Happy Halloween to you Happy Birthday to me

Actually, my birthday's All Saint's Day (tomorrow). BUT I received this booklet in the mail today. Click on it. It's amazing how many patterns are in this book - there's several I didn't include in the pics. It was originally a 40 cent book! Back in the day they really knew how to make it worth your pennies! My friend Debbie found this while sadly packing up her family home after her dad passed. I may never need another sock book! It's got knee-highs, anklets, slippers, argyles, cables - you name it.

And yes, my black lace sock is coming along nicely!

Clementine's Baltic Socks

I am becoming anything but monogamous. I am becoming a procrastinator. (Only when it comes to knitting, that is) Recently I thought four projects was enough to drive me nuts, so I quickly finished the Chicago Scarf and then the Wedding Shawl and then the test slippers, leaving my one lone Tweed to finish. At that point, one would assume I'd actually finish it. But then I did have that other skein of lace weight yarn. So I cast on. Then for some reason, all the unfinished/abandoned socks started taunting me - what? You can't make socks?

So again, I got out some of this sock yarn, some size 1 dpn's and cast on. Of course it was wrong. I ripped. Cast on. Ripped. Cast on. Counted the blasted things again. Ripped. Cast on. And now here we are.
Here is the pattern I'm using. Looks promising, but we all know looks can be deceiving.

Mrs. Bear's Slippers

I made these cleverly designed slippers to test a pattern for my buddy Mrs. Bear. They're definitely a keeper. These would be a fast handknit gift to give for Christmas. The pattern's not quite available yet, but keep checking here. Love them!

Please read ONLY if you're over 50 - no knitting news

Nora Ephron is funny. Before my favorite neighbor gave me a book by her, I had never heard of Nora Ephron. I sort of live in a state of denial - don't watch TV, listen to news, OR read a newspaper. (IMHO)All three can only lead to depression, and there's enough in everyday life and human relations alone for that without news. In the event that anything worthy of my awareness occurs, it will be brought to my almost immediate attention by either my husband, my mother, or my favorite neighbor. (They take this job seriously and don't overwhelm me with too much.)

Now back to Nora. Her book I read, I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK, is no great novel (not a book I'd put my credit card down for for myself, but definitely one that one friend in a group could buy and circulate amongst all their Judys), BUT it's funny, at times poignant, and such a light, quick, easy read, that I almost wanted to send her a letter thanking her for letting me know I'm not quite nuts (or I'm not the only one who's nuts).

Chicago Scarf

It's almost done. Maybe another foot or so.

Four of us are heading off for a Christmas Kickoff Extravaganza to Chicago the end of November - Shopping on the Magnificent Mile, dining at Tru's, and evening entertainment at The Redhead Piano Bar.

One of the magnificent four was lacking a scarf . And being a knitter, we just can't have that.

FO - Swallowtail Shawl or Mom's Wedding Shawl

This turned out better than I thought it was going to. It's final measurements are 60 wide by 38 at the tip. I did five repeats of the Budding Lace pattern as I had read on some other blogs.

As the title reads, Mom is marrying her Internet Beau in December (after a two/three? year courtship). How convenient that I was already knitting her the shawl

Bobble v Nupp

To Make Bobble: Knit in [front, back, front] of next stitch to increase to 3 stitches, turn; purl 3, turn; pass first stitch over second stitch, pass second stitch over third stitch to decrease to one stitch

To Make Nupp: On knit row - Knit, YO, Knit, YO, Knit in one stitch.
On purl row - Purl all five together.

It looks different than a bobble. It looks like five little rings hanging close together when done very well. Close up from Interweave Knits:

Me and my nupps

Well, I'm coming around. The nupps are not getting the best of me. Last couple rounds have been quite okay. Turns out the REAL secret is knit the nupp stitches looser than you EVER thought possible. Life will be good then.

How I knit Nups or Nupps - UPDATED - AGAIN

Anyone going crazy trying to make nups or nupps - like for the Swallowtail Shawl? I WANT YOU TO KNOW THERE'S HOPE! KNIT THE FIVE SOOOO LOOOOOOOSE. After much internet research, I came up basically with one suggestion - slip two of the five stitches purlwise, purl three together and slip the two over that. That is supposed to look the same as a nup. Unh-unh. Doesn't either. (UPDATE - OK OK - I'm doing it to save my mind) Just doesn't look as slick as the p5tog. Besides it's not that much easier.

