Rochdale

Another project finished!!

Pattern: Rochdale from Rowan magazine #46

Yarn: Rowan Big Wool

I started this in 2009 so it's about time. :)

I think it sat for so long because I hated the collar. Today when I put it on I realized that it needs to fold down to the first button and now I really like it.

This is the pile of ends to prove that I actually sewed them in. Notice that there are buttons. Kind of cheating though. They are the new buttons from Jul. No sewing required. They are screwed on.

Today I am wearing Kilcar for the first time. I went back through my posts and in March of 2007 I started the second sleeve so I probably started knitting it sometime in 2006. I actually finished it Tuesday, April 11, 2007. That didn't take very long to get it blocked.

Have you ever noticed that when you are watching TV the commercials are louder than the TV show? I'm watching CNN and they just said a law has been passed that TV stations can't do that anymore. Right on!!

It's 9:30 and Beth and I just got home from doing some running around. There was a TV emergency this afternoon in the store. I dropped the converter to the satellite. The converter is at least 10 years old and decided that it didn't want to work anymore. We went to Best Buy to get a new one. The first one we saw was $65. Seriously? Maybe for our house but not the store. Then we found one for $15. It is going to take a lot of reading to get it configured but for $50 I will try. I also bought a DVD player (thanks to gift certificates from friends) for our living room. DVD players are pretty cheap now. I remember when they were hundreds of dollars and now they are $50 to $100. If you need to go to Best Buy for Christmas shopping I suggest going around 6pm. The store was empty.

I need to sign off and concentrate on the football game. Beth and I are in the playoffs of our fantasy football. We won last week and are in the semi-finals. It's nail biting time. I WANT TO WIN!!! There won't be any knitting on Jack but I think I can get some rows done on Groovy before bed.

Blocking

This morning I've been playing 'accountant'. My accounting is currently on my old lap top. Every time I want to write a cheque I need to get the computer out, boot it up (it's old and slow) and then open my accounting. I'm trying something new-an online host that I can use from my MacBook. It is kind of fun to be playing with numbers again. Unfortunately I can't snap my fingers and have everything move. I need to do some entering of numbers and today wasn't the day for that.

It is 12 hours later and I'm finally getting back to my post.

Yesterday was spent blocking.

This is Kilcar from Debbie Bliss knit in her tweed. It is on my bed in this picture and very wet after a bath in Soak. I knit this but never wore it because I didn't like the fit. After many towel changes it is drying but not as fast as I would like. I just tried it on (still very damp) and the fit is much better. Except for the sleeves. They are at least 4" too long. I'm not ripping them out so I will have cuffs on my jacket.

This is the picture that I have on Ravelry for the jacket so that you can get a better look at it.

Rochdale from Rowan #46

This is a jacket in Rowan Big Wool that has been finished except for the ends for over a year. It is currently lying on my bathroom floor. I didn't want to totally wet it for fear that the Big Wool could stretch way too much so I laid it out and used the wet towels from Kilcar. Very resourceful of me. :)

I got 30 rows knit on Jack yesterday in between blocking, cleaning and watching football.

If you haven't watched the Amazing Race finale then please stop reading.

Beth is telling me to hurry because there is a new game show with Howie Mandel taped. I also need to get some knitting done.

Rochdale from the magazine. I'm undecided on the pockets. Well, right now I'm decided that they aren't going on but there is yarn left over so I can add them in the future.

The Amazing Race. I'm not sure what to say. When I saw the final challenge I knew the Josh and Brent were going to win. It was one of those challenges where you needed some patience and luck. After they crossed the finish line Beth turned it off because she was so upset that James and Jaymes didn't win. Thankfully they won cars earlier in the evening.

I might be sewing in ends tomorrow. All the Shades of Truth is ready as is Rochdale. I really need to hire a 'sew in the ends fairy'.

Moebius

The weather today is weird. When I came to work we were having snow squalls and freezing rain. Then it was sunny and calm. Now the snow is coming again.

I told you that I was on a mission. Here is Rochdale sewn together. It didn't fit properly on the mannequin and I was rushing to get the picture taken. Really this was just to show that I finished something.

There were a few bad words being thrown around at my house yesterday afternoon. It took 3 tries to get the first sleeve in. You'd think it was my first day putting together a garment.

It is in need of blocking but I want to get all the ends sewn in first. I'm not sure what I did while I was knitting but there are a million ends.

Remember I said that I could start something if it was a small store sample. Last night I retaught myself Cat Bordhi's Moebius Cast On and am making a cowl. The yarn is Chunky from Misti Alpaca. 100% Alpaca. What a dream to knit with. We have 6 colours in the store and more will be coming.

I have one ball knit with one more to go. I'm in a rush to get it finished - I'm going to teach this in February. The class schedule needs to get finished and I need a picture of the Moebius.

I'm home now. I stayed at work until I got the Moebius cast off. All 340 stitches.

I used 7mm, 120cm addi needles and cast on 170 stitches. With Cat's method you end up with double the number cast on.

I have the label in front of me now. The yarn is 100% Baby Alpaca. Very, very soft and a dream to knit with. I know I said this already but I really liked the yarn.

The yarn was also very easy to roll into a ball. Sometimes skeins get tangled but I just hung this over a chair and away I went.

There should be a shipment of madelinetosh arriving later this week including some yarn for me. I have to get something else finished before I can start so I'm signing off to get knitting.

New Years Resolution

Last night I was a knitting maniac. I'm taking my Get Things Finished rule very seriously. I'm into the fourth ball on my poncho - approximately half way done.

