A little shopping and eye candy,,,

So first off - there was some concern voiced about my silence - I've had some family issues I've been working thru - I don't know if I will ever be in control - but at least things are spinning a little more slowly!

Then the beastie went off to college - a lot earlier than anyone expected - so the hubby and I were trying out life as just us for a while - very odd. And then after 7 weeks away the beastie returned to get ready for his senior year of high school, and all that this milestone entails. And right in the middle of all of it - he announced he wasn't playing football to concentrate on some honor's classes, and a few other surprises which leads us to today.

I thought I'd show you a few of the fingerless mitts I've been working on - there's a benefit craft show at the beastie's school in November and this will be my last year as an exhibitor! All of them are made from bits and pieces of ColourMart - everything from 100% cashmere to Camel Down and Yak - each one softer than the next! All are made of Navajo ply 2/28 on a US size 2 or 3 needle.

Then I went a little shopping crazy this month - so here are my reviews and 

where to go and order them.

First off - my new favorite project bags - They are from Funtific and made by Sandra Voss over on Etsy.  Can't say enough good things about these - yes I went a little crazy on the site but the prices ranged between $12 and $18  there's needle cases and zippered pouches and I just loved them. Since buying them I can tell you that I keep my on the go knitting in it - and there's even my stay at home lace scarf in one. I will tell you that the bags are somewhat reversible too - I find that turning the bag inside out with my lace projects are the way to go - you can still use the drawstring closure and the bag stands open while you work if you fold down the top of the bag by an inch - and the best part is that it's tall enough to hold my 10 inch straights and a cone of ColourMart cashmere/silk, my glasses, scissors, crochet hook, pattern, and markers - read this as roomy! You'll notice in one of the pictures that I put the large box of Kleenex from the CostCo in the bag so you'd have an idea about volume! No you don't get the Kleenex too... I have no relationship with this vendor - I just love my bags and thought I'd pass it on to you!

You'll also notice that there's a set of straight needles in the above picture - I tried a new vendor and a new product! I tried out a couple sets of straight needles - since straights work best for me on super thin yarn. I also got a huge magnetic board to use with my lace patterns - you can actually fit an entire 8 1/2 x 11 inch page all at once, and it came with a pen and a pocket to store extra stuff! Both the needles and the magnetic board were from a new vendor to me called "Knitter's Pride" the manufacturer is Nova. I was happy with both these products and they are now on my "Can't live without this" list! Both were purchases from Webs - their prices were extremely reasonable and shipping took about 2 weeks.

It didn't feel "Lazy"

Sometimes I wonder if anyone really reads this thing! But the beastie installed a counter and I know there are hits, but very very very few if any leave me a note...anywhoooo

I've got a couple of questions regarding the pattern "Lazy Lara" by Birgit Freyer over at Knitting Delight! First off if you are on Ravelry go join her group - there are always fun free patterns - and yes there is lots of German spoken there but there's a lot in English and if you're really in a mood then try plugging the German into Babelfish or some other translating package and you'll be surprised at how far you may get. There's another group over on Ravelry called "Excuse Me" this group is all about translating patterns not written in your native tongue. Also note gentle reader that most lace patterns are charted which helps too!

So the question of the day seems to be the cast off. This gave me fits but I'm assuming it's cause I haven't been crocheting for that long and I just didn't get it... so hope this helps!

grab a crochet hook the same mm size as your knitting needle. Without breaking the yarn single crochet (insert hook into the stitch on the knitting needle, yarn over hook and pull thru stitch removing it from the knitting needle, yarn over hook and pull thru both loops on the hook) in the first, second, and third stitch (you’ve now bound off the first three stitches),

The next four stitches on the needle should be a yarn over,make two out of three stitch, yarn over - single crochet into the yarn over, single crochet into the first stitch of the “two out of three stitch”, two more stitches have been bound off. Now chain three, and single crochet into the second stitch of the “two out of three stitch” and continue bind off. Continuing in this manner should give you the three large loops or points at the bottom of each lace medallion. Now I'm not saying this is the right way to end this - this is just the way I did it and it seems to work. And if this cast off seems too heavy then try using a slip stitch instead of a single crochet...

The second question has to do with blocking. It's hard to tell from this photo but I ran a piece of flexible blocking wire thru the top garter band (I added the garter band during cast on - it's not in the original pattern) and got it as large as possible and pinned. I then threaded a second piece of flexible blocking wire thru every second point of each three point lace motif and pulled it out to as large as I could get it. I then used a third piece of flexible blocking wire and threaded it thru the first and third points and pull to make them all even. The final step was I pulled the garter wire and the arc at the top evened itself out nicely and I left it to dry for the day. Of course that plaid sheet underneath helps line things up and keeps things even - think of it as a large "grid" - a gingham sheet would have worked better but I used what I had!

And finally I love this shawl and it's on the short list of things I would definitely knit again!!!

Stranded

How crazy the way the universe works...I learned "stranded" knitting at the feet of an icon - Joyce Williams. I met Joyce thru Betty and Karen and ironically thru the beastie. The beastie introduced me to Betty at Stitches...but that's a different story!

One evening while tucked in bed with the sleeping hubby and the sleeping beastie, as well as an oversized collie, and my knitting the phone rang - at 10 - at night. The voice on the other end of the phone asked how do you kitchener. Pardon me? Seems I had just met The Joyce Williams. We had met briefly once before and she got my number from Betty and she was working on a book and wondered how I kitchener'd when putting together shoulder seams. She explained that she took all the stitches off her needle, lined them up on a table and then worked the seams. At which point I laughed - and explained that if I were to ever have 300 live stitches laying loose on a table - well they wouldn't be "live" for very long! That I'd NEVER been able to complete a shoulder without a least 5 interruptions which might include fixing dinner, a scream for help, a dog chasing deer, a phone ringing, opening a juice box and getting the subsequent juice stain out of a carpet and "finding" something. Nope my stitches if they knew what was good for them stayed on the needle as I worked them off. After an hour the conversation ended - the hubby grumbled something about knit being a four letter word, and my knitting circle had expanded to 4.

Joyce taught me all kinds of tips and tricks about knitting - she made outrageous sweaters with fine yarn and intricate patterns - I made mittens - lots and lots of mittens - and tons of hats, cause beasties and friends loose things and more often than not well they just got used up! She was a tiny person but she was a fierce knitter, and she was funny in the driest sense of the word. I still to this day remember her rants about her hubby and filling the dishwasher...Joyce passed away in August, leaving a knit legacy in her books. Pick one up at a book store or your local library - you won't regret it.

All this is a round about way of getting to the Founder's Day Luncheon and someone saying I was presenting "stranded knitting" at the next guild meeting - SURPRISE - and I can hear Joyce in my ear - which is a good thing. And the pictures to the left well those were my samples.

Please note that beastie has grown a little since he used to sit at my knitting circle being fed home made cookies and cocoa - he did love going to knitting! Now he's going off to The Hague for the Model United Nations for 8 days, and I'm a wreck. He loves his new hat, but I'm guessing he ends up leaving it somewhere in his travels...And if you see this hat wandering The Netherlands - know it's wearer is a gentle giant probably in search of bread, cheese and sausage!