Lace Dishcloth KAL

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted. I'm still busy working on the Union Square Market Pullover, have a dishcloth in process and have completed a dishcloth from the Luv-2-Knit Dishcloths KAL. I modified the pattern slightly by changing the border from stockinette stitch to garter stitch. I also added two additonal repeats to the lace pattern so I could get a larger dishcloth. This is my second completed dischloth. These are actually a lot of fun to knit, and you can get a finished product almost instantly. It's a good venue with which to experiment using new stitches & techniques. It's also a nice change to alternate the dishcloths with the Union Square Market Pullover. The pullover has a lot of plain knitting, so it's nice to add some variety. I have not worked on my sock for a while, but may get back to that later this week.



I had juty duty this week but only had to go down to the Hall of Justice on Monday. I got as far as the court room, but was never actually called into the jury box. It is an interesting process and I was hoping to get selected, but no such luck. So, back to the old grind of work.

Lucky 13!!!!!!

Jacob is 13 today.

Before & After

The exterior painting of our house is finally finished. It took about a month to complete. We had some trouble with the colors at first, but finally found something we liked.

BEFORE - FRONT:

AFTER - FRONT:



BEFORE - BACK:

AFTER - BACK:


BEFORE - BACK DOOR:

AFTER - BACK DOOR:


BEFORE - SIDE

AFTER - SIDE

Union Square Progress

Well, the weekend is over & it's back to work. Hopefully this week will not be as hectic as last week. Quarter-end close is always such a busy time. Things should slow up a bit after earnings release this Wednesday.

I'm hoping to get the proofs later this week for Jake's invitations. If all goes well, we should have the invitations completed & delivered to us by the end of July. That will give us plenty of time to finalize the guest list and address/print out envelopes. For Adam's Bar Mitzvah, we lucked out and were able to find a font close enough to his invitations with which to address the envelopes. Hopefully, we'll have the same luck with Jacob's. My plan is to mail the invitations by early September, maybe late August. I have to set up a time with the caterer to go over the menu. I was thinking of doing that this week, but may wait a week. Jake will be away for three days this week, and next week, I may have jury duty, so scheduling a time with the caterer may be tough. I may just wait a couple weeks. I can't believe the Bar Mitzvah is less than 4 months away. The nerves are beginning to set in.

I made a little bit of progess on the Union Square Market Pullover. I finished the hem. Using the figure 8 cast on method and 2 needles did the trick. It made it quite easy to "seam" the hem. I'm on the body of the sweater now, and am approaching the 2nd decrease round. I really like the colors I chose. The light blue provides a nice contrast to the navy and will look good as the accent.



I still have a pair of socks OTN. I'm just past the gusset, so things should go fairly quickly, but only if I actually work on it! I'm thinking of casting on for another dishcloth. I finished my first one a couple days ago. It was a fun & quick project.

Figure 8 Cast-On

Boy - have I had a tough time casting on for the Union Square Market Pullover (Interweave Knits, Fall 2005). But you know what they say - the third time's the charm.

Attempt #1: I thought I was doing the invisible cast on, but 3 rows into the hem, I started thinking that things did not look quite right. The way the waste yarn was postioned, it was not going to come out very easily when it was time to make the bottom loops. What I had done was the long tail cast on. Rip, rip, rip.

Attempt #2: This time I looked more carefully at the instructions on page 143 of IK and tried again. What I ended up with was uneven, ugly, twisted stitches. This waste yarn thing was just not working. I could not get enough tension and stability to get the thing to come out right. Rip, rip, rip.

Attempt #3: Finally, the ligh bulb came on. The invisible cast on looked pretty similar to the figure 8 cast on. I had never tried this method before, but figured I would give it a try. This requires using 2 circular needles. The second needle took the place of the waste yarn, and voila, my cast on came out great. And - to top it off, my second needle is already in those free loops, so when it comes time to join the hem, I won't have to fiddle with feeding the needle through those bottom stitches.

If you have not cast on yet, I would recommend trying the figure 8 method. The above picture reflects where I am at currently, after having worked the first 2 rows of the hem. The bamboo needles are my working needles and the grey needles (inner circle) are my "waste yarn."

Oh, and do you like what my project is sitting on? You can't see a whole lot of it, but it's my new project bag. I got it on sale at Target for $6.00. Isn't she pretty?

Cleo & Scooter

As promised, here are pictures of my other 2 cats. Cleo is the Tortie & Scooter is the Tabby. They are both 8 years old.

I've finished my first dishcloth. I made it larger than the pattern - 2 extra pattern repeats. I used Sugar & Cream.




I'll be starting the Union Square Market Pullover (Interweave Knits, Fall 2005) hopefully some time this weekend, using Mandarin Petit. It's 100% cotton in fingering weight. I've never used this yarn before but have had my eye on it for quite some time now.

Waves & Flowers

Here's a summer top I just recently completed. It's the Waves & Flowers pattern from HeartStrings FiberArts and the yarn is Country Silk Garden in the Loden colorway. This was a lot of fun to knit. It's knit in the round so there are very few seams to sew.



I also have a couple items OTN (on the needles). I'm knitting a pair of socks, using the Magic Loop method (2 socks on 1 circular needle).


I am also knitting a dish cloth. This will be my first one.

Jazz-Purr

Here's a picture of my little cutie-pie, Jazz-Purr. He's a devon rex and is 3 years old. We have two other cats, as well - Cleo & Scooter. I'll post pictures of them a little later.

First Post

Well, it's official - I have finally entered the blogging world.

I love cats & I love to knit, so I have aptly named my blog Knits-N-Purrs. Pick up some pointy sticks, some wonderful string, curl up to your little furry friend and come along with me as I share my kitties and yarny tales.