Another UFO finished

In my quest to pack stuff up instead of making a bigger mess in the loft, I decided to finish up my UFO's and I have quite a few. Yesterday's UFO was an embroidered throw that I started at Christmas. Unfortunately the machine messed up, jumped around and totally ruined the design I was doing. I tossed it aside and grabbed another throw because it was a Christmas present for my BIL. Yesterday I sat and picked out as many stitches as I could from the thing. I actually ended up with a couple little holes and some very thin fabric in places but I was pretty sure that the proper embroidery design could hide the flaws and correct the mistake so I proceeded. After getting out as much thread as I could I hooped it up, making sure the old remains were centered in the hoop. I figured, even if I didn't succeed, I could cut the corner off the throw and somehow make lemonaid out of the lemon. I'm thrilled with the results. You can see a bit of the old design (blue) between the girls' legs but if you look close at it, it looks like flowers. WHEW! Throw saved!!! and I get my own Hummel design on one of the great throws I bought at Tuesday Morning last year. I think I was the only one who didn't get one in my effort to make everyone a present. Hummm, I wonder if they still have those throws? Never mind...everyone I know has one now, including me. I extremely glad that it was one of those nice green throws, its my favorite color.

2 Evenings work, I'm almost done

Here it is, I'm almost finished with the 2nd pot in my Felted Foursome, I will probably sit down today and finish that one and start the 3rd tonight.

Meanwhile, during the day I refinished my bay window that my dogs sat in every day as they watched the world go by. They scratched the wood up quite a bit so I decided to sand it and give it a couple coats of satin poly. I think it looks spectacular.

The more I fix things in this house the more I think if it doesn't sell....I don't care !

BTW, the huge plant in the window is my Aechmea, a bromelaide. These plants have a beautiful flower when you buy them, the flower stays for quite a long while and then finally dies. But the coolest thing about a bromelaide is that they put out "Pups"...Suckers that grow up from the base of the plants that can be detached and inserted in small pots to grow into a brand new plant. There's all sorts of varieties of these plants and my sister-in-law and I have been nuts about them now for a few years. Both of us haven't had any luck with our Pups but this one is VERY hopeful.

Today I'm going up to the loft to start emptying the cupboards "under the eaves" on the far side. I did the first side a couple days ago and sent Natalie 50 lbs of yarn that I found under there. I should also say that 2 big huge bags of yarn went to the garbage bin because it was dusty and dirty and very old. Natalie is getting the best of the best and I have told her to store what she doesn't want in her basement so I can retrieve it. Included are 2 cones of Denys Brunton Magicolor. I hope she doesn't want it because it makes fantastic socks and of course, we all know how great it is when fair isle'd. (is that a word?)

Continuing 2/17's Project, the Felted Foursome

I have not forgotten the Cat Bordhi Felted Foursome. In spite of the fact that I'm still trying to pack extra yarn and stuff for the impending move I have been knitting in the evening and I took the Felted Foursome with me to the Mill where we demo knitting or spinning or weaving or whatever our current project is. I had my handle done and proceeded to knit 4 separate parts which I wasn't sure about. When I got home I tossed it in the knitting basket and forgot about it for a week. That was a mistake. Yesterday I picked it up again and couldn't figure out where I was on the pattern. I ended up taking out waste yarn and then having to rewind the whole thing and start over. Let me warn you, rewinding isn't all that easy with this project.

In the beginning of this pattern Cat says: "You may find yourself a little disoriented until you've gone far enough to see what you're making, but fear not; keep knitting and soon you shall have your very own Felted Foursome" She's right, I now know what's happening and I'm anxious to finish this magical thing. Yup---I said Magical Thing...it truly is as Magical as she says it is. Hats off to Cat Bordhi for making hand knitting so much fun!!!


Look at the picture. Can you see the 4 separate parts that will soon be 4 pots? And of course, the MCO (mobius cast on) handle in the middle. AWESOME!!!! I can't wait to finish it.

The Bunny Fun is Spreading

Look at these cuties!!! Eileen Montgomery from Ontario, Canada sent me these pictures. Here's what Eileen had to say:

"I knit your bunny several years ago so here's a picture. She's so cute in her bright spring colours, holding a wooden carrot. Her dress' fairisle pattern looks like part of SW #69. I have just knit a sheep version by using SW #47, beads in the tucks, a textured yarn and half the number of rows for the ears." eileen@eileenmontgomery.com

Doggone, these little charmers are soooo cute. Now of course I want to try a sheep.

