Moderne Baby Blanket - part 2

Slowly but surely, the baby blanket from the Mason Dixon book is creeping towards the finish.


This weed popped up near the bird feeder and I'm anxiously waiting to see if it blooms. Note the little spikes on the leaves.

Mason Dixon - Baby Blanket

I've always been intrigued by the colorful log cabin quilts so I was thrilled to find a Log Cabin knitting pattern in the Mason Dixon book.


Mason-Dixon Knitting

I wanted to start small so here is the beginning of my Moderne Baby Blanket. The yarn is a variety of colors and brands in 100% cotton. I did not test my gauge or do anything special because I was too eager to get started!



I'm telling everyone that I'm knitting the largest dishcloth EVER! The next color will be a soft purple, almost lilac, on the right side. I can't decide if I should add pink. I already know that I would like to try this again in earth tones (cream, light brown, dark brown, greens, etc).

I ran across a photograph of the apple cap that I made last year (Click here). I think these colors would look great in the same pattern. Maybe add a deep shade of blue, too.

Knitting Purchases & Rug Patterns

As if I don't have enough to do, I bought the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom and the Knifty Knitter Straw Loomat JoAnn's.



Then I started flipping through The Knitted Rug by Donna Druchunas. I've been wanting to knit a large cotton rug and was thrilled at some of the projects in this book.


While I love the rug on the cover, I think this cable/braided edge rug will be the one that I knit.


There are two pattern rugs that I like and one felted rug that I just can't decide on.






I liked the loop rug and I know the cat would enjoy attacking it with his claws and teeth but I wasn't crazy about the color. I changed it in Paint Shop Pro to a pretty shade of blue and now I love it.


There's another rug that I liked but the colors did not match anything in the house until I started playing around with it in Paint Shop Pro. Now it is a keeper. I can't believe that I found so many rugs that I want to knit from one book!

New Yarn

I enjoyed watching the Devil Wears Prada last night and I did order Lady in the Water for tonight. I only knit five rows on the dishcloth before becoming too interested in the movie. I'll try again tonight!

Here is some new Noro Silver Thaw yarn that arrived...

I really miss knitting...

So it's time to start knitting, again! But first, I had to set up my Amazon Unbox account to download movies to TIVO.
Amazon and TIVO Video Rentals

I wish the price was lower but you start out with a $15 credit which makes it worth it for me! I am in the process of downloading the Devil Wears Prada. It sounds like a great movie to watch while knitting!

Now I need to pick a project to knit. Hmmm, probably something small that I can finish in a night. Maybe a simple paw print dishcloth by Rhonda White?
Knitted Paw Print Pattern

If all goes well with the download then I'll probably choose the Lady in the Water for my next movie download while I pop off a knitted tank top on the Ultimate Sweater Machine (aka the dust catcher).

Vogue Knitting Magazine Preview

Vogue Knitting Magazine has posted their preview photos for an upcoming issue. Here's a quick link to their site:

http://www.vogueknitting.com/magazine-preview.shtml

Simply Knitting - March 2007

Simply Knitting arrived during this winter flu season. This time it arrived with a free magnetic needle case!





This isn't a great picture but look at the bottom of the cover. There is a whole farmyard with patterns available in the magazine!

Where's the knitting?

All knitting has been halted with the exception of 1-2 rows on my boucle backpack. First there was the Christmas and New Year holidays and then I was too busy but now I'm just plain lazy. I do like the Thermal Sweater over at knitty.com but I don't see myself starting it anytime soon. I've been trying to squeeze into my too small Fiber Trend Clogs and I have the yarn to make a larger pair...but no interest right now. I'll just have to keep looking for a pattern to inspire me!

Another Garterlac Dishcloth - Completed

same yarn as this dishcloth: http://springyknitting.blogspot.com/2006/11/ball-band-dishcloth-completed.html

pattern from the amazing: http://criminyjickets.blogspot.com/2006/07/garterlac-dishcloth.html

previous garterlac attempt: http://springyknitting.blogspot.com/2006/09/garterlac-dishcloth-completed.html

still working on the backpack and have not touched the gnome nor poor pirate sam...

Gnome Pieces

I have been very busy lately knitting up a Gnome from Simply Knitting magazine when not Christmas shopping! Now comes the mattress stitching and stuffing!

