Oh Ho Ho It's Magic!

Here's number three out of my four ufos and it's finished! I'm going to show you two pictures of it the first being before blocking and the second after blocking.







The difference is so drastic to me it's like blocking is magic. It takes a rumpled scarf and makes it a lovely lace scarf. Magic, I tell ya!
I wrote about this yarn here and I'm so happy that I finally found a pattern that beautifully compliments the yarn. Unfortunately, I can't find the label for this gorgeous yarn I purchased at Yarntopia but I feel safe in telling the recipient to hand wash and flat dry.
Three down, one to go!
Today Al and I are going to Whole Foods for a delicious lunch and a knit. I'm going to be test knitting a really nice shawlette that Allyson designed and I'm looking forward to not only making this but wearing it. I'll ask if she'll let me give you a peek a boo before she puts the pattern up.
Hopefully the next post will be my sister's sweater all finished. But don't hold yer breath.

Cheating

I never thought I'd admit this but I've been cheating. It's something I never thought I'd do because I'm a very loyal person. I've come to realize that maybe I'm just not the one bag girl I thought I was. Here's the object of my new obsession:



Fab, no? It's a Lexie Barnes McCoy in the leopard print. I'd often seen the Lexie Barnes bags but the price point was a bit high for me. When I saw this bag marked down from $189 to $70 I couldn't get my credit card out of my wallet fast enough. It's a weekend bag which is what I usually prefer because I carry a lot of stuff with me. Also, I can use it to pack up stuff when we go to the country on the weekends. That's what I tell Glenn anyway to justify buying yet another bag. It's got two hand straps plus a shoulder strap just like the Laguna, which I prefer. It's very big and roomy with lots of space for everything I schlep around Manhattan. I really like it a lot and will have to keep my eyes open for more Lexie Barnes sales. The Darling looks like a great smaller bag which I could use because all of my bags are bigger bags.
The guilt from buying a bag other than Namaste has finally faded and I've come to realize that I can buy any bag and love them all equally.

Two Down, Two To Go!

Ok two down, two to go. Here's the Cable Afghan:






Isn't it lovely? That hand you see in the upper left hand corner is Glenn's hand. He was posing for me. Yeah that's it. Posing. I think the flash may have woken him up.
I had knit up all five panels but I knit one short. I started to rip it down and must have started at the wrong end and had to rip it down a stitch at a time. Yeah like that was gonna happen. I put the short panel on the side and just knit up a sixth panel to attach. As you can see it came out great.
I'm now working on the Shale scarf. I should have this done in the next couple of days. Then is the dreaded sweater for Pat.
Ok I have to talk about this sweater. If you've been reading for a while you know that I knit this too long, got mad at it, gave it to Al to fix for me (thanks again, Allyson!) then promptly put it in my closet. That was a year ago. I think I'm afraid of this not just angry. Well I'm not angry anymore because that's faded. I think I am afraid to put it all together. I've never done this and it seems complicated. This is a fear I will be getting over this week because I'm determined to be UFO free come May. If I can get over the dpn fear and the kitchener anguish, I will kick the sweater's butt!

One Down

Here they are. Finally! This is the Jitterbug yarn Patrick and I picked out at Seaport Yarns last year. Actually Patrick picked it out since the black/red combo isn't one of my favorites. I have to say it's a lovely yarn to knit with but I was a bit disappointed in the fact that it didn't stripe. Patrick loves them though and that's what counts. He thinks the pooling of the colors is cool and he says they feel awesome on his feet. There's no better feeling than to have someone you love tell you that they appreciate what you've made for them. I got a big smooch and a hug and he even agreed to pose on the fire escape for me.
Now I'm working on the afghan for Glenn. I should have a post of that by week's end. Yes I'm an optimist.

I May Be Short

See that little bit of yarn near that sock? That bit of yarn has to magically turn into enough yarn to finish 2.5 inches of sock that I have left to knit. Think I'll make it? I'm having doubts but I'm ready to make a sacrifice to the knitting gods that it grows to the exact amount I need. When this is done, it'll be the first UFO that becomes an FO.
Wish me luck!

UFOs

I was on Twitter this week and asked all my Twittah Knittahs how many unfinished projects they had on the needles. I was surprised that the numbers could get so high. Some people had up to fourteen projects on the needles. Fourteen! My first thought was I'm glad our apartment is too small to house this many projects! I have four and I thought that was a lot!
I have decided to clean up my unfinished projects. I looked through my project bags and found my sister's sweater, the socks I'm making for Patrick, the cable afghan for Glenn and a shale scarf I'm making for my friend Roseanne.
I've put them all aside for various reasons. I have my sister's sweater in the closet. I started this in February. Of 2009. I misread the directions and knitted twenty rows beyond what I was supposed to and I got pissed off. Al was nice enough to frog back to the correct place on it but I haven't been able to pick it up again. I think I'm scared of the finishing of it and it's intimidating me but I'm determined to pick this up and finish it soon. Like this week soon.
Patrick's socks I just put down and never picked up again. I should be finished with these by the end of today.
The afghan for Glenn. Sigh. This is a five panel blanket and I shorted one of the panels. Seems a lot of my mistakes are math related. I guess counting has become beyond my capabilities lately. I frogged back and have to add a couple of inches and should be able to seam this up and get it done by the end of next week.
The shale scarf I've just been taking my time with. It's a four row pattern that's easy television knitting so I've been lazy with it. Not anymore!
I've promised myself not to cast on anymore projects till these four are completed. By the end of next week, I hope to have at least three, hopefully four, of these projects to show you.

