klknits

MD Sheep & Wool Festival

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:42:00 +0000

It's been a long time since I've blogged... combination of the fact that I don't knit fast, and that I've been to Ohio a couple times and have shared my knitting in person with everyone.

George & I had a fun time this weekend at Ally's 2nd bday party, going to the MD sheep & wool festival, and grilling out tonight. We are worn out now though!

I have been telling George lately how I want to live in the mountains with all of my fiber animals, take care of them and spin during the day, and knit at night. For a number of reasons this exact fantasy will not become a reality. BUT, I figure why wait to live out certain aspects of it? So today I bought a top whorl drop spindle, and some Finn & Leicester sheep roving. (The kitties are particulary fond of the roving. Cutie Pie came up and sniffed around at it. The next thing I knew he grabbed a mouthful and took off. I chased after him because I didn't want him to get sick from it, and he was running around with some fleece hanging from his mouth! I secretly thought it was adorable and hilarious.) The spindle is really beautiful. Sadly my yarn is lacking quality, but at least I'm making yarn. I did read that the longer you spin, the thinner your thread becomes. Experienced spinners wish they can recreate that rustic & uneven look that beginner spinners get naturally as they learn. It is considered a novelty yarn if it gets thinner and thicker throughout. Maybe the fiber animals and mountains will come some day when we're indepently wealthy...

http://www.mistymountainfarm.com/Fiber.htm

http://www.journeywheel.com/content/view/32/99/

Happy Turkey Day!

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 23:35:00 +0000

Everything tasted great! We have tons of leftovers, but we are sharing them with our friends who are moving in a few days. Thanks for hubby's parents being "Turkey 911" all day, and talking me through the meal. :-) We had cranberry relish, turkey, peas, parmesan mashed potatoes, dressing, and pumpkin pie with real whipped cream. I was in the kitchen just about all day. I had a bunch of other things I wanted to do today, but it took so long to make the food that it will have to wait for another day. Who wants to have us for dinner next year, so somebody else can make us the fancy meal? :-P

Check out the leaves in our yard! Thank goodness we don't have to clean them up ourselves. I can't even imagine having a really big yard with lots of trees.

Kitties enjoyed their Thanksgiving treat of tuna juice!

Adventures in Sock Darning

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:44:00 +0000

This is the first hole that has formed in a sock I've hand knitted.

(Sorry the color is off in the first picture.)

I used a weaving a stitch to fill in the hole. It still looked like there was a couple loose loops so then I secured them with a running stitch around the hole. Ready to wear again!

Update

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:59:00 +0000

I've been working on some homemade Christmas presents lately! If you are on my list, everything is homemade this year. It is taking me many Sundays to work on, but it's fun, and I think everyone will like the items.

Haven't finished the socks for hubby, but I am knitting at a much slower pace lately. Instead of finishing 1 pair of socks every couple months, with knitting every night, I am aiming to finish 1 pair every 6 months or so, with knitting every now and then. In the long run, I think this will be better for my health.

Monster Mums

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 23:52:00 +0000

I decided it was time for a sock post. I really have been knitting! Just finished this sock for my hubby. One night I figured out every little cable takes me 45 minutes. It's best if I only do one cable a night, so my hands don't hurt. So, I used that to figure out that this one sock took me about 5 weeks. I am part of the way through the foot on the second sock. So, now you know why I don't post all that often! It's hard to see how other knitters with blogs can get so much knitting done. If I try to knit faster it makes my hands hurt. Plus, there are so many other things to do with my time! Somehow people find time, or they are much faster knitters than me I guess. Aren't the cables awesome!

Yarn: Paton's Classic Merino Wool

Pattern: Plaits and Ropes from Knitting Stitches by Mary Webb

Knit toe up, with a figure 8 cast on using size 4 DPNs. The heel is knit with Priscilla Gibson Roberts short row heel technique.

Check out this crazy mum bush we got at Costco. I love it! It's so cheerful.

Finished socks

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 21:33:00 +0000

This is my first pair of toe-up socks and I really like the method - I was able to make them as long as I wanted! The yarn is Regia Bamboo (part bamboo, part wool). It's just a really beautiful and nice yarn. The design on the socks came from the cable chapter of my Knitting Stitches book. This was my first cable pattern, and they are so easy and versatile! I am currently planning a men's sock with a cable design.

