I am still alive

I know it has been forever since I was able to pay any attention to this blog. There is news however. Susie and I met for the first time in April. It is a 12 hour trip It was so wonderful just like we had known each other for years. And that parallel lives thing kept coming up. How can two women who live 1000 of miles apart go shopping and purchase the same ball point pen. What are the odds? This is just one of the things we continue to discover about each other. I have been really busy working at a new thing. I am doing some designing and some sample knitting for Hand Painted Knitting Yarn. Add this to my teaching schedule, working as a rep for ChiaoGoo. Then there is home and family. Plus the two little dogs. My life is full. What I am knitting is for someone else so until it is posted and I can give you a link no pictures. I do however have a couple of personal things on needles at at the point where they are finished I will let you see what goes on.

All of this plus I am working very hard to destash the yarn closet or should I say room. I need to get things put away. When you run out of room in a giant storage space it is time to get busy and do something about this. Therefore I have been very busy on ebay. Also dividing the things that will work for charity knitting to donate.

Add a bit of sewing to all of this and you know why you have not heard from me. I promise to do better.

ANNIS SHAWL

I have always been thrilled with the beauty of the shawls from Estonia. Particularly the ones based on the Lily of the Valley. Such a beautiful flower and in the spring the ones that grow at my back door have a fragrance I adore. That being said the "nups" in the patterns have made me think about doing one of these. So when I saw Annis on Knitty I thought this would be a perfect time to try them out. Then I found the U-Tube demo on the crochet hook method. I was off and knitting. This is a fun shawl and I loved knitting it. Now if we could just have some warmer weather I will be able to wear this pretty pink treat. I have a few other projects that must come first then I think I shall cast on for the Lily of the Valley. Now understand there are 3 other shawls that must come first. Plus some work for upcoming classes but keep watching I will let you know when I start.

EVERY THING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

A number of years ago (I forget how many) I worked out this pattern. Then it went to the "unfinished boutique" I am working hard at getting things organized, well at least as organized as I will ever be. I am now writing directions and the like after finishing the sample. I gave away sample 1 a long time ago. So it is back to square one. I have a shawl I must get busy working on as I am planning my December donation shawl now. None of the waiting until my life gets in the way stuff as in years past. Hubby's work schedule has changed once again so now I need to change my work schedule as well. No lace knitting when the TV is on full blast with some sort or other of sporting event. We have moved from football now to college basketball. I just can't count when they are yelling numbers at the top of their lungs in "surround sound" . This means I must work when he works. OK the house will keep and the kitchen floor is clean enough to be healthy. Thank goodness for little puppy Vera who is a great cleaner up of any food that might have landed there.

I AM NOT LOST IN THE SNOW!

I am not lost in the snow but have been busy doing knitting things. I try in January to get caught up with all the items that never quite were finished at Christmas. Then it is also time to prepare for upcoming classes. We have had more snow than I can remember in years and keep in mind that memory goes back a long long time. I did finish up this black hat it is felted Gallway and some sort of fun fur yarn that I really don't remember. The pattern is from Fiber Trends and believe it or not it is for me....Perfect for this dreadful weather we are having.

There is one good thing about snow and cold weather here. We are all well prepared for it. My heart goes out to those of you who live where "real winter" is not something you are used to. Our heating systems, roofs, insulation and a large generator should we loose power. We are made for this stuff. We have a large tractor mounted snow blower that can send that white stuff miles if he wants to do it. So all is well with us.

I also made a couple of hats of my own design and I like to call this embossed knitting. Many years ago at Meg Swanson's Knitting camp we were delving into the Swedish Twined Knitting. With no translation of the first book on this it was pure guess work. So I designed this hat to use this way of "not twined twined knitting" I call it embossed knitting. I really do love to do it and this is going to be part of my classes before long.

Then we come to the always popular Wallaby by Carol Anderson. You know this is a favorite when grandchildren outgrow theirs and ask for a new one. So I knit up a little one in red as a class sample. I also have a large one almost finished now for Louis who requested it at Christmas. If that were not enough I have a pink one started for Lillie. I am doing a Wallaby Knit along class at Yarn for Ewe in Kennedy, Ny and this is all in preparation for these classes.

I have printed hand outs that go along with the pattern book so I have been working hard at getting these all ready for Saturday.

