Stained Glass Creation

There's a lot to do in Bakersfield, but without Jim and Crickie, it sometimes gets lonely. I decided to take a stained glass class that was being offered at one of the galleries there. This is my first project in lead work. I'm also finishing a butterfly night light which utilizes the copper-foil method. I'll post a picture of that at a later date.

Jim's Fair Isle Socks

Hey! It has been a while. I moved to Bakersfield after I got my new job. In fact, I live there during the week and then drive back home to Jim and Crickie in Carlsbad on the weekends. My laptop finally died, so except for my computer at work (which is monitored), I'm computerless during the week.

In any case, I haven't stopped knitting even though I don't have as much time. (I basically work all day, come home, talk with Jim, go to bed, and the whole thing starts all over again the next day. Good thing, I love my job!).

I've fallen in love with Fair Isle colorwork. I recently finished these nice thick socks for Jim (just in time for summer...). The pattern can be found in the 2nd "Toe Up Socks" book.

Leopard Hat

I love this hat! It sells for $215 at a high-end boutique. It looks like it could knit up fairly easily to me. The yarn looks bulky enough to be able to wing it to make the spots, too.

I haven't done much knitting lately, since I got a second job. I need to finish a hat I started for my husband.

Elise's Felted Purse

Ever tried needle felting? This is my first attempt, and I'm hooked. It's really not that difficult, and it's a great way to embellish felted knits. (The only annoying thing is that it's so easy to break the needles.)

Happy Holidays!

I hope to knit much more in 2012!

Debbie Bliss Fair Isle Wrist Warmers

I've not done much color work, and in particular, I've avoided doing Fair Isle work. However, when I saw the grey/off-white version of these wrist warmers in Debbie Bliss's winter edition magazine (I didn't know she had a knitting magazine), I just couldn't resist. The original pattern called for knitting them "flat" and then sewing them up the side, but I could see where the seam was even in the photograph, so I redid the pattern and worked them 2 at a time in the round. I understand why she did them flat: it's hard to get the tension right going around the edges, but I think I finally got it as seen here. They look good even on Jim.

Family of Socks

Well, I've been knitting. I just haven't been taking the pictures off my camera.

Everyone is getting at least one pair of socks this Christmas: Marita's hand-painted superwash merino, Richard's ribbed alpaca, Debi's Fibonacci Sequence striped acrylic, Voss's plain (huge) navy acrylic socks (starting from top left).

Knitting them from the toe up really makes for quick knitting.

Halloween Baby Socks

I loved making these baby socks (for a certain baby girl due on Halloween). I made them from samples of hand-dyed superwash merino by "Baah" of La Jolla yarns.

Jose's Gloves

I've been knitting but have been very lazy about taking the pictures off my camera.

An acquaintance commissioned me to make him some fingerless gloves. What do you think? The newest "mancessory"? The sad part is even though I had him rub the yarn against his neck and try the gloves on as I made them, it turned out he may be allergic to the alpaca yarn I used. He can't wear them for 3 minutes before his arms start to itch. Although he was disappointed, he didn't ask for his money back. This was not something that I could have known beforehand.

Sail Fish

Jim and I showed the other dead fish hat to an acquaintance. It turns out her brother is a fisherman, and she thought he'd like a fish hat. I made this one bigger (it hangs down lower in the back) and I modified the top fin so that it's a sail fin. I really enjoy making this hat because I can do all sorts of funky modifications to the pattern, and it all just adds to the personality of the individual piece.

Charlotte's Web Scrap Afghan

Elise's little sister, Charlotte, will be born this coming August. When I sat down to think about what to give her, all I could think about was one of my all-time favorite books, Charlotte's Web by E. B. White. I made this afghan using scrap acrylic yarn, featuring Barbara Walker's arachnid. The rest of the blocks are assorted basketweave, miscellaneous texture blocks that were easy to do. It's totally washable, cuddly, and Charlotte can do her worst to it.

Yikes!

Elise came to visit me, and I was shocked. Except for sleeve length and a little more space in the shoulders, she has grown into the sweater that I thought for sure would last for at least the next 3 years. She's growing so fast! TOO FAST! I couldn't believe it. (The gretel tam fit, too.)

Birthdays, birthdays...

Elise and her mother, Sara, are both celebrating their b-days this month. To commemorate the occasions, I knit Sara a smaller version of the Sea Horse scarf (from a knitting book that was inspired by the ocean), and I knit soon-to-be-three, Elise, a cabled sweater (Interweave Knits, Winter 2010, "Tuckernuck Cardigan" by Elinor Brown) and a matching hat (Stitch n' Bitch, Superstar Knitting, "Gretel Tam" by Ysolda Teague). The yarn for the Sea Horse scarf was part of my winnings from "Caught on a Corn Dog." The yarn for the sweater was Berroco Vintage, a wool/acrylic/nylon mix. It is very soft and great to work with. Because of the cables in the sweater, I used about 7 balls of the yarn!

First Place!!!

Hey!

"Caught on a Corn Dog" won 1st place in the knitting contest at the San Marcos store! Yippee!!!

Julie's Baby Blanket

I finally finished the baby blanket I have been working on for my friend Julie. Her shower is next weekend so I wanted to finish it this past weekend. I took a class at the San Marcos knitting store a few months ago and this is the project we learned. The blanket is interesting because it looks kind of two dimensional. It was fun to knit, but I am glad I am finally done and can move on to something else. I ended up making a matching hat for her baby boy, too.

Caught on a Corn Dog

Well, here it is! This is my entry in the Dead Fish Hat contest. It's for Elise who informed me that she loves pink, purple, yellow, and turquoise blue (I had no scraps of turquoise blue, so I had to make do with dark blue). The colors are much more vivid than the picture lets on (thank goodness!). The gals at the shop seemed to like it (although they might just be polite).

Elise in Her Experimental Sweater

Just thought you guys might like to see Elise in her new sweater (my "experiment"). It really looks good on her, but now that it's nice and warm, I doubt she'll be wearing it much. She's growing so fast, she'll probably outgrow it by winter time (not that we have much of an actual winter in Carlsbad). Oh well, little sis on the way will have a barely-worn hand me down from big sis.

Baby Wheaton's Channel Island Guernsey

I very recently read Gladys Thompson's wonderful little treasure of a book on making British Isle guernseys, ganseys, and jerseys. I enjoyed reading the stories so much that Jim got me a copy on Amazon. Though the book does assume the reader has a certain amount of skill, the book inspired me to take freedoms with my knitting. The guernsey shown here is pretty traditional, but I modified the pattern. I knit it for Elise's soon to arrive (August?) little sister.

It's amazing that all of these patterns were created by individuals who pass them on by word of mouth to the next generation. The sad part is many of the youngsters don't want to knit.

The Dead Fish Hat Contest

Hey! The San Marcos yarn store is having a dead fish hat contest. The hats are very cute and can be downloaded for free here: www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter08/PATTfishy.php. Cool 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Knitter's Choice awards. I got the entry form at the store. Deadline is May 5th so there's still time!

Starburst Hat #2

I love this "Ida's Kitchen" hat pattern. I made this second hat and I am planning to make a third!

Baby Hat 2

I wanted to knit this baby hat again with nicer, softer, bulkier yarn. This one took me about two hours and looked nicer than the green one. But, binding off at 11:30 p.m. was not the best idea. I forgot to do the three needle bind off with the two wrong sides facing each other. So I guess I will be making a third hat.