Here's a picture of the beautiful flowers hubby got me for our anniversary. Aren't they lovely?

:-(

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 01:35:00 +0000

My hands are jacked right now, so I am not knitting. I just tried to do some tonight and it did not feel good. I have been typing lots at work, and something's got to give. Hopefully I get better in time to knit the Regia bamboo yarn I got for the summer.

Honey bunny

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 03:01:00 +0000

I am so stinkin' happy with this little guy. He is just so soft and cuddly and cute!

Cutie with his new friend. Now the bunny needs a name. I think I will keep him for awhile and then gift him. (Maybe : )

I love this picture of Cutie because he is sprawling out on the whole chair and ottoman. It cracks me up that the cat takes up that much room. (And I am sitting on the floor now!)

Decisions, decisions

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Mon, 28 May 2007 02:13:00 +0000

2007 Honda Accord (in Cool Blue ; )

2007 Toyota Corolla (in Charcoal)

Hubby and I went test driving cars today. We really like the Honda Accord (Special Edition trim level) and the Toyota Corolla (CE trim level with anti lock brakes and side curtain airbags options).

Which car do you like best? The most important thing to us is safety, but I confess I don't like the bare bones trim levels.

Very exciting! (But I am supposed to be trying to keep my emotions out of the decision. : )

Finally pics...

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Tue, 22 May 2007 23:02:00 +0000

Cute kitties!

Completed baby blanket. No recipient in mind yet. I am sooo over baby blankets. Such a ton of work. This one took months. I donated the rest of my baby yarn.

Completed very simple crocheted shawl. I am working on a matching child's size version so it can be a mommy/daughter present for a special someone. Thanks for the idea, B!

This is the start of a bunny. (Use your imagination.) I don't know if I will be able to part with it when I am done.

And here is Cutie modeling the bunny tail. (He looks so humiliated.)

(Waiting for their second socks.)

(Just pretend these are done.)

I am alive

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Tue, 08 May 2007 01:19:00 +0000

I am alive (and still knitting). Hubby and I have been working on our golf games quite a bit. I am currently working on 3 pairs of socks. I will post pics as soon as they are done. I am also making an easy crocheted shawl.

Last weekend I went to the MD S&W festival. Amazing! Acquired some natural alpaca/wool blend yarn, hemp blend, bamboo blend, and TOFUtsies (contains chitin - fiber from shellfish that is naturally antibacterial). Thanks for the awesome bday presents mom!!

More Frogging and Ankle Socks

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 22:13:00 +0000

I frogged this scarf today. (See below for closeup.) It was knitted when I was very much a beginner. I had to learn the hard way that stockinette curls. I still love the yarn though - not sure of the exact composition but it obviously has some mohair in it. I am thinking about making a bunny or lamb out of it. What do you think? Can anybody recommend some patterns? Knitty Gritty featured a felted fuzzy bunny, but I'm not sure if this yarn would felt.

I completed the first ankle sock and am working on the foot of the second sock. I am very pleased with how these turned out. Hubby bought me some Panda Cotton-Blend yarn for my birthday and they are destined to be ankle socks as well.

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:51:00 +0000

Socks, socks, socks

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 00:41:00 +0000

L - this is the pair of socks I am making for you. They are turning out perfectly. I can really see the quality go up with every pair I make! See the diamond pattern in the closeup?It is kind of argyle-inspired.

Very beautiful merino wool - so soft! I am taking a little break from this heavy sock for now, in favor of some spring ankle socks...

I am in love with this yarn - the color, how it photographs, the weight, how it feels. I did my first short row heel, using the backwards yarn-over technique. It has been reinforced with Woolly Nylon. It's the first time I've reinforced the heel - really makes the fabric more sturdy! (The pattern for the heel wasn't exactly clear towards the end, so I kind of fudged it a little. It looks good, so I must have guessed right. Just hoping I can remember how I did it for the next sock...)

There's also a picture of the bag I'm keeping this project in - I confess to buying the rice because I knew what I'd use the bag for!

SIL and MIL - this is the yarn you got me from Christmas. Thank you sooo much.

The funny thing is I have about 5 more skeins of this, so friends/family, let me know if you want a pair of ankle socks in this color! :-) Maybe I'll actually make, *gasp*, something besides socks with it.

