The Toe-Up! March KAL is......

Syncopated Rib Boot Socks! The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn knit at 6 sts and 8 rows per inch so I pulled a skein of natural Araucania nature wool out of my stash and hand-dyed it (a shade of purple, of course). Today was the official start date and this is the first time I have done Anatomical Toes. Think I am going to like them!

Venus has Risen

Here is my Venus Rising Cardigan, finished and with buttons!

The Kauni yarn really softened up with washing and the stitches settled down and look nicer.
I think the next one I do will be in Noro Silk Garden sock yarn and I may eliminate the hip shaping ??

Mix-and-Match Toe-Up's Finished

I finally took a picture of my Mix-and-Match Ribs socks and finished in time to start the March KAL, which is in the voting process right now and will be announced on Friday!

These are the best toe up socks that I have knit so far. I love the way they fit and have learned a couple of things. First, my prior attempts at toe-up's have been to loose on my foot and the other issue has been the placement of the heel, usually started to soon and my sock was too short. Thanks to the worksheets for toes and heels in Chrissy Gardiner's Toe-Up! sock book, my socks fit GREAT.

Can't wait to find out which sock we will be knitting for March and the fun of choosing the perfect yarn!

On the other hand......I was trying out a stitch pattern for some cashmere sock yarn which I volunteered to design a pattern for and it's not working. The stitch pattern I had intended to use is not stretchy enough and caused the heel to be too tight. I can wear the socks, but the pattern will not see the light of day. Fortunately, the cashmere sock yarn has not arrived yet so, back to the drawing board!

Need Buttons!!

The button band of my Venus Rising is picked up and knitted to the point of putting in the buttonholes so it is on hold until I get to town and find the perfect buttons. That day is looking like Friday as tomorrow I am giving a spinning lesson and Thursday is "Third Thursday at Kim's" in which a bunch of us meet throughout the day for fiber fun.

My Mix-and-Match Rib socks are not finished yet as I spent the day spinning. I'm hoping to get them finished soon so I can start the Skew socks just posted as a Knitty winter surprise. They are absolutley fascinating. Hmmmm, which yarn to use?

Venus Rising...almost finished

I've made a lot of progress on my Venus rising Cardigan and it is close to being finished...

The left side nonseam is grafted, the waste yarn removed and it is still in one piece! Minor hole at the underarm to be tidied up.

Then I removed the waste yarn to open up the front and back neck shaping, put the front stitches on hold and picked up the back neck stitches .....

And here is the finished back neck, a "v" in the back!

Now I am off to work on my Toe-Up KAL socks. I was planning to get 30 rounds on the leg of my second sock done tonight and finish them tomorrow night but it's getting close to bedtime....too much time at the spinning wheel this evening. Time flies when your having fun!

Venus Rising Update

Here is my Venus Rising cardigan with the waste yarn inserted into the front, the left side shaping complete along with the sleeve head short row shaping and I'm starting down the left sleeve. The green yarn on the left sides will be used as a grafting guide for the left "nonseam"! (it's there, you can just see a little corner of it in the underarm.) It pays to insert all those shaping and decrease markers and take lots of notes as you are knitting the first half. My brain had a hard time working in mirror image, but thanks to all the notes I took I had a linear image from which to work the left side in reverse. Can't wait to get this one done...already have yarn bought for the next one. What will it be....?

Toe-Up!!

I joined the Toe-Up Knitters group on Ravelry founded by Chrissy Gardiner (and mods) which is based on her new book Toe-Up! I have knit 3 pairs of toe up socks in the past and because they don't fit well I revert back to the cuff down technique. The book has worksheets designed to help you modify different toe and heel applications to your own measurements based on your stitch and row gauge and encourages you to try different toes and heels to decide which ones fit your foot structure and which ones , not so well.

The February KAL is the Mix-and-Match Rib sock. I am making mine with Fortissima Colori on size U.S. 2 (2.75mm) needles using the two circ's method and my gauge is 8 sts and 11 rows per inch. I chose to do the Garter Rib version. Hoping to learn how to knit a great fitting toe up sock!!

Monkey Socks Blocking

I just finished my Monkey socks by CookieA and here they are washed and blocking! The pattern is easy to follow and they fit well. The yarn is Crock-O-Dye by Knit One, Crochet Too and has a little silk in it that makes it a pleasure to knit with. I inadvertently knit the first sock on two different sized circular needles and it fit so I used the same needles to knit the second sock!

What to work on now??

