All right fellow knitters...Now I really like working on one project at a time but I have to confess...I've lost it. I think a little bit of Froggy is wearing off on me. I'm working on 2 knits at the moment...and will soon turn to 4. Number 1 is Olive. Olive is my mindless knitting with my knit buddies project. Number 2 is my Tweedy Aran Cardigan... I started this about 3 years ago. I love this cardigan. I don't know why I ever put it down. Well I picked her right back up from my UFO's. This is the back & was finished long ago. I've been steadily working on the front...which you can obviously see is now finished. I am so proud of myself...I remembered how to do the short row shaping without even looking in a book. The shoulders are nice and smooth. No choppy bind offs here & there. See...lots of knitting pays! Now I'm on the first sleeve... I am in love (I know you have heard that one before) with this sweater... This pattern is from the IK 01/02. This is the hardest knit that I have ever done. It has lots of very different stitches and you have to pay attention to increases, decreases, stitches, rows and shaping all at the same time. This is not a knit night project like Olive is. I need to be by myself...all alone. I'm loving how she is coming out so far and from the looks of her when I hold her up, she will fit perfectly...I hope! Number 3 will be my hubby's Cable Vest. I should probably get that done for his Birthday in November or even better...Father's day. Number 4 is Lara... Most of you know that this pattern is from Debbie Bliss' Alpaca Silk. I really like this sweater...but totally fell in love with it when I saw my Mom's finished Lara. She did it Karabella Aurora 8 in Burgundy. Not only is it gorgeous, it fits unbelievable (I should know...I tried her on!) It is shorter, like a bolero & fitted but so cute. I'm going to knit her up in Karabella Aurora 8 in this color... This is color 18. It is a deeper burgundy that what my Mom used but will go with so much. Well that's it for the projects for now...I hope! I picked up this little dodad... This is really cool. It automatically measures button placement without all the math. Now that's cool! Now...the best for last... Another fabulous knit night with my knitting buddies. We went to the new restaurant...Cheeseburger in Paradise in Pasedena. They have great drinks and the food was fab. The best part...the Chocolate Nachos(to die for) & theKey Lime pie. YUM!!!! Then off we went to the local Starbucks to knit. We met this girl Wendy and her hubby (it was his Birthday) there. She was nice enough to take this photo. Thanks Wendy & huddy. It was so nice to meet you! Well that's all folks...until next time...have a great week! P.S. I didn't mean to forget about Rogue. The problem is the zipper...I don't have one yet. I've had some problems finding a 2-way zipper. Zippestop doesn't have any in the right color. They said that the season is over and they won't be getting the one I need (a 2-way in the color I need) until next season. :-( If anyone knows where I can get a 2-way zipper, please let me know! There is one place about 45 minutes away that I'm going to check out shortly. Otherwise Rogue is all finished...minus the zipper! And she's looking damn good! P.S.S. I replaced the pictures of my Aran Cardi so you can actually see the stitches more clearly!

It's sunny and 53 degrees F...Life is good!

Knitting News...
I have been knitting somewhat on Olive...

Her back is finished and that tiny thing to the right is her left front. I know ribbing stretches...but this is unbelievably small. It's funny how I'm always worried about my knits being too big. Not this one. Since I'll be putting in a 2-way zipper, I hope it will be OK. I can always unzip this baby up to my waist.

Did I mention that I have a wonderful hubby? He took me last Saturday to Manning's in PA. It took about 1 hr 45 min to get there. I asked him why he was so willing to drive there and you know what he said? "It's an adventure" I cracked up. I thought it was too cute. Anyway...I LOVE Manning's. It is the BEST knitting store I have ever been to. Here are a couple things that I bought...

Do you know what this is? Here it is open...

Bamboo Interchangeable Needles. This cute little kit only measures about 3"by 5". Perfect for travel. I love it! Very Cool!
Now since my DH was so good to me...I let him pick out what vest he wants me to knit him...

