Finishing Extraordinaire!

I've spoken recently about my '70s Suede Jacket, which gave me some trouble, so I decided to send it away for finishing. I had seen an ad for knitsfinished.com and had also heard its owner, Rene, on a knitting Podcast.

Rene did an OUTSTANDING job finishing my jacket, which arrived today. It's smooth, the seams are professional, and Rene's service was fantastic and reasonably priced, in my opinion. I highly recommend Knits Finished. I will proudly wear my jacket to work tomorrow!

Finishing Extraordinaire!

I've spoken recently about my '70s Suede Jacket, which gave me some trouble, so I decided to send it away for finishing. I had seen an ad for knitsfinished.com and had also heard its owner, Rene, on a knitting Podcast.

Rene did an OUTSTANDING job finishing my jacket, which arrived today. It's smooth, the seams are professional, and Rene's service was fantastic and reasonably priced, in my opinion. I highly recommend Knits Finished. I will proudly wear my jacket to work tomorrow!

One Titania's Revenge Finished!

I finished the first "Titania's Revenge" sock from the Socks that Rock sock club. For those of you who are also in the club, you'll know that this yarn was sent back in the summer...yes, I am several skeins behind on my socks, and I still have another one of these to go! This was definitely a pattern that required a lot of concentration, particularly when knitting the foot, which is usually the "home stretch" for a top-down sock. But I enjoyed it and love the way it looks. Here's a shot of the sock and a close-up of the cool, cable-y foot:















Just like with my recently completed Ribwarmer, I was able to get some clarity on the pattern of this sock from doing a Flickr search. That site is such a treasure trove when trying to visualize a finished object! Now on to Sock #2. I'm starting tonight so I don't lose momentum.

While I'm thinking about socks, Christine of the Pointy Sticks Podcast is having a Podcastiversary contest, where she is asking listeners for their thoughts on socks. While working on this one, I determined a few things that might interest Christine:
1)I ADORE Socks that Rock yarn
2)I wish I were a bit faster at knitting socks, because I have so many patterns and sock yarns I want to get to
3)I usually have a sock going as my #2 project (which is why they take a long time!) I have a sweater, afghan, etc. going as my "main," "big," project, but socks are a great portable secondary
4)Since I started knitting socks last year, it's hard for me to wear any other kind on a cold day!

One Titania's Revenge Finished!

I finished the first "Titania's Revenge" sock from the Socks that Rock sock club. For those of you who are also in the club, you'll know that this yarn was sent back in the summer...yes, I am several skeins behind on my socks, and I still have another one of these to go! This was definitely a pattern that required a lot of concentration, particularly when knitting the foot, which is usually the "home stretch" for a top-down sock. But I enjoyed it and love the way it looks. Here's a shot of the sock and a close-up of the cool, cable-y foot:















Just like with my recently completed Ribwarmer, I was able to get some clarity on the pattern of this sock from doing a Flickr search. That site is such a treasure trove when trying to visualize a finished object! Now on to Sock #2. I'm starting tonight so I don't lose momentum.

While I'm thinking about socks, Christine of the Pointy Sticks Podcast is having a Podcastiversary contest, where she is asking listeners for their thoughts on socks. While working on this one, I determined a few things that might interest Christine:
1)I ADORE Socks that Rock yarn
2)I wish I were a bit faster at knitting socks, because I have so many patterns and sock yarns I want to get to
3)I usually have a sock going as my #2 project (which is why they take a long time!) I have a sweater, afghan, etc. going as my "main," "big," project, but socks are a great portable secondary
4)Since I started knitting socks last year, it's hard for me to wear any other kind on a cold day!

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

I am finished with my Ribwarmer! This was a really fun project to knit, but when it came time to sew it together, things got a bit rough. First, sewing items together always gets me nervous. I love to knit, but don't like to sew. I think if I sewed projects together more often, like anything else, I'd get more comfortable with it and I'd do just fine.

The first seam I sewed, which I thought was supposed to be sewing two bound-off edges together in the "faux Kitchener" method, didn't look as perfect as I wanted it to, so I redid it--4 times. Then I accepted it as it was and moved on to the next several seams, which were various varieties--rows to rows, rows to stitches, etc., and looked much better. But...the Ribwarmer didn't look right...I couldn't see where my head or arms would go. I did a Flickr search and found a very helpful photo of Emma's Ribwarmer, which SAVED me! Now the project is done--I really like it, although I may wet-block it so that it's just slightly larger. Here are some pics:

I also completed my test-along square this week, and completed 3 out of the 5 FunFur hats I am making for Kate's project for kids with cancer. I'm just awaiting some size 13 DPN's I ordered to make the last two. I feel good that between these two charity projects and the Ribwarmer, I've done some pretty decent stash-busting. The Brown Sheep Worsted I'll have leftover from the Ribwarmer will probably go toward one more charity project, a scarf for a World War II veteran, organized by Lauren at the National World War II Museum.

