Tomorrow is Easter

Doesn't this sweater just scream Easter? So, I finished this Baby Surprise jacket a few days ago and it just reminds me of Easter and spring and Easter eggs. It is so cute. The little buttons are either butterflies or bees, I can't really decide. But they are so cute! I don't have a baby to gift it to so I will just hold on to it until I find one.

Today we went over to some friends "Ranch" and danced and ate and had a wonderful time. Met some new people and laughed 'til we cried. I had one of those moments where you just look around you at the beautiful blue sky and the smiling friends and think "Wow! This is really special!"

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and Mom & Dad & James are coming over for lunch. I am making a ham, sweet potatoes, salad and chocolate cake. Mom is bringing bread and James is bringing ice cream. Yummy!


Now, I haven't showed any progress reports on the VLT scarf in awhile. I did work on it in the valley and I am about halfway done with it. I am using the Elsebeth Lavold hempathy yarn. I used most of one ball for the first edge. My scale says there is 12 g left in the first ball. I got 9 repeats and 7 rows done on Chart B with the second ball and just went to the third ball today. So, I should just barely be able to make the scarf as called for in the pattern with 21 repeats of Chart B. I love the main body of the scarf but am not so crazy about the edge. I just think it looks too different.

I still have the afghan for mom otn and the blasted MS3. The other day Mom asked me to knit her a lightweight shawl in off white. So tomorrow we are going to look at patterns. I am thrilled that she asked me for a shawl. I made the Wool Peddler's for her a couple of years ago but it's really too small and a little heavy. This will be fun. I would like to make the Highland Triangle Shawl but I don't know if she wants a rectangle or triangle shape.

Plain 'ol Cuppa Joe

Sadly boring, but true....

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

What I've been doing the past 2 months.....

Ok, so there was some New Year's Eve partying.....with our friends John & Nancy.










And then there were the cookouts and potluck dinners and more partying.....









There was some birdwatching.....(yes those bright orange and yellow spots are birds). In fact they are beautiful Altamira Orioles. There are also Green Jays in the picture and Kiskadees.





And there was even a little knitting. This is the finished first border for the scarf from VLT pg. 100.

And a whole lot of dancing, although I didn't get any pictures of dancing because....well I was dancing.

So, Thursday we are off the Big Bend National Park for a week or so then we'll be back home in mid March.

New Year Knitting Resolutions

So, Dawn had this knitting resolutions thing on her blog and I thought it was a cool idea. So without further ado....here are mine.

1-Finish MS3 (even if it kills me).

2-Design (& knit) a sweater. (who am I kidding?)

3-Finish mom's afghan (which was supposed to be Christmas '07 gift)

4-Knit at least one item from each of my books. (I edited and added this one because I saw it on someone else's blog and thought it was a great idea!)

Ok. I think that's enough. I feel a little lightheaded.

I finished the Montego Bay scarf a couple of days ago and I think it looks great. Better than the photo. But here's DH in all his workclothes glory posing for me. What a guy!

I have cast on for mom's afghan and knitted about 3" on it. So, I'll put it in a gift bag with the yarn and a picture of the finished afghan. Also, I bought her a nice pair of gold hoop earrings.

I cast on the scarf from VLT on pg 100 with the Hempathy yarn that Carrie gifted me. I love the yarn. Not sure I love the pattern. It uses k2tog for all the decreases and I'm not sure I like how that looks when the decrease line is pointed left. I cannot believe that I even recognize there might be a better way. I've only done about 2 inches on it so no loss. I can frog and try another pattern.

Blogging is Hard Work!

No really, it is! But, I had to toot my horn a bit...the shawl back shrug is finished and really do like it. Honestly, the pattern was way too vague for my taste. But I had Vicki to hold my hand all the way and it turned out just awesome!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was great. Just a small group of family and friends...turkey, dressing, desserts...what more can you ask for?

I've started a new project. The Montego Bay Scarf from IK Summer '07 (I'm pretty sure of the issue!). It's really fun and I'm using the Plymouth Royal Bamboo Multi. It really looks nice and it's so soft. The potato chip scarf just wasn't happening.

