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Showing posts from March, 2006

Jen's First Pattern......won't be the last.

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Jenny Mee's first pattern. She even signed it to me. Thanks Jen. I know you will create some incredible patterns for knitters and this is just the start. I love this purse. It is a great design. When I make mine, I'll post it. Jen made one in a great yellow with some chic buttons adorning it. If you stop at 3 Bags Full in Northbrook you can see it up close and ...purseonal... Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Out Like a Lamb

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Warning: NON Knitting Post. March is not quite a lamb today, but it was yesterday. This is a wind chime on my back porch. It was a gift from someone who barely has enough money to eat. I am the only one in the house who likes it. Do you have a windchime? Let's see it! ' Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Pony Pearl Happiness in Pink

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I LOVE THE PONIES. Both the equine type and the needles. Alyssa at the Border's Knit Group bought some Pony Pearl needles in Oregon on MY suggestion. She dislikes them so very very much. Sorry to disappoint Alyssa. I snatched them up at knit group for a great price; faster than you can say, spell or buy Malibrigo these days. I love these needles. They flex in my hands. They fly around the stitches. They are so darling I like just looking at them. The Knitpicks Paper Doll socks are underway and they look soooooo sweet on those pink needles. We have a new line on the Chicago El series ....its the PINK line. Grammar school kids voted on the new color. It will take one to the Loop. Well, my ponies and I may have to knit on the Pink Line when it opens up. I have a feeling they are going to go many many places with me. I think I'll take them for a walk now, in the first 70 degree day of the year in Chicago. Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you fo

This is Spring

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Well, in reality, this is yarn. But, round these here parts in Chicago, we are living in grey and white for yet another day. Therefore, I look to this PAPERDOLL colorway from Knitpicks for a visual happy. I think it will be on the sock needles as soon as I finish the sleeveless shell. The back is finished for the second time. Can I finish the front today? Aside from unforeseen ROADBLOCKS (yes the Amazing Race lingo has permeated my mind) I think I can. Pat K. (Pumpkin knitter blog) wanted to know about the quilt in the baby bolero backround......JC PENNEY! I hope you aren't too disappointed in me Pat. The frugal Hungarian can enjoy it as if it were an heirloom, and then let my dog use it in the back seat of the car when it is wearing out. My other quilt fakes, have always made the back seat of my car look so nice compared to manufactured carseat covers for pets. Huck loves a good blanket too! Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Baby Bolero by Al

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This little bolero for a newborn is why I purchased the new book One Skein. Al made it quickly and easily for her Spanish teacher's new baby to be. Que lindo. I spent much of the knit time today frogging. I currently have one half of a sleeveless summer shell in 4x1 ribb, 170 stitches on a circular needle. While I goofed for sure, I must say that after trying it on, I do really like the way the rib shapes without fuss. I have no idea where to go from here. I am up to the armpits .....what will tomorrow bring? UCLA....all the way! Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Al's heart lace scarf

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Sorry no kerchief or coif photos yet. But how about Al's beautiful work on the Interweave scarf? I'll post another that isn't just the silhoutte next. I thought I was finishing my sleeveless shell tonight; the frog thought otherwise. I will be ripping back one section of the front on Sunday. Something about one of the arm holes is kittywampus. If I only have to redo it once, I'll be okay. I can do it right on Sunday right? Any magic tips? Any good luck things I ought to try so the knitting fairies come by and help? Should I put out a bowl of angora or something? Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Guest bloggers : Dutch

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Well, won't she be surprised that she is getting yarn this spring instead of flowers. I'll take the yarn too, Troy if you are reading this. I know you lurk. Oh I am so relieved that blogger.com has corrected the posting issues. I was seriously becoming tense about the inability to post. I have planning the guest bloggers these days...especially when you play along. Last night I made a stash yarn kercheif. It is darling. Start to finish in about 2 hours or more of knitting. I don't know of anyone who wears a kerchief right now, so I think I'll give it away and start a trend.... The new Vogue is Vogue. Fun to read, but made for those models to wear. Odds are I am not going to grow taller or become anorexic, so if I do find something I love, I'll be making it for someone else. Nothing wrong with that! I've added this little line to the posts because I get a nonreply blah blah when I click on the commentor's name. MOST of you loyals I know, but

Guest guitarists

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Today's guestblog guitarists are Rich and Zachary. Rich has been teaching Zach guitar for over a year. What a gift this whole gig has been, if I as the mom may say so. There is beautiful barouqe music in our home at times. Zach is currently learning a Welsh lullaby written over 400 years ago. The Knitpicks sock yarn is between them, listening with delight. It wants to be my next project to go on the needles. I need some spring colors right now. The yarn is baby doll, I believe. Has anyone knitted it up yet? I'll be interested to see how it comes to life. My sleeveless shell is coming along .......... I showed it to my good friend Madelon today; she immediately pointed out a very blockable flaw. Madelon is a precision knitter. Alas, I am not. Wait until I show you the work she has done lately. HER guitarist son plays in a band in Arizona; I took a picture for the blog of a hat she made for him. I'll post it soon. Back to the shell with the flaw..... I need

No Photos TODAY!

