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Dana's Adventures in Knitting

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Future projects and stuff

I don't have much to update. I'm just slogging through the front of VK hoodie. Next I'll be slogging through the back. Everything else is on hold since this project has a deadline. It will be done for the beach come hell or highwater.

THe KNit Picks Alpaca Cloud is calling out to me from my stash. I'm looking at the Great Gatsby shawl. Then again I have some Rowan 4 ply tweed and 4 ply botany in greens that would look lovely in the gatsby shawl. Maybe I ought to make the Alpaca into Kiri. I also like the Flower basket shawl, but don't own the pattern. I do have the paisley shawl pattern, though. So many choices...

Knit Picks has new yarns. I saw dancing and immediately thought of Lolita Legs. It would have to be doubled as the pattern calls for sport weight and Dancing is a fingering. I would like some shimmer. Maybe for soleil or whatever. They had a pretty pink and light blue.

Mothers day is coming up and I have no idea what to get mom. She doesn't wear scarves. I think she might like Via Diagonale, but I don't have any appropriate yarn and I don't have much time. She also works with handbags and owns a bunch of them. Hmmm. I don't know. Maybe I'll find a nice gospel or bluegrass CD or something.

Ann's (MIL) legs have been bothering her more than usual lately. Thankfully, she has a doctors apointment in May. She's also been falling asleep at the table. Which is both worrying and annoying (in that order). Part of it is due to her meds. I do wish if she is going to fall asleep she wouldn't do it in front of the fridge. I'll rest a bit easier after the doc has her say.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

SP news

My Knitty SP made me an avatar. She used one of my pictures on DA, the invisble girl one, so it's really fitting. :)
Here 'tis:Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Thank you mysterious person!

Friday, April 22, 2005

VK hoodie update

I've been cracking on with the VK hoodie. The front is about half way done. I went to AC Moore to pick up the rest of the yarn for it. Yeah, I know, buy enough for your project, but I bought it while looking at soleil. This hoodie hit me out of nowhere. The good news is they had the same dye lot. I guess Cotton Plus isn't that popular.

While I'm on the subject of this yarn I just have to say, this stuff is nice. It's reasonably soft and has a slight sheen. It doesnt split much, has awesome stitch definition, and drapes beatifully. It's also machine washable and cheap. Only 3.25 for a 180 yd skein. I hope they come out with more colors.

Oh and here's some of what I have done. It's, obviously, the lacey bit at the front.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2005

VK hoodie fun

I started the VK hoodie last night. I'm using TLC cotton plus in kiwi. It has a twist in it with a bit of sheen and knit up to gauge on the first try. It's meant to be I tell ya. The pattern is quite challenging. The lace edge is worked over 34 stiches and has a 32 row repeat. I may end up putting it in chart form. I adore the construction. The entire front and hood is done in one piece. To change from hood to front and from one side to the other the stockinette sts are bound off and then cast back on on the other side of the lace. It was so unique I just had to make it.

I finished the heart scarf yesturday. It just needs to be blocked. I'll wash and block it right before I wrap it this fall. I want to make sure any of the smoky smell that permiates the house is not in the scarf. I'll try to take a picture of it sometime.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Scarves and hoodies Oh My!

I am in love! I picked up the Spring '05 Vogue Knitting mag last night and found this.
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It's calling me. Dana.....Dana....knit me....you know you want to. I'm thinking of doing it in TLC Cotton Plus. You know, if I hurry I can have it done in time for the beach.

Neo has been on hold for a couple days. I needed a quick project fix, so I am making the heart scarf from Knitty's breast canser issue. It's knitting up nicely in the dusty rose chamonix I bought the other day. It's half way done and if I press on I can finish it today.

Lil un and I are over our colds, but he kept throwing up yesturday so I am keeping him close to home. We'll probably go out and play a bit later. It's supposed to be quite warm today.

Saturday, April 16, 2005

100 things about me

I've seen lots of these around and since no blog is complete without one; here it is... (drumroll)... (trumpet fanfare)...(marching band)...

