Felt Like Knitting

WIP Wednesday: December 16

Most of you are probably in bed by now and figured that I didn't get around to posting today.  Not so!  I just spent the whole day working on Emma's dress.  It is still a WIP but I'm not going to post a picture until it's done, which should be very soon.

 

I was able to snap a photo of some mitts before the sun went down.  The pattern is Dashing and I'm finding it to be a fun knit.  They are for my brother and I need your opinion.  Here's the scene that caused me to doubt if he'd wear them. 

Me:  I'm knitting these mitts for Tim because he keeps his house so cold.  He can wear them while he's on the computer.  Do they look too girly? 

Steve:  He won't wear them.

Me:  What, are the cables too feminine?  The mitts are brown, that's a nice manly color.  Would you wear them?

Steve:  I'd rather turn on the heat.

That gave me a good laugh even if I didn't appreciate his lack of enthusiasm for my project.  So what do you think?  Would a man wear these fingerless mitts?

A red scarf, a funny pug, and a fabric question

Last week I read on Anne's blog that the OFA Red Scarf Project is in need of scarves.  So I cast on this scarf pattern with some reddish handspun yarn, but I could tell that it wasn't going to make the required length.  Now I'm knitting it in Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn (not squeaky feeling like some) in cranberry.  Having it be machine washable and dryable for a college student seems like a good thing.  When I measured last night, I had 18 inches to go so I should be able to make the 12/15 deadline.

     

How about a pug picture?  As Trump has become more comfortable here, he has developed some quirks.  Like now he barks at everyone instead of cowering.  We think he's saying "This is my territory.  Back off!"  So it's a good thing that he feels at home but his new behavior is annoying, scary for visitors, and something we need to train him not to do.  And here is another quirk:  When he gets really relaxed he lets his tongue hang out.  At first I thought he had had a stroke or something but now we're guessing that he's just comfy.  Does anyone know if it's a bad sign for a dog's tongue to stick out at an angle like that?

     

I'm making a dress (view B) for Emma for her school's Christmas dance.  I made a muslin (several actually) and I'm now ready to make the real thing.  She chose satin with an overlay of something sparkly (It's sheer like chiffon but crisper.).  She wants the lavender for the bodice, and the purple and sparkly for the skirt.  There will also be a bit of the sparkly as trim on the bodice.

 

I've read tips on working with satin but I'm still a little scared to start this project.  If anyone has any helpful advice, that would be great!  My biggest question now is about the skirt.

The skirt is pleated and I'm wondering if I should sew the sparkly and the purple together as one fabric.  Or should I sew the skirt then sew an unpleated sparkly section on top the skirt?  I'm thinking that won't look right.

Okay, another question came to mind.  I'm going to line the bodice instead of using facings.  I think I won't need to interface now except that I'm worried the surplice neckline will be too floppy without something to support it.  The sales clerk at the fabric store suggested I sew hem tape/twill tape into the seam when I sew it.  Had anyone done this with satin?

I hope you all have a great weekend!  You know what I'll be doing.  :)

 

Mice in my stashes

We've never had trouble with mice, but I guess we were due.  I've stored food in the basement with no trouble before, so when I had to clear out the pantry for this summer's remodeling project I put all unopened food downstairs.  What I didn't think about was that the garage doors were open all day long for the workmen.  Food + Open Doors = Mouse Trouble.  We had a very determined mouse.  I threw away all the food in the stash that the mouse had been near that wasn't in cans, hoping that would cause him/her to leave.  No luck.  We finally had to resort to traps and did catch the offender.

Fast forward a few weeks later and we hear noises in the attic.  So Steve put some traps upstairs and came down the other day with another mouse.  Ugh!  I had no idea that mice are so repulsive to me.  It's almost the same reaction I have to snakes.  I feel like such a wimp...

On to a better mouse story... I was happy to use my yarn stash to make a felted mouse for my Dad's cat Lily.  This is my first knitted toy and I'm really pleased with it.  Knitting a toy isn't difficult like I thought it might be.  The pattern is from Ann Budd's Knitted Gifts, which I purchased last week.  The funny thing is that I don't really enjoy handling this project because of the other mice in the house.  Weird, huh?

  
 
 

Sweaters for a cold day

There was a prediction for snow and cold weather here in Georgia and we got both.  The snow (about 0.5 inches?) was beautiful while it was coming down.  I didn't get pictures, but Leslie did.  She also lives in the south, so her pictures show you what it was like here.  Today it's cold but it will be in the mid-60s by the end of the week!

Since it was going to be cold and snowy, I decided I should knit some sweaters.