So Sorry. Blogspot must be having some tech difficulties. I really do not like to post without images. Maybe I'll have time to edit this later and add the images I had planned. 1. Al's Interweave Summer 2005 Lacy Kerchief Scarf is just lovely. She's having a great time knitting this one. Says she may have to make more than one! 2. Baby Ryan's Linus blanket is his very favorite. Reports filtered through his Grandma to me this weekend. You may remember it was the previously frogged pinwheel blanket. 3. I'm happy with the neckline Al created for me on my sleeveless shell. Hoping to post an image sometime this week. 4. I've decided a major portion of the joy of knitting for me, is buying new yarn. I am still stashbusting and pretending it is the same, but that new yarn high is missing. 5. To eleviate the stash guilt, I plan to make a big shawl next with many combos. Hmmmm, I fear the result may be.......on YOU KNIT WHAT!s blog someday.

Butchers Battle Guestblog

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Kathy and Carlos at my local grocery store Dominicks, battle over Green cotton yarn on St. Pat's day. Kathy is a crocheter! She was in the fighting Irish Spirit as she played along. Sometimes you hit the gold at the end of the rainbow, when you play this game. See Kathy's green eyeshadow. She's having corned beef at her friend's tonight. How DID I get this shot? Well, the luck of the Irish/Hungarian I guess.

Irish Designs

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Happy St. Patricks Day ..... (you say: and the rest of the day to yourself!) Here are the gowns in the Bridal Window in town showing their best Greens. Al and I are going to be looking at necklines and designing the rest of my summer shell today. I was going to go to my LYS today for help, but Al says to pay her and she'll focus on it and write the rest of the pattern! Leave it to Al to call the green to her on St. Paddy's day. Everything Al is working on these days has a provisional cast-on. She says the best explanation for her, was in Knitting on the Edge in their index. She's usually an Interweave fan for directions, but for this particular technique, the Edge book made it clearest. The owl prowl the other night was very fun! Our guide Jerry Garden, from the Chicago Botanic Gardens called a screech owl close enough for us all to hear it call back. It was cold, but my alpaca scarf and felted Malabrigo hat kept the chill off for the first hour and a half. Stran

Al's beautiful summer sweater

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Okay, no guest blogger today. Too much pressure. I will post guest bloggers but not at the expense of great knitting. This is the thing that was in Wrigley's mouth the other day! Al adapted the Interweave purple shrug to be a summer sweater. I love the work. I am in a mannequin pose. No peeking please at our NCAA sheet on the table. Our family and extended family has so much fun with this during March. Al and I are always a team. Usually the most losing team! We are the "knitchicks team" of course. She won't let me pick Air Force.......I had to cave. If Tennessee does well I have some fun Volunteer state photos to post. Have I ever shown the Hillbilly minigolf photos? Yes, I went hillbilly golfing in sweltering heat a few summers ago. Back to knitting. Sort of. I am wearing all alpaca tonight as my sister Deb and I go on a Owl prowl along the lakefront. She bought us the tickets and it is my Christmas gift from her. No summer sweater out there tonig

Kim at Kim's Chinese

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Thanks to cute Kim at Kim's Chinese, the guestblog March madness continues. I asked the counter clerk to be in the post and she giggled and said ONO ONO. I asked the young lady behind me in line, and she said sure. Then she said, the dreaded words......"arent you Zach's mom?" I have humiliated my son.....again. Turns out she remembers me as her room mom in kindergarten. Once she told me her name I could see her, 10 years ago cute as a button. She's a DUKE fan! The yarn was a prize. I suppose I should take it out of the bag for it's own sake. It is the lightest yarn I've ever felt. Should I decide to work some lace this summer, this is my pick. Beautiful reds and pinks. My sleeveless shell is still coming along. I hope to get to knit enough this week to reach the armholes and neckwork. This is the only thing on my needles right now. I am trying to keep it that way! March madness NCAA coverage ought to give me lots of knit time. I can't

Wrigely and John Guest blogshot today

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Today's guest knitblog is brought to you by : John and Wrigley. Wrigely is a golden doodle too cute to pass up on my way into the grocery store this afteroon. John was a good sport eh? They good naturedly played along with the crazy knit blog woman, who they didn't know at all. I have to tell you, John turned his hat around so his company LOGO wouldn't show on the blog! Poor guy, he doesn't know that knitbloggers are a huge group across the country. His company would have gotten great recognition. Allison was VERY good natured when she saw the shot and realized I had given her current hard work to a retriever mix who thought of course, that it was a toy. Turns out she's frogging it anyhow. I promised to only use my own knitting in the future. So the fun continues. I sometimes post on my 12 hour shift days, but usually I just cannot. So, for those of you who follow irisheyes, that explains why I don't post everyday. I'd love to, but there aren&#

Day #4 The irish and the hungarian

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Today's guests are my parents. Mom, the Irish one, wearing her scarf that I knitted for her in December. Dad, the Hungarian, wearing his favorite red cap. They and all their friends seem to be into leather jackets lately. No motorcycles, this generation was in the Korean War not the Vietnam War. Made some of my mother's mother's Irish soda bread today. We use lots of caraway seed in our family recipe. I laughed at myself today, when Al asked how much longer the bread needed to be in the oven. I don't have a timer. Never use one. I cook by smell. I can tell when things are done that way. I know I can find yarn from Ireland. Can I find yarn from the old Hungary region? Hmmmmmmmmm....

