Friday, August 31, 2007

Montego Bay Scarf

I'm cheating a bit... although it's not from NSFY, it is by Amy Singer and it is made out of the ever-fabulous sea silk.

So, if interested, check out the blog.

Happy knitting! Still waiting to hear back from Earthfaire so I can order the beads for the River Rock scarf.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

I finally finished my Tuscany!


The colors are more muted and pretty. I used Sea Pearl from Briar Rose Fibers, and I loved working with it--it's a gorgeous yarn. I know it has wool in it, and I'm sorry I cheated, but that's what was in my stash that seemed to work best with this pattern.

I can't wait until it's dry! Thanks, Amy, for such a wonderful pattern!

Monday, August 27, 2007

Look Who I Got To Meet!!


Amy Singer, author of "No Sheep for You"!! Look at all that YUMMY yarn in front of Amy!! She gave a FABULOUS lesson on the other types of yarns that exist out there besides wool. We got to touch and feel all the luscious yarns in the book and even knit with some hemp and bamboo - heaven!! We also got to see and touch some of the geeky things from the book :-)


Here is Amy signing my "Knit Wit" book (she also signed my "No Sheep For You" Book). She was so amazing to speak with as well and gave us a tour through the yarn shop too, Loop Yarn in Philadelphia, explaining all the benefits of each yarn there and how to substitute it for other yarns. What a fabulous morning!!

my first stab at Morrigan




...with many thanks to Laura for putting me in the right direction re. the sleeve pattern (I can't read very well these days, apparently! .

Fear not: I won't be providing a progress report for every inch knitted! Just happy that I got started. No rush to finish: my goal is 30 rows per week (and this is just the first sleeve).

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Cross-Posted from my own blog

I'm packing this up to take with me on vacation (well sort of). I mean, really folks, first things first. This thing is really starting to move along. Well, of course it does when you're not knitting 352-stitch rows, LOL! And by the way, I'm not as slim as the picture below might indicate! The stitch holders for the back are gathering up a LOT of stitches. I did take a brief break from knitting last night to check the left front against my own and it appears that this thing will actually fit -at least I hope so after all this work.


I think I said somewhere that this will be my most documented sweater and I think I was right!


Gotta go pack! whoo hoo. New tire, not a lotta geld, but who cares!

+

Friday, August 24, 2007

Any thoughts?

I'm ready to shape the shoulders on the Cables and Os for the left front and am wondering whether I should attempt short row shoulder shaping or just follow the dang directions? Any votes? Here's what I'm gonna do (since I'm now officially on vacation, sorta kinda and have a little bit of time for a learning experience): I'm going to try to do short row shaping and see if I can do it in the number of rows the directions call for. If it doesn't work, I can always rip back a few rows, so really, what's the harm?

UPDATE: I'm going to play it safe and follow the directions. I do not have enough experience with short row shaping to know how to change things. Maybe next time, LOL!

Monday, August 20, 2007

Morrigan Vest

I could see this as a vest, couldn't you?

MorriganVest

(Don't worry, I'll cast on for the sleeves in a few days)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Ravelry NSFY group?

Hi all: for anyone on Ravelry, I was thinking of setting up a NSFY group. Any takers? If so, feel free to e-mail me at brouhaha@rogers.com. My name over there is KristinaB.

ETA: I set up the KAL today... so any ravellers please feel free to head on over!

cheers,

Kristina

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

funky new Tomato...done!



I loved all the new Tomatoes so much that I needed to make another one!

Check out my blog for more info.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Slooowwww Dancin' Swayin' to the Music

OK, so I've had a busy work week. So I have a life (or two). So that means my sweater is taking longer. But I'm still having fun:




Is it a good sign when your sweater starts to remind you of a hula skirt, LOL:)? I'm having fun with it - although this pic is a bit faded in the color department, changing with every pattern repeat has helped with the monotony. another 30 or so rows and I'll be starting to divide the sides from the front and starting (GASP) the armhole shaping! whoo Hoo!!! I'm also really looking forward to doing the attached i-cord for the edgings. OK, so I'm a rebel, what can I say?

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Speaking of giving thanks...

I realized that I never posted my first set of goodies on here. The little Lantern Moon notebook is the perfect size to jot down knitting ideas while out and about, and since I had just purchased a single skein of Hemp for Knitting in chocolate brown before I got this periwinkle skein in my package, I now have the perfect amount for a very nice hemp wristlet.



