Finding meaning in food

DH insisted at first that this fortifying breakfast treat:

was a sacred image of the Virgin Mary:

while I was voting for its resemblance to this:

so we compromised on the Buddha:

which was fine with me, as I was hungry. And as a good budding buddhist, I knew that if I ever met the Buddha on my plate, I should eat the Buddha. Thank you for the yummy breakfast, Buddha!

Sock it to me!

Yay! My first socks!!!

These were for my dad for Father's Day. They are a vintage pattern from Hand Knits by Beehive - Socks Men and Women, originally published in 1948. I made them with a bit less than 2 50g skeins of Paton's Kroy 4 Ply, which is 75% washable wool and 25% nylon on #2 bamboo double pointed needles.

Here they are all wrapped up to gift:

I have to point out that my newest favorite is the tiny tote that my Knitty Secret Pal gave me, it is perfect for sock projects! Thanks again, SP!!!

Stash Enhancement

I made a half-hearted effort to live within my means, knit from my stash, and covet not my yarn store, local or on-line. I even joined the Stashalong, hoping that an online recovery group would help me. Then 1 hour after I joined, I saw the Little Knits sale. Ohhhh, maybe just this once (by the way, Little Knits has excellent customer service). Here is the result of my broken resolve:

I need some nice summer sweaters, light enough for biking home from work, and yet surviving the arctic office weather:

And mom got me Folk Bags, and thought the Market Bag would be so fun, so here is a cotton/linen/nylon blend for it:

And everyone needs more socks! Lorna's Laces Black Purl and Baltic Sea:

Trekking, Regia Cotton Surf, and more:

And then there is the collector in me. Some vintage aluminum needles in varying sizes:

Ah, my greed is satiated for another, well, few days at least.

More warm shoulders

Here are the other projects I cast off in the past 2 months. Cast off quite literally! It is too warm to wear them, and I am too busy knitting to blog them.

This was my first Clapotis, modified to have only 3 increase sections. In Cherry Tree Hill Twister, which is a heavenly superwash/merino blend. I had a 8oz hank, and was left with about 2 oz. to hopefully make a matching Odessa.

And that was so much fun, I cast right on for Clapotis #2! This one was done in Noro Silk Garden, colorway 32. I used 6 skeins, and made it with 13 increases and 14 straight sections.

Because this yarn is so very yummy, here is a closeup:

As others have noted, the drops are difficult in Silk Garden because the yarn is rough and the stitches do not slip nicely down. But it is so very worth it! I would recommend making the ladders as you go, so as to tackle the frustrations into small doses.

And wait, I have another scarf to show off! This is Liesel in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece mill ends. I don't know how much yarn I used, but it made a much shorter scarf than the pattern, and a warning that mill ends have a lot of knots! However, the ball cost me $1.75, so I'm not complaining. This made a fun pretty spring scarf and I really enjoyed the lace.

For Momma

After much delay, here are the scarves I made for Mother's Day.

For my own mom, this is the Fan and Feather Stole from Vogue Knitting's Scarves in Berroco Cotton Twist. Here is it fringed, blocked, and folded.

For my Mother in Law, I made Knitty's Branching Out in Falcon's mohair/courtelle blend. I tried to get tricky on the digital photography, but the blue background made the white mohair look baby blue. Even worse, I didn't weave in the ends or block it before I took this photo.

And now for Grandma. This is Stitchngirl's Dayflower Lace Scarf, also done in Falcon mohair/courtelle blend. And also not blocked or ends-woven-in before the picture was taken. The pattern is even more pretty after blocking!

I really loved making these scarves, they were my first lace projects and I had a great time doing them and watching the pattern evolve under my fingertips.

Enjoy, mammas!

I <3 My Knitty SP!!!

Oh Knitty Secret Pal, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.



This was my reaction too! On getting a wonderful package from my SP! Only I didn't have an alien spotlight on my boob (at least I don't think I did...)







And to fill my belly with UK goodness and hearty fare, some funny British noodles and hearts of Marmite. I am courageous of belly, and am resolved to give it a whirl...

