Sunday, December 27, 2009

All A Knitter Wants For Christmas...

Books about knitting... A gift card to get more yarn...which I did...Some nice baby Alpaca!



And a few new beads to go on my bracelet that are "yarn related!" Note the "sheep" and the one that looks like a "sweater"...and there is the new one that is "coffee beans" to make my day even more fun!

Hope your Christmas was merry and bright!

Final 15th Fetching?

Fetching gloves for the nieces and my daughter on Christmas eve. They listed all the uses for fingerless gloves. So far they came up with using them for: computer, piano playing, opening your stocking, recycling Christmas wrap, texting, driving, keeping warm in the art studio and playing Probe! The quilt on the wall was done by my lovely and talented mother! And the 15th, and possibly the FINAL Fetching?...........Stay tuned...I can do this pattern in my sleep!


Sunday, December 20, 2009

Family Christmas Fun!

The first of the family gatherings at my cousin's home. It is the annual gag gift exchange and huge dinner. We took the opportunity to pose with my daughters and new son in law in front of the pretty tree. This could be next year's card (early!). My hub is on the right. Momma with her two daughters....Love!
I love my family and all our chaos and gatherings this time of year!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

"Catching" Again

"Fetching" is still very "Catching" around here too. See what I started? The really altered version for my artsy daughter, which no longer resembles the original "Fetching" at all since it is now "sans" the cables altogether, at her request. She wanted simple, no cables and that's what she got. Using RYC Cashcroft DK, one skein. Lightweight and soft.
And I got the homemade mocha with the candycane!

My niece's version was done with O-Wool Classic and turns out it is a very sturdy yarn, holds definition, doesn't split, however doesn't stretch or give much either. The verdict is still out on this yarn choice for this project. She wanted the plum color and that was right on. How many more of these can I do, you ask? As many as relatives ask for them I guess! Until I am sick of the pattern!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Fetching Revisited...Again and Again!

Shown here are the ones made for my Mom in the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, with added length in body and thumb, and ribbing modifications: My happy sis in law, sister and Mom were all the recipients of the Fetching gloves at the family Bday party tonight!

Visit my new friend Sheila's blog, Material Thoughts for another great idea for altering the Fetching Fingerless gloves bind off to avoid the "curling" issue, as well as a wrist cast on alteration to make the wrist more snug.
Also, see her beautiful weaving projects in progress and enjoy her book discussions. She is one crafty lady!

Here's another pair in a Queensland Rustic Wool DK weight for a Christmas gift for my friend. Added 3 rows of K1P1 rib at the end of the glove so it won't curl, casting off in K1P1.
My Mom wanted her own pair, but with more of her smart modifications: Adding 4 more rows of the ribbing to the body of the glove to increase length. Then adding the extra K1P1 rib for 3 rows before binding off the hand. Another modification was adding a few more rounds on the thumb. These will serve her well on playground duty days at the school or on the computer.

It's too COLD here in Seattle this week, though to wear fingerless gloves outside. We need "fingered" gloves in these 20 - 30 degree temps! Although you can wear them in the house, and they make great driving gloves. My daughters are getting some for Christmas. Artsy daughter wants hers with no cables. Just ribbing, and very simple so she can wear them in the art studio and stay warm. Eventually I will branch out and do other patterns, but I have gotten fixated on these! Maybe instead of being called "Fetching" they should be called "Catching"! I have gotten so I can whip them out in a few days if I have some concentrated time. Stay warm!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Visiting Fiber Gallery

A visit to the Fibery Gallery on Greenwood Ave. N. in Seattle today! I scored a few balls of yarn, for making more fingerless gloves of course. This was a really great shop with a huge wall of Cascade wools, as well as another wall of Noro yarns, and plenty of other great offerings. I picked up a skein of Debbie Bliss Fez, Classic Yarns Cashsoft Dk, and Queensland Rustic DK. I checked out alot more while I was there including the Spud and Chloe yarns, Elsabeth Lavold silk/wool, and many more. This shop was also very dog friendly!
After hub picked me back up we thought we were going here...but alas, once inside this popular joint, we saw it was cash only, so we had to leave! With no burgers.
So sad...it smelled so good too.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Chocolate Sheep Delivery



