Visit me at Windsor Button, Saturday 1/16!

I'm excited!!

Tomorrow, I'll be at the wonderful Boston yarn shop, Windsor Button with my trunk show and Dreamscape book! I'll be there from 12 pm - 4 pm and will be offering a FREE PDF of my book if you buy a hard copy of the book at the yarn shop.

If you're free that day and would like, not only to shop at this great yarn store, but visit me as well - I'd love to see you there!

So far this year, I've been very busy with my knitting. Since finishing Tim's Lizard Ridge Afghan, I've started a knitted blanket for Ben, as well. I'm using the Log Cabin Square pattern and, as usual, the lovely Noro Kureyon in many colorways. I LOVE knitting blankets out of this yarn!



Here are the two squares I've made so far. Each are 10.5" square and very squishy soft and warm. I'm halfway done with a third square, too. They're VERY addictive : )



I'm also finishing up on my mom's Fudge Swirl Cabled Mock Turtleneck sweater in Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Another scrumptious yarn to knit with that isn't too expensive, but feels like it when you're knitting with it. Yummmm!

I'm done with the back, the front and one sleeve. One more sleeve to go! (Look above at beginning of post for a pic of the back of the sweater.)



AND...I've designed a new pattern (which I'm in the process of finishing up writing at this moment) called, "The Bobbi Scarf". This scarf is named after my cousin, Bobbi, who made me the most gorgeous pink and silver swarovski crystal earrings for Christmas. I created the quick to knit, cabled, wool scarf with fabric backing as my gift to her. It should be up by next week. Yay!

Hope you all have a great weekend and maybe I'll see some of you tomorrow at Windsor Button! ; )

FO Friday: Sarena Cowl

Isn't it beautiful???



I finally finished the Sarena Cashmere Cowl by Tonia Barry...from the new book "101 Wonders" book by Judith Durant. It was a joy to knit...every second was wonderful - the yarn soft, the pattern so easy to memorize and fun to drop stitches, and the overall finished item is extremely warm and comfy to wear. I love it!

DETAILS:

Yarn: Jade Sapphire 4 ply , 100% mongolian cashmere, colorway, Vintage Rose
Needle: Size 6 and 8
Pattern: Sarena Cashmere Cowl by Tonia Barry
Time: 6 days, but that was also not including a day I didn't work on it at all -so 5 days...and just an hour a day.
Ravelry link: Sleepyeyes' Sarena Cowl
Fun Level: A (see above for gushing compliments)

Good news...this weekend, I am leaving with the ManchVegas Knitters (Ravelry link) to go to our annual weekend knitting retreat. This year, we're going to Vermont - we'll be visiting Cabot Creamery, Ben & Jerry's, The Knitting Studio in Montpelier and having dinner at The New England Culinary Institute! So cool! We're taking up the entire Inn in Marshfield...and we can't wait to see the place -they have been extremely nice and accomodating! (will show many pics when I return)

Also, I have some fantastic news concerning one of my newest patterns - which will have to wait (again) until I get back.

Wish us luck on our trip and hope you all have a fun and kni-filled weekend, too!

Off I go!

P.S. I will leave you with an adorable pic of my boys from Halloween. And, as Laurin said..."Man, I wanna eat those cheeks!"



Update on Diet: I am down 2.6 more pounds - so 13 total for 3 weeks! Woo-hoo!!!!

Cowl to Me, Baby!

OH, man! What a nice knit!

Taking a wee break from the Presto Chango (just a day or so, really) to knit something fast and wonderful. A co-worker, Tonia Barry from the Yarn and Fiber Company, where I work, has THREE new designs in the new book, 101 Luxury One-Skein Wonders. And I'm making one of them right now!



It's called the "Sarena Cashmere Cowl" and uses only 1 skein of the Jade Sapphire 4 ply mongolian cashmere. Very, very lovely stuff- soft (though strangely enough not as soft as the Bebe Cotsoy...but I'm in a bit of an obsession with that at the moment, so it's hardly fair) and the colorway is perfect -roses and pinks. My favorite!



I started the cowl last night at knitting group and I'm more than halfway done with it. It's beautifully designed - practical AND luxurious!

I only found one tiny mistake with the pattern in the book -

Round 8 should read, "Round 8: *K1, drop next stitch down 7 rounds, k1, p2, k2, p2, repeat from * across round.

