GIMME AN A!!!

I finally finished my August project, just under the wire. I actually finished them a couple of days ago, but I was on vacation and didn't have any internet access.

Getting a good picture of your own feet is easier said than done.

August Project DONE!

Why am I not seeing a "new post" button on the blog? Oh well.
My August challenge is officially done. As you may remember, I catalogued my stash at the beginning of last week, but as of today I have posted all the rules for my stashbusting challenge and have WIP progress tickers on my blog for every UFO in my apartment (15, which was actually less than I feared).
Anyway-- check it out: http://stitchaywoman.blogspot.com.

August project - DONE!

... and I thought I'd be up until midnight tonight!





Meet the Santorini Scarf (aka the Montego Bay Scarf, but I'd rather wear it in Santorini!). The pattern can be found in the IK Summer 2007 mag.

This is my first attempt at lace, and I'm a convert (somewhat). Recommended for any first lace project.

More information and specs on my blog

Next up for the September challenge: learning to knit cables without a cable needle. A denim sweater from the Twilley Denim Freedom book will be my sample, it is hoped. Either that or more of the Morrigan (this is it at row 16 of the first sleeve, having used a cable needle):

And, please do wish me luck on my personal non-knitting challenge: cutting back to 25 cigs/day. I have laid in the exact amount of cigarettes needed for the month (having taken out a bank loan)... 4 cartons minus two packs which I have gifted to my work smoking buddy.

I'm really enjoying seeing all the projects and WIPs here! Great idea for a KAL, Tina!

WOOT! Done!

Here it is before felting..Here it is after felting while blocking (making a wet spot on my chair while I take a picture).

It's about half the size it was, but I really like it. :) I did it! Project for August!

Now, that I spent my evening finishing and felting, I have to get to work on my job-job. Okay, so it will be a late night, but it's worth it to get that little *A* by my name, right? hehe.

Any excuse to knit instead of work. (more pics on me blog).

Hi everyone, and congratulations to all you amazing knitters who've finished your August projects!
I'm just posting to say I've hit a snag - I've run out of wool! That's the problem with working from my stash :-) But the wool is easy to find, and I should be able to get to town today, so I might get there... I just checked the time difference (I'm in Australia) and you're 15 hours behind us! That gives me an extra 15 hours I didn't realise I had - I might actually complete a project by the set deadline - a first time event for me ;-)

I thought I'd post a picture of the sock I have finished, on my son's foot... It's a good example of when you should trust your own instincts! - I thought it was looking too long, but my Mum said she thought it was too short so I kept knitting, and look, now I'll have to frog almost an inch off the end! Oh well :-)

The 2nd sock is about 2/3rds finished so far, fingers crossed I get it done :-)
Good luck to everyone, and happy knitting!
Jess

B4 bag nearing the end

I'm almost done. Just have the straps left. Of course, I'm looking at it now and going. hmmm I think that's not quite in the right place. (looks at pictures of finished bags) Nope, they are fine.

I just need to finish up the I-cords for the straps and attach them, and then try my hand at first time felting.

More pics are on my blog. Will post one more with straps attached, and another when the felting is done.

Well, I did it again....

I am really good at making lists, but I am NOT so good at following the list... For the second time - I am changing my list.... My last project was to make a scarf/shawl in a pattern where you drop stitches. I had only seen it in a photo and did not know where to find a pattern, but now I know; it is called Clapotis - I have found the pattern and I want to start NOW!!

And so I did, with four balls of yarn and on no. 3,5 needles ( yes I know - maby a bit too little yarn and with very small needles) and then we just have to see how big this will become...

This will be my September project, and this is the result so far;

By the way Tina - I took you advice on writing out a pattern with a diagram row by row, and I have knitted a lovely heart this way. Thank you SO much for the advice, this is something I always will do in the future, it way much easier this way! (You can take a look at the heart in my blog if you want to...)

No August Project :(

Looking good everyone! I don't think I'll earn my stamp for August :( But in my defense, I spent half the month moving across the country.

Next month I hope to try dying yarn!

August project done!

I finished the MS3 or "Swan Lake," as it is officially called. I finished knitting it yesterday and blocked it this morning. Here it is being modeled by one of my daughters. She loves the way it feels. The yarn is KnitPicks Bare laceweight, hand-dyed by Shelly of Rose Garden Fiber. The colorway was only the one skien, and done just for me.

