Crossed the Finish Line

Bailey is done.

Beth and I went on the back deck to get pictures. She thought she was paparazzi clicking away pictures. Here are a few

The sleeves ended up a bit long but I don't mind wearing my cuffs turned back. There is no way that I'm taking the sleeves out to shorten them.

 She was turning my phone getting pictures at all angles.

I took this picture to show that I did sew all the ends in. All of them!! All by myself.

My friends wanted in on the action and have their picture taken.

You can't see it in the picture but their tails are wagging like crazy. Roko's hair is starting to grow back in. It isn't nearly as soft as Melo's but getting better.

We are golfing this afternoon. Quoting my dad "Let's hope the rain keeps up" (so that it doesn't come down). If you know my dad you can see him smiling as he says this.

The only bad thing about golfing is that we are going to miss the closing ceremonies. They are set to tape-I like to watch the athletes walking in.

Have a great day!!

One Sleeve In-One To Go

I accomplished a lot on my sweater in the store today. Sleeve #1 was sewn in on the first try (sometimes you need to sew it more than once to get it in properly with no pulling or puckering) Tonight I need to sew in one sleeve and then one side seam. Oh, yeah. Then all the ends. It's 4pm and I should be heading home but I have to stay a few minutes to watch the men's 4x100 relay. Bailey is on a mannequin to take a picture outside when I leave. Unfortunately it has started raining pouring again.

When I walked outside there was a two second window of no rain and I got this picture.

My sweater is going to be done tonight so I am taking Rockefeller home to get back at it. Here it is half way through the second clue.

Stephen West (westknits) is offering a special on Ravelry for his patterns. Here is a link to the discussion in his Ravelry group. The sale ends Monday so act fast.

This is my Earth and Sky Shawl knit in tosh merino light. Stephen's patterns are well written and easy to follow. I have knit three of his patterns and highly recommend looking at what is available.

See all his patterns. There are many to choose from.

I waited with my post to see if I could do it and I did. Bailey is done. There are a few ends to sew in and I'm too tired to do them tonight.

The colour is off but what can you expect when you take a picture outside at dusk?

Almost Done

Sleeve #2 was almost finished last night. I didn't have my notes upstairs with me and wasn't sure which row to go to. There are two rows to finish this morning.

I put my computer away for a while and worked on the sweater. The sleeve is done and cast off.

The shoulder seams are done and it's time for the neck band. I decided to do it on a circular needle-one less seam to sew.

Mr. Canpar brought in a huge box of new colours of Debbie Bliss Paloma. This yarn is a chainette yarn that knits to a bulky tension but because of the construction is very light. Lilac and Mallard are calling to me.

Hare are a few patterns that I really like from Debbie's Paloma book that came out last year. I'm not sure if we are going to get any new patterns this year. Maybe in her magazine coming out later this month.

Jane sent an email this morning.

Here are two more squares done..but not blocked..and the other one 3/4 done. The one on the needle is the more challenging one since there are more colours and more stitches per row. I have told Julie I don't really want to send any more pictures since this is a Christmas gift for some one involved with this blog. Something has to be a surprise

The squares are looking great!! There seems to be a lot of ends to sew in. I better not complain about the ends on my sweater-the number of ends I have is very little compared to Jane.

Now the computer needs to be charged. I hope to have another picture before I hit Publish with a finished neck band. Maybe a sleeve or two sewn in as well.

I'm supposed to work 8 inches for the neck band and I had 5 inches done when I left work. Beth and I did some running around and I just walked in. I'm rushing to get my post done before Saturday hits. No more knitting tonight but I will get the knitting done in the morning and hope to have it sewn tomorrow afternoon.

I see the end

The finish line is in sight. Just 17 rows to go. And it's a sleeve so the rows are short.

I don't think the sewing will take a long time. Because the yarn is bulky there aren't a lot of rows-not like a sweater in sock yarn. I will need to sew with a different yarn. Drift is a roving yarn that will break easily while doing the mattress stitch.