100 Things about me
1. I tend to abuse ellipses :ba dum bum:
2. I use puns way too often.
3. I dip my M&M's in peanut butter.
4. I married my HS sweetheart
5. I used to decorate cakes
6. I like the Harry Potter books
7. OK, I'm a wee bit obsessed over the Harry Potter books
8. I'm currently listening to The Dark Tower series
9. I think Russel Crowe was so sexy in Master and Commander.
10. I also liked the Aubrey/ Maturin books
11. Lace knitting is awesome.
12. My four year old has way more energy than me
13. I'm not a very good hosekeeper
14. My Christmas Tree is still up
15. I'm not a very good housekeeper either
16. I can sew but don't because I don't like ironing.
17. I'm excited about going back to school this fall
18. My favorite fruit is blackberries
19. My least favorite fruit is banana's
20. I like spinich
21. I really like my Prismacolor markers
22. Chicago is my favorite musical
23. Richard Gere has an amazing singing voice
24. My favorite comic is Uncanny X-men
25. Nightcrawler is my favorite.
26. I eat lemons
27. I play piano, but not lately
28. I'm allergic to Pennicillin
29. I shop sale bins obsessively
30. my spelling sucks
31. My favorite type of food is Italian
32. My favorite restaurant is Assaggios
33. I also like Los Tres Magueyes
34. I learned how to fix lawn mower engines in high school
35. I was married in a bed and breakfast in Apex36. I went to culinary school
37. Me and my husband used to play pool
38. I want to start playing again.
39. I sometimes play paintball, but I'm not very good.
40. I lose patience with indecisive people
41. I love hats.
42. Especially big hats
43. I'm a Conservative
44. No, I don't feel like arguing about it.
45. I'm addicted to steamed pork dumplings with tempura sauce.
46. I make killer caramel sauce
47. and lemon curd
48. Someday I will make something with Koigu or Noro Kureyon
49. My crochet skills are really lacking
50. I would like to spin one day
51. My lil'un will start school soon... and I'm so excited for him
52. I have a poor memory
53. I love dangly earrings
54. My favorite color is burgandy
55. I love raspberry schnapps
56. and Kiljafa wine
57. I'm trying to teach my son how to knit.
58. Note the word trying
59. I'm Southern Baptist.
60. My mechanic is the son of my old pastor
61. I don't like the smell of Mandarin oranges
62. Other oranges are OK
63. I have an unreasonable fear of tall grass
65. I forgot #64
66. I'm a night owl
67. I have a job that starts at 6:30 am...fun
68. I actually enjoy my job.
69. I run an 8 shelf oven that holds over250 loves of bread
70. I burn my arm about once a week...in the same d$%n place
71. I love cheese nips
72. I have a grey tabby cat
73. Her name is DAC, short for Dazed and Confused
74. I like going to the shooting range.
75. I can't wear orange or yellow
76. I go on vacation with my entire extended family on my dad's side each year
77. I love the mountains
78. I stayed at Bluestone Nat'l Park once. It was nice.
79. My husband was a boyscout.
80. My mother in law lives with us
81. She enjoys talking...a lot
82. My son was named after his grandfathers
83. My first car was a 67' Dodge Dart
84. I can drive a stick
85. I need a haircut.
86. I dressed as a Harry Potter character for Holloween
87.It amuses me that people are suprised when they see me working on my car.
88. I procrastinate
89. I love the Squirrel Nut Zippers and the red Hot Chili Peppers
90. I didn't think I could get this far in my list.
91. I'm looking forward to picking Strawberries next month.
92. I bought my couch at a thrift store
93. I have a hard time knitting with large needles
94. I can't stand coffee
95. I liked Calculus
96. I hate watercolors...mine anyway
97. I enjoy reading horrible fan fic
98. I can't dance
99. sometimes I do it anyway
100. I actually finished this list!

