Dogs!

I haven't blogged in such a long time that I need post pictures of my rescue doxies! They are a brother and sister pair that had a rough two years of life and are learning to trust people and other dogs now. Nikola is the smooth haired and Tesla, his sister, is long haired.

They are in doggie class now and are doing very well. They have stopped barking all the way through class (the others dogs still bark). They are learing to walk nicly, to leave it (leave food or dogs alone), sit, down, stay and come. We have two weeks until graduation, we are teaching them to saulte for their final. Tesla can shake and wave bye-bye. Nikola is working on shake and today actually did it!

Bringing it back to knitting, I am knitting them hogwart's house sweaters. Telsa is ravenclaw and nikola is slytherin. Since Jen has moved away again. I need to start posting knitting projects again. I will post their sweaters when both are completed.

Cabled Arm Cozies

Cabled Arm Cozies

Materials:
Size 7 dpns or 2 circulars (16” or larger)
2 balls
Cable needle

Stitch pattern:
3x1 rib: Knit 3, Purl 1.
C6F: Slip 3 sts onto the cable needle, hold cable needle to the front, knit the next 3 sts, now knit the 3 sts on the cable needle.

Pattern:
CO 40 sts.
Knit 3x1 rib for 7 rounds
Cable round: K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1.
K3. P1 rib for 8 rounds.
Cable round: K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1
K3, P1 rib for 8 rounds.
Cable round: K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1.
K3, P1 rib for 8 rounds.
Cable round: K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1.
K3, P1 rib for 8 rounds.
Cable round: K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1.
K3, P1 rib for 8 rounds.
Cable round: K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1.
K3, P1 rib for 8 rounds.
Cable round: K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1.
K3, P1 rib for 2 rounds.
THUMB- the next 6 row are worked flat and not in the round.
BO 1 st K2, P1, continue the round in K3, P1 rib.
Turn work.
BO 1 st P2, K1. Continue in P3,K1 rib to last 2 sts, P2. Turn work
K2, P1, Continue in K3, P1 rib. Turn work.
P2, K1, continue in P3, K1 rib. Turn work.
K2, P1, Continue in K3, P1 rib. Turn work.
P2, K1, continue in P3, K1 rib. Turn work.
CO 1 st K2, P1, Continue in K3, P1 rib, CO 1 st.
K3, P1 rib for 1 round.
Cable round: K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1, C6F, K1, P1, K3, P1.
K3, P1 rib for 8 rounds.
End with a cable round.
BO off all stitches loosely.

Make one more for the other arm!

Felted Bag

I made this bag as a protocal for a class I wanted to teach. Then I wrote the pattern. I call it Aimee. I have a pasley purple fabric to line the bag with, I will post a pic of the finished lining when I am finished with it.:

Aimee- a small felted bag
Materials:
500 yards of worsted weight 100% wool
150 yards of worsted weight 100% wool for contrast on handles
Size 15 circulars 24” – 29”

Pattern:
For both colors two strands of yarn is held together.
CO (cast on)41 stitches.
Knit back and forth for 25 rows.
PU (pick up) 12 stitches on one side, 41 stitches on the next, and 12 stitches on the last side.
Mark the beginning of the row. (106 stitches)
Knit for 12” to 14” (Note the bag will shrink to about half its size)

Begin Handles
Knit 13 stitches (place these 13 stitches on a stitch holder or waste yarn), BO (bind off) 13 stitches, Knit 15 stitches (place on waste yarn), BO 9 stitches, Knit 15 stitches(place on waste yarn), BO 13 stitches, Knit 15 stitches (place on waste yarn), BO 9, knit 2 stitches.
You will have 2 stitches on your needle; combine these 2 stitches with the next 13 stitches.
**Knit these 15 stitches for 5 rows. Decrease one stitch at the beginning of the row and the end of the row. Knit 5 more rows and repeat the decrease again. Change to contrast color. Continue knitting 5 rows and decreases one stitch at the beginning and end of the rows until 9 stitches remain. BO all stitches.**
Repeat between ** for the remaining sets of 15 stitches.
With contrast color sew ends of handles to each other. Weave in all ends.

To Felt:
Place bag in top loading washing machine with HOT water and a small amount of mild soap (dawn dish soap is great) and jeans or old shoes for agitation. Don’t let the bag go through the spin cycle. Check the bag every 5 minutes until the fibers are felted to the consistency of your liking. Shape the bag and let dry. Enjoy!

