Santa Baby...

Just slip a blocker under the tree for me
Been an awful good girl
Santa Baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.


Santa baby, a shipment of koigu for me too
Light Blue
I'll wait up for you dear
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight


Think of all the fun I've missed
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed
Next year I could be just as good
If you'll check off my Christmas list



Santa Baby, I want this book
You're off the hook
Been an angel all year
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight



Santa honey, one little thing I really need
The deed
To a wooly sheep farm
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.



Santa Cutie, and fill my stocking with needles galore
and more
sign your "x" on the line
Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight.



Come and trim my Christmas tree
With gift cards just for yarn for me
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me.



Santa baby, forgot to mention one little deal
A wheel
And I don't mean for a car
Santa Baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry.... tonight

Clark's Scarf

I decided to go with the K2P2 ribbing. My only hope is that it will block out wider. Maybe I should try to block it really wide in the hope that it will at least block out somewhat wider. I know that ribbing just wants to go back to it's original state. If anyone has any helpful hints, I'm all ears (or eyes as the case may be). I usually just pin dry knitting between two damp towels but I think that I will soak this scarf and then pin it out. I thought that this knitting would bore me to tears but in truth, after Trellis, the mindless knitting is sort of a welcome change. I've been enjoying it.

I have a pair of socks to finish and two little purses to make for Christmas. Then I definitely will start Kepler and finish Clapotis 3.

I'm starting to have trouble sleeping again. This happens every holiday season. It just stresses me out so much. I really go through the Scrooge stage for a while before I finally settle down and start enjoying it at the end. My mother always had it so together for the holidays. I don't know how she did it... and believe me, she did more than I do. I miss her being healthy. She enjoyed shopping and cooking and baking and now everything is a struggle for her. But after all she's been through, we're just lucky she's still here!

Trellis is Finished!!!

Trellis
Pattern by: Britta Stolfus Rueschhoff
Spring Issue - Knitty.com
trellis pattern

Yarn used: Sirdar Country Style double knitting- 45% acrylic, 40% Nylon, 15% wool - machine washable and dryable
Size: 12 month
Needles: US # 7 Aluminum Boye's
Buttons: 5/8 inch LaMode buttons from JoAnn Fabrics
Modifications: Holly doesn't modify. Holly's lucky to be able to understand the instructions as written let alone modify anything. (although in truth, I did sew the shoulder seams instead of graft them)

Overall impression: Easy to follow pattern although the decreases made following the graph a little difficult. I struggled to keep that all straight in my head. I think the sleeves are long and the size appears to be larger than 12 months. I couldn't be happier with it. It's perfect.
Moving on.....



The wedding in Greensburg was lovely. The reception was in Ligonier at Mill Creek Hall. I should have taken a photo of the cookie table. I never saw anything like it. There had to be a gazillion beautiful cookies. Here I am with DH and the lovely Kelly. And, yes, I have to admit that the whole time I was there I was wondering about those local yarn shops! But you can be sure that stopping there was NOT on DH's agenda. Dragging him to a wedding was torture enough.

The Love Affair Resumes

I'm happy to report that it was just a temporary parting of the ways. I'm lovin this little guy now. Once I sew up the side and sleeve seams and put the buttons on, he's done. (I say he because I feel this is a very masculine little sweater.... as it should be) I did have some trouble setting the sleeves. I really needed that 3/4 inch that the shoulder seams ate up. But, still it looks good. I feel I can kitchener with the best of them but it sure looked bad on those shoulder seams. I'd love to see a completed one of these where someone actually did it that it looked good.

I think once I get this completely finished I'll start on my nephew's Cascade 220 scarf and hat. I really like working with cascade 220 but I decided to do the scarf in a k2, p2 ribbing and I know that will drive me crazy. I can't think of any other way to do it that it will still match the hat and not curl in.

I really love this hat and mittens set featured on the cover of the new Knit Picks catalog. I think this would be a good project to try fair isle again. It's been 20 years since I knit fair isle. These would be cute for my little niece in Colorado. I'll add this to my LONG list of potential projects.

Work is stressing me out again. Hopefully the wedding in Greensburg tomorrow will take my mind off it for a while. My son-in-law's brother is getting married ...so it's ... party on!

Picking up the pieces... so to speak

Since I never made a sweater with a shawl collar before, I wasn't sure how this was going to work. I had 5 stitches from the top of the seed stitch button hole band on a holder. I transferred them back onto a needle and then picked up six more stitches along that cable edge. The instructions say to continue in seed stitch on these 11 stitches until piece measures long enough to reach the middle back. Then, the process is repeated on the other side until both seed stitch pieces reach the center back. These pieces are then grafted together and the collar is sewn onto the neck edge. Makes perfect sense to me. Phew! I think I can do this.

