Cold Mountain

I just saw the last half of it and now I have to go and rent the whole darn thing. What an amazing movie and while for a very long time I have not been a fan of Renee Zellweger (esp. since her scary weight loss thing). She was breath-taking in this film.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh...

Irisheyesknitters will appreciate this one. I stopped by a local knitting shop Friday where the proprietess is not all that "warm n' fuzzy", as we like to say.

I needed something specific that only she had. I have since discovered that another local shop carries said yarn but it is a little out of my way.

So, Gentle Reader, our protagonist (that's me) was standing at the counter and said Proprietess was taking my trusty Master of the Charge card. On the back of said card I have signed my Jane Hancock and written Please check ID. Our good proprietess follows the instructions and asks for ID, for which I thank her.

She then looks at my permit to operate a motorized vehicle and states "Wow. Nice picture. Who is she?"

Silly, thoughtless woman ... from now on I'll be paying for the extra gas to the other shop.

Blocking before seaming

Alright, so general consensus is that I should block the vines and leaves sweater before I seam it. I'm still working on the sleeves and DH leaves town tonight for a conference so I'm hoping to finish this adorable little sweater before the end of the weekend, if possible.

I'm also working on the Button Hole Bag from the right nav bar of http://www.masondixonknitting.com/. I started this bag last night. I picked four colors because I wanted to have them blend from one color to the next and frankly I couldn't just pick three like the pattern recommends. I finished all the way up through the top shaping last night and then I did the handle (light blue) this morning. That includes taking the time to make all four colors into two balls. DH was kind enought his morning to hold the final hank while I wound. FYI: I used four hanks of Cascade 220 and I still have enough left for another bag in the reverse color pattern.

I've never made anything felted before. So, rather than following the directions on the pattern, though they're just fine, I pulled my copy of Beverly Galeska's Felted Knits off the book shelf.

I dumped the bag into the wash with an old pair of jeans and a capful of Eucalan. I set the washer on HOT wash/ Cold rinse, fine washables water level (extra small) but the book says don't spin and rinse because it can make creases in the felt. Initially, I set it on a short wash and here is the bag once the draining started.


As you can see the bag is still really big. It's about 2/3rds it's original size. So I re-filled the washer and set the cycle on "Power Wash" -- this means Exxxxttra loooongg agitation cycle.





Here's the outcome after about 7 minutes more felting. This second stage happened FAST!!


I went in to check on it and WOW! Pull it out!! Quick!!

Look at the difference with the size of the pen.
I was really hoping that the color changes would be more subtle, but oh well. I was under the impression that color changes in the sample BH Bag in the instructions was smoother too but it's really just a straight line.

Even DH was impressed with this one. I've got a lime green towel in it to help keep it's shape while it dries. When I took it out of the wash, I rolled it in another towel and kneeled on it to get as much of the water out of it as I could. I also stretched it while it was wet so it would be a little bigger. I didn't follow the pattern exactly either, my finished non-felted bag was about 5 rows larger than the pattern suggests. Beverly Galeskas says that if you want to shape something felted you've got to do it while it's still wet or you're doomed (okay, she didn't say the doomed part). The next one I think is going to be even deeper with my leftover yarn.

Here's a quick side shot.
Tonight I'm going to finish the sleeves on my vines and leaves sweater and block the pieces. I'm hoping to get it done this weekend, I just needed some instant gratification after so many little stitches on little needles. Wish me luck!!

My Brother finished his exam!

I'm so very proud of him!! He sounds pretty good so I'm crossing my fingers for him even tho he doesn't need it. He won't find out his exam score for about a month or so.

Okay, so I'm picture challenged...

ALright here are the pics I tried to post earlier but couldn't get right... This is the sweater I'm making for my girlfriend's daughter who will be 1 in October and the sweater is a 12-24 month size.

See my earlier post for design and embellishment details. I've also laid out the adorable buttons I bought to put on the sweater when it's all finished. Under the glass table you can see one of my kitties waiting for an opportunity to play with hanging strings!

Still working on the finer details of getting somethign to post where I want it to on the page!!

Jen

Knitting Group Outcomes

Okay so I had a fabulous time tonight! I'm so grateful to everyone who came. Thanks everyone!

The next meeting will be on august 9th at 6:30 p.m. at the Borders at Lake St. and Skokie Blvd. in Wilmette, IL. Anyone is invited and there is no fee to participate.

Smooches!
Jen in Chicago

Welcome to my new blog!!

So today is a day of beginnings for me!

I started a knitting group this month and because of work was unable to attend the first meeting. :( Tonight at 6:30 CST is the first meeting I will be attending of the new Words, Wits n' Wool knitting group in Wilmette, IL. I'm so excited.

I also ordered a couple of patterns today from www.fiddlesticksknitting.com. I'm excited about seeing those too! I picked the Garden shawl and the Peacock shawl. I'm thinking of maybe using Lorna's Laces, Helen's Lace in River for the Garden shawl and in Purple Iris for the Peacock shawl. There are 1250 yds/hank but of course the cost is about $45/hank, So I'll probably end up using Knit Picks Shimmer which is a whole lot cheaper.

I'm also currently working on a seed stitch bordered cardigan from the Debbie Bliss book Baby Knits for Beginners for my girlfriend's baby girl who will be 1 in October. It's in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in this pretty lavender/orchid color.

I decided that the plain front was too boring so I chose a vining leaf pattern out of the Barbara Walker Book 2 to knit up the front sides. The front and back are finished and I'm working on the sleeves now. Only thing left after that is to do the neck edging and seam it all up and block it. I'm so excited!

I have so many WIP's it's embarrassing. I start working on something and I lose interest so I'm getting excited about nearly finishing this silly little sweater. Next I'm going to work on a lace shawl in Artisan Merino Lace Weight in Ocean. I haven't quite decided on a pattern, but I think I'm going to go with the Drooping Elm Leaf pattern from Barbara Walker's Book I (p.217).

Enough for now, got to go back to work.
Jen

Wishing luck to my Little Brother

I am SOOO proud of him!! He has recently graduated from Northwestern University School of Law. Today and tomorrow he is sitting his BAR exam. I'm saying a little public prayer for him and wishing him well!

I know he'll do great but I gotta send this out to the cosmos all the same!

This time I'm really going back to work! :-p
Jen