Start-itis

My que of projects on Ravelry represents my wish list of everything I'd like to knit if I had a gazillion years of "me" time. Since that's not the case, deciding what to make next is always a challenge. This summer I was on a cardigan binge where I started the Cotton Crane Cardi, the Oriel Lace Cardi, and the Tempest Cardi.



All of them beautiful - none of them finished.

While at Stitches Midwest, cousin Jen gifted me some great sock yarn. Of course, in the hotel that night, I started a pair of toe-up socks with the gusset on the bottom (my new favorite sock technique from Wendy Johnson).



As I finish-up the first sock (do I really need 2?), my attention is drawn back to the que. This time it's hats & scarves for fall. Someone please send the knitting police to issue me a citation - I must finish something soon!

Stitches Midwest 2010

I enjoy all types of Yarny Events - from the mega Maryland Sheep & Wool Fest to the local Homespun Yarn Party. This past weekend, I headed up to Schaumberg, IL for the annual Stitches Midwest expo. My cuz, Jen, lives nearby so it was also a chance to hangout with fam & fellow knit-crazy.

This was my second year in attendance and another chance to support some of my favorite vendors: Signature NeedleArts, Miss Babs Yarns, Creatively Dyed Yarns, Habu Textiles, and Webs. My first Stitches event was Stitches East in Baltimore a few years ago. And although I enjoy the Midwest locale, the event didn't quite "wow" me like that first one. Either I'm getting jaded or just anticipating the Rhinebeck festival in October. Anywho...... none of that stopped me from enjoying some stash enhancement.



My favorite purchases by far were Signature's Sock Blockers (that feature the rare ability to hang over your shower rod) and a couple tshirts that tout my love for the hobby (I did say I am a knit-crazy......).


Jen and I both started new projects at the hotel on Saturday night (yep, knit-crazy)that should be done just in time for the trek to Rhinebeck. Until next time........happy knitting!

Yarn As Decor

I am lucky enough to have a dedicated knitting room in the house. Well actually, it's a knitting-slash-guest-slash-exercise-slash-TV room. Since the TV is most often tuned to HGTV, the decor changes very frequently. But one thing never changes - the decor is focused on my love of yarn & knitting. Here's the latest layout.



My favorite part has to be the "yarn planters" and open baskets that keep my stash in sight. After last winter's snowstorms & the most recent freak thunderstorms, I've learned to appreciate the ability to shop from my own stash when the weather turns bad.

Speaking of stash - this week has offered multiple opportunities for enhancements. Knit Happens is closing its doors and A Tangled Skein hosted their popular "Friday the 13th" sale. Willpower kept me away from both events but I decided to use my Fibre Space birthday gift certificate from knitsis Ava for these goodies:
They are both Miss Babs "Yummy" HandPainted Sock Yarns. The first color reminds me of Mardi Gras colors & will make a great pair of celebration socks.

Coming up at the end of the week is Stitches Midwest in Schaumburg, IL. Of course, I will be traveling to attend with my cuz, Jen. Meanwhile, still working on the Paper Crane Cardi. It's coming along nicely & with any luck maybe I can wear it to Stitches. Until next time - Happy knitting y'all!

Happy Birthday Satchmo!

This past weekend was the Satchmo Summerfest in New Orleans, LA - the annual celebration of Louis Armstrong's birthday. What a blast! It's been a couple years since I've traveled to New Orleans & when my feet touched the ground (& the hella-heat hit me), I knew it had certainly been too long. Memories of Hurricane Katrina are still abundant but the city is looking better & better. After spending over 15 years traveling between DC and New Orleans on business, this city holds my heart.

The festival started on Friday night with the Club Strut - a grand party on Frenchman Street where you stroll from club to club listening to the artists. Unfortunately a late thunderstorm nixed the strutting but the talent was still fantastic inside the clubs. Saturday and Sunday's activities were on the grounds of the U.S. Mint with 2 stages outside, 1 stage inside, various dance lessons, and a series of seminars nearby at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe. The heat dictated the plan of the day.......listen to a couple of artists; make your way inside to suck up all the air conditioning possible; back outside for a couple more artists; then down the street to sit & enjoy a couple seminars (again - in air condititioned comfort).
Saturday night was White Linen Night - another stroll around the Arts District & the Contemporary Arts Center - wearing your best white linen fashion.

