Oh Krap!

Well, so I have this little list put together to keep track of things I have left to do. It all seemed so managable (ya, except that queen sized quilt that I'm still quilting). Then a little email from Theresa reminded me that we're each doing a project for a friend of her's that can no longer knit the "heavy" knits... like Lopi sweaters. So I've got a Lopi sweater to knit before Christmas.

It's a cardigan, and I'm supposed to be knitting back and forth. Uh.huh. I'm steeking that baby! I'm just doing the boring middle part (straight stockinette stitch... round and round we go!). As long as I work on it regularly, I should have it done in time. It just means that I probably won't get Matt's quilt done. But then, I probably wasn't going to anyway. It'll give him something to look forward to in the dead of winter.

So just to make sure I have some kind of photograph on my blog... I'll show a gratitious pet photo:

In case you're wondering, they're not actually looking at anything. They're just both staring into space. Ya, they're easily entertained.

I'll be working on a sewing gift project today. So don't expect much exciting content tomorrow.

Keep on Knittin'!

Cream Sampler Afghan Square #41

Yep that's right. I've now worked 41 afghan squares in cream colored yarn.
Just as an FYI: I will not be doing any more (well, maybe one more. I still have half a ball left from that skein of Encore).

While I love the way both of my Sampler Afghans turned out (The Taste of Aran Afghan and the Leisure Arts Sampler Afghan). I'm tired of cream. So any future squares (not considering the rest of the current ball of Encore) will be in a different color.

I also have to confess that I'm having HUGE gauge issues with the Taste of Aran Afghan. The first one I did was in Woolease. I expected that to be a bit too small. I ended up with 10" blocks (at the 5.5 sts to 1" gauge). I did the Encore block with size 8 needles (raising the gauge to 5 sts to 1") and I was able to block it up to 11". Still shy of the 12" block of the pattern. Janet used a 100% wool for her afghan and I think that makes a huge difference when it comes to blocking. I simply can not have a wool afghan. It's just not practical in my house. So I'll stick with the 11" squares and plan on a nice border (maybe stealing borrowing inspired by the border on the Great American Aran Afghan). But it's definitely something to take into consideration when making this afghan. The best part is, it doesn't matter what your gauge is. All the blocks are the same size (same number of stitches cast on and the same number of rows) so it's easy to change yarn gauge with out any impact on how the squares fit together.

So that's one less thing on my "obligation" knitting list. I'm still plugging away on Matt's Because I Love You sweater:

Ya, it's almost as interesting to knit as it is to look at.

I'm off to Morgantown this morning. I think I'll pick up a baby sweater kit for John...

In non knitting, more a rant thing... this time last year our road was completely torn up. They installed new water lines down our road and eventually repaved it (which it sorely needed). Yesterday they were out at the 4 way stop near our house with a jackhammer. Looks like the 4 way stop will be converted to a stop light (also needed... since most drivers are idiots and don't like to have to pay attention as to who's turn it is for a 4 way stop). However, our newly paved road is less than a year old... since it was repaved in the spring... and now they're already chewing it up. (the surveyors were there less than a month after it was repaved). Love it!

Off to shower, get dressed and drive up to Morgantown (hmmmm... and maybe swing by Shady Maple... they have these pumpkin spice cookies... ya. Let's just say they're good.)

Keep On Knittin!

Edit Added: Matt suggested white for the next sampler afghan. Isn't he funny. Ha. Ha.

Pilling Wool

I'm feeling a little blog blah right now. I'm not sure if it's because I'm doing the gift concentration thing. Or that my laptop doesn't read my media card anymore so I have to use a USB cable (and therefore it seems like more work) or if I'm just feeling the impact of the dropped number of hits. I'm wondering if keeping a daily (or weekday blog) is worth it. A lot of readers have moved on (except you, of course). We'll see. Maybe I need to stop trying to blog every day.

So let's see... I got almost all of my shopping done for Christmas yesterday. That's the easy part (gee, I love internet shopping). Now I really need to concentrate on the gifts that need to be finished. Obligatioin knitting is hard. While I like getting things done, I hate to feel pressure. My rebellion personality will be attracted to doing other things. Like cleaning the refridgerator.

