I am sitting here at work...

...and all I want to do is knit.

Block Party

Miss Honeychurch is soaking....



Miss Honeychurch's block party location....



Miss Honeychurch is blocking....

Anyone got a banana?????

Introducing: SPUNKY MONKEY SPUMONI

I've finally begun Cookie A's Monkey socks from the 2006 Winter issue of Knitty. I have coveted this pattern since it first came out but had not gotten around to knitting it until now. I love, love, love the pattern. I also really love the yarn. I am using KnitPicks Felici in the Gelato colorway. It is sooooooo soft. I would categorize the yarn as a light fingering weight - very, very thin. The yarn is especially delightful to work with.



I also had made these with the yarn, another Cookie A pattern (Pomatomus), and fell in love with the yarn back then.

And joy of joys, the new Knitty, Fall 2009, just came out and there is yet another sock pattern, Clandestine, by Cookie A that is in my knitting future!

PERFECT NUMBER COMBINATION: 09.09.09...

...and oh yea, it's my birthday! Couldn't get better numbers than that!

I cast off Miss Honeychurch at lunch today. I just need to block her & then I'll post pictures.

AC/DC freebie

We had won free tickets to the AC/DC Black Ice Tour a couple months back and attended the concert last night.

Back to where I was...

...before my swim in the frog pond.

Miss Honeychurch - 2nd time around

Here's the first version:



There's not a whole lot of difference, but I'm happy with my 2nd attempt. I'm going to add about 2 more inches to the length and then complete the sleeves.

Here we go again

Frogged Miss Honeychurch last night and re-cast on. I'm about 20 rounds in.

Goodbye, Honey

I have decided to frog & start over. I LOVE the drape of the hemp fabric so I want my Miss Honeychurch to have a little more drape when worn. Right now, there is too much negative ease so I am going to go up a size and hopefully gain some more drape. My gauge swatch turned out to be a whole lot looser than my actual knitting (I didn't intend to have any negative ease) so to the frog pond I go...

Honeychurch progress

Honey Bunches of Crunch!!!

Ahhh - Miss Honeychurch.....

This is from the Summer 2009 issue of Knitty. I was inspired to knit this from Chrissy from the Manic Purl podcast. I am using Allhemp6 in the Sprout colorway. I really love using this yarn - the texture, the feel, the spongie-ness. I've heard some people say that this yarn hurts their hands as they knit with this, but I have not had a problem. My biggest issue with this yarn is that so far, all of my skeins have had a knot in them. In addition, one skein had about 2 feet of a broken ply. For the price, I would think the yarn would have a little better quality control.

frayed ply

Monterey the Beautiful

We were in Monterey this past weekend for a family wedding and I was able to wear my Fiery Bolero. It was perfect for the cool evening wedding.

A seagull outside the Duck Club Grill at the Monterey Plaza Hotel (picture taken from inside through the window - not bad!!)

"Flora & Fauna": Monterey, along 17 Mile Drive

The gorgeous but grey Monterey, along 17 Mile Drive

The infamous LONE CYPRESS (over 250 years old): Monterey, along 17 Mile Drive

Monterey, along 17 Mile Drive

Rick Update

I Love Lucy (I Mean - Ricky!)

I just started the July sock for Cookie A's Sock Innovation KAL. It's Rick, one of my favorites from the book. But, because I cast on on the 26th, I doubt I will finish by the 31st. Oh, well, I'll just tag a long the side lines quietly. I'm using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock, medium weight, Bella Coola.

Blocking Bolero

My Fiery Bolero is finished and now blocking. I really enjoyed this knit and will probably make another one. I didn't even mind all the picking up of stitches.

Big Bad Bolero

I'm going to a wedding in August so decided to knit a cute little bolero for my "little black dress" that I am going to wear. I chose Fiery Bolero from the Summer 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. It's a pattern by Debbie Bliss.

I was really, really good and swatched, swatched, swatched. The pattern calls for size 5 US needles & DK weight yarn. I am knitting this with Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Silk DK in black. Well, this so called DK weight yarn is more like sport weight, so I couldn't get gauge until I went up to size 7 US. This made the fabric a little too loose for my taste, but I decided to go ahead with it anyway.

I knit the entire thing except for the ribbed border. As I was knitting this, I could not help but notice that the sleeves looked too wide. I kept going anyway. I finished it and pinned it together to try it on. Yup - sleeves are way toooooo big. The fit itself is good (without the border), but, once I add the ribbed border, well, can we say FROG POND????????.

Needless to say, I have begun this all over again on size 5 needles. I'm not sure if this will now be a little too small, but I really liked the fabric knit on size 5's. And, if it is a little small, I can always block it to the right dimensions (I hope). So, here we go again. It's a good thing I'm a process knitter, because I don't mind at all that I have to start over, even though I was almost finished with the first attempt.

Here are some pictures of the first go round. I'll post new pics with the new & improved smaller size once it's complete. I just hope I can complete this by the wedding which is August 8...

To Dream a Dream - Reverie

I had some yarn that I had initially intended to knit for socks, but it was a bit too thick for my taste so I decided to make a beret instead. This is Reverie, a free pattern on Ravelry. I'm not a big hat wearer, so I may only wear this at home.

Catching-Up on some Sunshine

Here's some pictures of my Sunshine socks from Cookie A's book Sock Innovation. It's for the June KAL.