Posts

Showing posts from May, 2008

How many handknits does it take to catch a fish?

Image
Well, let's see: Malabrigo felted hat koigu fingerless malabrigo cowl (under jacket) Alpaca zip vest. 4 handknits. One Nice Northern Pike, and one (not shown) 17 inch large mouth bass. No Knitters were harmed in the days activities. Do you love the great outdoors? Do you knit in the great outdoors? I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Sunglasses and Cowl weather

Image
The Sunglass Hut has been around here forever. As I am one to lose them within days of purchase, I buy cheapo sunglasses. it has been wonderfully sunny this weekend. However, it is spring and by evening the temp drops fast. A cowl is just the thing. I read that Cowls are the new Scarf. Sweet Cristina kindly models my first cowl. Malabrigo purples. And I love her sunglasses too. Cowl addiction. I feel it coming. No going back. Gifts galore. Those who are cool wear cowls. Chilly that is. Hope you had a great weekend. Here's to the Hero's who made it so. I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Paddles, Petals and Prose

Image
The paddlers are taking advantage of free kayaking in the Skokie Lagoons. The lagoons were manmade by the WPA. There is a bit of frugal hungarian in those paddlers. The petals adorn the Bahai Temple along the Wilmette Harbor. Brave little petals off the cold cold Lake Michigan water. The prose, well, that was my mother's day gift from Al. She put my favorite posts out of 800 or so here on Irisheyes and made them into a book for me. She used a site called BLURB to make this gift . She dedicated it to Blood Donors everywhere.....Perfect! I cannot tell you how much I love this book. I have this secret fear that the blog will be *poof* gone one day when I try to log on. No matter how computerliterate folks try to quiet these fears of mine, I don't believe them. Now I can sleep a little better knowing I have my favorites in my own little page turning book. I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Predictions

Image
I know it isn't the usual time for predictions, but bear with me, please I predict I finish the Nonni blanket by fall. The second panel is now completed. I plan to do the finishing at Friday help hour at 3 Bags Full when the time comes. I predict blogs will soon be sprinkled with summer festival/concert/farmers market/pool/beach/camping and campfire images. I predict we'll knit anywhere... I predict the Cubs will break our hearts again this year......but the current ride is fun... I predict I'll do a Dutch heel on my confetti socks.... I predict I'll join a swap soon.... What do you predict? I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

irisheyes Lynn knits another beauty

Image
These are Lynn's monkey socks in Socks That Rock's lightweight Dutch Canyon. Accolades! I love when she sends me FO's. She and Al really round out the irisheyes blog. Al and Lynn pursue the passion of knitting with a similar mindset. The are not afraid of seams and long pattern repeats. The create lovely handknits with smooth and beautiful stitches. They inspire me! I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Confetti sock blooming

Image
Confetti sock is blooming before the peonies this year. This is one of two remaining bushes from the house when we bought it 25 years ago. I put the chair out for trash, and then decided to let it prop the peony bush this spring. Alley gardening I call it. I have to plant some more things for alley art as the season progresses. ....... Thoughts while knitting confetti socks: I'm going back to my round toe finish for this one...maybe. These are going to be comfortable to wear. Why dont' my feet fight wool? Thank goodness I can wear wool somewhere and enjoy it. What was I thinking telling my swap pal that I don't want any more sock yarn. ?????? How am I going to keep the sock image posts interesting ? I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Huck learned to wind yarn

Image
then he brings it to me when he's finished. I haven't knit a sock since before Christmas. Suddenly, the urge has returned. This is Confetti yarn . The way it changes colors so fast, makes it really look like confetti. With my short attention span, this is really entertaining me! I was trying a lace sock pattern, for the last two days. And I quit. I have a problem with YO's at the end of the sock needle. They make me nervous. Just hanging there, waiting to fall off and ruin my count. Plus, this yarn doesnt' lend itself to lace. It is crazy enough without complicating it. I planted all geraniums by the back porch this year. Between confetti yarn and flowers, can you see I'm starved for colors after our long grey winter in Chicago? What is your garden colorway this year? I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Happy Mothers Day!

