There's a hole in the bottom of the sea

I love it when projects are more fun than you think they will be. Medallion cardi has been like that. There's enough in it to hold my attention, but not so much that I have to keep looking at the pattern evey few minutes. It's chugging right along. The giant hole in the back helps speed things up. Fewer stitches and such.

Check out the awesome stitch markers from my SP. I've used them before now, but that's the first actual photo of them in action.

Here's a closup of the front dart and a side increase. There's also the buttonhole band. Yes, the holes are there.


It's no longer hot here, only wet. I think wet is better. Hopefully, the cool weather will last.

A fickle, fickle knitter am I

The Spider web shawl has been put on hold for just a bit. The haet and the teeny tiny yarn is driving me crazy! So I made my MIL's cousin, Julie's, shawl. It's made from four balls of Meunch Oceana and this pattern. I hope she likes it.

It's draped over my favorite chair along with my cat, DAC.

I made a side trip to Tuesday Morning the other day and lo and behold there was Cotton Ease. I bought two bags of three for 5.99 apiece. I'm making the Medallion Cardi from Loop D Loop. I was able to get close to gauge, so I am making it a size smaller than normal.

Here's a better picture of the color, Popsical Blue.

I guess I ought to comment on Harry Potter. I'll do it in fangurlese:
OMG!!!!!1!! OTP Pince/ Filtch Theirluv is soo crotchety!! Mollywobbles XD!!!11!!!

Wow, that's all out of my system now. Good book BTW.

The Miracle of Blocking, clearly illustrated

I just finished swatching for the Spiderweb Shawl. Instead of worsted weight, I am using some lace weight, so I swatch and block carefully. Here's the unblocked amorphus blob:
Excuse the lousy photography, but it wasn't much to see anyway.

Now check out the nice, big, square blocked version.


It ends up being 5sts/7.25rows per inch. Not bad. Now I just need to figure out hwo big I want it.

1 FO and 2 new projects!

I finished Lil'uns sweater last night. He's absolutly delighted. Unfortunatly, he can't wear it until it cools off. Here he is modeling it for me:

It's made with 3 skeins TLC Cotton Plus in the Jazz colorway. I used The Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and just threw in two seed stitch stripes. All in all I am pleased with it, but the next sweater I make for him will be seamless, because sewing seams suck. :P

I've started swatching for the Modeknit Corset Top I'm using Classic Elite Premier, a cotton/ tencel blend. It's not cooperating, so I'm going to have to tweak the gauge a bit. I think I can just get away with going up a size. Here's the yarn in all its glory:


Finally, I'm starting another shawl. This one may go to my MIL, if she likes it. It's called the Spider Web Shawl and can be found here. I have 3 skeins of Alpaca Cloud in the Tide Pool colorway. That ought to be enough. If it isn't I can make the border a different color.

I'll swatch it tonight and see where it gets me. Hopefully it does better than the Corset top.

Hello, again

Whew, we've been busy around here. I've finally found some time to get online.

My secret pal sent me some neat stuff. She sent some pretty pink mohair, some stretchy sock yarn, Mary Englebert buttons, a set of bamboo #4 DPNs, and some point protectors. My picture is kinda bad, so I'll replace it with a better one when I get a chance.


I have been getting some knitting done. Here's FMB#2. It's made out of the dye your own Wool of the Andes. Two full skeins were barely enough. It's a little floppy, so I may throw it back in the wash a bit longer.


I'm in the middle of seaming LIl'uns sweater. Next one, I swear, will be seamless. I keep forgeting how much I hate seaming. :P It's made out of 3 skeins of TLC Cotton Plus. It's very soft. He can't wait to wear it.


My MIL's cousin wanted my MIL to make her a comfy shawl. She sent 300 yds of this yarn:

It's neither comfy, nor nearly enough, but she got a good deal on it. Only $3/ ball.

SP fun

I found this in my mailbox today:

How chic!

Wonderful SP

My delightful SP has sent me the Rogue and celtic cap patterns. She is also sending me something through the mail. I can't wait to see what it is! My next project just might be the celtic cap.

Things have been pretty unsettled around here. Money has been tight and some neglected bills are coming back to bite us. Hubby is not the best at money ,so I have been put solely in charge of finances. Ugh! It won't be so bad if I can dig us out. Hubby is on an allowance for the moment and no yarn buying for me. Thank goodness I have a stash. On top of that there is a chance that hubby will be offered a new job in he next year. It will be in Belhaven NC, aka middle of nowhere. But the pay will be a good bit higher, the cost of living lower, and a place to stay may be included. I wouldn't mind getting out of this house; it gets me down sometimes. It's hard to heat and cool and it never looks clean (even when it is). MIL has been driving me up the wall with worry. I don't blame her, but it drives me crazy, nonetheless. Oh well, enough kvetching.

Not too much going on on the knitting front. I finished FMB #2 It's bigger, but really needs to be felted a bit more. I'll send it through again eventually. I started a sweater for lil'un out of some stash Cotton Plus in the Jazz colorway. I'm using the Handy Guide of Sweater Patterns and am adding my own design to it. I'll post it when I'm done. Next, I think I'll finally bite the bullet and finish Neo.

I'm having a major yard sale on Sat July 16th. No yarn, but I will be parting with some fabric, baby clothes, maternity clothes, furniture, old stuff (I live in an old house) a bread machine, clothes, and a lot more. If you're in the Raleigh NC area drop me a line and I'll give directions. I'll bake brownies :)

BTW, I want to give Knitdamsel a mention. She finished her VK shawl and it looks great. Go take a look. There's a convenient link on my sidebar.

VK shawl pictures

Here are some nice pictures of the VK Knit and crochet shawl from the Vogue 05 spring/summer magasine. I made it out of 1200 yds of Smart Superwash in a discontinued milk chocolate color. Since it is DK weight, I doubled it throughout. BTW, I noticed some minor errata on Vogue's site. Not bad for my first piece of crochet. The lovely model is my mom. Hi, Mom!