Many Different Herring

It’s been lots of little different things around here lately.

Alexis is blocked and ready to be seamed (once I un-pin the pieces from the basement floor)



Second gumdrop sock is on the needles



The sky looked cool while I was chauffeuring the Hubster back from work on Monday



And yesterday (Tuesday), getting home really sucked because of this. No pics of my own, but yeah. More photos on this link.

I had a little yard work to do on Monday and noticed that the bulbs my mom planted along the back fence are a little confused



Here’s hoping they make it to spring!

In other news, I need to start sewing again, and I’m taking suggestions. Option #1 is to make a quilt (probably queen sized) out of these squares:



They’re 6” squares, all different batiks, and there are enough to make a queen sized quilt.

I also have kits from The Quilt Company for:

Daybreak Quilt
Diamond Mine
French Braid (queen sized again)

Help. I need someone to tell me what to do next ‘cause I can’t decide.

Stonehenge

Greetings, and welcome to the first HPWT Finished Project of 2010!



The Stonehenge Cowl by Susan Pandorf was started on Dec. 30, 2009, so I had something simple to work on when the Hubster and I went to see Dreamgirls at Heinz Hall that evening. (NOTE: Lace knitters who like the Lord of the Rings series probably want to head over to Susan's website and check out the Evenstar Mystery Shawl KAL. It looks like it's going to be an epic quest!)

Color is most true in this shot and the other un-modeled shot.

The show was decidedly “meh” (and it didn’t help that spotlights-into-dark-audience gave me a splitting headache in the second act) but the cowl is a winner.



I’m far from excited about the yarn I used for this project, Rowan Lima, but I think this is an example of a perfect yarn-to-pattern match making the whole shebang work well together for what I believe will become a much-loved finished project.



This yarn doesn’t show a lot of stitch definition, but the slip-stitch ribbing shows up very well, making the Pi-shapes reminiscent of Stonehenge. It’s a splitty chained yarn, but I think it will make for a very cosy cowl.

Stonehenge Neck Warmer

Pattern: Stonehenge Neck Warmer by Susan Pandorf
Yarn: 2 skeins Rowan Lima (I estimate that I used about 200 of the 218 yards)
Color: Amazon
Needles: US 9/5.5mm KA Switch 24” circulars
Started: 30 December 2009
Finished: 12 January 2010
Mods: None

Boxing Out

There was a bit of additional non-knitty crafting happening around here prior to the holidays. I didn’t want to blog this stuff until it was all distributed, but here you go!

I’m a lazy wrapper. Especially when it’s something squishy that requires a box for proper wrapping. When I sent the Christmas gifts to Mississippi for Bill's mom and sister, I whipped out a couple of rudimentary gift bags loosely based on this tutorial (sorry, no pictures), then I made a couple more for family Christmas gifts. Two pairs that look pretty much exactly like this:



The red bag has the snowmen as a lining and the other way around. They went really quickly.

But the biggie was a project that had me using my serger for probably the most amount of time ever. Box bags!



I did one test bag based on the Purse-Nickities pattern from Lazy Girl Designs (highly recommend Joan’s stuff. Her tutorials are easy to follow and extremely well-written). Then I branched out on my own. I made one bag for myself and a baker’s dozen for my knitting friends who I appreciate so much.



Here’s a little peek at the inside of my bag. Most of the bags were made with a 12” zipper, but several – including my own – have a 14” zipper. They were all constructed to have a 4” square end, which is a bit more real estate than the original pattern calls for. Anyhoo, the last batch was distributed on January 8, and it has been a lot of fun seeing those bags out in the world being used.

Schedule Changes

Allegheny River from Fort Duquesne Bridge. January 13, 2010.

Hi there. Long time no see.

I’m slowly accumulating things to show you and tell you about. Here’s hoping that I’ll have my act together and show you some of that stuff on this here blog later in the week.

Meanwhile, here’s a public service announcement:

If you are going to fall down the stairs, please try to fall backwards. That way, you simply bruise your backside and your pride. Hubster started last week by trying something new – going down the stairs head-first.

He broke his collarbone, and everything I had planned for last week went straight out the window. He’s doing much better now and I’m hoping that the upcoming week will be a bit more normal.

Happy New Year!

Hi there! Now do you see why I wasn’t really planning to post the Christmas in the Country cowl last week? I knew once that was up, I’d be really low on blog fodder. Sorry!

Our New Year’s was quiet. We went over to CelticQueen’s house for NYE (thanks for the invite!) and then watched sports all day January 1 (surprise!). There has been knitting …



Alexis is chugging right along. It may or may not still be a WiP by this time next week.


I’ve already started another Susan Pandorf cowl, and this one is for me! I don’t love the Lima … it’s nice enough, but it is not going to become one of my favorites. That said, it is unquestionably a perfect match for this pattern!

In other news, I’ve been reading



And shoveling snow. Lots and lots of snow.

Oh, in case you were wondering? Yes, I would still rather shovel snow than rake leaves. I’m a rebel like that.