Forever Knitting

And She Knits Too

2008-03-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't made a post since october...but life is insane. I never have a moment to myself with my 17 credits at school and working 4 days a week. But here we go!

My new project. I am beginning to knit the great american aran afghan and am loving every second of it. At the rate I'm going with it I wont be done for at least a year, but that is ok! I am knitting it with Cascade Eco-Wool. It is the softest 100% wool I have ever touched in my entire life! And for everyone who knows me I won't knit or wear anything that has any itch to it, so you know it has to be soft if I'm going to wrap myself up in this! Another benefit is that it has about 500 yds per skane making it a great buy!

I finished my first square, the Vicki Sever square and it just came out amazing. I'm not really worried about the size my squares come out cause I figure that I'll block them separately and make them the size I want them to be then. Right now I am knitting them just because I love a challenge and I love cables! I love when things like that come out imperfect. I think imperfections in handmade items make them unique to the person who made them.

Now onto bigger and better things. I have just booked my tickets for West Palm Beach Florida. A birthday gift from mom and dad. I am going with my best friend in April for a week and I am very very very very excited!! She has a house down there and asked me to come along with her. So in a months time I will be soaking up the rays on a gorgeous white sand beach and possibly be going to see Avril Lavigne while I'm down there.

I MISS EVERYONEE!!

2007-10-28T04:54:00.000-07:00

HIIIII!!! i hope everybody remembers who i am cuz i havent seen anyone in forever...but i am very sad to say that I have not had time to pick up my needles since august. Now that I am established with school and a job there is no time between studying, homework, very little television, and work. I am even finding myself online to catch the new episode of grey's anatomy cuz i work through it every thursday nite! Anyway i wnated to let everyone know who reads my blog that NO I AM NOT DEAD! although it may seem that i have fallen off the planet...but school is great...work is amazing!!!! and i loveeee you allllll!!!!!

A Quick Knit for a Working Girl

2007-08-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

About a week ago we had an amazing time with the Staten Island knitters in PA. We went to our favorite knitting shop Knitting to Know Ewe and we found the most fabulous yarn there. It is a bulky almost roving yarn in this most fabulous red. Mary Amato a member of the group picked it out to make a drop stitch scarf with it and the craze caught on. Almost everyone in the group purchased this yarn in different colors with size 19 needles and wass on their way to a quick knit. I finished mine in two days and made a little variation. I used a smaller needle with a greater amount of stitches on the needle. I used the red and it is gorgeous! It was instant satisfaction for a person like me who finds herself working all the time like tmrw morning!lol!

And now for a knit that takes a little longer!

Besides my quick knit I have been doing a lot of things that are work oriented lately and now my knitting is revolvong around it too!! I decided to make this gorgeous vest from the book fitted knits in a pinkish brown! I absolutely love it and hopefully it will be ready to wear by the fall!

Peacock shawl

2007-08-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

First of all I would like to say its amazing that i am even making a post since i have like absolutely no time on my hands with work and everything! But anyway I am doing very well with the peacock shawl...it is gorgeous if i must say so myself. I have 210 stitches on the needle and am up to row 105 on chart 3. The wool I am using is Zephyr wool-silk from fiddlesticks knitting. I had a little bit of trouble in the beginning but since then it has been a smooth and enjoyable knitting experience!! It is actaully looking like a peacock tail! It is moving along quickly but as the number of stitches increase the longer it takes to knit a row!

Harry Potter Insanity

2007-07-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

I bought the book at my interview at best buy , which I received!! I am a Magnolia Home Theatre Pro ( high end home theatre systems) and am payed an hourly rate of $11.20...Anyway from the moment I got home at 11 to 11 o'clock at night I have been reading the seventh harry and have only put it down for bathroom and food breaks. I accomplished 554 pages and that is a record for me!!

Just For Knits

2007-07-10T06:57:00.001-07:00

Silk Shrug Unveiled

2007-07-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

ITS DONE!!! And its fabulous! I am in love with my shrug! It took me one month but it was one month well worth it. I have been working day and night for the past week to put the finishing touches on my green shrug. I promised you a photo shoot and thats what you are going to get a photo shoot. Although I must say nothing does it more justice than seeing it in person and wearing it! The best part is that it is something I can honestly say I made myself and is apart of me!
Front:

Back:

Hope you enjoyed the shoot and I cannot wait to show everyone who I am able to visit in person!

Socks in the City

2007-07-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

You Belong in New York City

You're the energetic, ambitious type.

And only NYC is fast enough for you.

Maybe you'll set yourself up with a killer career

Or simply take in all the city has to offer.

What City Do You Belong In?

Today me and my mom took a trip to Knitty City in New York City. I woke up and decided I wanted to go visit some knit stores in the city. Our intentions were exactly that. Knitty City had every type of yarn some of which I had never seen before.

