When family wears my knitting ~

Here is Rockin10 wearing my knitted hats ~ I am so pleased when the family chooses to wear what I knit ~ so cute...

Well done, indeed ~

This hat turned out so well ~ I love it. In the words of Rockin10, "It looks like it came from a store." So, there you go.... my knitting has risen to a new level (well, at least this hat...)

I'm casting on another one from the same book ~ so I will be learning another new pattern.

Stunning ~

This hat is stunning ~ the pattern is beautiful and the yarn is so soft and pretty. My family keeps remarking, "Wow!" and "oooooh" and Rockin13 said, "I would wear that to school" which is high praise!!!

Perhaps my knitting is rising to a new level!

Norwegian wool ~

I cast on for a hat from a new pattern from the book Hats On. I am using the Cascade Cloud yarn and it is great to work with. I have done the hem and am now into the Norwegian pattern. It is turning out beautiful so far!

This is a great book, and I want to knit at least 7 of the hats!

Yellow is the new color ~

According to the fashion mavens, yellow is the new trendy color for 2009 so that there will be some sunshine in the gloomy economic times. I have always liked yellow, and this is the hand spun I bought before Christmas. I love how this new pattern, Sheep & Wool, turned out!

Doing my part ~

As part of the historic inauguration, I purchased some great yarn for two reasons: for the sluggish economy; and to use the yarn for charity knitting (knitting bazaar hats for church) ~ both aims of the new President, as he wants to improve the economy and he wants us all to help in our community doing some bit of community service. So, given I found a sale on this wonderful yarn (1/2 price plus free shipping) I decided it was the Right Thing To Do to celebrate the inauguration!
The yarn is Cascade Cloud and sooooo soft and beautiful!!! It arrived today, so I am casting on a Fair Isle hat!

Celebrity Watch ~

My Peace Fleece Samantha Smith hat was seen during The Emma Show, featuring an interview of a famous rooster named Jed. Wow, how great to know that I am knitting for TV stars!!!

Great hat, eh? Peace Fleece is great yarn and carries great stories of making peace between countries that do not typically get along. Check it out for this new era of hope and unity!

To see the interview, follow this link! (January 21 is the interview date)

Back on track ~

I bought some yarn so I could continue with the Sheep & Wool hat.... I think it looks really great, especially with this backdrop of chicken, yarn & fireplace!

Note: while desperately looking for more yarn, I discovered a new book of color work hat patterns ~ more on this later!!!!

Hat interrupted ~

This Sheep & Wool hat was turning out well, until I ran out of worsted weight white (say that three times!) and tried to fudge with bulky.... nope... gotta have worsted weight, so I have to pause until I can buy some.....

Yippee, a reason to be in a yarn shop!

In the groove ~

I am having visions of hats, not sugar plums, and here is the latest one I have cast on. A new pattern for me called Sheep & Wool Hat that I hope will look stunning in the yellow wool and white. The yellow wool is another Christmas hand spun from Caroline Designs and it is working very well!

Gotta love a new pattern!

Great Day ~

Inauguration Day was a great day ~ we celebrated in the morning by watching the event with co-workers and friends, and celebrated in the evening by celebrating with our neighbors. There is so much hope and positive energy ready to move forward with good efforts for our world!! Ring in the new era!!!

How great are these cupcakes (below), decorated by my boss!!! (actually they were GREAT!)

P.S. I did buy some yarn today....a totally perfect day!!!!

A day to remember ~

While trying to think of something worthy enough to post today, I kept thinking of Stephanie Pearl McPhee's calendar post yesterday for Martin Luther King Jr's day "I have a dream..." that inspired a nation, a world and can be translated by all knitters. I pondered my wonderful stash, just like Stephanie says we should, and I put those thoughts with President Elect Obama's call to service. I finished my first 2009 hat for charity, plus cast on another one. Knitting is something that I can do to help a little part of the world, so that is what I am going to do.

What an enjoyable way to help the world!

Nicely done ~

So beautiful! The hat turned out beautiful with the bulky alpaca and the peppermint wool. The peppermint was "thick & thin" so the fair isle pattern of "one pink one black" all through the hat worked well to compensate for the "thick & thin" peppermint. Cast off!!!

A finished project makes me feel great!