But really, I'm in limbo on knitting projects. Nothing that really has me loving it like the SBS did. I am still slogging away on MS3....I actually took a pic today but still I'm only on clue 4. Ugh. I doubt that I will ever finish it. I just can't get into the wing and I HATE the idea of doing it all over again so I can graft it together. I don't know why that bugs me. If I were just continuing on....I'd finish. hmmmm. I could do this same silly pattern for another 2 feet and that would be ok. But the thought of starting over....not happening.

Houston, we have sleeves!

Yeah! Sleeves are done and the rest of the SBS has been picked up and knitted. The picking up and knitting was really tricky for me to get done. I had the back on a lifeline and the fronts on seperate life lines. Some of the stitches had pulled through and were buried so that I had to get a tiny crochet hook and dig them out. At one point I had a crochet hook, a darning needle, a size 2 knitting needle and a stitch holder all poked in various spots trying to get those stitches lifted. Then I messed up on the back...instead of slip, k2tog, psso....I did slip, slip, k2tog, psso....And of course, I knitted way past it before I stopped to look it over. My clue was that the numbers weren't coming out right. But for some odd reason, I just kept on knitting. And once I realized my mistake I spent several minutes trying to figure out a way to ummmm, shall we say, cheat. I hate tinking back!

It fits a little snugly, but that's ok, I think. I know that I can block it out bigger. Right?

I love this yarn. It's so soft and just looks gorgeous! I think the body will go fast because from here I do about an inch straight and then start decreasing. The final part is to pick up all alround the outside edge and knit on an edging. The thought of that scares me so...I just try not to think about it. Just call me Scarlet.

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!

Ready for Sleeves?

I think I'm ready to put the sleeves on seperate needles and knit them up. I am excited about this but realized yesterday that I'll have to cut my yarn (I'm using a cone of yarn) then estimate how much I'll need for one sleeve and ball it up. I'm nervous about starting the sleeves because I'm not 100% sure how wide the back is. I guess I should put it on a piece of scrap yarn so I can get a good measurement. And then there's the blocking to factor in. This will be a learning experience that's for sure. If it's too big for me, I don't know who I'll give it to.

The New Vintage Capelet is coming along quickly. I've done about half of the decreases so it shouldn't be much longer. I think I will take it with me this weekend to work on in the car. I should be able to finish it. I need to get another pic of it.

MacGyver Level 3

So, I don't know if you've seen this site or not http://www.cast-on.com/?page_id=123 but it's pretty funny. I believe I've earned at least three badges:

1)The “Knitting Whilst Under the Influence” Badge - This applies to both actual knitting under the influence, as well as achieving moments of stunning intellectual clarity about ones knitting under the influence. Presumes talking about knitting whilst under the influence a given.

2)The “Proselytize Knitting” Badge - A requirement for all Knitting Scouts, the recipient must do his or her bit to present knitting in a positive light, whilst at the same time avoiding all references to “hipness”, grandmothers, and yoga.

But my proudest one- 3)The “MacGyver” Badge (Level Three) - The recipient must demonstrate clever use of a knitting tool in a non-knitting-related scenario working towards the Greater Good. For instance, recipient used a Clover yarn cutter, a 30” Addi Turbo circular needle, and a copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Without Tears to foster world peace.

Here's the story: DH was trying to transfer some 30 years old tapes of his dear departed dad singing religious songs. DH's sister has had these tapes for years and she recently found them. She had a stroke last year and isn't herself anymore. But, she does remember the past and loves talking about it. So, DH decided he would take the tapes and put them on cd for his sister and himself. But he was afraid that if he rewound them using the tape player, they would break. Being as they're 30 years old. So, he came to me for help. "I need something to turn the tape with." My response was "use your finger". He didn't like that idea. His fingers are big and it would take forever to rewind the tape that way. We tried a pencil (too small) and various other item. Then, I had an idea! My rubber point protector and a size 2 needle did the trick! So, you see? The Greater Good being dear sister's happiness. Right? Anyway, we are going today to deliver said cds. yee haw!

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!

Wanna See My Swatch?

I am so clever, I know. Actually there are 3 swatch piccies.
The one on the right is done with the Shetland Heather 2/20 cone yarn I got from Berta. I knitted a 4 inch square in the Fir Cone pattern on size 4 bamboo circs. I wet blocked it and it was still a little puffy in the denser areas. So, I threw it in the wash with some jeans. Viola! It felted. So, now I know that it is mostly wool, but I think a little acrylic too.










