I am almost at the armholes on the back piece of Devan. The small gauge of Devan was killing me again so I cast on for this:



and so begins the holiday knitting. This sweater is for my best friend. I am using Mary Maxim Kashmere, which I love because it feels like a sweatshirt when knitted up. It also has great stitch definition. I work on this in the evenings, during the Olympics mostly, to give my hands a break. Devan is still traveling with me to work every day.

More yarn arrived for my holiday knitting:



The Patons is for a felted bag, the sock yarn for Broad Street Mittens and the Wool Ease for a sweater for my husband. Everyday it's a new yarn delivery...whoo hoo!

I took these pictures at 6 this morning and the only way I could get them done was to take a picture of Ian too (he's such a ham). So here is an absolutely gratuitous Ian picture (with very sleepy eyes):



I decided it was time to lose the Spring Green colors scheme and go for something a bit more autumnal. What do you think?

Have a great weekend everyone...

I have finally managed to get a completed Devans page together. It's nothing very fancy as HTML is not my native language.

Go check out all the beautiful sweaters...

I had a pretty good weekend knittingwise anyway. I finished the lap blanket watching the Olympics on Friday:



My husband is very happy with it though it has more pink than he would have liked, but the Woolspun I used as the contrast color appears much more red by itself. It only showed it's true pink self when set against the purple and blue of the Homespun.

I finished the right side of Devan on Sunday:



I don't think you can notice it in the picture but there is something slightly off about my 2 Devan sides. The armhole for the second is nearly an inch longer. Now the left side armhole is an inch larger than the pattern calls for (7" as opposed to 6") but I am doing it in a larger needle so I attributed it to that. Now what I am suspecting is that I sped up my decreases on the left side so that the difference would be fairly small, yet I failed to note that anywhere to remind myself. So I went on my merry way doing the decreases on the right and ended up at 8". My solution? Start the back. I figure I will have to frog a few rows on the right side and bring it down to match the left but I want to get the back done first. So I started it this morning on the train.

I have also started buying yarn for the holiday knitting to come:



Nothing too exciting yet. The red and the blue are the first skeins for Avery's blanket. The burgundy and gold are for a Harry Potter Scarf for a friend. This is the cheaper side of my holiday, the good stuff is yet to come, and do you love the basket I bought for myself at K-Mart. It sits right next to my favorite chair to knit in.

Still nothing from NY Knits, Mya is feeling pretty neglected sitting there half finished...

I just posted my holiday knitting list to the Winter Knit Along blog, truly I must take some mind altering substance to even think for a second that I will get it all done...

I am just about finished with the candy wrapper lap blanket. I have about 10 rows left. Far too little to justify dragging it to work, so it will have to wait until tonight to be finished. I think I will take my long neglected Devan with me today.

I've been doing quite a bit of stash enhancement in preparation for holiday knitting. I will fill you in on Monday, when I can show you pictures...

As for my yarn for Mya, I had assumed that the fault was with my mail carrier as I have had problems receiving packages from her in the past. It would seem however that New York Knits sent out my ship notice prematurely. It never shipped and they have yet to get back to me about when it will. I called again yesterday and I was told that they were waiting for a call back from the person who handles internet orders. I've ordered from them before and not had a problem, but this time I am not a happy customer. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Have a great weekend.

I finished my first pair of socks! Whoo hoo!



Pretty cool right? The picture is a bit askew because Avery was wearing them and I was taking the picture while sitting next to him.

Now I'm working on the lap blanket to try to finish that up. I still haven't received my yarn from New York Knits although I know they sent it out last Tuesday. I am getting worried...

As the Heel Turns

I have to say I am completely fascinated by the magic of heel turning. It's daunting at first I admit. On my first sock I had to rip it out a couple of times before I got it right. On my second sock, it was smooth sailing:



I will admit that I started the short rows on the train in the morning and decided that was not the appropriate place for such a momentous event (the fact that concentration is more difficult, elbow room can't be found, and the constant bouncing of the train had absolutely no effect on my decision), but I did it at home last night and it was good.


In Devan news, Chris has finished hers and it looks really cute. The colors are bright and cheerful and the corrugated ribbing gives it a cool effect at the edges. Once I finish the sock and Mya, it will be straight back to Devan for me.



