Contest Alert!!!!

I have been drooling over the Knitter's Pride Dreamz Interchangeable Needle Set from WEBS . Lo and behold, I checked Twitter and saw that @knitpurlgurl is having a contest to win a set of them.  I cannot contain my excitement.  These needles are everything I have ever dreamed of.  I encourage you to join in the fun and enter the contest.  Here is the LINK to the blogpost. 

And here is something to salivate over. 



I want them so bad! 

15 Weeks

I have made some progress on my Textured Circle Shrug.  I finished the 10, 988 stitches, and increased into the second third of the collar/body section.

I must say, this easy knitting is keeping me happy.  It has lasted through episodes of Project Runway, Hell's Kitchen, and The F Word.  I am now off to continue knitting while watching Dancing With the Stars. 

So, as for my plans from last week. 

• I made great progress on my shrug, which I am so proud of.
• I didn't touch my Interlocking Cables sweater.  I am still mad about the mistake.  I will tackle that this coming weekend. 
• I haven't swatched for Dahlia yet
• I still have to find a buckle  for the Mod Podge belt.

This week the plan is to finish my shrug.  Anything beyond that will be a bonus.  Fully glammed out model pictures coming soon, I promise. 

268 Stitches

I decided to work on my Textured Circle Shrug after I noticed a BIG mistake in my Interlocking Cables sweater.  I did the cables all wrong.  They are supposed to be staggered, and the cables between the lower body and the upper body aren't.  So, instead of tryung to rip out 34 rows while in tears, I decided to give that sweater a rest. I will come back to it when self imposed anger isn't taking over every bone in my body. 

I picked up my Textured Circle Shrug that I had cast on for a Knit-A-Long eons ago.  I was on the second sleeve, and needed to complete that before picking up the rest of the body.  In order to pick up stitches, I used an ingenious method.  I had purchased a 4.00mm KnitProTunisian Crochet hook from Get Knitted in the UK.  The crochet hook attaches to my Knitpicks cable.  So, I can pick up stitches, switch needle tips, and carry on knitting.

However, there was one mistake on my part.  I bound off a bit tightly, so I couldn't get the crochet hook through all of the stitches.  To my dismay, this happened......

Instead of getting upset and flinging the knitting across the room, I took a deep breath and proceeded to use a size F metal crochet hook to help me accomplish picking up the rest of the stitches.  I tried my best to follow the pattern, and wound up picking up 268 stitches altogether.  Here is a picture of the beginning of the K1P1 rib. 

I am slated to do 41 rows before starting the next phase of the sweater.  That's 10,988 stitches.  If I had a dollar for each stitch, I could start my own yarn store, or at least have a nice luxury stash. 

Hmmmm... should I even attempt to get the needle replaced?  Or will a secondary needle meet the same doom?  What are your thoughts? 

16 Weeks

16 Weeks is the amount of time that I have to complete my 11 in 2011 project.  It will be nothing short of a miracle if I can pull this off.  It looks like Christmas knitting will become Valentine's knitting.  So that means only Mommy and the Mr. will get something.  Yes, I am being totally selfish and I deserve to be.  Noone in this family wants to learn to knit, so too bad for them.  Hahahaaaaa!  OK, I will stop being so mean.  Maybe I will squeeze in a hat or two.  But more importantly, I need to get these sweaters done. 

So, here is my list.

1. Vaila by Gudrun Johnston
2. Mod Podge by Adriana Hernandez
3. Interlocking Cables by Shirley Paden
4. Textured Circle Shrug by Stephanie Japel
5. Military Jacket by Veronik Avery
6. Effie by Kim Hargreaves
7. Parcel by Carol Feller
8. Chambord by Karen Maple
9. Autumn Rose by Eunny Jang
10. Wisteria by Kate Gilbert
11. Dahlia Cardigan by Heather Zoppetti

I had a sweater on the list that was a DK weight tunic with a hood, but I scratched that because I knew it would take forever  (as if the Kim Hargreaves sweater won't take forever).  The real problem is, it was getting extremely heavy on my needle cables, and they popped.  Instead of dealing with all that junk immediately, I decided to just do another sweater 1 needle size smaller. 

So, here is my progress report.

Vaila is complete.

Mod Podge is completely knitted.  I have to seam the sides and attach the arms.  I also have to sew the belt onto a buckle, and add belt loops and snaps.






Interlocking Cables has the body done in one piece.  The back is complete.  I still have to do the front, sleeves, sew sleeve seams, join it to the body, and complete the collar.  The goo thing is, I only have 2 seams to actually sew. 


The Textured Circle Shrug has 1 sleeve complete and the body is complete.  Once both sleeves are complete, I have to do an insane amount of ribbing around the shrug part.  This sweater is all stickinette and reverse stockinette, so I should be able to easily finish it at knitting group or watching television. 

