Thursday, January 31, 2008

A New Toy For Me!

This is what my daughter and family in Colorado gave me for my birthday!

The NSI International Innovations Knitting Machine



It's a 44 needle crank type that can handle worsted wt yarns.

So I've been playing around and making some hats.
Made one simple one, took it off the machine to hand knit the crown and ribbing.
The second one I made a long tube for a double thickness hat.


Having fun and learning - patience is needed!


The two roll brimmed hats below were made with Red Heart sports wt yarn.




In between I managed to make another pair of Little Feet for the challenge.

These are from Bev's Stay On Bootie pattern. I added a little two color knit toe.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

More Colorado Knitting

I did finish a few things while in Colorado.

A hat for my daughter which I call Beeni's NY Hat, because she bought the yarn in New York.

Pattern: Alison's Beginner Cap

Yarn: 1 skein of Araucania Magallanes







And the Sponge Bob Hat was completed!



It was easier to knit the body of the hat and harder to make all the parts!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Has The Dust Settled?

Whew! I've been back home since Jan 23rd and I am busier than ever. Lots of catching up here at home with chores and mail.
And my Wips? I've forgotten where I was on some of my projects. Forgot the rows, the pattern... So I settled on working on the easy ones to get back in the groove so to speak!

Last post was a picture of a beautiful Colorado sunset where you can see a bit of snow on the ground.

Today's picture is a beautiful view of the mountains from Baseline Rd and the 15 Freeway near my house. Who says we don't have snow here in Southern Calif!





Now for some knitting pictures.


Trails & Ditches Hoodie An FO - In 7 days!



I knitted and knitted and knitted and finished this in time for grandson to wear.



I think he likes it!




Yarn is "I Love This Yarn" from Hobby Lobby.
Pattern is from Brown Sheep Company and I used one needle size larger.
I also made the neck opening bigger than the pattern so he would not have any
trouble putting it on.

WIP's

I've got to find them first!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Be Back In A Few Days!



I'm still here in Morrison Colorado visiting my daughter and family.
Sure is beautiful with all the snow - not alot of snow, but just enough to create some lovely views.

And I celebrated my 62nd birthday complete with birthday cake and a Moraccan lamb dinner. I took pictures - will post later.

Earlier in the week I visited a very nice yarn shop in Littleton Colorado - Cottage Yarns - and found this really cute pattern. Trails & Ditches Hoodie by Brown Sheep Yarn Company.



Knitting it up for my grandson but making it slightly larger because it only goes up to size 6. Making it up larger would make it last at least one more season, I hope :)




Be back on the 23rd with more news. I left my Heet The Feet slippers behind and I sure want to finish them!

Monday, January 07, 2008

A New Challenge

There is a new challenge up for our Native American Support group on Yahoo.

It's the Heet The Feet 2008 Challenge. You can read all about it on
Ann's blog.

When you get to Ann's blog you will see the cute little Baby Mocs she made from a pattern she purchased that is now no longer available. At least I could not find a copy.

So I made up my own little mocs that are "knock offs" of Ann's pattern.




These little guys measure about 4-4.5 inches long and are knit with odds and ends of worsted wt yarn on size 4 needles.

A good pattern to modify is Bev's Stay On Booties

Checking back on Ann's blog - I see she is having a little KAL for a recipe to create your own mocs! Yeah!!!!

For the Challenge, I've already got lots of slipper patterns queued up on Ravelry :)



Now for more FO's

The Golden Compass Hat is done! Really easy and I'll have to make more after the slipper challenge is over.






And a hat for moi! Did I mention I was going to Morrison Colorado in a few days?
It's cold and snowy there so I want to be prepared.



Just your basic 2x2 rib with a face opening.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Last Year's FO's

And a look back at last year's resolutions.

1. Knit From My Stash - yup! I did that and limited my new yarn purchases.

2. Reduce my pattern library by 1/3. Did that too - gave away lots of magazines and books.

3. Finish the WIPs - uhhh.... didn't even make a dent but I did finish some :)

4. Work on 2 projects at a time before starting a new one - HA HA HA- I knew I would not keep that one!


Now For The FO's of 2007

50 Hats
27 Mittens
23 Small Sweaters
14 Blankets/Lapghans
13 Pairs of Booties
12 Pairs of Slippers
8 Scarves
8 Pairs of Wristers
5 Pairs of Socks
3 Ponchos/shawls
1 Pair of Legwarmers
1 Crochet Purse

For A Grand Total of 165 Handmade Items!


So what have I resolved to do this year?

Probably the same as last year but with focus on finishing those aging WIPs!


See what I found while searching for some yarn? A little blue sweater that just needed the button bands and the buttons. UFO to FO!



Pattern - I don't remember
Yarn - probably Red Heart

Friday, January 04, 2008

Welcome 2008!

Lots of pictures today!

Here's the last FO for 2007 - another Thorpe Hat.


Size 7 & 8 needles, Bernat Softee Chunky purchased at Smiley's.


Now for 2008's FO's

These are Basic Fingerless Mittens - pattern from Crochet Me site.




I used an F crochet hook for my gauge and some aged Columbia Minerva Shannon.
This was a really easy, easy pattern!





So easy that it led me to improvise and turn them into mittens!
Same F hook and some aged Bernat's Soft n' Cozy yarn.



I just continued after the 7th row and started decreasing by 4 every other row until 8 sts.
About the same with the thumb, only I picked up 14 sts and crochet until 2 rows less desired length, then I started sc 2 together until 6 sts were left.




And another earflap hat - this time EZ's Maltese Fisherman's Hat with two strands of knitting worsted and #11 needles.




WIP's


Still have some 2007 Wips and some new ones.

A Hooded Baby Poncho from Lion Brand

The Golden Compass Hat from Froggie Meanie

A Sponge Bob Hat from Kody May Knits

And a few others that are hibernating for now.