Progress

Made good progress today on the Turino Silk Vest. Have bound off under the arms and am working decreases for V-neck and arm holes on one side. I did have to rip back on the rows where I only decreased every 6th row for the V, when I needed to decrease every other row. But I only had to rip out 5 rows.

So far, I'm pretty pleased with the project.
Until next time...
b

Turino Silk Vest

Here is the beginning. I'm the point where I need to start decreasing for the v-neck. I'm thinking that I'll decrease every 6th row. Got to get on the computer and search for the type of decrease I want. Of course there will be K2togs and SSKs. I realized the need for both after knitting a few rows of the body. The first couple of rows with the pattern in the side seam were knit with just K2togs. When I started doing the SSKs one side and the K2togs on the other, the pattern looked so much neater. If you look closely at the picture, you can see where I made the change. Since I don't know if this is going to work out or not anyway, I opted to NOT rip back. These are side seams so most likely the bottom won't show that much anyway.

For the front and the arm holes, I don't want the decreases to be stairstep, but that actually might be more of an issue for the arm holes than the front. SO, I'm off to research.
Until next time...
B

Two of my favorite things

In the evenings after work this past week I have trying to design and knit, from my stash btw, a short vest. Progress could be hindered only by my equal desire to be reading. But I've been able to avoid having to make a choice between my two favorite hobbies because, with my Kindle 2 I can read WHILE I knit! When Kelly Petkin of Knit Picks, www.knitpicks.com, used to say she read while she knit, I thought she had to be kidding! But it's truly possible with an e-reader like the Kindle. There are no pages to fumble with or have fall closed; just push the tab to go to the next page.

So the vest is just something I'm playing around with. It will be simply styled. The only features really are the two rows of YO's that mark the side seams. I'm using a small vest that was purchased from JJill to make sure the sizing is right. However, I DID do a guage swatch, sort of. Didn't wash it and all that, but I did count the stitches, which is more than I usually do. Much prefer to measure from a finished piece. So we'll see if it works out. The yarn is Turino silk by Plymouth and is from my stash. I've had it for a long time and didn't know what to make from it. Hoping to make some real progress on "The Vest" this weekend, and I'll post it on Ravelry as soon as I can download my other pictures. This one was posted from my phone. So...
Till next time..
b

Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival

Went to Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival with my friend Mary and met
Brenda, aka, Nosewiggle on Ravelry! What isn't very clear in the picture is that Brenda is demonstrating a new portable spinning wheel. Cool.

This was my first small fiber festival, and it was interesting to see all of the newly sheared wool that had been bagged up for sale, as well as wools that had already been cleaned, carded, blended with other fibers, and dyed. And I was very surprised that there were vendors from all over the country! Next time we go to a fiber festival, I'll have a better idea what to expect and hopefully will get better pictures of the vendors and their wares.

Until then...

b

My BFF

My sweet friend, Theresa, and I were explaining to the younger crowd at work that we were as cool as they were because we were "bff"s. We always try to have fun while we work.

Stockinette Heel

I'm almost finished with my Embossed Leaves Socks and thought I would
share the heel with you. This is the first time I've done a simple
stockinette stitch heel. I'm a little concerned about it's sturdiness,
but it may not be an issue if I keep these for myself, since most of
my shoes are backless.

Hopefully the next pic will be of the finished pair.
till then...
b

New Tool

My friend, Mary, gave me this beautiful darning needle holder that her
husband made. I've placed it on the table beside my chair where I sit
to knit to remind me of her friendship (of course I see her all the
time, too!)

Last night I worked on the leg of sock 2 of my Embossed Leaves socks.
Hope to finish them this weekend.
till later...
b

LYS Closing

I was surprised to get an email with no newsletter from Yarn To Go
this week. Then, I was pleased to read about a BIG sale (50% off).
Then I started thinking that it didn't feel right. Well, rightfully
so. My LYS is closing. Now I haven't been in in awhile because it is
about 60 miles from my house so I had no idea. So after work today I
headed to town and did what I could to help clear out their inventory.
I got some beautiful yarn, some needles, and the book "Lace Style" by
Pam Allen and Ann Budd.
Still it is a sad day.
Till next time..
b

Dieting Leaves Time to Knit

Seriously , does this look like diet food? DH and I have been losing
weight by counting calories. Since we've cut back on how much food we
cook, you would think that I would have more knitting time! But I
spend a lot of time researching recipes. However, I've almost finished
the gusset on my Embossed Leaves sock.

Btw, this was truly delicious!

later...

b

Heel flap

I'm not sure about this stockinette heel flap. I'm used to Eye of
Partridge or a regular S1, K1 flap. Hope it holds up to a lot of wear.
I love the pattern.
We'll see...
b

Is It May Already?

Ok, blogging has been neglected this year. With Twitter to post and my new Kindle to figure out, I have been busy learning new techy stuff. Still have a lot to learn on the Kindle, but I love it!

Even so, knitting hasn't been neglected, just my posting of my projects on Ravelry and my blogging.

Here is one of my projects, SACK BOY, which was a birthday present for my son-in-law, Albert. The most challenging thing about this project was finding a 6" zipper. Did you know there are 7" zippers everywhere, but 6" are very elusive. I enjoyed making him, though, and I've seen on Albert's FB that SB has traveled with Albert to work, where he met up with his twin and just hung out for the day.

I'm working on being able to blog from my cell phone and from email so I can post shorter posts more often.

We'll see.....

b

Double point tubes

Can't believe I haven't posted since January. Hope to change that.
Maybe post more often, just shorter posts.

Here is a picture of my latest great tool, double point tubes. I no
longer have to worry about accidentally pulling needles out when
storing my work in progress.

It worked! This was blogged originally from my phone!

Just wanted to add that the sock in the tube is Mona Schmidt's Embossed Leaves Sock.