A Little of This and a Little of That

Today we actually broke freezing! We have had more than a week of frigid temperatures. As this pictures shows the icicles are consuming our eves. This shot is from the second story. My DH says that it seems like we are in prison. The icicles reflect a rainbow of colors. Can you see the beauty of them?


The sun is shining and the sky is putting on it's best blues for us today. I love how the sky itself variegates all the different blues!


The clouds are also trying to impress you with quick streaks as they race across the sky.


I have been knitting on my Wicked sweater as much as possible. This week I haven't had as much time as I would've liked. After only 3 more repeats I can put the sleeves on scrap yarn. At the point I can try it on. If I need to I can make any adjustments in length ect. Hopefully I will be savvy enough to be able to figure that out! We were out last night for a romantic dinner. I was wearing a beautiful red angora sweater. My DH leaned over and said "Is that your sweater you've been working on?" I just looked at him and said...no honey I'm not even finished with it. My DH just saw me with the sweater in progress the night before! I wish I could've seen my own face! Of course he was just joking!


Maybe it's just me......I think it's so funny how I can get so into a project. So consumed by it that the expectations in your own mind are enormous! Ever feel that way? I experience that with almost everything! LOL! Then all it takes is some little distraction. You know....Nothing big, maybe just a magazine......


How about the new Interweave Knits magazine. If you haven't seen it yet you must and I stress must get yourself a copy. I found so many gorgeous projects! I adore the Mirabella Cardigan, Printed Silk Cardigan...... I could go on and on.
Bam! Then I'm off in another world dreaming about all the beautiful images. I start to plan in my head how I could add something different. How about a different texture yarn? At that point I lie to myself and figure out ways to try and knit or quilt more. Maybe wake up extra early in the morning and wash all the floors before work. Or I'll make myself a deal if I clean the house for 2 hours I can knit or sew for 4 hours! LOL!
Then reality set in. What happened to all of the time I had? Really the right way to say it is where did the time go?
P.S. I just want to say that I treasure every comment that you make. I love hearing from you all!
P.S.S. If there are any lurkers out there I'd love to hear your comments too!!!

Daphne

Happy Valentines Day!!! I saw this cute little card and thought of all of the different hat's we each wear. We may wear knitting hats, quilting hat's, sewing hat's. Some of us also love to wear gardening hat's, chef hat's. I could keep typing on and on. I'm wishing you a day of love and lots of fun. Keep those hat's coming!

Today I thought I would show you my first lace project. The pattern is by French Girl and is called "Daphne". I first saw this shawl at Stitches Midwest. Susi and I attended our very first fiber show. We decided to find a project that we could both knit together. As soon as we saw Daphne we knew we found the perfect project for our skill level. I picked out Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb. It is 50% silk and 50% wool. The color is Tuscany. I purchased 3 hanks. This was probably the most money I had spend on a knitting project. It took me about 3 to 4 weeks to finish the shawl. Knitting it really tested my experience. All you have to do is draped it across yourself and instantly you can feel the warmth of the fiber. The shawl is truly gorgeous!




Susi finished her Daphne before I did. She went down needle size because she prefers a finer stitch. Hers turned out fantastic! It was just too small for the vision I had for mine. I cast on more stitches and followed the pattern. As I knitted along I was loving the way the shawl was working up. It was hard to tell how big it really was. The night I finished I showed my DH before I cast off. I draped it around my neck while it was still on the circular needles. Man, did it look great. My DH was impressed! He went to bed and I started the process of casting off. I thought I would never get it off the needles. Can you tell where I'm going with this? My shawl turned out to be a whopping 130". Yes, that's right, over 10 feet tall. The average ceiling in ones home is only 8 feet. This sucker is huge! It's gigantic! Enormous I must say! Then I had to add the fringe.





Here is a better shot of the stitch pattern. Isn't it pretty? I did not block this shawl. First because I'm not sure where I could have a space to do it. Second, I don't need it any bigger!!! Well, I did wear the shawl once out in public. I wore it to fiber show. I got lots of looks and compliments! I had to fold it in half and then cross it over my shoulders. I still had to be careful not to let it slide off and step on it! So now it sits on top of my knitting cabinet. I have it draped on top and it hangs over each side.
So tell me, what do you think?

Stockinette Stitch Marathon

My Wicked sweater is starting to take shape. On Saturday I finished the neckline. I decided to do 2" ribbing instead of the stitch the pattern called for. I adore ribbing so I think it's going to look great. I still can't believe I'm knitting my very first sweater! If you would've asked me a year ago if wanted to knit a garment my answer would've been no! I really have to say that it's the inspiration of other knitters.



Sunday was extremely cold. The temperature did not hit 1 degree! It was too cold to really do anything outside. Also way too cold and windy to go anywhere. I had the perfect afternoon to get down to some serious knitting. By last night I did 7 repeats of rows a & b. I timed myself and could finish the repeat in 30 minutes. This is the neckline and the start of the body of the sweater.




Here is a different view of the sleeve increases. I love the fact that you knit this sweater from the top down with almost no seaming! Pretty cool! I feel like I'm on a knitting marathon!

Makin' Cakes!

