Sheepie Knits

IMG_1726, originally uploaded by Craftydiddl.

This whole not having a computer thing is really helping in the FO department

Today we just have some good ‘ol stockinette socks. And while many of you can crank these out in days-i still need over month but mainly because i have so many other projects going on and i start to feel guilty if i neglect them.

Pattern: Stockinette Socks-no pattern
For: Me
Dates: June 21-July 26, 2008
Needles: Size 2 Dp’s
Yarn: Scout’s Swag in Fruit Salad-i bought this a long time ago right before she closed her etsy shop for a bigger and better shop-not sure if she still has this color-way.
Notes: I got nothing-easy, straight forward and no problems.

Next for socks-Some for Little Man, they don’t count toward summer of socks but i am still knitting socks so that works for me but i have a few other things i want to finish before starting them-i want to be able to concentrate because i will be attempting to do 2 at once on one Circular needle.

Hope you all are having a good weekend

Well, if you haven’t guessed by my title-Kiri is done. She has been done for almost a week but i have been slow to post. It’s a bit more complicated posting on hubby’s laptop but i told myself i need to suck it up

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/85119832@N00/)

Pattern: Kiri (rav link)

For: My grandma in Germany

Dates: June 6-July 20, 2008

Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Iris, i used about 1.5 balls so i could have made it a bigger shawl if i wanted but my Omi is petite so i think this will be a good size for her.

Needles: Size 4 circulars

Notes:This can drag on if you let it but once i got in the flow and memorized the pattern it wasn’t so bad. I know some shawls have the scalloped edge-I was not able to achieve that. I even used some of the tips i read about on Ravelry. I used bigger needles on the last row and even bigger to bind off and i bound of Loosely and that still didnt help and i wasnt about to go back and redo it. I came quite close to just throwing it in a corner and thinking Omi will hate this but i blocked it out anyway and in the end i was still pretty happy wit it. The bind off just came out straight and it doesn’t look bad that way at all. Hubby was really surprised that it was so light when i draped it on him to feel how warm it was.

Aside from the unscalloped edge we also had some other drama-i was weaving in my ends and i went to trim the end and accidentally snipped a strand of yarn on the shawl. I almost screamed in horror but instead started to panic that all my hard work would unravel so i found the spot and did a bit of weaving and stringing together so make sure it couldn’t come undone. I hope it worked and even if it isnt fully secure, i did give it a good tug though, i don’t picture Omi being too crazy with it Luckily this all happened on the garter stitch border so aside from a little spot that looks a tad bit thicker then everything else you can’t really tell. Next time i will be MUCH more careful and not in such a rush i wanted to hurry and get it ready to mail that that day so that she will get it before her vacation in a couple weeks. She has no clue what she is getting-I love surprises like this.

All in all a very easy knit-would have liked a scallopy edge and BE CAREFUL WITH SCISSORS!

Well, Sunday i started having wireless connection problems again.  I called HP and they looked at my last service report. Well the fixed screen was on there but no mention about the wireless-So they may not have even looked at it!!!!!!! and that was the original reason i sent it in!!! Well–I have to send it in again UGH!!!! i should get the box to ship it in tomorrow so again for another week or more i will be kind of computer-less.

But i am getting some knitting done.

I finished Kiri-it’s blocking and i am not super happy with it but i will save that story until next time-today Little Man’s Cardigan, a knit that makes me very happy.

Pattern: Drive-Thru by Wendy Bernard (rav link)

Made for: Little Man

Size: 6 so he could grow into it but really it fits him almost perfectly there is a bit of ease but i am not sure it will last as long as i was thinking it would

Needles: Size 7 and 8, 16 inch circulars

Yarn: Plymouth Encore Colorspun Worsted and Encore Worsted

Notes: The only change i made was on the sleeves, when i first cast it on it was way to small so instead of the 20 some sts it said i cast on 40 and knit up to the point where the last increase was to be made.

I love how it came out. it actually looks better than i thought it would And Little Man seems to like it as well!

Silly Boy

My Computer is back home but we will see for how long.  My screen was fixed and i haven’t had any more problems with my wireless but i don’t think they fixed my AC Adaptor problems. Sometimes my computer switches back and forth between battery power and outlet power all by itself or won’t charge the battery. So i will have to call again next week it the problems continue.

And we finally got Hubby’s car back after almost 4 weeks.  It was in the shop and it ended up being one thing after the other and quite a dent in the pocketbook.  But i was starting to go kinda crazy not having my car all day since hubby had to use it for work.  Don’t get me wrong if something is close i will walk, car or not and i am lucky to have the necessities close by but the book store and craft store are not within walking distance so i was having withdrawals.  it’s just nice having my car back.

