Time for another mission trip!

susie2625 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:37:04 +0000

I’m heading out Sunday with our senior high youth group to do recovery work in New Orleans. Since I’ll be gone a week and have two long road trips I decided I better start thinking about what knitting I want to take along. I’m working on the Log Cabin Blanket in Mason-Dixon Knitting but that seems like a large project for a road trip.

I know that I’m taking the Baby Cable Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks:

But I’m not sure what else. I printed off a couple of patterns this morning that are options: Noro Entrelac Scarf (pdf) and the Summer Breeze (scroll down) short-sleeved top from freepatterns.com. Both look okay for a road trip though I might want to do the lace part of the top before I leave. I’ll probably do the scarf since I knitted the entrelac tote when I was on youth choir tour in June. It would make it a theme trip summer!

Happy knitting!

A Little Bird Told Me Bag

susie2625 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:21:43 +0000

Since I had so much wool left over from the entrelac bag I decided to use it to make a smaller felted bag. My friend Melissa is a beginner knitter who would also be sharing a bus with 35 teenagers during our youth choir tour in New Mexico. She wanted an easy project to work on during the long bus rides. I turned to trusty Google and found “A Little Bird Told Me” over at knitty.com. I decided this would also be a great pattern to use up the left over wool.

However, when I started knitting, I soon became apparent that I didn’t have as much left over as I thought. I used up what was almost a whole ball of Wool of the Andes Spruce and realized that unless I wanted my bag to look like Joseph’s coat of many colors, which I do not, I was going to have to order more yarn. I bopped over to Knit Picks and ordered a couple balls of Spruce and moved on to something else. The yarn came yesterday so I can finish my bag and get it felted. I’m not sure if it will be all one piece or if I have enough of one leftover to make the flap and strap a different color. We’ll see.

One change I am going to make is the flap decoration. Instead of embroidery, I am going to make a felted flower and pin it on. The felted flower will be made from leftover entrelac yarn since I know they all go with Spruce! Below is the WIP photo. The photo makes the yarn look almost navy but it is really more of a blue/green color.

Entrelac Sweater?

susie2625 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:11:06 +0000

I really enjoyed knitting my entrelac tote and am wondering if I love it enough to try an entrelac sweater. I Googled “entrelac sweater pattern” and found my way to knitability.com and ordered their Seamless Entrelac Sweater pattern. It is a seamless entrelac that uses verigated yarns instead of switching colors. I like that idea! I can’t imagine weaving in all those ends, I had enough of that with the tote.

The pattern came in yesterday’s mail. Also in yesterday’s mail was a birthday check from the in-laws, plus Jay gave me cash for my birthday. Looking at knitpicks and a few other sites, my birthday money is enough to buy the yarn I want for the sweater. Now all I have to do is decide if I’m ready for that much entrelac.

Lace Edge Top

susie2625 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:09:29 +0000

I finished this top about a month ago and am finally posting it. It is made with Knit Pick CotLin, a very nice yarn to work with and wear. It feels good against the skin and breathes well.

I used another pattern for the lace edging and then just knit without any decreases until it was the length I wanted. Then, I sewed up the shoulders and sides before adding one repeat of the lace pattern around the neck and sleeves.

Entrelac Tote

susie2625 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:33:16 +0000

Of all the projects I have completed, this has got to be my favorite. I purchased the pattern and recommended yarn from Knit Picks though I did substitute Chocolate for one of the yarns because it wasn’t yet for sale.

This was my first entrelac project and I was concerned that it might be too much of a challenge for me but Melanie Smith’s instructions were very easy to follow. I did have a question about whether or not to felt the bag with the handles attached and asked her through her Ravelry account. She answered very quickly (either attached or not is fine) and I set to felting.

I ran it through the wash cycle twice (6 mins. each cycle) before it was the size I wanted. I was so excited when I pulled it out of the machine. I just couldn’t believe that I had created this awesome looking bag! My poor husband did a great job of being as excited as I was, giving me high fives and all. My teenage daughter just said “yeah, looks great” and turned back to the TV. What does she know from good knitting anyway?

I’m not sure if this is the beginning of a love of all things entralac but I am willing to say that I will try the technique again.

Wowser

susie2625 — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:26:46 +0000

It’s been a while since I posted! I’ve been a busy bee as I the planner for our youth choir tour and I’ve been planning a trip to New Mexico for 45 people. Some fun!

