Passion For Knitting

Gorgeous Malabrigo Rastita and fun new socks!

2011-08-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

As many knitters know, Malabrigo yarn is the one of the most beautiful and soft yarns made and I absolutely love to knit with it. The colors are so rich and luscious, which is a feast for your eyes while working with it, yet I think the warm, softness of the yarn is what I love the most about Malabrigo. I recently was sent some lovely samples from Uruguay of a new line of yarns in production by Malabrigo. The new yarn will be named Rastita, and is a sport-weight version of their Rasta yarn (bulky-weight), which came out sometime in the last year. The samples I received were variegated with short bursts of deep jewel tones. The yarn seems to be a single ply, yet it holds together well and was, as usual, a dream to knit with. Since I've been a lace shawl knitting binge, I researched my shawl patterns and found what I thought was the perfect shawl pattern to showcase Rastita. May I present "Kudzu Shawlette" by Rachel Henry:

This shawl is a wonderful shape and it drapes really nicely around one's shoulders. I love the design and light lace and texture of this shawl and found that it worked very well with the variegated Rastita.

I've got 2 more skeins, one in green tones and another in golds and browns. They will be knit up soon so keep an eye out here for some more Malabrigo Rastita eye candy.

Also, off the needles recently were a pair of really cool socks! I am an avid sock knitter (and teacher), but I put down my sock knitting for a while to knit shawls. When I saw the pattern Double Heelix on Knitty.com, I knew I had to have these socks. They are knit from the heel towards the toe and then stitches are picked up to knit the leg. The heel is knit with 2 colors chasing each other in a "double heelix" and it is such an interesting technique. It is not difficult, as the designer made a great video to get you started, but it is a bit tedious and I found myself spending lots of time untangling yarn as you have 4 different strand of yarn to work with! All in all, the finished socks were definitely worth the effort. I love them and they fit me great! I used some leftover yarn from my aforementioned shawl knitting: Malabrigo Sock in Ravelry Red and some Cascade Heritage yarn in grey. How do you like them? I dare you to make a pair...

Off the Needles

2011-07-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

As many of you know I've been struck by the unemployment plague that has been affecting our country, but I, being an obsessed knitter, am making very good use of my time, while not searching the internets for my future career, of course. If only a career in knitting could provide me with health insurance benefits. Oh, wouldn't that be nice?

My lace shawl knitting group class is this Saturday and we will be knitting the lovely Ishbel shawl designed by Ysolda Teague. I knit mine up in Noro Silk Garden Sock and am so pleased with the way the colors emerged in this pattern. I usually knit lace with a solid or semi-solid colored yarn so the lace pattern doesn't have to complete with the yarn, but in this case I think the yarn and lace pattern work really well together.

Last February at Stitches West, the generous folks at Malabrigo (thank you Antonio) gave me a lovely sample of Dos yarn. It is a beautiful shade of teal in a sock weight merino. I decided to knit a cozy for my new Kindle with it. The yarn is so soft and has a wonderful twist that makes for great stitch definition. My Kindle is very pleased, indeed!

Not long ago, a new yarn store opened in Sebastopol called Yarnitudes. I was most excited about it because the store was going to not only cater to knitters, but to spinners as well. They sell all kinds of fiber and spinning supplies which is something Sonoma County has had a need for. On a recent trip to the store on a mission to find some new colors of Malabrigo Sock yarn, I found only one skein that had to come home with me. Lately, I've been using this yarn to knit up lace shawls, but this bright pink skein screamed "socks" much more that "shawl" to me. I hadn't knit a pair of socks in quite some time and was dieing to try one of Cookie A's intricate patterns.

Here is my pair of hot pink (Light of Love colorway) Kai Mei socks:

Now, back to my lace shawl knitting, I have been working my way through Romi Hill's "7 Small Shawls" ebook of patterns. I've recently finished two very lovely pieces. Rosemary writes a heck of a pattern, I must say. I have really enjoyed knitting these shawls, and look forward to knitting many more.

Here is Merope, knit up in a new Valley Yarn called Charlemont:

And last, but certainly not least, is my favorite of all, is my Jack White Taygete, knit up in Ravelry Red Malabrigo Sock and Cascade Heritage in Black. I cannot wait until the weather allows me to wear these new shawls.

Lace, lace, and more lace...

2011-06-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

A few summers ago, I was fortunate enough to travel to Portland, Oregon, to attend Sock Summit with my friend, Christine. This was my first traveling knit adventure and we had a grand time. At the time, sock knitting was my knitting of choice. I still love sock knitting, but after overfilling 2 drawers with socks, I thought it was time to face another challenge. While in Portland, we only had time to visit one yarn store, Knit Purl, which is downtown, not far from one of the famous Powell's Books. It is a great shop, full of gorgeous yarns, very friendly help, and lots of beautiful sample pieces. I found and fell in love with a lovely green lacy scarf in the back of the store hanging by the Malabrigo Lace. The pattern is from "Victorian Lace Today", which was on my bookshelf, yet I hadn't knit anything in it yet.

