Strawberry Baby Hat

Pattern: Anna Norling #10 - Fruit Cup

Yarn: Worsted Weight


I knitted the hat with a slightly darker red as I wanted it to look like a ripe strawberry. It's a very quick and fun knit.
This hat is really much smaller than it appears. It's a size 12 mos. but it will probably fit her now at age two months. The hat was inspired by the following picture:

This is Kaileigh Noella, age two months, sitting peacefully in a strawberry patch while her mom, Jodi, is berry picking. Isn't she just ever darling!!

I've been working on some other knitting projects that I will blog about in the next couple of days.

So from very rainy Vermont.......

Happy Knitting!

New Crafting Friends, Great Conversation and Food

While at the doctor's office recently, a couple walked in and sat down across from me. The woman pulled out a pair of socks and started knitting. Of course, that was an opener for a conversation.

I mentioned that I had just purchased a spinning wheel that week and was not doing well. Her response was, "Oh, please come and visit and I'll help you. I'll even feed you lunch!" So I took her up on her offer and went to visit last Saturday.

Sue lives about 50 miles away. The drive is through beautiful lush, velvet greet farmland. When I arrived I was in awe. Sue has a 17 room house with 5 fireplaces. Every room is filled with crafts, whether it be quilts, rugs, cross stitch, hand-made baskets, etc. There are many, many knitting antiques such as a "Pop Goes The Weasel" yarn winder. (I hope I have that correctly.) Sue invited another friend, Candy to join us. We had a wonderful lunch and then spent the afternoon spinning and enjoying great conversation. I must tell you that Sue is the town historian so there was a lot of interesting information to be shared.

Sue helped me with my spinning and plying and was most encouraging (as have some of my blogging friends!) I spun more when I returned home and this is the results. Getting better at it all the time!
Don't have a niddy noddy or any of those gadgets yet to wind my skein properly.

The visit I had with Sue and Candy was exactly what I needed. Sue has invited me to return and I look forward to it.

You see, I have been taking bridge lessons and those folks can be downright nasty if you don't play correctly. It's as if the mortgage is on the line for crying out loud. Because bridge really is no longer fun and I really value what free time I have, it will be spent with crafting friends. There are two spinning groups that I am joining. One meets all day, one Saturday per month and has a pot luck dinner. The other meets one Thursday evening per month.

Happy Knitting!

Ocean Wave Socks

Note: I should have mentioned earlier that yes, you do cast on with circulars and that you can use dp's but it is much more difficult to knit that first row. I switched to dp's as the pattern is an exact repeat of 4 so having 4 dp's to knit with quickly alerted me if I had the incorrect # of stitches.

As for the Cinderella comment, someone asked me about it. I was referring to the prince looking for someone that the shoe would fit and I was going to have to look for someone for the sock to fit if I didn't frog back.

Looking for Cinderella........you'll see why as you read on.

This Oceanwave Sock by Cat Bordhi was extremely interesting and fun to knit.. The sock uses "Judy's Magic Cast On". You cast onto two circular needles in a figure eight method twice the number of stitches you would normally need. You are knitting down with one needle and up with the other. After about 6 rows you fold your knitting in half and K2Tog (ending with your usual # of stitches) and proceed knitting the leg.


The sock widens with increases as you near the instep and heel.

You never have to pick up a stitch along the heel. I love the design! Notice how the Sl1, K1 is carried from the heel to under the foot.


The design down the front of the leg.

The decreases are meant to hug the arch of the foot.
And........in the end, I decided the heck with Cinderella, that I will frog back to above the heel. The sock does not fit in spite of the fact that there are the same # of stitches, same needles and same weight yarn.

Tomorrow, I will tell you about the great craft weekend I had....totally amazing.

Happy Knitting!

Gadgets!!! Don't You Just Love Them!!

If you were reading my Yahoo 360 blog last year, you probably recognize this picture. I was threading beads onto the yarn to knit a shawl. I used nail polish on the end of the yarn to facillitate the threading. Scroll further to see the gadget I can now use instead.

