Kiri

Without further ado, as promised -

Pattern - Kiri by Polly Outhwaite
Yarn Used - 663.5 yards of Schaefer Andrea in Julia Child
Needles - Harmony size 4
Gauge - N/A
Knit - April 08, 08 to May 11, 2008
Modification - None.

This pattern was very easy to knit. It starts from the top center and works its way out and down. It is a fairly quick knit compare to some other shawls or stole I made before. It can get kind of boring towards the end though with lots of stitches.

The yarn is divine! It is easy to work with and absolutely gorgeous! It's good that I have three more skeins and I can't wait to work with them.

Isn't it pretty? Now, onto the next project!

Summer Bag

Well, you all probably think I was completely hooked on Wii and forgot to posts, right? Wrong. I've been sick since Sunday with bronchitis and have been resting. For few days I couldn't even knit! All I wanted to do was sleep! But I knitted on Tuesday on and see what I got!?

Pattern - Laurel Summer Bag by Bobbie Belokur
Yarn Used - 1 skein of Schaefer Laurel in Lillian Gilbreth
Needles - Harmony size 4 and Addi size 3
Gauge - 5 3/4 sts per inch in Garter St on size 3
Knit - May 11, 08 to May 17, 2008
Modification - None.

This pattern was super easy and super fast! I'm making this for Schaefer as one of the model knits. It is also my instant gratification after Kiri. Yes, Kiri is done, but I haven't block it yet, so I haven't show it's prettiness on the blog yet. Maybe tomorrow.

In the mean time, back to Wii!!!

MDS&W & Sock Pentathlon Sock #2

In case you are wondering, that's "Maryland Sheep and Wool". I wasn't able to go last year, but this year, I was SOOOOO there.

I took a half day on Friday and took the train down to Baltimore. I've never taken Amtrak before and I have to say I had quite a pleasant experience. And I met a couple of nice people too! Once I got there, I took a taxi and went to MamaE's Party! Sadly, I didn't take ANY picture! I was too excited to meet E and SweetSheep!!! But I did get a photo with them the next day!

Sneaksleep came and meet me up at the party, and after the party, I went back with her to her house for a nap cap and got up for the big day.

And see who we saw!!! :)

Zarzuela!!! She had move to Jersey a couple of years back and I haven't seen her since then! It was so great to see her there!

There were lots of sheep, llamas, alpacas, angora bunnies, and of course, there were food, yarn, and people spinning.

And while I was eating lunch, I noticed quite a bit of buttercup:

After the first day, Sneaksleep and I went to the Ravelry party - it was fun, and a lot less people than I expected. We stayed for a little while before we went and met up with the rest of the New Haven gang for some fondue at Melting Pot.

That was the first time I've been to a Melting Pot and it was so much fun! Although a little on the pricey side, but it was totally worth it, especially the chocolate fondue!

Yum. (that was the s'mores fondue, you should try it if you go!)

Sunday was a lot less intense, even the traffic was a lot less. Sneaksleep and I say goodbye after an hour in the fairground, and I left with Sami, Karen, Brenda and Beth around noon. While I was in the car, I was busy working on the Sock Pentathlon Sock #2 - Berlin Muster. I finished first sock while in the car on the way home, but the sewing needles were in the trunk with my overnight bag, so I couldn't finish the grafting, so what is a girl to do?

Use the buttons I got from the festival and parties! (and you call me crazy, collecting pins and all!) And since I couldn't knit while I'm at work, slowly, I finally finished the pair this morning, although, not without a hitch - again, that stupid little sewing needle. So the engineer in me took over, and fond something to use:

Twisty-tie!!! Yes, you read that right! And a few minutes after, I have these:

Pattern - Berlin Muster by Kristin Benecken
Yarn Used - 0.56 skein of Valley Yarn Franklin
Needles - Harmony size 1
Gauge - 8 sts per inch
Knit - May 01, 08 to May 07, 2008
Modification - I reduced the purl stitch so it's only 56 stitches, although I probably could still go down a bit since the lace is quite stretchy.

The pattern was fairly easy, although everyone had a hard time to get it started due to various reasons. The yarn was wonderful. I love it so much I want to get more of it! I have plenty of it left to do another pair of socks! You can read my full review here.

Well, now both of that are blogged and in the bag, it is time for me to rest my eyes. Good Night.

Rusted Root and Some More

First, I want to say "THANK YOU" to all who commented on my MoonDance. I really enjoy knitting it. And the more I look at it, the prettier it gets! And if you are on Ravelry, and you like my MoonDance, would you please "heart" it?

The reason I was asking is because recently, I got this message in my Ravelry message box:

Request to use your photo: DSC01862
We’d like to feature your photo on the page for Pink Frosting by Elissa Sugishita

So if you are on Ravelry, and you search for Pink Frosting, MY Pink Frosting is the picture you are looking at!!!!!!! And currently there is no other picture listed for MoonDance besides the designer's original picture! So if you like it, "heart" it!!!