The photo below is an antique correspondence box. It was a gift from friends who are antique dealers. I keep my dp needles and other notions in this box.



The lid slides to the right. Last night while I was searching for size 7 dp's, I realized that my tools of the trade have outgrown the box. I couldn't fit another stitch holder in there if I tried. So, I think it's time for a needle organizer. That little box is so full of dp's and circ's. It's time. It's frustrating to have to dig through the mess to find something. Anyone have a good organizer they really like? I'm not sure exactly what to look for. (also..notice the cute photo of my husband and daughter dancing at her wedding... I just love that photo!)

I worked on the socks last night and picked up the heel stitches a la Grumperina's "pretty way". I have to admit to being skeptical about that. I didn't think that picking up just the front of the loop was going to make a sturdy enough connection but it does and it's... well... pretty. Thanks Grumperina! (I tried to add the link here for that little tutorial but blogger wouldn't let me for some reason) If you want it, email me.

I finished the Misty Garden scarf for my mother. It will go on the blocking board tonight. (Ok.. I don't really have a blocking board.. I have blocking towels.... but I'd LIKE to have a blocking board.) Santa can you hear me??? (why am I imagining Barbara Streisand in Yentl?)

Wednesday Stuff

Elsbeth Lavold....
So..OK.. Laurie G. I have a little bone to pick with you. Did I really need to know that this designer, and this book, and these yarns were out there???? Um, I think not. So now I have to HAVE this book and add all of her stuff to my aran obsession as if it wasn't bad enough to begin with. :-)



Here is the Trellis mess on my dining room table. I unpinned it all this morning and I guess I'll tackle the construction and collar sooner rather than later. Time is running out on this one.



The Misty Garden scarf is almost finished. As quickly as it seemed to be going previously, now I feel like it's taking forever. I thought I'd finish this last night but no go. I'm going until I run out of yarn on this one and that didn't happen last night. I'll still have another ball of that yarn left. What do you do with one ball of fingering weight yarn? Beats me.



This is Kepler..... waiting patiently. Taunting me....

You Knit What??

I SO love that blog... You Knit What?? It's hysterical. And I have to agree with almost everything they choose as being ridiculous. But I have to take exception to their view on this hat. I think this hat is adorable. I'd knit this for my little niece. She's 3. It's cute. What's wrong with this hat? Maybe I should be asking what's wrong with me instead. ? I noticed that they also have Debbie Bliss's Marilyn sweater on there. I liked that sweater too. Until I searched blogs to see if anyone made it and they were all UGLY.... didn't even look like the same sweater.

I did swatch the orange handspun last night for Kepler. It turned out a tad small. So, I'm thinking, since every other fitted sweater I ever knit myself turned out big enough to fit 4 people in it with me, with those swatches totally on gauge, maybe I should just go for it. I can always give it to Cate if it turns out too small.

I totally have "startitis" to begin a new big project. I'm just going to have to give in to it when I get the cashmere scarf finished. Why torture myself? I can still work on the Christmas knitting too. I have visions of myself knitting at 3:30 in the morning on Christmas Day trying to get it all done.

My friends are putting together a NYC bus trip for the first week of December... now that will be some major quality knitting time on that bus. I can kick butt on that trip. And maybe find these places that I've been dying to visit.

Margaret Nicole New York, clutch bags

Yarn, Knitting Patterns and Supplies - The Yarn Co.

purl

My friends will be pulling their hair out. They don't knit. They don't get it.

Hey, we should get a knitter's bus trip to New York together. Check this site out:

Google Local - yarn and loc: New York, NY

Oh, man. We could have a ball. (Well, actually lots of balls.) Ha Ha.

Blah.... Monday

I worked all weekend so it wasn't much of a weekend. I did manage to get the pieces of Trellis completed. My love affair with this project is officially over. The shoulder seams were to be grafted together. Well, that didn't happen. No matter what I did it looked terrible so I decided to bind off and sew the shoulders together. I'm sure now that I'll have trouble setting the sleeves in because the sewn seam will take up sleeve space. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
My patterns from Elann.com arrived. I like all of them but I can see that I won't be able to use my Irish yarn with them. I don't think the gauge is right for any of them. So, Rogue could still be in the running for that yarn. (how can so many Irish Aran sweaters NOT call for aran weight yarn??)

