Catch Up

For some reason, Blogger won't let me post pictures. Have a few of finished goods.

Have been sick since last post, still have the cough that I had then tough it seems to be a little less every day. Never at night, so sleeping isn't so bad.

I have done almost no knitting. Made my mother about 5 catnip mice for her church. She brought 6 as I had one left from the last time I made them. She sold 5 so next year, I will make her 5 more.

I gave my niece a scarf for her 21st birthday that I had made last year out of Malabrigo lace. My sister commented that she wanted one. I started a Seafoam scarf out of some Ellyn Cooper's Yarn Sonnets merino I had in the stash for her. Not sure if she will like it but too bad. It will become my work knitting.

Still have to make my mother her vest and a vest for me. Another co-worker is expecting his second child so I will make 2 hats for her over the winter. She isn't due till February. The other baby gifts for the winter babys are done so I will enjoy the little hats after the holidays.

Bee Button Baby Cardigan

I had the buttons first and had to make a child's sweater for them. The pattern is a Yankee Knitter pattern. The buttons make it a little hard on the yarn to button them so I will have to pass that on to the new owner.

I have two more projects ready to post. The shawl is still not blocked. Just haven't felt like it.

Yesterday, I woke with a cough but spent the day at the outlets with two friends. Came home tired from all the walking with the cough and a headache and went to bed early. I must have not felt well as I didn't even stay up to watch the Yankee game. Today, I added the runny nose to the cough. Have slight headache but it is mostly around my nose and sinus's. Yech, just want a need is a cold. I don't get a bad one that often so I shouldn't complain. I already had a stomach bug last spring so I hope my bugs are done for the year.

I have cast on my mother's vest but haven't gotten past the garter stitch band. At work, I have been making a few catnip mice for my mother's church fair and some for my cats. I found out about another new baby coming so I am planning a hat for that one. I have a vest already to start for me but I can't find the stitch markers I need so I ordered some more and they should arrive in a week. I really need to get a good start on my mother's anyway so maybe this week, I can buckle down.

Rhinebeck

Rhinebeck was nice. It was a little cold, a little crowded, but I managed to get most of what I went there for. I got the Knitters Book of Wool and had it autographed. The book and a copy of Wild Fibers came from the Spirit Trail booth. I was also happy to see my friend Shelia who comes from Oregon to work in the booth. I wanted to try some yarn that I hadn't tried before so I bought 2 Knitspot patterns and a skein of Briar Rose yarn (the large orange skein) from that booth. I also made my way into the Brooks Farm booth where I came out with a skein of yarn (the smaller skein).

My parents had a good time. After all the worrying about the weather, it wasn't rainy or snowing so that was good.

Have a couple of finished items to show. One shawl is done and needs to be blocked this weekend. The others are done and put away.

Today was a tough day, we had layoffs at work and 7 people in my office are gone. 5 of them are friends of mine, 2 were lunch buddies as well as friends. I will now be lunching by myself with my knitting. I didn't even go to lunch today, I just couldn't face it. 2 I didn't know that well at all though one of them always stopped to say hi and I will miss her smiling face as she passed by.

Selbu Modern

Here's my Selbu Modern. It was a fun knit. Two skeins of Koigu, one the solid blue, the other a multicolor pink.

The childs cardigan is done, just need a picture. It doesn't look big enough for the intended recipient so for now, I am planning to use it for a baby gift for a coworkers grandchild. I also started and finished a Spiraluscious by Knitspot. It is blocking. I had needed a small project for a Spinning Guild meeting and that was it. Finished in less than a week.

On the needles now is another baby sweater. I should finish the back tonight and start a front tomorrow. The only other two projects on the needles that I actually want to finish are two shawls. One is my Spring Things Shawl, less than 20 rows to go. Plus, there is a C'est la vie! Wrap by Fiddlesticks Knitting waiting. I had bought the trim yarn at Rhinebeck last year and had hoped to get it done for this year but I just wasn't in the mood for it. It will be finished before next October.

Other than that, my mother now wants a vest instead of a sweater so I am off and searching for a vest pattern. I handed her the Patternworks catalog yesterday and she picked out a few so I will be ordering soon and then will get started on that.

Rhinebeck is a few days away and I can't wait. It will be a nice few days off for me as I take a few extra days around it to just relax. We had bad news at work of layoffs and paycuts looming within two weeks so Rhinebeck will be a refreshing break from the worry.

