Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...

Isn't my grandson Brayden just the sweetest little baby you have ever seen????

I thought you would agree. BTW, he is wearing the one-piece jumpsuit I made for his mother. It was the first outfit she ever wore.

My friend Melinda and I have both started the Chevron Lace Cardigan as a KAL. I am going to frog mine to make the next larger size and Melinda is going to frog hers to make a smaller size! It is easy to memorize the pattern so it goes fairly quickly. I plan on making some modifications to the pattern to make it more of a swing coat affair. We shall see.

Progress on ALL Projects

I have finished with the crochet part of my Vintage Inspired Sunburst Bag. The handles were a bit tricky but they are also finished. Now I need to find the perfect fabric for the lining and get a few findings in order to finish it.

The blue hand towel is coming along, albeit slowly. Pretty mindless knitting is just fine for in front of the T.V.

The best project making great progress in not my direct creation...My daughter Aubree is about 14 weeks along and all is going very well. This is my first grandchild and we are all very excited about it. I now have someone specific to knit baby clothes for! Woo hoo!!!

Knit and Crochet Therapy

Part of my healing has been to start a new knitting project, a new knitting project and a new crochet project.

When in Michael's in Tarzana a couple of months ago I found very large skeins of Sugar and Cream Confectionary yarn. By large I mean 710 yards! The colors were so appealing, muted and different than the usual Sugar and Cream that I was compelled to bring home 5 of them. They then ripened in the trunk of my car for a month or so while I tried to figure out where in the apartment they would be stored. When my oldest daughter came to L.A. last month to support me and spend a few days helping me, she saw the yarn in my trunk. I had decided to make a bathroom rug for her and she liked the idea. So I started it. 5 colors starting in the upper left hand corner and going down 3, I simply followed the same color sequence 3 times. A single crochet border of 1 row white and 2 rows blue finish it off.

Shiloh said she doesn't need washcloths but instead would like hand towels. Eventually I will make 5, 1 of each color. The border is a simple moss stitch and plain stockinette in the center.

I have been looking for a handbag for the Spring and Summer months. I either haven't liked them or they are too expensive. (spending over $200 for a straw bag just seems wrong to me) My friend Melinda has a commercial handbag (actually, she has a LOT of handbags!) crocheted in shell stitch that I covet. While wandering the aisles of Michael's, I came across J.P.Coats Royale crochet thread, size #3. The colors tan and natural work well together so this is my version of Melinda's bag. The Sunburst pattern comes from pages 93 & 94 in the book Crocheting School. The colors remind me of fine lingerie with ecru lace. Ellen says it has a vintage look to it. I gotta admit, she has something there! The plan is to crochet 9 sunburst rows of each color, then add handles and line it. I also want to crochet an opening on the outside to allow a small zippered pocket for whatevers. If there is enough thread leftover, I may make an eyeglass case, coin purse and small make-up bag. How utterly matchy-poo. I love crap that goes together.

Has it REALLY been 2 1/2 months????

Uh, yeah. It has. My bad.

Now that we are settled into our apartment in Sherman Oaks, life carries on. It is so nice and quiet here. I love it.

I continue to work on the Ripple Blanket. My oldest daughter came down from Seattle for Christmas and sort of claimed it as hers. It is still about 1/3 away from completion so there is a stitch marker holding the live loops.

I managed to nearly complete a few knitted items for Christmas presents this year. My daughter headed back to Seattle before I could snap some pix of the crocheted scarf I made for her. I also made a pair of socks for my friend Ray, but he scurried back to Lancaster with them on foot before a photo-op...However, I did manage to produce a hat for one of the guys in the shop where I work that I still have in my possession. I guess it would photograph better with a head in it, but no spares are available right at this moment. It is made from Vanna's Choice acrylic. As a former yarn snob, I think this yarn has a really nice feel to it. Not scratchy or crunchy like acrylics can be but nice and soft.

I am nearly finished with a scarf for Ray. I am determined to not take this project into the New Year! It may be hard to see but it is 3 stitches garter edge with K5, P5, etc. for 7 rows, then switch and K across the P5 and P across the K5 blah, blah, blah...Patons Merino Wool in dark brown. Note:this is the first project in a loooooooonnnnnnggg time that I have used straight needles. Now I remember why I love circulars.

Now that the holidays are almost over, I feel free to start another project! Woo hoo! Another pair of socks for friend Ray. This yarn is Knit Picks Essential in Terrain Twist. From far away it looks like a solid olive green. Up close, it is 2 plys of green and 2 plys of brown, twisted together. So far, I love this yarn. Soooooo soft and cheap at $3.29 a ball. I think this yarn is very easy to knit with.

While I don't support the war in Iraq, I do support the soldiers. This year I will do a lot more knitting for the soldiers, i.e. scarves, helmet liners, etc. Here is the beginning of a scarf in double crochet. Bernat Berella 4 using a size "H" hook.

