Moving Day at LYS

Well, today was a productive day. I was over at my local LYS helping them move into their new digs. The cottage is beautiful. I can't wait until they are all moved in. While I was there, I got a chance to take pictures like this my Angelina jacket from White Lies Designs. I used Debbie Bliss alpaca silk dk.









I'm also very proud of this little number. It's not down yet, but it's the very first dress I ever designed. I can't wait to wear it wedding day.




















I'm working on the sleeves right now and hope to have it finished soon. I fashioned the bottom of the dress after a dress I saw in the book The Knit Cafe. I got the pattern from one of my Barbara Walker books.

I'm also working on this crochet felted market bag from Crochet Me. I hope to have that done soon.

Andrea

At Last

Well, I know it has been a while since my last post, and I do apologize for that. It has been a very busy and crazy few months. Between my dogs(Byron and Jack) and their various problems, I've had to run back and forth to the vet. I am so sorry I never took out that dog insurance. I could sure use it now.

Jack finally got neutered. I only hope it stops the peeing problem in the house. He also licked his incision open. We now call him Conehead because of the contraption around his neck. On the same note, while all of this was going on Byron almost broke his leg. We now call him Gimpy. He's recovering. He can walk on all fours now. Oh, and did I mention he had a stroke last month? The doctors call it a vascular accident. His head is pretty straight now. It was tilted for a while. By the way, my car was down for a couple of weeks in there also. (Enough of my babbling already). Otherwise, everything else is moving along.

My bridesmaids got their dresses. They are lovely, I might add. My knitting is coming along too. I finished my Angelica Jacket last month. All I can say is that I want to wear it NOW!! I can't wait till April. I also want to make the jacket in black now. I also just finished the front of my dress that I am designing. The back is three quarters done. I'm wearing it when I leave the reception. It is just beautiful. I'm using 100% tussah silk. It's called Luxe Silk from Woodstock Wool Company. This hand dyed yarn is a treat to work with. The added bonus is that it works up very fast. It is a little pricey, but worth every penny. The yardage is 330 yards and let me tell you, it goes a long way. I definitely have to give a shout out to Lisa at Rosie's Yarn Cellar for that one.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you who have stopped by my blog. I definitely love the encouragement. I also want to give a big shout out to Black Purl Magazine for making me Blog of the week back in September. That was a very nice surprise.

Hope to have pictures up soon.

Andrea

What Motivates Us

I learned how to crochet when I was a little girl and I didn't stick with it, but while I was on the road touring, I picked it up again and made a simple scarf.

From that simple scarf I decided I wanted to learn how to knit because I liked the way knitted garments looked as opposed to crocheted garments. I also wanted to learn how to knit because I'm allergic to wool, which by the way I have learned since then that it's not the wool I am allergic to, but what the manufacturers treat it with because I can spin wool. Anyway, I kept getting upset seeing all the lovely sweaters in the stores and knowing very well that I couldn't wear them. It made me jealous. So I figured if I learned to knit, I could make all the lovely sweaters I wanted in fibers that I could wear.

Now, what I'm really trying to get to here is this, what really motivates us? Is it a new skill, hobby, something you see on the street, outdoors or on your television? What gets our creative juices flowing? In knitting do you let the yarn dictate to you as to what your next project should be, or is it that one awesome looking pattern that you saw in a new knitting magazine/book that crys out....."Please knit/crochet me".

For me, it's a little bit of both. I designed these shorts after seeing the yarn. I kept thinking fatigue pants...oh yeah, booty shorts for when I do yoga, and let me tell you, they were a big hit with the fiance.




Now for this top, I knew what I wanted my top to look like, but then had to go and pick out the yarn for it. I love leather and suede, so when I saw this yarn, it was a shoe in.



Right now I'm being motivated by this little number from White Lies Designs. It's the Angelina Vintage Jacket #502. I'm knitting it up in Debbie Bliss's Alpaca Silk in Ecru. I don't have any pictures up yet, but hope to have some soon. Let me know what motivates you.

Andrea

Peaceful & Productive Weekend

Had a good weekend with the fiance. I went to the Knit & Crochet Conference on Saturday morning in King of Prussia, PA. It was alright. I took a class with Edie Eckman on Pattern Writing. The class was good, the market place was so so but I did score a good find from this yarn company named Lucci. Isn't it pretty? I might make myself a belt or scarf with it.



On Sunday the fiance and I went to a place called Ricketts Glen. The drive was 3 hours. We went because they have about 21 waterfalls. We didn't get to see them. The falls portion was closed. The water was too high but we did get to go to the beach. I took pictures of the ducks. Very peaceful.

I finally got one of the shawls done for my wedding. I think my one bridesmaid should look good in this.
































The other shawls are going to be made in these colors, except for the carmel yarn that's for my godmother.







Anyway, my last score was this yarn from Handmaiden. Can I tell you that it feels heavenly. It's 70% Silk and 30% Seacell. Supposedly it has seaweed in it, and is suppose to have healing properties also. I plan to make a shawl out of it.




Well gotta go, I didn't realize it was so late. I have to go to work in the morning and it's already after midnight. I hope everyone has a good night.


Andrea

Are We Too Busy?

Knitting while on the train this morning on my way to work, I got the usual stares with smiles of course. A woman stated very frankly to me that she could never knit/crochet because she didn't have the time, nor the patients. What she said really bothered me.

Are our lives that busy that we can't do things for ourselves? I hope not. I think we just need to rethink our priorities. No matter how busy I am, and I am really busy, I always find time to fit knitting or one of my other hobbies in. I'm still trying to fit the reading thing in though. It doesn't mix well with the knitting. I'm thinking of trying audio tapes/cds.

Someone once said to me that they could not give up television. I haven't given it up, but I definitely don't watch it as much. Alot of it's reruns anyway and I have to admit, I've gotten alot done since then. Let me know your thoughts on this one.

Andrea

Post #1 Knitting Bride-to-Be

This is officially my first posting. Just to tell you a little bit about myself. I love to knit. I started knitting 5 years ago and haven't stopped yet. I just go from one project to the other (yarn-a-holic and proud of it). Since I love it so much and I'm getting married April 2007, I decided to incorporate knitting into my wedding. So crazy me has decided to do knitted decorations and knitted accessories for my bridal party including myself. My challenge to myself is to see if I can complete my deadlines on time and pull off what I envision in my head.

I started knitting one of the shawls for one of my bride's maid about a week ago. I'm working on a pattern I got from Rosie's Yarn Cellar in Philadelphia, PA. It's the Half-Pi Shawl. The pattern is pretty easy. It's basic stockinette and yarnovers. I ran into a little snag tonight though. I threw my work into my bag without protecting it from the other things in my carrying bag. Hence, the lace (yes, lace fingering yarn) got snagged on the zipper of my knitting tool kit. 150 stitches each row and 4 rows unworked (600 stitches), all is not lost. I wasn't going to be too happy if I had to start all over again since I am two-thirds of the way done. Well gotta sign off for now. Hopefully I'll have pictures up soon. I have to go knit flower #32 of possibly 100.

Andrea