Category: knitting

From out of nowhere.

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Remember how I said I seemed to be missing some photos of a scarf I had knit and I suspected a certain smaller person who lives in our house that likes to play with my camera to be responsible for their going MIA?  Well, I owe her an apology.  I took some shots of the magnolia tree in our front yard yesterday, which is now opening up and gloriously pink and when I uploaded them to share here with you what came up instead were the missing shots from our Baltimore weekend.  My camera has been on the fritz lately and I’ve been worried it was the camera – I’ve been saying when this one goes, I’m moving up to a fancy camera and not another point and shoot, and quite frankly, that kind of toy is nowhere near our current budget.  But after a few different incidents, I’m starting to suspect that my memory card has gone bad, which is actually a much cheaper fix.  Phew. 

So, since they showed up from nowhere, I thought I’d share.  First up, seen on a front porch on Falls Road, near Hampden hon, in Baltimore as we ran around town one day during our visit there last month.

Yes, that’s a Christmas penguin hanging out with a member of the nativity, who is wrapped in a feather boa, with a half full (or empty, depending on how you look at things) large malt liquor beverage under his chair. 
I love Baltimore.
Also suddenly back were the pictures of the scarf I had knit my cousin’s girlfriend for her birthday.
Ginger, as we call her, is a lovely gal and has built quite a relationship with Edie.  I’ve told my cousin Mark, her boyfriend,  if it doesn’t work out with Ginger, then he is the one who has to break the news to Edie, because that is not going to go over well and he is going to suffer her wrath.  We hope it doesn’t come to that though.
I have a scarf I knit for myself a few years back in this style – just loose and freestyle, changing yarns as the whim hit me.  I thought Ginger might appreciate one, so I whipped this up for her the week before the party.
While most of the yarns were white, I did throw some pink and green eyelash yarn in for color.

I also did some cables, as I find them fun and I find when I knit cables, the process seems to go faster.
This section is in the eccentric cable pattern.  ( I used A Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker.  Which was also one of my best thrifting scores ever.)
There you can get an idea of the different yarns used – green eyelash yarn, a bulky chenille, a pink eyelash yarn with bumps of color mixed in, a boucle, a fingerweight yarn, a multicolored eyelash yarn I mixed in with the fingerweight and lastly, a worsted weight cotton.  (If you need a reference on yarn weights, look here). I kept to just a knit stitch outside of the cabled sections.

That’s the basketweave cable stitch. 
I’m knitting a scarf in a similar vein for the silent auction at the annual luncheon for the Jed Foundation, using primarily blues, from the stash Kristin gave me.  February has been quite conducive to knitting, as the second sleeve on Pat’s sweater is really coming along as well.  I’m almost up to the elbow on it.  I’m even starting to kick around ideas of what my next big knitting project is going to be. 
Meanwhile, the shots I meant to show you.  What a difference a few days make!
What I call the tulip magnolia, Pat calls a saucer magnolia.  It’s the pink magnolia in the front yard.  It’s the first thing to bloom every spring and it’s starting to bloom.   Now let’s hope it gets to open up without a hard frost, which will turn the beautiful pink blooms brown.  The top is opening up, but the lower blooms have a few more days I think.  (Clicking on the image will give you a better view of the glorious pinkness.)

The peach tree is also starting to show some opening buds.
I love looking out my windows at the pink trees in the front yard.
Such a nice sight.
Hello spring. 

Recent Knitting Projects.

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My friend Kristin got rid of her stash and gave me a big bag of yarn when I saw her last summer.  I wanted to say thank you and so I knit her a scarf out of some of that yarn.  Here it is:
The ends are this are knit out of a fun chenille pom-pom type yarn, with the main body of the scarf being this very soft, almost suede-like yarn.  I got a number of compliments on it while I was knitting it.   It was very  easy to work with and did I mention soft?  A good hunk of it got knit when we were driving to Alabama to visit the in-laws over the holidays.   Nothing like 10 hours in a car, one way, to knock out some knitting projects.   I’ve started another scarf out of her gifted stash as a donation for the upcoming silent auction for The Jedediah Thomas Smith Foundation annual luncheon, which is another way to say Thank You to her.
This is one I knit for Edie for Christmas – also from Kristin’s stash.  It’s a fingerweight yarn.  I’ve knit this pattern several times over, it’s quick and easy and turns out quite cute.  I think I got it out of the Sunday paper a few years back – it’s all knit stitches, where you  increase every stitch every other row to make the ruffles.  I have two HUGE cones of this yarn and this scarf didn’t make a dent.  I’m thinking it might be a lovely shaw at some point.  It’s quite soft and well, purple.  Our favorite color next to orange. 
My friend Bonnie worked on this scarf one night, when our knitting group had gathered after a particularly tense PTO meeting at school.  In her haste to remember the wine, she had forgotten her knitting, so I lent her one of my projects, since you know, I always have a few I’m working on.  She couldn’t stop commenting on my tight little stitches.  Indeed, there are 1600 stitches in the last row of this scarf with a finished length of 32″.  I knit this on size 8 needles and wasn’t sure how the finished product would turn out.  It’s actually just the right length to wrap around a neck.  It’s quite darling on Edie. 
What intrigues me about knitting is how different yarns and needles create such different results.  I have a heck of a time with gauge.  When I knit scarves, I don’t have to worry about the final measurements as much, I just knit until it looks right.  You can’t do that with sweaters.  Speaking of sweaters….

