Mr Greenjeans...aka Dec07

On Dec 3rd I frogged this and cast for Mr Greenjeans. With a few modifications (narrowed the sleeves, knit body cables on US8 and added a few rows to the button band) it was soon time for a bath and a dry and was worn on Dec 27th!

No pictures of acutal wearage yet.

For me, Mr. Greenjeans as written, is a bit to deep of a V. It teneded to slip off my shoulders when I reached and moved around. It fits well in the body. Would a smaller size have been better on me? Perhaps I'll marry it with the Knitting Pure & Simple "Summer Cardigan"

more this and that

=

1 tablespoon of popcorn kernels + 1 brown paper lunch sized bag + 2 1/2 min on high in a microwave = 1 cup of popped kernels

This is important when you can have 1 cup as a "free" food on NutriSystem. And when you add a squirt of liquid ICBINB you've got a tasty treat. Okay, I haven't tried the ICBINB but I read it's tasty.


of course, Christmas Gingerbread mini muffins cancel the effort





Bought myself a couple of Christmas gifts.....



and Knitting New Scaves by Lynn Barr. I can't wait to try her new-to-me techniques. And a Pilates mat with the 25% off coupon from B&N.

And on my New Year's gift to myself list are: Cover Up, Knitting America and Kristin Knits.

this and that

Mr Greenjeans...I've renamed mine December 2007 because I plan to finish it by the 31st...has sleeves.



I'm now working on the body. I just love neck down sweaters! And shocker ... it's my first cabled project. I've knitted cables in swatches to test yarn. I've taken a class or so where we practiced cables. I've assisted customers with cable problems. But this is my first cabled project. And it's FUN! And I realized that I "cabled in public" (CIPed) for the first time at Monday night knitting.

Have you visited this blog? Twin sisters who knit and blog. Jan is a Guild member and shared her site with us the other night.

Ewe Knit Kits & Yarn had our holiday dinner last week. Each year we have a secret Pollyanna. We wrap a gift without a to/from name, pick a number and choose a gift. It's one of those where you can steal a gift from someone and number one gets the choice to steal from anyone at the end. The first year Kiki brought one of her thrown bowls and we fought over it. The second year, another bowl was fought over. Year three another bowl, another fight...but I had Number 1!!!! This year, Kiki announces she brought something different...but I didn't trust the gleam in her eye...so I selected her gift...PLATES! And luckily for me, we're all women and the fugde was the gift everyone fought over this year.

Here is my collection of Kiki-ware.



Kiki is a very generous person. She'll open her boxes a few times a year and gift her friends with her beautiful work. Thank you Kiki!

The weekend

Thursday begins the weekend, right? So I frogged Sunrise/Sunset and it's now the beginning of Mr. Greenjeans.

Right now it's in it's pre-cabled stage. I still have 1 inch of stockinette to knit.

Bailey had a sleepover last night. Nixon, the poodle mix from down the street.

Occasionally they'd change chews, put for the most part, this was their Saturday inbetween walks.

As for me, I found my Christmas cards. and must now try to remember who I sent which one to last year. Hate to send repeats. And yes, two are originals by Clara Parkes of Knitters Review. You can find them in the Boutique.

Frogged

The KP&S cardigan I began last February in the pink/orange Andes....frogged. It was waaaay to big. And it didn't even have the button band. I thought for sure I'd be able to wear it through this winter, but, no. All of this exercise I'm doing is shrinking my body and inturn my wardrobe!

But it's okay....I wound it into balls yesterday and immediatly cast on for Knitty's Mr. Greenjeans.

It's going to be a fun knit. My favorite top down knitting, combined with cables. Now I've not knit a full proejct with cables, so fingers crossed, this won't be to mindnumbing.

Ravelry....

....you can spend hours there! I have. And you can now find WallisKnits patterns under the Patterns tab. $3.95 + tax each. And if you've not received your invitation to Ravelry you can purchase them at Ewe Knit Kits. Bobbie will email them to you so no shipping charges!

I'm finishing up projects. "My Favorite Shawl" in Plymouth's 24K.

KP&S Cardigan that I began last year.

"My Favorite Shawl" in Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool. Begun last spring.


And a Swedish Yarns vest in fingering wt on size 10.5 needles. I've just picked up for the collar.

I'm considering a single button instead of the double breasted look. What do you think?

I've been up since 4:00a.m. Why? I don't know. But my house is somewhat clean. Groceries have been purchased. Bailey has been walked...twice. Ravelry is updated. So, it's going to be a good day to sit and knit.New programs on The Food Network. Philosophy on QVC. 2 Netflick movies to watch. Can't remember which ones...I'll be surprised.

If you're in the Va Beach area stop by Ewe Knit Kits. We've received some really nice knitting themed gift items. Beautiful shawl pins in sterling with Swarovski crystals, pearls in sterling from $7.50 - $45. Claudia and Wool in the Woods sock yarn is 40% off. A shipment of Addi Turbos' was expected in yesterday. We've been out of the 7's & 8's for a while. And Rivka, who is our sales rep for many many companies, spent 4 days here this past week showing us everything. And boy did Bobbie order! Some will arrive in the next few weeks. Others in the spring.

We're opened on Sunday now. 11:00 - 4:00. Stop by and see us. You may run across me tomorrow acting as a customer.

And I'll leave you with this Advent Calander of free patterns from Garn Studios.

