WIP Sunday!!

Even though I might not have left a message, due to sickness, computer issues, and time constraints, I have been trying to keep up with my blog reading. I know we all love our mindless knitting projects. You know the ones that take no effort and you can actually sit in front of the television and knit without looking. Well, I have noticed another trend too. I am seeing it in the magazines and on some of your blogs. Texture knits, cables, more intricate ribbed patterns and so forth. If you look in the latest issue of Vogue, you will see all of that and even quite an array of lace patterns. I think that we are all striving to better ourselves a little bit and quench our thirst for trying new things, whether it be a new craft or technique/skill. In my search, I started this:That's right, I started a new design this week. It's something that I've had on my mind for a while now, and I had bought the yarn for it some time back. I'm hoping I have enough because I haven't checked to see if the yarn is discontinued. The yarn I'm using is Classic Elite Premiere. The color is Tidal Wave #5226 (by the way, scratch what I said about the discontinued part. I just checked their website and it's listed, so there's hope if I need more.) Let me tell you, cables take a lot of yarn, and I don't know if anyone has had this problem, but as I did my swatch this week, I had a heck of a time figuring out how many stitches I was getting to the inch. I've become a BIG fan of 4 x 4 swatches, especially after this.

In other knitting news, I've been working on my other projects, and they are all coming along. Here is the Pi-shawl that I've been working on.I don't have a picture of the wedding garter as I'm not that much further, but I can tell you that I'm on the 15th repeat, and I have to do the pattern 21 times.

I finally measured what I have done on the sleeves for the shawl collar sweater for my mother. I measured it against her and one of the sweaters that she wears regularly, and it looks like I am up to the sleeve cap part. I hope to have pictures of that later this week.

Here is what I have done so far on the sleeves for the Gedifra sweater that I'm working on for myself.
I want to thanks Amanda for the Noro comment. I hadn't thought of that. I think I saw a couple hanks of Noro Silver Thaw that I like, hmmmmmmm.

In sewing news, I hit a major 50% off sale yesterday at Fabric Warehouse. For around $35 you too can have this:

The red and green material and the red and black material I'm thinking of using for dresses. The brown and teal I think I might use for a top.

The red with white flowers is for a skirt, and the blue material is for a pair of pants.

The material below is all for shirting. The red and white material and the flowers on cream are actually suppose to be curtain material but I want to try it as shirting material.

This last piece of fabric I got at Joann's.

The fi and I went to Borders last night and we did some browsing. I did a major look through of 2 books. The first one is Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp. If you are new to sewing or just want a brush up. This book looks very good. What I like most about it are the step by step photograph pictures of the various techniques covered in the book. The patterns are classic and can be used again and again.

The second book is the New Complete Guide to Sewing put out by Reader's Digest. Anything that you want to know is in this book. There are tons of pictures and diagrams on just about every technique there is. I have put both of these books on my list as a must have.

It's Friday!! Where's the Party!!

Hallelujah!! I'm on a quest to blog at least once a week, and as they say better late than never. I wanted to post earlier this week, but I didn't have any pics so that postponed me a little. I hope everyone is doing well. I want to thank everyone for their well wishes and remedies. You guys are the best. I'm still not 100 percent, but I am feeling a lot better day by day.

Work is a bear and it's consuming a lot of my time. I feel like I'm doing the work of 3 to 4 people. I can't wait for this season to be over. I've also been gigging every weekend this month. I so glad I have off next weekend, and of course the fi wants to go skiing. It's a plan and I know we'll have fun. We went skiing for the first time last year and loved it. By the end of the day we were on the intermediate slope. If you haven't tried it, you should, but please take a class first.

I have managed to get a little knitting done. I even have my first FO. I finished her last Thursday night. It's the Half-Pi Shawl by new momma Courtney Kelley. You can get the pattern at Rosie's Yarn Cellar.

I used Shimmer from Knit Picks on #11 needles. The color is Flower Garden. It's an alpaca silk blend that feels really nice. If anyone is looking for a lace weight yarn like this. Head on over to Knit Picks because it is on clearance for $4.99 a hank. On Monday, I casted on for my last shawl that I will need. I don't have a picture of that yet. I'm hoping to take one tonight. It's coming along nicely, and I like the color. It's a dark purple, close to an eggplant color. I'm using 2 strands together of Misty Alpaca lace weight.

Here is a picture of my garter so far. I am about halfway done. I promise once the wedding is over I will stop talking about it.

Remember in my last post I said I wanted another project to work on other than my lace projects? Well, instead of starting a new project, I decided to go back and finish an old one. Last year I started this:

It from Gedifra Highlight 023. The pattern is 417 I think. (I'm doing this from memory, and I'm at work). I have all the pieces done except for the sleeves which I did cast on for but had never finished. I like the sweater because of the embroidery and it's something that I haven't done on a sweater yet. I'm still looking for the yarn I want to use to do the embroidery. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I'm thinking maybe a thick and thin yarn with dark blues and pinks. The sweater is knit in Debbie Bliss alpaca silk on #8 needles.

