The Photoless Edition...a blogging 'quickie'!

HEY! All my links in the side bar (well, just about all...) have disappeared! What's up with that? I need some serious help! Rocky, if you are reading this, are you able to check or fix my margins? I think that's why alot of stuff won't fit in the sidebar and don't show up.

I'm also thinking perhaps some of my other stuff somehow got erased when I was in that stupid "Edit Html" mode! (Thanks for the help on that, guys!)

OK, will post more later. I have the new fingerless Syvia Harding mitts nearly completed. No progress on the Count Clucks, as the progress seems to keep going backwards then forwards. You know, the ebb and flow effect?

Oh, and one other thing: if you are ever in Oakland-do NOT eat at Ozumo! I will fill you in on my horrible experience at that place later! Lucky for you, Dear Readers, that I have calmed down since and probably won't spout off and go on and on nearly as much as I might have a day ago...

Obsessive Knitting...that will make you GREEN with ENVY!!!

OK, so I just spoiled for anyone in the Seven Deadly Spins Club! It was a 50/50 chance we'd be getting Envy and not Lust, but I figured most of you know I'm not the blog to go to if avoiding spoilers. Besides, I think most of us have our kits anyway!

In case I have just spoiled and you don't want to see anymore, do not read further. I will do a little spacing inbetween this portion and the pic...



SPOILER WARNING!!!!



SPOILER WARNING!!!!




SPOILER WARNING!!!!


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I received my 7 Deadly Spins Kit yesterday morning. It is so gorgeous that I HAD to cast-on for this one immediately: fingerless beaded gloves! A Syvia Harding pattern paired with gorgeous "Houseblend" yarn for the Unique Sheep, dyed in a beautiful "Celedon Green" (that's how *I'm* describing it!) color!

This kit came complete with beads and hook. We also got a green pen and hand lotion!

So I have been obsessed with working on these and am having a hard time putting them down-and believe me, I need to since I need to be working on housework! But they are so addictive it's not even funny!


It is a DK weight yarn of alpaca, silk and I think merino. Very soft and very luscious!

And guess who's in town? It's my canine neice, Nico!!!

And a last picture to share of Lil' Emp's picture he took today...

He caught a pic of the squirrel we'd seen in the park today, after it had been scared up the tree. The Emp had fun using the camera at the aquarium today; we stopped by there for a couple of hours to check it out. We got in on our family pass, so it was a quick in and out for a short visit.

Where does the weekend go, I ask?!

The Leyburn Edition...

It's the LEYBURN EDITION!!!

But first, I have to ask you other eBloggers: when you add pics to your post, are you only seeing the coding rather than the pic in your draft post? I have to ask cuz I used to get a view of the pic, and I would cut and paste them around; now I'm getting the coding for the pic and I can't tell which it is (when I load more than one pic) without first previewing. Highly inconvenient for someone like me! So either I accidentally changed a setting, or Blogger has changed how we view our drafts!

And now, on to the post...So I finally finished my first pair of Leyburns, done in lightweight, cuff-down. I will confess to you that these do not match. At all. The cuffs on the second are a good 3/4" shorter than the first!

I think that what happened is when I was at Purlescence, I was so close to working on the heel flap, that I assumed I was up to that point and just forged through without double-checking it to my first sock! Either that, or when I checked the two, I hadn't aligned them properly.

Admittedly, I did notice half-way into the foot and even considered tearing back. But when I tried them on together, I decided they weren't that obviously different in length. So I plugged on. I ended up with a different number of stitches at the end and shaped the toe a tad differently, too. What can I say? I can be that way. Alot.




So I am happy to report that I also started my second pair of Leyburn! This pair is using medium weight (I assume all of you know these are both Socks that Rock, but I suppose I should say so...after all, *someone* may read this who doesn't know these are all about Socks that Rock since they are both being knit as part of our massive Ravelry Socks that Rawk Leyburn KAL...)Socks that Rock in the Count Cluckula colorway that I immediately fell in love with when it was first released!

I brought it to the zoo on Monday so that I could take a picture of it in the sunlight. The colors got a bit too bleached out by the daylight, but what the heck...



And progress-to-date, since I just took this pic this evening! Nartian can attest to the fact that these were further along this morning. I realized that perhaps the "norwegian heel" I was trying out was a bit too short and the gusset a bit too small. So I tore the puppy back. Torn back after a beautifully gorgeous heel turn that I was so proud of! And a lovely heel flap so nicely attached, too-now gone! But it goes to show that I'm not always so bad and lazy in the frogging department. I'm just a selective frogger is all...



