two exciting things!!

 

first of all, my camper is in another magazine! a couple of years ago a crew came and photographed our house and the camper for magazines that focused on "flea market style". i didn't  know that they'd used the photos again for this magazine. thanks for the heads up cheryl and celeste!

and.......TA DA!! i finished my sweater! i have to say it is a bit on the "roomy" side...when i first tried it on my heart sank as it didn't fit as i had imagined. so that whole night i kept waking up thinking "i'll just rip it all out and start over". yuck! but the next morning i tried it on again and decided it's not so bad after all. it's so soft and comfortable, and i just love the color!  i should've gone down a size i think, but it is definitely wearable. i enlisted brian for the "photo shoot" in our ever-so-lovely spring backyard, grey snow and mud. but that will soon be gone! 

i really enjoyed knitting this! i'm glad to be done so i can move on to other projects which have been percolating...

i hope you are enjoying your weekend!!!!!!!!!

95% done!

 

i am BLOCKING!!! blocking! yes!!! so close to being done, and i've tried it on, and i think it's going to fit! yay!!! BUT, after the blocking process comes a dreadful and hideous step called "picking up 397 stitches" around the whole front and hood. holy cow that is going to suck! but, then i'll do the ribbing and be done! i'm racing against mother nature here. must be done before the nice weather arrives, so hopefully i'll have it done this week when the polar vortex makes it's return. tick, tick, tick!

in the meantime...

back to work on my quilt. for some reason this has been the hardest quilt to stitch. it must be the cotton batting. i can't remember the brand which is unfortunate because i never want to buy it again!! SO hard to quilt through! instead of being able to do a few stitches in one pass, it's one stitch at a time, and very difficult......but the good news is i'm almost finished. plugging along!

happy sunday to you all!!!

ladders and double pointed needles

 

so i have spent every day after work this week feverishly knitting away on my sweater, going great guns, lots of progress! i had my first sleeve 90% finished when i stopped and gave it a good look and saw the LADDERS! i kind of knew this was happening but thought it would be o.k...however, deep down i realized this flaw would plague me forever...

do you have the problem of ladders when knitting with double pointed needles? my photos are not the best, but can you see in the first picture what looks like 2 creases running the length of the sleeve? these are where i am changing from one needle to the next and there is a loose stitch every time i move to the next needle. there were three of these ladders along the sleeve at each intersection of the needles. the second picture shows this a bit better.

i got on the world wide web and found this helpful link. i ripped out my sleeve down to the cuff and started again using tip #2, "forward switching". and it worked!!!!!

six episodes of "house of cards" later, look! a nice smooth sleeve! yay!!!!!  i have always pulled the yarn tightly when going to the next needle but still made the ladders. maybe i'm pulling too tightly, i don't know, but ladders have always been a big frustration, so i am glad to have finally found a solution!!!

i hope this link will help you if you have this issue! now to start a new sleeve and a new series. something more cheerful this time!!!

new project!

 

i walked into the yarn shop the other day, and my friend who works there was wearing this sweater which looked great, so i said "i'm going to knit that!"

i came home and downloaded the pattern on ravelry and i have started it! i have not knit myself a sweater in over twenty years. the last time i knit myself a sweater i said never again!!! i'm always of the opinion that too big is better than too small, so i make these huge floppy sweaters that i don't like, or when it's done i just don't like it for any number of other reasons........so since then i have stuck to hats, mittens, socks and kids' things. pretty safe.  but  i measured a sweater that i like the fit of and hopefully i will have better luck this time! i also think that since this is a cardigan i may have a bit more leeway with the fit. we'll see!!!!! oh, the yarn i'm using is cascade 220, a good, basic, fairly soft wool.

i also spent some time yesterday rearranging my sewing room.  after these photos were taken i went out to an antique store and finally found a nice cupboard which i will be sure to show you once i get some pictures! every weekend i've been going to shops looking for a cupboard, so i'm glad to finally have found one. and, now there's a bit of SUN, so i can take photos! we've had the craziest weather lately. TONS of gorgeous snow, followed very quickly by tons of not-so-gorgeous rain......yuck! and this weekend it's been warm enough to go out in just a sweater, this after such a loooong stretch of single digit temperatures. 

i hope you're all enjoying your weekend. happy sunday!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

nightmare.

knittin' mittens

this morning i decided that i wanted to make some mittens. years ago i used to knit a LOT of mittens, and i knew i had a stash of sport weight yarn upstairs, so up i went. looking through the yarn i realized that  my taste in colors has changed over the years, and i couldn't find anything for what i had in mind, but i do have a very colorful niece and i think she will love some colorful mittens!

