A Finished Object And A Started Object

While digging through my stash last Friday night I came upon the lace hat from Lace Style I had started last fall and then completely forgotten about while it fell deeper and deeper into my stash. It only needed ten rows to complete so I stayed up late that evening and finished it.



I've worn it ever since, even with jackets and sweaters that don't match. The hat does match the bulky down jacket I wore all of our frigid December and January with a cheapo hat from Target. How silly of me! The yarn is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I have enough yarn left over to make a second hat if I reverse the colors.

I know I last blogged about starting Cameo from Custom Knits, and I fully intend to start this soon, but Amelia from Knitty was calling my name too loudly.



So I started it instead. If I keep at it, I should finish with plenty of cool weather left for wearing this sweater. And better yet, I am using yarn from my stash. It's a teal green color of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I would have loved to have bought some new Dream In Color for this project, but it's good to use what you already have.

I'm at least an inch further along than this picture shows. So far it's been a quick knit. I had to give up on this for today though. This is how my index finger looks:



Ouch! I push the yarn along with my index finger and some yarns irritate it more than others. This yarn, along with the twisted rib stitch pattern, is making my finger almost the worst it has been. The Hemlock Ring project still takes first place though for hurting my finger. I spent my knitting time today working on my Lily Of The Valley shawl from Lace Style. The lace weight Alpaca I'm using for it doesn't irritate my finger at all.



And I still need to make up the pony tail portion of my sister's Pony Tail Hat.

This and That

Knitting Projects

After Christmas I forced my mom to come with me to Knitters Palette, my LYS, though not all that local. I wanted to start on a project for her birthday in February. She says she loves the socks I made her out of Lorna's Laces but she balked at the price when she saw what two skeins would cost (yes, even though I was paying for them). At least now I know the colors she likes and I can always go back to get those or similar skeins. But to be honest, I'm not crazy about knitting socks, it's fine, it's okay, sometimes I really wish I had a pair of socks in the works, but most of the time, I simply admire other people's sock projects.

My mom was taken with a vest knit in Rowan Colourscape Chunky. I wasn't so taken with it at first but I purchased the yarn and the pattern so I could make it for her. It's a chunky yarn and I'm not so much into chunky, especially a wool, and having just finished the Hemlock Ring in a chunky wool...well...but I have to tell you, I've done a complete 180 on this. It's turning out so pretty. I love the color changes. This picture doesn't do it justice but at least gives you an idea.



I always knew my mom had better taste than I do. You can see I'm having a bit of trouble with my tension between the purl and knit stitches. I don't usually have this trouble so I'm blaming it on the yarn :-). Actually, I'm hoping blocking will fix up all my problems.

My other project in the works is my white blob, or rather, the Lilies Of The Valley shawl from Lace Style.



I'm on the third of ten repeats. Of course, my progress will slow considerably when I go back to work. There is also the lace border to knit after the ten repeats which is a project in and of itself. I'm loving this knitting though and in no hurry to finish it. This is not a project for a particular person or date so it will be finished when it's finished. I love doing the nupps. I think they are fun to do and add so much to the look of the shawl.

Holiday Eating

I made a cranberry salsa for Christmas which went over well.



The recipe came from here. I definitely recommend making the salsa the night before. For Christmas I spread cream cheese over the bottom of my Christmas Tree dish and then the salsa over that. Very good.

Dogs and Such

Fame had another check up the day after Christmas and is doing quite well as far as her hemolytic anemia. However, she's having a particular side effect from the prednisone, the pred which is keeping her hemolytic anemia in check. A Catch-22 for sure. Fame has considerable muscle wasting which is a side effect of high doses (dosages?) of pred.

Fame is seriously down on her pasterns and limps rather frequently. Her bones are very loose and rattling around in her joints due to the severe muscle wasting. Not a very technical explanation I realize, but despite the number of dogs I have, I'm not a vet and don't play one on TV. X-rays were done and we could not find any other problem for her limping so we are cutting down on the prednisone. Fingers crossed this does not bring back the hemolytic anemia. It's a dance that's for sure. A little here, a little less there, but I'm confident we'll figure it out. If you asked Fame, she'd say she's doing great and certainly that's what matters the most.

We had a warm (well, warm for MN in December) day on Friday and quite a bit of snow melted in my yard exposing my 'sins of omission' as I like to call those poopsicles. Shame on me! So I'm busy picking up the yard.



A turkey now and then visiting one of my bird feeders is fun. Over two dozen of them every morning is getting to be a bit much.

Gosh, thanks!

I had no idea people would actually miss me if quit blogging. It was nice to know. I think I live one of the most boring lives around so it's nice to know folks actually read this stuff.

Knitting

I finished Teddy Bear. He's cute, if not a little lopsided. I enjoyed knitting him. I always enjoy knitting toys and how much I enjoy knitting them always surprises me when I do knit toys. Toys are fun. You can tie knots and make mistakes and experiment at covering up your mistakes because, hey, it's a toy! And I enjoy taking the time to add features and personality to a toy to make it unique. Unfortunately, I was a bit rushed completing Teddy and I would have liked to take more time on this final phase. Here's Teddy at the end of my knitting.



I tried to add personality by embroidering eyes, nose and a mouth, but it looked awful. I ended up using buttons for both his eyes and nose and needle felting a mouth. I'm not sure how long the needle felting will hold up on the chenille yarn.



I purchased this Teddy Bear as a kit. He is a Knit One Crochet Too pattern and made out of Knit One Crochet Too Fleece. It looks as if I overstuffed him but I don't think so. I had to concentrate on knitting very loosely because the yarn has no give or stretch. Unfortunately, my loose knitting showed up once I stuffed the bear. Still, over all, a fun knit, a decent pattern and Teddy is oh so soft to the touch.



I started a new project. It is the Lily Of The Valley Shawl by Nancy Bush from Lace Style. Doesn't look like much yet does it?

Christmas Gifts

My sister and I gave each other the same Christmas gift! What a hoot! Here are the insulated glasses she gave me.



My sister gave me glasses with sailor designs because she is one great sailor. She captained her crew and her own boat to first place in two huge races at Kentucky Lake this past summer. She was the first woman to win the Governor's Cup race in the 50 some year history of the race.

So that's why my sister gave me sailor theme glasses. Me, I bought my sister drink theme glasses because...ah...because...I make the best pomegranate martinis around. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.



I think that's all I have to write about today. The dogs are doing great although we are all very sick of the snow, frigid temps and being house bound. Fame continues to improve. What? You want to see a picture of her? Why I'd be happy to oblige.