sheep in the city

Lace and Yarn gnomes...

First for the lace, I'm making some good progress on my Juliet cardigan. I would be about 3 or 4 inches further along if I had been paying attention to what row I was on. I was just knitting along over the weekend when I realized that the lace wasn't lining up along the bottom basically back at the first repeat. Good grief! So I had to rip it back. I loath ripping stuff back. Finally I get everything back on track, moving right along again, when I realize that I didn't really fix the problem that I was having. Oh well, definitely not ripping back again, I'll just live with the way that it looks. I don't think that it's that noticeable. So, if you see me in public wearing this sweater and you notice that the lace is a little wonky at the beginning...just don't mention it to me, okay?!

I have been participating in a couple swaps through Ravelry in the last few months. Yesterday, I got some goodies in the mail! They are from Melanie who's blog is Lotus Knitter and she also has an Etsy shop called Lotus Yarns! She got me some amazing stuff, check it out.

Melanie sent me 2 skeins of Manos Silk Blend in a coral-pink color. I haven't ever seen this yarn before, but it is buttery soft and silky. She also sent me a skein of some of the yarn that she dyes herself. This one is her "Buddha" yarns, which is 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Nylon. The colorway is called "Miss World". She included some yummy hot chocolate packages (which I've already taken to work to be enjoyed on the next blustery day) as well as some little samples of citrus SOAK. Do you see the cuteness that is the little gnome though?! I love it! He's totally going to live up in the stash somewhere, and I imagine that he'll be going with me anytime I go on some kind of trip that includes yarn! How fun?! I need to come up with a good name for him...do you have any suggestions? Thanks again Melanie, you rock!

I heart my knittin' girlz!

I don't know what was in the air this past weekend...or who sent out a memo...but I was so spoiled by my knitting friends! I was talking to my Mom (since she is down in Arizona right now) on the phone on Saturday and she was like, "So, do they think it's your birthday or something?" No, I don't know what it was, but I sure did enjoy it! Thanks ladies for all the little thoughtful goodies! I love them all!

This is a cell-phone charm of a special kind of Hawaiian sushi that is made with Spam...and it has Hello Kitty on it! I love it! It now lives on my scissors in my notions bag. Thanks Kim! Click here to see the cutest picture of Kim with her kids on the beach in Hawaii. She also got me the little bag (that I immediately put notions in) pictured below. It's a traditional Hawaiian quilting technique that is so beautiful. It's all appliqued. A shout out to her daughter Little Diva for picking out the perfect colors for me!

e.t.a...Kim let me know that the sushi is called spam musubi--or, in this case, a Hello Kitty musubi! And that this is the only time she ever eats Spam!

What knitting notion do you always need...but never have on hand? Look no further, I now have the perfect little notion. It's a shortened crochet hook, perfect for picking up dropped stitches! It's oh-so-tiny and oh-so-cute and luckily it's on a key chain, so I'm not going to be losing it. Thanks Kelly!

You all probably know about my love of funky jewelry. Some of you have even seen some of it in person. Michelle found this knitting needle bracelet on Etsy and it's SO fun! I love it! I'm pretty sure, correct me if I'm wrong Michelle, that she got this from Sassafras Creations. Go check them out! She is doing some really fun stuff with vintage knitting needles.

Last, but certainly not least, is the yarn that Mary-Kay spoiled me with. It's Merino, Silk, Nylon, and silver. It has 2% real silver fibers running through it! Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff! More than likely she is going to start carrying this yarn and I'll be sure to share with all of you when she does that. Thanks Mary-Kay!

As much as I loved everything...I knew that you all would get a kick out of seeing it too. As busy as I was working at the shop all weekend, this was a nice little surprise. I feel loved! Awww!

The keeper of my yarn.

I was walking up the stairs the other day and what do I see? This little gray fur ball, guarding the entry into my loft where all my yarn lives. He has officially made that room his own. He lounges around on the couch up there all day and apparently he watches who comes and goes too. This picture cracks me up too because if you look at the gnome (remember Gnorman?) to his right, they look kind of similar. Jordy has what I called his "Tuxedo Shirt" on, but it also looks like a beard! Ha! I don't know why, but this is just cracking me up!

For those of you that were worried about Jesse and Jordy getting along, thanks for the concern, Jesse appreciates it....but, they have lived together before. I adopted Jesse when I still lived with my parents about 11 or 12 years ago and then a year after I got him, my Mom adopted Jordy. About 5 years ago, when I finally bought my own place and I wasn't living in a place where I couldn't have a cat, I moved Jesse out with me. So, as much as Jesse pretends not to remember Jordy or that they lived together for the majority of their lives, they are adjusting well.