So we have done a lot of walking the past couple weeks, a lot of catching up on the knitting which i am really happy about.  it was actually kinda nice not having the computer because it kept me from being on it so much since i was sharing with hubby. 

Here are a few things that have happened:

We got our first Hot Cherry Pepper

Our first Cherry Tomatoes and Yellow Pear Tomato

Hydrangeas are getting bigger every year

I made another bracelet-I love this one.

We made a Fairy Castle

Little Batman washed his wagon

And i did make my Raspberry Jam with much success and so much less mess and trouble than the first time.  I had all the right size pots and everything ready.  It came out super tasty, i like it better than my strawberry.

I finished Little Man’s Cardigan last week and got some buttons for it today so an FO post soon.  I have kicked some booty on my Kiri so hopefully i will have that done soon as well.

Hope your all having a good weekend.

Things are pretty quiet around here. I have been working on all the projects i have going, a little bit every day.

I started some friendship bracelets again. Someone commented on one of my bracelets i had made and i looked at her flickr pics and well and she had one really awesome bracelet on there. So the search began and was successful. I found this really cool website with some awesome bracelets. I made two practice ones just to get an idea for her charts and directions. The one was pretty easy and i had made the style before so i made it small and gave it to little man. The second one was a tad trickier, you really had to pay attention to your knots. here is the best picture i could get of it.

It’s a pretty neat design the only thing i don’t like is that over the couple days it rolled in like a piece of stockinette knitting and now all you can see is the backside of the bracelet but the twisted like tube it has become has kind of grown on me and so for now i will wear it. I am working on a much more complicated bracelet and when that’s finished i will probably take the this one off.

I have worked on my shawls a little bit. Socks not so much. I spent an evening clearing and backing up my laptop. It has fallen ill and i needed to back up all my knitting stuff The wireless problem is fixable for free but the other 2 things may not be and so for 2 weeks maybe more i will be sharing a laptop with hubby. So things may slow down just a little around here as far as email response,blogging and me just being online.

I got a small package from my Omi last week and she sent me the stuff she uses to make Jam, so there may be more jam making soon.

The small one is some lemon packet-i have had a chance to read the details but i am assuming she used this in place of fresh lemon juice which is what i did for my jelly. And the the big bag is the sugar and pectin mix. She even sent me a teeny jar of her jelly. So yummy!!! i have already eaten all but maybe one more bread slice worth.

Since you all liked her crafty goods so much i am ending this post with a small quilt she slipped in the package. She really appreciated all the wonderful things you said about her stuff. She laughed a little when i told her i put all that stuff online but deep inside i know she liked it

Hopefully i will have something of my own to show soon.

Happy Wednesday!

Wow! Thanx for all the kind words on my Jam making escapade if i could i would pass you all a sample through the computer

Little Man and I have talked about turtles a few times and he mentioned how he liked them and he needed one.  That of course lead me to think about making him a turtle. I have a pattern for one in a sewing book and i remembered Sheldon from Knitty.com.

I’m more of a knitter…

So here is Pitchy the Turtle! I am not sure how long that name will stick but that’s tha name i was given when i asked him.

Pattern: Sheldon from Knitty.com

Made for:  Little Man-he loved the surprise

Dates: June 26-29, 2008

Needles: size 4 Dps and a 3.50 mm and 3.25 mm crochet hook

Yarn: leftover scraps of Caron Simply Soft

Notes: Overall i stuck to the pattern. i didnt do the I-cord edging because it was too tricky for me and the small bit i did manage to do i didn’t care for how it was turning out, it could have been because maybe i was doing something wrong. I ended up crocheting around the edge and i am really happy with how that turned out-i think i prefer it over the i-cord anyway.
I stuffed him pretty good so he doesnt go in his shell that well unless we really push him in but then you have to reshape his head a bit when you take him back out but this doesn’t really phase Little Man

Today we did our annual trip to the zoo.  This year we went to the Toledo Zoo.  It was a lot of fun I love going to the zoo and seeing the different animals and the Toledo Zoo has a really nice garden area to walk through.  Little Man added 2 more stuffed Rhinos to the family so now we have his original Best Friend Rhino, a baby rhino and a Big Papa rhino which was his original goal when he knew were going to the zoo.

He got to see some real Rhino’s as well-this was his favorite. He liked the curved horn.

We pet and brushed Goats:

I thought this was such a beautiful bird:

We got a kick out of the benches with bird feet in the Aviary:

And after the giraffes, elephants, birds, fish, penguins, monkeys, lions, tigers, bears and more we headed back home and just like all the past years Little Man did this:

It was a good day