• Here is the whole shebang! I'm not worthy!

• Silky soft wool in sweet pastels, and silky soft,
  well silk in
  fuscia and blues.

Candy that was tres yum (yes, it's gone).

• A great CD, my SP has such good taste you'd think she picked me herself :-)
• The funniest knitter card I've seen.
• A cute orange tote for my upcoming sock projects.
• Beautiful bead stitch markers.

Here is a new picture of the gorgeous stitch markers that my secret pal sent to me. I finally found the Macro function!

Thanks SP!!!

Rising like a phoenix

Mrow! (or whatever noise herbivorous dinosaurs used to make).

Here, risen from the dead ooze of his ancestors, is Bronty! In a nasty squeeky lime green acrylic that will actually do quite nicely for resurrected lizard skin.

What's that? His neck is falling down? Why no, not at all! He's just reaching out for his next nummy meal of dead leaves and...

Other natural fibers! Yes, this discriminating dino also seems to have a taste for exquisite silk and wool. Back, Bronty, back! This is mine, all mine

Wildlife and clappys

This little guy was up in the tree outside our house all day Sunday. He napped on the branch, little black hands drooping down and tried valiantly to ignore the yappings of our dog.

Would that I looked this cute when some damned dog woke me up in the middle of the night!
As promised, Clapotis in progress. I am using Cherry Tree Hill Twister, color Greens #6 on #8 needles.

I modified the pattern to only 3 increases (section 2 with 2 repeats, then another repeat to row 6). I'll see how many repeats I can get from it before I run out of yarn. If you click on the pic you can see the 2 sets of dropped stitches so far. Fun!

All my yarn is in one fabulously big ball, it tried to intrude on the shot.

Mmmm, yarn

Curiousity killed the knitter. I had to check out this banana silk yarn, and bought some. Isn't it like a big hank of candy? Question is, what to do with it? I have one hank, it is about 150 yards, with 3.5-4 stitches per inch on size 9 needles. Suggestions anyone?


Here is a closeup of the yarny goodness:

Pretty in Progress

And now, for my next trick, watch me pull a sweater out of my... Well, anyway I am going to make this lovely for me! It's from Vintage Knits by Sarah Dallas. Everything in this book is knitable, wearable, and sexy.

The only gotcha so far is the sizing - I ususally wear small, this pattern has me at large... Hmm. I'll take the middle road and try the medium.

I'm using this yarn, Debbie Bliss Cathay in a periwinkle that homestyle amateur digital photography fails to capture. But the shine you see is all real - cotton, microfiber and silk, so nice to knit!















Here is the beginning, rib and rib and rib. I'm ready to start the pattern stitch, which is more rib and rib and rib. Fun! Now for the katcha katcha thingy.

Stash Flash!

Here are some nice wooly yarns that look so autumnal together. Lots of yarn, lots of possibilities. Maybe some bags, a jacket, my dream is a lace-knitted skirt with the brown and a silky peach underslip.












And here is a pic of my stash closet with random gloves and hats calling...












Looky what came in the mail yesterday!!!

So excited to get started on a pretty pretty - uh, I mean handsome, scarf for DH. And a fluffy hat for me!

Baby sweater!

Here is the baby sweater that I made for my new little niece. Only 2 months late, but that's pretty fast for me. The pattern is from Vogue Vintage Knits, in Peter Pan Wendy yarn.Here is a closeup of the sweater, you can see the lace stitch better. It has lots of opportunity for frogging!

Little critters

When I was a kid, I loved Projects. And stories. This was my first really successful knitting project. Here are the wizard, king, queen, and princess. Note the queen is the only one with a crown...

Here are a scary ghost and pirate. It's hard to tell but the pirate has an eyepatch. Arghh!This guy is my favorite, the dragon with a long scaly tail.This horsey has a bit of a 'fro.Dog and cat, in loving companionship

Welcome, Me!

Welcome to cyberspace, wonky one!