big news

It's about time I got back here to post.

I have news - I have moved to East Falmouth. Everyone I've talked to about this has used the phrase, "a new adventure" but I have to say, right now it's not too adventurous. It was sad to leave my home and say goodbye to Elvis but I had to go. Things are looking up, though and I hope to blog more often now that I have more time for life and less time driving in my car.


I'm working on unpacking and putting my life back together. Spring is just around the corner and this year will truly be a rebirth. I hope all is well with you!

late summer diversions remembered

Scrolling through my own blog I discover I haven't blogged about knitting since August. I guess we could blame my obsession with Ravelry. I LOVE posting finished projects as soon as I can get a good photo and most of the time I don't have a long list of pattern notes to justify a full blog post. But most of the people who read my blog might not get to Ravelry to see my projects. So how about an update?! In chronological order, of course.

Here are the last of my summer/early fall knits.

Athos (with the sleeves from Porthos)
Norah Gaughan Vol. 2 from Berroco
Knit in Linen Jeans

This one is really pretty, I think, and really flattering. It is one of the knits in my collection that might not get as much wear since the store is usually to cold for me to wear something like this without a sweater over it (then no one will see it!). Maybe there will be some nice occasion to wear it this summer. Right now this one is hanging in the store so people can see another sample from the booklet.

The yarn has a beautiful drape to it and as a linen blend benefits from a little wear and tear. It is on the higher end of the Berroco scale but I'm not disappointed in the investment as it's beautiful. It's a worsted weight so it works up quickly and I would love a summery cardigan with it.

The week before Madelyn was born I said, "jeez, I should make the kid some clothes!" So I did. Quick and easy, here is the kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting knit in Sugar n Cream Twists. I can see why so many have knit this one.

And here is a classic and sweet sweater from knitty.com - Helena, knit in Babyboo a wonderful machine-wash bamboo blend from Knit One Crochet Too. It is one repeat short on the lace section just to make it a tad smaller. Her mom liked them both and I hope she got to wear them a few times before she grew out of them (she's so freakin cute!)

I started this project late in the spring but it didn't get done as fast as I wanted it to:

Salem
Berroco Naturlin Booklet
Crocheted in Comfort

This one was for Celeste and John in celebration of their one-year wedding anniversary. We didn't give them a real wedding present, I mean we did but it was yarn and video game stuff, and I wanted to give them something for their future home. So I picked out a grouping of colors in the Comfort and started crocheting.

This pattern was very enjoyable since it was the most portable project in recent memory. Once the pattern was in my brain I could just grab the yarn and go. It didn't get tedious since I alternated with other projects and took a break in the middle, but if I had to get it all done at once I would probably have been a little bored with it. Also, my hands don't hold up to crocheting as well as knitting and I have to take more breaks.

The Comfort was a pleasure to crochet with, if a bit splitty. Once I found the right hook to use it was just fine. I know some people have had trouble with the splitting to the point of giving up one it, but I really like this yarn and much prefer it to our other machine-wash option, Encore.

Christmas and New Years, in a nutshell

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Christmas this year was much more fun then last year for one big reason- Last year I let Elvis's grumpiness get to me a little bit more than I should have and so I was kind of sad that he didn't join in the festivities more. This year I stuck to my whatever attitude much more and we were both the happier because of it! By "whatever" I mean I let him do what he wanted to do or opt out of things when he wanted to and I didn't get upset or sad about it (and he let me do what I wanted to do without complaining about it). It also helped that he decided to join in this year!!

Christmas eve - we relaxed and had a roasted chicken for dinner. It was SO delicious! I made real gravy, Elvis made fake mashed potatoes and we had homestyle biscuits. I wish we could do it every weekend (maybe I'll pick one up on the way home :-)
Christmas Day we went to my mom's house for an early afternoon meal of wonderful Ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and apple sauce. Man, I love food.
In the evening we made it to Elvis's Mom's house though the kids had visited in the morning this year so we missed them. It was nice to get to both houses this year though we still missed people in the traveling. We did get to see everyone eventually. Deryn came over with his dad to open up his presents and Elvis caught Ethan at his mom's house a few weeks later.
Even Cadbury was spoiled by his grandma:

More christmas photos of people opening presents can be found here!

In the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve I got this 24-hour bug thing... UGH! I took that Monday off of work while I shrugged off the aches and fever. Then I got a cold to top it all off, but all is good. Aside from making me very tired, I was really fine. I didn't go out for New Year's with Elvis, though, no way I was going out in that freeeezing weather. I spent a lot of time in this spot finishing up some Christmas knitting with Cadbury:It is about time for some yarn and fiber updates on here. I'll try and get some stuff done over the course of the afternoon and evening tonight so I don't put it off any longer. Work has been busy, which is awesome, but also means I can't slack off and blog at work like I used to :-)

If you're reading this, I hope you are well and had a wonderful December and New Year's celebration!

French Fried Onions

I just finished digging out my car from our first big snowfall of the year. It came in late Friday and the snow showers are still hanging around Sunday afternoon. Boy are my arms tired! I think we must have 10" this time around.
Since Christmas is almost here I thought I might post about Thanksgiving ;-)

This year we went to my Mom's (last year was Elvis' mom's house). I think it might have been the most relaxing thanksgiving in recent memory. There wasn't too much cooking to do since there was only 5 of us and we just watched some movies and ate some food. This was the first year we had green bean casserole and oh my, it was good! Another bad-for-me food to crave.

