Captive Knitting

Tomorrow I'm going to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort for three days. I will have meetings. I will also have free time. I will not be with close friends which translates into lots of "me" time. And, of course, we all know that "me" time is "knitting" time.

It just makes sense that I should take the project that NEEDS to get finished ASAP. Like either of the two pairs of Christmas socks or the scarf for Kelly made from Shelly's yarn. If you take only what needs to be done, you have no choice but to work on it. Right?

But right now, oddly, I'm all about the lace. It's summery. It's light. It's so June/July/August.
I just want to knit the lace. I'm finally enjoying the process. At the end of every row, I have the correct amount of stitches. It's a freaking miracle. I want to take the lace.

What will Holly do?

Finally! A sock!

I've been working on this sock forever. It's the Socks That Rock medium weight in the County Clare colorway. It's knit with two balls to prevent pooling which didn't happen. It still pooled. And I hated working with two balls of yarn so it's going to kill me to cast on for the second sock. Such is life.

We have Colin this weekend. My husband took the day off to watch him today and I'm sure he's counting the minutes until I get home from work. Babysitting is tiring work at this age!

Oh, the little orange poncho from Ladie's Home Journal.... It was from Gymboree. The nice people at LHJ did answer my email about it. So, no pattern. :-(

Happy Halloween everyone... from me and the Caterpillar.

Blogger is totally whacked out today. It won't print the font correctly no matter what I do. Makes me crazy.

Knitting Stuff

Ok... enough real estate for one day. Let's talk about knitting.
















This is Scarf Style's Misty Garden pattern done with Shelley's yarn. Very pretty and about half finished. It has very subtle sparkly stuff spun in but you really can't see it in these photos.


















Are you sitting down? Check out my lace! I'm stunned that I've gotten this far. There IS hope for me yet.

Next week, I get to spend a few days at Nemacolin Woodland Resort. It's for work. I'll have lots of time to knit... I think. I'm hoping to put a big dent in the Christmas knitting while I'm there.

Nemacolin AND knitting. Does life get any better?

They Know Not What They Did

In this issue of Ladies' Home Journal.....















They had this
















along with a little inspirational message on the last page.
It had nothing to do with knitting or children's fashion.
No mention of the clothing.
How many inquiries do you think they'll get about that pattern?
Other than mine, of course. I'd make that in a heartbeat and then
hope to find someone to give it to. Adorable.

I'm half way finished with the scarf from Shelley's yarn. It is turning out very nicely.
I'm stalled on the lace but only because I have too many other projects on needles. I may not get around to picking that back up until after the holidays. It's hard to get too serious about lace when it's 35 degrees out.

I still have the gift certificate to Kathy's Kreations in Ligonier. I'm wondering when I will find the time to go over there. It is taunting me every time I walk by my china cabinet and look at it. I think I know what I want though. Some noro for another Lady Eleanor shawl. Entrelac is on my mind again.

Vogue Knitting - Holiday Issue

I've never been a fan of bell sleeves. But there is something about this jacket sweater that I just love. I'd knit this. And if it didn't have bell sleeves, I'd probably be starting it tonight. The only thing about it that concerns me is the fact that it only closes with the belt. I'd really like it more if it buttoned. But isn't it gorgeous?




















This, too, is awesome (below). I wouldn't knit it though. I'd get in the middle of it and quit because it took so long. I know myself too well. Anyone want to make it for me? Probably not. Just a thought.

Lastly, I'm also crazy about this one. I'd attempt this. It's very similar to one they had in their holiday issue about two or three years ago. I bet if I did some research, I'd find it's by the same designer. I came close to starting that one but never actually got around to it. I think it was a turtleneck.

I think I'm seeing a pattern here. A cable -y pattern. What is it with me and cables???

project runway

JEFFREY????????????

Nooooooooooooooo..............

ugh.

Happy Birthday to my Dad

Here is great grandpap and great grandma and Colin at dinner to celebrate my Dad's 79th birthday. The two of them look pretty darn good for what they are going through.

I have been knitting... but nothing is worthy of photography. The lace is coming along, believe it or not. I'm stalled on the socks because I had to start a scarf with Shelley's yarn so the socks went on the back burner.