The "Ice Queen" pattern has been one that I have wanted to knit for quite some time. It is a cowl, a head scarf and more using the feather and fan pattern. However, the thought of stringing beads was not a welcoming thought. I have this beautiful apricot and beige lace weight yarn of alpaca and silk. Today I decided to prepare the yarn for my project using the following:

It's a bead spinner. A fish hook type needle designed especially to accommodate yarn threading (or other fiber) is suspended into this container as you spin it. The beads catch on the hook and voila!!...you can easily thread your yarn.
In this picture you can see some of the beads on the needle and a small piece of the yarn that is already threaded through the bead needle. The cost for this gadget was $20 but I only paid $11.99 with my 40% off coupon at Michael's. It's also a sales tax-free weekend in Vermont so $11.99 it was!

Happy Knitting!

Dr. Weissgold Socks - Finished

A few posts back, I told you I knitted these socks and called them Dr. Weissgold because I started knitting them while waiting for my appointment for the eye issue I had. I return for my check-up on Tuesday and I'm hoping for the best.

The real name of this pattern is "Blueberry Waffle". If you want the free pattern, let me know and I'll send you the link.

If he Googles himself, won't he be surprised to see these socks pop up. Last time I tried it, I was the 3rd link...lol.
It was a great week to be on vacation. For the most part, the weather was absolutely wonderful. I spent a fair amount of time by the lake with my knitting. I started a new pair of socks from Cat Bordhi's book and am quite pleased with how they are coming out. If you are in the doldrums with your knitting, try one of her patterns. A little challenging but truly amazing how her mathematical mind works.

Someone is interested in having me teach sock knitting classes this fall. I have to come up with an hourly $$$ (including prep time). There will be 6-8 students, 2hrs. each class for 4 weeks. Not sure how much to charge as I don't want to not have enough folks interested because of the price. I have to come up with the details by the end of the week. Any suggestions?

On the spinning front....some days are good, others not so good. I'm still familiarizing myself with my new wheel :>)

Happy Knitting!

Finally!!! My Own Spinning Wheel

I was fortunate enough to be the first person to contact the seller of this Lendrum spinning wheel. Six other people wanted the wheel and one even tried to offer $100 over the asking price to get it. The seller and I had made a deal which she honored.

I am so excited and could hardly contain myself. I hardly slept last night in anticipation feeling very much like a young child on the morning of Christmas.
Briley (Brian) and I got together today. He lives in the area where I had to pick up my wheel. (See below what Brian arrived with!!!) Brian and I have been blogging friends for quite some time and have gotten together several times for a craft "show and tell". I didn't take pics of his crafts today as he will be blogging about it all soon. Trust me, his work is truly inspiring.
I met up with the seller in a mall parking lot as we both had to travel some distance. Above, Brian is helping set up the wheel for me.


I'm just as happy as can be with my new wheel. Brian and I spread out a blanket under a shaded tree (with beautiful flowers), sat on the ground and with the wheel slightly below us off the curb, Brian proceeded to give me lessons in plying, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't take pics of Brian doing the plying. Trust me, it was a lot of fun.
We also had lunch and went to a bead shop. Lucky us!
Brian gave me the following:
4 oz. of multicolor merino, 1 oz dyed brown colonial, 1.5 oz of natural brown blend, 1 oz. of blue bamboo, 2 oz. of cotton, 1 oz. black alpaca
So sweet and thoughtful of Brian to do this.
I'm on vacation this week so there will be plenty of time to test drive my wheel. My caller ID will be used to the fullest and I will take calls from my kids but not from anyone local. No, I don't want to go shopping, no I don't want to go to the museum, no, I don't want to go to lunch nor dinner....I just want to spin.
Now, if you'll excuse me, this gal wants to go spin!!
Happy Knitting & Spinning!
Joansie

Grandkids and Knitting

Just a quick update on grandkids and knitting!


