Category Archives: Knitting

FO – Manu

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For my birthday this year I treated myself to some lovely Shilasdair yarn from Wisp one of my LYSes. Then my friend Martha gifted me with the lovely Manu pattern. I cast on for the sweater while driving (ok riding) to Massachusetts to introduce the boy to my extended family he hadn’t yet met and to visit some he had met. :-)
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On our way to see my family we made a stop at Bully Hill in the finger lakes to pick up sown wine for ourselves and our parents – due to Ohio laws we can’t get this wine at home unless a distributor carries it. So funny story due to the natural dyes in the yarn it would turn my hands purple whenever I knit with it. When we went in to do the wine tasting the guy asked me of I had been playing in the grapes already that morning. ;-)

One of the great fortunes of having wonderful family in western Massachusetts is that they live about 15 minutes from Webs. My Aunt Millie always assumes that will be one of the stops during my visits and this trip.was no different. When I was a little stuck on the length for my sweater we went to Webs and Erin ever so kindly helped me decide how much longer to make it.

I knit on it for the majority of our travel time and while watching the Royal Wedding. When we got back my work travel began ramping up for a summer of travel.  (Little did I know my fall would be even busier!) I knit the sleeves, attached them and took a great deal of time to knit the yoke. The yoke has a lot of stitches per row AND has extra fabric since the neck is pleated. I also would only knit on it when it wasn’t weird for my hands to be purple. Then came the fun of doing the pleats. I really like how the pleats turned out and I copied a few people on Ravelry to make my pleats facing in the back.
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There was a bit of a lag on production while I waited for some great buttons to arrive from Orit in Israel.

Manu bound off

Manu bound off

The last piece was an i-cord bind off which I sadly finished at the boy’s great aunt’s funeral. Well the family gathering afterward not the service. This sweater will be special up me since I also knit on it while we were attending his grandmother’s funeral in May. Both ladies were very special to the boy and to me and both were Knitters.

I am really pleased with how this sweater turned out. I elected to not knit pockets since I was almost out of yarn! :-O
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It’s taken awhile to get FO shots but we finally got them done.
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Summer Projects

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In May, the boy started a new job closer to home that allows him to have more time at home on a daily basis, which has just been wonderful. In June they switched his schedule to Sun-Thurs so now he has Fridays off. Since they switched his schedule he’s been spending most Fridays (and Saturdays) with his dad working on a project in our backyard.

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Shed with dormer window - almost done!

Tonight they will finish the last two little trim work things for the outside. I am quite pleased with the two of them, they built the entire shed from scratch and some pictures of what we all liked. The next step is for the boy and I to figure out the layout of the inside and get the shelves, loft and work bench built. I am really looking forward to having a workshop space for us to work on projects for the house.

I will say though that seeing the shed go up made me stop to think about the amount of stuff we’ve accumulated (especially me) since we moved into this house three years ago. I decided it was past time for me to do some de-cluttering. So for starters I have a very lazy gal destash going on over at Ravelry. I put prices on several yarns that I doubt I will get around to knitting in the next year or two so that they may find homes where someone has a more immediate need or use for them. :)

Destash bin

Yarns for Destash over on Raverly

In other news, I am working on some languishing WIPs in a couple different mediums. I finished binding off Manu on Saturday then wove in the ends and blocked it on Sunday (it’s still drying). I finished spinning and plying up Garland yesterday – the last fiber I was working on for Tour de Fleece in July. I washed and whacked it this morning so it’s drying right now. I am also trying to knock out my WIP bin in the sewing room which includes a dress for my niece’s upcoming birthday and a duvet cover for our bed that I have had all the materials for, for umm at least two years…my how the time flies! :D

Christmas crafts

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Peanut the Elephant at my house.

For Christmas this year, I didn’t feel like I was making a whole lot of handmade gifts. Just a few small items for my nieces. My mother ended up asking for a blender cover to place over her tea mug rack to prevent the grease build up from the stove. I decided that could pretty easily be made so I decided to take it on as well. I finished everything with plenty of time. Well, ok so I was sewing the hem on my mother’s cover Christmas Eve that was purely due to procrastination on my part. :)

Mom's new Tea Mug cover, performing its duty.

For my niece S I made two hats, and a patchwork elephant. She wasn’t as keen on the hats when she opened them Christmas morning but she is wearing them so that works for me. :)

My niece S sporting her new snow pants from Uncle and the hat from me. :)

However, her response to the elephant was beyond cute. First she squealed with delight, then she threw herself with the elephant into her uncle’s lap, then rocked back and forth hugging the elephant. Finally, she declared “pillow!” Which isn’t entirely accurate but I’ll take it. If she continues that kind of response for the things I make her there’s a very good chance this auntie will have a lot of projects in her future!

My niece S clutching her new elephant! :)

For my other niece T, I made the Ishbel beret to wear over her darling little curls. I haven’t seen her yet but hope to deliver her gift this weekend and snag a picture of her wearing it.

Labour Day Recap

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Over the labour day weekend the boy and I got hitched as well as celebrated 6 years together! :D There’s been a fair bit of radio silence here as we were planning our wedding, executing it and then honeymooning in Hawaii. We’ve been home a little over a week now and have gotten a few of the gifts put away (or into temporary homes while we get things sorted). Today I was finally able to see the floor in two rooms where I haven’t seen it in awhile!

As proof of my exploits I give you one of my favorite pictures from our sneak peek photos.

Enjoying our hobbies in our finery.

These are the photos our photographers put into a slideshow during our reception. The rest of the pictures won’t be available for another 1-3 weeks.

The boy purchased a fancy Nikon D5000 as my wedding gift so in theory you should see a lot more pictures around here. Lord knows I took enough on the honeymoon. It may just depend on whether I get too hung up on processing and sorting to get around to posting. :)

Testing Complete

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Today I finished up one of the items on my to do list (as long as you don’t count weaving in ends…I am saving that all up for conference calls movie marathons!) I can give you a little peek of the bearfoot mittens. I was test knitting a pattern for a friend. I think they look quite cozy with this lovely mug imported from the UK. :D

Bearfoot mitten