Day #3, Oberweis knits

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Today's knit photo is brought to you by: A reluctant Diana at my local ice cream store. Chicago Jen played along and suggested the location in a recent comment. Diana claimed she is too fat to be in a photo. I told her she absolutely was not fat and was a very pretty girl. She giggled then. She giggled more when I showed her the digital with the yarn covering her face. It is such a shame that so many girls think they are fat. The knit is my shell top. I am really enjoying knitting this in the round instead of back and forth. Drop by tomorrow for another, hopefully, knit guest.

Jeff at Starbucks Plays along...Day 2

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Today's blog helper is Jeff from Starbucks. He was only too happy to assist with the blog shot today. He OFFERED to hold the sock, I swear! This is too easy folks. I'll keep going on asking folks to be in my knitblog posts until someone breaks the spell. Today is Day #2. (today shouldn't count...he offered!) This little cable sock is really fun for me to knit. I now have to wait for another skein of the yellow yarn to work the second. Has anyone purchased and use the knit stone from Knitpicks? I am tempted to purchase one for the fuzzies on my felted bag. Reviews anyone?

March madness

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You have to understand how incredibly ugly it is in the Chicago area right now. Some bloggers have been busy sharing photos of their lovely backyards lately....not this one. I have in my own March madness, resorted to taking photos for the blog in my grocery store. Al completely disassociated herself from me in aisle 6. Doesn't that little bunny look right at the camera lens? I swear he winked. He kind of steals the thunder from Al's Waterlilly from the latest Interweave. She is knitting it in Collinette Giotto. She wants you to know that her provisional cast-on is looking bad, but she'll get back to that. She also is making the top much shorter due to her not being as tall as the model. I know just looking at the yarn is like the promise of Spring for me. My sister Deb, sent me the skinny on a new yarn shop opening near Sandwich Illinois. It is opening in March and called estersplacefibers.com. I like the Sandwich antiques fair, so maybe I can talk Lynn and Ma

Arizona makes for a better picture....

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I know I've already shown Al's work off, but I love the way it looks in ARIZONA. While there, Al became a fingerless glove fan in the Grand Canyon! She borrowed the first pair I'd ever made. They were a simple garter stitch with two strands of koigu knitted together. I am happy to hear, they were perfect for the Grand Canyon days. It will be fun to see her join the world of fingerless gloves. Someday socks AL? While they were flying home last night, I busied myself with her lace socks. I am at the toe part now. I don't know why I was so intimidated with a pattern on a sock. The Montana Woolie pattern is easily written and once I actually did the knitting it made sense.....ahhh the Joy of socks. The pattern is a simple faggot lace repeat. In other kind of knitting related news, I went to drop-in at my LYS for some pattern help. I am frogging the Ballerina shell. I am combining a Knitting Pure And Simple shell pattern, with the Ballerina shell. I like elemen

Oxymoron: Lynn's jaywalkers

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These are irisheyes Lynn's Jaywalkers. Pattern, of course, Magknits. Yarn is Socks that Rock Sapphire. Lynn does such beautiful even work. The reason for the oxymoron is that Lynn probably doesn't even Jaywalk. She's always knows the rules and plays by them. Maybe that's why she is my boss now! I break a few rules. I live at an intersection that I cross diagonally all the time. I eat raw cookie dough. I know I am such a risk taker. I ate meat yesterday. I just could not let the leftovers go to waste. But, I do check my gauge........

Ribbing Radar

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I am not a big fan of ribbing. Ribbed cuffs are my least favorite part of socks. Maybe that is why the Montana Woolie pattern I am using now is my new favorite. Just 3 rounds to rib and I was off to the fun part. Photos of said sock likely this weekend. Now ribbing is not fun for me, but I respect the effect. Having made my disastrous cotton shapeless tank last summer, I will endure some ribbing on the next shell I make. Now eating ribs is a different story altogether. My father always enjoyed the rib right down to the bone. He would put a plate on the center of the table, and call it the graveyard. When you finished a rib, you put it in the graveyard. Ribs have to have carmelized sauce to be great if you ask me. They also have to be, of course, lean and falling off the bone. We have some great rib places around Chicago. I am not saying we are Tennessee caliber, but Hecky's in Evanston is hard to beat. Russell's is another sure thing. Still another sure thing, i