a WhOLe YeAr HaS gOnE bY....

Wow .. I can't believe a whole year has gone by.. Today is the 1 year anniversary of my blog.. I want to take a minute to say thanks to everyone who takes a peek now and then.. I appreciate all your comments and just the fact that u take a peek every so often tickles me.. as I looked through my blog archives I noticed that I had completed a good amount of projects over this past year.. some I loved and some I didn't love.. but all were good.. I experimented a lot this year and traveled to some gray areas of knitting .. that aren't as gray anymore.. all in all it was a good knitting year.. If u asked me which project are u most proud of.. right now I would have to say it was the shrug I designed using some homespun and other yarns from my stash.. it was a knit/crochet as u go type project..I didn't use a pattern..a first for me.. I choose this as my favorite because I had done something that I have never tried before and in my eyes I was successful .. and it fits.. that's always a plus..hehehe














Moving on to the finished project of the day.. Rainy day socks from Magknits.. I decided to rename mine "sock sacrilege".. I still can't believe I actually knit them with acrylic baby yarn.. sometime I wonder about myself and the things that go through my head at certain times.. scary!! .. well they fit.. that's a plus!!!














Some times a little change is good.. Eve gave me this wonderful superwash merino sock yarn.. now if u have looked at some of my previous projects u will notice that I do like green and make quite a few green projects.. too many green projects.. and this yarn just happens to be green.. (I have even made it clear to myself that I am not allowed to purchase green yarn this year.. at all)
so.... I wanted to brake up the green a little and over dyed it with blue and purple.. there is still a lot of green but just not as much.. I'm kind of excited to see how it will knit up..I'm giving this yarn a new name too.. Tar pit..If u play WoW.. and u have reached lvl 50.. u will have gone to Un' Goro crater to do some quests.. and there u would have had to kill Tar Lords.. the color that the yarn is now reminds me of that area.. all green and lush with big dark tar pools and the leafy looking Tar lords that hide in the pools.. hummm.. maybe I should just take a picture and let u decide.. thanks again for peeking.. (^_^)

acrylic baby... this is a far cry from the yarn used for the original sock in the pattern which is Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino...it's definitely not a sock I would use in a shoe.. it has a weird stretchiness about it... but it's soft and the pattern is fun to knit and as far as the use .. I think it will be a nice sock for sitting on the couch and watching tv or knitting.. I have no idea how it will wear or if it will get stretched out of shape eventually.. I'll let u know.. I grafted the toe and I'm ready to cast on sock #2.. I don't think I will everchoose to knit another sock with this yarn ..unless desperation hits me again.. I hope it never does..













































There was a small bit of progress yesterday on the scarf/shawl.. corner B is now successfully turned.. I'm going to work on it a little more today.. unfortunately for the shawl I have the itch to spin.. I have for a few days and put it off to work on my WIP's . Some birthdays are coming up and I need to whip up a couple birthday presents too.. go fingers go.. knit faster.. I wish the little knitting elves would visit me during the night and work on some of my projects (^_^)

I started knitting The rainy day socks on Sunday..(the pattern is from MagKnits) there was no rain.. just hopeful thinking.. we need some rain in Florida..what do u do when your yarn budget is used up .. but u just have to make these socks for some reason that u are not sure of.. and did I mention that there is a closet full of yarn.. but not the yarn I would have liked to make these socks out of.. so.. I desperately looked for something that would give me gauge.. and I found some abandoned baby yarn.. humm.. well there it is.. sock sacrilege .. acrylic baby yarn.. but I have to say.. they are really soft and cuddly and on size 4 needles.. so they are knitting up really fast.. I wouldn't wear them in shoes but for hanging out on a chilly night watching movies or knitting..(or playing WoW in the middle of the night) I think they will be just right..












I have given this shrug a name... the illicit frog .. I rip more than I knit.. or I knit and then rip.. I realized that I needed another skein of the green alpaca and went to ac moore to pick one up (there had been a big bin of it at the time I bought my skein) of course when I went back a week later.. all of it.. every single skein was gone.. that yarn had been sitting in the store for a couple of months and I thought I was safe in buying it as I needed it.. humm teach me a lesson the hard way.. so now I need another yarn and had to settled on a light tan cotton.. but .. after knitting and ripping and knitting and ripping.. I don't really like it.. so.. there will be more ripping.. and now I might have to hunt down more of the green alpaca.. I have about 100 yards left of the homespun I'm using.. I just need some alpaca.. sigh..(this is starting to look like green poo to me)











That brings me to this poor abandoned shawl.. I need to put it out of it's misery... I make plans to work on it every day.. and some how it doesn't happen.. the illicit frog has been sucking all my knitting time up..











Knitting is like life I suppose.. sometimes it works out and sometimes it goes terribly wrong..

A cami knitting story for you.. (^_^)
It begins here.. yarn and pattern ready to go..











just the beginning .. starting to grow..












a days worth of knitting and sight seeing.. can add up..











as the end nears.. almost done.. I knit even faster.. almost done..0.0











the final touches.. an edging.. some straps.. ends all tucked away..











in preparation for this happy day..











I'm really happy with the end results of this cami story... such a happy ending.. (^_^)

THE END

Yay .. it fits!! There seems to be a little room for a growing little girl too..





