I've been struggling with my Titania's Revenge socks (hence the name, I suppose) but now that all of these other things are done, I will try to finish Sock #1, at least, for now.

I also got the new novel and soon-to-be Julia Roberts flick The Friday Night Knitting Club out of the library. So far I love it! I think it's based on a Yarn Shop I used to go to when I lived in Manhattan, so it's nostalgic among other nice qualities. I only have it for 7 days, though, how will I fit in all of the reading, knitting and the rest of life in general?

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

I am finished with my Ribwarmer! This was a really fun project to knit, but when it came time to sew it together, things got a bit rough. First, sewing items together always gets me nervous. I love to knit, but don't like to sew. I think if I sewed projects together more often, like anything else, I'd get more comfortable with it and I'd do just fine.

The first seam I sewed, which I thought was supposed to be sewing two bound-off edges together in the "faux Kitchener" method, didn't look as perfect as I wanted it to, so I redid it--4 times. Then I accepted it as it was and moved on to the next several seams, which were various varieties--rows to rows, rows to stitches, etc., and looked much better. But...the Ribwarmer didn't look right...I couldn't see where my head or arms would go. I did a Flickr search and found a very helpful photo of Emma's Ribwarmer, which SAVED me! Now the project is done--I really like it, although I may wet-block it so that it's just slightly larger. Here are some pics:

I also completed my test-along square this week, and completed 3 out of the 5 FunFur hats I am making for Kate's project for kids with cancer. I'm just awaiting some size 13 DPN's I ordered to make the last two. I feel good that between these two charity projects and the Ribwarmer, I've done some pretty decent stash-busting. The Brown Sheep Worsted I'll have leftover from the Ribwarmer will probably go toward one more charity project, a scarf for a World War II veteran, organized by Lauren at the National World War II Museum.

I've been struggling with my Titania's Revenge socks (hence the name, I suppose) but now that all of these other things are done, I will try to finish Sock #1, at least, for now.

I also got the new novel and soon-to-be Julia Roberts flick The Friday Night Knitting Club out of the library. So far I love it! I think it's based on a Yarn Shop I used to go to when I lived in Manhattan, so it's nostalgic among other nice qualities. I only have it for 7 days, though, how will I fit in all of the reading, knitting and the rest of life in general?

Can't Resist these Knit-alongs!

Either my willpower or attention span are weak at the moment.

Not only did I decide to do the FunFur Hats that Kate is organizing, but I also saw this nifty link for the Square-a-long, a site "solely dedicated to distributing patterns, info, etc. related to test knitting for Larissa & Martin Brown’s upcoming book about knitalongs and other kinds of social knitting." The first knit-a-long asks each participant to knit a 7-inch square out of sock yarn, that might be included in the book or will otherwise be part of an afghan that will be donated to Warm Up America, a cause with which I've always wanted to get involved anyway.

So, I'm almost done with FunFur Hat #2 and am awaiting delivery of size 13 dpns to make the other two hats that I'll contribute this project. While I wait for the needles, I can work on the Square-a-long square. And in between that, work on my Ribwarmer, which is nearing completion. My Titania's Revenge socks are languishing through all of this, but I'm sure I'll be back to them soon.

Now, even though I'm using up some nice stash with all of these projects, my resolve to Knit from My Stash this year is weakening. I've just taken the Cables Untangled book, by Melissa Leapman, out of the library. I really want to make one of the beautiful sweaters in this book, either the Tweed Pullover or the Turtleneck, and one of my local yarn shops is having its annual Super Bowl sale in two weeks. This year, you can even go in a week ahead of time and pick out what you want, then go buy it for a discount on Super Sunday. So...I've been thinking...maybe yarn for one of those cable sweaters...we'll see how my willpower goes. After all, that FunFur was taking up some space that is now available...

Can't Resist these Knit-alongs!

Either my willpower or attention span are weak at the moment.

Not only did I decide to do the FunFur Hats that Kate is organizing, but I also saw this nifty link for the Square-a-long, a site "solely dedicated to distributing patterns, info, etc. related to test knitting for Larissa & Martin Brown’s upcoming book about knitalongs and other kinds of social knitting." The first knit-a-long asks each participant to knit a 7-inch square out of sock yarn, that might be included in the book or will otherwise be part of an afghan that will be donated to Warm Up America, a cause with which I've always wanted to get involved anyway.

