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My old Swing Coat is used. . I thought I'd love it. Never did. I wored it once or twice. It itched me something terrible. I put it on again the other night to be sure I hated it. Oh I sure did. The top button wouldn't come undone and I began to panic that I may have to cut myself out of the whole mess. Somehow I got away from the horrible yarn (Noro, I dare say. Gorgeous but like a brillo pad to wear against my skin) Then I took the plunge and threw it in the washer to be felted. Joany, my friend encouraged me at the zoo the other day. After two good washings in a pillow case, with a pair of jeans as everyone says you should, I took it out. It was so pretty felted together. All my mental lapses that resulted in glaring "issues" were gone. I know had something that I am determined to get a vest out of. It will involve some sewing.....but not by me! I think it will be wonderful. The only thing we planted this year were pumpkins. They took over the whol...

Knit/Nurse friend Joan and I went to the FREE ZOO in our Chicago City today and knitted away. Joan's socks charmed me into casting on a new pair of socks myself. You see, she was using 3s or 4s to knit them up. Doubled sock yarn here I come. Detaiis in a few posts or so. I was knitting away quietly with Joan, when I realized the peace she talked about feeling at the zoo. I hadn't really felt PEACEful at the zoo before. Then it hit me: I wasn't chaperoning anyone! I was there without counting any heads, without that green feeling I get when I am on the schoolbus for just a bit too long, without carrying ANYTHING that wasn't my own. No lunches for a dozen, no jackets, no plastic barf bags, no study sheets, and no sticky hands to hang on to for fear of losing the rowdiest one (who always seemed to be assigned to me!) No calling out names of those who run ahead or lag behind. No poop jokes. No butt jokes. No skinned knees. No imitating of primates grooming lic...

Here is the cabled goat motif Al swatched. Al would like to know if other knitters think it looks like a goat. Being the good enough knitter that I am, I would go with it. Has anyone else felt the need to run out and grab a falling leaf and tack it back up to the tree? I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

I don't know if the only thing better would be to tell you that I knitted this Forget Me Not Shawl, or if that would ruin the fact that I WON it. (yes I WON It) Better, I think to be overjoyed that Grace from lovincomfortknits.blogspot.com is so generous she knits lace shawls and gives them away. This lady knits shawls like they are baby stuff! She used double elann merino which was hand dyed by her husband. I'm still trying to get myself to give away some socks that felted into slippers last year! I knit things for others and decide I'm keeping them myself. As if the shawl wasn't magnificent enough by itself, she also sent candles that smell like a fall in a very gentle way. Oh, and a K magnet. If you want to knit a lace shawl for someone you love, she has a free Comforting Hearts Shawl Pattern on her blogsite. Grace is really really giving. a few other things: no hummers yet...still..... My purple sweater had a big problem last Saturday night. Seems my li...

I'll talk to you in the comments. :) Just to let you know! We won! Here's to a great October and the World Series!

Al's Hemlock colored yarn is a tiny bit cashmere.......She took her knitting from the porch, so I'll have to look up the yarn name or post it when she is finished with this hat. (shhhhh it is for Peter....) She is putting a cabled goat motif on the hat. Some inside famliy joke. She hasn't been knitting too much with work and school. It makes me happy to see her starting this hat. I was spoiled with her knitting when she worked at 3 Bags Full. I miss the inspiration and the commradory of another knitter in this house. She pulled up the cabled goat motif and muttered that this pattern is backwards or something, but she went right on and created the goat anyhow. I do know for a fact that she is my child.......but where did this gift come from? I'm still working on reverse shaping concepts... Which by the way, I found a book that had patterns with reverse shaping spelled out for both sides! No evil " reverse shaping for other side" directions! WHy didn...

The Purple Raglan follows the practice ralgan. I'll keep you up to date as it knits along. This one will involve some shaping. I think this means I am pushing my knitting limits. It is kind of boring looking right now. I am going to have to knit some fun dishcloths or cowls betwixt and between rows of endless purple , or I'll go crazy. Donna B asked for some help with the ball band dishcloth pattern from Mason Dixon. I have to say the best tip I have is to buy some highlighter tape! Print out the pattern and put it in a page protector. I highlight the row I am knitting, and move the tapes as I go. Helped me stay organized, as I could never really memorize the 12 row pattern. You begin with your main color for the first two rows, then you start Row 3 with another color, B. You knit a few rows with B and then switch back to A in another few rows. The A is always right there waiting for you at the right time and you just pick it up and start with A again when called f...

CONGRATULATIONS BIG Z! CUBS NO HITTER! YOU MAKE OUR FLOODED MESS A BIT EASIER TONIGHT! HOORAY ZAMBRONO!

