Jofrog is Knitfrog!
August 31 2004
How could I have forgotten to show you all my finished Dale of Norway baby hat? After a bit of blocking it's the perfect size for the intended little one. I was very worried for a while because I was getting gauge with the suggested needles on the solid portion, but the pattern said to do the brim (where the ladybugs are) on size 0 needles, with no separate gauge. I know that I knit tighter on dpns but I thought that if I was getting suggested gauge with the larger needles I'd be fine with the smaller ones as well. After it was finished it certainly didn't seem that way! I thought about steeking it between two ladybugs and putting in a piece of elastic to give it a little give. The blocking certainly made it bigger but I still might end up putting in the elastic. If I were to do this again I'd do the whole project on size 2 needles since the stranded part is tighter just by its nature. The specs: Dale of Norway Pattern 1005 "Marihone" The hat may or may not get a pompom on the top, but I have until late October or late December to decide because it will be a first b'day gift or a Christmas gift. I hope that his mommy the entemologist loves it!Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home!
Dale of Norway Baby Ull yarn
Size 0 and size 2 needles
August 30 2004
I finished the two sleeves to the yellow cardi in record time! Mike left yesterday morning for Florida so I had nothing to do but knit and clean (yeah right)! I did the majority of both sleeves yesterday and finished them both up at Knitsmiths. I also cast on for the left front last night. I can't believe how much smaller fronts are as compared to sleeves! It's like the sleeves are for a basketball player and the fronts are for a gymnast! I'm just about to begin the armhole shaping on the left front. See! This cardi will be done in record time! ...of course, when I got the yarn for this project, two weeks ago, it was starting to feel like fall. Now it's super hot and humid here and I'm sweating buckets as I knit on my wool cardigan! Ahh New England, always keeping me on my toes!Got Sleeve?
August 25 2004
I've been peripherally blogging for a while now, but faithful readers, I'm back now! The wedding maddness (and wonderful excitement) is over and I'm ready to put my heart and soul back into my blogging. What better way to kick off my mental return than a knitalong? Don't worry, there is one on the way and I'm excited about it already. (And I have the yarn already just waiting to be knit up!, but no hints from my future projects list, it isn't there.) For today though, to really show you that I'm back I'm showing you my back! They don't call it Family Circle Easy Knitting for no reason! This sweater is just flying (when I remember to take the pattern with me, have my skeins of yarn rolled into balls, and actually have time to knit it)! The outcome of forgetting the pattern last weekend was that I had to rip back ten rows. Good thing I didn't have more time to knit while I was away! Now onto sleeves or one of the fronts? Why not both!I'm Back!
August 23 2004
I just returned from a weekend visiting family and look at the wonderful little jewel that returned with me. Somewhere around ninety years ago my great-great grandfather made a spinning wheel for my great-grandmother, (known to us as Grosmutter). She loved her spinning wheel and used it all of the time. When Grosmutter turned 16 she boarded a boat from Austria and set sail for the US. She had $8 in her pocket and a few bags, but of course, no room for a spinning wheel. Years later she returned to her family's home to visit and bring back some more things. She went up into the attic to get her spinning wheel and it wasn't there! Her brother had burned it as firewood, not because they were short on firewood, but just because it was taking up space. She was devistated. Again, years went by. Grosmutter and her husband were visiting friends in Hungary. Somehow the sad story of her little spinning wheel and the fate it had met was told and the woman that they were visiting replied that she had a spinning wheel in her attic that was collecting dust and taking up space. Grosmutter urged this woman to take care of it so that it did not end up destroyed, but the woman didn't even want it in the first place. She offered the small spinning wheel to Grosmutter who insisted that she paid for it. The woman insisted that Grosmutter was doing her a favor by taking it off of her hands. Finally an agreement was settled upon. Grosmutter took all of the clothes out of her suitcase, disassembled the spinning wheel and packed it up for home. Seventy years later, Grosmutters daughters were cleaning out their house getting ready to move. They saw the old spinning wheel and wanted to put it out on the curb with the trash! My dad rescued it and it sat in his house for another five years. Now it is finally going to be used again by another generation. Grosmutter is turning 100 this year, she is past her spinning years (though she still does some incredible crocheted work), and the wheel will turn again. So, Kerstin, Claudia, June, any other Boston area spinners, are you up for teaching a new spinner? I'll make cookies and tea! Come on over!Danke Grosmutter
August 22 2004
Oh, No Pattern!
