Home Again

I am back in the store today after a great trip to Myrtle Beach. Sorry but I didn't take any pictures. Every time I thought about taking some I didn't have my phone on me.

I have just reread my post and am adding this. It sounds like a report I did in grade school when my parents took us out of school for a vacation. :)

The drive down was uneventful. My dad did let me drive for one hour but then he was bored and wanted to drive again.

Saturday we golfed at one of my favourite courses with one of the other home owners. The weather was hot but we had a good day. I beat my dad on the back nine-a first for me.

Sunday we golfed again after church. My game could have been better but the weather was nice so there is no complaining.

Monday my dad golfed with his friends and I spent the day with my mom. We tried to visit a yarn shop but they were closed on Mondays. Late in the afternoon we picked my dad up and went to an amazing quilt shop. Unfortunately we didn't arrive until they were closing but they did stay open a couple of minutes for us. I got some great batik fabrics which means I need to get my butt in gear and finish the quilt I am working on.

Tuesday morning I golfed with my dad and 3 of his golfing buddies. It rained and rained and rained. We got called off the golf course twice for lightening making the round almost seven hours long.

Wednesday my dad and I did running around. My mom likes it when we are there because it lets her rest and we get to keep dad busy. After getting on the plane in Myrtle Beach we sat on the tarmac for 1/2 hour but the pilot assured us we would get to Charlotte in time and make our connections. When we got to Charlotte we had to circle for 1/2 hour because of bad weather. I got off the plane, hustled from the B terminal to D terminal and found the gate closed to my flight. They did open the flight up to us and we finally took off. Unfortunately my luggage didn't make the flight. Beth picked me up in Buffalo and we had to wait almost 2 hours for the next flight from Charlotte and luckily my suitcase arrived. I wasn't looking forward to the drive back to the airport tonight. I am extremely tired-it was almost 2:30 when I got to bed this morning.

Can you see a pattern happening? I knit in the car on the way down but then I didn't pick up my needles for the rest of the trip. This means that I didn't get my last project done for the Ravelympics. I was working on Edie. The body is almost done and now I have to pick up for the sleeves. I had great expectations of doing lots of knitting so I had some Rowan Colourscapes Chunky with me. The full bag came back untouched.

I forgot to watch Big Brother on Tuesday night but luckily Beth taped it for me. I will watch it tonight before the new episode-double eviction-gotta love it.

Just one to go

I finished Cheri this afternoon-all ends sewn in as well. It is too big for the mannequin but I needed to get the picture taken. I have to finish Edie and don't have much time left.

Speaking of Edie-major problems. There is a mistake in the pattern-only on the largest size. At the armhole you cast off 35 stitches. A couple of rows later you need to cast the stitches back on. I have the whole back done and counted my stitches and guess what-I am 5 short. I spent some time trying to figure this out when I read the pattern again-it says to cast on 30 stitches which leaves me 5 short. I must have cast off the stitches and let the knitting sit for a couple of days before casting on so the numbers didn't mean anything to me. When I do the other armhole I am going to cast off 30 and then cast on 35 bringing me back to the right number of stitches and both fronts will match.

Canadian Idol was great this week. Everyone did a really good job with their songs. Big Brother last night was quite boring. Dan thinking about using the POV-what kind of idiot is he? Just leave the nominations as they are and vote out April!!

I will try and post from Myrtle Beach with finished pictures of Edie.

Ravelympics

The last few days have been much better at the Olympics for Team Canada. It looked like we might not get any medals and then bam!!

Yesterday I showed you Valour finished. This was for the WIP Wrestling category in the Ravelympics. Cheri is my main project for the Vest Vault. I have 4 rows to go on the collar and then sewing.

This is Edie. The cardigan is knit from side to side with holes for the armholes. The part on the left is the front and the right side is the back. The front comes over the shoulders and hangs down with the stripes going sideways and the stripes will be vertical on the back.
I am going to try really hard and get this done for another WIP Wrestling-trying to get as many medals for Team Canada as possible. When the Olympics are done, Ravelry is going to figure out the winner. They have a magic formula that will look at the number of people in the group and the number of finished projects.

On Friday my mom is flying to Myrtle Beach. She is feeling much better but the drive is too long. I will be driving with my dad and then flying home on Wednesday. I hope to get Edie finished in the car if necessary.

April and Jerry on the block-this is going to be interesting. Okay, I am talking about Big Brother-if you aren't watching you could be missing the best season yet. I need to make a mental note to tape Canadian Idol. Amberly being voted out is surprising.

