Progress on Projects

It's been a busy week. I'm keeping up with two of my ongoing projects, but am behind on the one with the complex lace. Here is a picture of one that I feel comfortable sharing (don't want to share the mystery ones).

This project is a recipe that gives basic instructions and then you can choose colors and textures. This one starts with two triangles and then the sides are worked out from the center triangles. Using odds and ends can make interesting pieces :).

I'm starting up the holiday knitting as well. When we're traveling, I need very basic projects so I have this fun basic scarf to work on. Can you tell where the color theme is from?

I was having a conversation with someone in my family and he indicated that he still prefers the Tom Baker Dr. Who. I'm using KnitPicks yarn Felici with colorway Time Traveler. It's out of stock at this point, but I couldn't resist with all of the Felici worsted on sale :). On size eight needles the garter stitch is so springy and lovely.

I'm curious to see how much of a scarf I'll get out of one ball and I have a couple back ups to make the scarf plenty long. I fear the reddish a bit too pink, but I've seen pictures with the color looking more pink.

We had a lovely time at the Tigard Knitting Guild's Knit Out at the Tigard Library yesterday.

Here's my poor attempt at a selfie. We found some lovely yarns in the stash pile and won a few prizes as well. The best part was spending time with my Tigo crafters and meeting new crafty people :).

Onward and upward! Have a great week and I look forward to more progress.

It's a Heatwave!!!

I hope you're all staying cool. It's funny what a relief a high of only 90 brings. The sunshine is wonderful, but I'm not a fan of anything above 85 degrees. I think that's why the Pacific Northwest was a great choice. From the extreme temperatures of the Midwest to the mostly moderate weather in Portland...I feel lucky even when the annual heatwave arrives.

The deeper question is...can anyone craft in this heat? I've been vigorously wrapping up a shawl for a test knit which easily covers my lap. In the evenings when the air conditioner can't keep up I'm sweating a bit with the wool. Here is the test gracing my lap as I try to get the icord bind off completed. The colors came together well (although it's hard to tell in this picture thanks to the flash).

In this heat I still find myself drawn to gorgeous sweater patterns. After I finish the mystery knits this month, I plan to dive into a sweater (or two because I like to have a couple of options).

What do you think of this nifty pullover? I've fallen in love with the funky vibe of Sunset Highway and I could probably pull together enough sock yarn in my stash to make it.

I plan to get started on Divide once I wrap up the test knit and mystery knits. Here is another fun sweater (A Good Vintage Cardigan) with a great vintage look that I've been debating to start for some time. Also, I think more cardigans would be helpful for easier layering than only pullovers.

These two sweaters both use fingering weight (aka sock yarn), which I love and have a decent stash of now. I have officially vowed not to buy anymore yarn and I mean it!!!  There is enough in my stash to figure out any number of various projects and fun. I was able to pull together the yarn for 3 ongoing knit projects quickly. Here are the ones I'll be working on in August:

1) Don't Panic (A mystery knit with a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy theme)
2) Everyone Knows Pies are Round (A mystery knit with pie recipes in each clue)
3) Woman Must Make her Own Arrows (not really a mystery, but a yarn recipe with periodic clues)

I'm sure my list seems a little long, but it's fun and I'll likely fall behind on one or two. The first two clues have been released on the first two patterns, but there is still time to join. The third pattern released the first step so there is plenty of time.

Stay cool in this abnormal Portland heat and happy crafting!

P.S. Since I've given up buying yarn...if you'd like to get me a skein of sock yarn (like: Hawthorne), you'd make my day ;). 

One update...the test shawl is done!!!! I've  included the picture with my younger son's foot. I don't get much time to snap pictures of things before he's in the middle of it :). His little stuff shark is in the the far corner from his foot if you're curious as to the other object in the picture.

On the Coast

We started our second day in Lincoln City today. The boys love the beach. The little guy has been a handful to an amazing extent. I think tonight was largely related to being tired. We might be ordering take out for the next couple of meals.