i'm using a combination of designs from  swedish and  latvian mitten books. i have made many of the patterns in these books and can recommend them both, if they're still in print that is! it's so fun to choose colors and patterns, and from the latvian book i've done a scalloped edge. it's not hard. if you can knit and purl, you can do these mittens. with double-knitting or fairisle knitting  i think the most important thing to be aware of is not to carry your yarn at the back too tightly. otherwise you just follow a graph, which is very simple. some of the designs are very complicated, but others, like the ones on these mittens, are simple to remember. if you have been wanting to try something like this, it's REALLY not hard. you can do it!

also, i'm using size 2 double pointed needles. i used to do these on size 0 (!), which really does make a nicer mitten, but the 2's are fine.

hope you're enjoying your sunday!

a winter wonderland!

we woke up yesterday morning to a winter wonderland! about a foot of beautiful, light, fluffy snow. just perfect! i really wanted blueberry pancakes and had no eggs, so i was out shoveling bright and early and off to the store.

it was a great weekend of cooking, sewing, knitting and eating! i have finally made my perfect hat. i've made hat after hat and put them on and been, "meh". but this one i really like and i used the softest, most luxurious feeling yarn. that "eco duo" is really nice, a blend of undyed baby alpaca and merino wool. you can see the hat on ravelry called "rikke" and here is the free pattern.

**i did adjust the pattern a bit as this yarn is a bit bigger than they call for. i cast on 91 stitches and used a 5 and an 8 circular needle. i also knit the hat to around 7 inches instead of 9 so it isn't quite as slouchy.

hope you all had a nice weekend too!

summer knitting

last summer i went to a yard sale and struck gold. three skeins of blue sky 
yarn for $2 each!!! wow! (ok, sometimes when i make a link and then continue to write, all of the writing becomes the link too, so i had to go to a new line...computer dummy here, folks!)

so i've been thinking and thinking what to do with this absolutely gorgeous yarn, and i finally decided on a scarf. i thought that i should make something extravagant, something fancy, something lacy. 
but when it comes right down to it, i am not a fancy kind of girl. so, i decided with my new-found love of garter stitch, i would just make a very very luxurious, amazing, soft garter stitch scarf! i know i will wear this a lot, and it will be an easy breezy summer project.

happy thank god it is cooler sunday!!!!!

ed

i knit this little guy a while back. i got the pattern on etsy, here.

i think he looks like ed asner. like, exactly like ed asner. am i right???


**i notice this pattern doesn't seem to be available anymore, but she has other cute things!**

happy easter

nothing says easter like cute creepy purple bunnies!!

i knit these socks many moons ago, before i knew a thing or two about a thing or two, sock knitting-wise...they are a bit tough to get on, but once you do, they're there for good!

have a lovely easter sunday-eat lots of chocolate! i'm planning on it!

springing ahead blues

ok, i have "sprung ahead". i just have to say that i do not enjoy springing ahead. i get up early, and it was just getting to be light out before i got up...i would like them to just decide to leave it one way or the other! oh well...

made a new bag with a secret lining!

finished one sock!!

listening to:

have a great sunday!

new sweater for rosco and a winter wonderland!

this was our yard at about 6:00 a.m. on monday. absolutely gorgeous!  today's weather can be described in one word: Y-U-C-K! slushy rain................

a couple of years ago i started this sweater for rosco. i was "winging it" , so to speak, and got it 99% finished and decided it wasn't quite right,  and put it away. the yarn is beautiful NORO, japanese yarn that i got at an odd shop that used to sell model trains and......yarn. an unusual combination. they were getting rid of the yarn section and selling it all 1/2 price, which was very nice, and the only reason i would be knitting a dog sweater with NORO!

i found the sweater the other day and made a couple of adjustments, and i think it came out pretty good! rosco was being completely uncooperative having his picture taken...i would love to know what goes on in that little mind of his. he hates having his picture taken! but he's happy to wear the sweater, so that's o.k.!

ayuh, it snowed!

this was saturday morning, while  snow was still falling! the town next to us reported 32"- it was very hard to tell how many inches we got because of the crazy drifting! i walked out yesterday and into a thigh high drift! brian had suggested i bring the snowshoes into the house on friday "because you might not be able to get to the garage", he said, , to which there was a bit of eye rolling, but he was right! i would never have gotten out to the chicken coop without them.

i balled up some yarn for a thrilling upcoming event!!! stay tuned!!!!!

i shoveled some serious tunnels! thankfully the snow was light and fluffy-perfect snow!

finished mom's socks. hi mom!! (and dad!)

 played with dishes!

i hope you enjoyed the blizzard too!