Flowers

Since the last post, I have knit exactly two rows on my lace shrug. Auntie E's Knits is on slow-going mode, in spite of stated goals. I have, however, made a road trip to my hometown to meet up with friends, read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," taught one of two weeks of music camp, and been busy sorting through old boxes of memories. The gardens, especially the flower gardens, are looking like it is summer finally. Here are a few pictures for your amusement.

Quincy

Finishing the Colt's scarf two days ago inspired me to take a look at a few other projects that are almost finished. On this hat I only had to finish the top section and was worried about two things: 1.) Running out of yarn and 2.) Figuring out the best way to "hide" the kitchener stitched join that was clearly in two different points of the yarn's color variegation. In the end, I opted for following the directions on the pattern, thus not hiding the join at all. It took me several tries (and consequent ripping and re-knitting) before I read the pattern correctly. The blame for this behavior goes to lack of sleep due to my attendance at the midnight opening of the movie "Eclipse" in the wee hours of June 30th. I have no regrets! (...about attending the movie or my decision to keep working on the hat...) See for yourself:



The Details:
Pattern: Quincy, by Jared Flood from his booklet "Made in Brooklyn"
Yarn: Marks and Kattens Sarek - 2 skeins
Needles: 10.5 Bamboo
Colorway: Party (though it is a pretty gray party, I would say!)
Started: November 7, 2009
Finished: June 30, 2010

The yarn was very special to me. I found it in the very last minutes of shopping in the lovely town of Banff last summer. The yarn shop "Jen by the Fjord" is located at the end of an alley near a parking garage. They had a lovely assortment of yarns that I had not heard of before, including this one. The proprietress was such a great lady and had lots of information and also questions. It's fun to have my souvenir yarn transformed into a hat to remind me of a fun hiking vacation.

This picture shows the obvious join. The join does not look as terrible as I thought, but next time I make this hat, I will either plan ahead and purchase more variegated yarn to make a better match, or make it in one color.



And yes, I did run out of yarn. My stash supplied a similar yarn to finish the last few rows. I like how the darker color brings out the star pattern on the top. And I also appreciate the little "halo" that came from the lightening of the old yarn before the change.



Here is a memory this hat will inspire.



Happy Vacation and Happy Knitting!

Finished: One Colt's Scarf

I am not sure why I was dragging my heels, but I did finally put the fringes onto this scarf to be able to add it to the finished project pile.



The Details:
Pattern: House Scarves, by Lauren Kent (From "Charmed Knits" book.)
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Galway Worsted - 2 skeins of blue and 2 skeins of white
Needles: Size 8 (16" length. This pattern is knit in the round to produce a thick and warm product... and easy knitting!)
Colorway: Bright Blue & White
Started: March 19, 2010 - My mindless knitting while supervising a competition
Finished: June 29, 2010
As mentioned previously, this scarf is part of a city-wide service project. When Indianapolis hosts the Super Bowl in 2012, it wants to reward its thousands of volunteers with hand-knit scarves. I might volunteer myself to get this scarf back! Or I could just knit another.

In other summer goal news, the viola d'amore congress went very well! All the practicing definitely paid off. The garden is less full of veggies than I anticipated, but that is OK for the first summer of living here. It is also drowning from the vast amounts of rain that has been pouring down for the last few weeks. I also got a couple bike rides in last weekend, but most unfortunately put my right knee out of commission - OW! So while my goals are hobbling along, I am enjoying the summer none the less!

Happy Knitting!

Summer! Summer!

Summer began a full two weeks ago for me. Before all of it gets away, I would like to make a few goals and be a little more accountable for all of my free time...

1. Blog every week. If I can post 5x in a busy month named November, certainly I can update this space once a week in the summer.

2. Finish some unfinished knitting projects. In the queue are:
Colts scarf (almost finished)
Lace shrug (missing the arms)
Tomten sweater for a little child
Tomten sweater for an adult
Hat
Lap blanket
Look for these and more.

3. Play lots of music and master my viola d'amore.

4. Garden, garden, garden!

5. Get some great bike rides in every week.

No post is fully complete without a picture. Here is my viola d'amore.



The viola d'amore and the garden are getting the most attention so far. And now the blogging goal has some hope as well.

Happy Knitting!

Forgotten Reveal: Emma Jacket II

Somehow I forgot to show off another Christmas reveal, perhaps because I never had a brilliant photo shoot before hastily wrapping and gifting it. And (WAH-Wah-wah) because it did not fit quite right due to a recent pregnancy that my sister-in-law was recovering from. I still hope that she will be able to use next season when everything is back to normal.

The Details:
Pattern: Emma Jacket (classiccableknits.com)
Size: 36
Needles: size 7 & 5
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy, 4 balls
Colorway: Petal Shower



I really enjoyed making this pattern the first time, but was not as excited about the yarn the second time, which diminished the experience. It wasn't as squishy and flexible. I also decided to knit from two balls to prevent pooling in the hand-painted yarn. That was tricky and so I forgot to add one of my most favorite design element, the two rows of purls near the top of the pattern. I was already dividing for the sleeves when I noticed and did not want rip back. On the whole I loved how the colors turned out. The hanks of yarn looked like they had SOOO MUCH white in them, but it blended into a nice pink product.



And this sweater as a work in progress also made a guest appearance on Gina's blog here: http://ginakanouse.blogspot.com/2009/12/classic-cable-knits-kal-wrap-up-and_10.html

Happy Knitting!

Many Odds and an End

Oddly, my husband treated me to white roses two weekends ago! Happy Day!!! They make a great backdrop to the beginnings of a lovely knit shrug that I would like to wear over a sleeveless dress to my sister-in-law's wedding Memorial Day weekend.



Odd that I should become a sports fan of my new home's team: the Colts. As Indianapolis is hosting the Super Bowl in 2012, local knitters are supplying all volunteers with a hand-knit "thank you" scarf. If you would like to contribute, please check out this link: http://www.our2012sb.com/super-scarves/



Gorgeous sock wool, thanks to a new "Socks that Rock Club" that I am a part of. The odds are not good that I will even begin these lovelies until Fall...




And THE END: One of the cutest little girls I know in the Clara Dress for her Grandfather's party last Saturday. Now this is a great final product!





(She was loving some water, which got down the front a little bit!!)



Happy Knitting to all on a deadline or two!!

Clara

I fell in love with this little dress as it popped up on several blogs I like to look in on. I like it even more now that it is finished and about to be gifted to my newest niece (age 7.5 months) this weekend. She will most likely wear it to a party for her Grandfather, who just attained an impressively numbered birthday! Coincidentally, I will be performing Märchenbilder by Robert Schumann on the viola during that party. Schumann was of course married to a famous woman named Clara. Kind of fun connection.



Details:
Pattern: Clara Dress
Yarn: Isager Strik Alpaca 2, most of 2 skeins
Needles: Size 4
Colorway: Dusty Plum
Size: The larger one, though the dress is not going to fit a 2 year old!
Started: December 25, 2009 as I was traveling with my husband to Washington, DC in a non-stop driving rain storm on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. An auspicious start, but a little rugged knitting never hurt anyone!
Finished: March 27, 2010, first day of spring break!


View of the back and adorable buttons.

I went up one needle size on the dress, because I had forgotten the proper size of needle at home. It did not knit up too loosely and added even more to the beautiful drape of the fabric. A very fun project, though the delicate yarn and small needles did make it a bit tedious at various stages.

Happy Spring and Happy Knitting!