My August project is finished

My first try ever to knit cables. I´m not satisfied with the result, but I liked cable knitting, and will do it again soon. I guess that`s the pattern I don`t really like, the don`t fit very well. Now I´ll go on with my September project instead, which I really have been looking forward to.

Hmmm

So the countdown is on to see whther I get my back up goal completed. Im close to being done with the first legwarmer. Wanted to get both done this month but oh well. As long as I get the other done by the end of the September and not beyond that, I think I can live with myself. Im such a sporatic knitter. Sometimes I have time to knit at lunch and sometimes I dont and somethigns I can get 10 rows done in ten minutes and other times I barely have 2 done. Oh well.

August project... 3 inches down...

... and only 77 to go (plus fringe, maybe). Talk about leaving things until the last minute! This is only about 20 minutes knitting, though.

I love the pattern (Montego Bay Scarf, IK Summer 2007) and feel like quite the genius (touch wood). Also loving the Sea Silk!

Stay tuned...

Just wanna say hi!

Hi!
I joined this KAL a while ago, but haven`t done my list until now.
My projects are:

August: Knit something with cables
September: Knit something with pre-yarn (not sure if that`s the right word, but I´ve heard that once)
October: Learn to spin on my spindle
November: Knit something with my homespun yarn
December: Learn to knit lace, wich I never have had any succes with
January: Design an own pattern

I`m already working on my August project and will soon finish it.

I'm new, but have my August project

Hi! I just joined, but I have a project that I'm working on that I should have finished this weekend, that will be my August project. I am a member of the MS3 KAL and had never knitted a true lace project before. I have been enjoying learning how to do lace. I am on the final chart for it with about 27 rows left to go. :)

I'm trying to decide what my September project should be, as I have been knitting for years. I also spin, and raise angora goats for fiber. I am wanting to learn how to spin from the locks with my mohair, so might do that for September, then knit something out of that yarn.

Woo Hoo, I think it is fixed

For whatever reason, I think we can now see the blogskin/blackground! I changed it so that you should, at this moment, be seeing a dark background, pink writing, and a pretty flowery banner.

Thanks to everyone who emailed me about the problem. Whenever y'all see a big problem on here, please do let me know so I can fix it.

Have y'all noticed all the 'A's we have in the sidebar! Cool! Please remember that if you're still working on your August project that you have until the sun comes up on Sept 1st to post pics of it here to get your name in the hat for this month's prize. (This Friday is August 31.)

If y'all could do me one favor, please, everyone check on the sidebar links and make sure your name is there and that the link to your blog or email is correct, and that if you should have an 'A' that it is indeed still there by your name. I had to retype them all in when I switched over to use the widgets, so I expect to find a mistake or two - just let me know and I'll fix it right up.

Thanks to all of you participants for making our first month of this KAL so great! I'm really enjoying it so far and am really having fun seeing everyone's projects!

Our Missing Template

I've been working on the template situation and am about ready to throw the f*^#&%) computer out the window!! Sorry about the technical difficulty, and I will surely have the stupid thing fixed sometime this weekend. I currently have everything looking great in a seperate test blog I set up, but for some reason, blogger will not let me copy and paste the contents successfully. Yes, I am pissed but I'm trying to get a grip on myself ! LOL

Have a great weekend!
(Or, if you are having a crappy weekend like mine, grab a cocktail or two until you feel better!)

What happened to the blog?

Something is wrong with the blog as it is showing up as white background and black lettering. Anyone else seeing it without the oober cool template?

September Project(s)

Not even having started my August project (tomorrow!...or is it "manana"?) I have already planned out my September project.

Knitting Related

I have been meaning for months to do an art piece combining knitting and mosaic (as in stained glass/tile). I have done both separately for years. I have the knitted piece I want to use:

partially done

(this was an aborted project for a much larger blanket... (see Tilting at Windmills, a free pattern at Woolly Thoughts - great project if you don't detest sewing together all those squares. I do.)
and I have a canvas.

So - now just to come up with the pattern idea! Wish me luck.

Non-knitting related

I intend to cut back on smoking. Despite all of the knitting and the office job, I still manage to suck back 40-45 a day of cigarettes (strong ones at that). I plan for September to smoke no more than one large pack (25) a day.

September project-- Ughh!

I have started on my September project- chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I intend to gift it to a friend for Christmas. Well, fincinally strapped recent law school grad that I am, I purchased some sock yarn from the local yarn shop which was on sale. I like the yarn but I hate the way it is pooling. I have tried all manners of correcting the pooling- I have not alternated the yarns, cut out sections of yarn I did not like, etc. See the results!