My daughters are my 2 favorite people on the planet. For Christmas, my oldest gave to me a copy of the first Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals PLUS a gift card for another volume of my choice! When dinner only takes a half an hour to make, there is more time for knitting! I ran right out and got Rachel Ray's Just In Time
with recipes that take not only 30 minutes, but some in only 15 minutes! Also, there are a few that take 60 minutes for those times when you have more time, say on the weekends.

My youngest daughter gave me this fabulous knitting bag for Christmas. Also from Knit Picks, it holds a lot of projects at one time and has lots of pockets and places to hold scissors, patterns, measuring tape, etc. I love it!

Do I have the most wonderful and intelligent daughters or what???

Finally, please send some positive healing energy to my friend Ray who starts chemotherapy on January 7. Thanks.

Falling off the wagon and getting pulled under the wheels...

Well, so much for the "Knit From Your Stash" commitment that I made in January. Actually, it lasted longer than I thought it would. I still have aspirations to get back on the wagon, but probably not until Bishop's is over their going-out-of-business sale. At 70% off, that is pretty damn hard to resist! Here is the haul from Tuesday's binge;5 skeins of Bernat Berella "4" in white, 4 balls of OrnaghiFilati Cashmerino, 2 skeins of Sirdar Snuggly DK in a lt. rust and 2 in a lt. grey/blue, a whole bag of Sirdar Snuggly DK in white and 5 hanks of Berroco Glace. The Berella "4" and the Snuggly is destined for baby clothes for an as-yet-to-be-discovered baby. People get pregnant all the time, right? (Not me, of course. I would throw myself into the middle of the 405 at 5pm!) The Cashmerino is going to be a pair of patterned socks for my daughter, Shiloh. The 5 hanks of Glace will be added to the 7 hanks I have of the same color (but I am SURE that it is a different dye lot...that would be too freakin' weird if they were the same!) so that I can actually make something other than a crop top. Nobody wants to see that...I will simply alternate rows of each dye lot and with the amazing color variation in the yarn, it will all be fine.

I have continued to work on the ripple vest. I am almost done with the back, about 1 1/2 inches left to go. After all that epiphany stuff, I decided to frog it back to the f*$#-up and crochet it correctly. It didn't take as long as I thought it would and I am much happier knowing that there are only a few small mistakes rather than one glaring boo-boo and a few small mistakes. Hopefully it will be done in time to start the front and work on that when I go to Seattle in August.

I feel better now. They say confession is good for the soul...

Whatever.

The Same Thing, Just More Of It

With the ripple afghan on hold, I am once again working on the Ripple Vest. I pulled it out at the WeHo SnB on Thursday and started working on it. Probably not the best idea as I need to count a few stitches here and there. Sure enough, I got to a place in the return row where the stitches do not line up. Now I have to rip back to the row before (or worse yet, the row before that!) and figure out what went wrong. Sure, I could just add a stitch here or there to make it all come out right, but it is RIGHT SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE of the vest and would probably show like a beacon on a clear night.

EPIPHANY!!!! While writing this I just had a thought. This is supposed to be the front but I haven't made the back yet and why not make this the back and make the front last when I really have my shit together on this pattern understand the pattern well???? Problem solved. Movin' on.

On Thursday night, we (the WeHo SnB) were displaced from our usual location of the upstairs dining area at the Farmer's Market. We then commandeered an alcove on the main floor for ourselves. Lots of people stopped by to ask what we were doing. (Laurie, we hope to see you at a future SnB!) A group of 4 small children seemed interested (one very interested) in what we were doing. The very interested little girl hung around until her mother made her go with them. I can hear the future interview now, "What made you become a world-famous knitwear designer?" "Well, when I was a child, I was fascinated by a group of ladies crocheting and knitting at the Farmer's Market......".

First one's free.

Woo hoo! Part Deux

Is there nothing more exciting than receiving a box in the mail? Absolutely not unless it is finding out you won the Lotto worth $572M in which case you don't need this friggin' box, my friends. And why is said box such a delight to yours truly?

Because it has all the rest of your needles, hooks, gauges, scissors, woolly nylon (used for sock toe and heel reinforcement), pom-pon maker, Dictaphone and my dongle.

Yer whut?

D-O-N-G-L-E.

In the days of yesteryear when Bernina first came out with a computerized sewing machine, the dongle was the part that allowed you to network your computer to your Bernina. Without it you are just another fancy monogramer with limited embroidery patterns. Oh, not that I have ever used it or ever will, but since I can't get one any more and if I could, it would cost way too much $$$$$, I am glad to have it back.

So a great big "THANKEE" to Jen. Now you join Kathy in the YOU ROCK club for sending to me my much dreamed of knitting/crocheting gizmos.