So, the brown swatch is the New Vintage Capelet . The swatch was done with the big honking ball 'o yarn from Canada on size 10 needles. First I wet blocked it and it looked good. So, in the washer it went with a load of undies. Laid it on top of the dryer to dry. And it looks great, much better than pre-blocked. but I forgot to take a pic of it before blocking. But trust me, it really opened up nicely. I think it's going to look terrific! I cast on last night for the S/M size but only got one row done before deciding to have a second glass of wine.

But yesterday, I ordered Zephyr DK yarn in Real Red colorway from sarahsyarns.com for the Shawl-Back Shrug from elann. Some of the LSSK gals are going to do a KAL on it. I am excited about that!

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.....

Big Honking Ball 'o Yarn

As promised (or maybe not) here's a pic of the big ass ball of yarn that I bought in Canada. It's 400 grams (that's almost a lb to you Yanks har har).

Although it is 80% acrylic and only 20% wool, it really seems quite lovely. And I figured I travelled all that way....I had to buy some yarn. And the shop owner was so sweet and she was making a cabled sweater with this yarn and it looked really good, and I've really been wanting some brown yarn......Ok, enough excuses! I like it. So there!

Here's what I want to make with it- New Vintage Capelet and I hope it'll work ok and look good being that it's 80% acrylic. Whadda ya think?

But I also really like this shrug from elann.com although it is done with dk weight. But I could probably work it out. Ohhhh too many choices.

MS3-Started clue 4. Still undecided on the wing. Although the pics I've seen of the finished stole with wing are awesome!

Sun Ray Shawl-99% complete baby! All I have left is the picot bind off. Maybe tomorrow will be the day.

Wednesday, 9/5 is our 27th wedding anniversary so I don't expect to be knitting on that day. We are undecided what to do. Usually our most fun times are totally simple so we are thinking of taking the boat out and going up to the falls, swim a little....take a picnic and some wine....Or maybe instead go to the movies and a nice dinner in town.....Hmmmmm....

Oh Canada!

So, we went to Ontario on the 22nd of August. It was such fun! Our friends have a cottage on Lake Erie and they invited us to come up for a week.

So, here are Mollie (the lab), Gary (the dh), Fritz (friend) and Steve (friend) on our first day.

We arrived about 3 pm on the 22nd and after a little sightseeing in Buffalo we headed for the Anchor Bar. This is the home of Buffalo Wings. Cool, huh? We had an order of medium and ya gotta have the suicide wings, right? OMG! I only ate one and my lips felt burned, nose was running and eyes watering. Not a pretty sight!

The next day, Thursday, we slept late (as was our usual routine on this trip) and headed for some of the wineries in Ontario. We visited Maleta Estate Winery (awesome wines & super nice people), Coyote's Run (we didn't find a lot that we liked there but the guy who did the tasting was entertaining), Frogpond Farm Organic Estate Winery (our favorite as far as the atmosphere and people...again not so much on the wines), Marynissen Estates (really pretty place and a very good Chardonnay for $22) and Caroline Cellars where we liked the Baca Pinot (I think). After that we drove over to the Niagara College Teaching Winery. This is a really cool culinary college with it's own winery and beautiful gardens. We strolled the gardens and I was amazed that many of the plants and flowers were the same ones we have here. The winery was closed already so we headed in to the restaurant for a wonderful four course fixed price dinner. Two appetizers, an entree and dessert. Oh and 2 glasses of house wine. All that for $48 per person. And it was wonderful! I had the cucumber and dill cold soup, a warm heirloom tomato tart with fresh baby greens (absolutely delicious), grilled salmon and peach tart. It was all great!

The next day was Friday and they have a farmer's market in Port Colborne on Friday. So, off we went. It was amazing! Probably my favorite part of the trip. They had the best strawberries I've ever eaten. We bought corn, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, yummy fresh breads, bell peppers and onion. That night we cooked steaks on the grill with onion and bell peppers and corn on the cob. Oh it was heavenly!

On Saturday we drove to Old Fort Niagara near Youngstown, NY on Lake Ontario. It was really interesting and quite a pleasant day. We got to see an actual musket fired by one of the volunteers dressed in appropriate garb.

Then we drove back into Buffalo to visit with a friend of Steves whose hobby is breeding and collecting reptiles. He lives in an old house that is a basement, two floors and an attic. That house is filled with reptiles of all kinds....snakes, lizards, etc. The tour took about 20 minutes, then we were off to the Founding Fathers Bar. Very cool bar owned by a high school friend of Steves. This friend, Mike, has a great love of American History and knows lots of trivia. We had a really nice evening there. Good sandwiches and beer too!