After 2 years of coveting the scarf, I have finally cast on and knit my own "Scarf with French Trellis Border from Weldon's 1890 and Bramble Leaf Center" by Jane Sowerby. It was such a satisfying knit, full of techniques and lace patterns all new to me. Here she is in Malabrigo Lace:

Thus began my lace knitting obsession. I was hooked. Sock knitting was put on hold for many months. Next, I knit the Swallowtail shawl, also in Malabrigo, sock weight this time. Malabrigo Sock is definitely my go-to yarn for shawl knitting. It is so nice to knit with and makes a gorgeous finished shawl.

I had purchased Romi Hill's "7 Small Shawls" ebook and really wanted to get started knitting all the shawls within. I decided to start with "Maia" in Malabrigo Sock in the familiar Lettuce colorway.

How about a cowl in Malabrigo lace? This one is Vent d'est vent d'ouest by Marie Adeline Boyer. This pattern is so much easier than it appears. It is so buttery soft and warm.

I was having so much fun with my lace knitting that I decided to ask some friends to come over and knit some shawls with me. There are 11 of us in the group; some new lace knitters and some life long knitters. It really is a nice mix and we have a fabulous time. Here a few of the ladies modeling our first knit a long shawl, the Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark.

We started a Maia knit-a-long last month. I knit mine with bare yarn which I then later dyed with Kool Aid Tropical Punch. Isn't the color so vivid and bright?

I, also, knit a few Stephen West shawls. I had been hearing so much about them and how addicting they are to knit that I figured it was time I tried a few. I knit the Boneyard Shawl (above) first with some Araucania Ranco. I put a few beads in the garter border to add some interest.

Next was the ever-so-popular Daybreak Shawl in Cascade Heritage and Lang Yarns Jawoll Magic. Doesn't it look like a Manta Ray?

I also did a little Mystery Shawl knitting. Wendy knits Summer Mystery Shawlette pattern was released little by little, every few days until the pattern was complete. It was fun blindly following the pattern, not knowing what your finished shawl was going to look like, yet watching the design progress. I used Cascade Heritage for this.

So in a year of uncertainty and major life changes, I have once again found comfort and peace in my knitting and my knitting circle. Thank God for knitting. And now if you'll excuse me I've got some lace knitting to do....

The Great American Afghan

2011-02-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

In January of 2010, my local yarn store, Cast Away, had a sample of Knitter's Magazine's Great American Afghan and after seeing the beautiful squares, I decided that I would like to make one for my home. I usually always put a lot of thought into my knitting projects and like to do my research before casting on. My go-to place for any knitting project or pattern info is Ravelry. Upon going there, I found many photos of other finished Great American Afghans, as well as yarn suggestions and notes. I wanted to make the best looking afghan with as few colors as possible. This afghan has a lot going on with 25 different textured squares designed by 25 different designers and I thought that too many colors would make the afghan look too busy.

I went to Cast Away and looked over the big wall of Cascade 220 wool. I knew I wanted teal to be one of my colors. I found the perfect shade of teal, called Como Blue. The Duck's Egg Blue seemed like a nice complementary color. I rounded it out with Alki Beach and Natural. Then I chose which squares would be made with which colors based upon the texture and theme of the square. I soon cast on my first square, the SOCKS square, which as it turned out was the most labor intensive. I am a sock knitting teacher so I thought it only right it would start here:

Yes, that is a mini-pair of fair-isle socks.

I found that I really loved the process of knitting so many different, interesting squares. Each employed unique stitch patterns that I found both challenging and rewarding to knit. Several of them used entrelac techniques and were so lovely:

Some of the squares were inspired by nature like these:

(the color is not very true here)

No afghan would be complete with out some cables:

This one was a sampler of sorts.

These squares explored some really interesting techniques:

This one uses intarsia knitting for the tan knotted bits.

I love the crazy geometrics here:

Here's a long icord made into chains on the top and bottom.

And this was my final square. It was worked from the outside edge into the center. I think it is perhaps the most lovely.

I absolutely loved knitting this project. It was a wonderful year of knitting and I am so pleased with the results. If you'd like to see the rest of the squares that make up my GAA, you can see them over on my Ravelry projects page. You do have to be a Ravelry member to see my page.

Sock Club at Cast Away

2010-11-20T18:47:00.000-08:00

Showing off the goods

As you may have guessed, I love to knit socks. Knitting socks is what pulled me back into knitting in a way I never knew was possible. When my LYS, Cast Away in Santa Rosa, CA opened two years ago and was looking for knitting teachers, I thought sock knitting was something I knew inside and out and would love to teach. I've been teaching for 2 years now and I love it. In March of this year, we formed a Sock Club at Cast Away. I chose patterns and yarn for us to knit gorgeous socks of all different sorts: toe-up, top-down, 2-at-a-time, entrelac, guernsey, and colorwork. We have had a great time getting together every other month to knit socks and to support and cheer each other on.