Matt wore the Silver Creek Gansey yesterday:
It looks much better on him than it does on me (cream is sooo not my color). I thought I had made the sleeves long enough for both of us to wear it, but they're a little short on him (which I think he actually likes. When you're short, you get used to sleeves always being too long. Too short is refreshing).

Anyway, I will admit that it's pilling pretty badly. I've worn it maybe 3 times. So maybe the Paton's Classic Wool wasn't the best choice? I really don't know. One of the worst sweaters I've knit for pilling was done in Galway. The Cascade 220 sweaters haven't pilled at all (but I usually knit it at a tighter gauge?). So I'm thinking it's just a wool thing.

Janet Szabo says that the Lion Brand Wool is a delightful 100% wool to work with (I think they call it "felting wool"). Good stitch definition and a good gauge, plus some interesting colors (as we now know that cream is ooooo not my color). I picked up a couple of skeins while at Joann's the other day, but I've yet to knit with it. I'll have to give it a try and fingers crossed it'll work (as there's a lovely shade of green. A girl just can't have too much green... right???). Right now, I'm thinking that I should stick to the cotton/acrylic yarns that seem to hold up the best. For example: The Spring Forward Cardigan. Considering how much I wear it and how often it's been washed, the TLC Cotton Plus may just be my all time favorite yarn... I'm going to have to try some Cotton Ease...

So today will be more of the same: obligation knitting. I still need to finish the sample block for the Taste of Aran Afghan class. I have 2 sweaters I want to finish for Matt for Christmas (and I still have to finish quilting the quilt). On top of all that, I need to get grocercies. Ugh. Not my favorite thing to do... and Matt can't help me with it today.

So off to shower, run for grocercies, keep the PS2 turned off and concentrate on some knitting!!!

Happy Knitting!

Monday Morning

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. We did. A nice meal, productive weekend and some good football.

So let's talk about the productive part.

The Brea Bag is finished:

and lined:

I found some lovely printed denim in my stash that was just perfect for it. Which is a good thing, as I stopped by my local Joann's on Saturday to pick out a button and get the rings and it was a madhouse (not surprisingly). Glad I didn't need to get fabric cut!

I was planning on running it up to Olde Peddlers Wool today, but I can't make it today. I should make it tomorrow.

It was a cute, fun project. I must say that the Classic Elite Waterlilies yarn is luscious to work with. I'll have to wait for a sale on it, but I'll be adding some to my stash!

Since I've got globs of things I want/need to get done. I cast on a sock for no apparent reason:

Yep, that's the Pomatomus sock. I was on the gusset decrease, but didn't realize that I needed to pay attention to the chart (duh!) plus I wasn't happy with one side of the heel flap where I picked up stitches. So I ripped it back. This sock is much easier than it looks. A good fun knit (in Blue Moon Fiber Art's Love in Idleness colorway).

I also have a sample block started for one of the classes I'll be teaching at Olde Peddler's Wool. I'll be teaching the Taste of Aran afghan. I can't use my finished one as a sampler for the shop. One is because I used Lion Brand's Woolease and second it's Jake's very favorite afghan (and it shows... it's been a well loved afghan). So I'm just going to try to get a block or two done for the shop (in Plymouth Encore).

I also am cranking along on Matt's Because I Love You sweater. I think I'm getting close to the space time continium section on the front. I have about 6" done.

So the gift knitting is moving along. I have some sewing I need to do for some gifts and most of my actual shopping is done (well, ordered). Sadly, Matt is not getting anything that he doesn't know about. I'm disappointed about that, but there's not much I can do about it. He's going to be home a lot between now and Christmas (today is one of the few days he'll be going into work) so I don't even have time to make him a surprise.

So lot's to do! Off to get started!
Happy Knitting!

Tuesday

Today is a misc. listing of things going on around Chez Park.

I'm better than halfway done with the gusset for the Brea Bag. I could've had it finished, but got distracted by Okami.