Now, without further ado:

Pattern - Rusted Root by Sarah and Rachel from Zephyr Style
Yarn Called For - 3 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Sedona Red
Yarn Used - 4.5 balls of Kona Bay Cotton n Red
Needles - KnitPicks Harmony size 6 for body and size 4 for edging
Gauge - 5 sts per inch
Knit - March 31, 2008 to April 7, 2008
Modifications - I added increases towards the bottom of the tee to shape it even further.

This is a super fast knit, although the lace part is a little confusing because there is no chart, and it's not a even chart even when I made one. Though that should not discourage you to try to knit this tee. Another thing I would do different is to use a different cast on (I saw on Ravelry a lot of people did tubular cast on) so I don't have to pick up the edges later to finish it, although it really isn't hard. I wish there was more puff on the sleeves as you can tell it really isn't obvious.

Obviously I have to start something, and I decided to do another lace:

That's Kiri in Schaefer Andrea. So far, the yarn is to dye for! And the construction of the Kiri is really interesting. I'm thinking of doing a tutorial in case of people not understanding what the instruction meant.

So I joined 2klace in Ravelry awhile ago. It means that 50% of my work for 2008 has to be lace. And so far, Here is the list:

Irish Hiking Scarf
Honeycomb Socks
Cocoa Swap Piggy
Red Sox Socks
Square #1
Jacobean Socks
Undulating Waves Scarf Swatches (lace)
Wedding MoonDance (lace)
Rusted Root (lace)
Kiri - WIP (lace)
SotS WIP (lace)
Aspen Top Down Sweater

There are total of 12 items so far, and only 5 are lace and two are WIP!!!!! So I better go catch up! And you there, you should go heart my MoonDance ;)

Oh The Prettys

Or the Pretties? English is never my strong point, but then again, this is not about English. Let me present you with MoonDance:

Pattern - Moon Dance by Melanie Gibbons, aka Pink Lemon Twist
Yarn Called For - 1000 yards of lace weight yarn, JaggerSpun Zephyr used, Ebony
Yarn Used - 866.25 yards (2.75 oz) of JaggerSpun Zephyr in Vanilla
Beads - 95 Swarovski crystasl in Crystal Moonlight and Crystal AB, bicone, size 3
Needles - KnitPicks Harmony size 4
Gauge - N/A
Knit - January 9, 2008 to March 30, 2008
Blocked - March 30, 2008
Modifications - I added size 3 bicone crystals in crystal moonlight and AB effect, alternating between the pattern repeats.

Like I said from the last post, Melanie is a genius on this pattern. It is super easy and absolutely a fast knit for lace. I would said this could be a good first lace project for someone who is new to knitting lace. Here are some more shots of the pretty:

I started another pretty after Moon Dance:

This is Rusted Root from Zephyr Style. I am using Kona Bay Cotton in red. This is a fast knit and the yarn is super soft! I wish I have more of the Kona Bay Cotton. It seems to me this yarn is either being discontinued or just very hard to find because not many people carries it.

So Archiknist came visiting today. I haven't seen her for a few weeks. Partly because I don't usually go to the Wednesday SnB anymore due to schedule conflicts. We sat around knitting (big surprise?) and made dumplings. Yum. A good and relaxing fun was had by both.

So was your Saturday relaxing and fun? I sure hope so.

Until next time...

MoonDance Magic

So that Pink Lemon at Pink Lemon Twist - she is a genius when it comes to designing her stoles. Look at how this border is constructed:

Beginning

Finished

Yes, it's knitted perpendicular to the stole! Isn't that cool? And I unravel successfully on my first provisional cast on:

Beginning

Finished

And now it's resting:

Maybe I will be able to take a picture of in the sun tomorrow afternoon, after it dries. Until then, I leave you our (David's and my) favorite song lyrics:

Moondance by Van Morrison

Well it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
You know the night's magic
Seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight
Seems to shine in your blush...

Can I just have one a' more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with a' you, my love?

Well I wanna make love to you tonight
I can't wait till the morning has come
And I know now the time is just right
And straight into my arms you will run
And when you come my heart will be waiting
To make sure that you're never alone
There and then all my dreams will come true dear
There and then I will make you my own
And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that, you can't hide...

Can I just have one a' more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with a' you, my love?

Well it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
You know the night's magic
Seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight
Seems to shine in your blush...

One more moondance with you
In the moonlight
On a magic night
la, la, la, la, there's a moonlight
On a magic night
Can't I just have one more dance
With you my love?

33

Today is David's birthday. He got a card from his friend and the card said,

"It's your birthday, and I think it's great that we're friends who can grow old together."

