Purlewe

kitten happenings

So many exciting things have been happening that I am going to post 3 times this week! I am going to post them in chronological order.

Last Wednesday we found a kitten. An abandoned 2 week old thing, with lungs and a very loud mewfer. No mistaking this kitten wanted to be found by his momma, but we would have to do.

We have been feeding him the KMR every 4 hours, like good staff humans. We've been washing him down with warm washcloths and cleaning his hiney.

After 4 days with us I think he is settling in and is going to stay. ElusiveSue and I might be a bit raggedy around the ages of sleep depravation, but he seems to be doing just fine.

Sue has decided that if we feed him for 6 weeks we get to keep him. And she already went ahead and named him Quincy. He is about the color of a quince, and his tummy gets that round as well!

We'll send them cheesy movies, the worst we can find! (lalala)

So I decided to knit for a friend of mine who happens to be very geeky. And well, I am also very geeky. So I went for the geekiest thing I knew she would love.

Mystery Science Theater Three Thousand! (why yes, I did just sing that)

I used a purl soho pattern for the sweater and the free graph pattern from Ravelry for the design. I slightly changed the graph b'c I thought Joel's head looked a bit off. I used Cascade 220 and US8s. I am sad to say this will probably my last time using Cascade 220. They are no longer having the yarn made in Peru, but China. The difference in texture is very strange indeed! I was very lucky to score some black cascade 220 from a friend's stash. The green was from my stash, and so both were from Peru and had the same feel.

When I was finishing it and weaving in ends a friend told me about a ShirtPunch deal with MST3K t-shirts. I decided the whole family needed shirts that matched. (I fully declare my geekdom in this thought.) Michelle got them safe and sound and so now I can be all show and tell on here.

Lothlorien

Finally. I started knitting on my New Beginnings Project. I say finally b;c I hadn't even FINISHED casting on at the KR Retreat last fall. 458 sts is quite a bit to cast on.

So about a week ago I finally sat myself down to do it. This is a shawl/cape that starts with the longest edge and gets shorter every couple rows. It is called Lothlorien (after the Forest that Tolkien created for the elves) and it is a gorgeous cabled pattern.

Right now I am not that far along. I am on row 20 of 168. It is a long road ahead of me, but the yarn is making me happy.

Briar Rose Glory Days yarn, US6 needles. I think I am on row 12 in this photo, so I have more than this really. It reminds me of dappled sunlight thru the trees.

B'c it has so many sts, I finally had to use EVERY ONE of my stitch markers. elusiveSue thought I was knitting in beads. It does look like I have a bunch of jewelry on here.

 

Scalene. Oh how I love you, Scalene

I finished a project for a friend who is terribly allergic to wool.. She wanted one of my scarfy/shawly thingies I wear so often, but she just couldn't wear them herself. She really loved my Gunsmoke "Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief". But I will admit I had something else in mind. Scalene by Carina Spencer is a scarfy/shawly thingie I have been wanting to make for awhile. And how better to test it out than to knit it in pure 100% silk for a dear friend.

Fotos were hard to get this morning by myself. But until I have my friend model for me these will have to do.

US7s with worsted weight FabulousYarn.com Silk Peau de Soie in plum and ivory. I used 2 skeins of the plum and 1 skein of the ivory. I do love a garter st knit. It goes quick. This pattern makes a gorgeous accent to anything.

birthday socks

May is a big month over here. We have birthdays and anniversaries and graduations. We have meetups with friends to try and celebrate as many of these things we can. It is hard to squeeze in everything, but I did get to squeeze in these socks.

Ellen's half pint farm yarn. US2s. Stepping-Stones socks by Clara Parkes. Sue has always called this yarn "azalea yarn" and as they are in bloom right now she obliged me by posing with them.

