Cast on SweetJazz ~

Another cast on for me, and this one had also been haunting my dreams...
"Cast on 300 stitches" and it seemed to take hours to cast on, and then knit that first row...but is is going to be beautiful. Sweet Jazz shawl out of Hazelknits, Chuckanut Drive colorway....Can you sense that we were shawl knitting machines while we were at Whidbey?!!!

Cast on Meliae ~

While making progress on our knitting, and casting off some projects....there is also a fair amount of casting on...


One of my cast on excitements is the Meliae, out of The Baroness, Hazelknits. I've been dreaming of this one....

and here it is!

Barfly progress ~

One of the great parts of our Whidbey Island weekend is that we all make progress on many of our projects.

I was able to cast off the bottom of my Barfly sweater...now just knit the sleeves and pick up the neckline...perhaps I will finish that at our next Whidbey Island trip? (NO....I will finish it before the next Whidbey trip, right???)

Brandywine done ~

I'm sure you had to read the title twice.... how could the Brandywine be done?

Such is the magic of Whidbey Island...Such is the magic of the Brandywine...it is lovely and oh-so-magical..... I love it!

Three Traveling Women ~

While we were at Whidbey, Marion finished her Traveling Woman shawl. Perfectly knit in a lovely Hazelknits "Seattle Knitters Guild" colorway.

She blocked it with her nifty wires, and this shawl is stunning! Hurrah!!!!

Whidbey Wonders ~

We had the greatest weekend for our island retreat. Five great friends for four delightful days of laughter, stories, creative fun and Yarn Yoga. We look forward to this every year, and this year was super deluxe. Friday we started at Madrona Fiber Arts, and ended up on Whidbey Island.

Wait until you see all the fun we had!!! Look for some clues in the picture!

Qiviuk and tea ~

This scarf is so beautiful. I'm happy to be working on it again. This qiviuk yarn is so fine that I'm thinking about getting some pointier size 5 needles for it - I'll check my Bass Pro Extreme Worm Binder for some Addi Lace needles...although I'm loving these rosewood needles too, but they just aren't pointy enough for the lace... The yarn is so fine and soft, it is like knitting a cloud....

11th Chart Brandywine ~

I made great progress on the Brandywine shawl this weekend. I'm getting near the end, and still love how the tightly twisted yarn works so well with these needles.


I still have trouble concentrating on all the counting in the middle, and still can't "read" where the pattern should begin...so I have to count out all the 22 purls, 67 knits....etc...


I'm so excited to finish this one!!

Horrible handspun ~

My first handspun is now made into a horrible scarf. The scarf, though horrible, delights me as I can see how I am improving as a spinner.

This is very exciting, and compells me to keep practicing.

I'll have to get more of this lovely yellow merino to spin when I can spin it into a lovely yarn, instead of this thick, thin and really thick handspun!

9th Chart Brandywine ~

Well, we've not discussed the Brandywine in many months...October, to be exact...so you should be happy to revisit this lovely shawl with the great needles and tightly plyed yarn.

You should also be fairly shocked to see that I am knitting the Brandywine in a coffee shop! This surprised me too, but I've gained much confidence since finishing Traveling Woman, and now I don't need 100% silence for Brandywine knitting. I am making deals with myself with this knitting, perhaps a pair of those Signature Needles could be mine if I can finish this?

Blocking Traveling ~

I've never blocked lace before, and this is the first time I've used my great blocking set given to me by the Jitteryknitter. The shawl looks beautiful!


I think I need to get another set of blocking boards, as my shawl runnith over!!


I can't wait to cast on another shawl! The hard choice is, which one?

Manos success ~

Another successful cast off of a great project! I started this a year ago, at the start of our gals' weekend away, and I've finished it before we go back again!

Now I can get more yarn on that vacation, since I've knit what I bought last time!

(That's the deal, right?)

Traveling Journey ~

Once my palpitations on the Traveling Woman being ripped back had subsided, I couldn't wait to begin Chart B, Row 9 and see if I could finish.


I worked into the wee hours of the night, and I did finish....I bound off, using that great purling bind off in the pattern. Here I'm happy dancing with my new shawl!


I can't wait to block it to see how it really looks!!!

More Plyed Yarn ~

I forgot that I'd plyed up my spun yarn, and soaked it and left it to dry. I thought I should wind them into balls so I could finish my scarf out of my delightfully horrible yellow handspun.


It is so beautiful (to me) since it is my very first plyed yarn, in a I-am-six-years-old-and-I-made-this-out-of-Popsicle-sticks sort of feeling.


Plus, I can see I'm improving, as there is not so much thick and thin in my newest spinning, plus a lot less roving getting though into my singles too! Not sure what I'll do with the browns, as I need to get a yarn meter to see how many yards I have....

Traveling Palpitations ~

I went to my favorite LYS to see what was new, and to see if there was any yarn there to match my very old Pagewood Farms yarn in my Traveling Woman shawl. One of the amazing knitters that works there, and was also the one that weighed my yarn the week before and thought I might have enough, said I really didn't need more yarn. She took my shawl, and looked at the knitting, and looked at where I was in the pattern, noticed there were no life-lines, and looked at it from side to side....and placed a marker on one of the purl stitches two inches back from where I was.... and calmly pulled the shawl off my needles!