                                    

Okay, so they won't be keeping anybody warm, but they will make great ornaments for my nieces and nephews this Christmas.  Three down, four to go!  (Goals are great things.  It occurred to me on 2/27 that I hadn't completed a Christmas gift this month.  Two sweaters were completed on 2/28 and one on 3/1.  So I'm covered for February and March now!)

                                    

Here's my menu plan for this week.  I feel like we eat the same things each week so I'm trying a new recipe from the Menu Plan Monday site.  The site is a great resource for lots of recipes since 300+ people post their weekly menu plans.

Monday:  Homemade chicken noodle soup, tomato soup (my DH is allergic to chicken), grilled cheese sandwiches, apple slices

Tuesday:  Meatloaf, roasted cauliflower, Parmesan crusted mashed potatoes (doesn't that sound delicious?!), salad

Wednesday: ---

Thursday:  Venison pepper steak, rice (I finally remembered to buy peppers at the store!)

Friday:  Grill out!  Probably brats, potatoes with carrots, baked beans, salad

Saturday:  leftovers

Sunday:  Stir fry, rice

This week we're eating more food from the freezer because it really needs to be emptied and defrosted!  The end of this week will be a good time to do just that.

Hope you all have a great week!

Brought to you by the letters B and C

B is for Beth's Brambler and C is for Clare's Chevron. 

                 

                                Brambler by Anne Hanson, Shibuiknits Sock yarn in Mulberry

            

          Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, Cherry Tree Hill and Great Adirondack yarns

Wow, two FOs this week!  Can you believe it?  In all honesty, the Chevron scarf was about done.  It's a few inches shy of the recommended length, but I'm happy with it.  (It's a gift for my friend Clare, who I now hope hasn't been reading my blog!)  I was a little tired of knitting it and I wanted to free up the needles.  I thought they were the size 3 needles that I need for Alhambra , but they're size 4.  My size 3 needles are in my Clapotis.  I'll bet you can guess what my knitting goal is for this week.  :)  And I'm  excited about Brambler.  I'll really enjoy wearing it when it cools down a bit.

May I ask a quick question of you?  Do any of you have experience with Facebook?  The kids and some of the staff in my daughter's school use it and I'm wondering if you feel that it is a safe thing for young teenagers to sign up for.  Thanks for any advice you can give me.  Navigating the teenage years can be challenging for a parent.  But I think it may be easier than going through it as a teen.  :)

WIP Wednesday - Brambler

            

My goal for this week is to finish Brambler.  I decided to change yarn, so on Saturday I went to a LYS and bought some Shibuiknits sock yarn in Mulberry.  I also bought some Bristol Yarn Gallery Buckingham in a beautiful grayish-blue color (picture coming later).  It's so soft and I thought I might opt to use it for Brambler, but I couldn't resist the beautiful berry color of the Shibuiknits.  The scarf is much farther along than in this picture.  It also has more dog hair on it!  This has been a fast knit and I can't wait to block it.

I know I'll be tempted to cast on for another lace scarf when Brambler is done.  But, I'm going to try to finish up a few things first.  I'm close to being done with the Bubble Bag and the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  Maybe I can have those finished by next Wednesday, too.

Fiddlehead Scarf

                 

                     Fiddlehead Scarf by Anne Hanson, yarn by The Woolen Rabbit, size 3 needles

I just love this scarf!  I ran out of yarn, but it still blocked to the proper length.  While I thought I'd like to make it a bit longer, this length is actually just right.  Don't doubt the designer!  :)

Another scarf had to be started right away and I chose Brambler (also from Anne).  This one is being knit from Berroco Ultra Alpaca leftover from my Forest Canopy Shawl.  I'm not sure this yarn is going to work and I'd like to ask your opinion.

                                   

This is pinned out to the recommended width and the pattern doesn't open up as much as I'd like.  (Click on the pattern link above to see what it's supposed to look like.)  This yarn is a DK/light worsted weight so it's a little heavier than recommended.  Should I keep going?  Should I start over with a narrower width so I can block it more?  Or should I use different yarn?  I'm torn because I'd like to use what's in my stash, but I want the scarf to look more like the one in the pattern.

Happy knitting (or crocheting/sewing/crafting/reading/...)!

Yes, there has been knitting

                  

In my last post I mentioned that I had been knitting some dishcloths.  These are most of the cloths I've knit recently.  Some are already in use and weren't clean for the photo shoot.  All but the white ones will be gifts.  Details are on Ravelry.

Here is one of my favorites:

             

This is the Playful Plaid Clothand it's a lot of fun to knit.  The long slipped stitches you see were made by wrapping the needle twice.  When I knit it the next time, I'll probably wrap the needle three times because the cloth was kind of puckery before I blocked it.

Right now I'm knitting a round dishcloth, which I haven't done before.  It's a quick knit and I could have had it mostly done already, but I couldn't figure out where I was off and I reknitted a section at least three times.  There are some really pretty cloths on Ravelry.

