Apricots & Femme Fatale

I went over to some friends house last Friday and picked apricots from their tree. The tree was the biggest apricot tree I've ever seen & had dropped lots of apricots already. The yard was a gooey, sticky mess and their driveway was too. Bad idea to plant an apricot tree near a driveway! By the time I got home I had apricot goo all over my shoes & even on my shorts. But it was worth it! Yummy!! This picture is a very small sampling of all the apricots I got. I had 5 times this many!

And here's a pic of the Apricot Coconut Squares (except that I did not put coconut).

I finished the Femme Fatale Wrap yesterday at knitting group. I gave it to L because she admired it early on. I hope she uses it! Here are the specifics:

Pattern: Femme Fatale Wrap Creative Knitting Nov. 2007

yarn: Malabrigo Worsted - Black 4 hanks

Needles: Knitpicks Harmony size 7 US

Started: April 13, 2010

Finished: June 14, 2010

I did make some mods to the pattern & found a couple of errors. These are detailed on my Ravelry project page which I am sharing.

Also finished the socks within the last few weeks. They are ok. A little bit rough on the inside to my sensitive feet. I tried felting them a little bit with no luck. Wouldn't you know it? When you want something to felt it won't.

Truth Time

I don't usually have more than 3 projects otn at any one time. I've always been anal about that. But, last night I was searching for missing needles and discovered a terrible truth. I have 6 projects otn right now and am dying to start a 7th. Hence, the search for the missing size 6 needles.

So, it's time to fess up, face the music, tell the truth.

1-Paneled Lace Afghan which I started last summer and it probably won't be finished in 2010. I do work on it every Monday at the library for a couple of hours but it's slow going and I'm ok with that because it's my easy carry around project.

2-Alpine Lace Shawl - I started this last fall and while I love it, it takes a lot of focus and concentration because every row is patterned and I'm using beads, too. I do intend to complete it this year.

3- Serenity Socks - I started these in December 2009 and have one finished and the other is about 25%. I don't knit on them very often but I keep them in the car for knitting emergencies. I call them Serenity socks because that's the name of the yarn I'm using. I'm not real creative.

4- Grace's Blanket - started very recently using the Rambling Rows pattern and scraps of Cotton Tots yarn. I've almost run out of scraps so it's on hold until I can buy more which sort of defeats the purpose of the blanket.

5- Fischgratlein - This is an openwork shawl from a pattern called Fish Scales Shawl. I started it in a fit of "gotta find a new project". It will probably not get finished.

6- Femme Fatale Wrap - Started this yesterday and it's really fun so far. Pattern comes from Creative Knitting November 2007.

Oops....I just remembered there are two more. Ugh. One was my design for the LSSK design contest last summer that I never finished. Maybe I will. The other is a variation of the Fish Scales Shawl that I was working on. Need to frog it.

And I really, really want to start the Haruni Shawl by Emily Ross. I saw a picture of it on Ravelry and several people have used the Jojo Melody yarn and it looks spectacular. And I have 3 balls of that yarn that I bought to make the Spiral Scarf with and decided that I didn't like it.

Calais Shawl

I finished this so fast that it didn't even have a chance to get on my WIP list. I loved every minute of the knitting. The yarn was so awesome and the pattern was fun and easy with just enough challenge to keep me interested in it! I hated for it to be over!

Details:

Pattern-Calais Shawl

Yarn-Tweed Sport from Weaving Southwest Taos, NM

Needles-US 7 Knitpicks Harmony

Started-March 25, 2010

Finished-April 2, 2010

Not sure what my next project will be. There are a couple of sweaters/wraps that I like. In the meantime I'm doing mitered square dishcloths and starting a preemie size Rambling Rows Afghan.

The Red Thang

This post is really about Girasole, but around my house we've taken to calling it "the red thang".

From Knitting 2009

 

It began with hubby asking what I was knitting and I showed him the pattern and picture and he said "But what is it?"  Good question. 

"Well, it could be a blanket but since I'm using fingering weight yarn (blank stare) it'll be a shawl." 

"Oh.  So, where's the hole for your head?"

"Ok, not a poncho....a shawl. Like over my shoulders."

"Oh." (blank stare)

So, a few nights later...."what are you knitting?"

"That red shawl."

"HUH?"

"Remember the red thang that could be a blanket but it's too small so it's a shawl?"

"Where's the hole for your head?"

And so it went.  Also, my friends know that I knit but some of them don't knit. gasp! They always seem interested so the same conversation has been repeated many, many times over the past nearly three months. Ergo....the red thang.

All this to say....the red thang is finished! And it is gorgeous. And blocking. And I am so thrilled and yet sad to see it go. It was the most fun thing (thang) I ever knit. Challenging, gorgeous, and yet somehow easy. Cool!

What will I do with it? Not sure. I might use it as a shawl but where is the hole for my head???

From Knitting 2009

Double Digit Favs

I'm so excited because one of my Ravelry projects has been faved by 10 people! Yeehaw!! It's the beautiful Horseshoe Lace Shawl designed by RainyK. I don't know why it thrills me so much that it's been faved 10 times, but it honestly does. Maybe because I LOVE that shawl, too!

I am ready to put the last border on the VLT scarf. The photo is at the 60% mark so it's longer now than that pic. But, anyhoo....I can't quite get the border worked out in my head. Even though I've done a knitted on border before on the MissyLace Shawl for some reason I can't get my head around it this time.

