Glistening Wisp

It has been a slow summer of knitting (yes I realize it is now fall) due to my acquisition of a Kindle Fire. It is extremely tempting to read and my knitting is falling to the wayside, unfortunately. The Kindle was a great birthday gift, so I do thank my family for their thoughtfulness.

I finally sat down and actually finished the glistening wisp scarf and I really like the results. I almost made it a cowl, but since I really envisioned it as a scarf, I stuck it out and here are the results. Close up it looks really fancy although it is a piece of cake to work up.

I also finished the boysenberry tunic, although I have not weaved in the ends yet and "officially" finished it in the sense that I can actually wear it yet. Since I am in a finishing mood, perhaps I will pick it up and get that wrapped up as well.

I took my knitting with me on our family trip to Florida but did not get much knitting done. I chose a pattern called Adrift from the website Stolen Stitches and while I love it, unfortunately it is made from sock yarn, which means a row takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I am wondering if this sweater may be relegated to the never be done pile???

How Big is 10 Centimeters Anyways?

I just started working on a sweater pattern called Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier that I found on Ravelry. It is a loose fitting short sleeved tunic with feather and fan lace at the neck line. I am using Amy Butler's organic cotton and wool blend, which is simply delightful to knit with. I am into my 3rd ball and no knots! This is a great pattern for first time sweater makers as it doesn't really have anything difficult going on with it. It was perfect for my car ride to the Detroit area this past weekend.

The only struggle that I am having has to do with the measurements. Heidi uses centimeters. I don't think in centimeters, I think in inches. You know what I mean, when someone says 4 inches, I can hold up my thumb and first finger and gesture 4 inches. So, I got past the lace portion of the sweater, got the sleeves off on stitch holders and then read the line "work to 10 cm." I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how long 10 cm might be. It seems silly that I would not know this. But I don't. I really don't.

Thankfully I am saved by my tape measure yet again. Some wonderfully intelligent person has printed both centimeters and inches on my tape measure. And now I know that 10 cm is 4 inches.

Cast The Net Wrap

Wrap yourself in the coziness that is kidsilk haze, a gorgeous blend of mohair and silk.

The wrap was inspired by the visual I had of a fisherman standing in his boat preparing to cast his net into the sea. It is a loosely knit stockinette stitch which creates the mesh look.

Size: 20" x 66"

Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze 581 Meadow 3 balls

Supplies: #10 US/6mm circular needle, #6 US/4mm circular needle

Gauge: Is not critical

Glossary:

K - knit

K2 tog - knit two stitches together (decrease)

M1 - make one stitch (increase) lift strand between stitches with left needle and knit it

P - purl

Sl 1 - slip one stitch as if to purl

St St - Stockinette Stitch - knit one row, purl next row, repeat

YO 2x - wrap yarn around needle two times

Pattern:

Cast on 160 stitches with larger needle

Note: On the first stitch of every row, slip first stitch as if to purl

Work st st for 5 rows (end on knit)

Work one row of purl with smaller needle

Sl 1 K2 tog across, K1

Purl

With larger needle work 6 rows st st

Drop Stitch Section:

*Sl 1 , YO 2x, K1 across

Sl 1, drop 2 wraps, P1 across

Work 12 rows st st*

Repeat drop stitch section (from * to *) 5 times

Work st st until piece measures 50"

Repeat drop stitch section (from * to *) 4 times

Sl 1, YO 2x, K1 across

Sl 1, drop 2 wraps, P1 across

Work st st for 5 rows

Work one row purl with smaller needle

Sl 1, M1, K1 across

With larger needle work st st for 5 rows

Bind off loosely

Happy Mother's Day to Me

If you are a mother or grandmother or step mom or foster mom,  

Happy Mother's Day to you! 

Enjoy your special day and bless you for taking care of the children in your life.

My kids got me one of my all time favorites that will never be a disappointment, chocolates! Thank you Elizabeth and Daniel.

They also got me a new flag for my flower garden with cardinals on it. I can't wait to hang it up. Don't you think the colors are beautiful?

Green Fluff

I am working on a new free pattern that I hope to finish and post some time next week. I felt like sharing a sneak peek. All I am going to say is that it is kid silk haze, which is a lovely, lovely yarn not only to work with but also to wear. Are you intrigued?

This past week was the Tulip Time Festival in Holland and my son marched in the parade on Thursday afternoon. The weather was pleasant and sunny, about 60 degrees, which is just great for marching. By the end of the route, he was pooped out, but agreed to pose for one picture. Unfortunately, since there are no tulips left, he is just standing in the crowd. Yes, that is a palette and a paint brush in his hand, the theme for their class is floral fantasy.

Another great thing the festival is known for is food. There are many booths with non healthy foods to choose from like deep fried Oreos, Twinkies, as well as elephant ears, fries, gyros and funnel cakes. It makes my arteries harden just thinking about it. Our family went down one evening and indulged and it was awesome. Sigh......

The Booty

I finally managed to get to Lizzie Ann's today. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for my wallet, the shop closes at 5:30 most evening, so Saturday is the one day I have available to yarn shop. I even had my Christmas gift certificates with me. A whole 75.00 of free yarn, not that I ever stop that soon when I am there it seems. After dodging many wet tourists in to see the tulip festival (which currently resembles a stem festival) I managed to get to the shop. And there was much to be had still, even with a 25% off the whole store. I managed to snag up 4 balls of kid silk haze and a pattern for a shawl/wrap, 10 skeins of Plymouth Encore, 2 hanks of Art Yarns mohair splash, 10 balls of Amy Butler and last but certainly not least, one hank of S. Charles Collezione Celeste and a pattern for an awesome ruffled scarf. What an awesome trip even in the rain.

On the home front, I spent some time organizing my yarn corner in the family room. Previously, I had piles of needles and books and buttons and various things on my shelves. I decided to use fabric totes from Target and I really like how they look in my shelves. I am half way organized (not really).

In the Nick of Time

I don't always like to work on a deadline for a project as I tend to get stressed instead of relax, but I am happy to say that I managed to get the azalea mesh scarf finished in time for the basket. Whew! The pattern, which I got from Ravelry, was super easy and I used some Lion Brand Cotton Ease from my stash, which made hub happy as well. It is really cute as well and I would recommend it for new knitters that want to do something a little different. The only additional skills needed are knit two together and yarn over. Piece of cake!

I hope the recipient likes it as much as I enjoyed making it for her. Here is my daughter modeling it for me.