Bobble Love

These are the buttons that got it going again - antique or vintage, I don't know but really cool old composite buttons.

 This is the perfect button hole that Anna Zilboorg invented.  It is fiddly, as Anna says, but it really does make a very finished, very neat, very nice button hole.

 The pattern is Tina's Sweater by Anna Zilboorg.  The yarn is Blue Moon BFL Sport in the colorway A Hazy Shade of Blue.  Both the pattern and the lovely yarn are available from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.

And this is the sweater I started in August 2011 and then put down in right after Christmas with the body finished and the sleeves just started.  The problem is that I hate seams.  I avoided seams on the body by knitting it in one piece (those seams you see are fake, knit in seams).  Then I avoided having to sew in the sleeves by picking up stitches around the armhole and knitting the sleeves from the top down.  That meant that each time I turned the knitting, I was turning two sleeves and the entire body of the sweater. That and the miles and miles of plain stockinette was too boring for me so the sweater got put in a bin in early January 2012.

Then I found those buttons at Stitches South in the market place (Dena did you get their business card?).  I fell in love with them and they were perfect for this sweater.  So I picked it up and started knitting it after Dena left.  Between April 17th and April 23rd, I finished the sleeves and cuffs, knit on the collar, knit the button band and then knit the button hole band complete with seven lovely perfect button holes.

Have I mentioned that I love everything about this sweater?  I love the yarn, the color, the fit, the weight, the shape, the bobbles, the textured stitch at the bottom, the perfect buttonholes and, absolutely love the buttons!

Next up - the San Juan Socks, my first full sized pair of 'Free-Sole' socks  . . .  more on that later, but here's a peek:

Teresa

Treasure Island, Completed

This was a fun knit . . . I wish you could see all the beads better.

Teresa

Treasure Island, Clue 6

This is the finished Clue 6 for Treasure Island.  I have transitioned into the 4th of 6 colors but have two complete hanks left at this point.  While I was test knitting, there were two more clues but one of those got eliminated because the designer didn't think there was enough yarn for it.  Since I had used most of my yarn on each of the first four hanks, I had more than plenty and asked if I could leave it in.  I ended up leaving two of three repeats of the 'waves' in my shawl and then used the sixth hank for the knit on lace edging - that is clue 7 and you don't get to see it yet.

Because I wasn't the only one with enough leftover yarn to more than finish the edging, the designer has offered clue seven (shown above) as an extra clue for those who have the extra yarn for it.

Teresa

One more

One more picture of my progress - this is the Bobble Love sweater with both sleeves finished. I had to do the first one two and a half times (knit them top down and seamless so the pattern wasn't much help) but the second one came out fine the first time. I tried this sweater on and it is going to be fabulous!!!

Danger!

Dog in the knitting!

(Yes, that IS my Tina's sweater the yarn eating monster curled up on while I was away.)

Teresa

My Tina's Sweater

I was inspired, after spending time with Anna Zilboorg, to pull this sweater back out and finish knitting it. I had just begun the sleeves and they were miles and miles of stockinette and already attached to the body so bulky and not much fun to knit. Well, now they are almost done - this is the cuff on the first. When I finish the second cuff, all that is left is the bands - neck, button and button hole. It is going to be beautiful!

Teresa

Free-Sole

Dena and I are running a knit along. We are knitting Anna Zilboorg's Free-Sole socks. These are cool because you actually knit the sole (and heel) of the sock in such a way that if, or when, the heel or sole gets holes in it, you can simply take it off and re-knit it. No sewing, either because the sole is knit onto the sock! This is great for really fancy socks, like two color stranded socks, that are a lot of work to knit and a shame to wear out. I Love this idea! Anna Zilboorg is just brilliant to have come up with it!

Teresa

Treasure Island, Clue 5

This is Treasure Island knit through the end of Clue 5.  It gets better with each clue.  We are starting to see more of the green and less of the gray, but the change has been pretty subtle.

The beads look lovely.

It has magnificent drape and I am more and more in love with it as it grows.

Almost finished - more next week (or later this week)!

Teresa

Today

Today we are both in a special techniques class with Anna Zilboorg. She is brilliant and it is a wonderful class. The pink and blue sample is Dena's and the green and purple is mine. The separate green piece is my perfect buttonhole sample. That is the coolest part of this class!!

Yesterday

Dena knit lace - apologies for the terrible photo, this is a hazard of blogging from the phone.

Today's Stuff

Only one of my classes today produced anything - that little piece in the upper corner is an example of how to do a steek in knitting.  The bigger piece is about the size of a wrist warmer and it was knit using some stranded techniques - some new and others not so new to me.  It was a good class and I learned quite a bit.

