Calling on Kahlo

Updates...

2008-07-05T23:39:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I finally added the buttons to the Baby Surprise Jacket. This is good because the baby boy was born recently and I love his name: Flyn Thomas. How cool! So, he gets a cool jacket.

I enjoyed the jacket so much I picked up the Socks That Rock in Harlotty and made a BSJ with a collar. This is not made with anyone in mind, but just because. Here's the thing: I picked up STR Mediumweight at Rhinebeck and I wasn't in love with it. I love the colors, but somehow the yarn never knits how I expect it, but it worked fabulous for this project. It just needs buttons. I cast on Wednesday and cast off today (Saturday) not bad in my opinion.

I also had this project hanging out in my home and I think it is time. If Flyn is getting a sweater and blanket (remember the Babe Blanket) then his sister Gracie should get a poncho. I think this should fit her (it goes over my head).
I am tempted to make all the straggling sock yarn into a baby surprise jacket, but I think I may have to experiment with some other projects.

Oh-so our July 4th was a blast. We visited my folks on the lake with Maya and Skye. Maya ended up chasing a gaggle of geese into the lake and then across it. When we realized she wasn't coming back, we jumped in my dad's electric boat chasing her with all the neighbors fishing watching the activities. A boat that was passing by turned around to chase her. So, picture this- a goose swimming across the lake with a mini black lab two feet behind with a boat of six people four feet behind and another boat of three people eight feet behind. Luckily, the other boat grabbed Maya and then commented what kind of dog she must be (the lab is the swimmer, the terrier is the overly focused). We then maneuvered the boats to load her on the boat to go back to the house with all the neighbors then asking, "Does she have lab in her?" Sadly, no photos documented this event.

Have a great weekend!

Hemlock all done!

2008-06-29T21:50:00.000-04:00

This is such a quick knit. It went super fast and only towards the end was I grinding my teeth because of the feather and fan part (which is much better because I usually do that in the middle of the project).

I used Cascade Eco-Wool in a lovely Chocolate color. It took two skeins and I have half of the second one in my bag.

I may make another one or two of these for family members.

I am debating who gets one though. It is so tempting to make this!

I blocked the hemlock ring this afternoon. Yeah!

Ok, other projects I am working on:

Juliet in Malabrigo. I am ripping the bind off and adding another repeat of the lace pattern and adding some sleeves.
Lady February Sweater KAL will start shortly so I am getting everything ready.
Hex Coat, I am working on the first sleeve.
Children's Cotton Hat, I just finished a store sample in Cotonade.
Flying V scarf, I just finished a store sample in the Great Adirondack yarn.

St. Hubert's Ice Cream Social

2008-06-26T21:58:00.000-04:00

So, I am always shopping for ideas for fundraisers for PAWS and I came across the ice cream social held at St. Hubert's. What a great idea! Ice cream for humans and their four legged companions. They have kiddie pools set up for the dogs and everyone gets to enjoy the lovely weather!

Skye enjoyed the day, but not the Frosty Paws chicken flavored ice cream.

Maya, on the other hand, really loved the chicken flavored ice cream. Here she is focused on the ice cream that she pushed under the table.

Ok, I have much much knitting to post. For instance, I should post a picture of my hemlock ring blanket and my juliet sweater and the flying v scarf I am making, and the hex coat I picked up (again). We will just have to wait a few more days as I have many hours to work this week.

Where have I been?

2008-06-04T14:48:00.003-04:00

Well, my computer battery or charger is having problems so I am working on a tiny old computer. A lot has happened.

I graduated. I didn't attend the graduation. There's something about a stadium full of 20,000 people that doesn't interest me even if I have to wear a robe that makes me sweat with complete strangers. I called the school and they are mailing my diploma (it should arrive eventually).

I have been working on the Hemlock Ring Blanket. Yeah! I love it. Two skeins of Cascade Eco-wool and I haven't messed it up. It's lace and I haven't messed it up. The picture is the first night I started the project.

I have been working on socks. Lotsa socks.

