Finished Objects

How about this!? I couldn't believe this toad just sat there while Sylvester checked him out and then while I moved around to take his picture. At first when I saw him, I thought he was some kind of weird mushroom or fungus on the rock out by the deck.

While he's not exactly a finished object, I thought he was cool

Here are my socks for the SAM4 KAL. For some reason it won't let me post the picture to the blog, I have to get that figured out before the end of the month. I did these socks in two days. They are a pattern also for the Easy Socks group on yahoo groups that I belong to. The one thing that I noticed is that I guess I don't do my YO's correctly, because it doesn't look exactly like the pattern. It is called Bell-Lace Wool Ease Socks. They are done in the color way Wheat on size 5 circular needles.

OH! Yes, I learned how to do a sock on two circulars and I am so excited. Thank you to "knitman" who has a blog and belongs to the Socknitters group. He had YouTube links for Cat Bordi (sp?) and I watched video on how it is done and I did it! I made these socks for Rachael and now that I have posted them, I can finally give them to her for house socks.

TaDa! Here is my wonderful, fit just for me Top Down Raglan Sleeve Sweater! I am so happy that it is finally done and that I will actually have a sweater that's arms are not TOO long for me and that I have to keep rolling up! As I have said, it is made from Patons La Laine yarn, which is a sport weight and I absolutely love how soft it is and I can't wait to wear it.

Oh, I forgot to add that I did finish my "Irish Hiking Scarf" but I ended up leaving it at my fathers without taking a completed picture. Hopefully I will remember to do that.

On the needles now:

Gauge Swatch for a new Top Down Sweater, in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, which I am loving!

Another Bell Lace Wool Ease Sock in Paton's classic meriono

I love Garnsey sock that has not be touched. sigh

Knitting News

Well a few days away and I really didn't get as much knitting done as I had hoped.

We stayed in Cape May, for the firemen's convention in Wildwood, for a few days and I thought I would get much more done.

Here is the progress on my Irish Hiking Scarf. I just have to bind off and that is one project I did get done. I really liked the pattern, it was easy to do, and easy to memorize.


I didn't work much at all on my Raglan Sleeve top down sweater while I was away. I wanted to check on the length. The directions say to knit 14 inches from the division, but I am short and I really didn't want that long of a sweater. So I have compared it to a favorite sweater that I do have and I have decided to begin the ribbing on it.

While away, I did start on the socks for the "I Love Garnsey" from the six sock KAL group. The yarn is Opal Petticoat in colorway 1294, however, when I was about 2 inches into the pattern, it really didn's show up well on the sock, so I ripped it all back and started again. I have decided that I will just do the pattern for the cable A four times around the sock and see how that comes out. I hope to be able to finish that off before the month is through. I don't know if it will count for the KAL since I will not be following the pattern exactly, but at least I will have finished socks for the SAM4KAL.

Ravelry

When I first heard of RAVELRY I didn't have a clue what it was and didn't really pay attention. Well, I am learning I should have. Since I joined the waiting list, only about 800 people have received their invite. But from what I understand they are working as fast as they can to get people in. I am really excited about it and I can't wait for my invitation to come.



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IRISH HIKING SCARF PROGRESS

Well as you can see I got quite a bit done on this project. I am having alot of fun with it and I am sure by the time I am done I will be able to do these cables perfectly. It is a nice project to do in front of the television.

TOP DOWN RAGLAN SLEEVE SWEATER PROGRESS

I am extremely pleased with how this project is coming along. It was rather hot and humid this past weekend, and of course, thinking the "cooler" weather was here, we took the AC units out last weekend. So, due to DH and I not feeling like doing much we enjoyed a few television movies and I knit nearly the whole weekend. In between cooking and errands.

I wish that Paton still carried this yarn. I have to see what their classic merino is like to see if it is the same as this. I would love to have more to make sweaters from.