This pic is from my phone. Should I frog this and look for a differnt yarn. I could always do something else for September.

Ohh, is anyone on Raverly? If so, my id is Innerpeace1081!

Updated! Star blanket for September

I've officially decided to do this star blanket, but bigger!

September project!

I think my September project is going to be knitting lace. I want to knit a lace shawl for my husband's great-aunt, she's turning 90 next month, and we're visiting her right at the end of the month, so the timing is good. I've never knit a lace pattern before, or successfully completed any garment, so I'm hoping this works out. Fingers crossed!

September Changes!

Well, after a lot of problems with the short-row heels of the previous sock pattern I deceided to get another sock parttern. I don't know the name of this heel but I have be doing good so far!! Here is the picture:

The pattern name is Alli's Anklets! I also decided if these socks does't work I will try to do something else for september or I will run out of time. Kisses!!! =)

:-O !!!

Well, I started cataloguing my yarn stash at 8:30 pm on Sunday night, and I was ready to add up the total yardage on the Excel spreadsheet at 7:00 am on Monday. The results blew my mind, man.
Total yards: 91,045
In miles, that is: 51.73 miles.
(82.76 kilometers, for our friends outside the United States.)
Yeah-- and if you are shocked, imagine my surprise! Good Lord.
I am still on the waiting list for Ravelry, but I do have the stash stats at my fingertips now...as soon as I get my tickers up and the rules for the stashbust challenge on my blog, I will be ready for my well-earned "A" for August!
11,700 yards are going out the door tomorrow morning (in a swap and-- mostly-- to Value Village) but that still leaves me with 79,000 yards. Time to finish those UFOs, all right! I think I am all set with entertainment for some time to come.

Nedles and Patterns! =)

These needles I made of grilling sticks (thin ones) and ice cream bars sticks (thicker ones). I used a pencil sharpener and I sanded them A LOT!!! I did not get to use them 'cause they are still back in Brazil...

And here are my pattern binders!!! I also keep the free patterns you can get at stores in them! =) I am still working on them. One is my projects in progress and the second is my knitting book I also have a couple more but they dont have cover yet but I really enjoy making them! =) I hope you guys like the ideas!!!! =)

Have a great week!!! Kisses!!! =)

Hello from Jess in Australia!

Hello, how are you all?

My name's Jess, and I'm hailing you from the Wintry Southernmost Australian state of Tasmania, with a mug of hot chocolate in my hand and a warm dog asleep on my toes :-)
Well, this is my first KAL, and it's fun :-)
What to knit, hmmm.... I have already changed my plans several times, which is why something like a KAL is so good for me - it will force me to actually stick with something ;-)

Basically, over the next few months I'd like to do four new things:
~ Knit a pair of socks for my nearly-2-year-old son Liam (I've never knitted socks before!)
~ Repair and complete a Celtic cabled vest for Liam, which is the first pattern I've made up... I need to undo the cast on row and knit downwards to make it longer, which I've never done!
~ Make a jumper for Liam using wool I dyed myself.
~ Knit and Felt a pair of pixie or medieval boots. I got this idea from a free pattern online, Old World Booties, by the Sanguine Gryphon. They would be for (you guessed it) Liam.

...Perhaps at some point a "new" thing I can do is to knit something for myself! But it's more fun to make things for other people, and it uses a lot less wool and time to knit for children than for grown-ups! Where I live it's quite cold in the winter (which is now), and Liam keeps growing out of his old warm clothes :-)

To get myself started, I've taken some pictures of my projects...

These are the socks I began for this KAL, while I was eagerly awaiting my invitation :-) They're based on the Opal Kids Socks, but I'm knitting them on two needles. I'm happy with the shape so far, the colours turned out a bit more overwhelming than I thought, but Liam will like them I'm sure! I'm using Cleckheaton Merino Bambino in their latest multi colour-way.







