.post-title { margin:.25em 0; font:bold 130%/1.4em Georgia,Serif; color:#333; } .post-title a, .post-title strong { background:url("http://www.blogblog.com/dots/bg_post_title.gif") no-repeat 0 .25em; display:block; color:#333; text-decoration:none; padding:0 0 1px 45px; } .post-title a:hover { color:#000; } Knittingupastorm: April 2005
 

Knitting Up A Storm!


Wednesday, April 27, 2005

I'm hoping to buy this:

Phildar Famille Spring 2004 - English Version -

If anyone has this magazine, and would like to sell it to me, please, I am very interested.

Why? I want to make the long sleeve Kate sweater.


Thanks!

posted by Lisa @ 6:35 p.m. 

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Sunday, April 24, 2005

If you can't go to the weekly SnB, bring the SnB to you. Brenda came over on Saturday to use my handy dandy swift and ball winder. Everything was going fine until we hit a snag, a big snag:



And look who else dropped by? Corrie! My daughters love Corrie, especially the little one. Can you tell?



I know in my last post I said I was knitting, but on Friday night I felt the urge to knit something easy peasy - and by Saturday afternoon I now have this:



It is a Fleece Artist Scarf Kit in Oranges/Pinks. I LOVE it. I won't be able to wear it until next winter. My youngest is far from shy and loves her picture taken - what a ham.

I am so busy at work that I have no room in my brain to knit complicated, or big things. So, right now, I am going through my rather large stash, and either knitting simple scarves or getting rid of the crap. Such as the 5 balls of green cotton, all with different dye lots. If they had been the same shades, I would use them, but let's be realistic, I am never going to make dish clothes. So off they go.

And as Brenda was looking through my stash she made a comment about my Bernat Boucle - this is the stuff she uses for her charity knitting, and so now, she now has 4 more balls! I am feeling good about giving this stuff away. I'm not going to use it. 300 balls of yarn is a bit much to have, and I am not going to knit my way through it anytime soon. AND then there will be more room for new yarn purchases and less room for guilt.

I'm not sure how much I have left, but here is a re-cap of my de-stashing efforts in April:
ChicKami - 5 balls
Scarf - 2 balls
To the GoodWill - 10 balls
To Brenda - 4 balls
Ribby Collar - 1.5 balls

Yeah - 22.5 balls reduced. Not bad if I do say so myself.

I saved this as a draft post until Chris uploaded the pictures for me, and in the meantime, I bought 6 balls of cotton to make a raglan cardi for my wonderful nephew, using a Debbie Bliss baby pattern. Believe it or not, I don't have too much in the masculine colours. Oh well.

Have a good one.

posted by Lisa @ 8:14 a.m. 

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Friday, April 22, 2005

Still busy. Not knitting. Working and sleeping.

Have a good one folks.

posted by Lisa @ 12:35 p.m. 

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Tuesday, April 19, 2005

On the weekend, I received this. I'm not sure how I will find the time, but it looks oh so interesting. I found this little craft idea at Carrieoke's blog, and have been trying to locate it since. I couldn't buy it from her site until May 2005, so I was patient.


Then it hit me - why not check if the local bookstore and what do you know? You can buy it online and I received it within 3 days. Wow. I'm so excited. I'm about to loose control and I think I like it.

Oh, sorry..Got a little carried away didn't I? It seems easy enough, but I wonder which stitch to use on which section of the pattern? Hopefully the little instruction book gives you hints. We will see.

And the MW&S Festival is almost here! I am so excited, I'm about...sorry, almost did it again. My girlfriend and I are driving down from Toronto and will arrive on Friday afternoon. I can't wait.

Maybe we will meet up with some fellow bloggers? Who am I kidding - I'm sure I will. Hopefully we will be able to meet up with Nancy for a coffee. Here's to hoping.


Got to go now. Have a good one folks.

posted by Lisa @ 8:26 a.m. 

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Monday, April 18, 2005

Quick update - still busy, but here is a not so good shot of the ChicKami, what can I say, black cotton tank top doesn't photograph well at 9:30pm:

And this is how we spent alot of weekend, including a whole lot of "I can't do it":

And what's on the needles? The ribby's collar. I think I'm making the longer collar, but if I don't like it, then I will fold it in half and make a thicker mock collar. Decisions, Decisions.

And I've started this 5 times. Not sure why it has taken so long. I know why - I can't talk and follow a simple lace pattern. But I want to wear this scarf, as it is quite chilly standing on the train platform most mornings. And I will knit 2 balls of stash yarn. Makes me feel better using yarn from there instead of buying yarn from here.

Check out Brenda's blog for pictures of my SnB group. Zee Sheep was closed on Wednesday night and she offered to host the SnB at her place. THANKS Brenda - we all had a great time. Especially with your silly brat cat.

I'm still swamped at work so posting might be sparse. I'm sure you don't want to hear what a shitty day I'm having, so I will keep that to myself.

Have a good one.

posted by Lisa @ 6:28 a.m. 

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Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Quick update:

  • Ribby Cardi has finally reached an acceptable length - YEAH!
  • Received my first issue of IK Spring Issue - About time!
  • Finished body of Chickami - straps tonight at the SnB - Finally the torture of knitting black cotton in the round is done.

