Jackaroo

 Martha finished her Jackaroo sweater!
Turned out totally awesome!

 She says it fits great and she can wear a t-shirt underneath.
Said she's done with pink and making a blue sweater next.

 Lovely Martha!!!

Ruth is working on the button bands of her Custom Fit
sweater of her own pattern.  Bartlett yarn.  She will be
done is no time.

These sisters sure have sweater knitting down pat...I need to work on
mine.

I worked all week on Clue 2 of the Through the Loops
Mystery sock...finished up on Friday.  The new clue 3 really
got my brain in a twist but after a good nights sleep and
reading my knitting on Saturday, I figured it out. It has a few
mistakes, that are not that obvious, and I don't love them enough
to tink back...is that bad?  Working on 2nd heel now.

Joe went ice fishing yesterday and caught a bunch of
blue gills. These are the big ones:  He thinks with the warm
weather coming this week that might be his only chance to
ice fish this year.

This is where Mickey sits when I do Pilates....his own private suite
I guess....

Have a good week!!!

No Blizzard Here...

Luckily, the Jonas blizzard missed Western NY...yea!
It is cold though..damp cold...brrrrr perfect knitting weather.

This is a picture of the left Through the Loops Mystery sock
2016.  This is three repeats done out of four. That will be
done tonight, then I can start on the right sock.

 This is the back...the seed stitch is every other row
and gets tiresome, but I like the look of it.
The color is much more vibrant buttery yellow.

Finished up first lace section of Lillipilli and started second
long stripey section.

Started a sock for brainless knitting and travel knitting (no picture)

Ruth is zooming along on her sweater.. pattern is an Amy Herzog
Fit to Flatter pattern of her own design
Bartlett yarn.  Soooo nice don't you agree !

Looks like Martha is almost done with her sweater...
It's turning out great!!!!!!

Some furry friends in the back field yesterday...

coming closer to the house getting leftover beans...

And the story of the week.....
I get a lot of things from Drugstore.com  because they are cheaper
than the store and if I get enough stuff I get free shipping, so I order
enough protein and flax for smoothies to last a while.  A big box
came this week. 


Joe:  What's in that big box
Me:  Oh, that's my drugstore.com order
Joey:  Are you kidding me?   They sell yarn now ?????????

bahahahahahahah

have a great week!

First FO of 2016

 I'm excited to say I have the first Finished Object
of 2016  mom's Christmas socks. With all of the wedding
planning, everyone is getting plain socks, except maybe
my sister in law.  As you will recall, I use yarn with a lot
of nylon for mom cause she throws them in the washer.
ugh x 1000000.  Saw this yarn, her favorite green, and knew

it would be perfect for her.  And now they are done.

 Not blocked yet.

 Mom wears crocks year round...because they slip on easy and
fit her well.  Yesterday we were watching Tiffany try on wedding dresses
and she had on last years socks.  I said "nice socks"...she said thanks.
I love your socks.  I told her this year everyone was getting plain
socks..she said that's ok. This year I want blue socks. I have some green ones, and
pink ones and brown ones. I need some blue ones.  FAIL!

These green ones will fit Joe, but I don't like the color for him. The
base is more of a limey green.  If I have time, I will make him some
and mom will get two pair..... He said he would wear them. Oh well...

Got a few repeats of lace done on Lilli Pilli

And...started the  Through the Loops Mystery sock on
Friday. I have the left cuff done and right almost done.

This is more actual color.  So far so good.
She sure loves her "through the back loop"....

Ruth is working away on her sweater.
My own pattern using Amy Herzogs fit to flatter.
Bartlett yarn 2 ply wool/alpaca combo.

She thinks its taking a while, but I think she's making great progress.

Martha's own words regarding her Jackaroo sweater:
I spent a lot of time last weekend wondering if I would have enough yarn to complete the sweater. I have knit this sleeve, which is about 1/2 done on the two small balls left over from the front.  This sweater will be snug.  The pattern,  calls for icord front band but I'm going to put a real button band on (since I have enough yarn), as it will add an inch or more to the front. And I like the look better, it's flatter. She can really engineer her sweaters.
The sock is for Tom.

Its snowing like crazy here.
I cannot take pictures of snow..its the weirdest thing. I notice
on the news it does not show up either..

Burnish

Ruth finished up her Burnish Sweater this week...she just needed
buttons.

 

She wore it  yesterday and it was lovely...just lovely.
The fit is perfect.  I just kept staring at her.  I can only hope
to knit sweaters that nice one day.

Yarn is Oak Meadow Alpaca.

She started another sweater based on Burnish pattern in
Bartlett yarn.  She is going to make her own pattern....
just a bare start at this point.

In between she finished up another dishcloth in classic corner to
corner pattern...

 I have finished first set of stripes and have 2.5 repeats of
lace done on Lilli Pilli scarf.  I wish the nice green color
would show...its really kind of a nice tealy green.

Working down the foot of 2nd sock. Glad to have this sock
to work on as the scarf can get weary and its hard to do just
all of that lace...I can't concentrate that hard all of the time.

