Day 29 ~ Purchased

The pattern to make this shawl was my purchase on Wednesday. I found it on Pinterest.com first and then went to Ravelry.com to look at it in further detail. I think I will make it in some of my handspun yarns as I have 4 different shades of yarn I can work with.

Day 28 ~ Daily Routine

This should really be about the morning routine, but here tis. Brush the teeth, check the phone, make the coffee and indulge in my worst vice.

Day 21 ~ Pretty Pattern

The title would more than likely make one think of something like this: patterns on fabric

However, I think of something like this: knitting patterns

My neck tends to get chilled as the cooler weather sets in. You should knit a cowl, also called a neck gaiter by some to wear this winter and all those to come. I thought to myself, you've made oodles of them for charity but not one for yourself. As my daughter, Erin brought me one (1) skein of Rowan Pure Wool Aran weight yarn in a lovely celery green from England, I decide to look for a pattern that I could use it for. I went to Ravelry and looked in my favourites to see what I had pinned there and lo and behold, there was Nic's Ashford Cowl requiring less than 180 yards of yarn. Woot! So, now I have cast on and have one repeat completed.

Day 18 ~ In My Bag

This is just what's in it today. The bag is from Dolly as a Pay it Forward giftie. The embroidered zipper pouch (which contains things like a Swiss Army Knife, a nail file and such) is a gift from Peru. The amber necklace is a gift from my friend Kipp up in Estes Park. I really need to put that back in my jewelry chest. The knitting is the Outlander scarf in the Beauchamp colourway from Knitter's Brewing Company. What's missing is my current Moleskine as I was making notes in it last night and now it's sitting next to my sewing machine.

Day 13 ~ From a Distance

Here's yesterday's shawl from a distance.

Day 12 ~ Close Up

Here is my mohair hand spun on my Thurmaston Suitcase Spinning Wheel and then I hand knit this shawl. I made it this summer as part of the Ravelry Ravellenic Games which is a fun competition associated with watching the Summer Olympics. It is now ready for it's close up...

Day 11 ~ Something Fun

This is Montone. Montone is a glow in the dark alien Christmas tree ornament I was given by Mark about 10 years ago. He's named for a character in Outland, a movie from the 1980s. For fun I take him places and photograph him. He's been to the London Eye, Stonehenge and the top of Pike's Peak. Here he is in Grace's living room in California. He lives in one of my Altoid tins devoted to knitting accouterments, so he travels with me all the time.

Day 9 ~ Faceless Self-Portrait

Hmmm, how to convey me in a self portrait that's faceless? Valiant effort on my behalf, if I do say so...

What I did Yesterday...

I regularly get the LBY Studio blog from the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. This wee project caught my eye on Tuesday and appealed to me in many ways. It's about memories and I have a lot of them relating to knitting. My mother taught me to knit when I was six years old. She also owned a fiber retail business called By Hand in Philadelphia, PA when I was in my teens. I spent many an hour either knitting samples from our new yarns or helping our knitting customers to be more successful with their projects. The memories of being taught to knit and the various projects I worked on over the years is a very long thread of my life. When I was in England two years ago, I was working on a pair of kilt hose for my Da whilst riding the train down from London. A wee lassie watched me for awhile and then asked me what I was doing and how long I had been doing it. I thought about her questions and realized that I had been knitting at that point, for fifty years!

I also am enjoying passing those memories on to the next generation as I have taught both my daughter, Erin and my niece, Mimi to knit. I think both of them will far surpass my skills in the end. After all, Erin has become an extraordinary independent yarn dyer with her own business called The Asylum for Wayward Yarn and Mimi has just finished up a lace shawl project called Evenstar that also included 3000 beads.

So, onto this project. I grabbed some of Erin's hand dyed yarn that was leftover from a hat I knitted for my dear old friend, Rocky. I just cast on 15 stitches and did 4 rows of seed stitch and then 4 inches of stocking stitch and 4 more rows of seed stitch. After casting off, I folded the fabric in half and crocheted the seams and then the loop. Wallah!

There will be a meet and greet for this project at the studio in NYC in May, which sadly, I will not be able to attend. After that, the wee bags and their stories will go to the Wales National Wool Museum for an exhibit during the summer. I, of course will not be able to visit the museum while the exhibit is there, but the thought of my bag being part of it makes me smile. Hopefully I can convince Erin and Guy to make a run to Wales and see it for themselves.

Been Remiss

I have been traveling and knitting and working on my year long altered art project. I apologize to my readers for the brevity of words of late.