The vintage knitting book was a scream. If you want to look inside the book and read my rather ascerbic comments about it, please visit my blog (which I've finally decided to start using) at http://stitchaywoman.blogspot.com.

Belated thanks to my swap pal!


It took me a week to get back on here to say thank you, but I wanted to thank Beth, my swap pal, for the lovely skein of Sea Silk and her cute handmade card. (I also got another nice extra). Her package happened to come on a really bad day, so it was extra welcome.
Isn't the teeny tiny geeky thing cute? :-)
Thanks again, Beth!

Thursday, August 9, 2007

I just wanted to say that I'm slowly but surely working on my Cable and O's, I love the pattern and the yarn it calls for so much that I picked the same color for my own (Queensland Cotolino in Fushia) Here is a picture of the progress so far.

It's taking awhile to complete each row since it's the fronts and back together, but it's worth it. Again so sorry about the arrant skirt post (it's so embarrassing). Everyone's projects look lovely, happy knitting all.

Monday, August 6, 2007

A new member....And Tomato!!

Hi Everyone,


This is my first post on the No Sheep KAL (although I have been lurking!). I finished my Tomato about 2 months ago. I used Knit Picks Main Line in Wedgewood (main color) and Silver Sage (contrasting color). I had to increase my needle size to get gauge. This was my first sweater EVER! I learned so much and I loved every second of it. If you look at the pic, you'll see that I missed a row in the color section and ended up with 4 sections instead of the larger 3. Instead of a mistake, I like to think of it as a design feature!


Also, I am trying to decide on a Christmas gift for my mother. I am torn between Tuscany and Bacardi. I want something extra special for her, but with work and school I need my knitting to still be relaxing. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Gwen

Hello Hello!!

I just joined the KAL and wanted to say hello to everyone! My name is Rebecca, nickname by all is Becka, my blog is Whimsical Knitting. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you!
I've been knitting for 3 years now and have been fascinated with the non-wool yarns since I discovered SWTC (my fave yarn co.) in 2005 and this book was a MUST HAVE considering my love for such fibers!
There are countless patterns that I would like to knit from the book, but have knit none yet! My hubby and I are in the process of losing weight, then the garment knitting begins! The "Manly Maze" is #1 on my list to knit for the hubby!

I have to say I LOVE, LOVE all of the lovelies ya'll have been knitting! And, I'm quite sorry to have missed the swap, looks like it was a blast!

Happy Knitting One and All
Becka (lol, yes, the spoiled knitter as it says on the sidebar! What can I say?! My hubby spoils me rotten....gotta love that!)

Friday, August 3, 2007

No Sheep for Me II - More silk!

Once again, my NS4U Secret Pal (not so secret anymore) has soared above and beyond the call of duty. Check out the booty:

1) 2 skeins of silk in a lovely French blue. The texture is actually fluffy and quite wool-like!
2) Biscotti (yum!)
3) some sort of instant yummy hot drink mix (shall be scrumptious with (2), I believe)
4) A blue hard-shelled notions case
5) Blue birdy scissors to go in the case
6) 5 stitch markers with sapphire crystals (my FAVE color!)
7) more stitch jewelry
8) Ginger (my fave flavor!!) lemon cookies
9) wool washer
10) Choco Altoid mints

All wrapped up in sparkley blue paper and topped with a cute card.
Kris, my knitted hat is off to you. May your future upstream swappers be embarrassingly generous!

Amy's appearance in Bainbridge

Just wanted to say hi to Ms. Amy Singer, wherever she is, and thank her for signing my books in Bainbridge at Churchmouse Yarns. I couldn't get off work that day, but a friend of mine works by that store, so my friend went in to get a book signed for me, and Amy not only signed a copy of Big Girl Knits for me (which was a surprise gift from the friend in question) but also a bookplate sticker for my copy of NSFY, which was with me at the time.
Thanks for the autographs, Amy-- you rock and you totally inspire me!! Wish I could have gotten off work to take your classes.

Thursday, August 2, 2007


All my goodies from my wonderful Pal, Yvette. Yummy cotton yarn, scrumptious chocolate and more. Thank you so much, Yvette. You are such a sweet lady and I very much appreciate the thoughtful package you put together for me. I am a huge fan of all things orange, so I know I will find something fabulous to create from the lovely yarn you have sent me.

Thanks to both my upstream & downstream Pals, Yvette & Lynda. You are both fantastic women and it has been my pleasure getting to know you both. Please stay in touch and happy non-wool knitting!