I finished Okami. 136 hours of my life... but I must say, worth every freakin minute . Who needs a PS3 when you can get this incredible game for the PS2!

Matt is taking the week off the bike. He's got tendinitis in his calf and hopes that taking the week off will help it. Any bets on whether he'll do the Thanksgiving morning team ride? Ya, I wouldn't put money against it either. (FYI: the whine factor is worse being off the bike than him having the chicken pox... ya, that picture of Matt still cracks me up. Scarily accurate!)

I have my supplies for Thanksgiving. I'll actually start cooking today just to make things easier on Thursday.

I'm going to try to finish up the gusset for the Brea Bag today and then I might cast on something fun. Too many obligation projects going on right now and I need a reward (like 136 hours of Okami?)

Okay, so Matt's working from home 3 days a week. He's not riding his bike. It's like he never leaves. My friend Betty says I sound like all her friends when their husbands retired. Yep, it's probably just like that. There are pluses having him home so much, but he's working most of the time (and he's an angry typer). So it crimps my style. He's on the phone or he's concentrating on something and he's not even going out for a ride to give me a breather. Wonder how much an office addition would cost?

Reply to Comments:
I'm a bit behind on this one. Blogger doesn't usually let me respond back in email, so let's catch up with some questions and comments.

Thanks to everyone that left me comments about the Landscape Shawl. The sun hitting it made for a lovely photograph, giving it that nice ethereal look. It's a nice shawl and I'm very happy with it. A good first shawl project.

Debby: Darlene is very careful with her comments about Floyd, we usually discuss what we read on the internet. We actually did end up talking more about the classes I'll be teaching (eek, that's still freaking me out).

I no longer buy Matt stuff from the bike shop. His team is still finalizing their bike shop deal, so it's just easier for him to get what he needs. Plus he only wears team clothing now, so that cuts back on what I can buy him. Oh, and he really only wants a wireless power tap (all I can say is that he better win at Mt. Nebo this year!!!!). Me? I'm not ready for the biking thing yet. I'll stay on the race course happily knitting and cheering them on!

TBV: yes, cyberspace is cold, especially when you only wear bikini armor.

It was good to see some comments from new readers and some long lost readers.

Well Gena says it's time to put the computer down and get back to my chores (curried squash soup for Thursday is the plan for the day).


Happy Knitting!

The Weekend Synopsis

A nice weekend!

Went to Olde Pedder Wools on Friday and we set up some classes I'm going to teach. Now I just need to get organized and prepared for them!

Theresa dragged me back on Saturday, as she needed to drop something off. I ended up buying the latest Interweave Knits. Lovely issue! Plus the supplies to do a shop sample for Darlene. The Brea Bag. What a fun knit:
Click to Super Size!

The bag is a fast knit and interesting to do. I'm currently working on the gusset, which isn't quite as interesting (but I love knitting moss stitch). I'm hoping to get it done today... except for the handles...and the lining.

We decided to do it in Classic Elite Waterlillies (as she already has a shop sample done in the Berroco Ultra Alpaca). Wow, what a nice yarn. The color variation is very subtle and it's got a great hand. I'm guessing it's going to wear well too. I might be buying myself some of this...

I did finish up the back of the Because I Love You Sweater and the front is started.
Click to Super Size!
The color is a little washed out in the photo, and of course the 2X2 rib isn't blocked yet (and there's some discussion of if I should. Matt in a close fitting ribbed sweater might be pretty sweet...). So I have to admit this hasn't been as bad to knit as I expected. The rib is more interesting than doing straight st. st. and I'm enjoying the alpaca yarn. It's a good mindless knit. No shaping, no pattern to track just knit 2, purl 2, over and over.

So today I'll concentrate on the gusset for the Brea Bag and try to sneak in some gift knitting. I've already been to the grocery store this morning to get my Thanksgiving dinner supplies (plus other grocercies). Not bad, it's just 9:00 now. Gives me the day to work on my knitting!

Happy Knitting!