The new Vogue Knitting is out. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the scarf on the cover. I don't want to make it, but I'd love to have it. Talk about tedious knitting. You also have to wonder how that scarf would wear. I think before too long it would stretch into a thin strand. Something tells me that braid wouldn't stay all fluffy. There is also a cabled jacket in there with a belt that I'd love to have. I'd make that. Actually there are a few nice things in that issue. Check it out.

Off now to real estate hell. Yesterday wasn't good. I have a feeling today won't be much better.
When it's good it's really good. When it's bad, it's terrible.

Lacey Setback

Lifelines really are great. I had to rip back to the lifeline and I was so thankful I put one in. The only thing is, it's difficult to pick those stitches back up off of the lifeline. First of all, the dental floss is the perfect thing but I had trouble seeing the yarn on the floss. I think they do make green dental floss and I'll have to get some. Secondly, the yarn is so fine that it's just difficult to pick it up from the floss. Hopefully I won't have to do it too often.

Yesterday was the Bedford Fall Foliage Festival. Shelley was selling her yarn and of course I had to take advantage of that situation. I'll make another Misty Garden scarf with this. (yeah, I really needed to start another project) I love green! Check out Shelley's yarns.
Rose Garden Fibers
















I have two open houses today so plenty of time to knit. My only decision will be what to work on. Lace? Either of the two pairs of socks? Scarf? Colin's hat? There was a time not long ago I was down to one project. And I vowed not to do this again. Oh well. Good thing my commitment issues only apply to knitting.

Got Lace??

I do!!































Third time's a charm. That's how many times I started this. I finally got it. It's Estonia Garden... I think by Fiber Trends. I don't have it with me but I think it's a F.T. pattern. I love the look of it but I have to tell you the truth. I'm not really enjoying the process. It's slow knitting for me. Requires a LOT of concentration because I'm always forgetting the yarn overs. And the yarn is so thin it doesn't "hold" the needles like I'm used to. So you really have to concentrate on holding the needles tightly so you don't drop stitches. I don't know. Maybe it will grow on me and maybe I'll eventually enjoy it. But for now, I don't see a passion or future for lace knitting. I did learn through the process though that dental floss makes a great life line. I tried yarn and that wasn't so great. The pattern is an eight row repeat so I'm putting in the life line every 8th row. In reality, I shouldn't have started this now. I have too much Christmas knitting to do. But I'm afraid to stop since I'm on a roll.

Work is crazy. Crazy good. The Howard Hanna thing has already had an impact. I got two nice listings yesterday. I may get these kids through college yet.

Photos - Sea Island, Georgia

Trellis and Vine

If you click on the photos, you can see the detail.






























Trellis and Vine
Pattern by: Sauniell Connally for Magknits (www.magknits.com)
Yarn: 6 balls - Jaeger Matchmaker 100% merino wool DK (washable!)
note: Although 6 balls had the yardage that the pattern called for, it was not enough. I stopped at what seemed to be an appropriate place in the chart and added the last 8 border rows. The finished wrap is three inches shorter than it should be.
Needles: Denise circulars - size 5
Time to complete: 7 weeks
Comments: Easy pattern but I biffed up the lace insert about 3 times. This wrap really was the perfect traveling accessory for the air conditioning in the airports and the airplane. I love it. It will be great with jeans.

On to socks!

Trellis and Vine is finally finished! In true Holly fashion, I ran out of yarn to complete it as written. So it's 3 inches shorter than it should be. And I bought more yarn than the pattern called for. What is it about shawl patterns? The amount of yarn called for in the Clapotis pattern is not enough either. It is blocking on Cate's bedroom floor... so don't come home for a few days Cate! I went in there this morning and the dog followed me in and plopped right down on the middle of it. So, yes, the door will remain closed for a few days. I used the blocking wires for the first time. They are nice, but I noticed that they are difficult to pin in place. First of all, my pins are not the sturdy pins that you should use, and secondly, pinning things into carpeting isn't really the ideal situation either. And to complicate it even more, I think I stretched it a little more than it should have been stretched. But after I had half of it finished, I didn't want to start over. I hope it turns out ok.

I have two pairs of socks on needles so I will complete them, do a small pair for Colin, and then settle into some lace knitting which I have been itching to do for a long time. Must. Knit. Lace.