FOs!!

I've finished Shoney the Squid, and while he wasn't as interested in it as the Batman Legos that he received from his parents and grandparents, he did like it! He was such a little ham, all evening. (I'm sure the excitement and a bunch of sugar didn't help! LOL!!)
We were greeted at the door by him, in his Batman costume. I said, "Hey, its Batman!!"
To this, he replied, "Its just a costume. Its me, Caleb, under here!" while holding the face mask back a little so his face could be seen. He greeted each of his aunt's and his uncle's girlfriend in this manner. Of course we each, in turn, had a hearty laugh over that one.
Secondly, I finished all the main pieces for the Cabled Cardigan, tonight. I have the bodice pieces blocking now, but have to wait until they're done to block the sleeves as I don't have quite enough of the longer blocking wires to do it all at once. It looks like the shawl collar and front button and buttonhole bands will take 2-3 balls of yarn, so I still have some amount of knitting left. I'm really hoping to finish most of it tomorrow, as I have the day off from work.
Last Friday was the end of our fiscal year at work. They made a huge push to get as much of the work done as possible. When I managed to get completely caught up and finished all of the work on my desk, I jokingly told my supervisor that I would need to take Monday off as I had no work left to do, and she said, "Go for it...I'll sign the time off request!" So, I did! I'm a little excited to be able to do pretty much whatever I want tomorrow. My husband is also off work, so we'll probably try to spend a little of the day tidying up our downstairs. Right now, its hard to sit at the dining room table for meals, and we have my 16 year old brother staying with us while my parents are on their cruise. Therefore, it would be really nice to be able to sit at the table together for dinners and the like. Many times my husband and I sit on the couch to eat, but that really isn't ideal and does not work for 3 people! I'm looking forward to being able to have meals in this more ideal setting.

Almost Done...

I still have to make eyes for the squid. When I pulled it out of the washer, I looked around quickly for something that I could set it on to dry. Winner? Dh's softball trophy! (I'm kind of surprised he hasn't noticed or made a comment, but its not hurting anything.) Rather than stuffing the toy, I am going to leave the bottom open for him to put on his hand like a puppet. I need to finish this either tonight or tomorrow morning, as his birthday and party are tomorrow!

Cardigan Progress

True to my expectations, I finished the front left of the Cabled Cardigan, last night! Then, on the way to work this morning, I finished the ribbing for the front right. Its coming along nicely and quickly!

Another FO for Christmas

ITS DONE!! The picture just looks like a black blob, but it looks great in person and I'm sure he'll love it

Since Saturday, I've been working on the Cabled Cardigan from Vogue Knitting Fall 2006. Its bulky yarn on US size 10 needles and going very quickly. I have the back finished and the first front ready to start the neck decreases, which come before the

armhole decreases. I forgot to measure soon enough on the front, so I'm currently in the process of frogging a couple rows. I'm really hoping to get this piece finished either today or tomorrow! I'm meeting some friends tonight, so I'm sure to get some done on it as I always have knitting with me, of course!

Saturday's Knitting

On Friday night, I thought for sure I'd finish Durrow. I did finish all the knitting, even the neck ribbing, but still need to finish sewing up the last underarm seam. I moved on to another project on Saturday morning. I'm knitting a sweater for Elann.com. I am liking the project and finished the back on Sunday afternoon! (The yarn is bulky weight and knit on US size 10 needles, so its going pretty quickly. I have the first front almost 1/3 of the way done, too!) I hoping to get this done in record time, so that I can use the store credit that I'm earning to buy yarn for more Christmas presents!

Saturday evening, I also boiled some water to put in the washer for felting my nephew's birthday present. The stitches are still fairly well defined, even after agitating for almost an hour!! I may try it once more, but I'm sure he'll like it even if it doesn't come out exactly how I wanted it to. I knitted Shoney (on 9/15) but I may have used a yarn that was too heavy and then not big enough needles. His birthday is Saturday!

Coming Close...

I've been working on the second sleeve for Durrow over the past few evenings. With all that lovely cabling, it takes time and concentration! I goofed on part of it and had to take out quite a bit to fix it. (I thought I might be able to fix it without ripping, but it didn't work.) I now have 2 of the 3 repeats of the second graph done! (This is about 3/4 of the increases. Then, onto the raglan decreases.) I'm hoping to finish this by Friday. My husband is out of town on a church men's retreat, so it would be the perfect time to block it!

Bristow Finished!

I finished! Yesterday, on our trip to the Zoo, I finished sewing on the buttons for Bristow. I'm very happy with the sweater and am looking forward to seeing how it fits. It was a pleasant knit that I may someday knit for myself as well.
Next up for sweater knitting: back to business on Durrow!

I've also been knitting on the Spiralling Socks, again. I have finished the foot and am finishing the last few heel decreases. The size is coming out correctly, this time and I am much, much happier with the finished result!