Diana and Christine

Fancy Feet???


Ladies of 2010 Sock Club

Since March we have knit 4 pairs of socks and are now working on our 5th pair.


Our first pair: Seaweed Socks-Toe Up in Malabrigo Sock

2nd pair: Pomotomas Socks in Shibui Sock yarn

3rd pair: Entrelac Socks in Noro Kureyon Sock

4th pair: Arch-Shaped Stockings in St. Denis Nordique

5th pair: Guernsey Holiday Socks in Cascade Heritage

Knitting with cashmere...

2009-10-22T00:11:00.000-07:00

is the best knitting I've ever had! I stitched up this "Pretty Thing" with some lovely Jade Sapphire Cashmere this week. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee designed this cowl and I've been dieing to get my hands on the pattern, which she just released after months of anticipation from her many blog readers. It's a very quick knit which doesn't use much yarn at all, and the lace pattern is very easy to knit. I think I've found my "go to" pattern for quick gift knits.

Now, I don't have a dog, but I know that those of you who do would love to have a nice cozy wool sweater to put on your puppy to keep him warm this winter, wouldn't you? I will be teaching how to knit a sweater for your dog at Cast Away on November 1st and 8th. I knit up this green mock cable sweater for a small dog, but I've got a pattern that can be knit up in several sizes for bigger pups, too. The Fiber Trends pattern also has 2 other stitch patterns that can be used instead of the mock cable.
Come take a class with me, your dog will love you for it!

2009-04-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

Knitting has become more than a passion for me lately. I've branched out from just knitting my own projects to teaching, as I mentioned in my earlier post. I've also done some sample knitting for Melissa Leapman, designer for Knit 'N Style and author of numerous knitting and crochet instruction books. In April I crocheted a jacket in silk yarn that will be in Knit 'N Style this fall. It was a nice simple pattern and I can't wait to see it in the magazine! Melissa is great to work with and I really enjoyed the whole process. Here's a sneak peak:

Melissa has asked me to knit a jacket for her and the yarn just arrived from Cascade yesterday so I'll be casting on this week. This one will be denim blue in bulky yarn.

On another note, sock knitting is what I love to do and Cookie A, sock designer extraordinaire, asked me to participate in a test knit for a gorgeous cable twist sock this past week. This was my first time doing a test knit and found the process to be quite interesting and challenging. The sock had to be done in 6 days and was quite a complex pattern. Fortunately, I knit slower than many of the participants so the pattern revisions all happened before I knit to that place in the pattern. I knit fast and furiously all day yesterday to get the right sock done and it came out great! I can't post a photo until May 1st and hopefully by then I'll have a pair done!

Since January I have completed a few projects and below are photos of most of what I've been up to for the last few months:

The Sipalu bag from KnitPicks. This was a kit full of beautiful shades of blue and green, done in fair-isle knitting.

These are Through The Loop mystery socks that I knit one clue at time. A very nice pattern, knit in Berocco Ultra Fine Alpaca.

The Inside-Outside scarf from "Knit One Below", knit in Noro Kureyon. I taught a class for this scarf and found it a bit challenging to teach.

The Swallow Tail Scarf by Evelyn Clark, knit in Noro Kureyon Sock, with beads where the nupps would be in the lily of the valley lace.

My favorite: the Fake-A-Gamo bag! I just love it for the spring. Knit with Sugar and Cream and Arucania cotton. Lots of fun to knit!

These are Cookie A's Twisted Flower socks knit in Cascade Heritage sock yarn. Another fun and challenging pattern!

Finally, this is the circular shrug, knit with Caron Simply Soft Shadows.

Lots of fun projects finished and several more on the needles now: Little Blue Sweater, Turkish Heels and Bosnian Toes, Widdershins toe up socks, Cookie A's left sock test knit, Be Sweet diagonal scarf, and the sample jacket for Melissa. I guess I better get back to knitting.......

New Spring Classes at Cast Away

2009-04-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

Last December I began teaching knitting at a new LYS that opened in historic Railroad Square in Santa Rosa, Castaway. I love teaching and have had a fabulous bunch of students. I started teaching socks, which is my preferred project of choice, but I am branching out and teaching some other projects this spring.

First up is the Be Sweet Diagonal Scarf. It is a nice airy spring scarf done with large needles and fine lacy boucle yarn. Although it can be done in the yarn of your choice, my sample is actually going to be done in Noro Kureyon Sock. This photo is of Be Sweet's Mohair Boucle. The class is two Mondays, April 27th and May 4th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Cost is $40 plus cost of materials.

