Zuzu the catdog

This is what she did to my yarn after she fished it out of my knitting bag. She was in the back seat while I was driving the Divine Miss M home from school and I couldn't see what she was doing. I took this picture after I had already untangled a fair amount. It took me over an hour to get it back in the ball.

Yesterday the temperature got up to seventy but then last night when the front rolled in it dropped to the low thirties and it isnt supposed to get above forty today. i think it is supposed to be even colder tomorrow.

Today I have no power. It went out about midnight last night and there has been no heat in my house for all that time so it is really cold. Because of the storms, wind, rain and tornados in Georgia yesterday and last night, there are a lot of folks in the same boat so who knows when it will come back on. I won't be taking a shower until we have heat again . . . The dogs and I are just hanging out under the covers, knitting and snoozing and trying to stay warm.

Now I can show this . . .

This is the Calla Lily Shawl - the last test knit I did.  

As you can see, it's big.

Teresa

Lazy Saturday Morning

snoozin' with Mom

For Dena

So she can carry yarn around with her, even if she can't knit it.

The very first drawstring bag I ever made.  

Purples, because she loves purple.

Smaller than it should have been by and inch because I made a mistake.

But cool and finished and good anyway.

Teresa

What was and soon will be again

 Remember this cute little baby sweater?  It's called the Seed Stitch Yoke Cardigan from 60 Quick Baby Knits.  I am knitting it using purple Cascade Superwash yarn.  

 My plan was to show the finished sweater today.  I was even going to go and pick up some buttons and sew them on.  I finished it (including hiding ends, washing and blocking) yesterday.

And then today, I was looking at it.  I looked at it for a long time.  And then I looked at the cover of the book - where I first saw the sweater.

If you look closely, you will see the difference.  And, while I think this sweater is going to be too big for the intended recipient, I also don't think I can give it away without fixing it.

So, this is what it looks like now.  Hopefully it will look more like the cover photo in another day or two.  

But the yarn for the next test knit might have gone in the mail today.  They either mailed the test knit yarn or the yarn I ordered for Evenstar . . . or maybe they mailed both?  Should be here on Thursday so I'm free until then.

Teresa

Clue Three

Clue three on the Echeveria socks is done. I saw and considered buying some Echeveria plants at the nursery today . . . but left them there. I have not knit clue two on the April Showers socks yet - haven't even looked at them yet. I will look at them tomorrow since the yarn for my next test knit is not here and I can't start it.

Still, it isn't much fun knitting these knowing that Dena can't knit at all right now. I think I will look at clue two but put both pair of socks aside for two weeks. I have a baby sweater and e Tina sweater to work on until my yarn arrives. These are meant to be a knit along and that only works if we are both knitting.

Bearbits

is having a giveaway . . .

I love, love, love these little bears!

bearbits: A Valentine - from my heart to yours:

Finally!

Finished clue two. Unfortunately, clue three has been out for two days so I am still pretty far behind.

One More Clue One

 Finished Clue One on the Echeveria sock Mystery Knit Along.  This sock was designed by Rachel Coopey who also designed a dozen socks based on Terry Pratchett's Disc World series of books.  I had to buy the e-book that those patterns were in because my handknit sock wearing daughter loves Disc World and Terry Pretchett.

Dena is still ahead of me, she's done clue two on at least one of her socks.  I had to change yarn colors because the other green was really thick for sock yarn and I couldn't get gauge without it being so tight it was going to kill my hands.

The brown yarn is going to be my contrast color for the colorwork section of these socks.

This is a close up of the detail - I love this cuff so far.  I stuck a piece of colored paper in to show off the lacy parts.  The yarn is Fiber Charmer's Valhalla in Triads 1.  I think the brown is also Fiber Charmer, but it was one Dena and I split last year after Stitches South and I dunno where the label is.  I also don't recall what it was we were planning to knit with the yarn, so it is going to become these socks.  Stash reduction is a good thing - means I can buy more at the next Stitches South.

This is clue one on the Knitter's Brewing Company Mystery Sock Knit Along V - April Showers.  I am posting this new picture because the other one didn't show the color at all well and it is such a pretty color.  This is Fiber Charmer Chris Sock yarn in Hot Lava - and I still didn't capture the color very well.  It is less pink than it shows on my monitor and more coral.

This is the baby sweater that Dena mentioned in the other post.  It is from the book 60 Quick Baby Knits which has a lot of really great patterns for babies made using worsted weight yarn so they knit up really quickly.  This won't take long to finish - it's already about half done.

 And, it's January.  It becomes official when my daphne odora starts blooming.  This plant is so fragrant you smell the flowers long, long before you ever see them.  Only a few are open (see all the buds?) but the fragrance is delightful.

Teresa

Clue One Twice Clue Two Once

Since I didn't have a project requiring 3000 yards of lace weight yarn (Teresa did), I got a head start on my socks.  Teresa talked me into knitting the Knitters Brewing Company Mystery Sock V.  And I have both socks done for Clue One.

The pictures are all taken inside because it is 2 degrees outside at ten in the morning.  When the temperature got above freezing it snowed and when it wasn't snowing the temperature was waaay below freezing.  You would think I was still living in International Falls Minnesota.

But by staying inside I got Clue One of the Echeveria Mystery Sock Knit along done.  (Echeveria is the plant Hens and Chicks).

Clue One got done the day after Clue Two was released.  And since I wasn't knitting a million miles of lace and wasn't knitting a baby sweater (Teresa again)  I did Clue Two also.

Teresa picked out the colors for me and I think they are perfect.  Clue Three will be out and Tuesday and by then Teresa will be way ahead of me.  She normally is cause she knits three times as fast as I do and she is twice as good.

Dena

Clue One

Knitter's Brewing Company is having a Mystery Sock Knit Along. This is the first clue completed. Next clue isn't due until January 25th. That gives me time to work on the Echeveria sock knit along and the baby sweater . . .

Recovering . . .

. . . from surgery . . . just a little doped up.

Hair

I knit this little one a wig! He/she still has no face and the wig isn't sewn on yet.

Lazy Sunday

cuddling dogs and winding yarn . . . life is good

Robin Hood Stole

 I couldn't show this before because it was the test knit for a mystery knit along.  The knit along has sent out the last clue and at least several knitters have finished their projects, so I get to show mine now.

This is The Robin Hood Stole pattern designed by Janine Le Cras for The Unique Sheep.  The yarn is The Unique Sheep's Green Sheep Cotton Bamboo in the Pool Party color in fingering weight.  It was delightful to knit with and surprisingly easy to block (but not as stretchy as wool would have been, so my stole is a little smaller than some of the others).  I loved knitting this.  Most of Janine's patterns are unusual and fun to knit - at least the one's I have knit.

Most of The Unique Sheep yarns are gradience color ways - that means that they start with one color and gradually move to another, sometimes through still another.  This is one of the simpler ones I have seen.  This stole has beads, but none were included with the yarn so I used what I had on hand and it was a size smaller than it should have been.  You should be able to see them if you embiggen the middle picture.

The sparsity of finished objects on the blog is due to the next test knit I am working on and it is a biggie.  Stay tuned, I should be able to post it later this month and I should be able to start on some new things tomorrow.

Teresa

Heading Home

. . . it is going to be a 25 degree temperature drop. Ugh!