Then there were several days of sewing, cleaning the sewing room only to trash it again as I look for fabric.

More about that later. Keep warm

Just what goes on here?

It hardly seems possible I have been away from this blog for so long. I am most sorry. First it was the computer which would no longer burn a CD. I decided in what now seems foolishness to send it in to be repaired while the Apple Care was still in effect. I only had a few days left on this coverage. Yes I know they say back things up. Well I did the best I could and off it went. Returned in 3 days and I was thrilled until I started it up. I found out they had wiped it clean. You got it I lost all of the information I had not backed up. I can not tell you the hours spent to reinstall everything. Things are pretty much as good as it is going to get at this point. Did I register a complaint you bet I did but what is that old saying "it is what it is".

Then we had Thanksgiving and we were away with the family for a week. I did a bit of Christmas shopping but not a lot of knitting. I did enjoy the time with the family and would not trade that for anything. Once I returned it back to teaching some knitting classes and this gives me great joy to share what I have been blessed to learn over the years.

Next project was to get the out of town gifts wrapped and mailed. This included 3 hand made knitting bags. Done!

All the while work on my hand made gifts. There are photos here of what I made and there will be more after Christmas. I just had to get some of the things all wrapped. Now it is time to show all of you who care to look just what I have been knitting. Not in these pictures as I lost the camera files as well are a sweater for Lillie and a hat with matching sweater and hat for her American girl doll which is what my gift to her is at Christmas. Then there were hand knit socks for my Louis.

Now here are the pictures and what I knit. A scarf and fingerless gloves in pretty blue with yarn from the stash. Makes me feel very thrifty. Then my own pattern for the red line shawl in doll size. Sock yarn doll clothes. Also pot holders sewn and kitchen towels to match.

If you have not seen the new book out "Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders" edited by Judith Durant. Please run don't walk and pick up a copy. The sock yarn doll clothes are from this book and I want to start on page one and knit my through this gem.

I now have the special hazelnut biscotti made for my son in law for Christmas, the cookies baked and as I write this everything is all wrapped up. I now need to put the "sticky buns" in the oven for the bridge party.

Happy Holidays to all of you and I must hurry back to the needles there is still a sock that needs a foot.....

A QUICK SCARF

I am beginning to think I am making progress around here with the knitting. I have finished another pair of the socks with the "Strong Heel".

Finished this pretty fluted scarf knit this with: 1 ball Universal Yarn Classic Shades color #705. Here is the pattern. It was told to me at a knitting meeting and I have no idea where the original pattern came from. I just wrote down and knit what I was told. So want to share with all of you. This is really a fun knit. If this is a pattern someone has written I am so sorry and please let me know. I just found it fun and a quick and easy gift. This time of year hubby is glued to the football games and like it if I watch with him. Many I find not very interesting so this is what keeps my fingers busy yet my mind can still pay attention. Enjoy

# 7 needle

1 ball -Universal Classic Shades Yarn

Cast on 20

1. knit 20

2. knit 8, turn, knit 8.

3. knit 6, turn, knit 6

4. knit 4, turn, knit 4.

Knit 20 repeat these 4 rows until all yarn is used.

More completed knitting

I also worked long and hard on the final version of my red line shawl. This was done to celebrate the wonderful "Red Line" needles made by ChiaoGoo. Such pure joy to knit with. My endless thanks to Universal Yarn for the wonderful Holiday Red with sequins yarn called Soft Payette. It absolutely flowed in my fingers and the sequins were no problem at all. The best part of this project was the fact it did not need to be blocked but just a light steam on the wrong side. I love something that when you are finished knitting you can wear it right away. I have been working on this project off and on since June and at last I have the written directions. I needed to do a double check of them so with the left over yarn I knit one to fit the American Girl Doll.

I have been told that Miss Lillie is requesting an American Girl doll for Christmas. You can imagine what I will now be working on until Christmas. Lots and lots of little sweaters. That Mary Ann was so helpful to model so beautifully the shawls on Knit Night at http://yarnforewe.biz/ Dianne has changed the name from Stash Busters to Yarn for you and Stash Busters two to more accurately represent the new direction her shop is going in. Not just stash busting but a full service yarn shop. How exciting for all of us in the Western New York rea.