My sister took this picture of Amelia over the weekend and I had to share. The sweater that she is wearing is one that I knit for Liam when he was a baby. It's the Baby Bolero from the book, One Skein. I knit it out of Blue Sky Dyed Cotton. (love that yarn!) Liam actually wore his in his hospital photos and then promptly grew out of it. I love it when you get to use hand knits for multiple baby's. Way to recycle Whit!

And now a little garter stitch for me.

Since finishing the Baby Surprise Jacket, I've been knitting exclusively on my Juliet sweater. I'd like to finish this one soon so that I can wear it while it's still cold out. I am loving how the Noro Iro is knitting up. I'm on a finishing roll or something...it's crazy. Of course now that I've said that, I'm not going to finish anything for months!?! Oh well...I'll keep on knitting.

I've never really been good at taking the mirror-type self portraits that so many people take so well, but last night I was desperate. Ignore the silly look of concentration on my face, I needed to see what this sweater looked like on me and I need your opinion on it. So, here is my question to you, how much more garter stitch should I knit? I'm making the longer version of this sweater, plus I'm thinking that I want the lace portion of this sweater to start a couple inches under my bust. How does it look so far? I took all these pictures at about 12:30 last night, so my judgment was a little skewed. I'm thinking that I will knit for about 2 or 3 more inches than move on to the lace pattern. For those that don't know what this sweater looks like, you can see it on Zephyr Style or here on Ravelry. Since my roommate was asleep and my cats don't have poseable thumbs, I had to improvise on the whole taking a self portrait thing. I did have a little furry helper though. He was very curious about what I was doing...plus he wanted a drink from the sink. Silly kitty.

If you are thinking that this cat doesn't look like Jesse...then you are correct. This is my Mom's cat, who now lives with us. When my parents moved in October they decided that Jordy should stay with me for a while since he tended to bother my Dad in the night and with my Dad still in treatment, he needs as much rest as possible. Well, he's not leaving anytime soon...and even if my Mom wants him back, he's not going anywhere. He's a part of my family now. Genia and I aren't letting him go. Plus, Jesse tolerates him and gives him the occasional lick on the head, which I take as a sign of affection. His name is Jordy after Geordi LeForge from Star Trek: Next Generation...I'm a SciFi dork!

Give me feedback on the sweater please! I'm done increasing, now I'm just knitting garter stitch to add length...so opinions, opinions!

Thanks everyone also for all the wonderful comments that you left about my BSJ. I'm so proud of the end result, and you guys were just too kind! Thanks!

*I just love his little milk mustache! So cute!*

Surprise!

It's a finished Baby Surprise Jacket! I just bound off last night and I am SO pleased with how it turned out. That Elizabeth Zimmerman is a genius! This is what the sweater looks like when you finish knitting it...it's like knitted origami.

Then with a few quick folds and 2 tiny seams across the shoulders, you have a finished baby sweater...it's like magic! Of course I took a million pictures, so here are a few of them for you.

Yarn: Dream in Color "Classy" in the color Petal Pink. Bought the yarn at Colorful Yarns.
Buttons: I bought them at Joann's, but they are JHB buttons.
Needles: Addi Turbo, US 8

I heart Yarn.

As I mentioned yesterday...I've been on a bit of a yarn binge lately. I have no qualms with buying yarn and I feel no guilt about any of my purchases. I work at Colorful Yarns to support my habit. Many of you have asked if I work there full time, and sadly the answer is no. I have a full-time day job that pays the bills and then I work my Saturday's at the shop to keep me in yarn! As Martha would say, it's a good thing. Anywhoo, you guys want to see the loot. Here goes. Oh, one last bit of warning...this yarn has been purchased over the course of the last few months give or take. I just haven't really talked about yarn purchases lately. Okay, on with the show.

Berroco Seduce in color 4445-Cinnabar Lacquer. This is a gorgeous shade of red. Really a rich deep red. I'm planning on making a summer top out of it. Bought with the Norah Gaughan pattern Flow in mind.

Plymouth Linen Isle in color number 1290. It's very, very pale pink and I've been meaning to get it for a year now. It's to make the Pink Mimosa top that was in the Summer 2006 Interweave Knits. (here on Ravelry)

This is going to freak some of my knitting friends out. I have professed for years that I don't like blue. But lately...I have been drawn to this deep peacock/teal blue-green. I love it. (Cynthia, I'm talking to you!) The yarn above is Dream in Color Classy in the shade Blue Lagoon. Just a sidenote, did any of you ever see the movie Blue Lagoon, with Brook Shields? My sister and I got in so much trouble for renting it when we weren't supposed to see R-rated movies! So funny! Anyway, I'm up in the air about what to make with this yarn. It's a super-wash wool. I'm thinking about either Mr. Greenjeans or possibly the Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I just couldn't pass up that color when it came into the shop last weekend. So pretty.