There was so much and yet my eyes were yet again attracted to sock yarn. Go figure! My mom was attracted to the same thing. We both bought a skein of colinette jitterbug. Mine called popsicle and my mom's jay. So gorgeous!

There is no day better than spending it in my favorite city with my favorite person shopping for awesome yarn for my favorite type of project. Hopefully next time I will be able to spend a day like today with my other favorite people from PA!

And Now for the Finishing Touches

2007-07-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately this blog will contain no pictures because I am not on my computer at the moment I am on my mother's but I wanted to update all those knitters who look at my blog( so Aunt Janice, Juli, Mom, and Janette this is what I am up to )!

1) I finished the back the right front and the left front of my silky smooth shrug! I was so excited and I was up until 2:30 finishing the right front!

2)I am now putting on the finishing touches which include the k1 p1 border and sewing it all together and if needed blocking!

3)The last step is wearing and enjoying it which I CANNOT WAIT for!

4) Post pictures so all of you can see the finished product but until then!

I also visited the city yesterday and while I was there made a trip to Seaport Yarns! I got the most beautiful cotton and nylon mix sock yarn in magenta for the ankle sock pattern with the cables in the most recent issue of knitty. I also purchased a skein of grey lace because my next challenge is to knit a lace shawl for my mom! This yarn was only $16 and has 1350 yards! I think that is so awesome!

The Making of a Silk Shrug

2007-06-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Janice, Uncle Joe, and cousins Julianne and Matthew generously gave me a gift certificate to Knitting to Know Ewe, our favorite knitting store in the entire world, for my 18th birthday back in March. About a month later my mom and I visited Aunt Janice and Juli and we excitedly took a trip to this fabulous knitting store so I could spend my gift card on beautiful yarn and maybe even a pattern or two. As I looked around the store something caught my eye. It was this gorgeous and fabulously soft cable and lace shrug made of silk. I knew this is what was destined to be my next wonderful and challenging knitting project ( and I am always up for a good knitting challenge). So I asked one of the women how I could go about making that shrug. The pattern is in the Debbie Bliss Pure Silk pattern book along with many other fabulous patterns. I decided to make it in a green so that it would go with most colors. I started it and then ran into a little trouble when the pattern called for me to increase in pattern( yikes!!). So after putting my project on hold for about three months with two pairs of socks and a pocketbook in between I was able to receive the help I needed with a trip to Knitting to Know Ewe and explanations from Diane and J.J.! It finally clicked and I was well on my way to making the shrug I fell in love with.

I am knitting the back. I finished shaping the sleeves and shaping the back and am just knitting in pattern right now for another four inches. The shrug is knit in a pattern that is separated into Panel A, the lace knitting, and Panel B, the cable.

It is knit in four parts, the back, the right front, the left front, and the ribbed edgeing. The sleeves are knit attatched to the front and back and has one seem! This is what I have so far. More pictures to come when I have more to show!

My Fire Hot Socks

2007-06-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't updated my blog in a while and it is apparently getting boring, so here is an update. I finished my socks a while ago and just have not had the time to post them on the blog. Everyone is in love with them and I am very happy with how quickly and easily they knit up.

I have been working on my Debbie Bliss Pure Silk Shrug from her pure silk book and it is coming out beautifully with some help from the kind ladies at my favorite Pennsylvania knitting store Knitting to know Ewe. The lace knitting combined with cables is fabulous and the yarn is so soft and wonderful to work with. I am also working on ankle socks for myself and have found an amazing ankle sock pattern from the new summer issue of knitty and cannot wait to knit those up. I am also knitting my aunt janice two pairs of socks: one pair of alpaca and another of superwash merino wool. So i have many socks to knit up and a bolero to finish. Pictures of the shrug probably to come by tuesday and the others as I finish them.

Another Project in the Bag!

2007-05-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

I finished my cable pocketbook about two days ago and I am obsessed with it! It came out so fabulously and I am very happy about it!

It took me about two hours to put together. I sewed up the sides and left a little open that im either going to close up or place two pretty buttons in those two spots but we will see.

I attempted lining the bag because there are little holes that the cable pattern left that you cannot see but they are there. I did not want things to fall out when I begin to use the handbag. So I took an old pillow case cut it up and began to sew it to the inside of the bag. I know it is not the right way to lign it and the amount of material I used did not cover the entire inside but for my first attempt at it with no help, I think it is pretty good! Don't you? No matter what the inside looks like it is functional and will protect the bag from getting dirty!