Finally a UFO is Done

I think its been 2 years since I started this project. A lot has happened since then but I finally decided to get back to it. Of course, after sitting on my loom for 2 years it needed some TLC before I could actually work on it again. One of the reasons I didn't finish it was because there was one thread not tied onto the back beam. My weaving friend came over and helped me ready it for weaving again. What a mess, I was tempted to just take it off and dump it but I really liked the colors and wanted to finish it.

My original objective for this project was to figure out the length so that it would fit my table with extra to hang over the edges. Not as easy with weaving on a loom as weaving on a knitting machine. I also wanted to work on edges, trying my best to make them nice and neat, which isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I achieved the first objective but the second one -- well, the edges leave a lot to be desired. I think the choice of yarn has something to do with the finish as well because its a hard cotton yarn (Cotton Fine from Brown Sheep). I love the yarn but I'm afraid all the flaws show because there's no "fuzz" in the yarn to hide weaving in ends and that sort of thing. The places where I had to rewind the bobbin and start with a new thread really show, I'm not sure why but I'll bet my weaving friends can tell me how to eliminate that little bulge you get when you weave in the ends. UGH!

I want to start another one but I have told myself I have a lot of UFO's to work on first and the loom is going to be taken apart and packed for moving. That should keep me focused on UFO's.

Cat Bordhi's 2nd TMG

I bought the Second Treasury of Magical Knitting after I made so many Mobius Scarves from the Knitty Gritty show on DIY TV ( http://tinyurl.com/l34dq ) that I decided I loved mobius knitting but needed something new to make. The book is hillarious and I immediately sat down and read the whole thing, chuckling and laughing and reading it to anyone who would listen. But it wasn't until today that I finally decided to make the Felted Foursome from the book. Somehow you end up with 4 pockets all attached with a handle and you can store knitting needles, flowers, whatever in the 4 pockets. I spun up some yarn for the project and I can't wait to knit it. Plyed it into a 2-ply and was ready to knit. I dug out my extra long size 11 needles and got comfy.
Then I was stumped. The directions tell me to MCO 100. Place marker and K 135. How can I K 135 when I only have 100? Does she mean to cast on 100 on the top and 100 on the bottom? I checked her web page and there's corrections for a few pages but not for this page so here I am, stuck! I am comfy, my needles are ready, I cast on and can't knit the pattern until I figure this out. Time for ice cream!!!!

Oh good grief, I figured it out after re-reading the book. When you do the MCO you are putting 100 sts on the top and 100 sts on the bottom of the cable on the extra long needle. DUH! Well, tomorrow will be a better day, I will sleep on this and start again. Meanwhile, I have my yarn sitting in the middle of the dining room table so I can admire it as I pass by.

Poor long-suffering Cat Bordhi, I wrote to her last night when I was confused and she wrote me back already (can you believe her service???)Here's her answer

Dear Roz-
If you haven't made the paper model in the intro chapter, please do. Your knitting acts like the sentence you write. If the strip fo paper is 11 inches long, you will have 22 inches of space to write.
So when you MCO 100 sts, you actually will have 200 sts to knit. The 135 will take you just part of the way around the first round of knitting. Enjoy your adventure.

And because she was so nice to answer me, here's her ad:

Passing Paws Press, Inc.

www.catbordhi.com
New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book One ($28.95)
Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles ($16.95)
Treasure Forest ( $21.95, winner of the Nautilus Award for Young Adult Fiction)
A Treasury of Magical Knitting ($26.95)
A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting ($26.95)
And in the works:
New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Two (2009)
Knitting Around the Foot: Ancient Pathways (2010)

Happy Valentines Day

Have you tried the Mystery Pattern yet? Well, its not too late to make it and here's why:

Donna-Jean in Ohio made this one, she said she had a lot of fun with it.

Clarisse from AZ says, I especially liked that I got an instant small pillow :)

Roz's Mystery, filled with fluff and a little potpourri, its hanging over the mirror in my car. (sock yarn by Knitivity.com--appropriately called "Cupid's My Hero") Check out how that color striped even when I shortrowed..way to go Ray!

And I saved this one for last .....here's why its not too late to knit your Mystery. Joan DelPozzo, Wales, ME says, This is themystery patten with all numbers cut in half. I can't take credit for thinking of this. My former dealer came up with the idea. The hat is based on the Marian Reynolds fruit hats.

Update--February 19th--Natalie decided to knit a shamrock after she saw the hat above. She and Melissa are going to put a pin on it and wear it on March 17th. What a good idea.......

Well, the Mystery is out but its still not too late to knit yours. Whether you make it red, pink or green or purple!!! we want to see it. Send Pictures!!!!

WAIT! did you miss the Mystery Pattern? Go HERE . We can't wait to see yours!