January knitting

 Sometimes it's very hard to come up with a blog title,
sorry for the boring one this week. Last week I had so much
to write about, but the pictures would not come thru. This
week, not so much.
Progress on Mark's giant size 13 sock. Heel decreases
are almost done.  Hawthorne yarn from Knitpicks.
Size 2 needle
Leg is 9" long.

Pattern is a 3 stitch twist (mimicking a cable)

The yarn is really green and gray...nice

Started a baby sweater, but not far enough along to

even talk about it yet.

Remember that weird dog sweater I made...guess what?

It fits!  Meet Kya

Ruth is traveling this week, and came across some

beautiful yarn she could not resist.  It's 100% merino,

but soft like cashmere....nice!

Martha whipped up a baby sweater in some yarn that

I had leftover from a sweater years ago.

It's Schoeller Stahl Big Mexico super wash.  The pattern is Springtime Baby Cardigan by Kaity Von Rader. This sweater body she  soaked and blocked before putting on the sleeves and button band. It knits up very stiff and kind of rough. After soaking,  it moves suppley and will be very nice for a one year old... She has  one ball left and am planning to knit a hat and put a blue ball on top which matches the blue buttons. She have no idea of the sex of this baby, but the first baby was a girl and she knit the olive green and red sweater for her and the parents loved it so she thinks this will be fine.

Here is a pic of what she made the first baby:

Martha is also working on some socks.
She has a good start on the 2nd one...

KeeLee is going to be soooo lost when Joe goes back to
work tomorrow...they've been constant companions...

Some pictures of what I wanted to show you last week:
Size 1.5 needle snapped in half....really?

Too many socks to darn..no wonder I don't have many
in my drawer

Joe went fishing

Have a wonderful, knitful week. Next post will be in February already!

Fun!

After months and months of knitting, ripping and
changing colors, Martha's sock yarn sweater is done.

I think the colors are very cohesive. And beautiful.
And fun.  This pattern is Nautical Cardigan by Knit a Bit, Crochet Away blog.
This project was huge. I would have given up but she carried on.
Great job!

Ruth ripped her sweater and started a new one.

 Yarn is the Rowan Felted Tweed. The new pattern
 is Martha by Cheryl Toy. Top down raglan sleeve.


I took a lot of pictures of my knitting...and the camera would
not connect to the computer.  I did not feel like taking them
all over with the phone. The phone pics take a very long time
to get to the blog after all of the steps.

I had a picture of finished socks, which are blocking.
Started giant socks for my son-in-law.
Pictures of food prep for the week.
Pictures of the big pile of socks that need heels fixed

Oh well...I will take pictures next week...
I even got a sweater going again.

Have a wonderful week...go Steelers
(I know, a lost cause...I don't think they
can beat New England, but I can still cheer
them on).

Strayed

I strayed from the sock this week.  I managed to
get the German Short Row heel turned
today.  Now I can zoom down the foot.

The reason I strayed :  I attempted to make a
3 lb dog a sweater.  Tiffany's in-laws have a little
chowowa and they cannot find a sweater small enough.

Without the dog as a model, I had to wing it.
The ribbing with pink is the collar, and the long
ribbing is the back.  They can roll either to fit.

I'm hoping the legs are not too skinny.
I put on a wine bottle to show how it should look.

Totally weird and almost obsence...forgive me.
I hope I can show you a picture with a dog in it
at some point.

It is definitely not a work of art, but I hope
it will be functional.








Ruth is almost done with her owl mittens.
She did opposite colors on 2nd one.
So cute, and a lot of work.

In weight watchers this week we talked about
food prep for lunches so I thought I'd try it.

Cut 4 chicken breasts in 1/2 so there were 8
pieces.  Put sauce on 4 and taco seasoning
on the other 4 and baked.

Cooked up some peppers, onions, zucchini and mushrooms

Then split in 1/2 and added taco seasoning to half
and sauce to the other half

Added a little fat free cheese to each. Now I have
4 nice lunches for this week.  Cooked up 1/4 cup of
pasta for the saucy one, and I will take salsa and a
corn tortilla for the mexican one.

It was not really that time consuming since I basically
cooked the same thing and just added different flavors.

Joe went fishing today and caught a few. They made
a great dinner!

Baby it's cold outside!