ETA: so I just looked at my post and see that the pictures I took of the Count Cluckula look quite similar in color!-lol! Go figure! OK, so they look much like that, I guess. Actually, I would say a tad darker, but maybe Nartian will comment on that, since she sees them in person often! ;)

I feel like this today!

And perhaps later I will have time to show my finished Leyburns!

It's ba-ack!...The Stinkin' Quick Crocheted Neckwarmer

So I previously posted my crocheted neckwarmer in the last post. It's not a big deal, but I'm so impressed with what a quick crochet it was and how lovely the stitch pattern crocheted up that I thought I'd share.

Ravelry doesn't want me putting the instructions in my notes section of the project, so I'm posting it here. Maybe you'd be interested, maybe not. But I thought I'd share anyway.


If it is illegal for me to post a stitch pattern, let me know. And there will be no more free pattern!



Here is my "pattern":

The Stinkin' Quick Crocheted Neckwarmer
I was delighted to find this stitch pattern out of a Crochet Dictionary I had lying around. It is the "pattern stitch 71, "Osier Stitch" found in "The New Crochet Dictionary" by Rhoda Ochser Goldberg, a Crown Trade Paperbacks publication copywrite 1986.





Chain 24 (Foundation chain row)
Row 1: Ch3, (1dc, ch2, 1sc) in first st, *skip 2 sts, (2dc, ch2, 1sc) in next st* rep *to*
Row 2: Ch2, *(2dc, ch2, 1sc) in ch space*, rep *to*
Repeat row 2 for pattern.

I just kept crocheting the pattern until I nearly ran out of yarn (or to desired length around), then used a single crochet to seam the ends together.

This was such a quick project! Only one repeatitive row and easy to memorize-this was completed in one day (2 spurts of very limited crocheting time!)

The Crochet Edition...

I am very pleased with myself. I started, well...an unknown project, supposedly a scarf. I started my project yesterday and I finished it TODAY! Due to lack of yarn, it really ended up being a neckwarmer, but I'm very happy with it!

You see, there is a woman on Ravelry who decided to sell a bunch of purple scarves to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer research. Thread is here. I offered to send her some purple yarn and in addition to snagging up purple yarn from generous souls at Purlescence Yarns Sunday, I thought it would be nice to perhaps make a scarf to contribute, as well. Among the purple castaways was a mohair-ish (yes, the stuff I'm allergic to!) nubby-light yarn, seemingly DK weight that someone threw at me as I stuffed the last of the purple yarn into a bag.

I decided that I would use it to make a scarf to include. It was just the one skein.

Faced with the prospect of starting yet another project, and seeking a 'quick fix', I decided to crochet a scarf with this skein.

Long story longer...the pattern I chose from Rav seemed to be missing a part of one of the rows in the instructions. I had to rip this glue-grip hold mohair back a few inches and dug through this crappy old crochet book I had picked up from some second-hand somesuch place.



Low and behold, a WONDERFUL crocheted stitch! See for yourselves...



Once you crochet the set-up row and knit the second, the rest is all a repeat of the same row 2! Gotta love that!

In the long-run, I didn't have nearly the amount necessary for a scarf. So I seamed it and made a neckwarmer! Ta-DUH!

I'm not so lazy afterall...

Because I not only finished that baby hat to send, but decided that yes, I would make some booties to go with.

The "Ruth's Perfect Baby Booties" was a great pattern to use , thougn it is knit flat and annoying to seam. Well, that is for me who seldom seams so each time seems like a grand adventure. Sure, I've learned seaming and oohed and ahhhhed at how wonderfully nice my seams look every time I have seamed swatches in various workshops and classes. Funny-seems that every TKGA class, no matter what the title, always touched on seaming!

Anyways, I seamed BOTH booties before realizing that-oops!-the cuff folds over and the seam is not showing! I seriously contemplated leaving it, but as if it isn't enough pressure making knit items for other knitters, this is for the baby of a very accomplished, amazing knitter! So I undid. And re-seamed. And it isn't an impressive seaming job, but at least it wasn't the crap that I had originally.

So now the big challenge is to get these sent out before the baby outgrows it!



And now to indulge Purple Rain Knitter...

I went to Article Pract and was so proud of myself since I only purchased some basic yarn to make a hat for my cousin-in-law. But as I was walking out of the store, this roving caught my eye. Those of you familiar with Pigeon Roof Studios would recognize her work straight-off, and I did...! And, of course, despite Nartian chanting, 'Sock camp, sock camp..." at me, I about-faced and brought it straight to the cash register and bought it! The colorway is "Harlequin"...