This vest is from The Best of Knitters Arans & Celtics. It is called Wall Street Cables...but I'm going to call it "Labor of Love". Isn't it a beaut? This baby is knit on small needles (US 4...which means 3 for me) and with all the cables...like I said...Labor of Love. I love ya babe!
This is the yarn I picked out to use...

This is Dalegarn Tiur. It is 60% mohair 40%wool. He wants a burgundy...he's getting burgundy. I think the vest will be gorgeous in this color.

I also bought 1200 yards of this...
This is Tahki Donagel Tweed Homespun in a charcoal gray. I love, love, love this yarn. This is the same yarn that I'm using for my Tweedy Aran Cardigan (speaking of which...I'm going to resume working on that cardi today). I love how this yarn knits up.

One more thing...

This concludes my shopping spree that I am allowing you to view. Actually I don't have any more room!    

Take care, enjoy all the beautiful weather you can absorb into that body and have a great rest of the day!

                         

Oh...and one more thing...innocently taken because it is so neat from Emma...

Happy Spring Everyone!!!!

A little closer to the warmth of the sun.

Have a great one & see you tomorrow.

I’m getting a total website redesign

Amy from Quixotic Musings is going to design this web page. I am so excited. It should be done in about a week. Now if I can only learn how to work with Expression Engine.
I am so used to Typepad which is a very easy blogging system.

EE

is much more difficult. It is more for people who want to completely customize their site. I’m going to keep at it though!

Photo of the Day...

This is a pastel drawing I did. It is called Mother and Child.

First of all...I'm working on a new web site. I have been totally obsessed with trying to figure everything out. It is so hard. I guess I'm just used to TypePad. Typepad has everything set up for you to make posting extremely easy. I do not know HTML or php. I want to learn though. I'm thinking about taking an online training class to learn Web Design I think it is all very interesting. I hired Amy at Quixotic Musings to design my new site. She is so talented. I am proud to have her design my new web site. I am so excited. I gave her some ideas of how I would like it and sent her some pictures that I would like to use. I'm going to let her decide on the picture and surprise me with which one she will use.

When I can tear myself away from the computer, I've been working on Olive...

What a fast knit compared to Rogue and all the cables. I can actually knit and talk while knitting Olive. That's a good thing sometimes. I need something easy to knit on my knit nights. Speaking of Knit nights, here's a couple of photos of our last one...



Donna, Heather and I went to Pasta Blitz for dinner and then we came back to my house for some knittin' and grinnin'. I really look forward to my knit nights. Lauren couldn't make it as she has classes on Thursdays. We missed you L! Donna went to a weekend knitting retreat and brought back with her a present for each of her knitting pals. This is the beautiful yarn that she gifted me with...

I love these colors. I am so into the greens lately (thanks to dear Froggy!) Donna picked out great color choices for each of us. Thank you soooo much Donna!! I am going to make a scarf to wear with Olive. The colors are perfect for that sweater.

I also got another present...

This one came in the mail from Karen. She is one of the girls that I sent the Artist's Glove pattern to. She sent me beautiful Orchid stationary with 4 varieties in the pack. She also made me a beaded necklace or book marker or whatever I can think of using it for. It's really beautiful. She is very talented. Thank you very much Karen. I love everything!!!

Have a fantastic evening!!!

 

Powered by Expression Engine

Now I’m just going to have to play with it for awhile to figure it all out.

I got to run…see you in a few!

Forget what I told you in my last post about the next project I was going to start. There's a new girl in town and her name is Olive...

I have been craving a plain ribbed zip up cardigan and Olive fits the bill. This sweater is from the Jane Ellison book Laines Du Nord...

I have decided to knit her up in the luxurious Karabella Aurora 8 in this color...

Parsley #716. this color is gorgeous in person with a few different shades of green in the mix. I LOVE how this yarn feels in the hand. It's so soft and not at all itchy. I wanted something different...well this is different for me. I just cast on tonight for her so I will post a picture the next time I post.

