Boot Scootin Boogie

The Navaho Huivi (aka: Onerva) is fini…




One of these days when it is not 90 freaking degrees outside I will wear this scarf with a pair of jean, my Lucchese boots, and a piece of turquoise… someday. Until then, this still life will have to do. I wasn’t sure how this yarn was going to look and yes just a tad bit nervous, but I am happy with the result and I think this one will be getting a lot of use, especially on the baseball field during Little League. To me this yarn has a look that says blue jeans, so I probably won’t be wearing it to the office. Although with something black it might be o.k.


For those who care, here are the details of this project here are the specifics.


In all her wrinkled glory:




Taking a long soak in the tub:



All dressed up and nowhere to go... for now.



I used Pagewood Farm 100% Merino Super Wash Sock yarn (450 yds) in the color Navaho with US#4 (3.5mm) needles both Addi Lace and Options. The Addi Lace needle wasn’t as slick as the Options so I used it for the most part, but when it came time to insert a lifeline, nothing beats the Options needles with the little hole. When it got to big for the Addi Lace I switched to the Options needle for the last pattern repeat. Blocked measurement was 50” wingspan and approximately 28” down the center.

Now on to my next adventure.... I'm not sure where I'm going next but something tells me it might involve Sundara Silk Lace in beautiful autumn colors, we'll see.



This is Mahogany Over Marmelade.

Happy Birthday To Grant

He is 9 years old today...


We spent yesterday at the waterslides which was probably a good thing, it was hotter than you know what. Getting this birthday cake was a whole other adventure that I won't go into right now, but let's just say that Safeway can't do military and Grant wanted a cake with an Army tank on it. So I settled for plain white cake with whipped cream and strawberries... yummy. Yes I had two pieces but who's counting... right. The lady at the store wanted to choke the cake decorator and made sure that I understood he didn't speak and/or understand English. I found some military stuff and decorated the cake myself. He was pleased with the cake so that's all that counts.

I came home and finished my detour to Finland and blocked my Onerva. I love the way it turned out and I am in the process of making a full size one out of Pagewood Farm sock yarn in a beautiful turquoise color.





ETA: Instruction for the Onerva

ETA:
These are the notes provided by the girl who made the chart (see below) and are the instructions that I followed. I used a size US4 needle:

CO 3(RS): K1, YO, K1, YO, K1(WS): K2, P1, K2(RS): K1, YO, K3, YO, K1(WS): K2, P3, K2Begin chart row 1I moved the repeat up one row (i.e. new diamond starts in the center on row 31, instead of row 29 etc.), so that the pattern lines up better - means you’re knitting the same pattern all across and is easier to remember.One complete pattern rep is therefore 30 rows on mine. Made a nice little color-coded chart (http://www.mediaworkzone.com/onervachartrepeat.pdf), to help me remember.

The only thing that is not noted on the chart is to keep the outer two stitches in garter:

Right Side: Knit 2 Yo, ...follow chart to end..., Yo Knit 2
Wrong Side: Knit 2, .... purl to the last two stitches... Knit 2

Moving Right Along...

On a world tour, well not exactly but in some ways better, it’s a world knitting tour, and the best part is that I don’t even have to leave my house, get on a plane, or renew my passport.

I just finished my Opium Poppy sweater designed by this girl in Poland (pattern here: (http://fiubzdziuu.blogspot.com/2009/04/maczek-wzor-opium-poppy-pattern.htmln.html). The pattern is in very broken English but I was able to decipher the most important parts. As a matter of fact, her English is way better than my Polish so I think she did an excellent job of documenting her instructions.

The pattern did not include instruction for the sleeves so I just winged it and did raglan sleeves which worked out fine. I also changed the stitch pattern to one out of my Japanese Stitch Dictionary (Yo S1 K2 PSSO). I will try to get some pictures of the front tomorrow. Essentially this sweater is knit from the bottom up which mean no seaming…. Yeah!

I used Cotton Fleece yarn that I had purchased way back in the beginning of time when I first discovered that you didn’t have to buy yarn at Michael’s or Joann Fabrics. This was my very first real yarn that actually had wool in it. I liked the way this stuff knit up and it is actually a pretty good yarn for a California sweater (mostly cotton -80% / wool 20%). I used several sizes of Options needles ranging from US #5 through #7.
