I am still working on the sweater for my mother, even though I put it down over a week ago. I got a little bored with it and I need to measure her arms to see how much more I have to knit before the sleeve cap. Let's just say my mother suffers from long arm syndrome (I hope she doesn't read this, she might kill me for saying that. LOL!!).

In other news, I actually sat down and read a book, which is something I haven't done in a long time. Knitting takes up most of my spare, if you can call riding the train, spare time. It was a cheesy chick lit book but highly entertaining. The book was called Something Borrowed and it's by Emily Giffin. I plan on reading the sequel Something Blue soon. I am now reading Vogue Sewing. I just started it, and haven't gotten far, but I'm hoping it helps me with my future sewing projects. The next book on my list that I want to sink myself into is Finishing Techniques by Nancie Wiseman. I purchased the book a while ago, and I've heard nothing but great reviews on it. I've been told that it's a must have for any knitter at every level.

That's all I have for now. Hopefully you'll be hearing from me sometime this weekend. If not,

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Snails Pace

I feel like all my projects are coming along at a very slow pace. Even though I know this already, I still don't listen. Never do intricate lace knitting on the train, especially if you are working from a chart. I did this yesterday, and of course, my stitches are now off. I am in the middle of backing out my 138 stitches on my Spring Shawl Surprise. I have one more row to go, and I already have done 1 1/2 rows. Oh well, live and learn as they say.

The rest of the yarn I needed for the Half-pi shawl I was binding off arrived yesterday, so I'll finished that sometime this week. I'm getting bored with all this intricate stuff, so I need a worsted or bulky yarn project to work on. I think I want something with sleeves. I guess I'll be hitting the books tonight to find something.

I'm messing around with another design project that I haven't submitted so there's no rush on that. I think I like what I'm seeing so far, I'm not sure yet.

In other news, I've had a really bad sinus infection in my throat for the past month now. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago. He gave me antibiotics, but they didn't work. He upped the dosage, that didn't work. He then changed my medicine on Friday, and added a few more prescriptions. I think it's working , but the process is slow. In an attempt to help myself a little further. I started using an old home remedy. I bought some ginger root. I smash it a little to get the juice out. Boil it and make tea with honey and lemon ( I also add a tea bag too). That seems to be helping a lot. Does anyone else have any other remedies that they know of? Please let me know.

No pictures this time. Hopefully I'll have something soon.

It's a new day, and a new dawn, and a new year!!

Happy New Year to everyone!! It is now 2008. A new year to try something new. As I sit here reflecting on 2007, I think I did pretty well on trying new things. I made homemade gifts again, which is something I started to do December 2006. The gifts were well received. 11 Lestats, 1 Baby Eleanor, and 1 Elmer, and 1 Alma.




I started sewing more. I made 1 pair of pants, 1 dress, 1 top, and 3 pairs of pajama pants. I've listed everything on the side bar except the pajama pants. I hope to have a picture of them soon.

The fi and I learned to ski. We learned to try and take more time for ourselves by starting date night. We've learned that it's a must. If you don't do this already, you have to try it. It does wonders for a relationship.

I joined a few knit-a-longs, and did my first secret pal. I knitted more, used some of my stash, got my first pattern published and started crocheting again. I also met new friends via blogging.
Now, I really haven't set forth any new goals for 2008 yet, but as I sit here a few do come to mind.

1. Get hitched on Memorial Day weekend to a wonderful man whom I love and adore.
2. Knit, Crochet and Sew more.
3. Hang out more with my Girlfriends and my mother.
4. Find time to read more. (This one's hard as I knit in my spare time.)
5. Stay true and in tune to myself and the fi.
6. Continue date night with the fi, even after the wedding.
7. Set up a date night with my mother after the wedding, so she doesn't feel left out of my life.
8. Save more money.
9. Blog more.
10. Get more organized and neat.
11. Curse less.
12. Try to be less stressed out.
13. Workout more.
14. Have fun.
15. Design and publish more patterns

I haven't introduced you to the newest addition to the family yet. Meet Lola!

I received her for Christmas from the fi. Gotta love him. He knows me so well, and likes my craftyness.

I also started my new year off at a nice pace. I relaxed a little, watched movies, started my wedding garter.

I'm using a pattern I found on ravelry. It's by Diane Willet, and can be found here. I joined the Spring Shawl Surprise. I'm knitting it for my godmother. I hope to get that done by the wedding. It's my gift to her. I finished my 2nd bridesmaid shawl. In the middle of binding off, I ran out of yarn which I ordered on Saturday. I also sewed myself a handbag(without a pattern) to carry my knitting in.

I learned how to install snaps for the first time. I broke the first snap, but figured out what I did wrong, and corrected the problem. It was fun.

Before I sign-off for today, I want to thank you all so very much for all your advice and feedback this past year. It's made my blogging experience worthwhile and fun. I can't wait to see what 2008 has in-store for us all. Happy Blogging!!