My DH wants me to knit him a sleeveless vest in Burgundy. There are a couple I have in mind, so I'll post them when I decide which one and get the yarn. He never asks me to knit him anything...so I think I should do this. I just hope he will wear it.

Rogue Update...
I'm still waiting for the zipper to arrive in the very slooooow snail mail. When it does come though, I'll be ready to install that baby. I can't wait to wear Rogue!

Last Thursday lovely Lauren invited us over for knit night...

I agree with Lauren on this one...this photo is a classic!

I know it's been a week since I posted but Oh Well!!! We had Chinese food brought in, talked and laughed. Kris...her DH even hung out with us all night. What a great time!! Tomorrow night Heather and Donna are coming over to my house for knit night. We are going to Pasta Blitz for dinner and then back to Breir Manor for some knitting and talking fun! Those pics will go up next time I post also.

Roses of the Week...

Beeeauutifulll!!!! I love my orchids but my Rose bowl filled with fresh roses is stunning! Even prettier in person.

Workout News...
This week was the first time Linda was able to fit me in for a private lesson in Pilate's. She has been super busy and hired a new Pilate's instructor that trained in New York. Her name is Victoria & she is awesome. All I can say is HELP! I never realized how much control you need in the abdominal muscles to perform these exercises the right way. I am very, very sore at the moment. I have also been doing my cardio 3 times a week and one day of weights for the upper body.

RAOK News...
I got a wonderful RAOK from Kate from Amazon.com. Thank you so much Kate. That was a much needed surprise to brighten my day!

Bye for now and make it great night!!

 

 

 

I agree with Lauren...I love knitting challenging projects that take some time to finish. I feel a great sense of accomplishment from them. But I also need from time to time a quick knit for the sake of instant gratification. Here is where Sophie fits in...

Sophie took me one day to knit. She is a quick one...that Sophie girl. Not only that, when I put her in my front loader (not supposed to be good for felting) she felted in one cycle. I was shocked. I customized the heavy wash cycle to the hottest water temperature and highest spin cycle speed. Not only did she survive like a champ, but she came out better than I expected. I decided to try this pin on her that I bought in Vegas in November. I love it!! I will definitely be felting many more purses.

Rogue News...

Well let's see now...all I need to do is sew in the sleeves and install her zipper. I'm awaiting for her zipper to arrive from Zipper Stop. I am going to attempt my first zipper, but if I get really frustrated, I will have someone put it in for me. I am really happy with how she fits so far. I have to give credit where credit is due. Thanks to Claudia for posting all the info on the finishing touches (provisional cast on for the grafting, Binding off the Applied i-Cord to the hem to make it look like it belongs there...truly amazing, if I say so myself!) for the cardiganized Rogue. She manes the books and even the page numbers that all the information is on. I would never have been able to do this without her informative posts. Thanks Claudia!!
I can't wait to finish and wear her!

Future Project...
I have some ideas in mind. For some reason I'm still in cardi mode...I guess it's because it's WINDY and COLD with SNOW all over the place here in Maryland.
Here's what I'm thinking...from the newest Rowan...Butterfly...

only in the Camisole version using one of these 2 colors...

Rowan's Kid silk Haze in Pearl or Smoke
The pattern calls for lots of beads sewn in but I'm not sure I'm going to do that. I'm thinking about it.
The other one I'm thinking about is Sam from the Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora book...

using Debbie Bliss's Cashmerino Aran...

in Brown or Red. I have been craving a plain ribbed zippered Cardigan for awhile now.

Well take care and make it a relaxing evening!!!

 

I just erased my entire entry and I was almost done. This is the second time in a row. $#&!(^&:* Grrrrrrr!!!!!!

Guilty for taking soooo long to post from the last time. Guilty for not working on Rouge because of grafting frustrations. Guilty for not visiting my blogging friends sites. Guilty for being lazy. Guilty for being guilty. Is there such a thing?

On the Knitting Front...
I started a new project. The eternal Sophie Bag. Here's proof...

