knittinggenes.blogspot.com

Tiny baby sweater (using free Berrocco pattern cutie patootie, jazzed up with some cables). See the buttonholes? Three words: Three Stooges buttons. 

Keeping my sister Katie's dog off the beads. Obviously Katie is going to have to make her one of these. 

Progress on beaded sweater - one more ruffle to go! 

Haunting thoughts........ 

Happy Halloween! Knapping house's favorite legend: Sleepy Hollow of course! Knapping house's Yarn Shop of the week: Sheepy Hollow, of course. It's in Wisconsin. My Hungarian side likes to tell our own legend; apparently my great-great grandfather died.....ready? at the age of 104.........with........ his knitting needles in his hands. So I asked my father, what was he knitting? He's going to get back to me on this after consulting his baby brother, my Uncle Bill, the family historian. Because I brought it up, he retrieved his old hunting gloves, knitted by his aunt, Ella. He's wanted them MENDED for over a year, not by me, mind you. Now that Al actually is employed at 3 Bags Full Knit Shop, he's entrusting them to us to find a mendor. So I brought them home and Al and I started checking out the stitch work. We were skeptical ....... the stitches are even, the ribbing is uniform and delicate, and the decreases are nothing short o

I don't know about you guys but I get very excited at the prospect of new knitting magazines. So it's lucky for me that Vogue Knitting and Interweave are coming out with their winter issues just in time for the holidays, on November 9th. Also, be sure to check out Interweave's online patterns, they're usually good (and free!). http://interweave.com/knit/interweave_knits/Default.asp There's also a great new book out called Last Minute Gifts. We looked through it at Border's on Sunday and it looked like there were a lot of good ideas. I especially like the drawstring purse and the camisole. The scarf I'm making is also from that book (the one that Huck is wearing in my last post). http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1584793678/qid=1098842124/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/002-9180327-6416063 P.S.- Love the alpacas Lynn! Don't feel bad about not buying any yarn, my mom bought some llama yarn five years ago and didn't use it until this summer!

Alpacas! 

Kathy told me to be careful of the coyotes up here, but yesterday I saw some alpacas! The Northern Illinois Alpaca show was at the Lake County Fairgrounds over the weekend, so I stopped in for a bit. There were lots of alpacas, some in pens, some being led around on leashes. They were beautiful, and so soft. In a separate building were some vendors with (guess what?) yarn! And also with coats, sweaters, socks, etc. made from alpaca yarn. There really wasn't too much yarn, and none of it called to me, so none came home with me. It was fun to see the alpacas, though.

Huck modeling my scarf's progress 

Radar with my yarn 

After a long wait, my bamboo yarn has finally arrived! It took a brief detour to LA thanks to the lovely people at UPS who mixed up our postal codes. At least it is here now. I am beginning the shawl I am making out of it tonight. Hopefully I will be able to bring it with me to Philadelphia. I better be able to bring my WIP on the plane! How would I live without my knitting for three days? Also I started my first day of work at Three Bags this week. It was very exciting to touch all the fun yarns. But more importantly is the 25% discount! Yeah! I will now be buying more yarn than ever. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Joanie's baby bootie using Lorna's lace...we all loved this yarn 

Connie WIP Packer Scarf 

Lynn in her beautiful knitted sweater .... 

I had more than a few laughs with Connie, Joanie and Lynn today. Amazing nurses, amazing knitters. I am posting pictures of Connie's fun GreenBay Packer scarf, (a gift), Lynn's finished sock for her neice ( a gift) and Joanie's tiny baby booties ( a gift)......is there a theme here? Yup. I look at my friend's hands closely at work. They do amazing things. They lift tiny tiny people with grace and confidence. They put IV's in veins no bigger than fingering yarns. They do a thousand minute movements with these hands and they bring honor to a dying profession. Its amazing to see them knit too. Maybe its just amazing to see them sit in one place for a while! I am lucky to work with them and even get to knit with them, once in awhile.............