Spinning Wheel!

My Lendrum, this was the first night I got my wheel. It spins so nicely. I am getting fablous at spinning now, both with a drop spindel and with my wheel. I have spun hundreds of yards of yarn. I have some of my yarns at the Falconer Yarn Loft. Where a portion of the sale goes to the Humane Society. The Humane Society gets no funding from the county or state for cats. All the money put into taking care of the cats is from monies they have fund raised. Therefore I decided to knit and spin for Winston's friends, who still need homes.

My aspiration is to knit dog sweaters to sell at the Humane Society's store. Perhapes between everything else Jen and I are knitting we can get half a dozon knit for the store before the fall. We'll see...

Cabled Legwarmers

This is a quick post just so that Jen can see the legwarmers!


Ok....




Thats it!

Swell Hat for Zachary

Here is a hat for my cousin Zach. I used the wave pattern from swell on knitty.com. I didn't add the earflaps, cause well they aren't really necessary in New Mexico. The hat is knit in a very dark midnight navy and a heathered red. I love how this hat turned out. Some people at work said it looks like a hat from AE or one of thoes stores. I think so too. Winston helped me model the hat! Ha!

And here is a picture form last nights Christmas Party!

Thats right Vogue with Timmy V. as the photographer.

Ok.. so I am bad at blogging...

Yes, but I have been knitting non-stop and working which takes a whole 40 plus hours out of my knitting time a week. But it does help pay for yarn, rent and food. Of my list set forth last month I have left to knit...
* one hat (which has turned into a january bday gift)
*two pairs of fetching ( since I added another one)
*a scarf (but I bought a different gift for her so it can wait)
* the mittens to match this hat
* and the dog sweater.

I think I did pretty good. Well here is a hat I worked all weekend on a while back. It is knit in Merino Style from knit picks, a ww yarn that is very soft and very nicly priced. The colors are asparagus, dusk, nutmeg and vanilla. The pattern is from Vogue. It was knit in two days. Jamie picked out the pattern and the colors to match the new winter coat Jessica needs to brave the Oswego wind.

I have tons of other items to blog I may blog again today.

Sarge's Stocking

I am still working on the hat mentioned in yesterday's post, but I need to blog some of my FP ( finished projects).

Here is Sarge's Christmas stocking. I think it looks like a good dog stocking. It is wide enough to fit some bones and maybe even a new squeeky ball.

The hat is almost done. It should be able to block it today. Looking at my list of "to knits" for Christmas I plan to knit one item every weekend. There are 5 weekends left. I didn't count the weekend of the 23rd and 24th of December. So thats 5 projects done. And a large project or two small (ie: fetching) every week. 6 weeks left. That should take care of it.

Unfortunatly that doesn't leave time for spinning. But I do have some great yarn spun, I just can't decide what to knit it into!

Ruth's Mittens

Sweet! One pair of mittens down! The whole having a job thing is really slowing down my knitting progress. So since its saturday I have been knitting all day. I have almost finished a hat. And its not just any hat. Its uber long. If it were a real hat it would be done by now. I may need to switch to a different project just so I can feel like I am getting somewhere.

Oh yeah and today my sink backed up... well not backed up so much as vomited. My sink was totally clean and wiped down when I left this morning. When I came home there was this weird smell coming from the kitchen. My sink was full of water that was not mine! So I started taking buckets of water out and the more I took out the more the water came in! So I finally got most of it out and it stopped. My upstairs neighbor came down because his sink was backed up. His sink was draining into mine! So every time he turns on HIS sink MY sink fills with water.

UGGG so the maitantance guy came and was here for like an hour... needless to say he has to come back monday. So neither Rodney ( my neighbor) or I can use our kitchen sinks.

Back to knitting...

Christmas list...

So hand knit gifts are great! Yeah but they better be appreciated. Because most of them go to people who don’t knit the receivers have no idea what knitters go through in the months leading up to Christmas. The day after thanksgiving is nothing compared to knitting a pair of mittens everyday. So I will explain more with the list I have made myself…

- Two pairs of legwarmers
- Three hats
- Six pairs of fetching
- Two pairs of mittens
- One pair of socks
- One scarf
- One dog sweater

So my plan is to finish or almost finish one half of a pair each day. Ha! I guess it’s a good plan. So far I have been doing pretty good progress today I should be able to finish one of the pairs of fetching. And perhaps start another pair.