Thanks to Norma, I was finally inspired to do a felted purse (my first one). All of her felted purses are beautiful. I'm using RIO DE LA PLATA knitting yarn that I purchased from the Folk Art Studio Cafe (more about the FAS in a bit). It is just like Manos, only less expensive. As an accent, I'm either going to knit a rose to attach on the purse, Knit a flap...aka Norma and put a pretty pin or brooch on it, or sew a tassel on and put it around a button. I have a front loading washer which I heard is not good to use...but I'm stubborn and I'm going to try it anyway. I'll put the temp on the hottest and however many times I need to cycle though I will. If it doesn't work, then Laundromat...here I come!

Rogue News...
I've been a bad girl...a wimp...sorry Claudia. I have tried for a week to figure out how to graft purl & knit stitches. I tried on & off the needles. Then I put her out of my mind for a little while. Not good! So I decided to check myself in at the Woolstock Knit Shop to get some help. I did not plan to have them do the whole thing...really, but when Leslie started doing it & then showed me, before I knew it , it was completed. Thanks Leslie! I WILL do the grafting of the hood on my next Rogue though (and I will be knitting another one). Here is a pic of her so far...

Doesn't this look kind of like a Darth Vader moment? Scary!!!

I haven't done the grafting on the back of the hood yet. I will be working on her today and tomorrow. I'll have lots of time since we are supposed to get between 6 and 8 inches of snow and my car won't allow me to drive in the stuff. This Rogue will be fitted but that is how I want her.

On the Workout front...
I am happy to say that I have been extremely dedicated to my workouts. Last week I worked out 6 days. Pilate's - 2 days, Cardio - 3 days, Weights - 1 day. This week I have done 2 days of Pilate's, 1 day of cardio and today I plan on doing upper body weights.

Mid Life Crisis news...
As my DH puts it. I decided to get my navel pierced. It hurt like a #@%$^&*. I love it though. No...I'm not going to start wearing extremely low cut jeans and midriff tops. But if I have a tank on that is to short to tuck in and the barbell peaks out every now & then...so be it...that's fine with me.

Flowers of the Week...

Beautiful!!! My DH bought me these for Valentines Day

and I bought these for myself! The green flowers in the middle are orchids. I couldn't resist.

Last but certainly not the least. Last Monday on President's Day, I met 5 fabulous knitters for a wonderful Chinese lunch. Then we went to the Folk Art Studio Cafe. Kathy opened the place just for 6 knitters...

Lauren, Heather, Nicole, Me, Donna and Froggy (on the other side of the camera) It was fantastic finally meeting Froggy and Donna.

I love this pictue of Lauren & Heather. Very cool! Kathy is a DOLL! This knitting cafe is the coolest knitting shop I have ever been to. They also have the best Coffee & Hot Chocolate I have ever tasted! Here is a pic of the coolest lady who has ever owned a knit shop...

That thing on her head is a purse she is knitting. What a goof!

Update...
Uh Oh, I've been Tagged again by Agnes...

1. How much space is left on your TiVO or Camcast box?
I do not have either one. We have Satellite.

2. Have you ever bought a DVD of a TV series and if so which one?
Sex and the City and Queer as Folk

3. What was the last TV show you watched before reading this message?
The Weather Channel

4. List five TV shows you won't miss.
I'm boring...I love lots of shows but there aren't any at this time that I have to watch.

5. Name 3 people you will pass the stick.
Heather, Donna and Froggy

Well that's it for now. Have a great rest of the day!!!

I can't even believe it's been a week since I last posted. Bad girl!! I guess I have been obsessed
busy with the my cabled beauty...Rogue. It is too easy to become immersed in this baby. What can I say...I'm in love. So much so that I already would love to make another one and I'm not even done with my first one. Well here here a picture of Maya modeling Rogue...