Here's where I am having trouble..

After the last repeat of Chart B you end on a WS row. Then it says knit one row (that would be RS). Then it says don't turn. Crochet cast on 41 stitches. Ok, so this is on the right side and now I've got this long cast on. And I'm supposed to start the Chart A at this point. But if I turn the work here as normal, I'll be on the WS and the chart starts with RS. Argh! I need help.

Capelet is finito!

The New Vintage Capelet is finished.

I am not totally thrilled with it because it is way longer than the one in the pattern. Speaking of the pattern....the web link no longer works. So, it really is finito. I think that is just so sad. I have love this cape from the first time I saw it and I am so glad that I saved it for myself in doc format. But it's sad that it's not out there anymore! Michelle Kissoore....put it out somewhere else, please!

I think I will give this to my mom. I will offer it anyway, and if she doesn't like it well she doesn't have to take it.

I wore my Sun Ray Shawl today and it was great! The weather is so awesome right now. Perfect fall weather!

Becoming a Better Knitter?

Hmmmmm. Well, after 2 1/2 years I do think I'm entering a new phase in my knitting. I've noticed lately that I seem to be faster and stuff looks better....stitches are neater....could be that Zephyr DK yarn....

But, more importantly, I think I'm developing a sense of what I actually enjoy knitting. And it's surprising me. A year ago I was all about triangular shawls. Loved 'em. Couldn't get enough of 'em. And they are nice. But. What drives me to drink about 'em (aside from my use of 'em way too much) is that they get bigger and bigger and it's so hard to determine how much yarn you'll need to do one more repeat or even the bind off. And it's just depressing for the rows to get bigger. So, now I still love shawls. Just not the triangular as much. Hmmmmm.

Ok. Lost my train of thought. Hold on...Oh yeah. And I used to hate doing hats but thought they were required for new knitters. Now, I like them because they're quick ways to try new stitches. For instance, I'm doing Smariek's 3 hr cable hat just so I can try cables again. But, I still hate dishcloths and think they are lame.

So, I am really enjoying the New Vintage Capelet (google it). It's fast, looks awesome and it frickin' decreases rather than increases. Yay! But really, I'm amazed at how fast this is going particularly since I am doing other projects too. Of course, it's on US 10's and ww yarn so should go fast, but trust me, a year ago I would've been struggling with it. And the other thing that I love about it is that it's the only pattern in my files that has stood the test of time. What I mean is that I saw this pattern like 2 years ago and loved it. But I knew I couldn't do it. So I saved it. And by golly, I still love the way it looks and love knitting it. And now it's easy peasy! How cool is that? Way cool!

I am really feeling verbose tonight. So, I'll continue. My other fav project: Shawl-Back Shrug from elann.com is totally awesome. But only because I have someone who is there to help me with it. She's there in the wings and I never would've started it without that knowledge. Thanks Vicki!! But so far, it's not too hard and it looks great! Again....the yarn - Zephyr DK. Love it! Now, I know this pattern is going to eat me alive when I get to the sleeves. But, for now, I LOVE it!

I was going to write some about the lace articles in Interweave Knits Summer 2006 and Fall 2006. But, I'm getting sleepy. So, I'll save those for another day. But, seriously, they are great articles. And I just felt so validated reading them. Because a lot of the information in them was stuff "I know" but seeing it in print by someone who knows their shit means a whole lot. And they gave me confidence in my abilities. Cool!

I'll leave you with a website that I found today and it is great!
http://www.knitmap.com/ You enter the city or zip code where you want to find a yarn shop and it'll tell you the ones nearby. As far as I can tell, it's all user contributed data and I think it's awesome!

Progress Report

I have been knitting on the New Vintage Capelet and I really love it. It's going fast. I am finished with the lace portion at the bottom and am a few rows into the straight ss portion. I also love the big honking ball 'o yarn from Canada. It's soft and so far there have been no knots! I have no idea why that is underlined and I cannot figure out how to remove it!

I've also done my swatch for the Shawl Back Shrug from elann.com and have cast on for it. I'm using Zephyr DK in Real Red and I love this yarn! It is so soft and the stitches just look gorgeous which is saying a lot for this yarn to make my stitches look good!

I am really thinking that blogging is a huge waste of time and may quit soon. I could be knitting ya know! Or napping or cleaning house....nah!

Beautiful Sun Ray

The sunray shawl is finished! I really love it and I think the Cotton Fleece will be really nice. It was amazing how much it changed with a light blocking. All I did was stretch it out on my foam boards then spray it lightly with water and pin it down. I had to re-pin and re-spray a couple of times. But I was really amazed at how different it was when it dried. Very drapey and soft and just so much nicer.

Here I am wearing the Sun Ray Shawl with my zig zag lace top and my cute little floral skirt. Love this outfit!

And this other pic is the Sun Ray trying to be artistic by draping itself on my back deck railing. Silly shawl....so dramatic, really.

But quite lovely.....

I finished the Wool Peddler's Shawl yesterday and blocked it. I plan to take some pics today of it. It was a really fun knit and I'd like to do it again. The yarn was Elann's Peruvian Highland Silk which is a dk weight. It was great to work with but I'm not sure how it'll hold it. It seemed to get a little fuzzy with washing.