Monday, March 7, 2011

Granny Stripes Progress

Hello Knitters,

A couple of days ago in the comments, my friend Suzanne asked to see some close-up pictures of the Granny Stripes Blanket and the colours of yarn I'm using.  The weather is finally cooperating with me so I could take some "true-to-colour" photos, so here they are!




The yarn is a combination of Red Heart Super Saver, and Comfort, TLC Essentials and Bernat Super Value.  Nothing fancy, just your average acrylic.  These are the colours starting from left to right in the above photo: RRSS -0886 Blue, RRSS - 0381 Lt. Blue, Red Heart Comfort - 3231 Purple, TLC Essentials -2332 Linen, RHSS -0385 Royal, RHSS -0505 Aruba Sea, Bernat Super Value -53114 Denim Heather, RHSS -0885 Delft Blue, RHSS -0313 Aran, Bernat Super Value -00616 Peacock, TLC Essentials -2855 Navy, RHSS -0347 Lt. Periwinkle. 

I'm just random striping it while trying to keep the strong colours sort of equally separated, so there's no big math involved.  I wanted to make it as easy as possible :)

I know in my last post I talked about a sneak peek of what I'm currently working on, but I just haven't been able to get a good enough picture of it yet.  It's nice and sunny here today, so maybe I'll get one yet! 

Happy Knitting and Hooking!!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Something New on the Horizon

Hello Knitters,

Thank you everyone for all the Blanket love from yesterday's post!!  You all are so kind!  I got a good amount done on it yesterday and I hope to continue to do so over the next little bit.  However, I did purchase some yarn today for a project that I want to start over the weekend - that is if I don't start it later on tonight.  You all know how irresistible new yarn can be....  So I'm going to put the blanket on hold for a little while and make something that just might be for me :)  Yay!  I'm very excited about this one - and I might have a sneak peek to share with you all tomorrow since I have no Finished Projects to post about. 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Happy Knitting and Hooking!! 

P.S. I've got Ravelry working again for those of you who were wondering.  There were so many posts I missed!  It's great to be back :D

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

WIP Wednesday - March 2

Hello Knitters,

I've only got one WIP this week - the Granny Stripe Blanket.  I've been spending all my time devoted to this lovely thing.  It's such a pleasure to crochet away on it.  I'm also really happy with how the colours are coming along.  I took the above picture today in the lovely sunshine we had this afternoon.  It's not quite big enough yet, but hopefully soon!! 

Sorry for the short post, but it's getting late and I need to get up early in the morning for a quick trip to the city so I should be getting to bed.  Have a great week everyone!

Happy Knitting and Hooking!!

P.S. Just to let you know, I'm not able to get on to Ravelry and reply to posts, upload pictures, or read or send messages for some reason.  So if you've sent me a message and I haven't replied, then that's why.  Hopefully things will be back to normal soon.   

Friday, February 25, 2011

Finished Project Friday - Feb. 25

Hello Knitters,

I've only got one finished project this week because I've been spending most of my time on the Granny Stripe Blanket. 

Mom's Rainbow Socks
Sorry the picture isn't the greatest, but we got home from the city today later than I was expecting and the sun had already gone down by the time I got to take this.  I think the most "ideal" place to take a photo of them would be on a nice bed of green grass in the sunshine....but that won't be possible here for another few months.  Maybe I can get some better shots tomorrow to add to my Ravelry page.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!!  Aren't you so happy it's Friday?   I know I am!!

Happy Knitting and Hooking!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

WIP Wednesday - Feb 23

Hello Knitters,

First off I have to say a big THANK YOU! to all of you who have left such kind, encouraging, uplifting and just all around great comments on the blog lately.  You are all totally awesome!!  I've been unable to reply to comments with my regular laptop for some reason lately.  I actually can't even view my blog with it :(  But I wish I could so that I could reply to each one of you!  But do know that I read each comment and so enjoy them!!  I'm going to do a little more searching around and see if I can fix the problem.  In the meantime, I can from time to time comment back and see the blog from my Netbook, but it's a bit slower on the dial-up connection so I don't use it very often.  It's more of my traveling laptop really.  But I just wanted to let you all know that I do appreciate all the your kind words!!

