Pattern

My Daisy Rectangular Shawl has been Reworked for Errors

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My Shawl pattern fixed

I reworked my Daisy Rectangular Shawl to fix an error I had made in the design.  It’s working out for me but since I don’t have a tech editor, I hope I have fixed it 😛  I have updated the pattern on that page.  I have only done one repeat of the 24 row pattern and this is not blocked, so the lace is … well you know how lace is before it’s blocked :P.  Another lady who knit this pattern used stitch markers between the repeats because she said it drove her crazy until she did,  but marking the repeats messed me up, guess I’m a little strange, I have no problem counting stitches between repeats and reading my work,  You use whatever works for you :).

I’ll have updates on my progress, as I have to have this done by Oct.  Hope you enjoy the pattern if you have a mind to knit it. 🙂

Summer Solstice, New Progress Keepers and Lace Bookmarks

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Sorry Word Press has changed some things and I don’t know how to get around in it yet, sigh.

Ok it’s the Summer Solstice, which for me means our daylight hrs will start to get shorter.  I only pay attention to the solstices because they signal days getting shorter or longer.  I always look more forward to the Winter Solstice, because it means the daylight hrs are increasing and Spring is coming. 🙂  I guess I shouldn’t look at Summer Solstice as a negative and just enjoy the summer and fall without worrying about winter yet.  Can you tell I am not a winter person, and yet I live in the Mid West?

I have been working on the lace book marks and they are now all sent out to their intended recipients.  I knit them on size 1 (US size) needles using left over sock yarn, used about 4 to 5 grams including the tassle, depending on how thick your sock yarn is.  They are quick and easy.

This past week I got a surprise package in the mail.  I opened it up and it was from one of my favorite stitch marker/progress keeper makers, Adoreknit .  She knows I am an huge Mandalorian fan.  I was so excited when I opened it and found these two Mandalorian progress keepers!  Put a big smile on my face, baby Yoda is adorning one of my WIPs, is he not so cute!  Makers are the best people!

I got the new yarn I ordered for the wedding shawl that I need to have done before October.   The yarn I ordered before was too coarse for bare shoulders and I returned it.  I ordered both yarns from LoveCrafts and they were very good about taking the previous order back.   I’m using my Daisy Rectangular Shawl pattern.  I hope I have corrected the error (miscalculation) on two rows being too close.  I haven’t updated my pattern yet because I want to knit up my correction to make sure I didn’t make it worse :P.  If this corrects it, I will update the pattern.  I will post more on this shawl (yarn, needles etc) as I get further in the pattern as I have only finished the border on the bottom at the moment.

I’m on the last sleeve of the Flax baby sweater.  I will post a picture when it’s done :).

New Bobbins, New Baby Flax on the Needles, Lace Bookmark and New Needles!

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Lots of pictures today!  Ok, the first picture is the one of the Rick Reeves bobbins I had made by a furniture maker (on the left) and the bobbin I sent him to copy (on the right) from a few months ago. The hole was a little off center, didn’t have the metal sheath in it to protect the wood when it was spinning and the hole was actually to small to fit on the flyer (the flyer is pictured underneath that one.) I did find another wood worker who has made these bobbins before and I had him make me two. He did and as you can see they fix perfectly and look exactly like the original one!! Makes me a happy camper :).

I have made 4 of these lace bookmarks in the last month or so but keep forgetting to get a picture before giving them to the friends I made them for.  But this time I remembered!!!  These are easy to knit and because they are small they don’t take very long to make, an hr or two depending on how fast you knit.  The pattern is Bookmark Tri which is a free pattern on Ravelry.  I used the lace pattern.  It is a fun pattern to knit and a quick gift that looks really nice :).

I did start a new Flax baby sweater, size 6 month to 1 year, in Hobby Lobby’s Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek yarn in the color Denim Stripe, eventually I will need a little boy sweater ;).  Using size 5 needles for neck and sleeve cuffs and size 7 for yoke, body and sleeves.  After you get the yoke done this is a mindless knit and since it’s a baby sweater it goes pretty fast.  I will get to give the pink and purple sweaters to the intended recipients (hopefully) on Tuesday! One was born last month and the other one is due soon.

I was hoping I would be knitting this on the new needles I ordered.  They were on sale on line at Webs (about $25 off) and I was so excited to order them since I had wanted this set for almost 2 years, but since they were on sale they ran out and had to wait for more stock to get in, so I had to wait 2 weeks.   When it came in my mail, I opened it up and realized that they hadn’t sent me the Knitter’s Pride Ginger Interchangeable Special Set, but instead the Knitter’s Pride Ginger Interchangeable Deluxe set.  They are both the same cost and beautiful needle sets, and I eventually wanted to get the Deluxe set but the Special set has shorter needles for the size 16″ and 20″ cable lengths they come with, which I wanted for the hats and baby sweaters I knit.  The Deluxe set is nice and has the same sizes in the needles but the needles are longer and have size 24″, 34″ and 40″ cable lengths.  I told them I would keep this set, since I wanted it eventually anyway and will just save for another 6 months and wait for another sale, as they are anything but cheap.  But they are beautiful wooden needles with a very nice case.