"Marlo"

This is a simple, knit in the round hat. Knit in a soft Alpaca yarn, it folds double over your ears. Enjoy!

I forgot to take a picture before taking it into Ewe Knit Kits. Until I can get over there to snap a shot, picture Marlo Thomas as That Girl in a really cute warm cuddly hat saying "Oh Donald". You'll look just like that!

Updated with pictures! There's a bit of ribbing hiding under the brim to keep it close to your head and ears.



Materials:

Plymouth Yarn “Baby Grande Alpaca”
Small, 1 skein*,
Medium, 2 skeins
Large 2, skeins.

Size 10.5 16” circular and 10.5 double points
1 marker
tapestry needle

Abbreviations:
K2tog – knit 2 together
1X1 ribbing – knit 1, purl 1 around on each row
Stockinette – knit every round

Notes:
The store sample is a Woman’s Small and knit in the natural color.
*Small is knit in 1 skein of yarn. There was about 6 inches of yarn left. You may wish to purchase another skein of yarn.

Pattern:

On 16” circular, cast on 70 stitches for all sizes, place marker and join.

Knit 5.5”(7”, 8”) stockinette in the round. (you'll have enough yarn to make the larger sizes wider)

Change to 1X1 ribbing for 6 (8, 8) rounds.

Change back to Stockinette for 7 (9, 11) rounds.

Begin decrease rounds, changing to double points when necessary:

Round 1 - Knit 8, k2tog around
Round 2 - Knit
Round 3 - Knit 7, k2tog around
Round 4 - Knit
Round 5 - Knit 6, k2tog around
Round 6 - Knit
Round 7 - Knit 5, k2tog around
Round 8 - Knit
Round 9 - Knit 4, k2tog around
Round 10 - Knit 3, k2tog around
Round 11 - Knit 2, k2tog around
Round 12 - Knit 1, k2tog around
Round 13 - Knit 2 together around

Thread yarn on tapestry needle and run through stitches on needle. Tie off.

Please do not copy the pattern or hat for sale. You may knit the pattern for yourself or family/friends. updated 12/8/09

"Julia"

Julia is named for the 2nd George daughter. Aunt Julia has 4 children, was a WAC during WWII, owned a dress shop, and I always admired her bracelets.



You may purchase the pattern and yarn at www.eweknitkits.com. The pattern isn't listed on the website yet. Call the 800 number and ask. It's the new pattern knit in Blue Sky Alpaca Sport. 4 skeins. Size 5 needle. Or use any yarn and needle size you wish.

November....

....brought cooler weather and Virginia Weslyan College Artisian Show. Our booth looked like this










We called ourselves "Knitters Are We". We had a great time. Sold quite a bit.

I continued to knit on "Julia" and Bailey just hung out

October......

....was still hot and dry.

The Guild sponsored a Knit-Out and Crochet Day. The Fastest Knitter Contest


Knitters

Lots of Gift Bags

And I continued to knit Hats hats
and more hats

And then I went to the beach with a great group of women who were all knitters and we sat in chairs and knit.

September

September was hot and dry so I knit

and more

while visting with Aunt Rosabelle in North Carolina.

Then back in Virginia worked on and took 4 classes with Edie Eckman and continued knitting "Julia".

I must apologize to my commenters. For some reason Outlook was sending your notices to the trash folder and I didn't see them. I think I've fixed it.

January 18, 2006 - October 23, 2007

Elaine last cut my hair, on or about January 18, 2006.

Just after that, to many of my knitting friends were diagnosed with cancer. They were loosing their hair. I could grow more than enough.

After about a year, I looked into Locks of Love. A great organization, but you can't have grey hair. One day while watching The Today Show, Pantene announced their
Beautiful Lengths program. Wigs for women. And you can have a bit of grey hair.

So I continued to let my hair grow.

October 23rd, I walked into Salon One like this

And left like this

You can see the 10 inch ponytail on the counter.

Elaine spent a good 1/2 hour blow drying it straight. Thanks Elaine! It will not be that straight until I have it trimmed.

Lots of knitting stuff will be coming soon. I've worked my fingers to the bone and ended up with a bit of carpel tunnel/knitters wrist preparing for the Va Wesylan Artisian Show this weekend in Va Beach. Stop by if you can.

Catching up

This guy was knocking at the front door early one July morning.




The Highland Shawl from Folk Shawls is finished
It really is pretty and the Otto Shadow worked so well. Just the right weight for a warm winter shawl. And extra nice, no problems with the pattern.

I've spent the past week working on the "really cute" hat in the new Vogue Knitting. Don't ask. I don't think it looked like the picture. It completly covered my face. I even GOT GAUGE!!! but on size US11 needles and they called for US9. Meh.

I'm making my own changes. Here it is so far.

Still a little big so I'll rip back. Notice I didn't cut off the skein. I'm learning. (Sorry about the fuzzy picture. It's hard to see through wool)

I'm teaching a neck down class at Ewe Knit Kits & Yarn. This promted me to pull out the sweater I began in the Spring.


It needs button bands, a collar, and a good blocking (this is what 6 months in a plastic bag will do to ya) and it'll be ready for winter. The color in the first picture is more true on my monitor.







What a nice surprise to log onto Vickie's blog and see several finished "Marys" and their recipients. (Her Aug 14 entry) I can't explain the feeling I get whenever I see on of my patterns "knit" by someone else. My insides do a happy dance!

Here's a sneak peak at "Julia"