A Green Landscape

Click to Super Size

The Landscape Shawl is finished, blocked and wearable.

All I can say is that I love it. Look at that lovely shade of green! I don't have nearly enough green in my wardrobe. Unless you count cardigans... this is my only green shawl, at least!

Project Stats
Pattern: The Landscape Shawl a Fiber Trends pattern
Yarn: Brown Sheep Naturespun Fingering Weight in Artic Moss
Changes to the Pattern: Well, I'm not sure, as I didn't really follow the pattern that closely. I used it mostly as a "guideline". I used an I-Cord bind off but the pattern was so straight forward, that it wasn't really necessary to change anything.
Problems with the pattern: ya, like I read it... I got a feel for what I was supposed to do, then just knit. So I don't think there were any issues.
Overall Impression: This is a great project. It gets tedious near the end as the rows get really really long, but since the pattern is pretty obvious, it was just a matter of knitting. I can definitely see me knitting this again.

So it feels good to get something off the needles... uh-oh, I now have empty size 6 needles! That only means one thing here at Chez Park! A new project!! Right? Well, maybe, as I really do have a lot of things I want to tidy up... with a goal of finishing 3 more projects before the year is done.

Today I'm running up to Olde Peddler's Wool to discuss me teaching some classes. Eeeek! We'll decide what and when, then probably talk Floyd Landis and biking (as Darlene and I always do!). If you're not keeping up to date with the Floyd Landis case, it's getting pretty weird... and my heart goes out to him and his family as more and more things are happening that makes the whole thing stink. (Trust But Verify has the most comprehensive updates... and Debby is even quoted in yesterday's post!!!)

Well, off to shower and get ready to head up to Morgantown!

Landscaping

I will be casting off the Landscape Shawl today... actually, as soon I finish up this post. I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to it. There's a lot of stitches to bind off and I've decided to use an I cord bind off ('cause I'm a freak... but it'll look good, right?)

That's only half the problem right now. Yes, I expect it will take me most of the day to bind off all the stitches (with I cord), then I have to find someplace to block it. Most of the floors in our house are hardwood (that way the dog hair can form cute little dog hair bunnies and roll gently across the floor like tumble weeds) so I don't have a large enough carpeted area to pin it down to. Putting it on a bed means I have to keep the dogs off of it (and I'm afraid that our guest bed... a double... isn't going to be large enough, which probably isn't true).

We have one room in the house that is fully carpeted: the workout room. So theoritically, I could move the treadmill and pin it out on the floor in there. Then try to keep the dogs off of it ('cause even if I make sure to keep the door closed, someone in this house doesn't know how to close them... doors, cabinets, drawers, etc are always left semi opened).

Either way, I'm pretty excited about having this almost finished. Then back to the gift knitting (I have one project there almost finished too... and might be able to that done today as well).

Happy I Cord Casting Off!!!

Tis The Season!

I dropped off the blankets yesterday. Thanks to everyone that left comments about the quilt. I really enjoyed making it and I hope the child that receives it enjoys it too!

I'm a big fan of Project Linus. I've seen it in action (plus I have a "blankie" and completely understand the atatchment to something like that). It's a win win situation for me: I get to buy and make things that I love to do and they get something to help a child in need (either from illness or situation). I had meant to do more this year, hoping to get a blanket done a month. I even had set up a schedule for myself to work one day a week just on blankets. Sadly, I have the attention span of a gnat and didn't get much done. However, our SnB group is trying to organize bi monthly get togethers to work on charity knitting specifically. I'll probably cut back on the knitting/crocheting of blankets and concentrate more on the quilts (due to the speed factor), but there's plenty of charity knitting/crocheting to be done.

I have a much longer list of things I'm making this year for the holidays than usual. I had cut back on hand made gifts due to some very insensative unappreciated comments from family members (then one person did the same thing for a gift certificate, so I realized that some people just never think a gift is good enough, so why bother?). However, I have a few things I want to get done for some people that do appreciate them, including Matt.