After I sat down and started to breathe into a paper bag...I watched as she ripped and ripped and ripped out the yarn, and didn't stop until she was one row before the row she wanted to begin at. She said she needed to get to the purl back row so she'd be able to put the needle back into the shawl. She was amazing to watch, confident and sure of what she was doing. I told her about my dear Grandma Agnes who had ripped out my first sweater front in white angora that I'd knit so large that it wouldn't have fit my dad...She had said its easier to have someone else do the ripping out of one's projects... she was correct! When Annelie was done ripping and then putting my needle back in, she said, "You're on row 9 of Chart B" and I said, "That's where I was when I came in!" and her reply, "Well, now you have enough yarn to finish this time!" Bless her!

Magic Needles ~

While we were at our favorite LYS, the Jitteryknitter and I asked about trying Signature Needles for a test run. Jitteryknitter cast on the Meliae shawl with her Hazelknits and commented that these were, indeed, magical needles. As she knit more, it was clear to all of us that the needles had chosen her...much like, "the wand chooses the wizard" in Harry Potter.


She made amazing progress, almost as if the needles were knitting on their own.

Magically the beautiful shawl began to emerge...

I really need to figure out a way to get a pair of these needles too!!

Manos interlude ~

Since I am at wits end about my lovely, yet disaster of Traveling Woman, I am back to something soothing. Manos silk blend and my Whidbey Scarf. Did I mention that my Pagewood Farms for the Traveling Woman is so old (how old is it?) that there were not categories like "Yukon" and "Denali" for Pagewood back then....so no hope of getting more yarn to finish my lovely Traveling Woman....

So, I've turned to the comfort of Manos silk in the meantime....I'm sure the knitting muses are on their way to save me and my Traveling Woman...so I'll be patient and wait for a solution...

Packers Rule ~

Kids in Green Bay have a half day of school today ~ how great is that to celebrate their Super Bowl win. The game was great, a wonderful nail biter with a perfect ending!

I knit on mum's pink socks, so I wouldn't bite my nails! I would have been spinning too, but the friends we were watching the game with have a crazy new puppy that wouldn't have done well with a drop spindle spinning away....so it was just knitting with the Packers, and that was just perfect!

Doctor's Office Lollipop ~

Remember when you're a kiddo, and you get a lollipop when you're done with your doctor visit? I'm past the age (in theory) of getting a lollipop after a doctor visit. This week I had a few doctors' visits in one day and found myself thinking that if I could just be brave and grown up (in theory) I could treat myself to my own form of a lollipop....

So, since I didn't cry, swear or run screaming out of either of the doctors' offices, I rewarded myself with a trip to my favorite LYS. I had HazelKnits Baroness on my mind, and there was still one skein in the bin waiting for me.

So I brought the Baroness home, as my lollipop to reward what a brave little trooper I am!!!

Traveling Detour ~

OK then, it was bound to happen. Knitting along so happily with my lovely yarn and delightful pattern that is going relatively fast....plus finally knitting something for moi....(sidebar note: did you notice in my 2010 Finished Projects that only two of them were for moi????? My Sedona Scarf using lovely yarn from our vacation in Sedona, and my Harry Potter Scarf...ahem@! we are changing those statistics this year!!!) Back to the detour...oh, you thought that was the detour...sorry....... ahem....

Well, we went to our favorite LYS and weighed my lovely yarn, and I had soooooo much left.... and....well.....now I don't have enough to finish....how would it be if I just kept knitting, and ended up with the border being just half a scallop? As they say in Zen wisdom, "Half a scallop is better than an unfinished shawl" (isn't that what they say?)

Chart B Traveling ~

Jitteryknitter and I went to our favorite LYS to get some advice on my Traveling Woman. The remainder of my skein was weighed, and I had almost 2 oz left, of a 4 oz (450 yards) skein. We were told by the knitting genius that works there that I could do one more Chart A, and then advance to Chart B.

So here is the Traveling Woman and remaining yarn as I start Chart B.... please keep your fingers crossed that I will have enough yarn to finish this lovely shawl!

Rainbow delight ~

I'm going to tell this story anyway, even though I don't have great pictures. You may recall me gushing over a project of Jitteryknitter that was colorful and delightful and happy and full of sunshine...that she referred to as, "clown barf" *gasp* I know...she had to be teasing...right? Well, as she is a great knitter, the shawl turned out amazing!

The colors worked perfectly with the pattern, and the Lorna's Laces yarn was perfect in this pattern! That was no surprise to me, as this is great yarn!

The surprise (to me) was that she gave it to me for Christmas!!! WOW!!!! Amazing to have someone knit something for you, especially when it is a fabulous shawl of rainbow delight!

I wore it for 3 days straight...home on New Years Eve (picture with baby Shyla!), church and then to work....I love this shawl and am so grateful to get such a lovely knitting gift from such a great friend!