Origami

I am home now and my head feels great.  :)  Trish cut off a lot of hair.

Last Monday Jane took home a few balls of Katia Tul.  This is yarn to make a ruffles scarf for summer.  Two balls and eight stitches were used.  I really like it in the pure white.

Some knitting was accomplished yesterday. One front of the cardigan is done and I cast on for the second one.  I am not sure when it happened but I can no longer read a knitting pattern.  Row 1 and 2 were fine but row 3 stumped me. K6, *K6, yo, ssk* to last 3 stitches, K3.  I know, it is a hard row but I should have been able to do it.  When I got to the end I didn't have 3 stitches so I started ripping out.  Guess what?  I forgot the first K6 at the beginning of the row.  Seriously.  This is getting annoying.  I'm thinking that I will have someone read me the first few rows until I get the pattern going from now on.

In the newsletter that went out last week I talked about Berroco Origami.  There were pictures from the new magazine.  Here are a few free patterns from Berroco's website.

Johannes

Johannes is a flattering short sleeved cardigan knit in a waving openwork stitch pattern.

Basque

Basque's scoop neckline is edged with fluttering ruffles. This feminine hip-length tee is belted at the waist for a stately Grecian silouhette.

Concur

Brighten up your warm weather wardrobe with our easy tailored cardigan with horizontal rib accents.

I had hoped to fit a pedicure in this afternoon but it isn't going to happen.  There is something awful called accounting.  It needs to be done so that I can get my tax return done.  Some days it is hard to believe that I actually wanted to make a career out of accounting.  Maybe I will treat myself to that pedicure next Monday.

Newsletter

I just sent out another newsletter-we are trying something different. This week I met with someone on marketing and he suggested not making the newsletters so long.  Just feature one item.  Kind of like the Coach emails that I receive.  :)  I would like your feedback.

If you didn't receive the newsletter here is a link to it.

Would you rather see a short email like the one I just sent out or do you like the old format??

I picked up my knitting again last night.  A trip to the chiropractor yesterday and my shoulder/neck was feeling better.

I originally thought that I would be working with 5mm needles but I decided to go with 5.5mm.  This helps make the rows go faster!!

As you can see there will definitely need to be some blocking done when I have finished knitting.

The last few days have also been spent on the website.  On the Featured Patterns page I have started adding categories for certain yarns (i.e. Classic Elite Liberty, Spud & Chloe Fine, Sirdar Baby Bamboo).  This will make it easier for you to find patterns for the yarns that you love.

Thank goodness we had taped American Idol last night.  They could have told me the 13 contestants in 10 minutes, 15 tops.  The producers were so lucky to have had Jennifer's new video when the judges couldn't make up their mind on who to send home.  :)  The first five men where how I wanted it to go.  My judge's choice would have been Robbie.  The only woman that didn't make it that I liked was Lauren Turner.  It should be a great season.

The knitting bug bit me again

I spent yesterday afternoon and evening knitting.  After a slow start (more on that later) I accomplished quite a bit. This is the right front to the armhole shaping.

I took the picture with my new phone and the colour is way off. Maybe I should have done it when the sun was out.  :)  Or maybe I should take some time to read up on the camera on my phone.

The colour is more dusty rose than pink but this lets you see the stitch detail.

The slow start.

I cast on and worked the first two rows for the right front. These are just knit rows but you are slipping on one row for the front edge.  Then I started to work the chart for the left front.  This put the front edge slip in the side seam and didn't leave a nice edge running up the front. There is no front band so I want it looking as neat as possible.

Then I messed up row 3.  Ripped out row 3 and started again.  Messed it up again.  Ripped out.  Started again.  Finally got it right.  Slip one, knit 2,  *knit one.....* was very confusing to me for some reason.  I forgot the knit one, then knit too many.  Seriously made me mad!!

Beth made a great discovery today.  In our house we are not allowed to spend change.  If you buy a coffee, or a paper you can not pull out a toonie.  You must use a $5 bill.  All change is rolled and used for the food fund-eating out while on vacation.  We decided to give the food fund money to our parents for Vegas.  Do you know how long it takes to roll pennies, nickels and dimes?  There is a TD Canada Trust on the Hamilton Mountain where you can take the change.  You put it in a machine and it counts it for you.