I would have liked to take this picture outside but it is pouring rain here. We do need it so I'm not going to complain but if it cold stop soon and then start in a few hours I would appreciate it.

I'm home now and it is still raining as I am getting ready to barbecue steaks. Not the best night to barbecue but we bought beautiful steaks at Denningers last night and I have been dreaming about them all day.

Two more boxes arrived from Lorna's Laces. One is unpacked and the other box (that is full of Helen's Lace) will be unpacked tomorrow. There are new colours of Solemate (I showed socks yesterday knit in the yarn and it is really, really nice.)

I hope my sister doesn't see this post because I can already hear her bugging me to have someone knit her a pair of socks.

Barbecuing in the rain with an umbrella on my shoulder wasn't fun but dinner was great!

All I'm going to say about Big Brother last night was WOW. Tonight is going to be interesting. 17 rows to go so I'm moving upstairs to knit.

Back on Track

Bailey from Rowan magazine #52

I'm back on track with my Olympic knitting.

The front neck shaping is done and I got one sleeve finished last night. Knitting on 10mm needles is great.

There was a lot of knitting yesterday. By the time we watched Big Brother I had to put the needles down. My hands and neck were tired and sore.

This morning I was at the storage unit getting more tosh. I forgot to take pictures to show you the unit. We let my dad loose in there which means it has racking and shelves to store the yarn. It looks like a little warehouse.

There are six boxes of yarn in Beth's truck. Thank goodness for the truck because it would take more than one trip in my vehicle. Tomorrow I will be putting on the shelf

tosh dk

• plaid blanket
• baltic
• heuchera
• calligraphy
• logwood 
• lowland
• fragrant
• composition book grey
• kale
• tart
• charcoal
• betty draper blues
• cousteau
• grenadine
• onyx

tosh merino dk

• jade
• cove
• stovepipe
• mica
• flashdance
• tart
• fragrant
• alizarin
• cousteau
• steam age
• mourning dove
• kelp
• terrarium
• black velvet
• onyx
• cathedral

tosh pashmina

• dried rose
• steam age
• mourning dove
• composition book grey
• amber trinket
• cousteau

tosh sock

• charcoal
• mineral
• cousteau
• bloomsbury
• tart

tosh lace

• baltic
• amber trinket
• tart
• cathedral

tosh prairie

• tart
• amber trinket
• logwood
• charcoal

It's a beautiful day out. Not too hot and not humid. That can only mean one thing. Beth and I are heading to the golf course.

Bailey

It was a late night watching movies and knitting. The first movie was Eight Men Out. It is hard to believe that I haven't watched it before since I am a big fan of baseball. The second was a movie Beth chose. I was a Male War Bride. The movie is from 1949 with Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan. You can't go wrong with a Cary Grant movie.

There are 4 rows to go until the neck shaping but I was way too tired to count. You shouldn't work on decreases and counting at 1 in the morning. Instead I cast on for the sleeves. One ribbing is done and the other is almost done.

Beth and I were heading out the door to get some dinner last night and Roko put on his sad face to try and get us to stay home.

We can always count on Sirdar for great baby/children's patterns. These just arrived in the store-in leaflets and all together in a pattern book. The patterns are for newborn to 7 year old.

Four great colours arrived as well.

Specially developed to be incredibly soft, gentle and smooth for Baby, this yarn is a new blend with natural bamboo and wool fibres. It will keep its quality through gentle machine washing.

I'm declaring today 'Knitting Day'. Olympics, Nascar and golf should keep me happy while the needles are clicking.

Bailey Day 4

The knitting machine broke yesterday. I didn't get the partial repeat from Sunday night finished. I helped Beth in her warehouse-we got lots of boxes shipped out. Then I had to do my HST return. Don't want to keep the government waiting for their money. Dinner then a trip to see the parents. Mom has been having computer problems but I think that is fixed. A bit of knitting and then bed.