In May, I'll be teaching Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket. This jacket is really fun and interesting to knit, all in garter stitch with strategically placed increases and decreases for shaping. This class will be taught on Sundays, May 17th and 24th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. This class is also $40 plus materials.

Please come join me for some knitting! Hope to see you there. Castaway is located at 111 Fourth Street in Santa Rosa. (707) 546-yarn.

Wanna see some knitting?

2009-01-30T17:37:00.000-08:00

I know, I am a poor blogger... I wish I could do better. Although I am on my Mac quite a lot of the time, I really do spend most of my leisure time knitting. Therefore, less time for blogging. I do like to share my knitting pics so I will try to make more of an effort to stay current. Okay, here goes...these are my latest endeavors:

A pillow for our bed, twin trees on one side, the Tower Eiffel on the other.

Hooray for me gloves for Dillon:

Demo socks for my knitting classes:

A colorwork bag from Knitpicks (not quite finished, but almost):

Cat Bordhi's Coriolis Socks in Jitterbug and a Mystery KAL sock in Lisa Souza Sock!:

And finally these two are still a work in progress:
Darren and Dillon (1992 and 2009)

An awesome new yarn store in town...

2009-01-30T17:01:00.000-08:00

(and I'm teaching sock knitting in it!)

There is finally a wonderfully charming yarn store in downtown Santa Rosa. Cast Away opened at the end of November in Railroad Square and its owner, Justine and her daughter, Cleo, have really outdone themselves. The shop is in a great location with a big city feel inside. I love the brick walls, the gorgeous lamp shades hanging from the tall ceilings, the loft for teaching and knit nights, and even live music on occasion. There are various antique chairs and couches for knitting on and hot water and loose tea for sipping on. Justine has a wonderful selection of yarn, all displayed in very creative ways. She is always moving things around, making room for all the new stock and everytime I shop there is something new to tempt me.

Cast Away has several knitting classes going at all times. Scarfs, hats, mittens, felting, and socks are just a few that I know of. I was asked if I wanted to teach and I so far have been teaching sock knitting. I absolutely love it! I so enjoy sharing with others what I have learned, as I have immersed myself in knitting, eager to learn all I can about the craft. I have educated myself with books, DVDs, podcasts and weblogs and websites on knitting. There is such a wealth of knowledge to be had! I am eager to teach some other classes, as well as socks, and I am putting together some ideas for some project classes. I hope to see some of you in the yarn store because I know you're going to love it as I do. And come have some fun and take a knitting class!

A Nice Summer Sweater

2008-09-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

This is the Lara Pinwheel Sweater. It is knit for the most part in a circle and then a crochet border and cuffs are added. I used a nice cotton yarn called Lara by Elann. The pattern is free on the Elann web site.

A Beautiful Bag

2008-09-13T22:38:00.001-07:00

My new knitting friend Signe was so kind and shared some of her stash with me. I love the colors in this wool Tahki yarn and I found this cool pattern for a small felted tote bag that was perfect for it. Ravelry to the rescue again. I searched for other knitter's projects with this yarn and found this pattern. I use it often to tote around my current knitting project.

Booga Bag
Originally uploaded by Dawna R

Made with Leftovers

2008-09-13T22:36:00.001-07:00

This a bottle sock made with Lisa Souza sock leftover from socks made earlier this year. I walk around Spring Lake often and I made this so I wouldn't have to carry my water in my hand for the entire walk. It's a great quick and easy project.

Bottle Sock
Originally uploaded by Dawna R

Blue Heron Clapotis

2008-09-13T22:32:00.001-07:00

Blue Heron Clapotis
Originally uploaded by Dawna R

This summer Muench yarns and Knitterly had a wonderful warehouse sale in Petaluma, CA. They had many gorgeous yarns for 50% off. This was the first yarn sale of this kind I had ever been to and I was surprised to find so many treasures. My favorite find was this Blue Heron Seed yarn. I had been wanting to make a Clapotis and this yarn seemed to be the perfect fit, especially for summer knitting. I cast on and have knit most of it and am so pleased with the way it is knitting up. I can't wait to finish it and wear it.

Flight of the Conchords filming again in NYC

2008-09-13T09:10:00.001-07:00

smittten
Originally uploaded by Errrriiiiiikkkk

I found this photo of the boys on Flickr and just had to share. Don't you just love Bret's shirt? Can't wait for the new season!

Lots of Finished Projects!

2008-05-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted since November 2007! I have been keeping up over at Ravelry, and it feels kind of redundant posting here also. But, alas, I know it isn't because not all my blog readers are on Ravelry.

I have been quite busy and have managed to complete quite a few projects. Here are the highlights:
This is the very popular Hemlock Ring Throw that Jared of Brooklyn Tweed designed by taking a vintage doily pattern and putting his own spin on it with large needles and worsted weight yarn. I knit this while doing a Ready Set Knit KAL with Pixie and Kathy over at WEBS yarn store. I really enjoyed this pattern and found the repeats very easy to memorize.