Matt's gifts aren't usually surprises, mainly because his are usually a bit more labor intensive and I don't want to put a lot of work into something that he doesn't like (like the whole raglan sleeve thing). However, I'm doing a couple of small things for some other people (that I believe read my blog) so I can't talk about them or show pictures. So photos might be lighter than usual for a bit yet.

In knitting that I can talk about: The Landscape Shawl will be off the needles tomorrow. I might even finish it up today and start blocking it. This was actually a fun shawl to knit, even if those rows get pretty long by the end. It was easy to remember and I only worked on it in the morning while watching Sportscenter and drinking my coffee.

I'm not sure what I'm going to concentrate on today. Gift projects, that's certain, but not sure if I'll be doing the knitting or the sewing... (actually the sewing room could use a quick tidying up... a lot of finished projects that I haven't cleaned up after. The drawback of sewing compared to knitting: a lot more "stuff").

Still no sunshine yet, but I had a great time yesterday shopping and lunching with Betty. Partly cloudy means we might see some sun at some point, right? (tho' not today: it's forecast to be "cloudy").

So I'll turn on all my lights, put on some fun funky music and get to working on some gifts! (how did it get to be mid-November already????)

Happy Knitting!

Avast Ye Scurvy Quilt!

The Pirate Quilt is done and I plan on dropping it off for Project Linus today. Ya, just as an FYI: quilts are much much faster than crocheting blankets.

I bought the fabric from Keepsake Quilting, their fabric melodies even make buying the fabric fast! (I've got my eye on some fire truck fabric for the next one). I also bought some Warm & Natural batting for this one. Nice batting and lovely to work with.

So it took me a total of maybe 6 hours start to finish for the quilt. I love the simplicity of this quilt, but I do wish it was a bit larger. I think I'll be adding borders to the next one.

So I've got some errands to run today. The weather is really bringing me down. While I love fall, I hate the dreary late fall days. The trees are bare and we haven't seen the sun in a couple of days (nor are we expected to for the next couple). I hate cooking dinner when it's dark out. So I need to get out of the house.

Happy Knitting!

Rainy Days and Mondays

Nothing quite like a rainy, dreary, mid November Monday morning! Just gets my juices flowing to snuggle in under the blankets and sleep the day away.

Alas, too much to do!!! Laundry! Sewing! Knitting! Saving the universe from alien invasion! actually, it's more like saving ancient Japan from evil.

Anyway, I've got a lot of things I want to work on/finish immediately. The holidays are coming and I want to close out 2006 with a few more finished projects.

Matt's "Because I Love You Sweater" is in the space time paradox of knitting and knitting and it's not getting any longer. 5" to go on the back. Then I get to do it all over again for the front. Exciting!

I've been working on the Landscape Shawl. I have maybe 8 more rows to go on it. I'm shooting for 2 rows a day, so I really hope I can have it ready for blocking by the end of this week.

I'm still plugging along on the Dulaan Gansey. Of course I'm already thinking about the next Dulaan project. I think much faster than I knit.

I need to finish up the Project Linus quilt, as I have a blanket that Susan gave me to drop off. I would like to drop them both off together (so that's actually my top priority today).

I have a handful of sewing projects that I'm doing for Christmas gifts (or a secret santa thingy). So I'll be trying to spend more time in my sewing room than at the PS2.

Sorry for the lack of photos right now, as I seem to be doing more organizing than actually knitting... well, I really really am knitting on the Because I Love You Sweater, it just doesn't look like it.

So off to turn every light on in the house (did I mention it's rainy, dreary and Monday... that's an evil combination) and get some sewing done!!!

Happy Knitting (or sewing or organizing!)

45 Knitting Days...

Ya, I don't really knit Christmas gifts. At least I don't knit many Christmas gifts. I like to have some things for Matt, just so he has something to open Christmas morning. He usually gets a big ticket biking related item (last year it was his new road bike and time trial bike and this year it'll be a wireless power tap).

I rarely knit surprises for him (as I just found out he doesn't like raglan sleeves... who knew?). I have a few other things to do for Christmas, but those are sewing based, not knitting based (including the queen sized quilt... he mentioned it last night).

