Friday, October 28, 2011

Fiber Fever Friday #6


It's Fiber Fever Friday and I want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween this weekend... Have fun and be safe!

Am planning on hanging out this evening with the boys from out of town and hitting the range tomorrow morning.  Looking forward to a lot of good fun, good food, and good times this weekend!

The countdown to the first annual Southeast Men's Knitting Retreat begins today -- 14 days and counting!  I'm really looking forward to this -- well to everything except the 8 hour drive that is...

Okay, so today's fiber... I have two fall-ish fibers today (right now those are the colors calling to me).  The first is a beautiful Manos del Uruguay Maxima worsted/bulky in Beehive (8881):



The second is an amazingly fall-colored 100% merino superwash sock yarn.  It's Cherry Tree Hill's Supersock Select in Cabin Fever:



Knit Happy Everybody!

Have anything to share?

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Thomas Joseph's Artwork

Just to share...                I'm Nuts About Ewe, by Thomas Joseph (www.tomjoe.com)
 

WIP Wednesday #6

Happy WIP Wednesday everybody!  There is so much going on this week...  Planning an out of state move, starting to clean and pack, moving forward with my actual work, and doing my best to suppress the bout of start-itis that is currently plaguing me...

However,  I've crested the mountain on the garter center on this baby blanket I've been working on and so it's all downhill from here :)


I've also started a Christmas gift for Superwife and it is, naturally, a secret so I can't put it on the blog.  However, if you're a super sly knitter, you can view it here.  It's a beautiful pattern and this is only about a tenth of the length but it moves pretty quickly...

Especially when listening to such an amazing book as The Thirteenth Tale.


And finally, well I don't know exactly how to introduce this but I found it amusing this morning:


Happy Knitting Everyone!

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Ta-Da! Tuesday #6

Good morning everyone!  I had a great time this past weekend.  I spent Saturday meeting new knitting friends in a new yarn store in Virginia Beach and just had a blast!  I met with SmallTownKnitGuy for lunch and then we headed over to the Yarn Club where we perused the store becoming inspired and then sat down to knit with the fun collection of ladies and one personable gentlemen, crafywineaux, for the afternoon.  I've never been before to an actual sit'n'knit, or stitch'n'bitch or whatever one prefers to call it, but it was a helluva lotta fun with knitters arriving and leaving throughout the afternoon...  Good times.

Well it's Ta-Da! Tuesday again, I haven't forgotten, but I have no FOs to show you this morning!  Instead, I'm going to show you a finished object that SuperWife has recently completed:


It's a birth record for one of her dear friends in Norfolk and her first child (the very same that received the Bouncing Baby Hat and booties) and she did a fine job with it!

Sasha, our miniature Schnauzer, helped a lot:



As for me, tune in tomorrow for WIP Wednesday to see what I've been up to...


Happy Knitting Everyone!


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Friday, October 21, 2011

Fiber Fever Friday #5

Good Morning Everybody!  Thank God It's Friday.....

What a crazy week.  You go away for 6 business days and it takes 2 weeks to recover!

Lots going on right now -- although I've had little project time I've got big plans as usual and today's Fiber Fever Friday falls right in line with that plan.

Take a look at this beautiful stash addition:



I found this awesome deal on DBNY.  70% off!  It's Gedifra's Living in Forest and Apple -- 100% Superwash Wool, Worsted).  I believe it's destiny is to become this hoodie...  I'm excited to get started on it, but there's a lot in the queue in front of it :)

I'm meeting a knitting friend, SmallTownKnitGuy, tomorrow.  We're getting together for the first time and are planning something of a yarn crawl!  (not that I need any more yarn ;)  We're hoping to find a good place to sit and knit in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area.  Any suggestions?


Knit Happy Everybody!

What are you working on?

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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

WIP Wednesday #5

It's been a crazy return to life and work in Virginia this week after a 10 day vacation in Arkansas.  All that project time I got to enjoy last week was apparently stolen from me this week!  :-O

As such, I'm still here and still working through this:


And all I have right now are dreams of other projects for this:

and this:


and also this:


How did I possibly think I would have time to get to all those?  Believe it or not I packed all that for the vacation!  I don't know if I thought I was vacationing in some sort of knitting solitary confinement (which would be great!) or what but my eyes were definitely bigger than my available time... Oh well, at least I had a big suitcase...

What are you working on?

Happy Knitting Everyone!


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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Ta-Da! Tuesday #5

It's been a crazy return to work after a short vacation -- busy busy busy.  So, although there's nothing new for Ta-Da! Tuesday this week, we have photos of the last afghan (prior to the wedding afghan of Ta-Da! Tuesday #4 fame) that I have completed...

It's a beautiful afghan in Aran Fleck Worsted, worked two strands at a time, and crocheted:






This one worked up fast on a size N crochet hook and it is warm :).

Happy Knitting Everyone!


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Friday, October 14, 2011

Fiber Fever Friday #4

Well, it's been a wonderful vacation... Just now I'm sitting at the dining room table, sipping on some Spiced Pumpkin Cider (recipe below) in a delicate tea-cup and admiring my new stash addition.  The cider is excellent with lots of spice and a bit of body from the pumpkin -- just the perfect thing for a cold October morning.