We have already had one 90F degree day a week or so ago, and it looks like tomorrow will be 90F again.  On Wednesday it looks like it will go back into 70’s for about 4 days then back up into the 80’s.  Summer is here!

Hope everyone is in a safe place.

December is finally here! Plus Flax Sweater is Finished!

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I finished the Flax infant sweater by Tin Can Knits.  Love her design, knit from the top down and no joining or sewing up seams, perfect!!  Wish to colors showed up better, I seriously lack photo skills!  It has light blue, pink, purple, green and yellow.

The 2nd picture is a musical clock that I received as a gift on Thanksgiving.  My son’s mother-in-law and I exchange gifts on Thanksgiving and this was the gift she gave me.  My eyes almost popped out of my head, I love it so much.  It plays music on the hr and turns off the musical chimes when it’s dark so it won’t wake you up, how is that for awesome.  I gave her the Changing Stair Cases shawl  I had been knitting for her, hehe, she was also very excited :), lace shawls will do that ;).  Life is good :P.  I’m still working on some Charity hats, but I need to pick my next project.  Well actually I think it has picked me and I need to finish my spin for the hat I’m making for my family member.  I will have some time later this week to work on finishing it.  Hope everyone has a great December, only 3 or 4 more months (depending on where you live) until Spring :P.

Another Flax Sweater Started

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Flax baby sweater 2a

The color in this picture is not showing as colorful as it is, it’s a white with lots of colors (lavender, green, pink and purple running through it, sigh, I’m not a good photographer).  I used the same yarn and needle sizes that I used on the other Flax sweater .  You can see the color a little better on the hat .  I love the construction on this sweater and it’s a free pattern.  Knitting these small sweaters is pretty fast and addictive.  But you can knit larger ones, the sizing goes up to 4XL.

Trying to shake another cold, so sick (pun intended :P) and tired of catching stuff, ugh.  No choir Christmas singing for me this year because it has wrecked my voice for the next month or so, makes me so sad :(.

Last 2 Promised Hats New Stitch Markers and a Birthday Gift

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Ok, I lied, I said I was not going to buy any more new stitch markers or progress keepers for a while.  “But mom they followed me home can I keep them?”  Actually I replaced the Dallas Cowboys progress keeper and bought another set of the hearts stitch markers and progress keeper, because I love it so much, and yes I have one already, but I wanted to use it and couldn’t remember where I put the old one, they will both be well loved :).  I got these from AdoreKnit and she threw in a surprise, the fox progress keeper.  I mentioned I was looking for one as “hat jewelry” for a young family member I had just knit a hat for because she wanted a fox on it and I didn’t see one in her on line shop.  I was beyond ecstatic when I saw that in my order when it came in today!!  She really is such a sweet person, you should check out her shop.

The blue hat above is the hat for the younger of my family members, who was very excited to get the Dallas Cowboys color hat and star to adorn his hat.  The other hat showing was to be for his older sister but she really liked another hat I had knit earlier so the other one became hers and this one will go in the charity pile.  She was very excited to get the fox progress keeper to put on it, I will add that to the pictures when I remember to get a picture of it on the hat.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see “hat jewelry” become a thing for school age children. 🙂

Lastly, yeah I had a birthday this past week.  Celebrating the anniversary of my 29th birthday and that is all you are getting out of me :P.  I can’t be older than my dad who is 29 every year, can I?  I belong to a group who does Harry Potter knitting and my name was drawn on her quarterly prize drawing (which just happened to be on my birthday woot woot).  I got gifted a pattern of my choice, and what I chose was the Baa-ble Mittens and Cowl set , I already had the hat pattern, which is a free pattern, but the accessories were not. So for my birthday I was able to complete the set, how cool is that!!!  Hope everyone has a great week coming up.

2 Projects Off My Needles & New Stitch Markers and Progress Keepers

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little lace daisy scarf for Sue Well I tried to put these pictures together but it wanted to make the scarf so small you can’t see any detail.  So this is what I get, sigh.  These are the 2 projects I have gotten finished.  My  Little Lace Daisy Scarf and the basic ribbed hat (no pattern to share for that :(. )  The scarf is my own design, used hand spun, I hand dyed it and then knit it.  So almost start to finish, I didn’t start with raw fleece :P.  You can see the difference in color when I dyed the two skeins separately (they were spun separately).  I did the ends using the lighter skein and then transitioned as it were to the darker skein.  But at least it is the same on both sides.

 

Hats for the Homeless The other project was a hat for my hats for the homeless pile.  Just started that this year so I don’t have much done yet, but I guess every little bit helps.  Will have more by next fall.  The hat beside it is a new cast on for that pile. 🙂  I used I love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby.

