No Knitting

No knitting has been accomplished in quite a few weeks. I have been so busy or just getting home so late that I've had no time to knit. I am very sad about that especially since I'm so close to being done with my shawl.

I'm hoping to lay low this weekend, I've got myself a broken toe :o(, and hopefully get some knitting done. I'm looking forward to our Stitch-n-Bitch at Amy's house next week.

Knitting good for the Sick

what do you do when you are at home bored cause you are sick and can't leave the house? Knit, knit and knit some more :o) I think that is good therapy and will make anyone feel better, a little at least.

I worked on my shawl yesterday afternoon and I am 20 rows from being done. It think once I roll out of bed today I will work on it more and I think I can actually finish it by this evening. I also started weaving in some of the ends. YAY! I am hoping to finish the shawl today and then do all the fringes over the weekend. I'm excited cause the weather is nice and I might even wear it this weekend :o)

OOPSIE

Here is the damage done at Stitches West

Patch made sure to inspect the yarn and he APPROVES :o)

Amy and I had a great time checking out all the booths and shopping. We both did some damage but came away with some great yarns and other goodies. I had a limit and only went over by $80 on it, oopsie, not too bad though I guess, it could have been worse.


I got this cool pin to use with my shawl when I'm done with it (hopefully soon).

Some of the yarn was for my hubby which he really liked. It can be tough finding boy colors but I did good and managed to find a few skeins here and there for him to use.

It was a productive day if I say so myself. I am still pooped out so today I'm just updating my ravelry site and admiring my new yarns. I think I'll go take a short nap and when I wake up I'll work on my shawl.

Biggers Loser Scarf

I only called it that because I was watching the Biggest Loser while knitting this scarf :o) I know I'm a dork.

This was a super easy just knitted scarf.

Size 17 Needles

2 Balls Patons Pooch

Cast on 10 Stiches

Knit all rows until you've used up two balls of Patons Pooch.

I love this yarn, it's inexpensive, it's soft and they have great colors. Daisy loves it too :o)

I made this scarf for my friend Lindsay and hoping she likes it. She had asked me a few weeks a go to knit her a scarf like one I was wearing but I"m sure she's forgotten so this will be a nice surprise since I'm mailing it to her.

:o)

A new find

Well it's not really new but it's new to me. Amy wrote about it and I apparently wasn't paying attention :o(

Last night I stopped by Michael's to pick up some yarn for my French Girl Hat I finished over the weekend (I'll post pictures tomorrow). I don't shop at Michael's for yarn anymore especially since I'm addicted to stuff like Malabrigo but last night I found, Patons SWS. It's soft, they've got great colors and it is not expensive at all. I really liked it so I bought 2 balls of it to try it out. Amy said that for a scarf I probably need 3 balls so I'll be heading back over there to purchase another ball and hopefully uh, nothing else :o)

I also picked up some Patons Pooch for a scarf for Lindsay. A few weeks ago she had seen one of my scarves and asked me to make her one. I went in search of the yarn, it was some cheap stuff I had picked up at Richard's but they don't carry yarn anymore :o( Anyway, while at Michael's I tried to find some it and found the Patons Pooch instead. It's pink and soft :o) I'm sure she'll like it. I used size 17 needles so I was done in an hour with it. Wish I was that fast knitting other stuff :o(

Still working on my shawl and my so called scarf. I hope to be done very very soon with both of those. I keep getting ADD and making hats in between working on the shawl and the scarf. I just get bored after a while and need a change in pattern so hats work well and I can finish them quickly.


I'll post pictures of my recent stuff tomorrow.

My First Shawl

I'm pretty excited about my current project. I wasn't even planning on making this shawl but over the weekend I took a trip to Knit This, Purl That! for some needles...haa, haa. I'm funny, did I really think I was going to get out of there with just a one little pair of needles....NOT! and did I mention how much I HEART this store. The people are super nice and I love their yarns. The store is well organized and just has a nice warm welcoming feel to it. Anyway, I went in to get needles so I can start my French Bag and walked out with a whole new project and more yarn. I also wanted to get yarn to make a ruffle scarf neck warmer thingy from my new One-Skein Wonders book. I did manage to find some pretty yarn and named after me :o) It's Claudia's Hand Painted Yarn in color Argyle Socks.

It'll be my first time knitting on such small yarn but I'm looking forward to seeing the end result. The yarn is nice and soft and I really like the color.

