Things that make you go hmmmm..

I was playing around with photos again, and posted the picture of our beagle, Molly. I then tried to delete it and go an error message. The post in gone from my list of posts that can be edited, but remains on my blog. Oh, well, meet Molly, our beagle. She is a "goat-dog." I must hide my yarn and needles from her because she will eat them.

I have completed the increase section of the clapotis, and am starting on the straight sections. I have dropped the first stitch. So, I'm moving along.

Three new images

I've posted three new images this evening. The first is one of some impulse yarn that I bought. It is a cotton fleece yarn (80% cotton, 20% wool) put out by Brown Sheep -- handpainted. I just loved the colors in the yarn shop and bought it. I have no idea what I will do with it.

The second photo is of the finished (yea!) felted purse. It felted beautifully! Just wonderful.

The third is of my first attempt at a clapotis. The colors are working well, but in the last increase that I've finished, I'm getting some pooling of the pink. I hope this disappears as I continue with the next increase and on into the straight section. I've joined an email group called Clapotis Knit along 2005 and am getting lots of good info from the group.

Clapotis using Shimmer -- almost done increasing 

Felted purse done! 

Kaleidoscope yarn from Brown Sheep 

Finishing and Flowers

The purse is finished. It took less than a week to knit, and then I felted it. It was my first felting project. I was so surprised how easy it was. It felted into a purse shape (which sounds obvious, but I was surprised). Thanks to comments from Knitters Review, I purchased a Clover Wonder Knitter at AC Moore to make the I-cord for the handle. I thought it would be something that the boys would think was "cool." They did, and I liked how it worked. They cord felted just as easily as the purse. Thanks again to Knitters Review, I knew not to felt them together. What a great forum.

Summary:

Pattern: Fibertrends pattern AC-9
Yarn: Miss Priss in Eleanor Roosevelt colorway; Schaefer Yarn Company. I used one skein and some left over.
Needles: Circular, Size 10 1/2
Handle: I-cord made with Clover Wonder Knitter

I started now on a clapotis using the Shimmer yarn that I have pictured below. So far, I like it. The colors are falling well in the fabric. I using two strands together which had me a little worried. The fabric is very soft and airy; it should be nice in warmer weather. The purl front and back; knit front and back; and knit in back gave me a few fits, but I went to Knitting Help. As always, it was helpful. I started last night, and I am on the second repeat for the increasing section.

Thursday is my birthday. Steve (dh) sent me flowers at work today, and they are wonderful -- beautiful. But not nearly as wonderful as he is. He'll be out of town on Thursday, and I miss him.

Grant has started running track. Yesterday he found out that he is on the "B-team," which, apparently, is good. He's running in his first meet on Thursday -- hurdles.

Image Happy

So, I've posted lots of new images. Most are self explanatory and have been mentioned before. The last one, just below this post, is a row counter from KnitPicks. It is actually pinned to the felted purse I've started, but I did a crop of the actual photo so that it could be seen. It works by sliding beads around the loop. I'm sure that the bead colors are different on each counter, but for mine, I slide 1 pink bead for each row. For the fifth row, I remove the four pink beads from the loop and slide a blue/purple bead onto the loop. This bead counts as five. The counting continues in this manner for up to 30 rows.

Row counter from Knit Picks 

Beginnings of Fiber Trends Felted Purse with Schaefer yarn. 

Sock and a half with yarn. 

KnitPicks Shimmer in Stained Glass colorway.

More projects on the Needles

I've finished one sock and have started on the other. The heel is almost done. What once was string is now a sock. Amazing.

We went to Lexington, KY this weekend and stopped at The Stitch Niche. Great store. I bought a pattern from Fiber Trends for a felted purse and yarn from Schaefer yarn Company called Miss Priss in the Eleanor Roosevelt colorway -- lots of blues, teals and greens. It looks like the ocean and so far the fabric look great.

My yarn arrived from Knit Picks. I ordered Shimmer in Stained Glass. This is 70% alpaca and 30% silk. I'm going to try to double it (it's laceweight) and knit a clapotis from it. I was reading a post on Knitters Review -- yarns to use for spring/summer versions of this popular scarf. Someone (Morgan) suggested shimmer. Here is her photo of her shimmer version: Morgan's clapotis. The yarn is so soft and beautiful. Love it.

I'll try to grab the camera tonight and post photos.

Something else to read

I found two blogs this morning that look to be very well written and interesting. I found a reference to them in a magazine that I picked up called Personal Writing. I've added links to these two sites on my sidebar. Fallible and Marginal Comments are written by a husband and wife. Both have very interesting writing styles as well as topics. I'll keep an eye on these.

I've turned the heal on the socks, but haven't found the camera yet. It worked pretty well, although I had some trouble figuring out exactly what needle to use to pick up the stitches to make the gusset. That 1/2 hour of pondering and frogging ended with an "AhHa" moment, and I was back up and "socking."

Socks and Pictures

Socks. I've started knitting socks. So far I've finished the cuff and leg of one and am getting ready to start on the heal. I'm using a sock yarn from Elann called Sock it to me Collection Colori. I'm using the Northern Forest colorway. So far, so good -- needle size is US2, four needles plus an empty. The pattern is from Knit Socks by Betsy McCarthy. The book is shaped like a sock. The pattern is called "Classy Slip Up." Once I do the heal I'll post a picture.

Which reminds me, I have figured out how to post pictures. Fun. I've also added a link box to the side of the blog. The links I've added are for Knitter's Review, a great help for knitters -- reviews and a forum; the web page I maintain for work; and the web page for Knitting Help -- great resource with videos.