Woodland Park with Children's

My employer, Children's Hospital, gave me 4 tickets to the Woodland Park Zoo and made additional tickets available at only $5 each! So, I took my husband, brother and parents to see the animals and have lunch. We arrived at 9:30 (opening time!) and walked around for about 3 hours. There were many lovely animals to enjoy and the scenery is so beautiful. My husband and brother had a great time climbing on the toys and playing tag, as we walked around viewing the animals. We saw most of the park in about 5 hours.


In the morning, the weather was a little drizzly, but not too bad. We went to get lunch (included in tickets from Children's) at around 1:00. After lunch, the weather turned rainy, so we went to see the animals that are viewed indoors. By 3:00, we were all done in and left. Surprisingly, the zoo was quite busy the entire time we were there.

First SP11 Package!

I received my first package from my Secret Pal, tonight! She sent yarn, needles and 2 photo albums for 4x6 photos! Its much appreciated. My SP11 Pal chose my favorite colors!
Thanks, SP!!

It took how long?

When I did arrive home, last night, my husband had chicken and corn on the cob ready to eat for dinner. He surprised me by having it ready when I walked in the door and it was quite good.

Afterward, I sat down to work on the last bit of seaming for Bristow. After about an hour and a half, I only had one sleeve sewn on! I put it away and went to bed. It does look so good, but wow did it take way, way longer than I expected!! Hopefully, I'll have a FO to show tomorrow afternoon. I also spent a little time looking through my small button collection to see if I had buttons that would work for this cardigan. I found one style that I liked, but was 2 buttons short of what I needed. I hope to be able to shop for some cute buttons tomorrow morning.

Secret of the Stole

Remember how I said that I wanted to cast on for a new project? Well, I decided to join in on the fun of Secret of the Stole. I promptly came home and cast on for and finished the swatch. I added a couple rows between repeats, so it is a little off, but it does the trick! I am purposely knitting it in bigger yarn with larger needles so that I will end up with a heavier stole that I can really wrap up in. I've realized, over time, that the shawl that gets the most wear is one that I don't really like, except for the fact that it is knit out of a bulky weight yarn!
Updated to add some details... The yarn is Patons Classic Merino Wool and size 10 needles.

Morning Sweater Weather!

This morning, I woke while it was still dark. I shouldn't have been surprised, but it really sneaked up on me! When I opened the front door to leave for work, my eyes were met with a layer of fog. The beauty of it was not wasted on me. Fall is my favorite season. I love the cool mornings, especially when there is fog. Another thing that I love about fall is feeling the need for a sweater or lightweight jacket. I'm glad that it is not bitterly cold, but just a little coolness to the air. This season also brings with it some of the brightest colors in nature. We have a large maple tree just out our back door that brings many colors into our yard that are not there in the other seasons. What a wonderful group of reminders for how great and creative the mind of God is.

Last night, I finished the remainder of the knitting (the button placket & neck binding) on Bristow. The only thing I have left now is to sew on the sleeves. The yarn is so soft and the stitch definition just perfect. This is one of the few times that I have ever knit a pattern in the same yarn that the designer used, and I love it! I just might have to try this again!!

I've also started back to work on Durrow. I knit the cuff and a little more, then realized that I was missing some of the cabling. I think that I can use a crochet hook and fix it by dropping the stitches and then picking them back up...At least I hope that I can. It would be so great to have 2 more (Bristow and Durrow) Christmas projects finished. Then, I can start another project, right? (Yeah, I know there are 6 other projects on the sidebar, but starting is so much fun. Finishing takes a lot more concentration, though not really less fun. Maybe less exciting?)

New Sockamania Sock

On Monday, I received the latest Sockamania pattern and cast on almost immediately. After working 1 1/2 pattern repeats, I realized that it was too small. So, I ripped it out and started back with slightly larger needles and and extra 2 stitches per repeat. I tried it on and it fits very well! I'm knitting these in Panda Cotton which is very soft and I'm hoping that the touch of elastic in the yarn will make them wear well. My only problem is that the yarn splits very easily and more than once I've realized that several rows before I didn't' knit through all the plies. I did manage to drop that stitch and then fix it with a crochet hook. This is not a very easy task when knitting fair isle, but it was doable and the finished product will stand up to wear much, much better! Since starting the sock, I've been neglecting the many other projects on the needles, so I don't have any progress to show...

Status on Bristow

I've taken lots of time to knit, lately. Of course, nothing else is getting done, but I'm having fun! I've finished the back and front left of Bristow, and have about 2 inches of the front right done. The cabling looks great and I tried something new on this one: bust darts! (If you were thinking, "Why does the front look a little funny?" its because of the dart. When laid flat the piece "bends" at the dart.) I used the calculation method out of Big Girl Knits and found it to work very, very well. I had to guess a little on the numbers to plug into the formulas, as this sweater is a gift, but I guessed a little on the low side (I think) as I wouldn't want to put too much extra fabric in for the bust line and have it bunch up. I'm really hoping that this is the best fitting sweater, ever!!