And Purlescence was having a de-stash event yesterday. I of course had to go so I could spend 'quality time' with Nartian and see IrishGirlie who I'd not seen in a while! Well, ok, I was also on a quest to possibly get rid of some yarn and to snag up a skein of STR in Basan or Scaponia. When I first thought Basan was sold out, I reasoned with IrishGirlie that the Dream in Color semi-solid (this one, in "Cinnamon Girl")Nathania had tempted us with was all I needed and a wiser purchase (the reasoning being-it's worsted weight and would therefore have a better chance of getting knit up; if not for me, then as a quick gift knit...). Wouldn't you know-no sooner have I made the purchase, Irishgirlie says, "Look what I found!" Yeah...seriously. I was being called on the carpet. Afterall, was not a large part of my quest to acquire such fine colorway that is, Basan?...



Seriously, though...as if the colorways are not gorgeous enough in their skein form, once you see some of them knit-up, they become these incredible must-get yarns!

As for the destash yarn I came away with? Well...I will have to save that for another time. But I am being held accountable for the use of it, so I will definitely have to follow up on that!

Another decadent recipe-or so I am told...!

My cousin reported having read my blog and mustering up the nerve to try making the Turtle bars. She had success, so basically, me and my quilting buddies have forgotten to bake! Either that or we all have bad karma. Or maybe we are so into quilting/knitting that we lost the baking edge!

At any rate, she asked if I had any other recipes to pass on. I told her that she needed to send me some of the turtle bars so I could confirm they came out. I am yet to get them!

But alas, JustJen at Rav (and fellow Sock Camper) sent some reportedly decadent brownies to Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Tina blogged about it, which caused such a stir that Jen pasted it right into the comments. So here is Jen's recipe, in case you are not in the Rockin' Sock Club and/or do not read the blog...

Caramel-Pecan Brownies aka Eeeeeevil Brownies
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour (Yeah, I know. More sugar than flour.)
1 package (14 ounces) caramel squares*
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups pecan pieces, divided (walnuts work, too)
1 12-oz package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
* You’re not s’posed to eat ‘em while you unwrap them. Really. (I buy ‘em in bulk and use my yarn scale to weigh out 14 oz.)
1. Preheat oven to 350 (325 for glass dish). Line 13×9 baking dish with foil extending over edges to form handles. Do NOT skip this step, because the caramel will try to meld with the side of the pan. You can peel the foil off of the caramel layer. It’s difficult to peel the pan off.
- Coat foil with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In large microwave-safe bowl, microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter on High for 2 minutes, or until butter is melted.
- Stir until chocolate is melted. Stir sugar into chocolate mixture until well blended.
- Mix in eggs.
- Stir in flour.
- Spread half of batter into pan.
3. Bake 25 minutes, or until firm to touch. (It’s about 20 min., in my oven.)
- Meanwhile, in another microwave-safe bowl, microwave caramels and cream on High for 2 minutes, or until caramels begin to melt.
- Whisk until smooth.
- Stir in 1 cup nuts.
- Gently spread caramel mixture over baked brownie in pan.
- Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
- Pour remaining batter evenly over caramel mixture, sprinkle with remaining nuts (some caramel may peek through).
4. Bake 30 minutes or until firm to touch. (It’s about 35 min., in my oven)
- Cool in pan.
- Run knife around edge of pan.
- Lift from pan using foil as handles.
- Cut into squares and hide from everyone in the house!


So I promised Purple Rain Knitter a view of my recent purchases, since I was at Article Pract last week and happened to go to Purlescence, too! I need to take the pics and load them, then I shall indulge my dear Purple Rain Knitter!

Knitting in the New Year

Ha! I have started my Moebius of Peace! And when I think of peace lately, the Natalie Merchant version of Peace Train runs through my head. Oh...and the repetitive mass verbiage: "Go in Peace"... "Peace be with You" (and when Disco has said that, my automatic mental response was, "And also with you."!-lol! Sorry, some things just get pounded into memory and are rote responses that are trained into our brains in Catholic school!)

But here you have it...my first ever moebius...

This is a combination of Cotton Twist in an apple green, combined with some hand-painted nubby stuff of which I forget what it is called and what company dyed it. All I know is that I got it about a year and a half ago in Sacramento while up there for PTA convention at Rumplestelskein.

I think I had also mentioned gift knitting still in progress...

