Knitting Has Been Happening

Knitting Has Been Happening

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I have just been busy going back to school working on my Bachelor's degree (one class each semester so far), full time work, part time work, lots of knitting, and some traveling.

Color Affection

 I finished this Color Affection shawl for a friend who moved from our area. This is the second time I made this pattern and this time I really liked it. It turned out nicer than the first one and it is so soft. I am hoping that it will keep this friend warm as winter will set in out in Utah before very long.

I used Woolike yarn from Michael's for this shawl. I was surprised at how soft and wonderful it felt as it is an acrylic and nylon blend. In fact, I liked the yarn so much, I went back and bought enough to make a lightweight sweater or two for myself.

Ashton

 I knit this Ashton shawl by Dee O'Keefe for another friend who moved to California. This was a fun knit. The pattern didn't have beads on it, but I thought some little purple beads would look so pretty on this shawl. I really like how it turned out and I would like to make myself one, probably without the bead though. The beading slowed the knitting down quite a bit.

This shawl was knit with a Zauberball lace which is a single ply. I don't really like to work with single plies, but this one wasn't bad at all. I might even succumb and purchase another ball one day soon to make a really large shawl for someone else. The beads were some that I had in my stash from a project many years ago. I only used one tube of beads, so I still have another full tube left in the stash.

H's Modig

 This little vest, the Modig, was made for our twelfth grandchild. It is made with Paton's Encore yarn which I picked up at Second Story Knits in Bethesda during the Metro Yarn Crawl in April. In fact, I started this little vest the night I bought the yarn. I only had a week to make it before flying out to meet this new little baby. I love how the blue and green car buttons just fit the vest. Perfect for a little boy.

Truth be told, this is the second Modig I made. I also made one out of stashed Luna yarn for my niece's baby who is about the same age as "H" but much smaller. My niece says her little one can probably wear this when she is five.

Maryland Sheep and Wool 2016

May brought the Maryland Sheep and Wool show. I loved going this year. I probably spent more money than I should have, but I found some wonderful things. I found that the jumbo flyer for an Ashford Kiwi will fit my Ashford Scholor, so I bought the jumbo flyer and can now get a larger skein when plying.

I found I really like Turkish spindles and I found a couple of really nice ones. I also replaced my Trindle. My first Trindle's arm don't stay in very well, they keep flying off when spinning which is very annoying. I like the new Tridle, it spins very nicely. I also bought some yarn: Ella Rae worsted in a pine green and Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in a pumpkiny color. I also bought one hank of fingering weight yarn from Dragonfly Fibers in their show colorway.

I have lots of new projects, lots of UFOs, and projects in the planning stages. I am hoping that getting back into blogging will help keep me accountable and give me a goal to get some things finished as I would like to share my progress on all these yarny pursuits.

Happy knitting and spinning.

What I've Been up to This Past Summer

This past summer has been a busy one.
There has been visits with most of the grandsons.


Getting to see the youngest one for the first time.

There has also been knitting............... Mittens for the donation box and some shawls.

There was also a tie-dying evening which resulted in about 13 shirts getting a little bit of color. This was done with Corb. Some fun time with him before he heads back to be nearer his brothers in another month or so.

Now that summer is over, I might get back on the blogging bandwagon. Happy knitting and spinning.

BSJs and Grandkids

On Thanksgiving Day ES, C, and I got to fly West to meet our new grandsons/nephews and get reacquainted with the older grandson. It had been over a year since we had been to see the kids and it was good to be there for a week. This is a picture of all our grand kids with one mother, one father, and one aunt. The mother of the tyke in blue pants was out of the room while another aunt gave her a massage. I had one too and it was wonderful!!! Thanks AM!

Of course I couldn't go to visit without taking a knitted gift! I had to present these BSjs to the kids in person to tell them the story of the yarn and the sweaters. I couldn't just send them in the mail.
These two Baby Surprise Jackets, plus two and a half others, have been knit and waiting for delivery since the kids told me they were expecting. The yarn is ALL stash yarn, but not MY stash. It was my grandmother's stash yarn! When Grandma died my aunt took all of the acrylic yarn to make crocheted toys. I got all of the wool yarn, plus some of her knitting needles. I had used some of the yarn to make a wallaby for R, but there was a lot of yarn left over and in all different colors. Grandma at one time had made all of her posterity afghans, sweaters, jackets, and lots of other things. There is a lot of yarn to work with and even after making what I have so far, there is probably enough left to make at least three or four more BSJs. I hope the kids tell the grand kids about the sweaters someday----letting them know that the yarn was their great-great grandma and the sweater was made for them by their grandma. I think it is neat that Grandma gets to give something to her great-great grandsons and she isn't even with us anymore!

The orange BSJ is for AEK, the little one all in white (it was his baby blessing day) and the blue one is for BEK, the oldest grandson, and CJK his little brother, the one in the blue pants.

I get to have the pleasure of going to see the kids again in another two weeks and I have some knitting planned to take with me. Maybe a new sweater, seeing as how I now have a job where I don't have to wear a uniform and can expand my wardrobe. I have some handspun I've been eyeing and I think I have enough for a basic sweater.