Peppermint Progress ~

Making progress on this beautiful hat! Great yarn ~ both the pink and the black alpaca are so soft!

Knitting is such great fun!

Cast on ~ at last!

Yes! I cast on a hat today ~ using black bulky alpaca and a great new yarn from Christmas. Called "peppermint" but looks more like "hot pink" to me! The peppermint is wool from CarolineDesigns that I found on eBay. I bought several of her hand spun yarns and they are all beautiful.

Casting on a hat feels so great!!!

Twitchy ~

My knitting chair has been empty since Monday. I have not knit since Monday and am getting a bit twitchy. On Tuesday, P wore her beautiful mohair cardigan she knit, and I had to pet it. On Wednesday, MO brought her newly knit alpaca fair isle hat to work, and I desperately wanted to cast one on immediately (except I don't have needles or yarn at work....but I keep some in my car....) as the hat is stunning with the colors and pattern - another A+ project by MO. I had trouble handing the hat back to her, as the alpaca is sooooo soft.....By Thursday, I was plagued by fantasy knitting, fantasy patterns and fantasy yarn purchases... I should cast on a fair isle hat, I should buy some alpaca, I could cast on the sweet hat Lisa made, I could figure out the tricky cast on in the Nups & Braids hat.......Friday, I came to work wearing the sample sweater from a knit shop in Michigan. MO was wearing her A+ amazing blue sweater she knit I was hopelessly and completely in a fantasy world of knitting ~ combating knitting withdrawal with all weapons and strategies..... Helpless, I asked DK if we could go to our local yarn shop...and we bought some yarn... and then I could breathe normally again..

Note: I will be knitting tomorrow. Count on it.

Basketball Knitting?

Well, not exactly.... rockin13 had a basketball game today, and although I took my knitting with me, the games were too exciting for knitting. I did knit in the car, on the way! I suppose that counts as road trip knitting...but the jitterbug socks are still not done....

Are they done yet?

The Jitterbug socks are not quite done yet ~ however, they are beautiful. I really love this yarn, the tight twist and the saturated colors. The yarn feels so good while I am knitting with it...

This picture is a fun one, the mosaic table was made by my Dad years ago, and the "Oink" box with the piggy is a ceramics project made last year by rockin13. All the colors in this picture really set off the Jitterbugs!

How do people knit socks so fast?

Fired Up about Finishing ~

I have said that I am not casting on a new project until I finish the Jitterbug socks ~ I am wondering why I made that commitment, as I really really want to cast on something else. Perhaps a hat from my 2009 Resolutions, or perhaps a hat from a pattern or perhaps... However.... I have been strong in my commitment so far, and did over 3 inches on the Jitterbug socks this weekend while watching football.... and they are beautiful, and the yarn is beautiful, and the slip stitch pattern is beautiful....
I did however download a few hat patterns tonight, plus checked out my stash for worsted weight yarn....thanks to my knitting muse & inspiration (aka Lisa) for helping me to know that this is perfectly OK!!!!

Football Knitting ~

There are many good reasons to watch football. One big reason (for me) is the ability to knit while sharing time with my sweetie ~ sort of multi-tasking! Here are the Jitterbug socks getting some attention during the playoff games....
P.S. It feels great to be knitting again!

Go Gators!

Congratulations to the Florida Gators ~ Champions they are!!!!

We will return to yarn & knitting this weekend!

Second Heel ~

Yippee! I am on a roll with the beloved Jitterbug socks ~ here is the second heel turned! This yarn is so beautiful and smooth to work with, and I love the colors and the tight twist of the yarn. The only draw back is how long it takes me to knit the socks on size 2 needles, as I am finding myself to be more of an "instant gratification" knitter, liking projects to be completed fairly swiftly..... unless I have a block of time (like vacation or a road trip) to knit a bigger project.... so, I guess I need more vacations!!!

Continental Knitting Class

My sister & I are taking a Continental Knitting class at the Sewing Expo in February. According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia here is some information on Continental knitting:
Knitting with the yarn in one's left hand is commonly referred to as Continental knitting, German knitting, European knitting, or left-hand knitting. Unlike English knitting, the yarn is held in the left hand; the motion of bringing the yarn forward with a needle held in the other hand is thus sometimes known as picking. Continental knitting is preferred by professional hand-knitters, as it is the more efficient method, requiring the shortest number of specific hand-motions per stitch.
Continental-style knitting, being associated with Germany, fell out of favour in English-speaking countries during World War II; its reintroduction in the United States is often credited to Elizabeth Zimmerman.