Demonstrating shoulder support posture while knitting! The trick is the pillow! Thanks Tamara from enh PT! Thats the nice triangular scarf ........yo's at the beginning and end of each row. Nice 

Its cold out and drizzly and Im tired of bad patterns. Jan from 3Bags Full taught such a great Lace class again Monday night , and then the mentally irresponsible publish patterns that undermine my new skills. Jan, wrote the pattern author and magazine, and made no bones about the poorly written mistake laden Fox print pattern. So I was sad. After the cross country meet I Dumpster dove a cookbook, in front of my teenage son's friends...........there is quite possibly a law against this. BUT look what I was destined to find. A cure for Lace pattern blues; Swedish Brown Lace Cookies 1/2 cup butter (mmmmmmmm) 2 cup dark brown sugar 1 cup chopped blanched almonds 1 cup sifted (who sifts?) flour Cream butter and sugar. dah. Add almonds then flour. Using 1/2 tsp., measure and shape small balls of dough on teflon cookie sheet. Dont put more than 12 on a cookie sheet. Bake 400 for 4-5 minutes. let cool slightly. Remove with sheet with spatula, THEN, roll

Close-up of ruffle and beads because I decided the other photo wasn't pretty enough.  

Current progress on the beaded sweater. Actually, my sister took the photo a couple of days ago - I'm embroiled in sleeve shaping at the moment. Like the ruffle? I'll do another one when hell freezes over - 750 stitches on a teeny tiny size 2 needle - trying to keep it from twisting as I knitted in the round was quite the headache. Okay, maybe I'll do another one someday, because it's really cute. But I'll have to figure out an easier way first. 

This is a felted bag that I did as an example for a class that I was teaching. The sequins were a royal pain - wanted to face in and had to be turned after every row. Students in the class really can't believe that their huge dorky bags are going to be cool little bags after felting. Which is what I love about felting - it's like a cool magic trick.  

Chevron scarf 

Lace class has inspired not one, not two, but THREE new lace projects! My WIPs have grown exponentially in the last week! The first is a chevron scarf with beautiful koigu yarn (thanks Jan!) in hot pink and multi-colored yarn. The picture above is of this scarf but it didn't turn out very good, I will post a better one as the scarf progresses. My second lace project is the lacy poncho I posted a link to earlier. I decided not to use the Bamboo, but instead this gray yarn that I've been hanging on to for a couple of months. The bamboo will go towards my third project (which has not yet begun because the yarn has not yet arrived), a lace patterned shawl from a book called The Best of Knitters Magazine: Shawls and Scarves (thanks again Jan!). I can't wait to curl up by the fireplace tonight and get going on my new projects!

My COMPLETED Scarf 

Here is the bucket hat for my niece Erin's birthday (she will be 10). I still have to felt the matching daypack. The hat was made using Cascade 220, 2 strands for the brim and 1 for the rest of the hat. I used the 2 colors for the brim because I wasn't sure I had enough purple for the whole thing. Mindy didn't enjoy modeling the hat too much; she doesn't like having her picture taken. She was properly rewarded with a treat, though. Now I'm working on some socks for my niece Olivia (who is 3). I want to finish these quickly; good thing she has tiny feet!

A closeup 

Mindy modeling the bucket hat 

My Lace Class project 

I'm finally ready to turn the heel on Troy's first sock. Feel like I need to justify why it took me so long......it's because they are really going to end up looking like Christmas stockings! There is a wonderful mistake that I could get crazy about if I wanted to. There used to be two mistakes. The first one was r/t my misunderstanding of the difference between ssk and k1sl1psso. I was not really doing ssk's and it was looking very sloppy every 7th row decrease as I tapered to the ankle. Well, you know me. Good knitters rip. So I fearlessly, (are you cringing Maureen?) slipped the stitches off their secure little size one needles and went back to the first decrease row. Picked them all up too. Now that I have done true SSK's when called for, the improvement is satisfying enough to justify the action. (the sock recipient wasnt even in favor of the rip back......saying he was going to wear them under jeans and no one would ever see the error. But I wou

Baby Megan 

Lace Hat Progress 

As you can see, my lace hat is coming along quite nicely (the picture above is of Megan, the cutie that I'm making the hat for). I worked on it last night while I watched the series finale of Nip/Tuck (which was, by the way, extremely depressing) and I ended up getting too involved in the show and making mistakes. Oh well, I only had to rip out a few rows. Meanwhile my scarf is still incomplete. I feel guilty for letting it lie around for two weeks untouched but I had other projects to work on. Poor scarf, I'm beginning to think it will never see the light of day.