Here in Western NY it is very cold today. Barrrr...
perfect weather for knitting and football...

I finished up the Aoibhinn mittens today.

The thumb is a little wonky, but will straighten out with blocking.
Not sure if I will block now, or end of season....
I want to wear them!
Cuff size 3 needles
Main part size 4 needles
Shepherd's Wool
Yarn had nice structure...would love it as a sweater.

 Started the 2nd sock.
KeeLee was interested in the picture taking process.

 I think I will concentrate on this project this week.
Wanted to start a sweater, but I did not get to it.

 Yes, she is cute!  She got a haircut this week.

 Mickey is pretty darn cute (handsome) too

 I made roast chicken for dinner...it was that kind of day.
Yummmmm!

Tiffany is making a beautiful Royal Blue
scarf for her friend Jenn.....

Her favorite stitch, K2, P1, odd # of stitches

Makes a really nice squishy fabric....Nice job Tiff!

 Ruth is working on the 2nd owl mitten, doing
reverse colorwork. LOVE this project.
Can't wait to see it all done.

Martha is working away on her sweater...she says
the end is near!  She is going to block it before she
finishes so sleeves will be the right length.
Love it!

Mickey and KeeLee wish you a warm, lots of knitting week !

Happy New Blog Year - 2017 Here we Come !!!

Happy New Year! Hard to believe the blog will
be 10 years old in a week or so...

 I finished up the Just For You Three cowl. I just
have to sew on the buttons.  Love the Yarn!
Shepards Wool worsted weight

 Color is plum. Looks like grape
purple. Hard to photograph.

 Had a whole skein of yarn left so started the
mittens from the Knitworthy 3 collection.

Called Aoibhinn.
I really have to pay attention!  Not at
all brainless. Noticed a mistake and had
to tink back 10 rows or so....zooming along again.

 Started a pair of socks on Christmas day.
Manos del Uruguay yarn.
This is an unusual color choice for me...but
I'm liking it.  Lime green, brown, and bits of blue.
Notice the pooling on the ribbing.
This is the back:

This is the front

I started on pattern and the pooling was awful.
So using this pattern.
K3, Slip 1
Knit next round

Really like it now

 My socks tend to be slouchy, so I started
with 72, went down to 68 after ribbing,
and down to 64 at heel. 
German Short row heel
I should be starting to decrease for toe soon.

 Christmas giving was all socks this year.

Didn't have time for much else with the wedding
shawls I knit over the summer.

 The family all loved them...truly.
WIN !

Tiff's boot socks

From left to right:
Mark, Tiffany, Joey and Joe.

 Mickey loves his tree...sits under it all of the time.

 My knitting goals for 2017 are:
Knit a sweater. I feel the urge to knit smaller projects,
mittens, hats, etc. But I want to get at least one sweater done.
Also, to post more notes in Project Pages on Ravelry.
This helps when trying to remember what I did!
and not buy yarn till Rhinebeck, if at all possible.

Ruth is still knitting hats, and said the current
work in progress is the last one for a while.

What a collection, huh!
All so stylish!
The current one is: The pattern is picot hem stranded snowflake hat by Kathleen Taylor. Free. The darker yarn is Dragon Brook Yarns I bought in MA near Martha's. The other yarn is my handspun. Shetland fiber I think.

Ruth's goals for this year, in her own words:
 I will finish the sweater I started before the hat marathon. I also have a pair of mittens that need to be finished. New projects? I have some other sweaters I'd like to knit. I can't really think about them now or I'll get distracted from the projects I need to finish.

 Martha finished up her son's hat and scarf.
Funky and fabulous!

She is taking a little break from the sweater...

She is making mittens for kids at school...
how sweet is that!  She has one more to make.

This is a pic of sweater she made last year...look
how cute the little boy is wearing it

Martha's 2017 goals in her own words:
My goal this year is to finish up this sweater, make a baby sweater for my knitting colleague, maybe a baby blanket, to increase my sock collection, which is getting old and splitting the heels. And make a few more shawls.....  and to keep buying yarn at a minimum since my stash is busting at the seams....!!  


Joe and I took a couple days and went to  Turning Stone casino.
I found a quiet place to  knit, listen to piano music, and have
a nice glass of wine.

 Have a wonderful 2017 and wonderful
productive knitting week !