Sunday, March 23, 2014

This and that....

Worked on this and that this week. 


Finished up Joe's brown socks.  Plain plain socks.
The color is really nice though, you can't tell from
the pictures. It has flecks of gray.  I'll put them away
for Christmas.


Continue to work on the Endpaper Mitts. Not something
I can do exclusively.  I'll finish up the thumbs together when
both are done.  Just starting thumb increases on 2nd one.  I
got some size 2 16" needles that are working much better for
me than the sticks did.  More consistent stitches.













 
Also started a pair of brainless socks.  Yarn is Fiber Optic Yarn
FootNotes purchased at Ravelry a couple of years ago.  Pattern
is Tesserae Sock.  I modified the pattern a little and added ribbing
on the top.
 

I like ribbing, especially when they are for someone else. These
will be a Christmas present.   The color is really rich, and hard to
see the stitches.  I've had to pull out my magnifying glasses a few
times.


Ruth finished up another wonderful Wurm Hat. Yarn is:
She is generously giving it to Martha. I love it,don't you?
Yarn is Feederbrook Farm, and she did the picot edge.


 
 She is almost done with her Through the Loops Mystery socks.
Her  granddaughter, Moriya, wants them because they are so nice.
 

Martha made a cat toy today, which her cat could care less
about so far...LOL.  She is making Francie pattern socks for her daughter's
music teacher out of Alpaca Sox, which is 60% alpaca, 20% merino wool, 
20% nylon. It is fluffy !



She finished up a pair of socks this week out of Creatively Dyed yarn.
Pattern is Cable Rib socks by Erica Alexander.

Notice how we all seem to work our way back to socks...LOL

I guess the good thing about this winter, is I had enough socks
to wear....

Till next week...













Sunday, March 9, 2014

Really Cool Stuff

Sometimes, well most of the time, I think knitting is Really Cool.
I'm still amazed every time I turn a sock heel or kitchner stitch
a toe together....

This week I was poking around some of my favorite blogs.

Very Pink
and
 Knit Purl Hunter

I always learn some really cool tricks when I read them. Some I
can use, and some not right now.

Knit Purl Hunter has a little tutorial on making a neater
SSK stitch.  Follow the link above to check it out.

Basically, you ssk ( I slip one knit wise and one purl wise)
and when you come around to that stitch again, instead of just
knitting it, you knit it through the back loop.  I did it on the
toe of Joe's sock that I just finished, and it made a nice difference



It's hard to see in this picture because the yarn is so dark, but
trust me, it is nice.  This is the actual yarn color.

I finished up his 1st sock this week, and have a little start
on the 2nd one.....



Also working on the Really Cool Endpaper mitts pattern.
I was afraid I would not be able to figure out the thumb
directions, but I finally did get it. 

I cannot work on these exclusively, so thank goodness
I have the brainless socks going too.

Ruth made a Really Cool hat for her granddaughter.  Pattern is
Stephen West's Windschief out of Berrocco Vintage yarn.


and she's making a Wurm hat for Martha out of Feederbrook
Farm yarn.(the blue hat in progress).  She's also been working away at her
Highlander sweater sleeves....

Martha is working on a Really Cool sock
Cable Rib Socks by Erica Alexander, yarn is Creatively dyed.

The colors are lovely.  I thought, and she said, that these are Ruth colors!
She is making them to go with her recent sweater.


In other news:
I've been in a funk this week.  My fun meter is super low.  Thank
goodness there is always knitting to pull me out of it. I need spring,
I think. 

Have a Really Cool week, blog readers.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Three

Ruth, Martha and I all have different things going on this week.

One
I started the Endpaper Mitts - free pattern on Ravelry.

I love the gradient yarn some people used.  Can you see the dark blue
is going into purple?


I have wanted to make these for some time.  Gradient yarn is pricey!
I poked around on Webs (yarn.com) and found some Lang Mille
Colori Baby
that looked like it would work.  I got Valley yarns Huntington
for the plain white.


The Mille Colori is one ply, and it is a little troublesome when the white
gets wrapped around it...it is separating. But for my budget, and this project,
I think the combo is just what I wanted.  I am really wishing I used
circ needles, though.  I just didn't have any that would work well. I'm
not a fan of sticks, especially with colorwork.

Also started a pair of brainless socks for Joe. After a few attempts,
I got going.  They were too big at first. Using Size 1 needle with 72
stitches now.   Yarn is from Oak Meadow Alpaca Farm purchased
at Hemlock.  Alpaca, Wool and Nylon. I made him a pair last year and
they are wonderful.


The color is actually a rich chocolate brown.  Just turned the heel.

Two
Ruth finished up her first Wurm hat.

I said first because she plans to make more.
Notice her nice hem with the picot edging.  I got to fondle it
in person on Thursday and it is so very nice.  Yarn is Feederbrook Farm
yarn. The colors are wonderful. 

She finished up her baby sweater this week, with a matching
hat.  Yarn is Berroco Vintage. Pattern is Beyond Puerperium by Kelly Brooker

 
 The picture does not do this little sweater / hat justice.  It is really 
special when you see it in person.  Lucky Baby!!!!!

Three
Martha finished up a cute little baby sweater.

Springtime Baby Cardi, by Kaity Von Rader,  
yarn Maratona by Zegna Baruffa-Lane Borgosesia. Yarn was a gift from 
her knitting friend Ann.

So cute!!!! It looks so soft.  Lucky Baby!!!


In other news, we celebrated Tiffany's birthday last weekend and this weekend.
Why two weekends?  Last week was her birthday, but Joe was  too sick
to have company over (pneumonia) so we had a small dinner then, and had
the family over yesterday for lasagna.

Her friends got her a cake last week:


This weekend she got homemade cake from mom (me).



Mom looked so pretty in her winter cardinal sweater:


Had a nice time with Joel and Vicky.

Joe was feeling much better, thank goodness...

NO leftovers!


Here area some old pictures
she hasn't changed much

2011:

2012:


Love her to death!


Still snowing here...I really hope the summer is nice to make up for this
shitty winter!  But really, who can complain about so much knitting time!

Have a knitfull week.