 We had a lot of fun in the market.  The red on the left is fingering weight for a lace shawl.  The blue in the middle is buffalo, again for a shawl.  The gray and red on the end are going to be freesole socks (socks where you can cut off the bottom when they start to wear and replace it) with the multicolor to be used to embroider them.

This was a sock kit where the proceeds go to heart disease research funding.

 This is the last of the Great American Afghan books that I picked up.

 These are the coolest glass snake charms that are meant to go on a kumihumo necklace.  We got them (some for me and some for Dena) because they are so cool.  Now we have to make the cords.  The kit includes the thread for that.

This book was for sale by the publisher in the market.  I didn't know that I wanted it until I saw the stuff that was done with it.  Dena bought it for me as a present (thanks Dena) and we got it signed by the author.

 The coolest bag from Erin.Lane Bags - I do so love their stuff.  Their little mini bags and notions bags and omni packs are perfect for both knitting and tatting.

These are little charms you sew into things you knit for others that say hand made.  They are less than half an inch across and so cute! 

 Dena's sock yarn for our free sole knit along.

And some antique buttons that we found.  The top two rows are for me - the second row is going on a blue sweater that is almost done, I dunno what the metal ones on the top row are for yet.  The bottom three cards are Dena's and I don't know what she's going to use them for but they are cool.

We are having a lot of fun so far.  Tomorrow is the last day.

Teresa

Another Knitting Class?

Yes. Sure is - more on that later.

Another Freesole Sock

One by Teresa and one by Dena!

Freesole Sock

What a great class!

Tatting - Yes, Really!!

Monday and yesterday I tatted.  It's been so long!  I have a friend coming to town today and there is a party for her 80th birthday tomorrow.  I wanted something special to give her and she's a very accomplished knitter but not a tatter so I thought I would tat her Mary Konior's Large Cross.

I started in a deep magenta/burgundy thread.  I had almost finished - was on the fourth arm - when I realized that I wasn't going to have enough shuttle thread.  I don't do extra ends and besides the ball was attached so I would have had to cut BOTH ends and that means 6 ends to work in.  That wasn't happening so I scrapped that cross and wound another shuttle with this thread (Lizbeth I don't know which color).  

It's not perfect, but It was good to get back to tatting after sooooo long!

Teresa

Second Time's the Charm!

Looks so similar, but it is really different.  The brim all around is smaller, but especially in the front.  The black band is wider, not much but a little.  It is taller from the black band to the top so it fits better and the actual hat covers the ears, not just the brim.

I'm very happy with how it turned out.  It is just the hat I was imagining and wanted.

Pattern soon - needs test knitting and purdifying.

Teresa

Knitting Needles

 This is Zuzu.  Girl Far From Home put a clip in her hair so we could see her face.

She is cute as all get up and go.  But she has the devil in her!

If you leave her alone, she gets into the most interesting trouble.

The vast majority of the time, we leave her in the car and she sits in her bed and chews bones.

Sometimes she eats paper in the car.  Today she ate an emery board.

One day last week, I left my knitting bag in the car . . .

This is what happened to my very expensive and very dear Dyakcraft Darn Pretty interchangeable knitting needles.  These needles are entirely made by hand and the wait time for a set is over a year. 

I was not happy when I found out she had done this - especially since the only other size seven Darn Pretty's I had broke while I was visiting Dena.

 I had reported the broken needle (not the dog chewed needle) to Tom and Linda - the Diaks who own Dyakcraft.  I also told them that the same thing (a split at the base of the needle where it screws to the cable connecter) might be happening to at least one more set of tips, possibly two.

Their customer service is BEYOND exceptional.

The day after Zuzu ate my last size seven needle, this entire set arrived in the mail.

Have I mentioned I LOVE these needles?  And even though the wait is forever long, the customer service is beyond exceptional.  And the needles are my all time favorite ever in the world.

Teresa

Treasure Island, Clue 4

This is the completed fourth clue of the Treasure Island Shawl.

The shawl itself is now blocked - I did it when I had the stuff out to block Wild Roses.

I love this shawl shape and I love the color of this yarn and I love all the beads.

This was a really fun knit!

Teresa

I Had This Idea . . .

I wanted to knit a 20's style cloche.  So I went to Ravelry and looked for a pattern.  I found some patterns but they weren't quite right - in fact, they were all wrong. 

So I decided to write my own pattern.

This is the first attempt at it and while I like this hat, it isn't quite right yet.

Girl Far From Home will wear this one and I will alter the pattern where I think it needs to be altered.

I have already started to knit the next one . . . more later.

Teresa

Red, Red Roses!

The Wild Roses shawl is all blocked and it is gorgeous! 

You can see some of the beads I added in these photos - I think they were a good addition.

Teresa