So this is a pair of fetching for one of the six pairs that I need to finish before Christmas. Plus I figure if I have time I will make an extra pair for that person I know I’ll forget to get something for. And does anyone have ideas for my brother? Whether it is hand knit or not he is so hard to buy for.

Noro Fetching for Jessica

This is my experiment in noro. It worked. I think I like fetching in noro better. It is so fun to knit to the next color, and then the next color, and then well you get the point. They knit up very fast because you just want to knit with the nest color. I started these on the way to Erie with Sean and Jamie. Its the best pattern for taking with you because it all fits nicely in a small bag. And when there is an hour wait at Red Lobster you can knit at the bar. Lol.

The best part my car broke down when we were just about to leave Erie. So we got a new alternator belt and while we waited for metric tools for the volvo I knit at a sports bar. HAHA I am a dork! But I love it. So Sean fixed the car and we got home fine and the mittens were finished shortly thereafter.

And I have back a friend that I lost a year and a half ago! I lost a few some I wish I still had, this one I missed a lot. One can go to hell where she will inevitably be going to anyway, but the faster she is there I think the better for the sake of the human race and morals every where (whore).

Ok I am done!

Sir Winston's Christmas Stocking!

Here it is!!!! His very own Christmas stocking. I can't wait to hang it for Santa!! Well I'd like to enjoy the wonderful fall weather first. I just had hot cider at a coffee shop in Hamburg. Oh it was sooo good. OK back to the stocking. It is knit in the same cranberry, forest green and cream as the other stocking for my family are knit in. Its just like a sock in chritmas colors and a braid to hang it. The apple festival is this weekend in Busti, I will be getting more hot cider there along with caramel apples. I am gonna have to blog more in the morning I am just too tired right now.

mmm apple cider....

I am feeling a little sick with a cold and would like to take a nap, however the lawn mowers are out in full force. Winston is terrified every time they go past the window. Since the nap will not commence anytime soon I figured I'd blog. This brings me to the present time where I am deciding what pictorial to blog about. The apple cider is flowing and so are the creative juices.

Apple cider got me in the mood for fall which in turn got me in the mood winter, for mittens and the best part... for Christmas.

Ah, here you will see a pair of mittens I recently finished. They are of my own thinking, with a little bit of help from a few mittens I have made. They are of course knit in Biggs and Little, in a heathered red and a navy. The picture came out a little bright, they really don’t reflect light. They will be Christmas gifts unless of course Jane can sell them.

I am charging my batteries for my camera so I can take pictures of what I started today......WINSTON'S CHRISTMAS STOCKING!!!!! I'll post it later tonight or tomorrow. Actually it might be done by tomorrow especially since I can't nap right now.

One more thing I wanted to post right now is a recipe for apple cider pancakes otherwise know as a little piece of heaven for your mouth...
Make a serving size of bisquick or whatever type of pancake mix you want, but instead of adding water add that amount in apple cider. Add a half a tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 nutmeg, and 1/4 cloves or to your liking.
Serve with real maple syrup!

must have more roving

Way #3....Roving. So many colors so many vendors. I wished I could have bought more. Here is some wool roving. Its 8oz in pinks, yelows and greens. I have already spun 165 yards! Its so fun. And I think the bag is cute too.


Way #4... Niddy Noddy... Awesome who invented this? You spin, you ply, you noddy and taaada you know your yardage.


Way #5...Sean... Ok he was upset that I was talking pictures of everything but him. He wanted to show off his new pants. But he is a great reason to go to the fiber fest, he wanted to buy me a new spindle!! How wonderful is he?


Now I am running out of roving and I am gonna have to start knitting again. Lol. I've almost finished a pair that I might blog tomorrow. I am gonna be in Jamestown on friday so I get to see Jane and the yarn. I have to show her all my yarn I have spun and the mittens I made.


I think that I will be going to Ruth's in Albany next week. I'll be like a knitting retreat. I have to plan ahead what I want to knit while I am there. OOOO I can't wait!

Fiber Fest Extravaganza!!!

Ah Hemlock, NY how I love thee so. I shall count the ways over the next few days, so I have more blogs to post and Jen doesnt get bored.


