New beginnings

I finally finished this sweater. I just under took a big move across the country  which is probably why it took me so long.   That is also the reason for the bad picture. Im also blogging from my phone. 

Because y computer is not set up yet. Right now it is wet and blocking on a towel.

My sweet little grandson's that I left behind in Florida. I miss them a lot. 

The first day in Seattle we ate at a Korean BBQ . Yummy 

My first view of the city. It was a really long trip. It included 2 plane rides, 2 train rides, and 2 bus rides. Then a trip to trader joes for groceries and necessities. I still feel tired. Maybe because of the time change. This must be mega jet lag. I start my new job tomorrow so I'm pretty excited about that. In the mean time I get to start a new project today. (^_^)

on and off the needles!

 Knitting my fingers off... I finished the Owlie baby sleep sack and matching hat that will be a gift for a baby due in January. I still have to knit the blanket. I was hoping to finish the blanket before my move but time is speeding by and it doesn't seem like it's going to happen. So I'll have to ship the yarn..
Below is my progress on my Elisa sweater. I'm so close to completing this sweater. I finished one from lace panels yesterday and just have the other one and the sleeves to finish. I'm hoping to finish this before I leave also and have it packed for my trip. If not it will be my project for the plane trip. The more I work on this sweater the more I like it. I especially love the drape and feel of the yarn. I think this will end up being a favorite.

 This is a quick project that I'm also hoping to finish up before I leave. Hahaha I'm very ambitious. This is a button up cowl for one of my managers. If I don't get to finish this, it will also be a trip project that I will have to ship later. I hope I finish it!

Yay a finished project! I can now pack this for the colder weather. It fits just right and is nice and cozy. This is the Ladylove Lace sweater from Knitty.com. I still haven't figured out what buttons  to use or a closure. A quick trip to Joanns will fix that. I have never made so many sweaters for myself as I have this year. Maybe because I never really had a need to wear them in Florida. So nice that I will be warm and cozy in the Seattly area. (^_^)

Getting busy..

 Working hard to get this sweater finished.All the knitting is finished for the actual sweater. It has been washed and blocked. I blocked it a little more than the pattern calls for and I like how silky and relaxed  the yarn got. I'm really surprised at how nice the yarn ended up being. I use Loops and Threads Cozy Wool. Now I'm knitting my fingers off to finish the little shawl that goes with it. Seven more rows to go!

 Yesterday I went to my local yarn shop for the last time before I move. I hope I will find a yarn shop I love as much in the area I'm moving to. As much as I didn't want to purchase anything because I will have to add that to the already bulging box of yarn that I'm shipping to my new location.. I found a beautifully dyed roving that I couldn't resist. At least its very light and can be squashed in with the rest. They were very nice and wound my handspun into a pretty cake. Now it is already to knit or crochet into something pretty. I have two patterns in mind for this yarn. I'm still deciding which one to either knit or crochet to show off the color changes of the yarn best. There are some longer color changes and some shorter ones.

Below: My Frabjous Fiber in Black Vine and Malabrigo in 870 Candombe that will be a cowl for a friend. Funny that they are both the same colors. That is it for now.. getting busy finishing projects and packing for my move.. (^_^)

this week..

 This week I seem to working on lots of projects. I had to baby sit this week and Jayden was bored so I asked him if he wanted to paint. There was a lot of paint left over and I didn't want to throw it away so I used it to paint this quick ocean view painting.

 A new baby is coming to the family. My daughters' sister in law will be having a baby boy sometime in February. I decided to get a head start because in the very near future there are going to be a lot of changes in my life and I wanted to get some of the knitting done before. I don't know how much knitting time I will have in the future. This is the Owlie Baby Sleep Sack. The yarn is an acrylic cashmere blend.

 Knitting in the break room at work.. Even if I only get a few rows knitted it starts to add up. Below is the progress on the sleeves for my Lady Lovelace sweater. I'm hoping to get this finished today some time. I'm also working on some spinning and have been cleaning out, organizing and packing.. So much stuff to do!

slowly but surely..

 Another picture of my handspun yarn. I'm in the process of looking for the perfect pattern to match the yarn. 
Below are my projects of the week. I'm inching my way through the Elisa sweater. This has become my break room knitting project at work, which means I only complete a few rows a day.

 The little Owlie sleep sack is moving along. I usually knit on this when I'm in other areas of my house other than my usual knitting spot. I have to hurry up and finish this and start the hat.
 This past spring I took a wonderful trip to the Seattle Washington area and have decided to move there with my sons to see if I want to live there permanently. This move is coming up fast. My tickets are for August 26th and I have a lot of planning and packing to do. My daughter and her family will be living in my house in Florida so I just have to pack what I will be using on a daily basis which of course means yarn, books and needles. I may ship one of my spinning wheels also. So now I'm in a rush to finish some projects that have been sitting around so I will be able to pack some sweaters instead of lots of yarn. 

Below is my Lady Lovelace sweater that I started  some time in the spring and all that is left are the sleeves. I'm hoping to finish knitting this some time this week. I was moving along at a good rate last night when on row 21 of the sleeve chart there was one stitch too many on each end and instead of looking to see if there was errata I ripped back and reworked the chart 2 times! I then looked up other peoples projects on ravelry and found out that there is a mistake in the graft and other knitters used a few different methods to fix the issue. It would have been nice for the designer to add this on the pattern page. It would have saved me and hour or so of time as I would have known that there was an issue from the beginning. Oh well.. figured that out and now I'm knitting on.

Finised projects ...

The little white shrug is finished along with the leaf cardi. I had to figure out a better way to make the sleeves because the way they are made in the pattern just didn't fit. I ended up picking up stitches around the armhole and knitting them in the round and that worked out really well. I think this has to be my favorite sweater up to date. Soon I will be moving to the Seattle Washington area and I'm sure I will be able to get good use out of this there.

 I dusted off the spinning wheel and finished up this skein of yarn that has been sitting around for a while. It ended up being a light fingering weigh, 460 yards. I love the colors and have to decide what I want to knit with it. 
Going back to moving to Seattle, I have a lot of cleaning out to do and packing and I'm a little stressed over the money I will have to work with and changing jobs and all that goes along with change. I'm also trying to finish up a few projects and get more spinning finished before I leave.

one the needles

 There is another baby coming to the family in February. I'm getting an early start on gifts because the Christmas knitting crunch is right around the corner. This is going to be the Owlie Sleep sack. The ravelry pattern link.

 Yay... yarn!! Knit picks is having a sale. I have a couple of sweater patterns in my queue that I have been wanting to knit, but each one needs over 900 yards of yarn. I bought the Wool of the Andes but the color does not look like that. It is very bright teal. No matter where I take the picture the green tones do not show up and the color looks like a blue. In real life the color looks like bright kelly green with a little blue in it. Anyway I now have to decide which cardigan to knit. Here are the links. Cardi #1 is #112 The Dramatic Lace Wrap. Cardi #2 is #102 Drap Front Lace cardi. I like both patterns I just have to make up my mind. That is the hardest part for me it seems. 
Below I'm casting off a my One Skein Wonder which I add a lace border to. I'm using Jens Surprising stretchy bind off so the lace will be stretchy. I used a rib lace. This yarn has lots of drap and not too much stretch. It is bamboo and has been sitting in my stash forever. Not one of my favorite yarns but I wanted a little white shrug to wear to work over some pretty sleeveless shirts. That is it for today. I'm off to work soon, the AC is on the frits and facing the usual mayhem that exists in my daily life.