My Sunset cardigan

I am knitting away on my Winter Sunset Cardigan, and wanted to post a few pictures. The sweater is about 20 rounds from the neck and I am looking forward to being able to wear it.














I am obviously not a photographer, and my blogging abilities are questionable as well, but nonetheless I plod along. I would like to speed up with my kitting, but I am a fairly good knitter if I do say so myself.

The Fair Isle challenge at Linden Hills Weighs in by the 7th of March, I believe, so I need to make as much progress as possible in the mean time, if I go in to weigh and enter formally. I really am motivated to just have the sweater.

My arm steeks are in place, you can't see them, but they exist none the less. I will definitely have to write about how teh cutting of the steeks goes, keeping my fingers crossed. Wish me luck.

And Happy Stitches

Mourning our kitty Monika

We lost our little dilute calico this past week, she was old and became ill Monday overnight and passed away. I have photos, but do not have any digital photos, she was a talker, demanded her treats in the evening.

It is strange that she is not getting on the couch with me, or jumping onto the bed at night. She was alpha cat and kept the much younger and bigger Sasha in line.

It was helpful that the week was busy with dog walking and a dog rescue. I had been approached on Wednesday while walking all the dog by a woman who said she had a small dog who was a few months old, she could not take care of the dog, she said it was afraid of men and may have been abused when it was younger. Immediately I said yes and gave her my number; she called me Friday morning and I met her to get the dog. Her name is Baby and she is a sweet and lovely dog, who is possibly a terrier and poodle mix. I could not afford to keep baby as she would need a full and complete vet work up (she has not seen a vet at all) as well as needing to be fixed. One of the very lovely ladies in the charity knitting group I attend took Baby for the weekend and they bonded and fell in love. Amy has purchased toys, treats and training aids for Baby, I don't know if she will rename her, but she is a wonderful placement for Baby and we may make play dates for Baby and my poodle Sadie (who took to Baby right away) to get together.

The distractions did not take away the pain of loosing Monika, but knowing I help another little being find a good home was helpful.

May God bless all of our pets and Happy stitches to you.

Yarn Porn and a night at The Swedish American Institiute

If you are around or integrated into the fiber cult, you have heard of yarn porn, that lust of even pictures of possible additions to your stash. But my friend C. takes her lust a step further.
This past Friday January 23rd, J.W., S.D., C and I went to hear Solvieg Gustafsson speak at the Swedish American Institute in Minneapolis on Bohus Stikkning. There was a reception with a wonderful lingonberry punch, fruits, lefse roll ups, crackers with dip and wine. the wine was lovely, I preferred the punch, but C had 3 glasses of wine and justified them as one, or one and a half as the glasses were just half full. We practically drooled over the exhibit of Bohus sweaters, they are gorgeous. The color work patterns are knitted into the yokes of the sweaters, around the crown of the hat or on scarves and mittens. Kits were available in the gift shop at very reasonable prices, Depending on the sweater they were in the ballpark of about $189.00 for a kit with pattern and precision dyed wool yarn with enough yarn for a sweater up to 46inch bust.

It was a full house for the talk, I sat near the door incase I needed to exit, which I had thought at one point I may have had to. I began to feel the tightening and stabbing pain in my lungs from the purfumes and chemicals; my inhaler helped and I made it through with a headache.

Solvieg is lovely, she explained how she went from her executive work-a-day world in a large company re-creating the dyed yarn, colors and sweaters of the Bohus region. The lovely sweaters, patterns, hats, a lovely dress and other items were facinating, and as she showed and talked about pictures of her precision dyed yarns, C. commented about it being like yarn porn, which quickly echoed from the ladies in front of us and then she made the exclaimation I had heard her make over a skein of silk yarn from India, as pictures of the dyed yarn changed and the rich dep colors were displaed on the screen in front, she said "hellooo Lover". Yup that's our C! I had a flash in my mind of some sort of intervention, but it quickly went back ito a corner of my head and hid, because seriously, how many of us would need that yarn intervention.
Apparently Solvieg knits the yokes for the sweaters she is recreating and her husband helps her out by knitting the rest of the sweater. There is quite a bit of work involved in recreating the colors, dyed yarns, patterns and then knitting the yokes, leaving her with little to no time for knitting the rest of the sweaters.

Kits were purchased before the talk, J and C said not to let them return to the gift shop for more, which did not work well, the last thing I said as they bounded back upstairs after the talk was you can't go unless you buy me something, they both said okay and I turned to Sara and said, "They won't bring us anything." We agreed on this, but when they returned, J had purchased me a lovely Green Meadow wristlet kit. J is too generous for words at times, I was quite surprised.

