Less exciting sample knitting

I have to say, I was very excited with the Janet lace shawl - it was fun to knit and very cool to see it on the cover of the KnitPicks catalog, but it's been a bit of a let down since then.


In May, Michelle and I went up to Knit Picks to test drive their now-released Options needles. While there Bridget asked if I'd knit a stockinette scarf. It was to be felted which I could do if I wanted (I didn't.) On our road trip to visit my mom in Phoenix, I knit the really boring scarf. It's Bridget's felting, but my knitting.






Next there was the afghan. It showed promise when I got the yarns, but soon came to be less exciting. I happily sent it on its way. It was sort of published on their site this month.




Last month I received a frantic call from Bridget on a Tuesday. Could I knit two armbands before Monday? Sure. I received the yarn on Wednesday and knit those bad boys up and had them at UPS on Friday. Now that they're on the site and I know what I knit - PICC armbands.


I think the next project will have to be mighty interesting to tempt me. There are just too many other projects to think about.

At last...

...the purple afghan is finished.
Before blocking



Completed - 26" x 50"


At last!

Instant Gratification

I remember now why I've never made an afghan - it's really boring knitting. The Knit Picks purple afghan has lost it's appeal with 45" knit and 30 agonizingly long rows to go to get to the required length. In the bag the yarns were lovely and I think in different projects they would all be okay to knit, but I've gotten hung up knitting this particular pattern using a furry (albiet pretty and soft) suri alpaca and bouclé (not available yet).



$2.50 Skirt

Not one to resist a 25% off coupon, I headed to the Mill End Fabric Store in Milwaukie to look for some cotton fabrics. The best buy was the "water stained" border eyelet, that rung up at 75% off. We were hard pressed to find the stain and since I needed a break from the dreaded afghan, I spent more time deciding on a pattern to show off the pretty border than it took to sew skirt. But I have my instant gratification. The underskirt was Tom's idea. I hadn't hemmed the lining and he liked it hanging below the skirt. Ironically, I'd carefully cut the fabric from the border to show it off.



The Clean Up
Even though Patti couldn't make it to the west coast after all, things still worked out - we finally did the "great clean up" and the house really is guest friendly. As part of the clean-up and organization, I earmarked about fifteen pounds of yarn and twenty-five yards of fabric and donated it to SCRAP--The School and Community Reuse Action Project in NE Portland. This is after donating a van load of yarn, fabric and other crafty things (no exagerration) to SCRAP - Scroungers Center for Reusable Art Parts in South San Francisco before we moved. Can you say SABLE?

Happy Birthday to me!

There's something to be said about birthdays - even non-significant ones like 48. There are the e-cards from fiberly friends, new and old, and the cards from the non-fiberly folks and family. And there seemed to be a theme in the very nice gifts I received.

It started with the very early gift of a sewing machine from Tom.

Yesterday, I received a very pretty Lantern Moon silk needle case from Evelyn.



The theme continued through the evening. We had a lovely dinner at Harrison in downtown Portland, with Dianne and John. After my favorite crème brulée, I opened the gift bag to find two notecards and three cool buttons.

Further was a very pretty glass stitch marker with a rose (for Portland, the Rose City) attached to a beautiful skein of Handmaiden Seasilk yarn - a yarn (and color) I've been looking at for a couple of months. Dianne must be a mind reader - among her other talents.


And some work got done, even though on my birthday. Now that I have the order of the yarns right, it looks better. I just need to finish it and get it on it's way to Knit Picks, so I can move on to my pretty new yarn.

June Accomplishments

Organzation Project
It is amazing how visitors will make me more productive. You can see the floor of my sewing room. You can see the floor of the stash room and all fabric and yarn are contained. Yay! (Tom asked: "Now that the sewing room is cleaned up are you going to stay out of it till after Patti leaves?")


Peasant top and red Luna shrug are done


New Knit Picks project
I received an email from the projects coordinator on Thursday. On Friday, I received the yarn for an afghan. The yarns are lovely, but after beginning the project, the jury is out on how it will look using the pattern they provided. But hey! I'm just doing what I'm getting paid to do.


The Sasha Skirt so far
I have to say it sure doesn't look like much in the picture but here's where I am on the skirt. Not much will get done till after the afghan is sent off.

And it's upside down...the waistband is at the bottom of the picture and I'm knitting the bottom ruffle.

Janet Lace Shawl Revisited

Not only did the Janet Lace Shawl get posted to the Knit Picks site, it's on the COVER of the May catalog. If you knit and you don't get the catalog you probably should - and not just because the shawl I knit is featured on the cover.



And on page 7 of the catalog.



My knit friend Michelle's work is also in the catalog and on the website.

Janet Lace Shawl

My first "paid" project is posted on the Knit Picks site!