I thought that there would be knitting time today but now I don't think so. The 8am phone call changed that. When can someone be at the storage unit? The truck driver is sitting there with 17 boxes of madelinetosh. I wasn't dressed so Beth ran. She is on her way back to the house with a few boxes for me to start unpacking. I think she is going to try and bring boxes of merino light. Happy Dance at the Needle Emporium today.

It's a bit later and I'm at the store unpacking boxes (I could only get four into my truck-more tomorrow) and updating the website. The fun part is trying to find where I am going to put it all. I'm getting very creative. Here is what I have found so far.

merino light

• flashdance
• cousteau
• cathedral
• duchess
• amber trinket
• mourning dove
• french grey
• byzantine
• antique lace
• denim
• lolita
• vanilla bean
• manor
• nebula
• fragrant
• volga
• william morris
• rosewood
• tern
• worn denim
• terrarium
• manor
• thyme
• celadon
• stovepipe
• clematis
• ruby slipper
• composition book grey
• silver fox

lace

• cathedral

prairie

• logwood

Finding room for yarn is bad for me (because there is no room in the store) but good for you. I have boxed up more yarn for the Tent Sale.

I thought that after the four boxes of tosh were put away I might get to knit. Not. Mr. Canpar walked in with six boxes of Debbie Bliss and Sirdar.

Winter Garden-the book and yarn have arrived. I will be knitting with this yarn very soon.

$18.95 a skein
100grams
100m
30% merino wool
30% baby llama
20% silk
20% linen

10 stitches =4" on 9mm needles

We have a new store in Ancaster called ECS Coffee Inc. It is on Wilson Street (the other end of town from us) near the Walmart. I was there yesterday and bought tea pods for my Kuerig. People tell me that their prices are better than anywhere else. I don't know about that but their selection is amazing. Lots of tea that I haven't seen anywhere else. You can buy individual pods which makes it great for trying flavours. You don't have to buy 12 or 24 and find that you don't like it.

There are five boxes to be unpacked. I better hit Publish and get back to work.

Bailey Day 3

I was a knitting machine yesterday. The back of Bailey is done!! Beth told me to slow down. Not a chance. The problem is that there isn't as much time to knit during the week as there is on weekends-a small thing called work gets in the way. If I get it done early then I might join another category-maybe something to do with finishing projects that are lying around the house.

I guess if I'm going to say that I did this then I will have to sew in my own ends.

The ribbing on the front is cast on and I am half way through the first pattern repeat.

Jane has started her knitting on the Jubilee Throw. It is knit in Rowan Felted Tweed.

Here is square one done. Has not been blocked or the ends sewn in yet. I always use a hi liner to mark off the rows as I finish That way I can see what was on the previous row as well as seeing the row I'm working on. Just keep it on a clip board beside me.  I also put the wool I am currently using in a zip lock baggie. That way I'm not hunting through my whole bag of wool. 

So block one is done and 23 more to go

It looks great. Jane is going to continue sending pictures as she goes.

Much of yesterday was spent watching the Olympics. The white water canoeing and kayaking is great to watch (it's on my TV again today as I am writing). Talk about upper body strength. I'm saving the gymnastics and swimming until tonight. Hopefully I don't see the results until we watch.

Bailey Day 2

Yesterday was a very productive knitting day!!

Two and a half repeats are done.
Three and a half balls are knit. Twelve and a half balls to go.

For some reason I woke up early this morning (could be the nap I had yesterday) and the Olympic coverage of the ladies road race is on. Go Clara!!

There is a new Cashmerino Baby book coming this fall. I found these pictures on Debbie Bliss' Facebook page.

Thirteen bright knits for babies and children

There are four new colours of Cashmerino Baby coming as well.

My phone is charged (so I can track my rows) and it's time to sign off and watch the Olympics.