Spin A Yarn for Ewe

I know every one has them but today is just killing me. It all started right after I got the whole Christmas tree decorated. The top section of lights stopped working. I mean I could get them to stay on if I monkeyed with the cord and held on to it but somehow I didn't think this was going to be a good solution. I was ready to scream with the thought of taking all of the ornaments off but DH came though and saved my sanity. (what is left right now.) He suggested that I go buy another tree take the top piece out of that box and just replace that. Then throw the broken one in the box with the still mostly packed tree and take it back. It worked and I now have a tree that works and I only had to redo the top 2' or so. I think I would of lost it if I had to do it all over or at least would of been a lot more Grinch-like.

I did finish the right front of the jacket last night and I plan to CO for a sleeve tonight. I feel like breaking it up a little. It is really going to be nice when it is done. I have fears of the crochet edging but I think I can handle it. It only requires sc, dc and ch. I looked all those up and they seem to make sense so hopefully it will click.

I am off to work on my list of thinks to do and hopefully I won't have too many left that I have to add to tomorrow.

So, like I thought the holiday was jam packed. Wednesday started with tons of cooking as I did everything except the turkey and that was only because we were eating at my parents. My Dad also does a very good job with the turkey so we let him do it. Thursday was for hanging out with family and eating way too much food. Everyone had a great time and the new recipes I tried turned out great without a test run first. Pumpkin Tiramisu is now the family favorite for pumpkin.

Friday we thought we would avoid the crowds and head to the zoo but it was fairly crowded too. I took only a few photos as we go fairly often and you can only have so many animal shots. Here is one I really liked.

I am not sure where the peacock had gotten out of but it was very used to people.

There is some sort of African cow in the background and a very shy little man. He really didn't want to pose for any pictures as he was wanting to be on the move the whole time. We all slept well that night.

Saturday we relaxed and I got a bunch of knitting done.

The back is totally done and I am moving along on the right front. It is going so much faster than I thought and I can not wait to wear it. Here it is close up.

The color in the first picture is more realistic.

Sunday's fun was this.

I love it. I finally talked DH into a faux tree with lights. I have been wanting one FOREVER but he has been holding on to the traditional real tree. This year I finally won and he loves it. He says he misses the smell but the trees we get here in Southern California have no smell left by the time they get here if you ask me. I will try to find him some pine scented candles to make up for it.

I finally took some photos of the yarn I got for the Revised Arwen and also of the cable progress. I am at about 10" on the back and will start the armhole shaping around 13" so we are getting there.

Like I said before this pattern is so much fun and cabling without a cable needle is the way to go. It makes it so much faster and easier plus it is one less needle to carry around.

Here is the Arwen yarn.
Now I worked really hard to get the color of this yarn as close to right as I can on my monitor. I have to say when it showed up I was shocked as the picture on the Beaverslide website looks nothing like the yarn I have at my house. I mean they are both blueish but I really think the similarity ends there. I really do love the color that arrived as I seconded guessed myself after I pushed the submit order button that the yarn was going to be too dull. Sometimes things just work out in the end.

So things have been busy around my house lately. I finally wove in all the ends on my SKB sweater and got the honey to take my picture. I really can not stand pictures of myself but the sweater really needs a model to do it justice so here it is in all of its glory.

I really like how it turned out.

Pattern: Simple Knitted Bodice from Stitch Diva.
Yarn: Classic Elite Patina a 70/30 cotton/silk blend that looks great but sucks to knit with in color 7329
Modifications: The only thing I changed is I knit more rows on the sleeves before starting the lace section so that the body and sleeve lace would line up better. Also I probably would of gone even smaller in size as it seems to really run big. The KAL had warnings about this and I did go with a smaller size than I originally thought but still could of gone smaller (a problem I rarely run into.)

The Nantucket Jacket is moving along due to a few long stretches in the car and is really looking great. The pattern is super easy but looks very complex and very well written. I also love the yarn as it is so soft. My other yarn also showed up but I am resisting even touching it until this is done.

The long car ride we took this weekend was to the USS Midway to look around. We really did this for the little man as I thought it would be totally boring but I can not tell you how great it was. The little guy had so much fun climbing all of the ladders/stairs and running around on the top deck where they take off and land was the best. I really would say it is a must see in San Diego. We plan to do the Zoo next Friday instead of being sucked into the dreaded mall scene.

I will try to post later this week but if I don't get back too it hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday.

I finished the SKB sweater the other night. Wednesday to be exact. It fits great and I love it. This picture just really doesn't cut it but it does prove that it is done.

I decided that the shoot yourself in the mirror shot was not worth the effort as I really don't do it well. I will try to get a modeled shot of it this weekend.

Just when I thought I would be a whole night without a project UPS actually delivered my yarn early. Yes, early. This never happens to me but my new driver is great. So I have started on the Nantucket Jacket.

