Monday, August 20, 2007

I feel LUCKY... oh so LUCKY!!!



Me! Who never wins anything! I won this...
from Janice over at Willow Way Knitting.... Thank you SO much Janice. The yarn is so beautiful in the picture... I can hardly wait to have it in my hands! http://jarlady.blogspot.com/2007/08/winners-are.html

The Yarn Came From Kansas

Ravelry wait.....

You signed up on July 3, 2007
You are #12735 on the list.
3235 people are ahead of you in line.
14138 people are behind you in line.
34% of the list has been invited so far

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Santa's Coming to Town

127 days left til I have to have everything ready to mail out. I only have .... 14 more to do... from a total of 37. Pretty good, eh?

Don't Cry Mystery Socks





I tried the July Mystery pattern again, only this time with a worsted weight yarn (Paton's Aran)







and 3.5mm needles... and intentionally tried to not give the grip of death...











heres sock #1 done, and #2 is on the needles....
Im thinking of dip-dyeing these....

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Cry Baby, Cry


Ive finished my Mystery pattern for July's Sockamaniac sockalong.... I used koigu, 2.25mm, toe-up, 2x2 rib over the instep, did one of those backward flap heels (wont do it again), then 4 repeats of the pattern 3 times, and 2x2 ribbing.
Lace on tiny needles HURTS.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Hurts so bad

Ive been knitting so much lately, my hands swell up and ache. I have 20 of 38 xmas gifts done, and 5 more started (incomplete) and only 144 days left. Well make that 134, I need time to ship stuff, too.

I joined Mystery Stole 3 AND sockamaniac_sockalong both of which are lace.

I need an ice pack, an aspirin, and a shot of tequilla. In that order.

Crap, I just want to knit.

Granny Does Your Dog Bite

I’ve been asked for my Granny Square Sweater Pattern.
There’s two sizes, small and medium. For the small make 54 squares (granny square pattern below) and for the medium make 66 squares. The extra squares for the medium are for a gusset that goes under the arm, attaching front to back and widening the sleeve.

I normally use a single crochet (back loop only) to join the blocks. It makes a small ridge, but makes a great place to hide any tails. I also try to join as many blocks across without breaking the yarn. If you crochet the blocks neatly you can choose to have the ridge on the outside, which makes a nice detail.

For the edges I would normally use either a matching yarn (to the joins) or a contrast yarn and do a single crochet around all open edges (hem, front, neck, cuffs). You can add picots to one side of the front to make button holes. You can also make a collar using rows of single crochet (back loop only) about 6” wide x 10” long.

I’ve also put a row of sc along the collar for added detail. For the flowers and leaves use modular crochet. For example a leaf: chain 20, turn, sc 7 (stem), hdc 2, dc 2, tc 3, dc 2, hdc 1, sc 3, turn, sc 1, hdc 3, dc 2, tc 2, dc 1, hdc 2, sc 2. Bury tails in stem, or use to attach to sweater.

If anyone makes this pattern up, I would love to see your finished sweater!
Pattern for one granny square:

Using a 4.5 mm hook and Patons Decor (or other similar weight yarn)

Row1: Ch 5, join w/sl st to 1st ch1
Ch 3, catching tail under stitches: 2 dc in loop
[Ch3, 3 dc in loop] 3x
Ch 3 Join to top of ch 3 w/sl st to complete row 1


Row2: [Ch 3, turn, 2dc, ch3, 3 dc, ch1] in ch3-space
[3dc, ch3, 3dc, ch1 in next ch3-space] x3 Join to top of ch3 w/sl st to complete row 2


Row 3: [ch 3, turn, 2dc, ch1] in ch1-space
*[3dc, ch3, 3dc, ch1, in next ch3-space][3dc, ch1 in next ch1-space]* x3
[3dc, ch3, 3dc, ch1, in next ch3-space]Join to top of ch3 w/sl st to complete row 3


Row 4: [ch 3, turn, 2dc] in ch1-space
*[3dc, ch3, 3dc, ch1 in next ch3-space] [3dc, ch1 in next ch1-space] [3dc, ch1 in next ch1-space] *3x
[3dc, ch3, 3dc, ch1 in next ch3-space] [3dc, ch1 in next ch1-space]Join to top of ch3 w/sl st to complete row 4

And here's the sweater diagram....
Make the sections as follows:
Make two 3 x 3 for sleeves
Make one 4 x 4 for the back
Make two 2 x 5 for the fronts
If making the larger size:
Make two 1 x 6 for the underarm gusset
Piece across the shoulders, sleeves to sides, and under the arms. Press seams with a damp pressing cloth.
Attach any modular embellishments (leaves, animals, etc.)

Live and Let Dye Lot


Ya know how when youre making something, and you really didnt plan it all that well.... and you really need just one or maybe two balls to make a nice something into a fabulous something?
I lucked out. I found these two balls of Jo Sharp Aran DK Tweed in "boheme" at http://www.redbirdknits.ca/ - not only in my colour, but it was also the same dye lot. I know! I ran around screaming "Yes, Yes, YES!!" when I realized. I must have purchased this yarn 2 years ago. Its like some bloody kind of miracle! Oh yah, and they were on sale!

Hiding the Stash

Dressers can be converted to practical use....



The Yarnroom does not have to be "tidy"....







All bookshelves can now be for craft books









Stuff no longer must hide in closets








Multiple project baskets can live beside the bed




And finally, yarn is ART... it can hang on the wall

Waiting for the Ravelry

You signed up on July 3, 2007
You are #12735 on the list.
5010 people are ahead of you in line.
9854 people are behind you in line.

At least another month to wait for my Ravelry invite!!

Check your own position here... http://www.ravelry.com/antsy

Living in Stashville



I collect yarn. Without my stash I would be going crazy. CRAZY!
Too poor to buy new stash, that's me. If its a ball or two to finish a project then its okay (assuming one can find the same dye lot).
While I was still collecting, I had to make a database, you know to keep track of what I had (as you can see by the picture!) I have over 105 MILES (169 kilometres) of yarn to track. Some of the yarns out there dont tell you how much you have in length but in weight, which is somewhat useless, to my mind.