This is Yarnahoy Yarn and it's nice.

This is Cascade Heritage Handpainted socks in the David's Eye colorway (I think that is what it is called) and I love this yarn. I already finished these socks.

The socks are being mailed to my Titi Vicky (my aunt) who asked for a pair a long time ago.

Ok, so I owe more pictures.

Other than that, all is well.

Two Happy Girls

2008-05-12T21:10:00.000-04:00

Skye.

Maya.

The girls had a blast at the dog park (as usual).

We spent most of Saturday cleaning.

I just need to sew the buttons on the Baby Surprise Jacket and it is done. Yeah.

Saturday is a nice day...

2008-05-03T18:28:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a nice day.

I finished my last class on Tuesday. The last class of my master's program, which gets a big who-hoo!
Friday was the last day of my internship. The office organized the nicest most lovely breakfast for me and gave me a gift. I really am going to miss all of them.

Saturday did not follow the plan where I would sleep in late. At 9am, we made a donation to A Purrfect World's Tricky Tray, dropped Ben's car off at the garage. 10am-we visited Costco. 11am-We ate breakfast at the Rock n' Roll bistro. 12pm-we went to the dog park.

The dog park.

The collage of the girls running around.

I will be reading a book and working on Juliet.

I am knitting this single stranded on larger needles in Malabrigo, Apricot color, and I am on the lace pattern.

Tomorrow- road trip.

I break my silence

2008-04-26T18:53:00.000-04:00

Although, I am breaking my silence, there will sadly be no knitting related material.

Here's the deal, I have literally one class left before I finish my master's program. I have my resume and cover letter (pretty much ready) and I have my last day of internship this Friday. I have had papers, logs, and assignments due in class and at my site, and well, that was a lot. I don't think I have knitted an hour in the past month which is really sad. I have so much stuff on the needles.

It was also my birthday which was celebrated at the lake with my folks, my husband, and our dogs.

Did I say dogs?

Did I mention we also adopted another dog?

In addition, to the hyperactive super excited chewing everything in site terrier known as Maya we adopted another one.

Yup, we did.

Yes, we are insane.

Meet Skye.

Skye was adopted in the beginning of April. She is part Husky (thus the blue eyes) and part Border Collie (thus her interesting stance when things move and her constant desire to herd).

You might notice a scar around her muzzle. Skye was brought into the shelter as a puppy with wire wrapped around her muzzle (probably some freak's idea of stopping her from barking) which left the scar.

She is not really a fan of water, but thinking about it, Husky dogs like snow, and Border Collies like sheep. Water doesn't fit this equation. She does love...

Maya. This is is Maya swimming like a fiend on my birthday. She likes to play fetch in the water (while Skye likes to bark at her). They get along really well together. They wrestle together and since they are the same size and temperament it works out pretty well.

Idiosyncracies? She barked at hay the other day.

Otherwise we are following the Cesar Milan philosophy that a tired dog is a happy dog and so these guys are getting walked twice a day and have visited the Watsessing Dog Park three times a week.

We are really happy (and tired).

Spring Fling

2008-03-23T20:13:00.000-04:00

My friend Katie gave me some Reynolds Cabana in a soft green. I don't typically knit with chunky yarn but this felt nice and went pretty quickly. I think inheriting a lot of yarn from Katie (who also taught me to knit) was fabulous because I tried new colors. I followed an online raglan calculator to figure out how many stitches to cast on and just made it up from there. It has a simple seed stitch collar which I kept for the cuffs. It is shorter than my other sweaters but it's a summer knit.

Thanks to Katie who gave me the yarn!

I still need to pick up the hex coat. But, let me tell you what happened. I wasn't feeling well today and ended up sitting on my bed with a stack of inherited Interweave Knits (and some purchased at Elly's) from 2004 to recently and came across the Waterlily Top knit in Colinette Giotto (Spring 2006). Well, I have a lot in Sunrise color (soft and shimmery pink) so I am leaning towards this project. Although, I don't wear tank tops, so I may add sleeves to the piece. And, the color may match my skin tone too much (that might be interesting).