Serious Progress has been made with Pat’s sweater.  Sleeve No. One is done.  (Okay, so it’s an inch short in that shot, but it’s much farther along than it was here.  I’ll be starting Sleeve No. Two this week and at this rate, I might be able to start putting it all together by sometime mid-summer.  Pat’s hinted it would make a fabulous Christmas gift.  It’s definitely taking me longer than I had anticipated – the yarn is on the heavy and stiff side because it still has a good bit of lanolin in it.  Which means it’s perfect for him to wear out on the river on cold days.
I also knit a really fun little scarf for my cousin’s girlfriend, but a certain little someone who likes to play with my camera may have deleted the photos.  Oh well.  It was white on white, mixing up all the white yarn I had on hand, with some pink and green fringe yarn thrown in for fun. I gave it to her without all the ends woven in (I finished it a few hours before her birthday party and realized I hadn’t brought my needle to work the ends in and didn’t feel like running out to get one.).  I threw some cables in here & there for fun and because I like knitting cables.  They seem to make the process go faster for me for some reason.  Hopefully I can get a new shot next time I see her (and work those ends in!).

My New Orange Scarf.

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Remember the orange yarn I bought at the Fall Fiber Festival?  I finished the scarf I knit for myself out of it this weekend.  I promise, it’s not as glowing as it is in that photo.  Although it is pretty darn orange.  And pretty soft.  And pretty much just right.
The pattern is this from Knitty.com.  I’m on Ravelry, but honestly, it’s just one more website for me to keep up with, like Goodreads, which I’m also on and completely neglectful of.  Occasionally I will remember to look on those websites for ideas, but I spend more time tracking down where I wrote my log-ins than I ever actually spend on the sites.  Sigh. 
Do you know about knitty.com?  I love it.  LOVE it.  I have gotten alot of ideas and patterns from there.  It never steers me wrong. 
Anyway. 
The scarf.  It’s bamboo yarn and incredibly soft to the touch.  It knit up pretty easily.  I only had 2 balls of yarn, so I didn’t make it as wide as the pattern called for, nor did it turn out as long. I didn’t gauge it, I just played around until I liked how it looked and then hoped I had enough.  When I got to the end of the first ball, I measured the length to make sure it would be as long as I wanted.  I’ve been known to knit and reknit scarves until they are *just* right using this highly scientific method.
I made some progress on the scarf I started for Edie too.
Lots of football viewing makes for getting a lot of knitting done. And our Thanksgiving weekend was definitely in excess of that activity.

Adventures of the local sort.

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Sunday we went to the Fall Fiber Festival up at Montpelier.   Every year, Edie likes to sit and watch the sheepdog trials (I think she’s waiting for Babe, the sheep pig to show up.  Sort of like Linus and the Great Pumpkin.We even watched Babe Saturday night as a warm up).  This year, a knitting friend told me she had signed her daughters up for a felting workshop, so I signed Edie & a friend up, and we had TWO child free hours left to wander.  It was quite glorious. 
I swore I was not adding to my stash, and I did pretty good with that.  I fell in love with some recycled silk yarn that was yummy orange, but as I already have a scarf I knit myself out of recycled silk yarn, I passed.  I found some equally yummy orange bamboo yarn for a third of the price, so I grabbed a few balls of that instead.  I really feel the need for a new orange scarf.  I also got some ideas to use up the stash I have acquired – mostly through friends sharing theirs, as I do not need a yarn stash.  I have quite the fabric stash and we simply do not have room for it all.  Pictures of all that to come, as I came home and started some new projects last night. 

After they finished their workshop (I have not yet been allowed to photograph her finished product. Someone is practicing hard to be a teenager these days.), we had lunch and watched a wee bit of the sheepdog trials.  It was cold, damp and windy, so we didn’t stay too long.  Babe, the sheep pig, did not make an appearance.  There’s always next year, right?