Berroco Bonsai in color number 4153-Etsuko Blue. I bought this yarn to make a top that was in the latest issue of Knit Simple magazine. It is pictured on the bottom row in the "You're the Boss" section. It's second from the right. Nice clean lines...simple...with coverage on the shoulders. I'm not 100% sure that I'll knit this exact garment, but again it was that color of teal that I just couldn't pass up. Weird, I know.

Probably one of my favorite purchases of late though is this yarn...Berroco Bling Bling in color 1530, Bedazzle. For one, I love the name. It cracks me up. Do you remember the bedazzlers from back in the 80's? It was a tool that let you put rhinestones on every surface imaginable. Your purse, your sweatshirt, your jeans...you name it and it could be bedazzled. The second reason...dude, it has sparkles in the yarn! How could I not love this?! I bought enough to make something for myself, probably a sweater. I also bought enough to make a skirt for Alice. It's going to look similar to this one, called Su Su from Berroco.

That's it folks...there may have been a skein or two of sock yarn thrown in here and there, but this is the majority of my "big project" purchases. Mmmmmm. I love yarn.

*All yarn was purchased at Colorful Yarns*

Koolhaas Hat...it's an F.O.!

Here are the promised pictures of my finished Koolhaas hat. I love how it turned out. The photos aren't the greatest because they were taken inside my house, at night. Maybe this weekend I can get a good outdoor shot. But for now...it's a finished project! Whoo hoo! Yay me!

What is with the no blogging?!

*I had to show off the cuteness that is my nieces and nephew in their matching pajamas! Awwww, so cute! I love their little hands, holding Amelia so gently and sweetly...hopefully the sweetness lasts! :)*

I have no real excuse for not blogging all of last week. I was busy and whenever I would have a moment to sit and think...it seemed like I had nothing to say. I made it through the week though, and even got some knitting finished! I finished up my Koolhaas hat and I forgot to take a picture of it before I stuck it in the shop as a sample. I'm going to run by there this afternoon and take a picture, so that will be shown to ya tomorrow. I love how it turned out! The lettuce colored Mmmmmalabrigo is just so vivid and bright. I'm getting so close to finishing a couple projects...hopefully in the next few days I'll get some knitting in. My baby surprise jacket was put on hold while I knit the Koolhaas hat, but I'm closing in on the finish line. I'm so so close! The Super-Girly-Striped sweater for Alice has been brought back out of the WIP basket. She got all excited when she saw me working on it, even though she didn't remember it was for her. She told me that the colors were pretty...imagine that! She picked them out, silly girl! (here's another shot of the sweater when I first started knitting it. This one just makes me laugh) I need to just keep on working away at my WIP's I really haven't allowed myself to start anything new...even though the urge is there to cast on for spring and summer stuff. The one thing that I did start is my Bird-in-Hand mittens, but those are for a class, so they don't count! (pitures this week hopefully!)

What else have I been up to? I've been on a bit of a yarn buying spree lately. For no reason at all other than when I don't have time to knit, I buy yarn! So...maybe this week...I'll share a little bit of my madness with you, if you want me to.

How about some kntting content?

This is a knitting blog, right? I feel like I've been knitting in fits and starts this past week. I was on kid duty while my sister was in the hospital earlier this week. Let me just say that I have a new found respect for all you knitting moms with young kids out there! I don't know how you do it! I ended up doing most of my knitting after the kids went to bed and then I'd catch a few minutes every once in a while during the day. But other than that...I just couldn't seem to get the knitting in! I did manage to make some progress on a few projects though.

I started a Koolhaas hat the week that I was sick, and I've made it all the way to the decreases on top. So this picture is a little outdated, but you get the gist. I'm using Mmmmmalabrigo in the color Lettuce. This is probably my all-time favorite color that Malabrigo comes in. It's such a vivid chartreuse green. This is a great cabled hat pattern...easy to memorize the pattern and works up really quickly. I'm making this as a sample for a class that I'm teaching at Colorful Yarns in the coming months. It should be a fun class. I've been knitting this hat without a cable needle and it has gone really smoothly. Once I got the hang of it, it seems to be much faster to knit this way.

I also have been knitting my little squares for Amelia's blanket. Yep, her name is Amelia...I just love that name! These little squares are very small miters knit out of shades of pink, green, and brown Tahki Cotton Classic. This yarn is also a favorite of mine for afghans and children's stuff. It comes in about a million colors. That's it for now...hope that everyone has lots of time to knit this weekend! I hope that I can actually finish some stuff, take some pictures, and call some projects done!

**eta: Some of you have wondered where the bags are from that are in the pictures above. They are "Piddly" bags (the smaller bags that she makes) from the girls at Piddleloop. No, I didn't make them myself...I really don't have time to sew and these girls make such cute stuff, it's just easier to help support their business! The green knitting fabric was a limited edition, so the likelihood of finding that one is slim...sorry! You can always contact Jen and ask her if she's going to get more!**