Happy Easter!

It's done!

2008-03-21T14:12:00.000-04:00

The linen stitch baby blanket is done. It is 25" by 25" and is super soft. If you use linen stitch don't forget to go up several needles sizes. The stitch is very thick. The yarn is Fibre Company Babe which is super soft and is primarily Alpaca and then Merino wool. Now, all I need is the baby. I think the baby is due this Spring, so I just have to prepare the mailing.

On other news, I have been working on a top down cardigan in Reynolds Cabana. I will have pictures of that this weekend. It should be done shortly.

Netflix News: We still need to return Vicar of Dibley, Season 1. I love this show and I think it is fabulous. Dawn French is fabulous.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T21:07:00.002-04:00

This is what we think the communist squirrels are doing in our backyard. Have I mentioned anything about the communist squirrels?

Well, short story. We have so many trees in our small backyard that there is a commune of squirrels that live in our yard. There's the super fat one (the size of cat) called Slim, there's the one without the tail called Stubby, there's the one who likes to look in our windows called Peeper, and the remaining twenty are called Oscar. My grandfather had a habit of calling every squirrel Oscar. When we moved in we saw a dozen of them from the back window twitching tails and communicating how they were going to steal the bird seed we left out.

Of course, this has nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day until I found the photo. Our squirrels have been MIA today, probably down at the pub, sipping Guinness.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Stress

2008-03-05T21:39:00.000-05:00

Obviously, stress translates into retail therapy and startitis. Granted my hex coat is floating somewhere in lala land, a baby blanket is almost done, I started a pair of socks a week ago, and last night cast on for a completely different pair.

Oh-so my retail therapy included purchasing two skeins of Claudia Handpainted in Just Plum.

This was a temptation purchase. I have never knit with Claudia and I am enjoying the yarn. I think that I will be purchasing more in some brighter colors (Limeade, Sherbet, Jungle, to name a few).

This is where I am now.

Don't think I am a super fast knitter, today I had a day off. I zoned out to a Clean House marathon (I love Niecy Nash) and then spent an hour at sbux with a Grande Caramel Macchiato (damn I love that drink!).

Back to knitting and Shaun of the Dead (I love Simon Pegg), then onto Project Runway!

Whatsup?

2008-03-02T21:06:00.000-05:00

I have maybe knit a few rows in a week primarily because I am adjusting to a new schedule with a new part time job while I am working on finishing my internship this semester (two months to go!).

Somewhere in February, I finished the Socks That Rock in Hot Flash medium weight. These socks will be mailed to MIL in the UK for Mother's Day (which is in March).

Sometime in February, I started Cherry Tree Hill socks in potluck color (blues and purples) which I believe I picked in the Outer Banks.

One project I have been working diligently on (since I needed an extended break from the hex coat) is the linen stitch baby blanket.

Linen stitch is gorgeous. On one side it looks woven and the other side looks like seed stitch. I am on the fourth band out of five and it moves pretty quick besides which the stitch is easy to memorize.

I have a midterm paper due in a few days and then I have a case presentation in a week, other than that the work is subsiding for my program. Simultaneously, the urge to purge and organize the knitting room is increasing. Agh-spring cleaning!

M-A-R-T-H-A

2008-02-20T18:29:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Jen who scored an extra ticket, I got to see Martha Stewart!

We got there super early and after freezing for twenty minutes we took a break and got coffee.

This is our group (left to right: Deb, Sharon, Jenn, and I). We lined up and admired all the knitted goods. We ran into Mary Beth and Katie and Jamie. After getting the audience practice session (the hand signals when to "oh" and "ah"), we got our seats.

We were in the very back of the audience. It was such an interesting experience for several reasons. Ironically, it was in the exact same studio that the Graham Norton show was taped (I am not going to explain how I know that).

Martha spoke to a few audience members and then they taped several segments of the show which I won't reveal.

