Book Review- Ethnic Knitting Discovery: The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and The Andes by Donna Druchunas

Visit my book blog to see my review of Donna Druchunas' book Ethnic Knitting Discovery.
I am participating in Eco Libris' Green Books Campaign.

In a Pickle

I am in a bit of a pickle. The same one as last year. It is November and I have yet to start on Christmas gifts yet. Last month I thought I would knit everyone hats. That would be 16 hats! I have not knit any yet. Not a one. Can I knit 16 hats in the time I have left until Christmas?

Ack!

Socktoberfest Mystery Socks #2

Mystery socks
Originally uploaded by my_weezy

I am loving this year's Mystery sock. So much fun and very pretty.
I am using Malabrigo sock yarn for the first time, too. Very nice. Soft and easy to work with. Well, easy now that it is in that lovely little yellow yarn cake. Getting it into that yarn cake...not so easy. My goodness. That was the most knotted and twisted skein of yarn. I am so glad that I had my ball winder and swift to use because if I had had to ball by hand it would have ended up in the trash. I was cursing and getting frustrated as it was.

Besides that little problem, love it.

I have a couple repeats to go on the leg of the second sock and then I will be getting started on the heels of both. Both socks will be done at the same time. Yay.

Rainbow sock

Rainbow sock
Originally uploaded by my_weezy

Tried to blog this from phone but didn't work. Not sure what went wrong but here it is posted correctly.

Plain sock for the non-plain yarn. It is Jojoland Melody in a very rainbow like mix of colors. Not quite matching the toenail color, though. :)

I am also working on another sock at the same time. More info and pics on that one to come. It is Through the Loops' Mystery Sock.

Socktoberfest is so much fun!

Wedding Shawl Delivered

I delivered the shawl to the bride this morning. She loved it. Yay!

It looked quite lovely over her pink robe. :) 

Can't wait to see it with her wedding dress tomorrow. I will definitely be taking lots of pictures.

Have a great weekend!

FO: Luna Moth Shawl

It's finished and I absolutely love it!!!

Pattern: Luna Moth Shawl by Shui Kuen Kozinski
Yarn: Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace in French Vanilla
Needles: US5

I can't wait to give this to my friend on Thursday. I hope she

 likes it just as much as I do. It's not big, not too small. About 32' from neck to bottom point and 64' in length. 

So this was my first attempt at blocking lace and I was definitely worried about messing it up. I had a sample size of Soak to use. Pretty floral scented, too. I soaked the shawl for about 15 minutes then rolled it up in a towel for about five minutes. 

It took awhile to get the shawl pinned and it was a bit bigger than the mats I had so had to improvise by adding towels. Not a problem. It is now all blocked and drying. 

The only problem I had was figuring out how to keep the straight edge straight. Any ideas? Also, I need someone to show/tell me how to use the blocking wires properly. Don't think I did. :)

We leave Wednesday for CA and Thursday morning I will be taking over the shawl to my friend's in San Francisco before she leaves to Sonoma. Can't wait to see it with her wedding dress.

wedding shawl update

Wow. It has been a long time since I have posted anything about my knitting. I have been desperately trying to finish knitting my friend's shawl that she will be wearing for her wedding. It is coming along nicely. I really like how soft it is and how simple but pretty the pattern is. I am getting close to finish. I have the week to get it done and the weekend to block it. We will be leaving for CA on the 23rd. I will be sure to take some pictures once it is done and I feel the need to document my first lace blocking attempt. I really hope I don't make a mess of it.

I have blocking mats and wires that I ordered from KnitPicks. I think I have some pins. I am all ready to get to it.

Wish me luck on getting this done on time!

Scotland Yarn

Scotland was such a great trip. Besides seeing really cool places I also found yarn! Yay, yarn! In Edinburgh I found a really nice yarn shop near the GrassMarket. K1 Yarns Knitting Boutique.

I was really wishing that I had some knitting with me after going in. The place was really cozy and welcoming. A nice place to sit and knit. Everyone inside were very friendly and I found some really great yarn there. Not really Scottish but from the UK. Good enough. :)

Artesano 100% Alpaca 4 ply

Scotland

If you visit both my blogs this is going to be a repeat. Just skip right over one of these posts. I was going to to a completely different post, but am in need of food then nap. Still a bit jet lagged. I purchased some yarn in Edinburgh and started a sock while traveling. Will be back with pics of both soon. :)


I am home!
Such a wonderful trip but I am glad to be back in my own bed. And my own shower! I was getting a bit tired of the cramped showers in the Guesthouses we stayed in. It took some creative maneuvering to shave my legs. :0
We had a lot of fun touring Scotland. We rented a car and drove around for five days before settling in Edinburgh for four. We visited Oban, the Isle of Skye and Inverness and had some stops along the way to see castles and distilleries.

There were a lot of rainy days like here in Oban but it didn't ruin our fun. In fact, I really liked it. We haven't had much rain in Texas. Oban was a very nice seaside town. I really would have liked more than one night here. Will have to go back, I guess. We saw some traditional music and dancing here. Our first ceilidh. So much fun.




On leaving the Isle of Skye we made sure to stop by the Eilean Donan Castle. This was not our first castle and it wasn't our last, but it was definitely a favorite. It was used as a location in Highlander and one of the James Bond films (can't remember which). This picture is now my wallpaper on my computer.



Besides enjoying all that Scotland has to see I also went on search of some Harry Potter sights because, well, I am a bit of a Potterhead. Love anything and everything HP. So, we took some specific routes so I could see some sights used for locations on the HP films. Such as the bridge that the Hogwart's Express goes over in Chamber of Secrets. Do you remember this? When Harry and Ron are flying over the train in the Ford Anglia? :)

The train back to London from Edinburgh conveniently took us to King's Cross Station. Despite construction going on, Platform 9 3/4 was still there just moved to a different location while they work on improving the station. :)
(Saw The Half Blood Prince in Edinburgh. So good! Favorite of the bunch so far.)
Lots of fun.
Before Scotland we went to Bath, but I am going to hold off on those photos for an Everything Austen post later this week. I visited sights mentioned in Jane Austen's books and also the Jane Austen Center while there. Lots to share, including a small gift for one lucky person. Be sure to come back and see what I brought back to giveaway.
I will leave you with one last photo. Stonehenge. It has been on my must see list of places forever. It didn't disappoint. Very cool to finally see.

Stage 6: In the Mountains

I haven't knit since the Team Time Trial. I guess it was just too much for me. :)
For the KAL we were to count our stitches knit in an hour. You must remember that I am knitting lace, but I was able to contribute 1074sph to Team Quickstep's average. Not too bad.

So, today I plan to get back on the bike and knit at least 1 repeat of the lace pattern.



The yarn I am knitting is Classic Elite Yarns Silky Alpaca. This is the first time I have used it. I love it. Very soft, easy to work with. I can feel the warmth on my fingers as I knit. It is working out perfectly. Plus, the color is perfectly matched to the swatch that my friend lent me to find yarn. The colorway is French Vanilla. Love that.

No more procrastinating. Time to knit!