Monday

Okay, so I am stumped.  No, not really stumped.  I have a color challenge and that is most unnerving for me.  Color is something that I usually have great mastery over.  So, I am asking all those followers, stealth or otherwise, to help me on this.

This wonderful picture is ShiBui Knits Sock Yarn in colorway Roppongi (#4103).  It is a combination of Peony (intense berry), Lily (bright peachy orange) and Mulberry (deep Merlot purple).  My challenge is that I need to find solids from The Loopy Ewe - Solid Series that work with this wonderful yarn.

Now, I could be safe and get the black or white and that would work.  Or I could be totally unoriginal and get the Mulberry and it too would work.  What I want is two colors that will make this colorway sing.  Not like a little nursery rhyme.  I want a big chested jazz singing diva combo.  Some combination that will slap you awake without being gaudy.  I want to say that Malachite and Lake or Malachite and Oyster would be the best combination choices.  What do you think?

I know you have opinions....please share or I'll be forced to ask random strangers for their thoughts....  Come on Miss Ginger.  You have the best fashion sense going...what would you choose?

Clementine

I finished the Clementine Shawlette back on August 20th but I'm just getting around to the pictures.

I received this yarn in a swap WAY back in 2008 and I had intended to make this for Megan's graduation in May 2008 from Stephen F. Austin Statue University (SFASU).  It is the perfect shade of purple and is so very close to the school color.  Life got in the way, a daughter graduated, her father and I learned how to be friends and the current relationship between SWCNLBN and I fell apart.  The yarn sat in my basket of pending project yarns calling to me.  I would gently unwrap the five skeins and tell myself that I needed to get more UFO's done so that I could cast on and make this wonderful pattern.

What a difference a new life can make.  My mojo has been full throttle lately.  SF actually likes it when I am sitting beside her knitting.  The constant click of the needles does something to soothe her as well.  Actually, if I am not knitting she will ask if everything is okay.  Funny, she knows more about me than I do sometimes.  When I stated this project, she was drawn to the charts.  She loves math and she could see the image even though she didn't understand the knitting involved.  She was mesmerized.  It was very amusing.  She patiently waited as I finished the first piece and put it on the stitch holder.  She asked why I did this, as she had not seen me use a stitch holder before.  I paused before I cast on for the second piece and explained it to her.

The pattern was a breeze to work with simple charts and was mindless once you made it to the last four rows of the chart.  These were your repeat rows to get the desired length.  I had read the "challenges" that had been expressed with the Kitchener bind off of the two pieces, so I opted for the three-needle bind off.  I was pleased and she is beautiful.  I have one skein of yarn left and I think I can pull off fingerless mitts.

Unfortunately, the Cathay has been discontinued by Debbie Bliss.  This upsets me greatly, as I have a book that has a beautiful sweater that recommends the same yarn.  I have trolled eBay and found some and I have also contacted an individual on Ravelry who has some.  I even found one on Ravelry who has enough of the same color of Clementine to make the desired sweater.  BONUS!  The color will make a beautiful sweater and depending on what the seller wants, it will be very affordable!

Later I will be posting pictures of the first Dandy that I made.  She is very pretty too and I think I know who will get her as a gift.  Both Dandy Neckerchiefs will be Christmas presents.  Now to make the cowls and hats I want to gift....

USS Migration

So, I have been knitting like a fiend lately and that is a good thing.  I have managed to finish up several old UFO's and that feels WONDERFUL!  I have the buttons to finish the Red Robin and I'll most likely do that this weekend since we have a large percentage chance of rain.  I have decided that the remainder of this year will be devoted to projects that I want to do for the pleasure of knitting.

I have been knitting for others for so long that I had almost forgotten how much pleasure one can derive from making the project all about ME!  Now don't get me wrong, I love making things for other people.  It is such a joy to be able to share with others.  I just think it is high time I made some things for myself.  So far, out of the twenty-nine projects that I have completed in 2010, only three have been for me.  I have made the Clementine, the Sugar Rush Tank and the Calais all for my pleasure.  I still owe you pictures of the Clementine.  Hopefully today I can get the correct lighting.  It is beautiful and soft.

I do have four projects in my WIP pile and they are all getting love; however, I have been branching out again.  The CLACK group has some amazing women as members and I have begun to make time in my weekly schedule to attend as many Monday's as possible.  One of the ladies works for the Upstairs Studio in La Porte.  She posted in Ravelry that she needed some Sample Knitters.  I had never considered sample knitting but I thought this was a great place in my life to offer my self for the store.

I am glad that I did!  I went by there this past Wednesday.  Shame on me for not having a knitting project with me that day.  I was running late that morning and didn't have the time to gather one up.  So I arrived empty handed at a yarn store.  But, in my defense, I never expected to be so drawn to these women and the one young man that was there.  Clarice, the owner, is a wonderful woman.  She is funny too!  There were several ladies, all with various skill levels.  One was busily crocheting blocks for charity, one was knitting her first ever pair of socks from Noro and one was making socks for a friend.  The lone young man is also part of CLACK and I have been wanting to meet him.  He was a hoot!  I can see that he and Lizzie are going to be serious enablers.

Lizzie quickly rounded up the yarns and the book for the sample knitting.  I decided that I could stay a while so I sat down to start on the socks.  Right away I saw an issue.  The pattern was Toe Up and I had never made a pair of socks that way.  I advised Lizzie and she asked if I wanted to learn or for her to find another pattern.  I decided that if she was game enough to teach me I was more than able to learn.  So, in the first hour I learned Turkish Cast On, Magic Loop and Toe Up.  Three new techniques all in one day.  Not to mention that the selected pattern is a color-work pattern.  I am making the Migration socks from The Eclectic Sole.  They are the socks on the cover of the book.  While I was knitting with these new-found skills we also discussed Alpaca (they have some that is to amazing for words) and Bamboo thread on a cone for a shawl.  Needless to say, as soon as I have the socks done I am already down for a shawl.

Now don't fret...I am not distracted by this and the bonuses are great!  The store supplies all the yarn for the project and after they are on display for six months they are returned to the test/sample knitter.  So, I will have these beautiful socks for my very own feet delivered back to me around Valentine's Day....  So, even though I am sample knitting, I am able to pick a few of the details myself.  For instance, I picked the shawl pattern from a list she found from a search on Ravelry and the bamboo was from a wall of colors.  It is a bronze brown.  It is hard to describe, so I'll get the name of the stuff on my next visit.

So, the three pictures above are the teaser for the socks.  I am stoked and will be knitting on them at the same time I work on Red Hot and Green Gable.

Friday Fill-Ins #191

1. You do your thing; I do mine and sometimes we meet in the middle.

2. Making Quiche and Pumpkin Bread is what's been on my mind on and off all day.

3. Remember when you drank out of the water hose when you were washing the car or just because you were thirsty.

4. Knitting, reading and wine tasting classes are three of my favorite obsessions :-)

5. During the last year I purged a lot of the "old" self and started working on introducing me to myself.

6. Thinking about SF puts a smile on my face.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to chillin' and relaxin', tomorrow my plans include watching the Pearland Little League and the Houston Texans and Sunday, I want to be totally spontaneous!

Wednesday

All of theses were taken by Stephanie at her dad's house in Florida.  Look how big she has gotten since Memorial Day!  And that personality!  She looks so much like Megan did when she was little, except the eyes...Megan's are delft china blue and those big brown ones are harder to resist....