Here's Martha (holding yarn made out of her pet's fur). I think she was using Addi Turbo's.

We had such a great time. It was definitely an experience and something I will remember.

Update: Bezzie asked and here's the answer, the show will air Monday, February 25th.

lotsa stuff

2008-02-16T18:23:00.000-05:00

I have been so incredibly tired. It seems with my part time work and internship I worked 21 days straight without a day off to relax and recuperate. Monday, I called out and slept. Tuesday, we left early due to bad weather and didn't go to class. Wednesday, no internship due to bad weather. Out of nowhere, I have been catching up on sleeping and cleaning.

The Hex Coat is not really going anywhere. I am committed to finishing the back today. There is not a lot left to complete it, so I need to get over this little hump. I think I got tired of the moss stitch. So to keep myself distracted I started making a baby blanket in Fibre Company Babe using a linen stitch. This baby blanket goes to Heidi and Brad's second baby that is arriving in a few months. This project is not a huge stretch from the hex coat as far as the quantities of knits and purls, but I like.

At my part time job during my ten minute breaks I would work on a pair of socks, and here they are. I was at the toe Monday night so I finished the second sock yesterday. I just need to weave in the ends. This is knit in Colinette Jitterbug, colorway is Mist, on size US 2. The pooling is wacky, but that's Colinette.

So, what did I do after I finished the second sock of the Colinette, I, again, started the Socks that Rock in Hot Flash. It is medium weight and I cast on watching Willow. Then ripped it this morning because it was too wide and cast on with less stitches. Originally, I bought this yarn for MIL, but she never emailed me her foot measurements. I am debating who's going to get these socks.

After we cleaned a little bit wednesday and I was taking photos for this post, I turned to the sofa and saw this... Her Puffiness with her Terrier-ness.

Last night, Ben woke up in the middle of the night to discover one of the cats sleeping in
Maya's dog bed. So where was Maya? Maya opened the door to the guest bedroom and was strethed out on the bed.

Dog Sweater Done!

2008-02-07T22:45:00.000-05:00

The sweater looks so cute!
Maya looks miserable!

It has literally one string to weave into the sweater (I realized after I took the photo) but otherwise it fits well.
I did pick up the hex coat again (yeah!) and another project. Something different from the past six months.

Updates

2008-02-06T20:31:00.000-05:00

This is Ecco which is such a pretty superwash merino wool. I love the way it feels and knits up and sadly stix no longer has anymore.

With three skeins I made Maya a dog sweater inspired/modified from the Endpaper Mutt Sweater. I knit the collar in the round and followed the pattern without the fair isle part. I finished it with ribbing and now I am working on the belly band so that it doesn't flap around. So far, it looks so nice on Maya.

When Maya posed for a picture wearing the Buster sweater I knit her which will be put on the stix blog (because it is a store sample), Izzy sat next to her on the sofa. Since he was being handsome and smiling, I took a photo. I am so happy all the furbabies are comfortable sitting next to each other (somewhat).

Now for the Hex coat. I was two inches from finishing the back when I realized that I started the shoulder shaping way too soon, so I ripped. Oh, I frogged about eight to nine inches. Ugh. So, I took a few days off and worked on Maya's sweaters.
Now that I have that mental break from the hex I can now continue the coat. Hopefully, I can finish this sweater this weekend.

I am Angora!

2008-01-25T17:15:00.000-05:00

I saw this on the Jersey Knitter's blog and loved it! So, I am sharing. I am Angora.

Go to Potter Craft and learn what you are!

The quiz promotes Clara Parkes book, The Book of Yarn, which a friend of mine and I bought. The book is amazing. I am slowly reading this book enjoying each section on the animals and learning so much.

The graphic is from Potter Craft website.

My Life with Maya, the terrier terror

2008-01-23T19:32:00.000-05:00

Maya is a huge ball of love. She has came into our home and become a family member that we adore and cherish. We are under the impression that she is a rat terrier mixed with a black lab for a few reasons, but no matter what she definitely has terrier in her bones.