Having some time away from home can be very nice. I'm thankful I'll have Wednesday off from work to recover from the trip. Then only two days before the next weekend.

I'm almost 2/3 of the way done with a test knit shawl and then there is a mystery knit that starts on August 1. I'm planning to work on the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy themed mystery shawl Don't Panic.

I'm excited to swatch for an upcoming sweater...I'm hoping I have the patience to get that done quickly :).

My wrists are pretty sore from the current project so I'll likely need to take a break. With how busy work seems to be (upon my return from vacation), we'll see how much time there is to craft (I typed nap instead of craft at first...Freudian slip).

I'm still keeping these posts fairly short...things to do...need sleep!!!

Hope you all have a great week. I'll post more soon.

KAL and CAL

Happy Sunday. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the start of another work week. We had our first weekend of not needing to work, travel too far, family celebrations, or dog-sitting/house-sitting. We took advantage by running errands and catching up on some cleaning. There is always more to do.

I found another project to test and I'm almost a third of the way done. I'm striping a lovely shawl for a nice person in Ireland. So many lovely ideas from so many corners of the world.

The pattern that I really want to work on next as a personal treat is Divide:

This is the main sample picture. Check it out...it's gorgeous. I'm hoping to start it in August with a cotton based yarn. Anyone want to knit along with me?

Here is the lovely crochet sweater I'd love to work on as well:  Picking flowers sweater. I'd push this one ahead of Divide if someone wanted to join me. I don't have time to work on it during the current crochet along.

I'm keeping this post pretty light. My coastal family vacation is coming up quickly. I plan to have lots to post about soon :).

Have a great week.

Multiple Celebrations :)

June and July are filled with birthdays and anniversaries in my family. My mom celebrated her birthday this week and my older son will celebrate his birthday tomorrow. We found a few little things to give him and he is intent upon spending his birthday money on video games.

I survived my fourth round of expert witness testimony, we had our summer cub scout planning meeting, I finished knitting a sweater, and we're another week closer to our vacation to the coast...so many thinks to celebrate. As with my husband's birthday, I tried to find a few interesting history facts.

The one historical event that caught my eye was the launch of Apollo 11, the mission to send men to the moon. The number eleven has a special meaning in my family and neither of my kids were born on an eleventh. Not only is there another eleven to link to my kiddo, but space has always been a particularly special interest my mom and I shared growing up.

The post is being made a day early to allow for time to focus on the birthday and work on some time sensitive projects for work.

The completion of the test knit has been a nice relief of Links are my a game pullover. The sweater turned out great and I like the design. Here is a nice awkward selfie in the completed sweater.

It's definitely not sweater weather here in Portland, but I'll be ready for fall. The sweater was a very fun project and I greatly appreciate the design. I'm excited to have a green sweater. Green is my favorite color, but I don't tend to buy it that often.

Now with all of that freedom to choose a new project, I've been balling up some skeins and starting up some basic crochet patterns. I'm hoping to make things that I'll actually wear instead of things that are merely fun to make. I checked out one of Norah Gaughan's books Knitting Nature from the local library. I've been a fan of Norah's work for several years.  There are some lovely patterns and I was tempted to start one (or 2). With my 18 pages of projects in Ravelry...that's a sign that I don't need any new  pattern books.

I was considering making the Purl Soho Short Row Sweater to make an adorable layering sweater. I have some Hawthorne fingering in a white, dark blue, and gray that might make for a very pretty short row sweater.

I'm also excited to work on a crochet pattern in the spring/summer magazine for Vogue Knitting. And yes, I said crochet patterning in a knitting magazine. Check it out:  #23 Mesh Jacket. I'm contemplating using some of my fingering weight Noro. I'm curious as to how it would turn out with the striping in the yarn.

After several busy weekends, it's been nice to just take some time to let the kids enjoy what they love. When we returned home from a drive to the Dalles, the little guy and I walked to the playground at Marshall park. Here is Ethan enjoying the swing. Such a sweet boy. Hopefully, he sleeps more tonight than he did the previous night. I need more than 3 and half hours of sleep.