Over the weekend, I joined the SixSock KAL group on yahoo. I had belonged once before, but left the group because life got in the way. They are doing a lovely pattern right now, called "I Love Guernsy" and I think with this one I am going to try to teach myself how to do two socks at one time. I have to go check some websites to see if I can get good enough directions on how to do it though. I tend to be a sight learner and I do much better when I have pictures to look at as well.

Irish Hiking Scarf

An Irish Hiking Scarf! I saw this pattern a few weeks ago while surfing and thought that it would make a lovely scarf. I learned how to do cables just after I learned how to make socks and I really do like doing them. So I think this scarf will end up being for one of my DDGD for a just because gift. She is in her third year of college and blue is her favorite color. She is doing an awesome job and I know she goes to school early to beat the traffic and then she sleeps in her car until class. Hopefully she will enjoy this.

This is how far I have come so far on my Raglan top down sweater. I have about 6 more rows and then I will hold the sleeve stitches while I complete the body of the sweater. I really love the way this wool feels and I wish I could find more of it. I am sure that they have replaced it with another name, but the La Laine is really nice and soft. I hope that it will wash up well. I love knitting on the circular needles that I am also doing the Irish Hiking Scarf on them as well. My elbows and arms don't seem to hurt as much.

I blocked my tunic yesterday and it seems to have come out very nicely. I am looking forward to wearing it once the weather gets a bit cooler.

I DID IT!

Sorry the above picture is a bit dark, I tried to lighten it but it didn't help. This is the side seam on my tunic. I used "Knitting in Plain English" to do this invisible seam. I know it is hard to tell from this picture, but you can't see the seam at all. It is done from the "public side" of the garment, just as the shoulder seams were done, using a little different method.

The above is a picture of the first seam that I did on the arm to the body of the sweater. This is where I was having so much difficulty. I could not understand the written instructions for doing it from the outside, as one edge was vertical and the other edge was a bound off. So I put it away for a while.

I talked with my Aunt about this and she said you seam from the inside. So the picture above is with the seam from the inside. Which was okay, but not as nice looking as I had hoped.

So I dragged out the book again and sat and read and re read. And finally, it clicked!

This is the shoulder seam, above, using the technique in the book and it produces a much smoother, invisible seam. I am sure that as I learn and practice, when I make piece items, that the seams will get much better.

And here is the completed sweater! The picture doesn't look that great, but it does fit! The length is good. I'm glad I took the three inches off the bottom. The 18 inch length sleeves are perfect for me, they come right to my wrist. And when I measured the finished item, it matches the measurements in the book, all except the length. So I am pretty pleased about that.

Then came the task of the ends. DH commented that that part was going to take me as long to do as the whole sweater. Which, it sure seemed like it, but I got it done. The whole process of learning and doing and redoing the seams, and doing the ends took the WHOLE day. Hours! Plus it was done between life happening and having to stop for this and that, but it did take hours.

Now today I will hand wash and block it.

I didn't get any knitting done yesterday on my knit top down sweater, but I did do alot of that on Sunday, so it is coming along nicely.

Raglan Sleeve, Knit Top Down

Well, I finished up as much as I could of the Tunic. The collar came out nice and I did a good job of seaming the bound off shoulders, but I can't quite figure out how to do the sleeves. I need some help with that and I am hoping that when I visit with my family in a few weeks, my Aunt will be able to help me out.

As you can see, I have started the Raglan Sleeve, Knit top down sweater. I have decided to put cables down the front so that it won't be so "plain jane" and gives me a break in the monotony.

I have found that I truly like this wool, and I can not find it on the Patons website anymore, so it is probably discontinued. I don't know that I have ever used superwash DK before, but I do like the way this feels. I am sure the sweater is going to be wonderful on. It is working up quickly.

I like that my wrists don't hurt as much using the ciruclar needles as compared to the 14 inch long straight needles. But I have just changed from the Susan Bates quicksliver needles to these Bamboo ones, and I love my bamboo dpn, however, I am finding that the connection between the needles and the cable are not that "quick". So I may just have to go out and buy some size 7, 24 inch circulars today.