On the Needles - November 21, 2014

I hope your needles have been more productive than mine this week!

I hit a little glitch in the making of the Hedgehog Mittens....

A little large, wouldn't you say?  LOL!!!

Oh well, I guess I'll be starting this one all over!  These little quills are the dickens to stitch though .....

..... so I hate to just rip them out, but it appears I'm going to have to.  I'll be seeing my granddaughter next week, so I'll measure her hand and figure out how many stitches I need to take out in order to make my next effort fit her :)  No way they'll be done for Christmas, but hopefully before the end of winter.

The Haus of Yarn bus came to Lebanon last weekend, and I couldn't wait to wear my Diagonal Cowl to show Meg!



Of course she loved it!  And she told me that the pattern for this cowl is in Ravelry HERE.  It is called the Ombre Infinity, designed by Cynthia Parker.  I guess I'll have to start calling it by this more sophisticated name, huh?

I couldn't resist looking to see if she still had some of the Wonderland Yarns Mad Hatter kits.  To my dismay, I saw that these are almost gone!  So although I had not planned to buy anything, I decided to pick up a couple of the kits before they disappear for good.  I love making this cowl and these kits make it so easy!

The aquas and purples on the left are SO ME!!!  And I just couldn't put down the beachy colors on the right - perfect for spring, right?

I started this one right away -

......these luscious greens will be so pretty on our daughter, Renee :)

This cowl is so easy, it is the perfect "go with" project when you have errands to run.

As you can see, I enjoyed some quality stitching time while waiting for my car to have it's oil changed and tires rotated :)

I've had a few requests for more of the cotton dishcloths, so I've started whipping up a few of those as well......

All in all, I've been knitting, but not accomplishing a whole lot!  What about you?  What's on your needles?  Check out all the "needle-y" fun going on at Judy's Patchwork Times today!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Off the Needles! 10-3-14

The Diagonal Cowl is a FINISH!!!!

Even Pumpkin Pete thinks this is the perfect Fall accessory *wink*

I really love the look of all these colors playing together, and the added ZIP of the diagonal design ....

I made sure I had enough left of the last yarn to be able to join the two ends with the Kitchener Stitch.  First I had to remove the provisional cast-on stitches and put the live stitches on a new needle ....

Then I put the stitches from the other end on a separate needle and began the joining.....

If you Google Kitchener Stitch, there are dozens of videos and instructions to help you along if you've never done this joining stitch before.  I won't say it was easy, but it wasn't difficult either.  You just have to pay close attention as you work it.  If you do it right, you can't even tell it is a join!  Mine is not perfect, but I'm happy with it.....

This cowl is going to get LOTS of wear this Fall!!!!

So now I think it's time to put another pair of socks on the needles.... pretty soon, my toes are going to be begging for something warm to cover them :)

But which yarn?

Left is Smooshy in Raspberry, and the right is Frolicking Feet in Aquas
YUM!!!!

Hmmm.....  decisions, decisions!!!!
(I'm thinking the Raspberry for Fall :*)

Check out all the other lovely On the Needle projects at Patchwork Times today!

And please have a lovely weekend!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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On the Needles - 9/19/14

Just popping in quickly to show my progress on the Diagonal Cowl and a few of the goodies I picked up last weekend :)

This Cowl is a really easy knit & is progressing right along!  

This gorgeous purple will be the last color to add after the teal, and then I'll join the ends by attaching them to the provisional stitches at the beginning, so it will be one continuous loop.  I'm thinking the purple is going to be gorgeous next to the steel gray :)

I have to confess that I did buy a skein of sock yarn at Haus of Yarn.... what a wonderful yarn shop!!!  They have so much to see - three rooms full!!!!  

Isn't this yarn lovely?  

Such gorgeous BLUES!!!

I bought it to make these Fruit Stripe Gum socks - it takes a certain type of yarn to get the best striping effect.  The pattern designer was actually at the shop that day, and she told me they had worked with a company to have this yarn specially made for these socks.  I'm thinking maybe even I can't go wrong with yarn especially made for the pattern, right?  =^..^=

I also picked up this darling little stitch marker.....

