it out. Now I'm thinking about making a pair of socks with it. I haven't made any socks for a couple of years. I just joined a sock knitalong and am hoping to hear from some knitters who have knit pretty socks with variegated yarn. I don't want a boring stockinette sock or I probably won't finish it.

On another note, my three sisters and I took the train to Chicago Friday and returned Saturday night. We didn't have enough time to do the things we wanted to do and since I'm the only knitter we didn't go to any yarn shops--not that I need any more yarn anyway.

Knitter's Mag Winter 04 is supposed to be in the mail. I saw a photo of a lace scarf on their website that I hope will be a future knitting project--maybe the scarf I wanted to make for my MIL. If I'm going to make any Christmas presents, I will have to set aside everything I'm working on now or it won't be done in time.

Progress!


Finally, picked up the Cherry Blossom shawl again and have started on the edging. There is about 12 inches completed with a lot more to do. I should know better than put myself on a schedule to complete a project, I never get them done according to plan.

I'm doing some decluttering and I need a better system for organzing my knitting magazines. Right now they are in piles on the book shelf and I flip through them whenever I'm looking for a pattern. Because there are so many of them, I'm thinking about taking the oldest ones and putting them in a box in the closet. If I don't use them after one year then I will either sell them or give them away. My sister is a beginner knitter and I think she might like my old Family Circle Easy Knitting magazines.

I'm still working on my two shawls and haven't started any new projects. I'm starting to get itchy fingers though. Next month my three sisters and me are going to Chicago and I think I've talked them into going to a yarn store. I'll need to do a little research to find one that isn't too pricey and also has a good selection of books.

If you're still undecided about who to vote for in the Presidential election, Peaches has recently announced her candidacy. I can't imagine we'll ever have a better candidate to represent our fiber interests.

I have to confess, I've been reading rather than knitting. Well, I've been knitting a little, but not enough to show any progress. I just came back from the library with two more books, so it looks like the shawl and all my other projects waiting to be finished or started will have to wait a little longer

This is an unfinished sweater from last winter, it's the one that I really don't like the color. It's so close to completion that I really want to finish it--and who knows I might actually wear it. BUT there's one little problem...

This is a photo of the two sleeves side by side. As you can see I did my increases differently on each sleeve. The pattern didn't give very clear instructions about how to do the increases, and apparently I didn't think to look at the finished sleeve to see what I did. There are only 4 or 5 inches to rip out so I might as well get it over with.