That is all folks. Bye for now.

posted by Lisa @ 12:36 p.m. 

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Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Busy, busy, busy. Why must we all live this way? Anyone have an answer?

I'm looking forward to finishing the ribby cardi, but in the meantime, I have to keep blocking the body to make it longer. I want the body from armhole to waist to measure 14.5", not the 13" the pattern states. Had I known this while knitting it, I would not be having these blocking issues. I am on to my 4th attempt tonight. It is getting longer. Slowly. The ribbing at the sides is not certainly not co-operating with me, but I have my hope dial set on high, have my fingers and toes crossed. If that doesn't work, I will wear it as is or frog it and start over.

In the last week or so, I've been thinking about what to knit next. (I know, I have the Rebecca Wrap Cardi to finish. I only started this project, because it is just so bloody cute and I want to see how the pattern unfolds. It might be put on hold. Maybe.) I am almost finished the ChicKami, and I want to ensure that it was the right length and width. So for the first time, I measured another tank that I like the fit of, and what do you know? The tank and the ChicKami are the same size. Wow. Now I know what needs to be done to ensure a good fit. This exercise helped me realize how long I need to make the body before arm hold decreases, if appropriate of course. And how long the length and width the entire piece needs to be.

Prior to this, I would take a guess at what size to make and hope for the best. Checking my gauge was part of the process, but that is not the only thing you need to know. I need to know what size of the pattern to make. Sounds obvious, but I thought I knew my measurements, but I guess I wasn't very accurate.

Oh, the evolution of a knitter.

I will be very busy the next couple of weeks at work, so updating the blog and knitting maybe have to go on the back burner. Let's hope not, but you never know.

Have a good one folks.

posted by Lisa @ 10:08 a.m. 

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Thursday, April 07, 2005

Bet you thought the next time I post it would be about buying more yarn - well you are WRONG! No more purchases until the Maryland Wool & Sheep Festival. After that I will NOT buy anything more. No matter how tempting. I should change my blog title to Yarn Queen, not Knitting Queen, as I'm not knitting this yarn, but just acquiring it.
I really like the online knitting community. Michelle answered the call of help about starting my flower basket shawl (IK fall/04) with more help than you can imagine. She emailed me a step by step on how to cast on for this shawl. Not just in point form, but with pictures, for each step. THANKS Michelle, I'm looking forward to starting it, if I could only get these other two projects off my needles and one cardi seamed.
As most of you know, I am usually a one project at a time girl. But recently, I feel like casting on for all kinds of projects and I'm not feeling stressed about it. I guess because the projects I am currently am knitting are small. So, one the needles:
  • Rebecca Wrap Cardi - one sleeve done
  • ChicKami - at the first set of decrease for the waist
  • Seaming the Ribby Cardi

What I want to cast on for (and will soon even if I'm knitting other things):

  • Pull over in the new Family Circle Easy Knitting magazine (can't find suitable link)
  • Cargo from Rowan's All Seasons Cotton Book

Well, we will see. Have a good one folks.

posted by Lisa @ 10:06 a.m. 

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Monday, April 04, 2005

Bought more yarn - yep, you heard me right the first time. I bought 6 balls of Lion Brand Wool-Ease I black to make another Sitcom Chic. I can't find Cotton-Ease in Toronto, so I thought I would get the next best thing. I really like this sweater, and at $3.00/ball, why not? And I didn't stop there - I bought 8 balls of wool-ease in burgundy - and I have no idea what I will make with it, but I have 1600 yards, so maybe, just maybe a sweater for Chris. Except he only wants a plain sweater with no ribbing or cables. So, why oh why would I knit a sweater for him? It would be extremely boring with a capital B to make a plain oh jane sweater.

Ribby Cardi update - she only needs her arms attached and the mock collar. Yeah baby - I almost have a sweater. Can you feel the love now? Maybe I shouldn't get too cocky just yet. I’ll save it for later. She will be a bit big, but I didn't want it to be close fitting - I couldn't stand all that wool next to my skin, I need some room to breathe.

Have a good one folks

posted by Lisa @ 2:38 p.m. 

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Friday, April 01, 2005

Okay - somebody stop me - NOW! I just bought 5 balls of GGH Soft Kid from Corrie . I linked to her original post so you can see the delicious colour. What am I making? The Wrap Cardi from the new Rebecca. I can't seem to find a decent link for a picture, but if you don't know what it looks like, google it if you are interested. There are few bloggers out there that have made it or in the process of making it.

So, now I have a total of 281 balls of yarn, but if I'm lucky and can finish the wrap cardi in April, I will be right back to where I started at the end of March. Yes, I am good at justifying things. Damn good.

I was one of four people, Corrie, Brenda and Elizabeth (including the owner - Lorena, there was 5 people) at zee Sheep's SnB last night. It was so weird. Not one of the regulars were there. I wonder why? How strange. We were actually questioning if it was Wednesday, and we got the day wrong, but alas, that wasn't the answer. Next week should bring in more people, I hope.

In ribby cardi news - I think I blocked the back and left front too big. Ah crap. WHY? I am still optimistic it will turn out OKAY. At this point, my glass is half full, not half empty. Maybe all will work out in the end. Cross your fingers for me. I need all the help I can get.
That's all folks.

posted by Lisa @ 7:21 a.m. 

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