The closest we came to yarn, was this llama farmin barrington hills. . There is a fuzzy llama midphoto. Remind me to be the driver when I go on daytrips with Troy.....he cants seem to turn off the road to stop for yarn, farmstands etc.  

Hi Kath and Co. Lynn knows all this already but here goes: Current WsIP are beaded sweater, baby sweaters and hats, Christmas gifts. I'm taking a class in a few weeks on beading without pre-stringing and will be happy to share any knowledge I retain. We're making beaded scarves - I'm thinking quick and glamourous gifts for the holidays. I really need a digital camera!

Well, because I could not find the Bamboo yarn around here I have to wait until it ships up from Nashvile. Hopefully it will arrive by Saturday so I can start my poncho in lace class. Until it arrives, however, I am working on a simple lace knit hat (I think that the stitch is called chevron) for my cousin's new baby, Megan (Mom just finished her sweater). It should knit up fast and plus the pattern was free http://knitting.about.com/library/nbabyhat9.htm Also, I ran upon a great knitting site last night http://www.diynet.com/diy/na_knitting/0,2024,DIY_14141,00.html . The Do It Yourself network has a series on knitting, and while we don't get the network, they post patterns and lessons on the site (see photo below). It looks really cool, I will definetely try some of the patterns. Must concentrate on finishing my scarf though. I am so close but I just can't find the motivation to finish. I think if it gets cold this weekend I will begin to see the need for my scarf.

Baby Uggs 

While reading one of my favorite non-knitting blogs today, a library in Maine's ( http://www.waterborolibrary.org/blog.htm ), I ran upon a book that involves knitting! Coincidence, I think not. A Russian writer, Boris Akunin will be publish "The Sister Pelagia Mysteries" in the next couple of years. The books are set in 19th-century Russia and star a young nun who knits, teaches gymnastics and literature, and solves crimes. Strange, definetely, but I can't help being intrigued.

Lynn's WIPs 

Thanks for inviting me to your blog, and thanks, Allison, for sending me the link again. It's taking me awhile to figure all this out, but I think I've got it now. My current WIPs are: the lavendar Peace Fleece cardigan (I've made it past the armhole shaping on the back) and a bucket hat for my niece's birthday in November. It matches the daypack I made for her which still needs to be felted. I'm taking a break from socks, but I should get back to them soon. I have 4 pairs to finish before Christmas. Do you think I'll make it?

Well, because I could not find the Bamboo yarn around here I have to wait until it ships up from Nashvile. Hopefully it will arrive by Saturday so I can start my poncho in lace class. Until it arrives, however, I am working on a simple lace knit hat (I think that the stitch is called chevron) for my cousin's new baby, Megan (Mom just finished her sweater). It should knit up fast and plus the pattern was free http://knitting.about.com/library/nbabyhat9.htm Also, I ran upon a great knitting site last night http://www.diynet.com/diy/na_knitting/0,2024,DIY_14141,00.html . The Do It Yourself network has a series on knitting, and while we don't get the network, they post patterns and lessons on the site (see photo above). It looks really cool, I will definetely try some of the patterns. Must concentrate on finishing my scarf though. I am so close but I just can't find the motivation to finish. I think if it gets cold this weekend I will begin to see the need for my scarf

I needed to do my lace homework right away so I wouldnt forget anything.....although Al caught on much faster than I, and could help me. (Her Fibertrends Landscape Shawl taught her a bit about lacework. ) Mistake for me to try to use size 2 Turbos with the funky purple practice yarn Jan so sweetly lent me. Its slippery yarn to begin with and stitches were sliding off every which way. Change to wooden 8s circulars, and you can see the results. The yarn is so pretty, but I didnt like working with it AT ALL. Other WIPs include my shawl, patient and neglected, and Troys custom cheater socks. Will post that one soon. Be still my heart, Zach wore his hat that his MOM made him to xcountry meet on chilly monday and it brought him good luck. Until the Yankees clinch, he'll be wearing his beloved Yankee cap Im sure. Hey Maureen how is your beaded ruffle bottom sweater coming along? Id love to post a photo of it. Lynn, what number Christmas gift sock are you on now?

Radar is the perfect background for lace homework