Wavy

I started knitting Wavy (pattern here, Easy to follow graph here) Wednesday evening and continued on at our Borders knitting group on Thursday. I love how this is turning out. The jog where it changes directions bothers me a little but I think with careful blocking it will look less broken.

This scarf is soft and luxurious. The yarn is 100% silk, and I'd call it a boucle though it's not terribly nubby. The yarn used to be a short sleeved sweater that I found at a thrift store for $2 or $3. I did a google search and found 100% silk boucle yarn selling for $38 for 3.5 oz. At that price, I figure I have about $130 worth of yarn here. Woo hoo! Definitely worth the effort of unraveling. I thought when I started knitting Wavy that it would be a nice Christmas gift for someone, but now I'm wondering if I'll be able to part with it. Maybe this one is for ME!

I have a long way to go. This pattern calls for 10 repeats of 44 rows. So far I am through 4 of the 10 repeats. I may end up making it a little bit shorter, and possibly adding a ruffle to the bottom edge. I haven't quite decided yet.

New project!

Here is my latest project. Tamara was knitting a beaded bracelet at our Borders knitting group on Thursday and I was intrigued. I went online and found the pattern on HGTV--Carol Duvall and then yesterday hunted around until I found some 000 knitting needles (which I never thought I would buy a needle that small, but then, I said the same thing about the 3s, then 2s then 1s when I started knitting socks) and the On The Surface metallic thread and just went with it! It's fun! I'm going to try a couple different variations. I want to try a thicker rope so will add a couple stitches to my next one. I've since finished the pink/green one and added a toggle clasp to it instead of attaching it together. I like the idea, but I don't think I executed it quite right and so I'll work on that a bit too.

UPDATE: I tried working with 4 stitches instead of 3, thinking it would give me a thicker round bracelet, but it didn't want to twist, so I went back to 3 stitches (2 beads per row). However, I had threaded my beads in sets of 3 thinking I was going to have 3 beads per row, so now my rows are alternating solid and mixed. Oh well, I won't get the nice spiral colored effect of the pink and green, but I think it will still turn out ok. This one is lime and turquoise. Pictures to follow.

Meanwhile I am trying like heck to finish up all my projects for my upcoming classes so I can submit the info to Vicky for the newsletter. I guess I should get back to that so I have a least some of it ready to give her when I go to work in the morning.

The kids are home from school again today. They've only gone one day in the last 10. Last Monday school was cancelled because of ice. They went on Tuesday, then were off the rest of the week for mid-winter break. Today they were SUPPOSED TO go back. We really got dumped on yesterday, all day long and ended up with about 8" of snow, with some sleet/freezing rain overnight. I'm so ready to send them back! ;-)

This and that

Today my Sheep Tote class starts. There has been much excitement about this class and so I have lots of students signed up. I'm hoping it's not too overwhelming! It's going to be a long day...I am working all day in the shop, with my class wedged in the middle of the day, then I have an evening class from 6-8. I'll have just enough time to fly home, grab some dinner (that hopefully Mike has prepared by the time I get home) and fly back to the store for class. Of course I could always just stay up in town and grab something from Tacos, Eggrolls and More (everytime I say that, I want to say OH MY! afterwards LOL) which is a fairly new restaurant right across our back parking lot. Funny combination, but good food at a decent price. Since I love Chinese and Mexican food, they will be seeing a lot of me. They are the only ones in town offering Chinese (since the lousy Chinese restaurant --that never got any business because they were lousy-- closed down recently) T, E & M makes a really good eggroll ($.99) and a decent bowl of wonton (good sized bowl at $1.75). On the Mexican side, I've only tried their chicken burrito but it was quite tasty. They also offer a variety of gourmet soups which are quite delish!

Yesterday I worked all day at the shop by myself. It was pretty slow except for the lunch hour crowd. I straighted yarn bins, did a bit of knitting and basically just hung out with some Celtic music on the CD player to help keep me company in the quiet of the day. It was dreary and drizzly (Rainy days and Mondays.....) but it didn't get me down. I love my job and am happy to be there as much as possible.

I got quite a nice surprise yesterday. I have had my eye on some Noro Blossom, specifically color #5. I would oooh and ahhh over it all the time, but had no clue what I wanted to make with it, so I was holding off. All of a sudden it was gone! (Or so I was told by one of the other teachers who thought she had bought the last of it) When I was straightening the bin yesterday, I found 4 more hanks way in the back. Yeah! I grabbed those babies up, because who knows if/when we'll get any more of that color it. Noro is a yarn that trickles into the store 1 or 2 colors at a time so you never know....

Now.......I need suggestions as to what to do with 4 skeins of Blossom! Any ideas? HELP!

I'm working on several projects for our upcoming class schedule...fun summertime projects that I'm sure will draw some interest. I'm working out the details, and can't wait to share them here when I know they are a success!

And last, but not least, the new little knitting group that started last week at Borders in Rochester was a BLAST! There were only 4 of us, but we had SO much fun. It wasn't uncomfortable at all...we all just started talking away immediately and never quit. We laughed and talked and knit until they turned the lights out on us. It was great fun, and I can't wait to go again! My new friend Debbie and I are planning on going to dinner beforehand this week. I'm anxious to see if more people show up this week to join in our fun. I think we all would have stayed later if we hadn't gotten kicked out of the store when they closed. We were having a grand ol' time!

on that note......

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go....

46 days and counting!

I'm taking a little trip at Easter to visit my sister, Diane. I used to visit her every year in the spring....no kids, no hubby....just me. It was always something to look forward to after a dreary winter. The last couple of years the tradition has been broken, and I haven't gotten to spend much time with her at all lately. She lives in South Dakota and I live in Michigan. She flew in for the weekend when we had our 25th anniversary party, but the party was basically the only time I got to see her. So I decided it was time to do it again. I'm ditching my family for almost 6 days for PLAY TIME FOR ME!

Diane is a knitter, too, and we are really looking forward to sittin' and knittin' together. In fact, yesterday I talked to her and she had some fun news for me! She was talking to her knitting buddies at their Saturday S & B and they came up with the idea of meeting at one of the lady's houses one of the nights I am there, everyone bringing a dish to pass, so we'll have dinner, sit 'n knit, etc. It's going to be great!

Speaking of sittin' & knittin'....There is a new group forming that is going to meet at the Borders store once a week about 25 minutes from where I live. It's not right around the corner, but a chance to meet new knitting friends, get out of the house, etc. I hope I am able to go this week and meet everyone. It's going to be the first get together.

Maria's Bag

I knit this felted bag for my good friend Maria as a combination birthday/Christmas gift. It was adapted from the Oregon Tote pattern available here. I just made it a little smaller than the pattern called for. The lighter colored variegated yarn was Lion Brand Fisherman's wool that I dyed with Wilton paste food coloring. The solid color was Patons Classic Wool.

Buddy Bag

Here is a felted bag I knit up for the shop. It is from a pattern by a local designer. Just thought I'd post a picture.

I am trying my hand at some designing myself. I am about 3/4 of the way through my first design...I'm hoping it's going to felt ok, or it's back to the drawing board (or knitting needles!) I am going to do 2 or 3 versions/sizes of the same concept for the pattern. I'll be teaching a class for this bag in the spring. I am also going to be designing 2 summer clothing items for classes. I'm not saying much more than that at this time. Mum's the word until I see how I actually do in the designing world, ya know?