Best of all I got to catch up with old friends, eat loads of fantastic food, visit the French Market and of course visit the local yarn shop. Hard to believe after all those years in the city, this was my first trip to the Quarter Stitch. A wonderful little shop, packed with knitting, cross stitch, and needlepoint goodies.




Can't wait to go back to my home away from home.

Sock Love

Made my first pair of socks back in 2008. Definitely a knitting accomplishment for me but I didn't catch the "sock bug". My knitsis, Debbie, told me about Wendy Johnson's toe-up sock pattern that features the gusset on the bottom (no picking up stitches). Ahhhhhhh.......I've been bitten by the bug. Not only is toe-up knitting the way to go but that gusset is sweet!



This pair uses Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in the Java colorway. Really like the Waffle Rib stitch from the Sensational Knitted Socks book so it's incorporated in the instep and leg. Definitely the first of many socks to come but for now it's also a diversion from the endless stockinette in the Paper Crane cardigan. I'm finally at the armholes - WHEW!



Back to the Sock Love so I can finish & return to the Cardi........Happy Knitting!

Sip Happens

My oldest daughter lives in southwest Virginia - in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I love to take Amtrak (prime knitting time) and this holiday weekend was the perfect time for a visit. We spent Friday evening enjoying her homemade pound cake & sangria then headed out to Peaks of Otter Winery & Orchard on Saturday afternoon. What a blast! We sampled their many different fruit wines and blends with names like "Blackberry Cobbler", "Vino Colada", "Strawberry Shortcake", and "Pumpkin Pie". The tasting ends with a challenge to try the "Kiss the Devil" Chili Pepper wine. Made from 30 varieties of peppers, it's really made for cooking but what the heck........
That's my face right after the tasting; my Kiss-the-Devil sticker that I'll wear as a badge of honor; and us with the official Wine Devil. The grounds were absolutely beautiful, filled with plums, apples, and blackberries. After picking a few plums, we headed back up the road.

Independence Day was also wonderful at the Music for Americans event sponsored by The Roanoke Times. We grabbed a sno cone & funnel cake & found a great jam with the Sway Katz & enjoy the fireworks.

Of course weekends aren't perfect without knitting so mine was with me every step of the way. Last week I started Kirsten Johnstone's Paper Crane Cardi using some laceweight cotton stash yarn purchased from Old Mill Yarns last year at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. It's a very interesting color that's difficult to capture in a picture - a blue/purple mix. The project is perfect for a road-trip cause it's miles and miles of stockinette using size 2 needles. Finally seeing some progress
and plan to have it finished in time to wear to Stitches Midwest.

Home again, home again........ and back to work tomorrow. Happy Knitting!

Back in the Real World

My 30-days medical leave is over. Physically I'm feeling pretty good. The only lingering side effects are infrequent muscle spasms in the shoulders & back. I use them as my indicator when I've done too much - and quickly rachet it back. I'm back at work now & missing my lazy afternoons & evenings of knitting.

My wallet is breathing a sigh that I'm back to my day job to support my knitting habit (lol). The stash grew quite a bit over the last month as I enjoyed sales at Webs, kpixie, and elann. Finally took advantage of the "Hurt Book Sale" at Interweave to stock up on some titles that I didn't want to pay full price for. The books are fantastic, with no sign of flaws. The shipping costs were equivalent to a book price but didn't kill the deal. In the past month I finished the socks for DD#2 as well as the cotton tee.


















Have made great progress on the Oriel Lace Cardigan by Kristen Hipsky. A really fun & interesting pattern that keeps your interest between the raglan shaping and lace pattern. I'm modifying it quite a bit - first by using a heavier alpaca/silk yarn perfect for the fall. Also have decided to finish it with 3/4 length sleeves and a crocheted edging instead of the knitted buttonband and collar. Here's my "in progress" pic:



Committed to finishing it up over the 4th of July weekend so I can start on the next project. Haven't quite decided what that will be. If you haven't seen the Vogue Early Fall issue - check it out........gorgeous selections.