Friday, April 15, 2005

Neo Body assembled

Finished the back this evening and promptly stiched up the body of Neopolitan. It actually fits!!! It looks GOOD. I'm a bit excited if you can't tell. I'm so pumped to start in on the arms now. Oh how I wish I could find my camera.

You know what's missing from my blog? A cat picture. Everyone seems to have pet pictures and I may just jump on that bandwagon...soom as I pull out the 35mm again.

The 2002 Cast On Accessory mag came in today. i found lots of prospective Christmas presents. Therre's a darling heart shaped purse and some really cute socks and a nice counterpane purse. It also has the Great Gatsby shawl I want to make.

EDIT: Here's my Neo pictures:
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Thursday, April 14, 2005

SP and stuff

I got my Knitty secret pal today. I am looking forward to finding just the right stuff for her. We seem to have so much in common. Cooknknit did an awesome job picking. I already have a few ideas about gifts.

I'm almost done with the back of Neopolitan. Then I can seam it up and check the fit.
The sleeves shouldn't be much of a problem. I just need to work out the top bind off. Depending on how the neckline hangs it will either need a croched border or a ribbed one. Hopefully a ribbed one will do, because my crochet skills are practically nonexsistant.

I've been craving Japanese food all day. Esspecially some Hibachi Steak with that yummy ginger sauce and some fried dumplings dipped in tempura sauce. Oh so yummy. I went to an awesome Chinese/ Japanese place in Knightdale, named Fuji China. It was good and inexpensive, my favorite combination.

Lil'un seems to be getting over his cold pretty well. His appatite has returned somewhat. He ate a whole taco yesturday. That's a lot at one sitting for him

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Yarn sale goodness

Great Yarns is having a discontinued color yarn sale. I picked up stuff for Christmas presents and stuff.
I found Rowan DK Soft for $3.98/ skein
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Rowan 4 ply Botany for 2.75 a ball
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Rowanspun 4 Ply for 2.35 a ball
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Jager Chamonix for 5.90 a ball
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I also scored some addi turbos sz2, but they weren't on sale. Cool huh.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Sweater update

Finished the front and two side panels of my sweater, now called Neopolitan. I decided not to try and send it to Knitty. I'm not sure I can accurately make other sizes, so this one will be practice.

Next thing on the needles is the back. It should be a breeze to figure out compared to the front. The biggest problem has been the sizing. I am a 38.5" bust and a 30" waist. Since Neopolitan is all ribbed I went with a finished width of 32". Hopefully, when finished it will look like this:
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It's Christmas project time. I'm thinking about shrugs for my little cousins, but I haven't seen any childrens shrug patterns. I need to E-mail my uncle about the girls' measurments. My Aunt Paula will probably get a nice, but plain and practical hat and scarf. Janet will probably get something a little flashy. That's all I have for now.

The new Knitty rocks and yes, I am the absolute last person to blog about it. W and Soleil really rock! I Do is adorable, but I don't care for shrugs. I wasn't wild about Spring Fling until I saw one on LJ. The KNitty people really put out another solid issue. The article on ease was well timed :)

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Southern Knit Bloggers

Welcome to my humble site! Here, have some refreshing Iced Tea
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Free Pattern- obligatory hat

Here's my Boa earflap hat patten. I'll post a real picture later today. I made this hat a while back so please tell if some of this is wrong.
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gague: 4 sts/ 1 in Sz 6 needles
Yarn: 1 skien Bernat Boa
1 skein Luxury Cashmere Aran or Debbie Bliss Cashmerino
scrap mohair (about 8 yards or so)

note: This can be worked in the round, I just didn't have the right sized DPNs.