I have been knitting, too. I’ve finished another pair of socks, two sweaters, and some washcloths. I need to take photos so I can post them. I love my sweaters! One was for Easter and the other was just to use some lovely yarn that I had had for quite a while.

Hopefully I can get photos and details posted tomorrow.

Leftover Sock Yarn & Melissa’s Sasha Socks

susie2625 — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:55:00 +0000

As my addiction to knitting socks has grown, so has my pile of little balls of leftover sock yarn. I’ve been contemplating what to do with all those lovely little balls of memory and believe I have finally found the solution. I Googled (oh how I love Google) “leftover sock yarn” this morning and found Persnickety Knitter’s blog and her leftover sock afghan. I don’t have as many leftovers as she does but I have enough to make a good start. This afghan will be a long work in progress and I may be giving it to my great-grandchildren but it will be a fun memory maker. My plan is to create a card for each square that notes who the sock was made for, the pattern that was used, and when it was made along with a scrap of the yarn.

At the moment I’m working on a pair of socks for my friend Melissa. I’m 3/4 through with the second sock and I hope to have them finished to give to her tomorrow night at church. Melissa is a good example of asking your friends the size of their feet before you say “Yes!” when they ask you to knit them a pair of socks. Melissa wears a size 10 and it takes a lot more knitting on the foot than the usual size 7.5 that I make for myself. Fortunately, the yarn is so pretty it isn’t really a chore. The pattern is “Sasha” by Krista and I am using Patons Kroy in Mulberry which was purchase at Joann’s.

Twitterpated!

susie2625 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:03:15 +0000

Not only is Twitterpated a fun word to say, it is a fun sock pattern to knit. I found a link to the pattern on the knittingpatterncentral.com sock page one day when I had too much work to do and no desire to complete it. The pattern comes from the NanoEffects blog, not sure who the owner of the blog is so the blog gets the credit. The pattern is a four row repeat of the Gulls and Garters stitch. It’s a quick knit due to the “sl 5″ that occurs twice on each needle. It’s always fun to slip a stitch instead of knitting it. The pattern calls for the Gull and Garter stitch to continue on the top of the foot but I would rather have plain stockinette stitch on the top, to me socks fit better in shoes that way.

I am not sure of the yarn I used, I found it sans label in my sock yarn drawer. I have no idea where the label disappeared to but it isn’t the first time it has happened to me. Maybe my house has a yarn label black hole akin to the great sock black hole that resides in the dryer. I only know that I bought the yarn at the Woolie Ewe and it is most comfortable to wear.

Socks & a Bear

susie2625 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:18:04 +0000

I’m finally getting around to posting photos of a couple of projects I finished before Christmas. First up is a pair of basic socks that I made out of a really nice self-striping yarn that I purchased at The Woolie Ewe in Plano, TX. I missed up a tad on one of the toes but since I’m the one wearing them it doesn’t really matter! I am so not a perfectionist.

Next is the bear I made for my daughter’s Christmas gift. It was fun to knit but it took a while because I had to be sneaky about it and only knit when she wasn’t around. It was made with Arizona yarn (can’t find any web info on it) that was purchased at the Shabby Sheep in Dallas, TX. I used the “Knitted Cuddlies” pattern (free!) from Knitting Daily. However, I doubled the pattern for a bigger bear. Lauren loves her bear!

On the needles:

I am currently working on felted heart keychains to give to some special teenage girls in my life. I also casted on for Lion Brand’s Sophisticated Options cardigan (also free!).

That’s all the update I have for now. Happy knitting!

Hello stranger!

susie2625 — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:11:51 +0000

It has been quite a while since I last blogged. Christmas and other stuff got in the way big time. But I still found time to knit! I finished several things including socks and a sleeveless sweater but I don’t have photos of them so I’ll post about them later. I do, however, have a photo of my most recently completed project. I made a felted hat using a pattern I found in “One Ball Knits: Accessories“. It was so very easy and only took me the weekend to make.

I wish I could tell you the yarn I used but I didn’t have the band. I will tell you that I ran out and had to dismantle the “Lace Lieutentant” hat I made for Ravelympics last year. I never wore the hat and knew I wouldn’t give it away because I didn’t like the fit of it so I frogged it right apart!

I love my new hat! Here’s a photo of it on my head. Please excuse the messy gray wall that is part of my home three days a week when I have to schlep to the office. I love my Monday and Wednesday work from home days!