The Military Jacket has the lower portion of the back complete.  That's it. 

Effie had 1/4 of the waistband complete.  After I finish that, I have to start actually knitting the body.  It is written in pieces, but I will do it in the round.  I think seaming Kidsilk Haze would be a nightmare. 

All of the others haven't been started yet.  Parcel is destined to become the project that I work on during Rhinebeck weekend.  Wisteria will be my NaKniSwemo Project.  Autumn Rose will happen sometime in between.  Dahlia may get casted on this month, only because I am itching to get the lace pattern done, and get it to a point where I can just do stockinette and be able to travel with it. 

I know this looks like a ridiculously crazy task.  However, there is a method to my madness.  I will use my transit time to work on sleeves, and swatching, and stockinette portions that don't require much thinking.  I have yarn for everything except for Chambord. 

My plan for the week is as follows. 

• Finish the front and sleeves of Interlocking Cables.  Join the sleeves to the body and work on the Collar by next weekend
• Swatch for Dahlia
• Work on the Textured Circle Shrug during knitting group.
• Find a buckle for the Mod Podge belt. 

More updated next Sunday.  If I have an enourmous breakthrough in the middle of the week, expect to see something sooner.

Something new is brewing... and it is the color of Saffron Powder

I just realized that it is March (Yeah, 24 days into the month) and I have only completed 1 of my 11 in 2011 sweaters.  So, what's a girl to do????  Start a new one.  I need to keep up, so I don't fall behind.

I am using Malabrigo Rios in the Sunset Colorway to make Mod Podge . The moment I saw this sweater, I knew it had to be mine and I envisioned a bright color that I don't currently have in my wardrobe.  This saffron-ney orange-ey yellow is just perfect.  Here are some pics. 







This sweater is mostly Seed Stitch and Stockinette Stitch, which makes for a good knitting group project, and a good "catch up on TV that you missed" project.

There is a baby (blanket) brewing!

I recently visited my friend who is pregnant.  We discussed the trials and tribulations of having this female reproductive system, and how it can be both a gift and a curse.  She loves her baby dearly, and in doing so, has been instructed to lay in a bed for the remaining few weeks of her pregnancy.  She has had to endure painful shots to help the baby develop, mediocre hospital food, nurses who are sometimes nice, and at other times total airheads, and a roommate whose language is so horrid that I am tempted to throw a dictionary at her.  Oh my gosh!  All these things happened in this past weekend. I don't even want to imagine what happened before. 

I think she deserves a break, and something really nice.  So, I asked her what color she wanted to use for the baby (who is such a cutie, based on the doppler ultrasound).  Purple.  So, my mind started thinking about what was in my stash.

When I got home, I thought Yowza - Whatta Skein.   Miss Babs - "A Day at the Bubblegum Shop" colorway



I immediately casted on for the Mirabilis pattern.  This yarn has almost an identical yardage amount as specified in the pattern. It is superwash, and soooooo soft.  Also, my friend Daniel designed it.  So, what's not to love about it?

Here is the blanket after it got too big for Double Pointed Needles.  I transferred it to a 16" circular.



When that got too small, I transferred it to a 47" circular.


The blanket is currently 25% complete.  As the blankie grows stitch by stitch, the baby grows cell by cell.  Hang on little one.  You will be here soon, and the blanket will be ready!

Finished Objects....Woohoo!

I have been busy working on using up stash yarn to complete projects.  Here is a list of my recent accomplishments.

I worked on Boomslang as a gift for my friend Rebecca.  I posted about casting this on before, but was very vague in the description.  You can see her happily wearing it here.  I used Knitpicks Stroll Tonal in Golden and Stroll Solid in Ash, as well as a size 4 needle. 





I also completed my first sweater for my 11 sweaters in 2011 project.  I present to you, VAILA! 






I love this sweater.  I finished it just in time for Valentine's Day.  I made it with Malabrigo Worsted in the  Amoroso colorway.  I absolutely love it.  I made a few modifications by making it from the top down, and also adding a column of knitted stitches on the side to make a "seam".  It is warn and squishy, and I really didn't want to take it off. 

I have alse been making some projects from my miles and miles of stash. Here are a few of them.

A Button tab hat for my friend's girlfriend (Birthday Present)


A Thermis for me (Still needs buttons)


A Scrunchable Cowl for me.





I also received an exquisitely beautiful LaReine shawl from my knitting buddy Jane as a gift. She actually hand dyed the yarn, and our friend Angela designed the pattern. It is super gorgeous.


Whew!  Time to get started on LaReine for mommy in a Kumquat colorway!