Next stop on my staycation tour is Finland. I found this little gem (Pattern: (http://www.sci.fi/~petrijap/Neuleet/onervahuivi.pdf) one night while browsing Bloglines. Here is an example of the finished product: http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomcyn/3595816781/in/photostream/ickr.com/photos/randomcyn/3595816781/in/photostream/).
I have some yummy red Malabrigo (Tiziano) sock yarn left over from a hat I made and I’m going to knit this pattern until this little ball of yarn runs out. I’m hoping it will be enough for a scarf big enough to wrap around my throat when it’s cold outside. I’m on the second repeat and so far it is a fun pattern, just complex enough to keep it interesting as I knit my way around the world.

And the beat goes on...

How many more members are those whack jobs going to ban before they fall down drunk with power. I expect this kind of behavior from both Casey and the Bunkerboard's female counter part (aka: Casey II). They honestly think it is within their POWER to control who you associate with. But I really did think a few in the group were a little more intelligent. Guess I was wrong again.

A word of advice from a very wise person: "too much daily fiber will make you stupid and/or paranoid".

June 29 ETA: I think they are serving Cherry flavor today!

Slinky Ribs continued...

I’m moving right along with my Slinky Ribs sweater, two more rows before I start the stockinette bottom. At this point I will stop and do one of the sleeves so I can see how these “after thought” sleeves work. I have never knit a sleeve from the top down so it should be an interesting adventure. Wendy gives very detailed instructions for this technique so I don’t anticipate any problems, but you know how Murphy is, he is probably lurking behind the chair just waiting for an opportunity to pounce. My back up position, just in case he rears his ugly head, is to not do sleeves and make it a vest instead.


Speaking of Murphy, he almost got me last night. As I was knitting around and around and around, something didn’t feel right and I looked over to my right and sure enough I had pulled the cable out of my Options needle and a few of the stitches were just hanging there in mid air. I stopped and very carefully recovered those stitches and glued the cable back in. I love these needles but I can’t tell you how many cables have broken. Good thing the replacement cables are relatively cheap or I would be pissed as hell. I wonder if it is just me or if other knitters are having the same problem?

The Zephyr DK (wool/silk) is very nice to knit with and the silk give it a nice sheen. I can’t wait to see what it looks like blocked. I bought two cones of this stuff several years ago and never found a pattern I liked so they have been patiently waiting in my stash for the right opportunity. If this sweater turns out nice, I will be looking for another pattern for the other cone which is an apricot color. With Wendy’s book Custom Knits I don’t think I will have any problems finding my next pattern.

Slinky Ribs

Slinky Ribs by Wendy Bernard (Knit and Tonic). I am using Zephyr (50% wool/50% silk) DK in Lady Slipper. I have finished the back and I am now knitting down the right front side. Picking up live stitches and continuing the K2P2 ribbing is a pain in the you know what.


March must be a pink month for me. Maybe it's because I'm tickled pink now that I have more time to knit. I have been refocused so to speak and so far it has been a good thing.

One of these days when the dust settles I will tell the story of Nonnie's Great Adventure In Cyber Space and how she became a Rebel Without A Clue along with 100+ other knitters

Shhhh its a secret....

This is a baby sweater I made for one of the members of the online knitting group I belong to. I had so much fun knitting this sweater and I love the way it turned out even if the baby will not be able to wear it until she is 2 years old. Yes it came out bigger than planned, but hopefully it won’t matter and she will be able to wear it anyways.

The pattern I used is “Lucille” from Kelbourne Wollen Mills (http://www.kelbournewoolens.com/lucille.html) and it is free. The pattern called for fingering weight yarn and I had originally planned to use Stork which is fingering weight cotton, but for whatever reason I do not like knitting with cotton so I changed to Baby Cashmerino by Debbie Bliss. This is the first time I have ever used this yarn and it was wonderful to knit with, I wouldn’t mind making myself something out of this yarn. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t mind a sweater just like this for myself in a worsted weight or DK weight California friendly yarn. Based on the stitch counts for this pattern it wouldn’t take much adjustment to do just that.

Hope the little peanut likes it. Now all I have to do is get this in a box and in the mail.

That Evil Woman

Yes Sundara I'm talking about you..... look at these yummie colors.... who could resist? Not me, I had to have them all. These are examples of her Silk Lace (from left to right clockwise): Hazy Shade of Winter, Mahogany Over Strawberry, and last but not least Mahogany Over Marmalade.