On Monday we drove up to Welland and I visited The Wool Shop. A very nice owner but rather dissappointing yarns. Mostly acrylics. I managed to find something to purchase though. A 400 gram ball of Aran acrylic/wool blend. The owner was making a cabled sweater with it and it was really pretty. The we visited the Beer Store and a bike shop. And it was off of Niagara Falls.

Niagra Falls is a must see! Wow! Just amazing and such a wonderful force of nature! Can you believe that I took this picture?? I totally cannot believe it!

On Tuesday we drove up to Selkirk Provincial park and had a nice picnic. Then back home fairly early so we could pack and get ready for our flight home.

Taaa Freakin' Dah

Yeah! I finished the Zigzag Lace Top! And I love it...well I like it anyway. It is a little snug so maybe I shouldn't have made it smaller. But, maybe that'll keep me honest with my self.

The picture isn't really all that good because I was in a rush trying to get ready to go dance and this wasn't what I was going to wear. I mean really now! Would I chance sweating in this gorgeous sweater?

But, for all the anguish I am really quite thrilled with it!!!

Look what I got!

Isn't this bag just soooo cute? It's made of denim with drawstring straps. It's sort of like a backpack, but softer and denim.

I'm going to use it to carry my dance shoes!

And the best part? I bought it at the thrift store for $3.50!!! And was like new. In fact, I think it'd never been used because once I got it home and checked inside it, the original price tag was in there. So, I washed it and dried it and it's just perfect.

Update on the zigzag lace top-I am nearing the finish line. I have about 20 rows to go and the second sleeve will be finished. Then attach sleeves and sew it up and it's done! I really, really want to finish it before we go to Canada (next week).

I'm In!!!!!

frecklegirl has invited you to Ravelry!"Here you go! Thanks for your interest in our little site.Let me know if you have any questions or problems!

Got my invite to Ravelry today! Yeah! Now I can waste errr spend even more time online rather than doing housework, yardwork, knitting.....My id is wendydancer - duh!

On the MS3-I'm almost done with clue 3 but have put it aside to work on the Zigzag Lace Top. I have the front and back done and about 20% of one sleeve. The Sunray Shawl has also been sidelined but I'm about 80% on it. I've done 5 repeats and plan to do one more.


Sunray Shawl in Cotton Fleece


Zigzag lace top-front


MS3-clue 2

Well, I would write more but DH is sitting staring at me waiting to use my computer to make illegal copies of something....errrr I mean totally legal copies.

See ya on Ravelry!

This is so much fun!

I've finished clue 2 on the Mystery Stole 3. I am really loving the way this is looking. I'm not having too much trouble with it. I have tinked a few rows here and there, but overall I'm really proud of how I'm doing. I absolutely cannot believe that I'm doing something so gorgeous!



Part of me (the nice part) wants to give this to Evelyn when I'm finished with it. She has been so sweet to me and given me 2 pairs of gorgeous Glide dance shoes and she gave me a beautiful gold petticoat. That stuff is very expensive to buy new! But most of me (the evil, selfish, greedy part) wants to keep this lovely thing all for me. Guess, I'll wait until I finish it to decide...

So, we are off to the coast for the weekend to dance. Should be lots of fun. Ricky & cheryl, Sharon & Gary are going down also. And we will get to see June, Sue, Bob, Art & Vicki and probably lots of other friends will be down there! If we aren't full of dancing we'll stop in SA on the way home Sunday afternoon and round dance with David & Terri's group.

Sweet Deer

See these deer? Aren't they so sweeeettttt? Make you want to say "awwwww". Well they really aren't sweet at all. They are destructive little critters. I know, I know....they were here first...we're encroaching on their habitat...yada yada yada. They still piss me off!


They eat your potted plants that are out on your deck. And make your hibiscus look like this.....




My hisbiscus used to be beautiful with red flowers on the left and orange flowers on the one on the right. I have another picture here somewhere.....of a beautiful blooming hibiscus.

So, now I have my deck chairs strategically placed on the deck so maybe the deer won't get up there again and munch. Not that there's anything left to eat! Should I try to save the hibiscus or give them up as deer food?