You know, I keep knitting sweaters in neutral colors. I love this yarn but I thought it might be a bit manly...NOT. I adore this colorway. I also tried her on and she is going to fit great! The only thing that I may have to do is frog the sleeve caps, knit about 2 more inches on the arm and then redo the cap. I will see though when the time comes. I definitely do not want short sleeves. Heather helped me out when I had a problem with the neck cable. Thanks H!! When I was on row 56 on the hood, I noticed that one of the 5 stitch cables was twisted the wrong way about 11 rows down on both sides of the hood. Being the perfectionist that I am, I had to redo them. Now...I have never done this before, so I called on Claudia for the usual help (I really owe her big time) and she was there for me with no hesitation what so ever. I'm happy to report that I dropped those stitches (I was almost in tears), redid the cables and worked my way up the ladders. And then I rejoiced!! I almost felt like I had to redo the cables so I could learn something new. I did and I'm glad. Now I will never be scared when I make a mistake again. What would I do without all my knitting helpers? 

The lovely Bethany...my SP3...sent me a surprise in the mail. We are not even doing the SP3 any more so I was really surprised. Here is what she sent me...

This was on my Amazon wish list. Thank you so much Bethany. That was very generous. I love it!!!

Workout Update...
I am so proud of my self. I did Pilate's 2 days last week an cardio 3 days. The truth is...the more consistent I am with working out, the easier it becomes. Really!! I did Pilate's this morning. Pilate's is much harder than it looks. What helps with working out...I don't give myself a chance to think about if I want to workout, I Just Do it.

Happy Valentine's Day !!!!

I just erased my whole post by accident. Well here I go again.

I think that I'm a pretty typical person...in the fact that I like receiving presents. Many people I know also like getting presents. I also LOVE to give. It is a wonderful feeling. I enjoy seeing the persons response and the pleasure they get from opening my gift to them. When I give, I give from the heart because I want to. Not because I have to...not because I feel obligated and not because I want something in return. When I sent out the Artist's Glove patterns, I never expected anything in return. A few people sent me something which was totally unexpected. The Dearest Anna sent me this...

This beautiful towel is from Dijon France. She knew I liked wine. This towel is very thin and is used to dry wine glasses leaving no lint or spots on the glasses. She also sent a beautiful photo card from Dijon. Woohoo...This is my first item from France! Thank you very much Anna for sending me this fabulous gift...from the heart. It was unexpected and very much appreciated. I love it!

Rogue Update...
Did I mention to you that I absolutely love knitting Rogue? I'm making great progress on the body now...

This is the cardigan style. I'm working on the armhole shaping on the back. Then it's off to the front neck cables. Here is a closer shot of the cables...

I really love the look of cables. They look very hard to knit...though they are not at all. I also love knitting with this yarn...Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed.

Knit Knite...
Here is a picture from last knit knite...

Dearest Heather and Ei. She invited me over for lots of knitting, talking and for some Kir Royales! Yum!!! I love Champagne. Thanks H for the wonderful time.

Flower Update...
Here is a birds eye view of this weeks Roses in my beautiful Rose bowl...

A couple people have asked me for some Orchid tips...I just water once a week. Every other week I feed them plant food. When the flowers die, I cut the stem back to right above a nodule that a flower did not bloom from. That's really all I do. I also get lots of light in my home so that may have alot to do with the reblooming of the flowers.

Workout Update...
I have been so good at working out for the last 2 weeks. It makes me feel sooooo great. I really like working out in the morning because when I'm all done, I feel great for the rest of the day. I'm trying to do something 5 days a week. Last week I worked out 5 days! I took a Pilate's class this morning. I decided to take Pilate's every Monday and Wednesday morning. Then I'll do cardio 3 or 4 days. I'll also try to get some weights in also....just a little though.

Cool!!! I been tagged by Gaile...

1. Total amount of music files on your computer? 548 songs

2. The CD you last bought is:  Barenaked Ladies Christmas CD

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message? When I Fall by Barenaked Ladies

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
Not The Doctor by Alanis Morrissette
When I fall by Barenaked Ladies
Hello City by Barenaked Ladies
Abandoned Lucheonette by Daryl Hall & John Oats
Don't Know Why by Norah Jones

There are many more out there that I love and mean alot to me!