Right now, it has you knitting TWO stitches and then dropping one down, which makes for a bit of a mess since it takes you all the way down to the cast on -which is NOT what you want.

Other than that, I'm loving every minute of it and going to knit Tonia's second design, The Flirty Merino-Silk Scarf" after the Presto Chango is done. This one uses lovely Heather's yarn, Sereknity "Sweet". I've got this yarn in the Mystic Mountain colorway....oooooh. So soft, slightly fuzzy and w-a-r-m!

UPDATE ON DIET

I'm thrilled to say that I've lost another 3 pounds, for a total of 10.4 in two weeks. Still following all my "rules" and being a "good girl", as they say. Crossing my fingers that I will keep my motivation up through the holidays so I can make my first goal of 20 pounds. Wish me luck!

Have a Happy Halloween tomorrow, everyone!

Scarlett Belle Sweater

Update on my life:

1. I had to take Tim to get xrays today for his ring finger...it's all swollen, purplish-blue and he couldn't move it...but luckily, it's not broken and he only has to keep it taped, elevated and iced for a few days. Whew!

2. Ben and Tim are both feeling better, recovering from their strep and are taking their meds with minimal whining...whew again!

3. Computer is back in business....keyboard was delivered and is working fine! Woo-hoo!

Things just might be looking up for the House Family!

Knitting!

On Saturday, at work, I was able to take a class with the very talented designer, Tonia Barry. She is teaching a class that teaches you how to design your own sweaters and adapt patterns you like to fit your body perfectly.

I picked out Elsbeth Lavold "Silky Wool" (a gorgeous dk yarn in a 65%wool/35%silk blend) in color #56. I asked Cyndi if she knew the colorway name and she said she wasn't sure....but offered the name of "Scarlett Belle". I liked it so much that I decided to give that name to my new sweater pattern that I'm designing.

Generally, it will be a comfortable cardigan (no buttons or zippers) with a shawl collar, belle sleeves, seed stitch edging (or maybe garter) and a pretty cable up each side. Here is a close up of the sketch....(pretending, of course, that my body looks as nice as this...ha!)



During the class, we took our measurements, filled out some mathematical equations (will be doing more in the next class) and made swatches using our chosen yarn and needles. Tonia is very patient, helpful and knowledgable and I'm looking forward to more classes. You should come to the store to see some of her beautiful designs...we have samples and patterns!

As you could see from the first pic of the post, I am about 10 or so inches into the sweater (top down) and I'm loving every minute of it. This yarn is incredible and very soft...I'm a little nervous about knitting this on size 4 needles (oh, yes!), but I hope to finish it before the winter is over...in 2010. LOL! No, hopefully, I should be done with it by January....or at least that's my deadline for myself.

What do you think of the design?

Before I go pick up the little guy from preschool, I wanted to share one more thing. About a week ago, I finished my last sock class and thought that the class handouts might be helpful to others who didn't have time to actually GO to a sock class. (Did that make sense?) Anyway, I edited the handouts a bit and make them into a pdf so that you can download them and have a "virtual" sock class at your own leisure at home. There's no substituting a real live teacher to help you, but this might be a first step toward taking a real class.

*Look to the right sidebar under SleepyEyes Patterns....it's called the "Plain Jane" Sock Class. It's free and fun...I hope!*

Or, if you're a tiny bit lazy like me, you can click HERE instead.

I'm also in the process of designing two other things:

1. ANOTHER sock pattern....I know, I know....but this one is cute and really fun to knit...and I just LOVE the Sereknity yarn I'm working with!! I'm almost done and I'm dying to get it "out there"!

2. A lace pattern....this one is 1/3 done but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to have it ready for when I hope to. I may just bring to Vermont with me and hope more rows get done while I'm sleeping.

Plus, I'm working on Tim's sweater, Ben's "Ice" mittens (see pic below), and the holiday stockings (which I think will be done for NEXT year!).....AHHHHH!!!! (Calgon, take me away!)



Oh, and an update on my Poseidon sock....this is as far as I've gotten so far. Not because it isn't wonderful to knit, which it is (and I LOVE the yarn, too)...but I'm putting all "extra" knitting things to the side and trying to work on things with deadlines...oh, I hate that word, don't you?



At least I feel like the tide is turning around here and I can take a breath and smile a little. How about YOU??? : ) Don't forget to KNIT THOSE MITTENS!!!!!