I can carry the yarn in my left hand while doing Fair Isle (taught to me by Ann Bourgeois from Philosophers Wool at the Sewing Expo a few years ago) or 2 color knitting (shown here in my hats) however I do not know how to purl this way, so I am looking forward to some hands on learning!!!

First Heel ~

I am back to my Jitterbug socks, and forcing myself to get through the heel turns instead of casting on a new "quickie" project (like another hat) so here is the first heel turn ~ finally!!! It looks beautiful, and so easy using Queen Kahuna's book. How people can knit socks "quickly" amazes me... as it seems to take me lots longer for knitting socks!

It's Baaaaaack ~

Hard to believe but the snow is back ~ lots of it too.... We did not even wear coats to church this morning, just sweaters, and I ran outside this morning on wet roads ~ no ice or snow or slush to run through.... and now it is back ~ steadily falling since 5:00 pm. The kids are hoping for another "snow day" home from school, as tomorrow would be there first day back since the first set of snow days before their official holiday.... they are so excited and hopeful..... stay tuned!!!

Peace Fleece Problems?

Perhaps "problems" is too strong a word for my Peace Fleece, as I love knitting with Peace Fleece and I love the colors and I love love love the story behind uniting the world & creating partnerships by working together to make yarn.... all that said, these Fiber Trends clogs took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to felt.....5 times through the entire wash cycle, and then someone in the family (not sure who it might have been) put down the washing machine lid and it continued through the spin cycle - OH NO!!!!! but.....no shrinking the Peace Fleece.....nothing was changing, the slippers still had beautiful stitch definition, although they would have fit Harry Potter's pal Hagrid.... I have made one other felting project with Peace Fleece, and yes, those clogs did take a few cycles to felt... but not Forever.... I finally put more hot water (instead of the extra small load, I chose small load) and left it going a few more times (with the 5 pairs of blue jeans). Finally they are a wee bit smaller, but not the size 7 they were supposed to become..... odd...... but they are beautiful, and so very soft inside!!!!!

Curtains ~ part 2 ~

Here is the second set of curtains I sewed on New Year's Day, now showing in our laundry room! Not sure if you can tell they are pink, orange and yellow hibiscus flowers in a riot of color ~ matching perfectly with the yellow walls and yellow counter top in the laundry room. When we moved into this house, I wanted the laundry room to be bright and happy......

and it is!

Sew What? Curtains!

I did a bit of knitting on the Jitterbug socks today, but my main creativity was sewing two sets of curtains! It feels good to have accomplishments so early in the new year! Pictured here are the curtains in the bathroom ~ the laundry room curtains need a curtain rod before I can take a picture!

Tally for 2008 ~ on to 2009!

Before I mentioned my 2009 New Year's Resolutions, I should have mentioned my knitting tally for 2008. For a few years now, I have kept a knitting journal with the names of my projects, and the finishing date. Some projects include the Cast On date, but most have only the Cast-off date. With this journal I keep track of how many projects I begin and finish in one year. Many projects are small ~ like hats for the church bazaar, and a few are big. Several are always hold overs from the previous year. One of my 2008 New Year's Knitting Resolutions was to finish all the projects from 2007, and I did complete them all, except the frogging of the mitered corner project.

For comparison, here is my 2007 Knitting Tally:
1. Projects Cast On in 2007: 34
2. Projects Cast off & complete:
a) From before 2007: 4
b) From 2007: 29

Total Completed in 2007: 33
(six projects still on needles on 1/1/08)

Here is my 2008 Knitting Tally:
1. Projects Cast On in 2008: 42
2. Projects Cast off & complete
a) From 2007: 6
b) From 2008: 38
Total Completed in 2008: 44
~ four projects still on needles 1/1/09: #12 Jitterbug socks; #13 Tofutsies socks; #14 Central Park Hoodie; and #15 lavender ribbon tank top (note: it appears my startitis of June/July of projects 12 ~ 15 shows I do not finish projects "for me" as quickly as those I knit for others!)