This is Jakob, now age 18 months. Hasn't he grown from previous pics on my blog. He is just so darling!
This is Joe, now age 13, (duh, can you tell from the candles). He had a large party with friends while I was visiting on Memorial Day weekend. Joe made highest honors on his report card with an average of 97 in math. We were delighted!

And this is Nick, age 10. He just got a new trumpet as a reward for excellent grades in school. Yesterday was their last school day.

On the knitting front, I'm down to the heel of the 2nd Dr. Weissgold socks. Can't wait for those to be finished. I'm then going to return to some UFO's.

Not much time to knit lately. My new thing for June is bridge lessons. I'm challenging my brain. The lessons go till the end of August.

Oh yes, my daughter, Amy received a spinning wheel from her husband as an anniversary gift this week. He is always so thoughtful with his selection of gifts for her. Lucky girl!!!

My spinning wheel purchase keeps getting put off. I just paid $300 for new glasses and 3 weeks later I had the incident with my eye that now requires at least one new lens.

Happy Knitting!

Waldo, Where Are You?

If you've been reading my blog since the days of blogging on Yahoo 360, you know that I try to do one new thing per month. I've learned to kayak, (or tried to), spinning, attended presidential candidate rallies, ate new foods, etc.

For May of 2008......here's the new thing.

It's a chick incubator!

Can't remember why we had to add water!

This gadget automatically turns the eggs. Mother hen would normally do that. It's done so the embryo doesn't stick to the membrane just inside the shell.Waldo, Waldo...where are you? (from the children's book) Can you see one of the chicks beginning to crack through the egg? (Bottom left, 2nd up)
I didn't get pics when first hatched. Not very pretty at that stage. They sure are tired. Pic above shows them about 1-2 days old. There were 49 chicks that hatched while I was there.
A closer look! Chirp!, Chirp!, Chirp!

Daughter, Amy, after having collected the eggs from the coop! (She said to ignore the stain on shirt!..lol)

Going to market! Not sure if you can tell, but there are a few "blue" eggs. Can't remember the breed hen but those eggs usually sell for much more because of their taste. Many of daughter's customers are co-workers.

Happy Knitting!

Oh My Gosh....Free Yarn!

Did the title get your attention? My younger daughter (who doesn't knit) called me last evening. She and her dad are going to this warehouse today. Read the ad.....it says bring a van, bring muscle, bring plastic bags, etc. I hope it's good yarn.

http://providence.craigslist.org/zip/712040192.html

She is calling me on my cell when she gets there. What fun!...even if it is junk yarn.

Happy Knitting!

What's In The Box?

A few years ago, my daughter, Emily, sent me this lovely box. The price was a steal at the time and she said she was sure I would find use for it somehow. Over the years I've stored a number of things in it.

The box is lined with cedar (I think) and is a cigar box with a humidor. I've most certainly never stored cigars in it. Except for a couple of experimental cigarettes when I was 14, I've never even smoked. Yeah, yeah....at one time it was considered boring but no more.

So I am using it as my sock box.

The "humidor" unscrews and I can put lavendar in it if I want.

However, the box is not large enough to hold all my socks. (sigh!)

A closer look at some of the socks.

And now on another note..... Amy said I left her curious with my last post. I was somewhat vague with my heritage. I am French Canadian and also speak the language. I was brought up Catholic and went to school 1/2 day of French and 1/2 day of English.

I told you about my friend's funeral last Saturday and they played "J'airai La Voire Un Jour" which is a song saying that the person has gone to heaven to see the Blessed Virgin Mary. Now, I think a mother's role in life is pretty important and Mary, being Jesus' mother is to be looked up to.

The food I enjoyed at the reception afterwards was a tourtierre which is a French Candian pork pie. Traditionally, I have it during the Christmas season only. It's the spices that makes the pie unique. I like mine with mustard on the top. It really is delicious. When I visited my daughter a couple of weeks ago, she pulled one out of the freezer for me to enjoy. A couple of years ago, my daughter and I made 23 of those pies (in one day...superwomen we are!!!) and stored them in the freezer.