Venus Rising is at the Halfway Point

This is the inside right front and back of the Venus Rising Cardigan. The markers show all of the short row shaping rows. I love the Japanese Short Row technique!

Here is my Venus Rising Cardigan at the halfway point, before having done the provisional knitting in the middle which will be opened up after completeing the left hand side to do the back neck shaping and the front bands.

Now I am off to do a gauge swatch with Noro's Silk Garden Sock yarn. If I can get gauge with it, there may be second Venus Rising in the future. (Cynthia's has a colorway that I absolutley love!)

Venus Rising KAL

I have joined the Venus Rising KAL on Ravelry. It is an ingenious cardigan designed by Lucy Neatby full of interesting knitting techniques. We started on Jan. 15 2010 and people are still joining in.

The cardigan starts at the right sleeve cuff and ends at the left sleeve cuff with lots of fun in between.......short rows, tubular cast on, provisional knitting and grafting!

Maybe a good class project for this summer at Cynthia's Yarn Shop!

Wow, time is flying by! But, the garden is at rest, the wood is all stacked, the leaves have all fallen and been picked up! I'm waiting for the first snow (which is late this year but nobody is complaining) and more time to knit!

Cindy has opened a second store in Petoskey, right on Mitchell Street. It is Cynthia's Too and will be open year 'round with lots of yarn, classes and a place to meet up and sit and knit and a knitting night starting in January!

I have knitted some samples for the new store and have actually spun up some of the romney wool that I bought at the Charlevoix Fiber Arts Festival. "Leo" (aka my spinning wheel) was happy to be back in action. Looking foward to winter (but not all the plowing I will be doing when the real snow comes) and hopefully getting a couple of knitting patterns that have been developing in my brain onto the needles!

Harvesting and Noni Workshop

Harvest time is upon us! I've gotten three rows of potatoes dug, made freezer slaw from one of the Dutch Flathead cabbages (this should be an excellent compliment to our "grown at home" pig) and the blackberries are wonderful this year. Two batches of blackberry freezer jam and two quarts of frozen berries which I plan to take with me when I visit mom. I'm sure she will make me a blackberry pie!
Tomatoes didn't do so well this year, but there are plenty of carrots to dig and winter squash to pick as soon as we get a (shhhh) light frost. Unfortunately Zeke (my 100 pound chocolate lab) ate most of the green beens out of the garden so I only put up two bags in the freezer. And he felt no remorse either!
Also, the wood is all stacked!!!!
AND this is the weekend of the NONI workshop in Mackinaw City. I've got three bags knitted and felted, packed away damp in plastic bags ready for day one....blocking and embellishing! I also found two beautiful brocades at JoAnn Fabrics to use for lining my Hydrangea Bag and my Felted Carpetbag. The other bag, Urban Adventure, I am going to leave unlined for a more organic shape. Should be a fun and very educational workshop!

Fiber Arts Festival in Charlevoix, MI

The Fiber Arts Festival in Charlevoix was wonderful. This is one of the 6 fleeces that I purchased. It is a gray Icelandic fleece from a sheep named Ink. It is now washed and I am awaiting some Alpaca fiber samples which I will blend with it prior to spinning!

I also bought 5 beautiful Romney and Romney X fleeces from Big Hand Farm in Boyne City. The sheep were covered so the VM is minimal and the staple length is 5"-6"! I have one of the fleeces washed and it is a beautiful snowy white with a little luster. I have ordered some Merino top and some Bombyx silk to blend with the Romney. Time to get the dyepots out!

I also bought some yarn from Briar Rose for a couple of projects that I would like to knit. I think I have enough projects to keep me busy for the (shhhh) winter!

But the best find at the festival was a woolpicker!! I have been shopping on the internet for one and decided to wait until after the fiber festival. I was not really expecting to find one but I stopped in a booth shared by 4 women to look at the Icelandic fleece pictured above. As I was standing there talking to one of the ladies, out of the corner of my eye I spotted it sitting in the corner with a price tag on it. As it turned out, it was made by the husband of the lady to whom I was talking. As soon as I touched it, I new it had found a home!

Two at a Time Socks

Here are my first ever "magic loop" socks, and two at a time! It is the Twilight pattern from the book 2-at-time socks by Melissa Morgan Oaks. While I enjoyed having "a pair" of socks at the end of the process, I had a little trouble manipulating the needles, the extra cable and two balls of yarn. I normally knit one sock at a time on two circular needles and during the magic loop process it seemed to me that I was spending a lot of time situating everything so that I could knit rather than actually knitting. However, these are not the first and last pair that I will ever do. I think with more practice I could knit them almost as fast as on two circs!