What do you do when you pack your yarn, pack your needles, but forget to pack your pattern? You hope that you remember it correctly and go for it! That's what I've been doing this weekend and we'll know tomorrow when I get home if I'm doing alright or if I'll be taking a trip to the frog pond!
(Hmm, I do live in Boston, should I go to the Frog Pond at the Boston Common to frog my work? I feel that the passers by wouldn't appreciate the signifigance of the setting!)
I've gotten through the waist decreases on my yellow cardi and I'm ready to start the increasing. I'm going so quickly on this and I'd really like to wear it that it seems a shame not to knit by memory! We'll see what happens tomorrow!
Enjoy your the rest of your weekend. It's sunny here, time to sit out on the back porch and knit!
August 18 2004
Look at what followed me home from A Good Yarn yesterday. It's five skeins of Cascade 220 in a butter yellow color for this sweater from Family Circle Easy Knitting. A friend gave me this magazine as part of a bachelorette party gift. She saw it in the supermarket and thought I needed to have it. During the first flip through I didn't think that there was anything cute for me, maybe a few childrens' things, but then I looked through again and found this cute cardigan (design #6). I rolled a skein by hand (gasp, I usually do it at my LYS on their ball winder) and wanted to start last night but decided to get a few other projects out of the way first. One of them was this little kid scarf. It uses two different colors of Lambs Pride Superwash Bulky yarn and one skein of Pop. It has little pockets for all of those little things that kids like to pick up, like rocks, trash, and doesn't it look like a great place for a snowball? More yarn followed me home yesterday, but I'll wait for another day to share, it won't be knit up for a while anyways! I'm sure that you'll be waiting on the edge of your seat!It followed me home, can I keep it?
August 16 2004
We've been home from Mexico for a whole week already, and we are finally starting to settle back into regular life! We remember well the dinners on the beach... ...now we are back to scanning the freezer for some sort of food that can be made into a good dinner! ...and can you believe that no one, in the last week, has asked if I'd like a drink... okay, so that's not true, my wonderful husband has, but no one is rushing over to the bar to make me some wonderful tropical drink that I can sip on the beach or by the pool! Speaking of, here is a good idea of how I spent the week in Mexico, and how Mike spent his week. During the week I managed to finish off one of the socks with Amber's yarn. I really think I like it. I love the picot edge on the top and I wasn't sure about the color pooling until it was done, but I really like that too. What do you think? I'll leave you with a preview of what's to come in the next post. Enjoy!Ahh Mexico
August 12 2004
I had to add one more picture, of the three of us, that my cousin Jenny (my Maid of Honor) sent me. I love this picture, and it's the only one so far where you can see how great Mike looked that day! To see it even bigger click here.One More
Huh, you say that this is a knitting blog? Well, maybe next week (or once I can buy a new computer so that I can get the pictures off of my camera!) I did knit while in Mexico, I finished one of the "socks with Amber's yarn" and almost finished the Dale of Norway Ladybug hat (but I didn't have the yellow yarn to finish the top). I couldn't knit on Pauline because I'd left the pattern and my notebook at home! Hey, how much knitting progress did you really expect me to make? I just started a new scarf for A Good Yarn out of a new yarn called Pop. This stuff is crazy. The swatch has been refered to as a bathmat, a pot holder, and a dish rag. I've redesigned it twice already so no pics of that one until it's done, but if it turns out as great as my vision, it will be worth it. Okay, so tell me, did you really come to see pictures? My aunt (our photographer) is mailing me the pictures that she took so we are waiting on the good old USPS on those, but some other relatives have sent us pictures and here's a peek. The ceremony was at a gazebo bordering the pond and was officiated by Brookline's town clerk Pat Ward. Behind me are (right to left) my cousin and Maid of Honor Jen, and my two best friends Miranda and Allison. And of course, you have to see the kiss to know that we are really married. Here it is: Knitting, what's that?
August 3 2004
We Are Married! The day could not have been more perfect! The weather was great, the food was great, everyone had a super time, and now Mike and I are married. ...even better than that, we are in Mexico! Pictures to come, you can be sure of it. Thanks for all of your great messages and well wishes!