The whole time I was there I was admiring the owners shawl, it was super cute but of course the whole time I was there I kept thinking to myself that there was NO WAY I could ever make a shawl. It was probably super complicated and would take me forever and 100 years to make a shawl. We were chatting about something else while I was paying and then I just decided to ask her about the shawl. She said it was super easy and of course she carried the yarn. She said she was out of the pattern but she could tell me how to make it. I basically just needed to cast on a stitch and increase one stitch every single row until I got to 175. WOW, I can totally handle that. I thanked her and left and then about a few steps into the parking lot I turned around, came back inside and went straight for the yarn to make the shawl :o( aahhhhh! MUST NOT BUY MORE YARN! I did :o) :o(

The shawl is made with Berroco Suede. I picked a green and pink, got the needles and then really headed out the door. When I got home I looked online and found that the pattern, Crystal Cove Shawl, was actually free so I downloaded it and started my shawl :o) I am about 50% and it's turning out really nice. I can't wait to finish it. YIPEE another new project for me. I'm really enjoying moving on to new things.

Of course since I started working on this cause I was so excited I haven't done much on my scarf but I'll pick that back up this weekend, maybe that's what I'll work on while watching Super Bowl :o)

Ribbit, Ribbit, Ribbit

Those are the words coming out of my hubbys mouth...haa, haa. He just realized he missed a stitch in his crocheting so he had to frog :o(

anywho, I continue on my quest to finish my unfinished projects. I finished the last one today, don't ask me why it took so long cause it was the simplest thing to do. I had to make a pom pom for my asymetrical cable hat. I did and now that project is complete and I really love the way it turned out. I don't really wear beanie style hats but I like this one so I might actually use it :o)




Oohhh my new books I ordered last week arrived today. They both have quite a few patterns I want to try out. I can't wait.

Booga - COMPLETE :o)

I FINALLY finished my booga bag. I added the straps today and it turned out pretty darn cute. It turned out a bit smaller than I had anticipated but I still like and it will come in handy for my Weight Watcher snacks I carry around everyday. I used Manos del Uruguay and it turned out very sturdy but not rock hard like my Bell Hat turned out with the Crystal Palace yarn :o(

I'm happy with the finished product.

Finally Finished Fetching

GEESH, I only started these gloves last March :o( I had finished the left glove and was almost done with the right glove when I just shoved them in a bag and never worked on them again. So silly cause all I needed to do was finish the right thumb on the right glove. I decided that this week I would finish one unfinished project each day. I think I only have 2 left. I need to put the straps on my booga bag and put the pom pom on my asymetrical hat. So not too bad. Here are my nice pretty finished gloves. I like the way they turned out but once again because I knit so tight they came out a little small. I might give them to my mother-in-law since she has smaller hands than I do .

Productive

It's been a very productive knitting weekend for me and oh shopping too :o)

I went back to Knit This, Purl That! on my lunch break Friday. I found a pattern for a scarf to use with the Karabella yarn but I needed to purchase two more balls of it. I also picked up another malabrigo :o) and one of the things I wanted to look for at Stitches West was Cascade 220 for my big bag I want to make. I did the math and the Cascade 220 at the store was pretty inexpensive and since I needed 8-10 skeins that was probably the best place to get it. So I went back :o) I also managed to get Cindy, Jeanette, Amy & Olivia over there on Saturday for their own shopping....hee, hee.

Cascade 220 for the French Bag from Knitty

I worked on my scarf a little yesterday before my hubby's b-day party and today I haven't done anything on it but I may do a few rows before bed time. I did manage to finish Daisy's Hoodie Sweater though, she hates it :o( and lucky for her it will probably go to one of her chihuahua cousins because although the measurements are right for her it came out small, probably due to my tight knitting. Her cousins are super duper tiny and skinny so I'm sure it'll fit one of them. She looked cute in it though and allowed me to take a quick picture of her.


I also started and finished a ribbed hat for Rocky. Man, I'm getting good and fast at these hats. This may have to be my specialty :o) I had originally wanted to make Rocky a Brangelina hat with the Malabrigo Chunky in Olive but I made the mistake of only buying one skein and it wasn't enough. Today I knit him a 2x2 ribbed hat in that yarn and guess what? It was plenty of yarn and I even have half the ball left :o( what? how'd that work out? I dunno, kind of frustrating. Oh well, he likes the hat. It turned out nice.


My goal this week is to continue on my scarf and then hopefully start the French Bag next week with the new Cascade 220 I bought. I'm excited about making this bag, we shall see how it turns out.