Leap Day

I have been making art, but I haven't gotten it photographed. Too much else is going on in my life of course.

Altered Art Journal project is going well. Three two page spreads, got done. One was for Ash Wednesday, not sure if I will share it publicly, as it's verra sad.

I made a wee shawl for a friend to give to his wife for her birthday. Made from a lovely hand dyed alpaca. I need to get more of it and make something for myself.

I have also made 10 hats for charity. I also figured out what lace pattern I wanted to use for Angelique's sweater and am now merrily knitting along.

9 June - Knitting Fan

I am a fan of knitting, as you might know.

This year I have knit a Feather and Fan CYA sweater and a pair of Feather and Fan socks.

I have also knit a Zigzag Pullover. (just needs to be stitched together)

I am working on a Water's Edge Cardi. (waiting for the last skein of yarn to be dyed)

I have just cast on for another shawl.

30 May - Maybe

Maybe:

I will remember the men and women who died in service of this country, that I might live free.

I finished the back for the Zig-Zag Pullover last night.

I cast on for the front of the Zig-Zag Pullover this morning.

I will get to the last day of Territory Days and hear a full set from Arvel Bird the Native American/Scot I really like and discovered last year.

20 May - Maybe

Maybe:
I got nothing done today.
The washing machine is finally fixed.
I bought some new knitting needles and a skein of yarn whilst waiting for Erin to see the dentist.
I found a lovely blue teapot for my ownie-oh.
I had a wonderful supper of London B with Parsnip Potatoes and an Artichoke.

17 May - Maybe

Maybe:

I will get into the shower as soon as I get this posted.
I will get to knit today at the LYS.
I will remember to get Size 3 circs to finish Katte Beth's mitts.
I will get the hems on my new chemise done.

3 May - Maybe

Maybe:
I will go to knit group this morning at the Yarn Outlet.
I will finish packing my kit for the Heritage Day event at Fort Lupton on Saturday.

Montone at the Movies

On Tuesday, Erin and I went to see Shrek IV. In order to avoid the top coating of our parking lot and the accompanying odor of creosote, on Wednesday, after a visit to Mountain Shadows Restaurant for brunch and Green Valley Weavers, Mimi, Erin and I went to see the Prince of Persia and Montone went with. In the background of this photograph is one of the Kilt Stockings I am knitting for my Da to wear to Erin's wedding in October.

Happy 4th of July

These flags are courtesy of Bryn Hughes, an Urban Sketcher of my interwebs acquaintance. I so hope to meet him this year when he comes to visit his daughter, Anna here in CO.

We girls had a small celebration here at the house. I made oven roasted sausage sandwiches and my famous potato salad with blueberry/strawberry shortcakes with REAL whipped creme for the dessert. Geek that I am, the shortcakes were cut in the shape of the contiguous United States. I also gave Jes a lesson in biscuit making as she was having some serious fails in that department. I think I got her on the right track now.

We also had our own stitch and bitch. Mimi, Erin and Jes each started a new project. Erin's making a scarf in Field of Poppies from Fresh from the Cauldron to go with her Gretel. Mimi is making the Multnomah and Jes is learning to crochet by making a baby blanket. As for me, I tried out one of the new bobbins I just got for my spinning wheel. It's a different ratio than I am use to but I think I am spinning with it just fine.





Happy Fourth of July to all, be safe.

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.

#99 of 365 - Big Shawl to Be

So, yesterday I frogged a shawl that wasn't growing to my satisfaction. It was a simple triangle in Stocking Stitch, made be increasing at the beginning and end of every row, but I could see that it would be dragging the floor before it was a wide as I wanted it to be. I had been more and more getting to the point of decision, press on or frog. Frogging won, sigh! No pictures of what it looked like as I neglected that part. Oh well.

After my daily perusal of the blogs I read on a regular basis, I discovered the Mini Weaver's shawl on my friend, Judy's most recent blog post. I cast on for the new one yesterday. Here was the beginning of it as of last night.



Here I am as of today.

It's all scraps and skeins of these two yarns with some mystery yarns thrown in. The two yarns are Reynold's Lopi and Brown Sheep's LambSpun. They are blending together quite nicely. The weight and the shape of this shawl will make me very happy next winter.

This is a replacement big warm shawl for me, as Erin is taking the fringed triangle shawl (which is currently living with Rebecca) with her when she moves to England. It was made from the remainders of some Manos from projects of my dear departed Mum and therefore is sort of a family heirloom now.