Way #1 Golding Spindles. (pictorials showing both angles and Winston running thru the shot)This is my second one. Sean bought me one last year and one this year. It is so pretty and very nice to use. I started spining in the car on the way home and spun one of the 3 balls of llama fiber i bought. The pic of the bookshelf shows the two remaing balls and the spun skein. In all its a little over 6 oz. The first skein 2 0z made 67 yrds of two ply yarn. It is called mabel, it has two differernt colors of natural llama fibers in it. Which leads me to...


Way #2 Llamas! and their fiber. So much fiber so little money so much fun. I got to pet lots of Alpacas and Llamas and they dont smell bad like the sheep do. I love how soft it is. It is wonderful to spin with, it just glides through my fingers.


Other ways will be posted tomorrow or maybe tonight if I get bored.

"I've always enjoyed a knitting pattern" Dumbledore

Well here is my knitting shelf. It has numous unfinished projects on it as well as roving to spin. And on that note... here is a new book with tons of patterns to start. AND the other pic is of Sir Winston's new bed. Which is almost done and I just started it yesterday. Yes i am unemployed and have all day to knit. Don't forget all day to watch TV. Today Dr. John Carter and Lucy were stabbed by a schizophrenic. Lucy didn't pull through.




I also made bread. I baked pumpkin bread first. My second loaf was 100% whole wheat sandwich bread. I used the white whole wheat flour I bought yesterday at Wegmans. Its very yummy it has maple syrup in it but not too much so its just a little sweet.

Use 1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 5 tablespoons of maple syrup, 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 salt and 1 1/2 yeast.

mix tog, knead, rise for 2 hours, knead put in pan, rise for 1 hour, bake @ 350 for 45 minutes!

Here is a mitten I am working on. I had to fudge the patter to make it work for me. I wanted to use WW yarn, not sport. I am back in buffalo now. I brought some more furniture back with me so today I've just been moving around stuff. I now have a seprate book shelf for all knitting projects in the works. Like this one. Now they are all on display so I can choose which one I feel like working on. This will either help me finish projects, or just start more. We shall see.... Winston has stopped throwing up, but now his sinus infection seems worse. Its a no win situation, the antibiotics work on the infection but upset his stomach. Crap... He needs good wishes sent his way.

Socks for Dad

Here is one finished sock and one in progress. This pair is for my dad. I am using Briggs and Little tuffy in a color called granite. Of course bought at FYL. When it is in the skien this yarn looks like the underneath of a hen, but when knitted it looks tweedish.

Sean was very jealous that i wasn't knitting this pair for him. I guess he wants more knitted socks so he doesn't have to turn the heat on until January. I dont think his sister will agree to that. I don't care I have my own apartment and I just wont go over to his if i can see my breath while sitting on the couch.

I have decided not to buy any more yarn until after thee fiber festival. It is in two weeks I think I have enough to hold me til then. I found and balled more yarn to make dog coats out of, I think I need to start making a few so that the Humane Society can have some before christmas. As well as little christmas stockings for pets. I still need to design those.

Noro leg warmers

These are my legwarmer! They are knit in Noro. They are very warm and match a wool skirt of mine perfectly. I am making a pair for my cousin in yarn that changes from hot pink, purple, and black.
My mittens that I posted yesterday are now for sale at the Falconer Yarn Loft. I will be making more for the holiday season. Perhaps I will make Christmas stockings!! I am brainstorming about making smaller stockings for dogs and cats to sell at the humane society.
Tomorrow I am making cookie dough for Halloween cookies that Jen and I will be decorating. MMM sugar cookies....

more scandinavian mittens!

The first pair are from Knitting with a Smile a swedish knitting book. Its a beautiful book with many tradtional swedish patterns. I knit them is Briggs and Little, the black is regal and the ecru is tuffy. The second pattern is from Folk Mittens, called Lapland Mittens. The Laplands are the northern most parts of Norway, Sweden and Russia. I used the same black and cream, the purple is called mauve, from Briggs and Little. I feel that the picture doesn't do it much justice. The colors match beautifuly. Both pairs will be christmas presents to family members and friends, or to however calls dibs on them first. Currently they are on display at the Falconer Yarn Loft, my favorite LYS. Jane, the owner, has a large selection of Briggs and Little, Noro, and Debbie Bliss yarns. I can'twait to go there on thursday when I go to my parents house. She said last time she was ordering a large amout of Briggs and LIttle. Woohoo new colors!