Yesterday in Fayetteville, we stopped by Hand Held Knitting and I scored some really nice cotton yarn at a 40% discount which was very nice.  It's Mission Falls 1824 Cotton colors 405, 774, and 775.  It's grand, no?
I'm thinking maybe some baby hats, booties and a jacket or two.  Or I could just wait until it pops up in the queue and, you know, speaks to me or something...  :-)

Also, in anticipation of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's forthcoming book, All Wound Up, I am finally reading Knitting Rules! and, as usual, she's delightfully quirky.  I can't wait until her the new book is released next Tuesday.  She's on tour for two weeks, but, alas, she's not touching down anywhere near me this time.

Saturday it's back home to Virginia.  I pray that there are no delays and our luggage makes it home with us :-)

While I'm thinking about it, here's the recipe for the cider:

Spiced Pumpkin Cider

7 c Apple Cider
1 (15 oz) can Pumpkin
1/2 tsp ground Allspice
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar blend or equal amount Brown Sugar
8 Cinnamon Sticks

In a 5 qt saucepan, heat the cider.  Stir in the pumpkin, allspice, cinnamon, and Splenda/brown sugar.  Heat until mixture comes to a simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

Serve in a cup with either a cinnamon stick or dash of ground cinnamon on top.


 Happy Weekend Everyone!  
Enjoy!

Linked to Tamisamis and her FO Friday post!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

WIP Wednesday #4

Lots going on during vacation, but, thankfully, there has been plenty of time to work on projects!  I'll have more of an update after we return to Virginia, but here's what I've got on the needles at the moment:

It's Baby Blanket with Lace in Cleckheaton's Country Worsted Mint and Tan.

What are you working on?
Happy Knitting Everyone!


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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Ta-Da! Tuesday #4

Well, we arrived home in Arkansas on Thursday night as planned -- unfortunately our luggage did not so we stayed the night in Little Rock to wait on it.  No internet, no Fiber Fever Friday post -- sorry about that. It'll definitely appear this Friday, however...

Now, on to Ta-Da! Tuesday.  I've been writing about this wedding afghan for months as I have worked on it in my free time.  My best friend was married Saturday, October 10th and was ecstatic to receive this beautiful afghan!  Now that I don't need to surprise her with it anymore, I can finally post pictures!  So without further delay, please enjoy the 'Floral Water Lily' afghan in worsted cream, blue, green and purple:


 




  


Superwife and I worked on this item for several months when we had some time together.  I made the blanket and she did the beautiful cross stitching on the finished panels.  I'm so happy to have this done and gifted -- what a relief.
I've already cast on the next project, but I'll share it tomorrow on WIP Wednesday!  So far there has been lots of project time on this vacation and it has been wonderful...

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

WIP Wednesday #3

It's WIP Wednesday and I have *GASP!* nothing on hook or needle!

No worries though, today I will be casting on a beautiful baby blanket in garter stitch.  The pattern is Baby Blanket with Lace Trim in Cleckheaton's Country DK 100% Wool in Mint and Tan.


Superwife and I will be traveling the 1200 miles to our hometown for a wedding and vacation.  Ten whole days off away from home... No chores or Honey-Do lists, just relaxation and devoted project time.  Can you imagine?  It's gonna be so great!

After getting started a good bit on the blanket above, I'll start hooking another Baby Coordinates Baby Blanket in light blue, and, if there's time, I'll start a Baby Surprise Jacket by E.Z. and a Debbie Bliss baby sweater of some kind in a light blue or green...

Check back for Fiber Fever Friday!
Knit Happy Everybody!

P.S. - Check my post from yesterday about the Weekend Hats book giveaway from All Free Knitting...
 

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Weekend Hats 25 Knitted Caps, Berets, Cloches, and More Contest

Weekend Hats: 25 Knitted Caps, Berets, Cloches, and More Gifted by Interweave Books



All Free Knitting is giving away one copy of the book, Weekend Hats: 25 Knitted Caps, Berets, Cloches, and More, to one lucky winner.  Follow the link and enter to win!

Ta-Da! Tuesday #3

For this week's Ta-Da! Tuesday, we have a completed Bouncing Baby Set hat... Look how cute it is!  The hat is actually knit flat and then through the some magic origami, it is is stitched together to make the cutest baby hat ever.  As promised in last week's WIP Wednesday, photos for the process are below:

This is the completed item... we're going to seam up the two ends and all adjacent sides (those at the top of the photo)...


Seam the two ends together (along the bottom) and then the adjacent edges that run along the left in this photo:

The adjacent edge seams appear as the bottom two edges in this photo (the seam for the two ends of the flat piece appear in the middle of the item here):

 Finally, all of the seamings appear here (the ends seaming running up the middle, and the three edge seams at the top...):

Turn the hat inside out and you have this:


 All that's left is to finish the piece with some cords and a couple really cute buttons:


Together with the completed booties it makes for a nice set:




In a my last post (Fiber Fever Friday) there was a picture of a WIP that I thought would miss out on WIP Wednesday this week... So, instead, here it is on Ta-Da! Tuesday... It's the Debbie Bliss Baby Shrug in ArtYarns Supermerino in color 130 (whimsical color name don't you think?):


 


I'm currently adapting a pattern for some booties that will go with this shrug and I just finished the wedding afghan that I was working on last night (check out next week's Ta-Da! Tuesday) so unfortunately I don't have anything going right now...

 Check back for WIP Wednesday tomorrow -- hopefully I'll have something started...

Happy Knitting!

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