Image
My favorite book of all time. I have a mother who read to me! I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Two Negatives make a Positive

Image
Brought to you by the sticker on a car I saw yesterday: WE ALL USE MATH EVERYDAY. I Don't like to block knits + the naughty kitties try to lay on them = block on futon on porch today and enjoy flowers outside. Using up the stash is getting boring + what if no one wants the tissue covers, really? = it might feel like new yarn, if I use up AL's leftovers and make a helix hat. Wee tiny bites isn't doing anything fast+I am shopping for pants today = Al says I can cut the tags out if the number bothers me. Paid EIGHTY dollars for Hucky's grooming yesterday + the fridge is making snarly motor sick sounds = Huck feels incredibly soft and will shed less, and if I play good music loudly all day I won't hear the fridge noise. Still haven't done anything useful with log cabin mistake blankie from last summer + none of my shawls has come out too great for such a short person like me= will feel so creative when I finally use mistakes for something. and my favorite new sa

Over the Moon

Image
I'm over the moon about my knitting life. It is just so fun to me. Knitting for a passion, makes it easy for my family to know what I like for all the special days when a gift might be given. We are spoiled silly, I think, with our yarn choices and colorways and tutorials on how to color our own yarn. Blog posts showing projects in all stages abound. Contests, knit togethers, swaps, and get aways are at our fingertips. Aside from all that, just sitting down to knit by myself is a great gift that I can have almost everyday. It is fireman's birthday today. It is the second warmest day of the year, here, in Chicago. The flowering trees are full in bloom and the bulbs are showing off. Maybe we'll even have a campfire tonight and listen to the Cubs.... Hope you are having a great day yourself. I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

I cord edging as a pick up stitch

Image
I am knitting on the i-cord edge to the baby blanket. A free tutorial on someone's blog instructed me. Cast on a few stitches, pick up a stitch on the blanket edge, swing the sttiches to the other end of the needle, knit two together , and keep going. Of course, what appealed to me was the avoiding of sewing on the i-cord. The yarn is cotton so the edge is a big shaggy, but I like it. I'm picking up closely stitch by stitch to create a ripple effect on the edge . I'll have to block a bit, but only with a spray bottle. I'm watching Pride and Prejudice with Al. I'm such a sucker for a guy with a pony tail. As long as it is clean as a whistle. I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Tea cup patterns

Image
I love the pattern inside this teacup. It looks like a fairisle chart to me. In answer to Cookey knits questions about the tissue holders, I give you this tea cup. You need about as much yarn as will fill this rummage sale tea cup. Also, US size #1 needles are equivaelnt to Metric 2.25's. (thanks Susie). These little tissue covers just fit over the litte purse size tissue packages. Just use some leftover sock yarn. And yes, I've started my third. I'm wondering when You come to read Irisheyes amongst other blogs. The times of day that I post, vary greatly. I notice when I make my blog rounds, that most bloggers post by midday. My schedule is very loose and irregular day to day, therefore I read blogs at all times. Is there a certain time of day you generally read the blogs? Do you avoid the computer on weekends? I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Knotty Knitter and Wound Too TIght, c'mon down

Image
Darcy, Knotty Knitter's blogwriter, and Deb, Wound Too TIght's blogwriter, are the winners of my contest. Everyone else can just read the next paragraph and say.....shoot I didn't win! (, collectively ) Darcy, wahoo! A friend of Grace's. I'm thrilled for you. Thank you for all the comments y ou've left since you found me with the contest post. Deb, I swear there was no favoritism shown for fellow Gorgeous Golden Retriever regular commentor, mom of Holli. However, I was delighted when your name was pulled. Now, Deb, you get to pick which of the sock yarns you would like. Darcy will get the other. I'm still knitting away at the plain stockinette baby blanket. I love the colors. I am also on the lookout for a small shrug pattern that has BIG bell arm sleeves that come just above my elbow. In other words, I need to cover my large upper arms or I won't like how it looks. I have a scar on one upper arm that makes it superugly, too. Al believes, 3