I'm hoping that Jeffy has a special day. We're keeping it simple this year...to my relief!!!

Have a great week and happy crafting.

Crazy summer weekends!

It's amazing how busy things seem to be. I had hoped with the holiday on Tuesday that things would be fairly quiet during the week. I received so many calls and e-mails. The good news is that my little practice area seems to be growing with more interest and referrals from attorneys. But that's just boring talk :).

I've been knitting the sweater for my last test knit as much as I can. I only have part of one sleeve before I put it all together. I blocked the back panel and will be blocking the main body tonight. I'm close to running out of yarn, but I think I'll be fine. There is a lovely list of other things I want to make as I had indicated last week.

I hope you had a festive 4th of July. We spent time with family and watched the movie Independence Day. It's such a fun 90s movie. I wore my headband (Ravelry:  Simple Patriotic Headband). With need to work the day before and the day after the holiday there wasn't much time to relax.

I purchased a few new tools within the last few weeks to help with my crafts. Here are the knitting blocks that I'm very thankful for. The grid is super handy.

Along with the blocks I purchased a little display dress form and a scale. That's enough investment in my craft for now. I'll work on my crochet top and then a knit top when there is a tad more time :). Please PM me if you'd like to test knit or crochet. I might be able to send you the yarn for  the test too!

Here's a quick flash back of what they look like.

Ethan (my toddler) and I drove to the Dalles and back to send my almost eight year old to my Dad's home in central/eastern Washington. On the way home we stopped by my knitting group. It was so nice to see Cathie and to meet Alex (both who love to crochet). Ethan was happy to have some space to run around, but a Starbucks isn't necessary the best place for a toddler. We didn't stay for long.

Wish me luck with the sleeve and wrapping up that project ASAP! Have a great week.

A Weekend to Rest

On Friday Sammy and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by taking Friday off from work and having a weekend without the kids. My family agreed to babysit, many thanks to Sam and Cathy.

We took Friday pretty slow. I love where we live right now. So many things are in walking distance. We ate at the Original Pancake House after I dropped my car in for a tire rotation. I had pumpkin pancakes...so yummy! I'm in the "pumpkin should be in everything" crowd (except for beer...I don't like pumpkin beer). Then we watched a couple of fun nerdy movies and enjoyed some cheese and crackers for lunch. I feel like it's a standard celebratory meal for us. We were able to get some things done around the condo and relax this weekend. Our cars are even washed and vacuumed...such a relief. We park under some trees that have been blooming.

I've been working hard on my final test knit which is a very time intensive project. I have about two weeks to get it done. With the holiday on Tuesday, I'm so hoping to get things wrapped up quickly. The list of things I want to make after completing it keeps growing and growing. Also, I want to design a few things along the way as well. Designing is a time intensive process (especially as a novice).

To clean things up, I was going through my pattern library in my Ravelry notebook. I have over 1,000 patterns in my library from over five years of searching. Clearly, there is no need for me to purchase any new patterns soon! There are some things I have finished, so it was nice to post some pictures and remove them from the list.

A six pattern chunk related to doilies that I had made for my brother-in-law's wedding. They had an adorable vintage theme, and they did it well. Gilly, my now sister-in-law, had been collecting doilies, so I asked if I could make her some. She agreed and confirmed the colors. I really needed something to focus my attention in a positive light. Here are a few pictures.

The doilies were such fun to make, and it was nice to feel like I had something to give to the wedding. My older son and hubby were part of the wedding. With a six month baby, I wasn't very useful. Of course, others had children in the wedding party...so no excuse.

Here is a picture of my little guy and me at the wedding. Sadly, my look was more 40s than 50s...I tried :).

Sharing in their special day was nice. Now they have a beautiful baby boy, and all seems really rosy :).

Have a great holiday week and enjoy the beautiful weather!