Spin Off Old Shale Shawl

Here is the beginning of the Old Shale Shawl in the newest Spin Off. It is out of some Frog Tree Alpaca Fingering Weight. It is a fun knit. I had to rip back occasionally but otherwise it went along fine at camp. Since I have been home, I have been knitting 2 rows a night on Ene's which I am enjoying a lot since I have finally stopped messing up. My work project was still my nephew's sweater but I am almost done with the body and have to move on to the sleeves so that will be staying home now and I will have to figure what to bring to work next.

Knit Camp

Knit camp was fun. I won this kit in a raffle. It is Hanne Falkenberg's Pygmalion. I had looked at the kits in the past but had never been tempted to buy one. Now I can try one. The weather was perfect, not too hot. I finished a few small projects while I was there. They always have little things that we can do if we want to. By Saturday night, I was starting to feel a little sad as I sat watching the fashion show at a table by myself. Everyone comes with or meets up with their friends there. I was a single camper and had a roommate whose friend couldn't come this year. We both are into Lace so we spent some time discussing that. But, sitting outside on Sunday watching everyone paired up (or in 3's and 4's) it reminded me that I am a solitary knitter. None of my friends knit. I don't have any that I can just call up to go on a yarn crawl. I do all of these things on my own. I know almost everyone at camp and they are all nice and all will talk with me but it still isn't the same as having a friend there with you. There are two that I have known for many years and I mostly hung out with them. They are usually a threesome but their friend wasn't there this year. I was very melancholy when I got home last night but today I realize that is just the way it is.

I started and brought the Old Shale Shawl with me. I finished the Sweet Baby Cap and two little mug cozies. I brought my Clementine Shawlette with me but only worked on it one day. I cast on a pair of fetchings but they were coming out too big so I frogged them and will eventually do them this summer. I mostly worked on the Old Shale.

Sunday there is a small (4 vendor) market which I did quite a bit of damage at. I went onto Ravelry and found a project to go with one of them so I am very happy with that. I also have yarn from the same vendor from past years and think I may have also found a project for that yarn.

C'est La Vie

This is the start of C'est La Vie by Fiddlesticks knitting. The yarn is some Tivoli Celtic Aran Superwash that was in the stash. It almost feels like I am knitting with acrylic but it isn't. It will be warm when winter comes and the house is cold to conserve the oil. The pattern is fun to do and I am enjoying it. I can see another in some wool somewhere down the line.

My Ene's scarf is slowly coming along. I do two rows, then have to rip back, then get back to where I started and try to move on. It will slowly get done but isn't going on vacation with me.

My knitting retreat starts tomorrow and I haven't packed yet and still don't have all the projects I am bringing picked out and packed up. I will pack as soon as I get off the computer. I've been slowly lining things up on the couch that have to be packed. I made a few lists and have been checking them off. It is going to be warm but no longer as humid as it is today so I have been going back and forth on what to bring. I may start a new Old Shale Shawl out of some fingering weight yarn as that will be a lot lighter than the Aran for C'est La Vie. I also plan to bring and finish the Sweet Baby Cap I am working on. I think I will bring the yarn for the 2 pairs of Fetchings that I want to make. I will probably also bring one of the scarves I am making as a backup.

Yum...

I was surprised at work with a delivery of Edible Arrangements. These are chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered apples. Yum. I told my father he could take some of the strawberries for he and my mother to try. I came home to find the whole box gone. He misunderstood and took the whole box. I called and they are now in the freezer till I see my parents over the weekend. I work for a non-profit and support about 20 people spread out in NY, NJ, RI and CT. Also in MA, NH, ME and VT if my new co-worker isn't around (we merged and then my co-worker in Syracuse changed jobs so I have a new co-worker). These are from one of my NJ girls.

In knitting news, the Heartland Lace shawl is on the blocking board and I love it so far. I think I have my vacation knitting figured out. I am going to start the C'est la vie! by Fiddlesticks Knitting. Plus, I just started a Sweet Baby Cap for a co-worker who is about to become a grandma. Plus, I will bring some fingerless mitts. I don't leave till the end of next week, so the choices may change.