CO 80 sts with the Cashmerino. Work in seed stich pattern ,working strait for 1 in.
Next row *K1, yo*. This is the RS.
Swith to Boa and work strait in garter st for 4".
Decrease every other row as follows:
*K7, K2tog*
*K6, K2tog*
*K5, K2tog*
*K4, K2tog*
*K3, K2tog*
*K2, K2tog*
*K1, K2tog*
*K2tog*
Run tail through live sts and pull tight. Seam hat.
Earflaps:
Count 15 sts from seam.
Pick up and knit 15 sts
Work in seed st 5 rows.
K1, K2tog*seed st* K2tog, K1
work 2 rows strait, then repeat decrease row.
End with K1, K2tog, K1
Cast off

Make a loop of yarn 1 yd long. Repeat 6 times. Make same loop with mohair 2 times. Cut 1 end of yarn loops. Make sure the leangths of yarn are folded in half. Run the folded in half bunch of yarn through the point of the ear flap. Secure like a tassell. Braid to desired leangth and trim Repeat with other side

Friday, April 08, 2005

HTML crazyness

I may be getting the hang of this blogging thing afterall. Notice my pretty new buttons and the nice profile. My hair isn't really pink anymore, but I like the picture and it was handy. Notice the web ring...YAY!. I finished piece two of the mystery sweater. Only 6 more pieces to go...sigh. Not tonight, though, I have a headache and tomorrow starts early. I think sometime this weekend I will try to post a picture of my purple hat along with the pattern.

I ordered the issue of Cast On with the Great Gatsby shawl in it. Maybe I'll join the Shawl KAL on Knitty's Coffeeshop. I want to use my KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in tide pool. I've been itching to use it for some time, but couldn't find a pattern I really liked.

Thursday, April 07, 2005

New Project

After a couple days of annoying knitters block I have decided to design my own sweater. It will be dusty rose pink and chocolate brown. I don't want to say too much about it because I want to submit it to Knitty or Magknits or somewhere for next fall if it turns out well. I will show a pattern swatch, though.
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Very exciting...to me anyway.

Monday, April 04, 2005

RAK coolness

I recieved my first ever RAK package today. It was so exciting. I now have a Fall 2002 issue of Cast on. It has a few interesting patterns and a really good article on burn and bleach tests and one on reversable multi colored fabrics.

Thank you so much Nicole. You made my day! :D

EDIT: What kind of knitter am I? Why I'm glad you asked...
Knitting Adventurer
You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer.You are through those knitting growing pains and
feeling more adventurous. You can follow a
standard pattern if it's not too complicated
and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've
started to experiment with different fibers and
you might be eyeing a book with a cool
technique you've never tried. Perhaps you
prefer to stick to other people's patterns but
you are trying to challenge yourself more.
Regardless of your preference, you are
continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as
well you should since your non-knitting friends
are probably dropping some serious hints, these
days.http://marniemaclean.com/

What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by

Sunday, April 03, 2005

egg dye swatch

Just finished a quick swatch with my egg dye yarn. Viola!
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It takes so little to make me happy sometimes.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

AVC is done

Thank God the green thing is DONE! I actually really like it. The way it hung when I first put it together really bugged me. But the weight of the ruffles really evens it out and makes it hang well. I can get to my parents to take pictures tomorrow. I used pretty much all the yarn

There may be a problem with the ruffle pattern. I couldn't get the pattern to work out to save my life, so I winged it and it turned out OK. There doesn't seem to be an errata page anywhere. In fact Adrienne Vittadini doesn't have a page devoted to their yarns or patterns at all. Grumble, grumble.

Now the big question, what next? I'll have to think about it...

EDIT: Here's the pictures. They're not the best, but they're better than nothing.
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Friday, April 01, 2005

AVC update

I'm so close to finishing that thing I can taste it. I only have the back ruffle left to knit. Let me tell you, pichot bind offs are a pain in the butt. It took me an hour and a half to bind off from center back of the neck to the bottom. If I press on I will be able to finish tomorrow. Good thing too as I am almost out of yarn.

The only complaint I have about the sweater is that it is heavy. Seriously heavy. I guess that's just to be expected when you go from a cotton/ acrylic to an all cotton. It is lush though. I think I'm going to stick a button and crochet loop where it falls right under my breasts. It adds a lot of shape and counteracts the droop the extra weight brings. Now I need a pretty button.
With any luck I'll sport it Sunday at church. Pictures will come soon :)
 
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