5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?
Heather...because she's my buddy
Donna...Just curious   
Lauren...I want to know more about her.

Well that's it for my weekly news. The only other thing is that our weather for the last 3 days has been fabulous...sunny crystal clear deep blue skies and 45-60 degrees. I think I'm spoiled now.
Have a great rest of the day!!!

Well I'm finally finished one Rouge sleeve...
and I'm up to the sleeve cap on the second sleeve...

Now I'm just waiting patiently to recieve my 32 inch circular needles tomorrow in the mail to start Rogue's body. I am enjoying knitting Rouge very much...aside from the frustrating gauge. Jenna's directions are extremely detailed which makes it very easy to understand. I also bought highlighter pens to match up all the different chart symbols. I find this to be very useful. I also have a magnetic board so I can keep track of each line in the chart. It is much less frustrating this way! Hey...every little bit helps.

On The ORCHID Front...
I have some pictures of some of my orchids that are re blooming...

Remember my sun room orchid (the one with more flowers than I've ever had on a plant)...well all the flowers died and it is re blooming again. There is another stem like this one but there are only buds on it. When it is in full bloom, I will take another picture. There is definitely something about the sun room!

I think this one looks very exotic. Beautiful!
An last but not least...

This one is more delicate and has a thinner flower than the one above.

On The Workout Front...
Since I started feeling better, last Friday I started working out again. I'm trying to get in at least 3 days a week on the Nordic Track...check. I signed up for a Pilate's class which I've been wanting to try...check. I start tomorrow morning. The Pilate's Center opened up 10 minutes from my house. WooHoo!! They have the reformer and these towers that you workout on. I can't wait to try it. Even though I LOVE yoga, my wrist hurts way too much to do it.

Have a fantastic Day!!! The sun is shining here in Maryland! I know I will!

Let's just say that traveling when your feeling sick sucks! Everything went wrong from the beginning of the travel day all the way to the end of it. It started snowing, we missed our 1:45 pm flight as there was an accident on the beltway and we were literally at a stand still for 2 1/2 hours. We finally got a flight out at 6:30. Many more bad things to happen...but I don't want to bore you guys. I felt terrible for 2 days and than I started having a great time. Relaxing, shopping, drinking, eating, looking at model homes. It was fabulous. I'm feeling much better but I still have lots of congestion in my chest. This is nothing compared to what I was feeling. I did not want to come home. Palm Springs is absolutely gorgeous. It was about 70 degrees every day. Just beautiful! I'm trying to talk my DH into retiring there. I really need to work on him...don't you think?

I am going to put some of the photos in an album. I just have to share some of them with you on this post. I took so many beautiful pictures that it is so hard to pick and choose which ones to put on my blog. Here are a few that I love...

This beautiful view is on El Paseo Drive. The Rodeo of Palm Springs. Are Palm trees and mountains beautiful or what? One day I am going to have some Palm trees in my back yard with a mountain view! We can dream, right?

This beautiful water feature is in the front of our hotel. Just lovely!

I can't believe I found the LYS. I just had to get a picture of this. I ended up buying some needles for my Rogue and some beautiful Rosewood DPN's.

We saw this on the side of the road and I made Jeanne stop the car so I could get a pic.

Steve, Jeanne, me of course and Rick. This pic was right before we had to leave to come back home. :-(
I know that there are lots of pictures...but I just couldn't help myself.

Look what I received in the mail from Agnes (one of the knitters who received the glove pattern that I sent out)...

It's a crocheted flower. I love it! In fact I had to wear it right away...

Isn't it pretty? Thank you so much Agnes. It was an unexpected and wonderful surprise. I'm going to have to learn to make some knitted and crocheted flowers.

I'm sorry to say that I did not make any more progress on Rouge. I was too sick on the plane on the way up, too busy in PS and the lighting was terrible on the plane ride back. You do need to be able to see on this knit!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!