Happy 4th of July weekend to everyone. I plan to have a low key, knitting and reading weekend.

Heartland Lace Shawl - the end is near

This is the Second chart section. I am now on the border and have less than 20 rows to go. My plan is to have the knitting done by Thursday morning so I can block it Thursday afternoon. I need it dry and ready for the following Thursday when I go to a Knitting Camp and it will be in the fashion show. I have 6 or 7 shawls (or shawlets) that I finished this year that will be in the fashion show. One I may not bring, I am not sure.

I am still trying to figure out what to bring to knitting camp. After seeing 2 C'est la vie!'s by Fiddlesticks Knitting on Li's Lifes a Stitch blog, I know want to make that again. I have had the pattern for a while and now it is on my mind. So, that may be a camp project as I know I have something in the stash that will work for it. I have also decided that the Fetching mitts I plan to make will also go along with me. I also want to make a baby hat for a women at work who is about to become a grandma in August. That will also probably go to camp for when I don't really need to pay to much attention. So, the two smaller projects are figured out, it is just the larger one that I am unsure of. Also in the running for day knitting is a Seraphim shawl out of black Silky Wool. Good thing I still have more than a week to decide and I have some days off from work next week to start packing.

A Single Rose

My father has a rose bush that produces one rose per year. This is the rose for this year.

Still knitting, I am on repeat 6 of the Heartland Lace Shawl, the pattern calls for 4 but I had yarn and wanted it a little bigger so I am at 6. I think this will be the last one. I have tried stretching it out a little but I think that the stitch count will end up being more than Birch which I knit on 8's. This one is on 7's so I think it will be good size wise. The same yarn so it should work out.

My nephew's sweater is now my lunch knitting. Since it is summer, I only have a 1/2 hour so the in the round knitting is working out fine. Don't have to pay attention, just talk and knit.

I really want to make a February Sweater and a Wicked for me but won't start on till after I finish one of the sweaters on the needles now. I also want to make some fingerless mitts. Never mind that I have a few mitt kits already waiting, I pulled yarn from the stash today to make a few others. I had the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino for some Fetchings so those will be for me. I also had two other yarns and have to decide between a pair of Cabled Fingerless mitts by The Giving Flower and the Princess Mitts from the Knitters book of yarn. I spent quite a while on Ravelry last night looking at all the projects for the last two mitts. One pair will be for a work friend who gave me her old Magenta Razr cell phone last week. I have it all set up now as a pay as you go phone and I love it. So, she will get a nice pair of mitts which she does want as she has to do part of her job in the distribution area which is chilly.

I leave for my knitting vacation in a few weeks and I have to decide what to bring with me to work on. Last year I brought two smaller shoulder shawls and almost finished them while I was there. This year, I don't know, I keep changing my mind. I was going to bring the Polka Dot Stole by Fiddlesticks which I love but I have a few UFO's that I could also bring, get done and then move on to something else. I have to have one thing that is easier for at night when it is dark and we are in an older building where the light isn't that bright (I think this will be my mothers top down sweater). The day projects are fine and can be more complicated as I am sitting out side all day long.

Heartland Lace Shawl

This is the start of my Heartland Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark. It was an award winner in a contest that Wild Fibers magazine had. I found the Knit-a-long on Ravelry and joined right in.
I am now on my third repeat of the second pattern. It calls for 4 before the end chart is done but I am going to add a repeat or two as I bought extra yarn yesterday to make sure I have enough. I think I will without the extra yarn but I picked some up anyway. I just don't want to put it down.

I cast on for my Ene's Shawl but am going to rip it and cast on again with larger needles.

My work trip to Saratoga Springs NY helped me to add over 6 inches to my nephews neck down sweater. We left work at 12:30 on Tuesday afternoon and returned to the parking lot at work on Wednesday at 6:30 pm. We had a nice dinner at The Mouzan House Tuesday night which has a resident ghost. The owner came out and told us the story. It fit right in with the weather as we ate on their covered deck with 2 thunder storms for company (plus a good band).