Last night I stayed up and made some cakes. Yes, that's right...Queen of cornball said yarn cakes! I wound the casscade yarn for my wicked sweater. As I was winding my yarn all I could think of was cake! Any kind of cake. Chocolate fudge cake, bundt cake, red velvet cake, coconut cake, spice cake, white cake with orange dreamsicle icing, strawberry short cake, and in my own desperation even fruit cake! I heard you shudder! Yup, can you tell I'm on a diet? I have to tell you one of my most guarded secrets...I am addicted to sugar! I love it! I adore anything with sugar as the first ingredient. My second addition is white flour. You know...the stuff cookies and cakes and pastry and pasta is made with! That combination has served me well! If anyone is counting about 25lbs well. UGH! On monday I cut out all of the sugar and carb's from my diet. Because of that sometimes my mind wanders to happier times like this.....



Yes, I can make a mean strawberry shortcake! Whoa, I got to snap out of that one!



O.K. back to reality. This is a funky Malabrigo yarn. Love the colors don't you? Remind you of anything?




Mmmmmmm blueberry pie, Want a piece? Oooppp's did I say that? LOL!
O.K. I promise to be good. I girl can dream now can't she?
Hope all your dreams are as good and tasty as mine.
Better get back to the sweater I just cast on. The color, strawberry!

Just a bit of eye candy

I thought you might like to see a little bit of new eye candy today. This is Socks that rock by Blue Moon Fiber Arts. It's 100% superwash merino. The color is seastone. It feels nice and squishy! I think it will make a great pair of socks.
I really didn't do much of anything today. We got hit with a snow storm!! Yeah! This morning it was snowing just a bit so I put the horses out. Bo and Minnie were happy to get out of their stalls. Minnie took a nice snow bath and tried to get Bo to play.


But as soon as I brought out the hay all the play was forgotten.


I won't be hanging out any wash today!


We actually had to go out to help a family member this afternoon. I know...What were we thinking. The forecast for my area was for 10-20" of snow. Also 30-40 MPH winds. That means blizzard conditions. As we made our way through Woodstock I was relived to see a lot of the businesses were closed.



This is the Woodstock Square. The movie Groundhog day was shot here.



We got there at about 2:00. The roads were not plowed at all! We got stuck in the snow three different times. Just out of nowhere a few people showed up and helped to push us out! Thank God for good Samaritans!



Our house is one of 7 on our two mile long road. Needless to say just the drive down our road was an adventure. You could not see the road. The drifts were about 2.5 to 3' deep. All was fine until we pulled into the driveway. My DS had the snowplow truck stuck at the end of the drive. The engine on the plow broke! Ugh! He was trying to pull it out with another truck. Yup, that one got stuck too. Then my car got stuck!!! You just got to laugh! At the end of the driveway three vehicles stuck!



The weather man said that this storm was our worst since 1999. My DH plowed three times today. The snow was very wet and heavy. Then the temperature dropped and ice started to form. The wind kicked up out of the north and pounded sleet right into your face. So far the snow total is 14". You know what my warm weather loving DH said...."Dear, you love this weather!!!"

I also want to send out my prayers to anyone affected by today's tornado's. I hope and pray you and your families are all o.k.

P.S. When I check the forecast on my BB the next line states; check weather from Hawaii!!!! Talk about teasing!

Inspiration

First I want to say thank you to all of the bloggers in blog land! I am sending you a virtual flower bouquet. I love reading your blogs! Also thank you to all who have left me a comment. It's really cool that you took the time to read and post your input. I read each one and also check out your sites too!
I get so inspired by what other knitters are working on. If you are reading my site for the first time please check out the sites on the sidebar. I have learned so much from these fantastic artists! The patterns, yarns, and colors just amaze me.
I was checking out DebbieKnitters blog and could feel the inspiration vibe across the internet. Debbie was the one who cheered me on to do my first double point project! Leave it to DebbieKnitter to inspire me to knit my first sweater. DebbieKnitter is working on a sweater by Zephyr. I went to Zephyr's site and noticed another sweater called "Wicked". Then I went on Raverly to read about projects made by other members using Wicked as the pattern think I just may be able to tackle this one. I purchased the pattern on line and off to the yarn shop I went!
This is the picture of Wicked by Zephyr. It is knitted in the round with almost no seaming!





I found some really nice yarns.



This is Casscade 220 Tweed. The color is a gorgeous deep strawberry. The yarn has little flecks of other colors in it like yellow, blue, green and pink. Don't you just love it?! So here I sit with my yarn and my needles......waiting for my pattern to be e-mailed to me. A word of advise, make sure you use your credit or debit card not an e-check! I guess with e-checks it can take 3 days to clear!

Snow Heaven

We got another snow storm last night. If you know me than you know that I'm loving every minute of it! We have about 8" of snow on the ground. The drive to work this morning was a lot of fun. I think I slid the whole way! I was hoping to get a snow day but no such luck. I was praying for 12". My DH thinks I'm totally crazy (which I admit to) and so does almost everyone else I know. My DH is trying to get me to move to a warmer climate. I'm not ready for that yet.


Now for a little quilting........I want to make mini pillows for our bed in all different sizes. I think making tiny quilt blocks into pillows would look really unique. I've been playing with paper piecing. These are mini quilt blocks. No way could I piece these without doing it on paper. Each block section is 2 1/2" and will sew down to a 4" finished block. Can you see the embroidery scissors? Just to show how small they are.



I love these blocks. They are 3 1/2". I was sewing these rows together late one night........When I should be sleeping all nice and snug in my bed.



Disaster strikes! Yup, can you see what I did? The seams don't meet!!!! How the heck did I do that? Maybe because I didn't take time to pin it. I've been quilting too long for that to happen. Know anything worse than ripping out a seam? Oh yes, ripping out a seam that has been paper pieced!!
See, I told you I was nuts!!!