It's Amy's Fault

That is my story and i'm sticking to it :o)

I did not realize that there was a yarn shop in Pleasanton until I was on Ravelry the other day and saw that Amy was a part of their group. I added them to my group as well and then last night decided to head over there and check out the store since the hubby was going to be at school and I didn't need to go home right away. EEEEKKK, bad idea, okay good idea :o)

The place is called Knit This, Purl That!, it's a small store but SUPER cute and the owner was very friendly. That is a biggie, I've been to other stores where the owners aren't so nice and maybe grumpy :o( She is doing inventory on Sunday so right now pretty much everything is on sale, YIKES! Of course I had to shop. She had quite a bit of nice yarns on sale for 40% off and a lot of the yarns I use on sale for 20% off. I couldn't pass up a good deal. I know we are going to Stiches West but even there somtimes the yarn is only 10% off. I may even take another trip back tomorrow :o)





I heart malabrigo :o)

So since Amy's site is where I saw the link to this store, I fully blame here for me getting in my car driving over there and having yarn jump in my shopping basket.

A little here, a little there

My So Called Scarf is coming along nicely although slowly. I've been knitting a few rows at lunch and a few rows before going to bed. I love the way the pattern is showing up with the yarn I chose. Note to self: Must buy more of this yarn :o)

I had a little party at the house on Sunday. It was suppose to be small stitch-n-bitch but turned into a very fun small party for 8. The ladies got quite a bit of knitting done while the boys watched football. My mother-in-law joined us and had such a great time. We gave her some pointers and I think since Sunday she has managed to finish 2 more hats (finished one while at the party) and 1 of them she even croched. Man, she's good. She is trying to figure out how to knit in the round so I sent her some tips and some online videos. I'll be seeing her on Saturday so I'll be able to help her out. I think we gave her the knitting bug and she may even join us when we head to Stitches West.

I did it

Woohoo, I figured out what I was doing wrong when I was trying to start the "my so called scarf". It was doing one extra step which was messing up the whole thing and making holes in my scarf :o(but now I've figured it out and although I only knit a little last night I'm looking forward to knitting somemore this week. I think it might take me a little while to finish it but it's a fun knit.

Chunky Cable Beanie #2

I finished another Chunky Cable beanie for my hubby. I really liked the yarn and how the pattern turned out with the color of the yarn although it did turned out a little smaller. It still fits him and he really likes it but I think I should have maybe done another cable or two before starting the decrease.





I also found a new pattern for a scarf that I liked so I started that last night. Hubby and I took a trip to Article Pract to find some yarn because of ALL the yarn I have I wasn't liking any for the scarf. I was thinking of going with Malabrigo because it's so soft. The pattern used Manos de Uruguay which I've used before but it's way to itch for a scarf. After looking around the store for a while I found some new yarn, new to me, that I loved and bought that. It's Araucania - Aysen, it's Alpaca, Silk & Merino Wool and it's very soft and I love it.

This scarf required me to do a few stitches I had never done before so I went online and found some great video's from Knit Witch on YouTube that really helped me out. I decided to cast on and try it out and see how I did. I got how to do it but for some reason the scarf wasn't looking like it was suppose to so I decided to FROG it and restart and then I FROGGED again :o( I decided to put it down and try again tonight. I looked at the pattern again this morning and realized I was making one small mistake...OOPS. Now that I've figured that out I'm hoping that it'll look the way it's suppose to. I'm looking forward to going home and getting it started.

The scarf is called, My So Called Scarf, and here is what it should look like when I'm done with it.

Knitting Bug

The knitting bug is back full force :o) For some reason my knitting motivation was way down in the dumps and I had taken a long break. I know part of it is the frustration of my hands hurting and part of it was just being plain lazy. When we went to New York our friend Petra told us about a website, Ravelry, where you can catolog your projects, stash and books. You can also find patterns and join all sorts of groups. This is only a few of the things you can do and you can just go on there and look you have to be a memeber which took about a month because so many people want to sign up. I finally got my email to join and OMG, I LOVE IT. I think that's what has totally motivated me to start knitting again and I'm loving it, hands still hurt but oh well :o( I'll deal with that later.

I have already finished a Chunky Cable Beanie for my hubby and I'm currently knitting him a second one. I am also about 50% done with a sweater for Miss Daisy, our chihuahua/yorkie. The hubby and I also hit the yarn shops today and I picked up a new pattern for a fun weekend bag but I won't start that til after I go to Stitches West since I need about 9 to 10 skeins of yarn so I'm hoping to get a good deal on yarn at the show. I also hoping the girls and I can get together a little more this year for out Stitch--n-Bitch, it motivates me to see what everyone else is doing.

Oh and hubby has picked up his crotching again :o)

Chunky Cable Beanie

Daisy's Hoodie Sweater (50% complete)

Yarn for 2nd Chunky Cable Beanie