Martha has the heel turned on Tom's sock, and she is collecting
sock scraps for a sweater...

She has made a lot of progress on her Jackaroo sweater, but
waiting to start sleeves till her cold is better and she can
really concentrate...

She was mending socks today...does a much better job than I do!

Ruth and I took a class yesterday to learn Brioche - two color knitting.
I have done a few brioche projects before...simple hats and scarfs.
This was fun.  Really had to concentrate. She and I only had to rip
one time. Others in the class probably should have ripped more than they
did...I would like to make a cowl using this color method.  I will try to
do one or two rows every day to  keep it in my mind.

Joe is always thrilled when Mickey will let him hold him...

The trick is to put him down before he bites !!

He is looking out the window at the rain...rained all day here.

Happy knitting dear bloggers. Guess we are getting a lot of snow overnight
crossing my fingers we all make it to work ok...

Happy New Year - 2016

This month marks the 9th year of Knitatation...where has the time gone?
Nine years ago tomorrow, January 4th, I was laid off from my job of
25 years. I was devastated....so I started the  blog as a way to pass time and
have something to do that I felt was productive.  Luckily, I found another job
within a a few months...and thanks to Ruth and Martha for contributing
every week. It would be quite dull with just my knitting.

 Note:  If you don't have a google account, you will need to get one to
read this blog and other blogs. Note from Google:

 We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

This is the Christmas knitting for the year, minus the mittens and one
pair of socks. From left to right they went to:
Mom, Vicky, Joey, Joe, Mark, Joe and the scarf to Tiffany.

 

The boys all loved their socks.
Mark's size 13 fit !!

 Joey loved his and said they were really "bad"....

Tiffany loved her scarf and cried. She said it was her
most favorite present after her ring (more on that later).
she was crying with happiness....

Based on pattern Blue Bell Hill Scarf.
It is a garter then stockinette chevron stitch.
Plymouth Select Worsted superwash yarn.
I started with some acrylic first and it just didn't work!

I added a stripe section.
Kitchnered together...
It was fun, quick and nice...

(Mark's niece Aubrey in the pic)

Ruth and I participated in the Just for you Two 7-day
before Christmas knit-a-long...now named Bittersweet.
I used Encore bulky for mine.

It's kinda weird, but warm.

I don't have a picture of Ruth's.

On Christmas Eve, I finished up my Alice's Capelet.
Actually wore it that night.

 Cascade Eco yarn.  I altered the pattern a bit. Added button bands
as I went.  Added 6 stitches to each side.
Used Elizabeth Zimmerman buttonhole.

I had to reblock because it was way to lose at the neck. Much better now.

It's really warm and just plain nice....I'm glad I made it.

On New Years day finished up the first Christmas sock for 2016.

Plain vanilla sock. The light color is really more lime
green.  Have a small start on the 2nd.
Trekking XXL yarn.

Started Lilli Pilli this week.
Making is more scarf like. Cast on 75 stitches.
Using Madelinetosh Light yarn.

Also adding a yarn over at each end to try and keep it a
little more lose.

It is boring right now...LOL

Tiffany finished up her blanket for Chase.

It is very soft and cuddly...WIN !

Ruth is done with her sweater,except for the buttons.
Pattern: Amy Herzog's Burnish 
using Oak Meadow Alpacas cormo/alpaca blend yarn.

It is sooo very nice. The details are amazing. Ruth figured out
how to do short rows at the top of sleeve and work down so she
didn't have to sew them in.   She has become a really great sweater
knitter.

Now she's working on some dishcloths in the lull.
Apple Leaf Cloth by Petronella

This is a classic corner to corner pattern. Both are Lilly Cotton.

 Martha is coming along nicely on her sweater.  She had a lot of it
done and decided it needed to be bigger so had to rip the whole
thing and start over.
Pattern:  Jackaroo by Amy Herzog

 She just finished up the back. Knitting with two balls of
yarn switching every couple of rows to avoid pooling.

In other news:
Joe's family got together before Christmas for the first time
in many years.  Here are some pictures. I did not really
get many.

Sister Donna (caterer) and boyfriend Ed

Sister Jeanine and daughter Jenna

 Selina, boyfriend John, Angel's husband Brandon, and Meghan's son Isaac

 Don and girlfriend Krista

 Angel and Jenna

 Jeremy, Jenna, Jeremy's wife Jessica and baby Sophia

 Jeanine and Jeremy's daughter Destiny

 Melinda and Mandy

 Donna, Joe, Mindy and Jeanine

 Christmas Eve table

 few healthy snacks for Christmas Eve

 love the candles

 and the tree

 Tiffany and Mark got engaged on Christmas Eve.
Very magical !

 Joe's sister brought a cake for  Tiffany and Mark on
New Years day...to try out the cake lady.

 Mark's mom came. She is really nice.

Wedding is October 8, 2016. A lot to do in 10 months, but why wait?
I won't bore you with tons of wedding details...too much!

Looking forward to lots of blog updates and knitting adventures
this year.