Don't forget that the Knitter's Fair is coming up soon-less than a month away. All of a sudden I need to get my act together to get kits, etc. ready.

Olympic Knitting

I finished Valour this morning-even the ends are sewn in. I loved knitting with the Colourscapes Chunky. When I am done my Olympic knitting I will have to use this yarn again.

I will be working on Cheri (the Cocoon Vest) this afternoon during the Nascar race. The front and back are done so I need to sew the shoulder seams and start on the collar.

I am going to try and get a quick nap in now before the race starts. I was up late last night watching the swimming and then up again during the night to watch the rowing.

More boxes of yarn

More boxes of yarn arrived today.

This is Laura from Jenny Watson's upcoming book Catwalk. It is knit in Silk Garden Chunky from Noro. We received colours 1-10 today. It is very unfortunate that I have my Olympic knitting or I would start knitting with this yarn today.


From Sirdar we received a few new yarns. This is the new magazine for Escape DK-51% wool and 49% acrylic, machine washable, marbled yarn. The knits have been beautifully designed to show off the subtle colour striping through the use of simple textures, ribs, cables and a touch of lace. Creates wonderfully rich stripes as you knit. The colour changes randomly so no two knits will be the same.

Another new yarn is Tweedie-a chunky weight yarn-Tweedie Chunky-45 percent Acrylic, 40 percent Wool, 15 percent Alpaca-also machine washable.

Sirdar Baby Bamboo is available in 4 new colours-pale pink, pale yellow, pale blue and pale green. Sorry, we don't have them on the website yet.

There are many new patterns for babies, children, men and women.

I have to run and find somewhere to put these yarns. My knitting is calling to me as well-I wonder which task will win out?

Making progress

I have been steadily working on Cheri. I am now done 5.5 balls of yarn-unfortunately I haven't done any today. We are receiving boxes of yarn, needles (out of stock Addis are in) and magazines (the fall Interweave just arrived). I have also been getting mail orders ready-Phyllis-yours is on the way.

I mentioned new sock yarn-the Silk Garden sock yarn from Noro has arrived. There are 8 colours-the two shown as well as 84, 87, 252, 258, 264, 269. These match the colours in Silk Garden.

245
8

Canadian Idol and Big Brother are both getting really, really good. On Idol we are getting down to the best-I think there are 4 very strong people and it will be interesting to see who Canada wants to win. The arguing and fighting on Big Brother has been great. In the past people didn't get along but this is the first season where there have been screaming matches (and lots of them). Memphis and Renny are still flying under the radar and should last for some time with everyone else at each others throats. Jerry is an idiot. He is complaining about Dan and the fact that he broke his word-didn't Jerry do that the first week?

Olympic Knitting

Ravelry is hosting the Ravelympics. We couldn't start our knitting until the opening ceremonies and it must be done by the closing ceremonies. I am knitting Cheri (from the new magazine from Rowan The Cocoon Collection). The vest will take 9 balls and I have 4 knit. (I just threw it on the deck this morning to take the picture-it will lay nicely when blocked.) Hopefully I can finish by the end of the week. I then have 2 projects that are started that I want to get done by the end of the Olympics. The store is going to be a mess because I won't have time to do anything but knit for the next 2 weeks.

There is a new sock yarn in the shop. I sent out the newsletter this morning to those who have asked to receive sock yarn updates. I can let you in on the secret tomorrow morning.

Brooke's Lace Shawl

I saw this shawl when I was at TNNA in June. It is absolutely beautiful. The yarn has been in the store for a bit and we were just waiting on the pattern. We have more colours than these in the store (including some reds).
The shawl is knit in Wool Crepe from Mountain Colors (who have updated their website-take a look). The shawl is knit on circular needles in the round. Two halves are made and grafted down the centre back. You start by making a circle (the armhole) and working out from there. When you are done the border is added.

Wild Horse
Chinook
Gray Wolf
Lodgegrass
Lupine
Meadow

Making progress

Here is the first front of Valour. I could have finished it a few days ago but have been lazy this week with my knitting.

This afternoon I cast on the second front and have about 10 rows done.

Is anyone watching the current season of Big Brother? It is a very interesting season. Rennie and Dan might skate through for quite some time if they stay out of the turmoil.

Back is done

I finished the back of Valour.  The colours in the picture are very true to the real colours of the yarn.  I am about 1/3 of the way through the first front.

The Olympics will be starting this week so I need to make up my mind on what I am going to knit.  I think I will be using Cocoon from Rowan but I still have a few days.