Yet another cowl out of a silk tweed aran, using the same lattice lace pattern as the "Green Cowl Gone Wrong" I had earlier made, based on the Cafe Latte mitts. Still a bit early to see the patterning.

And I told you about the Ravelry Cake and the Bring Back the Cake group? Well, there was a thread suggesting a cake KAL/CAL. I was planning on participating, then we got the cake back. I am still knitting up a cake to send to Casey-this time as a thank you, rather than a boo-hoo...

Yes, it is acrylic yarn! Vanna's Choice and as much as many don't like even Vanna's but for knitting, I am finding it pleasant to knit. Not like wool, but definitely not horrible for knitting.

And a little progress on the Leyburn KAL socks:

BMFA Socks that Rock lightweight in Seal Rock!

I finished this before Christmas, but left it at Lil' Emps' school in a cabinet. (Gads, I hate this ADA Upgrade project! The office and faculty lounge are in two separate bungalows and I forget things when they are spread out in two locations!) This is knit with some of the Malabrigo Privada I had gotten and grown to love! I should make matching booties, but I'm afraid they won't get done if I do!

A gift for a special baby that was born before Christmas.
I need to wrap it and send it out with some other goodies. (ETA: this is the Jester Hat found for free on Ravelry, written for Bulky yarn, but I knit in worsted to make it smaller) I lengthened the ribbing
and stockinette in hopes this will make for a more versatile had that can be worn longer.

And this concludes the current 'focus' projects for the time being! Thanks for stopping by to see what's up!

Knit in Peace!

So the wonderful Tina of Blue Moon Fiber Arts has put out a call to knit peace, and I want to pass on her message...

http://blog.bluemoonfiberarts.com/site/entry/a_call_to_knitpeace/

As we often sang in school..., "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me..."

We all take in the message and wish so hard for things to be better. Different. Acceptance of our diffferences; love and appreciation for all that is different. And an end to all things that are hurtful to others-including social injustices, judgemet, blame. And the wish that we could all strive to take the high road and do no harm.

So let's all work on this together! Or should I say 'knit' on this together? Collectively we can make a difference. Sometimes it is just stepping back and thinking before we 'react'. Often we do or say hurtful things as a reaction to something we found hurtful in some way. If we take a moment to think about how we want to approach things, we can somtimes do the positive- extend kindness-or even the courage to say 'sorry'. I know I have, and I have reaped positive from what would have otherwise been negative.

All I am saying..."is give peace a chance..."
Peace Out.
Peace, Man, Peace.
Knit, Man, Knit!

A New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2009 has begun and, as always, I never make resolutions. But in a way, an incidental resolution occurred since I was at a local "beauty" store yesterday, taking advantage of their 25% off coupon that expired yesterday. I ended up with a bag full of face products so I resolved that I would do my best to follow my aestheticians recommendations and USE this stuff DAILY, as prescribed!-lol! I'm really feeling my age cuz I have now moved up to serums for "aging skin", whiteners and other such treatments! Suffice to say I spent waaaay more than I intended-but saved a goodly amount! So what I saved in yarn, I spent in face product! But, as we used to say when I sold Mary Kay, 'good looks begin with good skin' ...or something along those lines!

Though my gift knitting continues, I started on the Leyburn STR KAL because I could no longer resist the gorgeous skein of Seal Rock that was calling out to me! If you want in on this, pop over to the Rav Socks That Rawk! group! The thread is stickied to the top, so you can't miss it! The Socks that Rawk group is a great group and I tend to prefer it over the "Rockin' Sock Club" group someone started over at Rav. It may be just cuz Nartian, Irish Girlie and I are all on the Socks that Rawk group more than the other. Or maybe cuz TurtleGirl is such an awesome Mod that we love! Anyways, there is no deadline to join the KAL and what is fun is we are all knitting the pattern using different colorways of STR! (YAY, STR!!!)



OH...and the cowl I started for my bro's gf is done! I named it "Southwestern Flair". I picked this CP yarn called "Kaya" because it looked like a yarn she'd like (she likes red); since it stripes, I thought the texture looked kinda southwestern (and she is from Albequerque), so I went with it! Her style is kinda mod and the reds she tends to go for are more true tomatoe red, so I hope she likes this anyway!-lol!

If anyone cares, I will write up this pattern and post later. Easy peasy but I would have probably made it a bit smaller than it ended up.

I hope that 2009 has started off well for all of you! I think that with the completion of one project yesterday and only starting the Leyburns, I am doing pretty well. And I'll be working on the dark age spots!-lol! ;)