Hey, I finally got to finish a project! This weekend I'll be off to the Fiber Art Festival at Castle Farms in Charlevoix, Mi. It's sure to be lots of fibery fun!

Too Busy to Knit?

Summer is flying by and there have too many things on the "to do" list and not much time to knit. I've been busy with the flower gardens and the vegetable garden. I bought some new perrenials and the flower gardens are doing well. As for the veggie garden, things that like cold weather are doing great but still behind schedule. We should be eating fresh green beans and new potatoes by now. The green beans are just starting to flower and new potatoes appear to be a couple of weeks away.










I've also been busy stacking wood, as you can see. I've gotten about half of it stacked.......











and the other half is a work in progress! One advantage of a cooler than average summer.










I have been knitting a little bit and almost have a pair of socks finished, which I will post a picture of as soon as they come off the needles!!

Little Dipper Vest Pattern is Available

This is the Little Dipper vest. The pattern is designed for young girls, approximate ages 2 thru 10 and worked in the Star Stitch pattern. The pattern and project info is available here and payable through PayPal.

Telegraph Road Pattern is Available

Boy, do I make a poor model! Anyway here is a picture of me wearing the Telegraph Road Cardigan and the pattern is available for purchase at Knitting Knorth Designs.

I am also offering this as a class this spring at Cynthia's Fine Yarn and Gifts in Mackinaw City, Mi.

Where I've Been

I have had more than enough "stressful situations" to deal with lately. Mike made his annual journey to the V.A. medical center in Millwaukee on May 3rd. Without going into detail, suffice it to say that his '74 Monte Carlo burned to the ground on the way there. Luckily, I still have him!

While he was in Milwaukee for 2 weeks I had to deal with remodeling his bathroom also. All the tile was removed (floor and shower walls), drywall repair, a new coat of the oddest color of paint (called ladyfinger, looks like a golden brown twinkie) and all new tile plus a heating mat under the floor tile which he will absolutely love, if we ever get the right control unit and can actually use it! Also waiting on the tile guy to come back and do something with the areas of gray grout which are supposed to be almond.

I've also been trying to get the flower gardens into shape and plant my vegetable garden but the weather has not been cooperating. We are in the first week of June and it is still freezing at night. I have planted my brassica's, winter squash and cucumbers (lost one to frost, even covered) but my peppers and tomatoes are moving in and out of the garage every day. I did get my seeds planted yesterday: carrots, beets, kohlrabi, radishes and lettuce and the potatoes have been in the ground for a couple of weeks. No sign of them yet!

I have also been doing a little knitting. My brain was under a lot of stress and I started a new design so I had something to focus on. It is a cardigan for children ages 2 thru 10 and knit in KnitCol, a self patterning yarn. It doesn't have a name yet but here is a preview, not quite finished yet! Toes not included.

Cynthia's Annual Spring Luncheon

Here is part of the gang that came out on April 25th to enjoy the annual spring luncheon put on by Cynthia's Fine Yarn and Gifts in Mackinaw City. An afternoon of friendship, games, sharing, laughter and fun. Plus a preview of the new exciting patterns and yarns in the yarn shop!






Jenny won the big door prize (on the table in front of her) and is showing the bee sweater that she knitted for Avery (first grandchild)!

Jean with her felted "hand bag"!

The hands are felted cutouts traced from her grandchildrens hands. How cool!

Martha and Myrna in the background during show and tell.

Martha Myrna and Sherry play the "Know Your Fiber" game as Jamie supervises...no cheating!

Just Enough Ruffles Done

Spring has sprung, well almost. We had some nice days and I was busy working outside, trying to get as much done as I could, before the blackflies come out (that is another story). Hubby and I got the yards cleaned, a whole new yard planted with grass seed and the screen room cleaned and ready for summer and I was too tired to knit. I hate when that happens...I get the lovely yarn out of the knitting bag, get all comfy and there I sit with the project in my lap for hours, not one stitch knitted. We've all been there I guess.





Well the last two days have been almost winter-like. Cold and rainy, perfect knitting weather! And I finally got one of the three projects finished that I started for Malabrigo March in the Malabrigo Junkies group over on Ravelry. Here is my version of Just Enough Ruffles:

As for my designs, I have finished my Mitered Panels Cardigan for Adults (pics to be posted soon) which is based on my Mitered Panels Cardigan for Kids but with a different neck line. This along with Little Dipper, Telegraph Road and a new free pattern (which will also be posted here) will debut this Saturday at Cynthia's annual spring luncheon! How exciting.