FIRST - I switched my needles over to Boyes interchangeables. Why? Well, they're slicker than my Denises and they're pointier than my Denises (or Addis or any others I have) and they have smaller size needles (than Denises). So on the side you're knitting across, use your desired size needle. On the purl side of the circulars, put a smaller needle. (I am knitting with 5's and purling with 3's)

SECOND - Make sure you're knitting LOOSLEY those five that you're going to be nupping. Actually this should be step No. 1!!

Most times if I'm knitting loose and using the smaller needle on the purl side, I'm fine.
BUT SOMETIMES I need to go the next step:

THIRD - When you stick your needle in to purl the five with your pointy smaller needle, if you can't get it through and then come out on the front to purl, (keeping yarn in front to purl) go ahead and go through aiming to go out the back (as if to knit) instead of the front (photo at this point); keeping the five on the right needle, slide everything more to the end of that gold needle, rotate the right (red) needle with stitches on it over the gold needle and now you're situated correctly to purl together. Sounds weird, but it works. When I don't have to go through this little maneuver, I don't hate nupps quite as much as I do otherwise.

I love the way they look, but I hate the way they slow me down. This lady made the Swallowtail shawl and just left the nupps out! It is still gorgeous!

Clothilda wearing Tweed

This is what she was made for! And look what a fit Tweed will be (if I ever get her finished!) You can't really see it in the photo, but it is a shawl collar that's rolling back nicely and is out of moss stitch. Body of jacket is just SS. I'll just crochet around the bottom edge or whipstitch it. This is a rather patternless jacket I'm making. I just decreased towards waist, increased afterwards. The top I started decreasing on the SS portion just below armpits as though for a V neck and increasing on the moss stitch for the collar. It's working out like I knew what I was doing.

Body Works

Well, first attempt, which my favorite neighbor assisted me in dissolved in an embarassed heap. Our problem was we soaked the paper tape and smeared it on. It was too wet. Would have taken hours to dry. When we cut it off, it slipped and slopped. We spent about 2.5 hours on this version.














When she went home to care for those she loves, she made a comment, perhaps we should have just MOISTENED the tape. AH!! Of course. I don another plastic bag and start wrapping myself with moistened tape. I get the lower body and front done. Mr. H helps with the back - BELIEVE IT OR NOT. He tires out tho on the finishing aspects. So I dance across the street in my paper tape-wrapped body and ring my neighbor's doorbell at 8:30 pm to request some assistance. Mr. Favorite Neighbor opens the door and asks me if Halloween came early. (Funny man really) So Ms. Favorite Neighbor comes over to do some finishing and then cut me out.



















Really the end results look pretty good. I need to make or get a stand for her and maybe give her a modesty garment.

Wrapper Needed (No experience necessary)

Signs of things to come.

MAC Diva/Pinup Girl

Here's an update on the kid - what a job. Is it work or is it play?

Swallowtail Shawl

I hate to just jump on bandwagons, but I sort of understand it now. Used to drive me nuts that everyone seemed to be knitting the same thing. Now I understand - patterns come out in magazines; people knit them. Anyway, it's a beautiful pattern. See Brooklyn Tweed's here. Brooklyn Tweed's photography is absolutely outstanding! I spent a few hours last night with my Olympus C4000 digital trying to figure out if I can do that where you blur everything but the focal point. It sort of intimates I can, but I tried and it didn't work. Another day. And here is a knitalong site with more pretty pictures. And this one looks so airy and gorgeous. More. This is made with a bit thicker yarn.

The yarn I'm using is pretty inexpensive, you only need one skein for this shawl, and there's lots of color choices. I've knit a few lace pieces before, so the charts are not a problem. The challenge is just keeping hold of this thin stuff. Starting out I was focusing too much on trying to maintain some tension on the yarn. Finally, I've decided it's better to just knit more loosely and let the blocking do it's magic.

Tweed Update

So I have lofty expectations out of this lowly tweed. Finally I'm at the armholes of the fronts that I'm doing together. Tweed will have a shawl collar. It's got shape and it looks as tho it will fit mine. Certainly I will find the most perfect buttons ever for this. The sleeves will be straight with perhaps three to four buttons closing them at the wrists.

I can see it now -- I'm standing there waiting for the metro in my dark chocolate slacks, perhaps a periwinkle blue collared blouse, my brown boots, and of course, My Tweed. It's cold, even windy, but I don't care. I'm toasty in My Tweed. Reality check to follow in a month or two.