So, I'm almost done with FunFur Hat #2 and am awaiting delivery of size 13 dpns to make the other two hats that I'll contribute this project. While I wait for the needles, I can work on the Square-a-long square. And in between that, work on my Ribwarmer, which is nearing completion. My Titania's Revenge socks are languishing through all of this, but I'm sure I'll be back to them soon.

Now, even though I'm using up some nice stash with all of these projects, my resolve to Knit from My Stash this year is weakening. I've just taken the Cables Untangled book, by Melissa Leapman, out of the library. I really want to make one of the beautiful sweaters in this book, either the Tweed Pullover or the Turtleneck, and one of my local yarn shops is having its annual Super Bowl sale in two weeks. This year, you can even go in a week ahead of time and pick out what you want, then go buy it for a discount on Super Sunday. So...I've been thinking...maybe yarn for one of those cable sweaters...we'll see how my willpower goes. After all, that FunFur was taking up some space that is now available...

A Worthwhile Stashbusting Effort!

I saw this information on Cara's wonderful blog, January One. She is going to be participating in this effort to knit FunFur hats for kids with cancer, spearheaded by Kate. She is collecting the hats for 10-16 year old kids at Boston Children's Hospital who are undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. The kids specifically want FunFur hats. Kate is coordinating everything--here's what you need to do:

The Rules, according to Kate:

1. you email me with your name, email, snail mail and blog ( if you have one)
kskaare (At) gmail (Dot) com
2. I email you with a Word document with several hat types.
3. you knit a few. I knit a few. You tell your SnB to knit a few. If they arrive in a box from you, you get in the prize drawing-- more hats, more chances.
4. You must have the hats TO ME in Boston by February 28, 2007. (these hats are not rocket science, they are easy, they are on big needles... one takes about 1 hour to knit)
5. I put your name in the contests... PC pulls names, Pumpkin announces winners via this blog and emails....

If you go to Kate's blog, you'll see that the list of prizes people have donated for those who send hats continues to grow. These are great, generous, desirable prizes for knitters. For me, when I saw this, I knew I had to participate because:
1)This contest fulfills my desire to do more charity knitting this year (having just sent in my two Red Scarves)
2)I have some FunFur and other similar yarn, leftover from my brief period of FunFur scarf mania. I stare at this yarn often, wondering what the heck to do with it. Now it has found a wonderful home!

Kate sent me the patterns as soon as I emailed her, and I have already cast on for a black FunFur hat, and have enough of this type of yarn to do 3-4 hats, I think. Go for it!

A Worthwhile Stashbusting Effort!

I saw this information on Cara's wonderful blog, January One. She is going to be participating in this effort to knit FunFur hats for kids with cancer, spearheaded by Kate. She is collecting the hats for 10-16 year old kids at Boston Children's Hospital who are undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. The kids specifically want FunFur hats. Kate is coordinating everything--here's what you need to do:

The Rules, according to Kate:

1. you email me with your name, email, snail mail and blog ( if you have one)
kskaare (At) gmail (Dot) com
2. I email you with a Word document with several hat types.
3. you knit a few. I knit a few. You tell your SnB to knit a few. If they arrive in a box from you, you get in the prize drawing-- more hats, more chances.
4. You must have the hats TO ME in Boston by February 28, 2007. (these hats are not rocket science, they are easy, they are on big needles... one takes about 1 hour to knit)
5. I put your name in the contests... PC pulls names, Pumpkin announces winners via this blog and emails....

If you go to Kate's blog, you'll see that the list of prizes people have donated for those who send hats continues to grow. These are great, generous, desirable prizes for knitters. For me, when I saw this, I knew I had to participate because:
1)This contest fulfills my desire to do more charity knitting this year (having just sent in my two Red Scarves)
2)I have some FunFur and other similar yarn, leftover from my brief period of FunFur scarf mania. I stare at this yarn often, wondering what the heck to do with it. Now it has found a wonderful home!

Kate sent me the patterns as soon as I emailed her, and I have already cast on for a black FunFur hat, and have enough of this type of yarn to do 3-4 hats, I think. Go for it!

New Projects in the New Year

I finally finished my 70's Suede Jacket. After the main piece (fronts and back all knit as one piece) was finished, the sleeves really flew, and then I wimped out and sent this out to be finished. I'll report on how it looks once I get it back.