Frog Pond

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 18:25:00 +0000

I am working on two new pairs of socks. One I've got about 3 inches of the cuff done; the other I've got about a 1/2 inch of the cuff done. I'll post pictures after I've made more progress. I had to completely rip one of the socks last night because I cast on with 49 stitches, instead of 48. (I'm going to be doing a 12 stitch repeat.) I was seriously considering sneaking a decrease in, instead of ripping. In the end, I wasn't that far along so it wasn't too bad.

I'm just taking these socks slow, because I don't want to push my hands. I'm trying to keep it to 1 hour a night. That was the amount of time recommended to me.

Early feminism versus knitting

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:28:00 +0000

This was posted on one of my knitting groups today, and it's an interesting/poetic read.

http://taoknitter.blogspot.com/2007/03/oh-eliza-i-beseech-you-knit-no-more.html

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:59:00 +0000

These are the finished socks for SIL. They are already packaged up to send to her for Easter. It is the last of the purple color yarn that I have. (At the time of purchase, I didn't know how much yarn it actually took to make socks.)

This is the pretty cell phone cover I made. It is knit in the round. Halfway through, I bound off half the stitches and continued the flap. Then, I did some decreases toward the end of the flap. Cool, huh?

Mom, this is the book I bought for you to read on vacation.

Mom, this is the pink nailpolish I bought for us to use in Florida. It has really pretty iridescent specks in it that you can't see in the picture.

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 02:31:00 +0000

QUESTION: WHAT THE HECK ARE THESE THINGS?
(They are in my knitting bag, and I have no clue what they're for. I think they came in a "Teach Yourself to Crochet" kit, but I really can't remember that well.)

ANSWER:
(Thank you for the responses and kind messages.)
The consensus is that these are bobbins. You wind a different color of yarn on each bobbin. This way, when you're knitting with many different colors the yarn does not get tangled and messy.

I'm working on the toe for the second sock for SIL, so photos will be coming soon. Probably next week because hubby is going to run me around all weekend.

Here are some photos of socks that I've made. It's fun to watch my knitting progress.

The socks in the below picture were the first pair I made for myself. I actually made 2 pairs before these, but both were too short. So, I gave them away to people with smaller feet! This pair I was determined to make big enough. They are really probably 4 stitches too big, but I wear them over other socks. They are acrylic, which I don't think I'd use for socks again. They are very warm, but the acrylic can sometimes get sweaty. The colors have stayed bright, and they've held up great. The yarn was called Jiffy (sold at Jo Anns).

(Thanks to hubby for taking the photo of my feet!)

The brown socks were made for my hubby. (After watching me knit three pairs of socks, he was ready to enjoy some fruits of my labor!) You can see at this point I hadn't progressed to anything past a simple, plain vanilla sock pattern. I haven't made a pair of men's socks since! They take so much longer. :-( These socks were knit with Wool Ease. You can see that they are starting to get fuzzy, but that's partially my fault because I've washed and dryed repeatedly. (I'm going to start using better yarns and hand washing all of my handmade socks.)

Not Pictured: Beautiful green socks for my aunt for Christmas. They were knit following a broken rib pattern. It was the first time I followed a pattern all the way down the length of the socks. These really turned out nice...wish I had a picture.

The fair isle socks are the most challenging socks I've knit to date. Many firsts: first contrasting heel/toe, first salt and pepper pattern (heel), first fair isle knitting. One of the socks is tighter than the other, even though they have the same number of repeats. I think I carried the strands tighter in one of the socks. These were also knit with Wool Ease.

Obligatory cat photos:

(so precious)

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 01:23:00 +0000

Couldn't resist going back to Jo Anns (a different store though) to see if there were any different colors on sale. Jackpot! Love the blue. Hubby wants the neutral colors. I will do the solid as a contrasting heel. Maybe I'll try a short row heel. I'm becoming a fiber snob, because there was a bunch of acryl-ICK yarn on sale. No way!

I read on my friend's blog how they don't take pictures of their cats anymore, now that they have a baby. It made me so sad to think I wouldn't have time for my kitties anymore. I hope this whole baby thing will be worth it....

For now, I can take as many as I want. :-) The grey one is so photogenic! We love the orange one too, but he is hungry right now, waiting for his 10 pm feeding....so, he is not patient enough to pose for a cute photo.

Obligatory cat photo:

Poor husband was not feeling well yesterday, but we did manage to go out and enjoy the sunshine for a short walk.