I also made good progress last night on the cashmere misty garden scarf for my mother. I like how that is turning out. It's a fun, quick pattern to work too. I highly recommend it for quick Christmas knitting. (Misty Garden Scarf from Scarf Style) I'd definitely use a hand painted yarn for that pattern the next time. Come to think of it, the yarn that my Pittsburgh Secret Pal sent me would be fabulous for that scarf. Hmmmn......

I'm dying to start Kepler with my orange yarn. I don't know how long I can hold off. Surely it wouldn't hurt to swatch for gauge tonight???

Pattern Shopping

After my recent yarn splurge, I have vowed NOT to buy any more yarn until the big sale at the LYS on New Years Day. I think I truly can do this. I have enough yarn and enough projects to keep me busy for a long time. However, upon perusing the Elann.com site the other day, I found some patterns that I just have to have. And at $1.18 each, why not? I paid more to have three patterns shipped than I paid for the patterns. Here they are:







They are SO me. Once I get these and look them over really well, I will make a final decision on what to do with the Irish aran yarn my daughter brought me back from Ireland. I am so on the fence about Rogue. Part of me wants that in the worst way, and another part of me says to make something that I can wear to work... something more practical. There is also a pattern in an old Vogue that I love... Decisions, decisions.

Out of Control...totally

I wish I had some newsworthy knitting content for today but the only thing I have to say is that I made progress on the right front of trellis last night..... buttonholes and all. I'm not sure why I was putting that off... the buttonholes consisted of "yo, knit 2 tog" period. Maybe if I would have read ahead like most people do, I wouldn't have been concerned about it. For some reason I thought button holes were a lot more complicated than that. I've made them before but I can never remember. Anyhow, another good week on trellis and I think it's finished.

So why am I out of control? Well, my eating habits have been out of control lately. Maybe if I come clean here I'll shape up (so to speak) and mend my piggish ways. The truth is, I've eaten more Halloween candy than all of our neighborhood kids put together and I've been stopping at McDonalds a lot lately which is really not like me at all. In the last two weeks I've probably had 3 or 4 Egg McMuffins. That's bad enough, but this morning I ordered a Sausage, Egg, and Cheese McGriddle. If you've ever had one of these, I know you'll be concerned. As I was eating it, I just kept thinking.... I'm glad I had my blood work done BEFORE I ate this thing. I think I can feel my veins clogging. It was so disgustingly greasy (and good I might add) that the guilt is going to stay with me ... well, probably..... until tomorrow morning. I imagine that, soon, the ladies who clean my office and empty my waste basket are going to try some type of an intervention with me. I don't know what set me off in this direction. I was doing so well. It seems like the only time I can really stay on track is if I have something important, some event, to look good for. I lost 20 lbs. for my daughter's wedding two years ago and I lost 10 this summer for my fancy Kiawah vacation and my niece's wedding. I have nada right now to get excited about. I don't think it's fair to try to talk one of my other kids into getting married so I can lose weight and another expensive vacation isn't going to happen, well, probably ever again in this lifetime. I hate weight problems. Ok, I got that off my chest...NO MORE MCDONALDS! (I wonder what's on the breakfast menu at Burger King?)

Look!!

Shelley got my yarn finished and I can't stop staring at it, it's so beautiful. (yeah, I have a little problem, but admitting it is the first step to recovery) It's a wool/silk blend and she did a fabulous job of dying it exactly the way I wanted it. Now my only problem is going to be trying to let it sit until I get other projects finished first. To check out Shelley's other yarns, visit her site here:
Rose Garden Fibers

I also picked up my Cascade 220 for my nephew's scarf and hat.



I hope he likes these colors. That red is a little on the bright side.

Knitting night was fun. We had a massage therapist come and tell us what kind of exercises to do with our wrists and hands to prevent repetitive motion injuries while knitting and some neck and shoulder exercises as well. It was interesting. Our little group is rapidly growing and I fear that we will be outgrowing that space soon. Hopefully they have a plan for when that happens. We don't have a Barnes and Noble or Borders so I'm not sure what the next step would be.

I was so wrapped up in the program and conversation that the knitting I did while I was there had to be totally frogged when I got home. I was working on the sleeve of Trellis and forgot to do the increases. ADD. I should know better than to work on something that I have to think about when so much else is going on. I think I need to stick to sock knitting on knitting night. Lesson learned! I knew I wouldn't sleep until it was fixed so I was up until midnight which is unheard of for me. I'll be falling asleep at my desk today. I hope my boss has a sense of humor. :-)

dazed and confused

I've been reading blogs a lot lately.... you can tell that things are getting slow in real estate these days. Anyhow, it would appear that fingerless mitts are all the rage. Everyone is knitting those things.

Now I don't get this. I understand the ones that are actual mittens and the top part folds back to free the fingers if you need them to do something (like sort change or something) without taking the mittens off.