My new project is the Ribwarmer from the Fall 2006 Vogue Knitting. I am using a beautiful rusty shade of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted--"Prairie Fire." This is a cool little item--you knit it all in one piece, casting on, binding off, etc. with lots of little cable panels until it turns into a cute little cropped, cabled vest. Here's how it looks so far:

I am also cruising along (although slowly, because this Ribwarmer is kind of addicting!) on my STR Titania's Revenge Socks. Here's how they look so far, with about one more 10-row repeat of the leg left to go:

Speaking of Socks That Rock, I am one of the people who received the unbelievable email from them stating that their bank couldn't believe so many people would sign up for the Rockin' Sock Club! It's been fun reading all of the outraged bloggers' comments about this fiasco. These bankers have probably learned a valuable lesson about the collective buying power and passion of knitters.

New Projects in the New Year

I finally finished my 70's Suede Jacket. After the main piece (fronts and back all knit as one piece) was finished, the sleeves really flew, and then I wimped out and sent this out to be finished. I'll report on how it looks once I get it back.

My new project is the Ribwarmer from the Fall 2006 Vogue Knitting. I am using a beautiful rusty shade of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted--"Prairie Fire." This is a cool little item--you knit it all in one piece, casting on, binding off, etc. with lots of little cable panels until it turns into a cute little cropped, cabled vest. Here's how it looks so far:

I am also cruising along (although slowly, because this Ribwarmer is kind of addicting!) on my STR Titania's Revenge Socks. Here's how they look so far, with about one more 10-row repeat of the leg left to go:

Speaking of Socks That Rock, I am one of the people who received the unbelievable email from them stating that their bank couldn't believe so many people would sign up for the Rockin' Sock Club! It's been fun reading all of the outraged bloggers' comments about this fiasco. These bankers have probably learned a valuable lesson about the collective buying power and passion of knitters.

Pretty in Pink

I am posting my first post in the New Blogger. I had tried to switch to a new template too, but it just got too complicated, so thankfully, I was able to switch back. I like to be very current on my technology, but having just upgraded two computers to Internet Explorer 7 and overcome a few glitches there, replaced a screen on our family laptop, and solved other tekkie issues, I decided the old blog template would just have to do.

My 70's Pink Jacket, which is from a two-year-old Knit It! Magazine (pattern designed by Norah Gaughan, of Knitting Nature fame) is moving along quite well--I finished the large, major piece (which is the back and two fronts, all together in one piece) and have also finished the first sleeve. I should finish the second sleeve soon!

Here are some pics:

Now that I can see the end in sight with this project, and also because it's now fairly mindless stockinette, I am working on it exclusively, ignoring my gorgeous STR Socks (the "Titania's Revenge" pattern with the yarn of the same name). I think I am anxious to get on to one of my Stitches East stash items!

I have also made some additions to my knitting library lately:

One-Skein Wonders, by Judith Durant, which I was not as excited about once I looked through it, but upon a second look-through, have actually marked several projects that I'd like to make. Also, The Purl Stitch, by Sally Melville, so that I now have all three books in Sally's "Knitting Experience" series. I am hoping to make the Raglan Body Hugger from this book with my Brooks Farm Duet yarn, but am not certain that I'll have the right yardage...I may take a chance.

Pretty in Pink

I am posting my first post in the New Blogger. I had tried to switch to a new template too, but it just got too complicated, so thankfully, I was able to switch back. I like to be very current on my technology, but having just upgraded two computers to Internet Explorer 7 and overcome a few glitches there, replaced a screen on our family laptop, and solved other tekkie issues, I decided the old blog template would just have to do.

My 70's Pink Jacket, which is from a two-year-old Knit It! Magazine (pattern designed by Norah Gaughan, of Knitting Nature fame) is moving along quite well--I finished the large, major piece (which is the back and two fronts, all together in one piece) and have also finished the first sleeve. I should finish the second sleeve soon!

Here are some pics:

Now that I can see the end in sight with this project, and also because it's now fairly mindless stockinette, I am working on it exclusively, ignoring my gorgeous STR Socks (the "Titania's Revenge" pattern with the yarn of the same name). I think I am anxious to get on to one of my Stitches East stash items!

I have also made some additions to my knitting library lately:

One-Skein Wonders, by Judith Durant, which I was not as excited about once I looked through it, but upon a second look-through, have actually marked several projects that I'd like to make. Also, The Purl Stitch, by Sally Melville, so that I now have all three books in Sally's "Knitting Experience" series. I am hoping to make the Raglan Body Hugger from this book with my Brooks Farm Duet yarn, but am not certain that I'll have the right yardage...I may take a chance.