I also knit this bag, also a Ready Set Knit KAL:

It was a fun quick knit, using bulky alpaca yarn. The alpaca is so very soft. I use this as my everyday purse now.

I knit my fourth pair of Felted Clogs for Bob, my Mother-in-laws husband. My mother-in-law, Pat, and Bob admired my felted clogs and asked for some so I happily knit some up. I used Patons Classic Wool for these in a nice dusty blue:

I presented them to him unfelted so that he could take them home and have Pat felt them, as we didn't have time to do it while we were all together. Long distance over the cell phones we got 'em done.

Perhaps, my biggest project to date, as far as time spent knitting, frogging, reknitting, refiguring after a gauge "discrepancy", is this lovely Kauni sweater, that I wrote about last fall. I, along with many other Kauni fans, somehow talked Kathy at WEBS into bringing some of this colorful yarn in from across the pond. I think it turned out to be a real headache for Kathy and Steve at WEBS because the yarn came in in all different put-ups. I, however, am very grateful for the yarn because I love my sweater and learned so much from constructing it.

The weather has not been cool enough to wear it yet, but it is blocked and ready to wear as soon as it is. That's not all, but I will post more later.

Victorian Lace Shawl and more socks!

2007-11-25T22:27:00.000-08:00

I spent the last few weeks working on this great lace shawl. It worked up really fast in

Elann Peruvian Uros Aran yarn using six different sized needles. The lace patterns were very easy to memorize and fun to knit. This pattern (free from the website) was hard to understand so I had to find some help on the "ingernet". There is a Yahoo group KAL for this shawl that offers lots of charts and pattern rewrites. This was a tremendous help for me.

After finishing the shawl my fingers were itching to start some socks. I decided to work on some from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters. This book demonstrates several alternative sock architectures and is full of patterns and great pictures. It is a beautiful book. I read the book and decided to start from the beginning and make the first two learning socks to get the gist of these alternative sock construction methods. First I knit up the Little Sky Sock, and then I knit a pair the of Little Coriolis. I used some Kool Aid dyed yarn in bright green that was perfect for learning socks. Cat's patterns are well written and easy to follow.

This is the Little Sky Sock:

And these are the Little Coriolis Socks:

Today I cast on Bartholomew's Tantalizing Socks, which were the first full sized socks in the book that use the Sky Architecture. I am using another yarn that I dyed from Kool Aid in a varigated fashion. I am pleased with the way the yarn is knitting up and the pattern is definitely different from any other I've knitted. Here is the cuff and beginning of the leg.

Here's my finished Huggable Hedgehog!

2007-11-05T16:45:00.001-08:00

I gave my hedgehog a face and now she has a home in my sitting/knitting room on the futon. I'm sure soon enough I'll be making some friends for her.

For the last few months I've been working on the Sweater Sampler from The Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee and yesterday I finished it up. I highly recommend this for all knitters. I learned so many techniques for sweater knitting that can be used in many other knitting projects. Here are pictures of all the techniques I learned:

There are several kinds of ribbing, striping, two color knitting, an afterthought pocket, a sweatshirt pouch pocket, a belt, a lacing cord, a placket, four types of ways to finish the sweater
neckline, increasing, decreasing, among other things.

Is this the cutest thing you've ever seen or what?

2007-10-30T19:59:00.001-07:00

Meet the latest addition to our family! This is our huggable hedgehog. Actually, she is not quite finished yet. I felted her last night and she needs to dry for a few days before she gets her face and a final stuffing. This was a fun little project. This is what she looked like before she went in the wash:
And this was her backside:

I, also, finished my Tilted Duster last weekend. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I fits me great and is very warm and cozy, just in time for these chilly mornings. As I mentioned before, I hadn't knit a nice wool sweater before and I am so glad I got the courage to try this one. I learned so much from the KAL at WEBS. Now I feel confidant that I could tackle another sweater project. (And, of course, I do have a few in mind...)

I made a pair of Thuja socks in the Magic Stripes Lumberjack colorway for one of my sons. I like the way this pattern looks in the stripes, and find it to be quite a masculine pattern.

I am currently finishing up the Sweater Sampler, which is great for learning so many sweater-making techniques. After it is done, I will settle on a sweater pattern to try (I'm thinking of an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern or perhaps one from the Sweater Sampler book) and also have the Elann Uros Aran to make the Victorian Lace Shawl. Ahhh, so many patterns, so little time.

It has been an exhausting, eventful week (or two)!