A surprise delivery today came from my sis-inlaw in BRRR cold Chewelah, WA. She found a funny knitting book by Franklin Habit as well as a chocolate sheep in Winthrop, WA and sent them to me as a surprise! Well I did taste the sheep over and over again,so...he is no more! He was a sweet ending to a long day. Thanks, Jean!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Shalom Two Begins

Beginning my second Shalom top-down cardi seems appropriate this time of year since I received the yarn for Christmas last year and it's about that season again. And I love that "Shalom" means "Peace". Yarn shown here, no flash. A nice big bowl of Noro Kureyon goodness. Cast on with 97 stitches, as the gauge of this yarn is much smaller than my previous Shalom's yarn choice.


Shalom is a free pattern by Meghan McFarlane and she has a great blog, Involving the Senses, listed on my Blogroll to the right. Just click there and it will hyperlink you to her site and the pattern. After two Thanksgiving meals have passed by, and even the leftovers, we are now decorated for Christmas and it's time to relax and enjoy some holiday weekend knitting time!


Shown here before I had to take my work (r-i-p!) out after realizing I needed to cast on more than 97 sts. due to the gauge. I added 12 more sts. Hoping this will solve the problem of sizing. Boo hoo, I hate it when I have to start over.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Fetching "Erin" gloves

Yet, another pair for my sis-in-law, using the Diana Collection-a wool/silk blend, 120 yd/skein. One skein provided enough yardage for both gloves. This yarn had a bit of variation in the thickness at times, but had a nice feel to it and end result was pleasing. Onward I go to the next pair of gloves. Can you tell this is my Christmas gift idea for the year?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Fetching "Latte" and "Wendy"

More Fetching fingerless gloves. Here are my "Latte" ones in a Debbie Bliss Cashmerino dk weight. It's a smaller gauge merino wool/microfibre/cashmere blend. One skein made both gloves. Photo taken at Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill. (Seattle, WA) My gloves also got to visit the North End Bakery on Capitol Hill today...and they enjoyed the cinnamon roll and latte very much.
And they especially enjoyed their visit to the plant conservatory as well!
Below, are the Fetching "Wendy" gloves for my sister, who requested the plum color. Done in the Diana Collection in a silk/merino blend. One skein did both gloves.

This pattern is so great! It is free on Ravelry and uses size 6 double pointed needles. I am bound to make more for gifts, as they are so "fetching" and sort of "catching"!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Quite Fetching

Love them, and wore them to work. They were a big hit! Going to make more!


Fetching Fingerless Gloves. Free pattern on Ravelry. Used a bit more than 1 skein of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran with size 6 dpns. Will try making more with DK weight which has more yardage, a bit smaller gauge, and experiment. Nice photos by hubby...though I somehow got them on here sideways.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Fingerless Glove Shortage

This pattern was supposed to make two gloves with one skein as long as you didn't do a gauge swatch first. Alas, I am still short several rows worth of yardage, as well as one thumb! Must be the yarn I chose has less yardage per skein. Bummer...I have to get another skein of it. I did not like the way the former picot bind off appeared, so I ripped back and did a regular bind off, but did it from the inside edge of the glove. Now it looks like this:

Fetching Fingerless Gloves-Fall in Bend, OR

We rented a lovely home in Bend, OR and spent 5 days discovering the local food, coffee, mountains, sights and of course, the yarn! The home had beautiful furnishings, including a perfect corner for knitting. I am working on my first Fetching (free pattern on Ravelry)Fingerless Glove here, and using Dpn's my first time also.Knitting on Dpn's (Double pointed needles) allows you to knit in a smaller circumference with greater ease. Normally I use circular needles for this, but thought I'd try dpns and was glad to use them on this project.
Especially when I got to the thumb making portion. Shown below at the point where waste yarn is knitted in to hold the thumb stitches. Later on, you remove the waste yarn and pick up the live stitches there for the thumb.That was the hardest part for me.