You may have noticed that I put the Shapely Tank on hiatus in my progress bars. I think I may rip it out and start again in the round. Theresa was kind enough to post the adjustments on the Shapely Blog and I think it may go better for me that way. I suspect one of the reasons I haven't done much work on it is simply because it's for me. There's no deadline, no gift giving enthusiasm, but I really want it so I have to convince myself that it is reason enough.

Today is devoted to finishing the sock, although I'll be spending my evening in a bar with a dear friend who is visiting from Ireland. I doubt I'll be knitting though, it's rather hard to knit holding a mug of beer...believe me I've tried....


Have a great weekend....

Devan Update!
Brynne is also finished and her Devan is very masculine and handsome, check out the great black and blue varigation in the stripes. And check out the cutie who models it!

I thought it was time to put some pictures up. I realized it had been a while since I had much to show. I haven't finished anything but there's been progress.

Here's my second sock, I'm working on the heel flap:



I'm figuring it will be done tomorrow.

Here's the body of Mya:



I may block this and do the seed stitch trim this weekend if I haven't received my yarn for the sleeves. It shipped out yesterday but comes Priority Mail so it may not be here in time for the weekend.

Here is the Candy Wrapper Lap Blanket:



I've been working on this in the evenings. it's a good break from the small needles of Mya and the sock.

The knitting group on Tuesday was great. My friend Christina came and was working on her sweater. There were some faces from the last time and some new ones as well. Sonia, the woman I mentioned last time who was making the preemie hats, has gone completely in the other direction. She is doing a sweater for herself from Rowan, on 17s, in the most beautiful red colorway. We all told her we can't wait to see it when it's finished.

This link was posted on the Knitlist yesterday and I just had to share. Read this woman's story and realized you are taking your life in your hands whenever you pick up your needles.

I love living a dangerous life...

I finished the body of Mya before I ran out of yarn. I did know I was going to run out of yarn so I placed an order on Friday with New York Knits. Of course I couldn't order just one little ball of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, that would have been cruel and unfair. No one would expect such a small delicate yarn to travel alone, right?

So I in fact did a bit of Christmas shopping. Christmas is all about bags this year (I believe I have mentioned this before) so I picked up a skein of Cascade 220 and the pattern for the Madeline Bag by the talented Julie Anderson. I love her designs and in fact I have e-mailed the boys at Threadbear for a kit for the Amanda Backpack once they get up and running.

I grabbed my second sock from the car on the way to work this morning. I am really trying to get into finishing mode, so I can clear out all my WIPs and work on holiday stuff. I only have two large projects in mind for the holidays. I have been promising my son a blanket for years, quite frankly, and I really need to get that done. I also have promised my best friend a hooded sweater so that is also high on the list. I'm figuring with everything else being fairly small, fairly quick projects, I might get most of them done. Most importantly I am seriously excited about most of these projects so that helps a lot!

I also want to try to work on my IPod Cozy again so I can have a workable pattern. The last 2 attempts pretty much sucked but I have had a few brainstorms about them recently so I will try yet again.

Tomorrow night is the Knitting Group at Barnes and Noble again (86th and second). I have been looking forward to it for weeks. If you're in the neighborhood stop by and say hi! We meet at 7.

Check out CityKnitter's informal survey, she's looking for people's opinions on NYC yarn shops.

Well no news is good news at the moment. They put my mother on an anti psychotic so she is no longer delirious, which is good. I'm not sure about the whole "matter of days" thing. She is very strong and I think it is hard to put a time frame on how long a person can hold out. Thank you to everyone for their kind words and support, it really means a great deal.

I have been working sporadically on Mya. I have completed the left side and am working the back as of this morning. I am definitely going to need more yarn, so I will probably pick some up on my way home this afternoon. I think I will just have to suck up the Manhattan prices in this instance.

I am totally preparing myself for holiday knitting at this point. I want to clear the decks on my current projects so I can start casting on for some presents. I am thinking of jumping into Alison's Pool for the Pooling Colors Scarf from the Fall 2004 Interweave. I'm just figuring out who on earth I would give it to (or dare I keep it for myself?). I will contemplate this over the weekend and make a decision Monday. I also want to make up my list of presents this weekend so I can start figuring out my yarn needs. Hey, any excuse to buy yarn works for me!

I totally missed my blogversary on Wednesday. I have been blogging for a year now. Wow time flies and what great people I have met and corresponded with over this past year. It certainly has made the world seem a bit smaller and way more friendly so I thank you all for that!