When done is spits out a receipt that you take to the teller.

1949 pennies.  There is no way that either of us was going to roll those!!

It's Over

For the past month I have been in a bit of knitting funk.  None of my current projects were exciting me and I couldn't figure out what I wanted to knit.  I knew it was going to be lace and I wanted to use a new yarn for spring.  It ended last night while going to sleep.

I am going to knit The Lace Cardi-a Fiber Trends pattern (FT463).  I knit this a few years ago and liked the finished cardigan.

The pattern is very well easy to follow.  The lace is charted as well as written out in words.

This time the yarn of choice is Savannah from Rowan.
Colour 934 Wild
Needles 5mm

This colour will look great with black and brown.

Now that the funk it is time to start.

Okay, I need to swatch (gasp) before I can start but I hope to cast on later today.

Who is Mary Jane?

If you have been reading my blog for a while then you will recognize this pattern. It is from Fiber Trends FT-463 knit out of Stella (100% Bamboo from Naturally) double strand on 5mm needles. If you want to start knitting lace this is a great project. The pattern could be one of the best written patterns I have ever worked from. I am showing you this today because I dug mine out of the closet and have it on.

Beth got mom's ebook reader set up last night and there was only one glitch. She asked us to buy The President's Wife by Sittleman. We tried numerous sites and couldn't find the book. I called her and asked what was up so she went and actually looked up the name. The American Wife by Sittenfeld. She was close. Apparently she has joined a book club in Myrtle Beach. I didn't know that you actually read books for book club. Thought it was sitting around and gabbing-kind of like some nights at knitting class.

I tape the Y&R every day but don't usually get time to watch it. Over the past couple of nights I have been trying to catch up. There are a couple of story lines that don't interest me so I fast forward through them. I really wanted to watch and find out who Mary Jane is-the info said that Paul was going to figure it out. Last night Beth came and sat down with me. As soon as she saw Mary Jane she was screaming "It's a man. Look at how big her hands are-they cover her whole face. Look at her ankles. It's a man." Now we had to find out so we fast forwarded through three episodes just to find Paul again but they haven't gone back to that story. Please, please Y&R, give us some more Paul trying to figure out who she is.

Lace Cardi

I finished the cardigan at 5:20 this afternoon. All sewn together, all ends sewn in and I added a crochet edge. Sorry-no time for pictures. It is now in my suitcase ready for the trip.

We are leaving early in the morning. Hopefully the hockey game doesn't go into overtime again tonight-I need to get some sleep.

I will have lots to post about when I get home. Have a good weekend-enjoy the warm weather.

I'm liking knitting lace

The time on this post is correct. It is 8am!! We are waiting for the drywallers to arrived and finish the ceiling in the basement. I can't wait for the renovations to be done so I can go back to sleeping in until 9.

I have been diligently knitting to try and get my cardigan done. We are off to Columbus, Ohio on Thursday for a trade show and really want to take it.

It does look longer on the mannequin than in the picture. I add two extra lace panels before the armholes and one after. Since the mannequin is smaller than me it hangs really long on her but it isn't that long on me.

Since taking this picture I have finished the first sleeve. The front and backs are knit and then joined with a 3-needle bind off. The sleeves are then picked up and worked down. The sewing will be a piece of cake.
Dad and Beth are putting down the sub floor in the basement.

My dad is a blur because he is moving so fast.

Tomorrow is dad's birthday. We are just going out to dinner with their friends-not another big party.

My first dinner party

My mom turned 65 on Friday so Beth and I decided to throw her a dinner party on Sunday. Many of the guests were in awe that we actually cooked the food and didn't have it catered. The menu included
-lasagna (made Thursday night)
-ham
-pot roast
-scalloped potatoes
-roasted potatoes
-cauliflower
-carrots
-Caesar salad (brought by someone else)
-Oreo cheesecake (made Saturday night)
-Ice cream cake (brought by someone else)
-Cheesecake (brought by someone else)

Beth and I had many discussions about how much food to make. We thought that 15 people were going to show. NOT. We had 20. Luckily we did have enough food but there wasn't a lot left over.