Now that this project is finished I am going to go back to knitting the other sock in the pomotomaus pattern from knitty. I finished one sock and now it is time to do the other. When the other one is finished I will post what they both look like. But you will have to wait until then. Sorry, but good things come to those who wait! They will be a gift to my Aunt and godmother. She was supposed to receive it for mothers day but i did not have time to finish them so, its ok!

AHHH CABLES!!

2007-05-23T17:34:00.004-07:00

I LOVE CABLES! they are insanely easy and so pretty....i encourage all the knitters out there to try it and don't be intimitated by it (Aunt Janice). Well I really wanted to make a cable so i found a pattern on patonsyarn.com for a really pretty wintery cable pocketbook...the only problem was i was in the middle of my socks...so i finished one sock and started the bag which i have yet to finish....this pattern had four different cables in it and is so pretty the way it worked!

So now i am addicted to cables and everything i make has to have at least one in it! I am so excited to try it on socks!! but i kinda have to finish the pair im workin on first!!

Memories! The Knitting Summer of 2006!

2007-03-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

This summer was when I started to knit. I went on vacation to LBI with my Aunt Janice and cousin Juli. This is when the sock adventure began! We got the yarn at this little knitting shop on the island known as Island knits. The yarn is called sockotta. We also bought the tiniest needles I had ever seen in my life. After a lot of yelling and ripping and starting over again we sorta got the hang of it! We knitted when we woke up, before we went to bed, and sometimes even during the day. Besides knitting we spent our time gettin henna tattoe's, goin to Bay Village, going to the arcades at Fantasy Island( we won amazing prizes!!), lots of food, and plenty of time in the sun! During all this we were very fashionable!

This summer brought yet another interesting knitting experience. Knitting by Candlelight. The power went out one night when we were visiting Aunt Janice and Juli in PA. They were terrified cause the last time the power went out it was out for days and was torterous, I however thought it was an adventure and a fun one at that. Me and Juli were concentrating on our knitting so hard that a little loss of power could not stop us. We got a whole bunch of candles, lit them, and bgean to knit again. It was a little difficult so we decided to go to the nearest Barnes and Noble and knit in the air conditioned cafe until the power came back on! It was a fun filled day!

Socks Are Amazing

2007-03-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

I finished my scarf almost a week ago and I decided not to make the Manos blanket since I already made a blanket this winter. I was looking online for a pattern and found this amazing sock pattern that I just fell in love with on knitty.com. I had this sock yarn from a while ago with bright oranges, pinks, and yellows. So I decided to make, yet again, another pair of socks. But this one is unlike any pair I have made before. I am almost done with the top part of the first sock and am about to start the heel.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and the entire sock will be shown as soon as im done. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Now then Into the Future

2007-02-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

Right now I am working on a Chenille scarf in a seed stitch pattrern which gives it a really nice texture. It is so soft and I cannot wait to finish it. !
Next, after I finish my scarf i think I am goin to begin a manos blanket made with 12 blocks each a different pattern and color. I am very excited and when I start it you will most definitely see it.

What a Wonderful Weekend

2007-02-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

On Friday my Aunt Janice and my cousin Juli came over from PA. We had a great time my mom helped Juli with her projects and I was able to finish a pair of socks that I have been procrastinating to do for my father since about November. He was very happy to have them. We caught up on everything and anything that happened or there was to talk about. I missed them so much its crazy. We sat, watched Harry Potter, and Knitted away. The next day we went to dinner at Mambo Italiano for some of the best Italian food EVER!!! Then it was off to the Little Cupcake for all different kinds of cupcakes at $1.75 a pop! I didn't ever want to eat again because of this huge manging day!! There visit set me off on a knitting rampage! I have not stopped knitting for 4 days straight and I finished 3 projects within this time. FIRST, I finished my dad's socks FINALLY. SECOND, I finished my pocket book that I bought yarn for in September and I absolutely love it. I made it out of Manos del Uruguay a different color base and then straps which where done using stockinette stitch.

THIRD, and final, was a creamiscle blanket made out of a very very very soft mohair by Patons called Divine. It only took me 6 months of on and off knitting to make. It was made with a simple garter stitch with a few rows of drop stitche by means of a yarn over in between. I ABSOLUTLEY LOVE IT. It is so warm and perfect to cuddle up for the rest of the winter with.

My Life as a Knitter

2007-02-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

It all started in the summer of 2006 when my Aunt Janice invited us over to knit because she and my cousin had learned and were OBSESSED with it. I swore I would never ever knit and that I would go take a nap while they sat and knit. That day we were out shopping and they took me and my mom to a yarn store called Knithaven, my entire mindset about knitting changed when I saw how pretty and soft the different yarns were, and so MY OBSSESSION with knitting began. My first project ever was a belt made out of a ribbon type of yeanr with sparkle yarn beads on it.

If I may say so myself it came out pretty good for a first project which I have not yet to wear.