Knitting News

First, my yarnbowl. This was made by my friend June at RisingSunEarthworks. (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5050179 or http://risingsunearthworks.com/ ). She's made me some really lovely and useful things over the years. This is a terrific way to keep balls of yarn from running away and since I prefer hand wound balls (that are really round), it's perfect for me.
This is the design-a-sweater that I'm making for my preteen daughter. I'll be writing a pattern for it in several teen sizes - the first of my teen knitting pattern series. It's not done in this shot - and we hadn't decided what to do to finish it at the time. But you can see the cables and checkerboard fairly well.





The next two pics are of it on the girl. The strings you see are just holding the neck stitches. I will be adding a collar to it - against her wishes, but if she hates it, I can remove it.



These are the tiny socks I made for the Sock Blocker Keychain that Mom bought for me. I just love it. The one that's on it is from the Bearfoot that I made the Embossed Leaves socks for me with and the other two are the Numma Numma Toasty for Needlenook that I made the contest socks with. I turned the socks and the pattern in to the shop today.

Some more pretty flowers

I've been doing a LOT of knitting, but I can't post pics of most of it yet. Some is not done (a lot) and some that is done is being entered in a contest. I haven't even put any projects on Ravelry lately. So, in the meantime, here is a pic of Miss S's pondlet - with a lovely blooming blue water lily. And behind it, another pot with a pink lily - that baby just keeps on blooming and blooming. There are fish in all the pots to keep the skeeters from going nuts.





This is the lovely blue waterlily that has been miniaturized so it will grow in small places. A friend sent it for the pondlet.

This is the yarn that I'm making the 'design-a-sweater' with - I've been told that the real name for the sweater is the Checkerboard Sweater. It's almost done - well it was anyway. I had it up to the neckline this morning but I ripped it back to the armholes this afternoon. The girl wanted me to make it a v-neck and I wasn't opposed to that. I had her try it on and she said she liked where the v was going to start. So I knit it up to the neck (all done but the collar/finishing) and then tried it on her again. The v started way too low. I have also decided that it shouldn't be a v, but a slit instead.

This is the new Ultra Alpaca from Schoolhouse press. I'm going to make Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket out of it for a friend's grandson. Getting ready to wind it into balls tonight . . . .

Some Flowers from the Garden

First a few passion flowers: Belotii and citrina

Coriacia and Star of Surbiton
and Lady Margaret.

And then a few odds & ends:
an amaryllis

some day lilies and a water lily.

A Birthday to Remember

Well, the girl wanted the same thing she's asked for every birthday and Christmas for the last 3 years. This year she got it . . . . a little late, but times 3. She didn't believe she was getting it until it happened tho. With any luck, I'll be able to get pics of the critters tomorrow . . . . . even the stuffed one (in the ball).