2007-10-18T17:53:00.001-07:00

Last August 31st, my husband, Dennis, was driving home from work on a Friday afternoon, the start of Labor Day weekend. Of course, traffic was heavy, as it was Friday, and a Ford Explorer decided to turn into Dennis' truck. Thank God, Dennis saw him coming and tried to avoid him as best he could, but the Ford did manage to hit our Toyota at the front of the door and push Dennis off the road into a pole which damaged the other side. Fortunately, the truck still drives, but the door does not seal on the top edge. Well, the other driver does not have insurance. He is a very remorseful man, however, and wanted to pay for our damages, until he found out the estimate for repairs was over $3,700! Our truck is 18 years old, but only had 69,000 miles on it and we've never had any major problems with it. Anyway, long story short, we filed a claim with Allstate (who were so nice) for uninsured motorists and received almost $3,500 for the truck. Here is what the smooshed truck looked like:

We began looking on Craig's list for a replacement truck for Dennis and within a week we found this beauty:

Doesn't it look familiar? It's actually 5 years younger that our old truck, and has all the extras on it, that the old truck didn't have. A/C, sunroof, bucket seats with perfect upholstry, a bed liner and cover, power windows and locks, and only 30,000 miles on a factory installed motor, which replaced the original motor about 7 years ago. It's a great little truck and Dennis is very pleased with it. We were so blessed to find it. The couple we bought it from were the nicest people, even served us ice cream while we filled out the paperwork and went to the DMV with us.

The same day we bought the new Toyota truck, Dennis went to his Tuesday night bowling league, even though he was tired from running around trying to get the new truck. He almost didn't go, but boy, is he glad he did. He ended up bowling a 300! His first 300! His league gave him $100 and a ring for that too. That's his score on the line that starts DJR.

I have managed to get some knitting done. I'm making some progress on the Tilted Duster, in fact, I hope to finished the collar tonight. Then I've just got to sew in the sleeves and do and edging around the bottom so it won't curl. I'm really pleased with this sweater and have gotten some really great tips from Pixie over at the WEBS yarn store in their KAL.

I also started this sock. It is the Thuga pattern from Knitty. I'm using some Lion Brand Magic Stripes in a lumberjack colorway from my stash. I think these will be for my son, Dillon, who is living in Seattle now and will definitely need some warm socks for up there.

A while back, I blogged about the Kauni yarn and sweater I'd like to make. I've been trying to get Kathy and Steve Elkins over at WEBS to bring in some Kauni from Europe. I've posted over at Ravelry in the WEBS group to see how many people would be interested in buying the yarn from WEBS and there has been a great response. I hope that we can make it happen. I found some great photos of the yarn and a few gorgeous sweaters that have been created with it. Aren't they lovely?

This sweater in progress in from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions and is the Kauni SSSSweater. Isn't that a great design?
This one is a Damask Kauni from Passing down Crazy. I so want to make both of these. If this yarn interests you go over to WEBS and let them know.

Well, I think that's enough for now. Thanks for stopping by.

Finally a pair of Coriolis and a Mini-Sock!

2007-10-11T15:52:00.001-07:00

I finally finished my pair of Coriolis socks. I LOVE them! They fit like a dream. They were fun to knit up in two strands of Trekking pro natura yarn. Aren't the colors great? Last night for fun, I whipped up this Mini-Sock, using size 1 needles and KnitPicks kool aid dyed fingering yarn. It was quite tedious to knit such a small thing, but I thought it came out quite cute.
Now that the socks are done, I plan on knitting only on the Tilted Duster so I can wear it soon. The weather here is cooling down quickly. After the Tilted Duster, more socks (I've so many patterns I want to knit) and back to the sweater sampler, after which I'd like to try another sweater. I have a few in mind such as the Kauni mentioned below or maybe an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern. Hmm, so many patterns, so little time.

Fixed and Finished Coriolis, Cool Little Lamp, and I'm feeling a little Martha

2007-10-04T19:49:00.001-07:00

Back a few posts ago, I posted a picture of an almost finished Coriolis Sock. Well, I did complete that sock and after knitting the heel I thought something looked weird with the coriolis as it was interrupted by the heel and then started up again above the heel. But I just went ahead an finished the sock. It fit great and I loved the way the yarn knit up.

Then......I rewatched Cat Bordi on Knitty Gritty demonstrating the Coriolis and I figured out that I had moved some stitches the wrong direction before knitting the heel which is why it looked funny. See how the coriolis is skewed here.

I couldn't just live with it so I frogged back to the foot and reknit it the right way. I feel much better now. I've got half a pair of finished Coriolis and have started the toe of the next. These have knit up so fast, only a few evenings of knitting. This is what it should look like.

Yesterday I went out looking for some sort of lighting to help me with my nighttime knitting in my dimly lit living room. Michael's had those expensive Ott lights with expensive replacement bulbs. Too much for my budget, and they really weren't very attractive. I then found this cute little lightweight book light with a LED light. It runs on 3 AAA batteries. It is just perfect for my needs. I can clip it on a book on my lap and point the flexible arm at my knitting or I can clip it to my shirt and aim the light. It was less than $10.00 and I used my mailer's 40% off coupon, so even more of a bargain.

