It's time to say good-bye...

to Blogger and Hello to my new blog!

From now on I will be posting there. Please change your links. Thanks.

Just a little porn...

My order from Knit Picks arrived.


And what everyone has been waiting for.


So far I like the needles and love the cord. It's a little hard to judge the needles since that are the largest size and I'm not using them for a standard pattern. They are sharper than I've used before and that is helping with the Herringbone Poncho from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts that I casted on last night. The cord is thin and flexible. Much better than my Boye Needlemaster ones. And I did try to see if the cord would fit on the Needlemaster needles, but it didn't. It was worth a try.

And Jodie had asked what yarn I am using for the Pea Pod Baby Set. It's Sidar Country Style DK #538.

Arrgh! Pirates, Word Docs and Success!

I'm not sure if was Johnny Depp or writing the pattern out, but I have completed 1 repeat of the leaf pattern and then some.

At work yesterday I typed out the lace pattern. I even included little check boxes to check when I'm done with a row.

Last night I watched the original Pirates of the Caribbean. I had tried to watch it once and couldn't get into it. I got all the way through it this time. I just don't think it was as great as everyone said it was. But I have plans to go see the second one with a co-worker.

So which one helped me out more? I'd love to say my love for pirates did, but it had to have been the Word doc. Things are much easier for me when they are spelled out. It's part of being a ditz. If I only realized I needed to do that sooner, I'd be done with the sweater.

Wonder Pets!, Wonder Pets!

we're on our way
to save a baby (insert animal here)
and save the day.

We're not too big
and we're not too tough
but when we work together
we've got the right stuff!

Go Wonder Pets!

My almost 4 year old nephew is obsessed with Wonder Pets! It's an operetta for pre-schoolers and stars 3 classroom pets, Linny a hamster, Tuck a turtle and Ming-Ming a duck. It's unbelievably adorable! His birthday is the 17th and I'm making him Tuck's cape.
(That's Sierra is taking a peak at it).

The cape itself came out pretty good. There are some minor mistakes in it, but I kept reminding myself that it's for a 4 year old and didn't stress too much about them. They aren't strikingly noticeable. My problems lie with the applique. First, I've never sewn an applique on before. Second, when I was practicing, it wasn't coming out right. So I read the manual and there should be an accessory foot that the machine didn't come with. Damn. I went up to the Fabric Place yesterday thinking that I could get one. I was wrong. The salesperson told me to try Manchester Sewing Machine. I called them this morning and the person told me to call back tomorrow. I did a search and found that Deitch Sewing Machine and Supply in East Haven are also a Brother dealer. They told me to bring a foot in and they will see if they have something to match it. The problem is they are open from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday. Another other option is to wait and sew it on when I get to NJ where there are 2 sewing machines, but I'm not sure if either can sew applique. The last option is to say screw it and just sew it on regularly. He's four, he's not going to know the difference.

And for some knitting...

We have heels!

Yes there are 2, but I can only wear one sock at a time with it still on the needles. This heel was far easier than the one on the first pair of socks I made. So much easier that it makes me worried that it's not going to stand up to wear as good.

And there will be no other comment about the sweater since I've had to use the lifeline twice this weekend.

Finally,

I have figured out the pattern. And the bottom band is done.

You cannot believe my happiness. Now I can work on the rest of the pattern.

Tomorrow's adventures will include going to Fabric Place and hopefully a non-knitting project completed.

This Sweater...

is going to be the death of me. It's been frogged 5 times. The 5th time hurt the most since I had help last night from one of the ladies at SnB and I really thought I got it. Today I did 2 practice swatches of the ribbed bottom. The first time I casted on 30 stitches and was able to complete 3 sets of the bottom. Then I casted on 36 stitches and figured out what I needed to do. Those pesky last 6 stitches are the ones giving me trouble. Well, it's really when those pesky last 6 stitches become the first stitches of the next row. May be instead of starting the WS row at the beginning, I should start it with 6 stitches left in the pattern. Duh! I really need reading knitting charts for dummies. And once I figured that out, I could do the pattern.

Sorry about the Gryffindor Gold. It not my favorite color, but makes great practice yarn.

Now I will be casting on for the 6th time. I hope this will be the last time, but I don't want to jinx myself. And if I get through the bottom, I will be using a lifeline.

And can they please stop playing the Ford commercial with Taylor Hicks. It's not going to get me to buy a Ford. Thanks.


ETA: My KnitPicks order has been shipped. It's still in Ohio, but there is a good chance I may have the needles for SnB on Thursday.

I found some beads last night.

I'm still not 100% happy with how the underarm grafting came out. It's much better than my first attempt at this sweater. This one will be given to my co-worker. I really do like the pattern and will probably make it again for another baby present.

The foot portion of my toe up socks is coming along slowly.

Yesterday I did the increase on the foot bottom. I had extra knitting time at work when our new system when down for 45 minutes. I'd love to start the heel today, but I think I better concentrate on work.

And finally last night I started the Pea Pod Baby Set from Interweave Knits. I had 3 false starts. My issues were learning to read a chart correctly, reading the correct chart and using the right size needles. Basically I was being my ditzy self. Now I am four rows into it and hopefully there will be no more problems.