So while I don't have a lot to do, what I do have is a little time consuming (the quilting on the quilt is very time consuming). I hope to get the Because I Love You Sweater done for Christmas and one other project (TBA).

Of course with all these things that I need to get done, all I want to do is cast on something new. In red.

However, I need to get Andrew's blanket done (which I should today) and concentrate on some of these deadline type of projects.

Ganseys are fun!

The Dulaan Gansey is moving along quickly. I really like the construction technique with them. They go quickly and there's minimal finishing. This is the first sweater I've done without a pattern. My own math (yes, I messed that up, but I was able to save it) and I selected all the patterns on the yoke. It's definitely keeping me interested.

Today will be finishing up Andrew's baby blanket. The first one (for Lukas) was a surprise, but anyone else in our group knows that we will be doing something like this. Lauren actually wanted to participate (you can see her block over on her blog) and so I now have all the blocks and it's ready for seaming and final border.

That's all I have to update today. I plan on doing some laundry today and work on the afghan.

Thanks so much!

Thank you to everyone that left me happy anniversary wishes!

We had a lovely, relaxing day. Nothing really exciting. We ran some errands, went out for a yummy lunch at Iron Hill Brewery (gotta plug the team's sponsor!) and then we just spent the rest of the day relaxing.

So not much knitting to update. I spent all my knitting time on Matt's "Because I Love You" sweater. It really isn't as bad as I expected. The 2X2 rib is speeding along. Since it's not blocked yet, it looks really narrow, and I keep thinking that it's long enough, but I'm probably only to the armholes.

Now that we're down to the final run on 2006, I'm trying to get focused to see how much I can get done by the end of the year. Theresa says I can finish 4 projects. That's one every other week. Uh. Hu. We'll see. I would be happy with 2. I've had a very productive year for finishing, and I need to stay focused. A little post-Stitches "what am I doing with all this frickin' yarn????). Well, knitting it, of course. The faster I knit it up, the less it's "stash" and more actual "product", right?

I'm also hoping to finish Okami by the end of the year... and I'm not sure. Dang, this is one of the longest games I've played. Longer even than Knights of the Old Repubic. Ya, I remember I was damning George Lucas to hell for that one for sucking my life away. This one is worse. Only better (a better game... I'm not a huge RPG fan).

I've got no obligations today, which is good... it's a crappy day out there. I can turn my phone back on (let's all give a celebratory cheer that elections are over!!!) and I plan on snugging in with the pups and my knitting (okay, there will be some game playing). Maybe watch some more Scrubs on DVD.

Happy Knitting!

14 Years and Counting

Today Matt and I celebrate 14 years being legally married (let's not talk about how many total years it is... I don't feel that old).

Last year this was my anniversary gift...and I only have the front I cord done so far. However, this year's anniversary gift was my trip to Stitches and I got to try it on. Ya, I need to work on that baby!

Anyway, we're keeping today low keyed. Matt took the day off and we'll do either lunch or an early dinner. Not sure what else is in the plans. We haven't decided (other than voting).

I, however have some projects to show (and about 101 hours in Okami... this is not a fast game). Since it's my anniversary, I thought I would show Matt's latest sweater project. He's been whining requesting a ribbed sweater for a while now. My original thought was top down seamless with raglan sleeves. Well, I started it then found out that Matt doesn't like raglan sleeves. Okay, plan two: simple dropped shoulder sweater. I'm using Cascade's Inca Alpaca in a beautiful dark green heather. It's officially being called "Because I Love You Sweater". At least it's not black socks *shudder*. The ribbing might be boring. There might not be any shaping, but it's good knit in social groups knitting.

The other project that I've been working on is the Dulaan Gansey. I had it off the needles to frog, then remeasured. Pulled out some patterns to get a feel for sizes and realized that while it's going to be larger than I thought, I really only needed to add about an inch or two to the body before splitting for the armholes. That means I should have enough yarn to make it. I have the yoke pattern charted and ready to go.