I felt compelled to knit one. And because I have always thought the Mason-Dixon ball-band was impressive! Good thing I did not enter DishRagTag this year. I was not a fast dishrag knitter. This one took a few days. As in 4 days. Average days when I pick up my needles as I can. In between the nonknitting parts of my life (oh yes there are parts!) Let's see, October and November have 61 days. Lets say I knit half of them on dishcloths....that's 8 more dishcloths for gifts. Hypotheticals are fun. Dishcloths are fun too. One of the main reasons I like this pattern is it is laceless. For all of you who love to knit lace, you have until midnight to enter Grace at Lovin Comfort Knits blog contest. Find a pretty FREE lace shawl pattern out there and leave it in comment on her blog. She is giving away an amazing shawl. I think this dishcloth pattern belongs with my EASY AND IMPRESSIVE category. Right up there with Top Down raglans and socks. Any pair of straightforwa...

1) Al's lace top didn't fit her. Too big. Seemed a shame. Who knew I'd be the perfect size fit for it! It is comfortable cotton and gorgeous. I traded her for a top down raglan I made a year ago that is, well, too small for me! Phew, bye bye Waste police. 2) The still waters canoe image was taken this week. I know many would trade me for still waters, this weekend. I'd trade Long Chicago winters with anyone in the south, but it wouldn't be fair. I wouldn't trade if the hurricanes were part of the package. Good luck to any of you, that will suffer through it. Be safe and knit on. 3) I've traded some nap time for knit time too this week. I have the purple cardigan going, (you'll see it soon) and a ball band dishcloth. I needed a quick fun dishcloth fix for some reason this week. It is making me wierdly happy! 4) I'm trading breakfast with dinner tonight. I know that lots of you do this. It won't be cold cereal or anything. I w...

If iirisheyes Al and irisheyes Lynn were chilly knitting with me on the porch today, they hid it well. ( I can't give up the outside porch knittng yet. Maybe I'll see how long I can keep the outside knitting going this year.) As the hostess I offered them 100% indulgence for nourishment. They may have been chilly, but they were all sugared up. We got a little giddy. Now local bakery GLADSTONES sold me decadent cupcakes. The very kind that CAKESPY is always showing off. Lynn choose the coconut lemon with lemon filling, Al and I split the Mocha and the Chocolate with chocolate pocket , gritless frosting and chocolate sprinkles. There was tea, diet coke and coke as well. No wonder we had a good time. Lynn is knitting some baby socks. I can't even tell you about the baby, because not only is it illegal due to HIPPA violations but it is too sad to even share with you .It would break all your sweet knitting hearts into thousands of pieces at once. Onto cheerful: her ...

One of my favorite bloggers Lynne, asked : do you wear the things you knit? Well, I'm wearing the practice sweater today. I am including a close up of the puppy buttons. Sunny at the cleaners charged me 3.00 dollars to sew the 7 buttons on. 3.00 for peace of mind. What a bargain. I have worn practice sweater all day without even a thought of a button mishap. The awful sound of a button hitting the floor and breaking my heart won't be happening here. Nope. Call me a cheater... .I am so HAPPY! The acrylic practice sweater doesn't itch one bit. I have a sleeveless shirt on underneath. If I make the real sweater with the birthday washable merino heathered purple wook, I may change a few things. The sleeves are beyond roomy. I could hide a BOX of kleenex up my sleeve. Oh and I am going to look in Knit and Tonics new book Close Knits. Has anyone seen it yet? She's a top down raglan lover. So Lynne, I am happiest when I can wear something I knit. It has been ...

Here's a little story that I thought was funny. I was very overtired at the time, and it made me belly laugh. So, if you want to save it until you are very overtired, it may be funnier. Al came home from work one day this summer after a busy ER shift. She has this huge soft spot for the elderly. THe ornerier the better. Perhaps this is because she is in the ER and there is a finite interaction time with such characters. Anyhow, of course respecting HIPPA and all privacy she told the story to us without any names. A patient was in for many hours and her chief complaint appeared to be, not wanting to spend the night in her nursinng home room. She disguised this with an array of vague and every so slightly potentially serious symptoms. However there weren't any signs of the symptoms. She became increasingly demanding as she realized she was going to be sent back to her home. As her nurse wheeled her out to the waiting van, to be driven back, she whipped around spyly,...

Huck and I went to our favorite Lake Michigan beach this morning. The waves were warm, the water was clear, my dog was delighted to be swimming again, and I delighted in throwing the stick to him. Then he wrote irisheyesknitters in the sand and reminded me he'd like to be on the blog today. I try hard not to think he may not be here to swim next year....but the emotion is there and shame on me for ruining a lovely time. We could have 5 more years, who knows? I finished my raglan cardigan and choose the buttons today. Little dog buttons. I know. I asked my favorite cleaners owner, Sunny, to have it for me by thursday. It is supposed to be 63 then. It is 92 outside right now. I'm off to the frog pond with an old failure.....rip it rip it! Are you frogging? I'll talk to you in the comments. :)