Sue had her birthday yesterday and I got these done Saturday night. YAY for finishing socks!

forwards and backwards plus jam

I started 2 baby sweaters last week. I completed one and had to stop on the 2nd. The completed one cannot be shown. I want to surprise the person receiving the gift. The other had to be stopped b'c of pesky values. The color value on 2 of the colors was too close. And instead of making a crappy sweater I am waiting for the next batch of yarn to make a different color choice. *sigh.

So no photos this week.

Instead, let's talk jam. What are your favorite flavors? Do you make your own? I love making my own jam. Perhaps I should do some soon. I have a great strawberry marm recipe that I love. And also this one that I made up.

RASPBERRY POMEGRANATE JELLY

1 pint raspberries (almost 12 oz)
24 oz pomegranate juice (just juice. nothing added. I used POM b'c of the no sugar, no other juices thing)
1.5 cups sugar
pectin (I use pomona, YMMV)

I put all ingredients in the pot and brought to the gel stage. I then went the extra mile of straining the seeds. Water bath in 1/2 pints for 10 minutes. yield: four 1/2 pints.

This has a bright garnet color and looks absolutely divine.

glamour shots

Went to visit my friend Lisa at Hidden River Yarns today for some knitting glamour shots.

Clarabell Mittens. 90% done. Calling this one for now until I want to do thumbs. I don't need thumbs right now.. as I won't be using these until next yr. But I think these sheepies are so cute.

My stepped ribbed shawl is BLOCKED and HUGE. It is now 20" wide and 6'6" tall. I love it. It was chilly today and kept me warm on my walk home.

A testknit for YellowCosmo. A gingko shawl. US4s with 4 skeins of Claudia Handpaint fingering yarn. Knit for HRY store in Lisa's favorite NFL colors. *cough*Steelers*cough* This was a fun pattern to testknit. Lisa was thrilled. I love how it curls ever so gracefully on or off your shoulders.

Blocking

Getting to the end of knitting a project is delicious. A feeling that is unparalleled. But with lace, you get that feeling twice. Once when you bind-off, once when you block.

199 and...

So I cast on my 199th project on Ravelry. A testknit shawl for Yellowcosmo. I happen to like her designs, and I feel like we have a good working relationship. It also nicely segued into a project for Lisa at Hidden River Yarn, showcasing their new Claudia Handpaint.

Isn't that nice? Lovely ink and mustard colors. Reminds me of my alma mater (black and old gold). Lisa likes it b'c she is a Steelers fan.

And I picked my next project (yup, Project #200!) and got the yarn out last nite. *drumroll* a fair isle baby sweater I've been wanting to make out of Quince & Co yarn!!! I loved working on those squirrel mittens out of Quince, and I just couldn't wait any longer to make this adorable BEE SWEATER!

Here are the colors I bought for it.

Gingerbread, bird's egg, carrie's yellow, and snap pea.

This means Jenn won the guessing game. I will get a prize to her this week.

long & tall

So I finished something I've been working on since October. I started the Step Ribbed Stole as something that I could work on without thinking too much. I guess I must have had a bunch of projects then that took up too much mental space. Projects that were not "just knitting". There is something to be said about having something to do without paying too much attention to it.

I love the yarn! It is Brooks Farm Mas Acero. I have always swooned over Brooks Farm at S&W shows, but I never can choose what to buy. I get overwhelmed and I leave. This was a gift from a friend. And I am ever so grateful that she did. About 1000 yds of Mas Acero to make myself something luscious.

The pattern is from Knitter's Book of Yarn. I've been steadily making almost everything from that book. There are 40 patterns and I think I've made about half of them.

What was fun tho, was just knitting until the yarn ran out. We are talking knitting and knitting and knitting. A man on the bus asked me when I would know I was done. I told him when the yarn ran out. He looked at me in disbelief- yarn runs out? but when will that be? How long will it be? I didn't care.. just until the yarn runs out was good enough for me.

I finished it Monday and I was shocked. This stole is (unblocked) about 6'6" tall.

I still have to block it, and I suspect that blocking it hard and wide will make it a little shorter.. but I am still thinking it will be about as long as I am tall.