I did want to answer Stephanie's question from yesterday about if I liked the Felici yarn though: Yes, Stephanie, I really, really like it!!  Both the fingering and sport weights are great.  They're super soft - so great to knit with and even better on your feet!  They (so far) wash great too, although I've only handwashed mine, but the label says it's machine washable and I've heard others have had great success with it.  What I like best is how I can do a plain vanilla sock and not get bored at all - watching the colours change is very fun!  lol  Small things amuse me :)  I'd highly recommend it though.  The fingering weight is a little thinner than their Stroll yarn and it's a more tightly spun yarn which I like because it means less splitting.  The sport weight is a bit thinner than other sport weights I've used and it's not as tightly spun as the fingering weight version, but it is super soft and makes great little baby items as well as quicker socks!  But this is all just my two cents worth :) lol 
Now, on to my little list of WIPs!!  This week I'm just trying to stick to the three projects and not get sidelined trying to finish up the other WIPs that keep being found all over the house.....  So far, I've done pretty good.  My list this week includes:


1. Granny Stripes Blanket - Since this is the biggest of all my projects, I think I need to devote a good chunk of my time to it to get it finished off before the wedding!  I can think of nothing worse than trying to finish this up on the plane!  They'd probably make me buy it it's own seat!  lol  It's coming along really well though and I'm really enjoying it, so that's great.  I find it incredibly relaxing to work on!

2. Galapagos Shawl - This got a good bit of time spent on it over the weekend and is getting pretty close to completion.  The colours are fantastic and the yarn is super soft to knit with.  I'm currently on the "knotted open-work" section right now.  The pattern is called Summer Flies.  I thought it was a very pretty and easy one, plus the butterflies kind of just drew me in....

3. Ishbel - Oh poor Ishbel!  She has been neglected over the last while.  I really need to seriously sit down and work on her since I'm planning on wearing her at the wedding.  That means I have about a month to finish her, but with the Pancake House opening soon, I will be super busy baking so that won't leave much time for knitting - meaning she has to get done within the very near future.  She might end up being my weekend knitting project.

That's it for my current WIPs.  My other ones are just sitting somewhat patiently by waiting for their turn.  In the meantime, I'm just going to keep plugging away on these and hopefully they will be featured on a Finished Project Friday post soon. 

Happy Knitting!!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Crochet Corner

Hello Knitters,


I'd like to share a picture of what I hope to turn into my own personal little crochet corner.  Doesn't it look like the most glorious place to hook away the afternoon in the sunshine?  I'm hoping to do just that over the next while as I work on the Granny Stripes Blanket.  There it is on the chair - if you can see it through the shadows.  I started it last night since I made myself do some more WIPs finishing over the weekend, so it's not very far along yet.  It's very soothing and relaxing and I'm so looking forward to watching it grow :)

Well that's all I've got for today.  I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that your week is off to a good start.  Mine is going great :)  Tomorrow I'm going to a do some bread baking in the morning and then probably spend the rest of the day working on the Granny Stripes.  Oh the joys of lazy pre-spring days!

Happy Knitting and Crocheting!! 

P.S. Knit Picks released their new colours of Felici, and Felici Sport if you're interested :)  They also launched a new yarn line called Aloft that's a kid mohair/silk blend - very pretty as well!  I'm super duper excited about these and can hardly wait to order, however, I'm holding myself back for a few days to see if any of the other "spring yarns" get some new colours too!! 

Friday, February 18, 2011

Finished Project Friday - Feb. 18

Trekking Socks
Hello Knitters,

I've got a short list of finished projects for you all today.  I finished both the Trekking socks and the Monkeys.  I  know it doesn't seem like very much, but let me tell you, it was a lot of knitting!!  I've been working on them almost exclusively since Monday, and got the Trekking Socks done last night and the second Monkey sock finished this afternoon.  I guess I forgot how much work goes into a pair of socks. 

Tea Party Monkeys
I'm very, very, very happy with how both turned out and I can't wait to wear them :)  After making my Sunday Swing socks back in January, I've developed an even stronger like of wearing hand knit socks.  That's a good thing since I seem to have quite a few more pairs either in progress or waiting to be cast on!! 

I hope you all have a lovely long weekend and that you get time to relax and enjoy some knitting.  My plan is to stay off the Internet for the weekend and work on finishing up more of my WIPs, so I probably won't be back until Monday or Tuesday.  And hopefully I'll have a whole lot to show for it! 

Happy Knitting!!