I have always had a black lab mix and I love them dearly. Ben has always had terriers in his home and he adores them. So, here is a rundown of things I am become accustomed.

From a bird's eye perspective Maya looks like a little sausage, so of couse I call her "salchicha".
Maya smells like Doritos which my animal guru friend (I will thus name her The Pet Whisperer as she is a vet) tells me is a yeast issue that terriers commonly have which is treatable (so yes we will be treating it as she likes her paws a lot).
Maya, like my relatives, talks with her hands, or in her case, her paws. She gets excited she taps you with her paw.
Maya drinks our coffee. We don't give her coffee, when she is a passenger in the car she opens the lid of the portable coffee container and starts slurping it.
Maya jumps all four feet off the ground over two feet in the air.
Maya has to have constant human closeness (she follows whoever leaves and is upset when separated).
Maya makes toys out of everything like yesterday when she brought the cover to the water machine so Ben could throw it.

Ben is getting accustomed to a dog that likes to play fetch. Would you believe none of his dogs have had toys?

Tina asked, "I am curious what video you purchased."
I purchased Cat Sitter, Volume II. It says the nature is in 5.1 Surround Sound which sounded fabulous on our surround sound system. I linked to Amazon, but I gotta be honest I got it cheaper at Petco.

On Knitting News: I am on the back. I did one hexagon and it looks good. I will post photos later this week.

Photos but not knitting

2008-01-20T19:47:00.000-05:00

Well, I did finish one front of the Hex Coat. My row and stitch gauge is off. I compensated the row gauge by removing one hexagon and hopefully this should be okay. My armhole will be slightly larger but that's okay because I have large arms. The stitch gauge may be okay as well because I am knitting a much larger size and there is always blocking. If this looks hideous, you have permission to lie when the coat is done and tell me, "Wow, that's lot of knitting!" Ok, don't lie. I am going to knit up one hexagon before I proceed just to ensure that it is wonky* looking.

In a moment of weakness and unexpected extra cash in my purse (very rare these days) and impulse issues may have influenced my thought process, I bought the Pet Sitter dvd. I was always curious to watch them. It impressed me that it was hdtv or surround sound or something similar and after leaving the dvd on we found Puffy up close and personal with the tv.

We realized the surround sound factor impressed the cats.

Izzy (not pictured) climbed the armoire and looked for the birds out the window.

Maya also had moments of cuteness in the middle her four days of driving us crazy. She has had a bad behavior spell. It seemed a couple days at the Brookdale Dog Park helped alleviate.

"I can touch my nose with my tongue. Can you?"

*Wonky: Distorted in appearance. Not necessarily fugly, but certainly not great looking.

Status

2008-01-17T22:22:00.000-05:00

While this may look like either a little or a lot of progress, it is very little progress because I have barely been knitting. I have been having pains in my left hand due to my second part time job (no, not the knitting shop). I am enjoying the lopi lite.

Hopefully tomorrow I can knit some more on this sweater.

Hex Coat answered (a little bit)

2008-01-14T19:46:00.000-05:00

Kim pointed out that moss stitch and seed stitch are the same stitch. I always thought so as well, except that Norah defines the Moss Stitch in the pattern as:
Row 1 and 2: p1, k1 *
Row 3 and 4: k1, p1.

So, I googled moss vs seed stitch and according to Knitting on the Net the two are different.

Kelly asked about needle size. I didn't get stitch gauge with the recommended size 8 needle, in fact, I got it with size 9 needle. I am still not sure if I am getting row gauge for the Hex Coat which is important. Instead of ribbing on the bottom I proceeded with the moss stitch with the smaller needle size (in my case size 7). I am past the first identation for coat so I have to wait until the second indentation and then I will measure the length of each identation and count the rows and figure out where I am landing for row gauge and make necessary adjustments.