I worked on my Fair Isle sweater, I was at a spot of a couple rounds of one color and then some simple pattern repeats. I am gettig close to the point, where I will add the steeks for the sleeves. I am so happy with my sweater, Here is the picture from the Jameison web site.





The picture does not do the sweater justice and I am not this young and cute.






Saturday was knitting our world together at L.I's., she has had a tough week with her chemo and treatment for her cancer. I am glad to know and knit with such wonderful people, good and generouds to each other and supportive, we all need love and emotional support from time to time. Sadie and I went early to help L's husband Dave set up for guests and visit a bit before the others arrived. J.W., D., and K.P. showed up to knit. I twas a nice visit, and pleasant knitt time. We did of coulrse do some clean up before leaving and then J and I went to the Bead hive, J for beads for a pair of socks and I purchased some jump rings for stitch markers.

Today however I had a sinus headache and laid low, missing a work shop on crating your own craft book, I was very sad about missing that, but I would have been miserable there.

I have been able to get a couple tasks done around the house, including nail trim for Sadie, which was overdue.

Hope your weekend was good and all is well in your world.

Happy Stitches.

Sock club and the Convention Grill

Last Saturday was sock club, it was fun to see the group and get a new sock pattern as well as the yarn. We met at the Lunds on 50th near France Avenue, in the community room which is a lovely room with kitchen facility. Plans are to meet at this facility for a couple of months, march may find us changing from a sock pattern to a shawl pattern using a lovely silk lace weight yarn and using food coloring to dye it. Sounded like a nice switch up and experience; I have not dyed yarn yet.

The new sock pattern is a Bohus patterned leg with a peaked cuff top. I need to wind the yarn and cast on, but I need to empty needles first. We discussed the Bohus tradition event going on at the Swedish American Institute in Minneapolis, There are lectures and knitting class. A group is forming to go to the lecture by Solveig Gustafsson on Friday evening.

Our knitting friend L.I. came to sock club, her good friend D gave her a ride. There was an update to her caring bridge site, updating us on her treatments and how she is feeling, many prayers for L.I. and her family. L is a breast cancer survivor and this year, her seventh since her origional diagnosis. This year L discovered her breast cancer has metastesized to her bones, she is so positive and utilizing all of her options.

After sock club, J.W. and I went to Needlework Unlimited, J. needed needles and wanted to go there. Everyone was very helpful a friendly, not completely unusual, I have found people having a bad day a couple of times and felt a bit snubbed, sometimes I dress a bit more bummy; we were offered a tour, interesting premis. They are having a an upcoming Bohus class. See the Needlework Unlimited web site for details on this class, which will be later this spring.
On the whole, Needlework Unlimited has a wide a varied selection of yarn and supplies for knitting and crocheting as well as needlepoint supples.

Here is a link

http://needleworkunlimited.com/knitcrochetclasses/clinicsworkshops.html

After Needlework Unlimited, we went to Michaels for jump rings to use as stitch markers, found them.

We had not planned to do lunch, but decided to after hearing about the Convention grill at Needlework unlimited. The Convention Grill is a a 50's style diner in Edina off France near 44th and Sunnyside. We waited about 15 minutes for seating, but is was worth it. We had a great waitress, very cool, probably woked there since the 50's. The burgers were HUGE, the meat loaf sandwich was awesome! What can I say about the shakes? YUM! OMG, ok, we split a Blueberry shake with a twist of strawberry, more than enough for two people.

Life can certainly take you to some very interesting places and the Convention Grill is definitely an interesting place and a must visit. Prices, oh yes, the prices were very reasonable; not fifties prices, (don't know what that would be like, was not alive then) but good just the same.

I did not go to Linden Hills yarn today, too cold! Cannot bear it today, I will go this week, just not today. My Fair Isle sweater is going well, I love the fact that what ever knitting technique you want to learn, you can just sit at Linden Hills table of life and learn it from someone who knows.

I have rambled on enough for one day, stay warm and Happy Stitching!

News scoop

My last big post was September 22nd, since then I have been knitting and playing with designs as well as keeping my head up fighting some mild depression.

I joined the Fair Isle Challenge at Linden Hills Yarn, I am working on the Jamieson's Winter Sunset Cardigan. It is looking very lovely and I hope to make some good progress. Working with the two yarns at once in the fair isle tradition was a learning experience, but I was able to pick it up rather quick.