I was feeling a little Martha Stewart the other day and made myself some new goodies for my knitting. I made these little herb sachets to put in with my yarn stash to keep the bugs away and to make the yarns smell pretty too. I put some lavender and some rosemary and thyme from my yard in the sachets. I got the idea for these from the latest Knit Picks catalog which had an article about yarn pest control. You can find the same article on Woolen Care over at their website.

I also picked up some beads and findings to make my own stitch markers. They were very simple to put together and I am really enjoying them.

Duster Progress, Additions to my Needle Stash and Kauni envy!

2007-10-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

I've been busy knitting the Tilted Duster and it is coming along pretty well. I finished the sleeves last week.

Then I sewed the fronts to the back and picked up stitches for the skirt. Lots and lots of stitches. I've got about 50 some odd more rows to go on the skirt. I decided to do a different hem so that I won't get the dreaded stockinette roll. I'll be stitching a hem that will fold under and be stitched down to the underside.

The mailman brought me some knitty goodness today. I had ordered the Knit Picks options needles. There are nine needle sets, with 4 cables all in a beautiful case with sleeves for storing them. Here's the case:

I wasn't sure just how to store all the pieces in the case, but they're in there.

I also had ordered KnitPicks circulars in small sockknitting sizes. I already had the Addi Turbo circulars in US size 1 and 2. Since the Addi size 1 & 2 are a little larger than the standard US size 1 and 2, I wanted the Knit Picks circulars to fill in the gaps of the sizing. So I now have US size 0, 1, and 2. I think I am pretty set for needles now. I already have just about every size either in bamboo or vintage plastic and aluminum. These new needles will replace many of the old needles bought back in the 70's and others that I inherited.

Lastly, I have become enamored of this Kauni sweater. It is made with beautiful Kauni yarn that is dyed in gorgeous variations so that all the color changes are dyed into the yarn and all you have to do is follow the pattern and stagger two skein as you knit. Isn't is gorgeous?

The yarn is from the Netherlands and although it is not too costly (probably $50-60 for the sweater) the shipping from Europe is another $25.00-$30.00! I'm saving my pennies and trying to find the most economical way to acquire this yarn. Any suggestions?

Finished Apple Harvest and Coriolis in progress

2007-09-24T16:42:00.001-07:00

This weekend I started a Coriolis sock. I had seen Cat Bordhi demonstrate this sock construction on Knitty Gritty and although at first the design of the sock didn't appeal to me I became interested in trying it after so many on the sockknitters forum said how much they liked the pattern. I had picked up some Trekking Pro Natura on my vacation to San Diego that I thought would be nice for this pattern. I used some kool-aid dyed yarn for the toes and heel because I have rather large feet and I was worried that the Trekking wouldn't be enough.

I love the way these knit up and I love the colors in this yarn as well. Before I started the Coriolis, I finished the Apple Harvest Socks. They were a fast knit and perfect for the Lisa Souza Sock! yarn.

Here is the lace detail that runs up the back of the sock of the Apple Harvest Socks.

Jamie is doing GREAT!

2007-09-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is one of our sweet little Budgies named Jamie. We've had her for six years and we just love her so much. She has so much personality and has become such a source of joy for us. Last Friday she gave us a little scare. She became very ill and had to stay at the avian hospital for 3 days. We were so worried about her, but I'm glad to report that she has made a full recovery and is home with us again. Isn't she a cutie?

One project done, and other WIPs

2007-09-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I put this little pillow together. I had knit two panels of aran knitting with some gorgeous Patons SWS in shades of pink and green. One side was a braided pattern and the other a honeycomb pattern. I crocheted them together and made a cute little addition to my futon.

I've also been working on my Tilted Duster. I finished the back, two front pieces, and now I'm knitting the two sleeves simultaneously.

At the same time I am plugging along on my Apple Harvest Socks. I hope to finish them Saturday and then I will cast on a Coriolis Sock by Cat Bordi.

My Reversible Knitted Blanket

2007-09-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

I often look at my finished knitted projects and wish the back looked as nice as the front, but knit stitches look different on the back side. Most of the time the back is not very attractive, which is why we end up with the "right" side and the "wrong" side.

Lily Chin has designed a Nine-Block Baby Blanket or "Lapghan" that is reversible, that is, it looks just as beautiful on the back as the front. She demonstrated how to make this blanket on an episode of "Knitty Gritty". I was very interested in trying her reversible stitch techniques. The blanket is made with Lily Chin yarns that are knitted into three different patterned blocks-the reversibly cabled braid block and bi-colored brioche rib block—with a diamond brocade block.