I found a jacket in my closet that is knit and just needs to be sewn together and the collar added. Really. Couldn't I have done this by now?

I considered starting sewing last night but it was 11 and I don't think that is a good time to sit down and sew.

The jacket is called Rochdale and is from Rowan magazine 46.  It was an easy knit. Rowan Big Wool and large needles are a great combination.

My new law is that I have to finish two things before I can start something new. This doesn't include small things that I need for store samples such as a scarf. I can't wait to have many new garments to wear in the new year.

Hope you have a Happy and Safe New Years.

This is going to be a week of finishing

I have been away from the computer for the past 2 days.  Saturday was crazy busy in the store-I'm not complaining-it makes the day go much quicker.  I came home, moved to the couch and knit.

I can't stop watching Grey's Anatomy.  No commercials makes it so much better.  It also helps when knitting because you don't have to put down your knitting to fast forward through commercials.

Sunday morning I woke with a migraine so spend some time in bed.  When I got up it was time to knit again.  The Super Bowl was okay.  I wanted Indy to win but the Saints winning doesn't upset me.  The game was fairly boring though.  I wish they had moved the ball up and down the field more.  What was with the commercials???  CTV over road the US feed and we saw the same 6 commercials over and over again.  We know that the Olympics is coming this week!!!!

The collar is done on my Debbie Bliss jacket.  I need to sew in the sleeves and done!

Rochdale is from Rowan 46 (the fall magazine) and is knit in Big Wool. I started it and then it was set aside for a while.

When I finished the knitting on my Debbie Bliss jacket I pulled this out and finished all the knitting on it as well.  After I sew the shoulder seams I can pick up and do the collar.

Have you read the Yarn Harlot in the past few days?  The Knitting Olympics are back on.  For those of you who don't belong to Ravelry but want to compete, please go to her blog and sign up.  Rules are the same as four years ago.  you can't start before the opening ceremonies and you have to be finished by closing ceremonies.

I need to get moving.  There are lots of chores to be done today.

Finished Garments

Two parcels arrived in the mail on Tuesday.

Wannietta sent the Candy Stripe Jacket-a Spud & Chloe pattern. Lisa and Michelle both tried it on today-I should have taken their pictures in it-it looked great on both of them.

I really need to learn to send buttons with the yarn because I really hate sewing them on.

Alice in Wonderland is from Tahki's newest Tweed Magazine.

I was going to run and get some new mannequin clothes after work but there was a small problem-a huge storm!! There was no way I was going to be running in and out of the truck in that rain.

After work Dad and Beth came to install my new TV. Right now the box for the satellite dish is upstairs so I have to run up when I want to change the channel. I know that we can get some gizmo that will let me do it from the store-been there, done that and it didn't work. Next week the box will be moved into the store.

This is what I will see when sitting at the table.

It's time for Big Brother so I am moving upstairs to the couch with my knitting. Rochdale (the last time I talked about this was weeks ago so if you forgot it is a jacket knit in Big Wool from Rowan 46) is moving along. One front and the back are done. I might make the armhole shaping on the second front tonight.

Let the games begin

Dad, Beth and I have a tradition of golfing on holiday Mondays. Yesterday was such a beautiful day that we golfed Willow Valley in Hamilton. Dad lost and owes Beth and I big time.

The dumpster arrived this morning and I have been busy making trips outside filling it. I can be a pack rat (a trait I got from my mom-definitely not my dad) so this week I am getting rid of things that I haven't looked at in years.

Many people are coming in and can't believe we will have everything done in a week. My family has a construction company which makes anything possible. Some of the sub-trades will be in working at night (tile floor and painters) so I'm not worried about our deadline.

Jim has been doing flooring for my dad for as long as I can remember. He brought in tile samples for us to look at this morning. Small problem-both Dad and Jim are colour blind. Doesn't really help me so the decision was all mine. There was a great purple colour but it would be much too dark so medium grey won.

I haven't looked at Iris again. The next two weeks are going to be stressful and I really don't want to think about ripping out the sleeve right now. I will work on Rochdale during Big Brother tonight.

Need help counting

I totally messed up my knitting!!! Not a happy camper. The sleeves on Iris were too small for me so I needed to add stitches. I calculated 75 as the proper number. After I started the armhole shaping earlier today I counted the stitches. I only started with 65. When I cast on the stitches, they were counted three times and I swear there was 75!! I don't like to rip out so I finished the sleeve and am going to sew it in tomorrow. If it looks okay then it stays. If it looks too tight then I will be frogging. Unfortunately or fortunately I forgot to bring home yarn for sewing so it is sitting on the floor of my bedroom until tomorrow. That is probably for the best with my mood right now.

Don't worry because I have other knitting at home.

Rochdale is from Rowan 46-knit in Big Wool on 12mm needles.

I have been holding out on you. I started this the day Rowan 46 arrived and was going to show it to you when done. I have pulled it out to work on this afternoon so I took a quick picture for you. One front is done and I am working on the back.

12mm Addi needles have a fat, plastic cord and I don't like knitting with them. A pair of Ebony Lantern Moon needles whispered to me that they would work well for this project so I took them home. Very nice. You won't see me knitting on straight needles very often but they are working well for this project.

My knitting and I are moving upstairs to watch the Nascar race if it ever starts.

Can't wait for Big Brother. I am hoping that Jeff or Jordan win HOH. Let's see Jessie and Ronnie squirm.