Inside of the card said, "You First!"

I thought that was a fun and cute card.

I didn't get him a card. But I did give him a gift first thing this morning, the secret project -

Pattern - My own, Red Sox Socks
Yarn Used - Almost 2 balls of Cascade Fixation in red and .5 ball in white
Needles - Option size 2
Gauge - 6.5 sts per inch
Knit - January 31, 08 to February 19, 2008

I knitted this toe up using my usual magic cast on, increased to the amount of stitches needed and switched to red until the heel, which I put the front on another needle to hold the stitches and joined with the white to do the short row heel. After the heel, I picked up the red and knitted the leg and did the 2x2 rib with red and white with red as knit and white as purl. I also knitted both socks at the same time so I can make sure they are the same size.

Since this was a surprise, I had to figure out another way to measure his feet - Socks here I come. I took one of his dress socks and used it as a template for the socks. I was very afraid that they are not going to fit at the cuff because of the carrying yarn in the back, but it was perfect. The socks will go perfect with the 4 tickets at Fenway playing the Yankees.

Happy 33 Babe! And happy three years.

Let It Snow... Again!

I think this is the third or forth snow storm this year in CT.

Doesn't that look like an old movie or something? But it's just the window screen. The way the snow was crusted onto the car make me think of chicken pot pies... Maybe I was hungry.

We went out to dinner at Jalapeño Heaven in Branford. We found this restaurant a couple of years ago when we first adopted Mick. That faithful night, Mick happened to have a very good meal - my Coach purse and David's Spyder jacket, all in one night (that's about $600 worth of goods!) In order for us to not drive him back to TN where we adopted him from, we had to go out and drive around, and just calm down. Well, we found the restaurant and had a great meal and when we got home, all the sins were ALMOST forgotten. So this is what we had tonight:

My brother's Chimichanga


My order of Tamale and Enchilada


David's enchiladas

Don't they look yummy? I also had a glass of sangria with dinner. YUM.

So I finally finished the stitch practicing square - I have the stitches memorized and it is such a great stitch that I think I'm going to make a scarf out of it!

Yeah I know... Need better light. Oh well. Until then, back to making the Schaefer scarf swatch!

Cocoa Swap Topic of the Week #3 & Piggy

What is the most 'random' memory you have from your childhood?

Hmmm... It's actually a dream. My first dream I ever remembered. I think I was still in grade school. The dream was that I was a ninja along with few other ones, we were stuck in this maze and trying to find something or save something, but it was dark and I can barely see. The whole dream basically was me running around looking for this "thing" with the other ninjas.

I don't know why I still remember it, but I just do.

I finished the piggy today. So excited!

Pattern - Curly the Pig by Rebecca Hatcher
Yarn Used - 1.5 skeins of Beaumont Yarn (special yarn made for me from my friend)
Needles - Option size 2
Gauge - N/A
Knit - January 19, 08 to January 27, 2008
Modifications - None.

It was a super quick knit. I think it would have been faster if I realized earlier that I can convert the pattern to knit it in the round. I really like this pattern and I'm sure I'll be making it again, for myself.

After finishing the piggy, I started stringing the beads onto Susan so I can start the Undulating Waves Scarf.

Instead of using the thread and needle method, I used one of the dental floss threader and string the beads that way. It was super easy. Soon I had this:

Isn't the yarn just pretty? I thought so. I better go swatching.

Irish Hiking Scarf

Pattern - Irish Hiking Scarf by hello yarn
Yarn Used - 2 skeins of Misti Alpaca Chunky in #3317 and 2 skeins of Indiecita (Plymouth) Baby Alpaca Grande Paint in 638
Needles - Denise size 9
Gauge - N/A
Knit - September, 2006 to January 08, 2008
Modifications - None.

I used chunky weight instead of worsted weight suggested because I really wanted something big and fluffy. As many of you already know, it took so long to make this simple scarf because I ran out of the Misti Alpaca! But it wasn't long enough! So I decided instead of getting something close enough, I'll make it completely different. A year and some months later, this is finally off my needles, AND just in time for the winter!

Lucky for me, I joined the "Stash Knit Down 2008" in Ravelry. And the two skeins of Plymouth count towards my January Challenge! When I have some time, I'll work on a progress meter on the side bar to keep track the progress.

On the other note, the crystals I ordered for my wedding stole had arrived:

See why I like to order from Artbeads.com? They come in this beautifully packaged tissue and they only took 3 days! Free shipping! Not bad, huh?

I ordered Crystal Moonlight and Crystal AB. Both are pretty. I can't decide what to use. I think I will alternate them since they are the same, but with different effects. I like the ranbow effect of AB, but it might be too much for the entire stole - plus I still yet need to figure out the placement of the crystals.

I think I'm gonna go sleep on it...