This is the Celtic vest I have yet to complete, I love it but it's tricky because I made the pattern up (except the central motif, which is traditional) and I'm trying to get the collar cables to tie in with the central panel. I'll add a border on the bottom and link those cables to the central panel too!
I'll have to undo the cast on row and work another repeat of the main body, as Liam has grown since I started this vest! Then it just may fit him for a little longer... I'll have to concentrate hard on the right cable crossings when I'm working "backwards" (downwards?), I've never tried it but I hope it'll work!
A few firsts for this vest then :-)



Here's the jumper I started with the wool I hand-painted. The colours are a bit darker than you can see here, with little dashes of purple to warm it up. I'm knitting it on circular needles. Originally I started it in the round, but the colours were pooling strangely so I switched to knitting the front and back separately. The wool I dyed was white Patons Jet (30% alpaca, 70% wool), my favourite wool for keeping Liam warm! That's what the Celtic Cable vest is made from as well.

And these are my first attempts at felting - 3 mini-swatches to see how much the wool would shrink. The two white squares are Jet, and the centre is Cleckheaton Tapestry. I just wanted to make small swatches to measure how much the finished boots will shrink. The Jet reduced by a whole third, and became very stiff and strong - perhaps too stiff? The tapestry yarn didn't felt very well at all, though it's a pretty colour ;-) The 2nd picture shows the swatches after 3 cycles of hand-felting. I think I'll make the boots from Jet and then dye them a rich summery green afterwards. Or is it better to dye the wool first? The two white swatches were on different sized needles - one the recommended size and one 3 sizes smaller, but it made no difference to the end result. I wonder how I could get a thinner finished felt? By using needle sizes larger? I'll have to keep swatching ;-)

Thanks to everyone for sharing your projects, I'm really enjoying this :-)
Kind regards,
Jess

August - First Hat

Here's my first hat. It's a newsboy cap.
I'm not entirely happy with it, but I think it looks cute. I had to change the pattern a lot, since I was using a yarn that was a lot thicker, but overall I like it. Next time though, I'll use a yarn that's the recommended gauge.

Oh, and the brim is folding over weird. Should I block this?

WOOT!! First knitted wire, beaded bracelet!

Thanks Samantha for the pattern and links! This is my first attempt at wire knitting and something I had been actually avoiding. It hadn't been appealing to me before but I am glad I tried it!

August - Knitted Wire Bracelet

Ever since I saw the Nancie Weissman on Knitty Gritting knitting with wire I've wanted to give this a try. So, I did this weekend. So here's my August first time entry.

I pulled out my wire, beading supplies and some needles that I didn't care if they got scratched up and made this lovely bracelet.





Materials Used:
#4 needles
a crochet hook of the right size
#26 gauge wire
some beads
basic clasp

Go back to my blog post here and you can get a basic tutorial to make one for yourself.

Here's another one I made on Saturday.

The Specs:
#28 or smaller gauge wire (I'm not sure what size it was as it no longer labeled in my stash)
lots and lots of seed beads
#1 needles
a clasp and jump ring



All I did for this one is cast on 7 sts and knit back and forth pushing up a bead every time.



I'm not very happy with the closure on this bracelet but I ran out of wire at the end. Because the wire is so thin I worry over time this will break. I would much rather this be closer to the knitted part of the bracelet I think it would be stronger.

Over all I am not much of a jewelry person. So I wasn't sure if I liked the looks of these bracelets but they are growing on me. I do think these might make a great gift for my teenage nieces. I just might make a few more a few for myself to get in touch with my inner diva.

remembrance of projects past... and lace!

Hi all: I'm Kristina from Toronto. Very glad to be part of this KAL.

I'm trying two new things this August:

(a) lace knitting (which I've never done before). My first project will be the Montego Bay Scarf from IK Summer 2007 edition. I have also bought yarn for the Oriel lace blouse in the same mag.

(b) a stashbuster log cabin (have tried one once before with some very bad yarn from the stash and gave up in disgust). This one will incorporate swatches from past projects as the centre panel for each square/rectangle, then at some point I'll sew it all together.


Wish me luck! Great to see the other projects in process here...

My August project is finished!!

Finally, my first shawl ever is finished! For the first time I have knitted from a pattern with a diagram and it has taken a looong time! But thank's to this KAL I managed to pull myself together and complete it. It has actually been finished for a week or so, but I thought it looked a bit dull, and after I had been watching it for a while I frogged(is that the right word?) some rounds and casted off much more loosely. Then it got a "collar", and now I am much more satisfied with it. By the way: is it ok if I change my October post to mittens instead of socks?? I have ordered a pattern of some lovely mittens, and I have never knitted mittens before...
Now it is off to start the September project; learn how to do shadow knitting - I am SO looking forward to it!

August project complete!

I apologise in advance, this post is quite picture-heavy!