In other news-----Christmas is less than two weeks away and I'm still not even close to being ready. There has been some Christmas knitting, but not as much as usual. There are some things that need to be blocked and gifted, then I can post about them here.

Until next time, Happy knitting and spinning.

AE Goes Home From the Hospital

Thought I would share the picture the kids sent me of AE going home from the hospital. He is using the dishcloth afghan I sent for his baby shower. I am so glad he is getting lots of use from it already.

This has been a busy weekend. ES ran the Baltimore marathon and did really well. I'll post pictures when I get them downloaded. I worked all day yesterday and will again today. I got to spend some time spinning this morning and I have a knitting project almost finished. There should be pictures soon.

Enjoy this day! Happy knitting and spinning.

Montpelier and Family

I thought I would share pictures of some of the fiber I purchased at Montpelier this year. I had a very good time wandering around the fiber fair looking at everything and not having to worry about keeping family members entertained. ES went with me, but spent most of the time watching the sheep/dog trials. I got to spend about three hours just looking, eating, purchasing, and enjoying.

The first and second pictures are showing the fiber I purchased from River's Edge Weaving Studio. I really liked the Fall colors in their booth. The first one is the Maple Leaf color and the second is the Indian Paintbrush color. They are a blend of merino and seacell and they are very soft. They are 4 oz each.

I think she has some really pretty colors in their dying. I realized when I got home that I have purchased fiber from them and spun it. I picked up a couple of ounces of their fiber when Sheryl and I got to go to Stitches East last year. I really liked how it turned out, so I am excited to try these two colors.

The River's Edge booth was about the last one I bought any fiber from, so I am working backwards in purchases for the next couple of posts.

The last photo is some superwash Merino that I got from the Wild Hare fiber studio. It is a 4 oz top in the Grateful Dyed color with two full color repeats in the roving. C saw this and claimed it for himself. He wants me to make him something from it. I told him I already had plans for it and he said, "Well, I get it first. You can use what's left for what you want to make."

In other news, our family has increased by one more. K and J-b had their baby yesterday morning at 2 am. We now have three grandsons. And in other news: Au and E's preemie came home from the hospital on Tuesday. Both babies are doing well and the parents are excited to have them to hold in their arms. I can't wait to see them when we fly home in November. ES says he likes the way they are named. The boys initials are A, B, and C. ES says the rest of the kids will have to name their kids in order on the alphabet so he can keep track of them. Yeah right!!

ES is planning on running a marathon on Saturday. I will have plenty of time to do some knitting while watching for him. I don't know my way around Baltimore, where the race is being run, but am going to try and find a place half-way through to watch for him and cheer him on and then get back to meet him at the finish line. I hope he does well, he woke up yesterday not feeling well and isn't any better this morning.

Happy knitting and spinning.

Dropping in After Way Too Long

This past month has just flown by. There has been knitting, spinning, work, gifts to send, a new baby and one due this week, trips to plan, airplane tickets to buy, a fiber fair to attend, a cooking class and just life. For some reason though it seemed to get away from me. I really didn't mean to not post for a whole month, but that is what has happened.

First let's talk about the gift giving: With two grand babies due in October, one a first child, there was baby knitting to be done. This stack of bibs was sent in time for a baby shower for K & J-b's baby, who is due this week. They were fun to make and I hope will be well used. The cream colored one is one I came up with the pattern for and I really like how it turned out.

I also sent along this dishcloth patterned afghan made with an acrylic/cotton blend. It worked up really quickly with large needles and was a mindless knit on those nights after work when I needed to unwind and let my mind quit racing.

There is other baby knitting, but I will save that for another post.

Our second grandson was born Sept. 20 at five weeks early. He weighed in at 5 lb, 3 oz and is now up to 5 lb, 7 oz. He is still in the hospital, but hopefully just for another week or so. He is eating well and he is breathing on his own and from what his parents say, is quite a little trooper. We are anxious to meet him and his soon to be born cousin, hence the airplane tickets.

I took a cooking, well really a baking, class last week. We learned how to use meringue, besides for lemon meringue pies, which we didn't do. We made these really cute mushrooms!

Don't they look real. Ruth, our hostess for the class, said that she had made these for an open house and put them on the dessert table. No one ate them because they looked so real. I brought home the ones I had made, to share with the guys. They both got quite a kick out of the mushrooms and C said he was going to call R and tell him that "Mom is giving my mushrooms". Besides looking cute, they really are good and sweet. They just seemed to melt in your mouth.

The final two pictures today are of my new drop spindle. It is a Trindle with red granite orbs. It spins really well and is down right fun.
I came home and got out a sample of punta/wenslydale which Vicky was kind enough to send me to sample. It is spinning up very nicely and I am enjoying it.

I have also finished spinning some fiber which was on the Scholar. It is on the niddy noddy now and I will get pictures of it soon. There is a project in mind for it, so I want to get onto it soon. Well, as soon as I finish up a couple of other things first. Too many projects and too many proposed projects, but isn't that the way we all work. What is on your project wish list?

Happy knitting and spinning.