 

 

I also bought some new stitch markers and progress keepers (last ones for a while).  They are for my Cowboys and Raiders football teams :P.  I got these from Adore Knit on Etsy.  She has really nice stitch markers and progress keepers, she also added a I love football progress keeper and a fall leaf, she is such a wonderful maker.  I also have a bag I made a couple of years ago for my Cowboys :).  I don’t have one for my Raiders, but when I get a chance I will probably make one for them too, to go with my new stitch markers and progress keeper.

I still have a baby sweater on my needles and a new basic rib hat, and a scarf that I am knitting with friend as a scarf along, but I feel less stressed already :P.

Fractal Spinning Done!

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It’s either my photo skills or my camera (could be both), but my spinning pictures are really muted.  In rl (real life) these are brighter.  The fractal spin does mute things a little bit but the purple bobbin on the bottom was brighter purples and the aqua is a little darker (tho not dull) and has more blue hues scattered through out in it.  I got 274 yards of yarn and it weighted 106 grams, that would make it a light sport weight I think.  It was a fun spin and I will have to dig around for patterns that require that much yardage or less to make something nice.  Maybe a cowl or if it’s enough yardage a hat and mitt set.  I’m not a big fan of yarn chicken, so I will be looking at patterns. 🙂

I’m going to start the scarf for my friend from the teal yarn that I finished spinning just before this last spin.  I think I’m going to knit my Little Lace Daisy Scarf pattern.  But I will add a few more stitches to the edges to make it a little wider.   I showed her the finished yarn and she loved the teal color :).

I also am going to work on finishing the Changing Staircases Shawl that I have been working on.  I think I only have two more complete pattern sections (20 rows each) to be done.  Then I can block it and store it, it’s a Christmas gift.  Not waiting until closer to Christmas like I did last year, because if you remember “Murphy” moved in and I broke my hand last August and there was no Christmas knitting.  “Murphy” isn’t allowed at my house anymore :P.

I will be planning my next spin, but I want to finish the shawl first and get started on the scarf, then I won’t feel so anxious.  I generally do not have more than 2 to 3 projects going at any given time.  One is always a mindless knit for stressed out and non thinking days (usually a dishcloth or diagonal scarf, both which are very mindless knits.)  When I have more than that, I feel drawn in to many ways and anxious.  When I get more comfortable with the heels and gussets on socks, I will add them to my mindless knits :).  Besides I need a reason to test out my Flexi Flip needles (looks like they are on sale for 20% off at the moment.)  Maybe they will still be on sale when I get paid!

Spinning on the Kromski Polonaise and a New Project.

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With the help of the Kromski Raverly group and a local friend, I was able to get the Polonaise configured to be a scotch tension drive, thankfully it comes with both options :).  The pictures do not do it justice, it is a dark mahogany color but looks like a walnut color in the pictures.  It is portrayed a little better in the picture of the singles I am spinning tho’ it still does not show the dark mahogany color as it is, it is really beautiful.  It spins like a dream and I am enjoying spinning on it immensely.  The fiber is some super wash merino that I had dyed some time back when I spun a skein for a friend.  I am spinning this skein to make a scarf or cowl (we need those here in the winter :P) for Marge’s sister (also a friend).  Something for her to think about her sister when she wears it.

Changing Staircases  I also cast on a new project.  Was going to make this last year for Christmas for a family member but I fell and broke my hand so that didn’t happen.  Not taking any chances this year, if I procrastinate, “Murphy” will come to visit again and he is not allowed in my home :P.  This is the Changing Staircases shawl by Trysten Molina of Dragon Hoard Designs.  I am using Stroll Tweed Sock Labs yarn by Knit Picks in the Teal Tweed colorway.  It’s really pretty and has a generous 462 yards.  Because I am a loose knitter I am using a size 4 instead of a size 5 circular needle.  Tho’ it looks difficult, this pattern is very easy and easily memorized :).  Not sure if you can see it very clearly but I am using a beautiful bronze heart progress keeper made by Stephanie of the Knitting Samurai podcast, from her Adore Knits Etsy shop.

I am loving Spring but could do without all the rain, but at least it’s not snow :P.

 

Starting Another Chemo Hat

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Chemo Cap with Curls

I did get the pattern from the Designer, she was nice enough to put it back up on Raverly.  It’s called Chemo Cap in Splash & Merino 5 there is a link on the raverly page to an archive with the pattern.  I plan on doing the hat including the curls in the black with red (in the same kind of yarn I used in my last chemo hat) to match my friends shawl.  I hope it turns out like the picture in my head :P.  Both yarns, Yarn Bee Sunggle Up in the black and Yarn Bee Cloud 9 in the garnet, are very soft and when putting them together they are extremely soft, makes you want to pet all the fiber off of it :D.

I’ll post a picture after I get it started or finished, which ever I can fit in first :P.

A one sentence rant today.  We are not Easter Worshipers, we are Christians, we celebrate Easter, we worship our Savior, Jesus Christ.