Happy Knitting!

Road to Recovery

It's been two weeks since my surgery to replace a disc in my neck that was pressing on a nerve bundle and causing lots of pain. In addition to the replacement, doctors fused the spine to ensure the new disc stays in place.
Getting lots of rest with the help of the family (my girls are awesome). No more pain in the right arm - just some soreness/stiffness in the back & shoulder muscles. Today was my first follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon who took these cool pics:






Still waiting on the return of my voice and of course all this came with some hardware (aka neck jewelry) that just begs for the "beadazzler":








I am blessed that none of this deters the avid knitter in me (lol) so I'm finally at a point where I can pick up the ole knitting needles. Here's the progress on Raglan Leaf T-shirt:

With a couple more weeks of recuperation, I look forward to clearing out the WIPs. Happy knitting everyone!

Waiting.......

Well, my surgery for disc replacement in my neck has been postponed until next week. Everything happens for a reason so I'm trying to be patient. In the meantime, I started a new project. It's the Leaf T-Shirt by Melissa DeBarre. Haven't had much success with raglan sleeves but this is a dream cause it's knit top down. Best of all it's seamless.



With any luck, I'll complete the tee before next week. I still have two WIPs that need to get finished: the Tempest cardigan by Ann Weaver has always been one of my favorites and I'm pairing Miss Babs Swing Yarn (Chocolate Roses) with Creatively Dyed Yarn (Beaches) for a pink/brown combo. Lovin it.....the finished style is shown on the right.










My other WIP is a pair of socks that I began during the Olympics (hangs her head in shame). By the end of the games I had "second sock syndrome" so they've been lounging in the WIP pile ever since. Yarn is the Monsoon colorway from Socks That Rock from a swap with my cuz.


In the quest to finish what I start in 2010, these WILL be finished before I start another new project. By the way, hope all you frugal knitters have discovered that Tuesday Morning now carries discontinued yarns. Limited quantities, but nice stuff - and the inventory changes weekly. My latest great find was the Elsebeth Lavold Silky Cashmere......

Whoosh!

That's the sound of dust being blown off this blog.

As usual, work & life have kept me away. For the next 4 to 6 weeks that will change since I'll be homebound after disc-replacement surgery for my neck.

This past weekend was my last chance to kick up the heels for awhile & what better location then Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Aunt Eunice flew in from Ohio and Cousin Jen came from Illinois. Knitsis Debbie was kind enough to chauffer but Ava was feeling under the weather. Stood in an early line at Starbucks and waited in another line of traffic to enter the fairground but it was all worth it. Here are a couple pics (thanks to Jen & Facebook) of our adventure.






The heat was unbelievable but so were the deals. Tilli Thomas yarns have been calling my name (but not my pocketbook) since last year's Stitches expo. The great deals on the discontinued colors were worth the wait. I know I missed out on alot by the Ravelry reviews, but there's always next year. My mission was complete after getting my Signature circs. Here's the goodies.....



I'll post again soon after the surgery - send me lots of good vibes please.

Valentine Love

I just love Lola.........

What a Difference a Day Makes

Hi-five to all the young men who shoveled out the neighborhood driveways yesterday. Still waiting on the snowplows to semi-clear the street but it's great to see the sunshine today. What a difference a day makes:


This whole situation is a great testiment to tele-commuting. With the office closed for the last 4 days, I haven't seen my co-workers but we're still functioning via blackberry, the internet, and telephone to ensure things aren't falling too far behind. But enough of that stuff - on to the knitting........

No second sock syndrome here. Expect to finish the second "Yummy" today and making great progress to finish daughter's Every Way Wrap. It was supposed to be a Christmas present but with her birthday right around the corner, it's time to get it done.

Tomorrow starts the Olympics of Ravelry - aka Ravelympics 2010. I'm entering the Sock Hockey event. I'll be starting a new sock project during the Opening Ceremony and commit to having it completed by Closing Ceremony. Stay tuned for my pattern & yarn choices.

Happy Knitting!