Today I headed out to Virginia Wineworks for a tour, in the name of research for my monthly column, Beneath the Cork  for In the Kitchen Magazine.  (The October issue is up – you should definitely go check it out!).  Philip Stafford was kind enough to spend some time with me, showing me around.  I got to see some of their brand spanking new packaging equipment and definitely got inspired for more than a few articles to come.  Thank you Philip for taking time for me today.  If you have the chance to go hang out at a winery during harvest, I highly recommend it.   I don’t want to give too much away from the articles I plan on writing from today’s visit, but they are doing some really great stuff for the entire Virginia wine industry down there at Virginia Wineworks.  It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I love to drink local as much as I love to eat local. Should I ever get inspired to plant my own grapes, I am definitely taking them to those guys to turn into some tasty wine.

Lazy weekend.

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It feels so nice to have a weekend where we get to stay home and do nothing.  We haven’t had one in a while, so this one was much appreciated.  This past week has been, well, rough to put it nicely.   Work had a lovely, unexpected rush of folks who wanted to sign up and volunteer.  Not a problem at all there really, it just kept me on my toes.  On the homefront, there was some Girl Scout drama and some school drama that I really could have done without.  My house pretty much looks like a tornado whipped through and I just don’t care.  I’ve spent a big chunk of the weekend curled up knitting and ignoring the mess and the to-do list.    Pat’s sweater officially got started.  Knitting really is just so relaxing and after a week of go go go, it’s been nice to just sit.  And not get dressed.  Thank goodness I have neighbors who understand I’m liable to wander down for a late morning cup of coffee still in my pj’s on a Sunday and invite me in.

Today I thought I’d whip up a pot of vegetable soup.  I started with the usual onions, garlic, celery and carrots, added some potatoes and cabbage, as well as raided the pantry and freezer for tomatoes, corn, green beans and okra.  Last night, I took some tomatillo salsa to a dinner party that I pulled together from last summer’s harvest that got stashed in a freezer.  I do love my freezers. 
I know there are things I needed to get done this weekend that I just ignored.  I know this week coming up is going to be another busy one.  Pat is headed out of town, so while I’m hopeful I’ll get something done in the evenings, I know better.  Edie has needed a little bit of extra attention this past week and I did spend a good bit of this weekend curled up with her – me, knitting, her reading.  I’m wondering if this is going to continue into the week…..I don’t mind, after all, being a mom is my most favorite thing in the world.  But sometimes my own space is good, you know?
Oh well.  The beauty of knitting is that I can sit and have my hot tea and eat popcorn and actually do something productive while feeling quite lazy.

Adventures in knitting

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After way too long a hiatus, I picked up my knitting needles again.  I finished these fingerless gloves – a pattern from Knitty.  I’ve been carrying them about with me for longer than I care to admit, especially considering how easy they are and how quick they knit up.  I’ve knit that pattern, both the male and female version a few times now.  I like it.  Very easy.  I forget how much I love to cable until I do it and then I always wonder why I don’t do it more.

I like knitting, but I have a tendency to stick to smaller projects.  I don’t mind spending a year working on the same project, as I did with sweaters for both Pat & Edie, but to be honest, my finishing techniques stink.  I definitely need to take class or befriend a really good, experienced knitter who can sit me down and show me how to improve these skills.  I’ve bought myself a number of books on the subject and they’re not cutting it.  I also am totally overwhelmed by gauge and yarn types and well, alot of the basics of designing a sweater.  Scarves and gloves are just easier and much quicker.    I want to get over this. 

I bought those 4 cones of yarn from our friends at Open Gate Farm back when they had sheep as well.  I love the idea of a ‘local ‘sweater.  When I bought it, I had every intention of turning it into a sweater for Pat.  I wanted it to be some fabulous Irish Clan Sweater, but the process of figuring out the gauge, adapting it to some complex pattern, well, it more than overwhelmed me.  The yarn has sat for at least a good year, probably two, waiting for me to get my courage up to figure it out.  I’ve been assured I have enough yarn to knit Pat a sweater, but I’m nervous about making it the right size.  I can’t find a pattern I’m totally happy with. Why is it so hard to find just a plain, men’s pullover sweater pattern?
I’ve been inspired since I read this post to get back into it.  I would love to be able to knit that fast, that much.  I’m totally inspired with how creative knitting is, not to mention how relaxing and even sort of addictive it is.   You can take it along with you everywhere, unlike sewing.  You can manipulate the yarn into so many things, it boggles my mind.  I know that when I knit, I do it well, I just have to wrap my head around this gauge and sizing business.
I’m on Ravelry, but to be honest, I haven’t played around on it much and really figured out how the site works.  I did find a pattern that appealed to me through the site, so that’s a start and it’s one I think Pat will wear and so now I’m going about knitting a gauge swatch and trying to wrap my head around this process.  It’s going to be an adventure, but if I don’t just jump in, I’m never going to figure this out.  And I’ve knit scarves for everyone I know.  It’s seriously time to move on and challenge myself. Wish me luck and stay tuned!