Ahem, I messed up

2008-01-13T20:14:00.000-05:00

So, I knit the stockinette swatch and got gauge and I was incredibly excited because that means that I can begin the Hex Coat immediately. Well, I got to work and realized that my swatch was supposed to be in pattern. So, I knit the swatch again in seed stitch. So, I get gauge. Yeah! Then Sunday mentions to me that my swatch should be in Moss Stitch. Yeah, that's a different stitch. So, I cast on again. Part of the problem is that I can't add 2+2 today.

In fact, I have no idea what I am knitting now, but eventually I got gauge switching to a larger needle. However, now reading it again, I have to look at my swatch again. Did I mention I can't process simple things today?

I did look up the errata for the pattern (and they were two), photocopied my pattern (it's my book and I am not sharing the pattern so no violation of copyright laws) so I can write notes on the pattern and highlight the numbers I need and put in a protective sleeve for easy transportation, and lastly I am sitting here at 8pm watching American History X debating whether I should cast on becasuse if I am messing up a swatch, what is next?

Hexing Me

2008-01-12T19:58:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the official start date of the unofficial Hex Coat KAL. Granted it only involves two of us -we have been planning this for quite some time. In fact, when I finished the Greenjeans cardigan, I didn't even cast on for another sweater. I did order my lopi lite and then did a gauge swatch which worked well. I got gauge! Tomorrow, I photocopy my pattern so I can make my notes and then the cast on.

In the one week I did not cast on a sweater (I really like knitting sweaters lately!) I thought it might be time to cast on the HP Prisoner of Azkabhan scarf in Ravenclaw (for me).

I had ordered the yarn from Knitpicks ages ago (I think it has been at least a year and a half). I ordered this yarn before I started knitting sweaters, so I did realize that this scarf, which requires ten skeins of the blue and two skeins of the grey, has enough yarn to make a sweater. Sadly, I won't wear this shade of blue as a sweater so a scarf it becomes.

Did you notice the sweet knitting bag? That was a gift from a friend of mine. I love it!

4/5

2008-01-06T20:13:00.000-05:00

Four out of five cats is impressive. Yes, this is the photo of a crazy cat lady but I was so impressed they were sleeping on the sofa together when I got home from work. Ironically, sleeping on my sofa and not DH's.

Knitting Updates: The Greenjeans is done. I need to take a photo of it. After a mad moment when I wet blocked the sweater, I thought it was too blocked. It's actually okay, but it does need another closure for it to fit perfectly.
The yarn is on its way for the Hex Coat.
I am knitting Socks That Rock in Hot Flash to keep me slightly sane. Since MIL never sent me her measurements, I am making them for myself.

Netflix Update: We watched Blades of Glory. Stupid and funny flick. I really need to watch some films of a more intellectual calibre. Sadly, PBS is not playing any British mysteries. Oh-but we did add the Vicar of Dibley to our list. Dreamgirls is next.

Puffy Mutiny

2008-01-04T01:40:00.000-05:00

Since I had completed a lot of the collar it was put on hold last night until I picked buttons. As my fingers were itching to knit something, I finally picked up some Knitpicks Merino style yarn (purchased over a year ago) to knit my Ravenclaw Prisoner of Azkaban scarf. This pattern uses a lot of yarn. In fact, I think I could knit a whole sweater with the amount of yarn I have for this project. So, reading over the pattern it mentions using a Provisional Cast On, and while I did search the internet, it was the perfect time to pull out my Knitting Glossary DVD to have Elizabeth Zimmerman and Meg Swansen explain their recommendations. I put the knitting down to find this...

Her Puffiness on top of my yarn and project. Although, I was very excited because not only did I do this cast on (the scarf is knit in the round so the ends will be kitchnered), I also came across jogless knitting. For those not in the know, when you knit in the round and are making stripes your stitch is off by one which is obvious and annoying. Jogless knitting eases that stitch and helps with the illusion the stripes are even. I love learning new techniques!

It is first thing in the morning and I am almost done with Mr Greenjeans. Sigh, I hope it fits. Tomorrow, I will continue knitting the collar and sadly I may need to break into the final hank of yarn (for a few rows and bind off-how sad!). And steam blocking!