Another Frolic Come & Gone

It's amazing how you can look forward to something for an entire year and now, poof, it's over.

I had a great time. I did finish the vest in time. I went to The Purl after work and finished the neck/front border. Then I * knit the armhole border, sewed up the side seam and repeat from * The last end was tucked in 10 minutes before the store closed.

I am not even going to embarrass myself by posting pictures of everything I got. Suffice it to say it was a lot. I had ordered some stuff from various vendors prior to the frolic and asked them to bring it so I could save on shipping. For example, I ordered the SMALL size Hiya Hiya needles from 1.75mm down to .70mm from Red Bird Knits and she brought it for me. I ordered the 1000 Japanese stitch dictionary and got that at the frolic. Aside from the preordered stuff I bought some sock yarn and lace yarn. Oceanwind Knits was the first stop and I only bought 1 skein of lace yarn. Then I picked up the pink version of the Jordana Paige Knitter's satchel that I asked The Needle Emporium to bring for me. You get the idea so I think I'll stop there. Now to find a safe place for the very thin knitting needles so they won't get totally bent out of shape.

I should add, I also took a class with Debbie New. She's the author of Unexpected Knitting. I took a class on Labyrinth Knitting and boy was it fun. I have to see if I can make a blanket for someone using this technique. If I get the blanket alright then I can try for other designs.

Getting There

I spent most of the day at The Purple Purl yesterday trying to get as much knitting time in as possible. I finished the back of the vest late Friday night and cast on the left front right away. The left front is further along than in this picture and the front picture is the closest to the actual colour of this yarn. I'm now up to the neckline decreases and I am hoping I can finish this front today or tomorrow. I'll be very happy once all knitting is done.

I Think It's Growing

Due to some unforseen circumstances at work, I managed to get a little more knitting time in this week than I thought. Hence, I now have about 20" of the back completed and just 9 more to go. I should be able to get the back done by tomorrow and then start the first front. I am beginning to think I might actually get this done in time for the frolic next Saturday. There is hope.

Pretty Pleased With Myself

This past Saturday when I was at the Purl I discovered I had a mistake in the first floral repeat. I ripped out the sts and decided to try and fix it but I was rushed because I had to leave. Instead I put the sts on a holder and fixed it when I got home. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the mess but I did manage to get the mistake fixed and knitted back up and I didn't have to rip back all the rows. This is the first time I've been able to fix a mistake in lace like that. I think part of the reason I was able to do it is because each flower is individual and I've knit this pattern so many times I just know it through and through by now. The only thing is the sts on the left side of where it was fixed has a space as you can see but I am hoping that will all go away when the blanket is blocked.

Lots of Knitting, No FOs.

I've managed to get quite a bit of knitting in lately. Unfortunately, I don't really have much to show for it. I am working on the third stitch pattern on the shawl I am designing but I've had to put that aside for a while so I can think about my options and let everything digest.

I am halfway through the second set of stars in the Sweet Dreams Baby Blanket for Leah but I didn't take it with me yesterday when I went to the Purl. It's getting larger and I didn't want to take it out of the house. So, I decided to start the blanket for Adam. I'm doing the same blanket as for Leah but I am using a much thicker yarn. The yarn is Patons Country Style DK that I had in my stash. I'm surprised it's DK. It looks more like a worsted weight. I'm using 5.50mm needles and this is what I managed to do yesterday while at the Purl. I have to put this aside for a little while as well.

The reason I have to put it aside is to knit this. The pattern is called Naomi and it is from The Mirasol Collection - Book 5 by Jane Ellison. The yarn is Nuna and even though the picture doesn't look like it, the colour is teal. This is what I've managed to knit today. I did the swatch this morning and had to wait for it to dry before I could measure and cast on. Tis needs to be done by the Knitter's Frolic so no matter how you look at it I'm going to be knitting my fingers to the bone and even then I am not sure I'll get it done. I have less than 2 weeks. The back has 145 sts and I have to knit it to 29 inches on 3.5mm needles. I'm beginning to wonder what I might have gotten myself into. I just don't want to disappoint but I will do the best I can and that is all I can do.

On that note, it's back to knitting for me.

Attempting To Design

Things have been busy around here as always. Today the weather is just horrible. It's been raining all day. I wish it would just stop. I've had enough of it.

The good part about rain, however, is that you don't feel guilty when you're not out in the warm sunshine. I've taken advantage of the nasty weather to make more progress on the design I've been working on. Last week I took a shawl design class at The Purple Purl. The instructor was Amy Singer of Knitty fame. The class was two consecutive Thursday's. Well I spent 5 days going through stitch dictionaries trying to find patterns I like and then just picked 3 diamond shaped motifs I liked. The class was on either triangular or rectangular shawls but I wanted to do square. It is, after all, just 4 triangles no?

This is the progress I've made so far. I am in the middle of the second stitch motif and I've almost completed 2 repeats. I think I am going to do at least another half repeat if not an entire repeat. I'll decide when I finish the second. As I look at the picture, I'm not sure if I like the 4 rounds of st st that divide the two stitch motifs either. I am not sure if I should have just done 2. I will make a final decision on that once I get the knitting done on this one and block it.