There are so many lovely Lily Chin yarns in tons of colors to choose from, it was fun picking out the yarns for my blanket. I knew I wanted shades of green and pink, which would go well in either my bedroom or my spare room. I picked my yarn and quickly learned each blocks pattern, which were really easy to memorize. The blocks were knitted and then each block was finished off with a row of crochet and then stitched together. It really enjoyed making the blanket and is really soft and lovely. It ended up at the foot of my bed, ready for me to curl up with any time I need a little nap.

Here is my finished lapghan. It looks great in our bedroom.

Podcasts

2007-09-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

I started listening to podcasts a few years ago, mostly nerdy ones, about tech things and mac computer news. I found that I really liked them and as time went by I kept finding so many more interesting ones to listen to. In fact, I was inspired to pick up knitting again by a podcast. I had searched for knitting podcasts on iTunes and found one named Cast-on by Brenda Dayne. Brenda has a great voice, which is what hooked me immediately. She mixes fantastic storytelling with music. She's funny and really has a way with words. She also has written some patterns that I adore. The wrist warmers pictured at the top of this very blog were designed by her. The pattern is Mrs. Beeton. She also designed these beautiful Pembrokeshire Pathways Socks that I knit with Wildfoote in their Columbine color way.

Go over to Cast-On and check out Brenda. I'm sure you're going to love her.

Over on the right side of my blog there are links to my other favorite knitting podcasts. If you've got an ipod, you really should go check them out. If you don't have an ipod you can still listen from their websites, in most cases.

Flight of the Conchords

2007-09-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

Have you looked at the video strips at the bottom of my blog? There are four hilarious videos from my latest obsession, Flight of the Conchords. In case you haven't heard of them, they are a band (duo) who do comedy. They also star on an HBO show by the same name, Flight of the Conchords. I think they are incredibly talented musicians and actors with great comedic timing. I hope you'll check out the videos here on my blog and then go on over to YouTube.com and watch some of the others they have over there.

Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros, Business Time, If You're Into It, and Jenny are just a few of the videos that I can't stop watching.

Next Friday, September 21st, HBO2 will be running all the Flight of the Conchords episodes in order starting at 7:00 pm.

Venturing Out

2007-09-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

I love sock knitting! I always have a sock on the needles. I have lots of sock patterns I can't wait to knit. I have skeins and skeins of sock yarn I can't wait to cast on. But until recently, I hadn't attempted to knit a sweater for probably 15 years. The last sweater I knit that many years ago was stitched up with Red Heart Acrylic Yarn. Uh, I can hardly stand to type that, let alone admit it. At the time I didn't know anything about wool yarn or gauge.

That poor sweater turned out so large and just kept on growing. In fact, it was so bad that I don't think I knit anything for quite some time. A month or so ago, I heard about "The Sweater Workshop" by Jacqueline Fee. This book teaches all the techniques needed to make knit-in-the-round raglan or drop-shoulder sweaters in several different styles. In the first part of the book, you are taught how to knit a sweater sampler. In this sampler you get to practice all of the techniques needed for making the sweaters in the book. Here's my sampler. It's about 2/3 done. I knits up in quite an odd shape, sort of like a leg warmer.

I am learning so much from this sampler. The book has been around since 1983 and is now printed in it's second edition, with more up-to-date pictures and additions. It has given me the confindence I needed to start a new sweater as I posted about a few days ago. I highly recommend this book for anyone who would like to learn some great techniques for sweater knitting.

Apple Harvest Socks

2007-09-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

I am also knitting socks with Lisa Souza Sock! yarn. The pattern is from Northern Sunshine Designs. It is really just a plain vanilla sock with a nice lacy strip up the back, which is perfect for the color way in this yarn. If you haven't tried Lisa's yarn, you really should. It is my favorite sock yarn.

Tilted Duster in Progress

2007-09-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

I have finished the back and now am knitting the right front of the Tilted Duster. It is knitting up so quickly! I'm very pleased about that! I love this Peruvia yarn . The color is so rich.

Tilted Duster KAL

2007-09-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

The Webs yarn store is doing a Knit-A-Long with their Ready, Set, Knit Podcast. They are going to knit the "Tilted Duster", which is the cover sweater on the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits. The designer, Nora Gaughan, will be on the podcast on Saturday, September 15th.

I have already started mine using the same yarn (Berocco Peruvia) in the same color (Purpura). The yarn is so nice to work with, very soft and the knitting is going so fast. I haven't knit a sweater in years and I'm really looking forward to the finished project.

I picked up this issue of Interweave Knits at my local Borders and decided to subscribe after finding so many great patterns inside. If you haven't picked up your copy, run, don't walk, and get one.

Mamluke Socks

2007-09-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first blog! After a year or so of knitting inspired by the internet, I've decided to be an active participant too! These Mamluke socks from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush are my most recent finished object. I loved this pattern and it was my first foray into color work. I used Wendy 5-ply Guernsey as the pattern called for and although it was slightly stiff and coarse when I cast on it did soften as I knit and washed up beautifully.