Must go..there are severe thunderstorm watches and tornado watches for my area. Work sent us home early because of the weather. I'm prepared!!!

Happy Knitting!

Weissgold

A message for Dr. Weissgold........... (Friday's reflections)

Where are you, Dr. Weissgold? You needn't hurry too much on my account as I am knitting these socks while waiting for you to see other patients. Of course, I want to make sure you take good care of my eyes and we don't waste time so that I can continue to knit for years and years. Thanks for explaining to me what is vitreous detachment and how it created two holes in my retina.

I'm also enjoying your 14-week old St. Benard who is running around the coffee table and plopping down in the middle of the room. The dog made the elderly gentleman across from me smile in spite of himself. The dog found the man's inner child so that put a smile on my face as well. One must be thankful for the small things in life as it is those small things that accumulate and overcome everyday problems and sadness.

Ok, back to the socks....I needed mindless knitting while at the doctors. It's the waffle pattern I've knitted so many times. The yarn is, oh, ok...I just don't remember where the darn ballband is at the moment. It is hand painted and was purchased at a LYS sale a few weeks ago. 100 grams for $7...how could I go wrong!!! The picture shows how much I knitted this week while waiting for my eyes to dilate and waiting to see the doctor.

Reflections on Saturday.............

Thank you, thank you, thank you...........no more flashes in my eyes today. I hope to find time to knit for a little while before bedtime.

I attended a friend's funeral this morning. It was a truly beautiful ceremony. He was loved by many and he had a doting family. It was especially touching for me because we shared the same ethnic background and one of the songs that a trio sang at the funeral was in my native language.

Aftwerwards there was a wonderful luncheon with some of the ethnic foods I enjoy. The location overlooked beautiful Lake Champlain on a beautiful and sunny day with the Adirondack Mountains in the distance. I'm sure there are many beautiful places in America but it is difficult to beat the beauty that Vermont possesses. (One of the reasons it is so expensive to live here.)

Many, many of my friends were there to reflect on the good times. Some happen to be here on vacation from as far as Arizona. I had not seen them in almost 15 years.

I may start a new knitting project. It depends on how the mood strikes me this evening.

Happy Knitting!

My Newest Stash Addition

My latest addition to my stash includes lace weight yarn in the peach colorway, gloss burgandy and blue colorway. The brown tweed is yarn my daughter wanted for socks for her husband. All of this loot is from knitpicks.com.

I'm most excited about the Cat Bordhi book. I started knitting the Ocean Waves socks and gave up but only for now because of new developments in my life this week. I loved the "Judy's Magic Cast On" that is featured in this book and I used to start my "Ocean Wave" socks. I like the challenge that the Cat Bordhi patterns present as I have become way too comfortable in my sock knitting with only slight variations in patterns, etc.

It's been a tough week. I had to have emergency laser eye surgery on Wednesday. Just when I thought everything was going to be ok, I became concerned the following day only to be reassured by the doctor that my symptoms were normal. I called again today and was more insistant. The symptoms were more pronounced. I was seen again and the doctor discovered the laser surgery performed the other day was not 100% successful and I had to have more laser surgery today. It's worrisome knowing I have two holes in my retina and could lose my sight in that eye if things worsen. I just had an eye exam a month ago, new glasses, etc. I'm not diabetic or have any condition (except getting older...and who isn't getting older?) that would contribute to this eye situation.

On the plus side, I started a new sock (pics later) while waiting to be seen "in between" patients. Because the surgery was not a scheduled procedure, I had to wait till all other patients were seen which was either a break at lunchtime or the end of the day. So, with eyes dilated, I did my best on the knitting and decided that if there were any mistakes, I was not frogging back. The mistakes, I decided, would be symbolic of what was happening the day they were being knitted.