This is the part of knitting I really like.. hehehe.. almost there.. this yarn is like a mini cotton tape with a shinny thread wrapped around it.. This gives it a sort of natural look.. I've tried it on already a few times and I'm happy with the fit also.. it has a surprising amount of stretch..

















Right now I'm working on the picot cast off.. more pictures tomorrow of the finished project..

I haven't posted in a while.. 5 days actually.. that might be a record for me.. I've been working on various projects.. on the house... some late spring cleaning and such..
I entered some items in the Central Florida Fair and wanted some nice hangers to display them on so I crocheted over some plastic hangers... the turned out ok at least the items wont slip off.. (^_^)

















I made some progress on my camisole yesterday while riding around in the car.. I'm on the third ball of yarn now with 2 1/2 inches to go to the underarm .. I knitted non stop and might have over done it.. sounds funny.. but I'm getting some chafing on my pinkie from sliding the cotton stitches..the yarn is soft and silky.. but I think cotton is more abrasive than wool no matter what...
I delivered the items I'm going to enter in the Fair to the fair grounds yesterday.. from what I saw there wasn't any knit or crochet items entered yet.. lots of quilts though. Hopefully there will be more entries today.

















Progress report on my scarf/ shawl.. I just turned corner A.. woohoo..!!! (I'm so slow.. )

pRoJeCts oF tHE dAy...

all boxed up and ready to go.. I'm really pleased with this project..probably because pink is my favorite color .. and the pattern is of my own design.. and hopefully little Abby will like it as well..

















My projects of the day.. the silk camisole from Last minute knitted gifts.. what I have knit so far is 1 ball worth of yarn.. I bought 4 balls which should be enough to finish.. this is my take along project atm.. it's still small enough to fit in my purse and since I'm using circular needles it makes it very portable. I don't have to worry about it falling off the needles.

















Another shrug is in the making.. I started this a little while ago and put it down to finish up the pink shrug... which gave me time to re-think the sleeves.. I'm really happy that I learned to knit and crochet when I was a kid.. we all have our knitting limitations.. or at least I do..there are some techniques in knitting that are not my friends.. hehehe.. and what I can't knit .. I can crochet..and we all have our own favorite things that we like to knit.. every year I try to expand my little knitting world to include new techniques and work on projects that I haven't felt comfortable working on before.. broaden my horizons ..

















enough of my blabbing.. back to knitting.. (^_^)

Finished quill socks are going to be wrapped up today along with...

















a finished baby shrug.. "Abby's shrug".. and matching booties.. hopefully all will be in the mail tomorrow.. I'm really pleased with how this turned out.. I finished it 2 days ago but my camera batteries died.. in the mean time I have casted on yet again.. more of that tomorrow..

















I am now the proud owner of the " hand" to display my fingerless mitts.. hehe

















A little Happy Easter greeting.. hope u have a wonderful day with your family and friends..
(^_^)

piNk!!

What have u been doing that past few days?... this is what I've been up to.. here is what has become of the pile of sweet pink yarn in a previous post.. It's the beginning of a baby shrug ..

Approximately size 9-12 months.. I just went by the measurements so I'm no sure of the exact size .. but it should fit..( hopefully)
I started with some crochet blocks and added on here and there.. then attached them with some knitting , then more crochet.. then more knitting..and finally a crochet edging to finish it off..I'm thinking it might need a little more around the neck.. and the yarn is still attached to the bottom edge ready for the last row.. so it's not 100% finished yet..

Here is the detail on the bottom of the sleeves.. this is a knit/crochet as u go project.. I didn't use a pattern..(I have been writing down that pattern as it develops) there are also some booties to go with this.. one is knit but not sewn together yet .. the other is on the needles.. hopefully all will be done today.. (^_^)

TodayI spent the day with Jayden ..we watched baby einstein together and he giggled a lot.. and tried to put anything in reach in his mouth..
















The quil lace socks are offically done.. all ends tucked in.. these will be a gift for someone.. and yes I'm already working on my next project.. I post pictures tomorrow.. maybe it will look more like something then.. (^_^)... the end.....

mOre YaRn.. sAy..WhaT..

Lil bitty found a nice warm spot to sit in.. it's getting warmer and warmer every day in Florida ... the summer heat is right around the corner..(time to stock up on some cotton , linen and cooler fiber yarns). I'm hoping to knit some tank tops this spring/summer. I just subscribed to Vogue knitting magazine and instead of getting the spring/summer issue they sent me the winter issue.. duh.. why would I want the winter issue in Florida this time of year.. and they haven't sent me the spring/summer issue yet either.. what's up with that..it's on sale everywhere already.. I want mine too!!
















Did I mention that we just happened to be in the area of a LYS yesterday.. and do u remember that I have been on a yarn diet.. cough.. um.. well I don't know how it happened but some how I came home with this..It's a dark grayish brown color.. and I plan to make yet another shrug.. something simple .. something to wear a lot.. something neutral..(man I have to stop buying yarn) but truthfully.. I have wanted this yarn forever.. and ever.. and well I just had to have some.. sigh..

















not much going on in my knitting world.. a little progress here and there.. sock #2 is now past the heal shaping and now it's just knitting it to the toe..

















I've been working here and there on the border of my scarf shawl... it looks a bit bunched up because I had it in a small bag so I could knit on the go(sad to say I'm not really happy with the strippy look of it ).. well off to do some Sunday family stuff... some knitting and out to dinner.. (^_^)