Franklin County Fiber Twist

Saturday in Greenfield, MA with perfect weather. My mother and I started out at about 9:40 am for Greenfield. Took about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Traffic stopped for a tiny period in Springfield. Pictured is Kristin Nicholas's new book, 4 of her postcards (which I hope to frame and hang on the wall), a pair of earrings and a stitch marker (to become a necklace and an Xmas gift from my mother) from Glastonbury Glassworks and a matted photo of a sheep that will be framed. I also got a bead from Glastonbury Glassworks that is going to go on a cord.

We left there right about noon and headed south through awful traffic on 91 south through Ingleside (before Springfield) to get to Deep River, CT in time for their sale which ended at 4 pm. Lunch was a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts and then we arrived at the shop around 2. The shop doesn't have sales often so I had to find time to hit it. I ended up with enough Cotton Fleece for a sweater for me and then 2 skeins of Koigu for a scarf (most likely a gift) and then some sock yarn to make a baby sweater and another yarn (I want to guess Shaefer Irma but not sure) for a baby sweater. I spend Sunday re-arranging some of the stash and putting away any recent purchaces.

Work knitting is still the child's sweater, back is done, fronts almost done. Home knitting is the Selbu Modern. Should be done soon, I have hit the decreases on the crown. Next up is my mother's sweater. Yarn was pulled from the stash Sunday and she likes it. Sweater pattern choices have been narrowed to 3, now to see which one will meet gauge the best. My Xmas knitting will be mittens for my niece to go with a scarf that I made last year, my mothers sweater (though I warned her she may get it like last year - around Valentines day), and maybe a cowl for a friend. I think that is it. I have 5 gifts finished already. I have a stash of scarves already made and they are going to become some gifts or donated to charity.

... an old doily

My father and I brought down my mother's hope chest from the attic this morning. My mother made this doily years ago. It now sits on the hope chest in my bedroom. My mother spent about 2 hours going through all the items that had been in there for years. There were a lot of baby sweaters and booties that my grandmother had made. Unfortunately, she never let my sister use them so now they will go back in for any children my niece may have. There was a crochet afghan that I have laid claim to and it will be going back in there for use in the future. They have a similar one at their cottage that my grandmother also made. The hope chest is bigger than I thought and has a drawer. The drawer is being repaired and then I will fill it up a bit each night or over the weekend.

I haven't started anything new. Still working on the Selbu Modern at home and the baby sweater at work. The MA fair is coming up this Saturday and I can't wait. I really don't need anything but love to look and see what is new.

We are still cleaning out the living and dining rooms of all the stuff that was taken out of my bedroom. I will have a bunch of stuff to go to either charity or flea market and my mother will start questioning if I still want to get rid of it. My answer has been yes, if it is in the pile it is going away. Feels good to get rid of some stuff.

2 Wonky Cowls and a Calorimetry

One skein of Plymouth Encore Colorspun yielded two Wonky Cowls and one Calorimetry. These were quick knits. The cowls match 2 scarfs I made 2 years ago for my hairdresser's little girls. The calorimetry will go to a co-workers little girl. I wanted to figure out how to make it smaller as my hairdresser is getting one out of Malabrigo and if her daughters like it, then I have a quick knit for them for next year.

My work project is now a child's sweater that I haven't even put on Ravelry. The yarn is leftover from a baby blanket and I really don't enjoy it but it is knitting up quicker now that I am knitting it during my hour lunch. I am not sure if I will have enough for sleeves but if I don't, it will just be a vest.

My night knitting is the Selbu Modern I have on the needles. Once as I finish that, I am going to start a sweater (still undecided) and also work on finishing up my Spring Things shawl. I think I have less than 30 rows to go on that. I have 3 other projects on the needles that I am going to decide if I am going to frog or finish. I am thinking finish one as I bought the yarn to make the edging at Rhinebeck last year. The other two I think are going to the frog pond. I get no enjoyment out of either one though I may give one of them one more chance.

I am so looking forward to the upcoming fairs. There is one in MA in a few weeks that my mother enjoys. It is very small and then we sometimes stop at Webs on the way home but I may not this year. Then comes Rhinebeck which my parents also enjoy. They like the cooking demos and spend most of the time we are there sitting and watching that. I have no plans to go to Stitches as I enjoy the fairs more. The knitters I know think I am crazy but I would rather spend my money at my LYS and at the fairs with the local independent dyers.