Chocolate

Chocolate By The Bald Man consumed by the happy boy.

My Supportive Husband

Friday night I asked Glenn what he was going to do the next day. He said he was going to meet up with a few friends and hit up a park in Queens to go metal detecting. He asked me what I was going to do and I said I'd like to go yarn shopping (then again when don't I want to go yarn shopping?) but I didn't have any money. He said there was money and why didn't I go. I answered that I'd rather keep the lights on than yarn shop, being my usual smart ass self, so I would just hang with my boys. A moment later Glenn walked by me and tossed something onto the book I was reading. I look up and it was a $100 Amex card! I could do some serious yarn shopping with $100. I asked him if it was all for me and he said sure, have fun. Isn't he the bomb?
So the next day I took Glenn Part Deux (my son who is also named Glenn) with me to Seaport Yarns to find some goodies and boy did I!



Isn't that awesome? There's Malabrigo, Lily Chin cotton blend,Cherry Tree Hill bulky and Punta. I just kept putting things on the desk and asked Andrea, the owner, to tell me when I got to $100. I spent just over $100 and got all this lovely yarn. That's it though. I'm no officially on a yarn diet.
Because of this yarn purchase I had to go through my yarn cabinet and cull some stuff out into other drawers. I noticed that I have a bag of leftover yarns. From a few yards to full cakes of yarn I'll probably never use. I don't know what to do with all of this. Anyone have suggestions?
After almost 23 years of marriage, my husband still surprises me. Can't wait to see what we're doing next weekend!

My Shorty

I have finally finished the five panels for the afghan I'm making for Glenn. I started to seam it together yesterday. I'd been sort of dreading the seaming but it was going along pretty well. Until I hit the third panel.




As you can see, I shorted the third panel. I think I've mentioned before that math is not my strong suit and here's the proof. Instead of seaming it all together, I'm now in the process of ripping back the bind off and going to be adding another pattern repeat to this. Hopefully I'll get it done today and will have the afghan finished sometime over the weekend. I don't understand how this happened because I was keeping track of rows and pattern repeats. Live and learn.
It's funny because recently I was looking back at this blog and realizing how far I've come since knitting a garter stitch scarf then whamo I make a silly mistake like this! I'm just glad that the mistake isn't one that can't be fixed. Hopefully I'll have a completed afghan to show you early next week.

Chambray

I took a little trip down to Downtown Yarns this past weekend. I got a few skeins of Cascade Heathers and I bought myself a little treat. Ok maybe it's a big treat and the Cascade was a little treat. I got myself some gorgeous Madeline Tosh yarn called Chambray. Did you ever have a pair of light jeans that were washed so much that they verged on white? That's what this yarn looks like. Here's my photo of the yarns but the Tosh is a bit washed out looking here:



Here's a stock photo of it from a website:



Isn't that a great color? As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted it and I even have an idea what I'll be making with it!
Still working on Patrick's sock but I've been sick the last few days so haven't gotten a lot of it done. Sok he won't be needing them till autumn anyway. I've got time.

I Finally Did It!

The bane of my knitting existence thus far has been the kitchener stitch. The first time I tried it, I watched a video and followed it but it came out lopsided. That made me a little nervous. The next time I did it, my friend Marilyn helped me with it. She read the directions stitch by stitch so I'd be able to do this. This one came out fine, but made me think I'd have to have Marilyn come and visit me each and every time I wanted to use the kitchener stitch. Needless to say I was a bit gun shy. I just finished a sock I was making for Patrick.





I was determined to kitchener stitch it closed. But Marilyn wasn't here. How could I do this?? I used what has become a reliable knitting tool for me. Twitter! I hit up my Twitter knitters and asked for help. Within minutes, I had a handful of helpful sites one of which was on KnittingHelp.com
I watched the video and listened to the instructor and something she said struck a chord and finally, FINALLY, made sense to me. After the initial stitch to begin, there's a rhythm to it. Now you're speaking my language. Knit, slip, purl. Purl, slip, knit. Over and over again. That's all there is to it. That's it? That's what I was sweating over? Umm..yeah apparently that's all there is to it. I guess I just needed something to click and neither the videos, reading nor the vocal instructions made it click. Check this out:





That's right, baby! I did it! I know it may not seem like a lot to most knitters but this is a huge win for me. Thank you to all my knitting friends on Twitter who are always helpful and kind when I ask for help.
I'm KnittingKnoobie on Twitter if you want to be one of my helpers. I can never have enough because I'm always asking for advice!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Ok maybe I've been watching a little too much Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri but I'm very excited about choosing a winner! I'm so happy with how many people participated in this contest. This is the most ever! When I tell you how the winner was chosen you're going to think I'm nuts. Well maybe that's something you already know so I have nothing to lose. I dreamed about this number last night! Weird, right? But I thought it was a good omen and so the winner is...drum roll please....

Number 27 Amoena!

Congratulations Ameona! I'll be contacting you to get your information so I can send you these lovely prizes. I really should be the new host for Let's Make A Deal.
Happy weekend everyone!