Shown here after doing the picot bind off-I wasn't exactly thrilled with the look I got, somehow on the bind off. But one glove is done. On to knit the second glove. This pattern is supposed to use only one skein of yarn to do two gloves, but I am finding it hard to believe there will be enough since I am using the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and I think the yardage is less than her DK weight. Hope I won't have to buy another skein just to complete the other glove!

Voila! One glove complete! The second one I began on the car ride home!

Our house that we rented was so beautifully remodeled and close by Drake Park and downtown Bend.
We took advantage of the great weather to do the loop drive viewing the mountains, including Mt. Bachelor, and South Sister Mountain, and Broken Top Mtn. We are at Sparks Lake here below on a perfect, crisp fall morning with nobody else in sight!


Me here, enjoying South Sister Mountain views reflected in the lake.


Shown with hubby on our scenic drive down to Bend, OR:

Our house was a block away from Drake Park. It was a lovely time of year to be there and the fall colors were really showing.


That's the Deschutes River behind us running through the park. Gorgeous!

My first yarn shop stop at the Old Mill Marketplace was Gossamer-The Knitting Place, on 550 SW Industrial Wy.
It had some yarn art tied outside to the tree branch! This was a small and quaint shop with some pretty yarn offerings. Though I didn't happen to purchase anything here, it was a friendly and fun stop!


The second stop was at the Juniper Fiberworks on NE Greenwood Ave.

Inside, the yarn was arranged primarily by color. I had to get used to this at first, but it was a fairly large shop with quite a selection. I found many familiar yarns and took alot of time here to browse. Also, alot of sock yarn available here. I found some unscented yarn wash liquid here as well.


I picked up some Mirasol wool in a new colorway for a second Baby Surprise Jacket! I could've picked out so much more...but I restrained myself.
Later on in our trip, we made our way up to Sisters, OR and stopped at the Stichin' Post on 311 W. Cascade Ave. It is predominantly a quilting shop, however....


I had looked online and discovered that it also carried YARN!

So I had to go in and peek. They had some really beautiful yarn offerings here.
I ran out of time, but tried to gaze at a few quilts on behalf of my quilting friends!



Connected to the Stitchin' Post is Twigs, a cute gift shop. They had my favorite brand of kitchen towel so I snagged one for the road!
Not far, I found Desert Charm on 123 E. Hood Ave.

This store specializes in naturally dyed and spun fibers. Many from local Oregon farms.

The women in the store were expert weavers and spinners, working on their craft in between assisting customers.


In the same building on the corner of Hood and Elm, I found Out West Designs -Jewelry and Design Studio & Bead Gallery. This store was a beautiful bead and jewelry place.

I met the owners who were so friendly and welcoming. I stumbled upon some pretty things.

Shown here is the Bead Bar with lots to choose from. Another hobby that could get very addicting!


I came away with lovely poppy jasper and unikite "doughnuts" strung on silk ribbon for my keepsake for the trip!


Of course our trip was filled with great food (and I could do a whole separate food blog on the places we ate in Bend,OR: Blacksmith, Stacatto, Alpenglow...to name just a few!)
But it was also about the coffee! And at Sisters, OR is the original Sisters Coffee Company. So we had to go in to their beautiful building and get ourselves one of our favorite lattes and a pound of Sisters Blend!

They had a spectacular stone fireplace seating area and it was very cozy.

Aah...Nothing like it!

I was very excited to be here!! :)

Another fantastic coffee we enjoyed in Bend was Thump coffee, roasted by Stumptown. I was happy to discover there is also a Thump Coffee near us in Seattle,WA on Capitol Hill. It is very good, smooth and rich!


We payed them several visits this trip and also enjoyed their pumpkin bread slabs! (big slices) and their very friendly atmosphere.

If I posted all the "foodie" pictures this would take forever...but I must say that Bend, OR is a scenic, friendly and foodie place to visit. And we hope to go back soon!