That's all I have pictures of and I'm not sure how much progress I'll get done today as I'm really not sure what we're going to do yet.

Stitches 2006

Warning: picture heavy post

I'm back from Stitches and like most, I'm tired, broke and happy. I went a little wild on patterns, but the yarn purchases weren't too bad.
Just 3 sweaters worth of yarn. Plus 2 Blue Moon Fiber Socks that Rock yarn.
The rest is all patterns:


















I did buy one kit:


So I had a great time with the girls. I got to meet up with some out of area friends, met some people that read my blog and spent a lot of time explaining the pin "I'm with the Coat" (Rosie wore her Koigu Jacket every day and caused quite a stir).

Since I forgot to take my camera with me for the weekend, you'll have to pop over to Ann's blog to see pictures of us there. (and yes the beer at the Wharf Rat was very yummy. My favorite was the Mad Monk... an Abbey style ale. Rich, full bodied with just a hint of fruitiness).

Our Stitch n Bitch group meets tonight for a little Show n Tell. Of course I'll have something cast on to show (yes, the Rose Garden Wrap is already cast on...)

Busy Packing

Well, I'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow for Stitches. Okay, maybe not bright, but definitely early.

Thanks everyone for the imput on wardrobe selections. There seems to be a concensus of: Spring Forward, Rose Leaf Pullover, Delicate Summer Jacket and the Entrelac Vest as the back up.

Next thing is what I'm going to take to work on.... hmmm or should I just assume that I'll be buying something that I must cast on right away? Well, that still wouldn't cover my car ride down. It's an almost 2 hour drive to Baltimore for us.

I was planning on taking the Dulann Gansey that I was designing, but since I suck at math, it will need to be frogged. It's much wider than I thought. Which normally would be no big deal, I could just make it longer for a larger size. However, I don't have that much yarn, so back to square one on that.

So today I'll be packing and getting my stuff together so I'm ready to go tomorrow morning. If ya see me in Baltimore, be sure to say "hi!"

Pre Stitches

I don't really have much to update... the knitting right now is boring. I'm doing a simple self designed gansey for the Dulaan project and there's not much to see (I'm in the st. st. section)and it seems like too much work to go get the camera to take a picture. I'm basing the design on the Silver Creek Gansey.

Speaking of FO's, I'm now planning on my Stitches wardrobe. For the first time I'm actually staying for 3 days for Stitches. When it was held in Valley Forge, it was commutable so I just ran down every day. Since it's in Baltimore this year, a group of us will be leaving very early on Friday and coming back on Sunday (hopefully early enough that I can still make Kathy's chamber concert in Philly).

So that means I have to pack. Planning a wardrobe for Stitches is hard. The show floor can get stuffy (tho' we don't know how "tight" it will be at Baltimore... I know the Valley Forge set up was too tight. The isles were only 2 people wide and if there was any spillage from the booths, it was a nightmare to get by) so I don't want something too warm.

The Spring Forward Cardigan is a given. I like the way it fits, it's a cotton/acrylic blend so it's not real warm and a cardigan can be easily removed. So that leaves 2 other things to consider (plus a third as I like to over pack).

Hmmm... the Silver Creek Gansey probably (it's a recent finish and I do love the pattern). The Rose Leaf Pullover is a good possibilty too as it's not too warm. I would love to wear the Angora Cable Cardigan that I just finished, but it's going to be waaaaay too warm (which is why I wouldn't wear Inishmore either-plus there's some sizing issues with it now... it fit great 60 lbs ago, but is a bit too big for me now). I'm thinking that the Cropped Cardigan Redux is an option... the cardigan thing is always a plus in these situations, but the alpaca is a wee bit warm. The Delicate Summer Jacket might work, too. Just to prove to the knitting snobs that crochet can be beautiful (this is the sweater I get the most comments on by and far... and not just from knitters/crocheters. My grocercy store clerk loves that jacket).

So today and tomorrow will be for organizing, washing things that need to be washed and just generally getting ready for Stitches.

So vote today... dress me for Stitches!!!