Yarn Along

Time to join Ginny for the Wednesday yarn fun.  I have one baby blanket on the needles almost ready to be bound off.  Since it's a gift I won't show you until it gets to it's final destination.  The baby blanket I was crocheting did make it to the recipient and I can give you a peek at that.

I loved working on this blanket.  It went so fast and it was incredibly soft.

As a spinner I tend to dislike acrylic yarn, but it does have it's uses and for baby items it's a match.  Easy to wash, not much fear of allergies.  It's all good.  I would have crocheted the current blanket I'm finishing but I knew too much crochet would not be a happy thing for my wrist.

So what's on your needles and hooks?

10 On Tuesday

Can somebody please tell me where the month of April has gone?  I cannot believe that tomorrow is May 1st already.  May is a crazy month in our house.  There is lots going on.  So let's talk about 10 Things I'm Looking Forward to in the Month of May.

1.  My birthday.  It usually falls on Memorial Day Weekend.  My best friend's b-day is the day before mine so we always have something fun planned.
2.  My anniversary.  This is the beginning of the month.
3.  Mother's Day.  It's the one day a year where I feel no guilt about sitting outside and knitting all day.
4.  The fiber festivals. New Hampshire is the next one for me.  Followed by RI, of course.
5.  Nicole's final high school musical.  I can't believe she is a senior and this is the last one.
6.  Lilacs.  My favorite flower ever!  They are usually in full bloom by my birthday.
7.  More knitting on the deck - without being as bundled up as I was this past weekend.
8.  Baseball games.  I'm looking forward to my first Pawsox game but I refuse to go until I know I won't freeze.  Shall we talk about the year we went for our birthday and it was 30 degrees and raining?  On Memorial Day weekend?  Yeah - that left mental scars and a fear of being cold that didn't exist before.  And a nasty cold that wouldn't leave.
9.  Farmers Markets.  I love doing that on a Saturday morning.
10.  Nicole graduating.  She technically doesn't graduate till June 14th but most of the work and exams (and her stress) will be over in May.  She is ready to move onto college and start the next chapter of her life.

Weekending

We had a great weekend!  The weather was almost perfect (the breeze off the water is still chilly at this time of year so it's never really WARM), a lot of time was spent outside, and there was the CT Sheep and Wool Fesitval.

Pretty fleece, huh?  Nope - I didn't buy it. I still have one I bought there a couple of years ago that needs to be carded and spun.  That's my project this summer.

I just love this bunny.  I really wish I didn't have such an awful allergy to angora.  I would add  this little guy to the assortment of pets at home.

He would fit right in there, don't ya think?  We have been wanting to take a picture of Mowgli next to the little statue for a while because we thought it was so cool that one was black, the other white and they were the same size.  We waited too long because he's twice the size of the statue now.

And it's my first official knitting on the deck picture of 2013.  It only lasted a little while because it was too breezy.  It was fun while it lasted.  I brought the party inside though.

How was your weekend?

Yarn Along

Wow - I can't believe it's Wednesday already.  Where is the week going?  Since it's Wednesday it's time to join Ginny and see what everyone is up to - yarn-wise, that is.  And also get some good recommendations for books.  I am still on the same book Iv'e been on for months, which is the last 50 Shades series.  My goal is to finish before the end of June so I can load a new book on the Ipad before we go on the cruise.  If I thought I had limited reading time before, it has dwindled down to about nothing these days.  When I sit on the couch Mowgli is looking for some playtime so we do that for a while.  It gets hard to say no to this face.

His training is going well and there is some light at the end of the tunnel.  I remember when Magnum was a puppy it was a solid 3 months of dedication, then he became a dog and didn't need the constant attention.

Onto the knitting portion of the program....

Still working on the baby blanket.

It's hard to see much progress.  It's measuring about 24" in diameter.  I'm thinking I would like 36" total so we are nearing the end.  I love the yarn.  Nice and light.  I think it will be great for a summer baby.

I should be done this week then it's back to some crochet bags.  I still have this idea that I want to do this for Mother's Day.  How long till Mother's Day?

What's on your needles?

10 On Tuesday

First of all, everyone go and check out Carole's blog today.  Besides seeing one of my favorite blogs around, you can check out her interview with Amy Herzog and learn all about her exciting new book, Knit to Flatter. I have heard great things about this book already and I am going to sign up for the class.  You can also get a chance to win a copy of her book when you stop over at Carole's blog.  Win-Win!

Onto the 10.  It's 10 Favorite Sweater Patterns.

Let me preface this by saying - I really haven't knit that many sweaters.  I'll start out with the ones I have knit and move onto the ones I want to knit.

1.  February Baby Sweater.  I knit this once and I really liked how it came out.

I wanted to knit one for myself but haven't done it.

2.  The simple EZ seamless raglan.  I knit this for winter Olympics one year and got it done in less than three weeks.  I loved that I didn't have to think much.  And that it was a quickie!

Those are the ones that I have knit.  Here's the list of what I want to knit:

3.  Atelier.  I have been looking through the stash to see if I have enough yarn to knit this one soon.  I was hoping to use some hand spun but I'm not sure if it is going to work.

4.  Boxy.  I saw this on Rav the other day and fell in love with it.  I love a big draped sweater.

5.  Tea Leaves Cardigan. I have seen this on so many blogs and it looks great on every one.

6.  Klaralund.  I still love this sweater and even though it didn't work out the last time I tried it I will find a way!

7.  Simplest Sweater.  Need I say more?

8.  Baby Surprise Jacket.  I have never knit one and I'm not sure why.  Everyone I know who has done this pattern loves it.

9.  Speaking of babies, I am knitting Baby Sophisticate and I just love it.  I'm not thrilled with my yarn choice but it's for a baby so it has to be washable, etc...  I'm keeping it down here since I haven't technically finished it yet.

10.  Iced.  I'm envisioning this in handspun.  Chunky handspun!

Guess I better get knitting, huh....

Yarning Along and Other Things

I can't believe a whole week has gone by without  a post.  I have no particular reason for that.  It's school vacation week so I have been out of my routine a bit I guess.  There are lots of yarny things going on though.  I found a good project to get through my huge cotton yarn stash.

I'm working on a Crochet Bag , which I will turn into more of a basket and use as a project bag, so to speak.  It's taking me a little longer to work on than I thought it would.  And boy does it eat up yarn!   I may have to go and get some more.

My original thought was that I was going to destash a bunch and maybe make some smaller bags for Mother's Day but I'm not sure if that will work.  I need to take it easy with the crochet because it doesn't agree with my wrist.  Booo.  So of course I cast on something else in the meantime.

It's another baby blanket and it's going pretty fast.  Another no-thinking project which is what I'm all about these days.  You can see Mowgli has to be occupied with his own hobby while I knit.  We still love to chew yarn when nobody is looking.

Kinda tough to get mad at him though.

Yarn Along

Blanket is done but will be blogged about at a later date.  I still have the crochet bug and am looking for the next project to start.  Right now it's still all about babies so I cast on the Baby Sophisticate which is a free pattern on Ravelry.  So far so good.

This will be what my lunch time will look like today.

I'm not thrilled with the yarn.  I went with an acrylic for the usual reasons when knitting for babies.

It's going along fast, which is another reason I love to knit for babies.  I'm hoping to done if a few days.

So what's on your needles these days?  Join Ginny and see what we are all up to.