Saved - Where am I in the Numerical Sequence, I Wonder?

Post #2 for July, maybe I can get back on track... Saved - the needlework skills handed down from my mother, Jeanine. In this picture: Last month's block of the month for the quilt guild and a summer-weight Ishbel which I am wearing and a felted wool messenger bag on the table.

#95 of 365 - Happy Easter

Today I learned why eggs are dyed red in orthodox tradition. I also got a red egg whilst at church. The red egg is based on the story of Mary Magdalene telling Tiberius Ceasar about Jesus' resurrection and he scoffingly saying it was about as true as the chances of the egg in her hand turning red. Well the egg did turn red in her hand, thus the tradition of dying eggs red was born.

I wore Summer with Ishbel and got many compliments on it. I discovered however, that I won't ever make it in a micro-fiber again as the points aren't holding. Synthetic fiber has it's own mind. I may try wet blocking and steam to see if I can get this yarn to hold the points. Still looks lovely and drapes on the shoulders nicely.

#89 of 365 - Pinning Out Summer with Ishbel

My turn! I wetted and blocked my Summer weight Ishbel this morning. The yarn it is made from is a micro-fiber, so I shall be interested in seeing how it blocks out and whether it stays blocked out after the pins are removed.

Apparently, Pan Kitty only likes to roll on wetted wool as he has ignored my Ishbel all day and just couldn't leave Erin's alone yesterday.

#88 of 365 - Pinning Out Erin's Ishbel

We pinned out Erin's Ishbel today. I really thought we would get my Summer one pinned out as well but we used nearly every pin we have on Erin's. I want to get it pinned tho as I would like to take it with me when I leave to dog-sit.

#83 of 365 - Another Hat that I Wear

I really want Spring to be here so I can pull out the straw hats and short sleeve shirts. Been a long winter, it has. Finished the Summer with Ishbel, just needs to be blocked into shape and I can wear it.

#80 of 365 - Sunny and Gorgeous, a Page from Rebecca

Today, windows open, sun shining... Tomorrow?


What I am working on now, a Summer weight Ishbel, hurry Spring and Summer, please...

#61 of 365 - and Another One Done

I started and finished 198 Yards of Heaven. So called as the pattern is suppose to use less than 200 yards of yarn. I knit this one with the remainder of the yarn from the Yvaine Meets Ishbel that I finished the day before yesterday.

I had only about 5 feet of yarn left after casting off, it was that close...

Here's the obligatory photo of a part of me, pinning out a point in the lace.

I have already cast on for another one, this time on big needles with 5 strands of yarn held together. The yarns are the VERY last of the stash I had from my Mum's Needlework Shop. They are comprised of a silk and wool, a cotton chenille, a cotton with a metallic wrap and a slubby mohair. The only change I will make to the pattern is on the edging lace motif. I will stocking stitch the points instead of doing them, as the pattern states, in garter stitch.

#60 of 365 - Another One Done

Finished up Yvaine Meets Ishbel yesterday. I used the shaping from Ishbel which is a 3 garter stitch edge with a yarn over (YO) then pattern to the center, then a YO, stitch, YO, then pattern again to edge and repeat the first 4 stitches. I used the Yvaine pattern for the idea of the garter stitch sections.



I also used, believe it or no, MATH. Each section was done with Fibonacci Sequencing. The stocking stitch section added by twice and the garter sections added by twice as well. As in 1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, etc.


This was made for the DD's wedding. I will likely need the warmth of it, since the wedding is in October, in the UK, on the Channel... I am wearing Citrine Yellow silk with brown accessories, so this is perfect to go with. Erin gave me the yarn in my stocking for Christmas, so I used up stash as well. I am making this shawlette with the remainder of the yarn as it requires slightly under 200 yards and that's about what I have left of the yarn after making the big shawl.

#51 of 365 - Got Our Geek Card Punched

We went to see Avatar today, finally. It was Pocahontas and the Smurfs on Steroids, but it was definitely worth seeing if only for the special effects... I knit whilst waiting for movies to start as well... Sadly for us, we bought New Moon Cookies for a movie snack. That would be a No. We promptly took them back after the movies was over as we did not thing they were edible.