Ball Band Dishcloth - Completed

Some people knit when times are stressful but not me! I stop knitting until things are back to normal. After Thanksgiving, I decided to complete the one project that everyone else in the world seems to have completed. The ball band dishcloth! I used the pattern from my Mason Dixon Knitting book. The yarn is Sugar 'n Cream in Westport and Cornflower.

November Monthly Knitted Dishcloth - Completed

First off, hello to everyone visiting from the Knitting Blogs web ring! I've been reading blogs on the ring for over a year now and I'm so excited to be part of it.

I finished up the November 1st Monthly KnitAlong Dishcloth. If you can't make out my poor picture. It is a turkey! And the beads..I don't know, I just wanted to throw them in the picture, too.

Backpack - started

Not much knitting news to report but I have started this backpack several times in the last week.


The pattern is from the fall 2006 issue of Knit It!. After much frogging and throwing away of Caron Boucle yarn, I finally discovered the problem was due to my needles and not the yarn. My not-so-pointy Denise Knitting Needles have the perfect tip for working with this yarn. While I prefer the pointy tips of the Boyle Needles, they do not love this yarn so Denise Knitting Needles it will be!

Monthly Knitted Dishcloth - Completed

I must not have paid attention as it looks like I miscounted on this pattern:


Here it is from an angle. My first knitting pattern of this type!


I'm okay with the mistakes...maybe I'll actually use this dishcloth!

It's very hard to knit when the skies are so blue but I am working on the knitted Gnome and crocheted Pirate.


UPDATE!!!
My last issue of Simply Knitting magazine was missing the Rowan insert. Having never seen a Rowan issue before I promptly emailed Simply Knitting to request another be sent. Today it showed up along with another magazine and calendar. EXCELLENT customer service! As for the Rowan insert, it is very nice and I may need to become a member of their club. Thank you Simply Knitting!

UPS Delivers!

Nothing brightens my day more than a visit from the UPS man!


Some Simply Soft Quick yarn in berry blue for a backpack, 3 balls of cotton yarn for this month's mystery dishcloth pattern, and my very first NEW WOOL WINDER! And yes, I've already wound up 3 balls of yarn...it is very addictive.

Apple Hat - Completed

Pattern: Family Circle Easy Knitting
Yarn: Red Heart (red, green, brown)

Very cute but not as soft as I had hoped. The pattern is from an article about Tyne Daly in Family Circle Easy Knitting. Procrastination made the project last too long. Would I knit this again? Yes but maybe a strawberry or pumpkin pattern next time.

Need a good laugh? I love the Knitty Fall Suprise. My mom had those same pink curlers and would mix them with smaller blue curlers. I remember being horrified that one day I too would need to wear those big pink curlers!

One Skein Wonder - Completed

I've had orange in every picture posted this month until now...I have completed the OSW and it fits! Now if I could only take a better picture of it.



Pattern: OSW by Glampyre Knits
Yarn: TLC Amore in Lake Blue

Changes: I did not use smaller needles for the cuff and ribbing because I was nervous that it would be too tight.
Next time: I'll use a yarn that shows off the stitches. I do like this yarn but not for this pattern.

Knifty Knitter Pumpkin - completed

When you wrap some orange and green Caron Perfect Match yarn



around one of the Knifty Knitter small blue looms



you end up with a cute little pumpkin!


The pattern can be found at Provocraft's Website. It is more of a guideline than a pattern. My leaf was turning out too wide so I just wrapped until I thought it was the right size. As you can see, my stem turned out a bit tooooo long!

October 2006 Monthly Dishcloth KAL - kitty completed

Pattern: http://monthlydishclothkal.blogspot.com/
Yarn: 100% Cotton in Orange
Thoughts: Great pattern! I couldn't tell what it was until the last few rows!

Sophie Bag - Completed

I started my first felt project, Sophie, more than a year ago. I finally finished the knitting and weaving in of the ends in August. Last weekend, I tossed it in the washing machine and tah dah!


Pattern: Magknits Sophie Bag
Yarn: 100% Highlands Wool from www.elann.com
Stripe Pattern: Nothing more than changing colors when I tired of the one I was knitting.

Here is the pre-felt photo to show just how much it did shrink. Count and compare the slats in the door.

I love my tiny Sophie!