What I don't understand is why you would knit a piece of fabric to cover the wrist and the hand but not the fingers. What about the poor, cold fingers? What is the point? Isn't it almost just as well not to have anything on at all? How hard is it to take a pair of gloves off if you need your fingers free for a minute or two?

Am I missing something? Is there a good purpose for these things that I'm not thinking of?
Because, if I'm taking the time to knit mittens or gloves, you better believe I'm taking the the time to knit the extra few inches to keep my digits warm!

No Knitting Monday

Wow.. I haven't had a "no knitting" day in a while. After work I met my sister for dinner and a movie. When I got home it was too late to knit. We went to see this:

In Her Shoes (2005)

It was good. A commentary on sibling rivalry and bonding that was very well done. Toni Collette was just awesome. Cameron Diaz was good but she doesn't have the range that Collette has. My opinion, for what it's worth.

Tonight is knitting night at the LYS. I really do look forward to that. I guess I'll take Trellis and try to finish the second sleeve. I never did start the chemo cap that we are all supposed to be knitting. I was an hour late when they started them at a previous meeting and I ended up not doing it. I guess I better get on that. I'm anxious to talk to the girl who is spinning my orange yarn and see where she's at with that. It's for Kepler: fathom I'm not in any big hurry for it because I won't get around to it until after the holidays but I'm excited to see it.

Hopefully there will be some knitting news and progress to report tomorrow!

GAG ME....

Today I found, quite by accident, the most obnoxious knitting blog there could possibly be on the face of the earth. Naturally I'm not going to name it and get myself in trouble but I will say one thing. If I ever win the lottery, and acquire great wealth, and become so full of myself that you want to puke when you read my blog, and stage myself in my knitwear in strategic positions that showcase my fabulous house and material possessions, will you just shoot me? Please? Ugh! The world doesn't need people like that. I bet she's a trip at PTA meetings.... if she bothers to go.

BOO!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

In an effort to make sure I'm dressed appropriately for the occasion, Catie gave me these socks which I have on today:



They really are not "me" but they're kind of fun and I tend to dress a little too conservatively most of the time. My co-workers will think I went off the deep end. Anyhow, on to knitting news.

True to my words I didn't knit too much over the weekend. I did hold an Open House yesterday though and I got a good bit of the first opal sock finished. I love the colorway.



And below is the left front of Trellis which I finished last week. I think the pattern is so nice. I can't wait to put all the pieces together and get this finished.



I did stop at the LYS on Saturday and purchased some red Cascade 220 for my nephew's ski hat and scarf. I'd really like to do a stockinette scarf for him to match the hat but I don't know what to do to keep the edges from rolling in. Any suggestions? I guess there is always the k2p2 ribbing but I just hate the constant back and forth changing of the yarn in ribbing and there is no ribbing in the hat.

This time change thing has me all screwed up. I want to go to bed earlier and get up earlier. I can't seem to adjust. And I HATE the fact that it gets dark so early. I think I do suffer from seasonal affective disorder. I tend to hibernate in the winter. When I get home from work, I DO NOT want to go back out. And this time of year is hard on me in terms of business too. People don't want to look at houses in the dark, obviously, so that makes for busier weekends because there is no more daylight after work. Ok, enough complaining!

Have a great Halloween!

Trick or Treat Night

Working on Trellis last night was a no-go. Too much interruption to get into that pattern. So I finished a pair of Christmas socks which I cannot show you... due to the prying eyes of Miss Snoop Bloggy Blog. I also worked on the cashmere scarf for a while until I got bored with that pattern. Since I did finish the socks, I allowed myself to start another pair... also for Christmas gift giving. These will be for daughter #1.



The opal yarn feels thinner than the Lana Grossa Meilenweit I just finished up with. I love these opal self patterning yarns. I love sock knitting period. I have to say it's my favorite.

So Cate is coming home again tonight which wasn't planned. Her boyfriend is from here as well and also goes to SRU. His best friend (also from here) lost his father this week in a firefighting training accident. He was an instructor and apparently passed out in a burning structure during a drill. No one knows why and I guess it took them a while to realize he was down. (well, obviously). Sad. Very sad... he was only 47.

I have promised myself I will pay more attention to my house than to knitting this weekend. I still haven't dealt with the flower beds for winter or window cleaning that has needed done for months. Our spare room looks like a bomb went off in it. Now that things are slowing down with real estate, I need to take advantage of these slow weekends and get some things accomplished before the holidays. This knitting addiction has wrecked havoc with the condition of my house. I feel like an "yarn alcoholic" at times... ignoring important things and letting things go just so I can knit. There are times when I think I should go into therapy. Yikes!

