I'm Back!

DH and I had a fantastic time in Chicago. We learned a lot about leadership at the conference we attended. We did get a chance to head downtown for a few hours. A wonderful way to end our trip of the city.

I did managed to get an hour or two of knitting. Other than that, we were pretty much on the go from morning til night.

I've completed the front left piece of my lace panel cardigan. Here's a close up of the stitch pattern and the armhole area.



You can actually start to see a totem pole pattern in the lace. I have bound off the shoulder, but left 4 stitches on waste yarn. When I'm finished seaming, the 4 stitches will be used to continue an edging towards the back neckline. The armhole area looks a bit long because of the lace knitting and being close to loose knitting. I will have to deal with that issue when I seam the sleeves into the armholes. I have a trick or two up my sleeves (pardon the pun) that should resolve this issue.




August is turning out to be a busy month for me. I'm in the midst of getting a local knitting group launched, officially. I've been busy creating a schedule, preparing class topics, brainstorming project ideas, and finally, starting another blog for this group. Yes, this will be the 5th blog I've started. :)

This year has been an exciting time for me. Yes, there has been a few setbacks, but I've managed to overcome and move on. Just like my what my Yarn Personality test has confirmed..."I want to experience everything that life has to offer". Of course, it helps that I'm "delightfully driven".

Happy Knitting!

Knitting Updates

We're getting ready for our trip to Chicago to participate in a Leadership conference. I've collected a few things to wear and put them in piles. So, I'm not really packed...yet. The suitcase hasn't even shown its face. I'm getting ready to put my two knitting projects on lifelines and then I can pack the projects and needles in my luggage. I don't plan on doing any knitting while we're in transit to Chicago. That's what my iPod is for. DH and I will be watching a movie or listening to tunes. Thank goodness for my dual headphone adapter.

Once we arrive and get settled (outside of Chicago), I do plan on visiting one or two yarn shops in the area. I also hope to get some knitting done...an hour here or there. As to what we're going to see and do in Chicago...we're going to be spontaneous.

I thought I would give you an update on my current projects:

Cabled Vest in Denim

Yes. I've started another cabled vest. I couldn't help it. This Plymouth Fantasy Naturale in Denim Tweed called out to this pattern and now the two became one. The yarn is beautiful! I love the marled look. I can't wait to see how the cable (front pieces) will turn out. I plan on wearing this version right through the Fall season. I guess I've started knitting my transition garments.

Cabled vest in denim. Isn't the yarn color gorgeous?


Finished the increases @ the sides (M1s at each side, slanting appropriately) every 4th row, 6 times


Lace Panel Cardigan in Violet

I'm moving right along with this project. The back piece took awhile to finish. It's all stockinette stitches. Not too exciting. Once I got beyond the bottom armhole, the knitting seemed to go a lot faster.

Lace panel cardi in violet - back piece completed

I've started the left front piece. This is more interesting as I'm now knitting the lace pattern.

Lace panel cardi - front piece


Here's a non-flash picture of the lace pattern detail:

Lace pattern for front piece...pretty simple design

The only minor issue I'm having is remembering when to knit or purl the stitches. There are no charts for this pattern, just line by line instructions.

Both of these projects will be traveling with me.



Log Cabin squares

I managed to finish the last square. I'm glad I picked out two completely different color yarns. Interesting to see what I ended up with.

Second square


Both squares completed and waiting to be integrated with the other squares at work

That's what I've been up to.

Oh. I almost forgot to mention this. A friend of mine gave me some old crochet and knitting magazines and patterns that she had collected over the years as well as patterns given to her by friends. I was skimming through them and uncovered some wonderful finds. Vintage knitting patterns. Yes, I call them vintage as they are dated from the 1940s. There are a lot of cardigans and twinsets. Some plain and some with intricate details. I'm in awe. A nice surprise. I will do a separate post on these old knitting patterns along with some pictures when I get back.

Happy Knitting!

A Fun Filled Week

I can't believe how quickly this week went by. I started out on Sunday, meeting with my knitting group and teaching a refresher course on the basics of knitting. I purchased some beautiful yarn from a fab sale at one of my LYS and went back a second time with my friend, Sarah, to help her pick out a fabulous silk/cotton yarn for her first knitted garment project. The yarn is gorgeous. For most of the week, I took pictures for our VBS (Vacation Bible School) at my church. The kids are fantastic and a few will even ham it up and strike a pose for me.

My DH is a wonderful hubby. To celebrate my day, He took me to a wonderful Italian restaurant in Old Town. We had a quiet evening and enjoyed our conversation with a wonderful Italian meal.

Normally, we see two movies a year at the theater. Today, we're planning on heading to the movie theater to catch the 10am showing of HP. Yes, I did say "10am". I don't think we've ever gone to see a movie in the morning. This should be fun.

On the knitting front, I still have 3 projects going at the same time. It's been hard knitting 3 at a time and they all happen to be the back sections which seems to take forever. In the next day or two, I plan on knitting one project at a time so I can feel like I'm completing a garment much faster.

The back piece of Sage is now completed. Hoping to cast on the front left section today.

Cabled Lace Vest back. Note: the stitch markers at the side marking the start of the armhole area


Close up of the stitch patterns


Violet is moving right along. I have a few more inches to knit before I start the BOs for the armholes.

Lace Panel Cardi back piece

In order to move along with Sage and Violet, Charcoal (cabled v-neck top) will be put aside for now. I will more than likely take it with me on my travels in August. It will make a nice Fall garment.

For a quick knit, I will be casting on a Shoulder Shawl that I saw at one of my LYS. I've done some test samples with different yarns. We'll see what I come up with.

I have to share another yarn purchase I made that was 40% off. This Tilli Tomas silk yarn is absolutely gorgeous and couldn't be passed up. DH was happy that I made some special yarn purchases for myself. Saved him the trouble of trying to figure out what to get me.

Disco Lights in Parchment color by Tilli Tomas


Happy Knitting!

Three in the Running

I have three knitting projects in the works. No two are the same. See, I can really knit one version instead of two.

I started my Cabled V-Neck top called Charcoal. This will be my slow knit while in front of the TV. It doesn't help that I don't watch much TV to begin with. Okay, so this will be my "sitting in the front porch knitting" project. Knitting this in natural sunlight will help me see what I'm knitting. This charcoal color is quite dark.

Cabled V-Neck Top in Charcoal (Lion Brand Cotton Ease)


Many hours later and I only have this many inches knitted


Here's my second project a Lace Panel Cardi called Violet. This will be a slightly faster knit, as I'm knitting mostly in stockinette stitches until I get to the front pieces. Another front porch knitting project.

Laced Panel Cardigan in Violet (Lion Brand Cotton Ease)

The results of a few hours of knitting


And my third project Cabled Lace Vest called Sage. This one gets worked on at my LYS. Another lace knitting project and this one is knitting fast. At the rate this one is going, I might be able to put CeCe back on my radar.

Cabled Lace Vest in Sage (Plymouth Yarns Fantasy Naturale)


A few hours of knitting and I have this to show. Definitely a lot more work completed than my other two projects above