Out For Delivery

"Out For Delivery" - isn't that a nice phrase?  It is when it describes my spinning wheel!  I haven't spun for several days since I returned the rental wheel and I've missed spinning.  While I'm patiently waiting for the man in brown to show up, I'll show some progress pictures.

First, some knitting:

This is a modified Uptown Scarf (from Weekend Knitting) made from Handspun #3 (isn't that an original name?).  I couldn't find a pattern I liked and I really wanted to get the yarn knit up.  I made the scarf long as the pattern suggests (almost to my ankles), but there is no fringe.  It is also knit on size 19 needles instead of 35, so I cast on 9 stitches instead of 5.  I hope it will improve with a good blocking.  It felt strange to use the large needles since I haven't done that in a while!

And I've been a bad knitter and started my Clapotis instead of finishing up my hat or the top.  Caitlyn is knitting another one and this seemed like a good time to jump in.  I'm having to alternate between two skeins of yarn because there is no dye lot for this yarn and the colors look different.  The only problem with this is that the project isn't as portable as I'd like.  And the right edge doesn't look exactly like the left edge, but it isn't different enough to bother me.  I do love the colors in this yarn!

And speaking of color:

This is the last yarn I spun.  Instead of calling it Handspun #4, I think I'll call it Celebration.  (Is it silly to name my yarn?!)  To me, it looks like Christmas tree lights, or fireworks, or streamers and balloons at a birthday party.  Its real name is Pastels and it's Northern Lights 100% Wool Top roving from Louet.  This colorway made me happy when I was spinning it!  If I remember correctly, I think I have about 220 yards of this.  Any ideas of what it should become?  I may need to move to a cooler climate so I can keep knitting hats, scarfs, mittens, etc.  :)  Although, it was 29 degrees with a few snowflakes here today.  And on Saturday, it was in the 70s.  Weird!

Thank you for all your concern and good wishes for E.  It turns out that she has mononucleosis.  She's been resting a lot and hasn't been out of the house since last Tuesday.  I'm very thankful that it's not something more serious.  It looks like we'll be switching back to straight homeschooling (with materials from her teachers) for a week or two so she can stay home and rest up.  She wants to be able to go to the World Festival in mid-April!

WNBP and WIP Wednesday

Each Wednesday, Sheepish Annie does a Wednesday Night Bullet Post full of random goodness.  Tonight, I thought I'd combine WIP Wednesday with a WNBP.  Annie's WNBPs are funny, but I'm a little too tired to be amusing.

*  The spinning continues and I'll show pictures as soon as the yarn dries.  My first skein of yarn barely twisted at all, and I think that's a good thing, right?  The second skein twisted on itself and I'm guessing that means the twist isn't balanced correctly.  So, it will get weighted as it dries.  But the actual spinning in the second skein looks better.

* My Spunky Eclectic order came in today.  In addition to the rovings I ordered, I also am now the proud owner of a cute little button.  I love it when shop owners include a fun little something.  I should probably wait to spin, but I really, really want to tear into the roving tonight.

*  E was sick last night so neither of us got much sleep.  I decided to sleep in her room in case she needed me.  There were a lot of distractions and the whole time I was trying to sleep on throw pillows - not very comfortable.  Hopefully I will sleep better tonight.

*  I've been spending time on robotics stuff lately.  Here's our website.  I had to learn a new skill for this.  A domain name had to be ordered then it had to point to our Typepad blog.  The team needs to do more with the blog, but I'm pleased to have it created.  E created the banner and she's going to add more to it.

*  When making buttons for a robotics team, the first few are fun.  After that, not so much.  Good thing the team members are making a lot of them.  We need 1000.

*  I want to know - who created Girl Scout cookies?!  It turns out that it was Florence E. Neil.  She probably didn't know that the cookies would wreak havoc on my Weight Watchers program.  What, I'm supposed to have discipline when I eat those things?  I guess that could make a difference.

*  WIP Wednesday #1:  Spin the Spunky Eclectic roving by Saturday morning.

*  WIP Wednesday #2:  Keep working on the hat pattern.  Finish the hat based on K3 P3 or frog it if it's not working.

*  WIP Wednesday #3:  Get to my LYS to buy Cascade 220 to finish up the Bubble Bag.  I'm binding off and need more brown for the handles.

*  WIP Wednesday #4:  Knit swatches of the yarns I spun to see how they look.

*  I didn't know the new Knitty was up until I was looking at friend activity on Ravelry today.  I noticed that a lot of people had new projects queued.  There are a few things I'd like to knit so I added them to my queue, too.

Okay, I can't stay away from that roving anymore, so I'm going to close.  I hope whatever you're working on this Wednesday is fun!