I meant to post this a couple weeks ago but never quite got round to it. Just after the beginning of August I did some hand-dyeing with food colouring. I used Club House food colours in red, blue, yellow and green. I did mix some of the colours (yellow and green made a beautiful bright green, which looks like Granny Smith apple skin green). I did a couple small skeins (maybe about 15g) in blue, yellow and green, and then one bigger one with red added.

I'm really pleased with how the dyeing turned out. The first little skein I did was the size of a dinner plate, with one third yellow, one third blue, and one third bright green. I wet the dye in a bowl with some vinegar added to the water, then put it on the plate. I painted the yarn with a paintbrush and drizzled some of the water mixture over it (but just a little). Then I zapped the entire plate for 2 minutes in the microwave, left it for 2, then zapped it for another 2 minutes. Then I rinsed it in really hot water and left it to dry. I started to knit it up and I really like how it looks. I'm thinking of felting it because I like how the colours look.

Need a pic? I actually remembered to take one :)



I also did a full mini-skein of green in water and vinegar (zapped the bowl with water, dye, vinegar and yarn all in there together), and another one in a clear mug with dye, vinegar and water. The second one I just left overnight (I forgot to zap it) and in the morning the dyebath was exhausted and the water was clear.

Here's another pic:


This was the zapped green and the 'clear mug left overnight' green:


And my final effort, with a couple of pics of the process:


And the last one:

Quinn Cable Bag - Progress

shows one pattern repeat

I finished one pattern repeat a few days ago and another last night. I'm using Vanna's new yarn because I really liked the color, the price was right, and I wanted to see how it would work up. It's working fine but wonder if I should have used wool so it could be blocked.

So I can keep track of my place in the pattern I color coded the odd rows orange and the even rows green. I cut and taped the chart symbols to just below the pattern so I could refer to them. I placed the pattern in a plastic sleeve so I can use my orange and green! dry erase markers to mark of each row as I knit them.

So far so good. Oh yeah, you can find the pattern right here.

August Baby Booties

They are done!!!! I can not believe it I have finished my first every knitted item! Woohoo!!!

I am soo very happy to have them off the needles but I strongly dislike them. I made them on homemade size 3 dpns-- I am too cheap to buy the ones in the store!!!

I have also casted-on for the Chevron Scarf for September.

New member/August task

Hello everyone!
My August task is something that I have desperately needed to do for a long time: I am getting my Stashbusting Challenge off the ground. This involves the following:
1) Posting the challenge to my blog, complete with the ground rules I am to follow re any additional money spent on supplies to complete projects;
2) Cataloguing my stash on Ravelry (which I haven't taken a lot of time to check out so far, but I have been referred there by a few other knitters);
3) Getting tickers for all of my WIPs on the blog, which in itself should shame me into finishing the dozen or so sad, neglected projects sitting in my apartment that are about 2 hours away from completion. This will also, hopefully, cause me to curb my habit of starting new projects halfway through current ones.
I have a little problem with impulse control. This is most of my stash here (it's a king size mattress):

There's also some at the foot of the bed that I couldn't fit in the frame. You can't tell from the picture, but the yarn is piled about 8 inches deep on the mattress in most places. Believe it or not, even though it took me (I'm not kidding) six hours to pull out all my yarn out of its hiding places, set up this shot and then put all the yarn back, I did not stop buying yarn after taking this photograph.
This month's task may not be a knitted object but boy, is it knitting-related.

A for August

Whoo-hoo. My August project is done. The painful part is wrangling with my camera and posting it to the blog. Baby steps.

PROJECT: Candy bag
NEEDLES: sz. 6 DPNs
YARN: Sugar 'N Cream cotton in Ecru
Sugar 'N Cream cotton in Country Twists

Now- on to September's afghan (which I have also been working on through August.) Pics next time.

August Cables!!!! =)

Project: Cable Headband

What's New: Cables

Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky - white and Caron Simply - black

Participant Name: Claudia

This was a very quick project!!! When I started it I got confused with the cable 'cause these cables are worked with 2 cable needles but after a while I got it!!! =) It's not perfect 'cause The ends did not match... but it's going to be under my hair so I kinda ignored it lol If I make another headband I will try to match the ends so I can wear it with my hair up!! =)

I casted on my September project but...

HOLES AGAIN lol but it's only in one side, the one I yarnover on the purl side... Here is the other side:

Have a nice week!!! Kisses! =)