This is the monkey hat I knitted from a kit purchased at Three Kittens, which moved this year to a new spot. The new space is smaller, but well organized and fresh looking.

I Purchased a pattern for the Frosty Peaks Shawl, by Anastasia Knits. I finished the shawl as a Christmas gift for my sister Heidi, she loved it!


Here is the Frosty Peaks Shawl, as modeled by my crafting friend Linda L.

Unfortunately the picture does not do the shawl justice. The shawl was knitted using Malabrigo lace yarn in the Cadmium colorway.



I was asked to knit a couple of new sweaters for my cousin Marian's dog, Asher.


Sadie is modeling Asher's new sweaters, my cousin loved them and said Asher loved them as well.






I knitted slippers for my sister Becky, her daughter Bri and her son Daniel. I made a pair for her son Matthew as well, but they were a bit big and I sent him a gift certificate instead.
The slipper socks on the left are the ones I made for Becky, Brianna's are
similar, but smaller and Pink. The Red and Black slippers on the right are the ones made for Daniel, he loved them and called me personally to thank me for them; a proud moment and touching that a 14 year old would do that. Daniel can be a thoughtful kid.



Sadie and I went to Mankato to spend the Christmas and New Years Holidays with my sister Heidi and her family.

To the left Sadie is sitting with her Christmas presents, before and after opening them.
Heidi always gives Sadie Christmas Presents and this always includes clothes. Sadie now has two new shirts.

While in Mankato, Heidi and I went to Mary Lue and Ewe Yarn in Mankato a couple of times; the second time was for their New Years day sale where I purchased the Two at-a-time sock book.

Mary Lue's is great little shop which moved from St. Peter to 605 North Riverfront Drive in Mankato. The owner is very friendly and helpful, her web site went live on New Years day and lists classes. Mary Lue's not only carries yarn and books, there is roving and a few spinning supplies, she offers classes and knitting help. During the New years Day sale, there were Locker hoocking, spinning and felting demonstrations; treats and beverages were available and there was pleanty of help if needed. A nice little perk to shopping at Mary Lue's is a yarn card that gives you credit for yarn and spinning fiber, bonus!

I know, how often will I get there? perhaps not often, but I like cards.

Linden hills is still Home base, as long as they are open knitters are welcome to come and knit, help is always available, but they only offer one class, it is beginning knitting taught by Kathleen. If you are looking to learn anything else knit wise, they are more than happy to help you pick your supplies and teach you the technique or skill free. Sit, knit, listen, chat, its all good.

I will post pictures of my cardigan when I make a bit more progress, in the mean time..........

Happy Stitching!

Still Kicking and around

I have not posted in quite some time, I will be writing a post in the next couple of days to talk about what I have been up to.

Hope the Season is treating you well and you are knitting along, I have been knitting several little projects and have started a sweater I will tell you more about and review a couple of yarn shops as well.

Back Hoe operator in trianing, a busy week and today

Saturday was a lot of fun. I picked up my great niece (this is she) and we spent a few hours together while her mom worked. First it was breakfast and a cartoon, then I told her we needed to take Sadie for a walk. I wondered how close we would be to the park before she was able to see it and realize where we were going; we made it to almost the end of the block and she said "oh, look it's a park, let's go there. Amy tried everything in the play ground, going from the gliders to each of the swings, climbing the bars and the play gym. the last thing she tried was the diggers, she just did not have the strength for them. "Can you please help me?", yes, I helped, showed her how, and hand over hand we dug, lifted moved and dumped a couple of shovel fulls, then she wanted to do it herself. It went back and forth a few times, she asked for help, then she wanted to do it, and finally she started trying to put her whole body into the task, feet sliding backwards she was saying " I can do it, I know I can." It was the cutest, I giggled and silently bemoaned the fact that I did not own a recorder at that moment, then thought, Why did I not think to bring the camera. The park was not a good place for my dust allergies and asthma, but survive I did.

Definitely have to go back to the park together some time, I just am not able to see her much at all, but maybe I can work something out soon, it was such fun. We came back after a long time playing at the park and we had a tea party lunch on the patio. I did manage to use my camera to take a short video of her reading. Unfortunately, I may try to add later, because it has taken almost an hour and not uploaded yet.

I am starting a busy week Out to lunch and dinner today for my birthday, Meet at a girlfriends house tomorrow with some knitting friends, spinning and knit night Wednesday and Thursday is craft night. I finished my September sock club socks, no pictures yet, and I started a sock pattern from a couple of months ago, I am going to try to catch up now that I have sent my sock contest entry in.

Off to lunch,

Happy Stitches.