Have a great weekend...

My mother has taken a very bad turn. It seems she has reached her final days, although knowing my mother it will be a few weeks, so blogging may become a bit sporadic for a bit.

I didn't work on Mya at all this weekend because of everything going on with my mother. After the rug issues I didn't want to risk it and frankly I was far too distracted. Harry Potter V worked a little better to de-stress me.

Thankfully my dear friend Christina, who's the recipient (well her son Joshua anyway) is a knitter so she was able to ooh, aahh and gush over the half finished product along with a picture of what it will look like.

I was able to pick her going away gifts. We got her my favorite stitch bible of the moment Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches and of course the Needlemaster

She is hoping to have some good knitting time being a stay at home mom. How true that is remains to be seen. She is also threatening to start a knitting blog, I wonder where she gets these crazy ideas...

So not surprising:

Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by alanna

I was Goth before it had a name...

Thanks to Ann for the quiz!

Devan update:

Steph's done. Go check out her Devan modeled by the darling Melanie!

Kathleen's ready to cast on.

Jasmine was finishing her second side and going to start the back.

Chris finished the second sleeve but discovered a problem when she checked out her potential seams.

I am chugging along on Mya, but I'm starting to worry about whether it will be done by Monday. I seem to be taking a great deal of time untangling yarn since I have 3 going at once in order to have the white trim. It is faster now that I am in the main part, let's hope it's fast enough...

Have I mentioned how much I hate small needles? Mya is going very slowly. Here's what it will look like:



Here's what it looks like currently:



I am doing all the seed stitch borders in white, with dark blue for the main color. I am hoping to pick up some steam now that I am in the stockingnette section. Seed stitch slows me down just as much as the small gauge.

Thanks for all the compliments on the rug. I realized you can't see the points of the chevron at the top in the picture because it's rather curled but they are there thankfully. I think that's what helps hide the flaw.

As promised here is a picture of my rug, in it's natural habitat no less:



 

See the screw up is not so noticeable (if you're far enough away anyway)...

The only thing I worked on during my vacation was the rug and I finished it on Sunday, in the car on the way to Jeeper's for my son's birthday get together (3 kids does not a party make). I wanted to put a picture up today but I forgot to upload it last night. I was too busy setting up our new TiVo which I bought my husband for our anniversary (10 years, I got a lovely diamond anniversary band from him I figure I'm going to get a lot more out of TiVo than he will out of my ring). I promise to put them up when the kids go to sleep tonight.

The rug is pretty and functional, but it went very wacky at the end. My mother took a bad turn last week and it would seem that much of the work I did on it while visiting her was really screwed up. I ended up about 10 stitches short at some point (damned if I know how) so I did an increase row rather than frog. So now of course it has a very odd indent in the upper corner. I decided that I should just leave it as a testament of this time in my life. My husband says he can't really tell because of the variegation and the slight rolling at the sides anyway. I may go back at some point and re-do those last 20 or so rows but it is for my bathroom floor, who's really going to be inspecting it.

Carrie joined the Devan along with her now completed Devan. She did it in Lion Brand's Magic Stripes Jelly Bean and Bernat's Hot Sox. It is very wild and cute. Definitely makes the other Devans seem quite sedate. I had been hoping to create the Devan Gallery last week while I was home but as usually is the case life intervened. So I hope to get it done this weekend and Carrie's will be the first one up. Stephannie is moving along. Her Devan is blocked and just waiting to be finished. Mine is with me today for subway knitting but I have a baby sweater that must been completed immediately so that will take precedence once I cast it on tonight.

The Rug Along officially began on Thursday.  I began my rug on Friday.  I managed to put down the lap blanket, thankfully.  I went searching on Thursday night through my various stitch compendiums and finally found a nice chevron stitch in The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches  (I also managed to finally do a row of single crochet,  but that's a story for another day).
 
So here's my progress as of Sunday morning: 
  
 
 
The pattern is exactly what I was imagining, with this yarn.  I made my husband measure the space where it will be so he could decide how big I should make it (he likes to feel involved).  It's about 20"  across and I will make it 32" long.  At this point I have about 10" done.  I want to finish it pretty quickly so I can get back to the lap blanket.  We are getting new furniture this week (ok not so new, the couch and chair from my mother's apartment since they are nearly brand new and my furniture is falling apart) and I would like to be able to drape the lap blanket over the back of the new couch while it still looks nice.  I figure I will have about 10 minutes once it gets here...