This weekend:

Last weekend:

So exciting ...

I put all my yarn in the attic when my hands were hurting. Last night I had to go up there to bring some down, and I found some beautiful pink and blue wool I had forgotten about. I'm thinking about trying a lace pattern with the pink because it's lace weight. I've tried a feather and fan lace pattern with worsted weight before - what a disaster. I had to rip it. The yarn was too thick for the pattern to show.

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 05:36:00 +0000

Wow. I just spent about all evening trying to figure out how to read a knitting chart. I am trying to get into harder patterns. The Fisherman's Rib pattern I was deciphering wasn't really that complicated, but it took me forever to figure out that you are only supposed to repeat stitches that are not shaded, and stitches that are shaded are performed once. (Of course, my husband found the part in the introduction that explained this to me...smart a**). Then, I was looking on the internet for Fisherman's Rib, and that wasn't helping because it seems there are many different variations of the pattern.

So, now I have figured out the pattern. BUT, I don't think I like how the colors are coming together. I might just do a simple k3, p1 or k1, p1 rib so to avoid the messy look of the colors mixing.

Not sure if I can bring myself to rip it tonight though. At least I learned how to read a chart for next time.

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 01:38:00 +0000

For SIL, just so you know I haven't forgotten the beautiful coral 100% wool you got me for Christmas. Here is what I plan on making with some of it: http://www.knitty.com/issuesummer06/PATTfetching.html
I'll have to learn how to make cables for the pattern, so I guess I've been kind of saving it for when I am craving a good knitting challenge.

Purchases for today from Jo Ann Fabrics:
- Woolly Nylon.
Now that I'm knitting with 100% wool, it will be nice to be able to reinforce it. Woolly Nylon was recommended by the socknitters yahoo group. I was hoping to find it in transparent, but ended up buying some colors that I see myself frequently knitting with. I figure the black will work with most dark colors. Oh, and it was all on sale for 1/2 price!
- Paton's 100% Merino Wool in Harvest and Regency.
The yarn was also on sale for 2 for $8. This will probably be enough for 4 pairs of socks. I just couldn't make the leap to buy the $18/skein yarn I've been drooling over on the internet. Maybe for my birthday.
- Susan Bates Size 4 DPNs.
I needed a pair of size 4s to cast on for another sock project (not pictured yet). I really want to buy a pair of hardwood needles, but they're $20/set and, again, couldn't make the leap yet. Someday... I figured for the $4 bucks this pair cost, they will work for a while.

Progress on second sock for SIL. The pattern (see closeup) is called blackberry stitch. I got it from Knitting Stitches by Mary Webb.

P.S. You'll notice the quality of pictures in this post is much better. That's because I remembered to upload the photoshopped pics, not the raw downloaded pics. Duh!

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 16:51:00 +0000

I haven't figured out how to rotate pictures yet. It is totally snowing out!! We skipped church again, for the THIRD week in a ROW. This is really looking bad on our record... In our defense, this week it's not our fault, since the weather is bad. This is really only the second time I can remember this year where it snowed really hard, causing accumulation. Hopefully I can get to work tomorrow, so I don't have to use another vacation day.

I love my Daddy!

I bought all these books from the library for $2.73! We watched SuperNanny the other day, which sparked hubby's interest in discipline techniques. What a good coincidence the library was cleaning out their parenting books. I am reading the yellow book...the format is common baby care questions & answers. Really a fast read. The "Your Child At Play" books are cute because they have age appropriate game and activity ideas.

I love my kitty tree Mommy & Daddy. It keeps me warm and makes me feel like no one can see me!

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 22:14:00 +0000

OTN:

Crocheted baby blanket. Not for anybody in particular, but just a way to use up some cheap acrylic baby yarn I'd bought. Also, I just learned to crochet and it's an easy pattern to learn on.

Socks for sister-in-law. This is the first pair of socks I've designed myself, and the first pair I've been able to knit in months. (My hands were getting tingling/numbness for months, and now it's lessened enough that I can do small amounts of knitting. The doctor does not think the numbness was from knitting, but it's still worth being careful not to overdo it.) The yarn is Wool Ease.

noreply@blogger.com (kl) — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 21:58:00 +0000

Mommy's little angels! Kitties were not cooperating with getting their picture taken today, so I found some recent photos of them snuggling in bed.