Month: August 2007

My Rowan 4 ply Cotton in Opaque arrived today, all the way from the UK. It didn’t take me much time at all to get started working on Joy from Rowan 41.

And here is the start of Joy

I know, I know. I have a lot of projects going on right now. But really, it’s only 3 I am actually working on; the Mystery Stole, the Sahara and now Joy. I got the swatch & all done for the aluminum shaped lace tee but decided that Joy should come first. I have been anxiously awaiting this project and now I can begin!

Okay, I am still having issues posting articles & for some reason a draft wasn’t saved of this one so here I am again, trying to post it all again. Here goes.

Firstly, thank you so much for the prayers & well wishes for George. He was just dehydrated so they hooked up an IV and he was home after just a couple of hours. I will say, he learned his lesson! He’s taken his diet seriously, started to really exercise more actively (2-3 nights of soccer league a week) but for some reason his daily dose of diabetes meds has been the thing he lets slip. And, drinking enough water on weekends. Weekdays, no problem staying hydrated. This bout with dehydration was a mix of a lack of water, meds and eating too much fruit. Yes, fruit is his enemy. Sad, isn’t it? Needless to say, he’s fine now, back at work and we won’t let that happen again. He’s not one to repeat mistakes usually ;o)

On to knitting.

After such a crappy day yesterday I was happily surprised by some gorgeous yarn in the mail (and it has a pattern waiting for it too)

Colourmart 100% silk, Aluminum, DK weight, 150 grams 550 yards

That is the Shaped Lace Tee from Knitting Lingerie Style

Here is my gauge swatch, the bottom half is on 7’s and the top half on 6’s. I like how the gauge on the 6’s looks but he 7’s matches gauge and I will have to wear a cami underneath anyways so I don’t mind it a little drapey.

I haven’t cast on yet but I will soon enough!

I also received my Beadwrangler order of 6/0 beads yesterday for the Sahara sweater neckline, cuffs and hem.

from left to right: Old Ivory Opaque #117, Garnet Lustre Opaque #442, Crystal s/l #120, Red s/l #404, Light Beige Pearl #212

Here they are on the yarn

My favorite is the first on the right, Garnet Lustre Opaque #442. The second on the right, the Light Beige Pearl #212 is my second choice. The picture of the tub is a more accurate color for the beige pearl, farthest on the right.

This sweater is a relatively straightforward knit. I am working down the body just about to start the hip increases. Then the shirt tail hem with beading. I am hoping to just string them & randomly knit them in.

Chart F on the Mystery Stole is next up for today.

(We are now up to 4 times trying to get this posted. Good thing on the second try I selected all and copied it. aaaaaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhh)

I just had a whole huge post & boom, it’s gone. That has been happening a lot lately on this host. That makes me rather angry but I will just repost the pictures without so much editorial.

Yesterday I went to Michaels and they had new knit bags. I used my 40% coupon on one & here it is!

And there was a sock pouch also, so I got one. It is just what I have been looking for in a sock pouch. No crazy fabrics, ugly colors. Just simple brown with a clip & drawstring. It’s also big enough to hold 2 socks at once with both balls of yarn. I will cast on & take a pic of the project in there soon.

I like them a lot!

Also, I finished the woolease Granny Square blanket. It’s about 36″ by 36″. Just big enough for a baby. It’ll get put away until one comes along that needs it (winkwinknudgenudgeAli).

Once that was done on Saturday night I decided to pick up the Mystery Stole. I got through all of Chart E yesterday and am pretty pleased. It’s a lot of Cat’s Paw so it wasn’t too terribly hard to do. Just a lot of rows. Chart F is more of the same so I am hoping to get it finished today/tonight. I would like to be done with all of clue’s 4 & 5 by Friday so I am all caught up for clue 6.

Oh, I made George take some pics of me in the Bedjacket, not too pleased with the pictures but oh how I love that sweater!

I used a vintage style button that is the shape of a lady’s head with her hair flowing. I will try to get a good picture of it closeup. I love it, very vintage and feminine.
After wearing the sweater most of the day yesterday I will say it needs a good steam blocking in a few places to behave while it’s being worn. Overall, it was a great first day out!

And, one last thing. Please pray or send your good thoughts our way today. George just checked himself into the ER with high blood sugar (hovering around 400 for those of you in the know) and his insulin just isn’t bringing it down. I have a feeling it’s just a matter of dehydration. They will hook him up to an IV and get him all wet again. They will also drill into his head the importance of overhydrating. I actually don’t think he could ever be overhydrated with the meds he’s on & his diabetes. He very rarely even needs to take his insulin. Diet & exercise have taken care of it. But this past week I think he just slowly became dehydrated. I will start riding him again & make sure he’s being a good boy drinking his H2o.

The theme for the Mystery Stole 3 is Swan Lake. One of my favorite ballets. Okay, I only have seen a few ballets and most of them on PBS but it’s really a beautifully tragic story. So there you have it.

I have been not so happy with what I have been knitting over the past few days after finishing the Bedjacket. So I thought I would pick up some crochet until I found inspiration to return to the Mystery Stole. I dug through projects already going and found the Lion Brand Granny Square blanket I started ages ago & put away. I am hoping to just finish the thing off in the next few days and move right back into the MS.

I also got a package of sock yarns from The Loopy Ewe.

From left to right:

Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in Green Mtn Madness

sKnitches Syncopation in Collegiate

Louet Gems Sport in Pewter

Gypsyknits BFL superwash in Knit On

Who knows what will eventually happen with these yarns. Winter is usually my sock knitting time of the year (opposite of everyone else, I know) but there could be some cute baby stuff too. It is too bad I don’t have any babies to knit for at this point.

Now, off to crochet the blanket!

Using only manual lens focus and natural light I took a bunch of pictures of the 99.9% complete Bedjacket.

Now I am just waiting for them to be transferred onto the computer so I can post them online. I have a feeling they are all in RAW format which means I will need to compress them before posting them. Hopefully they are in FINE but we’ll just have to wait & see after they are transferred.

So while we are waiting I will tell you what I have been up to. I started the Sahara sweater from StitchDiva using Cotton Fleece (no real surprise there) in red. I purchased a bunch of different size 6/0 beads from the Beadwrangler today to use on the collar & cuffs. In the pattern they use the Tilli Tomas yarns that are prestrung with beads, sequins, rocks. I love it but I am just not willing to pay for it. I can do it myself thankyouverymuch.

Okay, the pictures transferred so here are a few. Sorry if they are huge, I have no choice at this point ;o)

I haven’t put the final crochet edging around all the edgings and I still have a button to put on the front where they meet.

And here is the start of the Sahara sweater

wow that is a nice picture!

So that is what I am working on at the moment. I am planning to work on the Mystery Stole I have just been too depressed to do anything but mindless knitting. Maybe next week or over the weekend I can get caught up on Clue 4.  Until then, more fun stockinette! Maybe I will cast on some new socks. My dpn’s are calling me, I haven’t knit a sock on a dpn in probably 8 months or so ;o) It’s time.