My plan was to start whichever sweater the yarn came for first and Webs won the race. They did have a head start of 2 days but geographically my Beaverslide Yarn had a jump on them. I will be calling them if I don't see it by Saturday as it has been well over a week. The color I chose for the jacket is more red than the one modeled but anything with even a hint of orange in it does a number to my completion. The pattern is really much easier than I thought it was going to be and I am loving it so far. I plan to devote a bunch of time to it this weekend so hopefully it will look like more than a thin strip next time.

So I might not have any of my new yarn yet but I do have something else new. I have been wanting a knitting bag that was designed more for knitting. I have many felt bags and the "free with purchase" kind from the department store but never a bag for knitting. Now I do and I LOVE it.

I have been looking a a few bags. Like this messenger bag and this purse one. But the Messenger one I ruled out as I didn't really think the large flap style bag would work for me plus I really wanted something to stand on its own even though I really like this bag. So I thought about the other one but something about it just really didn't do it for me. Then I found the Jordana Paige Satchel.

It has all of the great qualities I wanted. It has tons of pockets, looks like a hand bag but the straps are long enough to wear over your shoulder and the color is a go with everything but fun at the same time. Plus it has feet on the bottom and opens up so I can knit right out of it. Plus I found it with free shipping and no tax since I bought it out of state and it came quickly since I ordered it AFTER I ordered the yarn.

I even holds the whole sweater that I am almost done with.

Yes, almost, as I still have about 2 inches left on the sleeve. It really is like knitting in a time warp. No matter how long I knit for it never seems to get closer but I am determined to get it done tonight. (I know, famous last words.)

I started on my crazy idea this weekend. I wanted to swatch the cable pattern and see how it would work at the neckline since my sweater is sans hood. I think it is going to work.

This is with continuing the cables in the decreases and with an applied i-cord. I thought about maybe adding the edge stitches that are on the right-side once I start decreasing so that the edge is a little smoother to pick up from but I haven't decided yet. I have gotten a lot better at cables as this pattern has 4+ crosses every other row and with a swatch it seems like every row.

After doing all this practice I am ready to get started on one of these sweaters now but I must wait for the yarn to arrive. Instead I have been finishing the second sleeve of the SKB and hope to have it done in the next day or 2. This is when I hate having long arms as it seems like the sleeves take FOREVER.

So since my yarn is on the way and I am totally bored with the end of sleeve 2 on SKB sweater I have come up with a crazy idea. I want to try to do my own design. I know, you are currently rolling your eyes. No really, I want to try. It may fail miserably but I am going to try anyway. It is all because of this pattern.


The Cardigan for Arwen in the newest IK. I love the cables and the over all design but I DESPISE hoods. I just really find them useless on a sweater and they mainly act as something to mess up my hair. There, I have finally admitted my hood problem. Rain jacket, yes. Sweater, no. Now that is were the design my own comes in. I want a sweater that has the cables on the edges and sleeves with no buttons just like that one but I would like it a little longer and with no hood. Stay tuned for the saga, since I am sure it will be one.

I decided the other night when I just couldn't stop looking at that Nantucket Sweater that I had to see if it was something I could pull off. I have never done anything with cables because I have always thought they were hard and cable needles was something I could just not get my head around. I decided to try cabling without a cable needle after reading Wendy's tutorial. Here is my practice swatch with no blocking.
I chose not to block it since this was just some Cascade left over from a felting project that I plan to rip out anyway.

Here is the swatch for the chosen yarn. The picture is a little blurry but that is me, not the yarn.

I LOVE this yarn. I went with the called for Berroco Pure Merino. I bought a ball of it at my LYS to try. I had heard that it would pill like crazy but that was only from people who had never used it. This swatch is after some really rough friction tests and it looks almost as good as when I first knit it. It is beyond soft and the price is right so I ordered it. I also tried some others yarns that I thought I might like better but this one really has a nice crisp look I like to the finished fabric. I also went for this color that is in the swatch but in real life it is much darker and richer.

I am still working on the SKB sweater and have sleeve number one done and sleeve number 2 started so I plan to finish those before starting this one. Really!

I have really not felt like blogging lately, so I haven't. To make up for last weeks lack of posting here is the week in pictures.

It started out with this wool/angora skein and the mini one. I had some left over single so I plied it with some left over silk.

So I now have a cute mini skein for who knows what. Plus a big skein for a hat.

I then moved on to this.

I like how it turned out since the silk is so shiny. It is a scarf waiting to happen.

Next came these.

Vogue I bought, IK came in the mail. I really want to make that sweater on the cover. Since I have never done anything even remotely this complicated I plan to start a sleeve and see how it goes. The Vogue has some great stuff too but the one thing I for sure want to make is this.

I just love how it looks. Plain but fancy.

I also got some work done on the sweater.

It now has one sleeve done and the other one I will probably start tonight.

I also managed to fit this in on Sunday.

I can't believe it is that time of year already.

Where does the time go?!