Hiatus

My ripple is about 1/3 done and this is where it stands. The weather has gotten too hot to work on it (that coupled with the AC not working in our apartment...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!) so it will have to wait until it cools off here in the Valley. Around November, I suppose. Sasha won't sit on it for a photo. I think she is put off by its brightness! Either that or she hasn't been exposed to acrylic yarn before and doesn't know what to make of it. I think it looks good on an all-white bed, don't you?

In For A Penny, In For A Pound

There's nothing like a friend shaming you into blogging...

Even before I started rippling the brightest afghan known to humankind, this vest appealed to me. Not one to follow the directions entirely, I changed the colors to ones that were more to my liking. The ribbing on the bottom is pretty monotonous, just single crochet in the back loops, back and forth for 385,927 rows. (Well, maybe not that many but it seemed like it.) The rippling part is a lot more fun. The yarn is Lustersheen in the colors Tan, Natural and Spa Blue. I figure if I don't get too bored with it about the time cool weather rolls around in October or November, it should be finished and ready to wear over a light blouse or dress.

No segue to this next random paragraph...

Let's say you are in Las Vegas for a couple of days and you are rolling pretty hot dice at the craps table. Let's also say that at said table there is a very nice man wearing a rather conspicuous red Hawaiian shirt and you have a bit of a moment and he has sparkling eyes and a great smile (not to mention he's about 6'2"). WWMD (What Would Molly Do)? If you are smart, you whip out one of these and hand it to the nice man.

Purely hypothetical, of course, because we are not always smart.damn it

Back to the drawing board

In February I started a cotton bolero from Patons Cotton Grace using a free pattern on the web. I got the back and both fronts crocheted and then lost interest. Let's face it, it was dull. Sort of the saltine cracker of the crochet bolero world. It languished in my knitting bag (one of many) until the 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton book inspired me to re-work it into something far more fun. One of the great things about knitting and crocheting is that if you absolutely do not like the way a project is turning out, you can frog it and have another go. Unlike sewing when once you have cut out a piece, you can only go smaller. Now, don't get me wrong. I love to sew but it does have it's limitations for re-working.

The new plan is to make the bolero from Granny square blocks of pattern #58 Peach Rose and a #D Clover crochet hook. I figure I will need to make 20 full square blocks and 2 diagonal 1/2 blocks. These are a bit of a challenge so I am going to bring them to the next WeHo SNB for some more opinions.

I must still be feeling the flower thing. Peace and love...

You'll Soon Be One Of Us

I have made some more progress on my Ripple Afghan. So far each color has been used twice with the bit of pink starting the 3rd set of 7 colors. So far, it is about 13 1/2" wide. Although I have never been to the Caribbean, that is what this makes me think of. The colors are so bright and cheery. I took it to the Thursday WeHo SNB and it met with rave reviews! I love this group, always so much fun and very supportive. Some people confessed to having been "secretly rippling" at home but not posting to the Ripple Along.

At first I wasn't really crazy about the acrylic yarn. Truthfully, it does have a few "hiccups" from time to time. Big globs of un-spun fiber or one ply being too long and wrapping around the others. I realized that I had become sort of a fiber snob. That is until I also realized that I love another thing that is made from acrylic! Several years ago my fingernails started splitting on the sides. I don't know if it had to do with age or what. I started getting acrylic nails and have been hooked ever since. Since moving to SoCal I have tried a few nail places but one does an exemplary job. Alice Nails on Ventura in Woodland Hills is great. Lani does the best "pink & white", EVER!

The saga continues

I just can't stop rippling. It is addictive. I have decided to use all 7 colors, randomly. Each one of the 7 will be crocheted before a color repeats. We will see how well I keep this up.

While I am not the biggest fan of acrylic yarn, I do like the fact that the Caron Simply Soft Brights have no dye lots. I can acquire yarn as I go along and not shell out great flipping wads of cash at once. Although, with my luck they will discontinue these colors when I am half done.

Flower Power

I have finished the flower squares for my project and have moved on to the other piece. Eventually it will be a fun and flowery purse for the summer. I was going to make both sides the same but after nine squares, I think not. I was working on it at the WeHo SNB and decided that a solid double crochet back would do nicely, thank you. Ellen suggested that it might look nice with stripes. She is so right. I was going to make the stripes going horizontal but I am thinking that vertical is a better choice. I am planning on finding some fab and funky fabric in these colors for the lining. I have a pair of clear plastic handles that I bought a few weeks ago in anticipation of this project. I can't wait for it to be done! I hope to debut it at the next SNB in April.

Yesterday I got my car filled up and washed, as is my routine. I then went to the local Trader Joes for a spot of grocery shopping. They had bunches of five sunflowers for $2.99. They were so gorgeous that I bought three bunches! They look so good in my Blue Calico Castle vase, don't you think? I love this piece. I bought it in 1990 when I visited the Burleigh factory in England. It reminds me of rook from a chess set.