Knitting Goodies and a Finished Project!

Fathers Day came a few days after my birthday and seemed to be all I had on my mind with my last post. So now that I've been able to have a few days between me and Fathers Day, I feel a little more 'normal' - whatever that is!

My birthday was a great day. It started off a little 'iffy' but got better as the day progressed. I was spoiled rotten by everybody. I got new clothes, cotton yarn, knitting books (Knitting 24/7 and a dishcloth pattern book), the Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law - so good! - a nightie, some earrings, three huge bags of peanut butter M&Ms .... I can't remember what else, but I'm sure there is something I'm forgetting! R made me a wonderful cherry cheese cake! We will NOT be discussing how much weight I gained!

A few days after my birthday, This little beauty showed up on my doorstep. It's a yarn bowl for knitting. The yarn is threaded through the top star down to the big star. Then your ball of yarn stays in the bowl instead of rolling all over the floor. Isn't this a great gift? My best friend from Junior High and High School sent it to me. She lives in our hometown, went to a local potters and found this. It is so special to me because it was so unexpected, a gift from one of my 'bestest' friends who also knits, and it was made in my hometown. It doesn't get much better than this! Thanks Karen!

Now onto the finished project!
I had posted pictures (post before last) of my shawlette '198 yards of Heaven' pre-blocking. Now that it's blocked, you can make out all the details. I really did like this once I figured out the pattern. I would probably make another one, but it would have to be bigger. This is not nearly as big as I would like.

Here's the point at the bottom.

And there's the finished product. It definitely would have looked better if it wasn't on a white quilt in a sunny room, but I did the best I could!

What to knit now...hmmm..... I've made a dishcloth with my birthday cotton yarn and my birthday dishcloth book. Now it's on to something a little more challenging. Any ideas?

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day is a very difficult holiday around here. Since RL and I lost our fathers, it is a day of mixed emotions. We are celebrating with RL by spoiling him with a big grill. Unfortunately he found out about the gift because it wouldn't fit in my car or Mom's van! So he had to save the day and pick up his own gift in his truck. Oh well. It happens! :) So tomorrow will be all about RL and letting him grill for us!

Daddy in the Smoky Mountains.
12/02/32 - 02/15/09

We really miss you Daddy!

Popo with three of his grandkids in 1988.

08/07/34 - 01/21/09
We miss you Popo!

You'd Think This Was a Knitting Blog!

Gee whiz! What is up with all this knitting? I don't know what's wrong with me, but I do enjoy putting a dent in my yarn stash. This past Christmas I got some beautiful red yarn from my Ravelry buddy. What can I say, she keeps me well supplied in yarn and I love it! I kept this yarn tucked away for something special. Although you can't tell from the pictures, it looks kettle dyed. And, I love the color red, so this yarn really needed something special.

Aredhel suggested the Ravelry pattern '198 yards of Heaven.' Beautiful pattern. Wait, let me correct that....beautiful once it's worked up. The pattern stinks. I know that's not fair. So, I'll take most of the blame for that. I started knitting this thing at least ten times. I'm not over estimating that either. TEN TIMES! I wasn't going to be done in by this pattern. I was going to conquer it. I am not a chart reader, so I was using the line by line directions. Quite a bit of the directions are assumed. Luckily, my in house knitting guru knows a thing or two about knitting shawls and reading vague patterns, so she helped me through it.

The pictures are pre-blocking. I used my crummy little camera, so I'll have to get the yarn guru to take some better pictures with her fancy smancy camera now that it's been blocked.

Kind of looks like wings, doesn't it?

I'm not quite sure what will hit the needles next. Sock yarn is spilling out all over my knitting spot in the living room, so maybe it's time to start knitting some for this winter. Rumor has it I'll be getting a knitting book for my birthday, which is today!!!! So, maybe the next great project will be within the pages of that book. We'll see.

MORE Knitting Content!

Can you believe that I have two blog posts, in a row, about knitting!?!?! What is up with that? I've been trying to branch out a little from socks. No, I'm not giving up my unnatural obsession with knitting socks. I've just decided to devote a little time to something else for now. A friend of our family found out she has cancer. They did surgery and now are doing chemo. Since she is losing her hair, I thought I should make her a chemo cap.

The color isn't showing up accurately, as usual! :) I used Comfy Worsted in the Marlin colorway from Knit Picks. It is incredibly soft. When I researched chemo caps, I saw a whole bunch of dos and don'ts regarding yarn types. This yarn seemed ideal. It's machine washable and soft.

The pattern is called "Mira" and was designed by my knitting guru several years back. She's been wanting to get into knit design and I think this hat shows off her design talents.

I love how it looks like a star when you look at the top.

Now I have a question for you. If this pattern was available, would you be interested in buying it? Would you be willing to pay for it? I think she has the talent to take her designs somewhere. What about you?

Actual Knitting Content Ahead!

Some time back, and don't ask me when :), my Ravelry buddy, Aredhel, sent this beautiful yarn to me. I haven't really felt inspired to knit socks for some time, but I finally decided this yarn needed to be used. After looking through all my sock pattern books, I settled on a pattern from 'Socks a la Carte'. The cuff is your usual K1, P1. The body pattern is 'Eyes on You' and was very easy to knit. I had wanted a pattern, but not a busy one so I could really show off the yarn. The pictures don't show just how beautiful the colors are in this yarn.

The pattern book calls this a V Heel, but I've always referred to it as Eye of Partridge. Just something a little different from the norm.

There is a purple that isn't really showing up, that really makes this yarn POP! Thanks Aredhel. I love it!