Ironically, someone sitting next to me in the waiting room was protesting loudly and constantly how far behind the doctor was in seeing patients. I wanted to tell her to take up knitting (and shut up) and take advantage of the "down time", but I think it would have fallen on deaf ears as she was not even picking up a magazine or a book.

So, if the eye situation wasn't enough stress, a good friend passed away a couple days ago. I attended the wake this evening and the funeral is in the morning. He had been in poor health for some time so in a way, it was a blessing.

I'm sure something very good is about to happen. Perhaps I'll win the lottery and go on one heck of a yarn shopping spree.

Happy Knitting!

Sadness and Joy!!!

Sadness and joy........both have touched my life this week . The sorrow.......!!!!

While on vacation, I received the news that my beloved Aunt Anita had passed away. I returned home to Vermont and then traveled to Maine for the funeral.

My Aunt Anita had a quick wit and really was a "together lady". She was 88 years old. There are many wonderful memories to comfort those of us who loved her very much.

The picture was taken December of 2006.

I was introduced to someone at the funeral home that I had not seen in 40 years. Neither one of us recognized the other but someone who knew the two of us brought us together for a few moments of reminiscing. I babysat this man's children for at least every Saturday for a couple of years. However, when told who I was he said, "Oh, yes.....you taught my wife how to knit!". I must have been about 15 years old at the time and did not remember this at all. I was an avid knitter back then so I must have. It pleased me very much that he remembered.

and for the joy..............!!!! while in my home town I was also able to see the newest addition in my family, Kaleigh Noella, only 10 days old.

On the knitting home front, I finished the caramel Primavera socks and have started another pair using a Cat Bordhi pattern that I am finding quite challenging. It involves a casting on method I've never tried before and other construction that makes me feel like I've never knitted socks before though I have completed at least 25 pairs.

I am way behind in blog reading and leaving comments. I hope to get caught up this week. I'm sure you all have been creating some very interesting things.

Primavery Socks - Yarn Selection Makes A Difference

One more pair of Primavera Socks (see previous post for pattern info). Can you tell how much I like this pattern? I’ve pulled the pattern down to the toes and I’m quite nervous because I think I may run out of yarn before they are completed. I purchased this yarn several years ago and I’m not sure if I knitted something with it or now but the yarn sure looked like it had swam in that famous frog pond.

I wanted to show you how different the same sock pattern can look depending on your yarn selection. I have now knitted so many pairs of socks that I want to focus more the pattern and color than self-striping yarn. However, I have quite a stash of that which I really love so I will probably go back and forth.

I purchased this yarn in the first month I started knitting socks and paid $5.25 skein. Haven’t seen that price in a long time. Comments from anyone who has used this yarn will be appreciated. (Brian…think you have.) Instructions say to add 1/8 cup of white vinegar to the last rinse. Is that each time the socks are washed? Will this color fade with repeated washings? If it will, break it to me gently.

I hate resolutions and I have great difficulty keeping them so this year in January I made none. However, the time has arrived and I need to reevaluate things. I have promised myself that for every new project I start (and finish, of course), I must finish a project that has been languishing on my needles.

Darn, then I remembered that I am waiting for my KnitPicks order to arrive. A sock book and yarn are traveling to my home as we speak. I’m embarrassed to tell how much sock yarn I have.

Happy Knitting!

Primavea Socks For Kim

These "Primavera" socks along with the "Blueberry Socks" were sent to Kim earlier this week as part of an exchange. I believe she is away so I have not heard from her yet as to how she likes them. She selected the color and I selected the pattern. She in turn quilted me a beautiful wall hanging that you can see in a previous post.
The pattern is extremely easy to remember and can be found for free on Ravelry. The first 5 rows are the same and the 6th row creates a mock cable stitch. I like this pattern so much that I have already started a pair for myself in a dark caramel color which really looks more like "brick". More on that later.

The book is one of my favorites because I, too, am from Maine originally. One of the women featured is Margaret Chase Smith who was a U.S. senator in days when there were only two women in the Senate. She was a great lady. Her signature mark was the daily fresh rosebud she wore in the lapel to her business suit.