The Knitting Group on Tuesday went really well.  Over 12 people showed up, including a young girl who wanted to learn to knit and/or crochet and a young boy who learned to knit in school this year and "misses it".  We went around the table introducing ourselves and explaining when and why we learned to knit.  My favorite story was a young woman who had twins.  They were preemies, just a little over a pound a piece.  She said she received the most beautiful little knit hats from the hospital.  She decided now that her girls are happy and healthy (19 months old), that she would like to give something back.  So she taught herself to knit from a book and now she makes preemie hats.  The one she brought was adorable.  
 
I have been working on the lap blanket ever since Tuesday.  After working on small gauge projects I forgot how gratifying bulky yarn and big needles can be.  
Here's my progress so far:
 


Poor Devan is sitting neglected because it takes so damn long to see any progress.  I needed a break and the blanket is providing a good one.
 
Here's where I stand with Devan:
 


 
I was hoping to figure out the pattern for the bath rug since the Rug Along has officially started, but I would have had to put down the blanket and I'm just not ready to do that.  Of course the rug is done with even thicker yarn so that should give some real satisfaction in the speed with which it knits up.  I had been thinking of a basketweave pattern, but now I'm leaning toward a feather and fan or chevron type pattern.
 
I go on vacation next week so I am hoping that means plenty of knitting time...yeah right, oh well a girl's got to have her dreams...
 
Have a great weekend everyone!

Just quick reminder, if you're in NYC this evening stop by Barnes and Noble at 86th and Second. My best friend Maribel is hosting a knitting group. I will be there working on my lap blanket (she is featuring Weekend Knitting so I thought it would be fun to bring the blanket since it comes from that book). It starts at 7. I hope to see some of you there!

Just a cute little quiz my son had me take (I guess a love of quizzes is genetic), he of course was Harry Potter.

Which HP Kid Are You?

I finished the Magic Stripes tie:



Ray wore it to work yesterday and got lots of compliments. He said people were very surprised that it was knitted.

I also finally got my progress bars working. I decided to make them purple, I don't know why, it's my best friend Maribel's favorite color so let's say it's for her. By the way for anyone in the NYC area, Maribel is hosting a Knit Together at her Barnes and Noble store at 86th and Second Ave this Tuesday (July 13). Yours truly will be there as well as my friend Tisha, just hanging together, knitting, talking about the latest knitting books and whatever. It's something new they asked her to try (when they discovered that knitting wasn't just her hobby but a huge phenomenon at the moment), it's sort of knitting version of a reading group. So the more people who turn out the better. It will start at 7.

I finally started on Devan. I did about 4 inches on the left panel, then I decided to frog it. I figured since Ian will be 3 in October, just around the time he would start wearing it, I wanted to make it a little bigger. My gauge had been dead on, so I went up a needle size, that should give it a few more months of wear. As I recall kids slow down a bit once they get to 3. Of course I'm pretty sure Ian has put on 2 inches in the past week because suddenly he can reach things he never could before, countertops, the microwave, the button to turn the air conditioner on, the DVD player. I am sure you can imagine what the past few days have been like in my house.

As for the other knitalongers, Stephannie finished the back, but has a warning for anyone making the second size (6-12 months); she is running low on her contrast yarn and will have to rip out her swatch to have enough. She suggests doing your swatch with the patterned yarn, because you will need all of your contrast color.

Jasmine has been waiting for her yarn to arrive from Canada. It arrived this week so she hopes to start this weekend.

Chris is busy with her summer activities so she hasn't wanted to knit. She also needed to take a break from the small needles used in Devan. You can see how far she's come on her Devan Progress Page

Brynne's Devan was being blocked when last I heard but she has been a little busy with a completely different project. Go check out her beautiful new son John Francis...

Have a great weekend.

From Mindy who got it from Em.

You're The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

by C.S. Lewis

You were just looking for some decent clothes when everything changed
quite dramatically. For the better or for the worse, it is still hard to tell. Now it
seems like winter will never end and you feel cursed. Soon there will be an epic
struggle between two forces in your life and you are very concerned about a betrayal
that could turn the balance. If this makes it sound like you're re-enacting Christian
theological events, that may or may not be coincidence. When in doubt, put your trust
in zoo animals.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

This is one of my eldest son's favorite books so it works for me!