Neville

Another Harry Potter inspired knit!








A gansey pattern that's nice and easy cuz I'm aware of the fact that I'm all about the easy.

My niece, Bean, has requested a pair of knee high socks. She's a bike rider and loves knee highs so I think that's going to be my next project. I have several skeins of Shibui sock yarn that I was keeping for a clapotis but I think I'll use it for her socks instead. Now all I have to do is find a pattern.

Tonight City Bakery is having their knit night. Allyson and I went last year and really enjoyed ourselves. We were so disappointed when we didn't see anything on their calendar for a knit night this year so when we went there a couple of months ago we asked the manager about it and she said she'd see what she could do. I guess there were enough inquiries about it that the decided to do it tonight. There will be a bunch of vendors including Brooklyn General, Downtown Yarns, Knitty City, Purl and Wool and the Gang who will all be doing classes. There will be food and drink and a good time will be had by all.

Misfit Knits

Remember the old Rankin/Bass Christmas shows on television? I loved those! Remember this little ditty?





Well Glenn has named my closet "The Closet of Misfit Knits" The sweater I started for my sister two years ago is in there. And a pair of mittens has just joined it to keep it company! I started a gorgeous pair of mittens last week. I completed one mitten within a day's time with no problems. Then I started the second mitten but made a mistake so I had to rip it down. Picked it right back up and started again. About halfway through I made another mistake and had to rip it down again. Started over for the third time. Oh yeah and that thing about third time being a charm? That's a buncha bull. I almost completed the mitten, only to take a look and see that I screwed up not one but two of the cables. I had to rip the whole thing down again. Then I put everything back in the project bag and put in in the closet next to Pat's sweater.

And there you have the story of the Misfit Knits closet.

Oh and for those of you who asked about our new puppy, we'll be getting her on April 9th. Right now she's in a loving foster home until she's fixed, vaccinated and chipped. When I spoke to her foster mother, Laura who had named her Heidi, she told me that her husband had taken to calling her "the doll" because she's just so sweet and cuddly so we decided to rename her and call her Dolly! She's a mini Dachshund mix who was dropped at a shelter with her three sisters at a very young age, probably only a couple of weeks old. She'll be here in less than two weeks and we couldn't be more excited!

Love

We got Grace almost seven years ago. She's always been like one of our children. She and my son, Glenn, have such a special bond that I think only occurs between a boy and his dog.
I've always wanted my own dog. It's a conversation that we've had for a couple of years on and off. A little lap dog just for me. Because a husband, two teens and a dog aren't enough.
I started looking on Petfinder yesterday. I knew I wanted a small dog, not a chihuahua and preferably not a full breed. I'm a mutt kinda gal. I didn't know exactly what I wanted but I knew I'd know when I found it. I looked through a few pages and then....then I fell in love.









Isn't she precious? There were a few photos of her and a video. I sent the link to Glenn, who was on his way to school. He immediately texted me back asking "When are we getting her?" Not if, when. When everyone saw her, we all agreed she'd fit perfectly in our home and in our lives. I can't wait till we can pick her up!

Charade

Here's a photo of the completed Charade sock:





Very similar to the Skyp sock and I love it. I did finish the pair and will get it out in the mail tomorrow to Cathy. Yay!

I decided I want to do some mittens so I began a search for a pattern and boy did I find a great one! It's called All The Water and the pattern was designed by Kirsten Kapur of Through The Loops! I have a gorgeous skein of Madeleine Tosh DK in Chambray which reminds me of this amazing soft, faded denim button down shirt I had back in the 90s or maybe even the 80s. This is gonna be one beautiful set of mittens and can't wait to get them started!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is my favorite Irish ditty. We used to hang out in a pub called The Life Of Riley and this played on the juke quite often. We'd all sing along, in harmony mind you, while having a few drinks. Hope you find it as funny as we did.




Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Fun!

It's been a busy few weeks in the Knoobie household lately so not a lot of knitting has been done. Some but not a lot. Here's some knitted loveliness to show you:




These are the Charade socks. Or sock as the case may be. It's very similar to the Skyp sock so, needless to say, I'm loving it. The Aussi Sock Yarn is great and it feels really nice. These are for my sister's friend Kathy and I hope to get them to her before it gets too hot in Florida.

Today Patrick and I went to Seaport Yarns and spent time with Andrea. She's so sweet and we had a great time. I got some Malabrigo sock yarn, a couple of magazines and Patrick picked out a blue/gray/white striped sock yarn so I can make him a pair of socks. As we were checking out, Patrick picked up a Knit Kit and loved it. He's all about the tchochkes. He wanted me to buy it but I wouldn't since he hasn't been knitting. Andrea told him if he made a scarf and a hat she would give him one. How sweet is that? He got home, went through my yarn closet, grabbed the Cascade Eco and is working on his scarf! He's already cast on twice because the first go round he started the row with thirty stitches then ended up with thirty one. Next row he dropped stitches so he decided he wanted a do over. I hope he keeps up the knitting because I really enjoy having him as my knitting partner.

I just hope he learns to purl this time around.

I'm Out!

Well I got three strikes on the pair of socks from the previous post. They were still too big and I wasn't going to have enough yarn to finish even if I kept knitting them and gifting them to someone with bigger feet than mine. Frogged it and put away the yarn for another day.
I went into my yarn cupboard and whipped out the gorgeous Aussi Sock in Atlantic Weaves. It's here, second from the left, the green/blue:





It's 90% merino and 10% nylon which should make a great sock with a bit of give to it. Looking for a pattern now on Rav and checking to see what I have on my Nook already. I'm really anxious to get a pair of socks finished after having three false starts the week with nothing to show for it.

Three Strikes

I found the Show Off Stranded sock pattern and thought it was adorable. I even had a great yarn, Artyarns Ultramerino 4 color 132, I thought would be perfect for this pattern. Love when that happens!
So as I've said before I usually go up a needle size because I have big feet. I went up to a size 2 needle and cast on 72 stitches, which was the amount for the larger sock. After the ribbing, I started the pattern and realized it was too big. Strike one. I frogged it and cast on 64 stitches again on the size two needles. Ribbing, leg pattern for about three inches till I realized that this too was too big. Rippit. Down it came. I'm now working on my third go round, I think I've got it right. Size one needles, 72 stitches cast on:





Perfection! It's not the fault of the designer who designed this lovely sock, it's me and my refusal to do a gauge swatch. When I told Al about the first debacle she asked if I measured it to get gauge which, of course, I hadn't but I do like the idea! Maybe I would have only had to pull down one sock and not two. Live and learn, right? I do love having Allyson as my knitting godmother. She's the shiz.

Oh and in the background of this photo? That would be a Tom Bihn Yarn Stuff Sack. I got the small, which you see here, and a tall sack purchased with the money Glenn gave me for Valentine's Day. Love these sacks! They're a resilient nylon like material with lots of room for such small bags. And the price is excellent - the small was $15.00 and the tall was $18.00 This is a true bang for your buck item that's also very cute. I may start a collection of these to go along with my collection of Namaste Laguna bags.