On the home front, the neighbors decided to be quiet last night and I got to sleep. I actually got dressed at 1:30 a.m. the other morning and went over to tell them to turn the "dang" music down. This has been going on for about two weeks. I have spoken with them, etc. and they are always polite but keep it up. Fortunately, they are moving shortly. Not soon enough for me.

I felt like I hit the lottery last Thursday. My new glasses finally arrived after a serious delay at the lab. It was also payday. (Glasses are not the ones in the pic.) I can see well again after suffering without glasses for about 3 weeks after I broke my last pair.

Today, I visited my LYS. They were having a sale. I was good. I purchased very little and will post the yarn later when my Knitpicks order arrives. That was shipped last Thursday also. So, feeling lucky with all the positive things of Thursday, I purchased two lottery tickets today.

Life is good......things are looking up. I'm visiting my family next weekend in R.I.

Happy Knitting!

Rosette Baby Sweater

Pattern: Valley Yarns #200 April to December
Yarn: Southwick Valley Yarns - 52% Pima Cotton - 48% Bamboo (DK weight)
(5 skeins)

I’m delighted with this sweater. It was an easy knit and the yarn was yummy. This project brought me much joy and I felt a touch of melancholy seeing it come to an end. That is probably the reason (at least one of them) as to why it was so very near completion, yet sat in my knitting basket with an occasional loving glance from me while I was cheating and knitting my next project. The sweater is smaller and daintier than how it appears in the pictures. It is a size 3 months.

The cost of the sweater set was a little $$$ but it was worth it. With a 25% discount on the yarn, buttons and rosettes, the final tally was $30. Non-knitters, when receiving such a gift, are not aware of the cost of quality yarn, never mind the labor.

I have a thing for buttons. I will search high and low for just the right ones. When working on crafts we sometimes revert back to childlike habits. My mother had this long, rectangular, beige-colored button box. As a little girl I spent hours stringing like buttons together so that she would know quickly what she had in case the need arose. I enjoyed the rustling sound of the buttons in the box as I searched as if I were putting a puzzle together. Of course, I never ever saw my mother even thread a needle though she had a sewing machine, etc.

For the baby sweater, I wanted the simplest of buttons so as to not detract from the beauty of the sweater and rosettes, themselves.

I added my label for a special touch!

And, of course, you remember the bonnet from a previous post.

A little close up for you!

On another note, I have finished Kim’s socks, and though I gave her a sneak preview of the two pairs I knitted in exchange for the beautiful quilted wall hanging she made me, she has not yet seen the completed brown pair. They were shipped today and once she has received them, I will post pictures. I'm a couple of projects behind in my posting.

Happy Knitting!

Calling All Sock Lovers!

Pattern: "Primavera Socks" (free pattern on Ravelry)
Yarn: Plymouth Rockin Sox (superwash merino, bamboo and nylon)

I'm working on Kim's socks. The pattern is (and colorway) nicer than the pics show. The pattern is "springy" and "pops out" and it will fit the leg nicely. The pattern is easy to remember with increases and decreases every 6th row.

So what is your favorite sock yarn? Needles and size? Cuff down, toe up? The other day I was reading the Yarn Harlot's blog and she was trying to gather enough sock yarn to take with her for sock knitting. She said it takes her 9 hours to knit one sock. Hmmm, that sounded like a challenge to me. Wish I had asked her if she knits continental or to knit a row and show us her technique.

When I think of my favorite sock yarn I have to go with Opal though I really like the Plymouth yarn I am knitting these socks with and many other brands. Why Opal? Opal is like remembering your first kiss as a giddy teenager. It was my first sock yarn? Though not always easy to find, I like the challenge, the selection, etc.

A friend of a friend goes to Germany to visit family and returns with colorways not yet available her in the U.S. One year I received a skein for my birthday that was not yet locally available. What a nice surprise!!

Happy Knitting!