It was an all week event for this. We were at the grocery store at least 4 times. Then we had to go to Pier 1 and buy some more furniture. We have great couches in the loft but there wasn't anywhere to put down a drink so we had to buy some end tables. Unfortunately the Ancaster store only had one so Beth had to go to Hamilton for the other. We also had many pictures to be hung so dad did that on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. There was also the trip out to buy more cutlery. We had enough for 8 but now have enough for 16. Napkins. Napkin rings. More serving dishes. All the little things you don't need for day to day life but all of a sudden need when feeding the masses. We are now set for the next event!!!

I forgot to mention picking out the flooring for the basement. Cathy worked on Thursday finishing the kitchen clean up (which looks amazing). I ran out to get us lunch and stopped at home to see how the drywall was going. Dad was there hanging doors and asked me to run and get coffee. When I returned to the house the flooring guy (my dad's friend Jim) showed up so my dad asked me to take Jim to Home Depot and see the flooring we picked out. I am just going to say that I spent over an hour and a half at Home Depot-the story is way too long and just makes me mad. We now have the flooring in our garage and it was on sale for half price so everyone is happy. It was just one of those things that I didn't need to deal with on that day.

Yarn is on its way
-more Shepherd sock yarn from Lorna's Laces. I have notification that it left the US so it will be here any day
-more Dream in Color smooshy. I just talked with UPS and it should be here tomorrow

I did get some knitting done on my lace cardi over the week. Both fronts are done and the back is almost to the armhole shaping. I'm going to stop writing now so that I can get back to the knitting.

More cleaning

Our basement is moving along. The drywall is being taped today. I can't wait to clean up all the dust. :)

I have been working on my Lace Cardi. Both fronts are done and I am 20 rows up the back. I haven't taken any more pictures because it looks just like the first piece.

It is my mom's birthday this weekend so Beth and I are hosting a dinner party on Sunday. It will be the first time someone has eaten at the dining room table. We plan to get them all drunk first and then they won't notice if the food isn't good.

I've gotta run. Cathy and I are cleaning out the kitchen today and tomorrow. It has become one of those rooms where you open the door and throw things in and quickly close the door before things fall on you. It will become my office and shipping room. Right now I haul everything home to ship-not fun.

Henk and Karens adventure

I have been doing a bit of knitting over the last couple of days. I am almost done the first front of my Stella cardigan. The hockey playoffs have limited my sleep so I might as well knit. The pattern is very well written (as are all Fiber Trends patterns) with the neck shaping written out row by row so you don't run into problems with the lace. I am enjoying knitting with the bamboo-I see more of it in my future.

My parents have always loved children and would have had 10 if they could have. They are in Myrtle Beach right now and some of the men who work for my dad have brought their families down for a vacation. Mom and dad decided to take the kids out last night so the adults could do their thing. They had 7 kids aged 12-17. Unfortunately their van won't sit 9 people so my dad rented a limo to take them out-a big surprise for the kids. The first stop was Johnny Rockets for dinner and then a movie (the limo driver went along to both as well). There was still some time left after the movie so they went out for milk shakes. All the kids slept over last night and when I talked with my dad this morning he was getting ready to make pancakes. My parents did some really cool stuff with us and our friends but they never rented a limo to take us out!! Yes I am pouting right now.

I'm almost finished packing for the Frolic. As always there is way too much stuff but I don't want to run out of yarn. LOL!!

The Namaste Malibu and Laguna bags just arrived today. We will have all the colours at the show on Saturday and then back in the store next week.

Blogger is cooperating again

Here is my finished baby sweater. The yarn really shows the stitch definition. It was a simple sweater to knit-a new knitter could easily do this.


The weather is beautiful outside and I didn't have a summer sweater to wear to work today. This along with the fact that I just finished a project lead me to starting a new project today. This is a Fiber Trends pattern (FT463). I am using Stella from Naturally (100% bamboo) in white. This way I can wear it with black pants and any of my new summer sandals. Two strands are held together and it is knit on 5mm needles-I already have 20 rows done on one of the fronts. The pattern is very well written (as are all Fiber Trends patterns). Gotta run-my new project is calling.