Cate and Irish Watching TV

We have the best dog in the world. She loves us so much. But she sheds LIKE NO OTHER. It makes me INSANE. As much as I love this dog, and as much as I will miss her when she's gone, I still can't imagine ever doing this:
About Spinning Dog Hair and Cat Hair Into Yarn

Can you?

So Many Projects.... So Little Time

As if I didn't have enough going, I had to start this last night:
















I decided to make the "Misty Garden" scarf from "Scarf Style" with the cashmere yarn for my mother. This pattern is designed to show off the colors in hand painted yarns but I just liked the look and size of it for this yarn which is somewhere in between a fingering weight and DK.
















It's the first lace type thing I've been able to be successful with... of course if you can't do this pattern, you need to hang up the needles. Even my disordered brain can grasp this elementary repeat.

Tonight I will work on Trellis again. I'll start the second sleeve... I'm avoiding the right front because I've never done button holes before... well, I have, but not well, believe me.

So my husband shamed me into buying candy for the Trick or Treaters tonight. I guess I won't be a Halloween Scrooge after all. I think it's funny that he was so adamant about it because one thing is for sure... HE won't be the one answering the door. MEN!

Grrrr.... FRUSTRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!

After having blood work done last week, I was informed yesterday that I need yet another test and that I was to go back to the hospital and get it done. The doctor was faxing the order to the lab. So, I get up extra early so I can be there at 7:00am this morning and beat the crowd and make it to work on time... get there at exactly 7:00am .. only to find out that the doctor never faxed the order. That made me a little angry. Oh, hell, it made me a lot angry... let's be honest about it. If I did that to someone I'd never hear the end of it.

So tomorrow is Trick or Treat night in the burg. (not the burgh... our LITTLE burg) Previously, in years gone by, our kids and their boyfriends or girlfriends at the time always had a little tradition of answering the door and handing out the candy. This year, with no one at home, (ok, the boy is still at home but his girlfriend is away at school and he has no further interest in the project) it's up to me to answer the door. This is no easy feat. We live across the street from the only supermarket in town. People from the rural areas come in droves and drop their kids off in that parking lot and they (for some reason) head straight to our door. We get hundreds. Now, don't get me wrong, I like the little goblins. What I don' t like is older teenagers without costumes coming in groups of 10 and 12 with their grocery bags extended and then having the nerve to say "can I have an extra one for my little brother who's at home sick?" Yeah, right. Then I turn into "Halloween Scrooge" and the whole spirit and fun of it goes right into the toilet for me. So I'm asking myself... is it worth it? Or after 28 years of handing out candy is it time to turn the lights out and not put myself through it? Have I paid my Halloween dues? Is it time for a new generation of Halloween moms to take over? Or am I just getting old and cranky? Probably the later. Oh well. Whatever.

Is there knitting content today? Well I finished the front left of Trellis last evening. I hope it's ok. I guess I won't really know until construction. It looks right. I also got about a half of a sock completed at an "agent open house" I had at one of my broker's listings yesterday. The weather was so terrible that almost no one showed up and I just sat and knit away. Socks are great "take along" knitting for things like that. It's my firm belief that knitters should always have a pair of socks on the needles for those occasions when you might have to kill time somewhere. They're very portable.

I told my older daughter, the lovely Kelly, that I wanted to knit her a sweater this winter and she decided that she wants "Josephine" from knitty.com. Isn't it just like a kid (ok, a grown kid) to choose a sweater-coat that would take me 5 years to knit. I told her to re-think it. Until I win the lottery and can knit all day I won't be knitting any big, long projects like that!

Dirty Cashmere

My cashmere from Elann.com arrived yesterday. I have to admit to being disappointed in the color. I can't even remember what kind of white they were calling it, and it's no longer on their website (they must have sold out), but what they SHOULD have called it is "dirty white" because that's what it looks like. It's such a dull gray/white. Certainly I'll use it but not with the pleasure that I was anticipating.

I almost have the front left of trellis finished.... worked on that last evening. I'm pretty certain that I can have that finished by the date that I had hoped and then it's heavy into Christmas knitting. My nephew requested a ski hat and scarf that I will totally enjoy knitting for him. I'm flattered that a grown nephew would ask! And the good thing is that I know he'll appreciate it. I don't know if he'll appreciate having to get it cleaned instead of throwing it in the washer though! I'll make it with Cascade 220. If you want warm, you want wool. He'll get over it. And for those of you thinking about knitting a great ski hat, check this one out...

the blue blog patterns: double knit cap Warm!

Work beckons... have a great day!