Right?

It's almost too cute to USE!!!!

Gotta run - so much to do to get ready for Runaway Retreat next week!!!

Don't forget to check out all the wonderful knitting going on

over at Judy's Patchwork Times today!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

On the Needles - 8/22/14

First off, allow me to show off my finished Happy Dance Socks!!!

My husband has a problem with the fact that the color bands don't match -
but I actually think I love them more because of it!
And don't even get him started on those little stray dots of color!!!!

They are comfortable ....

They fit perfectly .... 

And these colors just make me HAPPY!!!

I LOVE THESE SOCKS!!!!

Okay, I'll stop screaming at you now LOL!!!  Unless, you didn't quite get my message that I really, really love these socks?  Oh, you got it?  Great!  Then moving on..... *very big grin!*

Next up on my needles for a quick, easy, portable project is actually not a pair of socks.  I know, you're wondering if the world is getting ready to come to an end, right?  No ... well, I suppose it could be, considering everything that is going on in the news right now!  But just sayin' it won't happen because I put something else on my needles LOL!!!

As you know, I am working on my Rocio sweater, but that project takes complete concentration -  not very portable.  And because of that, it has received absolutely NO LOVE this week!  However, a knitting friend of mine let me know that the Haus of Yarn Bus would be in my town last Saturday - and I had to go check it out!!!  (And I got in a lot of trouble for going without Joanne who was at the beach!)

This bus arrives in the parking lot of a business on Main Street - about 5 minutes max from me - every first Saturday of the month.  Yep, real temptation here folks .... now the yarn is coming to me!!!

Haus of Yarn is located all the way on the other side of Nashville so I've never visited there before.  

Photo credit of Haus of Yarn website

But let me tell you, if the bus is any indication, this is one brick-and-mortar shop I need to go visit for real!

Well, not too soon, mind you, because I dropped a pretty penny just visiting the Bus!!!  Look at all these pretties!  So many samples, of just about any project you might want to play with!  And samples are my downfall because once I see with my eyes what my needles can make - not just that hank of yarn, right? - then I am doomed  .... Doomed, I tell you!!!!

I managed to restrain myself somewhat, but I did come home with TWO skeins of yarn for socks.... and the very sweet & friendly Meg offered to wind them into balls for me too!  I went with a specific idea to get some aqua for socks and found it!

Left is Smooshy in Raspberry, and the right is Frolicking Feet in Aquas
YUM!!!!

 I even splurged on a new pair of Addi needles for the cuffs since I didn't have a long-cord #3 (remember my short cord in the last post HERE?)  Well, these are called "Rocket" Turbo needles and are especially designed for socks and lacework .... and just look at the long, sharp points on these little boogers!!!!

Yes, my friends, these needles slice through a row of stitches like butter .... or something like that ... you know what I mean, right?

My only other purchase was a set of 5 different yarns in a kit that I just couldn't resist!

Aren't these just DELISH????
They have a very slight sheen to them, and so soft!!!

These are small, 1 oz skeins, and I wish I had taken a picture of all the different color options that were available!  I almost came home with a group of bright rainbow colors, but then I decided on these colors for Fall instead.  Meg was making a Diagonal Cowl out of these very colors (yep, I saw it and was doomed!) from her own simple pattern, which she very generously shared with me and a couple of the others who were interested.  It will make just a simple, continuous cowl.... doing a stockinette stitch with increases and decreases at the beginning and end, and working in each color until it is gone.  Here is my start....

Meg cast on 79 stitches, but I only cast on 65 because of my short stature.  I think this will be a very pretty accessory this Fall :)  For now, it will be my portable take-along project instead of a pair of socks.  I'm sure I will be refreshed and excited about starting a new pair of socks when this is done.

This means of course that I now have to add these yarn totals to my Knit the Stash report on the right side of the blog over there....  1,230 yards in and 400 yards used.  So my 2014 totals are now:

Yards stashed:  3,430
Yards used:  1,500
Net Yards stashed:  1,930

So what's On Your Needles???  

Share with us at Judy's Patchwork Times today!

Judy has a beautiful sweater finish she's sharing with us today :)

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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