#35 of 365 - How I Spent Some of My Day

This morning, I talked Erin into going to the Denver Sew Expo at the Merchanise Mart in Denver, obviously. It's a sewing expo that runs for 3 days in February every year. We were going to pass by it today on the way to delivering me to Sheila's house in anticipation of dog sitting in Broomfield for the next week and we had the time to check it out, so we did.



We ran into Katte whilst we were there. We also saw Barb, Marlene and Betty, old dear quilting friends from Denver and Boulder. We checked out the vendors and spent a lot of time in Cheryl Oberle's booth petting yarn and checking out the shawls. We got to see her latest shawlette just of the needles and we all love it. I can't wait til the pattern is available. Besides Cheryl's yarns and books, the only thing that really interested me was the banana fiber yarn, lovely colours with an interesting texture. Erin was not so fond of the texture, but I was okay with it.



...and yes, I am wearing Ishbel again. I even gave lessons to other patrons on how I wear it...

Now I am at Sheila's, knitting and visiting whilst waiting to go to the Wiseharts for the supper and then on to the house of dogs across the way...



Sheila sez Hey Rebecca!

#34 of 365 - How I spent my Morning and Afternoon

First it was SnB at the Knitter's Kove. Val, Suzi, Deborah and others, sat, knitted and chatted. That's Deborah working away on the Lambspun cotton/wool in red and black shadow work for the Skull Illusion blanky she is making for her grandson and then that's Val after she finished buying some loverly Misti Alpaca yarn for a Fair Isle project she has in mind. I worked away on my Lacy Prairie Shawl in brown Fisherman's Wool. I also got another skein of the Andes in brown and amber to match the one that Erin had put in my Christmas Stocking. I also purchased the latest issue of Piecework's Historical Knitting. I always find something to love in this special issue.

Then after, it was watching Rebecca cake yarn with Erin and my winding station. She sure has got a lot of yarn! Like I should talk, LOL. THIS is the Rebecca of the reason I blog a photo a day...

If you don't know already, a winding station consists of a ball winder and a swift. With these two tools you can take a skein of yarn and turn it into a center pull cake of yarn that is so much easier to knit from. Many of you may remember sitting and holding a skein of yarn for your mother or your granny whilst she wound it into a ball to make knitting easier. This allows one person to do the job that normally takes two if you don't have the equipment. Erin and I have it for both general knitting usage and so that Erin can rewind her skeins after she dyes them.




The swift is the umbrella looking thing with the dark pink yarn on it and the ball winder is attached to the table in front of it. The cakes are the flat rounds of colour on the table in front of Rebecca.





Altho, this is not the best picture to see it in, I am wearing my Ishbel that I finished blocking yesterday. I think I am going to wear this little shawlette a lot as I LOVE IT! I knitted it from the Misty Moor colourway from Cherry Tree Hill. I pet it a lot as it's like "buttah". The photo below shows the lace pattern that edges it. Both the Ishbel and the Skull Illusion are from Ysolda Teague, that lovely Scottish knitwear designer we all love so well.

#27 of 365 - The Misty Moors

I love yarn, if that isn't already obvious to you, my dear readers. I chose this yarn because the name was so evocative and it has every colour that I love all in one strand.

I found this great sock yarn from . It's a colourway called Misty Moor (scroll down for the colourway). I was going to make Cheryl Oberle's Highland Triangle Shawl (scroll down to the Folk Shawls book) from it, but even with 800 plus yards, it's not enough. So instead, I am going to make Ysolda Teague's Ishbel with it. It is one of the shawls going towards my 10 Shawls in 2010.

Since I own shirts in every colour in the yarn and since the Ishbel won't use both skeins, I will make a pair of socks with the remainder. Then I will have a set, either to wear together or apart depending on how chilly it is. I will likely use this pattern Zokni, since I liked it so well when I knitted them up for Erin.