I made Magic Cookie Bars:MMmmmm.....

After dinner we all played a couple rounds of Wii bowling and some of the other random games on there. Ahhh.... stress-free holidays...

Since then I've just been working and trying to get a few Christmas presents knit. I put up my tree in the alcove between the living room and dining room this year:

I think it's so pretty there. I wasn't sure it would fit but I bent down the tallest branch & it looks just fine. Right now there is a pile of unwrapped presents underneath it. Add that to the to-do list for today :-)

I'll spend today relaxing with my knitting in the snowy city. I wonder when the show will stop...

(my christmas cactus finally bloomed, I've had it for 3.5 years and this is the first year)

I'm not sure what my Christmas plans are yet, maybe Christmas eve at Elvis's mom's and Christmas at my mom's. I AM done shopping - horray! I waited until the last 2 weeks to get going on that. I'm still waiting for a few to come in the mail but they are at least on their way.

I hope everyone has a happy Christmas!!

Hexagon patterns

Hexagons… generic, not Norah’s

This first one is the one I prefer & would probably knit
From outside-in
Figure out your CO by your gauge – your sts/in multiplied by 18 (for instance 5 sts/in x 18=90 CO)
Join, knit one round
Mark 6 evenly spaced points
Knit the next round, decreasing 2 stitches at each marked point. You can “design” some here by picking your fav decrease combo.

I did… CO 90, marked every 15th stitch with a removable marker, k to within one stitch of this st. and did a centered double decrease – slip 2 stitches knitwise together, k1, pass slipped stitches over)

K2 rounds

Continue to decrease until you hit the center (6 sts remain) – be sure to put 2 even rounds in between decrease rounds to keep it flat.

From the center-out
CO 6 sts, join, knit one round
*K1, yo, repeat from * around
K 2 rounds *k1, (k1, yo, k1) in the same st. repeat from * around
K2 rounds
K2, *yo, k1, yo, k3, repeat from * around ending with a k1 instead of a k3
K2 rounds
K3, *yo, k1, yo, k5, repeat from * around ending with a k2 instead of a k5

• Repeat yarn over round, adding 2 stitches in between the (yo, k1, yo) group each round (for instance the next round would have *yo, k1, yo, k7 repeat * around…
• You can “design” some by replacing the YOs with your favorite increase method
• I marked the k1 “point” stitch with a removable marker in the first round or two so I wouldn’t mess up
• Knit 2 rounds in between each increase round to keep the hexagon flat
• Stop when you have your sts/in x 3 in between the points.

Something to note – my chunky inside-out hexagon with the yarnovers didn’t block pointy. I think it was the chunky yarn on size 8DPNs :-D

If anyone finds corrections in here let me know via PM and I’ll edit it!

HHR

As usual I am busy at the store, knitting and having an all-around good time (think-sunshine with patches of gray). I'm thoroughly distracted by ravelry.

Elvis had a great birthday last weekend - out all night with the boys Friday and Saturday and then paid for it on Sunday! Yup - he's 31 now, the body reminds you you're too old for drinking all night once you hit your mid 20s (in my experience). This weekend he's going to see A WWE Wrestling event in Boston - Survivor Series! It's a pay-per-view event and I know big things are going to happen at it & Elvis is really excited. John Cena is coming back that night, I think!

I keep forgetting to post that we got a new car. Not for Elvis's birthday but for Elvis to use:
A 2007 Chevy HHR with really low mileage. I think he good a good deal on it and I'm so happy with his choice of cars. It's really a family car though he wishes he could pimp it out a bit. It gets about the same mpg as my camry:

and it really seems like a fancy station wagon to me :-) Safe, reliable, another bill to pay but not OUT of our budget. I hope it lasts a loooooooong time.

Rhinebeck Report

It's been a few weeks, but it's time for the Rhinebeck report...
Rhinebeck was AWEsome!
The New York State Sheep and Wool Festival was a wonderful experience! It was just a HUGE amount of fiber, yarn, fleeces, equipment, animals and fair food. You could look around the crowd and spot "famous" knitting patterns everywhere & creative projects walking around. You could even spot famous knitters & writers!!

I met a Llama:


And I did a bit of shopping. Actually, this was the first building we went into. And my biggest purchase of the day was first thing! An Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel:
yeah... I bought it from the Merlin Tree, who is actually located in Vermont. It has a folding modification - they cut through the bottom and put a hinge on it so that it's more portable. They also sell a wheel called the "Hitchhiker" which looked pretty cool!

I bought a bit of yarn from various vendors... some natural brown crunchy wool, some superwash, supersoft wool and some mohair for mom. And a bit of fiber:
Oh man... a whole new hobby! This means even more distractions from my knitting. Look for yarn as presents instead of knitted items!!

We also celebrated John's birthday on Saturday - yay!! - and hung out at Trumpet Hill!

Celeste & John will be back here this weekend so the boys can go see the Nine Inch Nails concert that got rescheduled from the summer. I can't believe it's November already!